Summer squash with cottage cheese tomato sauce

I am not sure really what to call this. Hearty, toothsome, savory, cheesy, healthy, comfort food. All of the above? 

If you are doing a Medifast program, this counts as a complete lean and green meal. 

Ingredients: 

1 cup diced summer squash (2 greens)

1/2 cup diced tomato (1 green)

1 cup low fat cottage cheese (2/3 lean)

1 egg (1/3 lean)

Salt and pepper

Spray a large nonstick skillet with Pam, and sautée your squash with a little salt and pepper. Remove to a bowl when done. 

In the same pan, combine your tomatoes, cottage cheese, and egg. Stir to combine. Continue to stir occasionally, until the cheese is melted, then continue to cook until the sauce has thickened to the consistency you want. 

Pour your sauce over your squash, and enjoy! 

Faux "Lo Mein" with Mushrooms and Pork

In an effort to be a little healthier, I am embarking on a 6 week weight loss challenge. Cash prizes for everyone who meets their goal...well, that's more than a little bit of incentive for me to really be good for a few weeks! My goal isn't huge, and I'm feeling really good about this!

Part of my plan is to limit my carbohydrate intake. (Meaning - where I used to eat homemade bread with Nutella three times a day, I will now replace some of those meals with loads of veggies and some lean protein. See? I'm an adult!)

Tonight's recipe was inspired by this one, at Sandy's Kitchen. I thought the results were really tasty (and so did the baby! The cheeky little beggar wouldn't leave my side and begged bite after bite of my "noodles").

Faux "Lo Mein" with Mushrooms and Pork

(Medifast Green & Lean Friendly)

Ingredients: 

1 cup shredded cooked spaghetti squash 

1/2 cup diced fresh mushrooms

1 clove garlic, sliced

2 tsp. soy sauce

5 oz. pork loin, fat trimmed, and sliced

1 tsp. oil

Salt & Pepper to taste

In a non-stick, heat your oil over medium-high heat until hot, then add your garlic. Stirfry for just a moment, then throw in your spaghetti squash and mushrooms. Continue to cook and stir constantly until the mushrooms are starting to get soft and the squash is heated through, about 5 minutes. Add your soy sauce and stir to combine. 

Remove your veggie mixture to a bowl, then cook your pork loin, sprinkled with salt and pepper, until cooked through. 

Top your veggie mixture with your cooked pork loin, and enjoy! 

Strawberry Lime Confetti Bundt Cake

Today, I had some of my family over to celebrate my father's birthday. While preparing a dessert, I knew I had to keep it simple - the kids were underfoot, there were other things to be seen to, and multi-tasking doesn't usually lead to tastier desserts, if you know what I mean. So, I took a shortcut and pulled out a box of cake mix. I keep them on hand for days like today - when you need a little something, but just don't have the mental capacity to measure out cups and teaspoons, no matter how simple or delicious the recipe. I doctored the mix up, and the results were pretty tasty! 

(Special thanks to my little brother Ted for the photos - he grabbed my camera and snapped these shots while I was serving cake and ice cream to the hungry masses.) 

Strawberry Lime Confetti Bundt Cake

Ingredients:
1 box white cake mix
3 1/2 Tbsp. strawberry gelatin
5 eggs
1/2 cup oil
1 cup water
10 drops lime essential oil (I use doTERRA brand)
1/3 cup large sprinkles

Preheat your oven to 350. Spray a 9-cup Bundt cake pan with cooking spray, sprinkle with flour, and set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine the cake mix, gelatin, eggs, oil and water. Mix together on low until combined, then on medium for 2 minutes. Reduce speed and add essential oil and sprinkles. Mix until combined. Pour your cake batter into your prepared Bundt pan and bake for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the thickest part of the cake comes out clean.

Serve with whipped cream or ice cream, or both! (A lime glaze would also be nice.)

Pineapple Tarts

Pineapple Jam (filling)

Ingredients: 

2 cans crushed pineapple

1 1/2 cup white sugar

Blend pineapple, with juice, then put it in the widest pot you have, with the sugar. Cook, stirring nearly constantly, until most of the liquid has evaporated and you are left with a "jam" that can be rolled into balls. (The jam will harden a bit more once it is cool, and you can always cook it again if it is still too wet. It is better to undercook than overcook.) You can tell it is nearly there when there are no more puddles in the pan and the pineapple goes from pale buttery yellow to a darker color as the sugars caramelize. 

Tart Dough

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 Tbsp. corn starch

1/4 tsp. salt

4 tbsp. powdered sugar

1 cup butter, room temperature

2 egg yolks, room temperature

1. Sift together the four dry ingredients. 

2. In an electric mixer, beat the butter until it is fluffy, then add the egg yolks one at a time. 

3. Add the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. If the dough is crumbly, you can add a little more butter to make it malleable. 

