Tomato, Basil and Millet Salad

Happy Labor Day! I hope everyone has been enjoying their long weekend. Mike and I just came back from Atlanta this weekend. We saw the Atlanta Braves play against the LA Dodgers and sadly they lost Friday night, but it was still fun! Then Saturday we went to Six Flags and went on every single roller coaster. Mind you.. I’ve never been on roller coasters this crazy before but I got over my fear quickly after Mike made me go on DareDevil!

(Source)

That is how it starts, straight up at 90 degrees and straight down at 90 degrees. Umm crazy! LOL

Anyways I just wanted to stop by real quick to show you this wonderful salad before I head out to get in a REALLY good workout this morning. I had some lingering millet in my pantry and I wanted to turn it into a cold salad. I’ve done it with wheatberries before and that turned out delicious.

I had basil and the little tomatoes to use up. I googled for ideas and right away Wholefoods popped up with their Tomato, Basil and Millet Salad. Umm perfect and super delicious! This complimented the basil chicken very well. It makes a ton and is a great vehicle for leftovers to take to work. And to REALLY save time I used my favorite balsamic vinaigrette dressing but making up your own isn’t a bad idea either if you have extra time.

Tomato, Basil and Millet Salad
Adapted from Wholefoods

Ingredients:
1 cup uncooked millet, rinsed and drained
2 cups chicken broth (vegetable broth works too)
1 cup water
1 (15oz) can pinto beans (or black beans, black-eyed pea, garbanzo etc.)
1 cup chopped green onions
1/3 cup finely sliced basil
1/4 cup favorite balsamic vinaigrette dressing
Salt and pepper to taste
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
Spinach
Crumbled fresh goat cheese (optional)

Directions:
Toast millet in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring constantly, until fragrant and golden brown. Remove saucepan from heat and carefully add broth and water. Return to heat and bring to a boil over medium high heat and then reduce to medium low, cover and simmer until liquid is absorbed and millet is tender, 20- 25 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside, let stand, covered for 5 minutes. Transfer millet to a large bowl and fluff with fork, and set aside to cool.

Add the beans, onions and basil to millet, gently toss and set aside. Add the dressing, toss to coat evenly. Then add the tomatoes and salt and pepper to taste. Serve on top of spinach and crumbled up fresh goat cheese on top (optional).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope you enjoy this lovely salad, it reminds me of summer and is great to bring over to a friends gathering. Our Labor Day will be low key. I’m going to grill up some brats and kraut for Mike, while I enjoy some meatballs I made last week. Dessert will be amazing though, Mike requested a Cannoli Cake for his birthday which is tomorrow (Sept. 6th). I’m so proud of my Cannoli Cake making skills, just wait and see! I’ll share with you later this week.

Love,
Fallon

Baked Polenta Rounds with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Ricotta Cheese

OMG is it really September 1st today? I can’t believe what a year I’ve experienced so far. Seriously. This will be my last full month in Augusta, GA and I’ll be heading home beginning of October. It is time for me to pack up and head back to Las Vegas. I can’t wait to see my friends and family but I’m going to miss being with Mike. This has been the first time we were able to see each other on a daily basis, making him lunch for work, good dinners and getting to know each other even more. It has been a wonderful experience and I’m truly going to miss it and him. Keep your fingers crossed for me that he WILL come home for Christmas this year. Mine will be extra crossed.

Anyways.. I wanted to share with you a delicious pumpkin bread I made last week. I’ve been eating it all week with my protein shakes for breakfast. hehe. The pictures are still on my camera. Don’t worry I’ll get to it. ;) So instead I’m sharing with you this delicious side dish I made to serve with the Marinated Basil Chicken Breasts, some baked polenta rounds. With only 5 ingredients needed, you can make this up real quickly!

You know those tubes of polenta you see in the store? That is what I used, sliced up and baked in a 400 degree oven. While that was heating up I mixed up some ricotta cheese with chopped up sun-dried tomatoes packed in olive oil, salt, pepper and fresh basil.

After the polenta baked up for 10 minutes, I added a teaspoon of ricotta mixture to each round. I topped with some shredded parmesan cheese and let them bake till the cheese was warmed through. I garnished with a chiffon of fresh basil and served with my delicious basil chicken breasts.

It was absolutely scrumptious!!! I decided to leave some polenta rounds plain, saved them for my lunch salad the following day and used them as croutons. Yum yum!

Have a wonderful first day of September! I’m so excited the holidays are almost here. OH and remember.. keep your fingers crossed for me. ;)

Also I’d love if I could get more fans to like my Facebook page for Fallon’s Cucina! And if you haven’t done so already, become a member of my blog by following! Just look on my main page to the right hand side and become a member! I love having the support and love!

