Veggie Tacos

Ingredients:

2 T olive oil
3/4 pounds zucchini, trimmed and diced
3 scallions, trimmed and diced
2 t chili powder
1/4 t ground cumin
1/4 t dried oregano
1/4 t salt
1/4 t pepper
1 can (14/5 ounces) pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 can (8 3/4 ounces) corn, drained and rinsed
2 c baby spinach, chopped
3/4 c salsa verde
1 package hard taco shells
2/3 c crumbled cotija cheese (or queso blanco)
lime wedges

Directions:

1. Heat oil in large nonstick skillet over medium to medium-high heat. Add zucchini and scallions and cook 5 minutes. Add chili powder, cumin, oregano, salt, and pepper. Cook 1 minute.

2. Stir in beans, corn, spinach, and salsa. Cook 3-4 minutes or until spinach is wilted.

3. Meanwhile, heat taco shells per package instructions. Spoon about 1/3 cub veggie mixture into taco shell and sprinkle with a little cheese. Add a squeeze of lime and serve.

A quick and easy dinner

The following recipes came from The Healthy Kitchen by Andrew Weil and Rosie Daley. This meal came together in about 30 minutes. The salmon recipe posted below is for 6, but since there's just two of us I scaled it back, but now that it's a few weeks later, I can't exactly remember the proportions I used.

This meal was really light and refreshing. It also felt like spring with the citrus glaze and the crisp snow peas. The snow pea side dish literally came together in minutes once the snow peas were all trimmed up.

Seared Salmon with Orange Glaze

serves 6

Ingredients:

Six 6-oz salmon fillets

1 T. sesame oil

3 tsp. soy sauce

1/4 c. white wine

1 c. freshly squeezed orange juice

1 tsp. orange zest

3 tsp.l sherry

1/2 tsp. grated fresh ginger

Slices of orange for plating

Method

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees

2. In a large, very hot skillet, add the sesame oil, and sear the fish fillets for 1 minute on each side. The fish should sizzle when it hits the pan. If you don't hear the sizzle, your pan is not hot enough.

3. After searing, move fillets to a ceramic or glass baking dish.

4. Drizzle soy sauce and wine over the fillets and bake them for 10 minutes.

5. While the fish is in the oven combine the orange juice, zest, sherry and ginger in a small saucepan and warm on medium-high heat until the liquid is reduced by half.

6. To serve, plate the fish and top with an orange slice. Drizzle orange glaze over the top of the fish.

Shiitake mushrooms and pea pods

Ingredients

1 pound of snow peas

1/2 pound of fresh shiitake mushrooms

2 tsp canola oil

1 tsp. toasted sesame oil

2 tsp light brown or raw sugar

1/4 cup of sherry

2 T soy sauce

Method

1. Trim the ends and any strings from the pea pods.

2. Slice the mushrooms into 1/2 inch wide slices.

3. Heat the oils in a skillet and add the mushrooms.

4. Saute over medium-high heat, until the mushrooms start to brown

5. Sprinkle the sugar over the mushrooms and add the sherry.

6. Cook and stir for 1 minute and then add the pea pods.

7. Cover, and reduce the heat to medium, and steam until the pea pods turn bright green, and tender crunchy (about 2 minutes)

8. Remove cover and continue to cook until the liquid has evaporated.

Serve quickly!

Hey Blondie!

We had a lovely dinner of soup and rice casserole. The dishes are washed and put away. It's nearly time to put on the pajamas and settle in for a little tube time before bed. But there's something missing. I'm craving something a little sweet, but nothing that requires a whole lot of effort (did I mention the dishes were already washed?).

Enter the blondie. It's just like a brownie, hold the cocoa. I actually slightly prefer blondies over brownies. The cocoa sometimes hides the buttery caramely goodness that a blondie offers.

Just like with brownies there are 2 schools of perfection. There are those who like the edge pieces, so you get a little crispiness--hence the As Seen on TV: All edge brownie pans.

