My Pinterest....Eats

Do you love Tastespotting? Me too. Here's another hot site to look at. Pinterest. I just discovered it through one of my besties, L. And I am completely immersed and obsessed. Here's the deal. You create all of these boards on your personal page and then you "pin" different things on the corresponding board. So, if you have a Sweet Treats board, you would pin on your favorite cupcake recipe that you could on allrecipes.com or a really pretty cake you found on your favorite cake maker's web site. Pretty cool, huh?

I just created my own Pinterest page yesterday and at every break I have at work I've been pinning my little heart out. I assume by the end of this holiday weekend, (Happy Memorial Day, everyone and thank you to our veterans!!) my pinboards will be overflowing. Oh, wait, it will never overflow!! You can pin as many things as you want! Convinced you need one yet? If not get this:

So my best, L, who introduced me to Pinterest does not blog, does not plan on blogging, but loves reading blogs. She uses Pinterest and can "repin" all of the cool things she finds on blogs, especially all of the yummy delights she knows she needs to whip up in her kitchen. And when she pins them on her board, the link to the blog and recipe is just a click away!

Alright you little blogging beauties, happy pinning!!

Wheat Berry Salad - a la Giada

As I continue through my Giada episode journey, I am introduced to an ingredient I have never used, wheat berries. What a fantastic little berry! They are high in fiber, low in calories and packed with vitamins. If you haven't already, you need to go out and buy some and experiment. I purchased a bag of Bob's Red Mill and they were great.

This salad is so healthy and delicious. The flavors of the chewy wheatberries, crisp and sweet strawberries and hearty cheese mix so well together that I am going to have to speed up this blog post so I can eat some for lunch!!

Ingredients:

1. 1 cup wheatberries

2. 2 cups water

3. 1 cup chicken broth

4. A bunch of strawberries cut in fourths

5. an ounce of goat cheese ( I didn't have any on hand so I used a block of Laughing Cow Swiss and it was creamy and delicious)

6. Fresh chopped mint

Dressing Ingredients:

1. Juice of 1 orange

2. Zest of 1 orange

3. A tablespoon or so of EVOO

4. Salt and pepper

Instructions:

1. Boil wheatberries for about 25 minutes or until they are chewy and al dente. Note: they will NOT soak up all of the liquid and that's OK!!

2. Drain the berries and let them cool

3. Mix up the dressing

4. crumble the cheese or but it in little pieces

5. Combine all of the ingredients and enjoy!!

Easy, right? Gosh, I love fast and easy recipes.

Broiled Tilapia with Dijon cream sauce - Giada

Alrighty, onto part 2 of my adventure with Giada. This broiled tilapia was absolutely perfect over the carrot and sweet potato mash. It was delicately flavored and flaky just as a simple white fish should be.

Ingredients:
1. Tilapia fillets
2. Extra virgin olive oil
3. Salt and pepper
Yep, that's it.

Instructions:
1. Season fish on both sides with EVOO and S&P
2. Broil for about 6 to 8 minutes or until outsides of fish are nice and golden

Now, the cream sauce. This sauce takes a delicate fish and boots the flavor to put a kick in your pants.

Ingredients:
1. 1 cup plain Greek yogurt
2. 2 tsp agave
3. 1 tsp dijon mustard
4. juice of 2 lemons
5. chopped chives, about 2 tablespoons

Instructions:
1. Mix it all up!! Easy, huh?

Carrot and Sweet Potato Mash - Giada

As I settled into onto my couch after an exhausting yoga class yesterday I popped on over to the Food Network for a little of my favorite relaxation pastime - finding new things to cook. And Giada did not disappoint. I watched one episode and then raced to the grocery store. I had a mission, a list  and a hungry belly.

Ok, this post will be in a few different parts so I can adequately describe all of the components of this dish. Up first, the mash.

Seriously, so good. I have never been a huge fan of cooked carrots, but mashed with some sweet potatoes (ps. obsessed with sweet potatoes) garlic and onion, how could I not love these cooked carrots? This is a great substitute for mashed potatoes and gives you tons and tons of vitamins for a healthy day!

Ingredients:
4 to 6 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 large white onion, peeled and chopped
3 garlic cloves
4 cups chicken broth
Salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:
1. In a large pot, cook the carrots and onions in about 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil for about 5 minutes on medium heat, be careful not to burn the onions
2. Add the sweet potato and garlic cloves
3. Pour in your chicken broth. You could use water instead but the chicken broth gives the mash a hearty flavor
4. Season with salt (I use sea salt) and pepper
5. Let cook for about 25 minutes to half an hour. Pierce a carrot and sweet potato with a fork and if it goes through easily, remove from heat
6. Remove about 3/4 of the broth and with either a hand blender or a food processor, mash up your mixture

Enjoy!!