Grilled Summer Vegetable Couscous Salad

 A tasty summery salad!

In my last post, I wrote about a little bit about my eating habits over the course of the day. I've been trying to focus my lunches on vegetables as much as possible, so I've been making a lot of different salad combinations. This is my most recent. It's certainly good as-is, but don't be afraid to shake it up! Substitute orzo, quinoa, or even rice for the couscous, and use whatever veggies and/or dressing you have on hand. Toss in some diced chicken, canned tuna, or beans for a protein kick. It's a great way to eat seasonal veggies and clean out your fridge at the same time.

Grape tomatoes, zucchini, and red bell pepper are the stars here.

Grilled Summer Vegetable Couscous Salad
Serves 2 as a main dish

Ingredients

• 1 cup dry pearled couscous (I cheated and used a box of Near East Roasted Garlic & Olive Oil couscous)
• Olive oil
• 1 medium zucchini, sliced in half lengthwise
• 2 red bell peppers, cleaned and cut in half
• 8 grape tomatoes, cut into quarters
• 2 cups baby spinach
• 1-2 tablespoons salad dressing (I used homemade balsamic--recipe follows)
• Fresh basil, salt and pepper, and/or other seasonings as desired

Steps

1. Cook couscous as directed on the package. When finished, remove from the burner and cover to keep warm.

2.  Prepare vegetables. Brush a grill pan with olive oil and heat over medium heat. When it's hot, place peppers skin side down and the zucchini cut side down on the surface. (You can also use a real grill--brush the veggies with oil in that case--or a Foreman grill for this.)

Start with zucchini cut-side down and peppers skin-side down.

The zucchini will develop grill lines after a few minutes. Turn it over and cook one or two minutes more skin-side down.

Lovely grill lines.

Cook the peppers until they begin to blister and char on the outside. Flip and cook a few minutes more on the other side. I wasn't going for the blackened skin of a roasted pepper here, just a slightly softened pepper with a nice grilled flavor. I still wanted them to have a bit of crunch.

Still a few steps away from roasted peppers.

Set the grilled vegetables aside to cool. Place the tomatoes and spinach in a large mixing bowl.

3.  When the grilled vegetables are cool enough to handle, slice the zucchini into half moons and the peppers into strips. Toss the warm vegetables on top of the spinach and tomatoes in the mixing bowl.

The warm vegetables will wilt the spinach just slightly.

4.  Fluff the warm couscous and pour it over the vegetables in the bowl. Drizzle with the dressing and toss everything together.

Now is the time to add seasonings. I used the packet
that came with the couscous, and didn't feel that it
needed anything more after the dressing was mixed in.

I originally intended this to be a cold salad, like a pasta salad. But of course I had to taste it right away, and it's pretty good served warm too! It's joining my lunch tomorrow with some cherries and Greek yogurt.

And, as promised, here is the "recipe" for my balsamic dressing. I apologize for the lack of specificity--this is something I just sort of throw together every couple of days. It works well with a savory dish like this one, but it's also delicious on a simple salad of spinach and berries.

Homemade Balsamic Vinaigrette
Enough for 2 or 3 salads

Ingredients (amounts are approximate)

• 1-1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar (you may not want this much)
• 1 tsp honey
• 2 tsp Dijon mustard
• 1-2 tsp lemon juice
• Salt and pepper 

Steps (just one!)

1. Combine all ingredients in a shake-able container with a lid. Shake well until blended. Taste and adjust as needed. The dressing will keep in the fridge for at least a week (at which point I'm usually all out and need to make more).

A tip on salad dressings: If you can't figure out what it's missing, think through the five tastes. With this recipe you have bitterness (vinegar and mustard), sourness (lemon and vinegar), sweetness (honey), saltiness (salt), and umami (olive oil). If I think about that while I'm taste-testing, I can usually figure out what I need to add to balance the flavor. Works for other dishes too! Read more about the five tastes here.

Balsamic Strawberries & Greek Yogurt

Long time, no recipes. I know, I know. My only excuse is that my life is full right now, and I haven't had much time to cook anyway--and the recipe I'm about to share reflects that. I was craving something sweet and summery, and this was the perfect ending to my dinner tonight.

Berries and balsamic vinegar may seem unusual, but trust me--it's the perfect sweet and tart combination, perfect over a creamy scoop of Greek yogurt. You can use regular yogurt too, of course. A word of advice if you go the Greek route: don't buy 0%. It'll be thick, yes, but every brand I've tried has been too sour for my taste. The 2% variety solves that problem (with fewer calories than full-fat versions) and fills you up better too.

Use any kind of berries or swap in mint for the basil
if you want to mix it up!

Balsamic Strawberries & Greek Yogurt
Serves one

Ingredients

• 4 medium strawberries
• 3-5 fresh basil leaves, or fresh mint
• 1 tsp honey or brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 cup Greek yogurt (I like Trader Joe's or Fage 2%)

Steps

1.  Hull and slice the strawberries. In a bowl, combine the berries, honey, and vinegar. Mix well and set aside.

2.  Chiffonade the basil: Stack all the basil leaves on top of the largest and roll them up, then slice the log into thin slivers.

3.  Add the yogurt to a bowl. Sweeten with honey, if desired. Top with strawberries and garnish with basil. 

Wash your dishes and then get out of the kitchen and eat this on the porch!

The Food List Challenge: Fish Tacos

If you've spent any time on Facebook recently you may have noticed a new iteration of what I'm calling the "list app": The Food List Challenge. Basically, it's a list of 100 foods and you check off which ones you've eaten to prove that you're a real "foodie."

