Veggie Pepper Jack Panini

**Made in a Panini Press!

Ingredients:

• 2 slices, whole grain organic bread
• 1/2 yellow bell pepper
• 1/4 cup red onion, feathered (cut)
• 1/4 cup sliced crimini mushrooms
• tomato, 3 slices
• micro green, 
• heart of palm, sliced
• 1/2 small carrot, grated
• pepper jack cheese slice
• mayo and relish (for spread)
• coconut oil

Cut the 1/2 bell pepper in half again down the center.

In a small pan drop about a teaspoon of coconut oil and let it melt completely: saute bell pepper, feathered onion and sliced crimini mushrooms. Add a dash of salt. Cook until onion and pepper are tender. Set aside.

The Spread: in a small dish, combine 1 tbsp mayo and 1 tbsp relish.

Heat up panini press.
Butter one side of each slice of bread.

Place first slice of bread, butter side down, onto the panini press.

Layering:

1. Spread
2. Bell Pepper/onion/mushrooms mix
3. Micro Greens
4. Heart of Palm
5. Tomato
6. Carrot
7. Spread
8. Cheese
9. Second slice of bread, butter side up

Grill until cheese has melted!

Spinach and Artichoke Dip Pizza

Check out my newest creation!!! It's a Spinach and Artichoke Dip Pizza aka the perfect appetizer...
This was my idea for a fun, quick meal that my boyfriend and I could enjoy before going to the movie theater. This was a new take on my original Spinach and Artichoke Dip --I did not use as much spinach as I normally do...and I also added a few extra ingredients that simply made this pizza taste amazing!

Ingredients:

• 1 pack of Udi's Gluten Free Pizza Crust 
• 1 bag organic baby spinach
• 1 bag frozen artichoke hearts (you will only be needing about half the bag)
• 1/4 red bell pepper
• 1/4 yellow onion
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 carrot
• 1.5 cups grated pepper jack cheese (I like to buy the block and grate it myself)
• 4oz cream cheese, soft
• salt/pepper/smoked paprika

Let the artichoke hearts that you will be using aside so they can defrost.
Also, leave the crusts out of the freezer for faster baking.

Wash and chop uncooked spinach.
Finely chop onion and bell pepper
Mince the garlic
Grate the carrot
Once the artichoke hearts have defrosted enough, give them a quick chop

In a large sauce pan or saute pan, add 1 tbs butter and let it melt.

• Add garlic and let it cook for about 1-2 minutes, without burning or toasting.
• Add the onion and bell pepper. Cook for about 4-5 minutes, or until tender.
• Add spinach and cook down until wilted.
• Add chopped artichoke hearts, grated carrot and. Mix together.
• Add cheese and let it melt, stirring constantly so the cheese does not stick to the pan.

• Finally add cream cheese.

Mix everything together until creamy. Then go ahead and season with salt, pepper and smoked paprika! I personally love smoked paprika so I was not shy with it :)

As I always say, taste test so you know you've got it right!

Preheat oven at 375 (pizza crust instructions)
Set both crusts on a tray, and spread as much of the dip as you want on top. (I did not use ALL of it, I did have some left over that I put away in the fridge for another day)

Bake for 5-7 minutes

Broccoli Fritters

 Here is a delicious and easy recipe I got from my friend Nicole's blog Food I Make My Soldier
She's got a great low-carb website filled with tons of amazing recipes! 


Ingredients

4 broccoli crowns, grated

1/2 red pepper chopped
1 egg

1/4 onion chopped

1 1/2 cup almond meal (I did not have any available so I used all purpose flour)

1 Tbsp garlic powder

1/2 Tbsp red pepper flakes

salt and pepper 

 

** I has some yellow corn and grated carrots that needed to be used to I added them into the mix

 

 

 

 

Directions

First, heat your pan over medium heat and add a drizzle of olive oil. Once hot, add your chopped onion and red pepper and saute for about 3 minutes. You want them to be sort of tender, but not cooked completely.

