Creamy Green Smoothie Bowl

If you are on Instagram, you have surely seen millions of perfectly staged pictures of smoothie bowls.  Never once did the thought of pouring my smoothie into a cereal bowl and eating it with a spoon appeal to me.  Just drink it like a normal person!  But finally I realized a few good things about the bowl concept.  First, you can arguably make a lot more of the smoothie–never a bad thing in my book.  You can also put lots of crunchy, delicious toppings on it, making it feel like more of a meal than just a drink on the go.  This morning I decided to take the leap.  I made one of my favorite smoothie combos slightly thicker than usual and loaded on the toppings.  The result?  Absolutely delicious.  I’m a believer.

Creamy Green Smoothie Bowl

-1 c kale (or spinach)

-1/2 avocado

-1/2 banana

-spoonful of peanut butter

-squeeze of honey

-1/2 c to 1 c almond milk

-toppings: shredded coconut, crushed plantain chips, toasted almonds (or anything you like)

Blend everything but the toppings and pour it in a bowl.  Place the toppings on–arranged in lines, obviously for Insta. 😉

 

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Quick Roasted Salmon Over Spinach and Grapefruit Salad

Making healthy food choices is always a goal of mine, but now that I’m pregnant I have a much bigger reason to focus on it!

There are just SO many pregnancy rules these days, it’s really exhausting – everyone has opinions and does things their own way. I’m trying to follow just a couple of reasonable rules: everything in moderation, be mindful of what I am putting in and on my body. As you can see these are normal food/life rules to follow as well. I made this salad last week when all I wanted was takeout, but I knew I had a few things already at home that could turn into a tasty and nutritious dinner. Salmon – lean protein and omega 3s, spinach – folic acid and iron, grapefruit – vitamin c, etc.

 
Quick Roasted Salmon Over Spinach and Grapefruit Salad

Ingredients:

Salmon

One grapefruit, segmented

Spinach or spinach/arugula mix

Feta crumbles (leave off for dairy free option)

Nuts of some sort, I used pepitas but anything salted and toasted will do the trick to add the necessary crunch

Dressing:

Olive oil – 1 part

Red Wine Vinegar – 2 parts

Small squeeze of juice from the Grapefruit

Kosher Salt

Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Salmon:
Small sprinkle of our Homemade Taco Seasoning (side note — I keep a batch of this seasoning in a ball jar with my spices because I love it so much, and it makes it so much easier just to have it)

Touch of salt and pepper

Drizzle of olive oil

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375

Line baking sheet in aluminum foil for easy clean up
Place salmon skin side down, if no skin spray aluminum foil so it won’t stick. Roast for 375 for 8-10 minutes

Remove skin with spatula (should be easy when lifting salmon from the baking sheet) then place warm salmon on top of dressed salad.

Enjoy!

Tuesday’s Table – Roast Chicken

My mom is known for her roast chicken. She takes them to people when they are sick, busy, sad, etc. This is her thing. I have always loved being on the receiving end of this gift but have never roasted a chicken of my own. For years I was intimidated by roasting a whole chicken. Years, like until this one, and we’re coming up on the end of 2015. BUT I have now conquered this chicken twice and am here to preach about it. Im pretty sure it will be a go-to of mine for the rest of my life, at least once a month.

Healthy, simple, homemade, guaranteed leftovers that can be repurposed a zillion different ways. Yep. This is a winner and I’m no longer a chicken — get it?…

Roast Chicken

4-6 pound whole organic chicken (the smaller the better)

2 onions, cut into eighths

1-2 lemons, several thin, round slices then just cut pieces

6-10 cloves of garlic, peeled

Rosemary sprigs

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

This will require a good bit of handling raw chicken so be prepared by having Clorox wipes and soap on hand. But this is not half as bad or as scary as I thought it would be! You can do it.

Rinse and pat dry small, whole chicken.

Chop onions and lemons

Peel whole cloves of garlic and cut rosemary sprigs

Arrange 4 slices of lemon and 2-3 sprigs of rosemary under skin of chicken (you will need to sort of separate the skin from the chicken to slide lemons in – sounds peculiar but isn’t bad).

Fill cavity of your chicken with several pieces of lemon, onion, and rosemary. As well as season it heavily with salt and pepper.