Going into the "Challenge," I knew I was at a disadvantage. I'll eat just about any type of fruit, vegetable, bread, cheese, or dessert that you throw at me. Organs, insects, and other oddities aren't my cup of tea though, and the list features quite a few. All in all, I came out with a score of 27 out of 100.

What was surprising to me, though, wasn't all the weird things like crickets and kangaroo. It was how many "normal," readily available foods I haven't eaten. And so, in the past week I have added two new foods to my list: heirloom tomatoes (more on that later) and fish tacos.

I'm not sure why I've never tried fish tacos before. Lord knows they're everywhere these days. But I finally did, and I was pretty happy with the results. This recipe relies pretty heavily on the George Foreman Grill, but you could use a real grill or modify the cooking methods.


Simple Fish Tacos
Serves 1

Basic ingredients, minus the spices.

Ingredients

Cooking spray
1 small ear of corn
1 fish fillet (I used perch)
Lemon juice
Salt
Pepper
Chili powder
1-2 tortillas (I had spinach tortillas so that's what I used)
Taco toppings (I used salsa verde, chopped spinach, and plain yogurt)

Steps

1.  Preheat the Foreman Grill. Husk and remove the silk from the ear of corn. Spray with cooking spray (or brush with oil) and season with salt and pepper.

2.  Place the corn on the grill. Cook at least 3-4 minutes, turning frequently, until done. (I left mine on the grill for probably close to 7 or 8 minutes, waiting for it to develop some nice grill lines, but it never did. Still tasty though.) Remove the corn from the grill and set aside.

Corn before grilling.

After grilling. You won't get grill marks, but if you turn it
frequently, you will get crisp, tasty cooked corn.

3.  Dry the fish fillet with paper towels. Rub with lemon juice and then season with salt, pepper, and chili powder, or other spices as desired. Spray the grill surfaces with cooking spray and add the fish.

Fish before grilling. I forgot to snap a picture of it afterwards.

4.  While the fish is cooking, prep the taco toppings. Chop spinach, lettuce, or other vegetables. When the corn is cool enough to handle, use a small knife to cut the kernels off the cob.

I got really good at removing corn from the cob when
I had braces back in middle school. Also pictured:
coarsely chopped spinach.

5.  When the fish is done (timing will depend on the size of your fillet), remove it from the grill and flake it with a fork.

6.  Place a frying pan on the stove over medium heat. Add the tortillas one at a time, and heat for about ten seconds on each side.

Warm tortillas are the only way to go here.

7.  Top each tortilla with corn, fish, and whatever other toppings you want. I found that the lime in the salsa verde worked really well with the fish for my tacos. I also used some plain nonfat yogurt in place of sour cream--it's similar in taste and texture, and I almost always have some on hand (you can also use it on baked potatoes and in a lot of other sour cream situations).

Ta-dah!

So, my first experience with fish tacos was pretty ok. I made two tacos out of one pretty small fillet, so there wasn't much fish in each one. I think I'd use more next time or only make one taco, and season the fish more. Also, I love spinach tortillas, but the spinach taste was a little overpowering. I'd use plain or wheat tortillas if possible.

Watermelon and cantaloupe.

Overall, it was an easy meal and one that I'd definitely make again. Paired with a nice bowl of fruit, it was the perfect dinner for the summery weather we've been having.

Have you taken the Food List Challenge? What's your score?

Learning to Run

So I know it's been a while, but I haven't had much to share. However, I do have some news finally, and a recipe I'll probably share later in the week. But for today, I want to focus on one thing:

This week I started a Couch to 5K program!

Let me explain why I find this significant enough for a blog post. Running is something that I used to absolutely hate. I did it when I had to for gym or marching band, but I despised every second. It was hard and it was boring, and I just didn't see the point.

My running buddy Jacob on laundry day!

And then, something called drum corps happened to me. Suddenly, fitness became incredibly important in my life and running was a huge part of that. I had to run all the time. We ran back to our sets. We ran to get water. We woke up every morning and ran for PT. I even found a "running buddy" in the corps who ran at exactly my pace. And by the end of the summer, I didn't hate running any more.

My feet, however, had other ideas. My left foot developed a habit of cracking, like you would crack your knuckles, while on tour. It hurt, but it didn't prevent me from marching so I basically ignored it. When I got home though, I realized that my left foot was swollen and probably had been for most of the summer. I kept running for a while after that, but not as frequently or to the same intensity as I had during tour. Eventually I sort of stopped altogether, and started working out on elliptical trainers and doing low-impact "Turbo Jam" workouts.

At the height of my running prowess. I was also quite tan.

And then, finally, last spring I went to see a podiatrist. He examined my feet, took some xrays, and watched me walk around barefoot. And then he told me something I didn't know: "You have flat feet."

Ok, so what does that mean? I found out that it's something I was born with and something that won't change. It's not harmful or bad, it just means that running or being on my feet for a long time can hurt! So, he took molds of my feet and had orthotics made that I now wear in my shoes. Since then, my left foot has stopped cracking and both feet are much happier.

Flash forward to now. This week I started a Couch to 5K training program and did my first three runs, pain-free (for my feet, anyway!). I'm using a great app called 5K Runner which tells you when to run and walk at various intervals. You can even listen to music with it, and it will lower the volume of the song to give you instructions! (Maybe I am easily impressed, but I appreciate that they thought these things through!) The app has made the transition into running much easier than if I'd been doing it by myself.

I've also gotten a lot of support from friends. I posted about my first two runs on Facebook and got a lot of "Likes" and comments--thanks for the encouragement! I now feel accountable for my workouts, and I'm planning to get through the whole program and maybe even run a race someday.

My running shoes with one of my magical orthotics.