Quick Corn

Have you ever just wanted one or two cobs of corn and you didn't want to haul out the pan and boil water and all that business? Here's a way to get yourself some quick corn. Roll the corn in a piece of wet paper towel, place on a plate and microwave for 5 minutes. Use an oven mitt to unroll--the corn will be hot! Adorn as you see fit: butter, salt, pepper, cumin.....whatever :-)

Green Bean Fries

OK, I admit that these don't really replace french fries but they are a nice low-cal accompaniment to a burger.

Preheat oven 425
1 pkg fresh green beans, ends snipped
some garlic powder
some onion powder
some grated Parmesan cheese
a bit of olive oil

Use large baking tin covered with parchment or foil. Empty beans onto pan and drizzle with olive oil-don't go crazy here or they'll be too greasy. Sprinkle on the garlic, the onion and the cheese and then with hands toss around and spread the beans out well on the pan.
Roast 15 minutes or more if you want them a bit browner.

Go well with tomato wedges tossed with balsamic and fresh basil.

Shrimp Scampi

Most shrimp scampi recipes have a lot of butter involved but not this one. You can also try resting the shrimp on a different "bed" other than the usual rice or pasta. Tonight I made zucchini "ribbons" and put the shrimp and sauce over them. Pretty tasty :-)

1 lb raw shrimp
a couple teaspoons of olive oil
6 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 t salt
1/4 t peper
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
lemon wedges for garnish

In large skillet or wok, heat the oil. Sauté the shrimp until just pink-add the garlic and stir constantly about 30 seconds then transfer the shrimp to plate. In the skillet, combine the broth, juice, wine and salt and pepper. Boil uncovered until the sauce is reduced by half. Briefly put the shrimp back in to combine and reheat. Serve over rice or pasta or zucchini ribbons-possibly spaghetti squash? Garnish with parsley and lemon wedges.

Roasted Artichokes with Red Onion

Here is a tasty side that you can prepare ahead of time as it can be served at room temperature.

9 oz artichokes, rinsed and drained (not the marinated ones!)
1/4 cup olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 t red pepper flakes
1/4 t paprika
2 t tarragon
1 T chopped fresh parsley
1 large red onion sliced
juice of 1/2 lemon

Preheat oven 350
In small bowl, combine artichokes with 2 T olive oil, garlic, spices and toss until mixed through.
Spread out mixture onto baking sheet (lined with parchment or foil) and roast 30 -35 minutes turning a couple times.
Heat the remaining 2 T oil in medium skillet and caramelize the red onion for 25 minutes or so-stirring occasionally.
Stir lemon juice into onion and then combine with the roasted artichokes and add the fresh parsley. Can be served warm or room temperature.

Hello Summer......

Here's a nice fairly light cocktail to usher in your summer. This will make two rounds of drinks for two. In a pitcher combine 16 oz white wine of choice ( I used Sauvignon Blanc), the juice from one large orange, juice for half a lemon and two oz of rum. Throw a couple of orange wedges and lemon wedges in pitcher, too. Let chill in fridge for a couple of hours. When ready to serve, fill highball glass with ice and pour wine mixture half way and top with club soda or tonic. Garnish with orange, lemon or possibly an umbrella?

Yummy Sandwich

In the mood for a great tasting sandwich? Start with Motown Multigrain made by Avalon Bakery (in Detroit) which I buy at Arbor Farms here in Ann Arbor. Mash some avocado with lemon juice, salt and pepper. Add some sprouts and dig in!

Grilled Sprouts

I made these the other night when I had chicken to put on the grill. It really is wise to par boil the brussels sprouts first. Otherwise, their outsides get really dark and overly cooked and the insides are not quite soft enough. The sprouts I had were large so I cut them in half. Below are directions for parboiling and then the recipe that I used.

