Simple Turkey Piccata with Grilled Lemon Broccolini

This light and simple turkey piccata is a great weeknight dinner when your bored with the usual plain chicken breast. The sauce is light and very fresh and flavorful. A simple side of grilled lemon broccolini pairs beautifully for a healthy dinner. If your looking for small and simple Thanksgiving dinner idea, and don't need to buy a large whole turkey, this is a great substitute. 

We have been spending a ton of time outdoors lately seeing as the weather here in Phoenix is too gorgeous to pass up a reader recently scolded me for not bragging about the weather more. Actually, what she said was "I'm so sick and tired of people not bragging about the weather in Arizona more." 

My bad. 

I'm too busy enjoying it to sit at the computer and write about it I suppose. Plus, who likes a bragger anyway? pshhh!

The boys were in a big Veterans Day parade here in the Valley yesterday and we spend all day soaking in the sights and the sun. I haven't been able to sit in front of the computer for more than a few minutes at a time because the outdoors are calling to me! It's finally hiking 'season' Yayyyy! So pardon my short posts this month please. ;}

Recipe from Cooking Light October 2013




SERVES  8        TIME 20 MINUTES

Ingredients

• 8 (3-ounce) turkey cutlets  
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon olive oil, divided 
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
• 1/4 cup chopped shallots
• 1 tablespoon sliced garlic
• 3/4 cup dry white wine 
• 1/2 cup unsalted chicken stock 
• 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour 
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice 
• 1 1/2 tablespoons capers, drained
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1. 1. Sprinkle turkey evenly with salt and pepper. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 1/2 teaspoons oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add 4 cutlets to pan, and cook 2 minutes on each side or until done. Remove cutlets from pan; keep warm. Repeat procedure with remaining oil and cutlets.
2. 2. Add 1 tablespoon butter to pan. Add shallots and garlic; sauté 1 minute. Increase heat to high. Add wine; bring to a boil, and cook 2 minutes, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Combine chicken stock and flour, stirring with a whisk. Add stock mixture to pan, and bring to a boil. Cook 5 minutes or until liquid is reduced by half. Remove from heat; stir in remaining 1 tablespoon butter, juice, and capers. Pour sauce over cutlets; sprinkle with parsley.

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Sweet Potato Hummus

Once again, if it helps you at all, please refer to hummus as "dip". I have found, over and over again that if I call it hummus, people turn their noses up in distaste ( whether or not they've actually tried) but if I say it's dip, I get a "Yummy" in response. Call it what you like, this hummus is a great midday snack. The sweet potatoes give it a nice underlying err, sweetness and added vitamins, Bonus!

Serve this with pita chips and fresh, raw veggies, we like broccoli and mini sweet peppers.

I use dry chickpeas and soaked them for a few hours before cooking with the sweet potatoes for 13 minutes in my pressure cooker. If you must use canned beans, look for the low-sodium variety. I think it's just as easy to use fresh beans and it's most definitely cheaper!

TIME  20-30 MINUTES     SERVES 6-8

You will need:

2 medium size sweet potatoes

1 cup fresh chickpeas or 1 can

1/2 cup EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)

1/4 cup tahini ( paste made with sunflower seeds, available in most supermarkets)

1 lemon, juiced

1-2 teaspoons Kosher salt

1/2 - 1 cup reserved or hot water

Putting it all together:

Cook your chickpeas according to package directions, usually twice as much water as beans and takes about 30 minutes. If your using a pressure cooker, use 1 1/2 times the water, place whole sweet potatoes on top of beans and cook for 12-13 minutes on second ring.

Reserve any water from pot. Using a fork, peel sweet potatoes, discard peels. Using an immersion blender or a food processor, blend all ingredients together until super smooth adding hot water as needed to desired consistency.

