Swiss chard with feta and tomatoes

Approx. 165 Calories per serving. Recipe makes 1 (very large) serving.

I bought a big bunch of Swiss chard today at the farmer's market. I used about half of it to make this tasty recipe. The cheese and vinegar provide a nice offset to the slight bitterness of the chard. It makes a great side dish to your favorite grilled meat.
I decided to serve it with a nice piece of grilled sirloin steak.

Ingredients

• 4 cups Swiss chard
• 1 medium tomato (approx. 1 cup)
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 Tbs balsamic vinegar
• 2 Tbs feta cheese (I used fat free)
• 1/4 cup water

Directions

1. Wash Swiss chard and separate stems/ribs from leaves.
2. Rough chop chard stems and leaves.
3. Chop tomato.
4. Add oil and minced garlic to a cold skillet.
5. Heat until oil gets hot and garlic releases scent.
6. Add chard stems.
7. Cook approx. 3 minutes, until stems start to soften.
8. Add tomatoes, chard leaves, and water.
9. Cook approx. 3-4 minutes, until leaves and tomatoes soften and most of the water has evaporated.
10. Add vinegar and mix well.
11. Serve and top with feta cheese.
    

Curried sweet potato soup

Approx. 265 Calories per serving. Recipe makes 2 servings.

Instead of the sweet, sticky sweet potato marshmallow casserole that is commonly served on Thanksgiving, I decided to make a nice savory soup out of my sweet potatoes instead. The coconut milk gave it just the right hint of sweetness and creaminess.

Ingredients

• 2 cups peeled and cubed sweet potatoes
• 1 leek
• 1 tsp curry powder
• 1 tsp garam masala spice mix
• 1/2 Tbs olive oil
• 1/4 cup coconut milk
• water
• cilantro (optional, for garnish)

Directions

1. Heat oil, curry powder, and garam masala in a sauce pan.
2. Add leeks and cook until soft.
3. Add sweet potato cubes and then cover with water.
4. Bring to boil and then simmer until soft (approx. 30 mins).
5. Add coconut milk and remove from heat.
6. Blend until smooth (I used an immersion blender).
7. Serve and garnish with coconut milk and cilantro.

Mixed bean chili

I'm a sucker for bags of mixed beans. I get sucked in by the different colors and patterns, even though I know (but forget) that when they are cooked, they all turn various shades of beige/brown. When I started making this chili, I pictured all sorts of lovely colors, and then once the beans started soaking, I remembered that that wouldn't be the case. Oh well. At least each bean adds complexity to the flavor.

I used dried beans for this recipe, but you could easily use canned beans, either of one or multiple varieties. If using canned beans, cooking time is significantly reduced.

Approx. 280 Calories per serving. Recipe makes 3 servings.

Ingredients

• 1 cup mixed beans (dried)
• 2 medium tomatoes
• 1/2 medium onions (approx. 1/2 cup)
• 1/3 cup red bell pepper
• 4 roasted green chili peppers
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 3 tsp chili powder
• 1/4 cup green onion

Directions

1. Soak dried beans overnight or approx. 8 hours.
2. Drain water and rinse.
3. Add to pot and cover with water.
4. Add cumin, chili powder, and minced garlic.
5. Bring to boil then reduce heat to a light boil. Cook covered for approx. 45 minutes.
6. Add diced chili peppers, onion, tomato, and bell pepper.
7. Cook covered for an additional 30-45 minutes, or until beans are tender.
8. Serve and garnish with green onion.

Shrimp stir fry

Approx. 160 Calories per serving. Recipe makes 2 servings

I was cold all day today and since I couldn't seem to get warm on the outside, I thought something spicy might warm me from the inside. This quick dish had a nice spice level and I did feel toasty warm inside - but I was still cold on the outside! You could easily substitute your favorite stir fry sauce for the Thai green curry paste.

Ingredients

• 3 oz medium shrimp, precooked (60 count per pound)
• 4 cups bok choy
• 1/2 medium onion (approx. 2/3 cup)
• 1/2 cup yellow bell pepper
• 1 cup snow peas
• 2 Tbs Thai green curry paste
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1/4 cup water

Directions

• Wash and chop vegetables, separating the bok choy stems from leaves.
• Heat oil in a frying pan.
• Add onions and bok choy stems. Cook until the onions start to get tender.
• Add bell pepper and cook 1-2 more minutes.
• Add curry paste and water. Dissolve curry paste and coat all vegetables.
• Add snow peans and bok choy leaves.
• Cook until bok choy leaves wilt and most of the water evaporates.
• Add shrimp and heat until warm. (I used pre-cooked. If using raw shrimp, add at same time as snow peas.)
  