Clean and Par Boil the brussels sprouts

• Clean the sprouts by removing the bottom layer of the stem, and any outer leaves that have blemishes
• Cut the sprouts into halves or quarters (depending on the size you like) from top to bottom - so that the stem holds the leaves together
• Drop the cut sprouts into salted boiling water for 3 – 4 minutes, or until they are just starting to get soft (stick a knife into them to tell their texture).  You are not cooking them all the way through.
• Remove the sprouts from the water and drop them in a bowl of ice water until they are cool to the touch
• Drain them from the water
• You can go up to this point several hours ahead of time.  If I cook them ahead, I just wrap them in a moist paper towel and place them in the fridge until I’m ready to use them.

1 pound Brussels sprouts, cut in half 
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Mix all of the ingredients in bowl and then transfer to a grill basket. I cooked them at pretty high heat for 10-15 minutes, stirring often. 

Walleye with Salad

This is a really refreshing salad and if you've never tried walleye before it is a nice mild, good tasting fish. I actually was looking for red snapper when I went to the market but alas, there were no snappers so walleye it was!

Salad

1 bunch romaine, chopped

2 handfuls of baby arugula, chopped

1/2 small beet, grated ( I used my Ninja chopper for this)

1/2 large carrot, peeled and grated (ninja!)

1 avocado, medium dice

1 cup sprouts 

1 cup cherry tomatoes, cut in half

3 large radishes, cut in half and sliced thin

Dressing

Juice from one lemon

1 T olive oil

1 T Dijon mustard

Whisk to combine.

Fish

Rub olive oil over the fish and salt and pepper well.

Heat a cast iron pan or other heavy skillet.

Cook fish flesh side down-4 minutes then turn over for 4 more minutes.

Cod with Southeast Asian Eggplant

Remember the cookbook, The Enchanted Broccoli Forest by Mollie Katzen? Well, if not, no matter, but this is one of her recipes by way of Prevention Magazine. I was flipping through the pages and this Southeast Asian Eggplant caught my eye. It looked so good and I was picturing it making a lovely "bed" for some miso black cod. Just search for black cod on this blog and you'll get the recipe for that. My daughter-in-law taught me how to make it and it's a great recipe!

Southeast Asian Eggplant

2 Tbsp canola or peanut oil
2 lg eggplants (about 3 lb), peeled and sliced lengthwise (½" thick) and then crosswise into ½"-thick sticks
1 med red onion, sliced
¼ tsp salt
3 lg cloves garlic, minced
2 serrano chile peppers, thinly sliced (careful when handling; avoid touching eyes)
⅓ c dry sherry or ¼ c rice wine vinegar
¼ c water
2 Tbsp packed brown sugar (I used one T of agave nectar)
2 Tbsp reduced-sodium soy sauce
Juice of one lime
1 c (packed) fresh mint leaves, coarsely chopped

1. PLACE large skillet or wok over medium heat. Swirl in oil to coat pan. Add eggplant, onion, and salt and cook, stirring, about 5 minutes.
2. ADD garlic, peppers, and sherry and cook, stirring, 5 minutes longer.
3. COMBINE water, , soy sauce, and lime juice in small bowl. Stir into eggplant mixture. Cover, reduce heat to low, and cook, stirring frequently, 10 minutes or until eggplant has reduced in volume by about half.  Remove from heat and stir in mint.

Blueberry Muffins

I tend to stay away from muffins because they are notoriously caloric. These muffins are pretty delicious and are fairly healthful. No guilt muffins!

1 cup almond meal
2 t baking powder
2 t cinnamon
1/4 t sea salt
4 large eggs
1 T unsweetened applesauce
1 T pure vanilla extract
1 cup frozen blueberries ( I like the tiny wild frozen blueberries from Trader Joe's)**note: I have also made this with regular size frozen blueberries and it is much better using the tiny ones. The regular ones sink to the bottom of the batter!

1. Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 6-cup muffin tin.
2. Stir together the almond meal, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl.
3. In another medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, applesauce and vanilla.
4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix thoroughly. Then fold in the blueberries.
5. Divide the batter among the 6 cups in the muffin tin.
6. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Let the muffins cool for ten minutes before removing from tin.

