Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Grilled Goodness

Today I started my new week's menu! (I'd planned to start yesterday but I still had plenty of leftovers from the previous week to chow through). At the bottom of this post you can find my menu plan for this week.

Today started with a crust-less kale & quinoa quiche (that's a tongue-twister!). Really it is a frittata, but who am I to argue with the author of the blog I stole the recipe from? This was a super simple recipe with a very short ingredient list that packs a ton of flavor and protein (thanks quinoa and eggs!). What a great way to start out the day with some lasting energy. Plus it makes a ton, so you'll have enough for several breakfasts, or plenty to share with another healthy eater in your house (I don't happen to have another healthy eater in my home, so I'm going to share with my friends. First come first served!)


As you can tell, Bruno and Samson thought they were my friends I intended to share with and jumped all over it. Seriously, my cats show interest in people food from time to time, but are rarely adamant about eating something that they're not supposed to. I don't know what in the world it is about this breakfast, but you would have thought it was the last food in their kitten lives... they went bonkers over it! About a millisecond after I snapped the picture of Bruno sniffing, he grabbed the whole slice in his skinny little mouth and ran away with it. Luckily I reacted quickly and salvaged the majority of it, but he did get a little morsel. Meanwhile, on the stove, Samson licked the little bits that remained in the pan that I used to heat my slice under the broiler. And, once I'd done my part in devouring the slice, Samson and Bruno teamed up to lick the plate clean. Such weird cats. But, I will agree with them, this is a DAMN tasty breakfast!


It would not be the only time today that a plate was licked to get every ounce of "yum" out of a meal. Admittedly, it was I who licked my lunch plate clean with no shame this afternoon. (What, the cats looked like they really enjoyed it? And lord knows they're not going to judge me!)

Yesterday I went grocery shopping and spent the afternoon prepping some food for the week (the kale & quinoa quiche being one of the meals). The other meal I threw together was a couple portobello mushrooms stuffed with kale, roasted tomatoes & goat cheese. (You'll see when you get to my menu at the bottom, but I'm pretty sure almost every meal this week has kale in it. I have a (healthy) obsession with it now). I was originally following a recipe I'd found online but quickly threw it aside and did my own thing. This was a hugely satisfying lunch today, and it's so quick and easy to throw the 'bello on the grill or under the broiler. Lunch comes together in a matter of minutes!

For a side I sliced a heart of romaine in half and grilled it along side my portobello. Holy cow that was insanely good! Scroll down past this picture for the recipes/instructions to re-construct this lunch of champions:


Kale, Roasted Tomatoes & Goat Cheese Stuffed Portobello
makes 2 stuffed shrooms

Approx 1 bunch of kale, chopped
3 cloves garlic
Extra virgin olive oil
1 dozen or so cherry tomatoes
Balsamic vinegar
1/4 cup goat cheese crumbles
1/4 cup plain greek yogurt
1/4 cup bread crumbs
3 TB grated parmesan cheese
2 portobellos

I already had roasted cherry tomatoes on hand from a baked egg breakfast FAIL over the weekend. I tossed a whole container of cherry toms with some olive oil, a drizzle of balsamic vinegar, salt & pepper. I roasted them in the oven for a little over 2 hours at 250 degrees, shaking the pan around every half hour. If you didn't want to do this, you could probably throw the toms in the pan with the kale and achieve a similar, less roasted, result. 

Chop the kale and garlic and throw into a pan over medium heat with a bit of olive oil. Toss or turn the kale with some tongs to coat in the oil. This will need to cook for about 10 minutes to really soften up the kale. Once it's wilted down a good bit add the tomatoes (if pre-roasted), goat cheese, and Greek yogurt and stir well so that all of the kale is coated in the creamy cheesy yogurty goodness. It should all come together to form a nice stuffing. Season with salt & pepper.

Remove the gills from the portobellos by scraping the black stuff out with a spoon. Divide the stuffing into 2 portions and load each 'bello up. Mix the bread crumbs and parmesan cheese together and sprinkle over top. These would hold for several days, either in a tupperware or covered in saran wrap. 

I threw one on the grill today for about 10 minutes, and ended up finishing it off under the broiler to get the top nice and crisp (my grill wasn't getting hot for some reason today. I think I need a grill doctor to come give it some love!). I was surprised by how filling this dish was!


Grilled Romaine with Lemon Tahini Dressing

This doesn't even need a recipe (well, the romaine part), but I will humor you! 

You take a romaine heart and cut it in half. With the cut side down on the plate or cutting board, drizzle with some olive oil and sprinkle with your seasoning of choice (I used salt, pepper & a nice Italian herb blend I picked up at the awesome Savory Spice Shop). Flip it over and repeat with the oil & seasoning. Put it on a medium hot grill, with the cut side up, for about 5 minutes or until you start to see a bit of grill marks on the leaves and the color starts to get bright. Flip it over, repeat. Depending on how hot you have your grill this could take 5 minutes or 10 minutes. 

I had a double batch of Lemon Tahini dressing on hand from prepping my Weekend Glow Kale Salad yesterday (from my new most favorite blog ever!). I figured it would be nice paired with the grilled romaine, and boy was I right. It has the consistency and mouth feel of a nice Caesar dressing, and actually tastes similar to it as well with the bright lemony-ness. However, unlike most Caesar dressing, this one is not only not-bad for you, but it's actually GOOD for you! 

A little drizzle of dressing and a few shavings of fresh Parmesan and this simple grilled salad was good to go. Honestly, you could eat it as-is with no dressing, or even just squeeze half a lemon over it and let it mix with the olive oil for a ready-made vinaigrette. I have a feeling for the rest of the summer, any time I'm cooking on the grill, a hunk of romaine will be sharing the grates!

And now, behold, the menu for my week (subject, as always, to change based on ingredients available, leftovers, and my fickle cravings)

Tuesday:

Breakfast: Kale & Quinoa Quiche + citrus juice
Lunch: Kale, Tomato & Goat Cheese Stuffed Portobello with Grilled Romaine Salad
Dinner: Weekend Glow Kale Salad

Wednesday:

See Tuesday. Repeat. 

Thursday: 

Breakfast: Kale, Sweet Potato & Quinoa Hash with Poached Eggs
Lunch: Avocado Chicken Salad in a Collard Wrap with Grilled Corn, Tomato & Avocado Salad
Dinner: Grilled Pizza Stuffed Portobello, Grilled Zucchini & Squash, Green Salad

Friday: 

See Thursday. Repeat.

Saturday: 

Breakfast: Coconut & Banana Quinoa Breakfast
Lunch: Yoga Teacher Training, who knows??
Dinner: Over The Rainbow Cabbage Salad

Sunday:

See Saturday. Repeat.

My guess is I'll have tons of the Kale & Quinoa Quiche left over and I'll probably enjoy it for breakfast or snacks throughout the week. Hopefully every meal will be as yummy as today's were and I won't mind at all eating the same thing 2 days in a row!

I want to take a quick minute to say how proud I am of everyone in the June Salad Challenge!  There have been tons of delicious looking salad pictures shared and nearly 40 of us are holding each other accountable to eating at least one salad a day in the month of June. It's not too late to join, there are still 18 days left which means 18 wonderful salads!

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