Curried carrot and potato soup

Approx. 240 Calories per serving. Recipe makes 2 servings.

It's getting towards the end of the week, and the fridge is looking a little empty. Instead of going shopping, I decided to use up some of the root vegetables in the crisper. This is a nice warm savory soup that really sticks to your ribs.

Ingredients

• 2 cups potatoes (I used red, skin on)
• 1 cup carrots
• 1/2 cup onions
• 1/2 Tbs olive oil
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1/2 cup vegetable stock
• 1 Tbs curry powder
• water

Directions

1. Wash and dice carrots and potatoes.
2. Add minced garlic, curry powder, and oil to a sauce pan.
3. Heat pan until oil and spices sizzle.
4. Add onions.
5. Cook onions until they start to wilt.
6. Add potatoes, carrots, vegetable stock, and cover with water.
7. Boil until all vegetables are soft.
8. Remove from heat and blend until smooth (I used an immersion blender).

Turnip, Apple, and Pomegranate Salad

Approx. 60 Calories per serving. Recipe makes 2 servings.

I bought some salad turnips at the market this week, so I decided to use two of them for a salad. They had the flavor of a mild radish, so you could easily use radish for this recipe instead of the turnips. I thought the tart of the apple and the sweet of the pomegranate would nicely balance the sharpness of the turnip/radish taste. Since I was planning on eating this immediately after making it, I didn't add any lemon to the apples to keep them from turning brown. If you plan to make this in advance, toss the apples with some lemon juice before mixing with the turnips.

Ingredients

• 2 medium salad turnips
• 1 small Granny Smith apple
• 1/4 cup pomegranate seeds
• 2 Tbs red wine vinegar

Directions

1. Wash and then grate the turnips (I left the skin on)
2. Dice the apple.
3. Toss the apple, vinegar, and turnips together.
4. Stir in pomegranate seeds (rinse first if they are covered with juice, otherwise the entire salad will turn purple).
5. Serve immediately.

Pomegranate fish curry

Approx. 215 Calories per serving. Recipe makes 1 serving.

Since pomegranates aren't in season all that long, I have been eating them like crazy. I like the curry I made and haven't thought of any other way to cook with them, so I made this dish again. This time I made sure to dice the onions, which greatly improved the texture compared to the chicken version. I also decided to try this recipe with fish. The flavor was nice, but the fish was a little too delicate for the heavier curry. In terms of flavor and texture, I think the shrimp version is the way to go. I'm not planning to make this same dish with any other meats, so this is the last of this redux recipe.

Ingredients

• 3 oz. fish(I used dover sole)
• 1 medium tomato
• 1/2 small onion
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 tsp curry powder
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/8 cup vegetable stock
• 3 Tbs pomegranate seeds

Directions

1. Dice tomato and onion. Mince garlic.
2. Add curry powder, minced garlic, and oil to a frying pan.
3. Heat spice and oil mixture until it sizzles.
4. Add onion and stir fry for 1-2 minutes.
5. Add tomatoes and cook until it starts to stick to the pan.
6. Add vegetable stock to deglaze pan and 1 Tbs pomegranate seeds. Cook 1 minute.
7. Add fish and cook until done (approx. 2-3 minutes).
8. Serve and garnish with remaining pomegranate seeds.

Fennel Carrot Soup

Approx. 50 Calories per serving. Recipe makes 3 servings.

I didn't really feel like doing much for dinner, and soup is always an easy solution. I can just dump everying in a pot and let it cook until it is ready to eat. You could saute the leeks and fennel before adding the carrots and water, but I didn't feel like doing this extra step and I don't think I sacrificed the flavor at all. As the vegetables cooked, I was a little worried that I didn't use enough carrots. However, once it was all blended, the soup took on a lovely orange shade and I think any more carrots would have completely overwhelmed the fennel taste. Leftovers tasted just as good as the fresh soup (maybe even had a slightly stronger fennel taste).


