Bourbon Spiked Vanilla Quinoa Pudding

Why would you waste your time with rice pudding when you could use quinoa and make it healthier?! This recipe also spikes it with a little bourbon for fun.

You guys... I realized I've never seen a recipe for quinoa pudding. So naturally I got on that shit STAT. I mean it's a no brainer. Why have I not made this before? It's just like a slight twist on the classic and you are adding all the nutrition of quinoa and it's health enough to call breakfast....

Right?

Cheesy Greek Quinoa Skillet

This cheesy one pot meal is fast, easy, delicious and healthy! Greek it up with this cheesy skillet quinoa which boasts spinach and two kinds of cheeses!

I gave ya'll some time off from Greek food. But it's back with a vengeance! I was totally on a spinach pie (spanakopita) kick, because let's face it, spinach and feta is one seXXXy match up. Add in some onion and garlic and you gots Greek paradise!

But I wanted to update it a little bit. So I added in quinoa instead of rice.

You can blame the Spanakopita Quinoa Roll Ups- they got me on a spinach roll!

This is a true one pot meal that is super easy, delicious, quick and HEALTHY! Oh and you only mess up one damn skillet! WIN-WIN-WIN-WIN-WIN!!

I don't mess around when it comes to food...

But be prepared to pray to Cheesus once again! For this skillet meal ALSO boasts 2 cheeses. Feta for flava and mozzarella to be gooey.

Being healthy does not mean sacrificing all that is good and right in the world- and that my friends is cheese. DO not give up on cheese. Moderation my friends. Moderation is key!

With the quinoa and cheese you are talking about LOTS of protein for the serving size. At these stats you could have 2 servings... you could.

This recipe concludes #HolidayDetox 2015. Of course there will be more healthy recipes as time goes on. But brace yourself for some killer, over the top shit.

It was my Mom's Birthday this past weekend and I made her THIS- Bourbon Baklava Birthday Cake. One to truly go down in history. It was amazeballs! BEYOND better than I expected. So Yeah I think you are gonna want THAT one!

Recipe

Cheesy Greek Quinoa Skillet

by Sophia @ NY Foodgasm

Prep Time: 5 mins

Cook Time: 20 mins

Keywords: saute entree side healthy Greek

Ingredients (serves 6)

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 medium onion, diced
• 4 cloves of garlic, smashed and sliced
• 1 bag of spinach
• 1 cup cooked quinoa
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1/3 cup crumbled feta
• 2 tablespoons fresh dill, chopped fine
• 1/2 cup shredded part skim mozzarella cheese

Instructions

Preheat oven to 415º

1- In a skillet on medium heat, add in the olive oil.

2- Once well heated, add in the onions and garlic, cook until onion are soft.

3- Add fresh spinach in bit by bit and cook until wilted.

3- Toss in your cooked quinoa, followed by lemon juice, feta and dill.

4- Combine well and cover in shredded mozzarella cheese.

5- Bake for 15 minutes

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Nutritional Information

Quinoa Stuffed Plantains #HolidayDetox

A vegetarian take on the Latin favorite stuffed plantains, no meat? No problem! This is just as good as the original with just the right amount of spice. Perfect for an appetizer or a meal.

I promised I wouldn't just feed you a bunch of Greek food, right? I made good on this promise. I am bringing you a some Latin flava! Arrrrrrrrriba! ( I never could master the tongue roll though)

What is not to love about Latin culture- the food, the spices, the comfort, the music and plantains!

Greek Chopped Salad #HolidayDetox

This fabulous Greek Chopped Salad comes together in minutes with very few ingredients. Transport your taste buds to Greece and keep your body fit and fabulous while you do it.

I am realizing I have been hitting you with all my Greek food moves lately. I guess I am just feeling my Greek half more lately, but I got more for you soon. In my last post I mentioned different cultures- like Cuban and Moroccan. Obsessed with the flavors they got going on.

#SorryNotSorry but the Mediterraneans got the lockdown on healthy and delicious.  I realize it is the dead of winter and all of you are curling up with strews and soups and I am here all like... salad is cold and delicious. But I know you got your resolutions so this salad will help you keep them.

But anyways this salad is soooo super easy- chop up some veggies, add in some EVOO and Red Wine Vinegar- DONE!

Even an owl can do it...



This cracked me up so hard I had to add it. 

So if you wanna get your healthy on and you're short on time- problem solved!!

Plus it is the DEAD of winter- boo winter. But I can totally feel like it is warm out with this kick ass salad.

The briney flavor of beautiful fresh feta with crisp fresh veggies with some dill and a light dressing- it really is the fucking simple things sometimes.
 
Does this mean I am getting food mature- nah never! This is just freaking delicious and you forget your being all healthy and responsible and shit.

But it is sooooo good! Ohhhhh yeah! See my very own foodgasm below. Don't worry it's not too explicit.

