Quinoa with Butternut Squash and Broccolini
It's time for another vegetarian lunch dish with Melissa from Smells Like Brownies! Similar to our last lunch (post here) we went with quinoa and roasted butternut squash, but changed up the rest of the flavors. This time we added in broccolini, cherry tomatoes, pine nuts, and a delicious avocado cream.
We started out by cooking the quinoa and roasting the squash, which should take about the same time. We followed the directions and added the broccolini into the partially cooked quinoa to blanch, but it wasn't really cooking, so we put the lid on to steam it which turned it brown. Next time, I think I would blanch the broccolini in a separate pot from the quinoa.
Hard “Boiled” (Baked) Eggs
I discovered this method of hard cooking eggs (attributed to Alton Brown) via Pinterest and Greetings from the Asylum. The concept is that baking them instead of boiling them is more consistent and results in less gray, less smelly, more creamy eggs.
As you can see, the eggs will sit perfectly on most oven racks and it doesn't matter how clean the rack is, because you will be peeling the eggs. Bake them at 325 for 30 minutes.
As soon as you take them out (with tongs), plunge them into ice water to stop the cooking (and prevent that grey ring around the yolk that happens when they cool too slowly).
Summer Seafood
I don't normally cook a lot of seafood other than my usual seared salmon, but in the summer I do get cravings for it. The reason is unknown - maybe because it is light and refreshing, maybe because I wish I was at the beach. Either way, I have a couple of light and healthy Summer seafood recipes to share with you.
These shrimp tacos are filled out with a slaw of cabbage, corn, fresh squeezed orange and lime juice, and a dab of sour cream. A great balance between warm tortillas, hot shrimp fresh out of the pan, and cool, crunchy slaw - they are healthy, filling, and super tasty.
This next recipe combines two superfoods into one awesome meal for Salmon Burgers with Tangy Avocado Sauce.
Turkey Apple Burgers with Avocado, Tomato, and Corn Salad
Ah, summer - hot weather, cool drinks, fresh produce, grilling. For me, summer is mostly about air conditioning and trying not to get sunburned; but there are times when I get excited about it - beach trips, BBQ's, long days. On one of these bouts of enthusiasm I decided that I wanted legit summer food, so here it is.
Pinterest Recipes
Photos like this one from Bliss are one of the reasons that I am addicted to Pinterest - I can look at gorgeous photos of food all day and then make the dishes that look yummy.