Ingredients

• 2 medium carrots (approx. 1 1/4 cup)
• 1 medium leek (approx. 2/3 cup)
• 1 bulb fennel (approx. 2 cups)
• water
• red pepper flakes, to taste
• salt, to taste

Directions

1. Wash and chop leek (white and light green portions)
2. Wash and core fennel bulb, then rough chop.
3. Wash and chop carrots (I didn't peel them).
4. Add vegetables to a sauce pan and cover with water.
5. Boil until all of the vegetables are soft.
6. Remove from heat and blend until smooth. (I used an immersion blender.)
7. Add salt and pepper to taste.
8. Garnish with fennel leaves.

Pomegranate chicken curry

Approx. 240 Calories per serving. Recipe makes 1 serving.

I really liked the pomegranate shrimp curry I made a while ago, and have actually made it a couple of times while pomegranates are still in season. Today, I decided to try making it with chicken instead of shrimp. It was pretty good, but I like the recipe with shrimp better. While making this dish, I got a little lazy when I chopped the onion, and instead of a fine dice, I just rough chopped them. While it didn't impact the flavor, I liked the texture better when the onion was smaller.


This recipe is almost identical to the shrimp recipe, except I used more pomegranate seeds and the chicken was added to the pan much earlier in the cooking process.

Ingredients

• 4 oz. boneless skinless chicken breast
• 1/2 medium tomato
• 1/2 small onion
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 tsp curry powder
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/8 cup vegetable stock
• 3 Tbs pomegranate seeds

Directions

1. Dice tomato and onion. Mince garlic.
2. Add curry powder, minced garlic, and oil to a frying pan.
3. Heat spice and oil mixture until it sizzles.
4. Add chicken breast and cook until nearly done.
5. Add onion and stir fry for 1-2 minutes.
6. Add tomatoes and cook until it starts to stick to the pan.
7. Add vegetable stock to deglaze pan and 2 Tbs pomegranate seeds. Cook 1 minute.
8. Serve and garnish with remaining pomegranate seeds.

Market Haul

There were so many delicious looking fruits and vegetables at the Downtown Phoenix Public Market this morning that I spent the entire $40 that I took. I bought about 6 lbs of apples (pink lady and granny smith), 8 pomegranates, a few bell peppers, red and green chili peppers, beefsteak and heirloom cherry tomatoes, a zucchini, yellow summer squash, lettuce, a large bunch of bok choy, cilantro, fennel, a leek, a couple of onions, a shallot, a few potatoes, snow peas, carrots, salad turnips, and a bag of mixed dried beans. Look for recipes that feature these fine veggies this week.

Vegetable noodle soup

Approx. 130 Calories per serving. Recipe makes 3 servings.

If I don't go grocery shopping mid week, I am usually left with a few scraps of random vegetables by Friday night. My solution to using the scraps is to make a salad, a stir fry, or soup. Since most of my scraps were root type vegetables, soup seemed like the best option. I tossed a few noodles in just to make it a bit more filling.

Ingredients

• 1 cup white potatoes (skin on)
• 1 medium carrot (approx. 1/2 cup)
• 1 small bunch bok choy (approx. 2 cups)
• 1/2 cup zucchini
• 1/2 cup onion
• 1/2 cup rice stick noodles
• 1 tsp Thai red curry paste
• water

Directions

1. Chop onion and potatoes and add to pot.
2. Cover with water and bring to a boil.
3. Add red curry paste stir to dissolve.
4. Separate bok choy stems from leaves. Chop stems and add to boiling water.
5. Once potatoes start to get soft, add dry noodles to the water.
6. Julienne the carrots, and then add to the water once noodles soften. (If you are just adding chopped chunks of carrots, add those with the potatoes.)
7. Once potatoes and noodles are soft, add diced zucchini and cook 2-3 more minutes.
8. Add chopped bok choy leaves and cook an additional 1-2 minutes, until leaves soften.
   

Fish tacos

Approx. 350 Calories per serving. Recipe makes 1 serving.

These tacos made a quick and easy lunch. I didn't need to roast the green chilis since I bought them already roasted at the farmer's market. All I did was dice them and microwave them for about 30 seconds. The fish only took about 2 minutes to cook, and in that time, I was able to heat the chilis and tortillas, and then assemble everything. You could pan fry the fish, but since I was adding avocado, I decided to cook the fish without oil.

Ingredients

• 3 oz. dover sole
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 lime
• 2 tortillas (6")
• 1/2 avocado
• 2 roasted green chilis
• spring mix lettuce

Directions

1. Poach sole in water and juice from 3/4 of the lime.
2. Dice the chilis and heat until warm.
3. Warm the tortillas.
4. Add a few pieces of lettuce.
5. Add chilis.
6. Add cooked fish.
7. Top with diced avocado.
8. Serve with slivers of lime.