Green Bean and Cabbage Stir Fry

I had some leftover grilled flank steak as well as a head of cabbage and a package of green beans in the fridge. Cabbage and green beans are not a usual pairing in my mind, but this worked!

1 package whole green beans, cut them on the bias in 1 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 head of green cabbage, sliced thinly
1 T canola or peanut oil
2 t sesame oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 T hot chili garlic sauce
3 T soy sauce
1 T sesame seeds, toasted

Heat the oil and sesame oil in a large skillet with lid. Add the green beans and stir and then put the lid on for a minute or so to let the beans cook.
Add the cabbage and the garlic and stir around--put the lid back on and let that cook a bit.
Stir in the soy sauce and chili garlic sauce-put lid back on and cook until beans are tender crisp.
Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Since I had some leftover flank steak I rolled them into pinwheels and added to plate.

Homemade Mayo

My daughter-in-law sent me a recipe for homemade mayo that her good friend makes all the time. It is so simple, especially if you have an immersion blender.

1 cup oil (I used grape seed oil--you could use light olive oil-avocado oil, etc)
1 egg
1 T fresh lemon juice
1/4 t dry mustard

In small bowl, blend the egg, lemon juice, and mustard and then slowly trickle in the oil. It will be begin to thicken and before you know it the mixture has emulsified and voila! you have mayo!

I had made a crockpot chicken the other day, so I had some nice leftovers in the fridge. I added celery, onion and my homemade mayo and whipped up a nice chicken salad. Put that on the bed of greens, cukes, and cherry tomatoes and threw on some toasted pecans for good measure.

Scrumptious Sides

I grilled a flank steak tonight for dinner and made a couple of really yummy side dishes to go with. The first is super easy: Sauté sliced mushrooms and sliced red pepper, salt, pepper, some dried red pepper for about ten minutes or so, then throw in a lot of fresh spinach and cook down and drizzle with white balsamic vinegar before serving.

The second dish takes a bit more time but it's so worth it---IF you like garlic. Preheat oven or toaster oven to 325. Cut a whole bulb of garlic in half and rub with olive oil-put the halves back together and wrap in foil and bake for 40 minutes. Let it cool a bit and then squeeze the garlic out into a bowl.  In the mean time, caramelize half a large red onion that has been sliced. Cook in a bit of olive oil 20 minutes or so. To the garlic in the bowl add a T of olive oil , some salt and pepper, a pinch of cayenne and stir around. Bring a pot of water to boil and cook asparagus spears for about five minutes or so--tender but not mushy. When the asparagus has cooked, turn the asparagus out onto a  small platter and add the garlic sauce and combine well and then top with caramelized onions. This is good!

If you like curry..........

then you will love this soup! This is so easy to make with only a few ingredients.

Curried Creamy Cauliflower Soup

1 head of cauliflower chopped up in large pieces
1 medium carrot, peeled and chopped
3 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 T curry powder
1 cup unsweetened almond milk
salt and pepper to taste

In soup pot, put all ingredients except salt and pepper and bring to full boil. Cover, and simmer 15 minutes then use a hand held immersion blender and blend up the soup right in the pot. Now, taste for salt and pepper--I added maybe 1/2 t salt and 1/4 t pepper.

Enjoy.........if you like curry :-)

Morning Glory Muffins

If you ever need to make muffins that are gluten free these are pretty good. Muffins are notorious for being pretty fat and sugar laden. These are actually "pretty good for you" muffins.

