The Cook & The Coach Blog

Beet and Clementine Salad with Mixed Greens and Quinoa

12/18/2013

So I don’t get super excited about salads all too often. They are more of a necessary thing that I eat and enjoy and enjoy for lunch. So we decided to make this for dinner which now expectations go up a notch, I mean you are competing with fancy prepared proteins, roasted veggies, pasta and all that other good stuff that we normally indulge in for our dinners. This salad Nailed It! Satisfying, filling, and great flavors!

Ingredients

Salad Ingredients

2 cups pickled beets cut into bite size pieces
3 clementines
2 cups prepared quinoa
6 cups mixed greens
1/4 cup toasted slivered almonds
1 tbsp. coconut oil
2 tbsp. goat cheese (optional, but not really)

Dressing Ingredients

Juice of 1 lemon
Juice of 2 clementines
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp cumin
1 garlic clove
Season with salt and pepper

Directions

Quinoa Directions

1 cup dry quinoa cooked in 2 cups of chicken or vegetable stock. I also added some of the lemon rind to the pot while cooking to infuse a little more citrus flavor. Combine all ingredients, bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat to low for 25 minutes.

Salad Directions

Sautee the beets in 1 tbsp. of coconut oil for 8 minutes, season with salt and pepper.
Peel and cut and half the segments of 1 clementine.
Toast the almonds in a small pan over medium heat on the stovetop. Toss frequently, should take roughly 5 minutes.

Dressing Directions

Combine all ingredients other than olive oil in a blender and blend until garlic clove is no longer.
Slowly stream in the 1/4 cup of olive oil while blender is going to create an emulsion.

Combining Everything

Mix 2 cups of the cooked, warm quinoa into the mixed greens. This will wilt the greens ever so slightly.
Dress the greens and quinoa mixture with an appropriate amount of dressing, we had a little leftover based on the numbers that I mentioned above.
Dish up half the salad mixture on each plate, then top with roasted beets, clementine sections, and toasted almonds. I came up with this recipe on a whim and didn’t have goat cheese to add to it otherwise that would have for sure been on top.

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Butternut Squash Ravioli with Maple, Bacon, Coconut Cream Sauce

12/13/2013

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I wish I could say that everything in this recipe was scratch made but in a pinch we opted for pre-made ravioli. If you choose to make your own ravioli please comment on how that version turns out. The sauce we made however was rich and delicious and paired perfectly with the ravioli.

Hope you enjoy this wonderful fall dish!

Ingredients

15-20 Buttnernut Squash Ravioli (1 Package)
4 strips of bacon – chopped
2 medium sized shallots, chopped
1 clove garlic, diced
1 Tbsp butter
1 can coconut milk
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp dried sage
5-6 fresh sage leaves for garnish
1/2 cup shredded parmigiano reggiano
Salt and Pepper to taste

directions

In a saucepan render the fat out of the chopped bacon, once cooked thoroughly remove bacon and most of the fat from the pan.
Add one tbsp of butter to same saucepan, once melted add the shallot, cook for 3 minutes, then add garlic and cook for an additional 2 minutes.
Open the can of coconut milk and try to drain off as much of the watery substance as possible leaving behind the creamy coconut milk. Add the cream to the pan and reduce the heat to medium.
Add dried sage, cayenne, maple syrup, half the bacon and salt and pepper to the sauce. Simmer for 10 minutes over a medium to low heat, stirring frequently.
If you are good at multitasking you could start boiling water when you start cooking your bacon. Once you get your sauce put together you can drop your ravioli into the boiling water and cook until tender, roughly 8-10 minutes depending on size and if you have pre-made or fresh pasta.
Once pasta is cooked toss with the sauce and remove from heat.
Serve 5-6 ravioli per serving and garnish with fresh sage and cheese.

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Italian Wedding Style Soup

12/9/2013

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So this is one of Laura’s favorites soups that she loves to buy in a can from time to time. This recipe was our version of the soup, not an exact representation but I tried to make it a little bit healthier using turkey sausage instead of pork and added kale instead of spinach. Also Laura loves hearty thick soups so she convinced me to add some quinoa to it to thicken it up.

This was a great quick soup and made for great leftovers.

ingredients

1 lb turkey sausage
1/2 large onion or about a 1 1/2 cups chopped onion
4 stalks of celery chopped
3-4 carrots depending on size
3 cups chopped kale
1/2 cup quinoa
8 cups chicken stock
2 Tbsp Sherry wine
1 tsp ground sage
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese per serving (optional)
1 tbsp fresh parsley (optional)

directions

1) Heat a pan to medium high, add 1 tbsp olive oil, once hot add the ground turkey sausage, season with salt, pepper, sage, thyme, paprika, oregano, and garlic. Cook until browned, then remove from the pan along with any excess grease.
2) Add a little more olive oil to the pan and let it heat up again, then add your veggies, season with salt and pepper, and cook almost to the point of them being soft, roughly 10 minutes.
3) Add Sherry and let the alcohol simmer off, 2 minutes roughly.
4) Add quinoa, kale and chicken stock and bring to a boil. Cook for 25 minutes.
5) Garnish with cheese and parsley if you like otherwise ENJOY!

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Beet and Clementine Salad with Mixed Greens and Quinoa

Ingredients

Directions

Butternut Squash Ravioli with Maple, Bacon, Coconut Cream Sauce

Ingredients

directions

Italian Wedding Style Soup

ingredients

directions