dinner ideas – Kacey Tess

Watermelon Radish Salad

Ingredient list

Salad:

2 watermelon radishes sliced thinly with a mandolin

1 pear sliced thinly

1 nectarine cut into small slivers

1 fennel bulb cut thinly

2 cucumbers cut into matchsticks

1 tbsp fresh thyme chopped finely

Dressing:

1/4 C champagne vinegar

1 tbsp honey

1 tbsp dried shallots

1 tsp mustard

Salt and pepper to taste

1/3 C extra virgin olive oil

Method:

Combine all salad ingredients and set aside

Combine all ingredients for dressing minus the olive oil in a food processor, gradually poor in olive oil

Combine dressing and salad, enjoy!

This is a salad that will get better with time, so great the next day.

Yaki Soba Noodles

What you’ll need: 4 Servings

1 tbsp olive oil

1 head of cauliflower

2 tsp sea salt

2 tsp black pepper

1 tsp yellow curry powder

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp rice vinegar

1 tbsp sesame oil

1 bunch scallion chopped (light green and white part only)

1 tsp agave nectar

1/2 tbsp sesame seed oil

1 tbsp sesame seeds

2 packages Yaki Soba noodles (in produce section)

1 C snow peas cleaned and ends removed

1/4 C daikon radish chopped

1/4 C cilantro chopped finely

4 eggs

What you’ll do:

Pre-heat oven to 425

Slice cauliflower into large pieces

Grease a baking sheet

Lay cauliflower on baking sheet and drizzle on the olive oil

Sprinkle with salt, pepper and curry powder

Bake for 20 minutes or until browning

In a bowl combine soy sauce, vinegar, sesame oil, scallions and agave

Set aside

Soft boil eggs (place eggs in cold water, bring to a boil, boil for 3 minutes, place in ice bath until chilled, peel)

Run noodles under hot water to loosen

In a large skillet heat sesame oil and seeds over medium-low heat

Add noodles, peas and cilantro

Cook for 3-4 minutes

Add sauce

Stir thoroghly

Once heated through plate, add cauliflower, radish and additional cilantro if wanted

Top with soft boiled egg

Enjoy!

I garnished mine with red pepper flake and jalapeno

Whole wheat pasta with butternut squash sauce

What you’ll need:
1 batch of light fried eggplant(see previous post)

1 package of whole wheat pasta (I used whole wheat linguine)

1 package of fresh sage

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 butternut squash peeled and chopped into small cubes

2 garlic cloves chopped

1 Tsp red pepper flakes

1 yellow onion chopped

1 vegetable bullion cube

2 C water

1 Tsp agave nectar

Sea salt to taste

Black pepper to taste

What you’ll do:

Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium
heat

Add sage and cook until crispy 2-3 minutes

Remove from oil and place on a paper towel to drain excess oil

Sprinkle with sea salt and pepper

Set aside

In the same skillet add the garlic, squash, onion and red pepper(you can leave out red pepper if you don’t like spicy foods)

Cook 10 minutes until soft

Add bullion cube and water

Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes

While that is reducing cook pasta according to directions on the box

Strain, sprinkle with olive oil to help pasta from sticking to each other

Using an Emerson blender roughly blend the squash mixture, taste and add sea salt if needed

Add agave and lightly blend again

Add pasta to skillet and mix thoroughly

Put pasta on a plate, add fried sage and baby eggplant

Enjoy!!

Smoked salmon and spinach salad

What you’ll need:
1 bag of spinach cleaned
1/2 Red onion
10 sugar snap peas cleaned and cut in half
3-4 spears of pickled asparagus
3-4 large button mushrooms sliced thinly
10 cherry tomatoes halved
1 package of smoked salmon ( I prefer to use Lox)
Sea salt to taste
Black pepper to taste
Goat cheese or feta cheese (optional)

1 batch of red wine vinegar dressing (recipe in previous blog post) or store bought

Mix all ingredients except salmon together thoroughly

Add salmon after you have plated the salad

If wanted add goat cheese or feta

Enjoy!!!

