Summer Veggie Spring Rolls

There have been lots of "happenings" in the Yellow Apron world during these last 2 months of a hiatus.  1.  We moved apartments, and 2. A new addition has joined the household.  Meet Cooper.

School has ended, which means my little blog gets much more attention.  And to kick off the summer, I have a great dish to share.  I originally got the idea from Clean Eating magazine, my absolute favorite magazine for recipes.


We had them as a side dish to our dinner, but they would also make a great appetizer, or a lunch.  What's even better, is they are very customizable to suit your taste buds! (C gave these a 10 too).

Ingredients:


1 cup shredded broccoli shaw (carrots, broccoli, red cabbage)
1 cup shredded carrots
1/4 cup chopped onions
1 cup mango chunks
2 tbsp. fresh cilantro chopped
2 tbsp lime juice
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp olive oil
1 1/2 tbsp sesame seeds
12 rice paper sheets (I only used 8, but they come in a pack of 12)

Someone wanted to help.

Keeping my feet warm

Steps:
1.  In a large bowl mix all ingredients except for the rice paper.

2.  Take a shallow dish (like a casserole dish) and fill it with warm water and place to the side.  Lay a damp tea towel on your work station (dining room table for me).

3.  Take 1 sheet of the rice paper and soak it in the water for 15 seconds.  Then remove it and blot it with the damp tea towel.  It should be sticky.

4.  Using a spoon, place filling across the center, in a line.

5.  Fold up the two short ends.

6.  Fold over one long side, then roll over the remaining wrapper.

7.  Serve with soy sauce on the side.

~Eat Well and Be Happy~

Barley Vegetable Stew

Every year my family does a rather large Easter Basket Exchange.  My brother-in-law (a financial-nerd shall we say) created a chart where (in his words) "each participant will be assigned a partner to provide an Easter Basket for based on the highest correlation of their company's stock performance when viewed across the universe of chosen companies." (We were each assigned companies based on our personalities or where we worked).

UM WHAT?!

So in my Easter basket, I received a great soup mix called Halladay's Fresh Harvest: Farmhouse Barley Vegetable Stew.  

And a fun chef's hat!

I added a few extra ingredients to make it super hearty.  The mix contained: barley, split peas, vegetarian stock, ground peppers, oregano, sun-dried tomatoes, onions, and bay leaf.  All things you can easily combine even if you don't have the mix.  



Ingredients:


Barley vegetable stew soup mix
Fresh mushrooms
Carrots (chopped)
Dark red kidney beans
Diced tomatoes (1 can)
Water





Steps:
1.  In a large pot, add 8 cups of water, tomatoes, and soup mix.  Cover and simmer for 45 minutes.

2. Add in chopped carrots, mushrooms, and beans.  Continue to simmer for 1 hour.

Have you ever tried different soup mixes? What's your favorite??

~Eat Well and Be Happy~

Spinach Bean Stew

Ingredients:
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 small sweet onion (chopped)
3 red potatoes (chopped)
1 package fresh sliced mushrooms
1 can black beans
1 can navy beans
1/2 tsp dried thyme
2 tbsp. tomato paste
2 cups water
1 package baby spinach (stems chopped off)
Crumbled feta cheese to top

These potato cleaning gloves are the best!

Steps:

1.  In a large pot heat oil over medium heat.

2.  Add in chopped onions and potatoes.  Cook for about 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3.  Add in mushrooms, and thyme.  Continue to cook for about 10 more minutes.

4.  Add in tomato paste and 2 cups water.  Cover and continue to cook for about 8 minutes.

5.  Add in navy beans and black beans (remember to drain and rinse them first). Cook for about 5 more minutes.

6.  Add in the spinach, about half the package at a time.  Stir until the spinach has wilted, then add in the rest.  Cook for 5 more minutes.

