Quinoa with Balsamic Mushrooms

Yum! This was really good and packed a lot of protein. There was so much good stuff in this recipe. It made me feel good eating it. The pear and balsamic vinaigrette that you make is really good and would taste great on a nice salad. My favorite part about the recipe was definitely the mushrooms. I could even eat them alone!

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1 small pear, cored and cut into chunks
• 1 garlic clove, halved
• 2 lbs portobello mushrooms, stemmed with gills scraped out
• 1 cup quinoa
• 3 cups tightly packed spinach, chopped
• 4 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted
• 1/8 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 475F. In a blender, combine vinegar, mustard, pear, and garlic with 1/3 cup water. Blend until smooth. Cut portobellos into chunks. Take 1/4 cup of the dressing and toss with mushrooms. Lay mushrooms on a baking sheet and roast for 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly.
2. While mushrooms roast, bring 1 3/4 cup water to boil in a medium pot. Add quinoa, cover pot, reduce heat to low, and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside, covered, for 10 minutes. Uncover and fluff with a fork.
3. In a large bowl, toss mushrooms, quinoa, spinach, green onions, almonds, salt, pepper, and 1/2 cup pear balsamic dressing. Stir to mix completely.

Source: The Sweets Life

Greek Salad

My husband and I had a Greek night a couple weeks ago. I made homemade baked falafel and had this Greek salad on the side. I've been eying this salad for awhile on Eating Well. It calls for chicken, but because I had falafel on the side, I didn't need the chicken. The salad dressing had great flavor. I used dill instead of oregano. I will definitely use this dressing again.

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup red-wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill, or 1 teaspoon dried
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 6 cups chopped romaine lettuce
• 2 medium tomatoes, chopped
• 1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded and chopped
• 1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
• 1/2 cup sliced ripe black olives
• 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

Directions

1. Whisk vinegar, oil, dill, garlic powder, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Add lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, onion, olives and feta; toss to coat.

Source: Adapted from Eating Well

Shrimp Casserole with Spinach and Feta

A girl I know got diagnosed with Celiacs Disease and has to have a gluten free diet. We're wanting to have her and her husband over for dinner one night so I have been doing some research on gluten free cooking. I found this recipe on Gluten Free Mommy's blog and it looked really good, especially the feta I've been craving so much! This turned out really good! It had great flavor. I made my own greek vinaigrette from All Recipes.

Ingredients

• 3 Tablespoons olive oil
• One 10 oz. package of fresh spinach, chopped
• A can of diced tomatoes, drained
• 1/4 lb. feta cheese
• 10 oz. (or at least 1/2 lb) fresh med. shrimp, peeled and deveined
• 1/4 cup greek vinaigrette
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• I shallot, diced fine
• Baby Bella mushrooms, sliced
• 3-4 Tablespoons of dry white wine
• garlic powder to taste

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 1 1/2 inch casserole dish. 
2. In a large skillet, heat the oil over moderate saute the shallots and garlic until tender. Add spinach, salt, and pepper. Cook for 2-3 minutes. 
3. Add the wine and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes. 
4. Season shrimp with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
5. Put the spinach mixture into the prepared casserole dish. Layer the mushrooms over the spinach and then layer the diced tomatoes over them. Place the shrimp on top and layer the vinaigrette over the top. Sprinkle with feta cheese.
6. Bake until bubbly and cheese is slightly brown- about 25 minutes
      

Greek Dressing

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 3/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 3/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 3/4 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/2 teaspoon Dijon-style mustard
• 1/3 cup red wine vinegar

Directions

1. In a very large container, mix together the olive oil, garlic powder, oregano, basil, pepper, salt, onion powder, and Dijon-style mustard. Pour in the vinegar, and mix vigorously until well blended. Store tightly covered at room temperature.

*note: I didn't have oregano so instead of basil and oregano I used 1 1/2 teaspoon Italian Seasoning

Seared Steak Salad with Edamame & Cilantro

This recipe also came from Eating Well. It called for shredded red cabbage and red pepper. I don't like peppers and wasn't in the mood for cabbage. So to add some color, I added a handful of shredded carrots. The original recipe didn't call for green onions or garlic powder. But I had some green onions and figured they'd go well. Also, for the meat, I wanted to add more flavor so I sprinkled the garlic powder on and it turned out well! This was SO good!!! It was really easy to make. The steak was yummy and the dressing was amazing. I'll definitely be making this again.

Ingredients

• 8 ounces top round steak, 3/4 inch thick, trimmed of fat
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 4 cups mixed greens
• 1 cup snow peas, sliced
• 1/2 cup shredded or thin carrots
• 1/2 cup cilantro leaves, chopped
• 1/3 cup shelled edamame, thawed
• 1/4 cup Sesame Tamari Vinaigrette (recipe follows)

Directions

1. Sprinkle steak with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Coat a small nonstick skillet with cooking spray; place over medium heat. Add the steak and cook about 4 minutes per side for medium-rare. Let rest for (at least 5) minutes before slicing.
2. Combine greens, snow peas, carrots, cilantro, edamame and vinaigrette in a large bowl. Toss to coat. Divide between 2 plates. Top with the steak. 

Chicken Variation Substitute 8 ounces chicken tenders for the steak. Cook through, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Shrimp Variation Substitute 8 ounces cooked, peeled shrimp for the steak (omit Step 1).

Per serving:  328 calories; 9 g fat (2 g sat, 3 g mono); 68 mg cholesterol; 19 g carbohydrates; 42 g protein; 7 g fiber; 679 mg sodium; 949 mg potassium.

Sesame Tamari Vinaigrette

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 1/4 cup rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons reduced-sodium tamari, or reduced-sodium soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, finely grated.

 Directions

1. Whisk orange juice, vinegar, tamari, oil, honey and ginger in a small bowl until the honey is incorporated. Transfer to a jar and refrigerate.

Per 2-tablespoon serving:  37 calories; 2 g fat (0 g sat, 1 g mono); 0 mg cholesterol; 4 g carbohydrates; 0 g protein; 0 g fiber; 303 mg sodium; 21 mg potassium.