The Counter

Today we tried a new place for lunch -- The Counter! Our friends had given this place a great review so we thought we would try it out. The Counter isn't your usual burger joint, you can actually build your own burger! How cool is that?

We got some french fries with ranch and crumbled blue cheese and a tasty burger with herb goat cheese, organic mixed greens, grilled onions, sprouts, tomatoes, applewood smoked bacon and roasted garlic aioli on a multigrain bun. Good stuff!

Westcliff Plaza
1104 Irvine Avenue
Newport Beach, CA 92660

Having Fun with your Food

What to feed young picky eaters? Why their favourite foods of course but try a more fun, creative way to spruce up lunch or dinner for the kids.  This past weekend my niece stayed over and I had an opportunity to get creative with her lunch ... not to say I wouldn't do this for myself or my boyfriend but it's nice to have a kid around to entertain.

This idea was inspired by the many Bento box lunch photos I've seen on the web.  I kept mine very simple for my first try but some of them get so very elaborate and creative, almost too creative to eat, no?

Try using a cute flower cookie cutter to cut out your vegetable bit size pieces.  Here I cut out the zucchini this way. Metal cookie cutters would work well for carrots and peppers.  Cucumber would also be simple to cut into cute shapes.

The rolls are almond butter and organic berry jam, rolled up to make sushi-like sandwich rolls. To make them simple take a slice of bread (here I use whole wheat), cut off the crusts and roll out flat and as thin as possible with a rolling pin.  I used healthy, organic bread but I imagine white bread would work better for this because it is spongier.

Spread the almond butter and jam over one of the bread (you can mix it up on one side) and then, starting on one side of the bread, begin to roll it into a long bread roll.  Cut into bite-sized pieces.  Yum!

Vegetables on top of Noodles with a Side of Delicious

Rice Noodles with Pepper and Mushrooms

For the bowl:

- 1-2 cups of cooked white & black Soba Rice noodles

- 6-7 large mushrooms, chopped

- 1/2 orange pepper (any pepper will do), chopped

- 3-4 stalks of green onion

For the Dressing:
- About 3 tbsp (each bowl) of Dragon sauce

1. Sauté your vegetables how you like it in a non-stick cooking pan or use a touch of coconut oil.

2. Add salt and pepper to taste.

To assemble:

1. Start with the cooked rice noodles (cook as directed on package), as your base for the dish.

2. Top off with your vegetables.

3. Drizzle a few spoonfuls of the Dragon sauce on top and ...

Bon Appetite!

Quick Quinoa Lunch Wraps

Quinoa is so quick and easy to make that it's a great option for any lunch-time meal.  I personally love sandwiches and more then sandwiches, I love wraps!  So I took the left over quinoa I had from the quinoa raisin muffins and make a spicy quinoa wrap:

Spicy Quinoa Salad Wrap

For the salad: 
1/2 to 3/4 cup of quinoa or more, up to a 1.5 cups
1 small sweet red pepper, chopped
1 small sweet yellow pepper, chopped
1 small sweet orange pepper, chopped
1 medium red tomato, chopped
1-2 tbsp of hot pickled peppers, chopped
2-3 tbsp organic salsa (mild, medium or hot)
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (can omit if using hot salsa)
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tbsp of olive oil (optional)
Salt and pepper to taste (optional)

For the wrap:
1 whole wheat flat bread wrap
handful of spinach leaves, washed and dried

1. In a medium bowl add all the salad ingredients together and mix well. Set aside.

2. On a cutting board, lay the flat bread out and lay some spinach leaves on top.  Then add a few large scoopfuls of the quinoa salad.

3. Fold one side of the wrap, tucking all the food under it and begin to roll the wrap tightly so that nothing falls out.

4. Cut on an angle through the middle of the wrap and serve with a side salad or pickles, whatever you like.

Enjoy!

Family Lunch

For my father's birthday weekend and as a treat for my family I made them a lunch, which included: salad, butter chicken, roasted sweet potatoes, vegetables and rice.

Strawberry Spinach Salad with cashews and balsamic vinigarette

A very basic salad I tossed together which included spinach, fresh sliced strawberries, cashews and balsamic vinigarette.

Asparagus and Carrots in Spicy Maple Glaze

I found this gluten-free recipe at a great website called Recipegirl.com, here's the link:  Asparagus and Carrots with maple butter sauce

Amazing Sweet Potato Wedges

I also found this recipe online, the original recipe is from this site: Cate's World Kitchen.  I altered the recipe a bit, I only used all-natural peanut butter (no almond butter) and cut my sweet potatoes in to wedges and baked them that way.  They were still soooooooo yummy!

Last but not least I did make butter chicken, which tasted amazing and was a lot easier to make then I thought just a bit time consuming.  To perfect this recipe it's all about timing.  I found this recipe on the Key Ingredient website (that's where I get my recipes to load my Demy).

Butter Chicken

4 pieces Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts

5 cloves Garlic, Minced

1 teaspoon Salt

½ teaspoons Black Pepper

½ teaspoons Cayenne Pepper

¼ teaspoons Ground Coriander

¼ teaspoons Cumin

¼ teaspoons Cardamom

1 whole Lime, Juiced

1 whole Onion, Diced

¼ cups Butter

1 can (14.5 Oz. Can) Tomato Sauce

1 can (14.5 Oz. Can) Petite Diced Tomatoes

1 pint Whipping Cream

1 bunch Chopped Cilantro, to taste

2 cups Basmati Rice (or However Much You Want)

Combine first 9 ingredients and marinate overnight.

Saute the onion in the butter until soft. Add marinated chicken and cook about 10 minutes. Add the tomato sauce and diced tomatoes. Cook for 30 minutes over medium-low heat with the lid on. Add the whipping cream (can use light cream or half-and-half instead) and cilantro just before serving over Basmati rice.

And for dessert .... Applesauce-Spice Cupcakes!