Forming the tarts: 

Divide your dough into 24 equal balls. One by one, carefully flatten a ball of dough, put a spoonful of jam into the middle, then gather up the edges and form your dough/jam parcel into a ball. Use your fingers to gentle form it into a rectangle shape, and place it on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. 

Once all of your tarts are formed, use a small paring knife to carefully put cross-hatches in the surface to resemble pineapples. Brush with an egg wash if desired, and bake 20-25 minutes at 350. 

Panzanella

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/panzanella-recipe.html

1 loaf stale sourdough bread, cut into 1" cubes
2 tbsp avocado oil
1 carton tiny pear tomatoes, halved
1 English cucumber, sliced
1/3 cup chopped basil


Dressing:
1/2 cup olive oil
1 clove garlic
3 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
1/2 tsp. salt

In a large non-stick skillet, toss together the bread and avocado oil. Cook over medium heat, tossing often, until the bread is slightly golden, about 8-10 minutes. Turn off the heat and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine your tomatoes, cucumber, basil and toasted bread. Toss with the dressing*. Enjoy!

* To make the dressing:
In the cup for an immersion blender, combine your olive oil, garlic, red wine vinegar and salt. Blend until smooth and creamy. Season to taste.

Steamed Mussels with Garlic and Lemon (Non-Alcoholic)

I threw together a massive pot of these for a potluck, and changed a few minds about the scrumptiousness of frozen mussels.  We get most of our seafood straight off the boat in a dock sale- one of the perks of living in a port town in the Northwest!

One pound frozen, pre-cooked mussels

1 Tbsp butter

2 Tbsp white vinegar

2 or 3 cloves garlic

1/4 cup water

1/4 of a large lemon

Pinch of salt (I used a locally-smoked sea salt.  Very fun $3 splurge at our store's deli!)

Bring to a boil in a pot and let simmer for about six minutes to steam. I made four pounds of mussels, so at this point I gave it a good stir and let them steam a bit longer.

You can use any kind of vinegar, but I chose white vinegar for its clean flavor profile.

The cooking juice (pot likker?) is delicious- dip a crusty bread in, make it into soup the next day, thicken some with roux to make a sauce to pour over rice with your dinner....but don't waste it! 

--Myrnie

Quick Pickled Daikon Salad

The other day, my mother in law picked out some beautiful daikon for me at the Asian market, and put them in my cart. They were young, and tender, so full of promise. I love daikon, but have no idea how to cook it so it doesn't come out bitter and nasty. I planned on having her cook them for me, but then...Life. My kids got sick, which got her sick, which meant we didn't see her for a few days, and before I knew it I was in danger of losing my daikon and PANIC! Google to the rescue - since daikon are simply really big white radishes, as far as I can tell, they can easily translate to other cuisines. I found a recipe that made a salad from daikon and carrots. Well, it sounded tasty enough, so I tweaked it for what I had on hand...and it was delicious. I mean, it was tasty the day I made it, but when we finally finished it off today (three days later), it was divine. Kids? Go find some daikon. You will thank me.

Daikon come in varying sizes, depending on how old they are. The daikon I used were on the skinny side, meaning they were younger. They were so sweet you could eat them raw and plain. Older, fatter, daikon isn't tasty raw, or plain. It is spicy and a tad bitter. Those daikon are delicious stewed, which is another recipe for another day. 

Enjoy! 

Quick-Pickled Daikon Salad

Ingredients:

3 young daikon (about 2" across and 18" long)

Salt

1 Tbsp. finely grated fresh ginger (grate on a microplane, if possible)

3 Tbsp. rice vinegar

2 tsp. lime juice

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 tsp. toasted sesame oil

1 tsp. sugar (optional)

1 green onion, chopped

Peel the skin off the daikon with a vegetable peeler, and then slice them into 1/4" thick rounds. (Taste the daikon first - if it is sweet, go 1/4" thick. If it is extra spicy or bitter, go thinner. You can also choose to shave the daikon with a food processor or your vegetable peeler.) 

Put the sliced daikon into a colander, toss it with 2 pinches of salt, and set it aside to drain. It won't lose a lot of water, but set it in the sink to be safe.

In a large mixing bowl, combine your grated ginger, rice vinegar, and line juice. While whisking, slowly drizzle in your olive oil, then your toasted sesame oil. Add your daikon rounds, and stir to coat. Add sugar, to taste. Add the green onions and stir to combine. 

Can be served immediately, or left in the refrigerator to further blend the flavors. Eat within 3-4 days. Stir well before serving.