Wrapped in Greens

Happy Monday!!

This is what I just found in my kitchen......

I know it was Hank who ripped open the new bag of dog food and then proceeded to run through it and spread it all around and Dora is trying her darndest to get it all eaten up to cover up the evidence ;-) She never even lifted her head when I caught her ~ she just started eating faster and faster to try and get as much into her belly as possible!! Honestly, there is never a dull moment at our house!!

So how was your weekend? Mine was superb. Derek has family visiting from Alberta and we tried to fit in as much family time as possible. They rarely come to Ontario and we have yet to go visit them out west, so we've been soaking up as much time with them as possible!! We've already started planning a trip to go visit them next October ~ I CAN'T wait!!!

If you're like our family, you'll know that visitors mean lots of food...& beer! I engaged in some over-indulgence this weekend, but today I'm definitely back on track. I came across a recipe this morning that I received from a friend quite a while ago. It involved Greek salad (my fave!!) and chicken wrapped in swiss chard leaves and I knew it'd be the perfect light and summery dinner to keep me on the straight and narrow.

Obviously I wouldn't use the chicken for myself, but I did decide to try chick'n strips.

They are surprisingly similar to real chicken, but I've got to admit it totally weirded me out eating something that had a similar taste and texture to meat. These wraps are great with or without the chicken.

Greek Salad Wrapped in Chard

Again, this is one of those recipes where I didn't use any measurements. You just use a little of this and a little of that :-) Just make sure that you use the large swiss chard leaves because they work the best for this.

large swiss chard leaves

chicken (or chick'n strips)

hummus

grape tomatoes, sliced lengthwise

2 inch piece of cucumber, peeled and sliced lengthwise

black olives, sliced

feta cheese

lemon wedges 

The bottom part of the swiss chard stem can be very difficult to wrap, so using scissors, I cut out the bottom 3rd of the stem.

Lay out your swiss chard leaves on a flat surface.

Spread some hummus onto the leaves.

Add the chick'n, tomatoes, cukes, olives and feta.

Squeeze a little fresh lemon over the filling.

Fold the cut part of the leaf over the filling and then continue to roll the leaf until it is wrapped up nice and tight.

Serve and enjoy!

These are really, really tasty, although they are really, really sloppy too! They are also surprisingly filling. I had two and that was the perfect amount for my dinner.

..... and speaking of greens, check out my garden's progress. I'm going to be enjoying fresh tomatoes and jalapenos very soon!

"baby" beefsteak tomatoes

jalapenos

grape tomatoes

Have you ever made a wrap using some sort of a green leafy veg in place of a tortilla? If you have, what did you use?

Have you ever tried faux meat before? What'd ya think of it?

Have a great night,

Andrea

Orzo Spinach Greek Salad

Howdy! Welcome to Tuesday; only 2 more days to go in this short little work week and then a long weekend - wooohooo!!!

Tomorrow my office is having a potluck lunch. Our potlucks are amazing! For the meat eaters, there is a turkey cooked all morning on a rotisserie and a slow cooked ham and then tons and tons of delectable sides. My task was to bring a spinach salad, but I was determined not to bring just any salad. I wanted something mouth-watering and delicious. Alot of co-workers and friends follow my blog, so lately I've been feeling the pressure to bring a really kick butt dish wherever we go! Lucky for me, I'm always up for a challenge and I think I hit a jackpot with this salad!!

At first my plan was to make a greek salad with spinach, but that just seemed too blah, so I decided that I would make a greek inspired salad with orzo paired with the most amazing, most delectable homemade greek dressing ever!!

Spinach and Orzo Greek Salad

Makes 1 large salad perfect for a crowd.

I guess we'll have to wait and see what my critics say tomorrow, but I have a feeling that my salad is going to be a huge hit. One thing I know for absolute sure is that the dressing I've made is the best one yet!! It's amazing and I'm going to be making it alot!

16 oz package uncooked orzo

3 - 4 c. packed baby spinach, thinly sliced

2/3 c. feta cheese 

1/2 red onion, diced

1/2 c. sliced black olives (I think kalamata would be better, but I used what I had on hand)

1/2 c. sundried tomatoes, sliced

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook orzo for 8 to 10 minutes ~ you want to cook until it is al dente. Drain and rinse the orzo under cold water. Transfer to a large mixing bowl.