Serve with fresh veggies or pita chips.
* Keeps for a week refridgerated in an airtight container

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Zuccini-Black Bean Chopped Salad with Yogurt-Dill and Toasted Flat Bread Chips

Another light, quick and  delicious recipe for a summertime meal. Full of fresh veggies and black beans for so many vitamins, protein, fiber and good carbs I would run out of room listing them all!!
I found these whole wheat flat bread wraps at Costco. The list of ingredients is pretty impressive, including stone ground whole wheat, steel cut oats, barley, Rye, hulled mullet and flax just to name a few! There are only 100 calories per flatbread, 12 gm of whole grains, 1 gm sugar and a whopping 8 gm of fiber. The flax makes it an excellent source of Omega 3's. I love flatbread pizza and can't wait to try these out for a homemade veggie pizza crust next.

You will need:
1 cup frozen corn
1/2 of a large red bell pepper, chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
1/2 of a small red onion, diced
1 cup black beans
2 zuccini's, chopped
2 tabelspoons fresh dill, chopped
1-2 fresh lemons, juiced
2 tabelspoon EVOO, divided
Kosher salt
freshly ground black peppercorns
healthy flat bread or flat pitas, cut into triangles

1 cup plain fat free yogurt, 1 tsp lemon zest and 1 tablespoon fresh dill for dipping sauce

Putting it all together:
Preheat oven to 325F
Combine all veggies and black beans in a large bowl. Add lemon juice, Dill,  EVOO, salt and pepper, toss to combine. Cover and chill at least 1 hour.
In a small bowl combine yogurt, lemon zest and dill. cover and chill until ready to use.
Cut flat bread into triangles. Brush lightly with EVOO, sprinkle with Mrs Dash. Spread onto a baking sheet and bake for 12 minutes until crsip.
Serve chopped salad with flat bread triangles and yogurt sauce.

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Summer Squash Medley with Shrimp

I hate cooking during the summer months. My appetite is also diminished when it's so hot out. I love coming up with simple, light summer meals like this one. The little peppers and parsley are from our garden, our tomatoes didn't make it in this heat. I haven't bought jarred dressing in years. It is so simple to quickly throw together a basic dressing and much healthier. You only need a few ingredients. If you keep extra virgin olive oil and red wine or other vinegar as staples in your pantry your set!



You will need:

2 summer squash
1/2 small red onion, sliced
yellow/orange sweet peppers
2 tomatoes, sliced
large handful of baby spinach
small handful fresh parsley, chopped
cooked shrimp, tails removed
1 cup cooked pasta
Lemon, garlic dressing (recipe to follow)


Putting it all together:

Cook pasta according to package directions, drain & cool.
Wash all veggies under cool running water. Using a food processor or veggie peeler, slice squash thinly, lengthwise.
Combine all veggies, shrimp and pasta in a large bowl. Drizzle with dressing, toss to coat.

Simple lemon, garlic dressing:

In a measuring cup combine juice from 3 lemons, fresh ground black pepper and minced garlic. Whisk as you drizzle in 1/2 cup of EVOO. Store in an airtight container. This will keep in a cool place for a few weeks.

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Lemony Petite Peas

This is a very easy, light throw together side dish. Perfect for summertime dinner.
My husband who graciously tries whatever I put in front of him, hates peas. Loathes them. So I don't make them often as a stand alone side dish, even though I love them. Anyway, he spooned some onto his plate to my surprise and took a bite and with raised eyebrows proclaimed that they were delicious! Wow!
I think that the chopped parsley and lemon make this more of a zesty little salad rather than "just peas".
We ate this with Salmon Lox potatoe skins and it complimented it perfectly.


You will need:

1 small bag frozen petite peas
1 handful fresh parsley, chopped
2 tabelspoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon lemon zest

Steam peas for 3 minutes. Drain, transfer to small bowl. Toss with parsley,  lemon juice and zest.

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Nutty Greek Quinoa Toss

It's amazing how easily one can gain a few pounds when your metabolism takes a nose dive in your late thirties. I mean honestly, can't a girl go on a nice relaxing cruise and sit around all day long on the back of a ship's deck looking out at the cold, serene Alaskan waters with her feet up on a wicker chair and be surrounded constantly with pastries, cheeses and berry filled crepes at all hours of the day without gaining 8 stupid pounds?

Apparently not. *Sigh.






