Weekend Soup: Roasted Red Pepper & Smoked Mozzarella Soup

My current obsession is making soup with my hand blender. I love it. It's such a quick process and I have a gourmet meal within minutes. I found this roasted red pepper soup recipe on Taste of Home and modified to make it healthier and my own.

Roasted Red Pepper and Smoked Mozzarella Soup

4 red peppers, charred on the grill
1 32 oz of chicken broth
1 medium onion, diced
1 shallot, diced
1 tbs coconut oil
1 cup of fresh basil
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 jalapeño, de-seeded and diced
1 tbs herb de provence
1 tsp pepper
2 tbs of heavy cream (optional)
1/2 cup smoked mozzarella, shredded fine with a grater (add more if you want)

Directions

With a tbs of coconut oil, cook the shallots and onions till browned.

Add the the herb the provence, pepper and jalapeño.

Mix in the broth and simmer for about 1-2 minute then add the can of tomatoes and basil. Let cook for 5 minutes.

Once you have the red pepper charred on the grilled, chop in half and add to the soup. Use a hand blender (or transfer soup to any blender) till smooth. Then mix in the cream and mozzarella. Let the soup sit for 1-2 minutes so the the mozzarella will melt and garnish with sliced basil leaves.

Sunday Dinner: Giada's Potato Crusted Tilapia, Japanese Ginger Dressing Salad & Green Beans

It's Sunday Dinner! I decided to try something I saw on Giada's show (Everyday Italian) on Food Network. It's her purple potato crusted tilapia. Healthy eating is incredibly costly sometimes, which is why I love tilapia filets. Super inexpensive, healthy and delicious! Now I didn't have purple potatoes, so I just used regular Russet Potatoes and it tasted great! For a side I had a Japanese Ginger dressing salad and oven baked green beans.

Green Beans

Toss green beans in olive oil, garlic, sea salt and pepper. Baked on 350 for about 10-15 minutes.


Japanese Ginger Dressing Salad

2 cups shredded iceberg lettuce
2 roma tomatoes sliced length-wise
1/2 english cucumber sliced length-wise
1/2 carrot grated
3 tbs of TonTon Japanese Dressing - Can be bought at Costco (amazing) - add more if you like!

Potato Crusted Tilapia

Recipe link: Giada's Potato Crusted Tilapia

Recipe: Quinoa Salad

Superfoods has been a term that has been thrown around a lot these days. Kale is probably the most popular "superfood" but I'm partial to quinoa. 

Quinoa is a grain that is gluten free and high in protein. It's a germinated grain that has excellent nutritional value. A great alternative to rice, barley, etc... 

Recipe

1 cup quinoa 

2 cups water

1 tomato, diced

1/2 english cucumber, diced

1/2 tbs red onions, chopped

1 cup arugula, stemmed removed and chopped fine

2 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1/2 tbs olive oil

1/2 lemon juiced

Cook the quinoa in the two cups water with a 1 tsp salt. This should cook high for 15 minutes. Once completed, sit aside to cool

Once cooled, mix the remaining ingredients and toss. Add more salt while tasting. As I always say, it's all based on preference. 

Weeknight Dinner: Stuffed Sweet Potato

Another easy weeknight with my rotisserie chicken. This is so quick to make, tastes delicious and is healthy!

Recipe

1 large sweet potato, microwaved for 15 minutes
1/2 cup shredded rotisserie chicken
1 small onion, diced
1 cup fresh spinach, roughly chopped
1 tsp cajun seasoning
1/2 tsp salt (add more as you cook and taste)
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp of coconut oil

Fire up your pan and add the coconut oil (start with 1 tsp but add more if the pan starts getting dry). Add the onion and cook till transparent and browned. Add the shredded chicken and all the seasonings for about 2-3 minutes. Add the spinach and cook for another 2 minutes.

Once the sweet potato is done, slice in the middle and make room for all the filling. Serve and enjoy!

Labor Day Weekend Grill Feast: Red Snapper with Veggies on a bed of Quinoa

Happy Labor Day Weekend all!

Since the warm days are about to turn chillier, we wanted to use our grill to make a Labor Day Weekend Grill Feast. It's a very simple and easy dinner. Grilled red snapper and corn with sautéed zucchini and baby broccoli on a bed of quinoa. Now a lot of my recipes, especially this one, doesn't really give step by step instructions, just a general guide. Everyone has their own preference and some my recipes don't call for exact measurements because I just like going rogue! Makes cooking more fun.

Recipe

1.3 lbs fillet of red snapper
1 bunch of baby broccoli
2 zucchinis cut into circles
1/2 cup of quinoa
1.5 cups of water
Seasonings (your choice)

I first seasoned the fillet of red snapper with a bunch of difference whole foods seasoning from their seafood isle (they have everything!) Put it on the grill for 15-20 minutes.