Greek Chopped Salad

by Sophia Del Gigante

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: N/A

Keywords: raw salad entree snack healthy nut-free soy-free sugar-free vegetarian Greek summer winter spring fall

Ingredients (serves 6)

• 1 1/2 medium cucumbers, diced
• 1 cup grape tomatoes, diced
• 1/2 large red onion, dice8 oz. feta, diced
• 2 tablespoons dill, chopped fine
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• OPTIONAL: freshly ground black pepper

Instructions

1- Dice up all your veggies.

2- Add in dill and combine well.

3- Drizzle in your extra virgin olive oil and red wine vinegar.

4- Mix well and add pepper if desired.

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Nutritional Facts

 

Easy Quinoa Spanakopita Roll Ups

Spanokopita aka Greek Spinach Pie is delicious, but can be quite labor intensive, so I made it easier and put an extra healthy spin on it by adding quinoa! This Mediterranean delight is light on calories and high in flavor!

I am half Greek guys, in case you didn't know. I throw a while lots Mediterranean mayhem and recipes your way. Ever heard of the Mediterranean diet? Well these people live healthy and eat healthy naturally. So I thought I would send some Greek action your way.  It's a good thing too because after the holidays- it's time for some holiday detox bitches... I know you been bad. I sure know I was. Yeah I was a bad bad girl! I must have gone through like 4 pounds of butter from all the baking over the holidays!

Sage Pesto

Take a classic pesto and spin it for the fall and winter season with this sage pesto. It goes well on anything from potatoes to poultry to toast!

I live to put a spin on classics. Mac and cheese- great! Philly cheesesteak mac and cheese- YES I must have it!!

Classics become so for a reason. They are tried and true and amazing. But I can't ever just leave it at what it is. I live to put my own stamp on something, to make it original. After all I am a creative, I was just born this way. I need to be different and think different.

Pesto, I loves it. Especially when you discover how truly good it is when you make it fresh. Fresh also means what's in season.

I grew a sage plant in my garden this year and it got MASSIVE! Like totally huge! 3 feet tall! I have also learned the value of cooking in season and with the season. When I saw sage pesto online I decided to develop my own recipe for it.

I totally rocked it! It's super delicious! Sooo sooo good! Since sage is a bit strong I added some arugula to cut it a bit. For my nut I used pecans since we see so much walnut action this time of year. I used parmesan cheese since it's strong sharp quality competed well with the other flavors.


What to do with it? IDEAS here:

I put it on some toasted italian bread with sweet potatoes as an appetizer.
Toss it in some pasta!
Put in on top of chicken!
Put it on your pork roast to add a nice crust!
Add it to homemade mac and cheese
Add it to a queso dip
Add it to roasted potatoes

What you need

32 sage leaves
1/3 cup baby arugula
3 cloves garlic
1/3 cup parmesan cheese
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

How to make it

1- Put all ingredients in food processor, pulse and slowly add in the olive oil.

Sexy Spiced Sweet Potato Bread

This sweet potato bread is has sugar, spice and everything nice- but it's skinny and that makes it sexy!

Sweet potatoes, that sweet bi-curious veggie. It seems so sweet, but we all know that it's begging to be naughty. Maybe like that chick from 50 shades of gray. She seems so sweet and then next think you know she's getting all kinky and shit.

Skinny Southern Sweet Potato Casserole

A traditional southern sweet potato casserole- kept all the yum and remove the excess fat and calories to remove the guilt! 

I got some skills.... Fat cutting, flavor keeping skills!  I'm not a self tooting horn usually, but in this case I shall toot toot away! 

This skinny sweet potato casserole kicks some serious taste buds! I do it for me, but I mostly do it for you guys out there! 

Ye asked and ye shall receive!

You guys told me via social media you were really looking forward to sweet potato casserole. You said you wanted some slimmed up classics.

So I got your back! 

This recipe usually is a calorie killer- also loaded with carbs and fat. So I employed a couple of my own tricks to keep this recipe as true to the original but cut out the guilt!

It's got HALF THE FAT, LESS CARBS and 172 calories less per serving!! 

Time to do a happy dance!

I totally added this gif in honor of Fork and Good's Emma!

Trick 1- this is not just sweet potatoes, I added half pumpkin purée. So right there I cut a whole lotta carbs. I sleiged them! Dead! Ps- you cannot tell at all! It tastes just like the original! Seriously, scouts honor!

Trick 2- cut out the extra butter and sugar. The original recipe called for a cup of butter and a cup of sugar for the filling alone. Yowsa! Seriously this was bad ya'll! I refuse to ever use that much butter unless it's a cookie. So I went with 2 tablespoons of butter, it was buttery enough, went with the third cup of sugar- totally sweet enough! Besides- it's got candied pecan topping! I also cut out extra butter and sugar from the topping too!

Okay so you're all like- why did you do this?! I love my casserole as is.

Well I love it too and I totally assure you this is jut as good. All that extra fat and sugar is fun, but there is a threshold where you cannot taste it anymore and it just doesn't need to be there.

It's like frosting a cake and then adding chocolate ganache on top-

Like a third nipple- who needs one of those?  Pointless! (Having flash backs of Chandler's third nipple on Friends)

So quit your whinning and try this recipe! Then you can crawl on back and tell me how it rocked your world!

