Couscous with Mint, Feta and Tomatoes

I went for a bike ride this morning and when I returned home I was very hungry.

There wasn't much in the house for lunch but I did have some leftover couscous from the night before, some feta, grape tomatoes, a little fresh lemon juice I needed to use up and mint out in my garden.

I think I managed to come up with a pretty tasty lunch.

Couscous with Mint, Feta and Tomatoes

Ingredients:

• 2 cups Couscous, prepared
• Juice of 1/2 Lemon
• 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil, good quality
• 1/4 cup Feta, crumbled
• 1 cup Fresh Mint Leaves, chopped
• 8-10 Ripe Grape Tomatoes, cut into quarters

Method:

Fluff the couscous with a fork and mix in the lemon juice and olive oil thoroughly.

Mix in the rest of the ingredients in order and enjoy.

Season with salt and freshly ground pepper to taste, if desired. I didn't need any.

Tortellini Soup with Chicken Andouille and Vegetables

It's gone back to winter weather here and was cold and windy yesterday, soup weather. I had been wanting to make a tortellini soup for awhile and had some Chicken Andouille sausages from New Frontiers market that I needed to use.

I had just seen a recipe for Tortellini and Vegetable Soup on the Williams-Somoma web site and decided to modify that.

This is what I came up with and my husband said it was possibly the best soup I'd ever made.

Tortellini Soup with Chicken Andouille and Vegetables

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 links chicken andouille, from New Frontier, crumbled
• 1 tsp thyme, dried
• 1 1/2 cups celery, sliced
• 1/2 whole onion, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 large carrot, sliced in half lengthwise then thinly across
• 6 cups chicken broth
• 1 medium zucchini, sliced in half lengthwise then thinly across
• 2 large plum tomatoes, 1/2 inch dice
• 3/4 cup cheese tortellini, dry
• 1 tsp smoked paprika, Spanish sweet style. DO NOT use Hungarian Paprika as a substitute, you will ruin your soup.
• salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste
• parmesan cheese, to garnish (optional)

Method

1. In a 4qt. heavy soup pot heat olive oil until shimmery.
2. Remove sausages from casings and place in pan, breaking up with 2 heatproof spatulas or wooden spoons until crumbled.
3. Saute until browned and almost cooked through.
4. Add thyme, onion, garlic and carrots and sprinkle with a tiny amount of salt. Stir for about a minute and add celery.
5. Saute until vegetables begin to soften and onion is translucent.
6. Pour in chicken broth and bring to a boil.
7. Lower heat to simmer, cover and cook for 15 minutes.
8. Turn heat back to medium-high and add tortellini. Cook for 5 minutes and add zucchini, tomatoes and smoked Spanish sweet paprika. Continue to slowly boil for 10 more minutes or until tortellini is just done (don't overcook).
9. Adjust seasoning with salt and freshly ground pepper and serve. (At this point I didn't need to add anything so be sure to taste it first.)
10. Ladle into bowls and top with a little freshly grated parmesan.
11. Serve with a nice crusty whole grain bread.

Chicken Sausage with Carrots, Broccoli and Spinach

I put this together for dinner tonight. It took about 40 minutes including cutting up the vegetables and makes about 6 servings.

• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 carrot, scrubbed and diced
• 3 chicken sausage, your choice (I used Trader Joe's Chicken Jalapeno and Spicy Chicken Italian), slice into quarters lengthwise then into 1/2 inch dice.
• 2 cups broccoli, cut into small bite-sized pieces
• 5 cups baby spinach, washed and drained
• 1 large green onion, white part sliced lengthwise in half then thinly sliced across along with some of the green part.
• 1 small sprig fresh thyme, minced.
• 2 pkgs. Seeds of Change Quinoa and Brown Rice with Garlic
• salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Heat a large heavy stainless steel skillet over medium heat. Add olive oil and heat until shimmering. Add the carrot and allow to lightly brown. Next add the sausage and heat through for about 5 min. Add broccoli and stir until bright green, cover and let cook over low heat for about 3 min.

Meanwhile, heat the Seeds of Change in the microwave according to instructions and add to the skillet once the broccoli has begun to soften. Stir until well mixed in and add the spinach. Mix it in the best you can and cover to let it wilt a bit, about 1 min. Remove the lid and stir until the spinach is completely wilted.

Sprinkle in the onions and the thyme, and season with salt and pepper.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts

It's been a longtime since I've posted here, sorry about that but no one reads my blog anyway so ...
I just had to post this recipe. I have always hated Brussels Sprouts, they made me gag. Yuck.
That was until I discovered roasted Brussels Sprouts. Now I absolutely love them.
Here's the method:
Preheat the oven to 400°. If you have a convection oven use the convection roast setting.
Take the desired amount of small Brussels Sprouts, trim them of undesired leaves and slice them in half.
Place them in a large (gallon size) ziplock bag.
Add about a tablespoon of olive oil, seal the bag and shake well to coat.
Next add salt and freshly ground pepper to taste. Again seal and shake well to coat.
Line a large, sided baking sheet with aluminum foil (nonstick if you have it, if not, spray with cooking spray). Arrange the Brussels Sprouts on the pan cut side down and not touching.
Place on rack in upper 1/3 of oven and roast until well browned, about 20 min, less if using convection. Be careful the golden brown doesn't turn to black.
That's all there is to it. Serve either as a snack or as a vegetable side-dish.