If you were planning to serve the salad right away, you would add the rest of the ingredients and mix well. I'm not serving my salad until tomorrow, so I added a small amount of dressing to the orzo, so it wouldn't get sticky and dry overnight. I then topped the orzo with the spinach, feta, red onion, black olives and sundried tomatoes, but I didn't mix them in. I covered it like that and put it in the fridge to chill overnight. I will mix the ingredients together and add the dressing about 20 minutes before serving tomorrow.

....and now for the most amazing part: The Dressing
I found this recipe at allrecipes

1/2 c. olive oil
1 1/4 tsp garlic powder
1 1/4 tsp dried oregano
1 1/4 tsp dried basil
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp onion powder (I didn't have, so I left out)
1 tsp dijon mustard
2/3 c. red wine vinegar

Add all ingredients in a blender or Magic Bullet. Pulse until well blended.

Store in an airtight container. I don't think you'll have to worry about this dressing going bad. It is so good, it won't last long enough :-)

Unfortunately, you don't get a final shot of my gorgeous creation quite yet. Patience my pretties, I will unveil the final product tomorrow.

Make sure you check back tomorrow for the final reveal and for my second "What I Ate Wednesday". I promise it's going to be mouth-watering. You're going to wish you worked with me ;-)

What do you love to take to an office potluck?

Have a great evening.

Andrea

Greek Salad Pitas

Happy Sunday everyone --- I hope your weekend has been absolutely fabulous so far. I've been off since Friday and I've been loving the extra time away from work, however I haven't accomplished a single thing I was planning to do around home! Thankfully I have 4 days off for the Easter weekend, so I'm planning to make myself a to-do list and tackle some tasks around home that are long overdue.

Derek & I have had a fun weekend so far. We've been really busy and not had much time to spend together lately, so we were so happy to be off on Friday. We went out for breakfast and then were out and about most of the day doing errands and some running around.

Derek was bartending on Friday night. It was karaoke night, so that's where I ended up later in the evening. I met up with some friends and we had a great time.

Unfortunately, as a result of my "over indulgence" and apparent love for shooters, most of yesterday was spent here.....

drinking this....

 <Oy>

All in all it was a fun night filled with lots of laughs, singing (oh yeah, baby I sing...especially once I get some "liquid" courage) and dancing. My quads and glutes are still sore today :-)

Yesterday, while nursing myself back to health I watched a ton of cheesy romantic comedies. I watched The Ugly Truth for the second or third time. The movie is not what I would call Oscar-worthy, but I could stare at this ALL.DAY.LONG.

I have one word to describe this: YUMMY

There's nothing like a sexy Irishman to get rid of a hangover ;-)

Today I'm pretty much feeling back to normal. I was up early, went to the gym for my weekly kick-your-butt step class and came home with a major appetite. Tonight we're going out with my in-laws for Chinese, so I wanted to have something that was super delish to satisfy my hunger, but light enough that I wouldn't feel too guilty filling up tonight, so I decided to whip up a quick greek salad pita.

Last week whole grain pitas were on sale. Sadly, when I got my pitas home and opened up the package, I was not impressed to find most of the pitas broken or ripped. I was able to salvage one half pita for today's lunch, however I think I see some pita chips and hummus in my very near future.

I didn't follow any recipe for this nor did I take any measurements.

All you do is make up a small serving of your favourite greek salad. I used baby spinach, tomato, cucumber, black sliced olives and feta cheese.

Instead of using a bottled salad dressing, I whipped up my own quick version. I whisked together 1 tsp olive oil, 2 tsp fresh lemon juice, dried oregano, salt and pepper to taste. It was very tangy and fresh; perfect for Spring!



 I tossed the dressing with my greek salad.

Next, I warmed up my pita in the microwave for 15 seconds and immediately stuffed it full of my salad mixture.

It was gone before I even bothered to get myself a plate out of the cupboard! Quick and easy, yet still healthy and delicious!

Now I'm off to spray off my muddy dogs (thanks Mother Nature for the rain and sleet) and get back to my comfy couch until we have to leave for dinner.

I hope the rest of your day is wonderful.

What's your favourite pita stuffer?

What was the best part of your weekend?

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