Broccoli Pumpkin Seed Salad

5 c chopped broccoli small bites
3 scallions with part of the green chopped
1/4 c diced carrot
1/2 c diced celery
1/4 c toasted pumpkin seeds

dressing
3 T vegan mayo
5 T champagne vinegar
1-2 T agave nectar
1 t balsamic vinegar

Mix all the dressing ingredients well and pour over the rest of the salad.  Refrigerate until ready to eat. This even gets better the next day.  Soooo good.

So much texture and flavor!

And I still have broccoli left so I kept on cooking.

Simple Roasted Broccoli

Chop the broccoli into large pieces
Place in a large bowl and drizzle olive oil to lightly coat and then toss in lots of chunky steak seasoning.
Heat oven to 425, spread broccoli on a sheet pan and cook for 15-25 mins until fork tender.  Look out the florets will burn if you leave in too long.

10 calories per serving--guiltless decadence!

As part of being a blogger for Foodbuzz  Tastemaker program, I received a large package of  Ghirardelli’s new “Intense Dark” line of chocolate. Now, if you know me well you know I do not like chocolate very much at all. Dark chocolate is the epitome of chocolate. They even included a bar of chocolate that was 86% cacao. What? This is not bakers chocolate either?! Gross–I accept the challenge!!

Wow--now if only I liked chocolate!

I have plenty of eggs at home–no thanks to the chickens! I also had some new instant espresso I had just gotten that I wanted to try.  So–adding all those ingredients together along with once serving size of Ghirardelli’s “Sea Salt Soiree”   I came up with a great idea for a treat! Sometimes we all need a little treat, intense with flavor, to stave off any cravings we are worried about succumbing to, right?  Like that “night-cap” we look for before we settle in for the night or those pesky afternoon grazing urges we get. These cookies are so perfect for this, at only 10 calories a pop–(yeah 10 calories!!) . You will so enjoy the depth of this 72% dark chocolate with the savory pairing of the sea salt and the sweetness of the roasted almonds in a chewy bite sized cookie!

Dark Chocolate Espresso Meringue Bites
2 egg whites at room temperature
1 serving size dark chocolate (3 squares)
3 pinches cream of tartar
3 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 rounded teaspoon instant espresso
1 teaspoon cinnamon

See that one stubborn piece? I ate it.

Preheat oven to 215 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. ( I used miniature cupcake papers) Take your squares of the “Sea Salt Sioree” and added them to my coffee grinder. (the chocolate works best if you freeze it for a few hours first) Grind it all finely–you want it to fold it into the egg whites and let it blend fully instead of leaving chocolate chunks in the bite sized morsels.

Looks good enough to eat already!

Add egg whites to mixer and beat on high until soft peaks form then add the 3 pinches of cream of tartar.  Continue beating adding in the espresso and sugar slowly as the egg whites thicken. Stay of whipping the whites until they  are shiny and hold very stiff peaks.

I see sea salt.

Add the finely ground chocolate to the egg whites and gently fold in–you are not mixing it with any sort of effort here. Don’t go crazy thinking about all the chocolate and ruin the fluffy egg whites. I know how crazy you people can get about chocolates. Remain calm until you may eat them.

My makeshift decorator bag and zero skills.

Once the chocolate has been fully incorporated into the you can add the meringue to a large plastic freezer bag with the tip cut out. I used a frosting tip thinking I had some sort of mad skill with decorating with egg whites–turns out I posses no such skill.

40 servings equals 400 calories

Once each cup is filled and you have used all the meringue you can place the cookies on the middle shelf of the preheated oven. back for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Once they are firm to the touch you can turn off the oven and open the door and allow the cookies to sit in there for about an hour longer.

Once the cookies have fully cooled sprinkle with cinnamon and store in an airtight container in the freezer.

The cookies actually improved in texture and in taste after storing in the freezer for a few days. the texture is divine, really. It is firm like a meringue cookie when you first put it in your mouth but soon it softens into a caramel like texture as the rich flavors of the cookie grab your taste buds and give them a firm slap. So–these are time-consuming because they do take a while to bake–however, these are perfect to keep in your freezer when you may be looking for a snack, a treat–just that “something” that you keep wandering into the kitchen looking for. This is healthy eaters MUST HAVE!

yeah--that's right--chicken balls!

Ok this is more of an idea than a recipe for all you people who are still–STILL–wondering what to do with all that chicken breast you have in the fridge. You will need a food processor,magic bullet or just ask your favorite neighborhood butcher to grind it for you.

