for those who are in or around sane

Tuesday, June 23

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.