Category Archives: Salads

This is what I love most and it never let’s me down

To eat or not to eat? A classic Italian Sunday Lunch

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Sunday is a very big day for families to get together and have lunch. It generally is held at your Grandma’s house or at your Mother’s house, she will more often than not make a 5 course meal where homemade pasta will made, with a delicious Ragù that has cooked for hours accompanied by a nice bottle of red wine; then followed by a vast array of meats and vegetables, cooked and served in various forms, from steamed to fried, boiled to sautéed, with all the in-betweens of bread, prosciutto, salami, cheeses, olives, etc… In other words it’s a day of sitting down around 1pm and getting up around 5pm.

My family is Traditional and we do (most Sundays) meet at my parents house in this cute town about an hour away from where I live with my Husband. The house is a typical old rustic house built somewhere about 80 – 100 years ago on a huge property with an old barn in the back, surrounded by vineyards. It’s perfect for family get-together’s although during the winter due to how old this house is it tends to be fairly cold. We are on the Adriatic coast north of Florence and South of Venice in the region of Emilia-Romagna, you may know the Region as this is where Parmigiano Reggiano, Prosciutto di Parma, Balsamic Vinegar, Lasagna, Tagliatelle, Ragù a la Bolognese, etc…are from; not to forget also where Ferrari and Lamborghini are manufactured.

We are a large family and we love to eat. Although we do make some large meals, most of the time we try to not make too much food (as most Italians do) on Sundays, we generally pick one dish and then accompany that with veggies, wine (of course), tea, coffee and some sort of dessert. Now that I am pregnant I am lucky enough to be the one that gets the phone call of what my cravings are for Sunday, what would I like to eat and so forth; this will of course lead to the occasional sibling phone call telling me to tell my Mom that I am craving…..whatever they are craving. I can occasionally cave in to that but I also opt out at times, because it is generally something a little more fattening than I would appreciate to eat. I know that I am pregnant but I am still not in that mentality that just because I am pregnant I need to eat constantly and without watching what I eat. Don’t get me wrong I do occasionally indulge (why should I not) but those are on rare occasions, after all I am only going to be pregnant for another 4 months, after that I will have work to go back to my weight and all the eating I do now will be a huge factor of how and if I can do it in a timely manner. Fortunately, I haven’t had crazy, gross cravings so far, but I’ll talk about that another time.

As I mentioned earlier, Tagliatelle is very typical of this area and one of my favorite dishes for a Sunday, not to forget accompanied with Ragù a la Bolognese and the world-famous Parmigiano Reggiano. So, this Sunday that is what my Mom prepared, she made the Ragù the previous day cooked it for hours and it was delicious.

              

Don’t let yourself get distracted by the plastic plates….it doesn’t take anything away from the amazing flavor of the food. I prefer my Mom to use plastic plates, we are about at least 10-12 and that’s on a regular day when not all my siblings, boyfriends, girlfriends, husbands, wives, nieces, nephews can show up; if we had to use the regular plates and cups I think that it would suck to have to clean up after that, let me remind you that here in Italy there are seldom dishwashers so to wash by hand is more time-consuming than spending time together. BTW….yes that’s my gorgeous Mother at 50 after 10 kids…still looks smoking even with leggings and a big sweater.

We followed the meal with lots and lots of vegetables, we are a family that loves vegetables, so we had that along with whole grain bread and Gorgonzola. Here in Italy, it’s very common to serve raw vegetables, like carrots, celery, fennel, endive, radishes, etc…and then pour some olive oil and salt and dip your vegetables in and eat it like that, if your like me then you add vinegar…balsamic of apple cider; here in Italy this array of raw vegetables accompanied by olive oil is called Pinzimonio, one of my all time favorites. It’s perfect for get togethers, dinner parties, cook outs and it also helps you eat slower because you dip it take a bite and repeat.

             

After that we ladies sat around made teas and chatted about most possibly every subject you can think of. It was an amazing lunch and many more of course; to follow. I wanted to share this with you (the reader) because I think that this is an important part of life, we eat but how do we enjoy it?

I enjoy it this way! I find that one day a week you should be allowed to pick one dish that you truly enjoy and eat it, but what makes it all the worthwhile is when you are surrounded by the people you love and enjoy because then you truly enjoyed that meal, from start to finish. You are talking, eating and don’t even realize that you are full and satisfied without over eating, because in great company you tend to eat slower, talk a little more and get full faster. So all in all it’s a win win situation. This is a day to Eat!

