Roasted Feta with Thyme Honey

INGREDIENTS

• 1 8-ounce slab Greek feta, blotted dry
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon Greek thyme honey, or other honey
•  Freshly ground black pepper
•  Greek-style pita bread, toasted and cut into wedges
•  Heirloom tomatoes, roasted beets, nuts or pickled vegetables (optional)

PREPARATION

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Select a small oven-to-table earthenware dish or a small ovenproof sauté pan lined with aluminum foil to help transfer the cheese to a plate after roasting. Place the feta in the dish and cover with the olive oil. Bake until the cheese is soft and springy to the touch but not melted, about 8 minutes.
2. Preheat the broiler. Heat the honey in the microwave or over a pan of simmering water until it is fluid enough to be spread with a pastry brush and then paint the surface of the feta with it. Broil until the top of the cheese browns and just starts to bubble. Season to taste with black pepper. Serve immediately with pita wedges and, if desired, sliced heirloom tomatoes, roasted beets, nuts or pickled vegetables.

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Parmesan Stuffed Dates

wrapped in bacon!

• 18 large dates, preferably Medjool, slit lengthwise and pitted
• 18 pieces good-quality Parmesan cheese, preferably Parmigiano-Reggiano, each about 1 by 1/4 inch
• 6 slices good-quality smoked bacon, cut crosswise into thirds

Position an oven rack in the middle of the oven. Preheat the oven to 450°F.

Insert a piece of Parmesan into each date. Then, wrap each date with 1 piece of bacon, securing it with a wooden toothpick. Arrange the dates 1 inch apart in a shallow baking pan. Bake for 5 minutes. Then, using tongs, turn the dates over. Continue baking until the bacon is crisp, 5 to 6 minutes longer.

With the tongs, transfer the dates to paper towels to drain, carefully patting them dry with more paper towels. Serve immediately.

Spicy Black Bean and Butternut Enchilads

These don't have meat but would be really good with shredded chicken

INGREDIENTS

• For the sauce:
• 1 – 15 oz can good quality tomato sauce
• 1 – 7.5 oz can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
• 3/4 cup nonfat plain greek yogurt
• 2 cloves garlic, minced or smashed
• 1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
• For the enchiladas:
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• ½ yellow onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 4 cups cubed butternut squash (a little over 1 pound)
• 1 – 15 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 3/4 cup fresh or frozen sweet corn
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 2 cups shredded reduced fat Colby jack cheese, plus more if you'd like
• 12 corn tortillas
• extra greek yogurt, cilantro, avocado, and green onions, for topping

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray 9x13 inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Make the sauce: Add tomato sauce, chipotle peppers with adobo sauce, greek yogurt, chili powder and garlic to bowl of a food processer; process a few times until smooth. Place in the fridge to thicken it up.
3. Heat olive oil over medium heat in large skillet. Add garlic and diced onions and saute until garlic becomes fragrant (about 1 min). Add cubed butternut squash, stir, and cover for about 8 minutes or until fork tender, stirring occasionally to ensure squash doesn't burn. Add a few teaspoons of water to the pan if necessary to help the squash cook. Once squash is fork tender, transfer to large bowl and add in black beans, corn, and in 1 cup of prepared enchilada sauce; stir to combine.
4. To assemble enchiladas: Add 3/4 cup enchilada sauce to bottom of a 9x13 inch pan and spread around. Warm tortillas in microwave for 30 seconds so that they are easier to roll up. If you find them hard to roll, I recommend dipping each tortilla in a bit of the enchilada sauce; this will make it much easier to roll and add flavor, too! Add about 1/2 cup of the butternut squash & black bean filling to each tortilla and 1 tablespoon of cheese. Roll each tortilla up and place seam side down in baking pan. Pour remaining enchilada sauce over the top along with remaining cheese.
5. Bake for 25-35 minutes or until cheese is melted and the edges of tortillas begin to turn a nice golden brown. Top with extra greek yogurt, avocado slices, cilantro, and green onions, if desired. Makes 6 servings – 2 enchiladas each.

Ranch Roasted Chickpeas

so easy and delicious! 

INGREDIENTS

• 2 (15 ounce) cans chick peas, drained, rinsed, and patted dry
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 package ranch seasoning

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 425
2. After you make sure your chick peas are very dry place them in a large plastic bag with olive oil and seasoning toss to coat.
3. Spread peas out on a large foil lined baking sheet that has been sprayed with cooking spray.
4. Bake 25 minutes, turning once, then 20 minutes more.
5. **Though I only actually turn these once, I do open the oven and give them a little shake a few times while cooking. This isn't totally necessary but it helps to keep them uniformly crisp.

