Power Up: Quinoa and Lentil Salad

Power up your days with this vegetarian salad made with lentils and quinoa! It's may be low in fat but it's high in flavor!

This is seriously my first quinoa recipe, like for real. I know this is a healthy food blog, but even I was skeptical on quinoa for a while. I mean even the name quinoa, pronounced keeen-waaaah it just comes off as persnickety and pretentious.... right?! Oh I'm sorry it not quinoa, it's keeen-wah. Excuse me fancy pants!

Stone Fruit and Burrata Salad with Lemon Basil Dressing

Step up your salad game with some burrata! This salad is loaded with fresh summer fruits and has a lemon and fresh basil dressing. Serve to your guests and look super fancy for very little work!

I am always inspired by other blogs. Since I have a blog, I am sure you can imagine how many I read and comment on. I forget where I saw it... but I saw a stone fruit and burrata salad, so I thought I would do my own. I mean helllllo peaches and succulent and juicy with the magical creamy cheese called burrata?! NOOOOOO brainer!

Do you guys know what burrata is? Don't feel bad, I googled it when I saw it too. Seriously, google has made it possible to not sound stupid on social media. Soooo anyways burrata is like fresh mozzarella kicked up 10 notches... why you ask? Well it is just a pouch of fresh mozzarella- inside is the best part, cream and scraps of more fresh mozzarella. Good for you? No... but come one there is only 3 oz. in the whole recipe. Savor the hell outta it!

Can you imagine all these flavors mingling in your palette?? I could when I heard stone fruit and burrata. So much so I totally made this and I am totally allergic to peach skin. I had an itchy throat, but it was sooooo worth it. Kinda dumb? Sure! But I just had to and with the lemon basil dressing- it was TO DIE FOOOOOR! Or at least to itchy throat for, right?!

It is also simple and quick to put together! Can you beat that?! Pretty damn fabulous!

What you need

1 large ripe peach (I used a white peach)

2 mango nectarines (if you cannot find those you can use regular)

3 oz. burrata

Dressing

5 large basil leaves (more for garnish if desired)

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

How to make it

1- Throw all fruit and pieces of burrata on a board.

2- In a food processor, combine all dressing ingredients.

3- Drizzle dressing on salad- DONE!

Nutritional Information

Yields 5 servings, under 200 calories each!

5 points plus on Weight Watchers

Citrus IPA Poundcake #beermonth

What is an IPA you may say? (That is what my mom said to me anyways) IPA stands for India Pale Ale. IPA's belong under the larger umbrella style of Pale Ales, meaning that they use pale colored malts. The IPA is known to be a hoppy beer so you really taste the hops more than the malt. Digging deeper than that, the type of hops you use can bring out certain characteristic flavors and aromas. Many hops can bring out citrusy flavors naturally, so that is where the idea for this recipe came in...

IPA's are a hot style right now, with Double IPA's (also known as an Imperial IPA) and Triple IPA's trending I thought I would need to experiment with this style. To bring out the citrusy notes in the IPA I have wanted to make this pound cake for a WHILE now, to experiment and make something memorable with it.

It's good to have friends that brew craft beer! My friend Matt from Outer Lands Brewing Company asked me to try their Good Mojo IPA. It was the day after a beer festival, I didn't wanna look at beer or even drink it, but I took a taste. It's nicely balanced, not bitter at all with great citrus notes. Exactly what I needed for this recipe! For a non IPA drinker or someone that does not like a bitter IPA this craft  is for YOU.

Greek Lemon Chicken Soup.... for the soul

Why is this a Foodgasm?

As I mention a lot, I am half Greek. Growing up with my yia-yia (grandma in Greek) when I wasn't feeling well she made me Chicken Soup, but not just any Chicken Soup. Chicken Avgolemeno Soup. A Greek Lemon Chicken Soup that she made with orzo, that is creamy, tangy, lemony and can eat like a meal. This always made me feel better from the inside out. Now that my yia-yia is no longer with me, it makes me feel nostalgic and reminds me of a simpler time. It is the ultimate comfort food.

I loved her soup, BUT there were always a couple things I wanted to change. She always used the whole chicken and tore off the pieces, but I have always been partial to white meat, hate dark. So I used chicken breast only, also happens it's healthier for you! I kept in the traditional holy trinity of celery, onions and carrots, but decided to add some mushrooms as well, why the hell not! I tried it and really liked it.

Now that cold and flu season is upon us, I thought this was appropriate. This will surely cure what ails you body and soul!

A nice Greek inspired side: Spinach orzo topped with feta

Why is this a Foodgasm?

There are some Greek classics that I just love. I'm not talking about literature or democracy...I'm talking Greek food. A staple in my home growing up was spanakopita aka spinach pie. Savory, salty crunchy and creamy: this was my favorite. Especially the way my grandmother made it, with some rice inside. It is basically phyllo dough filled with spinach, onions and garlic, sometimes with rice.

This is sort of a deconstructed take on the classic spinach pie. Some orzo topped with roasted garlic, onion and sautéed spinach and brightened up with some lemon juice all covered in some crumbled feta cheese. It's vegetarian, delicious and satisfying!

PS- I HATE looking in the ingredients when following a recipe's instructions, let me know if you like this new formatting and if it helps.

Lemon Pesto Chicken

Why is this a Foodgasm?

So I am already sure you know the foodgasm that is pesto. Especially fresh pesto (PS- fresh pesto is so easy to make it is criminal to buy the stuff. Seriously!). So I recently was making pesto and wanted to add my own spin to it, just a little spin by adding the zest and juice of one large lemon. Just the simple addition of lemon to pesto brightened it up and brought out some more complex flavors. It's like summer as a sauce. That is what I imagine summer would taste like: bright, light, fresh and earthy with some pep in it's step.

I learned the joy of pesto from my chef obsession Fabio Viviani. What I like to say about pesto is like he says, I can give you some measurements, but you gotta go by the how thick you want it. Also take into account the more oil, nuts and cheese you add the more fat that sauce is gonna have. The awesome thing about this recipe is that not only does the lemon add flavor but some of the liquid in this recipe is from lemon juice and that adds NO FAT! YAY!

Great South Bay Blood Orange Pale Ale Chicken with Lemon Roasted Potatoes

 

Why is this a Foodgasm?

I took a different approach with this recipe...I let the beer decide what it wanted to be. I started with a local fave Great South Bay's Blood Orange Pale Ale. With this beer it has been love at first sip- crisp, light, just the right amount of orange flavor and so easy to drink! I wanted to make sure to get in some of my awesome local long island beer. I love the local craft beer scene. Immediately I thought orange chicken, kinda like the one you get from a Chinese place, but healthier and with local craft beer twist (seriously is there anything better??). 

I knew this recipe needed to happen, but how did I execute it. So I kinda went the route of Chicken Fracaise, but made a beer reduction syrup with this. The results were AMAZING! Sweet, but not syrupy sweet and it was light. It paired perfectly with these easy lemon roasted potatoes! You must try this recipe and please do try and get your hands on this beer- you will not be disappointed!