our summer staple: grilled veggies.

Okay so this is the thing I have to tell myself I can only put on the menu once a week, every week while I'm planning meals... it is SO good and SO easy. One of the things that makes it so easy is its versatility, you can (and should) use whatever veggies you have around, I try to switch up the line up quite often because I like to try new things with old recipes and because we like a lot of food variety.  But some of the ingredients are kind of the backbone, almost always present in this dish... So I've listed the foundation ingredients and then as many of the other ingredients we've put into it, I would recommend picking 2-5 of the non-foundation ingredients each time you make it.
*the more people you plan on serving, the more extras you'd want to add in, or increase the amount of each one. 

What you need every time:
-grilling pan
-1 Tbsp olive oil or grapeseed oil
-1 tsp salt (kosher if you've got it)
-1 tsp creole or cajun seasoning salt
-1 tsp dried or fresh oregano
-1 tsp dried or fresh basil
*I actually eyeball the oil and spices so I tried to approximate quantities here, add or take away based on your own preferences. 
-garlic, 2-5 fresh cloves minced or garlic salt
-sweet onion, halved or quartered and chopped (at least 1)
-bell pepper, cleaned out, quartered and chopped (at least 1, we use all types)

Extras: pick 2-5
-hatch peppers (when in season)
-zucchini, halved or quartered and sliced
-yellow squash, halved or quartered and sliced
-mushrooms, sliced
-asparagus, roughly chopped
-red onion, halved and sliced
-cooked red potatoes, cubed* (2-5 depending on size, how many you intend to feed and how many leftovers you want)
-cooked sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed* (1-2)
-pineapple, fresh cubed or canned tidbits (drained)

*important to note: for both red and sweet potatoes make sure you "BAKE" them first in the microwave, I wash and poke them then roll them up in a paper towel and cook for 5-7 minutes in the microwave, you want them to be pretty soft to the touch.

Instructions:

1. Chop all the veggies you've chosen to add to your mix, like I said before, cook the potatoes before you cube them.
Put all your ingredients into a big mixing bowl.

2. Add olive or grapeseed oil and spices/salts and mix, you want all the veggies to have a bit of a coating of oil so they don't burn on the grill.

3. Put your veggies into a grilling tray, grill, stirring occasionally to keep any section of it from charring too much and to make sure all the veggies cook evenly. Taste one of the slower veggies to cook (like squash) to make sure they aren't too crisp and uncooked.

4. Dish up and serve, we most often use our veggies as a side to grilled chicken or fish, or as the filling for grilled fajitas, etc...

I don't have a picture post grilling this time, we ate it up too quickly... but here is a phone pic from another batch. (I wasn't kidding when I said we eat it a lot)

Hope y'all enjoy as much as we do.

zesty shredded chicken: 5 ingredients in the crock pot and done.

I am an "easy cooker" by nature, I like things to take very little effort but also be delicious and healthy. So when someone tells me that they have a crock pot recipe that has no pre or post prep involved, I'm usually quite keen to give it a go.  This is one of those recipes. :)

I actually got this recipe from my Momma when I had to head up the big Cub Scout Blue and Gold Banquet dinner for our church congregation several months ago. I needed something I could prepare and freeze beforehand since I was out of town for the actual event but something that was also cheap and good tasting. (We've all been to at least one not so delicious big event dinner, right?)
So, instead of less healthy and much more expensive beef for the taco salad we served, I made this.

This dish is so versatile, not only can it serve as the base tons of different dishes, it can EASILY serve masses, you can make a double family-sized batch and freeze some for an even quicker meal later, or make just enough for one meal.
The recipe I'll share is intended to be used as part of several different meals for a family of 4.

INGREDIENTS:
8 oz Zesty Italian Dressing (I used Kraft, you can get light or fat free, whatever your usual preference)
1/2 T chili powder
1/2 T cumin
2 cloves fresh garlic, minced
2 lbs chicken breast (I put mine in frozen)

Directions: 
1. Mix dressing and spices together and pour over chicken in the crock pot.
2. Cook for 6 hours, shred chicken within the last hour and mix together. (you can do whatever time setting works best for your schedule that day of course.)
3. Serve as part of whatever dish you'd like, I've used it on my favorite go-to salad (see recipe), loaded nachos with mozzerella cheese,  black, red, or pinto beans, green onion, cheese, salsa and sour cream, taco salad, chicken fajitas or as a topping for loaded baked potatoes.