Makes 6 muffins
3/4 cup almond flour
2 T coconut flour
1 t cinnamon
1 t coriander powder
1/2 t nutmeg
1/4 t sea salt
1/4 t baking soda
2 eggs
2 T coconut oil melted
1 t real vanilla extract
1 t lemon juice
1/3 cup grated carrot
1/3 cup grated zucchini
1/4 cup walnuts, chopped
1/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut

Preheat oven 350
Combine all dry ingredients in medium size bowl.
Beat eggs and stream in oil, vanilla, and lemon juice in medium bowl.
Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and combine. Stir in the carrot, zucchini and walnuts.
Grease muffin tin and fill cups with mixture--top with coconut.
Bake 15-25 minutes until browned on top and spring back when touched (ovens really vary)
FYI:  These muffins don't really puff up or rise--they pretty much just get cooked through and stay about the same size.
Let muffins cool on rack ten minutes before removing.
Store uneaten muffins in fridge and reheat before eating.

Curried Creamy Broccoli Soup

Next time you hear that I'm making a trip to Costco please remind me about the three pound bag of broccoli that I bought, ok? It seemed like such a good idea at the time. It was a bag of broccoli crowns, all cut and cleaned and ready to cook. So, there's just the two of us here and that's a lot of fresh produce to use. After a couple of days of using it in various side dishes I knew I needed to use the majority of it in something soon or it was gonna go south on me and then I'd be sad. I have been making several pureed soups lately so I searched around online for broccoli soup and didn't find exactly what I wanted. However, I was able to get some ideas and was able to use ingredients that I had on hand to make this really good soup. So, all is well.

1 and 1/2 pounds of broccoli tops (cut in uniform size)
1 bag defrosted and drained frozen leeks (from Trader Joe's)or you could use 3 fresh (cut up) but I hate cleaning them
1 large onion, diced
1 shallot sliced
1 quart low sodium chicken broth
1 cup unsweetened coconut milk
1/4 apple diced
2 T coconut oil
1 T curry powder
salt and pepper to taste

Heat coconut oil in large soup pot. Sauté onions, shallots and leeks for 5 minutes or so--add curry powder and some salt and pepper and stir well. Throw in the broccoli and the apple and stir around. Add the chicken broth. You want to pretty much cover the broccoli so you can add water to do that. Bring to a boil and then cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Turn heat off and let soup cool a bit and then use your immersion blender that I told you to buy and puree all the veggies. When the soup is all well blended, add a cup of coconut milk and stir in and bring back to a boil. Now, you need to taste for salt and pepper cause you're going to want some.

Bacon, Asparagus, and Shallot Tart

This really isn't a real tart in my book because it has no crust but I did bake it in my 9-inch French tart pan, so it's a tart tonight. You don't need a special pan for this--a large pie plate would work just fine. This is a savory dish somewhat like a crustless quiche. I served it for dinner with potatoes and salad.

8 oz uncured turkey bacon, diced
1 shallot, minced
1 bunch of asparagus, trimmed and chopped
8 large eggs
1/4 t salt
1/2 t pepper
1/4 t smoked paprika
1/2 avocado sliced

Pre heat oven 350
In medium skillet cook bacon until lightly browned-2-3 minutes. Add shallots and asparagus and cook another 2-3 minutes. Turn heat off pan.

In large bowl whisk the 8 eggs and then slowly add the meat/asparagus mixture, salt and pepper and combine well.

Grease baking or tart pan and then pour egg mixture in.

Bake 25-35 minutes. Let cool on wire rack 15 minutes before cutting. Before serving dust with smoked paprika and garnish with some sliced avocado.

Shrimp Tacos with Jicama Slaw

It's not that easy to get tacos to stand up straight for filling or photographing. An upside down muffin tin works really well as a taco stand. I made this recipe up with ingredients I had on hand tonight and they tasted pretty good.

I had half a jicama, half an avocado, ten good sized shrimp and a box of Trader Joe's corn tacos--sounds like dinner!

Early in the day I made this jicama slaw and put in the fridge to let flavors develop.

1/2 jicama, peeled and shredded in processor
1 large radish, sliced thinly
4 scallions, sliced thinly
1 T salad oil
1 T rice wine vinegar
1/2 T agave
some chopped cilantro
salt and pepper
Combine all ingredients and put in fridge.

