Bulgur and Chickpeas with Roasted Broccoli and Sun Dried Tomatoes

Like most people, I indulged a little over the holidays. I never beat myself up over it and just get myself right back on track once Christmas is over (save New Year's Eve, of course). However, despite my best intentions, the week after Christmas I think I actually ate worse than the rest of the month of December put together. In that week alone, I ate out four times- where I did not always make meal choices I'm necessarily proud of- as well as a birthday cookout where I consumed way more Buffalo Chicken Dip than I should've.

My body was practically begging me for wholesome food, and that's where this simple, healthy meal came in. A warm grain-based salad of sorts, it makes up for it's slightly drab color by having plenty of flavor thanks to the sun-dried tomatoes, feta, garlic and lemon. It also contains chickpeas and roasted broccoli, which are big in our house. I really like the bulgur, but you could substitute quinoa or couscous easily by adjusting the cook time and amount of broth, as needed. It might not be company food, for it's an easy, very tasty and good-for-you weeknight meal.

Bulgur and Chickpeas with Roasted Broccoli and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

serves 4

3 1/2 cups broccoli florets (from 2-3 broccoli crowns)

2 tbsp olive oil, divided

kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

1/2 large red onion, chopped

2 large cloves garlic, minced

1 cup red bulgur

2 cups vegetable stock

1 (19 oz.) can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed (or 2 cups cooked chickpeas)

10 sun-dried tomatoes, reconstituted* using boiling water and coarsely chopped

2 tsp dried parsely flakes (2 tbsp chopped fresh)

half of lemon, juiced, plus extra wedges for serving

fat free/reduced fat feta, crumbled, for serving

Preheat oven to 375. Toss broccoli florets with 1 tbsp of the oil, a few pinches of salt and a generous amount of pepper. Spread onto a baking sheet and roast for about 20 minutes or until tender-crisp, shaking pan occasionally. Remove from oven and keep warm by tenting with foil.

Meanwhile, heat remaining tbsp of oil in a large straight sided skillet over medium. Add onion and cook until becoming soft, about 3 minutes. Add garlic and cook for another minute. Add bulgur to pan and toast for a few minutes, stirring often.

Add stock, chickpeas, sun-dried tomatoes, parsley and lemon juice. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer until liquid is absorbed and bulgur is tender, about 15 minutes. Stir in broccoli and adjust seasoning if needed (keeping in mind some fetas are quite salty).

Serve warm, each serving topped with a couple tablespoons of crumbled feta and a lemon wedge.

*Since the tomatoes go in along with the broth, I'm sure you could probably just skip the step of reconstituting them first. I was making this up as I went along, and reconstituted them before I knew for sure what I was doing with them, but I'm still writing it as I made it.

Trio of Bean Dips: Black Bean and Corn Salsa, Classic Hummus and Roasted Garlic Balsamic White Bean Dip

For my mother-in-law's 60th birthday party, everyone was asked to bring something. I seriously waited till the morning off to decided what to make. I figured there would be lots of pasta salad type dishes and hot casseroles, so I wanted to go more the appetizer type route.

I'm pretty much a bean fanatic these days. A trio of dips made with 3 different kinds of beans, sounded fun, not to mention easy. No cooking was required, as all three dips let the food processor do the work. My toddler was having a very high maintenance day, so I was grateful for this.

For the Hummus, I used the recipe I always use, from Good Things Catered. I follow her instructions exactly, so I'm not going to re-post it, just direct you there. Katie knows what she's doing when it comes to authentic hummus and does a great job explaining how to make it.

I found the Roasted Garlic Balsamic White Bean Dip, on The Way the Cookie Crumbles. I used Great Northern Beans, but any white (cannellini, navy, etc.) will do. I did have to leave out the sundried tomatoes and their oil in this, as I didn't have them when I was putting it together (but I later still drizzled some of the of the oil on top, prior to serving.) Even the tomatoes, it was bursting with flavor, due to the balsamic vinegar and roasted garlic. Again, I am just going to direct you to Bridget's blog.

These two dips, we served them with baby cut carrots and red pepper strips, as well as a basket of 2 different types of pita chips. Other cut veggies, naan, pita wedges or crackers would also be good.

For the Black Bean and Corn Salsa, I just made this up as I was going along. A few of my my measurements are a little approximate, so I'd suggest starting with less and adding to taste. I was worried that perhaps it was too thin, until at the party someone was asking around who made this dip. She said it was awesome and then told me to get out of the way so she could get more :) I do think in order to have it thicker, I would drain the tomatoes next time. We served this with multigrain tortilla chips and lime flavor ones.