My boys both love this chicken too, and because it's shredded even my 11 month old (with no teeth...) can eat it really well, he had a dinner of shredded chicken, pinto beans, and cantaloupe last night and was in heaven.

Tomato, Basil and Parmesan White Beans.

Tomato, Basil and Parmesan White Beans.

This is a favorite of ours for a few reasons;

it is 250 calories per serving (1 cup), it takes 15 minutes total to make AND it is delicious. 

Picture a favorite pasta dish with creamy white beans instead of pasta.

INGREDIENTS:

1 Tbsp. Olive Oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 cans Great Northern, drained and rinsed

(or other white beans, but Great Northern are my favorite, hands down)

2 cans, tomatoes, petite diced

(any type works but I prefer the Italian-style or the kind with chili peppers to add some spice)

*when fresh tomatoes are available you can ALWAYS substitute fresh for canned

1 tsp Italian seasoning or Basil

*substitute fresh Basil if you can get it.

½ cup Parmesean cheese, grated (or the kind in the can)

1 Tbsp lemon juice

Directions:

1.In a skillet, sauté the garlic in the olive oil.

2. Add beans, tomatoes and seasoning. (I don’t drain my canned tomatoes)

3. Cook for 7-10 minutes. Stir occasionally.

4. Add Parmesan cheese and lemon juice and stir until fully mixed/melted.

Serve with wheat crackers or a baguette. Fresh veggies or a salad make perfect sides.

This dish makes excellent leftovers too, which is a big deal around here.

Enjoy!

This recipe is based on one of our favorite dishes from Zonya’s Lickty-Split Meals. A cookbook we use more than most. Her meals are quick, healthy and easy. (win-win-win) I highly recommend picking this one up, we got ours on Amazon.

sautéed chicken, jalapeño and mushroom salad. (with some sugar, spice and everything nice…)

 We generally have a salad for at least one dinner a week, so we are always looking for ways to switch it up. This one was one of the best we’d made in a long time…delicious.

Salad Ingredients:

1/3 head romaine lettuce, chopped

feta cheese, crumbled on each serving, to taste

1-2 chicken breasts

1 jalapeño pepper, chopped

1 green onion, chopped

2-3 white mushrooms, thinly sliced

½ apple, chopped

¼ cup caramelized pecans:

¼ cup pecans, chopped

1 Tbsp. salted butter

½ cup brown sugar

poppy seed vinaigrette salad dressing (recipe here)

Whenever Kevin cooks it’s off the cuff so…I tried my hardest to get him to nail down what went into the chicken marinade for this salad.

Chicken Marinade Ingredients:

2-3 Tbsp. brown sugar

1-2 garlic cloves, minced

dash of salt

½ cup apple cider vinegar (or enough to cover chicken)

*for later:

1 Tbsp. olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

Directions:

1.Mix up marinade in a Ziploc bag and add chicken. (Mixture should cover chicken when laid flat on it’s side…add apple cider until it does.)

*let marinade at least an hour

2.Caramelize about ¼ cup chopped pecans. (make more or less depending on how much you like this sweet element…)

Put about 1 Tbsp salted butter and ½ cup brown sugar in a pan. Once they’ve begun melting and mixing, add the chopped pecans and stir until the nuts are golden brown. Let cool on parchment paper.

3. Chop apple, green onion, jalapeño (remove seeds), set aside.

4. Slice mushrooms, set aside. (wash or remove the top layer)

5. If you don’t keep a supply of this dressing in the fridge, (like I do) make it now.

6. Chop lettuce, set aside.

7. Thinly cut the chicken breasts and sauté in olive oil with freshly minced garlic until about half cooked then add the chopped jalapeño and sliced mushrooms.  Sauté until chicken is cooked through.

8. Fill bowls with lettuce and top with sautéed chicken, mushrooms and jalapeño, green onion, caramelized pecans, apples, feta cheese and dressing.

Enjoy!

fast.food.at.home: veggie style (aka my new obsession)

I am always looking for a new recipe that can check off all my boxes; healthy, fast, delicious, cheap, simple...not always super easy to find, right?
(good rule of thumb: if I can make it, it's super simple)

Well, I found this one on allrecipes.com a while back and we can't stop using it as a "we have no time to make dinner tonight" fallback because it's so tasty and healthy.