Tomato fennel soup

Approx. 175 Calories per serving. Recipe makes 2 servings.

I was in the mood for soup and was trying to think of something I could make that would use up the fennel. I enjoy the combination of tomatoes and fennel, and thought I could make a tomato soup with fennel. I was a little worried that I was going to have an issue with the tomato skins (since I used fresh and was too lazy to remove the skins) but they blended nicely and there was no trace of them in the final soup. I also added a few sun dried tomatoes to add a bit more depth of flavor.

While the soup was enjoyable, it tasted a little bit too much like spaghetti sauce to me and I kept thinking of how good it would be poured over a big plate of pasta. While the connection to spaghetti sauce was distracting, the soup still really hit the spot and I ended up eating both servings for dinner (and not grilling the chicken that I planned to eat with the soup).

UPDATE: The next time I made this soup, I didn't add any fennel seeds and I doubled the amount of sun dried tomatoes. I really enjoyed the flavor this way and could taste the fennel and tomato without thinking of spaghetti sauce.

Ingredients

• 1 fennel bulb (approx. 2 cups)
• 1/2 yellow onion
• 2 cups chopped tomatoes
• 3 sun dried tomatoes
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• 1 Tbs olive oil
• 1 cup vegetable stock
• 1 1/2 cup water
• Black pepper, to taste

Directions

1. Remove top from fennel bulb, saving a few leaves for garnish.
2. Remove core and then chop bulb into small pieces.
3. Chop onion, tomatoes and the garlic.
4. Add the olive oil to a sauce pan.
5. Saute the garlic, fennel seeds, sun dried tomatoes, chopped fennel, and onions until slightly tender.
6. Add water and vegetable stock.
7. Boil for 10-15 minutes.
8. Add tomatoes and mix well.
9. Simmer covered for an additional 20-30 minutes.
10. When everything is soft, remove from heat and blend (I used an immersion blender).
11. Serve garnished with a few fennel leaves.

Chicken bok choy stir fry

Approx. 220 Calories per serving. Recipe makes 1 serving.

I was craving something savory tonight and thought that a garlic-ginger sauce on chicken and bok choy would really hit the spot.

I usually am not able to use up a piece of ginger before it goes bad, so I usually toss most of it in the freezer. Sometimes I peel it before I toss it in the freezer (especially if I think I will be adding sliced ginger to a recipe). Sometimes I just scrub the skin and then freeze the whole thing. I can't tell the difference of whether the skin was left on when grate the ginger (as I did in this recipe) so I don't bother peeling it.

Ingredients

• 4 oz boneless skinless chicken breast
• 2 bunches small bok choy (approx 3 cups)
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1/4 cup vegetable stock
• 1 tsp grated ginger
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1/2 Tbs low sodium soy sauce

Directions

1. Wash and drain bok choy.
2. Grate ginger and crush garlic.
3. Add ginger and garlic to oil in cold pan.
4. Heat oil, ginger, and garlic together.
5. Once oil is hot, add chicken.
6. Once chicken is almost done, add bok choy and vegetable stock.
7. Cook bok choy until leaves are wilted, the stems are tender, and most of the liquid in the pan has evaporated.
8. Toss with soy sauce and serve.
   

Black eyed peas

Approx. 200 Calories per serving. Recipe makes 2 servings

I thought the green chilis and black eyed peas would go well together, so made this dish. I tasted one chili to test the level of spice, and it was pretty mild and added two more. I should have tasted all of them, because at least one of them was HOT!!! As a result, this dish ended a little spicer than planned. Luckily, I had an avocado that I could garnish the plate with (not included in calorie total) that helped cut the spice level.

When it came time to make the leftovers, I had the brilliant idea to stick the whole thing in the food processer to make a paste that I could mold into a patty. I was thinking along the line of either falafel or bean burger. I didn't think to add egg or bread, or something to act as a binder. When I plopped my patty into a little bit of oil in the pan to cook, it disintigrated. I ended up smashing the paste into the full bottom of the pan, and cooking it until it got a little crispy. I didn't have luck flipping it, so ended up eating it with just one side crispy. It had the texture of corned beef hash that had been crisped on one side. I scooped that into a large lettuce leaf, and made a wrap. It was pretty good.


