Quinoa and Pomegranate Salad

Serves 3-4

Ingredients
1 cup quinoa
2 cups reduced salt chicken stock
50g baby spinach leaves, shredded
1/4 cup craisins (dried cranberries)
1/2 pomegranate, seeds extracted
1/4 cup walnuts, roughly chopped

Dressing
4 tblsp extra virgin olive oil
2 tblsp red wine vinegar
1 tblsp pomegranate molasses
salt and pepper

Method
1. To cook the quinoa: rinse the quinoa in a fine sieve, drain, then place in a medium saucepan with the chicken stock. Bring to a simmer, then cover and cook for about 10 minutes, until the quinoa is soft and the liquid has evaporated. Remove from the heat and cool slightly.
2. For the dressing: Whisk the dressing ingredients together in a jug or bowl and season to taste with salt and pepper.
3. To assemble the salad: Fluff up the quinoa with a fork, then combine with the spinach, craisins and pomegranate seeds. Pour over the dressing and toss through. Sprinkle with walnuts and serve.

From Ooh-Look

Oven Hot Dogs

8 hot dogs
8 hot dog buns
1 can of chili
1/2 an onion, diced
cheddar cheese
mayonnaise
mustard
sweet relish

Line inside of hot dog buns with mayonnaise and sweet relish. Evenly add mustard. Fill with hot dogs and squish into a 13×9″ baking pan.

Top hot dogs with chili, cheese, and diced onion. Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350F for 45 minutes.

Carefully remove from the pan with a spatula–I dropped one on the floor the other day :(

From InTheWabe

Ground Chicken Lettuce Wraps

adapted from The Steamy Kitchen Cookbook: 101 Asian Recipes Simple Enough for Tonight's Dinner, by Jaden Hair
serves 4-6

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground chicken
4 teaspoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
2 teaspoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons canola oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons fresh ginger, grated on a microplane
1/2 cup chopped red onion
8 shiitake mushrooms, diced
4 peeled water chestnuts, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
4 teaspoons rice vinegar
3 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 head Butter lettuce
1 1/2 cups cooked jasmine rice
1 - 11 ounce can mandarin orange sections, drained

Directions:
In a bowl, marinate the ground chicken with the soy sauce, wine, and cornstarch for 10 minutes at room temperature.

Heat a wok or large frying pan over high heat. When hot, add the oil, swirling to coat. Stir in the garlic, ginger, red onion. Fry for 30 seconds, until fragrant.

Add the ground chicken, cooking and stirring until lightly browned, about 2-4 minutes. Stir in the mushrooms, water chestnuts, rice vinegar, and oyster sauce. Simmer for 2 minutes, or until the meat is cooked through. Stir in the red bell pepper and simmer until it is tender-crisp, about 30 seconds to a minute. Season to taste with salt and pepper, if desired.

Assemble the lettuce wraps by spooning a heaping tablespoon of rice and filling onto each lettuce leaf. Top with 2-3 mandarin orange sections.

from GoodLifeEats

Baked Mushroom Risotto

Preparation Time: 45mins
(+ 30mins to soak the mushrooms + prepare the eggplant)
Serves 4

¼ cup dried mixed or shitake mushrooms
1 cup warm water
1½ cups Arborio rice
2 cups vegetable stock

Sautéed Eggplant
1 large eggplant
2 tbs sunflower oil
3 garlic cloves, diced
1 red chilli, diced
1 tbs rice wine vinegar
1 tsp dark soy sauce
pinch of white pepper
4 shallots, finely sliced
250g (9 oz) cherry tomatoes
¼ cup flat leaf parsley, roughly chopped
toasted sesame seeds (optional)

Soak the dried mushrooms in the cup of warm water for about 30 minutes.

Dice the eggplant and lay out on a clean tea-towel or absorbent paper, sprinkle over a little salt and allow to sit for about 30 minutes, and then pat dry.

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/356°C

Strain the mushrooms reserving the liquid. Finely dice the mushrooms and combine with the Arborio rice in an oven proof dish.

Combine the stock and reserved liquid from the mushrooms, topping up with a little more stock to make three cups total.

Pour the stock mixture over the rice and mushrooms and place in the pre-heated oven for 40-45 minutes until liquid is absorbed and rice is tender.

