Think Outside the (Lunch)Box

Do you ever find yourself stuck in a lunch rut, getting tired of eating the same cold cut sandwiches, canned soups or pb&j's everyday? Start the new year off right and get those creative juices flowing by stepping outside the traditional lunch box for some newer, healthier, and spunkier recipes! Unlike most people who view making or packing lunch a tedious chore, I view this task as a time to get creative and pack in my veggies into one easy dish that's ready to go. Usually I take leftovers from dinner the night before for lunch, but with a little planning over the weekend or on a slow weeknight, you can also make one of these three types of all-in-one cold salads that are perfect for a delicious and nutritious lunch, no-heat necessary. And as always with my non-specific recipes, feel free to use what you have on hand and adjust the recipe to your liking!

Fiesta Corn Pasta Salad

Directions: Cook 1lb bag of corn pasta (found it at trader joes), rinse with cool water and put in large bowl. Add 1 can of rinsed black beans, 2 bell peppers (diced), 1/2 small onion (chopped), 1 clove of garlic (minced), 2 avocados (chopped), 2 tblsp of olive oil, and the juice of 2-3 limes. Mix all ingredients together and spice it up with salt, pepper, cumin, chili pepper, cilantro and hot sauce of your choice!! 

Cranberry, Feta and Almond Brown Rice Salad

Directions: Cook about 2 cups of dry brown rice (or any type of brown or wild rice blend), rinse with cold water and place into a large bowl. Add about 1 cup each of dried cranberries, slivered almonds, and feta cheese crumbles. You can also add some raw broccoli pieces (I used a bag of broccoli slaw mix from trader joes) for an extra crunch and added nutrients. Drizzle olive oil and balsamic vinegar over mixture, season with salt and pepper, and combine well.

Crunchy Apple, Fennel, Cabbage Slaw

 Directions: Combine one chopped fennel bulb, 1/4 head purple cabbage (chopped), 2 apples (diced) and a handful each of chopped or slivered almonds and dried cranberries. In a separate small bowl, whisk together 1 tblsp dijon mustard, 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar, 1 tblsp olive oil, and small drizzle of honey. Pour over slaw, mix well and season with salt and pepper to taste! 

Favorite Summer Salads

Can you believe it's already August?? Where has the summer gone?! Last time I wrote a blog post was on Memorial Day at the end of May, then I started my dietetic internship in June, and next thing I know it's August 6 and summer is almost coming to an end. How did I let this happen?? This dietetic internship has pretty much taken over my life, and it will most likely continue to consume me until the end of January when it's finally over; BUT I can't go all summer without posting some of my favorite summer salad recipes. Even though I've been busy, I still have managed to find time to cook up some fun dishes with inspiration from the farmers' market, which is just out of this world at this time of the year. Corn, tomatoes, peppers, watermelon, cucumbers... you name it- it's there. These two dishes I've shared below are made up of the best combinations of summer vegetables and flavors.. I can't make it through summer without making both of these!! I promise you will enjoy them!

RAW CORN AND BLACK BEAN SALAD
I have to give my new roommate, Mia, props for helping me out big time with this one. Her and I are masterminds in the kitchen and we just work so well together to come up with the craziest, most delicious dishes ever. And this one sure didn't disappoint. We just sat out on our back porch one cool summer night, drinking some Boordy wine and chopping up veggies to throw into the mixing bowl et voila! You can choose to cook the corn (steam, boil, grill) if you want, or just skip that step entirely and just throw it in raw!

INGREDIENTS:
(For one large bowl's worth)
3-4 ears of corn,
1 can of black beans, drained and washed
1-2 green peppers, chopped
Few tablespoons of scallions, chopped fine
1 small onion (red or white), chopped
Few handful of cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
LOTS of fresh squeezed lime juice
~2 tablespoons extra virigin olive oil
Few tablespoons of chopped cilantro
Few dashes of cumin
Salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:
1. Carefully shave the corn off of the stalk with a serrated knife and place into a large bowl.
2. Add in the chopped peppers, scallions, onions and have fun getting messy mixing it with your hands!