7.  Top soup with crumbled feta cheese

~Eat Well and Be Happy~

Stuffed Acorn Squash with Couscous

This dish was relatively easy to do, and it was very hardy.  The only SUPER difficult part was cutting the acorn in half.  I have always had a hard time doing this… any tips fellow cookers??

C gave this one an 8.5 but I gave it a 9.

 

Ingredients: (serves 2 people with leftover "stuffing")

2 acorn squash

3 carrots

1 can kidney beans

1 can black beans

1 sm. red onion – chopped

1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms

17 oz. chicken broth

1 cup whole wheat couscous

1 can diced tomatoes

Dried basil

Garlic salt

Peccerino cheese

Optional: hot sauce

Steps:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Cut 2 acorn squash in half, the long way.  Be very careful doing this, I find it hard to do!

 2.  Place the squash face up in a baking dish.  Add some water to the bottom of the pan so the squash doesn’t burn.  Bake for about 35 minutes, or until soft

3.  Meanwhile, on medium heat, add oil to a large pan.  Add in thinly chopped carrots and onion.  Cook for about 5 minutes.

4.  Add in mushrooms and cook for 5 more minutes.

5.  Drain and rinse kidney beans and black beans and add to the pot.

6.  Add in chicken broth, and couscous.  Cook for about 3 minutes

7.  Drain diced tomatoes and add to mixture. 

8.  Add in a few shakes of garlic salt and dried basil (chef’s choice really, but I used about 1 tbsp of each)

9.  Remove the pot from heat. Cover, and let sit until liquids have been absorbed.  Be sure to stir only occasionally.

10.  Once all liquids have been absorbed, add some fresh peccerino cheese to the mixture and stir.

11.  After acorns have finished cooking, fill with the couscous mixture. 

12.  Top with fresh shavings of pecorino cheese

13.  Optional: Add hot sauce if you like the heat!!

~Eat Well and Be Happy~

Take Your Lunch To Work this week!

This Edamame Bean Salad is a perfect dish to make on a Sunday, and then have for lunch for the week.  It's absolutely delicious.  Have some plain greek yogurt on the side and you have enough protein to keep you satisfied all afternoon!


Random Sidenote:  Ever since I was little, I have had a fear of cafeteria lines.  School food quality aside, everyone always just seems to know where to go, how much food costs, what foods you have to buy (like you always had to buy a milk with the lunch, but I never wanted the milk because I don't like milk!), etc.  All growing up I brought my lunch to school, and continue to do so.  Plus, my mom would put little notes in my lunch bag, which continued through high school!  Everyone at the lunch table was super jealous...






Ingredients:  
1 can black beans
1 can chick peas
about 20 grape tomatoes cut in half
1 cup shelled edamame (thawed if frozen)
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
4 oz. fresh mozzarella chopped
(this is about half of a typical package)
1/3 cup diced red onion
1 cup chopped fresh mushrooms

Dressing:
2 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 tsp. minced garlic
2 tbsp. lime juice
1/2 tsp. sea salt



Steps:  
1)  Drain and rinse the black beans and the chick peas.

2)  In a large bowl combine: black beans, chick peas, tomatoes, edamame, cilantro, mozzarella, onion, and mushrooms.  Stir to combine

(I have a huge issue with cutting onions.  No matter what I do, it just burns my eyes.  I have resorted to buying the pre-chopped type.  I know this is horrible both economically, and environmentally... but what's a girl to do?!)  

3)  In a small bowl, whisk together the dressing.  Pour on top of the salad, then stir to fully mix.

4)  Store covered in the refrigerator until ready to use!

~Eat Well and Be Happy~

Ginger Edamame

This dish can easily be done as an after-school/work snack, or used as a side dish to a meal.  From start to finish, it was about 6 minutes.  Can't beat it!  Ingredient amounts will change depending on the tasters choosing.  Fresh ginger is really good for you too!