{Start to sauté in the last 15-20 minutes of the risotto cooking time.}

Heat the oil in a good sized frypan over a medium heat. Add the garlic and chilli and cook for 1-2 minutes until fragrant. Add the eggplant and toss over a medium-high heat for 7-8 minutes until soft and golden.

Add the rice wine vinegar, fry for a few seconds then add the soy and white pepper, continue to toss, add the shallots and cherry tomatoes and cook for a further few minutes until the cherry tomatoes begin to blister.

Remove from the heat, check seasoning, add a little more soy if need be and toss through the parsley.

Serve immediately piled on top of warm baked mushroom risotto and sprinkled with a little toasted sesame seed. Perfect for a great vegan meal the whole family will enjoy!

From VeggieNumNum

Baked Risotto w/ Green Veggies

Preparation Time: 45 mins
Serves 4

1 cup Arborio rice
2 ½ cups homemade or good quality vegetable stock
Juice of 1 orange

Tossed Green Veggies
70g (2.5 oz) almonds, roughly chopped
1/3 cup vegetable stock
Juice of 1 orange
1 tsp Dijon mustard
250g (9 oz) green beans, topped & tailed
1 bunch asparagus, woody ends removed
1 tbs olive oil
zest of 1 orange
1 bunch spinach, roughly chopped
Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/356°F

Add the Arborio rice, stock and orange juice to a baking dish and combine. Cover with a tight fitting lid or with foil and bake in the pre-heated oven for 40-45 minutes until nearly all liquid is absorbed and rice is al dente.

Prepare the green veggies just before serving so within the last 10 minutes of the baked risotto cooking time.

Whisk the stock, orange juice and Dijon mustard in a small jug or bowl until smooth, set aside.

Heat a good sized frypan or wok add the almonds and dry roast tossing continually, cooking over a medium heat for 1-2 minutes until just brown.

Add the beans and asparagus and drizzle with olive oil, toss in the pan to coat with oil, add the stock and mustard mixture and cook for 2-3 minutes.

Add the zest and spinach and cook for a further minute or until the spinach is just wilted.

Serve immediately accompanied by spoonfuls or warm baked risotto. Yum!

From Veggienumnum

Sweet Breakfast Couscous w/ Fresh Fruits

Serves 4-6

2 cups cranberry or apple juice
1 cup couscous
½ cup dried cranberries
250g (9 oz) strawberries, halved or red apple, diced
250g (9 oz) mixed fresh berries and/or grapes and/or cherries or figs, dates or diced pear and/or tinned fruits
¾ cup nut & seed mix (walnuts, almonds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds etc.)
to serve

fresh mint leaves
maple syrup or honey
non-dairy or dairy yoghurt
In a small saucepan bring the juice to boil, remove from heat. Combine the couscous and dried cranberries together in a large bowl, pour over the hot juice, cover and stand for 10 minutes.

Once the juice is absorbed, fold through the nuts, seeds and fresh fruits.

Best served warm topped with yoghurt, a good drizzle of maple syrup and a few mint leaves on top.

A great veggie or vegan breakfast for a healthy Christmas or anytime of the year; it would also make a delicious addition to your lunchbox for a healthy and sweet snack or lunchtime meal.

From VeggieNumNum

Warm Quinoa Salad with Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Sage

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
2 cups cubed sweet potatoes
1 cup quinoa
2 cups vegetable broth
2 cups fresh baby spinach, chopped or torn into small pieces
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
1/4 cup slices almonds

Directions
Step 1: Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. On a rimmed baking sheet, toss cubed sweet potatoes with one tablespoon of olive oil. Bake until potatoes are tender when pricked with a form, for about 15-20 minutes.

Step 2: Meanwhile, rinse quinoa in a fine mesh sieve. Bring vegetable broth to a boil in a medium saucepan or stockpot over medium-high heat. Add the quinoa cook until mixture returns to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to a simmer and cook over low heat for 8-10 minutes. Remove the lid and add spinach for the last 2 minutes of cooking. Remove pot from heat.

Step 3: Whisk red wine vinegar, oil, thyme sage and salt together rin a large bowl. Add quinoa mixture, almonds and toss combine. Garnish with additional herbs, if desired.

