Fattoush!

We all know we have to eat salads, but sometimes it's really hard to get excited about a bunch of leaves. Fattoush, a Lebanese bread salad, is a good way to have your daily dose of veggies, while keeping you interested enough to finish it! We love the version from Mark Bittman's app "How to Cook Everything"  and added our own touches to suit our tastes.

This salad is only as good as its ingredients, so try to find the best product for the best results. If you plan on having leftovers, do not dress the whole salad or toast all the pita, only what you plan on eating that night.

Prep time: 20 minutes
Cook time: 5 minutes (to toast your pita)

Ingredients:
Salad:

• 6 inch whole wheat pitas, cut into strips or wedges
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• 2 vine ripened tomatoes (medium ripe). chopped and seeded
• 1 medium cucumber, diced and seeded
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped and seeded
• Choice of greens (romaine works well, or a spring mix)
• pinch of salt

Vinaigrette:

• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• salt and pepper

Combine the parsley, tomato, cucumber, bell pepper, salt and greens in a large bowl. Set aside.

To make the dressing, whisk the olive oil, red wine vinegar, salt and pepper until it forms a creamy mixture. Store it in your favorite dressing dispenser. If you plan to refrigerate it, be sure to mix it and bring it to room temperature before using.

Add your toasted pita to the greens mixture, pour the dressing and toss! 

Turkey Cupcakes

Meatloaf is one of the easiest meals to prepare. In about an hour, meat, breadcrumbs, ketchup and a few other things turn into a delicious meaty loaf. While it's a meal that will last a whole week and leave everyone satisfied, it's also a very heavy recipe.

We found a recipe that put a fun spin on meatloaf by using turkey and cupcake tins. Think of these as a lighter meatloaf, or easier meatball. To edit it to our tastes (and pantry supply), we used breadcrumbs instead of couscous, added a few jalapenos, used spicy brown mustard, and made them slightly larger than the original recipe called for, as they do shrink. 

These turkey cupcakes could be a great appetizer for a group, paired with your favorite pasta, or eaten simply with a side salad.

Cook time: 25 minutes
Prep time: 20 minutes
Makes 18 cupcakes

Ingredients: 

• 2.5 cups coarsely chopped zucchini
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 medium red pepper, chopped
• 3 jalapenos, chopped (seeds in if you want the extra kick)
• 1 lbs. ground turkey
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
•  2 tablespoons spicy brown mustard
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs (seasoned or plain)

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees while you chop your vegetables
• Take the coarsely chopped vegetables and pulse them in a food processor. Make sure they are finely chopped, but not obliterated. You want to see a few good pieces in the turkey cupcake.
• In a large bowl, mix turkey, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, egg and breadcrumbs with the vegetable mixture until well combined
• Butter/grease your favorite muffin pans and drop heaping tablespoons of the meat mixture
• Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the internal temperature is about 160 degrees F. 

Veggie Pizza (no pizza stone necessary)

Homemade pizza is a satisfying meal because you can put whatever you want on it! For this run through, we went with veggie toppings and a delicious garlic and herb crust from Trader Joe's. 

The instructions on most pizza dough call for a pizza stone, but don't offer any tips if you don't have one. Having limited space, we went about trying to find the best way to achieve the same crispy crust. Pre-baking the crust is key!

Prep time: 40  minutes
Cook time: 17-20 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1/2 yellow pepper, chopped
• 1/2 red pepper, chopped
• 1/2 orange pepper, chopped
• 1 cup frozen spinach, thawed and drained
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 1 cup pizza sauce
• 1.5 cups shredded mozzarella cheese 
• 1 package pizza dough

Lightly flour a surface and rest the dough out of its packaging for 20-30 minutes. 

Pre-heat the oven to 400. When the dough is ready, roll it out to about a 11x17 rectangle. Place the dough on a greased 11x17 pan. Bake the dough for 8-9 minutes. 

Pan fry the peppers, spinach and onion for about 10 minutes, or until the onions are slightly browned. 

Cool the dough for about 10 minutes, then evenly spread the sauce. Sprinkle 2/3 of the cheese, and spread the vegetable toppings. Top with the remaining cheese. 

Bake the pizza for 10-12 minutes, or until the cheese starts to bubble.

Pasta Salad with Shredded Chicken

Pasta salad is no longer relegated to plastic tubs to be carted off to picnics. This version is a riff of a pesto pasta salad and uses spinach and almonds, instead of basil and pine nuts. It's light and tangy without being too cloying. 

Preparation time is minimal, with the bulk of time spent chilling the mixture. This dish is versatile  and can be a satisfying side dish or light main dish. As a main dish, expect 6-8 servings, and as a side dish, about 10-12 servings.

