Last week's menus

Now that I'm back in the saddle cooking up nightly dinners in the kitchen, I've been throwing together some zany combinations.

Tuesday
Guiltless Chicken Fingers
Morroccan Cous Cous (recipe below)

Wednesday
Tofu, red pepper, green bean stir fry with rice noodles

Thursday
Salmon Burgers
Roast Brussel Sprouts
Lemon Garlic Cous Cous Salad


I made up the Cous Cous recipes this week based on whatever was about to expire in the fridge. I cooked the Cous Cous on Tuesday and used half for dinner then and half for dinner Thursday in 2 wildly different recipes.

Morroccan Cous Cous salad
2 stalks chopped celery
1/3C raisins
1 chopped apple
1 carrot shredded
1/2tsp. cinnamon
zest 1 lemon
juice of 1 lemon
salt and pepper

Use about 1-1/2-2C of cooked cous cous. Mix in the rest of the ingredients and serve. You could also add some toasted almonds to this recipe.

Lemon Garlic Cous Cous Salad
8 cherry tomatoes quartered
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1tsp basil
zest of 1/2 lemon
Juice of 1/2 lemon
salt and pepper

Again, use about 1-1/2-2C cous cous, add the tomatoes, zest, lemon, salt and pepper. Cook the garlic in EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil) with the basil until slightly browned. Stir in and serve.

Salmon Burgers
1lb uncooked salmon (skin removed)
1TBL dijon
2 TBL soy sauce
1 garlic clove
1" piece ginger peeled
juice of 1/2 lemon
zest of 1/2 lemon
1/2C breadcrumbs

Add everything except the salmon to a food processor. Create a sauce. Remove the skin from the salmon, chop into 2" cubes and add to the proecessor. Pulse until mixed together, stir in bread crumbs. I make about 4 patties to fry on the stove top in a little EVOO.

It's so fast that you too can whip it up.

Last Week's Menus

I noticed in my lastest email installment of Martha Stewart Food, they had a lovely little side panel with a list of fresh healthy meals to make for a week. I'm all about the 5 minute meal (aka Rachel Ray) and I'm reading "The French Don't Diet Plan". Lesson number 1 is DON'T eat fake foods! The grocery store is full of packaged dinners and boxed mixes of human made chemicals created to simulate real food. It started in the 60s with the American LifeStyle of needing it hot, fast and now. We were fooled into thinking that Cool Whip was a fast and easy treat. But it is just chemicals we are putting in our bodies. Take High Fructose Corn Syrup (HFCS) for instance. This was processed in the 60's to simulate sugar. But your body doesn't recognize it as a sugar, and your body has to process it through the liver with the rest of the toxins. HFCS is hard to get away from as it is in everything because it is cheaper for manufacturers to use than sugar. It's in most cereals, snacks, and even ketchup!

Normally we eat pretty close to the food chain, but even this one gets into our diet. I am going to try and be better about not buying anything with HFCS in it anymore.

Here's a sampling of our own quick and easy menus of what we ate last week for dinner:

Tuesday
Skillet chicken
Stuffed Acorn Squash (from The Moosewood)

Wednesday
Baked Salmon with lemon and dill
Roasted Asparagus
1/2 Baked Sweet Potato

Thursday
Homemade Turkey Meatballs (from the Body for Life cookbook)
Tomato Sauce (organic fat free)
Angel Hair Pasta (1 portion only!)

Sunday Special Birthday Dinner
Seared Ahi with Cilantro Dipping Sauce
Cucumber Salad
Udon Noodles with peanut sauce (Sauce recipe from The Enchanted Broccoli Forrest)
Individual Chocolate Truffle Cakes