P.s. Recipes for this day to follow………Have a wonderful WEEK!

           

Low-Fat oven baked Chicken with delicious Rosemary Potatoes

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What are making this weekend??? A nice home cooked meal is always the best if you are not going out to restaurant. Here is an idea….You can accompany this dish with a nice salad or roast vegetables.

Rosemary, being one of my favorite ingredients to use when baking, simply because the aroma it gives your dish is so wonderful and subtle and of course it makes the whole house smell delicious and warm. It’s such a simple and wonderful ingredient to use; I especially love to use it along with potatoes and chicken. In this recipe I don’t peel my potatoes because I quite enjoy the flavor, also the skin of the potatoes has lots of vitamins so in my defense why remove it. But you can peel if you like it will taste just as good.

I have to admit there is something that I just love about oven-baked chicken.

Of course, I love the whole chicken baked in the oven; but sometimes I just don’t have the time for that or sometimes all the fat that the skin of the chicken lets out and the skin itself (although flavorful) is just not that good for you. So when having little time to cook or being healthy I can say that I omit the chicken skin; (I don’t really eat it anyways) and still have the taste of this delicious traditional dish that I can say most people love; this is what I do.

Serves 2

Ingredients:

2 thick chicken Breast (or 4 thin breasts)

4 small Potatoes (or 2 large ones)

3 tbsp. Olive oil

3 fresh Rosemary sprigs (stem removed)

Salt and Pepper to taste

 

Preheat your oven at 320 degrees.

In the meantime wash and slice your potatoes in half and then long ways (about 1/4 inch thick), kind of like fries. Put in a bowl and add 1 ½ tbsp. of olive oil, 2 sprigs of rosemary, salt and pepper to taste, mix until all the potatoes are covered with the dressing.

With your chicken add the rest of the olive oil and rosemary and then salt and pepper to taste.

Get a large baking pan, place your chicken down first, and then pour in your potatoes, try to get your potatoes on the sides of the chicken not on top.

Place in the oven and allow to bake for 20 minutes, then turning chicken over, mixing your potatoes and cooking for another 15 minutes. It should be ready.

Of course all ovens cook differently so if yours cooks faster you may remove before or if it cooks slower leave in there a bit more.

 

A Healthy twist on an Old Italian Recipe

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Bruschetta is a typical Italian dish that is served with bread. I happen to love bruschetta and it always seem to be so convenient to make especially as an appetizer, for yourself, for guests, at a dinner party and as hors d’oeuvres.

The other day for lunch I suddenly craved Bruschetta, I opened the cupboard and didn’t have any bread, which came as no surprise because I don’t keep bread in the house. So, I came up with the next best thing to satisfy this craving; make the bruschetta sauce and pour it over pasta.  I looked to see what type of pasta might be good with this and I had some whole-wheat penne, what a fabulous idea.

What I really liked about this was that I like to respect the quality of the ingredients I cook with, so of course when being able to make a dish that doesn’t require cooking any of the ingredients besides the pasta, makes me feel more wholesome and appreciative of the dish, also the ingredients are able to maintain their natural source of vitamins and color.

This is a simple, quick, and low-fat dish.  You can make it when out of time, as a pasta salad and when you want to eat something light. Enjoy.

 

Ingredients:

 250 gr. Of Whole-Wheat Penne pasta

2 large vine Tomatoes

4 Basil leaves

1 small crushed Garlic clove

A handful of Rucola (arugola)

1 small fresh Mozzarella Ball (100 gr.)

3 tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive oil

Salt to taste

 

Put a pot of salted water to boil, throw your pasta in and let cook for 9- 10 minutes. (Always follow the cooking time on the box).

Meanwhile, chop you tomatoes into small cubes, place in a medium bowl and add your garlic, olive oil and salt. Chiffonade your basil and add to tomatoes, mix the ingredients and let sit. Now cut your mozzarella into small cubes, add to tomato mixture.

Drain your pasta throw into bowl with tomato ingredients and toss together, until mixed well. Serve and enjoy.

 

Grilled Chicken with Romaine

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This dish is one of my favorites. I especially love to make it in the summer and I do like to use Shrimp with it. I personally like to grill, I feel that it is a healthier and tastier way to cook, the flavor it gives the food is fantastic and it can be low-fat if you don’t use all those marinades, I use a little olive oil and then any type of spice or herb that goes along with the dish. You can literally grill anything you want, veggies, fish, poultry, meat, fruit, etc.

