French Salad

Iceberg lettuce has been a favorite of mine since I was a kid.  Seriously, one of my guilty pleasures is getting an Italian salad from one of those pizza joints with extra shredded pizza cheese on top.  Then I inhale the whole thing.  Don't judge.

Ordinarily, I can be found picking out all of the "goodies" from a salad, leaving a heap of healthy green lettuce behind.  That is, until I tried this delicious salad, consisting of only lettuce and a simple, tangy vinaigrette.

When visiting France over the holidays, I was introduced to this simple and delicious concoction.  It's been on the menu a lot since then and will be for a long time to come.

The ingredient list for the dressing calls for "soup spoons" as measurements.  That's what our French grandma uses.  It's basically a large tablespoon but as long as you keep the proportions similar to the ones below, it will be delicious.

Ingredients:
1 package of washed baby romaine (you can use any leaf or mixed lettuce here, as well)
1 shallot, minced
1/2 soup spoon Dijon mustard
3 soup spoons white vinegar (they use "alcohol vinegar" in France but I can't find that here, so white works just fine)
1 1/2 soup spoons extra virgin olive oil
Freshly cracked salt and pepper to taste


Preparation:

- Wash, dry and spin lettuce (hint: if the lettuce is wet at all, the dressing won't stick!); set aside

- Mince Shallot into the same bowl that you plan to use to serve the salad

- Add Dijon mustard; stir
- Whisk in vinegar, then olive oil
- Add salt and pepper to taste (do not skip this step; the seasoning is important!)
- Add lettuce to bowl and toss very well to incorporate dressing

Seriously, it's that easy.

I served the salad this particular night with a Spanish Frittata but it adds a refreshing balance to any brunch, lunch or dinner!

Basic Frittata Recipe

Aahhh, the incredible, versatile egg....

In my opinion, eggs have gotten a bap rep for far too long.  As long as you don't gorge yourself on yolks, they're actually really good for you.  Packed with protein and basically a blank canvas for both savory and sweet dishes, eggs are a staple in my diet.

I call this a cheater recipe because you don't have to babysit it and it's basically always delicious.  Seems to be a theme running through my blog but hey, it works for me.

Frittatas are Spanish by origin, but they're a perfect way to turn just about any leftover veggies, meats and cheeses you have lying around into a delicious and healthy meal option.  It's kind of like using up leftovers to make soup: never quite the same twice but always delicious.

For this particular frittata, I added some torn bits of munster cheese and my brocolli slaw recipe.

Ingredients (serves 4):
- 5 eggs, beaten
- Entire broccoli slaw recipe, prepared (can be warm or cold out of the fridge; just  be sure to temper the eggs)
- 1/3 cup shredded/torn/grated cheese (reduced-fat if you have it)

*I also threw in a little bit of leftover chopped spinach that I had sitting in the fridge...which my honey hates, but I absolutely love.  Here I am sneaking it into things like he's a little kid but luckily, he doesn't mind it in this recipe

Preparation:
- Preheat oven to 360F
- Spray pan with nonstick cooking spray (I used a 9" pie pan but you can use any oven-safe dish, or even make individual dishes for each person)
- Beat eggs with a whisk or fork until fully incorporated
- Mix broccoli slaw and cheese into eggs
- Pour into pan and put into oven
- Bake for 20 minutes or until the eggs are set in the middle

The crust on the outside of this frittata is out of this world.  It almost tastes buttery, although there is no butter in the recipe.

This is a perfect item for any meal period, served with a simple French green salad.  We have certainly eaten this for dinner a time or two.  Experiment with this recipe and make it your own!

Broccoli Slaw...the untapped veggie wonder

The idea to use broccoli slaw came from when I was watching Hungry Girl on the Cooking Channel.  I honestly had never even heard of it before but Lisa was talking about what a vitamin-packed, low-cal and super healthy swap it was for other veggies, so I thought I would try it out.

This is my go-to recipe for Broccoli Slaw and it only takes about 7 minutes from start to finish!  Could not be easier.

Ingredients:

1 small package broccoli slaw (about 2 large servings)

1 tbsp olive oil

4 loves garlic, minced

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1/3 cup Parmesan cheese

Freshly ground salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

- Heat your pan on the high end of medium-high heat (you want some browning here!)

- Add oil and entire package of broccoli slaw

- Cook for about 4 minutes and add garlic

- Cook for 3 more minutes and add cheese

So healthy and delicious, and can be added to all sorts of other dishes like pasta sauce, frittatas and much more.  Enjoy!

Baby Bellas Stuffed with Ricotta and Broccoli

I LOVE STUFFED MUSHROOMS.

Really, I love any type of mushroom and I'm always looking for clever ways to incorporate them into sauces, soups. apps...just about anywhere.  Add some cheese?  Even better.

My friend Annie invited a bunch of us over for a cookout...and of course, the weather decided not to cooperate at the last minute.  As luck would have it, we decided to have a fondue night.  Cheese might be my favorite food, so I was pretty excited about mother nature's decision to rain all over our fun night.  She asked me to bring a side dish...so, naturally, stuffed mushrooms go with fondue, right?  Well, I figured I should at least attempt something healthy since the rest of the night would feature everyone stuffing their faces with melted cheese.  Not that I can think of any better way to spend a night...

I've made greek stuffed mushrooms (feta, spinach, ground turkey) a million times, so this was my attempt to change up the standard recipe.

Ingredients (this will make WAY more stuffing than you actually need for the quantity of mushrooms.  I make extra on purpose because it is delicious with pasta either by itself or stirred together with an equal part of fresh marinara sauce):
- 24 stuffing mushrooms (I used baby portabellas but you can use stuffing button mushrooms, whole portabellas, or just about any mushroom you can stuff)
- 1 large container of lowfat or part-skim ricotta
- 1/2 sweet onion, finely chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 3 broccoli crowns, finely chopped
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup ricotta
- 1/2 cup part skim mozzarella cheese
- Chopped mushroom stems from the stuffing mushrooms (just add them all)
Freshly cracked salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
- Combine ricotta, both cheeses and egg until well mixed; set aside
- Saute onion and garlic on medium-low heat until translucent and cooked through; add broccoli
- Cook for a few minutes until broccoli is about halfway cooked
- Add broccoli mixture to ricotta mixture; stir until everything is evenly coated

- Wash dirt off of mushrooms
- Remove stems; chop and add to ricotta mixture

- Generously stuff mushrooms with ricotta/broccoli mixture...and by "stuff", I mean "overload".

- Cook mushrooms in a 425F preheated oven for about 25 minutes or until desired level of cooking

These were a different and healthy spin on traditional stuffed mushrooms and disappeared pretty quickly!

Roasted Carrots

This is one of the easiest side dishes possible.  Roasted carrots are full of vitamins and are a very popular alternative to potatoes!  Makes one hearty serving.

Ingredients:

3 whole carrots peeled and cut on a bias (this sounds like a lot but these really cook down!)

1 tsp extra virgin olive oil

Salt, pepper and red pepper flakes to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425F

Toss carrots with olive oil, salt, pepper and red pepper flakes

Lay in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes

Flip carrots over and turn off heat but allow them to sit in the oven for another 5 minutes

Serve alongside just about anything.  I served them with the Chicken with Mushroom Sauce recipe and they were the perfect light accompaniment!