Loaded Mashed Potatoes

A quick and easy way to jazz up plain mashed potatoes. There's no limit to what you can add to yours. Pretty much any cheese will work, I've added sharp cheddar here. Then add bacon, diced onion and whatever else you like to your potatoes. These make a great side dish or meal on their own!

What's For Dinner? Feta and Tomato Orzo, Green Beans and Red Snapper

This whole meal comes together in less than 30 minutes and the orzo is great as leftovers.  If you've never used orzo before, it's a small rice shaped pasta but if you can't find orzo, any small pasta will do!  Salty Feta and Sweet tomato compliment each other well in the pasta - seared snapper and a side of green beans make a complete meal!

Spiced Vegetable Quinoa with Vegetables

Did you know Quinoa, a seudo grain native to South America, is a relative of spinach, beets and the tumbleweed? Its protein content is very high (12%–18%). Unlike wheat or rice, and like oats, quinoa contains a balanced set of essential amino acids, making it an unusually complete protein source among plant foods. It is a good source of dietary fiber (7g per serving) and phosphorus and is high inmagnesium and iron. Quinoa is gluten-free and considered easy to digest. (from Wikipedia).

Quinoa is very easy to cook, it takes only 15 minutes which is basically the same amount of time as white rice, with many more health benefits! It's also very versatile, like rice, and can be served hot or cold!

I served this quick and easy spiced quinoa with broiled salmon, but it would do just as well with pretty much anything or even on its own!

Butter Basted Baby Carrots

I was lucky enough to find these multicoloured baby carrots at this farmers market this weekend.  Sweet and tender in purple and orange.  These are so fast and easy to cook and they require little prep - I don't even peel them before tossing them in a hot frying pan with a little butter.  No brown sugar glaze required here, these baby's are super sweet and tasty.  If you can find them, snatch them up - they are great like this, served raw in crudités or salad or simply blanched - a great early summer treat.

Twice Baked, Stuffed Baked Potatoes

What follows isn't exactly a recipe and you really don't need one to make these just start with baking potatoes....now, if you can avoid the 2 pound, 5" monsters Shaun picked out at the grocery store (I pause to note that I did ask him to choose the smallest potatoes he could find from the bin and this is what we got) you won't have to bake them as long as I had to...these bad boys took an hour and a half!

Stuffed with cheese, yogurt, onion and bacon - crispy skin on the outside and creamy mashed potato within, what could be better than this!

Peas, Pesto and Pasta

The basil plants on the balcony are going a bit crazy. I've been plucking off their flowers and have been rewarded with an abundance of leaves! I really love pesto in moderation but there is something very strong about the bottled stuff and on a bowl of pasta I find it over whelming so I thought I'd try making my own with basil, lemon, parmesan and of course garlic!

I used substantially less oil than traditional pesto in this recipe.  I have also added a few tbsp of vegetable broth to the mixture to make up for the lack of oil.  If you prefer a more traditional consistency, feel free to up to oil amount as you blend.

This recipe makes enough pesto for one generous plate of pasta for one as a meal, however, you could easily serve this as a side dish with a light protein like fish or chicken if you wish!

Grilled Flank Steak Tacos with Spiced Tomato Rice, Fresh Guacamole and Home made Flour Tortillas

This meal has made the top ten best things we've eaten at home...(don't ask me what else is on that list cause I can't tell you...ha ha) but this was just divine We have never cooked a flank steak before and wasn't sure where to begin...the only thing I knew was to 'cut it across the grain' after cooking to ensure it would be tender (and tender it was!), juicy, flavourful. We could have eaten the whole thing...but restrained ourselves...just barely.

We wrapped out grilled steak in home made tortillas with spicy tomato rice and guacamole, but this steak would be great with a big heap of garlic mashed potatoes or in a sandwich too. I can just as easily see this piled on a crusty roll with provolone cheese and grilled onions!

Spinach Falafel

Traditionally deep fried, this recipe for falafel is lightly pan fried for a lighter, healthier result!  The more traditional parsley is also replaced with spinach in this version for an interesting twist!  Prepared in the food processor, the recipe is quick and easy to prepare, but you can also mash the ingredients by hand with a bowl and fork or in a mortar and pestle.

I formed the chickpea mixture into flat rounds and got 6 medium sized patties this way.  You can also shape them into smaller balls and get about 12.  The larger patties make for a great meal on their own with some salad or on a bun.  Smaller falafel would be delicious on their own as a snack or stuffed into warm pita bread.  Either way you serve them, hummous, tzatziki or hot sauce makes a great accompaniment!