Grilled Cheese Extraordinaire

When you think of your favourite childhood foods, what is the first thing that comes to your mind? For me, it was all about homemade mac 'n cheese and grilled cheese sandwiches.

As much as I still love both, I can't help but to try to fancy them up now and again.....what can I say, I've become a true foodie :-D

Lately I've seen several variations on a grilled cheese and I wanted to get in on the fun. I added a few of my fave things and the result was pretty fantastic. I hope you love it!

Grilled Cheese Extraordinaire
Makes 1 sandwich

This is a great way to 'fancy up' an old childhood favourite.

2 slices bread of your choice (I used 12 grain)
Earth Balance (or butter)
shredded mozzarella cheese
2 - 3 slices avocado
3 - 4 slices of tomato
pinch of salt

I assume we all know how to make a grilled cheese, so I'm not going to go into great detail on how to make it. Simply butter your bread and assemble your sandwich by layering the tomatoes, avocado, cheese and a pinch of salt. Grill in a small frying pan.

All it takes is a simple cast characters for this sammie.

There is so much deliciousness packed in there!

Remove from the skillet and serve. I made a side of kale chips to go with my sammie. It was a perfect Friday night dinner! The only thing that would have made it better was a glass of merlot; sadly, there was no wine to be found in the Vegvacious household :-(

So now I better be off. You know there are only 3 weeks 'til Christmas right?! I have TONS to do!!! I'm even trying my hand at getting making some new decorations. Here's a hint of what I've been working on.....

I'm hoping I can share the finished product on Sunday or Monday.

Until then, have a great weekend.

What are your plans this weekend?
Favourite childhood eats?

See ya real soon,

Andrea

Roasted Veggie Pasta

Happy Monday! I'm happy to announce that I'm no longer a sick-o and am feeling completely back to myself!! That stomach bug kicked my in the boo-tay!!! I never get sick and there is nothing worse than being sick in the middle of the summer. Obviously someone missed the memo that summer's almost over and I have zero time to be wasting in bed! Social butterflies like myself have no time to spare :-D

I missed a couple days of good eats last week and when I finally got my appetite back I was HUNGRY! In fact, I think I went a little overboard on the weekend (I was making up for my lost meals!), so this week I'm getting back to healthy, reasonably portioned meals.

Yesterday we stopped at a veggie stand and I picked up some fresh tomatoes. Nothing says summer like tomatoes fresh off the vine!! Last night we had grilled tomato and cheese sammies (HEAVEN!) and tonight I was craving some seriously fresh and delicious tomato pasta. I whipped up a roasted veggie and tomato pasta that is going to absolutely knock your socks off! It was so easy to make and when you have fresh veggies, you really don't need much more to amp up the flavour. The veggies do all the work themselves.

Roasted Veggie Pasta
Serves 4

4 c cooked pasta (I used brown rice pasta)
3 c chopped tomatoes
 4 - 5 c chopped veggies (I used sweet onion, mushrooms, yellow pepper, zucchini)
2 cloves minced garlic
2 tbsp finely sliced fresh basil
sea salt & pepper to taste
1 c mixed baby greens (spinach and arugula work awesome in this)
2 - 3 tbsp olive oil
crumbled feta (freshly grated parm would be awesome as well!)

Preheat your oven to 350. Grease a cookie sheet or use your favourite baking mat. Make sure your pan has sides. I used a flat baking sheet and lets just say the bottom of my oven is now covered in lovely blackened tomato juice. Oops!

Cook your pasta according to the directions. Drain, rinse and set aside.

Throw your tomatoes, veggies and garlic into a large bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and add sea salt and pepper. Toss to evenly coat.

Spread the tomato/veggie mixture evenly out onto the cookie sheet.

Roast the veggies for 20 minutes, making sure to flip about halfway through for even roasting.

Remove from oven.

Combine the veggie mixture, pasta, greens and basil in a large bowl.

Top with feta when serving. Delicious!!!!

This would make a greal meal to enjoy with a pal (or a sweetie) on a

warm summer night paired with a nice glass of cabernet.

What is your fave veggie to pick up from a roadside veggie stand?
Any oven cleaning hints? Mine is A HUGE MESS!!!! <sigh>

Have a great evening!

Andrea

Tomato Pesto Sandwich

Happy Sunday and Happy Father's Day to all those dear daddies out there! Sadly, I can't be with my dad today, but I was able to spend some quality time with him over Memorial Day and hopefully we'll get down for another visit later this summer. 

Can you believe yet another weekend is on its way out? I swear the weekends get shorter in the summer :-) I've had a pretty great weekend considering I've been on my own since Friday. Yesterday was super busy with an early morning spin class, a vet appointment and a 1st birthday party and today was a lazy day; which was just what I needed.

I have so many things that I want/need to do, but I've been pooped and I decided that this afternoon was going to be a put my feet up and relax kinda day. I find it hard to do that because even though I'll have the intention to relax and enjoy the day, I often feel guilt about nothing being accomplished on that never-ending list of "to-dos". Do you ever have that problem?

Well today I managed to push my guilt aside and I pretty much planted my butt on the couch all afternoon, so that I could get in a whole bunch of Dexter (season 1) episodes in. The first couple of episodes didn't thrill me, but I'm on about episode 8 and I'm  hooked! I am so looking forward to renting the next season and then the next after that!!

To go along with my lazy day theme, I kept my meals quick and simple, but I certainly didn't sacrifice deliciousness!! Check out my tomato pesto sammie.

Tomato Pesto Sandwich

Makes 1 sandwich

This sandwich is really delicious and I can't wait until I have my own fresh tomatoes to use with it! I also used Daiya cheese, which is a wheat-free, gluten-free, dairy-free, soy-free vegan cheese substitute. It my first time using it and I was really happy with it. It gets all gooey and melty like cheese and it tastes great!! This sandwich will satisfy vegetarians and meat lovers alike.

