I actually jogged outside today with shorts and a tank top on – yay for nicer weather! Spring is almost here and I’m so ready for this season’s fresh produce. I actually couldn’t wait any longer and spontaneously grabbed a huge bunch of asparagus the other weekend. It all ended up going in this lovely red quinoa dish along with chickpeas, red peppers, toasted almonds, and a yummy lemon goat cheese dressing. Apolinaras said this was my best quinoa dish so far and I think it was because you get some goat cheese goodness in every bite!

Quinoa with Chickpeas, Asparagus, and Lemon Goat Cheese Dressing
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
2 large red bell peppers, seeded and cut into 2-inch long pieces
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 pounds asparagus, trimmed and cut into 2-inch long pieces
2 1/2 cups quinoa (1 1-pound box of red quinoa from Trader Joe’s)
5 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 red onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 cup chopped toasted almonds
Juice of 1 lemon
6 ounces goat cheese

Directions:
Heat oven to 400˚F. Place bell peppers on a large cookie sheet and drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil and sprinkle evenly with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Roast at 400˚F for 8 minutes, then add asparagus, 1 tablespoon olive oil, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, mix well, and roast 12 minutes or until tender.

Meanwhile, place quinoa and chicken broth in a large stockpot over high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer 10 to 15 minutes or until all water is absorbed and quinoa is soft.

Place remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil and onion in a large nonstick skillet and heat over medium high heat for 5 to 7 minutes or until tender; add garlic and cook one additional minute.

Stir cooked onions, asparagus and red peppers, chickpeas, and almonds in the large stockpot with the quinoa and mix well. Stir lemon juice and goat cheese together in a small bowl and mix well with the quinoa. Makes 8 servings.

Nutrition: 538 calories, 21.8g fat, 11.8g fiber, 21.8g protein per serving
Cost: $2.08 per serving

Apolinaras recently sold one of his business ventures so I decided to whip up a celebratory meal with several of our favorite splurge ingredients – lump crabmeat and wild Mahi Mahi fillets! I made a crab cake mixture and piled it high atop the fish. Apolinaras loves Brussels sprouts, so I finally tried roasting some and immediately fell in love – why haven’t I tried doing this sooner?!? I nestled the flilets on top of the Brussels sprouts and pulled it all together with a luscious lemon sauce with a touch of honey and heavy cream. I used Vermouth in the sauce because we had it around, but you could substitute a dry white wine as well. It was so fun to have an excuse to make such an indulgent dinner!

Crab Topped Mahi Mahi with a Lemon Sauce over Brussels Sprouts
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

Roasted Brussels Sprouts:
2 pounds Brussels sprouts, trimmed of the brown bottom and cut in half
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt

Crab Crusted Mahi Mahi:
1 pound lump crabmeat
3/4 cup panko
1 large shallot, chopped (1/4 cup)
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 egg
3/4 teaspoon salt
4 9-ounce Mahi Mahi fillets

Lemon Sauce:
1/2 cup vermouth
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/2 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions:
Heat oven to 400˚F. Place Brussels sprouts on a large cookie sheet. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with salt. Mix well and roast at 400˚F for 25 minutes or until browned and tender, stirring once halfway through roasting.

Reduce oven to 350˚F. Place lump crabmeat, panko, shallot, garlic, mayonnaise, egg, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a large bowl and mix well. Evenly sprinkle remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt on both sides of Mahi Mahi flilets and place on a greased cookie sheet. Evenly top fillets with crab mixture, packing it well on top. Bake at 350˚F for 22 minutes or until fish is cooked through (center should be 145˚F). Remove from oven and heat broiler. Broil for one minute or until crab topping is golden brown.

Meanwhile, make lemon sauce by placing vermouth and lemon juice in a small saucepan. Heat for 6 to 8 minutes over medium heat or until reduced by half. Place butter in a small saucepan and melt over medium heat. Whisk in flour until smooth and add vermouth lemon mixture and honey. Mix until slightly thickened, then remove from heat and stir in heavy cream and salt.

To serve, make a bed of Brussels sprouts on 4 plates. Top with fish and spoon sauce around the sprouts. Makes 4 servings.

Nutrition: 831 calories, 39.5g fat, 4.7g fiber, 76.6g protein per serving
Cost: $8.34 per serving

I’m not a huge main dish salad fan. It seems like whenever I just have greens with veggies and protein for lunch, I end up with a grumbling tummy only a couple hours later. My outlook recently changed after a lab potluck though. Sima brought in a lovely spinach salad topped with Israeli couscous and chicken mixed with a variety of goodies. I loved it and felt like the extra carbs on top turned it into a complete and satisfying meal. Of course, I had to put my own twist on the idea and here is the result!

I mixed some spiced up shrimp with the Israeli couscous, red pepper, corn, black beans, and grape tomatoes. For the dressing, I pulsed an avocado and some ranch dressing in my food processor until it was smooth, which ended up being quite tasty. Since the salad was just for us, I mixed all the dressing with the couscous and then placed it atop the undressed spinach. When we mixed the couscous with the spinach, I thought we got the perfect amount of dressing, but you could also serve the dressing on the side so everyone can add as much as they’d like.  Definitely lunch worthy!

Avocado Ranch Israeli Couscous Salad
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

Shrimp:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon ancho chile powder
1 teaspoon adobo sauce from chipotle peppers
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 pound peeled and deveined shrimp

Israeli Couscous:
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 red onion, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
1 1/3 cups Israeli Couscous (1 8-ounce box from Trader Joe’s)
1 3/4 cups low sodium chicken broth

Dressing:
1 avocado, peeled and pitted
1/2 cup ranch dressing
1/2 teaspoon salt

Salad Assembly:
1 1/2 cups cooked corn
1 can 15.5-ounce black beans, rinsed and drained
1 pint grape tomatoes, chopped in half
10 ounces fresh baby spinach leaves

Directions:
To make the shrimp, place butter, honey, ancho chile powder, adobo sauce, and salt in a medium bowl and mix well. Add shrimp and mix until well covered. Heat a nonstick pan over medium high heat and place shrimp in the pan; saute for 3 minutes or until shrimp are opaque and cooked through. Remove shrimp with slotted spoon and place in a large bowl.

To make the couscous, heat canola oil over medium high heat in a large saucepan; add onion and red pepper and saute for 5 to 7 minutes or until tender. Add couscous and saute 2 minutes or until light brown. Add chicken broth to the pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, put on lid, and simmer for 8 minutes or until broth is absorbed and couscous is tender. Put couscous in the bowl with the shrimp.

To make the dressing, place avocado, ranch dressing, and salt in a food processor and pulse until smooth. Place dressing in the bowl with the shrimp and couscous.

To assemble the salad, place corn, black beans, and grape tomatoes in the bowl with the shrimp, couscous, and dressing, and mix well. Place spinach leaves on a large platter and arrange couscous on top. Makes 6 servings.

Nutrition: 530 calories, 21.0g fat, 8.7g fiber, 27.1g protein per serving
Cost: $2.72 per serving