Looking for a recipe to help fight the flu? Boost immunity with the healthy vitamins and oils in fish. For the recipe for Wild Salmon with Pearl Couscous, Slow-Roasted Tomatoes, and Lemon Oregano Oil, click the image below.
recipe and image courtesy of epicurious.com
Here is a chicken recipe with a great citrus sauce. Click on the image below for a link to the recipe.
This simple dessert of pears topped with granola and dried fruit can be prepared in about 15 minutes, making it an easy treat for guests—or for yourself. Because this dish is low in fat, there’s even room for a scoop of frozen yogurt. No guilt here!
Quick Baked Pears
image and recipe from health.com
2 large Bosc pears
2 teaspoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup dried cranberries or dried mixed fruit (such as Sun-Maid Fruit Bits)
1/4 cup low-fat granola
1/4 cup apple juice
1/2 cup vanilla low-fat frozen yogurt, divided into 4 small scoops
Peel pears; cut in half lengthwise. Use a melon baller or grapefruit spoon to remove core and seeds, creating a hollow.
Place pear halves, with cut sides up, in a glass pie plate. Combine sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle evenly over pears.
Combine cranberries and granola; mound into hollows of the pear halves. Pour the apple juice in and around pear halves. Cover dish loosely with wax paper.
Cook in microwave on HIGH 6-8 minutes or until the pears are tender when pierced with a knife. Let stand in the dish 5 minutes. Use a large slotted spoon to transfer the pears to serving plates.
Drizzle juices from pie plate over pears and serve with frozen yogurt.
This recipe is great: Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, and Vegan!
Black Rice Almond Salad
image and recipe from glamour.com
1 cup uncooked black rice
1 Tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1 Tablespoon balsamic vinegar
2 Tablespoon Barlean’s Flax Oil
1 bunch asparagus, cut into ½-inch pieces and ends trimmed
½ cup arugula
¼ cup raw almonds
1 teaspoon lemon zest
¼ teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
¼ teaspoon chili powder
Cook rice according to package directions.
Meanwhile, whisk lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, and Barlean’s Flax Oil together in a small bowl; set aside.
In a large salad bowl, combine asparagus, arugula, raw almonds, lemon zest, sea salt, pepper and chili powder. Add cooked rice and drizzle balsamic dressing on top. Gently toss to combine.
Serve at warm or at room temperature.
Serves 4.
The stew must rest in the fridge overnight. You are not allowed to serve it on the day you make it, hear? I have no idea what will happen if you do, but this is just so darned good, you will not ask questions. A double boiler is a good thing to reheat the stew in, and shallow soup plates are better than deep bowls for serving.
image: blogs.southshorenow.ca
Italian Sausage Stew
Karyl Bannister, Cook & Tell
1 pound sweet Italian sausages (not hot)
1 12-ounce can V8 Juice
3 carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
2 celery ribs, cut into 1-inch pieces
3 potatoes, peeled and cubed
2 cups broccoli florets
8 ounces white mushrooms, sliced
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Cut the sausages in half, squeeze out the meat, cut it into small pieces, and chuck the casings. Cook the sausage in a medium skillet over medium-high heat until browned, about 5-7 minutes; discard the fat, if any. Transfer the sausage to a Dutch oven or other large, heavy-bottomed pot, add the V8, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the carrots and celery and simmer for 10 minutes more.
Add the potatoes, broccoli, mushrooms, and Worcestershire. Simmer until everything is tender, 30-45 minutes. Let stand in the fridge overnight before serving.
Serves 6.
For a uniquely flavorful, healthy recipe idea, click on the image below!
recipe and image for Egg and Pesto Stuffed Tomatoes courtesy of Paleodietlifestyle.com
Sometimes I get so hungry I just need to eat NOW!
Having a well stocked pantry can help you to get through these moments. My pantry always contains several types of organic canned beans, chopped green chiles, and tomatoes of various types, tapenade, capers, sardines, and anchovies as well as good tuna in water and in oil. Not to mention pastas, sauces, and oils abounding.
This recipe involves grabbing a few cans from the larder and a quick trip to the kitchen garden for a “gotta have it now” sort of lunch. Make this a seasonally driven recipe and use what you have at hand. In the summer some fresh basil or oregano and cherry tomato bump it up. In the winter some store bought arugula, zested Meyer lemon, and capers or tapenade will do the trick.
Completely forgiving and oh-so-delicious, try this zesty tuna and white bean salad. These big flavors will put some punch into an otherwise grey day.
image: foodnetwork.com
Zesty Tuna and White Bean Salad
Laura Cabot, Laura Cabot Catering, Waldoboro
1 cup chopped red onion
1 zested Meyer lemon with juice
2 6-ounce cans of tuna in olive oil, drained but reserved
2- 15 ounce cans of drained and rinsed cannellini beans
1/2 cup finely chopped herb of choice (mint, parsley, basil)
Tabasco sauce or a small can of chopped green chile
Salt, pepper, and extra oil to taste
Any other seasonal additions you favor like arugula or cherry tomato, chive blossoms, etc.
Toss all ingredients gently together.
Season to taste with the fish oil, salt, and fresh pepper. Toss again.
This will keep for several days in Tupperware under refrigeration.
Keep the greens and tomatoes separate. The salad will stay fresh longer.
Cold weather comfort food on the menu!
Pasta Pork Bolognese
image and recipe from myrecipes.com
9 ounces refrigerated fettuccine
2 teaspoons olive oil
12 ounces lean ground pork
1/2 cup grated carrot
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/3 cup red wine
1 2/3 cups lower-sodium marinara sauce
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil, divided
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
Cook pasta per directions. Drain.