Well, if that weren't a bad enough set back on my never ending fight against belly bulge then the 12 hour road trip we took this last weekend to Utah with 4 kids certainly put the nail on the diet coffin. While we did bring along apples and healthy trail mix, they went so well with Twizzlers and chocolate covered raisins that we decided to buy some cookies to top it off. Perfectly reasonable right?


Now, how to lose those 10 pounds gained in 2 short weeks after I've been fighting to lose 20 since who the hell knows when?    *Double sigh, big fat pout.

Here's the back of the ship where my sweetie and I  loved to sit and relax..... and snack.... a lot.

Can you blame us? I mean really. Look at the view. And the weather was just so unbelievably cool and perfect compared to the miserable heat we are used to here in Phoenix.

We didn't spend  ALL  of our time on our butts stuffing our mouths.
We had some pretty amazing adventures too.
Here we are zip lining through the 200 foot tall trees in Ketchikan, AK.  

Me and my baby sister Rachel.

Did I mention that due to the glaciers that swept over the land many years ago, the soil is only 4-6" deep?
Did you catch that? That's INCHES, not feet.


We were swinging from super tall trees that are hanging on for their dear lives in soil that is too shallow to plant carrots in!


Smart.

And we took one frieking amazing, hold onto your hats fast bike ride 32 mies from Canada back to Skagway, AK. This was by far the highlight of my trip! The scenery was breath taking. 

So, how to fit back into my pants?


It's a good thing I discovered quinoa some time ago and shortly after figured out how to make it unbelievable delicious.

It's the feta. No, it's the toasted pine nuts. NO! It's the white balsamic vinaigrette.

O.K., all of these things plus the squeeze of lemon, freshness of the parsley and zip of the sweet peppers make this quinoa toss very addictive and satisfyng. My tummy thanks me.

Ingredients:
1/2 cup uncooked quinoa
1 big handful grape or cherry tomatoes, cut in half
1 big handful sweet peppers minced
1 big handful parsley, minced
1 clove garlic
1/2 cup feta, crumbled
1/4 cup pine nuts
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon white balsamic vinaigrette
freshly cracked white pepper
squeeze fresh lemon juice



Put quinoa into a fine sieve and rinse thoroughly to remove natural 'soapy' film.  Cook according to package directions, usually 1:1 parts quinoa-water, bring to a gentle boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 15 minutes.
If you please, toast pine nuts on a dry cast iron skillet until golden brown to bring out flavor.
Using a small food processor or knife, finely dice sweet peppers, garlic and parsley.
In a large bowl, toss together still warm quinoa, feta, peppers, parsley, pine nuts and tomatoes.
Drizzle in oil and vinaigrette. Toss to combine. Add lemon and pepper to taste.

Serve warm or chilled.

For dinner, we prefer the warm version where the feta is just slightly creamy and the flavors melt together.

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Soft Ginger-Lemon Cookies with Lemon Glaze

These cookies are fuss free deliciousness. I am in love with all things ginger and cookies and treats are no exception. There are those who crave things sweet and sugary, those who crave things salty or spicy and then there are people like me who like all things sour, zingy, tart and tangy. I also, equally love anything hot and spicy and seriously considered putting a pinch of cayenne in these.  ;) 

Alas, they are just perfect the way they are and I am in love with the super tangy lemon glaze! My mouth is watering in anticipation of a fourth second Lemony, ginger cookie.

recipe from Taste of Home

TIME  25 MINUTES      YIELDS 2 DOZEN

Ingredients:

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 egg

3 tablespoons sour cream

1/2 teaspoon lemon extract ( I used 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice)

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions

In a large bowl, cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the egg, sour cream and extracts. Combine the flour, baking soda, cream of tartar, ginger and salt; gradually add to creamed mixture and mix well.

Drop by rounded teaspoonfuls 2 in. apart onto ungreased baking sheets (I used a sheet of parchment paper on my cookie sheet). Bake at 350° for 12-15 minutes or until lightly browned. Immediately remove from pans to wire racks. Yield: 2 dozen.


For the lemon glaze (not from Taste of Home)

1 cup confectioners sugar (powdered sugar)
1-2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
lemon zest

Using an electric mixer on high speed, combine sugar and juice till smooth. Top with a bit of lemon zest.

