pretty salad

Tonight for dinner I didn't want leftover chicken.

Some days you need a salad. A pretty salad. With bright flavors.

This one has:

chopped kale

chopped cabbage

shredded carrot

chopped fresh cranberries

salt & pepper

olive oil

juice from 1 lime

Toss together and enjoy.

Black bean enchiladas

I am in the process of cleaning out some of the older stuff in the pantry. A can of enchilada sauce caught my eye and it's been a while since I've had enchiladas, so I put them on the menu.

I really thought I would miss the cheese in these dairy-free enchiladas, but I didn't! They have lots of flavor and texture and I will be making these again.

Black bean enchiladas

1 can of black beans

1/2 c. frozen corn

1/2 of a shredded zucchini

1 can of enchilada sauce (I used Hatch)

Put the beans, corn, zuccini, and 1/4 c. of the enchilada sauce into a pan. Heat until the mixture has thickened. Smoosh some of the beans with the back of a spoon if you like.

Spoon some of the mixture into a corn tortilla (I use these) and roll them up. Place them seam-side down into an oven-safe dish sprayed with cooking spray. I used a 7-inch square glass pan. Pour the rest of the enchilada sauce over the tortillas and bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes, until everything is heated and bubbly. 

Top with some shredded kale for crunch and color.

Makes 5 enchiladas that are sooo good. 

layered bean dip

I love beans. I love chips and dip. This is the best of both worlds.

No gluten, no dairy, no meat, but a really satisfying meal. Yes, I called chips and dip a meal. The dip is basically veggies and beans. I could do worse.

Layer in the following order in a glass container:

1. Black beans: Place a saucepan on medium heat. Add in 1/8 of a chopped onion and 1 minced garlic clove with a splash of olive oil. When they are browned, add in 1 tsp of GF taco seasoning, and 1 can of black beans, undrained. Turn off the heat and mush the beans. Don't let too much liquid evaporate, you want the beans to be somewhat spreadable.
2. Frozen corn, prepared according to package directions
3. Drained canned jalapenos (or fresh chopped jalapenos)
4. Fresh diced tomato
5. Fresh diced avocado
6. Finely shredded lettuce

If you're feeling 7 layers, you could also add salsa or some mexican rice.

Serve with your favorite gluten free chip.

chopped salad with ham

I've been on kind of a salad burnout lately. Salads are so boring! I'm tired of them! So I've been trying different things.

For some reason, chopping everything into little bitty pieces has made them more appetizing.

This salad, scrounged from whatever I had in the hotel fridge, was really good!

Chop into little pieces:
3 pieces of kale, torn from the stalk
1 big handful of spinach/baby spring mix
1 little pouch of Orchard Valley Harvest antioxidant mix, pounded with the bottom of a wine bottle to get little pieces
Some of the giant cucumber I picked up at the store
2 slices of ham

Put the lid on the container, shake it all up, and you've got yourself a yummy salad. I put half of it into another container and drizzled it with olive oil for dinner and ate it with some veggie straws. I saved the other half for lunch tomorrow.

Tuna Salad Salad

This is my life now.

Tonight's gourmet meal in a hotel room is tuna salad and crackers. There's no cat asking for tuna nearby, which makes me a little sad.

A fresh salad with decent wine... I've had way worse meals while traveling.

This is actually one of my go-to travel meals because
1. Hotel rooms do not always have microwaves/refrigerators, and this requires neither if you pick up the stuff on your way home.
2. It's a well-rounded meal of protein, carbs, and veggies.

Here's what I used:

Tuna salad kit
GF crackers
Salad greens
Cucumber

Chop up the veggies. Mix up the tuna salad (throw away the crackers from the kit). Plop the tuna salad on top of the veggies. Eat it with some crackers on the side.

It's that easy. Happy GF Hump Day.

Kale quinoa salad

This year, for my man's family Christmas, in an effort to decrease the stress, he catered BBQ. Yes, the BBQ place has a gluten free menu, and I've eaten there before with no problems, but I also wanted something absolutely safe to eat.

There were quite a few vegetarians and vegans in attendance, so I wanted to at least bring a side that would meet their needs. Us folks with dietary restrictions gotta stick together! We joked that amongst the meat and potatoes and beans, it was the only green thing on the table. I think it was very pretty!

Kale and Quinoa salad

You can really toss in any veggies that are in the fridge. I used:

chopped kale
chopped fresh cranberries
chopped purple cabbage
1 can of black beans, rinsed
sliced almonds
cooked quinoa, cooled
salt + pepper
olive oil
juice from 1 lemon

Stick it all in a bowl, place a lid on it, and shake it around.

There were no leftovers, but I made another batch and ate it with some chicken a couple of days later. Yum.