From Craft

Full recipe has 1550 calories , 66g faT, 200g carb, 30g fiber, 44g protein...
With only 1TBS of oil = 1315cal, 39g fat, no change in others.
With NO oil = 1200cal, 26g fat, no change.

JT update...
Made this 2/23/11 - Roughly followed the recipe ;)  Ended up with 4.5 cups of cooked quinoa, 3 cups of roasted sweet potatoes (which took MUCH longer to roast that the recipe indicates), and 5-6 cups of greens (spinach and arugula combined).  The quinoa came out a bit too wet at this ratio.  Used chicken broth instead of veggie broth (not recommended - the flavor is strong).  Didn't add a ton of dressing because of the dampness.  Used only 1TBS of dressing, extra vinegar, and dried herbs.  Overall, I liked this, it wasn't amazing, but it was good.  Perhaps next time I'll follow the recipe more closely.  The flavor/seasonings just weren't that stellar -- needs tweaking.  Made 8 servings out of the batch @ 225cal each.  I froze the leftovers in individual servings - will report back on the effectiveness.

Stuffed Portobello Mushroom

Yields: 6 servings
7 Portobello mushrooms
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
3/4 teaspoon ground coriander
3/4 cup sushi rice
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 (14-ounce) can vegetable broth, warm
½ cup canned black beans, rinsed
2 celery stalks, peeled and diced
½ cup roasted red bell pepper, diced
3 tablespoons flat-leaf parsley
2 tablespoons green onions, chopped
1/3 cup Dubliner (cheddar) cheese, shaved

Preparation
Prepping the rice:

Wash and rinse the rice thoroughly in several water baths (about three times). Drain as much water as possible.

Fill about 3 quarts of water in a large pot. Bring to a boil. Add the rice. Bring the liquid back to a boil, then immediately lower the heat to a gentle boil. That way the rice is cooked evenly all the way through. Cook for about 7-8 minutes at a bubbly simmer. Add 1 teaspoon of salt half way through the cooking process (it will enhance the natural flavor of the rice and keep it more tender). Keep stirring the rice every now and then so that it doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot. The grains of rice should still be a little hard, about 2/3 of the way cooked. Drain the liquid from the rice using a fine mesh colander. Do NOT rinse. Discard the liquid.
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Prepping the Portobello mushrooms: Remove the stem from 6 mushrooms. Using the edge of a spoon, scrape and remove the gills of the Portobello mushrooms. (For appearance only, keeps dish from turning dark.)  Wipe the inside clean using a paper towel (see tips). Drizzle the mushrooms with olive oil.
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Making mushroom filling:
Dice the reserved Portobello mushroom.
In a deep non-stick pan, heat 1 tablespoon of oil. Add the onions and cook until nicely golden and tender (it may take 5-8 minutes). Once the onions are cooked, add the garlic and coriander. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for another minute so the garlic is cooked and fragrant. Add the celery, diced Portobello mushroom and the black beans. Transfer the onion mixture to a plate, leaving as much oil as possible in the pan. Set aside.

In the same pan, add another tablespoon of oil. Add the rice. The oil should coat all the grains and gently separate the grains. Add tomato paste and warm vegetable stock. Stir constantly. After bringing the liquid to a boil, lower the heat to medium-low; add the parsley, caramelized onion mixture, green onions and bell peppers and continue cooking for about 12 minutes. Check the liquid; it should all be absorbed. adjust seasoning. Season with more salt if necessary and pepper.
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Assembly time:
Preheat the oven to 425°F.
Brush a hot grill with olive oil.
Top the Portobello mushrooms with the rice filling, dividing among the 6 mushrooms. Tightly stuff them, by gently pressing the filling using a spoon.
Place the whole mushrooms on a hot grill, hat side down. Cook until you get grill marks. Remove from the grill.
Sprinkle with Dubliner cheese. Drizzle with a little olive oil and bake for 20 minutes until the top is melted and forms a crust. Broil for about 2 minutes, until golden.
Serve warm.

From PhamFatale

Crispy Potato Roast

Serves 8
Prep Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 2 1/4 hours

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
4 pounds russet potatoes, peeled
4 shallots, thickly sliced lengthwise
course salt
1/2 to 1 teaspoon red-pepper flakes (optional)
8 sprigs thyme

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a small bowl, combine butter and oil. Brush bottom of a round 9-inch baking dish with some butter mixture. With a sharp knife or mandoline, slice potatoes very thinly crosswise.

