This is a great sandwich for a light supper. The olive cheese is very flavorful and it balances out with all the vegetables in the sandwich to give it a little punch… and also make it more filling.  I used crab meat, but you can make with sliced chicken or turkey ham.  Lets face it, sandwiches are dull, so if I want to get away with making a sandwich to serve my husband for dinner, I have to try to make it with as many ingredients as I can. Even use seasonings in it.  After a long day you don’t want to sit in front of two pieces of bland bread with ham and mayo, do you? A nice tomato soup would be a great accompaniment for this sandwich.

Pita Bread Sandwich with Olive-Cheese

Serves: 2
A Foodies’ Original Recipe

Ingredients:

2 pita breads
½ cup cream cheese
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
Chives, finely chopped (about 2 tablespoons)
10 green olives, chopped
6 Romaine lettuce leaves
1 Tomato, sliced
A few slices of cucumber
Chicken or crab slices
Dried basil leaves and pepper, as seasoning.

Procedure:

1. Slice open the pita bread.
2. In a small bowl, mix the cream cheese, mayonnaise, chives, olives, salt and pepper. (use salt sapringly, remember the olives are salty)
3. Spread this mixture inside both pita bread halves.
4. Arrange lettuce leaves, chicken or crab meat slices, tomato, cucumber.
5. Sprinkle with pepper and basil

Enjoy.

Something that always is a win, even with picky eaters is browned potatoes. Makes them think about french fries!  This is a no brainer, easy recipe to start right before you start up your main dish, since it browns for a bit and the potatoes take a bit to cook. If you want to speed up the cooking process, cube the potatoes into smaller pieces.

Brown Red Potatoes
Servings, 2

Ingredients:
1 potato, cubed
1 teaspoon rosemary leaves, chopped
½ teaspoon red peppercorn, ground
1 clove garlic, minced
salt to taste
pepper to taste
¼ cup olive oil
cooking spray
½ cup water

Directions:

1. Cube the potatoes and toss them with the rosemary, red peppercorn, garlic, salt and pepper with the olive oil.
2. Heat the pan and spritz with cooking spray.
3. Brown the potatoes and make sure you brown them on at least two sides, stirring constantly so they don’t stick.
4. After 8 or 10 minutes of doing so, right before the potatoes are thoroughly cooked, add the water and half cover the pan.
5. Stir constantly, the water will evaporate and you have just speed up the cooking process. Taste a potato to make sure they are fully cooked, but not soggy.

Actually, I made Beef Bourguignon without Mushrooms I didn’t have any at home, but decided to try the recipe anyway, I did add one peeled potato, cut into squares.
I haven’t taken advantage of my Crockpot, I should really try more recipes for it. Preparation time is usually about 15 minutes, you just put everything in there, leave it cooking overnight and next morning when you wake up, lunch is ready!

Beef Bourguignon (slow cooker recipe)

Yields:6 – 8 servings
Recipe from crockpot.com

Ingredients
6 strips bacon, cut into 1- to 2-inch pieces
3 pounds beef rump, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 large carrot, peeled and sliced
1 medium onion, sliced
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
3 tablespoons flour
10 ounces beef broth, can condensed
2 cups red or Burgundy wine
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon whole thyme
1 whole bay leaf
1/2 pound white onions, peeled
1 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced

Directions

1. Sauté bacon in a skillet on stovetop set to medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon and set aside.
2. Add beef cubes to skillet and brown well. Remove meat and set aside.
3. Brown carrot and onion in skillet and transfer to stoneware. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in flour, add broth, and mix well.
4. Add beef and bacon to stoneware, mix, and place in slow cooker heating base.
5. Add wine, tomato paste, garlic, bay leaf, onions, and mushrooms. Cover; cook on Low for 10-12 hours or on High for 5-6 hours.

I am always looking for ways to sneak vegetables in our everyday cooking, not only so my daughter eats them, but for us too.  This recipe gives us a very tasty and different way to have our spinach.