Ingredients: 

cooking spray
peeled/chopped fresh ginger
frozen edamame, in pods
soy sauce











Steps: 

1)  Spray a small pan with cooking spray, and heat on medium.

2)  Add in chopped ginger.



3)  Add frozen edamame and soy sauce.  Use enough soy sauce so the edamame is just covered.  (You can always add more later, but you can't take it away!)

4)  Cook until edamame is warmed through (about 5 minutes).

5)  Remember, when eating shelled edamame, use your teeth to squeeze out the bean!

~Eat Well and Be Happy~

Vegetable Black Bean Chili

This is a super healthy and hearty dish, that is great on a cold winters day.  I love that it is really customizable to suit each tasters needs.  I really have no spice tolerance, while C just loves spicy foods.  Enter, Frank's Red Hot (insert saying "I put that **** on everything!")

On a sidenote, The Yellow Apron Experiment has the opportunity to team up with Charlestown Yoga!  A healthy and easy recipe will be given to all yogis after the Gentle/Restorative class.  Also check out their super awesome event on March 10 - Eat Better, Sleep Better, Feel Better!  Be sure to friend them on Facebook for all the updates.

Ok onto the meal!

Ingredients:

• 2-3 tbsp olive oil
• Small onion - chopped
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 2 zucchini - quartered and thinly sliced
• 2 carrots - thinly sliced
• 2 cans of black beans - drained and rinsed
• 1 - 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 1 package sliced mushrooms (I used baby bella ones this time)
• 1 cup of whole grain brown rice (I love the 90 second rice)
• Handful of fresh spinach leaves

Optional Toppings:

• Hot sauce
• Avocados
• Feta crumblers
• Sliced olives
• Corn bread

Steps:

1.  Heat oil in a large pot.

2.  Add in the onion and garlic.  Cook for about 4-6 minutes, continuously stiring.  

3.  Add in carrots, zucchini, and mushrooms.  Cook for about 8-10 minutes more, or until carrots are soft.  

4.  Add in beans, tomatoes, corn, and 1 cup of water.  Continue to cook for 8-10 more minutes.

5.  Lastly, add in the pre-cooked rice, and the fresh spinach.  Heat on low, until ready to serve.

6.  While the chili is cooking, prepare your desired toppings in individual bowls.  This chili must be served with a cornbread...It makes all that much better.  I used the Krusteaz Brand.  So yummy!

7.  Eaters should choose their desired toppings, and add hot sauce if you can handle the heat! (Me... not so much...)

(If you are feeling really wild, you could always place the cornbread on the bottom of your bowl, and put the chili on top!)

~Eat Well and Be Happy~

Lemon Basil Hummus

The other week C and I had in (some of) our siblings for dinner, because can you believe it they had actually never met!  We squeezed into our tiny apartment for some good drinks, food, and laughs.  While I like to think that my food was the hit of the party... I think my little niece P stole the show.  She's just so darn cute!



As one of the appetizers, I had made a Lemon Basil Hummus earlier in the day.  This hummus works as a great dip for chips or veggies.  If there was any left over, I would have also used the hummus on sandwiches!

As a sidenote: basil is a SUPER easy plant to grow.  It requires very little space and maintenance yet packs a great punch when used in dishes!

Ingredients:


1 cup loose basil leaves
1 can garbanzo beans (chick peas)
2 tbsp. olive oil
juice from 1/2 lemon
2-4 tbsp. water and garbanzo bean juice
dash of garlic salt
(tomato paste was not used even though it's in the picture)







Steps:
1)  In a blender or food processor, puree basil.

2) Drain and rinse garbanzo beans (be sure to save some of the liquid from the beans to be used later).

3) Add in beans, olive oil, and lemon juice and continue to puree.

4)  Alternate between adding in a tablespoon of water and the bean liquid until you have the desired consistency.

5)  Lastly, add in a dash of garlic salt to taste.

Ok not the best picture of it... but the hummus was really delicious!

~Eat Well and Be Happy~