Vegetable Soup with Couscous

I know it's not weather appropriate. However, I had leftover couscous from the fish dinner on Wednesday, so I tried to use it. The couscous is nice switch up to using noodles, and maybe even better for you, not sure about that one though! Here's what you need:

Ingredients:

1. Couscous (I used all that I had leftover)

2. Chicken or vegetable broth

3. Vegetables (I cut up some baby carrots and threw in some extra broccoli and cauliflower)

4. Salt& Pepper

Steps:

1. Heat desired amount of broth to sauce pan.

2. Add vegetables and allow to boil, especially if you are using fresh vegetables. I used carrots, so those take a while to get cooked.

3. Add couscous and salt & pepper to taste. If you have an other soup spices or like to add a bouillon cube that always adds a little more taste.

4. Let simmer for 5 minutes to re-warm the couscous.

That's all! A super simple recipe again! :) Enjoy!

Baguette, Cheese & Wine

Ahh! La France, tu me manques! This reminds me of Nice, France so much! Justin's not home tonight, and I bought half a baguette at Kroger during my last grocery trip, so I figured why not! I added some cheese and wine for the perfect touch. So, simple dinner it is tonight.

And I threw a quick side salad in there to attempt to make it more nutritionally balance! :)

This is sooooo yummy, eeassssy, and definitely worth a dinner meal!

Tilapia Vegetable Pouches with Couscous

Ingredients:

2 fillets tilapia (or other fish)

1 carrot (4-5 baby carrots)- quartered

1 hand full of mushrooms

1 handful Broccoli

½ onion sliced

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

Salt & Pepper

1 Box of couscous or rice

2- 1’ by 1’ pieces of parchment paper

Steps:

1. Pre-heat oven to 425°

2. Slice vegetables and onion.

3. Lay out parchment paper and start lay

ering with onions and carrots first. (You can layer both “pouches” at one time)

4. Then place tilapia on top of onions and carrots and season to taste with salt and pepper.

5. Add broccoli and mushrooms on top and around the s

ides- ensuring that the vegetables remain on top or closely around the fish.

6. Finally drizzle ½ tbsn olive oil over the fish and vegetable combination.

7. Pull the left and right sides of the parchment paper together, like forming a tent, and roll closed.

8. Then take the top and bottom and roll towards the center, closing the “packet”. (see picture but please leave a comment if the folding sounds too confusing)

9. Place on cookie sheet in preheated oven and bake for 20-30 minutes.

10. In the last 10-15 minutes, cook the couscous (or rice) Simply follow the directions on the box. Boil water, add couscous, remove from heat, and allow to sit for 5 minutes. That’s all!

This will result in steamed vegetables and yummy fish, an extremely healthy, yet filling dish! It’s super easy- takes about 15 minutes of prep time and looks like a difficult meal. The hardest part is making the pouch or package, but if you practice once it’s not too difficult. After all, it’s just paper, so you can re-roll it until it is sealed properly.

Here’s a link on how to fold the parchment paper too. It seems a little more difficult than the way I described, but if you feel my directions are too vague, try this: http://macrobiotic.about.com/od/seafoodentrees/ss/SteamFish.htm

Tofu Stir-Fry

This is from Wednesday! I didn't have time to post it, so here it is:

I know this sounds unappetizing for most of us, myself included-at first. I am not a vegetarian, far from it. My future sister-in-law loves it however, and she cooked me this wonderful mushroom tofu stir-fry when I stayed with them. I never actually thought I would attempt to make it, but then I ran across tofu at Kroger and was amazed at the price! Haha :) I’m a bargain shopper, and I had no idea that tofu was so inexpensive! Justin was out of town (he would never try tofu!), so I thought I’d try it out. Here’s a super easy recipe I came up with, inspired by my future sister-in-law:

Ingredients:

3 oz. Tofu (about ¼ of a block)

1- 6oz package of bean sprouts or 1 can

1 tps Olive oil

Fresh or Frozen Vegetables (I used broccoli, cauliflower, and mushrooms)

