Posts Tagged ‘tomatoes’

After eating this for dinner the other night at Jessica’s dinner party I couldn’t help but make some of my own! This simple salad is the perfect side to any summer meal. There is no particular measured amount of each ingredient in this recipe so feel free to use what you like!

Ingredients:

• Cherry tomatoes, cut in half
• Mozzarella cheese, cubed
• Fresh basil, chopped
• Olive oil
• Balsamic vinegar
• Salt and pepper

In large bowl combine tomatoes, mozzarella, and basil. Coat with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Season with salt and pepper. Keep refrigerated before serving.

What’s your favorite summer recipe?

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Tonight I went with Mediterranean cuisine for dinner: pitas, tabbouleh, and lentils! The lentils were the very first recipe I have made from Mediterranean Diabetes Cookbook! The tabbouleh comes from a previous recipe on Eat Chic, which can be found here. The cold tabbouleh paired with the hot lentils and warm pita made the perfect delicious combination for dinner; not to mention it just so happened that it’s also all vegan!

Ingredients:

• 1 cup dry lentils
• 2 1/2 cup water
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1/2 yellow onion, chopped
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1 tsp ground coriander
• 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

Heat 1 cup lentils and 1 1/2 cup water in a saucepan until boiling. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. In a large saucepan, combine lentils, tomatoes, onion, salt, coriander, and 1 cup water. Bring to a boil and allow to simmer for 30 minutes. Serve hot with pitas, rice, or couscous. I omitted the cilantro from my recipe because I wasn’t really in the mood for cilantro, but I may add some in to my leftovers for later!

Can’t wait to enjoy leftovers for lunch tomorrow!

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Good morning! I feel like its been forever since I actually got to cook something for dinner! Last night I made I made Popeye Pasta from Eat Drink and Be Vegan. This recipe is extremely simple, full of flavor, and slightly different from your usual spaghetti recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 lbs rotini pasta
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 4 large garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• black pepper to taste
• 1/3 cup white wine
• 1 28oz can crushed tomatoes
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp dried marjoram
• 1 tsp dried bail
• 1 tsp agave nectar (I used honey since I had no agave on hand)
• 6 cups fresh spinach

Cook pasta according to package directions. In large sauce pot, cook onion, garlic, salt, and pepper in olive oil covered for 5 minutes. Reduce heat and stir in wine; cook uncovered for 1 minute. Add tomatoes, oregano, marjoram, basil, and agave nectar. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove sauce from heat and add spinach. Stir until spinach is wilted.

Spoon sauce over pasta and serve with garlic bread. I improvised with some left over pitas I had and made cheesy garlic pita bread using Earth Balance spread, garlic powder, grated sharp white cheddar cheese, oregano, and basil.

I am going on a Chicago Health and Wellness tour this afternoon; more pictures and info on this later! The weather is perfect today I can’t wait!

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Happy 4th of July! I hope everyone had a great holiday! This morning I made my way over to the Aksarben Village Farmers Market over by the new Wohlner’s neighborhood grocery on 60th and Center. Despite the fact that it was pouring, the market was rather crowded! Among an assortment of free samples, I came home with some zucchini (both round and oblong in shape), carrots, eggs, lettuce, grape tomatoes, corn, and coffee from Caffeine Dreams, a local coffee shop here in Omaha. I got English Toffee, Sumatra, and Pumpkin Spice; all of which smell absolutely amazing!

After the farmers market I was ready to go somewhere indoors to dry off, so I headed to the bookstore (one of few places open on holidays). I was only looking for one book in particular, but naturally came home with three books instead!

1. The Mediterranean Diabetes Cookbook by Amy Riolo: I saw this book advertised in the May edition of Today’s Dietitian and had to have it. The Mediterranean diet is known to be one of the healthiest in the world due to the use of lean meats and fish, healthy oils, and a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables providing fiber, omega-3 fatty acids, and antioxidants. These recipes can help lower blood pressure, control blood glucose levels, and lower your risk for heart disease; regardless of whether or not you have diabetes anyone can benefit from the Mediterranean diet. The recipes in this book sound so tasty I can’t wait to cook some Mediterranean cuisine!

2. What to Eat by Marion Nestle: The book is about uncovering the true meaning of product labels, marketing jargon, and how big food companies try to influence our choices. In this guide to sensible food shopping and healthy eating Nestle offers advice about which food trends to embrace and which to trash.

3. Local Flavors by Deborah Madison: Ever since I read Animal Vegetable Miracle where Barbara Kingsolver constantly references this book, I have been wanting to get it. This book is all about cooking and eating seasonally and locally from your neighborhood farmers market. It offers one-of-a-kind ideas and recipes for those unique farmers market finds; not to mention all of the gorgeous pictures that fill the book cover to cover.

(All of these books remind me that I need to do some updating on the Read Chic page…I’ll work on that tomorrow, sorry for being so behind on things lately!)

The rain finally let up around 6pm and I was finally able to go for my 8 mile long run. I took a nice long stroll through a couple parks around my neighborhood and returned home to a backyard barbeque where turkey sausages were being grilled for dinner. I also listened to Women & Money by Suze Orman on my ipod while I ran, nothing like a little financial advice while you sweat!

There are not too many fireworks going on tonight due to the rain earlier today, but I was still able to enjoy a festive 4th of July dinner while watching fireworks on tv! I just finished putting together a couple Quick Breakfast Stratas using my farmers market produce! I will pop those in the oven tomorrow morning for the family for breakfast!

Happy 4th everyone!

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This morning I rode my bike down to the Pilsen Chicago Farmer’s Market on 18th and Halsted. This community market was much smaller than the Green City Market that I went to last weekend. Nevertheless they had great vendors and produce!

I came home with tomatoes, zucchini, fresh basil (since my windowsill herb garden is taking forever to grow!), peaches, mini tri-colored potatoes, and purplette onions. I was actually looking for standard red onions, but since no vendors had them, I went with purplette onions. Purplette onions look like mini red onions with a stalk similar to green onions. I’m not quite sure how to describe their taste, but its sort of a mixture between red, white, and green onions combined; quite delicious!

I made some fresh tomato salsa with some of my purchases for a healthy afternoon snack!

Ingredients:

• 3 tomatoes, chopped
• 2 purplette onions, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 jalapeño pepper, chopped
• juice from 1/2 lime
• 2-3 Tbsp fresh chopped cilantro
• salt and pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and refrigerate for 30 minutes to bring out all of the flavors. Serve with tortilla chips or atop your favorite Mexican dish! I made chips with some left over tortillas from last night so as not to waste them (I hate wasting food!).

Tonight I’m making ribs on the grill with corn on the cob and baked beans; can’t wait! Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there!

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