Moody Girl Eats: Greek Quinoa Salad with Shrimp

As part of my New Year’s resolution, I mentioned that I wanted to stick to healthier diet of more fruits/vegetables and clean up my bad eating habits.  I think that I’ve been pretty successful with this so far.  I’ve been eating a ton more vegetables and trying new foods and recipes that include quinoa, chia seeds and lentils.  I’ve also given up eating greasy fast food and opting for a healthier option like subs from Subway or soup and salad at Panera Bread.  This is especially challenging because I travel so frequently, but I force myself to buy anything other than McDonalds or my old favorite Chick-fil-A.  Lately, since I’ve stopped eating at these places I really haven’t had any cravings for them, which is great.  I also gave up eating dessert/sweets for Lent.  This has been extremely difficult because I love ice cream, cake, cookies – you name it, I eat it.  Anyway, I digress.

I wanted to share with you all one of my favorite recipes that I found sometime in January from another blogger.  This recipe has been my go to meal for the past month and a half.  I recently made some for my sister a few weeks ago and today I brought some in for a potluck at work.  Everyone enjoyed it and they all wanted the recipe.  My sister now makes this meal probably just as much as I do.  So, I figure that I would share this with you all today.  It’s really fresh and healthy with a few simple ingredients.  It’s also really quick to put together.  Check out the recipe below and let me know what you think.

Greek Quinoa Salad with Shrimp

[Adapted from With Style & Grace]

Ingredients:

                  1 ½ cup of dry quinoa

                  2 cups of water [or chicken broth]

                  1 cup of cucumbers, quartered

                  ½ cup of cherry tomatoes, halved

                  ¼ cup of Kalamata olives, sliced

                  ¼ cup of red onions, chopped

                  2 green onions (scallions), chopped

                  1 lemon, juiced

                  3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

                  2 tablespoons white wine vinegar [or red wine vinegar]

                  2 garlic cloves, minced

                  Salt and Pepper to taste

½ pound of cooked shrimp (chopped in half)

                  ½ cup feta cheese (optional)

Directions:

In a medium pot, bring 2 cups of water [or chicken broth] and quinoa to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cover, 16-18 minutes, until all the water is absorbed, Once cooked, remove from heat and allow to cool approximately ten minutes while prepping the rest of the ingredients.

In a large bowl, combine cucumber, tomatoes, Kalamata olives, red onions, and green onions.  Add the cooked shrimp that has been chopped in half.

Dressing: whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, white wine vinegar, garlic, salt and pepper.

Drizzle a little bit of the dressing over quinoa/vegetable mixture and stir in a little at a time while folding the mixture.  Season with salt and pepper, top with cheese, serve and enjoy!

Moody Girl Eats: Soy-Dijon Flounder

I haven’t been cooking lately, because I have just been so busy with work and training for my half marathon.  Now that I’m on vacation, I was finally able to cook last night.  I didn’t look up any recipes because I wanted to be creative.  I wanted to use the ingredients that I had on hand.  My two main ingredients included Dijon mustard and soy sauce.  After I looked in my spice cabinet, I pulled brown sugar to sweeten the mixture and rice wine vinegar.  I really didn’t know how this was going to turn out, but I was pleasantly surprised.  I used the mixture on a package of frozen founder.  I served the fish with jasmine rice and green beans.  I was pretty proud of myself…it turned out really good.  I tried to create a recipe below , if you want to try to make it at home.  I would adjust the ingredients to match your personal taste.  Bon Appétit!

Soy-Dijon Marinade

1/4 teaspoon of black pepper

3 tablespoons of brown sugar

3 tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce

4 teaspoons Dijon mustard

4 teaspoon rice wine vinegar

1 tablespoon of minced garlic

2 tablespoons of cooking white wine

2-3 dashes of hot sauce (optional)

Whisk all of the ingredients together and adjust to taste.  Use as a glaze or bake the fish in the entire mixture.  

Moody Girl Eats: Ginger and Cilantro Baked Tilapia

I'm proud to say that I cooked twice this week.  I made tacos on Sunday, which wasn’t anything fancy.  I just used the normal taco seasoning packet from Taco Bell.  And today I made this delicious tilapia meal.  I wanted to make a fish dish for tomorrow because of the Lenten season.  I bought a couple bags of frozen tilapia, so I’ll be very creative over the next few weeks.  I found this recipe on Kitchn and I knew I had to make it.  It’s a really simple recipe with some exotic flavors.  Here is the recipe below along with some pictures that I took along the process.  I really enjoyed making and eating this dish and I would definitely make it again.  Bon Appétit!

**I may have used a little more soy sauce than the recipe calls for, so that’s why my sauce looks a little darker.  I served the fish over jasmine rice and it was amazing.  I will make this again in the near future. 

Ginger and Cilantro Baked Tilapia
serves 2, or 1 with leftovers for lunch

2 large tilapia fillets (or similar thin white fish) - about 3/4 lb
1 jalapeno pepper (optional)
3 garlic cloves
1 inch grated ginger (1 tablespoon)
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 cup white wine
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1/3 cup chopped cilantro
Scallions, chopped for garnish
Extra cilantro, to garnish

Heat the oven to 475F. Pat the fish dry and season lightly with salt and pepper. Place in a glass baking dish.

