Thursday, March 6, 2014

Healthy Salad Night!!

Almost every time I go to the grocery store I load up on various veggies and kale. The funny thing is, I rarely make a salad out of the ingredients. Typically, I toss them in with quinoa or pasta dishes. Tonight, I had a hankering for a fresh salad.

This week, I picked up spinach, tomatoes and fresh mushrooms so I tossed those together with artichoke hearts, white beans and a dash of fresh parm. For the dressing I just topped the salad with a little olive oil and balsamic glaze. Healthy and flavorful in no time at all! That makes me a happy girl!


Sunday, March 2, 2014

Gluten Free Crockpot Bolognese

One of my favorite things to do on a lazy Sunday is to curl up on my couch watching trashy tv for hours. I could literally eat junk food all day (chips and dip please!) and veg out with my feet up... Feeling guilty about not be productive as times passes. When I preplan for such events, or lack there of, cooking all day is another fave.

Like the smart girl that I am, today I planned to be lazy. I picked up all the ingredients necessary to make crockpot bolognese. A little lazy since I let the crockpot do the work, but still a delicious meal at the end of the day. Personally, I prefer my bacon-packed stove top bolognese but this recipe certainly does the job.

Ingredients:
1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 celery stalks, finely chopped
1 medium carrot, finely chopped
2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
1-2 pounds ground beef or turkey
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 cup whole milk
1 cup white wine
2 28-oz cans of whole peeled tomatoes, drained and crushed

Directions:
1) Heat olive oil a dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion, celery, and carrot and cook until the onion is tender. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the beef or turkey, breaking it apart with your spoon and cooking until it is just browned. Season with nutmeg, salt, and pepper.
2) Stir in the milk and bring it to a rapid simmer. Continue simmering until the milk has reduced completely and very little liquid remains, about 10 minutes. Stir in the wine and simmer again until reduced completely, about 10 minutes. Transfer the beef mixture to the slow cooker.
3) Add the cans of tomatoes to the slow cooker and stir to combine. Cover and cook on HIGH for 6 hours or LOW for 8 hours.  4) In the last half hour of cooking, remove the lid to allow any excess liquid to evaporate and reduce the sauce. The finished sauce should be chunky and creamy without being soupy.

The finished product with some fab g-free rigatoni and freshly grated parm. Yum!!