Lemony Orzo Salad-Yum!

I  found this recipe in Cooking Light and it was delicious. The only thing I would change is not add the full 3 Tablespoons of lemon juice, it was a little powerful and tart. It was a great summer salad, but I realized that we were missing a few key ingredients, which may have explained why the lemon was so powerful. We didn't have a red pepper or green onions. I also thought we had leftover grilled chicken from our BBQ on Sunday to add, but was surprised to find that it went missing....I mean was eaten. If you know me, you are probably laughing and thinking you are missing half of the ingredients, why would you even try to make this recipe. Then you'd remember how I work and know that I tend to just start a recipe and/or project and not check first to see if I have everything I need and end up running all over town to get my missing supplies/ingredients. To be honest, I was too lazy to run to the store to get what we were missing and don't think it changed the flavors of the recipe that much. :) 

This was a refreshing meal after a hot and humid day like yesterday. Give it a try, just make sure you have all the ingredients on hand first and do a taste test to see if you want to add the full 3 T of lemon juice so it has the perfect taste for you and isn't too bitter. Yum!

Ingredients

Recipe Compliments of Cooking Light Magazine

• 3/4  cup  uncooked orzo
• 1/4  teaspoon  grated lemon rind
• 3  tablespoons  fresh lemon juice
• 1  tablespoon  extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2  teaspoon  kosher salt
• 1/2  teaspoon  minced garlic
• 1/4  teaspoon  honey
• 1/8  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper
• 1  cup  shredded skinless, boneless rotisserie chicken breast
• 1/2  cup  diced English cucumber
• 1/2  cup  prechopped red bell pepper
• 1/3  cup  thinly sliced green onions
• 1  tablespoon  chopped fresh dill
• 1/2  cup  (2 ounces) crumbled goat cheese

Preparation

1. Cook orzo according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain and rinse with cold water; drain and place in a large bowl.
2. While orzo cooks, combine lemon rind and next 6 ingredients (through black pepper), stirring well with a whisk. Drizzle juice mixture over orzo; toss to coat. Add chicken and next 4 ingredients (through dill); toss gently to combine. Sprinkle with cheese.

Caprese Salad....with Pesto!

I love summer and grilling season, have I mentioned that yet? I also love caprese salad. I decided to make my own variation and make a homemade pesto instead of just using basil. It was delicious. Looking at the pictures makes me hungry....

Caprese Salad
Beefsteak Tomato cut into slices
Mozzarella ball or medallions

Pesto Ingredients:
Basil leaves
olive oil
pine nuts
garlic
salt and pepper to taste
*Combine the pesto ingredients in a food processor and chop until well blended. Lay tomatoes on a plate, top with mozzarella, and then spoon the pesto on top. Drizzle with olive oil, a little balsamic, and salt and pepper.

Blue Cheese and Honey Bruschetta

I think my friend Nikki made this for us once, but I am not sure. This is a great appetizer to bring to a BBQ or anywhere for that matter, it is full of rich flavors and is so EASY to make! I brought this over to my sister's house for a family BBQ celebrating our wonderful father for Father's Day and his birthday. We love you dad, you're the best!

Blue Cheese and Honey Bruschetta
1 baguette
crumbled blue cheese (3oz)
Honey

Cut the baguette into small pieces about 1-2 inches wide. Place them on a cooking sheet and put blue cheese on top of each piece. Drizzle with honey and broil them in the oven for a few minutes to toast the baguette and warm the honey and blue cheese.

I ♥ Burritos!

I don't like to eat fast food, unless of course we are talking about a Blizzard or McFlurry, or even a Large Diet Coke; however, I ♥ Chipotle. Thankfully I don't eat it often, if I am lucky once a month, but usually once every few months. We were making tacos for dinner because I had defrosted some ground turkey and I found this amazing recipe for Cilantro-Lime Rice from Annie Eats and thankfully she inspired me to make my own burrito bowl for dinner. This is a nice change for your same old tacos and is much healthier and cheaper than the alternative! It was delicious and so easy! The only thing that I had to make extra was the rice and that cooked while I prepared everything else. I served the rice with black beans, ground turkey, tomatoes, cheese, and homemade salsa. YUM! Try this, you'll love it I promise!! (Joe this one is for you, it has cilantro in it! :) )

Cilantro Lime Rice
Compliments of Annie Eats
Ingredients:
1 cup long grain rice
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons water, divided
½ tsp. salt
½ cup fresh cilantro
2 tbsp. freshly squeezed lime juice
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 clove garlic, chopped

Directions:
Combine the rice, 2 cups water and salt in a medium saucepan set over medium-high heat.  Bring to a boil, stir briefly, cover and reduce the heat to low.  Let cook, covered, until the water is absorbed and rice is fluffy and tender, 16-18 minutes.  (Cooking time can vary depending on the brand of rice.  Check the package directions.)