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Tuna and White Bean Cakes with Shaved Spring Asparagus and a Light, Lemon Tarragon Sauce {gluten free}

Question.  How do you make crab cakes when you're craving them like nobodies business but you   a.) don't have any crab and  b.) are on a budget? 

Answer.  You doll up some tuna with fresh herbs, lemon and shaved asparagus, dip it by the forkful with no shame into a tangy lemon, tarragon yogurt sauce and wash it down with a glass of Pinot Grigio.


Delima averted.





Then, just to gloat, you tell yourself that you are being super health conscience because you ate a practically perfect meal by utilizing the antioxidants in the wine and gave your body a good dose of healthy Omega 3's which are hard to come by these days, thereby forgetting all about the fact that you aren't  in fact  having crab cakes.  Pssshhhh, who needs em?

These tuna cakes are easy enough for a Monday night dinner -- or in my case a Tuesday night dinner. Tuesday's, without fail, are the crazy busiest Orthopedic days in surgery for some reason. Coincidentally (or not) it's also when people tend to call in sick, have some sort of emergency or just decide to spend the day soaking up the Spring sunshine (I would choose option 3 but I'm too chicken to make it happen).


This particular Tuesday provided to be all of the above plus an added curve ball. Seeing as we were short staffed (more than usual) I didn't get to work with the Ortho Doc who I usually assist during Makoplasty surgeries. Instead, I ended up doing total hips and knees with a Dr. I hardly ever work with meaning I couldn't rely on my "Auto Pilot" and had to use my memory/mommy brain instead....  at least until my coffee kicked in.... around noon. Not good.


My point,  I am mentally and physically and in all other ways exhausted on most every Tuesday. These tuna cakes are just a tad bit more complicate that spaghetti and meatballs or in our house, spaghetti and Italian sausage. You get the point. They are super easy to throw together.


A few chopped veggies and herbs thrown in a bowl with an egg and a can of tuna and you have yourself a  not so  fancy meal.

How can you not add asparagus to every meal during the Spring? Wait, am I the only one who worships this gorgeous veggie? No wonder since it's cousins are onion and garlic! 

I pulse a bit more than half of the white beans in my food processor and reserve some to add texture. 

Instead of using bread crumbs which you already know are high in gluten and cause bloating, stomach fat and various other ailments, I used finely chopped veggies and green onion and  nutritional yeast to bind the ingredients together. As you can see, they formed patties quite nicely.

If I had to pick one one of my top 3 favorite kitchen tools, my stone baking pan would and will be on the list forever! It browns veggie patties quickly and evenly using NO added oil and cleans by scraping with a spatula and hot water. Good bye fryer! 

{If you are at all interested in purchasing a stone baking sheet or any of my other favorite kitchen gadgets or ingredients, please consider buying through Simply Healthy Family's 'Store' and help support this blog. It's very much appreciated!} 

Using a simple veggie peeler, shave thin strips of asparagus and pile on top of your cooked tuna cakes. There is no need to cook or even blanch the asparagus, it tastes amazing when shaved into such thin strips and pairs perfectly with these tuna cakes. In fact, I found myself nibbling on my pile of curled asparagus while admiring the beautiful purple and green of my favorite vegetable.

Oh, you'll want to cut off the very tips of the asparagus, the spear, and save it for tomorrows salad or stir fry. The tips don't shave well but are conveniently most peoples favorite part.

This light and tangy dressing is the key to these tuna cakes.  I must admit that however healthy and flavorful they are, tuna cakes as well as any other fish cake are a bit dry without some sort of sauce to jazz it up. It makes a mundane meal extraordinary.

Crab cakes usually come with some version of aioli paired with them not only to compliment the flavors, but to add moisture. My tuna cakes are no exception. Instead of aioli, which base is mayo (if you know me, I can't stand mayo) I made a thick and creamy yogurt lemon-tarragon sauce to spoon on top of my cakes.  Not sure which I ate more of, the tuna cakes or the sauce.

