Food In Many Forms

There is nothing that says Memorial Day more than a good old American  barbecue. But chances are that barbecue will have plenty of chips, dip, and desserts, and very few vegetables. Pasta salad is the answer to this problem, it is a socially acceptable, well-liked side that you can pile on with vegetables and people will just think it's got great color! The trick is to make sure your pasta salad is healthy ;) 12 oz Pasta 1 Yellow Bell pepper, chopped 1/2 cup carrots, shredded 1 cup grape tomatoes, halved 1 medium cucumber, peeled and quartered 1/4 cup Brianna's New American Balsamic Vinaigrette 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning Cook the pasta and rinse it in a collander with cold water. Pour the prepared vegetables and pasta in a large bowl and mix to combine. Add the salad dressing and Italian seasoning and mix well until the pasta is coated with dressing. Allow to "marinate" for at least an hour before serving.

After a late night watching Food Network, I was inspired to try one of Ellie Krieger's Meal Makeovers! Check out this Video, and Get Inspired! First on the list was her "Macaroni and 4 Cheeses" - made with more than a pound of pureed butternut squash and low-fat milk. I stepped it up a notch by using whole wheat pasta, and using half the amount of bread crumb topping.  After reading the reviews, I was concerned that the squash would overpower it, but after trying it, I thought there was a really great balance between subtle squash flavor and cheesy goodness.  I served it with a sprinkle of Old Bay Seasoning for an extra kick, instead of the Cayenne Pepper that Ellie recommends. On the side, I had some fresh asparagus from the University Farmer's Market yesterday. It was absolutely delicious after I brushed it with olive oil, sprinkled on some parmesan cheese and roasted it under the broiler until soft. Ingredients Cooking spray 1 pound whole wheat elbow m...

The last of the Tortilla Pizzas are baking in my oven, and they look spectacular! I think scallions and tomatoes are the perfect toppings for these little gems, and they toasted up very nicely. I am even considering eating one for breakfast tomorrow morning so I don't have to wait til dinnertime to enjoy them!  Of course, I always end up tweaking the recipe a little bit when I'm making it, mostly if I'm missing ingredients. This time, I left out the chopped onion that was meant to be mixed into the refried beans. Since I only used about half of the refried beans in the can, I'm glad I skipped that step.  Also, since the recipe makes so many servings, I'm testing the stability of the pizzas in the freezer and in the fridge. I'm always looking for new delicious leftover foods! Honey What's Cooking? Mexican Tortilla Pizza Number of Servings: 4  Serving Size: 1 pizza Ingredients Non-stick cooking spray 8 small yellow corn tortillas 1/2 can ref...

I'm totally on a Mexican Food Kick these past couple months... Mexican Noodles, Mexican Pizza, Mexican Dip... but hey, I will always take advantage of an opportunity to use taco seasoning and tons of fresh vegetables! So when my work today brought me to the CDC recipe database -  http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/dnparecipe/recipesearch.aspx  - I obviously chose the tortilla pizza to go in the cookbooks we are sending home with students next week after they visit the University Farmer's Market.  And isn't it only fair that I try out some of these recipes first?   And just to make this a little more interesting, I'm going to have a little nutrition face-off with a fellow blogger's Tortilla Pizza recipe - someone who "watches her weight" and tells us how her recipe is full of protein, fiber, calcium, vitamin A and vitamin C. We will see about that!  Skip below for recipes - I'm warning you, I might ramble a bit! Honey What's Cooking Mexican ...

So, I know I've talked about Ellie Krieger in the past, but I'm not sure I've ever actually made one of her recipes. She is the only Chef on the Food Network that is also a Registered Dietitian, and you know I am in support of that! This past Cinco de Mayo, I finally decided to make one of her recipes - a five-layer Mexican dip. It disappeared in the first twenty minutes of the party, and it was pretty easy to make. The only time-consuming part of the recipe was chopping up the veggies, but it was worth it! And the best part about Ellie's recipes? She does the nutritional analysis for me :) Ingredients 2 teaspoons olive oil 1 medium onion, diced 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 (15.5-ounce) can black beans, preferably low-sodium, drained and rinsed 1 tablespoon minced chipotle pepper in adobo 4 tablespoons lime juice 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin 1 tablespoon water 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 cups corn kernels (10-ounce box frozen corn) 1/4 cup chopped cilantro leaves...

Hungry Girl is a great resource for low-calorie recipes, but as with most things, it's all checking your nutrition labels and making the best choices at the grocery store. I learned that the hard way when I tried to make Hungry Girl's Chicken Flautas . The Hungry Girl (HG) wants fat-free cheeses, corn tortillas and plenty of spices. My little downtown grocery store has none of this.  Let me cut to the chase - this 188 calorie recipe became a 420 calorie recipe out of no where! Mostly, I blame the tortillas, only afterward did I realize that flour tortillas have more calories than corn tortillas. It is still a great recipe even with my inadequate groceries, and it makes me think I want to start an under-500 calories series . It is a bit overdone, but being informed is always a good thing! Ingredients: 1/4 cup salsa 1/4 cup shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese 4 oz. cooked and finely chopped skinless lean chicken breast 3 tbsp. diced onion 1/8 tsp. cayenne ...

What better time to blog about  warm weather  and  picnics  than when it is rainy and cold outside! Last week, when it was warm and sunny, I rounded up some of my girlfriends and we set out for Patterson Park with  Tuna Sandwiches, Pasta Salad, Watermelon Slices and a Bottle of Wine . Sitting under a tree, watching baseball and eating refreshing food makes for an idealistic Sunday afternoon. I can't wait to do it again. I used bowtie pasta and added fresh basil. I just wish I had taken a picture of it, it looked even better than the picture on the website. A lot of pasta salad recipes use salad dressing, but I like that this  dressing  is relatively  natural  and  simple . INGREDIENTS Serving Size 6 servings (1-1/3 cups each) 12 ounces dry rotini pasta, uncooked (12 oz = 4-1/2 cups) 2 tablespoons Canola Oil 2 tablespoons Gulden's® Spicy Brown Mustard 1/2 pint grape tomatoes 1 large cucumber, sliced 1 can (2.25 oz ...