Grilled Peaches with Greek Yogurt

I decided that I would celebrate my last day of summer vacation by making this simple and delicious (not to mention healthy) dessert for myself that just screams summertime.

Cast of Characters:

• 1 ripe (almost overripe) peach
• 1/4 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
• 1 Tbsp granola
• 1 Tbsp honey (I prefer organic honey over the typical clover honey. It has more flavor)

Directions:

1. Cut peach in half and remove the pit.
2. Spray grill or peaches lightly with cooking spray. Place peaches with the skin side up on the grill. (I used my George Foreman grill for this part).
3. Remove peaches after about a minute or so.
4. Garnish the peach with yogurt, granola, and honey.
5. Enjoy!

Nutrition Info:

Calories: 160

Fat: 1 g

Carbs: 34 g

Protein: 7 g

Salmon, Asparagus, and Orzo Salad with Lemon-Dill Vinaigrette

It's time again for the Cookbook Challenge... Well, almost. This is my entry for August and it comes from Cooking Light: Fresh Food Fast (not to be confused with Fresh Food Fast: Weeknight Meals that I usually use). Since it's been so incredibly hot around here lately, I decided to do a light and refreshing pasta salad.

Cast of Characters:

Ingredients for Salad:

• 1 lb asparagus (cut into 3 inch pieces)
• 1 cup uncooked orzo (rice-shaped pasta)
• 1 large skinless salmon fillets (I used two medium ones)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• Cooking spray
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced red onion (I omitted this)

Ingredients for Lemon-Dill Vinaigrette:

• 1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 1 Tbs fresh chopped dill
• 3 Tbs lemon juice
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper

Directions:

1. Preheat broiler
2. Bring about 6 cups water to a boil in a large saucepan. Add asparagus and cook for about 3-5 minutes or until crisp-tender. Remove asparagus from water using a slotted spoon or tongs reserving the water in the pan. Set aside.
3. Return reserved water to a boil and use it to cook the orzo. This should take about 9 minutes.
4. While pasta is cooking, sprinkle fillet evenly with salt and pepper. Place fish on a foil-lined broiler pan coated with cooking spray. Broil 5 minutes or until fish flakes easily. Use 2 forks to break fish into chunks. (I actually chose to use my George Foreman grill to cook the fish since it was just too hot to turn the oven on today. It still turned out just great!)
5. In a bowl, whisk together all ingredients for the vinaigrette together. (I actually put all of the ingredients in a jar and shook it together. Created less of a mess than if I had chosen to use a whisk.)
6. Combine fish, asparagus, orzo, onion, and vinaigrette in a large bowl. Toss to coat evenly.
7. Allow to chill for 2 or more hours before serving.

This was incredibly simple to make, delicious, and absolutely perfect for a summer evening. It's filling enough to be the main dish, but would also work well as a side.

Nutrition Facts:

Serves 5

Calories: 370

Fat: 16

Carbs: 28

Protein: 31

Salade Nicoise Inspired Pasta Salad

Today I was walking through the produce section of the grocery store and I noticed the very fresh looking green beans they had... and right above those were the red potatoes, so... long story short, I came up with this little pasta salad that's inspired by salade nicoise.

Cast of Characters:

• 6-8 oz whole grain penne pasta
• 8 oz fresh green beans
• 4-6 red or new potatoes (I prefer the flavor of red potatoes)
• Two 5 oz cans of tuna
• 4 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 1-2 Tbsp. lemon juice
• 1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard
• 1/8 tsp. black pepper
• 1/8 tsp. salt

Directions:

1. Cook pasta. Add in trimmed green beans for the last 4-6 minutes of cooking (the longer the green beans cook, the softer they will be).
2. Boil or steam the potatoes until they are soft. Cut potatoes in half and then cut each half into 4 pieces.
3. Mix pasta, green beans, potatoes, and tuna together in a large bowl.
4. Mix together olive oil, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, pepper and salt.
5. Pour dressing over pasta and mix well.
6. Allow to chill in refrigerator before serving.

I served mine with a sliced hard boiled egg since those are typically included in a salade nicoise.