TIME    30 MINUTES        SERVES    4-6

INGREDIENTS

2, 6 oz cans of Chunk Light Tuna, drained

1 cup cooked (or 1 can, drained and rinsed) cannellini beans

1 lemon, juiced 

2 eggs

1/4 cup red bell pepper, finely diced

2 tablespoons green onion, finely diced

1/4 cup carrot, grated finely (optional, adds sweetness)

2 tablespoons green onion, finely diced

 4 asparagus spears (tips removed and saved for future use) 

2 tablespoons Nutritional Yeast

1 tablespoon dried Tarragon

salt and pepper to taste

 1 cup Greek yogurt 

1 lemon (from above) zested

1 tablespoon dried Tarragon

pinch of sea salt

Preheat oven to 400F

In a food processor, pulse 3/4 of the beans until smooth. Spoon beans into a large bowl and add remaining whole beans. Add tuna, eggs, lemon, bell pepper, onion, nutritional yeast, tarragon, salt and pepper. Mix until thoroughly combined. 

Using hands, shape mixture into small patties and place onto stone baking sheet or parchment lined cookie sheet.

Bake at 400F for 10 minutes. Flip patties over and cook another5-7 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare lemon tarragon sauce by mixing all ingredients in a small bowl. 

Shave asparagus as instructed above. 

Remove tuna patties from oven and place on plate.  Dollop with lemon, tarragon sauce and top with shaved asparagus.

Serve with a side of mixed Spring field greens and chilled Pinot Grigio.

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Medditteranean Hummus

I have been making hummus for several years now. I just think it is so much better than store bought. If you think you don't like hummus and have only tried store bought, give hummus a second chance with this recipe! I bet you will like love it! All but one of my kids (I won't mention any names, but it's the usual suspect) love this! If I call it dip they'll dig in. Actually, come to think of it, when I bring hummus to work people stop and ask me what I'm eating. When I tell them it's hummus, they usually scrunch up there noses and say they've never liked hummus. However, when I call it bean dip (technically it is a bean dip, garbanzo bean) they try it and love it. Where's your sense of adventure people? Where's the fun in eating the same old things day after day? Anyway, after years of experimenting I think I have come up with the best hummus in the world! I really, really loved how authentic this particular hummus tasted. Not that I've been to the Medditteranean or Middle East but I sure could picture it while eating this hummus.

So what exactly is hummus? I'm glad you asked. Hummus is made from garbanzo beans, sometimes called chick peas. Hummus is actually the Arabic word for chickpea, called garbanzo in Spanish, ceci in Italian, gram in India. It is used throughout the Arabic world. It is popular in the Medditteranean and as far away as India. Usually it is used as an appetizer with an accompaniment of pita bread or veggies or as a sauce for meats and fish. It has been around for thousands of years being used by our hunter-gatherer ancestors, which as far as I'm concerned means it is probly a safe bet that it is a healthy food.

So, now that you know everything you ever wanted to know about hummus, I suppose I will share my recipe with you. This makes a wonderful mid-afternoon snack! Jazz it up like my picture and it is a pretty and

impressive hors d'oeuvres.

You will need:

2 - 15 oz. cans of garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

1/3 cup of pine nuts

1/4 cup EVOO

(you could use tahini, which is actually more traditionally used, just omit the EVOO if you do. I don't like the "peanut butter, smokey taste of tahini and I love pine nuts)

Juice of 1-2 lemons (about 1/3 cup)

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp cayenne (omit if you don't like it spicy, but it's just a little)

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp paprika, plus a sprinkle for garnish

1/2 tsp Kosher salt

2 TBSP shopped fresh parsley plus sprig for garnish

2-3 TBSP Hot water if needed.

Kalamata Olives as garnish

1. Toast the pine nuts over med-high heat in a DRY (no oil) cast iron skillet (again, get rid of your coated, non-stick pans, they are bad, bad, bad for your health!) Shaking the skillet continuously until the pine nuts brown nicely, about 1-2 minutes.

2. Combine all ingredients in a plastic container. If you have an immersion blender I highly recommend using it! You can use a food processor or blender but it is kind of a pain to keep scraping the sides, also, the texture is MUCH smoother when you use an immersion blender. Add a TBSP of water at a time to get to desired consistency.

