Blue Plate Bachelor

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jUNOHxDTQoehoT3FAda6jBvSN4uQD92HNJO00

Julia Child Was A Spy!

(I love her)

This is a quick and easy side salad. We served it last night with grilled chicken pitas and tahini-yogurt sauce*.

Chopped Vegetable Salad

2 cups chopped cucumber
2 cups mixed bell peppers, chopped
1 cup chopped red onion
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp white wine vinegar
1/4 cup chopped Italian parsley
Meyer lemon sea salt (to taste)
Freshly ground black pepper (to taste)

Toss all ingredients together in a large bowl.

*(The recipe for the Chicken Shawarma is from this month’s issue of Cooking Light, and is quite delicious!)

In bootcamp on Monday our nutrition discussion on restaurant foods sparked talk of pasta with cream sauce. When I was younger, cream sauce was definitely on the ‘no’ list. But as I’ve learned more about cooking, I’ve found some easy ways to make them a little healthier and easier to incorporate into my diet.

Chicken Tequila Fettuccine — This is a lightened version of a popular pasta dish at California Pizza Kitchen.

Fettuccine with Alfredo Sauce
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This recipe sort of spotaneously came together after a trip out to the U-Pick farm on Sauvie Island. Kathleen provided the roasted tomatoes and peppers (recipe included below).

Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad with Roasted Peppers and Tomatoes

Ingredients
3 cups cooked (6 oz. uncooked) whole grain or brown rice pasta
2 cups shredded roasted chicken, skin removed (We bought a small lemon-pepper rotisserie chicken from Trader Joe’s for this and it was perfect.)
1/3 cup light Caesar dressing (store-bought or make your own)
4 oz feta cheese, crumbled
2 tbsp chopped fresh basil
2 cups torn romaine lettuce
1 cup arugula
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 cup roasted tomatoes and red peppers (recipe below)

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and toss to coat.

Serves 4.
Serving size: 2 cups
Nutrition Info: 265 cal, 6g fat, 37g carb, 16g protein

Roasted Peppers and Tomatoes

Ingredients
2-3 red, green, orange or yellow bell peppers or combination of–cleaned, seeded & sliced
2-3 plum or roma tomatoes–sliced
2 TBSP. olive oil (the good stuff)
1/2 tsp. salt
Crushed red pepper (as desired)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place sliced peppers and tomatoes in shallow baking dish. Sprinkle olive oil and salt over the vegetables and mix well. Bake for approximately 30-40 minutes. Serve in pasta, salads or as an accompaniment to beef and pork. If serving as side dish sprinkle with crushed red pepper to taste.

It’s that time again! The Recess Bootcamp (now re-branded as “Health Immersion”) is back. I had such a great experience last year that I am doing it again — and this time I brought friends.

In that spirit, here are a few of the more interesting posts we did during the last series of bootcamps — including a lot of discussion on how to successfully be a foodie and still look good in your favorite jeans:

* Countdown to Summer — The first bootcamp post of 2007
* “Don’t eat that. It’ll spoil your supper.” — Menus and strategies for dealing with the long dark teatime between getting home from work and actually putting dinner on the table.
* “She is crying out for a makeover.” — Your favorite resturant and home-cooked classics, transformed.
* A world without cookies — No one wants to live in one

Most of the bootcamp-worthy posts can be found under the tag “Healthy Stuff” (The creation of that tag last year caused my co-bloggers to retaliate by creating a category for “Unhealthy Stuff,” for those of us who like the occasional cocktail, cigar or handful of Bacon Salt.)

I approve of this website:
http://beermapping.com/maps/citymaps.php?m=portlandor

(A beer oriented approach to google maps, via Metafilter)

Fried Brown Rice with Teriyaki Tofu and Vegetables

1 package of Trader Joe’s Organic Baked Tofu (Teriyaki flavor)
1 package of Trader Joe’s Fried Brown Rice with Mushrooms and Vegetables
2 cups pre-prepped stir-fry vegatables (including broccoli, carrots and cabbage)
2 teaspoons soy sauce

Toss the vegetables with a little soy sauce. Slice the tofu. Divide all ingredients between two plates. Microwave.

Voila.

Spaghetti and Turkey Meatballs, with Garlic Toast

We had this the other night with a Spicy Caesar Salad and a bottle of Maryhill’s Winemaker’s Red, and it was magnificent.
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Frozen Gnocchi – waiting for action (in a pot of boiling water and perhaps some pesto)
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