Love,
Fallon

Steakwich kind of lunch

Our brand new dining table arrived and my babe is putting it together as we speak. It was just noon and that means it is time for lunch! We had a wonderful steak dinner Sunday night and I made sure to have some leftovers so I could make him a delicious steak sandwich. He said it was pretty amazing.

Here is what you’ll need: leftover steak, leftover sweet potatoes, chewy whole wheat bread, grainy mustard, avocado, red onion, romaine lettuce and pickles.

On the side I gave him some sesame seed crackers and slices of brie.

How about that for a Monday lunch? I was kind of jealous that I wasn’t getting a sandwich like this!

 

 

Picked up this brie from Trader Joe’s, buttery and creamy!

My boyfriend is getting a steakwich, while I’m going to roll with some broccoli slaw and roasted chicken! Oh and a pita pizza sounds good too. ;)

Happy Monday!

Fallon

Cilantro Lime Rice

I literally didn’t put May 5th and Cinco de Mayo together today. That was until I was grocery shopping this morning and saw all the Hispanic food out! I’m planning on making chicken taquitos with this recipe on a bed of raw spinach and a nice cold Dos XX as a side ;). I’ll follow up in a few days with how dinner went. I’m also planning on a special dessert, cross your fingers it turns out good!

Rice is probably one of my favorite side dishes. At home I always use brown rice but when I go out white rice just always sounds better! I figure it is a treat and something I don’t eat all the time. I think Chipotle has some of the best rice! Very tasty and flavorful. I saw this recipe on Two Peas and Their Pod for Cilantro Lime Rice, and it reminded me of the rice from Chipotle. I was making tacos that night for dinner and made this rice dish as my side.

It turned out delicious but definitely did not look like white rice. It turned out yellow and I’m blaming the vegetable broth. It was a thick and fragrant broth. Next time I will try chicken broth and see if that makes a difference. For someone who use to despise cilantro, I love how fresh and flavorful it makes dishes. If you have time today you should make this rice, it will go great with all the Mexican food that will be served!

Head on over to Two Peas and Their Pod for their recipe on Cilantro Lime Rice.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Fallon

Sauteed Roasted Butternut Squash with Chickpeas and Spinach

Good morning my friends! How has everyone been? I’m doing great on my end. Work is very busy (YAY!) and if I’m not at work, I’m at Krav. It has been over a month I started going to a Krav Maga studio and you can’t believe how much I’ve improved. My teacher is VERY proud of me and I’m proud of myself, I never thought I could coordinate myself enough to hit, kick, knee, elbow, etc. Let’s just say it is a GREAT way to release built up tension. ;)

My main goal while practicing Krav is protein, protein, protein and less sugar. This method is what keeps me stable and full of energy. In the end I’m actually craving less sugar because of the additional protein. Plus I've always been a carb lover and with extra protein, I’m a happy girl!

In this dish today I wanted to have a side dish with some leftover vegetable pizza. I had roasted butternut squash and huge tub of spinach. Something about cooking it on the stove top in garlic would make a good side dish, but it needed one more thing.. Chickpeas! It needed that extra protein. This dish was wonderful, hearty and very tasty. The roasted squash is a must because it has been caramelized in the oven and adds a whole other layer of flavor to this dish. This dish reminds me of the Fall. Enjoy!



Sauteed Roasted Butternut Squash with Chickpeas and Spinach 
Serves 2

Ingredients
3/4 cup of roasted butternut squash, diced
1 cup canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 cup baby spinach
2-3 tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
Salt and Pepper
Heat up a skillet on medium-high. Add your olive oil a few minutes later and add the butternut squash to heat up. Next add in the chickpeas. Add a little salt and pepper. Once the squash and chickpeas start to get color and have warmed through, add in the garlic. Cook for a few seconds and add in half of the spinach. Mix till it starts to wilt. Then add the rest of the spinach, season with salt and pepper and cook until just slightly wilted. Shut the heat off and remain mixing till everything is incorporated and the spinach has been married to the other ingredients.






This dish goes well with grilled chicken or even at your Thanksgiving dinner.

If anything your vegetarian/vegan friends will love you if you make this dish. ;)

Love,
Fallon

Vegan Skillet Cornbread

I can’t tell you how long I’ve been wanting to make cornbread. I just want it to be simple and quick. Lazy me didn’t want to go into the garage to fetch some eggs from the other fridge, so this became a vegan recipe. I subbed in 2 tablespoons of ground flaxseed mixed with 6 tablespoons of water. I had inspiration from several cookbooks and ended up adding my own mixture/amounts of ingredients instead. I didn’t want it too greasy and I didn’t want it to be too heavy. Light and fluffy is what I wanted. This is best served warm with jam and/or a buttery spread!

