Weeknights after work are the least desirable times to start cooking. Work is tiring, commutes can be unpleasant, and by the time I get home I want to eat right now. I could order take out (and sometimes I do) but then I still have to wait for the food to arrive. And I could heat up something pre-made, but I rarely do that because I don’t find refrigerator section foods to have that much personality. So I cook at home, even when I don’t want to. This recipe for orzo with sausage and tomatoes (and some other vegetables), will be a meal you’ll be happy to cook and eat after work. 

Although cooking dinner after work can feel like a chore, I really do love it and think it’s important. I like that it makes the whole apartment fill up with the yummy smell of sauteing garlic or onions. It makes me happy that in less than hour something that didn’t exist before, that was just separate ingredients, has come together to make something tasty and filling. And also, when it goes well I love the appreciation I get when dinner has been delicious and satisfying.

Everyone should have a handful of go-to of weekday meals that they can get on the table in an hour of less. Some of mine are taco salad, spaghetti and homemade tomato sauce, roast chicken with broccoli, baked salmon, and chicken and vegetable stir fry. But sometimes, the old favorites get well…old, and so I experiment. Sometimes I experiment with recipes from other sources and sometimes I make things up based on what’s available in my house and the tiny convenience store I pass on the way home from the tube. This orzo recipe is one of those I just made up. And it’s pretty good ya’ll.

The orzo, which is pasta cut short and shaped like rice, was taking up space in my cabinet so I decided to highlight it for dinner. I especially like dinner recipes where I can fit multiple food groups together, so I decided to do something like a stir fry with sausage, tomatoes, and leafy greens. The sausage I had, the vegetables were what the conveniences store had. I figured it’d be easy and it would have protein, grain, vegetables, and fruit (the tomato I guess…) all in one. I like when the vegetables are woven throughout because it means I’m more likely to eat them than if the vegetables are kept on the side. Yes, I’m 30 years old and I have ways of tricking myself to eat vegetables.

The first time I made this I used kale instead of spinach. Ryan and I agreed we really liked the dish overall, but we really didn’t like kale. I know kale is a super food and has been impossibly trendy recently, but I just don’t like it. I’m sorry, I just don’t. No matter how it’s cooked kale always always tastes like a dead crunchy autumn leaf off of the sidewalk.

We decided for future iterations we’d use other leafy greens like spinach, but I think chard word work nicely too. Ryan also suggested adding peas, which I think adds nice color and a different texture. In fact, I think this recipe is really versatile and can easily be changed to suit your tastes. If you like kale, or collards, or whatever – use that leafy green instead. If you don’t like sausage you could do this just as easily by sauteing bite sized chunks of chicken breasts, shrimp, or tofu. It’s s-i-m-p-l-e. And that’s totally what we want for after work dinner. Also, it’s great as lunch leftovers for the next day too!

Messy level: Two spoons only because you need a pot for the orzo and a separate frying pan for everything else. Overall though, not too many dishes.

Orzo with Sausage and Tomatoes

 

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Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

30 mins

Total time

40 mins

 

Serves: 4-6 servings

Ingredients

• 6 sausages, in whatever seasoning flavor you like (about 400g or about 1 pound)
• olive oil
• 4 medium sized round tomatoes, chopped roughly to 1" pieces (about 380g or about .8 pounds)
• 1-2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 teaspoon tomato paste
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 cup orzo
• water to cook the orzo
• 3 cups spinach
• ½ cup frozen peas

Instructions

1. Remove the sausages from their casings.
2. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Once the skillet is hot add the sausage meat. Cook the meat until cooked through. This takes about 10 minutes depending on the heat of your pan. As you cook the meat, use a wooden spoon to break the sausage up into bite sized pieces.
3. Cover a plate with a paper towel and put the cooked sausage on top. Try to pour out as much of the grease from the skillet as you can, but it doesn't have to be perfectly clean. This step helps to drain off the excess grease. You can skip this step if you want, but the overall dish will taste nicer without the grease.
4. Meanwhile, bring a medium pot of water to boil. Once it's boiling generously salt the water. Add the orzo to the water and cook for 8 minutes (or check package for timing recommendations). When the orzo is done cooking, drain the water and set the orzo aside.
5. Return the empty skillet you used before back to the stove. Add a splash of olive oil if the pan is dry. Once the oil is hot, add the tomatoes, garlic, tomato paste. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for 5-7 minutes or until the tomatoes are losing their juices and everything is starting to simmer. Taste and adjust seasonings if you need to.
6. Add the spinach to the skillet. Stir the spinach in until it starts to wilt, about 1-2 minutes.
7. Next add the frozen peas. Stir the peas in until they lose their frozen look and start to turn brighter green, about 1 minute.
8. Now add the sausage and orzo to the skillet. Mix so everything is coated with the tomato juices and the vegetables are distributed throughout.
9. Serve in a bowl or on a plate.

