Weeknight Favorite Recipes

Butternut Squash, Chick Pea & Pita Salad with Lemon Tahini Dressing

A good dinner salad hits the spot any time of year.  In the cooler months, however, the lighter dressings I enjoy during the summer months don’t always satisfy. I created this Lemon Tahini Dressing to stand up to hearty root vegetables and winter squashes.  In the process, I realized that it is a great option to…

Lemon Tahini Dressing

Loving big, hearty, healthy salads as I do, I often get ideas in my head about flavors I think would taste great together.  Cooler weather means the arrival of all sorts of root vegetables and winter squash, not to mention a myriad of greens. I created this nutty-tasting dressing to stand up to the flavors…

Indian-Spiced Broiled Salmon

Many people have mentioned to me over the years that they don’t cook seafood because they can’t tell how long to cook it.  While it is difficult to give an exact time to cook fish — as this will vary depending on the thickness of the filet and one’s desired degree of doneness — I…

Indian-Spiced Roasted Garbanzos

Whether you call them garbanzo beans or chick peas, they make a perfect snack food when roasted. They are an inexpensive, high-protein snack and a crunchy, low-fat alternative to croutons in a salad. Put out a pre-dinner bowl when company arrives. From boring can of beans to clever hors d’oeuvres…who knew?? A simple mixture of…

Pesto Pasta Pizza

A combination of cheeses adds great flavor to this novel crust. Add your favorite pizza toppings and serve with extra sauce, if desired.     A few months ago, I started experimenting with “crusts” made from pasta. I tried various binder combinations of eggs, cheese, milk, and olive oil until I hit on this version.  …

Sunshine Smoothie

Every Tuesday, Project Healthy Ever After  hosts a smoothie party and invites people to share their favorite blended combinations.  Today, I used one of my kids’ favorite smoothies, a Mango-Peach Smoothie, and added a bit of pureed watermelon to the top, just for fun. The colors were beautiful and reminded us all of a sunny day–on…

Summer Salad with Honey Lime Chicken and Creamy Poppy Seed Dressing

A hearty salad with lots of flavor and texture is my idea of a fabulous dinner.  What’s more, this type of dinner can be healthy and light yet altogether satisfying. Preparing your own dressing in advance plays a big role in making this meal delicious.  The addition of Greek yogurt is a natural way to…

Gorgonzola Noodles

As I was returning from my older son’s cross country meet just in time to run my younger son to swim practice, there was not a whole lot of time for cooking and no leftovers to speak of. As I reached for the eggs–a favorite quick dinner in our house–I spotted a jar of leftover…

Savory Breakfast Quinoa

Luckily, I had more than the serving pictured above because, no sooner than I snapped this photo, I knocked the plate over and sent quinoa, veggies, and egg flying.  Broke the plate, too!  My dog recently hurt his leg so even he didn’t run to my rescue and help with the clean up! But back…

Grilled Steak Salad

Leftover steak makes quick work of these satisfying dinner salads, which are easy to customize with a variety of refrigerator and pantry staples. One of my go-to “fast food” meals is this grilled steak salad. Typically, I use leftover flank or flatiron steak, purchased from a grass-fed beef stand at our local farmers market. Recently,…

Creamed Rainbow Chard and Kale with Prosciutto

When I was a kid, I didn’t much care for dark, leafy greens.  I viewed kale as a bitter garnish on a dinner plate when we went out to a nice restaurant.  Swiss chard hadn’t quite entered the culinary scene and spinach…well…it was fine. As I grew older and heard repeatedly about the health benefits…

Apricot Ginger Shrimp Kabobs

Tender shrimp with Asian-inspired flavor is easy to prepare, quick to cook, and makes a popular appetizer or entree.    At a cookout years ago, my friend Judy dished up grilled shrimp that was absolutely delicious: light tasting and tender with just a hint of sweetness.   I jotted down the recipe, which was mayonnaise-based…

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