Tag Archives: dinner

Roasted Veggie & Black Bean Burritos

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Roasted Veggie & Black Bean Burritos

 

Heyyy-o! It’s fridayyyy friiiidaaay (you’re welcome that song is now stuck in your head). But seriously I pretty pumped that it’s the weekend! The weather is starting to look up around here (high of 66 today!) and I am visiting a old roomie from my college days tonight. Life is good.

I was browsing through my dashboard (basically like the settings portal of my blog) here on WordPress and saw that I didn’t ever publish this recipe! I made a quite a while ago and it was deeelcious but must have spaced on the publishing part.

This would also work great as a gluten free option to just make the “stuffing” part of the burrito and put it over rice or or quinoa or any grain you want etc…

Hope you enjoy this tasty meal and also the helpful burrito rolling tip below 🙂

INGREDIENTS:
2 whole Sweet Potatoes, peeled And cubed small
2 whole Jalapenos diced
1 whole Red Pepper, diced
1 whole Red Onion, diced
2 teaspoons Olive Oil
1 teaspoon Cumin
1 teaspoon Chili Powder
1 pinch Salt And Pepper
2 cups cooked Black Beans (or 1 15 oz can rinsed and drained)
½ cups Fresh Cilantro, chopped
2 teaspoons Fresh Lime Juice
1 cup Shredded Cheddar
1 package Burrito-Sized Wheat Tortillas Or Wraps (6-10 Count) but really any tortilla will work.

INSTRUCTIONS:
In a bowl, toss your raw veggies in olive oil and season with spices. Place in a large baking dish and roast in 425 degree oven for 20 minutes, tossing around halfway through.
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Let cool. Add your roasted veggies to a cans worth of rinsed black beans. Add cilantro and squirt of fresh lime juice. Combine gently. At this point, mixture can be stored for later use if want to make this part ahead of time.

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Warm your tortillas of choice in microwave for about 30 seconds (so they are easier to handle and roll). Spray a casserole dish with nonstick spray or olive oil spray.
Add few heaping spoonfuls of vegetable and bean mixture to center of wrap. Top with shredded cheese. Fold in sides, and then roll up to complete(see pic below).Place in pan and continue to roll the others. Place into your baking dish, seam side down so that they stay together.
Bake in 375 degree oven for about 15 minutes or until golden brown. Baking this way will make the tortilla wrap crisp. It’s up to you if you want to sprinkle with cheese or not, I just thought it would look a little ‘prettier’.

** Tip: Premake your burritos and wrap them in aluminum foil. Keep in refrigerator for 3-4 days for a quick lunch or dinner!

Burrito Rolling 101:

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This is how my mom taught us to roll up our tortillas. I have been doing it this way since before I can remember. It blows my mind to see people do it any other way. I mean your “stuffing” is falling out all over the place and you, more likely than not, end up with food all over you! All I do is fold in the sides of the burrito like the the top left picture and then roll up(tucking in the ‘insides’ while you go) to complete it! Super simple and it all stays inside.

Hope you guys enjoy this one. It is a healthy, filling, tasty dinner!

xoxo

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Chicken Lettuce Wraps

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Chicken Lettuce Wraps

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These little guys are a fast and healthy dinner for a family on the go. Don’t let some of the ingredients scare you! They come together for a delicious combination. These would be great in tortillas if you’d prefer but the crisp lettuce sort of ‘makes’ this dish. It’s healthy and crunchy and allows for you to really taste the chicken mix. I was inspired by PF Chang’s lettuce wraps which are so good! I didn’t have any of those crunchy fried noodle things they serve or any of their sauces. I doused mine in Siracha, because as I think I’ve mentioned before….. I have an addiction.

I had the lettuce wraps at PF Changs for the first time this past fall (I don’t get out much). I loved them. I was doing my normal activity of browsing Pinterest(shocking, I know) and came across a couple of “copy cat” recipes. A lot of them were terrible. Just from reading the ingredients I could tell that was NOT was PF’s was serving up. I sort of adapted a few of them and came up with this. It’s pretty darn close, I think!

Here’s my recipe!
Ingredients
  • 1 tablespoon sesame oil
  • 1 pound ground chicken or turkey
  • 1 large onion, chopped small
  • 2 tablespoons garlic, minced or pressed
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1/4-1/2 cup hoisin sauce
  • 2 teaspoons fresh ginger, minced small
  • 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
  • 3 teaspoons sriracha sauce
  • 1 can (8 ounces) sliced water chestnuts, drained and finely chopped
  • 1 small bunch green onions, sliced
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil
  • Iceberg, or butter lettuce leaves, rinsed and drained
  • Sriracha sauce, wasabi, spicy mustard sauce for dipped (optional)
  • Roasted peanuts, chopped (optional)
  • Fried bean noodles (optional)
Directions
  1. In a medium skillet on medium heat, warm 1 tablespoon sesame oil. Add the ground meat and cook until it is cooked through. With a spatula, break it up into small chunks as it cooks (it will resemble ground beef).
  2. Stir in the onion, garlic, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, ginger, rice wine vinegar, and sriracha sauce until completely coated. Remove from heat.
  3. Fold in water chestnuts, green onion, additional sesame oil. Salt and pepper to taste.
  4. Serve wrapped in a leaf of lettuce. Top with any of the optional additional toppings.
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I’m fully aware this looks like a turd. But I promise it doesn’t taste like one.