1/2 avocado, mashed. To that add 2 T salsa verde ( I use Trader Joe's) Combine, cover with plastic wrap and put in fridge.

I had ten large frozen shrimp which I defrosted and detailed. About a 1/2 hour before dinner, I drizzled them with some olive oil and sprinkled them with chipotle chili powder.

When ready to eat I heated the taco shells in the oven and quickly sautéed the shrimp in a medium skillet.

Chicken Noodle!

A couple of days ago I had made crockpot chicken and had a couple quarts of homemade chicken broth waiting in the fridge. I decided to put together a hearty version of chicken noodle soup. This is difficult to write as a recipe because you have to really taste the broth a lot to get it "right" for your own particular taste preference. Some people like things more or less salty, so my advice is to taste, taste, taste when making chicken soup.

Here is my rough recipe as a guide:

In a soup pot I browned some garlic, one small chopped onion, and 3 carrots chopped in olive oil. Celery would be nice here, too, but I didn't have any and missing ingredients never stop me. I then added around two quarts of stock, some salt, white pepper, 1 T turmeric (this gives the soup a nice color and flavor, I think), a T of chicken bouillon base, and some thyme. Bring this to a boil and add 1/2 bag of whole wheat pasta and any left over cooked chicken you might have hanging around in the fridge. Cook for how long it says on your pasta package for the pasta to be done. Now, begin to do some tasting to see what it "needs"--a little more salt? maybe pepper? When you think you have the flavor about right and you want a heartier soup, you can add some thickener. I use a couple T cornstarch with 1/4 cup water whisked into a slurry and then added slowly to the hot soup bringing the soup up to a boil again and it will thicken. I also threw in some kale for color-what could it hurt? I have to say that this was mighty tasty. If you prefer a "brothier" soup, leave out the cornstarch step.

Creamy Asparagus Soup

Here's a quick and easy soup if you happen to have a couple bunches of asparagus and some cauliflower on hand.

1 T olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 head of cauliflower, cut into small florets
2 1/2 pounds of asparagus, trimmed and cut in 1/2 pieces
1/4 t cayenne pepper
6 cups low sodium vegetable or chicken broth
salt and pepper to taste

In soup pot, heat oil--add garlic for about a  minute then add the cauliflower, asparagus and cayenne and stir frequently for about five minutes. Pour in the broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until cauliflower is fully cooked--around 10-15 minutes. Transfer to blender or use a hand help immersion blender for about 2 minutes or so to puree. Taste and add salt and pepper to your liking. I added a sprinkle of chopped red pepper and a dollop of plain Greek yogurt.

Sweet Potato and Jicama Hash

I don't often use jicama.  I picked one up the other day at the grocery and was looking online for some recipes when I came upon jicama hash. I tweaked the recipe a bit adding sweet potato because I wanted the dish to be a bit heartier since I was serving it for dinner. This recipe calls for a spice mixture that you need to put together before you begin cooking. It makes quite a bit so you have this really nice leftover combo of spices that you can use in the future for all kinds of other dishes.

Make ahead Hash Spice mixture:
1 T smoked paprika
1/2 T sea salt
1/2 T pepper
1 T garlic powder
1T onion powder
1 t cayenne pepper
1 t cumin
1 t turmeric
2 t dried oregano
2 t dried thyme
Mix all together and put in small glass jar

olive oil
1 onion, diced
4 strips uncured turkey bacon, diced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 cups of shredded jicama-about 1/2 of large jicama, peeled and shredded in processor
1 medium sweet potato, peeled, and cut in large dice
2 cups kale, washed and chopped
4 eggs
1/2 avocado, sliced

Heat 1 T olive oil and cook onions about five minutes. Add bacon and garlic and cook a few more minutes.

Add jicama, sweet potato, kale and 3 t of the spice mixture and stir to combine. Add about 1/4 cup of water and and let this mixture cook for about ten minutes.

Meanwhile cook your eggs in another skillet, sunny side up.