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Recently I watched Jamie Oliver’s 2010 TED Talk, and I got fired up. Fired up in a good way. Jamie Oliver was talking about getting kids to eat healthy, especially at lunch time. He also spoke about how cooking, which used to be something everyone knew how to do, has started to become a lost art. He dumped out a wheelbarrow full of sugar to demonstrate the amount of sugar that gets eaten in a day. He showed photos of families struggling with morbid obesity. And he talked about how ketchup and french fries are classified as vegetables. It was upsetting and saddening, and generally I felt this is not ok. I got fired up. And I wanted to do something to hopefully make our food world just a tiny bit better. His talk combined a few things I love: cooking, teaching, and working with children. And in it, he reminded me of some of the reasons why I started my blog and wanted to learn to cook.

In my mid 20’s I knew how to cook about four things, which generally suited me fine. But when I started to think about my future, I realized if I ever had a family there was nothing I knew how to cook that could be a family favorite. Nothing that people would love and ask for. So I decided I’d teach myself how to cook, and that way I could feed myself, make healthy food, and make good tasting dishes that my future family would enjoy.

As my cooking skill has improved I’ve started to cook more difficult and random dishes, but Jamie Oliver’s talk reminded me of what I originally set out to do. I’d like to try and get back to that a little bit. There are two specific things that Jamie said that really stuck with me and here they are:

1. If one person teaches three people, then those people teach three more, then eventually everyone will know how to cook.
2. We need to set our children up with the tools to be successful.

So I’d like this blog to help out more with those two points. I want to recommit myself to make easy and beginner friendly recipes. Also, hopefully the recipes will be kid friendly too. I don’t have kids so that is harder for me to promise. In short, I am going to post at least two healthy beginner friendly recipes every month. That’s my promise. If it goes well, I hope to amp is up to one beginner recipe a week. The rest of the recipes will still be the crazy randomness inspired by life, travel, and what’s in my fridge.

I hope through those beginner recipe posts it will help people learn to cook new dishes that they can share with others and pass on. And I hope they will be tasty so that kids can be healthy and hit their day full and happy. My professional passion is to inspire kids to learn and see the world differently through experiences in museums. I figure, what can’t I transfer some of that passion and ambition to what I do with the blog? It’s a big dream for just a few recipe posts, but why not?!  It’s the least I can do. And besides, I think cooking is fun. 

Today’s recipe is good for lunch, for a snack, or even serve as an appetizer when you’re hosting a party. It’s inspired by those green juices I often buy at the store. You know the ones, that sort of look like green sludge but are made up of apples, mint, spinach, and other healthy stuff. I love those drinks and I wanted to see about packing those flavors into one meal. Although there are some scary ingredients in there for kids (almonds and spinach) I thought the inoffensive flavor of the cucumber paired with the sweetness of apples and honey would make it more palatable for kids. Plus, it’s boat shaped and that’s pretty awesome. The other difficult ingredient is curry powder. It’s not going to be spicy at all, but the curry does give it a little heat which nicely balances the sweetness. If kids don’t like it, you can easily leave it out or just save the dressing for the adults. If you don’t want to buy curry powder, don’t do it. You can substitute more pepper, or garlic, or chili powder to give it some kick in a different way.

Adapted from Martha Stewart

Messy level: Since most of this recipe calls for raw ingredients, there’s very little you have to do besides chop and mix. Warning though, eating this is a whole different story. When you take a bite of the cucumber some quinoa salad will fall out. Be sure you have a fork nearby to scoop up any fallen goodness.

Quinoa Salad in Cucumber Boats

 

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Prep time

15 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

35 mins

 

Serves: 4-6 servings

Ingredients

• 4-6 cucumbers (depending on size)

Quinoa salad

• ½ cup white quinoa
• 1 cup water
• ¼ cup chopped raw whole almonds
• ¼ chopped mint
• ¼ cup chopped spinach
• 1 medium (or large) green apple, cored and chopped into bite size chunks

Dressing

• 1 teaspoon honey
• juice from 1 lemon
• ½ teaspoon curry powder
• ¼ teaspoon coarse salt
• Freshly ground pepper
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Instructions