Water or Vegetable broth

Salt & Pepper

Steps:

1. Pour olive oil in sauté pan and set on medium high

2. Cut Tofu into smaller rectangles and begin to brown in pan

3. Add bean sprouts and vegetables

4. Stir frequently ensuring that the Tofu doesn’t burn, but rather browns nicely

5. Cover with lid, if possible, add a little vegetable broth (about 3-4 tpsn) and let vegetables soften

6. Add salt & pepper to taste!

That’s all! The bean sprouts take place of the noodles or rice, making this a simply, extremely healthy recipe! And it's surprisingly filling. Of course you have to like bean sprouts, and be willing to be adventurous with tofu if you’ve never had it before. Let me know what you think!

Turkey Quesadilla with Side Salad

I came home starving from class tonight and almost made some canned ravioli for an easy meal. (Afterall, Justin wasn’t home, so no one to enjoy dinner with.)But they are sodium filled and basically empty calories, and since I’m trying to be better about food choices I regretted to fall victim to an easy solution. So, I blankly stared into our fridge hoping for some kind of inspiration. All I saw was deli meat and some lettuce, and thought I didn’t want to eat the identical sandwich I had for lunch. Then I saw the lonely tortillas in the back, and my idea! I didn’t have any sliced chicken breast, but lunch meat is no different, right?!

Ingredients:

1 flour tortilla

2-3 slices deli meat (I just Sara Lee Turkey)

¼ cup shredded cheese

1 green onion, chopped (optional)

That’s all I had but you can add anything else you like- such as- spinach, bacon bits

Steps:

1. Set sauté pan on medium and spray with some nonstick spray

2. Lay flour tortilla in pan

3. Scatter pieces of deli meat and green onions (or other ingredients) on one half of the tortilla

4. Add shredded cheese on the same half as the deli meat

5. Fold the empty side of the tortilla on top of the “topping side”

6. Let cheese melt, turning the quesadilla over as needed so that both sides are equally brown

For salad- I doubt you need instructions J - I just added all kinds of veggies I had in the fridge- celery, carrots, green onions, and of course lettuce. Then I sprinkled some feta cheese I got on “manager special” for the perfect touch! It all tasted great and was filling! So now some relaxation and maybe some wine! I hope you enjoy!

Classic Grilled Chicken with Couscous and Asparagus

Sorry! I've been out of town for the past week, between training in Columbus and Kentucky! So, I wasn't cooking! But here we go! Try this and let me know what you think! :)

Estimate Time: 30 Minutes or less

Here’s another super simple, delicious dinner!

Ingredients:

1. 2 Fresh or Frozen Chicken Breasts

2. Box of Couscous (or 1 cup of rice)

3. Frozen or fresh Asparagus

4. ¼ Tsp. Minced garlic

5. 1 Tpsn of unsalted butter

6. Water for cooking couscous or rice

7. Salt & Pepper

8. Desired seasoning for Chicken

Here you can substitute green beans (or really any vegetable) for asparagus and rice for the couscous. Here’s a trick I use on preparing fresh asparagus: break the ends off where they naturally break. With this I mean hold the asparagus in the middle and bend the bottom down to break off at the natural break point.

Steps:

1. Heat George Foreman or griddle (or even skillet if neither of these are available).

2. Place saucepan with correct amount of water on stovetop. (It always says on package the recommended amount of water.)

3. Season chicken according to taste. I add a little paprika, salt, pepper, and all spices. If you have the Perdue Perfect Portion Chicken then they are sometimes pre-marinated and work great in this dish.

4. Place chicken on Foreman. Turn occasionally to prevent burning.

5. In a sauté pan melt butter with the minced garlic. Once fully melted, add asparagus. Salt and pepper if you want. Let simmer on low-medium heat until ready to eat.

6. Add couscous when water boils and follow the remaining instructions on box. (Normally it asks you to remove from heat, cover, and let sit for 5 minutes)

7. After couscous has fully absorbed the remaining water, serve along side the asparagus and grilled chicken.