Easy Spaghetti Squash

This is an easy great dish as a side, or as a main (but you'd have to eat a LOT of it).

Ingredients:
1/2 spaghetti squash
1 16oz can of diced tomatoes
1/3 medium yellow onion diced
feta
salt and pepper, sprinkle
olive oil, for cooking

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and attempt to cut spaghetti squash in half (long ways) - I always have issues with this and normally have my husband help if he's around.  Remove the seeds from the squash, place in a pan or cookie sheet with open sides facing upward, and cook for about 35-40 minutes.

You'll know the spaghetti squash is ready when you scrape it with a fork and the stringy particles (like spaghetti) are easily removed.  If not, cook it a bit longer.  When ready, scrape it all and be prepared to throw it into your other pan as needed.

Dice 1/3 of a medium yellow onion.  Heat a medium pan on medium, put a tablespoon of olive oil in, and after about 1-2 minutes (so pan is hot) throw in your onions and cook until translucent, about 4-5 minutes, or until fragrant, adding salt and pepper on it  Pour in the can of diced tomatoes (with juices) and cook for about 1-2 minutes.  Then, add your scraped spaghetti squash, cook it with the tomatoes and onions for about 3 minutes, and then you're all done!  Sprinkle crumbled feta before eating (if you add it while cooking, it looks really gross).

My Favorite Skinny Veggie Sandwich

Much of this is inspired from Panera's Mediterranean Veggie, which is by far, my FAVORITE sandwich ever!  Alas, I do not have their wonderful tomato country bread nor do I love the red onion on theirs so I have adapted it and added what I love to make it the best skinny veggie sandwich EVER!

Ingredients:
2 slices of Country Hawaiian Bread
Hummus
4-5 slices of cucumber
4-5 slices of tomato
roasted red bell peppers (mine are from a jar)
sliced banana peppers (also from a jar)
crumbled feta cheese
half an avocado

Instructions:
Spread hummus on both sides of the bread.  On one side, spread half of the avocado (mush it up and make it as flat as possible, doesn't need to be pretty.  Layer on the cucumber, tomato, red bell peppers, banana peppers, sprinkle some crumbled feta, and pour yourself a tall glass of water to go with the BEST VEGGIE SANDWICH EVER!!!

Cucumber Kind of Summer

My new favorite recipe involve cucumber and just in time for summer, make it so refreshing and delicious!  All of these are served cold.


Cucumber Yogurt Dip (from Martha Stewart's Food magazine, June 2012 issue)
1 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 T lemon juice
1 T fresh dill
salt and pepper for taste
Mix the above and then add in sliced cucumbers (I used about 1/2 of one normal sized cucumber).  Can also use on burgers, mix in tuna (as pictured below) and put atop crusty broiled bread with some butter and a piece of lettuce, or just with some chips!



Chinese Cucumber Salad (Chou family recipe)
3/4 cup of red wine or rice vinegar
1/2 cup of sugar
1/4 cup of sesame oil (EVOO will work too)
1 t garlic salt
1 t fresh ground pepper
1/2 t red pepper flakes
1 T light soy sauce
Whisk the above ingredients in a bowl, then add sliced cucumbers (I use the mini ones and about 4-6 of them, the normal cucumbers, about 2, will also work!).  If you like it sweeter, you can add more sugar, saltier, add more garlic salt, spicier, add more red pepper flakes, and so on and so forth.

Grilled Cucumbers with Feta (from Martha Stewart's Food magazine, June 2012 issue)
1 cup crumbled feta
1 T dill
1 T olive oil (I use extra virgin)
1 T lemon juice
Mix the above, grill cucumbers, and put feta mixture atop.  Also good for anything grilled on the side like salmon (as pictured below) or chicken.

My Simple Use What I Have Veggie Sandwich

So I whipped out whatever I had in the fridge to make myself a delicious veggie sandwich.

2 slices of wheat bread
1/2 roma tomato cut into four slices
cheese - whatever mix I had in the fridge
arugula - cuz I have it leftover from my steak sandwiches
peppercinnis - who doesn't have some in their fridge for sandwiches?!
grey poupon - do you happen to have any grey poupon??

After toasting the wheat bread, I put one side with cheese and the tomatoes into the microwave for 30 seconds (to melt the cheese), then added the arugula, peppercinies and put grey poupon on the other slice of bread.

Done!

Lunch in less than 5 minutes and man was it good!

Spicy Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches

I love using the crock pot for cooking - it's so easy! This dish takes a bit of prep work before loading up the crock pot, but it's well worth it, and it's from my favorite all time magazine, the Food Everyday, a Martha Stewart magazine, the light issue!

1 T EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
Kosher salt
Ground pepper
1 medium yellow onion, diced small
1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced small
3 garlic cloves, chopped (or if lazy like me, use the minced garlic in a jar)
1 can (14.5 oz) crushed tomatoes
1/4 cup hot-pepper sauce like Frank's(go less if you don't want too much kick, I used a teaspoon of Cayenne pepper and 1/3 cup of BBQ sauce since I didn't have any sauces!)
3 T Worcestershire sauce
3 T yellow mustard
1 T unsulfured molasses

Serves 8 - so 8 wheat hamburger buns to be healthier, OR, if you like, use Hawaiian rolls (we LOVE these and they are super cheap at Costco)

Prep: Heat oil over medium-high, add chicken thighs, season with salt and pepper, cook until meat is done - about 5 minutes, repeat with chicken breasts. Then, move (without oil) to crock pot. Next, add onion, garlic and bell pepper and cook over medium, about 6 minutes (until onion is translucent), then add 1/4 cup of water and continue cooking for about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and move to crock pot.

Crock Pot Prep: Add can of crushed tomatoes, hot-pepper sauce, molsasses, mustard and Wrocestershire. Stir with chicken and veggies made from prep above and cook for 4 hours on high until chicken is very tender. Shred chicken and wa-la! Ready to serve on buns!