If you like your mornings spicy, these are just the ticket for you!
Buffalo Breakfast Tacos
Serves 3
5 eggs
3 Tbsp milk
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 yellow onion, chopped coarsely
3 Tbsp hot wing sauce + additional for garnish (extra heat!)
Salt and fresh ground black pepper
6 corn tortillas
SAUCE
3 oz crumbled gorgonzola or blue cheese
1 Tbsp sour cream
2 Tbsp chopped carrots
2 Tbsp chopped celery
Dash salt
In a small food processor, combine all sauce ingredients and blend until smooth. Set aside until serving.
For tacos, whisk together eggs, milk and hot sauce. Heat olive oil over medium heat in a nonstick skillet. Add onion and saute until softened, ~ 3 minutes. Stir in egg and milk mixture and scramble until cook to desired consistency.
Spoon ~ 1/3 cup egg mixture into a corn tortilla and top with 1 Tbsp sauce. Garnish with additional hot sauce, if desired.
I recently found a recipe in Bon Appetit for macaroni and cheese. The cool thing about this recipe was that you added the pasta UNCOOKED with a little extra water in the sauce and it cooked as it baked, and as a result ended up extra creamy.
I tried it Thai-style. It works!
And as in Thai cuisine, the meat in this dish acts more as a garnish. The vegetables are the main act.
Baked Butternut Mac and Satay
Serves 8
SAUCE
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1 can light coconut milk
2 1/2 Tbsp sweet chili sauce
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
3 cups water
1 small butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cubed
PASTA
1 tsp sesame oil
1/2 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced into thin strips
2/3 cup carrots, sliced
1 cup shredded red cabbage
1 cup shredded kale
2 cloves garlic, pressed and finely minced
3-4 green onions, chopped
1 cup fresh cilantro leaves
1 serrano pepper, seeded and chopped
1 lb whole grain pasta of your choice
12 oz boneless skinless chicken breast, cooked, shredded or cut into bite-size pieces
2 tsp sesame seeds
Bring a large pot of water to boil under a steamer basket. Add squash to steamer and cook covered until very soft, ~ 10 minutes. Remove from steamer and set aside.
Combine all sauce ingredients in a large bowl, including butternut squash, and use an immersion blender to mix well. Place covered in refrigerator for ~1 hour.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Heat sesame oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic, peppers, carrots, cabbage and kale and saute until slightly soft, ~ 5 minutes.
Spray a 9 x 12" casserole dish lightly with olive oil spray. In a large bowl, mix together sauteed vegetables, pasta, chicken, cilantro, green onions, and sauce. Transfer mixture to casserole dish, making sure that all ingredients are submerged below liquid. Cover dish with aluminum foil. Transfer to the oven on the middle rack to bake for ~40 minutes. Remove foil and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Return to oven and bake for additional 10-15 minutes, until pasta is soft.
Remove from oven and allow to set for 5 minutes prior to serving.
Nutrition Info per 1 serving: 360 calories, 19 g fat (8 g monounsaturated, 6 g polyunsaturated), 14 g protein, 30 g carbohydrates, 7 g fiber
When I first heard about putting oats into a smoothie I thought it was gross. Drinking oatmeal?
Now I think it is genius.
When I try to persuade clients to eat oatmeal for helping to decrease their cholesterol levels (yes it does work), the most common response I get is "I don't have time in the morning".
Now you can have your oats in no time at all.
Banana Nut Oatmeal Smoothie
Serves 1
3/4 cup almond milk
1 frozen banana, cut into slices
1/2 cup rolled oats
2 Tbsp walnuts
2 tsp honey
Mix all ingredients together in a small blender until a smooth puree is formed. Add more or less almond milk to get desired consistency.
Enjoy!
Nutrition Info per 1 smoothie: 513 calories, 17 g protein (WITHOUT protein powder- yay!), 17 g fat (keep you full until lunch), 69 g carbohydrates, 9 g fiber
Thank you everyone for your Facebook feedback on the newest addition to my blog: Things I Know. I will post weekly links to other bloggers' recipes that I love, and other THINGS THAT I KNOW.
Today I know....
1. I am yearning for an 80 degree day.
Judging by this forecast I have a while to wait.