Lemon Chicken Orzo Soup

INGREDIENTS

• 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1-inch chunks
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 onion, diced
• 3 carrots, peeled and diced
• 2 stalks celery, diced
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 5 cups chicken stock
• 2 bay leaves
• 3/4 cup uncooked orzo pasta
• 1 sprig rosemary
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves

INSTRUCTIONS

• Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Season chicken thighs with salt and pepper, to taste. Add chicken to the stockpot and cook until golden, about 2-3 minutes; set aside.
• Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil to the stockpot. Add garlic, onion, carrots and celery. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 3-4 minutes. Stir in thyme until fragrant, about 1 minute.
• Whisk in chicken stock, bay leaves and 1 cup water; bring to a boil. Stir in orzo, rosemary and chicken; reduce heat and simmer until orzo is tender, about 10-12 minutes. Stir in lemon juice and parsley; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
• Serve immediately.

Black Bean and Butternut Chili

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1/2 or 1/4 pound butternut squash (1/4 of whole squash), cut into 3/4 inch cubes, or 2 cups chopped squash
• 1 green bell pepper chopped
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 can (15 oz) red kidney beans, rinsed
• 1/2 can (7.5 oz) corn, rinsed
• 1 can (28 oz) tomatoes (I used peeled tomatoes Cento San Marzano brand)
• 2 cups water
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• salt to taste (at least 1/2 teaspoon)
For garnish:
• grated cheddar cheese
• chopped green onions
• Greek yogurt or sour cream

Instructions

1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Add ground beef and cook until no longer pink. Drain the ground beef of any fat.
2. To the same pan, add cubed butternut squash, chopped green bell pepper, minced garlic, kidney beans, corn, and canned tomatoes. Use a spoon to break all tomatoes into small bites. Add 2 cups of water. Season with 1 tablespoon chili powder, 1 tablespoon cumin, 1 teaspoon of sugar, and salt to taste (at least 1/2 teaspoon of salt). Mix everything well, and bring to boil. Reduce to simmer. Cook on low simmer for about 20-25 minutes until squash is tender. Remove from heat. Add extra chili powder, if you want more heat. Season with more salt, if necessary.
3. Serve topped with grated cheddar cheese, chopped green onions, and a dollop of Greek yogurt.
4. The chili only gets better the longer it sits. If you let it sit for 2 hours, covered, after cooking, it absorbs all the flavors and tastes much better than if you eat it right after it's cooked. It tastes even better the next day, after being refrigerated overnight.

I didn't do green peppers but red/orange yellow and I also added onions

All Green Smoothie

1/4 cup water
1/2 cup pineapple juice
1 1/2 cups green grapes
1/4 Barlett pear (I use green apple if I don't have pear)
1/2 avocado (I throw the whole thing in since you can't save it)
1/4 cup chopped fresh broccoli
1/2 cup fresh spinach, lightly packed
1 1/4 cups ice cubes

- place them in Vitamix in that order
- select Frozen Desserts program and press start
- allow machine to finish

if you don't have a Vitamix just blend until it looks good!

This still tastes good if you make it the night before

Sinless cookies

YUM

I baked a few minutes more than it says

Creamy Polenta with Butternut and Spinach

Pinterest find

Ingredients

• 1 small butternut squash, peeled, seeded, cut into small dice and pre-roasted
• 1 cup, instant style polenta
• ¾ cup chopped fresh spinach
• ½ cup or so grated parmesan or romano cheese
• 2 cups chicken broth, homemade or low sodium store bought
• 1 cup water
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• extra olive oil for drizzling

I also added sauteed onions and it was good

Instructions

1. Roast squash at 400 degrees on a baking sheet drizzled with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast around 15 minutes or until slightly golden. Set aside.
2. In a large saucepan add the broth, water, 1 tablespoon of butter, 1 tablespoon of olive oil, salt and pepper, bring to a boil.
3. Reduce heat to low and slowly start whisking in the polenta, keep whisking so as not to get lumps, it will bubble and squirt, be careful!
4. Switch over to a wooden spoon and keep stirring until thickened, remove from heat.
5. Fold in the grated cheese, the spinach and the butternut squash, drizzling more olive oil all over the top.
6. Serve immediately.
7. Leftover polenta can be warmed up the next day by adding more water or broth, or leftovers can be molded into ramekins.

Island Pork Tenderloin

found this on Pinterest, really good

For spice rub:
2 tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cinnamon
2 pork tenderloins (2 ¼ - 2 ½ lbs total) trimmed
2 tbsp olive oil

For Glaze:
¾ cup packed dark brown sugar
2 tbsp finely chopped garlic
1 tbsp Tabasco

Stir the spice rub ingredients together in a small bowl and rub all over the pork.  Heat oil in ovenproof 12-inch heavy skillet over medium high heat.  Brown pork, turning occasionally, about 4-5 minutes total.  Remove from heat, but leave pork in skillet.

Stir together brown sugar, garlic and Tabasco in a small bowl.  Pat the mixture on top of the pork.  Place skillet in the oven at 350.  Roast until thermometer inserted diagonally into the center of each tenderloin registers 140 degrees, about 20 minutes (mine was about 17 minutes to have it a little pink).  Let pork stand in skillet, loosely covered with foil for 10 minutes.  


I made this polenta dish as a side