Pita Bread Shrimp Sandwich

I got inspired to try this recipe a few days ago because I remembered one of my friends telling me about a greek yogurt cucumber dill deep that she made, so I decided to give it a try but add a little extra protein in my meal…. So here it is!

Ingredients:

• Greek yogurt
• Cucumber (cut in little dices)
• Dill (I suggest using it fires if you can)
• Pita bread
• Shrimp (cooked and peeled)
• Cilantro
• Salt and pepper to taste

It’s really easy to make, just mix together the greek yogurt, dill, cucumber with a little bit of salt and pepper, while you toast the pita bread. To finish it spread the dip into the pita bread, stuff it with the shrimp and add a little bit of cilantro in the top.

Enjoy!

 

“Healthy” Brownies

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I have a sweet tooth, I mean I can’t go out to a restaurant a not order dessert, no matter how full I may be I always have space for dessert. However during the week I try not to eat that many sweets. That’s why I wanted to find a recipe for “healthy” desserts… so, after a lot, and I mean A LOT of research I decided to make some black beans brownies…That’s right, you read correctly, black beans brownies!

I really don’t like any kinds of beans, but I thought I should give this recipe a try. And it turned out to be great!

Ingredients:

• 1 can black beans (rinse very well)
• 1 cup of cocoa
• 1/2 shredded coconut
• 1/3 cup 70% dark chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup sugar or sweetener
• 2 eggs
• 1 tbs coconut oil
• A pinch of baking powder
• Chopped walnuts for topping (optional)

Just mix it all together (except the chocolate chips) in a blender or food processor and pour the mix into your baking dish ( I used oven proof cupcake liners) and add the chocolate chips on top and walnuts. Bake at 350 F for about 30 min.

I hope you like it!

Salmon crudo with truffle oil

 

As you already may know I always try to make simple yet tasty recipes, and this one is no exception. I made this a few nights ago, I wasn’t in the mood to make something more elaborate so I came up with this “salmon crudo”.

Ingredients:

• About 4 oz of salmon (no skin)
• 1/2 cucumber
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• Ponzu sauce
• White truffle oil

To make this, first I sliced the cucumber in julienne making sure to keep the green skin, then I marinated it with the lemon, truffle oil and ponzu sauce, while I sliced very thin the salmon.

Then you just make little rolls, like in the picture, with the cucumber in the center covered with the salmon. You could also drizzled with the sauce that you used to marinate the cucumber and add a little more truffle oil.

Let me know how it goes!

Prosciutto, fig and blackberry salad

Ok people I think this is one of the best salads I have ever made! It has so many rich and complex flavors  that you might feel a bit overwhelmed by its deliciousness!

For this type of recipes I like to have the best quality ingredients, so you can really enjoy all the flavors and the combination of ingredients.

For this salad I used: ( 1 portion)

• About 3 slices of prosciutto
• 2 green figs, sliced in quarters
• 6 blackberries
• Spinach
• 1 or 2 tbs of goat cheese
• Balsamic glaze
• Honey

I made a bed of spinach and on top of it I put the prosciutto, figs and blackberries, then I sprinkled the goat cheese and to finish it I drizzled with the balsamic glaze and honey. (you could add a touch of salt and pepper)

Bon appétit!

Related articles

• Here are some delicious Summer food and wine pairings (westseattleherald.com)
• doing the best we can … Prosciutto Stuffed Figs (stresscake.wordpress.com)
• Fig and Goat Cheese salad with Pomegranate Dressing (sweet-n-savory.com)
• Summertime Peach & Prosciutto Salad (peachesandcake.com)

 

Flank Steak with roasted vegetables

For the past year I’ve only been eating red meat once a week, don’t get me wrong I love a juice steak, but I rather cook on the lighter side during the week and save the steak for when I go out. However once in a while I do cook red meat like this flank steak.

I like cooking flank because it cook really fast and it has almost no fat, if you buy a good piece. For this meal I seasoned it with salt and pepper, nothing else, and I prepared a herb butter, for which I just mixed about 1 tbs of quality butter with garlic, parsley and rosemary. To cook the meat, you want to have a medium to high grill and if you like your meat medium rare like me, you on;y cook it about 7 – 8 min per side.

As a side dish I prepared some oven roasted vegetables, in this case, red onion, summer squash, zucchini, read and yellow bell pepper. I seasoned it with a bit of olive oil, salt and butter. Make sure that all the vegetables are very well coated with the oil, so they won’t stick together or to the baking dish. To cook them, just put them in the oven at 400 F for about 20 min.