1 can (14.5 oz.) Black Beans, drained and rinsed

juice from 1/2 of a lime

1 jalapeno, seeded if desired

1 clove garlic

1 can diced tomatoes, drain for a less thin salsa

1/2 cup hot or medium salsa, or to taste

1 tsp cumin, or to taste

1/4 tsp onion powder, or to taste

1/2-3/4 cup frozen corn kernels (I just eyeballed this)

Add beans, lime juice, jalapeno and garlic. to food processor. Process until smooth. Add tomatoes and pulse until they are are broken down and combined well.

Add salsa, cumin and onion powder, starting with a little less. Process until combined, taste and adjust if neccessary. Stir in desired amount of frozen corn (If planning on serving soon after, then thaw first.) Refrigerate a few hours until ready to serve.

Artichoke, Sun Dried Tomato and Mushroom Quiche with Quick and Easy Crust

Sage is always mentioning how much he likes quiche, so you'd think I'd have made him one before. But I never have. In fact, I've never made a quiche at all. I've thought about it many times, but I never have a pie crust on hand,or had the desire to make one from scratch. I know there's many crustless quiches out there, but I like the crust part.

Then I found a ridiculously quick and easy crust on RecipeZaar that left me with no excuse not to whip one up. It seemed almost too easy to be good, but it really was. Was it as perfectly flaky and light as the real deal? No, of course not. But you certainally would not think it was a press-in-pan-and-fill recipe that takes less than 5 minutes. I see many more quiches in our future, now that I can whip one up easily anytime I want.

Quick and Easy Quiche Crust, from RecipeZaar

1 cup flour (you can use a mix of all purpose and wheat, but I was out of wheat)

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup ice water

1. In a medium bowl, stir flour and salt together.

2. In a seperate bowl, whisk together oil and ice water, to thicken. Pour water/oil into the bowl of flour, and mix with a fork. (I used my hands to mix it completely.)

3. Press into 9 inch pie pan. Set aside. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

At this point you can fill it however you wish, but here is what I used and it was delicious!

1 tsp olive oil

1 small shallot, minced

4 oz. mushrooms, coarsely chopped (I would actually suggest using 8 oz.)

sea salt and fresh ground pepper

1 (14 oz.) can artichoke hearts, drained well and coarsely chopped

6 ready-to-eat sun dried tomato halves, chopped

2 tbsp chopped fresh basil (or 2 tsp dried)

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese (or other cheese of your choice)

3 large eggs

1/2 cup 2% milk

Heat oil in small saute pan over medium heat. Saute shallot for 1 minute. Add mushrooms and season with salt and pepper. Saute until moisture is released. Set aside.

Fill unbaked crust with artichoke, sun dried tomatoes, mushrooms and shallot. Top with basil and cheese.

Beat eggs and milk together. Pour over vegetables.

Bake in preheated oven for 35 minutes, or until set in center and puffed and golden.

Penne Tomato Rustica

I'm not much into meal planning. For two reasons- the first being, I have no idea what specific dishes I'll be in the mood for during the week. If I buy ingredients for certains meals, its most likely that I won't wind up actually making those. The other problem is I often see things I want to make on websites and blogs or in magazines, but then when I'm trying to make a grocery list, none of it strikes my fancy right then. So I'm better off just jotting down the items we're out of like peanut butter and fabric softener and figuring out the rest as I go. I take on the produce and cheese sections like a kid in a candy store. I select whatever speaks to me right then.

Once home, with all of my random ingredients, I began imagining the ways I'll put them together. Combinations will come to my head, and sometimes I need varification that the things will work together. One way I do this is simply by googling these pairings. Another is to use allrecipes' Ingredient Search. With this feature, I might just get the confidence certain ingredients work with one another. Sometimes I may take elements from various recipes to make what I have in mind. And then sometimes, I'll find a specific recipe I want to try out.

Yesterday, I found one of those recipes, in the form of Fettuccini Tomato Rustica. A pasta dish with pesto, feta, and sun dried tomatoes, it sounded heavenly. But with a cup of oil- yes, a cup!- not to mention oil in the pesto and from the oil packed tomatoes, as well as full fat feta and ricotta, it also sounded way too unhealthy and rather oily. And then I saw it had 1000+ calories and 78 grams of fat per serving. Uh, no thanks.

