3 Days till Spring!

Happy St Patty's Day!

Here is a great way to get your greens in!  Maybe tomorrow after the corned beef is consumed ;) or you need to find something interesting to kick off Spring on Saturday.  I know kale has been overdone in the superfood cultures,  but this just tastes good.  I could eat the whole platter myself so here goes:

Lemon-Basil Kale
Serves 2-3 Enjoy!!!
3/4 pound of kale (about 6 cups chopped) 2 cups water
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
15 fresh basil leaves, cut into fine ribbons salt to taste
2 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
*Variety - Add 1 cup fresh or frozen corn with the kale in step 1. Cook along with the kale for 4 to 5 mins. Continue with recipe.

1.  Wash kale and strip leaves off the stalks. Discard the stalks. Chop the kale into bite- sized pieces. Bring the water to a boil in a 10 to 12 inch skillet with a tightly fitted top. Add the kale, cover, and cook over high heat, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 5 minutes. Remove and drain, saving the cooking liquid to drink.

2. Rinse out and dry skillet, then use it to heat the olive oil over medium heat, lifting and tilting the pan to coat. Add garlic and sizzle for 15 to 30 seconds, stirring constantly to prevent browning or burning.
   
3. Add basil and saute for 15 seconds more. Add kale and stir until heated through. Season to taste with the salt. Stir in lemon juice and serve immediately.
   

***It is important to add the lemon juice after the the greens are cooked and just before serving. If you cook greens with an acid you turn bright green vegetables into a drab army green color. 

 Be Well,
Krista

Blood Red Oranges

I had no idea that different oranges had different benefits ... I mean aren't they famous for fighting colds, tasting sweet and looking pretty on your plate?  Last week I was fortunate to have lunch with a dear friend of mine who mentioned how she uses them so I picked some up on one of my runs to the market.

So here's the deal on the benefits:  they are grown in the volcanic soil of Mount Etna in Sicily and have high levels of antioxidants.  Their pigment (see pic below) is also the same found in blueberries that ranks high in antioxidants.  Anthocyanins are the natural compounds that are known for their antioxidants, anti-inflammatory properties, the ability to fight disease that comes with age, keeping LDL cholesterol from accumulating, preventing heart disease, cancer and diabetes.  Wow!  The list goes on ... Vitamin A does the job of keeping our retinas and skin healthy and the Calcium keeps our teeth and bones strong!  Although regular sweet oranges have benefits, they are not as nutritious as these blood red varieties.

So, once again there are all these facts (that I am terrible at recalling) that push us to eat colorful food.  No need to know why exactly you should be trying them,  just try to get color on your plates!   After the long winter most of us have endured, start introducing one new color a week if you can!  If you have young athletes and your Spring season has kicked off,  just put a plate out on the counter ... enjoy!

Wishing you much color this week!!
Krista

The Sweet Spot

Yay!  Spring is almost here!   Anyone else sync with the seasons like myself?  I think we're all ready to come out of winter hibernation asap.  Makes Spring that much sweeter when the Winter has just kind of well ... put you over the edge just a bit? 

I apologize to those of you I haven't seen in awhile ... but I am a homebody come winter.  Period.  My vitamin D levels are great,  but I tend to be happy in my little warming hut we call home.

Ok, back to reality ... so psyched! Some energy and motivation coming back and honestly with no snow days or delayed openings this week,  I actually have time to write!  I just wanted to get back to sharing ideas and maybe some new recipes with all of you who have asked where I went!

I made this recipe last week because my family does enjoy their chocolate mousse.  I don't even know what possessed me to make a dessert, but how could I say no to dark chocolate, ricotta cheese, cinnamon and a little brown sugar? Everyone needs a little sweet treat now and then ...

Chocolate Mousse Cups

Ingredients:
4 oz dark chocolate  (I love dark but you can use milk)
1 Tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 cups ricotta cheese

Melt the chocolate in a metal bowl over boiling water.  Blend everything in a food processor (my VitAMix was great) until smooth.  Spoon into cups (I used 4 of my grandmother's old ice cream dishes) and chill in refrigerator for at least an hour.

