Caramelized Butternut Squash & Fig

Now that fall is well among us it’s officially squash time! Here’s an easy to make, delicious  and healthy recipe that will liven up any meal. Here ‘s what you will need.

1 Large Butternut Squash 

20 figs

4 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar

3 Tbsp honey

1 Tbsp brown sugar

Here’s What You Do

1. Preheat the over to 350 degrees
2. While the oven is preheating pre-cook the squash for 8 minutes in the microwave.
3. Quarter the figs (so they are cut into 4 pieces each)
4. When the squash is done pre-cooking, hold with a towel (because it will be hot) and slice 1 inch round cuts
5. Dice these pieces into triangles (see pictures)
6. In a sauce pan mix the balsamic vinegar, honey and brown sugar, on low heat and mix slowly. Allow the sauce to caramelize as you slowly mix the ingredients together (this should take about 8 minutes)
7. Place the squash and figs in a baking pan and pour in the sauce until all is covered
8. Bake for 45 minutes

Diced figs

Slicing the squash

Dicing the squash

Caramelizing the sauce

Getting read to put in the oven

All done!

Chopped Summer Salad (with a kick)

Firstly, I want to apologize for royally sucking and not writing in forever. Please forgive me! This past month has been beyond crazy but at the end of it all I now officially have a new job and am a year older 🙂

That being said here’s a quick, fresh salad recipe that makes an awesome and filling lunch or dinner.

Ingredients: 

1/4 an eggplant

1/2 red pepper

1/2 cup of corn

1/2 summer squash

1 vine ripe tomato

1/2 cucumber

4 small slices of hot pepper

3 oz grilled chicken (if wanted)

How to Make It:

Dice the tomatoes, cucumbers,  red pepper and hot pepper and put in a bowl with the corn

Dice the eggplant and summer squash and either bake until cooked (about 15 mins at 350) or sauté in a frying pan for about 5 minutes

Add to the bowl of other ingredients and sprinkle a pinch of salt over everything

Pour onto your plate (and if wanted add grilled chicken)

That’s it— probably the easiest meal ever 🙂

Vegetarian Roasted Red Pepper and Quinoa Salad

I recently discovered quinoa. For anyone who doesn’t know of it, it is a gluten and wheat free grain that is high in protein. It resembles couscous or a fluffier type rice so it is great to use as an alternative. This recipe was my first attempt at making quinoa and I am very happy with the outcome so I decided to share! As you can see from the pics, I made this quinoa salad to take to work for lunch but it would also work well for dinner as it is filling and nutrient dense.

 

 

 

 

 

Ingredients:

 

• 1/2 cup canned corn
• 4-5 baby beets
• 2 vine ripe tomatoes
• 1 Persian cucumber
• 1/4 cup of diced onion
• 1/3 cup quinoa (uncooked)
• 2 tbsps red pepper spread
• dash of salt and pepper

 

Dice all of the vegetables and pour into your serving bowl with the corn. Sprinkle a dash of salt and pepper and mix in.

Next cook the quinoa until light and fluffy (I used the microwave starting with ten minutes and then smaller intervals of about 2 minutes each for another ten minutes)

Mix in 2 tablespoons of red pepper spread…

And that’s it! Easy, healthy and filling! 

 

 

 

Go-To Goat Cheese and Chicken Salad

This is one of my go-to salads, mostly because I love goat cheese but also because it is so flippin easy to make! Below is the recipe I’ve created but please feel free to add or subtract whatever you want. If I weren’t allergic, I probably would have added craisins into the mix (if anyone tries that let me know how it is)! 

Here’s what you will need: 

1 big handful baby spinach 

2 small vine ripe tomatoes 

1/2 cucumber

Goat Cheese (as much as you like) 

3-4 baby beets (mine were canned)

Grilled Chicken

The juice of 1/3 a lemon

Salt, Pepper, Basil

On a plate or bowl place one large handful of baby spinach. Take two vine ripe tomatoes and cut into smaller pieces (I do eight pieces each). Next slice half of a cucumber into “half moon” slices, so that each original slice is cut into two pieces. 

If you are using fresh baby beets, dice 3-4 into quarters and add to the salad. If you are using canned beets (as I did) drain all liquid from the can and rinse the beets before preparing them for the salad. By rinsing the beets before eating them you eliminate some of the sodium that was added during packaging. 

Next crumble your choice of goat cheese (I used honey goat cheese) on top of the salad. 

After the base of the salad is made, add cooked chicken into the mix. I use Trader Joe’s “Just Chicken” grilled chicken strips because they are extremely easy for me to cook on the stove top in little time. I also sprinkle a little basil on the meat while it is cooking for flavor, but you can use whatever chicken and seasoning you like, or ditch the chicken all together! 

To dress the salad shake a pinch of salt and pepper and the juice of 1/3 a lemon on top of it. I like this combination as dressing because it gives a fresh lemon taste to the salad without inundating it with flavor or making it soggy. 

Here I am eating the goat cheese and chicken salad at my desk, preparing to write this post for you all! 

Enjoy!