1 whole wheat thin bun

3 slices of tomato

2 tbsp your fave pesto (I used a traditional basil pesto)

3 - 4 tbsp shredded mozzarella cheese (or your fave cheese substitute - I used Daiya mozza shreds)

4 - 6 baby spinach leaves

Turn your oven on to broil.

On a baking sheet, lay out your bun. On one side, spread the pesto and on the other place your tomatoes.

I love these buns! They have just the right amount of bread, so you still get a yummy sandwich, but the bread doesn't end up over-powering your sandwich filling!

Sprinkle cheese on each side.

Throw the sandwich under the broiler until it's all ooey gooey ;-)

Remove from the oven, top the tomatoes with the baby spinach leaves and top with the pesto side of the sandwich.

Yum! A perfect lunch for a summer day.

Do you have a hard time setting aside all the things you want to do, so you can take a day for yourself??

What's your favourite kind of pesto? I'm pretty traditional :-)

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday evening,

Andrea

Mini Greek Egg White Souffles

Oh happy day!! The sun is shining, the temperature is rising and the sound of our neighbours lawn mower is music to my ears. This is just what I needed to pull myself up out of my funk and get my booty in gear!

This morning I was up bright and early to go to a new spin class at the gym. On my way home, I decided that  I'd take the dogs for a walk in this gorgeous sunshine before I went inside to start tackling my very long list of To-Dos.

By the time I finally came in the house I was torn between checking out all my fave blogs or getting something to munch on. My bloggie buds won out and I took a quick buzz around the Net to see what everyone was up to. I'm so glad I did, because I saw a recent post from Cait at beyond bananas that totally inspired my lunch! This recipe is easy, based on one serving for one lone gal at home and is delicious!! It also helped me get rid of some leftover ingredients lurking around in my fridge from my orzo spinach greek salad last weekend.

Mini Greek Egg White Souffles

Makes 4 mini souffles (perfect for one hungry gal)

Recipe adapted from Cait's Egg White Souffle Dinner Cakes

These little beauts are so delicious. Cait put some spices into hers and I completely forgot. They still tasted amazing! You have to be careful when removing them from the pan because they can easily be squished down. They are light and fresh and would be a perfect addition to a Mother's Day Brunch!

1 tsp extra virgin olive oil

3 egg whites

1 c baby spinach, chopped

3 tbsp onion, chopped

3 tbsp tomato, diced

2 tbsp black olives, chopped

1 1/2 tbsp feta

Note: The original recipe called for a dash of garlic powder, pepper and chili powder. I forgot and mine still tasted great, but you could add any spices that you like!

Preheat oven to 350. Grease 4 muffin cups in a tin muffin pan. Make sure you grease your cups well because these will stick.

Preheat the olive oil in a small frying pan over medium heat. Add your spinach and cook until the spinach has wilted (approximatley 1 - 2 minutes).

Add the tomato, onion and black olives to the skillet and cook an additional 4 - 5 minutes ~ until the onion is softened. Remove from heat.



Place your egg whites into a medium sized mixing bowl. Beat on medium speed for 4 - 5 minutes until the they are white and fluffy and are able to form stiff peaks.

In the beginning....

The final result. 

Fold in the veggie mixture and feta cheese.

Scoop the egg mixture into the prepared muffin pan. Makes 4 large muffin cups or you could make 6 smaller ones, if you prefer.

Bake for 14 - 15 minutes. They are done when the tops are golden brown.

Don't they look lovely (minus the old pan I was using)??

 I found that the best way to remove the souffles from the pan was to run a knife around the edges and then use a fork to GENTLY remove them. They squish very easily so be careful!!

Yet another healthy meal that is quick, easy and delish!! I was nervous about just using egg whites, but you can hardly even tell. These were amazing and I loved every single bite! I had some salsa on the side, but they are really good on their own. I didn't use much salsa at all.

I think I've procrastinated enough, so I better be off! My workout is done, the dogs are exercised and my belly is satisfied. Time to go be productive!

Have a wonderful weekend. Soak in some of the sunshiney rays while you can!

How do you tackle a great big to do list?

What ingredients do you like to add to your souffles?

Andrea

Greek Style Quinoa Salad

Have you had a good weekend?? I certainly have! Who knew I could enjoy so many wonderful meals while doing a cleanse. I think I have a new found respect for delicious salads!

For dinner tonight, I made a fantastic Greek Style Quinoa Salad. I absolutely love greek salad (and all greek food for that matter), so I thought I would experiment and make something wonderful, sans the feta of course!!

Greek Style Quinoa Salad
1 c. quinoa
2 c. water
1 c. baby spinach
1 diced scallion
1 roma tomato, chopped
1/2 red pepper, chopped
1/2 c. zucchini, chopped
1/4 c. oil-cured black olives

Dressing
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp water
2 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp agave nectar (or your favourite sweetener)
pinch of sea salt

Bring water to boil. Add quinoa and cook according to the package directions.

As soon as the quinoa has finished cooking, add the spinach and onions and mix well. Cover and let stand for 5 - 10 minutes.

By doing this, you allow the spinach & onions to soften without losing all of their precious nutrients.

Tranfer the quinoa mixture to a mixing bowl. Add the remaining veggies and olives and mix well.



Now you need to whip up your dressing. Place all of the ingredients into a blender (or Magic Bullet works great for this) and blend everything up until smooth.

Add the dressing to the quinoa salad and mix well.



Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and then serve!

The subtle flavours of the dressing and raw veggies make this salad so refreshing!

Enjoy!!

Now I'm off to drink some decaffeinated green tea while I catch The Amazing Race.

Andrea