Ingredients

• 2 cups fresh black eyed peas
• 3 large roasted green chilis (approx. 3/4 cup)
• 1/2 cup chopped tomatoes
• 1/4 cup red onion
• 1/8 cup green onion
• 1 tsp olive oil
• water

Directions

1. Cover peas with water and boil for approx. 30 minutes, or until tender.
2. Drain peas and set aside.
3. Add remaining ingredients (except green onion) to pot and saute until all vegetables are warm and slightly softened.
4. Add peas back to pot and mix well. Heat for 2-3 minutes.
5. Add green onions and mix well. Heat for 1-2 minutes.
6. Serve.

Pomegranate Shrimp Curry

Approx. 200 Calories per serving. Recipe makes 1 serving.

I finally found a pomegranate that had deep red seeds. Unfortunately, half of the seeds were a moldy shade of brown and that fruit made a direct trip to the trash. The second one I opened had seeds that weren't quite as red, but they were very juicy and tasty.

I was in the mood for a shrimp curry tonight, and decided that the sweet of pomegranates would nicely complement the savory of the curry. I made a small batch in case it didn't turn out, and all I can say is that I wish I had used a pound of shrimp!! This was sooooooo good! I plan to make this recipe several times while pomegranates are still in season!

Ingredients

• 3 oz. shrimp (I used pre-cooked)
• 1/2 medium tomato
• 1/2 small onion
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 tsp curry powder
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/8 cup vegetable stock
• 2 Tbs pomegranate seeds

Directions

1. Dice tomato and onion. Mince garlic.
2. Add curry powder, minced garlic, and oil to a frying pan.
3. Heat spice and oil mixture until it sizzles.
4. Add onion and stir fry for 1-2 minutes.
5. Add tomatoes and cook until it starts to stick to the pan.
6. Add vegetable stock to deglaze pan and 1 Tbs pomegranate seeds. Cook 1 minute.
7. Add shrimp and cook until warm (if using raw shrimp, cook until done).
8. Serve and garnish with remaining pomegranate seeds.
   

Chicken Chili

Approx. 250 Calories per serving. Recipe makes 3 servings

One of my purchases at the farmer's market was a big bag of roasted green chilis. When I bought them, I wasn't sure what I was going to do with them, but a quick look around the pantry helped me to decide that they would be perfect in a nice chicken chili. The chilis had a nice smoky mild flavor to them, and I decided to not add a lot of other spices, and let the flavor of the chilis come through. Therefore, this has just a mild spice level (at least according to my spice tolerance level).

For the chicken, I just bought boneless skinless breast meat that was already cut into strips. I just added the full strips, and then once the dish was done cooking, teased apart the meat with a fork to make smaller pieces.

Ingredients

• 1 can pinto beans
• 5 oz boneless skinless chicken breast
• 4 roasted chili peppers
• 1 cup chopped tomato
• 1 cup green bell pepper
• 1/2 cup onion
• 1/2 tsp cumin powder
• black pepper to taste

Directions

1. Drain and rinse the can of beans then add to crock pot.
2. Chop all vegetables and add to crock pot
   (I added the seeds and membranes of the chilis too).
3. Add chicken.
4. Mix in spices.
5. Cook in a crock pot on low/medium heat for about 8 hours.
   

Fennel and Pomegranate Salad

Approx. 55 Calories per serving. Recipe makes 2 servings.

Every time I see pictures of pomegranates, they show juicy fruits filled with dark red seeds. Every time I buy a pomegranate, I get yellowish or pinkish seeds. Most of the time they are pretty dry. This time, the one I opened was juicy, but instead of the dark red/purple juice that comes in stores, it had a slight pink color and the seeds were more pink than red. I'm not sure if I just have bad luck with pomegranates, or if all the red seeds in pictures are color enhanced.

I never bought fennel before and had no idea what to do with it. I used a little bit of it by chopping up the bulb and adding it to this salad. I really liked the combination of the fennel, saltiness of the cheese, and sweetness of the pomegranates together.

Ingredients

• 1 cup zucchini
• 1 cup fennel bulb
• 2 cups spinach
• 1/8 cup pomegranate seeds
• 2 Tbs feta cheese (I used fat free)
• 2 Tbs red wine vinegar
• fennel leaf for garnish

Directions

1. Finely dice the fennel bulb (I used about 1/4 of the bulb)
2. Rough chop the zucchini
3. Mix fennel, zucchini, cheese, and vinegar.
4. Plate on a bed of spinach.
5. Top with pomegranate seeds.
6. Garnish with a couple fennel leaves.