Ingredients:
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breast
1 cup corn flake crumbs
2 tablespoons chopped lemon basil
1/2 tsp. Montreal Steak Seasoning
1/2 tsp. Salt
3/4 cup mayo
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
Directions:
Combine corn flake crumbs, salt, pepper and lemon basil in a shallow dish. Combine mayo and mustard in a large bowl. Coat chicken with mayo mixture then dip in the crumb mixture so it’s coated on both sides. Place on lightly greased baking sheet and cook in oven on 350 for 25 – 30 minutes.
Ingredients:
1 large bunch of asparagus, steamed
1 lb. flank steak, or sandwich steak
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tsp steak seasoning (I use Mccormick Montreal Spice seasoning)
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon minced ginger
Directions:
In a large ziplock bag mix together the oil with the soy sauce. Add the garlic, ginger
and steak seasoning. Place the steak in the bag. Marinate the meat for at least 20
minutes. Heat a grill pan or frying pan until very hot, (without oil.) When the pan is
hot, add the steak and brown on both sides. Let it rest for a few minutes before
cutting. Serve it sliced up thinly over steamed asparagus or in a fresh garden
salad.
These make the perfect bite sized appetizers! I’m crazy about mac and cheese. It’s the one dish that tastes great on a cold winter’s night AND in the heat of the summer. (just add an iced diet coke and call it a meal. I mean a nice healthy salad!) The crispy wonton cup adds an addicting crunch to the creamy mac and cheese.
Ingredients:
24 wonton wrappers (defrosted)
2 cups of mac and cheese (recipe found HERE)
1/4 cup of bread crumbs
1/4 cup of grated parmesan cheese
Directions:
Preheat oven to 325′. Spray a mini cupcake pan with cooking spray. Place one wonton wrapper in each cupcake holder, pressing down so it sticks to the bottom and up the sides. Bake wrappers in oven on 325′ for 10 minutes. (the edges should be slightly browned) Once the wonton wrappers have baked for 10 minutes, remove from oven but keep them in the pan. Fill each wonton cup with 1 tablespoon mac and cheese. Top with bread crumbs and parmesan cheese. Once complete, place the pan back in the oven on 325′ and continue baking for an additional 5 to 10 minutes until tops are slightly crispy.
Ingredients:
12. oz tortellini pasta (I used frozen sun-dried tomato tortellini)
2 tablespoons earth balance buttery spread (non dairy)
2 tablespoons flour
2 cups soy milk
2 tablespoons pesto sauce (I use the Dorot frozen cubes. 1 cube = 2 tablespoons)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
12 oz. artichoke hearts
Directions:
Cook pasta in salted boiling water until al dente. Once cooked, remove from water and set aside. Reserve 1 cup of water and set aside. Heat up earth balance in a large pot until melted. Add the flour and whisk together until smooth and combined. Add the milk and whisk together until smooth and combined. Continue to whisk together until thickened. Add the pesto and season with salt, pepper and garlic. Drain the artichokes and add to the sauce and whisk together with sauce. Once nice and thick, turn off heat and add the pasta into the sauce. Mix together and serve with freshly chopped basil and red pepper flakes. (optional, for those that like it spicy!)
*Tips&Tricks: If you do not like artichokes, you can replace them with wilted spinach, sauteed mushrooms and onions, or simply stick with pasta. You can also swap the tortellini for your favorite pasta! If you want to make this dairy, simple use butter instead of the earth balance and use milk or heavy cream instead of soy milk. If serving this dairy, be sure to add some parmesan on top after it’s cooked. There is nothing like yummy fresh grated parmesan!
My hub and I celebrated our anniversary this week and my gift to him was this super creamy and tasty pasta dish that is, wait for it…not dairy! (if you are amazed that this counts as a wedding anniversary gift, we hit #6 so a favorite dinner and day off of diaper duty is pretty much where we’re at. If it’s the creamy non dairy factor that has got you wowed, read on to find out how this non dairy pasta dish tastes so good you would think there is heavy cream or cream cheese in it somewhere. But nope. Not even a little bit! It’s all about the Roux. (Pronounced rue.) A Roux is basically a combo of flour and fat, butter, that is the thickening base to a great cheesy sauce. I decided to swap the butter for earth balance natural buttery spread (which is non dairy) and then once that was bubbly, I added almond milk to create the thick sauce. Turns out you don’t need dairy to make a good sauce! Which is nice since my husband is lactose intolerant and his fav dish is fettucini alfredo. (which is why this makes the perfect gift! ok I know I’m a foodie and all but come on, pretty nice gift right?) I threw some spinach in there too since it’s another one of his favs (yes I like to score points as wifey when I can) and then some roasted tomatoes just cuz I was feeling fancy and bam. You got Creamy Spinach & Roasted Tomato Pasta that’s not dairy.
Ingredients:
1 pint of roasted grape tomatoes (get recipe HERE)
1 bag of spinach (about 4 cups)
3 cloves of garlic, diced
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons earth balance natural buttery spread
2 tablespoons flour
2 cups of almond milk (or soy)
8 oz. pasta (I used Trader Joes Garlic Basil Linguine but any long pasta will do such as fettucini or spaghetti)
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 black pepper
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon fresh lemon basil, chopped
Directions:
Cook pasta in salted boiling water until al dente. While the pasta cooks and you roast the tomatoes (recipe HERE) saute olive oil and garlic in a large pot. Add the spinach and cook until wilted. Once wet and wilted, it will reduce in size. Remove from heat and set aside. Using the same large pot, melt the earth balance buttery spread and add the flour. Whisk until combined and slightly thick. Add the milk and whisk until combined and continue to whisk over medium heat until smooth and thick. If you want it to be thicker, you can add an additional tablespoon of flour. Once sauce is thickened, add the spinach and tomatoes and combine well. Add pasta to pot of sauce and whisk together. Season with salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper and stir several minutes over heat then turn off fire. Add fresh lemon basil and mix together before serving.
*Tips&Tricks: You can easily make this recipe dairy by using butter instead of the earth balance, and using heavy cream or cows milk instead of almond milk. If you make this dairy, serve with parmesan cheese shredded or grated on top.
Ingredients:
1/2 cup diced red pepper
1/2 cup diced celery
6 sticks of fake crab, diced
1 tsp. dijon mustard
1 egg
1/2 cup of bread crumbs or panko crumbs plus 1/4 cup set aside
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
Egg wash (1 egg + 1 tablespoon water mixed together)
Directions:
Combine red pepper, celery, fake crab, mustard, egg and panko crumbs (or bread crumbs) salt and pepper in a large mixing bowl. Shape into patties. Dip both sides of each crab cake into the bowl of 1/4 cup crumbs that were set aside. Place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Brush with egg wash then bake in oven on 400′ for 10-12 minutes. You can also fry these up by heating up some oil in a frying pan and cooking both sides until crispy. Serve with cilantro lime dipping sauce and fresh cilantro.
Cilantro Lime Dipping Sauce:
Ingredients:
1/2 cup of mayo
2 tablespoons chopped cilantro (fresh!)
Juice of 1/2 lime
1/4 tsp. chile powder
Directions:
Combine above ingredients. Serve on top of each crab cake or on the side for dipping.
*Tips & Tricks: If the batter is too loose and you have trouble keeping it together, you can add 1 tablespoon flour to help bind it. If you are baking them and want it to be super moist, you can add a tablespoon of mayo to the mixture.