Rub the outside of the chicken with olive oil, then season with sea salt and pepper.

Place the chicken on top of a bed of onions, and garlic. **Be sure your garlic is underneath the chicken so it roasts but does not burn.**

Preheat oven to 400, once you put chicken it reduce heat to 350. Roast your chicken at 20 minutes per pound,basting every twenty minutes.  This sounds cumbersome but just set the timer on your oven or phone and it’s easy as pie. If you chicken starts to get too brown towards the end, cover with aluminum foil. If you have a quick-read meat thermometer use this for double checking your chicken so it is not over or under done–it should be around 165F.

After removing from the oven let rest 10 minutes before carving.

Raw chicken, ick. After washing and patting dry, I stand the chicken up on top of paper towels so it can continue to dry while I chop onions, lemon and prepare garlic.

As you can see there is no reason to be shy with your seasoning. 
Basting. Use either a baster, silicon brush or a big spoon.

  

Ta-da!

Spinach Madeline

This is a barely, updated version of a classic. Quite possibly my favorite casserole in all of the land, Thanksgiving or not. This recipe has been adapted from the classic Spinach Madeline in River Road Recipes from the Junior League of Baton Rouge, as well as a family friend’s recipe. I cannot have Thanksgiving without this, but would really appreciate having this several times a year.

Spinach Madeline

2 packages frozen Chopped Spinach

4 Tbs. Butter (1/2 stick)

2 Tbs. Flour

1 c. Onion, diced

8 oz. Pepper Jack Cheese

1/2 c. Evaporated Milk (old school, I know!)

1/2 c. Liquid Reserved from cooking spinach, aka vegetable liquor

Ground Black Pepper

1/4 tsp. Kosher Salt

1/2 tsp. Celery Seed

1/2 tsp. Garlic Powder

8 oz. can of chopped Water Chestnuts, drained and diced

Several dashes of Louisiana Hot Sauce

Fried Onions for topping

Directions:

Cook spinach, according to packaging.

Drain spinach and set aside while reserving 1/2 c. of “vegetable liquor.”

Chop onions, water chestnuts, cheese (into small cubes).

In medium size sauce pan melt butter, add flour, stirring until smooth. Add onions to this butter/flour combo; continue to stir and let onions soften (not brown). Add vegetable liquor and evaporated milk, slowly, stirring to thicken. Add cubes of cheese and all spices. Continue to stir. Add spinach and chopped water chestnuts.

Put mixture into 9×9 baker; best if this is made the day ahead to let season up overnight in the fridge.

Bake for 30 minutes at 350, adding fried onion topping after 15 minutes.

This can be doubled easily. It can also be made ahead and frozen.

Enjoy!!

 

  
  

You Say Tomato, I Say Pie

Tomato, tomatoe…Tomato Pie! Tomato Pie is one of my very favorite summer dishes. It’s my go to as soon as I can get my hands on good summer tomatoes. I’m yet to find great ones in Nashville; these tomatoes came up from a friend’s garden in Mississippi with my parents. I have loved putting them to good use! 

Tomato Pie

Ingredients:

1 store bought pie crust

3 large summer tomatoes (I used 2 large, 2 small)

1 Vidalla onion

2 cloves of garlic

Fresh Basil

1/2 c.  Mozzarella, grated

1/2 c. Sharp Cheddar Cheese, grated

1/4 c. Mayonnaise

Several dashes of Tabassco

2 tsp. salt (to get water out of tomatoes)

Freshly ground black pepper

 Directions:

Slice the tomatoes, place around a colander and cover with salt to remove water.

Prepare topping. Combine 3/4 of the cheese, all of the mayonnaise, Tabassco, 1/2 of your  basil and black pepper in a small bowl.

Place pie crust in pie plate, and pierce it with a fork. Bake pie crust for 10 minutes at 400. 

While pie crust is baking, sautée onion until softened and add garlic.

After 10 minutes, you will begin to layer your pie. Add tomatoes first then top with your sautéed mixture and the remaining 1/4 of your cheddar and mozzarella combination. Add another layer of tomatoes then add basil and freshly cracked black pepper, finish with your prepared topping.

  
Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes. After 20 minutes add aluminum foil around the edges of your pie so the crust does not burn.

Let cool for 5-10 minutes. Top with remaining fresh basil.

Serve and enjoy!