Serve with pita chips, inside pitas with cucumber, tomato, falafel etc. as a healthy alternative to mayo. Or, my favorite, with fresh veggies and Kalamata olives such as cucumber, sugar snap peas, mini sweet peppers, carrots or whatever you want.

PRINT THIS RECIPE

Nutrition Facts:

Serving Size 1 (149g) about 1/3 cup
Recipe makes 8 servings

Calories 220; Calories from Fat 77 (35%); Total Fat 8.6g; Saturated Fat 1.2g;
Monounsaturated Fat 3.0g ; Polyunsaturated Fat 3.8g; Trans Fat 0.0g; Cholesterol 0mg 0%; Sodium 330mg 13%; Potassium 297mg 8%; Total Carbohydrate 31.4g 10%; Dietary Fiber 7.5g 30%; Sugars 0.0g Protein 8.4g

Hummus

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Guacamole Chicken Pitas with Almonds and Dried Apricots

Imagine this. You live in one of the most picturesque,  climate friendly, supreme outdoor frolicking places to live. Ever.  Now, imagine you have crazy annoying, ridiculous allergies. To everything pollen, grass and nature related and to dogs and to watermelon. Congratulations, you are now me in a nut suit. I  love  nature. I love dogs and oh, by the way, I love watermelon. Karma confuse me?

I have spent a small fortune on allergy medicine in my life and 90% of it has been in the last 3 months! What gives?!@  Spring in the Valley of the Sun is Heaven on Earth and I am plundering around sneezing, blowing my nose and puffy faced while trying to take in deep breaths of the fragrant orange blossoms I so love. Not attractive, nor fair.

So I thought it would be a great idea to make a picnic lunch to take to the boys Cub Scout Spring Camp this week. I put aside the fact that my allergies to pretty much everything outdoors would make me miserable and quite possibly go into anapylactic shock I but also chose, once again to ignore the fact that I'm slightly allergic to avocados. What cruel world do I live in?!  Avocados! Really?!



So, naturally I made Guacamole Chicken Pitas.


I'm building up a tolerance.


It could totally work.............

maybe.

Simple, fresh ingredients you can throw together for lunch or a picnic.

Freshly grated carrots naturally sweeten the mixture and balance out the tang of the sugar free yogurt.

Guacamole Chicken Pitas with Dried Apricots

SERVES    6         TIME    10 MINUTES

Ingredients

1/2 of a Whole Roasted Chicken

2 stalks celery, diced

1/2 cup dried apricots (or raisons), chopped

1/4 cup green onions, chopped

1 whole carrot, grated

1/2 cup slivered almonds

1/4 cup cilantro (or parsley) chopped

1 cup fat free, plain yogurt

1 whole avocado

1 lemon, juiced

pinch of salt

dash of pepper

 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

cayenne pepper if you please

6 Pita pockets.

Chop chicken, throw into medium sized bowl. Add remaining ingredients, stir to combine. Spoon into pita pockets. Enjoy!

Serve with fresh fruit!

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Spicy-Broccoli Quinoa

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Do you cook anything special for St. Patrick's Day?

This Spicy Broccoli Quinoa would be fun to make for St. Patty's Day. It is definately a healthy alternative to corned beef and hash, which I actually love but it doesn't love me so much.


Well, to those of you who aren't used to eating bright green foods for your main course, I hope you will take my word for it that this dish was excellent! After my husband and older son hesitantly took there first bite they both said "Oh! It's really good!" Uh, thanks for the vote of confidence guys.

The Parmesan and cream really make this dish rich and delightful, while the garlic, lemon and parsley make it fresh and crisp. The biggest surprise was the infused chile oil. Excellent! It took all of 8 minutes to make and the little bit of kick it gave the quinoa really made this 5 stars. ;-)

slightly adapted from 101 Cook Books

SERVES 4-6 TIME 15 MINUTES ACTIVE, 30 MINUTES COOKING

You Will Need:


3 cups cooked quinoa*


5 cups raw broccoli, cut into small florets and stems


1 garlic clove


big handful fresh, flat leaf parsley


2/3 cup sliced or slivered almonds, toasted


1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan


2 big pinches salt


2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice ( 1/2 lemon)


1/4 cup olive oil


1/4 cup half and half


** Fire Oil

Putting it all together:

Cook the quinoa by boiling twice as much water as quinoa ( so 2 cups water and 1 cup quinoa in this case). Put quinoa in a sieve, rinse under cool running water. Add quinoa to boiling water, lower heat, cook covered for 15 minutes. Remove from heat, let stand covered for 15 more minutes.

