Sky

Sky

March 31, 2015

Easy Pesto

Spring is here and I'm so excited to start eating fresh spring and summer produce! This is always the first recipe I think of when the warm weather starts to hit. If you like a strong pesto flavor, this pesto is for you!
 
What you need:

2 cups basil leaves, rinsed
1/2 cup walnuts (pesto is traditionally made with pine nuts, but walnuts have more nutritional benefits)
4 large cloves garlic
3/4 cup parmesan cheese (I like to splurge a little and get the aged parm- it tastes just that much better!)
1/2 cup olive oil

Method:

Mix everything in your blender (mixing in your olive oil last)
It's that easy!





^^Pesto is good with so many foods: chicken, pasta, fish, quinoa, but sometimes I like to just have straight pesto with toast...because it's so good I could almost eat it by itself :)

Thanks for following along!
Sky

March 30, 2015

Red Pepper Flake Olive Oil

One of my favorite restaurants in DC is Ghibellina, which serves brick oven pizza with scissors to cut your slice.  Ghibellina has this amazing red pepper flake olive oil which tastes so good with a crunchy pizza crust. And oh my gosh do I love spicy foods! So I decided to test out making my own red pepper flake olive oil.

What you need:
16 oz olive oil dispenser ($10.99 on Amazon)
Crushed red pepper flakes
Olive Oil

Method:
Fill your olive oil dispenser 3/4 the way
Add 1/2 a container of red pepper flakes
Let the mixture sit for at least a week

Here's a few foods I think red pepper olive oil would taste awesome with:
  • Mixed with hummus on toast
  • Drizzled on avocado on toast
  • Sauteed with vegetables
  • Used to make homemade pizza!


Thanks for following along!
Sky

March 27, 2015

Chipotle inspired Quinoa

Here's one more awesome quinoa recipe! Then I'll cool off the quinoa. For a little :) This one was inspired by Chipotle. I love Chipotle bowls and wanted to create a healthier, lower calorie version. This I swear tastes just as good as the real thing!
 
What you need:
Qunioa (1 cup qunioa to 2 cups water, simmer in a pot until all the water is absorbed)
Red kidney beans (drain beans from a can and rinse with water. They can also be sauteed with olive oil and red and green peppers)
Guacomole
Parmesean cheese
 
Preparation:
Cook quinoa (20 minutes)
Cook kidney beans (and sauteed vegetables)
Prepare your bowl- add quinoa base, top with beans/vegetables, add parmesean cheese (it will melt on top!)
Dallop of guacomole
 
One of my favorite things about Chipotle is the Chipotle Tabasco sauce. I haven't been able to find it at any grocery stores yet, so I definitely need to buy a bottle (or two) straight from the Tabasco source!
 
 
 
 

 
Have a great weekend!
Sky

March 25, 2015

Asian Quinoa-Kale

I hope you're not sick of quinoa just yet! I love cooking with quinoa because it tastes just a little nutty so it definitely isn't bland, but it also really takes on whatever flavors you mix in with it. This is another great weekday meal that is very easy and fast to make. It's also great cold as a leftover for lunch!

Quinoa
Quinoa is made 2 cups of water to 1 cup of quinoa
Mix together in a pot and simmer until all the water is absorbed
Quinoa takes about 20 minutes

Kale
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 stalks of chives (green onions), chopped
Sautee the chives and garlic in olive oil for 1 minute
Add in 1/2 a bag of frozen kale (another great thing about this recipe, other vegetables can easily be substituted in here!)

Once the frozen kale has cooked add:
2 tablespoons of rice wine vinegar
4 tablespoons of tamari soy sauce
4 tablespoons of red pepper flakes (I like things spicy! If you don't, add less than this)

Add the Kale mixture into the pot with your quinoa and you're done!







Enjoy! Thanks for following along! 
Sky

March 24, 2015

Baked Tomato Special

Wow what a hiatus! I moved to DC from Boston in September 2013. At the time I was so overwhelmed by my move, my new job, and my new city that I just did not have the time to continue my blog. Finally though, after a year and a half (almost 2 years, wow!) of living in this wonderful city, I'm ready to begin again. I have had so many food and travel adventures since my move and I can't wait to share with all of you!

First up- a recipe I've been loving lately. I call this my baked tomato special. This is the perfect recipe to make after a long day of work- it doesn't require many ingredients, it's fast, it's easy to prepare, and it's an inexpensive meal.

Quinoa
This will be the base of the recipe. I buy quinoa in bulk from the Whole Foods grain bins. It's actually much cheaper than buying quinoa from a pre-packaged bag.
-Quinoa is made 1 cup of quinoa to 2 cups of water
-Pour ingredients into a pot and simmer until all the water is absorbed
-This usually takes 20 minutes
-When finished turn off heat and drizzle in olive oil and parmesan cheese (I use 1/4 cup of cheese)

Tomato
While the quinoa is cooking start working on your tomato, it will also need 20 minutes
-Preheat your oven (or toaster oven) to 400 degrees
-Cut your tomato in half
-With your tomato halves face up, sprinkle whole wheat bread crumbs, olive oil, salt and pepper
-Set your timer for 20 minutes

Seriously it's that easy! It's a grilled cheese with tomato soup rendition that tastes heavenly.

I use a toaster oven...


Look at that golden crust!


Once you break into that tomato it falls apart into a cheese quinoa center... yum! (excuse my computer I was hungry and blogging)



Enjoy! Thanks for following along! 

Sky