3. Add in the tomatoes, olive oil, cilantro, cumin and salt/pepper, and squeeze in lots of fresh lime juice. Adjust seasonings as necessary and ENJOY!

PANZANELLA (Italian Bread Salad)

I first saw a few of the food network stars (Giada, Tyler Florence, Rachel Ray..  pretty much all of them) make this salad on TV a few years back, and so I had to try it at home. And let me tell you - I've been hooked ever since. I know that having huge chunks of bread in a salad that doesn't even have lettuce in it is kind of a strange concept in the US, but apparently this is an Italian classic, and I think the Italians got it right on this one.  The flavors and colors of this salad are the epitome of summer to me and I'm pretty sure I could eat this dish every day for the rest of my life and be a happy camper. What's great about this salad, as with the corn salad above, you can't go wrong with the proportions of ingredients and you can throw in whatever summer veggies you've got. That's the way I like to cook! Seriously- you gotta try it!

INGREDIENTS:
(for a large bowl's worth)

1/2-1 loaf of day old bread (any kind will do.. a GREAT way to use old bread!)

3 large tomatoes (any color.. I have gorgeous yellow ones in this picture)

2 large peppers (again.. any color. The more colors the better!)

1/2 red onion

2 cucumbers

LOTS of basil

1/2 cup feta cheese

2 tblsp extra virgin olive oil

3 tblsp red wine vinegar

Salt/pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1. First make the croutons, starting by preheating the oven to 350 degrees. Cut up the loaf of bread into chunks (I like having big chunks, but any size is fine) and spread onto a baking pan. Lightly toss with olive oil, salt/pepper and bake for about 20min or until golden brown and crispy. 

2. While the croutons are baking, chop up the tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and onions into roughly the same size chunks as the bread (This is supposed to be a rustic, chunky salad) and toss into a large bowl.

3. Chop up lots of fresh basil and add to bowl, along with feta cheese and salt/pepper. 

4. Once the croutons are done and have cooled slightly, add them to the bowl. Toss into salad and add olive oil and red wine vinegar. The croutons will soak up all the great flavors in this delicious, hearty, healthy, one-bowl meal! ENJOY!

Cranberries!

Even after all the cranberry sauce at Thanksgiving, I still can't get enough of cranberries during this time of year.  Cranberries are so festive, colorful and nutrient-rich, loaded with vitamin C and tons of antioxidants and phytonutrients.  They are anti-inflammatory, help support the immune system,  protect against UTIs and many cancers, and much more. Good excuses to keep eating those cranberries all winter long :-) That being said, I would try to stay away from the canned version (too loaded with sugar and who knows what) instead use fresh cranberries whenever possible (dried are also great and really convenient).  Here are two different recipes- the first using the last of my leftover cranberry sauce from Thanksgiving (courtesy of my mommy!) and the second using fresh cranberries in a cornbread. So yummy! And I still have some fresh cranberries left over, so more recipes to come!

1. MASHED SWEET POTATOES WITH CRANBERRY SAUCE

Ingredients:

3-4 sweet potatoes

1 tblsp real butter

splash of milk

1/2 cup cranberry sauce

Directions: 

1. Wash the sweet potatoes, dice into small squares and steam in a large pot until soft (about 15-20min). 

2. Add butter and milk and mash together with a fork or potato masher.

3. Add in cranberry sauce and mix until well combined. Add a pinch of salt to bring out the flavor.

4. Serve as a side dish with your next meal and enjoy! I ate it with some sauteed kale with onions, which was such a delicious and colorful combination!

2. CRANBERRY CORNBREAD

Ingredients:

1 box store-bought cornbread mix (or make your own cornbread from scratch!) 

1 egg

1/3 cup almond milk (so delicious and a great dairy substitute, even in baking)

3/4 cup fresh cranberries, halved

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Follow instructions on back on box to make cornbread by adding egg and milk and mixing well.
3. Stir in cranberries and pour into a greased baking pan or muffin pan.

4. Bake about 12-15 minutes or until slightly golden brown.
5. When done, cut into squares and top with some real butter and a drizzle of local honey :-) Enjoy!