Kale with Caramelized Onions

This recipe is courtesy of Health magazine! It's a new spin on kale, it's easy and good for you! Whats better than that?

Kale with Caramelized Onions

Ingredients

2 teaspoons olive oil
1 1/2 cups chopped red onion
2 teaspoons honey
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 (10-ounce) bag prewashed chopped kale or spinach

Directions

Heat oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Add onion; sauté 7 minutes or until golden.

Add honey, salt, and pepper; cook 2 minutes.

Add kale; cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook 6 minutes or just until kale is tender, stirring after 3 minutes.

Seared pork chops with a Cilantro Date sauce

This recipe is part Nathan Lyon's and part mine. I watched him make a Lamb loin with mint date sauce on DHC and it looked so amazing. I knew I wasn't going to go out and buy a rack of lamb so I gave it some thought and decided on pork loin chops. This recipe turned out to be a big hit and I know it will become a staple in my house.

Seared Pork Chops with a Cilantro Date Sauce

Ingredients

2 tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil

1 small sweet onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, chopped

1/2 Serrano or Jalapeno chili, seeded, small dice

1 cup dates, pitted, chopped

1 tsp red wine vinegar

1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon water

1/2 cup cilantro, chopped

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

2-4 Pork loin chops

Kosher salt and pepper

Directions For the Sauce

In a saute pan over medium low heat add 1 Tbs Olive Oil, onion and the garlic. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Then add the dates and chilies and cook until softened.

Add the water and simmer until thick and reduced.

Stir in Cilantro and season with salt and pepper.

Directions for the Pork

Preheat oven to 400

Season pork on both sides. In large oven safe saute pan, heat until hot. Add 1 Tbs olive oil and heat until shimmering. Sear pork on both sides until nicely colored about 1-2 minutes per side. Transfer pork to the oven and continue cooking until cooked through about 5-10 minutes depending on thickness. Serve with the cilantro date sauce and ENJOY!

Coconut Curried Pork, Edamame and Mango stir fry

This is a twist on a Cooking Light recipe. The original recipe called for Snow peas and bottled mango. Well my produce store didn't have the freshest snow peas so I decided to go with frozen edamame and I thought fresh mango would work just fine. I also reduced the amount of fish sauce from 1 Tbs to 1/2 Tbs. I hope you like!

Coconut Curried Pork, Edamame and Mango Stir-Fry

Ingredients

1 (1-pound) pork tenderloin, trimmed
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 teaspoon red curry powder
1 cup shelled edamame soy beans
1/3 cup light coconut milk
1/2 tablespoon fish sauce
1 teaspoon red curry paste (such as Thai Kitchen)
1 cup mango, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 cup sliced green onions, divided
2 tablespoons shredded coconut
4 lime wedges -optional

Directions

Cut pork into 1-inch cubes. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle pork evenly with curry powder. Add pork to pan; stir-fry 3 minutes, then add the edamame.

Combine coconut milk, fish sauce, and curry paste, stirring well. Add milk mixture to pan; bring to a simmer. Stir in mango and 1/4 cup onions; cook 1 minute or until thoroughly heated.

Remove from heat and serve with rice or couscous. Sprinkle each serving with 1 Tbs of remaining green onions and 1 1/2 tsp shredded coconut. Serve with lime wedges, if desired.

Have you tried this?

I picked up a new salad dressing a few weeks backs called Bolthouse Farms Chunky Blue Cheese Creamy Yogurt Dressing. I must say I was a little hesitant steering away from my usual Bob's or Marie's blue cheese dressing but I wasn't disappointed! This dressing has a great flavor and chunks of blue cheese in it PLUS it's only 70 calories per 2 Tbs!!

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 2 tbsp
Amount Per Serving
Calories 60
Total Fat 6.5g
Saturated Fat 2.5g

Trans Fat 0g
Cholesterol 15mg
Sodium 150mg

Total Carbohydrate 2g
Dietary Fiber 0g
Sugars 0g
Protein 2g
Iron 0%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

BBQ Garlic Chicken

Hi Y'all! I am sorry the recipes aren't coming as fast as they use to, now that summer is here I am finding a lot less time to putz around the kitchen. I do have some recipes comin though!

This marinade/sauce is a quick, healthy and very garlicky cilantro blend. Easy for a hot summer

night when you've just come home super sweaty from a great outdoor activity, but you do need to let it marinade for at least 1 hour so plan ahead!

BBQ GARLIC CHICKEN

Ingredients

1 1/2 pound boneless skinless chicken breast/thighs or whatever you want

5-8 garlic cloves roughly chopped

1-2 cups cilantro, roughly chopped
Juice of 1 lime

salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Add all ingredients but the chicken in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth. You may need to add a Tbs of water to get your desired consistency.

Rub the mixture all over the chicken pieces and let marinade for at least 1 hour to overnight!

Grill chicken over high heat until cooked through, crispy and you just can't stand waiting any longer!

Enjoy

Curried Tilapia with Mango Salsa

I came across this recipe while looking for a curried lentils dish. It looked so simple and straightforward so I decided to give it a whirl. It turned out delish and was even better the next day for lunch!!

Curried Tilapia with Mango Salsa

Mango Salsa Ingredients

1 mango diced
1/4 cup red onion chopped
1 Serrano minced
1/2 cup fresh cilantro chopped
Dash of garlic salt

Squeeze of lime juice if you like!

Combine all ingredients in a bowl, cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Curried Tilapia Ingredients

4 tilapia fillets
1 Tbs curry powder
1 Tbs garlic powder
½ tsp cayenne pepper

1 Tbs olive oil

Salt and pepper to taste

Heat grill or broiler to high heat

Combine the curry powder, garlic powder, cayenne and olive oil in a small bowl to make a paste.

Spread the mixture over one side of the fish and season with salt and pepper. Flip fish over and do the same to the other side.

Cook fish for about 3-4 minutes on each side or until flakes easy with a fork.Serve with mango salsa on top!
Yummy!

my fourth of July cupcakes

I decided to go with the flag cupcakes and I think they turned out cute and it was fun making them with friends. I used a dark chocolate boxed cake mix and then made a vanilla buttercream frosting. http://www.recipezaar.com/Vanilla-Buttercream-Frosting-From-Sprinkles-Cupcakes-222188

The only thing with the recipe is it says it makes frosting for 12 cupcakes so I doubled it because I made 24 cupcakes and now I have a TON of frosting left over. My opinion is that the recipe makes enough for 24 cupcakes, if you are making more than that then double it!

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY!!