My Favorite Meal (As of recently...)

Once I get hooked onto something... I really get hooked. See this meal. I swear I was eating that meal for months! Since I usually cook for myself, I usually have to end up eating leftovers until it's all gone, but for this combo, I find myself cooking it over and over again and never getting bored of it.

Really, it's the simplest components that could be enjoyed separately, but I just love them together. First, it starts off with a simple but incredibly tasty rice pilaf. I make it all of the time and the fact that I can just put all of the ingredients into a rice cooker and walk away is magic; pure magic. Next, comes the fattoush salad dressed in a simple greek dressing. It's all of my favorite veggies in a dressing that keeps everything fresh and light. If I want, I sauté some spinach with some olive oil and garlic, set it all on a plate and sprinkle with some French feta. And yes, French feta is completely different than Greek feta, and much more tasty - in my opinion!

The picture above is how I normally enjoy all of this stuff but honestly, these are simple recipes for you to use with your own discretion. The rice pilaf is excellent under kabobs and the fattoush is awesome on top some lettuce! Let me know how you like to use these recipes :)

Simple Fattoush Salad

Yields: 4  servings

For the salad:

3 roma tomatoes, seeded and cubed

1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded, and cubed

1/4 red onion, thinly sliced

3 green onions, sliced

3 tbsn. chopped fresh mint

For the dressing*:

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

2 tsp. seasoned salt (such as Lawry's)

2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. lemon pepper

1 tsp. black pepper

1/2 tsp. granulated garlic

1 tsp. dried mint

To make the dressing, combine all of the ingredients in a small jar. Seal the jar, then shake vigorously until combined and slightly emulsified, set aside. Toss all of the salad ingredients together in a large bowl. *The dressing makes much more than needed for the fatuous, but is excellent on almost everything, so save for future use. Use just enough dressing to coat the veggies. Set aside to marinade in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes. 

Sometimes I like to enjoy the fattoush as a mid-day snack - I love it so!

Classic Rice Pilaf

Yields: 6 - 8 servings

1/2 cup fideo noodles

3 tbsn. unsalted butter, melted

1 cup jasmine rice

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. freshly ground pepper

2 cups water*

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Spread the fideo noodles out on a baking sheet and toast until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Make sure to check after 3 minutes just in case your oven is super hot; set aside. In a rice cooker, combine the rice, toasted fideo noodles, butter, spices and water. Cook under the 'white rice' setting. After done, fluff with a fork and enjoy!

*You could use low-sodium chicken stock as an alternative!

Green Monster Smoothies

I'm sure I've mentioned before in this little space that I like to call home that my dad has diabetes. For a while, he didn't even know he had it since he's led such an active life to balance out his tendencies towards ice cream and pound cake (often combined -___-). But since then, it's been a constant struggle for him to keep his blood sugar at the appropriate levels. Drastic measures have been taken in the form of daily injections; ick, which I might add: have not been helping whatsoever! I bake a lot of devilish, completely moreish things here at my humble blog, but other times, I really love to dabble in healthy cooking and baking.

I don't believe at all that things that taste good can't be good for you. I've been on a mission lately to find these things and I can say, happily, that I am well on my way to finding great alternatives for my dad. The thing is, he's a picky fella - he refuses to eat leftovers and gets bored easily, which, I must say, is okay by me since I like to reinvent, reinterpret and try new things anyhow. 

But all in all, this is just me saying that there will be a lot more things on this blog rather than decadent sweets. But, again, this is me saying that I will always be committed to delicious food. So if it doesn't taste as good as it is good for you, then it will be sent back to when dinosaurs roamed the earth!

Anyways, onto this green monster smoothie. You've seen it; you might have cringed a bit at the thought of it. It's green and healthy and has spinach in it and has all the signs that tell you to click out of the page and wander off to find a cookie somewhere. This is where I tell you to take a deep breath, allow the thought to cross your mind, and let it settle there. This magical world that we live in has found in its right mind to allow the combination of spinach, orange juice, pear and honey to be something so, so incredibly delicious. Make it, drink it, love it - just like I have been for the past week (and my dad too)!

Green Monster Smoothie

Yields: 2 servings

2 heaping cups of baby spinach leaves

1 ripe bosc pear, cored

1 1/2 cup orange juice 

1 tbsn. honey

In a blender, combine the everything and blend until no large spinach leaves remain and everything is well combined. Add more honey to taste if desired. Serve over ice!


* Option 1: Add a fresh or frozen, ripe banana and forget the honey! The sweetness of the banana is more than enough for the smoothie.


* Option 2: Add 1 - 2 cups of water. Sometimes I like drinking my smoothie more as a juice/ water!

Spinach & Feta Orzo Salad

My sister bought this ginormous bag of baby spinach the other day and we didn't think we could finish it by just making salads alone... so she made this orzo pasta salad. Yum! Later we added some roasted chicken for some protein but it would be great with grilled shrimp too. This salad is really versatile with mix ins, so don't be afraid to add something new, most likely it will turn out to be delicious. 

Spinach and Feta Orzo Salad

Yields: 4 - 6 servings

Slightly adapted from here and here. 

Printable Recipe

1 lb. fresh spinach, washed and dried

1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled

2 medium tomatoes, diced 

zest of 2 lemons

lemon juice, to taste

1 1/2 cups of orzo

24 basil leaves, torn

1 - 2 tbsn. olive oil

salt and pepper, to taste

Pile the spinach leave on top of each other and julienne them into thin strips. Prepare the basil leaves the same way. In a large bowl, combine the spinach, lemon zest and chopped tomatoes. Cook the orzo according to the directions on the box. Once the pasta is drained, pour the hot pasta into the bowl with the spinach to allow it to wilt and the tomatoes to warm. Drizzle the olive oil on top and add the basil, salt, pepper and lemon juice to taste. Toss and eat immediately or refrigerate and eat later (it can be eaten warm or cold).

*** This would also be great with pine nuts, red onion, olives or whatever!