In a large bowl, add your sauted onion and pepper, and all the rest of the fritter ingredients. Mix together, and spoon the mixture into the same pan and flatten them out a bit. You want these to look like pancakes and be around the same size as your burgers.

Once they are all cooked, put to the side.

 

Grilled Artichokes

Here is a really simple and delicious side dish! I got these little Globe Artichokes from Trader Joes, I paid $2.29 for 4!

Instructions:

• wash artichokes and place in a pot side by side, facing up (stems down)
• fill pot with about 2-3 inches of water and set to boil.
• once the water is boiling, turn the heat down a bit and let them simmer for about 30-40 minutes.
• test them by trying to pull out one of the middle leaves. If it falls off easily, you know your artichokes are done!

Take them out of the hot water and allow them to cook for about 10 minutes.

In the mean time you want to prepare your Garlic-Butter sauce:

• melt down half stick of unsalted butter completely, on low heat (you don't want to heat the butter too much, just melt it).
• turn off heat
• add salt and pepper
• minced garlic
• smoked paprika
• mix together

Once your artichokes are cool enough to handle, cut them in half long-ways.
Place on a platter, inside of artichoke facing up.
Drizzle Garlic-Butter sauce!

Heat up the grill (high)
Place artichokes facing down and grill for just a few minutes.  Remove from heat and ENJOY!

Chickpea Salad Spread

This is the PERFECT vegetarian version of the famous "Chicken Salad"! and its GLUTEN-FREE!!!

Ingredients:

• 1 lb dry chickpeas (garbanzo beans) 
• 1 carrot, shredded
• 2-3 celery stalks
• 1/2 red onion, chopped
• 3 hard boiled eggs
• mayonnaise
• 1 tbsp mustard
• smoked paprika
• salt and pepper

How to prepare the dry chickpeas:

• First, you want to soak them overnight- rinse and place in a pot full of cold water and cover.
• The next day, drain the already soaked chickpeas and place in a large empty pot.
• Fill the pot with water, enough to completely submerge the chickpeas, and add more to have about 1 inch of water above them.
• Set to boil for about 45 minutes or more.
• You want to cook them until they are very tender. You will be mashing them with a fork once they are done, so you need to make sure they cook through enough.
• Taste them! (as I ALWAYS say)

• Once you have cooked the chickpeas, drain the water and place them in an empty mixing bowl or platter.
• Mash them with a fork; not completely mashed (we are not making hummus) but enough that it's still spread-like yet chunky at the same time.

Final Instructions:
In the empty mixing bowl, add the semi-mashed chickpeas, carrots, celery, onion, egg.
Add about 2 tbsp mayonnaise, salt, pepper, paprika and mix well together.

Let is cool in the fridge before eating! Goes great with gluten-free crackers or bread.

Red Lentil Stew

Oh Red Lentil Stew, you are my absolute favorite! Here is one of my most favorite meals to cook, eat and then eat some more. Red Lentils have become my choice over Brown Lentils, the flavor is mild, light yet still very filling. They are a lot easier to cook with as well (they don't take as long and soaking is not always necessary), and the consistency of the lentils when cooked makes the stew nice n' thick, just how I like it!

Red Lentil stew can become a great recipe for those following a Vegan Diet, with no dairy and no meat, this vegetarian recipe is ideal! My stews never turn out the same, mainly because I tend to switch up the ingredients all the time since I like to use any left over veggies that seem fitting for this meal. This last time I used some new ingredients: red bell pepper, yellow bell pepper, yellow corn and crimini mushrooms...and still used the original ingredients: onion, celery and carrot.

It took me about 10 minutes to get everything chopped up and ready to go, cooking time takes around 30 minutes.



