Field Greens with Blood Oranges, Pistachios and Pomegranates

This salad is very tasty. Blood oranges are a seasonal fruit mostly found around Christmas. They can be purchased at the Real Foods Store when they are available. However, when not avaibable regular oranges work but they don't have the rich color and flavor of the Blood oranges. If you use regular oranges, you may want to use some red food coloring to enhance the color.

Dressing: ( would probably recommend doubling or tripling this recipe and have a little extra on hand)

3 Tbs. fresh blood orange juice
1 Tbs. unseasoned rice vinegar ( used seasoned rice vinegar and it was fine)
1 Tbs. agave or honey
3 Tbs. hazelnut oil (This is hard to find, but they sell it at the REAL FOODS STORE. Macadamia nut oil or walnut oil could be substituted)

Mix well.

Salad:

2 blood oranges, sectioned and/ or cut up (or you can use clementines)
field greens ( I used Spring Mix)
pistachios
1/3 Cup fresh pomegranate kernals and/or dried cranberries ( can use other fruit as well. I halved some red grapes and added them)

Serves 4

Jade Pearl Rice with Vegetables

I really love the taste of this rice dish. The Rice is a specialty rice and can be purchased at REAL FOODS.

1 Cup Jade Pearl Rice (Lotus Foods)
1/3 Cup finely cut carrots
1/3 Cup finely cut celery
1/4 Cup fresh parsely, chopped
1/4 Cup grapeseed oil (also available at the health food store)
Herbes de Provence
Real Salt
Beau Monde
Pepper

Cook rice in rice cooker according to directions on package. Meanwhile, using a large sautee pan, sautee carrots and celery in grapeseed oil until slightly tender. Add parsley and 1 tsp. Herbes de Provence - cook a few minutes longer. Once rice is done, add rice to the vegetables and mix well. Season to taste with a little Beau Monde and/or Real Salt and pepper. (If it seems too dry, add a little more oil)

Serves 4

Marinated Flank Steak

These are the recipes from my healthy friend, Sue. This flank steak recipe is very easy and very tasty. The meat is very low in fat so it is healthy too!

Put 1 large flank steak in a gallon ziplock bag or container; cover in marinade. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, turning the bag over after 2 hours.

Broil or barbeque the steak for about 10 minutes on each side or until done to your preference. I would be careful of overcooking as the meat could be dry and tough. Slice in very thin slices cross grain. Serve immediately.

Teriyaki Marinade:

1 C. soy sauce
1/2 C. maple syrup (Sue says this has to be the real stuff-I got it at REAL FOODS)
1/2 C. olive oil
1 T. minced garlic
1 T. minced ginger or 1 1/2 T. ground giner
1 tsp. Real Salt
1 tsp. pepper

Or, you can use Kikkoman Teriyaki sauce instead

( This marinade is delicious on chicken, too!)

Our Favorite Lasagna

This is the recipe I've put together that we all seem to like the most. It makes a ton (I like this because of the leftovers!)

1 pkg. Whole wheat lasagna noodles (better for you, and you really can't tell the difference)
1 16 oz cottage cheese, low fat
1 16 oz ricotta cheese, from skim
1 pkg. sliced provolone cheese
1 pkg. sliced or shredded mozzarella cheese
1 pkg. Parmesan cheese, shredded
2 eggs.
1-2 tbsp. dried Parsley
one small pkg. frozen cut spinach, thawed and drained (I like to squeeze the juice out with paper towels)
1 tsp garlic powder
2 bottle's of your favorite canned tomato sauce (I like either Prego's meat flavored sauce, or classico's Italian sausage sauce)

Directions:
1.Cook noodles according to package directions, do not overcook. let cool.
2. Preheat oven to 350.
2. mix together cottage and ricotta cheeses. Add in eggs, parsley, spinach, and garlic powder. Mix. Then add about 1/4 cup. Parmesan and mix.
3. put a little sauce on the bottom of a deep 9X13 or 11X13. Layer noodles than cottage cheese mixture than provolone and mozzarella then another layer of sauce. repeat 2 or 3 times depending on size of pan. top with more Parmesan cheese.
4. Cook 30-45 minutes. let stand for about 10 mins, and enjoy.

