Traditional Greek Salad

We recently got home from a wonderful European vacation. One of the countries we visited was Greece. Yes, the food was delicious! One of our favorite things to order at each restaurant we ate at was a Greek salad. We noticed right away that authentic Greek salad has no lettuce! We asked one of our servers about this and she said it is a very American thing to put lettuce in Greek salads and that that isn't Greek at all! Their traditional salads were bursting with flavor - tomatoes, cucumbers, Kalamata olives, green bell pepper, red onion, and feta.....oh, the feta!!! Feta was in abundance during all our Greek meals. And it was so creamy, not hard and overly salty like the feta we generally get in the States. 

**FETA TIP** 
So, one of our servers gave me an easy, yet highly effective tip on how to get American feta to taste more like Greek feta.....I did it, and it worked - it worked SO well!!!! She told me to ONLY buy feta in a block (never crumbled). She said to drain it and put it in a container full of milk and let it soak for at least one day. So that is exactly what I did! I soaked it in organic whole milk for two full days, drained it, and then used it in this salad. It was 100xs better after the milk bath! WOW!! I plan on doing this ALWAYS from here on out! 

I served this salad with falafels, tzatziki sauce, and warm pita bread. Enjoy!

• 4 medium sized tomatoes (I like tomatoes on the vine), sliced into wedges
• 1 cucumber, sliced
• 1 green bell pepper, cored and thinly sliced
• 1/2 medium red onion, thinly sliced
• Greek pitted Kalamata olives
• 3 Tbl capers, optional
• 4 Tbl extra virgin olive oil
• 2 Tbl red wine vinegar
• block of Greek feta** (see note above on feta!)
• salt & pepper, to taste
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• optional choice of protein - falafels, sliced grilled chicken, or shrimp

In a large bowl combine tomatoes, cucumber, green pepper, onion, Kalamata olives and capers, if using. In a small bowl whisk together olive oil and vinegar. Drizzle dressing onto vegetables and very gently toss. Dish onto plates. Top with blocks of feta cheese. Sprinkle with salt, pepper and a bit of dried oregano. 

To make this more of a meal, I served this salad with falafels, pita bread and tzatziki sauce. Sliced chicken or shrimp would be another good addition.

Quinoa & Arugula Salad with Pepitas & Cojita Cheese

This is a copy cat recipe from one of my favorite local Mexican restaurants. I LOVE this salad so much - it is delicious, fresh and healthy! A great alternative to ordering the enchiladas or nachos.  The ingredients are simple, but the salad itself really wows - it's just a great combo of flavors that really come together. I think my copy cat recipe comes pretty close to the original! Enjoy!

This makes two dinner sized salads. I think cooked shrimp or salmon would make good protein additions for a heartier meal.

Salad:
3 cups cooked quinoa
2 handfuls of arugula
1/2 cup cucumber, chopped
2 radishes, chopped (optional)
1/2 cup pepitas
1/3 cup raisins
10 cherry tomatoes, sliced in half lengthwise
1/2 cup (or more if you love it) Cojita cheese, cubed (can sub feta cheese)
1 ripe avocado, sliced or cubed

Dressing:
1/3 cup olive oil
3 Tbl balsamic vinegar
1 Tbl honey
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp salt & pepper, each

Add the ingredients from quinoa to tomatoes into a large bowl; drizzle on prepared dressing and toss. Divide salad between two bowls. Top with avocados and cheese. Enjoy!

Dill Pickle Popcorn

We are such a popcorn family!  It's our #1 favorite treat!  I like to air pop it and add our own butter and seasonings because it's so much healthier than microwave popcorn. It is just so easy! And air-poppers are cheap! Check them out on Amazon!

We do love those popcorn stores that sell crazy flavors.....one of our favorite flavors is dill pickle. I thought I would give a shot at making it at home - free of all the food additives and flavorings. If you want to make it even healthier, omit the sugar! Hope you like this as much as we do!

~1/2 cup popcorn kernels, organic if you can (approx 10-12 cups of popcorn when popped)
 2-3 Tbl melted butter
2 tsp dried dill
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp white sugar
1 tsp salt, more to taste

Pop your popcorn! I use an air popper. I have also made popcorn in a giant pot with a touch of olive oil and a tight fitting lid (google that for step by step instructions).

Mix together dill, onion & garlic powders, sugar and salt.  Pour melted butter on top of popped popcorn and sprinkle dill mixture, use your hands to toss it well so popcorn is evenly coated. Enjoy!

Blue & White Pizza with Walnuts, Apples & Pomegranates

YUM! Delicious! My only complain is I wish I had made two pizzas instead of one! Enjoy!

1 pizza crust (homemade or store bought)
Olive oil
Good quality Himalayan or sea salt
Mozzarella, shredded
Blue cheese, cut into crumbles or chunks
Walnuts, chopped
Apple (Honeycrisp, Jazz or Pink Lady), thinly sliced
Fresh Pomegranate Seeds
Arugula
Balsamic Glaze

Turn oven to 400F

Par-bake the plain pizza crust for five minutes or so to ensure it is crispy after you have baked it with toppings on.

