Sharing Plate – Your Cooking Coach |

I finish this week off with another delicious and beautiful looking salad. I love using beets in salads, especially the roasted variety. There are times when I am simply too lazy to roast the beets.. or I just don’t have the time. I buy the already cooked variety from Trader Joes. They are delicious as well.. but nothing like roasting your own.

For this salad I roasted a few plump beets. I wrapped each one in aluminum foil and placed them in the oven. Remember to place them on a cookies sheet first to avoid any leakage. Beet juice can be impossible to get off surfaces. I then segmented some oranges- which has been my ingredient of choice ever since they have come in season. I have been putting them in everything I can.

I placed the colorful beets and oranges on some mixed greens and made a delicious salad with orange juice and balsamic vinegar.

The salad was so beautiful looking that I didn’t want to disturb it and eat it. Once I did, I realized how delicious it was…
Click here for the recipe… »

I decided to continue the vegetarian theme. This vibrant looking salad is delicious and extremely flavorful. It would be perfect with the lentils from yesterday. Although the salad is made with rice vinegar which has more of a Chinese or Japanese flavor.. but I think it would stand up very well with the delicious cumin and mustard seeds flavors.

The trick is to first buy an English cucumber instead of the regular variety. The English variety is leaner and longer and has less seeds. I cut it in half length wise and then scoop the seeds out with a spoon. In order to get the cucumbers super crispy, one can sprinkle some salt on them, place them in a colander over a bowl. The salt will extract the extra moisture out of the cucumbers and make them crunchy. This step is optional and skipping it will not lessen the flavor.

The salad has very few ingredients including the rice vinegar, serrano chilies and cilantro. Try this simple yet delicious salad…
Click here for the recipe… »

Here is another vegetarian dish. This could be almost a one pot meal. All you need is some brown rice or quinoa.. well, those are the healthy options. One could also serve this with a rice pulao with lots of cumin and sautéed onions. Either way, this is a delicious dish that is very simple to make and very nutritious.

I love combining the orange and the yellow variety- the names of the lentils are below (actually I am not very good at remembering lentil names .. so I recognize them by color and shape). Anyway, I love combining the two and cooking them with a bit of garlic. I usually cook the lentils in water, but they can be made with chicken or vegetable broth.

Once the lentils are tender and cooked, I added baby spinach to the mix. I finished the dish with a tempering of cumin and mustard seeds.

It is one of my staples, especially when I don’t have a lot of time to cook…
Click here for the recipe… »

Vegetarian dish number three- this is a really delicious one…. it is hard to remember it is made without any meat. One of my husband’s favorite pasta dishes is pasta primavera. It is typically made with seasonal vegetables, a delicious marinara sauce and pasta of choice. I have made many different versions of it over the years but I have to say, this one is my favorite.

I roasted some red pepper, squash and zucchini with olive oil, salt and pepper. Roasting vegetables brings out the nutty, sweetness which is delicious in this dish. I mixed the veggies in a mixture of pesto and homemade marinara sauce. To make even more different, I tossed the pasta with some chopped fresh mozzarella.

I then roasted the dish in the oven till the cheese became soft and oozy. I served it with some delicious garlic bread and a yummy red wine… and we did not miss the meat…
Click here for the recipe… »

Dish number four is a super healthy one. Quinoa is a great way to incorporate a healthy starch. I haven’t used it a whole lot but thought making it risotto style should be quite delicious. I saw someone making it on food tv and thought it was a great idea.

I started with some yummy extra virgin olive oil, shallots and garlic. I sautéed them for a bit and added the quinoa and some white wine. Unlike Arborio rice, this grain takes just ten to twelve minutes to cook. It also takes less liquid. In order to keep with the vegetarian theme, one can add vegetable or even mushroom stock.

I then added fresh baby spinach, some half and half and grated cheese. The dish can be eaten on its own and served with some roasted vegetables or some delicious lentils or beans.

It was a delicious dish- I couldn’t tell I was eating any thing other than risotto.. This is a great way to incorporate quinoa into your kids diets…
Click here for the recipe… »