Rice Pudding

I made a ton of brown rice the other day and am trying to use it before we leave town so I just made this and am eating as I post. It turned out sooo yummy, it's very creamy not thick like other recipes I've tried! and it's easy

1 1/2 c. cooked rice (I used brown and it turned out great)
2 c. milk, divided (I ran out of reg, so for the rest I used evaporated)
1/3 c. sugar
1 egg beaten
1 T. butter
1/2 tsp. vanilla
2/3 c. raisins (I didn't add)

Directions:
1. put rice and 1 1/2 cups milk in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil, simmer for 15-20 mins, until it's thick and creamy.
2. add remaining 1/2 cup milk and beaten egg and cook for two more minutes, stirring constantly.
3. remove from heat and add butter, vanilla, and raisins if you use them.

Also, I added about a 1/4 tsp. nutmeg, and that did it for me! it just enhanced the sweetness.

Deep, Dark Chocolate Brownies

Camille made these brownies for Emree's blessing, and they were so good that I actually wanted to make them (I usually don't feel this way about brownies!). Thanks Camille for finding them. Ohh and the recipe came from Melskitchencafe.com

2 sticks (8 oz) butter
8 oz good-quality semisweet chocolate
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
5 large eggs
1/3 cup unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
1/2 tsp salt
2/3 cup all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 13×9 inch metal pan with foil and spray foil with cooking spray. Alternatively, you may use parchment. These are pretty sticky at first!

Melt butter and chocolate in a 3-qt heavy saucepan over low heat, stirring, until smooth. Add 1 cup of the sugar to the hot chocolate mixture. Remove from heat and let cool to lukewarm.

Whisk in remaining 1 cup sugar and vanilla. Whisk in eggs 1 at a time until mixture is glossy and smooth. Whisk in salt and cocoa powder, then add flour and stir until it disappears (do not overbeat).

Spread in pan and bake until a pick inserted in center comes out with crumbs, 25 to 35 minutes. Cool to room temperature then chill for an hour or more. Lift from pan, place on a cutting board, cut into squares.
Makes 1 13×9 inch pan (yield depends on how big you cut your brownies, but they are rich, so small is fine.

My version of California Pizza Kitchen's BLT pizza

We took the kids to CPK awhile back and had their BLT pizza. It was good! I studied it and decided to give it a try.

Your favorite recipe of pizza crust
1-2 T. olive oil
1-2 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed
2-3 tomatoes, sliced thin (I also let them sit on a paper towel for a while so they would get the pizza all soggy)
4-5 strips of precooked bacon, crumbled
shredded mozzarella cheese, how much you like on pizza.
Parmesan cheese (optional)
1 head of chiffonade (thinly sliced) cut romaine lettuce
Favorite ranch dressing (I used and a Caesar ranch dressing, it was great)

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Roll out pizza dough, brush on olive oil and evenly sprinkle garlic. Put on your cheeses. Put on tomatoes and bacon. Bake for 12-15 minutes.

While pizza is cooking toss lettuce with dressing. When the pizza is baked let it cool for a few minutes. Put the lettuce on top and enjoy! This isn't a pizza that you can save for leftovers. The lettuce wilts a little bit after awhile.

Lemon Buttermilk Cake

This recipe is from Joyce....we had it at Marsha's shower and it was soooooo good!!! Thanks Joyce!

2 ½ cups cake flour
 (I used the substitution listed at end of recipe)
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt

¾ cup buttermilk, room temperature

3 tbsp grated lemon zest (about 3 lemons)

¼ cup fresh lemon juice

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 ¾ cups granulated sugar

12 tbsp (1 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, softened

3 large eggs plus 1 egg yolk, room temperature

FROSTING:
3 cups confectioners’ sugar

3 tbsp lemon juice

2 tbsp buttermilk

Adjust oven rack to middle position. Heat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a glass 13 x 9-inch baking pan.
Combine flour, powder, soda and salt in a medium bowl. Combine buttermilk, lemon juice and vanilla.
Beat granulated sugar and lemon zest until moist and fragrant, about 1 minute. Reserve 1/4 cup of sugar mixture; cover and set aside. Add butter to remaining sugar mixture and beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add eggs and yolk, one at a time, until incorporated. Reduce speed to low. Add dry ingredients in 3 additions, alternating with buttermilk mixture in 2 additions. Mix until smooth about 30 seconds.
Scrape batter into prepared pan and smooth top. Bake until cake is golden brown and toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, 25 to 35 minutes. Transfer cake to wire rack and let cool 10 minutes.
For the glaze:
 While cake cools, whisk confectioner’s sugar, lemon juice and buttermilk until smooth. Gently spread over warm cake. Sprinkle evenly with reserved sugar. Cool completely, at least 2 hours.
Variations:
 Substitute for cake flour- 2 cups plus 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour and 5 tablespoons corn starch.