Here is what I did with my ground up chicken breast: I added some red curry paste, garlic powder, turmeric, onion powder, cumin, fish sauce and sea salt. I mixed it all up and let it sit and marinate in the spices for about a half hour. Then I took an egg and cracked it open in a bowl and beat it up *flex flex* in another bowl I added some potato starch. I then removed all my bling rings from my fingers, washed my hands and formed meat balls with the chicken mix–then rolled the ball in the egg and next the potato flour. Let those sit for a few minutes to really have the egg and potato flour introduce themselves to one another.

raw poultry balls

Here they are getting acquainted while the skillet warmed up on medium high heat. I sprayed the pan with some olive oil cooking spray, enough to just prevent them from sticking–and as the can says–add a trivial amount of fat to the dish. Trivial!~

I put about 8 balls in the pan at a time, making sure not to crowd them or cool down the skillet at all. I then covered the pan and let them cook like that for about 5 minutes–then i turned them and let them brown on all sides–uncovered–for about another 5-7 minutes.  the key with this is to get them potato starch to brown up and give it a crisp outer shell to make us think it is fried food. Pretty tricky, Sis!

These passed the taste test with all the kids and the husband, and this is straight up strict diet food here!
See , they look like cheat food and they taste wonderful!  You can add any seasoning mix you would like, garlic, onion and some smoke flavor would be excellent as well!

If you are opposed to chicken balls you can do the same batter and omit the coating. Fit the chicken with your hand onto skewers and bake it in the oven at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes. Chicken on a stick! I used the same seasoning and then squeezed lemon juice on them when done. Also super delicious! So–once again rethink your chicken breasts!  These would be great to have as party foods, too!

Everything tastes better on a stick!

Can't you just feel the warm oven and smell the medley of vanilla and spices?

I have loved granolas ever since i was a little girl and my mom would buy those small boxes of thick cluster granola with dried up raisins and nuts in them. Old school granola, loaded in calories, sugars and wonderment! I think the caloric value was integral to the mountain climbing crowd that it was marketed towards–but i loved it–despite keeping my feet at sea level.  Love it!  For my own family I like to create a less saturated fat granola–you know one that is actually good for you.

Here is a great recipe that you can make and eat right away, or spoon over yogurt, pack into snack bags for school or even sprinkle onto a bowl of fruit.  It also makes great holiday gifts packed up for teachers or loved ones!

Cranberry Orange Granola

¾ c orange juice
1/3 c honey
2 T canola oil
2 t cinnamon
1 t vanilla
2 t orange zest
2 c old fashioned oats
1 c dried cranberries
½ c coconut
½ c chopped almonds

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.  Combine juice and honey and stir until the honey dissolves.  Add all of the spices to the liquid and mix.  Combine all of the remaining ingredients in a large bowl then dump liquid and stir  to evenly coat mixture.  Let the mix stand for 10-15 minutes to absorb the liquid.  Place on a greased or foil lined cookie sheet with a lip around it and cook for approximately 25 minutes or until the oats have started to brown a little.  Stir every 5 minutes or so.

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Spicy Sweet Potato Fries

Serves 4

2 medium size sweet potatoes–peeled and cut into thick fry shapes
1 tblspn Olive Oil
1 tblspn Creole Seasoning

Heat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl add the potato slices and  oil –mix completely coating them well . You can add a bit more oil to ensure the potato is completely covered.  Spread the fries out in a single layer on a non-stick baking pan. Sprinkle the Creole spices over the potatoes–be generous, this will be really delicious!  Cook for 15 minutes, then flip the fries and cook for another 20 minutes until they are fork tender and browned.

Other Good Ideas-

–Spice them up! Try cinnamon and ginger, sea salt and garlic powder, cumin and chile powder–get creative, this is YOUR kitchen!
–Take to a party and serve with Squeaky Gourmet’s Cool Avocado Dip

This is a pie chart directly from our book--see how easy we make this?

I went out to the garden this morning and found that the local mule deer herd had visited my well fenced veggie patch and cleaned me out of squash and green tomatoes. I was going to do something with my little yellow patty pan squash but–No! It was not to be.

But I had fresh blueberries calling out so I made some sorbet.

Peach Berry Sorbet
Serves-4
1 c water

1/3 c natural sugar
Combine water and sugar in a microwave bowl and bring to a boil ( 3 minutes or so). Stir until the sugar is dissolved. Let cool in refrigerator.

2 c fresh blueberries
1 c frozen peaches or 1 large fresh peach
1 c frozen or fresh strawberries
2 limes or lemons – juice only
Pinch sea salt

Combine sugar mix and all other ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. Spread mix into a 8×8 cooking pan, cover, and place in freezer until frozen. 3-4 hours.

Remove the frozen mix, break into chunks and place in a food processor. Blend until smooth and creamy. If you have a smallish food processor, you may have to do the blending in 2 batches. Place the creamy mix into a freezer container and re-freeze until solid.

Other Good Ideas:

Place the liquid in Popsicle molds and freeze–makes perfect vitamin rich Popsicle for the kids..yeah for the kids!