Spinach Loaf

Adapted from whatsforlunch, honey.com
Yields: 1 loaf

Ingredients:
1 bag fresh spinach
1 cup of sliced mushrooms
1 cup chopped tomatoes
1/4 of a white onion
1 oz butter + a little bit of olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4  teaspoon nutmeg
2-4 teaspoons sesame seeds
1/2 + 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
3 eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup luke warm milk
1/2 cup of any cheese you have at hand. It can be parmesan, gruyere, mozzarella.

Procedure:

1. Preheat the oven at 350 F. Grease a loaf tin.
2. In a large pan heat the olive oil and 1 oz butter until melted. Add the onion and the spinach and sauté for a couple of minutes, just until the spinach slightly falls together. Add the mushrooms and tomato. Sprinkle salt, pepper and the nutmeg and allow to cook for approx. 5 minutes.
3. Add 1 teaspoon of the sesame seeds to the pan and cook for a further 5 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
4. In a mixing bowl mix together flour and baking powder. Add the eggs and rigorously beat with a whisk. Drizzle the oil and the warm milk into the batter, beating constantly. Add the grated cheese and fold in. Now add the vegetable/herb mixture to this and mix well.
5. Pour out into the loaf tin, sprinkle with the remaining sesame seeds and bake for 45-50 minutes. The cake is done when a toothpick is inserted into the middle of the cake and it comes out clean.Take out and allow to cool. Take out of the tin and cut thick slices. Enjoy with your favorite spread, or as a side dish.

One of the best times to look for fresh fruit and veggies is the summer. Being from Latin America, we’re used to having most of the produce all year long. While shopping a few weeks ago I found Mango and Avocado. I wanted to make something for dinner that was fresh, healthy and easy.

Summery Mango and Avocado Tacos
Servings: 2
Adapted from MyRecipes.com

2 chicken breast, diced
½ cup mango, diced
½ cup avocado, diced
½ cup tomato, diced
½ teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon of curry
¼ teaspoon onion powder
salt to taste
2 tablespoons lemon juice
4 flour tortillas

Directions:

1. Heat a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.
2. Combine garlic powder, paprika, onion powder and salt. Rub over chicken.
3. Add chicken; cook 4 minutes on each side or until done. Remove chicken from pan; let stand 5 minutes.
4. While the chicken cooks, dice the mango, avocado and tomato. Keep each separate. Part of the fun of having tacos is making them yourself.
5. Add the lemon juice equally to the mango, avocado and tomato.
6. Heat tortillas according to package directions; top with chicken and the prepared fruit and veggies.

Note: If you like spicy food, you can add jalapeños or red pepper flakes on top.

When we went grocery shopping and I saw the asparagus, I knew right away I had to get them.  I’m used to having the asparagus just boiled and cooked, so I wanted to do something different. Browsing around I found some pretty cool recipes and I made a mash-up between a Martha Stewart recipe and one I found over MyRecipes.com.  Hope you like it!

Grilled Asparagus
Serves 4

1 pound asparagus
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
3 teaspoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon soy sauce
⅛ teaspoon black pepper
cooking spray
skewers or toothpicks

Procedure:

1. Preheat the grill.
2. Wash and slice off tough ends of asparagus.
3. Combine all ingredients and set aside.
4. For the asparagus to be easy to handle on the grill, it’s best if you get them all together. A quick tip is to pin them together using a skewer (or toothpick) through the ends. Remember to be gentle while turning them over.
5. Now pour your mix over the asparagus and let them marinate for about 30 minutes, make sure you don’t over marinate them or the taste will be too strong!
6. Place asparagus on the grill coated with cooking spray, and turning once, until marked and tender, about 4 minutes per side.

I have always enjoyed beet salad.  Just lemon and salt is perfect for me, but I wanted to try out the combination of beets and orange I saw in a friend’s cookbook.  So, here’s my version of Beet and Orange Salad.