This dish is simple and fast. I hope you enjoy making this dish!

Ingredients:

Serves 2

2 heads of Romaine

2 skinless Chicken breasts

2 tbsp. Olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Pour 1 tbsp. of olive oil and some salt and pepper on the boneless skinless chicken breast, put on the grill and allow to cook for 10 min. before turning over. In the meantime cut your romaine lettuce in half longwise, pour the rest of the olive oil evenly over the romaine and put some salt and pepper. Put on the grill cut side down first and allow to cook about 5 minutes on each side (be careful because it can bun easily depending on how high the flame is).

Your chicken and romaine should be cooked. Put 2 halves of romaine on a plate and cut your chicken diagonally and lay on top and serve.

 

Eating in Paris

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My Husband and I went to Paris for 2 days, it’s only a 2 hour plane ride from Bologna, Italy and so we decided that this would be our Christmas gift to each other. I was so excited because I have always wanted to go to Paris and see all the beauty, the shops, the streets, the sites, the gothic architecture and of course taste the cuisine. Although you really can’t experience a lot in 2 days I was determined to try some of my favorites. From croissants to baguette, from french onion soup to crème brûlée.

               

The first day we got in at about 6 pm, we took the train to the Hotel and decided to venture off. We could see the Eiffel Tour from our hotel and decided to take some pictures and then find a place to eat. It was raining and a Monday night, which meant that many restaurants would be closed so we ended up at a place called Bosque. A real cute and eloquent restaurant and very Parisian, we order the French onion soup (Soupe à l’oignon), it was delicious and perfect because it warmed me instantly, it had a little more salt than I would have expected but all in all delicious. For dessert we shared a crème brûlée, which was cooked to perfection, the cream was perfectly cooked and the sugar on top was perfectly melted.

The next morning we got up and went for a stroll and decided to have a french breakfast or atleast a Croissant and Coffee. I wasn’t expecting the croissants to taste any different than the ones you find here in Italy at any coffee shop, but to my surprise they actually tasted slightly different, you can sense that they are more buttery but soft and fluffy, it was delicious. I didn’t care too much for the cappuccino as here they like to make the milk foamy where as in Italy they are all about the Crema, and so am I. The place we had breakfast at was called La Coupe D’or, on a beautiful shopping street called Rue Saint-H’onoré.

                      

From here we decided to check out most of the sites, we walked up the Avenue Des Champs-Elysees, Notre Dame, Jardin Du Luxenburg, Sorbonne, The Latin Quarter, St. Germain, Pont Neufe, Etc… The sites were gorgeous and breathtaking. After all of that walking we got hungry and decided to go to the first place we saw, the restaurant we walked into was called Au Chai De L’Abbaye, it turned out to be quite cozy, I really wanted a baguette with some cheese but that wasn’t on the menu so I ended up ordering a french salad with french shredded potato patties. My husband ordered a grilled bread with goat cheese and tomatoes on top. The salad had a mustard dressing which was very subtle and nice, they did put a lot of cheese on top, which I thought complimented the salad I had ordered but I wasn’t expecting french salads to have that many ingredients, I like my simple Olive oil, lemon and salt dressing. But I was pleased with this lunch and starving so happy to finally eat.

After lunch we strolled the streets, we bought some fresh baguette and artisianal chocolates. We made our way back to the hotel and took a nap. We got up around 6pm and went to the Eiffel Tour, it was illuminated and it felt so surreal being in front of it. From there we went to have dinner at Mariette’s a cozy little family owned restaurant, we went inside and were greeted by the wife of the chef, I ordered homemade potato gnocchi with bell peppers and prosciutto, for my entree I ordered poached salmon. My husband ordered escargot ravioli’s and lamb for his entree, we were truly satisfied with this dinner, and the restaurant was eloquent and beautifully decorated.

We ended up with dessert a crepe with nutella on the Avenue Des Champs-Elysees.

I hope that you have a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Garbanzo and Tuna Green Salad

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I love salads. I honestly don’t know where I would be without salads; the variety of ingredients that you can put in a salad is extremely vast. I always try to make my salads as nutritious as possible by trying to include protein. In Italy it’s very common to order a salad with pretty much anything on it, one of the most common ingredients is canned tuna; hold on I know what you are thinking but have you ever added canned tuna to your salad? If you haven’t you should try it.

