yummers

here are some recipes i've played with over the last month or so. my kitchen habits tend to be quick, healthy, protein-based and slightly chaotic. meaning, i use what i have in my fridge or garden and figure out a way to make it yum.

health nut hot dogs
serves 2

2 apple-turkey franks (i use ones from trader joe)
mango salsa (i heart whole food's recipe*)
cilantro avocado sauce (leftover from a YUM recipe from heidi swanson at 101 cookbooks.com)
goat cheese to taste
4 pitas

make the cilantro avocado sauce (i used it for a quinoa recipe at the same website the day before - the sauce lasted a total of one week in the fridge).

warm the pitas in a frying pan drizzled with a touch of olive oil, turning to brown both sides evenly.

slice the franks** into 1/4 inch thick medallions and saute gently in the same frying pan for a few minutes, until warmed through.

assemble thusly: place pita on plate, put half of one frank's worth of medallions on pita. sprinkle with goat cheese, mango salsa and cilantro avocado sauce to taste.

*it's much easier to buy from whole foods, and it keeps for at least 3 days in the fridge. but if you're interested, it's simply diced mango, red onion and jalapeno mixed with chopped cilantro and lime juice.

**note: you can also do this hot-dog style and so would warm whole franks. i cut them up which makes one frank provide for two sandwiches.

...

shrimp, bean & avocado salad
serves 4 as a side dish, 2 for main course

1/4 c. uncooked quinoa, rinsed well
scant 1/2 c. water
1 14 oz. can white beans, drained & rinsed
1 medium tomato, seeded and diced
1/2 medium red onion, diced
20 small/medium cooked & peeled shrimp
1 avocado, sliced lengthwise

for vinaigrette:
2 Tbsp fresh lime juice
1 Tbsp red wine vinegar
3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
a few good dashes of Tabasco sauce (i give Chipotle Tabasco quite a few hearty shakes)
sea salt to taste
pepper to taste

cook quinoa: place quinoa and water into pan and set to boil. reduce heat to low and simmer with lid on for 20 min. remove from heat and allow to sit for 5 min with lid still on. fluff with fork. place all quinoa into a strainer and let cool water run over it until room temp*.

while quinoa is cooking, make vinaigrette by whisking together all ingredients to emulsify.

place beans, tomato, onion and shrimp in a large bowl. add cooled quinoa and vinaigrette and toss gently to coat. let stand 15 min before serving. add salt/pepper/Tabasco as needed.

place in nice bowl and top with avocado slices.

*i like to cook a pot of quinoa for the week and store it in the fridge so it can be used re-warmed or at room temp for dishes like this. use aprox. 1/3 c. cooked quinoa for this recipe.