Sexy Broccoli

Colleen's take: "This is one of my absolute favorite foods right now! I can't make it enough, my 2 year old also cannot stop tearing this side dish up. I broil the broccoli which gives it a sweetness added to the light flavor of garlic salt making it sexy to the taste buds, yummmmmm!"

Ingredients:

• Broccoli 
• garlic salt
• olive oil  

Directions:

After broccoli is washed and patted dry. Add olive oil, I usually use 1 tablespoon per broccoli crown and garlic salt about a 1/2 tsp/crown. Mesh it all together with your hands covering everything. Put it under the broiler for about 10 minutes, once you smell the broccoli begin to singe it's ready. Ours is usually al dente, but feel free to alter it to your liking.

Roasted Broccoli {Annah}

I love roasted veggies. I loved the crunch of the broccoli and the garlic. If you need a fall weather veggie try this. I have also done Brussels sprouts almost the same way as the broccoli, if you want to also try them this week search Brussels sprouts on our site. Enjoy tasty healthy food!

Ingredients:

• 2-4 heads of broccoli
• olive oil
• 3-4 cloves of garlic
• salt
• pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees

Cut broccoli into florets. Rinse but make sure the broccoli is completely dry before putting in the oven. If you don't they wont crisp up as much. Mince the cloves of garlic.

Add the broccoli, garlic, enough olive oil to coat the broccoli, and a couple shakes of salt and pepper.

Mix till broccoli is coated then place on a cookie sheet and put in  the oven for 20-25 minutes.

Stir the broccoli half way thru the cooking and pull them out when they have a nice brown on them.

Original recipe from: Amateur gourmet 

Grilled Corn & Black Bean Salad

Colleen: "There are several things about this dish that I enjoyed. First off no cooking required therefore I didn't dirty a single pot! Second it was incredibly delicious especially the avocado on top, charred corn, & cheese hidden inside. Third I don't normally eat radishes and alone I wasn't to crazy about them, but in this salad they were excellent. I will be making this again, maybe during football season as a side dish, it was fun and easy not to mention SUPER cheap." 

Ingredients

TipAN EXTRA BUCK WILL BUY YOU corn chips. Instead of croutons, use crushed blue or white corn chips for crunch.

• 4 ears fresh corn, shucked
• 3 tablespoons EVOO
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 2 teaspoons chili powder
• salt
• 2 15 ounce can  black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 bunch  radishes, trimmed and thinly sliced
• 3 scallions, thinly sliced
• 1/3 cup chopped cilantro
• 4 ounces queso fresco, crumbled
• 1 avocado, thinly sliced

Directions

1. Preheat a grill to medium. Add the corn and grill until charred in spots, about 10 minutes. Let cool completely.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the EVOO, lime juice, chili powder and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Using a large, sharp knife, carefully cut the corn kernels from the cobs and transfer to the bowl. Add the beans, radishes, scallions and cilantro; toss well. Divide the salad among 4 plates; top with the queso and avocado.

 Recipe sourced from Rachael Ray Magazine June 2012

Quinoa and Black Beans {Annah}

 I have been on a search for a delicious Mexican rice/quinoa for many years now. I enjoy the pre-made Mexican rice sold at grocery stores, but I hate that they have MSG in them. Sadly this is still not it. This dish was pretty bland, even with the cilantro and the spices just added heat.

I wish I would have had black beans I think that would have made it a little better. Pinto beans to me have a more subtle flavor and are more mushy. So I continue to search for the delicious side dish to my burritos and enchiladas. If you have a favorite please share it, I would love to try it!

Ingredients 

1 tsp vegetable oil

1 onion (chopped)

3 cloves garlic (peeled and chopped)

3/4 cup quinoa (uncooked)

1 1/2 cups vegetable broth

1 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

salt

pepper

1 cup corn kernels (frozen) (I used a can of corn)

30 ozs black beans (rinsed and drained) (I used pinto beans)

12 cup fresh cilantro (chopped) 

Directions

	Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the onion and garlic, and saute until lightly browned.
	Mix quinoa into the saucepan and cover with vegetable broth. Season with cumin, cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes,
	Stir frozen corn into the saucepan, and continue to simmer about 5 minutes until heated through. Mix in the black beans and cilantro.

Zucchini Boats {Annah}

You may remember that Colleen tried this recipe on June 6th. I decided that it looked like a healthy vegetarian side that Tyler and I would like.

Colleen could not have been more right. These boats are delicious! I was skeptical because I don't love zucchini unless it is in other dishes. The cheese and the bread crumbs make this vegetable melt in your mouth. I will for sure be making these again and highly recommend you make them for your family.

Please reference Colleen's post here for the recipe.

Colleen's Fresh tomato Salad

Colleen: "This is my third year gardening and this year I have a bagillizon tomatoes! This is an easy-peasy side dish recipe with a ton of italian flavor."

Ingredients:

1/3 cup crumbled feta
2 tablespoons fresh basil or 1 tablespoon dried
2 ounces olive oil
1 ounce balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon garlic salt
4 fresh tomatoes

1. Cut the tomato and basil. 
2. In a separate bowl, wisk together the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic salt (if using dried basil add in now).
3. Combine tomato onion mixture with vinaigrette. Add in feta & fresh basil, stir.
4. Enjoy.

Argentine Rice-Veggie Salad

Colleen: "I think this recipe is perfect for these summer months where so much is in season. Just the other day I made way too much corn on the cob for my kids and was thinking what I was going to do with the leftovers. Sure enough this recipe came to mind, the last time I made it was years ago, but I remembered it being a filling tasty side dish. This time I was not disappointed!" 

