Quinoa Tabbouleh

This recipe was so refreshing and filling! The flavors were super intense but I wish I had added more lime, parsley, and mint to it to make it even more delicious. I also think my ratio of quinoa to tomatoes and cucumbers was a little off...too much quinoa. The recipe is essentially exactly the same as the traditional tabbouleh made with bulgur. The only difference is that it calls for quinoa, which I liked because I think more people will likely have quinoa on hand and know how to prepare it than wheat bulgur. I also didn't rinse the quinoa and I've heard that rinsing it changes the flavor dramatically. 

Quinoa Tabbouleh 

• 1 cup of quinoa, rinsed well
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more for taste
• 1 large cucumber, diced, chef's choice
• 1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
• 2/3 cup chopped parsley
• 1/2 cup chopped mint
• 2 scallions thinly sliced

Preparation

• Prepare quinoa as directed on package or follow the simple directions below:
• Bring 1 cup quinoa, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, and 2 cups water to boil. Reduce heat to medium-low or to simmer, cover, let cook for 15-20 minutes or until tender. Take off heat and let stand for 5 minutes, uncovered. Fluff with fork and allow to cool completely before using.
• Combine olive oil and lemon in small bowl and add salt and pepper as desired. 
• Chop up veggies and herbs and combine with cooled quinoa.
• Pour olive oil/lemon mixture over the quinoa mixture and stir thoroughly.

Olivia and Tanner's Wedding!

Even though this is a food blog, I decided I would post about the beautiful wedding I went to this past weekend in Pennsylvania. I love adventures and of course this road trip was no different...
We stayed at my cousins apartment at Fairfield University on our way to and from the wedding. And then, we got a little lost trying to find the church and while pulling over to look at the gps, we got stuck in the mud! We only tried to get it out for a couple minutes before some locals stopped and pulled us out. It was funny, we were all dressed up and you could tell he looked at my Rhode Island license plate and kind of laughed...silly out-of-towners. If we had gotten stuck in the mud in RI, I doubt anyone would have helped us for quite a while. 

Finally we made it to the beautiful stone church where the wedding was held. My best friend Olivia got married to the love of her life and I got to be there to see them exchange vows and dance their first dance as Mr. And Mrs. Tanner Jackson...it was absolutely beautiful.

Olivia and I have been best friends since we were 6 years old and it's been a wonderful journey growing into adults together that culminated in her beginning the rest of her life with Tanner on Saturday. 

The decorations were absolutely stunning. Her mom has impeccable taste and transformed an old gymnasium into a breathtaking venue decorated with strands of lights and flowing fabric. The tables were decorated with burlap and mason jars and baby's breath. I loved the rustic place settings...it reminded me of the place settings I want to use to post pictures of the food I make, thus part of the reason I decided to post on here about the wedding.

The food was delicious. Grilled fruit with basil and mint along with fresh veggies, crackers, and cheese for appetizer while we waited for the bridal party to arrive at the reception. For dinner we feasted on prime rib with horseradish sauce or chicken cordon bleu accompanied by salad, roasted potatoes and tortellini. Dessert was my favorite part of the meal. I don't even know what all the different cookies and cupcakes I ate were but my favorite was the vanilla chai cupcake. If any of you know me, you know that I love chai so this was like a dream come true...chai in a cupcake!  

                    

                    

                    

When it was still light outside, the lighting inside was beautiful and as it got darker, the room began to glow from the candles, overhead lights, and the lights underneath the fabric and the table clothes. Absolutely gorgeous!

                               

And of course I had to post a picture of me and my dashingly handsome date :D 

                                    

Cauliflower and Brussel Sprouts Pizza Crust

Hmmm...not sure where to start with this post because this was an interesting experiment. I loved the result but hated the process. I don't currently have the right kitchen gadget to make the process a lot less time consuming. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let me start at the beginning...I love pizza. And I love cauliflower and brussel sprouts. I think  it was probably last year when I started hearing about this alternative way to make pizza crust out of ground up cauliflower and was immediately intrigued. Cauliflower is a much more versatile vegetable than I ever thought. Side note: A few weeks ago I made beer battered buffalo cauliflower bites, which turned out delicious...I'll have to post about that experience sometime soon.