I am in the other school, those who like the goopy middle pieces. If not for the whole raw egg thing, I'd actually prefer just to eat the dough straight from the mixing bowl. Since that's not (a good) option, I prefer my blondies rare... for those who are in the crispy edges group, just add some more time to the recipe.

Just as an aside, the flavor of the brown sugar really comes through pretty strong here. This time I used Trader Joe's organic brown sugar and I have to say, it had a much deeper flavor than, say the Giant brand of brown sugar. I don't always buy organic sugars; I just happened to be at TJ's when I remembered that I was out. It was a happy accident.

Blondies (Emily-style)

Time: 1 hour (most of it baking)

Ingredients

1/2 c. butter, melted

1 c. brown sugar, packed

1 egg, beaten

3/4 c. all purpose flour

1/4 c. wheat flour (if you don't have it on hand, just use all AP flour)

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. almond extract (optional)

large pinch salt

handful of dried cherries (optional)

handful of chocolate chips (optional)

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

2. Mix together butter & brown sugar.

3. Add the egg and mix.

4. Add the remaining ingredients and stir until combined.

5. Pour batter into a greased square baking pan.

6. Bake for 35 minutes, or until the middle is just set*.

Note: This is largely going to depend on how big your pan is. I used an 8X8 pan and 35 minutes was just right for my rare blondie tastebuds. If you're using a bigger pan, start with 20-25 minutes and check as you go.

Bon Appetit!

Roasted Cauliflower in Lemon-Tahini Sauce

I've recently discovered that I love cauliflower. If you had asked me a year ago, I would have told you I hated it. But now, Jake and I can polish off a whole head in one sitting. I was excited to try my new favorite vegetable in a new way and found this recipe in the Vegetarian Times.

Ingredients:
1 large head cauliflower, cut into 1-inch florets
4 t olive oil, divided
5 T water
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 T tahini*
1 T lemon juice
1/4 t salt
1 T chopped parsley
1 t toasted sesame seeds (which I bought specifically for this and the forgot to use!)

Directions:
1. Place oven rack in top position. Preheat over to 425.

2. Toss cauliflower with 2 t olive oil and season with salt. Spread on large cookie sheet, and bake 12-15 minutes or until cauliflower is fork-tender and slightly browned.

3. Meanwhile, heat the remaining 2 t olive oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Saute garlic in oil for 1-2 minutes or until fragrant. Stir in tahini, lemon juice, 5 T water, and salt. Simmer over low heat for 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat.

4. Put cauliflower in serving dish. Whisk sauce and spoon over cauliflower. Sprinkle with parsley and sesame seeds.

* I had a really hard time finding tahini. I've bought it before at Giant, but they no longer carry it. We ended up finding it at Harris Teeter, but in the refrigerated section (by the hummus).

Beat this Rachael Ray

Ok, I'm not food blog ignorant. I do understand that people want to see pictures of the actual food, not empty plates, but this was so good and let's be honest we were pretty hungry that the idea to actually blog about this recipe didn't strike until after everything had been polished off.

This is quite possibly one of the quickest meals I have ever made, hence the blog title. This dish is not only quick and easy, but it was very tasty. It may even become one of our regular press release week meals.

Basil & Tomato Shrimp
Adapted from an Ellie Krieger episode

Ingredients
1 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined (we used the frozen stuff that had been defrosted)
12 oz. cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 c. basil, chopped
2 T. garlic, chopped
2 T. olive oil
1 c. white wine
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions
1. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.
2. Add the shrimp and saute for 1 minute; turn the shrimp and saute for another minute. You want the shrimp to start to turn pink, but not completely cooked through.
3. Remove the shrimp from the pan to a plate.
4. Using the same pan, add the garlic and saute for about a minute.
5. Add in the tomatoes and saute for another minute.
6. Add the wine and let it come up to a bubble (2-3 minutes).
7. Add the shrimp back into the mixture and let them come up to temperature. (1 minute)
8. Season with salt and pepper and add in the basil.
9. Serve and enjoy.

Mike & I had this over orzo with a salad on the side. It really was a perfect light meal.