Nutritional Info:

Servings: 4

Calories: 390

Fat: 15 g

Carbs: 39g

Protein: 25 g

Toffee Crackle Cookies

Baking as a result of boredom... Well, that, and I figured I'd do something nice for my coworkers at camp this summer, so I decided to bake some cookies to share with them. I made these to share with my family for Christmas one year and they were a hit and it's easy to understand why. They're not too sweet and they have a fabulously soft texture. Not to mention they have toffee in them! So without further ramblings from me...

Cast of Characters:

• 1 cup butter (2 sticks), room temperature (don't microwave it)
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup toffee pieces (If you're a chocolate lover, you can crush up bite size heath bars)
• granulated white sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees
2. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter with an electric mixer until butter is softened.
3. Add brown sugar, baking powder, and salt. Beat until combined, scraping side of bowl occasionally.
4. Beat in egg and vanilla until combined.
5. Beat in as much of the flour as you can with the mixer. Use a wooden spoon to incorporate the rest.
6. Stir in toffee pieces.
7. Shape dough into 1 inch balls. Roll balls in granulated sugar.
8. Place balls about 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheets
9. Bake for about 18-20 minutes. You'll know they are done when the tops are slightly cracked (these cookies don't brown).
10. Allow cookies to cool for a little while on the cookie sheet before transferring them to a cooling rack, otherwise, the cookies will fall apart.

I know these cookies don't look that exciting, but please trust me, THEY'RE AMAZING! Happy Baking!

Easy Peach Crumble

As many of my friends know, my favorite fruit is peaches (what Georgia native doesn't love peaches?), so today while walking through the grocery store, I decided to grab a few and see what I could do with them. Here's what I came up with.

Cast of Characters:

• 4 Large Peaches
• 1/8 cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1 yellow cake mix
• 1/2 cup of butter, melted

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. Peel and slice peaches and plop them into a 9x9 baking dish. Sprinkle the sugar and cinnamon over the peaches evenly.
3. In a medium (or large) mixing bowl, mix together the cake mix and melted butter until the cake mix is fully covered. It should be a crumbly texture.
4. Spoon your cake mix and butter combo over the peaches and spread evenly over the top.
5. Bake for about 30-35 minutes or until the top is lightly browned.
6. Eat and enjoy!

I must say, I was pleasantly surprised by how this turned out. I think next time I'm going to try using apples and a spice cake mix. Anyone have any other good combination ideas?

Nutrition Info:

Servings: 9

Calories: 377

Fat: 16 g

Carbs: 57 g

Protein: 3 g

Dijon Green Beans

Last night's dinner was full of new recipes. To go along with my Panko Pan-Fried Fish Strips, I made a new green bean recipe. I'm still trying to decide if this recipe is a keeper or not, but I decided to post it anyway and let you decide for yourself.

Cast of Characters:

1 Tbs butter

2 tsp dijon mustard (more on this later)

1 Tbs fresh parsley

salt to taste (yes, my salt shaker is an owl)

Directions:

1. Cook the green beans according to the directions on the package or, if you bought fresh green beans like I did, cook them on the stove. (In a large saucepan on medium-high heat, bring water to a boil. Add in trimmed green beans and allow to boil, uncovered, for about 5-8 minutes until they are cooked to your liking.)
2. Once green beans are cooked and drained, mix in all other ingredients until coated evenly.
   
   Recipe Review: I am not a huge fan of dijon mustard, so I think the next time I make these, I will only use about 1.5 tsp of dijon mustard instead of the full 2. Aside from the small tweak that needs to be made, I really like this recipe. It's a little more exciting than just plain green beans and the only thing I had to buy for this recipe was the green beans. I think I just made up my mind about this recipe. I suppose I will try it again. :)

Nutrition Info:

Servings: 4

Calories: 35

Fat: 1.5 g

Carbs: 6 g

Protein: 1 g

Panko Pan-Fried Fish Strips

Once again, I found myself looking through my favorite cookbook EVER, Fresh Food Fast: Weeknight Meals, for my July Cookbook Challenge recipe when I came across the recipe for Panko Pan-Fried Fish Strips. I must be honest, I have never fried a single thing before in my life, so I'd be lying if I said I wasn't at least a little concerned, but they just looked so delicious that I chose to throw my fear aside and go for it anyway!