Glazed Lemon Cookies

Apparently these are delicious. I took them to a wedding shower, without really tasting them BTW, and (not to brag just illustrating their deliciousness) they were the hit of the night. I should have doubled the recipe because they were seriously gone in 10 minutes. Everyone wanted the recipe. So I'm sharing with you. (These look a lot harder than they are, these are just extremely detailed instructions.

MAKES ABOUT 30Lemon Cookies

3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 Tbsp. Lemon Zest (about 2 Lemons)
2 Tbsp. Lemon juice (about 1 lemon)
1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking powder
12 Tbsp. ( 1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2” cubes
1 lg. egg yolk
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Lemon Glaze
1 Tbsp. softened cream cheese
2 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar, sifted
yellow food coloring (optional)
lemon zest (optional)

Directions Cookies:
1. For the cookies: Adjust oven racks so cookies can cook in the middle; heat oven to 375 degrees F. (Note: I'd wait until you take dough out of the freezer.)

Method 1 : Food Processor
2. In the bowl of food processor, process granulated sugar and zest until it looks damp and zest is thoroughly incorporated, about 30 seconds.
Scatter butter chunks over. Pulse until mixture resembles fine cornmeal, about 15 one-second pulses.In a measuring cup or small bowl, beat lemon juice, yolk, and vanilla until combined.With machine running, add juice/yolk mixture in slow, steady stream (process should take about 10 seconds); continue processing until dough begins to form ball, 10 to 15 seconds longer. Continue to step 3.

Method 2: Stand or Hand Mixer
2. Use softened butter.Rub the sugar and lemon zest together with your fingers until wet and sandy. Cream softened butter and sugar until fluffy. Add the egg yolk, vanilla, and lemon juice. Beat until combined. Add the dry ingredients in several additions, mixing well after each addition. The dough will be crumbly.Continue to step 3.

3. Turn dough and any dry bits out onto counter (or board); working quickly, gently knead the dough together to ensure no dry bits remain and dough is homogeneous. (Note: My dough was really wet, I think it's because I didn't really measure my lemon juice and used the juice of two lemons. Anyways if it is wet roll it around in extra flour until it's not so sticky.) Roll dough into a large disk.Wrap disk in plastic wrap. Chill dough until firm and cold, about 45 minutes in freezer or 2 hours in refrigerator. (Note: don't skimp on this part, if the dough isn't cold enough it'll be really hard to work with.)

4. Spray baking sheets with nonstick spray. Remove dough from wrapping and shape into 1" balls. Place on baking sheet, spacing them about 1" apart. Place dough back in freezer between bakings.

5. Bake until edges are barely brown, about 10-12 minutes. Cool cookies on baking sheet about 5 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire rack, or wax paper and cool to room temperature before glazing.

Glaze
1. Whisk cream cheese and lemon juice until no lumps remain. Add powdered sugar and whisk until smooth. (Note: I added yellow food coloring to my glaze so it would look more lemony and less eggy.)

2. When cookies have cooled, working one at a time, hold them with your fingertips on the side and dip top of cookie into glaze. Shake of excess glaze as your lifting cookie out. Turn cookie upright and give it a little shake to smooth out glaze. (Note: because I was taking them to a shower I wanted people to know they were lemon, so I added zest on top. Make sure you put the zest on right after you glaze them because the glaze dries fast.) Let glazed cookies dry at room temperature, about 1 hour.

Honey Lime Fruit Salad

I got this recipe from here.

I was surprised at how good this really was. Such simple ingredients made an old boring fruit salad into something worth sharing. I also liked how the few ingredients made it special but the salad is still healthy.

*Note: This fruit salad is best served right away (or at least within an hour of making) because the strawberries tend to stain the light colored fruit. It doesn’t affect the taste at all but is a slight bummer for presentation. I just added the strawberries right before serving.

*Serves 4

1 (20 oz.) can pineapple chunks, drained well
1 can mandarin oranges, drained well
2-3 ripe kiwi, peeled and sliced into thick half moons
1 cup green grapes, halved
1 cup strawberries, quartered
Zest from one lime, about 1 tablespoon
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon poppy seeds
1 banana, sliced into thick half moons (optional) This was my addition

Combine the fruit in a medium-large serving bowl. Add the lime zest and poppy seeds, if using, and gently toss. Drizzle the honey over the fruit and again, gently mix until the fruit is evenly coated with the honey. Serve.