Recipe Hits This Week

I made a couple of new recipes that were real hits with everyone so I thought I would share.

The first one we had for lunch one day. It was a Caprese Quinoa Salad. We already LOVE caprese so adding quinoa just made it more filling. This will definitely go into the rotation.

Caprese Quinoa Salad- http://damndelicious.net/
3-4 servings
Ingredients:
2 cups cooked quinoa
8 ounces mozzarella,diced
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, chiffonade
1 avocado, halved, seeded, peeled and diced
2 Tbsp. pine nuts
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 Tbsp. olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions:
1. In a large bowl, combine quinoa, mozzarella, tomatoes, basil, avocado, and pine nuts. Stir in balsamic vinegar and olive oil; season with salt and pepper to taste.
2. Serve immediately.

The second one I made for dinner--Shane wasn't here so I don't have his opinion, but the kids and I all liked it. It is super simple too so...weeknight dinner for sure. The kids did say it was spicy, but not so bad that they wouldn't eat it--they are getting better with spice since being in Korea where A LOT of the food is spicy. I did only use 1 TBSP of red pepper flakes...just FYI

Spicy Thai Noodles-- www.asmallsnippet.blogspot.com

1 box linguine or angel hair pasta (I used 100% whole wheat thin spaghetti)
1-2 TBSP crushed red pepper (I used red pepper flakes--only 1 TBSP)
1/4 cup vegetable oil--I suggest omitting this, it was just a bit too oily
1/2 cup sesame oil
6 TBSP honey
6 TBSP soy sauce
green onions, cilantro, peanuts and toasted sesame seeds

Directions:
Boil noodles. Drain.
Chop green onions, cilantro and peanuts.
Heat both oils and crushed red pepper over medium hear in a small pan.
Strain out pepper and reserve oil.
To oil, whisk in honey and soy sauce.
Toss mixture with noodles.
Refrigerate overnight or until cold. (I did not do this--we ate it hot and it was good. I had some for lunch the next day and it was good cold too--so either way is a winner)
Before serving, top each individual serving with onions, cilantro, peanuts and toasted sesame seeds (I actually just mixed them all in)
Serve cold.

Note on soy sauce: If you can find non-GMO get it. Another substitute that I just discovered in coconut aminos. Not sure where you can buy it stateside, but I know it comes from Amazon :)

So, there are a couple of simple healthy non-processed meals for you to try.
Let me know what you think.