Vegan Skillet Cornbread By Fallon
Serves 14 Approx. 100 calories per serving
Ingredients
1 1/4 cups organic yellow cornmeal
3/4 cups organic spelt flour
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp stevia (agave or molasses could be substituted)
Dash of sea salt
2 tbsp ground flaxseed mixed with 6 tbsp water
1 1/2 tbsp coconut oil, melted
1 cup almond milk
Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. If you want a crispier crust, put your pre-seasoned 10 inch skillet into the oven coated with coconut oil. Otherwise just coat with coconut oil and set aside.

Next take your flaxseed and mix with water. Let sit while you put together the other ingredients.
In a large bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, sugar and salt. Then add in the flaxseeds, coconut oil and almond milk.


Mix until everything is incorporated but still lumpy. Pour into your prepared 10 inch skillet. Cover with tin foil and bake for 20 minutes or until done.
You can easily add in other ingredients like frozen corn, jalapeno peppers or sun-dried tomatoes. I would add in some cheese like cheddar or goat cheese but then it wouldn’t be vegan.
After I let it rest for a few minutes I covered my slices with seedless blackberry jam. HOLY YUM! If 1 tbsp of sweetener is not enough, add more. I knew I’d be adding jam to my cornbread, so I didn’t want it so sweet. The bread is moist, airy, light and everything else I’d want my cornbread to be. Next time I would add almost 1 tsp of salt since it was rather bland but still good regardless.

 
What goes good with cornbread? How about bean and barley soup?

Stay tune, recipe coming soon!
Enjoy,
Fallon

ALSO check out this great giveaway going on at Run, Eat, Repeat. It involves Lululemon! 

Broccoli Galore! Part 2

So I'm back with another installment for broccoli! I feel like I'm giving so much love to this vegetable and it is just broccoli! Guess you could say it is one of my top vegetables. Roasting brings out this unique, nutty, toasty aroma of broccoli. It makes for easy eating not only by sight but by smell as well. Sometimes just steaming broccoli can leave a stench in the house that isn't so pleasant. Roasting doesn't have this and instead protrudes that nuttiness! So if you have guests coming over or your significant other they can appreciate that! My father always freaks out if we have steamed broccoli, he opens up all the doors and windows! It is quite funny to say the least. ;)

Over at Pam's wonderful blog For the Love of Cooking she made Oven Roasted Broccoli, and took it up a notch by adding toasted bread crumbs and parmesan cheese to the ending result. Normally I would just season with salt, pepper, garlic, cayenne pepper and olive oil up my broccoli and roast as is. The the addition of the bread crumbs and cheese added another wonderful flavor and texture to broccoli making it more fun to eat. Yes, broccoli can be fun to eat. ;) Click here to get the recipe for Oven Roasted Broccoli.  

Some adjustments I made:

• I only had plain panko bread crumbs, so I simply added my own Italian seasoning to the crumbs when toasting.

• I had a small crown of broccoli and a huge crown of cauliflower. So I combined them together. Roasted cauliflower is just as good as broccoli!

• Ahem, I may of added 2-3 cloves of garlic instead. ;)

You can pair this as a side with meat, chicken, fish, pasta, rice etc. Me on the other hand decided my broccoli slaw would make a great partner I really wanted to make sure I had a good dose of vegetables that day!
Have a wonderful Sunday,
Fallon

Thanksgiving 2009.. Flop?!?! :)

Hey bloggers! I've been enjoying everyone's Thanksgiving posts, and figured I better get my picture's edited and blogged about tonight. I must say some blogger's entire Thanksgiving spread looked beautiful, especially the "turkey." Thanksgiving this year was just my mom and I. We had plans to see a movie, go shopping at the Forum Shops, or go to our friends house for wine and dessert. I really wanted to go out and do something, but once I came home I didn't want to leave. It was definitely a lazy day for me. Constantly working the days leading up to Thanksgiving and knowing I had to work on black Friday, I just needed the lazy time.