While the rice is cooking, combine the cilantro, lime juice, olive oil, garlic and 2 tablespoons water in a blender or food processor.  Blend until smooth.  Stir the mixture into the cooked rice and fluff with a fork.

Homemade Salsa (My throw in whatever recipe)
3 tomatoes, cut into four pieces
3 cloves of garlic
A generous handful of cilantro
Lime juice
Salt and Pepper to taste
Jalapenos (as many as you'd like)
Cholula sauce- a few dashes

Mix all the above ingredients in a food processor. Blend until everything is chopped and fully incorporated. Enjoy, yum!

Broccoli and Cheese Omelet muffins

I made these yummy omelet muffins when Pat's parents were in town. They were tasty and kind of fun to eat. I never would have thought to make omelets using muffin tins, but was happy Gina from Gina's Weight Watchers Recipes thought of it.  We didn't have any cheddar cheese on hand, which I think would have made it even more flavorful. Next time, I would add a number of different ingredients to try and find my favorite omelet muffin combination. You could put leftovers in there and it would still be delicious. This is a good recipe to have on hand for company, they are easy to make and good for you, only 2 points for those of you Weight Watchers followers. Enjoy!

 

Broccoli and Cheese Omelet Muffins

Recipe Compliments of Gina's Weight Watcher's Recipes

• 4 cups broccoli florets
• 4 whole eggs
• 1 cup egg whites
• 1/4 cup reduced fat cheddar ( I skipped this, since I didn't have any on hand)
• 1/4 cup good grated cheese like pecorino romano
• 1 tbs olive oil
• salt and fresh pepper
• cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350°. Steam broccoli with a little water for about 6-7 minutes.
When broccoli is cooked, mash into smaller pieces and add olive oil, salt and pepper. Mix well.

Spray cupcake tin with cooking spray and spoon broccoli mixture evenly into 9 tins.

In a medium bowl, beat egg whites, eggs, grated cheese, salt and pepper. Pour into the greased tins over broccoli until a little more than 3/4 full. Top with grated cheddar and bake in the oven until cooked, about 20 minutes. Serve immediately. Wrap any leftovers in plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator to enjoy during the week.

Grilled Chicken Kabobs

It is grilling season! Our favorite thing to grill is chicken kabobs. I can't take all of the credit, I do use a delicious seasoning packet to help me get the perfect marinade for the kabobs. I love McCormick's Grill Mates Zesty Herb seasoning packet to make these kabobs extra tasty! Served with some freshly grilled asparagus and a caprese salad and you got yourself a healthy, filling meal!

 

Chicken Kabobs

Red Pepper-Cut up

Green Pepper-Cut up

Onion-Cut into wedges

Pineapple cut into 1 inch cubes

Chicken breast cut up into 1 inch cubes

Put the above ingredients onto a kabob skewer, use a basting brush to brush with the Zesty Herb seasoning. Let the marinade sit on the kabobs for awhile before grilling. Grill and enjoy! :)

Bruschetta

I am so sorry for my laziness with blogging lately, I am switching jobs and the transitiona and goodbyes has been a little too much for me. I haven't been cooking anything blog worthy or to be honest, we have been eating out a lot in the last two weeks since I am too tired to cook. I am sure now that it is summer, I will be cooking a lot more again, I apologize for the lack of posts.

Pat's parents came in town for Memorial weekend and we made some delicious meals together. We had grilled fajitas one night and had leftover grilled vegetable, so we decided to make a nice bruschetta with the leftovers. It turned out great and it was a great way to get rid of our leftovers.

Bruschetta

1 tomato chopped

1 clove of garlic 

Salt and Pepper to taste

A few sprinkles of balsamic vinegar
chopped leftover fajita vegetables (zucchinni, red pepper, yellow pepper, green pepper)

1 ball of mozzarella cheese cut into small slices

1 baguette cut into slices

Mix all ingredients, except for mozzarella and baguette, in a bowl. Top each baguette piece with the vegetable mixture, then put a slice of mozzarella on top. Place in the oven, broil for a few minutes until the cheese has melted and the bread has started to toast. Enjoy! :)