Serve topped with whipped cream and a dusting of grated chocolate ... if you haven't eaten all of it by now!

Recipe courtesy of The Forest Feast by erin gleeson

Here's to warmer weather, longer days, flowers waking up and good times over good food ... my sweet spot!

Krista

Somewhere in Jackson Square, New Orleans 2 weeks ago 

Veggie Slump?

Is the winter putting you into a rut in the kitchen?  The usual not so spectacular anymore?  I love simple meals but the usual green salad I make every night for the kids and my man, is getting boring.  I get my greens in every morning with my smoothie, but I know they definitely need some color on their dinner plates in the winter.

Easy peasy carrots that aren't the usual soft chopped strips?  Try these, I think you'll all like them!

Crispy Carrot Chips

Ingredients:
4 large carrots
3 T. olive oil
1/2 t. coarse salt
1/2 t. curry powder

1.  Use a peeler and make ribbons from 4 large carrots.  Trim the ends.
2.  Combine the olive oil, salt and curry. 
3.  Mix the carrot ribbons with the oil, salt and curry.
4.  Bake at 325 degrees until the edges are crispy.

Enjoy! 

Krista

Close up shot of raw carrot ribbon ... sorry french fries, we like your cousin better tonight!

Magical Turkey Orzo Soup

Happiness is when you walk in the door and it smells like what your grandmother's house smelled like ...

This morning I posted about last night's dinner ... sorry it was a late night!  I had a nice piece of leftover turkey breast that I knew was going into a soup.  Didn't know what else was going in, but it was the basic chicken noodle standard with some added new flavors.

I don't know if it's because we have actually been using the dining room (bc the kitchen is so full of stuff lateley), or the mood everyone was in, but I felt like my day synced up nicely over a simple bowl of soup and warm bread.

If you or anyone in your family has been fighting an illness (as there are many with flu-like symptoms and coughs going around), there's nothing like a good bowl of chicken soup.  It's a nutrient dense easy to digest food and liquid that can help your immune system.  Try to use the best ingredients like organic celery (as it's one of the worst offenders of pesticides), organic free-range chicken or turkey (most chickens from the grocery store are grown at lightning speed to fatten them up and fed corn and antibiotics which of course get into our systems that make it difficult to fight infection on our own).

Not too much work goes into making soup ... the waiting for all the flavors to come together isn't terribly long, but the longer it cooks, the better it tastes. 

Magical Turkey Orzo Soup

Ingredients:
2 (32 ounce) boxes of chicken stock
1 cup of chopped onion (or more to taste)
1 cup of chopped celery
1 cup of diced carrots
olive oil to coat pot
2 cups or so of cooked turkey (or chicken), chopped into bite sized pieces
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
grated fresh ginger
juice from 1 lemon
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried parsley
a pinch of Old Bay seasoning
1 cup frozen organic corn
1 tablespoon flavored vinegar (I used an orange champagne variety but red wine is good too)
cooked orzo (cook separately and add to pot when ready to eat)
fresh sprig of rosemary chopped
fresh sprigs of parsley torn up

Directions:

1. Heat olive oil in a soup pot.  Add onions, carrots, and celery.  Cook until tender.
2. Add chicken stock/broth.  Combine well and heat through.
3. Add turkey
4. Season with the following:  salt, pepper, ginger (I don't measure, I just use a grater and count till at least 20!), lemon juice, thyme, parsley, Old Bay.  Simmer on low for about 20 minutes.
5. Add frozen corn.  Cook until tender.
6. Add vinegar along with orzo, fresh rosemary and parsely.  Heat thoroughly and let flavors blend.

That's it!  I generally don't measure so use your judgement in the seasonings.  You can always add spices, you cannot take away!  I absolutely love the vinegar at the end of cooking process.  It gives it a fantastic pop of flavor with less salt needed to finish.

