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 Smoky Tomatillo Sauce

My friends make the most amazing herb sauces to go with grilled meats.  One is a cilantro flavor bomb and the other is an amazing lime and tomatillo sauce.  I need to get the recipes, but in the mean time, I came up with my own flavor bomb-if you love cumin, you’ll love this sauce.  We had it with grilled pork chops the other night and it was amazing!  The ground nuts add a pleasant twist!

Time: 5 minutes plus chilling time

Yield: 1 ½ cups

Ingredients:

• 1 can, 12 oz, whole tomatillos, drained
• ½ cup cilantro leaves
• Juice of ½ lemon or lime
• 2 tsp smoked cumin (I’m sure it would be good with regular cumin too)
• ½ cup roasted almonds
• Salt to taste

Method:

• Place all ingredients in food processor and process until well combined.
• Chill for one hour before serving.

I’m gazing at the left over sauce and coming up with all kinds of ideas to use it.  I’ll let you know my favorites!  Do you make any herb sauces?  Please share!

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Recipe for Slow Cooker Pork Verde



We had a hankering recently for Mexican but wanted something different than our “go to” of chicken fajitas, and pork shoulder roasts were on sale.  A popular recipe that was floating around during my South Beach days was Chicken Escondido, a delicious chicken cooked on the stove top in salsa verde, tomatoes and black beans.  So I thought I’d use some of the components of that recipe in the slow cooker with the pork.  I’ve never cooked a pork shoulder roast in the slow cooker but have read lots about how tender and flavorful the meat is so I thought I’d give it a try.  Muy bueno!

100th Post! Recipe for Bacon and Cumin Lentils

I just noticed that with this recipe, I have 100 posts on my blog!  Woo Hoo!

ANYway, we were getting ready to head to the mainland for the holidays so I wanted to use up what was in the fridge and pantry, including some lentils.  This lentil recipe is another inspiration taken from the pages of “The Flavor Bible”, by Karen Page and Andrew Dornenburg.   The smoky flavors of the bacon and the cumin combine with the lentils, onion and green pepper for a delightful side dish.

Makes 6 generous servings, each approximately 85 calories, 3 grams fat, 10 grams carbs, 3 grams fiber, 5 grams protein;   2 WW Points +

Tasty Tenderloin of Pork with Naan and Tangy Sauce

Recently, I made a version of Alton Brown’s Pork Wellington, a fairly easy and very tasty meal.  Our normal way to eat pork tenderloin however, is grilled with various marinades and/or rubs.  This is the first time I’ve actually written the recipe down, I usually wing it!  You can marinade for an hour or all day.  For a new twist, I served the pork on grilled store bought naan with a tangy sauce (I’m looking for a recipe to make naan at home). 

I hope you’ll try this!  I’ll be sharing more marinades and grilling ideas with you soon.  Would love to hear your favorites for the grill.

Slowcooker Cuban Beans and Rice

Extra post today! My blogging friend Steph at The Cheapskate Cook asked me to participate in her Beans and Rice series.  Check out her blog for some frugal recipes and tips!  Here was my contribution-Cuban Beans and Rice cooked in the slowcooker.

Punched Up Whole Grain Quinoa Salad

I follow one of the blogs on the Whole Foods website and came across a recipe that I thought, with a few tweaks would be right up our alley.  Here is the original recipe.

I used whole grain quinoa (pronounced keen-wa), fresh chicken instead of store bought rotisserie (but that is a great idea if you are pressed for time), added some goodies I thought would punch up the flavors (feta, rice vinegar, cumin, lime) and used red grapes instead of green for a brighter presentation.

I poached the chicken in a flavorful broth (cumin, lemongrass, ginger) and then used the broth to make the quinoa.  It’s a pretty adaptable recipe. You could use other spices, goat cheese instead of feta, orange slices or apple cubes instead of grapes...  Let me know if you try something that works well.

Punched Up Whole Grain Quinoa Salad

Serves 5 as main course; approximately 394 calories, 38 grams carbs, 15 grams fat, 31 grams protein per serving

Ingredients:

1 pound boneless, skinless breast of chicken, sliced into thin strips 

2 cups low sodium chicken broth

1 stalk of lemongrass, sliced thinly

1 TBSP finely chopped ginger

4 tsp ground cumin, divided

Salt

Ground black pepper

1 cup whole grain quinoa

1 ½  cup red seedless grapes, halved

½ cup roasted almonds, chopped roughly

2 TBSP olive oil

2 TBSP rice vinegar

2 oz reduced fat feta cheese, crumbled

2 TBSP fresh lime juice

Lime slices, whole grapes, whole almonds for garnish (optional)

Method:

Bring the broth, lemongrass, ginger, 2 tsp of cumin, and black pepper to a boil and add chicken.  Bring back to a boil and turn off heat.  Let chicken soak in broth for 15 minutes, remove chicken and strain and save broth.

Rinse quinoa first if so directed.  My whole grain quinoa doesn’t require rinsing.  Make quinoa per package directions, using the reserved broth as the liquid (add more chicken broth if needed).  

Move to serving bowl to cool.

When quinoa has cooled, add chicken, feta, grapes and almonds.  Whisk together olive oil, rice vinegar, and remaining 2 tsp cumin. Add dressing to quinoa mix and stir gently to combine.  Drizzle lime juice over salad and add salt and pepper as needed.

Serve at room temperature or chilled, alone or over chopped greens (lettuce, chard, arugula…).  Tangy feta and lime, smoky cumin, sweet grapes, tender chicken, satisfying quinoa....all good and good for you!

I served this at room temperature alongside my Asian Chard Salad.

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