Iron Chef West Hollywood, Part 4

I can't believe how many recipes I have yet to post! There are still some from The Bachelorette and Bachelor Pad plus at least one picnic! Today's post was a recent dinner Katie and I made. It was not completely Iron Chef style like we've done in the past but we did still somewhat throw it together.

Meatless Meatballs and Vegetable Saute

8 meatless meatballs

10 baby zucchini, chopped

1/2 cup frozen leeks

1/4 cup white onion

1/4 cup red onion

1 tablespoon garlic

dried rosemary

coarse sea salt

Trader Joe's Flower Pepper

garlic olive oil

parmesan cheese

cooked brown rice or whole wheat pasta

1. Saute onion and leeks in a bit of water to help soften.

2. When onions start to look clear, add baby zucchini and garlic and continue to saute until zucchini softens. Add more water if needed.

3. Microwave meatless meatballs per package instructions.

4. Add rosemary, salt and flower pepper to vegetable mixture to taste.

5. Add meatless meatballs to vegetable mixture.

6. Top brown rice or whole wheat pasta (we used rice) with meatballs and vegetable mixture.

7. Drizzle with garlic olive oil and top with parmesan cheese.

Trader Joe's Kale Salad Knock Off

Note - This is a knock off of a new salad that Trader Joe's is carrying. It sounded so good but the dressing had so many calories that I figured I should just try to make it myself! The original doesn't include avocado and does include almonds but I made the substitutions based on what I had at my house. I have made it again with wasabi almonds and it was also delish!

4 cups of kale

1/2 cup edamame, shelled

1/2 avocado, chopped

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/2 cup non-fat Greek yogurt

1 tablespoon garlic olive oil

1/8 cup fresh lemon juice

coarse sea salt, to taste

1. Combine kale, edamame, avocado, cranberries, (& almonds if you desire).

2. In a separate bowl, combine yogurt, garlic olive oil, lemon juice, and salt.

3. Top kale salad with dressing and mix well to coat the entire salad. The dressing is really thick so it will take a minute or so to combine properly.

The Bachelorette Dinner, Part 5

Yes, the most recent season of The Bachelorette is over (thank goodness) but there are still some delightful dishes to share! This particular week we supplemented our homemade dishes with Trader Joe's Balsamic Rosemary Chicken. If you haven't tried it yet, I highly recommend it for a quick and delicious dinner.

Kale Salad with Tahini Dressing

3 cups kale, chopped

1/2 cup edamame, shelled

1/2 cup garbanzo beans

1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted

3/4 cup kalamata olives, sliced & pitted

1 green onion sliced

1/4 cup fennel seed

handful parsley, chopped

Tahini Dressing

1/2 cup tahini

1/4 cup lemon juice

2 cloves garlic, roasted

1. Combine all salad ingredients in a bowl.

2. Combine dressing ingredients in a separate bowl.

3. Just prior to serving, add a little water to dressing while stirring constantly to thin out.

3. Top with dressing and mix well.

Caprese Style Couscous

1 cup whole wheat couscous

20 mini heirloom tomatoes

1/3 cup fat free feta

6 large basil leaves, chiffonade

splash olive oil

sea salt

ground pepper

1. Cook couscous according to package instructions. Allow to cool.

2. Cut up heirloom tomatoes into small pieces.

3. Combine couscous, tomatoes, feta and basil.

4. Drizzle with olive oil and top with salt and pepper to taste.

5. Stir and serve.

Iron Chef West Hollywood, Part 2

I am so behind with recipes! Apparently I was cooking up a storm in the month of July with my fabulous creative co-chefs! Katie and I whipped up this little dinner and her "secret ingredient" was baby broccoli. The rest were items in my pantry, fridge & freezer. This meal was really good with the baby broccoli being the standout. The best of our recent Iron Chef nights is yet to come. Hopefully this week but I have a ton of Bachelorette/Bachelor Pad recipes too!

Baby Broccoli with Goat Cheese

1 package of baby broccoli (not sure of the exact size however it was purchased from Trader Joe's)

1 oz goat cheese, crumbled

olive oil (for cooking)

Vintage Merlot salt

1. Cook baby broccoli in a skillet with olive oil. Add a little water as needed to soften the broccoli.

2. When the broccoli is tender, remove from skillet and place on plates.

3. Top with crumbled goat cheese and sprinkle with merlot salt.

Brown Rice with Roasted Garlic Salt

This was a great way to use up some extra pre-cooked brown rice. We just warmed it up and topped it with Roasted Garlic Salt for a low calorie but delicious finish.

Veggie Sausage with Garlic Mustard Aioli

Another simple dish from items in the freezer. We heated frozen veggie sausage and served it with Garlic Mustard Aioli sprinkled with fresh chives.

