Lighter Sesame Noodles

This is a healthy dinner we recently added to the weekly menus and great for left over lunch. It is fairly flexible recipe because you can play around with the veggies or adding a protein type, like tofu or chicken, and with the whole wheat noodles you get some additional fiber to boot.

Recipe is from the May 2008 FOOD magazine. You can get a printable version of the recipe here.

Ingredients

Serves 4

• Coarse salt
• 12 ounces whole-wheat spaghetti
• 1 bunch broccoli, cut into florets, stalks peeled and thinly sliced
• 2 red bell peppers (ribs and seeds removed), thinly sliced
• 1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
• 3 tablespoons dark-brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon red-pepper flakes

Directions

1. In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook spaghetti 3 minutes less than al dente. Add broccoli, bell peppers, and onion. Cook until pasta is al dente and vegetables are tender, 3 minutes more. Reserve 1/2 cup pasta water; drain pasta and vegetables.
2. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together peanut butter, sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, oil, garlic, and red-pepper flakes. Add hot pasta and vegetables; toss to coat, thinning sauce with a little pasta water, if necessary. Serve at room temperature or chilled.

Mexican Fritatta

I love frittata's, but we seem to forget them when we make our weekly menu's. Chris made this Mexican Frittata for us this week. We found the recipe in the July 2008 Everyday FOOD magazine.

Recipe:
• 5 large eggs
• Coarse salt & ground pepper
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1 bell peppers (ribs and seeds removed), thinly sliced
• Half a medium red onion, thin slices
• 1/2 cup shredded white cheddar (4 ounces)
• 1/2 Tablespoon red-wine vinegar
• 1/2 head Boston lettuce (about 10 ounces), torn into pieces
• 1/4 cup store-bought salsa for serving

1. In a medium bowl, whisk eggs with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon of ground pepper; set aside. In a 10-inch nonstick skillet with a tight-fitting lid, heat 1/2 Tablespoon oil over medium-high. Add bell peppers and onion; season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, until softened, 6 to 8 minutes.

2. Add eggs, and cook, quickly stirring with a heatproof rubber spatula, until eggs thicken, about 1 minute. Sprinkle cheese evenly over egg mixture. Cover skillet; reduce heat to medium-low. Cook frittata for 15 minutes. Remove skillet from heat, and let stand, covered, 5 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, whisk together vinegar and remaining oil in a large bowl; season dressing with salt and pepper. Add lettuce and toss to combine.

4. Slide frittata onto a work surface; cut into wedges. Top with salsa and serve with salad.

I add sour cream too. Yum!

Hummus Wrap

This is such a healthy and tasty lunch. Humus is something I forget about a lot and I am so glad we made this, it is perfect for summer lunches.

This is the recipe we used. Then we put it on a multi-grain tortilla with chopped avocado, red-leaf lettuce, tomato, cucumber, and yellow bell pepper. Yum!

If you have had hummus you most likely had it as a dip, which is very good for snacking. Try spreading it on a sandwich or a wrap you won't be disappointed.

Saturday Pancakes

I love breakfast foods. I like having them any time of the day. I will ask for pancakes when I am feeling under the weather and need a little cheering up. I don't know if it has any relation to being a kid and going to Sunday breakfast with my Grandpa and having the Smiley Pancake Delight, you know what I am talking about right? Oh, the round, cheery faced pancake with whip cream hair flashing a blueberry smile, giving me a little wink with it's sliced banana eyes and reminding me to save the Maraschino cherry nose for last - aaah, childhood.

Chris made me whole grain pancakes for breakfast sans smiley face decorations. He knows how much I love having special weekend breakfasts - after a work week of cereal, yogurt, or toast for breakfast - it is so nice to have something different. Though I know my healthy whole grain version of pancakes would be quite disappointing to my younger self, but really it tastes so much better. I have had other whole grain pancakes and this recipe really blows them out off the skillet.

He made a full batch and we are freezing the rest. We have about 8 cups left for future use.








Homemade Whole Grain Pancake Mix

YIELD: 10 cups dry mix; a batch using 1 cup of the mix willmake about 10 (3½-inch) pancakes.

COOKING TIME: 3 to 5 minutes.

3½ cups (12¼ ounces) old-fashioned rolled oats
4 cups (1 pound) white whole wheat flour
1 cup (4¼ ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons (1¼ ounces) sugar
3 tablespoons (1½ ounces) baking powder
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon baking soda
¾ cup (5¼ ounces) vegetable oil

TO MAKE THE MIX: Grind the oats in a food processor until they're chopped fine but not a powder. Put the ground oats, flours and the remaining dry ingredients into the bowl of a mixer with a paddle. Mix on slow speed, and drizzle the vegetable oil into the bowl slowly while the mixer is running. When all the oil has been added, stop the mixer and squeeze a clump of mix in your hand. If it holds together, it's just right. If it won't hold together, stir in 1 tablespoon of oil at a time until the consistency is correct. Store in an airtight container indefinitely in the freezer.

TO MAKE THE PANCAKES: Whisk together 1 cup of mix, 1 cup buttermilk (or you may use ½ cup plain yogurt plus ½ cup milk),
1 tablespoon orange juice and 1 large egg. Don't worry if the batter seems thin at first: the whole grains will soak up the liquid , and the mixture will thicken as it stands. Let the batter stand for at least 15 minutes before cooking. Heat a nonstick griddle if you have one, or a heavy skillet, preferably cast iron . If your surface is not nonstick, brush it lightly with vegetable oil. When the surface of your pan is hot enough that a drop of water sputters across it, give the pan a quick swipe with a paper towel to remove excess oil and spoon the batter onto the hot surface, 1/4-cupful at a time. After 3 to 4 minutes, when the surface of the cake is no longer shiny and small bubbles are beginning to form around the edges, it's time to flip the cake. Cook on the other side until it's browned, 1 to 2 minutes more and serve immediately, or keep warm in a 200° oven while you finish cooking the rest of the cakes.


We got the recipe from this book - King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking. I just got it this week and we are very excited about trying more of the recipes. If they are all as tasty as the whole grain pancakes I am going to be very happy.