Artichoke and spinach lasagna

What you’ll need:

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 yellow onion chopped
2 small or 1 large green zucchini
1bag of spinach
1 small jar of marinated artichoke hearts ( I used the oil they are marinated in place of using more olive oil)
1 batch of marinara sauce (see previous blog post for recipe) or 1 jar of store bought marinara sauce
1 carton of sliced white mushrooms
1 box oven ready lasagna noodles
2 C shredded mozzarella cheese
1 Tbsp Italian seasoning
1 Tsp of cayenne pepper
Sea Salt to taste
Black pepper to taste
1/2 lemon (juice)

3-4 green onions chopped
Fresh basil 1/2 bunch chopped

What you’ll do:
Preheat oven to 350
Grease a 9×11 glass baking dish
In a medium skillet heat olive oil over medium

Add onion and cook until translucent
Add zucchini and cook another few minutes (3-5)
Squeeze lemon juice in the mixture
Add spinach, mushrooms and oil from the artichokes and cook until spinach is slightly wilted

Add marinara sauce and mix thoroughly

Add all seasonings

With a large ladle (or coffee mug) spoon a layer of the veggie mixture into the glass dish
Then place a layer of the uncooked lasagna noodles
Place artichokes evenly on the noodles
Sprinkle 1/2 of the cheese
Repeat steps until lasagna dish is full
Bake for 30 minutes at 350
Before you serve sprinkle with green onions and basil

Enjoy!!!

Brussel sprout quinoa salad

What you’ll need:

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 bunch of brussel sprouts with the stems cut off and halved

1 head of broccoli cut into bite size pieces

1 cup of quinoa cooked

1/4 C dried cranberries

10 yellow tomatoes halved

Sea salt

Black pepper

1 lemon

1 Tsp honey

What you’ll do:

Cook the quinoa according to the directions

Place in a bowl

Heat olive oil over medium in a medium skillet

Add brussel sprouts and juice from 1 lemon and the rhine(remove before serving)

Add sea salt and pepper to taste

Cook for about 5 minutes and add broccoli

Cook for another 2-3 minutes

Add to bile with quinoa

Add cherry tomatoes

Add dried cranberries

Add honey

Mix thoroughly

Enjoy!!!

Whole Wheat Pasta Salad

What you’ll need:

1 package of whole wheat penne pasta
1/4 C shredded Parmesan cheese
1/2 bottle of low fat Greek salad dressing (or Italian)

1/2 package of cherry tomatoes halved
1 cucumber peeled and chopped
1 can of black beans drained and rinsed

Sea salt
Black pepper
Onion powder
Red pepper flakes (optional)

What you’ll do:
Cook pasta according to directions
Strain pasta and rinse with cold water until cool

Add salad dressing and cheese
Mix thoroughly
Add tomatoes and cucumbers
Mix well
Add beans and stir well

Season to taste with sea salt, black pepper, onion powder and red pepper flakes (dried)

Enjoy!!!

Cold Undon Noodle Salad

What you’ll need:
1 package of dry Undon noodles
1 bottle of soy or miso dressing of choice

1 yellow tomato (if available, if not red) cut thinly

5 cherry tomatoes chopped
1 carrot chopped
1/4 package of bean sprouts
1/4 package of snap peas
Any other veggies you have in the fridge

What you’ll do:
Cook Undon noodles according to directions on the package (normally boil for 8 minutes)

Rinse noodles in cold water

Transfer the noodles into the serving dish

Combine miso dressing with noodles

Add all veggies and mix thoroughly

Refrigerate for at least 1 hour

Enjoy!!

Whole wheat pasta primavera

What you’ll need:

1/2 container of cherry tomatoes
1 can diced tomatoes
1 TBSP olive oil
2 garlic cloves chopped
1/2 TBSP Italian seasoning or to taste
1/2 white onion
1/2 container of sliced mushrooms
2 Cups if broccoli florets
1 package of whole wheat linguine

What you do:

Heat olive oil over medium and add garlic and olives, cook for about 5 minutes until onions start turning translucent

Add diced tomatoes and Italian seasoning

Lower heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes

Cook pasta according to instructions on box (normally for al dente pasta boil for 7 minutes then drain)

Strain pasta, add a small amount of olive oil to noodles to prevent them from sticking

Add pasta sauce to pasta

Enjoy!!!

Veggie Pizza with Pesto Sauce

What you’ll need:

Crust:
For the crust my good friend Jenny gave me the best whole wheat dough recipe you can find on a previous blog post. If you prefer you can buy a pre-made whole wheat pizza crust (that’s what I used tonight, it was brand Boboli)

Pesto:
You can buy pre-made pesto or I simply combined arugula, olive oil, garlic, salt, pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice in my food precessor. I didn’t happen to have pine nuts on hand but if you do, add a few in for an even heartier pesto.

Toppings:
Kalamata olives
Green olives
White onion cut thinly
Jalapeno cut thinly
Canned arktichoke hearts
Cherry tomatos halved and seasoned with salt, pepper and dried parsley
Canned pickled beets chopped finely

What you’ll do:

Preheat oven to 450

Cover pizza crust with pesto, olives, onion, arktichoke, jalepeno

Bake at 450 for 8-10 minutes until crust is crispy

Remove from oven and add tomatoes, beets and season with salt to taste

Enjoy!!!