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup white rice (I used left over brown rice)
• Salt and pepper
• 1 carrot, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 ear corn, kernels scraped off
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 2 stalks celery, cut into 1/4-inch cubes, plus 2 tablespoons chopped celery leaves
• 1 small red onion, thinly sliced 

Directions

1. In a small saucepan, bring the rice, 1 cup water and 1/4 teaspoon salt to a boil. Lower the heat, cover and simmer until the water is absorbed, about 17 minutes. Fluff with a fork and let cool.
2. Meanwhile, fill another saucepan with salted water. Add the carrot, bring to a boil and cook for 2 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to a bowl; toss with 2 tablespoons olive oil, the vinegar and oregano. Season with salt and pepper.
3. In the same saucepan, blanch the corn in the boiling water for 3 minutes; transfer to the bowl with the carrot. Add the peas to the boiling water and cook for 1 minute. Transfer to the bowl.
4. Add the rice, cubed celery, chopped celery leaves and onion to the bowl, season with salt and pepper, drizzle with the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil and toss.

Recipe sourced from Rachael Ray Magazine

Annah's Brussel Sprouts

Colleen: "This was my very first experience with Brussel Sprouts so I thought who better to trust this experience to than my good buddy Annah!! I trusted her guidance and did as she told. I like cabbage so I was delighted to learn that these brussel sprouts are just tiny little cabbage babies. I loved them and thought this recipe was a great simple way to make them. My husband did not approve however, I should mention he also hates cabbage! (loser)"

Annah's Roasted Brussels sprouts

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees
• Wash, dry, and cut Brussels sprouts in half
• Place sprouts in a single layer on a baking sheet
• Drizzle EVOO, slat, pepper, and garlic powder on the sprouts and mix
• Put in oven, check on them and mix them around about every 10 minutes
• When they are lightly brown on the outside, warm and soft throughout they are ready to be eaten

Recipe sourced from Annah's recipe in this post here!

Curried Chickpeas and Quinoa {Annah}

Annah's Take: I found this recipe on the famous Pinterest and I enjoy curry, but I don't have many recipes with it. This recipe was a little bland, but that could have been my fault. We will start with the things that went wrong with the recipe. First I stepped away from the stove and burned my onions so I substituted with scallions. Then there didn't seem to be enough liquid from the one can of tomatoes so I added about another 2/3's of a can of tomatoes, and threw in a pinch more of curry powder. I probably diluted out some of the flavors by adding more tomatoes, I just thought the mixture might burn without it.

Overall the recipe is easy to make. I had to make my quinoa, but if I would have had some already cooked it would have cut off 25 minutes from my cook time. The cooking of the dry chickpeas was not factored into the amount of time it took me to make this. I put my mixture into tortillas because that is what I had in the fridge, and I added cheddar cheese to pump up the flavor.

I have had better quinoa and curry recipes... Basically if I am in a hurry and have the ingredients I need I might make this again. However, it wasn't good enough to add to the monthly cooking calendar.

Makes 4 servings (I got like 6-8)

15 minutes to Prep

15 minutes to cook (50 minutes for me)

Ingredients: 

1 medium onion, chopped (I used scallions)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp minced ginger

1 15 oz can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

(I used dry re-hydrated beans and used 2 1/2 cups)

1 1/2 tsp curry powder

1/4-1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1 15oz can fire-roasted diced tomatoes

1 cup cooked quinoa

Instructions:
Heat medium sauce pan to medium-high heat. Add onions and a little EVOO and cook, stirring, until onions soften. Add garlic and ginger and cook for another minute.

Add the chickpeas, curry powder, and cayenne pepper, and stir briefly. Add the tomatoes and cooked quinoa, reduce heat to low, and cover. Simmer for about 10 minutes to allow flavors to blend.

Serve in wraps, pita bread, or lettuce leaves

Risotto Milanese

Colleen's Take: "Personally I think risotto is an annoying thing to make, but the end result is worth all of the work. I found this recipe in my Weight Watchers cookbook & saw that it had saffron in it. I have never used saffron before so I took the plunge, bought the $12 bottle of spice & added it to this dish. This dish was fantastic! Even though it took 30 minutes to cook it was a great delicate addition to our meal."

Makes 4 servings

3 1/2 cups low-sodium, fat-free chicken broth (I ended up using 5 cups)

Pinch of saffron threads

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1 cup Arborio rice

1/2 cup dry white wine

2 tablespoons grated Parmesan Cheese

2 teaspoons butter

2 teaspoons grated lemon zest

Freshly ground pepper, to taste

1.  In a medium saucepan, bring the broth to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer.

2.  In a small bowl, dissolve the saffron in 1 cup of the broth

3.  In a large saucepan, heat the oil.  Saute the onion until softened, about 4 minutes.  Add the rice, stirring to coat, continuing to sauté until the rice is lightly toasted.

4.  Add the wine and 1/2 cup of the broth; cook, stirring until the liquid is absorbed.  Continue adding the broth, alternating between plain broth and saffron broth, 1/2 cup at a time, stirring until the broth is absorbed before adding more.  Cook until the rice is just tender.  The total cooking time should be between 25-30 minutes.  Stir in the cheese, butter, lemon zest and pepper; serve at once.

Per Serving:

294 Calories

9 g Fat, 2 g Saturated Fat

4 mg Cholesterol

216 mg Sodium

43 g Total Carbohydrate, 1 g Fiber

9 g Protein