1. In a medium pot, combine the quinoa and water. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to low. Let simmer for about 15-20 minutes or until the quiona is tender and the water is mostly absorbed.[Alternatively, you could follow the package instructions]
2. Drain any excess water from the quinoa
3. Once quinoa is cooked put it in a medium bowl and let cool while you prepare everything else.
4. If you haven't yet chopped the almonds, mint, spinach, and apple do it now while the quinoa cools.
5. Take 1 teaspoon of lemon juice and sprinkle it over the apples. This will help keep the apples from browning.
6. Mix the almonds, mint, spinach and apple into the quinoa.
7. Now for the dressing! In a small bowl mix together the honey, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, pepper, and curry powder.
8. Pour the dressing over the quiona salad. Alternatively, leave the dressing to the side so people can pour it on as they like.
9. For the cucumber boats, cut the cucumbers in half lengthwise. Using a spoon scoop out the seeds and discard them. Cut the cucumbers into about 3" long pieces. This makes them easier to hold, eat, and pack into a lunch box.
10. Spoon quinoa salad into the cavity of the cucumber boats. Fill as generously or as lightly as fits your taste.
11. Optional: If you want to make a cucumber mast, set aside ½ of a cucumber. Using a vegetable peeler, peel the cucumber lengthwise to make sails. Make as many sails as you have cucumber boats. Using the tip of a sharp knife, make one small horizontal cut on both of the short ends of your cucumber sail. These are just small slits that will allow the mast to stick through. With the remaining cucumber, cut fat matchsticks. These need to be sturdy enough that if you hold them with your thumb and forefinger at the base, the rest will stand up fairly straight and not bend over. Bend a cucumber sail into a "U" and push the mast through the slits you cut. The finished product should look something like the letter "D." Now, in the bottom of your cucumber boats use a knife or a chop stick to stab a hole through the boat. The hole should be big enough to fit the mast you just made. Stick the base of your cucumber mast into the hole in the bottom of your boat. Now you have a cucumber boat! Fill with quinoa!

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The smell of cilantro reminds me of my mom. When I was a kid, in our backyard my family had a small vegetable garden. My parents would let my brother and I pick one vegetable each and we would pick something tangible and familiar like tomatoes or cucumbers. My mom, always picked lots of herbs and her favorite was cilantro. She always talked about how nice it smelled (and it does smell good) and how good it was. And I always thought, “you can’t even eat it!” But now, the smell of cilantro always makes me think of my mom and preparing our backyard garden.

Today, I know you can eat cilantro, but I always use it just as an herb to flavor a recipe. I use it with beans, arroz con gandules, and salsas. But, I had never thought about using cilantro in a non-savory way until I looked through Green Smoothies for Every Season by Kristine Miles. Her recipe for a smoothie with pineapple and cilantro is the inspiration for today’s recipe. I know cilantro isn’t for everyone, but if you do like this herb, I think you’ll enjoy this smoothie. The drink comes out so lovely and bright. Also do you know that cilantro has vitamins A, C, and K? Yeah, so it’s good for you.

And as I said when I wrote about Farmington, I ate a ton over the holidays and so I am trying to eat a little bit better in January. That means, eating healthier and eating more fruits and vegetables. One way I like doing that is with green smoothies. I know that green smoothies don’t solve it all, and I know that to be really great they should have 50% greens, but I think any way you can get to your 5-a-day you should do it.

I’ve used Kristine Miles’ combo of pineapple and cilantro as inspiration, but I’ve decided to make it my own by pumping up the green with some spinach and also sweetening it a bit with pineapple juice. Not only is it pretty healthy, but it has a tropical feel which is so nice during dreary winter days. Since it’s winter, I used canned pineapples in juice, but feel free to use fresh or frozen pineapple. There’s a banana in this recipe too and I highly recommend freezing it. Frozen bananas make smoothies so luscious and creamy. Overall, this is totally delicious, you’ll drink it down so fast – and then, if you’re like me, you’ll feel like you’re doing yourself some good in January.

Messy level: Nothing is easier or cleaner to make than a smoothie. The messiest part is clearing up all the cilantro stalks after you’ve picked off the leaves.

Pineapple Cilantro Smoothie

 

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Serves: 2

Ingredients

• 1 cup pineapple juice
• ½ cup spinach leaves
• ½ cup tightly packed cilantro leaves
• 1½-2 cup chopped pineapples
• 1 banana, peeled (frozen is preferable)

Instructions

1. If your blender is weak, add the juice, spinach, and cilantro leaves to the blender first. Blend this until the greens have been chopped fairly small.
2. Add the pineapple and banana to the blender and blend until smooth and the greens are cut into small flecks.
3. Pour into glasses and serve with a straw. Somehow smoothies taste better through a straw.

