Brussels Sprouts and Mushroom Side

This is a great side dish. It can be served any time (I served it for breakfast) and it took me probably 10-15 minutes tops!

Ingredients:
1. 3-4 mushrooms
2. handful of brussels sprouts
3. clove of garlic
4. balsamic vinegar
5. capers and caper juice (optional)

How to Cook: Heat your pan, add olive oil. Throw in garlic and brussels sprouts. Let that cook for a bit. Once the brussels sprouts are soft, add mushrooms. Let this mixture cook for approx. 5 minutes. Once the vegetables are all soft (depending on your preference), add a splash of balsamic vinegar (maybe 1-2 tablespoons) and if you choose to, add the capers and a splash of caper juice. You do not want to add too much balsamic vinegar. For me, I find balsamic vinegar a bit too strong, but I like the acidity so I tend to add a lot. Simply adjust accordingly.

Quinoa Salad Ideas

I have been on this quinoa craze! Yes, I jumped on board and I love it! It has such great texture and super yummy. My trick for more flavor is to add chicken bouillon. Others make their quinoa with chicken stock. I haven't tried this yet because my chicken bouillon is working just fine for me. Anyhow, here are my salad ideas:

Salad 1: cabbage, strawberry, carrots, quinoa, cherry tomatoes, and some pistachio mixed with a little olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and lemon.

 Salad 2: spinach, cherry tomatoes, dried cranberries, pistachio, carrots, and quinoa. This salad has the same dressing as salad 1.







Either way salad is made, if you are trying to be healthy or slim down, your choice in dressing is everything!

Two types of Bruschetta, Same Method

I wanted to put my wheat baguette to work and decided to make some bruschetta. These are really easy, simple, and super quick to make! Bruschetta is great for an appetizer and snack. A very versatile and tasty treat! 

Pesto with Grape Tomatoes Bruschetta

How to Prepare: Cut your baguette (any will do), and spread pesto sauce (I used Costco's pesto) on the baguette slices, and cut a couple of grape tomatoes for the topping.

Bake  or grill for 2-5 minutes, depending on how toasted you prefer.

This doesn't need olive oil, because the pesto sauce already has olive oil.

Olive, Sun-dried, & Sweet Pepper Bruschetta

How to Prepare: the method is the same as the pesto with grape tomatoes; however, for this one, I sprinkled a dash of olive oil on the baguette slices (it is unnecessary but I did it) and then put the store bought topping (bought at Trader Joe's).

Bake or grill for 2-5, same as above.

I don't have the exact name of the topping for the olive, sun-dried, sweet pepper bruschetta.. I opted to just name what I remembered from the topping (I ran out and forgot to take a picture). 

Generally, bruschetta is based on toppings of tomato, olive oil, garlic, parsley, basil, and cheese.  

Pineapple Caper Salmon

This dish was inspired by hawaiian fried rice and salmon, so I decided to combine the two. I liked it and hope you will too!

Ingredients:
1. Pink Salmon (no skin)
2. Pineapple Chunks (canned)
3. Capers (jarred)
4. 1 clove garlic

How to Cook: I advise not to use a wok pan for this because you need a flat surface for the salmon. So, heat your pan and coat with canola oil spray. Once the pan is hot enough, throw in the chopped garlic. Let that sizzle a bit before putting in the salmon (put the salmon on top of the garlic). Cook each side of the salmon for approx. 6 minutes. As each side cooks, season the salmon (I used parsley flakes, salt, pepper, and garlic salt). Drizzle a bit of caper juice from the jar on top of the salmon. Remove the salmon. Cook the capers and pineapple chunks for approx. 1 minute.

How simple was that?!

Quick Vegetable Sauté

I was messing around with this one, simply looking through vegetables in my fridge, but it turned out great! This dish only took 10 minutes!

Ingredients:
1. Sweet green pepper
2. French string beans
3. Onion
4. 1 clove garlic
5. 1 lemon or lemon juice

How to Cook: Have your pan heated with canola oil spray. Once the pan is heated enough, put the chopped garlic and onion in. Sauté that for a bit before adding the string beans (I used frozen string beans) and sweet green pepper (add the sweet green pepper once the string beans softens a bit). Sprinkle lemon juice on top (I used a fresh lemon) and season accordingly.