Now barely cook the broccoli by pouring 1 cup water into a large pot and bringing it to a simmer. Add a big pinch of salt and stir in the broccoli. Cover and cook for one minute, just long enough to take the raw edge off. Transfer the broccoli to a strainer and run under cold water until it stops cooking. Set aside.

To make the broccoli pesto puree one cup of the cooked Broccoli, the Garlic, 1/2 cup of the Almonds, Parsley, Parmesan, salt, and lemon juice in a food processor. Drizzle in the olive oil and cream and pulse until smooth.

Just before serving, toss the quinoa and remaining broccoli florets with about 1/2 of the broccoli pesto. Spoon onto plates, top with the remaining almonds, a drizzle of the chile oil.

* Quinoa is done when you can see the curlique in each grain, and it is tender with a bit of pop to each bite. Drain any extra water and set aside.

** To make the red chile oil: You'll need 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil and 11/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes. In a small saucepan over low heat, add EVOO, stir in the crushed red pepper flakes and let infuse for 5-8 minutes, ma

king sure not to let oil get to hot. The chilies should not smell acrid or burned. Set aside and let cool, then store any unused oil in refrigerator. Bring to room temp again before using.

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All Natural Cough-Control 'Tea'

Since I have been feeling icky the last couple of days, I thought this was worth re-posting. This tea is so soothing and such a wonderful relief for your cough and sore throught, it really works! Herbs are amazing natural healers, detoxifiers and soothers. I recently found a 'bed time' tea from my fav tea maker, Republic of Tea, that I have fallen head over heals for! I'm not a big fan of chamomile tea and so I was really happy when I tasted this tea and it was fantastic! It's a blend of  organic rooibos, soothing chamomile, passionflower and the mellowing properties of Valerian. Not only did it taste wonderful but it made me relaxed and sleepy. I fell asleep and stayed asleep all night. This is nothing short of a miracle for me!

I use this tea along w the lemon, herbs and honey concoction I talk about below to

sooth my cough, throat and chest.

Republic of Tea's 'Be Well' line is fabulous! Check out these wonderful tea's for your every ailment!

Sizing up 25 studies on over-the-counter cough medicine, a recent research review published in "The Cochrane Library" determined that there's no good evidence for or against the effectiveness of cough formulas such as Robitussin and Mucinex.

For natural, reliable cough relief, try a tea recipe recommended by Tieraona Low Dog, M.D., director of education at the University of Arizona's Program in Integrative Medicine.
It features thyme, which alleviates chest congestion and supports respiratory function, along with
throat-soothing honey, sage, and vitamin-C-rich lemon.

From Body+Soul, May 2008






I've made this several times now for myself and my children and it is a God send! Which should come as no surprise since Nature usually knows best. It works. It's good. It's soothing.

All Natural Cough-Control Tea


1. Pour 8 oz. hot water over 2 teaspoons organic lemon rinds, 1 teaspoon sage, and 1/2 teaspoon thyme. (Dried or fresh herbs can be used.)

2. Cover and steep for 15 minutes

3. Strain "tea", then add juice of 1/2 lemon and 1 tablespoon Organic honey.

4. Drink two to three cups daily for cough relief.

*** You can also add this mixture to a cup of your favorite bedtime tea or apple cider for kids.

 Yes, I have made this for myself and my small children and not only does it work but they love it. I recently put this 'tea' in my 15 month old's sippy cup and her horrible croopy cough sounded better immediately!
I promise it works so much better than OTC cough medications and is much safer and better for you!


*** Most pediatricians DO NOT recommend feeding infants under 12 months of age honey. After 12 months of age you can introduce pasteurized honey or Organic honey to your child. Here is a good site for information on feeding your baby honey. Wholesome baby food

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