Sunday, October 16, 2011

Pumpkin Cranberry Oatmeal

The past few weeks, my ideal Saturday brunch consists of an iced coffee latte and a generous bowl of oatmeal. I had some canned pumpkin leftover from another recipe so I decided to throw some fall flavors into my oatmeal. I really enjoyed the outcome.



I mixed 3/4 cup of quick oats with about 1 cup of almond milk (feel free to use soy or regular), and about 2 teaspoons of pumpkin puree. I popped it into the microwave for a minute and 45 seconds.


After taking it out of the microwave, I added about 1 1/2 teaspoons of brown sugar (may add more next time because I looove brown sugar), a few pinches of pumpkin pie spice, and a few tablespoons of dried cranberries. It was a deliciously wonderful way to start a Saturday!


Mexitalirranean Salad


I was trying to decide what I felt like having for dinner the other night when this unique combination of foods popped into my mind. The dish is a fusion of Mexican, Italian, and Middle Eastern flavors, hence the name. While healthy, this salad is filling and can be made either with or without meat. The first time I made it without meat but the second time I used some ground turkey and I thought it was good both ways.


While you can use any brand of couscous, I used Israeli couscous from Trader Joes and prepared it based on the box instructions, but halving the amounts of water, couscous and olive oil because there were only two of us eating. 


As the couscous was cooking, I cut up about 1 1/2 avocados, 2 roma tomatoes, and a half a can of black olives.


Once the couscous was done I mixed it in a medium sized bowl with the cut up ingredients, 1/3 can of black beans and about 3-4 tablespoons of feta cheese. Finally, I added lemon juice, garlic powder, paprika, salt and pepper. I recommend just adding each ingredient, mixing and taste testing to determine how much more, if any, of each ingredient to add. You can serve it a variety of ways. I liked eating it on it's own, but my brother really liked scooping it up with tortilla chips.

**Next time I may experiment using some sriracha sauce or red peppers to spice it up a bit.


Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Seared Ahi Tuna Steak with Benihana Mustard

This is my favorite when I go to teppanyaki, and I was surprised how easy it is to recreate. Also very cheap since Trader Joe's had 2 good size tuna steaks in the freezer section for about $5. Can't beat that!

Start out with the mustard sauce: 
1 1/2 tablespoons powdered mustard
2 tablespoons hot water
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 clove garlic peeled (can substitute garlic powder to taste/consistency)
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds (optional - I did not use)



Start out mixing the mustard and water into a paste. It you are including the fresh ingredients (garlic and sesame seeds) put this paste in a blender and blend all ingredients together. Since I was using garlic powder I just stirred it into the bowl. 


Here is my finished mustard sauce. It has a good bite to it, and next time I think I would opt to include the fresh ingredients as well for a thicker sauce. 



Marinade your tuna steak in an equal mixture of oil (preferably sesame but any will do) and soy sauce and a bit of garlic powder. Here I used 2 tablespoons each of oil and soy sauce. Flip 3-4 times over the course of about an hour.
Note: Feel free to add in ginger, green onion, lime juice, or anything else you would like to give your fish more flavor.



When you're ready to sear it make sure your pan is really hot. Once you lay the fish down keep a close eye on the clock. I like my fish rare on the inside so I gave it about 1 1/2 minutes on each side. 



If you like your tuna steak rare this is what it should look like on the inside. Enjoy!


Saturday, October 1, 2011

Fig and Goat Cheese Salad

While a salad is not the most difficult thing in the world to make, I thought I'd share some of my salad creations as they come along. This salad is scrumptious and came from some inspiration from a picture a facebook friend posted (thanks CG.)


I used fresh spinach, fresh figs, dried cranberries, sliced turkey, and pecans. For the dressing i mixed together olive oil, balsamic vinaigrette and honey and drizzled it over the salad. This salad was not only healthy but filling.

Cranberry Pumpkin Oatmeal Bars


It's about that time again... Fall is by far the best time of year and always means (at least) one thing: pumpkin! Since I'm still in my healthy phase I somehow found a health/fitness blog where I came across this recipe. The deliciousness of pumpkin done healthy? Yes, please. The recipe is super easy but requires a few health food substitutes that you may or may not have lying around. While this is no chocolate pumpkin bread it's a great bar for breakfast and/or a snack. 

You will need:
1 cup of pumpkin puree
1 egg
1 egg white
1/4 cup of unsweetened almond milk (try the trader joe's brand - will blow your mind!)
1/2 cup of sugar free maple syrup
1 1/2 cups of oatmeal
1 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoon of pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon of a calorie free sweetener like splenda (I used truvia)
1 to 1 1/4 cup of dried cranberries (the original recipe called for raisins but I tend to think cranberries are better with pumpkin and in general)


First, combine and mix all of the dry ingredients (besides the cranberries).


In a seperate bowl, combine and mix the wet ingredients. While mixing, gradually add the wet mixture into the dry mixture. 


Add the cranberries and stir to mix them in.


Pour batter into a 9x13 pan and put in the oven for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees. 


Enjoy!