The Bachelorette Dinner, Part 4

Last week we skipped dinner due to scheduling challenges but that doesn't mean we needed to skip dessert! Popsicles are a quintessential summer treat and so easy to make yourself. Plus homemade popsicles are much more nutritious than the store bought variety. A few months ago, I shared my simple recipe for yogurt popsicles during The Bachelor Dinner, Part 3. This time the pops are dairy free and have only two ingredients!

Simple Strawberry Popsicles

Note - Quantity of ingredients will vary based on the number of popsicles and size of mold.

Fresh Strawberries

Sugar Free Lemon-Lime Flavored Sparkling Water (seltzer water can be substituted but you will need to add a bit of sweetener)

1. Place clean, de-stemmed strawberries into blender.

2. Add sparkling water until the berries are half covered.

3. Blend to your desired consistency and add more water if needed.

4. Strain seeds if desired.

5. Pour into popsicle molds.

6. Freeze.

I created this recipe when I had strawberries to quickly use up but I think it would work well with other fruit/water combos. Blueberry and lemon sound particularly good to me!

My molds were from IKEA but I found these cute molds at Bed, Bath & Beyond and Amazon.com.

Has anyone else created any fun popsicle recipes this summer? Are you too busy or lazy to make your own popsicles? Check out Trader Joe's Peach Pops!

The Bachelorette Dinner, Part 3

So there is a pretty good chance I am losing my mind. I SWEAR I posted this entry but apparently only in Gretchenland. I know I had intended to post it prior to the 4th of July weekend because it would have been perfect for all of your outdoor soirees. Alas, you will just have to have more fabulous people over this weekend and give it a whirl. Trust me when I say that the photo does not do these dishes justice. I am still working on my food photography skills. :)

Salmon "Pistou"

Note: This is not a traditional Pistou but is a great compliment to the salmon.

16 oz salmon, approximate

1/3 cup dill, chopped

1/3 cup green onion, chopped

1/3 cup pistachios, toasted & chopped

1/4 cup olive oil

1. Combine all ingredients except for the salmon and set aside. Pistou can be made up to 2 hours in advance.

2. Grill salmon to desired temperature.

3. Top salmon with pistou.

4. Slice and serve.

Serves 4 (makes great leftovers!)

Whole Foods Kalameta Olive and Feta Couscous

Note: This is a copycat version of a prepared food item at Whole Foods. The portions of each ingredient were approximated based on taste.

1 cup of whole wheat couscous (use butter or oil per instructions on box)

1/3 cup red (or red and orange) peppers, chopped

1/3 cup red onion, chopped

1/3 cup fat free feta (regular feta can be used too)

1/3 cup kalamata olives, chopped

1 teaspoon fresh oregano, chopped and approximate (dried can be used instead but it is not as good and requires a lot more to get the desired flavor)

1 1/2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

1/4 cup olive oil, approximate

1/8 cup balsamic vinegar, approximate

fresh ground sea salt

1. Prepare couscous per package instructions using either butter or oil. Allow to cool to room temperature.

2. Mix red peppers, onions, feta, kalamata olives, oregano, and parsley with couscous.

3. Combine olive oil and balsamic vinegar in a separate bowl. Pour onto couscous.

4. Combine dry couscous salad and dressing well.

5. Grind (or sprinkle) sea salt on top and mix well.

6. Taste and adjust seasoning or dressing as needed.

Serves 8 sides (at least)

Besides these delightful items, we enjoyed Trader Joe's Tomato and Olive Focaccia Bread (which while not low calorie is extremely delicious and made a great sandwich the next day).

As is par for the course this season, our meal outshined The Bachelorette. When I say outshined, I am referring to how the sun outshines a mud puddle. Will we keep watching? Of course. It is like that proverbial train wreck and we can't look away.

The Bachelorette Dinner, Part 2

A couple of weeks ago, dinner for our weekly viewing of The Bachelorette had a theme that many of you are probably familiar with - leftovers! Amie and I both surveyed our kitchens and ended up with an amazing meal that required only the purchase of crackers.

Stuffed Yellow Squash

1 large yellow squash

1/4 tomato, diced

1/4 red onion

8 oz ground beef (we used the frozen Kobe burger from Trader Joe's but you can use any you like)

1/4 cup feta cheese (light or fat free is fine)

butter

1. Cut yellow squash in half and hollow out each side. Discard inside of squash or save for another recipe.

2. Cook ground beef as desired. We were using a burger patty that had been cooked the day before so the only prep was to crumble.