2. Arrange potato slices vertically in dish. Wedge shallots throughout. Sprinkle with salt and red-pepper flakes (if using); brush with remaining butter mixture. Bake 1 1/4 hours. Add thyme and bake until potatoes are cooked through with a crisp top, about 35 minutes more.

From The Bitten Word (Originally from Everyday Food)

JT -- I made this with sweet potatoes.  It was easy and good, but not exceptional.  The potatoes were a little too soft for my taste, not really roasted.  Tasty though.  May try again without packing them so tightly.

Brussels Sprout Salad with Pomegranate Seeds

Makes a full medium size soup bowl of salad, perfect for a light lunch; we doubled for dinner for two

6 brussel sprouts, washed, patted dry and thinly sliced
2 red onion, sliced thinly, 2 tablespoons
pomegranate seeds, handful, about 1/4 of a large pomegranate

1/4 cup tea seed oil
1/8 cup sherry vinegar
1/8 cup fresh meyer lemon juice
sprinkle of maldon salad
sprinkle of fresh cracked black pepper

In a small bowl, soak the red onion in ice cold water, while you mandoline or thinly slice the brussel sprouts. Drain the onion, pat dry and mix with the sprouts. Add the pomegranate seeds and lightly toss. In a small jar with a lid, add the oil, vinegar and lemon juice; shake well, about 45 seconds. Drizzle over the salad. Add as little or more, depending on your personal preference. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Lightly toss. Serve. Eat.

From ChezUs
.

Reindeer Cookies

3/4 cup peanut butter
1 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup shortening
3 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon vanilla
1 egg
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt

Chocolate-covered mini pretzels
Mini brown M&Ms
Regular-sized red M&Ms

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Combine brown sugar, peanut butter, shortening, milk, and vanilla in large bowl. Beat at medium speed until well blended. Add egg; beat until just blended.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to creamed mixture at low speed. Mix just until blended.

Form dough into 1/2-inch balls. To make reindeer-shaped cookies, pinch the bottom of the ball slightly to form a point, then gently flatten with your hand. Space cookies about 2 inches apart on a greased cookie sheet and bake for 7 to 8 minutes, until set or just beginning to brown.

Remove from oven and immediately (and gently) press two mini pretzels into the tops of the cookies for the reindeer's antlers. Press two mini brown M&Ms in for the eyes and one red M&M for the nose (or any other color... some of mine ended up with green noses. They might be South Pole reindeer.).

Allow to cool 2 minutes on the baking sheet and then transfer to a wire rack or paper towel to cool completely.

Makes about 40 reindeer cookies.

from Bakergirl

JT -- I made these at Kris' house.  They came out cute, but you have to work fast!  I couldn't find mini M&M's or mini chocolate pretzels (check Trader Joe's next time!), so I made substitutions.  They came out cute.  They don't travel real well - the pretzels are a bit loose.  Also, the pretzels tend to get stale.  Chocolate covering would help on both counts.

REINDEER BITES

-1 box Nilla Wafers
-8 oz chocolate, melted
-1/4 cup toasted coconut

Melt the chocolate in the microwave and few seconds at a time, stirring in between.  Toast the coconut in a pan over medium-low heat until golden brown…make sure you keep stirring!!!  Once the chocolate is melted and the coconut is toasted, dip the Nilla wafers in chocolate and then dunk in the coconut. Set on a piece of wax paper (or foil or parchment…whatever) til they harden. This is a great meal little snack to have if you’re craving chocolate, vanilla, sugar, or just plain goodness. Or really anytime.
From Heather'sDish

JT -- I made these at Kris' house.  They are very easy to do and tasty too.  I added some shopped up roasted almonds.  I found they looked better if I dipped them in chocolate, layed on parchment, then placed a bit of coconut and/or almonds right on the cookie.  The Nilla wafer has a tendency to go soft pretty quickly.  I think they might hold the crisp better if the whole cookie was covered in chocolate (or maybe I shouldn't store them in the same bin as the peanut butter cookies!).