Give it a try and hopefully you like too! I know these aren’t the greatest pictures but it is SUPER delicious and healthy!!

xoxo

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Fresh Veggie Greek Pasta

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Fresh Veggie Greek Pasta

Ahhh, look how pretty this one is. Screams summer time BBQ to me.

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NEWS FLASH-I live in Wisconsin (ps. GO BUCKY!)

NEWS FLASH- it’s basically April and it snowed last week……

NEWS FLASH- I’m freaking sick of it!

I was desperate for something that tasted like summer and I came across this recipe.  It seemed so fresh tasting, and it was. 🙂

I made a dinner out of this and topped it with some chopped up chicken breast. We ate it warm. But I believe the recipe was originally intended to be a cold pasta salad. Like the ones you bring to SUMMER barbeques with friends when you wear shorts and tank tops and can sit outsiiiiiide and enjoy a cold beverage and possibly see some lightening bugs…ahhhhhh the good times. CAN. NOT.WAIT.

Anyway, we both really liked this dish. It was also a mini-milestone for me beeeecccaauuuse it contains kalmata olives and my Beau ate them! OK – he sort of picked around them while serving and it’s not like he said “these taste GREAT!” but after you hear this story you’ll realize why I’m so happy.

Jake and I have been together for about 6 and a half years. We met in college. Around our 1 year anniversary I decided to make him dinner. Back then it was a rare occurance as we lived in dorms or college housing and no access to a kitchen and we’re poor so there’s that. ANYWAY I choose to make a dish my mom always made called Medditeranean Chicken. Super simple and tasty. Basically 4 ingredients. Chicken breasts, cherry tomotoes, capers, kalmata olives- and then baked. Looking back, I have NO idea what I was thinking. Jake didn’t grow up eating as many diverse flavors as me and his palate was a little, limited shall we say. This was just too much.

Here’s the down and dirty version: I cook. I plate. We sit down. I take a bite=heaven. Jake takes a bite= run to bathroom, spit out food, brush teeth, gargle with Listerine immedietly.

How we are together to this day you ask? I don’t know. My feelings were so hurt but I tried to understand that it was “weird flavors!” for him. Anyway at the time, he pointed to the capers as being the death of him but after that it was both olives and capers that I had to hear about how he dispised them everytime they were in a 5 foot radius of him. I’m taking this dish a sign that almost 5 years later his palate has grown and adapted and they can slowly become part of our grocery repitiore.

But enough about me- Here is how you can make this deeeelicious recipe for you and your family!

Ingredients:
2-3 large tomatoes, seeded and chopped
½ cup Kalamata olives, pitted and chopped
½ cup feta cheese, crumbled
2 tablespoons chopped parsley(I prefer Flat Leaf Italian)
1 tablespoon chopped basil
ÂĽ teaspoon salt
ÂĽ teaspoon black pepper
1 pound penne pasta (or whatever pasta you want)
6 tablespoons olive oil
3 teaspoons garlic, minced

Instructions:
– In a large bowl, combine the chopped tomatoes, olives, feta, herbs and spices, salt and pepper. *If you want to serve this dish cold, you could add this mixture to the fridge at this point to chill
– Cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain in a collander.
– In the same pot, (with the pasta in the collander) heat the olive oil over medium-low heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for 1-2 minutes without letting it turn brown and cripsy.
– Put the pasta back into to the pot and toss with olive oil mixture.
– Add the tomato-olive mixture and toss until the fresh vegetables are thoroughly mixed with the penne.
– Serve!

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Hope you enjoy! And I also hope the weather is warmer by you, but if it is please don’t tell me about it. I’m bitter, however I can’t complain tooooo much as it’s about 50 today. SPRING IS COMING!

Thanks for vewing !

xoxo

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One Pot Pasta

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One Pot Pasta

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Literally throw it all in a pot

Happy Sunday! Hope everyone had a great weekend. If you’re struggling for simple recipe ideas for the upcoming week, I’ve gotcha covered. This is seriously one of the simplest and tastiest week night meals ever! I first saw this and was like “ummmm what? there’s no way you can cook it all together and it doesn’t get gooey and mushy and naaaasty”  There were too many good reviews for me to not try it and also the hope that it really would be delicious was too much for me to take- I gave it a try.