Ingredients:

• 1 lb dried red lentils (soaked over night)
• 2 sticks of celery, chopped
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 1 large carrot, sliced thin
• 1/2 yellow bell pepper, diced
• 1/4 red bell pepper, diced
• 5 long slices of red bell pepper 
• 1 cup yellow corn (frozen)
• 1/2 cup crimini mushroom, chopped
• 2 cups vegetable stock
• curry powder
• smoked paprika
• salt
• pepper
• dry bay flakes

Take out a large stock pot

1. Drop 1 large tsp of butter into the pot, over medium-high heat.
2. Once it melts down throw in your veggies and cook for about 5-10 minutes- or until onion is translucent. 
3. Toss in a bit of salt, just to releases some of the juices.
4. Add 2 cups of vegetable broth, lentils, bring to a boil.
5. Add 2 cups of water (or enough to cover the veggies and lentils), bring back to a boil.
6. Add 1 tsp of paprika, 1 tsp of curry...salt and pepper.
7. Taste test, and add more seasonings if you'd like. 
8. Throw in the red bell pepper slices.
9. Cook over medium-low for about 10-15 minutes, all the flavors must come together!
10. It is ready when lentils and veggies are tender.

Spinach Artichoke Dip

Just enjoyed the first weekend in the new apartment, and things could not have turned out better! So many things have been accomplished; art and picture frames have been hung up on the walls, bedroom has been cleared out of boxes, necessary kitchen gadgets have been purchased...and finally, housewarming party was a blast!

Friday night, Matt and I invited a handful of our closest friends along with my sisters and my parents. It was time to celebrate, we'd gone through our first week in the new place and things were chaotic. We were so looking forward to just being able to kick back and relax that evening with delicious food, good drinks and loving family.

Not only were we celebrating our housewarming, we were also having an early birthday party for my dad! Balloons were hung up and a HAPPY BIRTHDAY BANNER as well!!! No one told him that we were doing this, so he was very surprised :)

On the MENU: 
My famous Spinach and Artichoke Dip! This one is always a hit at parties, and you can never have too much of it.


Ingredients:

• 3 bags of Organic baby spinach (around 170g each bag)
• 12 oz bag of frozen artichoke hearts (I get the ones from Trader Joe's)
• 16 oz pack of cream cheese
• 2 cups graded Pepper Jack cheese
• 1/4 stick of butter
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• Salt and Pepper

Preheat oven at 375 degrees

Tools:

• Large pan or skillet type
• Square or round Pyrex

Method:

1. Wash and rough chop spinach.
2. In a large pan or skillet, add a tsp of butter. Once butter has melted, add minced garlic and cook for about 3 minutes over medium-high heat.
3. Add spinach and cook down completely.
4. Add cream cheese, teaspoon by teaspoon, melting it. Make sure there are no clumps of cream cheese left over.
5. Add cheese and allow it to melt completely.
6. Season with salt and pepper.
7. Transfer dip into the Pyrex dish and bake for ten minutes.
8. Finally, add 1/4 stick of butter, mix it in until it melts. Then bake for another 10 minutes.
9. Broil to brown surface of the dip (optional)

Happy Cooking! 

Dani Katarina

Matt and my Daddy-O

Vegan Stir Fry

Easy to make meal that's ready in 30 minutes or less!

Ingredients:

• 1 small broccoli crown (equal to about 1.5 cups of the florets)
• 1 medium sized carrot, sliced
• 1/2 pounds snow peas
• 1/2 small green bell pepper, thinly sliced.
• 1/2 small onion, thinly sliced.
• 2 packs Wildwood Pasta Slim Spaghetti (it's gluten free!)
• 1 pack Gardein Mandarin Orange Crispy Chick'n
• Soy Sauce
• Coconut Oil
• Peanut Oil

Steps...

Cook Mandarin Chick'n according to instructions.

1. In a large wok or fry pan drop a table spoon of coconut oil
2. Med/Hi heat
3. Make sure all the veggies are chopped and ready to go
4. Once coconut oil has melted, throw in the veggies and begin to toss
5. Toss for about 5 minutes, occasionally
6. Turn heat to low 
7. Add a tsp of peanut oil
8. Add a tbsp of soy sauce
9. Mix and cover for about 5 minutes, letting the veggies steam cook for a bit
10. Prepare "Pasta Slim Spaghetti" according to instructions
11. Add to veggies
12. Once the chick'n is done (sauced and everything) add it to the stir fry
13. Cook all together for another 5-8 minutes

Vegetable Frittata

Here is another new recipe! I am so excited about this one, it is definitely going down in the book as a favorite.