I'm not giving any specific measurements because this is a pizza and it's hard to mess it up! So just put on as much or as little as you like - it'll all taste good.  Put a tiny bit of olive oil on the par-baked crust (like 1/2 tsp) and spread it evenly over the crust. If you like put a little bit of good quality sea salt on top (and by a little, I mean a pinch and by good quality salt I mean Himalayan or sea salt.....  you still aren't using table salt are you? Oh I hope not! Yuck!).

Evenly distribute mozzarella cheese over crust, then blue cheese (maybe like 1/4 cup of blue cheese or more if you like the flavor). Place apple slices on top of the cheese and then sprinkle on walnuts. Bake in the oven for about 8 - 12 minutes - just check on it....when it's done you'll know.

Sprinkle pomegranate seeds and fresh arugula on top (I literally cover my pizza with arugula like it's an entire salad!) and drizzle with balsamic glaze. Enjoy!!

Brown Rice Breakfast Bowl

I made this delicious coconut milk and brown rice pudding (and it really does taste like dessert!) the other day when my mother in law was out visiting. Oh boy did she like it! I had some leftover rice in the fridge and decided whip this up like a warn oatmeal. Control how sweet you like it by adding more or less maple syrup.....and then go crazy with the toppings! I put strawberries, blueberries, fresh pomegranate seeds, hemp seeds and almonds on mine. It was very filling and satisfying. This makes enough for about 3 servings.

Brown Rice Pudding:
2 1/2 cup cooked brown rice (I used leftover rice)
1 14oz can of full fat coconut milk
1 Tbl to 2 Tbl pure maple syrup (depending on how sweet you like it)
5 dates, pitted and chopped
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/3 cup chopped walnuts or almonds

Toppings Ideas:
Sliced bananas, chopped apples or pears, blueberries, strawberries, pomegranate seeds, hemp seeds, cocoa nibs, chia seeds, almond or peanut butter, honey, coconut

Place cooked brown rice and coconut milk in a medium saucepan over low-medium heat. Stir. Add maple syrup, chopped dates, cinnamon, vanilla and salt. Let mixture come to a low boil, stirring constantly. Stir on this low-medium heat for about 10 minutes until the rice starts to stick to the pan and mixture has thickened. Remove pan from heat.  Stir in the oats and walnuts. Spoon pudding into bowls and top fruit, seeds and nuts. Enjoy!!

My Favorite Granola

I absolutely love this granola! It is gluten free and sugar free, yet it has nothing but flavor! It only has four ingredients (optional five) and all you need is a food processor. It was inspired to copycat a granola served at one of my favorite local organic restaurants. I love having this granola on hand to sprinkle on yogurt parfaits.

When you are making it be sure to ONLY pulse it - do not hit "on" on your food processor and let it ride.....it'll turn into paste and that is not the consistency you are looking for. It should be crumbly. It takes about a minute or two of hitting the pulse button on and off before getting the desired texture. Using cold dates helps them to keep the texture better when pulsing.

This granola is full of fiber, healthy fats like Omega 3s, protein, antioxidants, magnesium, potassium, iron and vitamins E. And honestly, it just tastes delicious!
 
Ingredients:
1 cup raw organic walnuts
1/2 cup raw organic almonds
1/2 cup raw organic pistachios (shelled)
about 8 organic Medjool dates, pitted and cut in half, these should be cold from the refrigerator
pinch of salt, optional

Directions:
Place all ingredients in a food processor. Pulse on and off until granola is desired consistency - which is little, even sized "crumbles".  Store in the fridge for up to two weeks.

This makes about 1 1/2 cups of granola.

Candy Cane Christmas Cookies

These cookies were a BIG hit with everyone today! I used a little bit less sugar than I normally would when making cookies because the candy kisses and candy canes add quite a bit of sweetness. I'm really happy with how they turned out and all three kids said, "You need to blog these, Mom!" So, here ya go!  These are perfect cookies for the holidays!!

Ingredients:

• 1 stick of butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 large egg, room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup of flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 10 Hershey's Candy Cane Kisses, unwrapped and chopped
• 5 regular size candy canes, crushed into small pieces
• 1/4 mini semi sweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Stir softened butter and sugar together; add egg and stir. Add vanilla and stir. Add salt, 1/2 cup flour and baking soda; stir together. Add remaining 1/2 cup of flour. 

Chop the ten Candy Cane Kisses into little pieces like this:

Add the chopped Candy Cane Kisses, crushed candy canes and 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips to the dough and fold in. Place dough in the refrigerator for at least two hours (up to overnight) before baking (I promise you there is an actual science to the why chilled cookies bake/taste better - go ahead and google it!). 

Lightly grease a cookie sheet with butter - I don't usually do this but the melted candy canes have a tendency to stick to the cookie sheet - greasing it makes them come of the pan more easily. Trust me!

Bake at 350F for 8-10 minutes. Let cool for 5-10 minutes before transferring them to a plate. Enjoy!