Divide hash into bowls, top with eggs and sliced avocado.

Deep Greens Salad

Have you seen the packaged baby kale in the salad section at the grocery? Its leaves are small and it's much more tender than some of the other kale that's sold in larger bunches.  It really works well when you want to use it raw in a salad. We really liked this fresh tasting salad. It has a big lemon taste so if that doesn't appeal to you, steer clear of this.

1 tub of Deep Greens-Kale
1/4 cup of olive oil
1/4 cup of lemon juice
zest from 1 lemon
1/4 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped Kalamata olives
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
1 garlic clove, minced finely
pinch of sea salt

Put greens in medium bowl, add lemon juice, oil and zest and toss well. Let that sit for a few minutes, then add all the rest of the ingredients and toss well.

Refreshing and healthful!

Slow Cooked Chicken

Here is a really simple way to have a whole roasted chicken appear at dinner time without too much fuss from you, the cook. Get a 4-5 pound roasting chicken. Chop an onion and put it in the bottom of a crockpot. Season the bird heavily all over--I used a cajun seasoning because I like things a little spicy. Put the chicken on top of the onions, put the lid on, set it to HIGH and forget about it for 5 hours. That's right, you put no liquid in the pot--just the onions.

The end result is a very tender tasty little bird.

After dinner, throw the leftover bones back in the crockpot, add some celery,  and carrot and fill to the top with water and cook on LOW all night. In the morning, pour the broth mixture through a sieve and you have some nice homemade broth.  You can use that as a base for soup or freeze for later. You will probably want to season it with salt and pepper.

Caesar Salad with Chicken

When I make a dish that calls for chicken breasts I usually have three since they often come packaged that way. Consequently, there's a single, cooked, lonely chicken breast in my fridge all wrapped up with nowhere to go. This is a nice reason for it to come out and be included in a tangy caesar salad. I make this dressing in my blender--food processor would work just as well.

Dressing
2 cloves, chopped
1 T Dijon mustard
2 T tahini
juice from 1/2 lemon
2 T apple cider vinegar
2 T olive oil
2 anchovies
sea salt and pepper to taste

Blend all the dressing ingredients until smooth.

Wash, dry and chop a bunch of romaine (I also threw in some arugula-what could it hurt?)
I cut the leftover chicken breast into small chunks.
Toss the greens and the chicken with the dressing and divide into two bowls.

Lunch is served!

Cod with Tomato, Capers and Garlic

I'm always on the hunt for different ways to do fish and this has been declared a winner and a keeper. You make the sauce earlier in the day so the flavors can develop. When it comes time for dinner it's very easy to make some rice or couscous, quickly sauté the fish, add the sauce and cook for about five minutes and you're done! Fast and fresh :-)

Sauce-try to make an hour or more before dinner and just put in fridge
3 plum tomatoes diced (or whatever tomatoes you have)
1/4 cup of Kalamata olives, pitted and diced
11/2 T capers as well as a little of the juice from the jar
1 jalapeno pepper, finely diced ( I used a whole one and was expecting this dish to have quite a bit of heat but it didn't really so I guess I used a really mild pepper? That said, regulate the heat depending on your tastes.)
2 scallions, chopped
2 garlic cloves, finely minced
1 T red wine vinegar
1 1/2 T olive oil
1 lb. of cod
salt and pepper

In a medium bowl, mix the tomatoes, olives, capers, jalapeno, scallion, garlic, vinegar, and 1/2 T oil and put in fridge for later.

At dinner time:
Season fish with salt and pepper.

Heat skillet with 1 T olive oil over medium high heat. Add fish and cook for 3 minutes without disturbing. Reduce heat to medium and flip fish over.

Add the tomato mixture stir around and let all that cook together for five minutes.

Serve fish over rice, couscous, or quinoa.

Holy Mole!