Enjoy! let me know how it goes for you!

Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Pancakes

One of my favorite meals of the day is breakfast, I love to start my day with a lot of energy and the only way to get that extra kick is from having a tasty nutritious breakfast. I also love that it could be salty, sweet or both!

My family has a saying that goes like this : ” Eat breakfast like a king, have lunch like a prince and eat dinner like a commoner”… so I try to stick to it as much as possible.

Having said that, I love pancakes, but usually they are not that healthy, so after a little bit of research I came across this recipe that I have been adjusting  every time I make it, to suit my personal taste. I hope you try it and enjoy it as much as I do.

Ingredients: (for 3 pancakes)

• 1 cup of uncooked oatmeal
• 1 egg
• 1/2 banana
• 1 tbs chia seed
• Vanilla extract (optional)
• 2 tbs 70% cacao chocolate chips

Preparation:

Mix in a blender the oatmeal, egg, banana, chia seeds and vanilla extract. Once it’s mixed add the chocolate chips. Pour mix into a pan until the mix has bubbles and you know it’s time to flip it to cook the other side.

Topping:

While I’m making the pancakes,I put to low heat in a small sauce pan, mixed berries with 1/2 tbs of butter. Before I pour it on the pancakes I mashed it a little bit.

Bon appetit!

Berries pineapple green smoothie

I’ve being making this for the past three days, I just can’t get enough of it! and also I haven’t gone to the store to get more fruits 😉

Ingredients:

• 1 cup spinach or any other dark green leaf you have
• 1/2 cup pineapple, although this morning I added a little bit more
• 4 to 5 strawberries
• 1/3 cup blueberries
• The juice of half a lemon (optional)

This a really refreshing smoothie specially if you add the lemon juice, which I tried this morning. Hope you enjoy it!

Shrimp Salmon asian salad

 

This is a salad that I make very often, because of how simple it is to prepare.

Ingredients:

• Raw salmon
• Shrimp
• Avocado
• Spinach or any other green you have
• Mango (optional)
• For the sauce: Peanut butter (just a bit), sesame oil, fresh ginger and lemon

Just mix it all together and enjoy it!

 

Tropical Salmon Ceviche

Last sunday I went to an asian restaurant in Key Biscayne with a friend and she ordered this asian inspired tuna ceviche that had mango, and it was so delicious that I tried to replicate the recipe.

Since I didn’t have tuna I decided to do it with salmon. This recipe is so fresh and tasty that I did it twice this week! It’s really quick to make and you can have it as an appetizer, lunch or dinner. If you have a freezer at work you can even have it for lunch, just use two separate containers, one for the salmon and another one for the rest, and just mix it al lunch time.

First I chopped in small cubes all the vegetables (red onion, red and green bell pepper) and the mango, I put it all in the same bowl along with some fresh cilantro and some garlic, afterwards I added 1/4 lime juice, ponzu sauce and some hot sauce. I left this mix in the freezer while I was cutting the salmon into cubes of about 1 inch and put it in the freezer as well.

To make my meal a little more complete, since I had it for lunch, I made jasmine rice, I really like the aroma while it cooks, it’s like being transported to asia.

As a last step I tried to make a little tower with all the ingredients but it didn’t come out properly, however it was delicious. My ceviche had a bed of jasmine rice, then the chopped vegetables and on the top salmon.

The reason I don’t like to mix the salmon with the rest of the ingredients it’s because I like to eat raw, and the lime of the vegetables will cook it if you leave for a while.

I hope some of you try this recipe! One of my favorites.

Pineapple ginger green smoothie

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Every morning while I make my green juice my boston terrier puppy, Kala, gets super exited because she’s a fruit lover like me! You have to see her, she goes crazy with the smell of fresh fruit, she jumps up and down until I give her some; fruits are a great treat for when I train her, specially green apple.

This morning I tried a new combination of fruits for my green smoothie, the ingredients were:

1 cup baby spinach

1/2 cup pineapple

1 clementine ( It’s like a tangerine but smaller and sweeter, Kala loves them!)

A pinch of fresh ginger

Water and a couple of ice cubes (just enough for the blender to work properly)

My smoothie came out amazing! It was super fresh and the touch of ginger gave it a nice kick at the end.

Let me know if you try it!