More Egg White Ideas or how to use up those left over veggies

Consistently, some of my top read posts are those related to breakfast.  This tells me that like me, many of you are looking for quick, easy, and healthy ways to start your day.  As I've mentioned, I have an egg white breakfast treat 4-5 times a week so I'm always looking for new variations.

Recipe for Olive and Feta Turkey Burgers

Last year, I made some Greek salad bison burgers that turned out great.  This recipe is similar but made with lean ground turkey.  These also turned out "really tasty" according to Mr. ELEB.  I would agree!

Recipe for Curried Chicken with Peanuts

As I recently mentioned, we've been eating a fair number of Asian themed meals lately.  They are quick to put together-usually from stuff on hand.  They are also tasty and healthy.  So I find it's hard to go wrong!  Take this recipe for example. Tender chicken, salty peanuts, a subtle curry/coconut milk background and a little pop from the green peas stirred in at the end.  Simple and pretty perfect!

Recipe for Gingered Salmon

I'm dying to do this recipe again.  It was very easy and very satisfying.  Bonus:  also good for you!  I saw a recipe on some website for a gingered salmon served with cucumber and radish salad but despite searching online, I can't find it again!!!!  So I did what all home cooks do-winged it.

Recipe for Black Bean Salad

This is a great side dish for chicken fajitas. If you don't want to bother roasting the peppers, I've also made this successfully using store bought roasted red peppers.

Recipe for Whole Wheat Spaghetti with Sesame Salmon and Spinach

Here's a great recipe for when you want to get something on the table quickly but you want to stay on the healthier side of things.  In under thirty minutes you can put this dish together, serve it, and be ready to receive the accolades that will surely be sent your way!

Recipe for Salsa Turkey Pasta

Mr. ELEB is training for a half marathon and wanted a bit more carbs in some of our meals.  We both like whole grain pasta so I created another baked pasta recipe inspired by my December Secret Recipe Club recipe.

Recipe for Simply Baked Pasta-Secret Recipe Club

Mmmm.  Little pillows of ricotta cheese (no not mashed potatoes!) on top of whole grain pasta, sauce, pepper jack cheese, beef - what's not to like?  That's what I thought when I was browsing through Stacy's blog Every Little Thing and saw her "wing it" recipe for baked pasta.  She was in the midst of an exercise to eat on $60/week and threw this together based on what she had on hand.  Perfect-I do that a lot too, probably why I was drawn to this recipe.  It's Secret Recipe Club time!  

Recipe for Pan-Cooked Vegetables with Crunchy Fish

Once you get the veggies grated for this dish, it is a snap to pull together.  Super flavorful and very satisfying!  This recipe is based on Mark Bittman's recipe by the same name-I love his recipes and enjoy The Food Matters Cookbook immensely.  If you are fortunate enough to have the cookbook, the recipe is on page 440, but if not I also found it on line and the link is below. 

Recipe for Pear and Prosciutto Appetizer

When I move to San Francisco, one of my neighbors ended up being a co-worker and good friend.  She is part Italian and introduced me to prosciutto wrapped melon which we used to lap up as an afternoon snack with a glass of wine on our roof top deck (on those days when you could enjoy the sun outside in San Francisco without a coat on).  The light and salty flavor of the prosciutto complemented the sweetness of the melon perfectly.  Those Italians know how to do food right!


Now in Maui, we can enjoy the outdoors pretty much any day we like (don't hate me!).  I still love prosciutto wrapped melon and thought it would be perfect as a nibble for when our friends were coming over to do some trip planning.  (Oh, and also some wine drinking).  However, I couldn't find a decent melon to save my life, so I improvised with the pears.   Turns out, the Mr. of the couple doesn't like ANY melon...things work out for a reason sometimes-I've learned not to fight it!  And the pears were beautiful with the prosciutto!

Recipe for Cauli-Kale "Surprise"

Have you ever had colcannon?  It's mashed potatoes and cabbage, of Irish roots I believe.  There was a restaurant in San Francisco that served it frequently and I grew to love it-made me feel less guilty about eating potatoes!


When I was on the South Beach diet, a favorite was South Beach "Surprise", mashed cauliflower with Laughing Cow cheese.  We still eat a lot of it.  Mr. ELEB likes it and it is one of the only ways I'll eat cauliflower.  I have roasted some from time to time and can eat that.  Oh, and I love cauliflower soup! And I loved the cauliflower sformato I made a while ago.  OK, I guess I like cauliflower.


So, all that by way of introduction of how I came up with this recipe.  I had a head of cauli and some kale.  I had Laughing Cow, but opted instead to use herbed goat's cheese.

Recipe for Quick Broccoli Slaw

This is so quick, easy and tasty it should be in everyone's recipe file.  I have a wonderful recipe for a broccoli salad (I'll share next time I make it) but it is a bit labor intensive, not something you can throw together in a hurry.  Like when you have people coming over for dinner in an hour.   And you are driving home and realize you forgot to think about a side dish/salad when you were excitedly throwing the ingredients for slow cooker steak sammies into the crock that morning.  And you don't have anything resembling a vegetable in the fridge.  And you haven't showered yet... Okay, you get the picture.  When this happens to you, run to the nearest store and pick up these four ingredients to throw together a very satisfying Quick Broccoli Slaw.