Chop the pepper and garlic, and grate the ginger. Put in a small food processor with the soy sauce, white wine, sesame oil, and cilantro. Whir until blended. Pour the sauce over the fish, rubbing it in a little. Bake for about 15 to 18 minutes, or until the fish flakes easily and is cooked through. It will be very moist and gelatinous, still.

Serve immediately over rice, garnished with scallions and cilantro.

Moody Girl Eats: Fried Plantains

I often make fried plantains in my home because it reminds me of the many Caribbean delights that I grew up loving as a child. 

What are Plantains?

Plantains look very much like bananas, but they are very different in several respects.  They are a starchy, low in sugar variety that is cooked before serving as it is unsuitable raw.  Most notably their flesh is firm when they are green, but as plantains ripen, the skin becomes more yellow and the flesh becomes softer.  Plantains are used in many savory dishes somewhat like a potato would be used and is very popular in Western Africa and the Caribbean countries.

Fried plantains make a great side dish for any entrée or a perfect snack anytime of the day.  Check out the recipe below and let me know what you think.

Ingredients:

2 firm-ripe plantains

Vegetable oil for deep-frying

Cooking Instructions:

Peel and slice the plantains. I find that the best way to slice them diagonally or you can cut the plantain in half and slice lengthwise because it’s easier to fry.  Heat the oil over medium heat (around 375 degrees is good) in a large frying pan and add the sliced plantains.  Fry plantains until golden brown. They will cook very quickly, so try to be careful not to burn them.  Place fried plantains on a paper towel and dry off any excess oil.

Moody Girl Eats: Spinach & Mushroom Stuffed Chicken Breasts

I love to cook, but I haven’t been made anything for a couple of weeks.  I’m sure you are wondering what has this girl been eating? Frankly, I’m not sure myself – it’s been a lot of frozen meals and take out.  However, this is not in line with my New Year’s resolutions, so I had to cook. Monday evening, I finally rustled up the energy to cook a meal for the week.

I had a leftover bag of fresh spinach and some chicken cutlets, so I wanted to find a recipe that involved those two (2) items.  I ended up finding the above recipe online from Rachel Ray’s 30 Minute Meal via the Food Network.  I modified the recipe a little and I took out the mushrooms because I didn’t have any in my fridge.  Here is the recipe below along with some pictures that I took along the process.  I really enjoyed making this meal and I would definitely make it again.  Enjoy Ladies!

Ingredients:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, 6 oz.

Lg. plastic food storage bags or waxed paper

1 package, 10 oz., frozen chopped spinach

2 tablespoons butter

12 small mushroom caps, crimini or button

2 cloves garlic, cracked

1 small shallot, quartered

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 cup part skim ricotta cheese

1/2 cup grated Parmigiano or Romano

1/2 teaspoon fresh grated or ground nutmeg

Toothpicks

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Sauce:

2 tablespoons butter

2 tablespoons flour

1/2 cup white wine

1 cup chicken broth

Directions:

Place breasts in the center of a plastic food storage bag or 2 large sheets of waxed paper. Pound out the chicken from the center of the bag outward using a heavy-bottomed skillet or mallet. Be firm but controlled with your strokes.

Defrost spinach in the microwave. Transfer spinach to a kitchen towel. Twist towel around spinach and wring it out until very dry. Transfer to a medium-mixing bowl. (I used fresh spinach since that's all I had in my fridge. I think you can use frozen or fresh spinach).

Place a nonstick skillet over moderate heat. When skillet is hot, add butter, mushrooms, garlic and shallot. Season with salt and pepper and sauté 5 minutes. Transfer mushrooms, garlic and shallot to the food processor. Pulse to grind the mushrooms and transfer to the mixing bowl, adding the processed mushrooms to the spinach. Add ricotta and grated cheese to the bowl and the nutmeg. Stir to combine the stuffing. Return your skillet to the stove over medium high heat. (I omitted the mushrooms and the nutmeg and added more garlic and shallots).

Place a mound of stuffing on each breast and wrap and roll breast over the stuffing. Secure breasts with toothpicks. Add 3 tablespoons oil to the pan, 3 turns of the pan. Add breasts to the pan and brown on all sides, cooking chicken 10 to 12 minutes. The meat will cook quickly because it is thin. Remove breasts; add butter to the pan and flour. Cook butter and flour for a minute, whisk in wine and reduce another minute. Whisk in broth and return breasts to the pan.

(I wasn't a big fan of the wine sauce.  When I make this again,
I will use a standard chicken stock gravy).

Reduce heat and simmer until ready to serve. Remove toothpicks. Serve breasts whole or, remove from pan, slice on an angle and fan out on dinner plates. Top stuffed chicken breasts or sliced stuffed breasts with generous spoonfuls of the sauce.

(Here is a picture of my final meal with green beans and spinach for my sides).