Unlike the omelet, Frittata's can be baked (as well as made on a skillet), this egg base deep dish is perfect for someone who doesn't have a lot of time on their hands to be preparing complicated meals. Just throw in your favorite veggies, dash them with some seasoning and voilà!

Here is what you'll need: Serves 4-6

• 10 eggs
• 3 mini red potatoes, diced
• 1/2 cup red bell pepper, diced
• a handful of fresh broccoli florets, chopped  
• 1 small zucchini, diced
• 5 small crimini mushrooms, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped  
• salt, pepper, garlic powder 
• kale bunch & 1 Roma tomato (for the salad)
• lemon and olive oil (for the salad)  

Steps:

1. heat a large saute pan over MED/HI heat
2. melt a teaspoon of coconut oil on pan
3. add chopped garlic and lightly cook for a couple of minutes
4. add all of your veggies and toss 
5. saute veggies for about 10 minutes, or until potato and broccoli are tender (should still have a crunch--not mushy)  
6. season with salt, pepper and garlic powder 
7. set aside 
8. PREHEAT OVEN AT 350
9. in a separate bowl, crack eggs and whisk
10. lightly butter a square Pyrex to prevent any sticking. 
11. pour eggs and add veggies, mix together.
12. bake for 35 minutes
13. optional: after the 35 minutes, take out dish and sprinkle some sharp cheddar cheese, bake for another 3-4 minutes.   

Let sit out of the oven for about 5 minutes.

The Kale Salad!

First, here is a little info on this amazing leafy green!

Kale

What's New and Beneficial About Kale

• Kale can provide you with some special cholesterol-lowering benefits if you will cook it by steaming. The fiber-related components in kale do a better job of binding together with bile acids in your digestive tract when they've been steamed. When this binding process takes place, it's easier for bile acids to be excreted, and the result is a lowering of your cholesterol levels. Raw kale still has cholesterol-lowering ability—just not as much.
• Kale's risk-lowering benefits for cancer have recently been extended to at least five different types of cancer. These types include cancer of the bladder, breast, colon, ovary, and prostate. Isothiocyanates (ITCs) made from glucosinolates in kale play a primary role in achieving these risk-lowering benefits.
• Kale is now recognized as providing comprehensive support for the body's detoxification system. New research has shown that the ITCs made from kale's glucosinolates can help regulate detox at a genetic level.
• Researchers can now identify over 45 different flavonoids in kale. With kaempferol and quercetin heading the list, kale's flavonoids combine both antioxidant and anti-inflammatory benefits in way that gives kale a leading dietary role with respect to avoidance of chronic inflammation and oxidative stress.

 (learn more at www.whfoods.com)

  

• wash a handful of Kale leaves
• cut out the stems (either toss or save for a saute!)
• lightly steam the leaves for about 3 minutes, without letting them wilt
• after, let them cool in the fridge for about 10 minutes
• slice some tomatoe
• before serving, pour a little olive oil, lemon and season with salt.   

Grilled Fish Tacos

Now, normally my diet is 100% vegetarian, but every once in a while I like to make some sort of fish dish. Pescatarian.

What you need:

• Swordfish fillets
• corn tortillas
• tomato
• corn
• black beans (I prefer dry and boil them myself)
• cilantro
• lettuce
• mango/papaya salsa
• avocado
•  salt, pepper, garlic powder, cumin

Prep Toppings...

FISH

• season one side of the fish first
• heat a large pan on HIGH heat
• drop a large teaspoon of coconut oil in the pan and allow to melt completely (keep some aside to add to the pan if necessary)
• once hot, place fish (seasoned side down) and cover
• pan fry for about 5 minutes, do not let fish stick to pan
• season second side of fish before flipping
• pan fry on second side for about 3 minutes

Warm the tortillas on a small pan. Let the fish sit for a little bit, then ENJOY!