So I moved on, but a while later I couldn't get the concept of the dish out of my head. I knew I could make it much healthier. The first thing I did was tackle making a lightened up pesto. Then I omitted the ridiculous amount of oil, using just enough to saute my vegetables. A little extra of the light pesto with some broth, thinned at the end with pasta water, made a delicous sauce without all of the oil. And using tomatoes not packed in oil (I buy soft, ready to eat ones) and reduced fat ricotta and feta helped even more. I added in mushrooms (a good move) and grilled my chicken instead of pan cooking (personal choice.) The three of us enjoyed it very much, and I felt much better about eating something drastically reduced in fat content. After dinner, we decided this this dish would be elevated to an "amazing" status if we replaced the chicken with sun dried tomato chicken sausage.

Penne Tomato Rustica (adapted from Fettuccini Tomato Rustica II, allrecipes)
makes 3 servings
1/2 (14.5 oz.) box of multi-grain or whole wheat penne
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves garlic
4 oz. sliced mushrooms
1 (3 oz.) pkg of ready to eat sun dried tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup Light Pesto (recipe follows)
1/4 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup crumbled reduced fat Feta cheese, plus extra for garnish
1/4 cup part-skim ricotta
sea salt and fresh ground pepper
1 large breast of chicken (If small, use two, or substitue with chicken sausage)

Cook pasta according to box directions. Drain, reserving 1/2 cup of cooking water.

As pasta is cooking, heat oil in a large skillet. Add garlic, mushrooms and tomatoes, and cook for about 5 minutes or until mushrooms are becoming soft. Reduce heat and add pesto, broth, feta and ricotta. Mix well. Season with salt and pepper. Allow to simmer, as the pasta finishes cooking. When it is done, add hot pasta and stir to coat with sauce. Thin with 1/4 cup of reserved cooking water. If needed, add the remaining 1/4 cup.

Meanwhile, pound chicken to 1/2 inch thickness and grill until cooked through (We like to use our George Foreman for meals like this.) Slice or dice chicken. Plate pasta and serve chicken over top. Sprinkle with extra feta.

Light Pesto (adapted from Taste of Home)
makes 1/4 cup
2 cloves garlic
2 tbsp shredded pamesan
1 cup loosely packed fresh basil leaves
8 walnut halves, chopped
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp chicken (or vegetable) broth
1/2 tsp olive oil
sea salt and fresh ground pepper

In mini processor, add garlic, cheese, walnuts. Cover and process for about 30 seconds. Add basil, and process another 15-20 seconds. Add liquids and process until combined and relatively smooth. Season with salt and pepper.

Penne with Artichokes, Mushrooms and Olives

This recipe was created in an attempt to clean out the fridge and pantry. However, it was so good we decided it was worth sharing. I hadn't planned to put this one the blog, so my ingredients may be a little approximate and the directions might not be the most logical. I was just throwing something together. But it worked and was a really fast, delicious meal. In fact, the sauce and vegetables came together in less time than it took the pasta to cook.

I did make this vegetarian, but Sage had grilled chicken with his. I tried it with a few bites of the chicken, and it was just as good both ways. (Sage's words: Now this is what I'm talking about!) Normally I shy away from recipes that call for cream because I don't ever use or have it, but my mom brought over some perishables before going on vacation. She'd intended on making a pie for my grandma (who at 94 can eat whatever she wants in my opinion) but didn't get a chance, and I wound up with a pint of heavy cream. Not wanting to be wasteful won over my desire to keep things as healthy as I can. Sage and Beckett are both skinny so its not going to hurt them, and I'll just make sure to really suck my stomach in at the Labor Day pool party this weekend. But if you're opposed to the cream, I'm sure you could easily sub something less fattening or leave it out all together.

This made just the perfect amount for Sage and I for dinner (with a toddler sized portion as well.) So definitely double if you have a larger family or like leftovers.

1/3 of a 14.5 oz box of multi grain penne
1 tbsp olive oil
4 oz. fresh sliced button mushrooms
1 can (14 oz.) quartered artichoke hearts in water, drained
2 cloves garlic, minced
8 sun-dried tomato halves, chopped
sea salt and fresh ground pepper
1/2 cup vegetable (or chicken) broth
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 (2.25 oz.) can sliced black olives, drained
3 tbsp heavy cream
1 tbsp chopped fresh basil
shredded parmesan for serving

1. Cook pasta according to package dirrections. Drain and set aside.
2. Meanwhile, heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add mushrooms, artichokes and garlic. Stirring frequently, cook for about two minutes. Add broth, wine, tomatoes, lemon juice, olives, salt and a generous amount of pepper. Continue cooking on medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally as liquid reduces. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
3.Wisk in cream. Stir in cooked pasta and basil, mixing well. (I chose to cover and let set for about 10 minutes so pasta could absorb sauce. During this time Sage grilled up his chicken.)
4. Top with parmesan before serving.