Recipe for Slow Cooker Steak Sammies

Here's another good recipe from A Year of Slow Cooking.  I'm all in to quick and easy these days and this recipe hits all its marks.  Two ingredients in the slow cooker (plus salt and pepper); seven hours later-a flavorful, aromatic, tender pile of beef and peppers just waiting to be plopped on some healthy whole wheat buns with some provolone or pepper Jack cheese.  Yummy!

Recipe for Red Wine and Garlic Portabellas Over Whole Wheat English Muffins

When we had friends visiting recently, I pulled a bunch of stuff out of the fridge for a pot luck lunch.  I had some portabellas that needed to be used and came up with this recipe.  Everyone loved it and insisted I write it up for the blog, so here you go!  This is a rich and filling veggie dish that works for lunch or dinner.  I’m also going to try the mushies on top of whole wheat pizza sometime.

Recipe for Mediterranean Crunch Salad

Here’s a healthy and hearty salad that serves a crowd.  It is modified slightly from a Whole Foods recipe.  I used chard instead of kale and made a basil-feta dressing instead of just dressing it with red wine vinegar.  It definitely needs the dressing for my tastes.  This keeps well for several days in the fridge.

Recipe for Asparagus Soup Seasoned with Zatar

Ever heard of Zatar?  I've seen it mentioned in receipes but hadn't found where to buy it until I got the wonderful opportunity to stop by a Penzy's Spices retail store in Menlo Park, California during our recent trip to San Francisco.  I learned about Penzy's when a friend gave me a selection of Barbecue spices from them a few months ago.  I really like the spices and have gazed longingly at Penzy's wonderful selection of products online.  So when I found out there was a store in Menlo Park, I added it to our agenda.  Well, my agenda.   Mr. ELEB visited a running shoe store while I browsed and shopped to my heart's content.

Recipe for Seared Scallops Over Brown Rice and Veggie Salad

Since returning from our recent trip, Mr. ELEB and I have been trying to get back on a healthy eating and exercise plan.  We're doing pretty good-he's actually out for a bike ride as I am typing up this recipe and I just got back from a nice long power walk on the beach, following a twelve mile bike ride yesterday.  On the trip, we had good intentions regarding exercise-packed what we needed to work out because we knew we'd be eating most of our meals at restaurants-however, we just didn't execute!  We did get alot of walking done in NY but...

So I'm working on some nutritious, delicious meals that will fuel our exercise and help us lose those *few* pounds we both gained on the trip.  We really liked this meal.  It was quick, easy to put together, tasty, and has lots of good carbs from veggies and brown rice, and protein from the scallops.

Recipe for Quick Asparagus Soup

Asparagus...I always feel a little guilty throwing away the stems after I trim them.  I give them a pretty severe chop because I really only like the tops of the asparagus, not the stems.  So I was very happy to find this idea over at Green Lite Bites.  Roni always has some good ideas on her blog and this one is a winner!  Guilt assuaged. 

Recipe for Baked Goat's Cheese

I had baked goat’s cheese years ago in a tapas restaurant, probably in San Francisco, and have loved it ever since.  It’s easy to prepare and is delicious spread on crusty bread.  It is best bubbly hot out of the oven (be careful!) but is also good room temp.  The better quality of cheese you buy, the better the experience.

Ingredients:
4 oz. good quality goat's cheese
1/4 cup homemade or store bought pesto


Method:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.


Place goat's cheese on oven proof dish and pour pesto over cheese. 

Bake for 25 minutes or until browning and bubbly. 

Depending on the pesto you use, you may have to carefully pour off some of the excess olive oil that bakes out during cooking.  Before serving, stir any remaining oil back in to the pesto sauce.

Serve with crusty whole grain bread or crackers.

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Recipe for Nutty Cheese Ball



If you need to put a quick snack or appetizer together and you want it to be on the healthy side of things, look no further.  Adapted from Mark Bittman’s Cheese-Nut Balls (Mark Bittman, The Food Matters Cookbook, Simon and Schuster, 2010, p 57.), this is more nut than cheese, but has enough cheese to keep things interesting. (On line recipe here if you don't own the cookbook)

Makes 32 TBSP, each approximately 62 calories, 5 grams fat, 2 grams carbs, 1 gram fiber and 2.5 grams protein; 2 WW Points+

 Ingredients:

2 cups roasted, salted almonds

Juice of ½ a lemon

1 tsp paprika

Pinch each of kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

2 ounces crumbled extra sharp cheddar cheese

2 thin slices of prosciutto, chopped and pan fried until crispy

Chopped fresh basil

½ cup water

Slivered almonds for decoration (optional)

Method:

Pulse the nuts in a food processor until finely chopped. 

Add lemon juice, paprika, cheeses, prosciutto, salt and pepper and water. 

Process until well blended and creamy.

Shape into a flat disk and sprinkle the chopped basil all over, pressing in lightly.  Top with a few slivered almonds.

Wrap up in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm.  Serve with cucumber rounds, whole grain baguette, or crackers.

A nice switch up from a "normal" cheese ball with lots of cheese and a bit of nuts, to a nice mouthful of cheesy flavored nut spread!  Mark Bittman made his with blue cheese instead of the cheddar.  I think you could use any cheese with a high flavor value.  Other additions instead of the prosciutto or in addition to would be dried cranberries, chopped roasted red peppers or pimientos, or olives…anything your heart desires!

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