Fruits/Vegetables

Green Beans with Honey-Mustard Glaze

I love the produce section at the store in the summer because seeing bin after bin of $0.25 summer fruit and vegetables gets me slightly giddy. And even better, the produce is usually locally grown. I live in New Jersey, just outside of Philadelphia, and in the summers, markets and farm stands go crazy with tons of locally grown produce that you just can’t beat. Signs everywhere scream “Jersey Tomatoes!” or “Jersey Corn!” I bypassed both of these this weekend and instead headed for some locally grown green beans which I scooped up by the handful. I didn’t really have anything particular in mind when I bought these so I can home, scanned my recipes and made Green Beans with Honey-Mustard Glaze.

Fresh green beans are boiled until bright green, cooled, and tossed in a simple glaze of honey, rice vinegar and mustard seeds. The result was perfectly cooked sweet and tangy green beans. I have to admit though, as I was making this glaze, I thought Why in the world did I want to make this recipe? Smothering a vegetable in sticky honey isn’t really the most healthy way to eat, right? I ended up only using about a third (if not less) of the glaze on these beans (because either I didn’t make enough green beans or too much glaze was made) and actually, they were tasty. But I was still disappointed, mostly in myself. This is a typical case of me being too busy worrying about if I liked the ingredients in a recipe, rather than if I would like the end product. I like honey in my tea and on my biscuits. Not my vegetables. And especially not my locally grown vegetables. Consider my wrist slapped.

The ingredients:

Bring a large saucepan of lightly salted water to a boil and drop in the green beans. Cook uncovered for 5 to 7 minutes or until tender but still crisp. Drain.

Dry the saucepan and return it to the stove. Toast the mustard seeds over low heat just until they pop, about 1 minute, stirring to prevent scorching.

Add the honey and vinegar and cook until the sauce boils and becomes syrupy.

Add the green beans and toss.

Additions: None

Omissions: None

Substitutions: None

Overall Rating: So-So

Source: Real Simple Magazine

Peach and Brie Quesadillas with Lime-Honey Dipping Sauce

I took the day off yesterday and after going to the dentist in the morning, I spent the rest of the day reading and lounging around (a mental health day). It felt wonderful. The problem with me having time to myself is I come up with all of these crazy ideas of things to do that I spend a lot of time thinking about but never actually end up doing. Like writing a novel or traveling across the country – both things that I plan to do one day, even if I’m old and gray when I do it. In all of my reading and daydreaming, I paused to make myself a delightfully light summer lunch: Peach and Brie Quesadillas with Lime-Honey Dipping Sauce.

Thin slices of peaches are tossed with a touch of brown sugar and chopped chives before being folded into a tortilla with soft Brie cheese and toasted. The buttery, nuttiness of the Brie complements the natural sweetness in the peaches making them a perfect pair and the slight onion flavor of the chives gives this quesadilla an overall savory bite. I like the idea of using these ingredients in a panini or grilled cheese so go crazy and make this however you want. The dipping sauce is a simple mixture of lime zest, lime juice and honey tops off each bite with a bright, sweet ending. All of these flavors are terrific together.

The ingredients:

Combine peach slices, chives and brown sugar in a bowl, tossing gently to coat.

Spread Brie over half of one tortilla and top with peach mixture. Fold in half and repeat with other tortillas.

Spray a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray, heated over medium-high heat. Place folded quesadillas in the pan and cook 2 minutes on each side or until tortillas are lightly browned and crisp.

In a small bowl, combine honey, lime zest and lime juice with a whisk and set aside.

Cut each quesadilla into wedges and serve with sauce.

Additions: None

Omissions: None

Substitutions:

Low-carb whole-wheat tortilla

Overall Rating: Love It

Source: Cooking Light Magazine

Pineapple-Mango Yogurt Smoothie

Have you ever had one of those weekends where you just had too much? Too much food? Too much drink? Too much fun? That was the weekend I had last weekend. When my friend in Florida came home to spend Father’s Day with her pop, we decided to take the opportunity to get the girls together and have some fun. From Friday afternoon until the wee hours of Sunday, we partied. And hard. I decided it was probably necessary to get something healthy in my body and pronto!

The Pineapple-Mango Yogurt Smoothie I made was both tasty and filling. Frozen pineapple and mango chunks are blended with non-fat vanilla yogurt, non-fat milk, and a little sugar. As I spent Sunday resting and relaxing, I sipped on this and felt refreshed. I liked it so much, I made another one for breakfast on Monday. What is it about smoothies that somehow just make you feel better?

Pineapple-Mango Yogurt Smoothie (makes 1 smoothie)

1 cup frozen pineapple
1 cup frozen mango
6-ounces non-fat vanilla yogurt
2 tablespoons sugar or Splenda
1/2 cup non-fat milk

Place all of the ingredients in a blender and blend on high until smooth. Add more milk if necessary to reach desired consistency. If you prefer to use fresh fruit, simply add 1 cup of crushed ice.