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork, carrot, and garlic; sauté 4 minutes or until pork is done. Add wine; cook 1 minute. Add marinara, 1/4 cup basil, salt, and pepper; bring to a simmer. Pour sauce over pasta. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 cup basil.
Serves 4.
image courtesy of food.com
Infuse the slices of ginger and lemon rind in boiling hot water for 3 minutes.
Great to sip when having a cold.
Yields 1 serving.
This comfort-food vegetarian entree has the full-flavored appeal of a potpie, with fewer calories and a delicious corn bread topping. For a link to this nontraditional potpie recipe, click on the image below!
recipe and image courtesy of spoonful.com
Need to give your immune system a boost? Here’s a recipe that can help! Click on the image below for a link to this healthy Miso Soup.
image and recipe courtesy of food.com
This dish is simple to throw together and makes the perfect light dinner I crave. Between the sweet potato and chickpeas, this meal is packed full of goodness that keep me feeling healthy (which is a nice perk during cold and flu season!). Erin Alderson
Click on the image below to get this recipe!
Recipe and image courtesy of Good Life Eats
The perfect meal for cold weather days, and for when a cold or the flu is knocking on your door. Chicken noodle soup has to be the definition of comfort food, and it is super easy to make at home from scratch!
Click on the image below to get this recipe.
Recipe and image courtesy of Kevin Lynch, Closet Cooking
These moist, delicious muffins are a cinch to whip up for a weekend morning treat. Made with buttermilk and oatmeal, they get most of their sweetness from fresh apple, so not only are they quick and easy to make, they’re low in sugar and fat too. Serve warm with a little butter or whipped cream cheese.
Click on the image below to get this recipe.
Recipe and image courtesy of My Gourmet Connection
About this time of year, we all start craving the comfort food. Here is a simple recipe from epicurious.com for an all-time favorite: pot roast. Click on the image below for a link to the recipe!
image: cavegirlcooks.com
A sophisticated version of chicken soup that the whole family will love (and a great way to sneak in those veggies!) Click the image below for recipe!
image and recipe courtesy of family.go.com
I don’t know about you, but my credit card bills have rolled in, bringing home the expenditures of the holidays. Yikes, what to cook that won’t break the bank? Here’s an idea that will save you money as well as change things up a bit. Next time you are looking for an inexpensive side for your main dish, think rutabaga, also know as a “Swede.”
The hardest part of warming up to a rutabaga is negotiating the peeling of the waxed skin. I recommend cutting the behemoth in half and placing the cut side down (the French call this giving the vegetable a “seat.” That way you don’t run the risk of cutting yourself). Commence with the peeling, then cut the peeled rutabaga into spears.
image: cookincowgirl.blogspot.com
Savory Herb Flecked Oven Baked Rutabaga Fries
Laura Cabot, Laura Cabot Catering, Waldoboro
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
1 large rutabaga, peeled and cut into uniform spears
A fresh herb of choice, I like winter savory
Salt and fresh pepper
Good olive oil (we love the selection at Fiore in Rockland)
Choose a good sized metal bowl and mix the “spears” with oil, salt, pepper, and savory to taste.
Load up, but don’t overcrowd, a baking sheet and place the well seasoned and oiled spears on the sheet. Do not overcrowd or they will not crisp up.
Bake at a relatively high heat until crispy and tender, about thirty minutes. Enjoy while hot and crispy.
Serves a crowd as a side dish.
Last night I paired these with a veal chop from Bleecker and Flamm’s “Main Street Meats” in Rockport. I’ll tell ya, it was heaven on a plate.
Enjoy the tasty, unexpected flavors of this recipe immediately, or allow the dip to mellow overnight.
Sun-Dried Tomato and Artichoke Dip
image and recipe: wholeliving.com
In the bowl of a food processor, combine 1/2 cup artichokes, 1/4 cup feta, garlic, lemon juice, and 2 teaspoons water; puree until smooth.
In a medium bowl, combine tomatoes, pine nuts, basil, remaining chopped artichokes, remaining 1/4 cup feta, and reserved artichoke puree; season with salt and pepper. Garnish with sun-dried tomatoes, if desired, and serve on baguette slices. Store in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to three days.
Serves 4-6.
“Nobody will miss the meat in this colorful, zesty vegetarian taco salad. The rice and bean mixture can be made ahead and the salad quickly assembled at mealtime.”—eatingwell.com
For the link to this great Meatless Monday Meal, click on the image below.
image and recipe courtesy of eatingwell.com
Wake up your taste buds in the morning with a cup of coffee and this tangy, moist, lemon yogurt cake.
image and recipe: barefootcontessa.com
Lemon Yogurt Cake
Ina Garten, barefootcontessa.com
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup plain whole-milk yogurt
1 1/3 cups sugar, divided
3 extra-large eggs
2 teaspoons grated lemon zest (2 lemons)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
For the glaze:
1 cup confectioners’ sugar
2 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease an 8 1/2 by 4 1/4 by 2 1/2-inch loaf pan. Line the bottom with parchment paper. Grease and flour the pan.
Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt into 1 bowl. In another bowl, whisk together the yogurt, 1 cup sugar, the eggs, lemon zest, and vanilla. Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. With a rubber spatula, fold the vegetable oil into the batter, making sure it’s all incorporated. Pour the batter into the prepared pan and bake for about 50 minutes, or until a cake tester placed in the center of the loaf comes out clean.
Meanwhile, cook the 1/3 cup lemon juice and remaining 1/3 cup sugar in a small pan until the sugar dissolves and the mixture is clear. Set aside.
When the cake is done, allow it to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Carefully place on a baking rack over a sheet pan. While the cake is still warm, pour the lemon-sugar mixture over the cake and allow it to soak in. Cool.
For the glaze, combine the confectioners’ sugar and lemon juice and pour over the cake.
Yields 1 cake.