2. I am newly obsessed with these. I think that I would wear them every day this summer. Every day that I have to put on real clothes that is. As I type this I notice that it has started snowing. Good grief.
3. I have a thing for avocados lately. Not that that's a new thing. Fun fact: I had never eaten an avocado until I met my SoCal-grown hubby 10 years ago. That's 21 years of my life wasted.
4. Based on this avocado obsession I make this for lunch a lot. Simple goodness.
5. I spend a good portion of each day planning what my baby girl's first foods will be and in what order. Dietitian brain on overdrive. I think I am starting with butternut squash in a couple of weeks. EXCITING! I am hoping her first word is YUM.
6. I have no idea why this is so darn funny but it cracks me up.
7. Fashion world: if you really want to impress me, please create a nursing top that is as cute as this, but functions like this. Best of luck.
8. I am having this for dinner. Skillet-style. I will let you know how it turns out.
9. I wish I was also having this. I am only human.
10. And that reminds me......these look like a healthful, wonderful thing.
Some things are just meant to be.
This is one of them.
All the nutrition of kale with the zing of capers and healthful fats of olive oil and pine nuts.
Kale and Caper Pesto
Serves 12
5 cups kale leaves, stems discarded, leaves chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
3 Tbsp capers, drained
Zest from one lemon
3 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
3 Tbsp pine nuts
Place all ingredients into a large food processor and mix until a smooth puree is formed. Add a few drops of water as needed to form desired consistency.
Toss with pasta or serve on fish or chicken. Will keep covered in refrigerator for 3-4 days.
Nutrition Info per 1 1/2 Tbsp: 66 calories, 5 g fat (3 g monounsaturated, 1 g polyunsaturated), 1.5 g protein, 3 g carbohydrates, 1 g fiber
Wait wait wait! You can actually control the amount of alarms in this chili.
But my love likes things spicy (duh, he likes me!) so I gave mine all five alarms.
And then I consumed at least 60 oz of water during dinner.
At least I'm hydrated.
Five Alarm Five Bean Chili with Yams
Serves 7
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 yellow onion, coarsely chopped
2 yams, cubed
1 jalapeno, seeded and finely diced
2 cans diced tomatoes with juice
1 can low sodium chili beans (with juice/seasoning)
1 can butter beans, drained and rinsed
1 can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can kidney beans, YEP drained and rinsed
1/2 cup diced hot fire roasted green chiles (canned)
3 cups tomato broth (made from tomato bouillon- in your Mexican aisle!)
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 Tbsp chili powder
1/2 Tbsp chipotle chili powder
1/4 tsp liquid smoke
1/3 tsp cayenne (this is where you control your alarms- 1/3 tsp is pretty darn spicy)
2 Tbsp cornstarch
Mix all ingredients except for cornstarch in your slow cooker. Cook on high for 4 hours OR on low for 7-8 hours.
In final hour of cooking, remove 1 cup of liquid from chili and whisk cornstarch into it. Pour liquid back into chili and mix well.
Nutrition Info per ~1 1/2 cups: 295 calories, 1.5 g fat, 13 g protein, 49 g carbohydrates, 13 g fiber
You know those chocolate-covered-nut-rolled frozen bananas that you get at Disneyland? I'm a fan.
This bread is sort of like that.
Without the lines and velour sweatsuits.
Chocolate-Covered Banana Bread
Makes one loaf
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup cake flour
1/2 cup good quality unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup white sugar
1/3 cup light brown sugar
1 egg
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 cups mashed bananas
1/4 cup milk (I used unsweetened vanilla almond milk)
5 oz dark chocolate, melted
1/4 cup mini chocolate chips
1/4 cup chopped hazelnuts
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9x5" loaf pan with baking spray.
In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flours, cocoa powder, and baking powder.
In a larger mixing bowl, use a mixer to combine sugars, egg, vanilla, milk, and mashed bananas. Mix in dry ingredients by hand, just until combined. Fold in melted chocolate until evenly mixed.
Pour batter into the prepared loaf pan, then sprinkle mini chocolate chips and chopped hazelnuts onto batter, using the back of a spoon to lightly press them in.
Bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before removing from pan and slicing.