Clever leftovers, salad edition

Sometimes, when I'm not sure what to do with dinner leftovers, I put them on top of salad greens. Ha! I'm so clever! I'm getting rather bored with salads over here, so I'm finding ways to get some variety.

Obviously some things work better than others, but cold leftover meat and veggies almost always taste great on top of a salad.

I feel like I'm winning the cold lunches game right now.

Travel salad without meat

I went grocery shopping this evening after a very long day, and walked across the store and back before I realized I forgot to get lunchmeat for my salad tomorrow. Being on the opposite of the store, with my feet and back hurting, I said screw it. I can go without meat for a day.

I grabbed a little salad kit, although I did not use the packets of dressing, cheese, or spices. I was mostly interested in the assortment of greens to add a little interest.

For protein, I boiled a few eggs and tossed one in. When I cut into the avocado in the morning for breakfast, I'll add the other half to the salad.

Not the most exciting thing, but I'll get my greens.

This salad contains:
kale
greens from the salad kit
sundried tomatoes from the salad kit
boiled egg
sliced cucumber
avocado
olive oil
salt and pepper

I layer everything in the order listed above, and add the olive oil to a corner instead of drizzling over everything. This way, it stays in a localized area and doesn't wilt the greens. The kale is on the bottom and can handle an overnight soak in olive oil.

Happy Monday, I'm going to finish this glass of wine and unpack.

colorful, non-boring salad

Hi there. This is a salad.

I don't particularly like salads, but my body does. So I try to eat them as much as I can. Usually for lunch, because if I pack it, I have to eat it.

There's only so much salad you can eat before it gets boring.

Sometimes, I try to mix it up with lots of colors.

This one has
kale
lettuce
shredded carrots
purple cabbage
walnuts
tomato
fresh cranberries
avocado
salt, and pepper.

Dressing is extra virgin olive oil with a few drops of balsamic vinegar.

Not too bad for something I sometimes have to force myself to eat!

Travel meal: Kale + salad accessories

Isn't this salad pretty?

It's got kale + some spring mix, edamame, carrots, and sliced ham with lots of pepper. Plus olive oil and lime juice for a dressing.

I feel like some shredded purple cabbage or dried cranberries would be really good here, but unfortunately when you're traveling, the large jar of craisins in your pantry is not available.

So, you enjoy your pretty salad anyway and life goes on.

Oy, happy Friday Eve.

Reviving wilted kale

Y'all know I'm a fan of kale. As dark leafy greens go, it has a mild flavor and a good crunch and lasts longer than, say, spinach, which gets slimy so fast.

As sturdy as it is, often the big bunch of kale in my fridge will begin to wilt after a few days.  Fortunately, wilted kale is easily revived.

All you do is tear the greens from the stems and submerge in cool water. If the water from the tap is not very cold, stick it in the fridge.

After 20 minutes or so, the leaves will perk up.

Then, just lay them out to dry and you've got perfectly good kale again.

I hate throwing out food, and am so satisfied when I can bring wilted greens back to life.

Travel meal: non-boring salad

Can you tell I'm tired of eating the same old salad?

This one has cocktail shrimp, cubed baked sweet potato, edamame, and a big squeeze of fresh lime juice. All accomplished in a hotel room, thanks to frozen shrimp and edamame, and a microwaved baked potato.

That's basically the whole recipe, but here's the rest. There is a specific order to assembling this, I swear.

Non-boring hotel room salad for lunch the next day:

Nestle some torn up kale into one side of the container. Then add in shelled edamame next to it. Next add spinach greens and baked sweet potato, cooled and cut into cubes. Plus carrot slices and leftover cocktail shrimp, tails removed.

Pour some extra virgin olive oil (from the travel kit) into the corner with the edamame and kale, and sprinkle salt and pepper on top. Roll a lime around on the counter and cut in half. Tuck one half of the lime into the container.

The kale can take an overnight soak in the olive oil, but the spinach will wilt, so be sure to nestle the kale in the corner and pour the olive oil directly on top. Store it kale-and-olive-oil-side down in the fridge.

Prior to eating, squeeze the lime juice on top, replace the lid, and shake it up.

So much better than a crummy pre-packaged salad.

Travel meal: turkey and avocado salad

One of the easiest things to pack for lunch is a salad, especially while traveling.

It's easy to toss veggies and accessories into a container, plus it forces me to eat those veggies my body loves so much.

This salad has:
baby spring mix
kale
sliced carrots
1/2 avocado
2 slices of turkey lunchmeat, rolled and chopped
salt, pepper
olive oil
not pictured: 1/2 a lime

I put the kale into one side of the container, then pour the olive oil onto that side and store it that side down in the fridge so that it doesn't wilt the greens. The kale is tough and can take it. When I'm ready to eat, I squeeze the lime juice over the greens, put the top back on, and shake rattle and roll to mix it all up.