Recently a good friend sent me some food pictures from her trip to Austin and San Antonio, Texas. Not only were they great food shots, but the food itself looked mouthwateringly fabulous. So it got me to thinking about something southwestern and spicy and I hit on:  Mole Sauce! We love mole and have not had anything prepared with it for quite some time. Furthermore, this would be a challenge for me as I have never made a mole before now. The dish turned out pretty well. I think maybe I should have cooked the turkey a bit longer, not because it was undercooked but rather I wanted it to be more tender. If you've never had mole before, it has a different, distinct taste. Quite yummy to us. I served this dish over brown rice with a side of spinach. The spinach was just a few slices of red onion sautéed in some olive oil, then the spinach stirred in briefly to wilt a bit and then a drizzle of white balsamic vinegar.

Turkey in Mole Sauce
2 turkey tenderloins
salt and pepper to taste
2 T olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, minced
4 scallions, finely chopped
1//4 t salt
1/2 t paprika
1/2 t cayenne pepper
1/2 t cinnamon
1 t cumin
1 Tablespoon chili powder
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup tomato sauce
3/4 cup chicken broth
2 T cilantro, chopped
1/2 avocado, sliced

Season turkey with salt and pepper and brown in 1 T olive oil for 3-4 minutes per side.
Remove turkey to plate.
Heat 1 T olive oil over medium heat and cook the garlic and scallions for about 1/2 minute then add all the spices and stir to combine. Next, add the cocoa powder, tomato sauce, and broth and stir the mixture for about 1/2 minute.
Return the turkey to the pan and immerse in the sauce using a tongs to turn the tenderloins over so the sauce gets all over them. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook covered for at least 30-45 minutes. You want an internal temp of 165 so it helps to have a meat thermometer.  You could start taking its temperature after 30 minutes since there's a lot of variation in tenderloin size, burner temp, etc.

Slice the turkey and serve over rice with the sauce ladled on top, garnish with cilantro and avocado.

Spinach side dish

Green Goddess Soup

You have to admit that a name like that for a soup makes a person a little curious. Turns out this soup, like many other puréed soups, isn't the most eye catching. However, it tastes really good and it's way good for you.

1 t olive oil
1/2 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 large head of broccoli, cut into medium florets
1 cup of arugula
2 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk
juice of half a lemon
salt and pepper to taste

Heat the oil in soup pot, add the onion and garlic and cook until soft--about 4 minutes. Add the broccoli and arugula. Stir and cook around 5 minutes. Pour in the broth and bring the soup to a  boil, then turn down and cover until the broccoli is tender--10-15 minutes. Transfer to a blender or use a hand held immersion blender right in the pot (that's what I do). Blend on high speed for 1 1/2 minutes or however long it takes to get the big lumps out. Add the coconut milk and lemon juice and blend a bit more. Season with salt and pepper--add more lemon juice if desired or coconut milk.

Chopped Greek Salad with Shrimp

If you like Greek salad and you also like shrimp then this is the salad for you. I used frozen raw shrimp which I thawed in a pot of cold water. I took the tails off and dried them well before cooking. The dressing makes quite a bit so you'll have some left over for another dish.

1 cucumber, chopped
1/2 basket of cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup red onion, finely diced
1 small red pepper, diced
1/2 cup Kalamata olives, sliced
1 avocado, diced
1 T olive oil
12 large shrimp, tails removed
6 oz spinach

Dressing:
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 t dried oregano
1 t Dijon mustard
2 T apple cider vinegar
2 T red wine vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 t salt
pepper to taste

Prepare salad: toss all the vegetables, olives and avocado in medium size bowl. Set aside
Prepare dressing: Mix all dressing ingredients except oil in small bowl then stream in oil and whisk until combined.
Add enough dressing to vegetables in bowl to moisten well. You will have extra dressing-put in fridge to use another time.
Heat medium skillet, add oil--salt and pepper the shrimp then add to pan and cook about 2-3 minutes per side or until shrimp turn opaque and pink. They cook really fast.
Divide the spinach into two bowls, add the dressed vegetables and top with the shrimp.

Enjoy!