Drooling yet??

Recipe skinnified and adapted from this recipe here.

What you need:

Sweet Potato Filling

4 small sweet potatoes, mashed
1 can pumpkin puree
2 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup lowfat milk
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1/4 teaspoon pumpkin spice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Candied Pecan topping

1 cup pecans
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup flour
3 tablespoons melted butter

How to make it

1- Preheat oven to 350º
2- Combine all ingredients for sweet potato filling in a bowl, place in a medium casserole dish, I used a 8" circular dish.
3- Combine all ingredients for topping, sprinkle over the top of filling.
4- Bake 30-40 minutes until topping has browned.

Nutritional Information

Before

After

Roasted Autumn Trio- Apple, Onion and Sweet Potato

It's not just fruits, it's vegetables. It's not just savory, but sweet. This roasted trio defies expectations and conventions and can be served with nearly any meat as a side. 

I buck traditions whenever possible. It's just the way I am. You would expect fruits to be chillin' with other fruits and veggies to be hanging with their veggie friends... But in my world I like them to party together and find common ground. Well they totally did just now with their bi-curious vegetable, the sweet potato. Is is a veggie or a fruit, it is starchy but sweet. This root vegetable is the perfect way to bridge the gap from sweet and savory.

So for a simple side I created this ménage e trois. I added a little sugar and spice... Because they really do make everything nice. Mixed it up and roasted it. 

Call it a day and call your dinner done! 

This was the perfect accompaniment to the beautiful apple and sage stuffed pork roast I posted last week! Seriously amazing together. Yet so so easy. 

But that's his this girl rolls. Only bust a sweat on special occasions, you know? 

What you need

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
5 medium sweet potatoes (or about 8oz.), diced

1 large apple, diced (I used honeycrisp)

1 medium red onion, diced
Sage leaves for garnish

How to make it 

1- Preheat oven to 415º
2- Whisk together the olive oil, brown sugar and spice in a large bowl.
3- Toss all diced fruit and veggies in it.
4- Place on a ceramic cookie sheet or cookie sheet lines with foil.
5- Garnish with sage leaves.
5- Bake for 25 minutes.

Nutritional Info

Apple and Sage Stuffed Pork Roast & Tips for the Perfect Roast Pork!

Pork roast has never been easier, more delicious or this elegant ever before. This pork roast has been infused with apple and sage for your fall enjoyment. Also included are the tips for the perfect roasted pork.

Getting back to basics never hurt anybody, especially a food blogger. If I am gonna tell you how to make something, I should tell you the best way to do it and not the wrong way or the way I learned how to do it.

I find myself routinely googling how to roast vegetables and now how to roast pork. All I know about it is what my mom has done. I totally love my mom and her adventurous sprit in the kitchen... but let's just say she lacks in basic execution. Like me... but now I got google and some chef friends!

No Bake Skinny Pumpkin Cheesecake Shots

These pumpkin cheese cake shots are reduced fat, no bake and super easy to make! The small size makes this an indulgent yet sensible dessert!

Another pumpkin recipe ya'll (is it weird to say ya'll when I am from NY, LOL?)

A while back I saw these great no bake pumpkin cheesecake cups. Hello awesome fall dessert idea! So you just know I had to try something like them and do 'em my way.


So I cut the fat and the portion and made them as simple to make as possible. We all like a cute fancy looking dessert, but we don't gots the time... am I right?

Pumpkin Pie Energy Bars & Bites (Lara Bar Clone)

There is a food in between healthy and indulgent, this is it. These Lara Bar clones will give you energy with all natural ingredients with the flavor of pumpkin pie.

So in the spirit of fall and pumpkins and all that I created this delicious decadent and nutritious recipe! I looked up a couple Lara Bar recipes I saw online and changed it a bit to make it more something I would like that would also fit into pumpkin madness.

Roasted Brussels Salad with Pecans, Bacon and Apple Cider Dressing

Take your fall into your salad with this Roasted Brussels Salad with Pecans, Bacon and Apple Cider Dressing. It is a feast for the eyes and the stomach with whole ingredients and with some preparation comes together in minutes.

Lest we forget fall is not just about pumpkin. There are a never ending kalidescope of beautifully colored fruits and vegetables just waiting to be eaten. In season now: Apples and Brussels Sprouts among many others. I know brussels sprouts are of the epitomy of vegetables you didn't wanna eat as a kid. But you were a kid and wrong about lots of things, like where babies comes from.


So if you are a naysayer to brussels I challenge YOU to make this salad and then tell me you don't like 'em.

Pumpkin Pie Parfait Breakfast Jars

So as you know pumpkin season is in full swing. I know all you Pumpkin and Pumpkin Spice-philes are just itching for your next fix of pumpkin.You are looking furiously for pumpkin recipes. Well rest assured I got ya covered today!

So you may already have your pumpkin spice coffee to go in the morning, but what's a girl to eat for breakfast that satisfies that pumpkin lust without packing on the pounds? How about a Pumpkin Pie Parfait Jar- lowfat, quick, easy and portable. DONE!