Nom.

Travel meal: Tuna salad kale wraps

On the menu after a long day of travel + work in a construction zone (seriously, the foreman made me wear a hard hat and bright orange vest and told me to get better shoes): quick and easy tuna salad kale wraps.

I had a peanut butter sandwich and and apple earlier in the day, but it was not enough to sustain me through a busy afternoon.

After checking into the hotel, I headed to the grocery store and, thankfully, had already made a menu and a list so it was streamlined.

I have to say, these. hit. the. spot.

I was slightly queasy from hunger, and these made my belly so happy. I fought it for many years, but my body really likes vegetables.

For this meal, I grabbed a tuna salad kit at the grocery store, threw away the crackers, and mixed up the tuna with mayo and relish. I added some salt and pepper, too.

Washed some kale, dried it, then tore it from the main stalk. I arranged the strips of kale into little nests, then topped with the tuna salad. They were pretty easy to eat by squishing the kale nests into little taco shapes.

I enjoyed these with some carrot slices, and also some wine and potato chips, because I'm human.

Happy Monday.

simple stir fry

I ate a sensible breakfast today.

Then, I went over to my sister's house to hang out with her and her cute nugget offspring, and also I was watching my man's dog, who likes playing with their dog, and everybody had a great time. It was especially joyful for me because my (previously nonverbal) youngest nephew kept saying, "Hi Aunt Nen!" every time he saw me, and the oldest was making pretend youtube videos that were so funny, and I miss hanging out with my sister and talking about nothing/everything.

Naturally, for lunch I had two kinds of chips and some popcorn. It was all delicious and I regret nothing.

However, this evening when I got home at around 8:30, I was ravenous and craving real food, except, as usual, I have nothing in the fridge because I'm always traveling.

Usually in this case I'll grab freezer food or heat up a can of soup, but sometimes I make a stir fry.

This was heavy on the ginger, light on the soy sauce, and in my belly in less than 30 minutes.

Stir fry:

Put a pan on the stove, and turn the heat to medium.
Drizzle in some olive oil. Add a little bit of onion, plus any veggies you have in the freezer or fridge. I had broccoli and carrots and cauliflower rice.

Let that heat up for a minute. Add fresh grated ginger (I keep a peeled root in the freezer and grate it as needed) and some pepper. After a few minutes, create some space in the middle of the pan and crack an egg in it. Put a lid on and let it cook until the egg is done to your liking.

Dump everything in a bowl with a drizzle of sesame oil (which is necessary) and GF soy sauce.

Quick, simple, and delicious.

veggie-ful breakfast

Look at how pretty this is.

I still have a bunch of shredded beet and carrot and kale, so I shoved as much of it as I could into breakfast. It was actually really delicious.

Place a smallish pan on the stovetop and turn the heat to medium.

Drizzle in a bit of olive oil, a few pieces of onion, some kale that's been torn into pieces, some shredded beet and carrot, as well as any other appropriate veggies, and let that cook a little. Sprinkle some salt and pepper over it and stir. Let it cook a little more.

In the meantime, beat an egg in a bowl with a splash of water. Make sure the veggies in the pan are evenly distributed and have softened up. Pour the beaten egg over the veggies and swirl the pan so that the egg is evenly distributed. Cover and turn the heat to low. When the egg is set, it's time to eat.

Transfer to a plate and enjoy.

hotel room chicken and veggies

I'm back on the road again.

I try to book a hotel room with a full kitchen, and Homewood Suites is my top choice. There was a Hampton Inn 2 miles from where I was working today, but I'll drive 20 minutes to a full kitchen. Absolutely worth it.

I stopped at the grocery store on the way to the hotel, and picked up:

For breakfast:
-eggs
-plums
-blackberries
-a cucumber
-carrots
-prunes (regularity is key, man. these help.)

For snacks:
-almonds
-pecan nut thins and sunbutter- I brought some with me
-fruit/veggies leftover from breakfast

For dinner:
-boneless skinless chicken thighs
-frozen broccoli
-Green Giant riced veggies that I happened to see in the frozen veggie section.
[Contains mostly riced cauliflower, a few green peas, yellow onions, a tiny bit of carrots, and green onions]
-an $8 pinot noir

Anyway. Dinner.

I got "home," traded pants for shorts, and took off my bra so fast you didn't even see it.

I always wash the hotel dishes before using them; you never know what kind of gluten was there before you and how well things were cleaned.

I poured myself a juice glass full of wine, pushed play on my Spotify playlist, and fired up the electric stovetop. Armed with my handy travel kit, I tossed into a hot pan two chicken thighs seasoned with salt, pepper, and olive oil.