We really changed almost everything you put in the recipe, this is how we've grown to love it;
*You can put in whatever veggies you have or are in season. (love it when you can do that)

Ingredients:
1/8 cup olive oil
1-3 cloves fresh garlic, minced (add more if you like a strong garlic taste like we do)
1 tsp salt
1 medium zucchini, chopped
1/2 sweet onion, chopped
1/2 cup mushrooms, sliced 
2 peppers, chopped (we like peppers with a little kick but Bell peppers would work just as well)
3-4 Tbsp. Balsamic vinegar
feta cheese, crumbled (we just sprinkle as much as we want in, it probably amounts to about 1/4 cup (unpacked))

Baguette, sliced and broiled
*Our grocery store has white, wheat, and mixed grain baguettes you can cook at home, so the bread is hot and fresh. If you use this kind, cook the bread while you're making the dish, butter or brush with oil and broil after it's cooked.

Instructions:
Saute the garlic in the olive oil in a large skillet. Add salt, chopped veggies and sliced mushrooms and cook until they are warm through and tender. Add Balsamic vinegar as the veggies cook.  Add feta cheese directly after taking it off the heat and mix throughout. 

Cut baguette in half horizontally and spread butter or brush olive oil on halves.
Broil under golden brown, cut pieces to your desired size.

We serve the veggies in bowls with the oil and vinegar sauce it cooked in so you can dip the baguette in it...SO good. Spoon onto your baguette slices and try not to devour it all at once, seriously... :)

Black Bean and Quinoa Burgers.

I don't know about y'all but I really love beans, so the idea of a bean burger has always appealed to me. Being a healthy alternative to red meat was a plus too.

*As I've said before, though I love the taste of red meat, it's not really great friends with my stomach.


I used this recipe from allrecipes.com as a starting point for my first attempt at black bean burgers. My "burgers" were actually a combination of my favorite advice for changes I took from several different reviews of the original recipe.
(I would recommend trying some of the ideas at the bottom of this post on your first go-around to give your burgers a bit more flavor.)

So my recipe looked like this; (everything in red is a change I made to the original recipe.)

1/4 cup quinoa (cook this first and mix it in when smashing the beans)
(quinoa uses a 2:1 ratio like rice, so I used 1/2 cup water and 1/4 cup quinoa)
1 (16 ounce) can black beans, drained, rinsed and dried  
(I dried mine on paper towels, this  helps keep them from falling apart later.)
2 hatch chili peppers, cut into 2 inch pieces (these are our new favorite pepper of the South, you can use bell peppers as called for if you can't get them)
1/2 sweet onion, cut into wedges
3 cloves garlic, peeled
1 egg
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon cumin (I thought that the cumin was a bit overpowering, so I'll use less and add different flavors next time.)
1 teaspoon chili sauce (I used Sriracha Chili Sauce)
1 cup bread crumbs (I used Panko)

Directions

1. If grilling, preheat an outdoor grill for high heat, and lightly oil a sheet of aluminum foil. If baking, preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C), and lightly oil a baking sheet.
2. In a medium bowl, mash black beans with a fork until thick and pasty. Mix in cooked quinoa. (I mashed it a lot with a pastry blender.)
3. In a food processor, finely chop bell pepper, onion, and garlic. Strain out the excess liquid in a fine strainer. (I pushed the mix against the strainer to get as much liquid as possible out.) Then stir into mashed beans.

   

   Just after adding the pepper, onion and garlic. My bowl sure makes the beans look like beef.

4. In a small bowl, stir together egg, chili powder, cumin, and chili sauce. (I added a bit of salt too.)
5. Stir the egg mixture into the mashed beans. Mix in bread crumbs until the mixture is sticky and holds together. Divide mixture into four patties.
6. If grilling, place patties on foil, and grill about 8 minutes on each side. If baking, place patties on baking sheet, and bake about 10 minutes on each side.

*everything in black is from the original recipe from allrecipes.com which you can find here.

*I put the patties in the freezer until we actually cooked them to help them keep their form.

We grilled onion and pepper to put on our burgers, added a little mozzarella,  some fresh guacamole and we topped it all with spinach.

So, I think when eating vegetarian burgers it's important to not expect it to taste like a hamburger, because it doesn't.  Think of it as a bean dish and it'll be a lot more delicious to you.


Both Kevin and I agreed that we wanted the actual bean burger to be "bursting with flavor" a little more and I think our next ones will be.
We are really excited to try a "teriyaki-style" burger with sliced pineapple on top. We also want to do a "mexi-style" burger with taco seasonings with fresh pico and guacamole on top.

Happy Friday!