Of course the salad dressing in Italy and in my household is the standard extra virgin olive oil, lemon or vinegar, and salt. I think this is a healthy and excellent way to dress your salad because it maintains the core natural flavors of your ingredients.  I use light tuna in olive oil, and garbanzo beans (aka. Chick peas) in this recipe. If you do try this recipe let me know what you think. In the other hand if you already like these ingredients then you are going to love this salad. This is simple, healthy and fast to make, and remember you can include, cherry tomatoes, avocado, olives, mushorooms, artichokes, celery, onions, carrots, etc… whatever you like. Have fun with your ingredients and Enjoy.

Serves 2-3

Ingredients:

1 16oz can Garbanzo beans

2 cans Tuna

1 bag mixed green salad*

1 handful of Rucola (arugola)

4 tbsp. Extra Virgin Olive oil

1/2 fresh squeezed lemon juice

salt to taste

Drain your garbanzo beans and rinse. In a medium bowl add the greens, add the garbanzo beans. Open your cans of tuna and pour out extra oil, add to your salad; pour your olive oil, lemon juice and salt, mix well and serve. Enjoy

* Make sure that you have a variety of greens, like romaine, radicchio, baby lettuce, etc.

Shrimp, Artichoke Green Salad

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I love shrimp. I literally could eat shrimp everyday. The thing about shrimp is that it’s really easy to make and you don’t have to put too much on it to make it taste good, I either steam, boil or grill it. Shrimp is an excellent source of protein. Shrimp also provides omega-3 fatty acids that help reduce the risks of heart disease by reducing triglyceride levels in the bloodstream. Shrimp also contains selenium, essential for proper thyroid and immune system function. So for me it’s considered healthy and delicious; which is what I am all about. This is a quick, easy and healthy recipe that you can make when you are in hurry and don’t have time to cook but want to get a nutritional and low calorie value out of your meal. I always have these ingredients in my house for when I want to whip up a salad or healthy meal. You should too!

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 lb Shrimp (deveined)*

1  14oz can quartered artichokes (in water)

1 bag salad Italian mix (or whatever you prefer)

1 bag salad Baby greens mix

6 grape tomatoes (washed and sliced in half)

5 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive oil

Juice of 1 lemon (freshly Squeezed)

Salt and Pepper to taste

 

Put your shrimp in a medium stove top pot fill with water until shrimp are covered and put over heat to boil. Your shrimp are ready once they turn pink, should only take 5-8 min. While shrimp are boiling, drain your artichokes and rinse.

In a medium salad bowl pour your salad and tomatoes and now you may incorporate your artichoke. Your shrimp should be ready by now so drain and run under cold water just enough to stop steam. Make sure all water is drained and let sit. In meantime squeeze your lemon and mix in with olive oil, salt and pepper in a small mixing bowl. Add the shrimp to the salad and pour your dressing into the salad bowl and mix until all the salad is incorporated with the dressing. Now serve

* if you want you can have already cooked shrimp also. Just make sure that you rinse and remove tails.

 

 

Green Bean and Cherry Tomato Salad

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This is something that is extremely easy and fast to prepare. It’s great served as a main dish or a side dish to fish, poultry or meat. It’s low-fat and healthy. What I love about this salad are the colors they compliment just about any dish and help make it look elegant.

 

Ingredients:

Serves 2 (if used as side dish serves 4)

 

1 lb Green Beans *

6 Cherry tomatoes

Handful of Arugula (Rocquet)

Handful Baby greens

Fresh spicy cherry peppers (optional)

4 tbsp. Olive oil

2 tbsp. Balsamic vinegar

Salt and Pepper (to taste)

 

In a medium pot fill with water at about ½ way add salt and boil. Once your water has started boiling add the green beans that you have previously cleaned and let boil for 8 – 10 minutes. Strain green beans and let cool.

In a salad bowl add your arugula and baby greens. Slice the cherry tomatoes in half and add to bowl. Slice your cherry peppers in ¼ slices and add to bowl as well. Now you may add the green beans to the bowl along with the olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. Mix all ingredients well and serve.

 

* If you don’t have fresh green beans you may substitute for frozen ones just remember that cooking time may vary.