3. Caramelize the onion using butter in a skillet.

4. Combine ground beef, tomato, and caramelized onion.

5. Stuff squash with beef and vegetable mixture.

6. Sprinkle with feta cheese.

7. Warm through in a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes.

Serves 2

The stuffed squash could easily be made vegetarian by substituting a vegetable protein or even just additional vegetables.

Orzo and Vegetable Salad with Lemon Yogurt Vinaigrette

Please Note: Measurements are approximate.

1 cup orzo

1/3 cup carrots, diced

1/3 cup asparagus, chopped

1/3 cup green beans, chopped

1/3 cup English peas

1/8 cup pistachios, shelled

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

herbs de provence

1/2 lemon, juice only

2 tablespoons non-fat Greek yogurt

salt, to taste

pepper, to taste

1. Prepare orzo according to package instructions.

2. Blanch carrots, asparagus, green beans & peas.

3. To make vinaigrette, whisk together olive oil, red wine vinegar, lemon juice, yogurt, and herbs de provence. Add salt and pepper to taste.

4. Combine orzo, vegetables, pistachios, and vinaigrette.

Serves A LOT. Can be kept refrigerated for several days.

We enjoyed our meal with an appetizer plate of leftover salami, sausage and cheese from Trader Joe's. This was accompanied by gherkins and Rosemary Raisin crackers also from Trader Joe's.

The Bachelorette Dinner, Part 1

As you may recall, Amie and I love our Bachelor Monday dinners! Past dinners can be found here: Week 1, Week 2, Week 3, Week 4, Week 5, Week 6, Week 7, & Week 8. With the new season of The Bachelorette in full and very annoying swing, we are back to our whipping up our weekly dinner delights! Due to schedule conflicts, we did not cook for a few of the first episodes and I am a week behind in posting as well. So without further ado, enjoy our most recent "recipes"!

A couple of notes about this week's dinner:

1. It it by far one of the easiest dinners we have made and it was so delicious!

2. It includes another great use for Greek yogurt as previously discussed.

Roasted Chicken Greek Pitas

1 package/2 patties Trader Joe's Roasted Chicken Patties (8oz of cooked chicken or other chicken patties can be substituted)

1 dozen cherry tomatoes

3 tablespoons fresh mint, chopped

1 whole wheat pita

Homemade Tzatziki (recipe below)

1. Heat chicken patties per their instructions (I use the microwave) or prepare chicken as desired. Dice into cubes.

2. Slice whole wheat pita in half in order to make two "pockets".

3. Fill pita pockets with chicken, tomato and mint.

4. Serve with homemade tzatziki.

Homemade Tzatziki

1 cup non-fat Greek yogurt

juice from 1/2 a lemon

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 small cucumber, diced

1 clove of garlic, minced

chopped mint, salt & pepper to taste

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl.

2. Enjoy!

Sweet & Spicy Salad

2-3 handfuls Trader Joe's Wasabi Arugula

1/3 cup fat free feta

Trader Joe's Orange Muscat Champagne Vinegar (regular champagne vinegar with a little orange juice would probably be a fine substitution)

Olive Oil

Salt

1. Combine wasabi arugula and feta in a bowl.

2. Whisk together vinegar, olive oil and a dash of salt.

3. Toss and serve.

We enjoyed our meal with an appetizer platter of meats, cheese, etc from Trader Joe's and The Cheese Store of Silverlake.

Even though these blog entries are not specifically about The Bachelorette, is it just us or do you all want to throttle Ashley too?

The Bachelor Dinner, Part 8

I know it has been well over a month since The Bachelor wrapped and I still have yet to share all of our dinner recipes. I figured I had better get with it since The Bachelorette starts on Monday! Also, since these meals took place in January, my memory is starting to slip. For the sake of time and interest level, I will include all of the missing items (that I can remember) in one post. Please note that while we are giant pigs, we did not eat everything in one sitting. These are probably some of the easiest items we made all season and guess where I did nearly all of the shopping - that's right - Trader Joe's.

Roasted Chicken Patties with Onions & Feta

1 Package/2 Trader Joe's Roasted Chicken Patties

1/2 Cup Trader Joe's Balsamic Glazed Grilled Sweet Onions (approximate amount) - alternate recipe available here.

1/4 Cup Trader Joe's Fat Free Feta

Chives - optional garnish

1. Heat chicken patties per instructions. If using fresh ground chicken, prepare as desired.

2. Heat balsamic onions in microwave per instructions. If making from scratch, prepare according to directions available here.

3. Top chicken patties with onions. Sprinkle feta on top.

4. Garnish with chopped chives if desired.

We enjoyed our chicken patties on a plate but I think this would be equally good on a roll. Our sides this evening included a salad and Trader Joe's Sun-dried Tomato and Goat Cheese Ravioli with Basil Olive Oil.