Prep time: 10-15 minutes
Chill time: at least 4 hours

Ingredients:

• 2-3 lbs chicken breast, shredded
• 1 package rotini pasta, or other short pasta like ziti or penne 
• 4 cups of  baby spinach
• 3-4 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese, shredded
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon water
• dash of salt
• 1 tablespoon sriracha
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise 
• 1.5 cups sliced almonds
• option to toast for extra texture

Brown the chicken in a pan. Once cooked, shred and set aside. Cook pasta according to directions and cool under cold water when finished.

In a food processor, combine spinach, cheese, olive oil, salt, sriracha and water. Pulse until well combined. Mix mayonnaise and spinach mixture  with pasta. Chill for at least 4 hours. Serve over a bed of spinach and a sprinkling of sliced almonds. 

White Fish with Tomato and Pepper Sauce

Fresh produce always makes a good meal great. We stumbled upon some fantastic grape tomatoes and tweaked this Cooking Light chicken recipe to use tilapia we had in the freezer.

The mixture of tomatoes, red and yellow peppers would pair well with other white fishes and, of course, chicken. The sauce does not overwhelm the fish or poultry and it's a quick sauce, making it perfect for a mid-week meal.

This amount of tomatoes and peppers makes enough sauce for about 6-8 fish fillets. 

Prep time: 15-20 minutes

Cook time: 10-12 minutes

Ingredients:

• Olive oil
• 1 medium sized onion, diced
• 1 yellow pepper, diced
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 1 package of grape tomatoes, halved (about 2.5-3 cups)
• salt, pepper to taste

Optional: 

• black or green olives

Heat the oil in a medium sized pan. cook the onions until brown on the edges. Add the red and yellow peppers. If including olives, add them after the peppers. Cook until tender then add the tomatoes and cook until the skin is slightly wrinkled. Transfer mixture to another container and keep warm.

You have the option of cooking the fish in the broiler, or pan frying it in the same pan as the mixture.

• Broiler: line a pan with foil. Broil the fish for 2-3 minutes on both sides, taking care not to over cook.
• Pan fry: Using the same pan as the tomato mixture, pan fry the fish until browned, about 3-4 minutes on each side. 

Once the fish is cooked, top with the tomato mixture. Pair with a simple salad or grain, such as quinoa. 

Honey Mustard Vinaigrette

Back to our homemade shenanigans. Honey mustard vinaigrette was something we were craving. This recipe is savory and not as tangy as others we've tasted. It is a good complement to more spiced salad toppings or seasoned meat or poultry. We used Dijon, but also recommend a whole grain mustard for a more robust mustard flavor. 

Prep time: 2 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1.5 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Dijon or whole grain mustard
• 1 tablespoon honey
• dash of Kosher salt
• dash of black pepper

Using your favorite whisk or salad dressing contraption, whisk together ingredient. Serve cold or at room temperature. 

The Week's Favorite Meal: Barbecue Pork and Cheese Biscuits

We wanted to share one of the easiest menus that last a number of meals-it's pretty well balanced to boot. It's easy to reheat and initial preparation takes about 45 minutes. 

Menu:

• Barbecue Pork, with homemade barbecue sauce (prep time: 20 minutes)
• Baby spinach salad with thai vinaigrette (prep time: 5 minutes)
• Cheese biscuits (prep time: 25 minutes)

To prepare the barbecue pork, use thinly cut, boneless pork chops:

• Set the broiler
• Brush one side of the pork loin with the barbecue sauce and broil for 6 minutes
• Flip and brush the other side and broil for another 6 minutes

Asian Coleslaw

We're not big fans of normal coleslaw over there-a bit too much mayo. This coleslaw iteration gives the cabbage a bit more bite and savory flavor from an unexpected source: Ramen noodles. Yes, those Ramen noodles. One batch of this coleslaw could feed a bbq of 8-10 people and is a great complement to any bbq or friend chicken.


Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook's note: this does not keep its crunch and texture for more than one day. Eat it while it's good!


Ingredients:

• 16 oz coleslaw package
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1/3 cup white vinegar
• 1/4 sugar
• 2 packages chicken seasoning from Ramen noodles
• 1/2 cup sliced almonds (you can also toast these or have them raw)
• 1 cup sunflower seeds
• 2 packages of crushed Ramen noodles

In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, vinegar, sugar and chicken seasoning. Toss this dressing with the coleslaw package. Right before you're ready to serve, mix in the almonds, sunflower seeds and crushed Ramen noodles. 

Reheat, enjoy!

Some recipes fair better as leftovers than others. We wanted to gather up our favorites from this blog, as well as from around the web. Happy leftovers!

• Chicken Pot Pie, The Remix
• Crustless Broccoli and Cheese Quiche
• Stroganoff, The Remix
• Tofu Vegetable Hot Pot (Cooking Light)
• Quick Vegetarian Chili (Cooking Light)