Sun-dried Tomato and Goat Cheese Spread

I'm not much of a snacker (or daytime eater for that matter- and yes, I know its horrible for my metabolism, but I just don't get hungry until late afternoon) but the other day I found myself really wanting a snack. And something that felt like a splurge, so my only real choice, a rice cake with peanut butter, wasn't going to cut it. I started scrounging the fridge and this is what I came up with.

It was so good that I am going to have to make it the next time we have friends over. This only made a small amount so I'll probably double or triple it. The first time I ate it with crisps I made with sun-dried polenta from a tube, but I also had it on stoned wheat crackers. Both were good but I'd probably say it went better on crackers and since that's less work, that's how I'll serve it for guests. I also won't eat the entire thing myself over the matter of days...

2 oz. goat cheese
1 tbsp lite cream cheese
1 tbsp good quality olive oil
1/8 tsp garlic powder
pinch of kosher salt
several grinds of pepper
3 sundried tomatoes, coarsely chopped
2 basil leaves, torn

1. Combine all ingredients in a small processor. Chill until ready to serve.

Sun-dried Tomato, Goat Cheese and Chicken Sausage Calzone

To use up the other half of the pizza dough I made the other night, I wanted to try making a calzone. Not surprisingly, my inspiration for this came from A Year in the Kitchen. (Yes, I realize I cite this blog for a lot of the recipes I've been trying out, but with well over 700 posts of food I really love, its hard not to!) She had a calzone with ricotta, goat cheese and sun-dried tomatoes. Oddly enough, I had all of these things on hand. It sounded wonderful!

I did choose to substitute chicken sausage for the chicken, just because I thought it would be really good. I was right; Sage loved this. I think his words were: This is flippin' delicious! In fact, he said he liked it even better than the pizza the other night. It was toddler approved as well. I did use half the amount of goat cheese since I was also having some on our salad and a little less ricotta and tomatoes because I thought my dough ball seemed a little small. Since the sausage is fully cooked, I didn't bother browning it first. This was easy to make and oh so good! I will be experimenting with my own calzone fillings in the future!

adapted from Chicken Bada Bing Calzone, A Year in the Kitchen

1/2 batch of pizza dough (I used this one)

2 chicken sausage, diced (I used sun-dried tomato)

1 cup part-skim ricotta
1 oz. goat cheese, crumbled
8 sun dried tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup part-skim mozzarella cheese, shredded
1/2 tsp. dried basil

1/2 tsp dried oregano

Marinara for dipping

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Combine goat cheese, ricotta and mozzarella in a bowl. Fold in tomatoes, spices, and diced sausage.

3. Roll out pizza dough on a floured surface. (I don't have a rolling pin, so I just used my fingers to gently push it into a round shape.) Place on a pizza pan or baking sheet, spread ricotta mixture over half, fold the other half over. Crimp edges to seal. Brush with olive oil and place in the oven.
4. Bake for 18-20 minutes, or until golden and puffed. Serve with marinara for dipping.

Tortellini Pasta Salad

I don't have a picture of this recipe because I forgot to take one. I was in a hurry, and then there wasn't any left over from the cookout I went to, but honestly it wasn't that beautiful anyhow. But it was really good! I didn't give myself proper time to make it, so it didn't get the chance to chill all the way. My goat cheese melted instead of staying crumbly, making it look messy, and the basalmic I used made it a little dingy. Who cares though?

It was so tasty and well received despite its aesthetic flaws. I will make this again for sure, but probably not all the time, because I think spending around $25 for a side dish (and I even had some ingredients already) is a bit too much. I've adapted a recipe I found on the terrific blog A Year in the Kitchen just a little. I think I may add a few dashes of hot sauce next time, and reduce the amount of bell peppers or leave out the green completely.


2 bags (1 lb. ea) frozen tri-colored tortellini
1 english cucumber, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 green bell pepper, diced
1/2 yellow bell pepper, diced
3/4 cup chopped sun dried tomatoes
1 15 oz. can artichoke hearts, quartered
1 small (2.25 oz.) black olives
4 oz. goat cheese, crumbled

dressing:
1/2 c. balsamic vinegar
1/4 c. olive oil
1 tsp. dried parsley
2 tbsp. fresh chopped oregano leaves
2 tbsp fresh chopped basil leaves
salt and pepper
1 tbsp. honey
2 tbsp. grated parmesan cheese

1. Cook tortellini according to package directions.
2. Blend dressing ingredients, pour over tortellini while still warm. Refrigerate until chilled.
3. Add diced vegetables, olives and artichokes, toss, top with goat cheese and gently stir to combine. Serve chilled.