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First,  if there is a way I can put more vegetables in my food, I will do it. I know people who are anti-hiding vegetable – but not me. I’m always trying to find a way to get more veggies in my diet. I like green smoothies and the zucchini chocolate chip cookies from Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, and I like today’s muffins. When I saw a picture called “spinach Popeye muffins” on Pinterest, I knew it was something I had to try. I mean, make me strong like Popeye and they taste good? Yes please. Try not to be put off by the green muffins. They are fun looking and taste like banana bread. 

Second, this is the first baking recipe I have ever significantly altered! When I read the original recipe, I wanted to decrease the sugar and make it a bit healthier. But, I wasn’t really sure how to do it because I know baking is a science and messing it can lead to bad results. Then I read this article from the Harvard School of Public Health and decided, “what the heck, let’s try it.” So I decreased the sugar by a 1/3, I substituted some brown sugar for the white, and I used low-fat yogurt instead of whole milk. I had no idea how it was going to come out. Luckily it came out SO TASTY!!! The muffins don’t really rise though and the muffin is a bit sticky in texture – both of which I think are a result of my meddling.  Still they tasted amazing and I’m sure with a little more meddling, I could fix those issues. But in summation, Ryan and I ate 7 about as soon as they came out of the oven.

Which leads me to my third and final point. While I was baking I was video chatting with my family and I showed them these muffins. There were skeptical and asked Ryan and I to eat one on camera. Anyway, we told them the muffins were sweet and tasted like banana bread. And the best part is they promised if I posted the recipe they would try it. So, here it is guys.

If you’re off put by green spinach-banana muffins, I’ll post a regular banana bread recipe next week.

Adapted from The Green Forks.

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup whole-wheat flour

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup canola oil

3/4 non-fat Greek yogurt

1 6oz bag of baby spinach

2-3 mashed ripe bananas

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Ingredients:

1. Preheat oven to 350° and line the muffin pan with paper liners.

2. Whisk together the flours, sugars, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl.

3. Place the oil, yogurt, and spinach in a blender. Blend on high until pureed. You might have to do this in batched (I did because my blender is weak).

4. Add the banana and vanilla to the blender and blend until just mixed.

5. Pour pureed mixture into the dry ingredients. Fold together with a rubber spatula until combined.

6. Fill muffin cups about 3/4 full and bake for 18-20 minutes, or until  toothpick poked in the center comes out clean.

7. Let cool (if you can wait!)

8. Try it!!

Messy level: This recipe is a three spoon recipe, although if you have a nice blender maybe fewer spoons. I tried to put all the spinach, yogurt, and oil in the blender at once and all I was doing was overheating the blender. I then took it out and did things in batches, which meant using another bowl. And of course it’s me, so I got green drops of batter all over the counter. Overall, not too messy, just gotta be careful.

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Enter this banana kiwi mango green smoothie. The perfect balance of sweet, summery, and healthy.

This recipe is adapted from one I originally found in Runner’s World magazine. I’ve added more fruit  and I use vanilla almond milk to give it a bit of sweetness, but not too much. You could of course use cow or soy milk if that’s what you have in the house. Also, I heartily recommend that you freeze your bananas. Of course you can use fresh, but there’s something lovely about using frozen ones. You won’t have to use ice and they make the smoothie so wonderfully creamy.

Finally, as you can see, this smoothie is green. Ryan said it looked scary, and I get it. I mean spinach in a smoothie? I know, it’s not for everyone. But, adding spinach is great because it makes your smoothie thick, you get all the healthy nutrients, and you can’t taste its flavor. This smoothie tastes like fruit I promise. It’s really quite delightful and helps get rid of those January blues.

Messy level: One spoon. So easy, everything goes in the blender and you hardly have to cut or peel anything.

Banana Kiwi Mango Green Smoothie

 

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Prep time

5 mins

Cook time

3 mins

Total time

8 mins

 

Serves: 1-2

Ingredients

• 1 banana, preferrably frozen
• 2 kiwis
• ½ cup cubed mangos (I used frozen, you could use fresh)
• ½ cup almond milk
• ¾ cup spinach loosely packe

Instructions

1. Peel and slice your kiwis
2. Take your frozen fruit out of the freezer. Or if you’re using fresh, peel them and chop them so your blender can efficiently blend them.
3. Put all ingredients in your blender and blend until smooth.
4. Taste. If needed, add more fruit, milk, or spinach, to your taste and blend again.
5. Serve!

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