Beet and Orange Salad

Serves: 4-6
A Foodies’ Kitchen Recipe

Ingredients:
4 beets, cooked
2 oranges
¼ red onion, thinly sliced (If you prefer more onion in your salad, go ahead and slice some more)
Sesame seeds (optional)

Vinaigrette:
½ cup orange juice
1/8 cup vegetable oil
Juice from 1 lemon
Salt and pepper to taste

Procedure:

1. Slice the cooked beets, and set them aside.
2. Peel the oranges, and segment them. To do this, Hold the orange firmly in your hand over a bowl, and gently slide your knife between the membrane walls toward the center of the fruit to release the segments.  Loosen each segment, remove it from the fruit and set it aside.
3. In a medium sized bowl, mix the beets, orange, and onion.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

To make the vinaigrette:

1. In a small bowl, add orange and lemon juice. In a slow and steady stream, add the oil while whisking.  This will ensure that the oil and acids are emulsified correctly.
2. Salt and pepper to taste.
3. Add the vinaigrette to the prepared beets, and adjust the seasoning.  I added sesame seeds to sprinkle at the end, just before serving.
4. Refrigerate, and serve cold.

Yes, avocado pizza! I’ve been looking at new ways to use avocados in my cooking, and I got this idea from a website that features recipes using them, I’ll definitely make this one again.

Chicken and Avocado Pizza

Yields: 4 Personal Sized Pizzas
Recipe from The Amazing Avocado

Ingredients:
4 personal pizza crusts
1 cup tomato sauce
½ onion, finely chopped
2 grilled chicken breasts, shredded or cut into strips
1 cup Monterrey Jack cheese (or you can use Mozzarella)
1 ripe avocado, sliced
Tabasco, to taste (optional)

Procedure:

1. Heat oven to 425°F. Place pizza crust on a baking sheet; bake crust 7 minutes.
2. In small bowl, combine pizza sauce and Tabasco (Tabasco is optional).
3. Spread pizza with sauce; top with chicken, Avocado and cheese.
4. Bake until crusts are crisp on the bottom, and the cheese has melted, 4 to 6 minutes longer.
5. Enjoy with a nice cold beer!

I had a big package of feta cheese at home and didn’t know what to do with it. I wasn’t in the mood for a greek salad, so I looked for recipes and this one caught my eye.  It is very good! And easy to make. I did substitute de cheddar cheese for mozzarella cheese, though. And I made the pie crust, this link will lead you to the Martha Stewart’s recipe. It is also very easy to make.

Spinach and Feta Cheese Tart

Original Recipe Yield 1 – 9 inch quiche

Ingredients
½ stick of butter
3 cloves garlic, chopped
3 shallots, chopped
10 oz spinach (1 bag)
1 cup portabella mushrooms, roughly chopped
1 (6 ounce) package herb and garlic feta, crumbled
1 (8 ounce) package shredded Cheddar cheese
salt and pepper to taste
1 (9 inch) unbaked deep dish pie crust
4 eggs, beaten
1 cup milk
salt and pepper to taste

Procedure:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. In a medium skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Saute garlic and onion in butter until lightly browned, about 7 minutes. Stir in spinach, mushrooms, feta and 1/2 cup Cheddar cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Spoon mixture into pie crust.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs and milk. Season with salt and pepper. Pour into the pastry shell, allowing egg mixture to thoroughly combine with spinach mixture.
4. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Sprinkle top with remaining Cheddar cheese, and bake an additional 35 to 40 minutes, until set in center. Allow to stand 10 minutes before serving.

I wanted to try this recipe, because it was a completely new way for me to prepare corn. The mayonnaise is tangy and spicy. I didn’t need to put any extra lemon on it. The original recipe is for grilled corn, and they you just sprinkle the feta on top. I wanted to try them with the cheese melted on top. I’m glad I did.

Corn With Feta Cheese

Adapted from Food Network

Ingredients:

4 ears sweet corn, husked and silks removed
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 lime, juiced, plus 1 lime, quartered, for garnish
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup crumbled feta

Preparation:

1. In a large pot, boil enough water to cook the corn.  Once the water is boiling, let them cook between 5-10 minutes depending on how soft you like them.
2. Meanwhile, mix the mayonnaise, chili powder, cayenne, lime juice and salt and pepper, to taste, together in a small bowl.
3. When the corn is cooked, brush them with the mayonnaise mixture. Arrange on a cookie sheet and sprinkle with the feta cheese. Put them in the broiler, set on High until the cheese has browned. This should only take a few minutes. Serve with lime wedges on the side.