Deviled Eggs

Deviled Eggs without Mayo.

Ingredients:
1. Hard boiled eggs
2. Bacon (whole or bacon toppings used for salads)
3. Olive oil

How to Cook: Boil eggs for approx. 5 minutes. Handle eggs with care; it gets super hot! So, let the eggs stand for a bit before beginning to to crack the eggs and cutting them in half. I cut them vertically. Separate the egg yolks from the whites and put the egg yolks into a mixing bowl. The mixing bowl should have olive oil, bacon, and egg yolk. Now, mix with your hands and form mini circles so the mixture fits in the egg whites.

Optional: For my eggs, I cooked the bacon (I used bacon toppings bought from Costco. They are already cut and in mini size, meant for salads) and seasoned it with pepper, parsley flakes, and garlic salt. Other recipes add some form of mayo in their deviled eggs. I did not and it tasted fine because of the olive oil.

Hearty Chicken Mushroom Soup

Ingredients:
1. Approx. 6 mushrooms
2. 1 onion
3. 1 clove garlic
4. 3 celery
5. 2 green onion leaves
6. 2 bay leaves
7. 2 tiny potatoes
8. Chicken Stock
9. Chicken breasts
10. Olive oil


How to Cook: Add a little olive oil to to your pot, then add the cut chicken breasts. Once that gets going, add the onion and garlic. The potatoes are next. Once the potatoes soften, add chicken stock. Let the soup boil before adding the soft vegetables (celery, onion leaves, mushrooms, bay leaves). Season according to your taste!

What I love about this soup: It is super flexible and healthy!

Say Goodbye to Chinese Takeout

My take on a quick chicken dish! It only takes 5-10 minutes. How great is that?

Ingredients:
1. 1 onion
2. 1 clove garlic
3. Chicken breast
4. Oyster or Stir Fried Sauce (can buy these at the Asian section of your local supermarket)
5. Canola Oil Spray

How to Cook: Spray the pan with Canola and once the pan gets hot enough, add chicken breast. Cook the chicken breast for about 1-2 minutes before adding the garlic and onion. Add desired sauce and season!

Smoked Salmon

Cute Appetizer Idea: Smoked Salmon

All you need are crackers (any type, but we used Melba), cream cheese, and store bought smoked salmon.

Goes well with lemon and hot sauce (tapatío or tabasco) if you like heat.

Quinoa: The Superfood

What is Quinoa? Why is this the new craze? Well, it is easy to make, it is stacked with protein, and has great texture for cooking all types of meals--sweet, sour, you name it!

My first time cooking quinoa went really well. For me, I was unsure if I even had the portions right; however, it is really like cooking rice.

How to Cook: Rinse the quinoa 1-2 times, then add water. Quinoa to water ratio is 1:2 cups (for every 1 cup of quinoa, add 2 cups of water).

Ways to Cook: Quinoa can be cooked via rice cooker or by boiling it in hot water for approx. 20 minutes.

Poached Scrambled Egg

I remember watching tutorials on how to poach eggs, and each tutorial simply stated that water must be boiled with a tablespoon of vinegar. None of those videos showed eggs that have been kept in the fridge for more than two weeks. So for me, what was suppose to be a perfectly poached egg turned into a poached scrambled egg. Why? Because the egg I used wasn't fresh. Luckily for me, I learned a trick.

Here is my trick: when the egg you poach splats around the simmering-boiling water, add a little more vinegar. The boiling water should bubble around the egg. The result is a poached scrambled egg.

Easy Omelet

Ingredients:
1. 4 whisked eggs
2. 1/2 diced tomato
3. 1 green onion leaf
4. 1 clove garlic diced
5. Dash of Salt & Pepper
6. Canola Oil Spray

Spray pan and once pan is heated, add whisked eggs. Once the edges begin to crust, add ingredients, and then fold the edges toward the middle.

*Can season with parsley flakes, oregano, and rosemary.