Arugula and artichokes hearts salad

Ingredients:

1 large bag of arugula (known as rucola)

1 can of artichokes hearts cut into large stripes (around 1.5 cm tick)

1 small red pepper finely chopped ( less than 0.5 cm in diameter of each peace)

2/3 cup of unsalted roasted almonds

Dressing:

2 tbsp. of Dijon mustard

3 tbsp. of honey or maple syrup

1 tsp. of minced garlic

3 tbsp. of olive oil

2 tbsp. of lemon juice

1 tsp. of cayenne pepper

Salt ( optional)

Combine arugula, artichokes, red pepper and almonds in large bowl. To make dressing I usually place all ingredients in glass jar close it and shake well for around 1 minute. Pour dressing over a salad and mix well. Voila!

Raisin spaghetti sauce

With greens-guilt free option for too much pasta

Traditional serving

This simple recipe was created by my husband’s grandma and it was the very first meal I had occasion to try at her home. Adding raisins to tomato pasta sauce can sound strange but in reality is very tasty kind of sweet and sour combination. This sauce is also a proof that combining ingredients that don’t match at first glance can end with quite spectacular effect.

Sauce Ingredients

500 g of ground lean beef

750 g of minced canned tomatoes

2 tbsp. of minced garlic

2/3 cup of raisins (seedless if possible)

½ cup of Italian herbs mixture (possible replacement with combination of dried oregano, basil and thyme)

Salt, pepper

Ground Parmesan

You will also need large non-stick frying pan with lid

Place beef on preheated non-stick pan and stir frequently. I never use any extra oil to cook. Usually fat melts out of meat, even if it is lean flesh. It’s healthier and has fewer calories. Cook until starts to brown and then add raisins, garlic and herbs. Cook for another 10 minutes, then add minced tomatoes and cook on low heat covered with lid for another hour. Stir occasionally. Add salt and pepper just before serving. Serve it with spaghetti pasta and top with grounded Parmesan.

Serving

To be honest when it comes to eating pasta I can’t help myself with tucking into every possible portion. I just can stop eating it! No matter what kind of sauce it comes with. Now I’m trying to replace it with some greens or spaghetti squash to avoid too many calories and gluten. It’s not this same but still tastes good. Simply substitute half of pasta with salad mix or use squash instead. Spaghetti squash is very simple to cook. You just need to cut 1kg squash into half, remove seeds, cover with kitchen foil and place to a preheated oven to 180 C for approximately 50 minutes . After pulling out the oven scrape squash flesh with a fork into strings, and then serve it with pasta sauce. Kitchen foil protects flesh from getting to dry.

How to buy perfect meat

Choosing the best ground meat isn’t easy. I would recommend spending extra few minutes on reading labels carefully. Unfortunately most producers don’t give info about fat percentage and very often on same shelf you can find cheaper ‘ready to cook mixtures’. Price is tempting but that’s not a real meat! It has some extra stuffing with little seasoning to make portion bigger and use as less meat as possible. Buying regular ground meat isn’t good option either. Usually it has very high percentage if fat and after placing meat into the pan you realize that half of it melts and you have to chuck it out. Lean ground meet is the best choice. It’s not so pricy if you consider content of pure meat.

Husband Rate: 9/10

3 minutes meal p.2 Fresh broccoli salad

Ingredients

1 fresh, small broccoli head

½ of up of dried blackcurrants or cranberries

1 cup of natural yoghurt

1 tbsp. of minced garlic

Salt, pepper

Shred  whole broccoli head in food processor and combine it with dried berries, yoghurt, salt and pepper. Serve it with meat or stuffed vegetables.

Husband Rate: 6/10

Quinoa apple salad

If something was approved by NASA it means that it must be extraordinary. I can imagine astronauts saying “Oh no! Not quinoa again!” Or... seeing them when they’re trying to catch those little grains in a state of weightlessness ;). I tried quinoa for the first time couple month ago. Surprising taste. Something between boiled wheat and boiled millet but with different texture. Process of boiling causes that quinoa splits into little grains and small pieces that look like noodles in mini version.

Ingredients

1. 225 g of quinoa
2. 2 medium apples (red)
3. 100 g of pecans
4. 1 orange pepper
5. 200 g of snow pea
6.  100 ml of lemon juice
7. Black pepper
8. Salt
9. 3 tbsp spoons of olive oil
10. 750 ml of water

Bring to boil 500 ml (2 cups) of water in saucepan. Add quinoa and allow to simmer for 15 minutes until water is completely absorbed. Leave it for another 5 minutes covered with lid and then place it in cold place to cool down. Wash and core apples. Chop them into cubes (diameter around 1,5). Place them in water with lemon juice for couple of minute to prevent browning. Chop pepper into this same size of cubes as apples. Chop snow peas into diamond shape. Grill pecans on a pan. Combine quinoa, vegetables, pecans and apples in large bowl adding salt pepper and olive oil. Serve immediately.

Husband Rate: 7/10