I’ve made this multiple times since the first time and I’ve made a few adaptations. First of all, I really did find it a little “gummy” the first time- I’ve found that a good way to help reduce this is to not add all the water right at the beginning and then add more towards the end of the cooking if it needs it. Also one time I made this I had some extra spinach lying around which was close to being not so great anymore, I threw it in right at the end and let it wilt and it really look this to the next level. As you can see in the picture above, you seriously just throw it all together and let it cook. Magical! 🙂

Ingredients:

  • 12 ounces whole wheat linguine (or spaghetti, really just a long pasta)
  • 12 ounces cherry or grape tomatoes, halved or quartered if large
  • 1 onion, thinly sliced
  • 4 cloves garlic, sliced thinly or minced
  • 1/2 -1  teaspoon dried red-pepper flakes
  • 2 sprigs fresh basil, plus torn leaves for garnish
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
  • 4 cups water (or chicken or veggie stock for added flavor)
  • 3 oz Fresh Spinach (about half a standard bag)
  • Freshly grated Parmesan cheese, for serving

Directions

  1. Combine pasta, tomatoes, onion, garlic, red-pepper flakes, basil, oil, 2 teaspoons salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and about 3 and a half cups of water in a large pot. Bring to a boil over high heat. Boil mixture, stirring and turning pasta frequently with tongs, until pasta is al dente and water has nearly evaporated/soaked into pasta, which takes about about 10-12 minutes. This is where you can add more water if need be.
  2. Remove from heat. Stir in the spinach and let it wilt (like 2 minutes). Then season to taste with  extra salt and pepper, plate it up and garnish with basil and Parmesan cheese.
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ta da!

Sooo good. We love this and it’s packed with veggies and nutrients and yet soooo delicious you wouldn’t know it.

I have also made a Spicy Peanut Thai version of the one pot pasta- serisouly ALSO freaking delicious! Look for it in an upcoming post!

As always- thanks for reading, friends!

xoxo

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Mediterranean Mac & Cheese

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Mediterranean Mac & Cheese

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Hello! So I started a thing where every week I’ll ask Jake to look at my food Pinterest board and pick a recipe for me to make during the week. I just get so sick of allllllwwaayyys picking what we eat and when I ask Jake he says ” um, I don’t know. Anything.” I mean doesn’t he browse blogs all day long and have a million recipes just floating around in his head? No? Ok then he needs a little inspiration 🙂 This was one that he picked. Clearly didn’t read anything about it since it contains olives which he ‘thinks’ are the spawn of satan but I adapted and only added those to my plate. Honestly this doesn’t have a TON of cheese in it, really you are creating a yummy creamy sauce from the flour and milk- which sort of makes you think it’s all cheese but it’s not too crazy. You can totally adapt and remove items you don’t like or add ones you like better. Enjoy!!!

Ingredients

  • 1 big (14.5 oz) can fire roasted, diced tomatoes, drained
  • 1/3 cup chopped black or kalamata olives (I used about 1 tbsp of capers too!)
  • 1 Tbsp chopped fresh basil, plus more for garnish
  • 1/2 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 box pasta(16oz)
  • 2 Tbsp butter
  • 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 cup chopped red onion
  • 2 coves garlic, finely minced
  • 3 Tbsp a.p. flour
  • 2 cups milk
  • 6 oz crumbled feta cheese
  • 2 oz shredded mozzarella cheese
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease an oven save dish (I used 9×13) & set aside.
  • In a small bowl, combine drained diced tomatoes, chopped olives/capers, 1 Tbsp basil and dried oregano, set aside.
  • Boil pasta to al dente according to directions listed on package. Drain pasta well and return to pot.
  • Meanwhile, melt butter along with olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Once hot, add onion and saute until soft and lightly golden, about 3 – 4 minutes, adding in garlic during the last minute of sauteing.
  • Whisk in flour, and cook stirring constantly for 1 minute. While whisking constantly, slowly pour in milk and bring to a boil, don’t stop stirring!
  • Once mixture reaches a boil reduce heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring constantly until mixture has thickened, about 4 minutes.
  • Remove from heat, stir in 2 oz feta cheese and the mozzarella cheese then season with salt and pepper to taste.
  • Pour tomato mixture over drained pasta and toss, then pour sauce over pasta mixture and toss all to evenly coat.
  • Pour coated pasta mixture into prepared baking dish. Sprinkle top evenly with remaining 4 oz crumbled feta cheese. Bake in preheated oven 20 – 25 minutes until edges are bubbling and top is golden brown.
  • Serve warm and garnished with basil!

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Ok see this is an example of a draft I created before I started my new photography initiative. Please excuse my orange ‘blaaaa’ lighting…I promise that it’s equally as delicious as if I’d taken the picture with my Nikon. Just tryyyyy it!

xoxo

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