Warm Beet & Broccoli Couscous Salad.

If you're like me and pretty darn stuffed from the delicious food this Christmas holiday season brings, you may want to try out this light Warm Beet & Broccoli Couscous Salad. This delicious salad is light yet filling. Couscous is a one of the most healthy grain's and is high in protein. I love adding lemon to most couscous dishes...

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups cooked couscous
4 small green onions, chopped
1/2 green pepper, chopped
1/2 head broccoli, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 can sliced beets, drained (or in my case, a can of whole beets and chop them yourself!)
1 can water chestnuts, drained
Lemon juice
Balsamic vinegar
Extra virgin olive oil
Garlic powder (or fresh chopped of course!)
Salt & pepper

Steps:
1. Prepare couscous according to package directions. (In my case, I had approx. 1/2 cup regular couscous and 1 cup whole wheat couscous and it worked out fine when putting into 2 cups boiling water).
2. Drizzle extra virgin olive oil into a heating pan. Add cooking onion.
3. Begin to steam broccoli and carrots...

Broccoli and carrots in a bamboo steamer.

4. Put green pepper, water chestnuts and beets on top of onions:

5. Finish steaming broccoli and carrots. Add to ingredients into the pan.
6. Drizzle lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, garlic powder to vegetable mixture.
7. Add cooked couscous and green onions, stir all together. Drizzle extra lemon juice and/or balsamic vinegar if desired. Don't be afraid to use a lot!

8. ENJOY!
 

Pecans make a delicious topping!

Tips/Suggestions:

• If you like nuts, try mixing a 1/2 cup of chopped nuts in with the other ingredients. I would highly recommend pecans, however walnuts, almonds or sunflower seeds would be tasty as well.

Two chilis on the go.....

I woke up today and decided to make some chili. Seeing as I love my slow cooker and simply love smelling food cook all day, I opted to use it! I rummaged through the fridge and cupboards to use what ingredients I had. Without any beef I decided to use some Italian veggie ground. From my experience most people have a hard time telling the difference between real meat and veggie ground once cooked; It is all in how you flavour it you see! Using the Italian kind of veggie ground is best for things like pasta, chilis, etc., but you can also buy other flavours too!Veggie ground breaks up nicely whether it is frozen so try it sometime as I find it good just to have on hand.
My boyfriend Ben knew I was going to make chili so he bought some ground beef when he returned from the grocery store after a meeting earlier today. I had already started the veggie chili and while he doesn't mind veggie chili, the look in his eye told me he was hoping for a thick meaty chili - you know guys and their meat obsessions, haha. Soooo I decided to make two batches of delicious chili goodness; one meaty and one vegetarian! Chili is so easy to freeze and I like stocking up the freezer, so two chili's on the go seemed like a good idea to me!

Fresh ingredients, unchopped.

 

 Homemade pressed garlic in oil next to a variety of things: chopped onion, red pepper, hot pepper, green pepper, celery, tomatoes, mushrooms...... 

The following are my chili guidelines as I hardly ever follow or use recipes! I am also a huge advocate of using whatever you have around. In this case, I had no beans for either chili. oops?! But you see, that's alright! It'll still taste delicious! hehe...

VEGETARIAN CHILI INGREDIENTS:

• 1 package of Yeve's Italian veggie ground
• 1 red pepper
• 1 green pepper
• 1 onion
• 1 large hot chili pepper 
• Garlic to taste (use fresh or minced in oil)
• 1 can crushed tomatoes
• Spices: Cumin, Chili, Basil, Thyme, Oregano, Sweet chili and pepper spice (Club House brand)

 Cooking Method:

• Place veggie ground in a slow cooker or large pot and if frozen let de-thaw  with lid on until you can break it all up
• Add garlic and onions, stir
• Add all other ingredients, stir
• Cook on low with lid on for approx. 6 hours
• Enjoy!

BEEF CHILI INGREDIENTS:

• 2 lbs lean ground beef (1 lb is usually enough, but I was a bit lazy and didn't want to refreeze the other half, lol)
• garlic to taste (use fresh or minced in oil)
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1 orange pepper, chopped
• 1 yellow pepper, chopped
• a bunch of mushrooms , sliced
• 1 celery stalk, chopped
• 1 can of tomatoes (I didn't have crushed tomatoes so I chopped up these!) 
• 1 real tomato, chopped
• Spices: Cumin, Chili, Salt
• Other: A few squirts of hot sirachia sauce (that red bottle of sauce with a rooster on it found at Chinese food places at the mall)

Cooking Method:

• Brown beef in a large pot (or slow cooker)
• Add garlic and onions, stir
• Add all other ingredients except for mushrooms, stir
• Add mushrooms once other ingredients have mixed around a bit. Why? Cuz I don't like mushrooms to get mushy.
• Cook on low with lid on for approx. 6 hours
• Enjoy!

Tips:

• If your chili is too watery, try adding a can of tomato paste to help thicken it up. You can also try simmering the chili on low without a lid.
• Using fresh ingredients is best, but canned vegetables can be used as well
• Basically, use whatever ingredients you have and have fun!!!

Beef Chili. YUM!