Baby Broccoli - chop up some garlic in a pan with a little bit of olive oil. Put the broccoli in with some lemon juice with the pan cover on. Let it steam for 10 minutes. Soggy vegetables are the worst, so keep an eye on how high the stove is set.

Zucchini - Toss it in olive oil, seasonings of your choice, salt, pepper and cook in a pan for 10 minutes. You want it to remain crispy so make sure it doesn't start getting brown ... it's a sign that it's now overcooked. No bueno!

Quinoa - Boil 1.5 cups of water and 1/2 cup of quinoa. Quinoa to me isn't very good seasoned, so I avoid seasonings.. Don't worry, the other flavors in this meal will compensate. Let it cook for 5 minutes on high, and when the water is bubbling, put the stove on low and let sit. The quinoa will seep up the water and become fluffy.

Corn - Season with your favorite seasonings (I used paprika, dill, garlic&herb, Betts seasoning (all time favorite) and Morton's all purpose seasoning) Cover in foil and grill for 10-12 minutes.

My Favorite Green Juice

So I'm still not a juice connoisseur and I really am a novice to this. However, there is one green juice that I like and will share my recipe. I had something similar during one my travels but had to figure out the recipe through taste. The excessive amount of vegetables in juices are not my thing... yet...

Below is my favorite green juice recipe. I used a regular juicer, but be aware, I used a ton of kale and and it only amounted to this much juice.

Recipe 

1 bunch of kale leaves (stalk removed)
1 chopped apple
4 strawberries
1 tbs of fresh grated ginger
1/4 of a lemon

Detox Tuesday - Grilled Turkey Salad with Salmon

So I'm still detoxing and decided to post my recipe for this grilled turkey salad with salmon. I know.. salmon again... I just made a ton, its healthy and tastes delicious!

Recipe

1 piece of grilled Alaskan Salmon (6 oz) - I used about half for the salad
1 grilled turkey burger sliced
4 bunches of romaine lettuce leaves (chopped)
1/4 of an english cucumber (sliced thick)
1 tbs olive oil
1 tbs lemon
1 tbs Coleman's Mint Sauce
Dash of fresh ground pepper
1/2 cup of grilled onions
1 small vine ripen tomato diced
2 hard boiled eggs sliced
4 piece of blanched asparagus spears

Dressing

1 tsp hummus
1 tsp roasted red pepper spread (I used the Trader Joes version)
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp Coleman's Mint Sauce (I purchased it from Amazon - Coleman)

Please refer to my previous post for cooking and seasoning the salmon.

Turkey Burger: I would season the heck out of it just like the salmon. I added one tbs of panko crumbs and one egg to bind it all together but I really just added every herb (rosemary, parsley, oregano, sage) in my garden and every seasoning I own. I also added a dash of cinnamon and cumin to help enhance the flavor, but other than than, go crazy!

Boiling the Eggs: The best trick I have found is to boil the water and then toss in the eggs for about 9-10 minutes to get the perfect yellow yolk!

Asparagus Spears: To blanche asparagus spears, boil your water and add in the spears for 2 minutes. You want that bright green color but for it to remain crispy as well.

Once you have all the ingredients above prepared, mix it all together before adding the dressing. Once tossed, add the small amount of dressing and mix (it may seem as if there is not enough dressing but the flavors from everything else will enhance the salad). Add more pepper if you would like and serve immediately.

Detox Monday - Salmon Salad with a Lemon Olive Oil Vinaigrette

It's Detox Monday! After eating pizza and pasta during my business trip, it's time to get healthy! This recipe is very easy and fast for those long work weeks!

Recipe

1 piece of grilled Alaskan Salmon (6 oz) - I used about half for the salad
4 bunches of romaine lettuce leaves (chopped)
1/4 of an english cucumber (sliced thick)
1 tbs olive oil
1 tbs lemon
Dash of fresh ground pepper

Get a large piece of salmon and season with all your favorite seasonings. The salad itself is pretty plain mainly because the flavors will come from your cooked salmon. I do overdo my seasonings since salmon can still be fishy! I added cumin, crushed red pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, and some of my favorite Whole Foods seasoning mixes (post soon to follow). I also added some sliced lemons on top and fresh dill.


Grilling - (on a cedar plank) Takes about 15 minutes (just make sure you can flake off the salmon which to me ensures that it is cooked thoroughly)

Bake - Put the seasoned salmon on a baking dish with aluminum foil on the bottom. Seal the dish with additional aluminum foil. Bake at 375 for about 35-45 minutes until the salmon flakes with a fork.

Mix all the ingredients together and serve, chilled!