Danced around a bit to some happy reggae music.
Stretched a bit on my travel yoga mat while I talked to my cute man on the phone.

When the chicken was done, I shredded it with two forks.

(The pan was warped and wasn't heating evenly, so I adapted and transferred the half-cooked chicken to the pot that was in the kitchen... Guess I'll be having a poached egg tomorrow morning, yay!)

Add in the veggies, and cook until they're warmed.

The riced veggies were really great. I usually try to bring a little garlic in my travel kit but I forgot, and the onions in this mix really gave this dish some great flavor. There is also a little ziplock seal which was great because I only used half of the bag. I will definitely consider this again for future travel meals.

Since the pot was more crowded than the pan would have been, I kinda mixed everything up into a casserole of sorts.

Dinner was so tasty, and so SAFE. Not a single gluten worry here.
Plus I had leftovers so lunch will also be tasty and safe. Woo!

*makes a note to ask the front desk about a new pan

one pan chicken and veggies

Tonight for dinner, I give you another one-pan masterpiece.

Well, the term "masterpiece" is subjective.

It doesn't look like much, but there's nothing I love more than when dinner is simple to cook AND clean up.

The basic formula:
1. Line a sheet pan with foil and spray it with cooking spray.
2. Add meat and veggies
3. Spray with more cooking spray, season with salt and pepper and whatever else.
4. Bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes (depending on when the meat is done) while you relax and enjoy a glass of wine.

That's it.

Tonight's pan contained boneless chicken thighs seasoned with thyme, smoked paprika, and salt/ pepper. Plus cabbage and sweet potatoes.

Pretty much every vegetable tastes good roasted, and roasted cabbage is particularly good when it's this crispy and delicious. If you cut the sweet potato into small cubes, it cooks fast so it's all done at the same time.

I put this all on top of some greens with a drizzle of olive oil and a squeeze of lime for a very non-boring salad.

pretty veggie pizza

It has been a long time since I've eaten pizza. Even longer since I've made a pizza.

How did I let that happen?? Pizza is delicious.
I have a feeling pizza's about to make it back into the rotation for a while.

I felt inspired by Smitten Kitchen's recent post on instagram, and planned to make some sort of pretty zucchini-ful pizza this week.
Then, I noticed that FG's fridge conveniently contained both yellow and green squash that he had no plans for... it was the universe aligning, really.

This pizza is very simple, very fresh, and very tasty.

It was the first time I've made my gluten free pizza crust with my new flour blend. (I can't find sorghum flour any more so I subbed millet flour and it behaves a little differently.)

You can use a store-bought crust, or make your own. My recipe is more like a very thin foccacia bread than a traditional pizza crust, but hey, I like it.

This was also the first time trying a pizza recipe with this much squash. I was a little worried that the squash would be too wet for a pizza and make everything soggy. So much could go wrong.

Spoiler: The squash wasn't soggy, and we ate practically the whole thing.

Ingredients:
1 GF pizza crust
1 jar of pizza sauce
thinly sliced yellow and green squash
salt, pepper, olive oil

Start with basic pizza assembly: top the crust with sauce, artfully arrange the veggies, and top with salt and pepper. FG got cheese on his half and I opted for none. That's the awesome thing about pizza; you get to make it how you want it.

Bake at 425 for 15-20 minutes, until the crust is done and the zucchini gets a little crispy. Drizzle with olive oil and serve with extra pizza sauce, in case you happen to be one of those people who likes their meals extra saucy.

We both agreed that next time, we'd pile on more of the squash because they shrink up a little after baking.

Beef and veggies

I have been cooking.
Really.

I haven't blogged a lot lately. Since I've only been cooking for myself, I have leaned towards simple, low-fuss meals that don't exactly translate into a recipe.

Except, maybe they do.

Just because it's simple doesn't mean it's not a meal.
So, I'm sharing.

Today I made some beef and vegetables:

Cook in a pan on medium heat:
1 steak that your lovely mother put into your freezer when you were out of town, thawed and cut into thin strips
1/4 onion, chopped
salt and pepper

Cook until the meat has started to brown and your cat wakes up from her nap and meanders into the kitchen. Stir things every minute or so.

When the meat is mostly cooked, add in:
1 handful of kale, torn into pieces
1 cup-ish of that frozen vegetable medley of cauliflower, broccoli, and carrot that everyone has in the back of their freezer.

Let that cook in the hot pan, stirring a little, until the kale is deep green and wilted, and the other veggies have a little char on them.

Serve with some leftover brown rice, a small drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, and a modestly priced pinot noir.

Towards the middle of the meal, if you toss a little gristle down to the cat, everyone is happy.