Quinoa Salad #2

This is inspired by a salad made at one of my favorite local restaurants. I think they added a lovely piece of salmon to the mix, which I chose to omit for this post.  

Start with salad greens freshly washed and torn. 

I used garden-fresh spinach, 

but in the middle of winter when that's not readily available, 

I'll use a bag of mixed baby greens.

 Top with a cup of cooked and cooled quinoa.

 Add 1/2 cup each dried cranberries and dried, diced apricots.

 Top with sunflower seeds (or sliced almonds).

 I tossed this salad with a store-bought champagne vinaigrette. 

Someday I will learn to make my own...

Corn is in Season!

Corn is available everywhere right now: co-workers giving it away, trucks on the side of the road selling it for next to nothing, crates piled high at the local produce stand. 

Well, this is officially my new favorite way fix it. Delicious!

 

 Shuck and wash the corn placing each ear in the center of a square of tin foil. 

 

Squeeze a section of lime over the top.

Top with pat of butter, minced garlic, salt, pepper and cotijas (or feta) cheese*. 

 Roll the foil over the corn and cook on the grill. About 5 minutes. 

 Served here with salmon and couscous.

Cheater method:
(equally delicious)

Prepare corn: shuck, rinse and cook
Saute garlic in butter (one clove/pat per ear of corn), pour over corn
Squeeze sections of lime over corn
Top with salt, pepper and cotijas cheese.

*Note about grilling corn in foil: the cheese tends to stick to the foil.
There are two simple solutions to this problem:
1. top corn with cheese after it has been grilled and removed from foil.
2. scrape cheese off of foil and place onto corn (this solution allows all the flavors to mingle together during the cooking process).

The Only Way I Will Eat A Banana

OR...Stawberry-Banana Shake

So I went to yoga class this morning for the first time in months (Yay Me!). 

I always feel super inspired to be healthier after a yoga session 

(a need to atone for last night's supper of grilled cheese and fries didn't hurt either).

 This is one of my favorite quick and healthy treats. 

 One banana and a cup of strawberries in the blender.

 If you've got 'em, add or substitute other berries as well.

 Add one cup of OJ. 

This provides my liquid and sweetener in one. I don't add any other sugars.

 2 heaping scoops of yogurt (probably about 3/4 cup).

I use plain Greek yogurt, but any will do.

 A handful of ice cubes will help make it frothy.

Blend together. Start with pulses to break up the ice cubes, then puree until smooth. 

This will make two large servings (as seen above) or 4 smaller servings.

Enjoy!

Peach Cobbler

I had a craving this weekend and I totally took care of it! And no, I'm not referring to the addictive fro-yo that has taken this town by storm (I swear, it's laced with something). I'm talking about good ol' home baked peach cobbler here.

Peach cobbler recipe:

3-4 sliced peaches tossed with 3-4 tablespoons of brown sugar

(enough to generously cover your baking dish & compensate for "quality control" tastings)

top with:

2/3 cup oatmeal

1/3 cup brown sugar

3-4 tablespoons cold butter 

(your call on how "lite" this turns out, I tend to side with Paula Deen when it comes to butter)

Now, get your hands in there and combine those ingredients to incorporate the butter. 

Then spread evenly over the peaches. 

Bake at 350 for about 10-15 minutes.

Scoop out a generous helping...

and serve with whipped cream.

(or if you're ravenous like me, just pour the heavy cream un-whipped over the top--

it'll taste the same.)