It is tradition that my mom and I will go to a spin class Thanksgiving morning and then afterward to Starbucks. I always feel a good workout before a big event/meal is needed because then I don't feel guilty! Definitely was a much needed workout and we had fun looking at all the black Friday deals while having our Starbucks. If you notice in my title I said flop because well this year our turkey was not very good. We thought it looked sick when cleaning it. I did my usually stuffing aromatics into the cavity and stuffing fresh poultry herbs into the breasts and cavity. Rub down in olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Well I saw somewhere to cover the breasts with tin foil and then the last hour of cooking to take the foil off and let the top brown. They said this keeps the breast moist and from drying out. Made sense right? FLOP! Turkey breast was DRY and my bird still wasn't finish cooking after almost hitting the 5 hour mark and was only a 12 pound turkey. We picked through the breast with the parts cooked but basically felt "weird" eating it and just chucked the bird out. Major flop :( But I'm still here to show you the other wonderful things we had and already have a fresh turkey to cook up tomorrow since my dad will be home. He can take control and hopefully turkey #2 will come out delicious! I love my turkey and cranberry sauce.

Before going into the oven, apples, pecans and butterscotch chips definitely NO mistake here. ;)
 

I'm going to start backwards. Tuesday I made our dessert, Butterscotch Apple Cake from the lovely Noble Pig. I've had this recipe bookmarked for several months and that when I knew this was a Thanksgiving dessert. I decided to cut the recipe in half since my family is small, 3 people. Worked perfectly. I used a pink lady apple and granny smith apple. The combo worked perfectly with the cake, and my mom loved it so much she wants me to make this for her bunko coming up on December 14th! Good because I already want another piece! At least dessert made up for the bad turkey!

The cake smell the whole house up and was 
very hard to not have a piece till Thanksgiving.
 

I loved the apple contrast from light pink and grassy green. 
Definitely made for a very festive cake!
 

Don't get me wrong I like a good glass of Pinot Noir, but give me a good glass of champagne and I can't stomach it! Just something about the taste that I don't care for. I think it is over-rated! Well my mom's good friend mentioned this great Prosecco she picks up from Trader Joe's for only $6.95 a bottle and said she goes through a bottle a night. Yeah she likes to drink a little ;) I knew about Prosecco because they use that in a Peach Bellini and I know those are delicious. We picked up a bottle along with some pomegranate juice to give a splash of color to our drink. Umm can I say I found my new favorite holiday cocktail? Prosecco with a splash of pomegranate juice was delicious! It was a very smooth sparkling wine, and the juice took away from the slight dryness from the Prosecco. Yeah I usually don't drink 2 glasses but that day I had 2 glasses!

Glass #1 of course. This was very refreshing!
 

If you see this brand pick it up because I think you'll like it! 
I'm not a champagne girl, I'm a Prosecco girl!

With my first drink I also had a mini appetizer. I was going to actually eat this with my meal but figured it be way too much all at the same time. I was already a bit snacky so I sat down with a bowl of my tomato cucumber salad and a pumpkin cornmeal muffin!

But my snack didn't stop there. My dad was heading into work soon and I promised he could have his dessert then. I figured it was time for my dessert too and then my mom said, "Well if everyone having dessert, I want mine too!" Okay let's have dessert!

I heated the cake for a few seconds in the microwave, 
so it be warm as if it was fresh out of the oven!
 

 Noble Pig used whipped cream, I thought vanilla ice cream would be even better!
 

It is Thanksgiving and I want the real stuff! This was DELICIOUS vanilla ice cream. 
It was light and rich. Easily scoop-able straight from the freezer.

Which brings me to the "main event." The turkey that was a flop! I'm so glad everything else turned out delicious or else we would of been scrambling up some eggs for dinner.

I love the fall colors. I added a gala apple, sweet onion, carrots, lemon, and celery. 
This was stuffed into the turkey cavity. Perhaps it was over stuffed?
 

After all our snacking, we realized it was almost 5 hours and the turkey was still cooking! We couldn't wait no longer. I guess a few drinks down, anything looked good at this point to eat. haha.

Looking at this turkey now, it is still PINK! We need a meat thermometer. 
I'm glad no one got sick off the turkey.
 

The turkey breast were so dry.. we almost used up this whole bottle to hide the 
dryness. Verdict? I missed the jelly cranberry sauce, it has a more 
pungent flavor and I don't need to use as much.
 

We were so hungry, that I forgot to take a picture of my plate before digging in! 

Basically licked clean! So something must of been good ;)
 

This was one of our sides, roasted brussel sprouts and carrots. 

We also had baked sweet potatoes with butter and cinnamon! I totally forgot to take a picture of this, but I think you get the idea! ;) It was nice spending the time with my mom! We finished watching up all the Biggest Loser shows from that week and just relaxed. I was so tired but I ended up staying up to watch the Beyonce concert on TV. That girl can sing! I was literally out by 10pm and up early to get ready for the Black Friday shoppers! I've been working in retail for 6 years now and I KNOW what to expect. It was a very successful day and this holiday season will be very busy. I'm just happy to see people out shopping and spending money! I hope this makes for a better year economy wise in 2010!