Hope your next dinner is magical!
Enjoy,
Krista

Throwback Thursday with Santa from Pequannock Co 1 Firehouse

So miss these visits!!!

Roasted Lemon Broccoli

"More Broccoli Please!"

Have you ever heard that one?  Not too often here either!

I am not a huge lover of broccoli unless it's stir-fried but I needed to get some other veggie on the table the other night, so I threw some ingredients together, fired up the oven and threw them in.

I'm not kidding when I tell you I OFTEN burn meals.

I forget I have food in the oven because I forget to set a timer.  Distracted multi-tasker.  But this time it worked out.  Although the broccoli wasn't burnt, it was awesome as a crunchy roasted lemony side.

So set the oven to 425 degrees.  Get out a cookie sheet or roasting pan.

Roasted Lemon Broccoli

1 head of broccoli flowerets
1-2 lemons
olive oil
salt
pepper
dusting of Parmesan cheese (optional)

1. Chop up the broccoli into bite sized pieces.
2. Juice the lemons into a small bowl.  Add enough olive oil to match the amount of lemon juice (or more olive oil depending on your tastes).   Add a good sprinkling of salt and pepper.
3. Place broccoli on roasting pan.  Pour mixture over it.  Mix well making sure broccoli is coated.
4. Place in oven.  Check at 10 minutes.  Turn.  Check again in 10 minutes.  Let it crisp up and take out.
5. Toss with Parmesan cheese (optional).

I actually served this the other night with the raspberry chicken.  I didn't post last night because I had no recipe to share! I had a turkey breast that I seasoned with salt and pepper, brushed olive oil over it, covered with foil and hoped for the best when I put it in the oven at 425 degrees.  The oven was that hot because I had to throw in a frozen pizza for an early pre-swim snack.  It's hard to have dinner ready at 4:00!  They get on the bus at 4:10 and don't get home till 8:30!  The turkey was great and now I have leftovers for soup today.  All is well!

My other green obsession!  

Enjoy!

Krista

Chicken Chili

Chasing the cold chill away with a hot bowl of chili works for me!

This is not my usual full of veggie style chili.  I just needed to get this done fast and I was curious to see if my kids ate more as I left out the peppers and beans.  All the rest of it stayed the same so I was surprised they didn't cheer when I told them no beans, no peppers.  Maybe they do like those!!

I used a ground chicken for this one ... have never used that before but when I find organic meat that is not the usual chicken breast, whole chicken, or beef, I grab it.  It worked out great, but of course, you can use beef or turkey to make this chili.

Chicken Chili

8 servings (1 1/3 cups each)

Ingredients:
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 lb ground chicken
1 cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves
1 Tablespoon chili powder (or more to taste)
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
1 Tablespoon ground cumin
3 Tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 bay leaves
1 1/4 cups of Merlot or other red wine
2 28 oz cans of whole tomatoes (I blended up one can to smooth it out)
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

*Feel free to add more garlic, a jalapeno pepper, kidney beans and 1 cup of chopped green pepper.

Directions:

1. Heat a large soup pot over medium high heat.  Add onions.  Cook until tender.  Add ground chicken and cook until browned, stirring to crumble.  
2. Add chili powder and the next 7 ingredients, and cook for one minute, stirring constantly.  Stir in wine, tomatoes, and kidney beans; bring to a boil.  Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 1 hour, stirring occasionally.  Uncover and cook for 30 minutes or until desired consistency.  Discard the bay leaves.
3. Sprinkle with cheese and add a dollop of sour cream if desired.

Serve with a nice green salad!

If you're in the Northeast this week, you will get wet!  It's either raining or snowing and that can make some people cranky!  Lucky for me, my animals keep me laughing and busy as I'm often referee in the morning between the three of them ;)

Sleeping off his tough day 

Stay warm and happy!

Krista