Anyways, I only have a blender, not a food processor so that made the whole grinding up cauliflower and brussel sprouts a much longer process than it would have been with a food processor. Other than that, it's a very basic recipe...put it all in a bowl, knead it up, shape into pizza crust, bake and vous la!

***please note: I found that this recipe makes two smaller pizza crusts. I like very thin pizza crust so a little goes a long way for me. 

Cauliflower Brussel Sprouts Pizza Crust 

• 1 head of cauliflower
• 8-10 brussel sprouts
• 1 cup of flour, chef's choice
• 1 teaspoon of nutritional yeast
• pinch of salt
• pinch or red pepper flakes
• 3 eggs

Preparation

1. Separate cauliflower into florets, and blend until they are the consistency of quinoa
2. Line a bowl with cheese cloth or paper towels and put the ground cauliflower to squeeze out moisture. Do this several times till it seems mostly dry. 
3. Grind up brussel sprouts till well shredded before adding to cauliflower. 
4. Mix in flour, nutritional yeast, salt, pepper flakes. 
5. Add three eggs and knead them into mixture. 
6. Line a pizza pan or cookie sheet with parchment paper and form dough into pizza crust shape desired. 
7. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes or until brown on top and edges. 
8. After crust is crispy, add whatever toppings desired and then cook at 375 degrees for 12-15 minutes. 

Recipe credit goes to What's Cooking Good Looking. 

Polenta Veggie Lasagna

I loooooove pasta. I'd say at least once a day I crave macaroni and cheese and lasagna and spaghetti and meatballs. Yeah, my pasta obsession is bad...Pasta in moderation (pasta and moderation just don't work for me) is okay but there's nothing that's really nutritionally good for you unless it's a whole wheat pasta which to me always seem very chewy no matter how long you cook them for. Anyways, I've been wanting to come up with ways to curb my pasta cravings and I've started to realize that it's usually the stuff that we pair with pasta that I really crave like cheese and red sauce. So I knew if I could find a lower calorie, less filling substitute, I could almost cut pasta entirely out of my diet. Thus begins my experiment making polenta veggie lasagna.

Let me just give you a quick preview...this is what it looked like when I finished...

First, pick out what kind of vegetables you want to include in your lasagna. I love broccoli in just about anything and in the last few months, I've been putting brussel sprouts in stir-rys and omelets so I figured it could work well in lasagna too. Normally, I would use a red pepper, but my boyfriend's mom was coming for dinner and she's allergic to peppers. I also used a green zucchini and a yellow onion and kind of eyeballed the amounts for each vegetable. I added some fresh spinach towards the end because I didn't want it to cook too quickly.

I always sauté my veggies in olive oil or in olive oil cooking spray. While they are cooking, I grind some rainbow peppercorns and sea salt into the mixture. No matter what vegetables I'm cooking, salt and pepper are a must...

Since it's lasagna, of course, I needed to layer it all with some fat-free ricotta cheese, egg, and italian seasoning mixture. 

I used garlic basil polenta and sliced it very thin...I found that in an 8x8 pan, I could fit about three rows with three and a half slices across. 

First, I put a thin layer of red sauce on the bottom of the pan and then put the polenta down followed by a layer of the sautéed veggies and then the ricotta cheese mixture on top of that. I topped the first layer with red sauce and then sprinkled a little mozzarella on top and then repeated all of the steps again. After I put the second layer of the lasagna down, I finished it off with a sprinkling of italian seasonings. 

Vous la!

Then I baked it at 375 for thirty minutes covered and then 15 minutes uncovered. It was delicious!

Polenta Veggie Lasagna

• One tube of polenta
• 2 1/2 cups of fresh vegetables of your choice (broccoli, peppers, onions, spinach, brussel sprouts, etc.)
• 1 jar of red sauce
• 1 1/4 cup fat free ricotta cheese
• 1 egg
• Italian seasonings
• Shredded mozzarella 

Preparation 

1. Dice fresh vegetables and sauté in oil just till tender. 
2. Slice polenta thinly while veggies are sautéing. 
3. Mix ricotta cheese, egg, italian seasonings. 
4. Layer red sauce, polenta slices, vegetables, ricotta cheese mixture, red sauce and mozzarella. 
5. Repeat step 4. 
6. Cook at 375 degrees for 30 minutes covered. 
7. Cook for 15 minutes uncovered and then let stand for 5-10 minutes to cool.