Roasted Pepper Pesto

This pesto is fun the jalapeño gives it a nice kick. I love that about it. It would be great with quesadillas, crackers, vegetables, baguettes etc... Yum!


Ingredients

2 bell peppers red or orange
1/2 jalapeño minced
2 cloves garlic minced
1/2 tsp salt
1 T vinegar
1 T chia

Directions   Heat oven to 350

1. Cut peppers open and take out the seeds. Lay them face down on a cookie sheet and place in the oven. Roast for about 15 min. Then flip over to the other side and roast another 15 min. Take out of the oven place them in a bowl and cover with plastic. Let them sit for 10 min. Then peel off the skins.

2. Put peppers into blender and pulse until smooth. Then add the remaining ingredients to the blender and blend until smooth.

3. Serve at once or store in fridge in air tight container.

4. Use on quesadillas, crackers, vegetables, baguettes etc...

Thanks to natural family for posting our muffins. :)
http://www.mynaturalfamily.com/recipes/quinoa-recipes/quinoa-muffins-recipes/

Fry Sauce

the savory and sweet sauces

This month for the Recipe Redux, we are posting recipes about dressings and spreads. What!? Can those actually be healthy? Awesomely, they can. And they can make healthy foods a lot more enjoyable to eat.

We've made a savory dipping sauce, a fresh herb dipping sauce and a sweet dipping sauce, all based in plain greek yogurt. And they are delicious with sweet potato fries. But we shouldn't stop there. They also would be great on a lot of other vegetables. And the sweet sauce would be delicious with fruit.

Come back tomorrow for the recipe for the fries!

Savory Fry Sauce

Ingredients:
3/4 C plain Greek yogurt
2 tsp lime juice
1 tsp freshly chopped cilantro
pinch of garlic powder (you can add more if you like)
1/4 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp salt

Directions:
Mix ingredients together in a bowl and enjoy!

Sweet Fry Sauce

Ingredients:
1/2 C plain Greek yogurt
1 T honey
1/2 tsp vanilla
sprinkle of cinnamon
pinch of ginger (optional)

Directions:
Again, mix ingredients together in a bowl and enjoy! Easy, huh?

the fresh herb sauce

Fresh Herb Fry Sauce

Ingredients:
3/4 C plain Greek yogurt
1 T fresh basil chopped up in small pieces or 1/2 T dried basil
1 1/2 tsp fresh marjoram chopped or 3/4 tsp dried marjoram
1 1/2 tsp fresh oregano chopped or 3/4 tsp dried oregano
1 clove of fresh garlic minced
1/4 tsp fresh ground pepper
1/4 tsp sea salt with iodine
1/2 tsp fresh lime juice or lemon juice *optional
*garnish with fresh herbs or lime zest or lemon zest

Directions:
Mix all the ingredients together. For best results let sit in the fridge 15-30 min prior to serving. So the flavors can combine.


Other Dressings and Spreads Redux Recipes
Carlene Helble-Carlene's Figments - Roasted Eggplant Pepper Schmeer
Deanna Segrave-Daly - Teaspoon of Spice - Sicilian Relish
Dr Barb - Nutrition Budgeteer - Jalapeno Ranch Dressing is Versatile & Healthier Elizabeth Jarrard- Don't (White) Sugar-Coat it - Spicy Tahini Dressing
Kara Lydon - Peace, Love, and Food - Edamame Hummus
Kat Lynch - Eating The Week - Citrus Sesame Avocado Dressing
Emma Stirling - The Scoop on Nutrition - Recipe Redux Kitchen Garden Salsa Verde
Emma Cutfield-The Hearty Heart - Go-Go-Goji: Blood Building Salad Dressing
Lisa @ Healthful Sense - Sweet Peanut Sauce & Dressing
Regan @ The Professional Palate - Ponzu Sauce
Danielle Omar - Food Confidence RD - Recipe Redux: Your New Favorite Vinaigrette
Stephanie Howard - Give Them Something Better - Creamy Garlic Feta Dressing
Nicole Ferring Holovach - Whole Health RD - Mapple Salad Dressing
Kristen @ Swanky Dietitian - Italian Vinaigrette Artichoke Dressing
Ann Dunaway Teh - Eat to Nourish, Energize & Flourish - Thai Basil Peanut Pesto
Kristina @ Love and Zest - Spiced Pumpkin Dip
Meg @ Meg's Food Reality - Sweet Potato Hummus
gretchen | kumquat - dairy-free ranch dressing
Everyday Tastiness - Pistachio Butter
Alysa Bajenaru - Inspired RD - How to Roast Garlic & a Recipe for Roasted Garlic Hummus
EA Stewart-The Spicy RD - Creamy Triple Pepper and Kale Dip
Liz Weiss & Janice Newell Bissex - Meal Makeover Moms' Kitchen - Garden-Fresh Tomato & Avocado Salsa
Jessica Fishman Levinson - Nutritioulicious - Butternut Squash Cream Cheese Spread
Diane Welland - Eatwelleatclean - Honey Fig Jam

Cashew Sauce with Pasta

I was in the store the other day and started talking to a lady as she was checking out. I love talking to people--just like my dad. Sometimes it drives my kids nuts, but I find I learn fun new ideas. This was one of those times. She was telling me how she makes a cashew sauce with pasta that her children love. I gave it a try yesterday and really enjoyed it. It is nice if you avoid dairy. There is no dairy in the recipe, but lots of healthy veggies.



This is what it looked like prior to cooking.

Ingredients:
12 oz cooked pasta whole grain or regular ( something like rotini, macaroni penne, etc..)
3 slices toasted bread
1/2 green onions chopped small pieces
2 C peeled potatoes chopped up (yellow or red)
1/2 C carrots peeled and chopped
2/3 C onion chopped up small pieces
2 C water
2/3 C cashews
1 T sea salt
1/2 C coconut oil or another oil or butter if you are OK with dairy
2 garlic cloves minced
1/2 tsp dried mustard
2 T fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 C fresh spinach *optional
1/2 C fresh mushrooms * optional
paprika and dried parsley for garnish

1. Throw the toasted bread into my blender to chop them up into bread crumbs. (* optional: You could add a couple tablespoons of melted butter to the breadcrumbs after they are chopped up. (If you are OK with a little dairy.)

2. Heat oven to 350. Grease a 9X13 pan.

3. In a saucepan, add onions, potatoes, water and carrots. Cook with lid on until vegetables are softened.

4. In a blender pour in cashews, salt, garlic, oil, mustard, lemon juice, Cayenne, paprika, and spinach, mushrooms cooked vegetables along with the cooking water. Pulse until the mixture is all creamy. It should take a couple minutes.

5. Then a bowl mix the cooked pasta and sauce together. Pour into greased pan.

6. Pour on the breadcrumbs sprinkle evenly, and sprinkle with paprika and parsley.

7. Place in preheated oven. for 20 to 30 min till the bread crumbs are a nice golden color. Don't over bake. It will dry it out.

Serve
* You could omit the breadcrumbs and the cooking part in the oven, and just pour the sauce on to spaghetti or linguine. Something for me to try next time. :)