Cast of Characters:

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

4 tilapia fillets, cut in half lengthwise

3/4 cup low-fat buttermilk

1 1/2 cups panko (Japanese Breadcrumbs)

1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil, divided

Directions:

1. Combine first 3 ingredients; sprinkle evenly over fish.
2. Place buttermilk in a shallow dish. Place panko in another shallow dish. Working with 1 piece of fish at a time, dip fish into buttermilk, and dredge in panko.
3. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add half of the oil to the pan; then add half the fish. Reduce heat to medium; cook 4 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. Repeat procedure with remaining oil and fish.

This is definitely a recipe that I will be repeating! My fears of frying were unfounded. (Do you like my alliteration?) This was definitely a winning recipe and pretty healthy too!

Nutrition Info:

Serving Size: 2 pieces (1 fillet)

Calories: 310

Fat: 9 g

Carbs: 17.5 g

Protein: 40 g

Sweet Potato Fries

This past week, on their way to the beach, my parents decided to stop at a little roadside produce stand where they bought peaches, cantaloupe, and a big brown paper bag full of sweet potatoes. I decided that since we some sweet potatoes to spare, I would try a new side to go with my Meyer lemon and dill fish parcels that I was making. I settled on the sweet potato fries recipe that I found in the latest issue of GreenWise.

Cast of Characters:

• Sweet potatoes
• Salt
• Pepper
• Ground cumin
• Paprika
• Chili powder
• Cooking spray

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Cut potatoes lengthwise into quarters and then cut each quarter into thirds. (Anyone else feel like this is a 3rd grade math lesson?)
3. Spray a cookie sheet with the cooking spray and then spread out potato wedges. Wedges shouldn't be overlapping.
4. Sprinkle wedges evenly with salt, pepper, ground cumin, paprika, and chili powder.
5. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until soft.

Play around with trying some different seasonings. Let me know if you come up with a new combination.

Recipe Binder

I know I usually use my blog to share recipes, but this was such a fabulous idea that I couldn't help but share! (I mean, it's still sorta related.) I was poking around on my sister's FABULOUS blog one day and came across her entry about making a Recipe Binder.

If you're like me, you probably have a million magazines here, there, and everywhere. They don't get thrown away (or recycled) because they contain recipes that someday you might actually want to make. The problem is, you never remember you have those recipes or you cannot find them because there are too many magazines to search through. And that's where this handy bit of organization comes in!

I went through every single one of my magazines and neatly tore out the recipes that I would like to try someday.

I found the cutest binder at Target that is made by a company called Greenroom (you should check them out!). I also bought some simple dividers and labeled each (appetizers & snacks, sides, seafood, vegetarian, and desserts & baked goods). I then neatly trimmed up the ragged edges of my magazine pages, used a 3-hole-punch, and placed them in their assigned category.

Now my giant stack of magazines is being divided between my classroom to be turned into collages, and the recycling center.

If you make one of these, let me know how it turns out! Emily always has great organization ideas!

Meyer Lemon and Dill Fish Parcels

For this month's Cookbook Challenge, Emily and I both decided to do it while we were at the beach with our family. Yet again, I chose a recipe from Fresh Food Fast: Weeknight Meals. This time I chose to try my hand at cooking fish (flounder). Fish is a great source of lean protein, vitamins, minerals, and omega-3 fatty acids (which are good for heart health).

Meyer Lemon and Dill Fish Parcels

Ingredients:

• 4 (6-ounce) halibut or flounder fillets
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 8 Meyer lemon slices (2 lemons)
• 1 Tbs butter, quartered
• 4 tsps chopped fresh dill

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Cut 4 (15-inch) squares of parchment paper. Fold each square in half. Open folded parchment paper; place 1 fillet near fold on each square.
3. Sprinkle fillets evenly with salt and pepper.
4. Top evenly with lemon slices, butter quarters, and dill.
5. Fold paper; seal edges with narrow folds. Place packets on large baking sheet.
6. Bake for 15 minutes or until paper is puffy and lightly browned.
7. Place 1 packet on each of 4 serving plates, and cut open. Serve immediately.

This recipe was a cinch to make and I will definitely be making it again! I chose to serve it with some sweet potato fries and steamed broccoli.

Nutrition info:

- Calories: 235

- Fat: 5.6g

- Protein: 42g

- Carbs: 6g