Beet, Spinach + Goat Cheese Salad

This a great summer salad - very light but very nutritious! Roast the beets ahead of time if you can. It will be easier to peel them when they're cool. I like to peel them after they've been roasted, but either way it will be a big mess, so it's up to you. Yummy beets!!

If you want to buy the sherry vinegar and have no idea what else you could use it for, it makes a wonderful dressing for salads with any kind of roasted vegetables involved. 

Beet, Spinach, and Goat Cheese Salad
serves 2 as a large side (aka add protein)

2 cups of washed spinach
4 medium sized beets, roasted, peeled, and sliced
4 Tbsp crumbled goat cheese
Olive Oil
Sherry Vinegar
Kosher Salt

Divide ingredients evenly between two plates, and drizzle lightly with oil and vinegar (it's better to start with too little vinegar - it's strong stuff!) and sprinkle with salt.

Red Salad

Slowly but surely, I'm building up a repertoire of salads that I actually enjoy (Shocking - I know!). Near the top of the list is this one that I call the Red Salad. Don't let that put you off, they're all good things! Super simple, I won't list quantities because it's totally up to you.

Red Leaf Lettuce
Red Grapes, cut in half if large
Red Onion (thinly sliced and soaked in cold water to wash away a bit of it's pungency)
Balsamic Dressing
Toasted Walnuts or Pecans, optional
Crumbled Blue Cheese or Goat Cheese, optional but you should really do it, it's what makes the salad! ("but it's weeeiirddd it's bluuueeeee" oh stop being such a wimp. It's just cheese, it's not like it's monkey brains!)


Toss and enjoy with a glass of wine for a light dinner, or with some chicken and potatoes as part of a fantastic feast!

Heehee - these looked like an octopus

Eggs in a Kale nest

I'll admit - this recipe was pretty much stolen from my Martha Stewart magazine, but I did make some changes so I don't feel too guilty posting this - and you certainly won't have to feel guilty eating it, because it is some of the most delicious health food you'll ever have! I may be exaggerating, depending how you feel about soft-boiled eggs. I hear not everyone is a fan... hmm... ANYWAY, so the story goes:

4 soft-boiled eggs (how to)
1 large bunch of Kale
1/2 onion (shallot, red, white, yellow, blue... blue???), chopped
1 cup uncooked brown rice
1/2 lemon, zested
olive oil
s+p

1) If you're thinking far enough in advance, cook the eggs about 30 minutes ahead. They will be MUCH easier to peel.
Preheat oven to 400

2) Cook the brown rice - 2 cups of water to 1 cup of rice (this is almost ALWAYS the ratio, also with white rice - memorize it!). Bring to a boil, then simmer and cover until all the water is absorbed.

3) Remove the large ribs from each Kale stem, and chop VERY roughly. Kale shrinks almost as much as spinach so keep the leaves fairly large. Toss with the onion, a healthy drizzle of olive oil, lemon zest, and the salt and pepper. Spread out on a baking sheet and slide into the top third of the oven.

4) I'm rarely precise when I cook, so I don't know how long it took - set your timer at 3 minutes intervals - when the kale is crispy and a little brown, it's done. Stop when you smell burning!!

5) Serve the kale on the rice and the eggs on the kale!

*tip: if you're peeling your eggs and they seem too soft for your liking (like as if not all of the white is cooked) it won't hurt them to lower them back into simmering water for another 5 minutes or so. I can't STAND uncooked egg white... ick!*

Lent - the Daniel Fast

Well, Lent is now upon us. 40 days of pre-Easter mind and body preparations. My husband and I decided that since we are currently trying to improve our physical AND spiritual health, we would do the Daniel Fast. I've been surprised at how many people haven't heard of this - but then again, I did grow up in a household where fasting and cleanses were fairly common. Thus, I will elaborate. If you have a Bible nearby Daniel 1:8-17 gives the more detailed version, but to sum up: Daniel and his buddies were in Babylon and the guards appointed over them were trying to give them the usual Babylonian cuisine of very rich food and wine. Daniel considered these foods to be defiling to his body and health, so he asked if he and his men could be given only vegetables and water to drink. The guard wanted to grant the request, but was concerned that it would cause this gang to become scrawny and weak, and he didn't want any trouble with the King. Daniel asked him to do a 10 day trial, and at the end of it they were much healthier and stronger than everyone else.

The Daniel Fast of today is not purely vegetables and water, but it does focus on whole unprocessed foods and avoids all meat and animal products, as well as sugars and bread. It's a pretty strict diet, so because Dave and I are also trying to exercise regularly we are making a few exceptions for the occasional chicken breast or salmon fillet, but we will do our best. We're also adding nightly devotions in the form of reading Lent-focused prayers and articles.

This all means that the recipes and concoctions I post here may not always LOOK tantalizing, but they will certainly be healthy, and I will never post something that I don't think is delicious. But on a brighter note, Sundays during Lent are considered mini-celebrations of Easter, therefore it is quite acceptable to break your fasts or 'cheat' a little on Sundays. You learn fairly quickly not to binge on Sundays - it can make for a Monday full of headaches and upset stomachs!

We're all in for a healthier 40 days!