Turkey Bolognese with Meatballs

1 Package Trader Joe's Turkey Bolognese "Just Sauce"

4-6 Trader Joe's Turkey Meatballs

Whole Wheat Pasta (You choose the shape and amount. I tend to use fettuccine or fusilli and no more than 3/4 cup cooked per person.)

Shaved Parmesan Cheese - optional garnish

1. Cook pasta to desired level of doneness. Drain and set aside.

2. When pasta is nearly done cooking, begin heating bolognese sauce. I use the microwave instructions and find that it takes a bit longer than stated on the box. Be prepared to adjust to work with your microwave.

3. Once the bolognese sauce is heated, heat the desired number of turkey meatballs. Again, I use the microwave for both items but the stove top is also an option.

4. Place pasta on plate, top with meatballs and finish with bolognese sauce.

5. Garnish with Parmesan cheese if desired.

This very filling (and quite possibly the easiest) meal with accompanied by an arugula salad and homemade garlic bread made with roasted garlic and Parmesan cheese.

So there probably will not be a menu for the premiere of The Bachelorette next week due to some scheduling challenges but new Monday dinner recipes will be back soon! If you have ideas or suggestions of things you would like us to try and make simple & healthy, let me know!

The Bachelor Dinner, Part 6

So this week was the finale of this season of The Bachelor so we decided to go all out for our last dinner of the season. What we came up with was a healthy menu with strong herbal and Asian influences.

Thai Basil Crusted Chicken

Thai Basil Sea Salt

Chicken Breast (single cut breasts are better than the double cut as they will cook more quickly without getting too browned)

1. Cover each side of the each chicken breast with a light coating of the Thai Basil Sea Salt.

2. Let sit at least 20 minutes.

3. Grill until done or if cooking inside use a grill pan for best results.

The Thai Basil Sea Salt was amazing and we plan to experiment with it and other meats too. I think it would also be great on tofu.

Quinoa Salad

2 Cups Chicken Broth (Vegetable Broth or Water can be substituted)

1 Cup Quinoa

1 Clove Garlic, chopped

1 Carrot

2 Celery Stalks

2 Sprigs of Green Onion

1/2 Red Pepper

Handful of Baby Heirloom Tomatoes (Cherry Tomatoes can be substituted)

1/4 Cup Olive Oil

1.5 Limes, juice only

Cilantro, Basil, Mint, Salt & Pepper to taste

1. Prepare quinoa with chicken broth and garlic in either a rice cooker or on the stove according to package directions. Allow to cool to room temperature.

2. Dice carrot, celery, green onion, and red pepper. Add to cooled quinoa.

3. Thinly slice tomatoes. Add to cooled quinoa.

4. Finely cut up cilantro, basil and mint. Add to cooled quinoa.

5. Add olive oil and lime juice to quinoa and vegetable mixture. Stir.

6. Add salt & pepper to taste.

Makes at least 8 side servings.

Sauteed Bok Choy, Broccolini & Green Cabbage

Equal amounts of Bok Choy, Broccolini, & Green Cabbage

12 Cloves Garlic

Grapeseed Oil (another oil can be substituted if need be)

Toasted Sesame Oil

Sesame Seeds

1. Saute bok choy, broccolini, green cabbage and garlic in an appropriate amount of grapeseed oil.

2. When vegetables are nearly done, add a drizzle of toasted sesame oil and the sesame seeds.

Very Herby Salad

1 Bag of Herb Salad from Trader Joe's (If this salad is not available, use regular mixed greens and add cilantro, parsley and dill)

5-7 Basil leaves, finely chopped

4-6 Chives, finely chopped

Lavender Herb Dressing

Fresh shaved Parmesan, optional

1. Empty Herb Salad into a large bowl.

2. Add basil and chives.

3. Add parmesan if you wish.

4. Add dressing and toss.

Makes approximately 4 side servings.

We also enjoyed a cheese plate as a pre/post dinner snack as well as the Mango on Sticky Rice for dessert from Trader Joe's. The Mango on Sticky Rice is a large dessert and very filling due to the large amount of rice. We shared a piece and probably could have shared with another person too.

As for wine, we started with a glass of The Prisoner, followed by a Riesling from Silverlake Wine, and finished the evening with Pierre Sparr Cremant Brut Rose from BottleRock LA.

Even though The Bachelor is over for the season you won't have to wait until The Bachelorette starts up again for new recipes! I still have three weeks from earlier this season to share! Don't forget to comment if you try any of the recipes. Cooking isn't a perfect science so I would love to hear what works and what doesn't work for you.