Southwestern Quinoa

Adapted from Sweetpeaskitchen.blogspot.com

Can you believe this is the first time I have had quinoa?  It is amazing!  Later I added feta cheese and chicken, although the original recipe didn't call for it, and it made it even better!

Ingredients:

§                     3/4 cup uncooked quinoa

§                     1 1/2 cups vegetable broth

§                     1 teaspoon ground cumin

§                     1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

§                     1/4 teaspoon salt

§                     1/4 teaspoon pepper

§                     1 teaspoon vegetable oil

§                     1 onion, chopped

§                     3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped

§                     1 cup frozen corn kernels

§                     1 (15 ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained

§                     1/2 green bell pepper, chopped

§                     1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

§                     1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Directions:

1.                  Rinse quinoa thoroughly with cold water in a fine-mesh strainer, let drain.

2.                  In a medium saucepan over medium heat, bring vegetable stock, quinoa, cumin, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper to a boil. Cover and simmer on low 20 minutes, or until all of the liquid is absorbed. Remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork. Stir frozen corn into the saucepan, and continue to simmer about 5 minutes until heated through. Mix in the black beans and cilantro.

3.                  While the quinoa is simmering, heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the onion and garlic, and sauté until lightly browned. Transfer to a large bowl.

4.                  Add the quinoa, bell pepper and cherry tomatoes to the onion mixture and toss to combine.

Farmer's Market Corn Toss

Adapted from Kraft Foods

Our farmer's market co-op gives us lots of fresh vegetables...especially corn.  It seems we have a plethura of corn on the cob and I'm not really sure what to do with all of it.  But I found this side dish, which was yummy and included zucchini.  I love all squashes, including zucchini.  Anyway, this was a great dish!

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbs olive oil
• 1 small sweet onion, chopped
• 1 red pepper, chopped
• 2 ears corn on the cob, kernels cut off
• 1 large zucchini, sliced
• ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
• ¼ tsp black pepper
• 4 Tbs grated parmesan cheese, divided 

Directions:

• Heat oil in a large skillet on medium heat.  Add onions and red peppers; cook and stir 3 minutes.  Stir in corn and zucchini; cook and stir 5 minutes or until all vegetables are crisp-tender.  Remove from heat.
• Stir in parsley, black pepper and 2 Tbs cheese.  Top with remaining cheese.

Chicken Shawarma with Feta

Adapted from Food Network

I love this recipe.  I've made it several times during the 10 months that we have been posting on this blog, but this is the first time I managed to take a picture of it...I guess the other times I just couldn't wait long enough to devour it!  

Ingredients:

• 1 (8 oz) container of fat free plain yogurt
• 1/3 cup feta cheese
• 1 Tbs basil
• ½ tsp lemon pepper
• 2 Tbs fresh lemon juice
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp crushed dried rosemary
• 1 lb chicken breast halves, cut into 1” pieces
• 1 large red onion, cut into wedges
• 1 large green bell pepper, cut into pieces
• 2-4 pitas

 Directions:

• In a medium bowl, mix the yogurt, feta, basil, lemon pepper, lemon juice, oregano, salt and rosemary.  Keep half the marinade to use as sauce for later.  Add chicken and veggies to the remaining marinade in bowl and turn to coat.  Cover and marinate for at least 3 hours in the refrigerator. 
• Preheat an outdoor grill to medium-high heat. 
• Thread the chicken, onion, and bell peppers alternately onto skewers.  Discard yogurt mixture used as marinade.  Grill skewers on the prepared grill until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear.  Serve with the pitas and top with extra marinade set aside as sauce.

Oriental Chicken Salad

Adapted from A Taste of Richmond

Recipe from Jessica Church

This recipe is delicious! It has just the right amount of crunch. The dressing is so tasty-it calls for mayonnaise AND vinegar which my husband is not a fan of-but he really liked it too :) You can substitute 2 cups of Romaine for cabbage-1 cup purple and 1 cup regular.

Dressing:

3 Tbsp. honey

1/4 cup mayonnaise

1/8 tsp. Sesame oil

1 1/2 Tbsp. Rice Wine vinegar

1 tsp. Dijon mustard

Blend all ingredients together with an electric mixer. Chill in the refrigerator while you prepare the salad.

Salad:

4 Tyson crispy chicken strips

5 cups Romaine lettuce

3/4 cup carrots, shredded

2 green onions, chopped

2 Tbsp. slivered almonds

1/2 cup chow mein noodles (La Choy has 0 grams Trans Fat)

Bake chicken according to package and cut into bite size pieces. Mix lettuce, carrots, and onions. Sprinkle top with almonds, noodles, and chicken.

Zucchini, Corn & Penne with Basil Pesto

Adapted from Gourmet

This was another great dish to use up some of my farmer's market veggies...yellow squash and corn!  The Parmigian really makes the dish, so make sure to splurge for the good stuff and not just the grated Parmesan cheese. 

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. whole wheat penne pasta
• 6 slices bacon, diced
• 3 ears corn, kernels sliced off
• 1 1/2 lbs. zucchini and/or yellow squash
• salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• Parmigiano Reggiano, freshly grated for serving
• 3 Tbs basil pesto

Directions:
1. In a large skillet, cook the bacon over medium heat until crisp. Set bacon aside on a paper towel to drain. Reserve about 1 Tbsp. of bacon grease in the skillet and return to medium heat. Add the corn and zucchini and saute until tender-crisp, about 8-10 minutes. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

2 . Meanwhile, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the penne and cook, according to package directions, until al dente. Drain, reserving some of the pasta cooking water. Toss the cooked pasta with the zucchini mixture and pesto. Add a little of the cooking water to thin, if necessary. Stir in the bacon. Serve topped with freshly grated Parmesan.


Snicker's Salad

A Koyle Family Recipe

This salad is a family favorite. There are a lot of variations too. Some include adding yogurt to the cool whip, adding a different candy bar such as Butterfinger or Heath, etc. I also sometimes add a little bit of granulated sugar if the apples are not very sweet. A bit of lemon juice can be added to keep the bananas and apples from browning.

Ingredients:

2-3 apples

2-3 bananas

1-2 Snicker's bars

Small container of Cool Whip

Chop apples and Snicker's. Slice bananas. Combine ingredients in a bowl with Cool Whip. Serve immediately.

Peach & Rice Salad

Adapted from Allrecipes

I was looking for a way to use the plethora of peaches that cam with my farmer's market co-op basket of locally grown fruit and veggies.  This turned out delicious!

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup vanilla yogurt
• 1 Tbs honey
• 4 tsp lemon juice
• ½ tsp salt 2 cups cold cooked rice
• 2 peaches, peeled and diced
• ½ cup sliced celery
• ¼ cup coarsely chopped walnuts

Directions:

In a bowl, combine the yogurt, honey, lemon juice and salt.  Stir in the rice, peaches and celery.  Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.  Just before serving, stir in the walnuts.

Note:  I added green onions to this recipe.  I would not do it again; the onion taste was a bit overwhelming for this sweet dish.