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday because tomorrow is Monday. That means we all go back to work! Be well,
Fallon

Keeping it Simple: Roasted Vegetables

Roasted vegetables are honestly amazing. Taking a simple vegetable roasting it with olive oil and some seasonings really brings life out of the vegetable. It is simple to make and adds a rustic touch to any meal. You can make a lot of roasted vegetables, any combo you desire and have leftovers for several days. Which is what I usually do! I know I'll be able to have a healthy meal in no time with vegetables already cooked and added to anything I have on hand. This is especially helpful when I'm working 9 hour days, I can bring a lunch to work that is healthy, delicious and filling!

The eggplant absorbs the flavors like a sponge, and the tomatoes
are sweet and pop in your mouth with tons of flavor! 

In this mix I roasted up some cherub tomatoes, eggplant, and fresh garlic. Drizzled with olive oil and sprinkle of Italian seasoning. I roasted it in the oven for 25 minutes on 425 degrees. I added it up on top of spaghetti squash and a hefty serving of steamed brussel sprouts, and a mixed green salad on the side. Where did I eat all of this? Well work of course!

Yay for iPhone picture!

Tis Friday night and I'm catching up on things around the house, that I didn't do all week! The only thing I can't do is laundry because our washer is broken!! My parents bought front loaders and we won't be receiving them till Thursday. OH BOY! I plan on seeing The Christmas Carol tomorrow. I hope that gets me in the holiday spirit! It looks really cute.

Have a great weekend,
Fallon

Balsamic Chicken with Baby Spinach

Chicken can get boring if you make it the same way all the time. There is just so much grilling, poaching, and baking of chicken that it time for a change! I've cut back on eating meat and poultry and started to incorporate more vegetables and other forms of protein from grains, nuts and seeds. This is something different for me, but I wanted to see if it would work for me. So far it couldn't be better and I feel great. I eat a little chicken or steak here and there but it nothing I need all the time! Anything to help the planet and be sustainable. As for my mom she needs protein all the time. Sometimes I tell her it is okay to eat vegetarian for 1 day, it won't hurt! She doesn't believe me. LOL. So I let her come into my kitchen recently so she could make up this great dinner. I've been way to busy with work and I haven't been able to cook! It is always fun to tell people what to do in the kitchen. =P

My mom recently purchased an Ellie Krieger cookbook, The Food You Crave. I've always wanted this cookbook but most of her recipes are found right on the Food Network website. My mom wanted some new dinner ideas since she is bored with the usual. She came upon a chicken recipe that caught her eye because it sounded delicious and it was really simple. It is called Balsamic Chicken with Baby Spinach. I must say it is absolutely delicious and has an explosion of flavors. You have the tomato and balsamic sauce, that is soaked up on a bed of couscous, or in my case I made quinoa. Then the garlicky baby spinach that was cooked in the same pan of the chicken to soak up those flavors. Yeah it is pretty amazing. It also a healthy meal that family's can enjoy and kids too! It is budget friendly and doesn't take much time to put together either. I say try this meal because it is a good change!

To get the recipe for Balsamic Chicken with Baby Spinach click HERE. The cookbook has some great recipes too. I really liked some of her breakfast recipes that I plan on testing out soon! Ellie Krieger also just came out with a new cookbook called So Easy: Luscious, Healthy Recipes for Every Meal of the Week. If she doesn't pick it up, I may get this as a Christmas present! While mom was cooking I was snapping photos. She was excited I'd be featuring this on my blog. I'm sorry for the poor quality of photos, light just wasn't out much this day.

This is the first step to brown the chicken in the pan. 

Very proud of her. She had all her ingredients ready!

This literally cooked down to nothing! She added extra garlic to fight 
off the flu and it made the spinach taste even better! 

The sauce boiled and she added the chicken back in to get those flavors married.
I requested extra tomatoes on my plate! The balsamic gave the sauce this incredible taste. This is a great ingredient
when you are looking for a change to a typical dish like chicken.

Check out the garlic in my spinach. MMM!

I made the quinoa. I added in some no salt added seasoning Sun-dried Tomato and Garlic. We love quinoa!

My phone was OFF this morning like it usually is and low and behold my boyfriend called me. This is a first so early for me. So he said he'd call me back, I'm still waiting and I want to get to the gym already! I may just go and keep my phone out.

I still have turtles to share with you, maybe tomorrow! I must get going now.

Happy Sunday!!
Fallon