A Stack of Dishes

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appetizer

Forbidden Rice Salad with Cauliflower

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Forbidden Rice Salad~A Stack of Dishes   Because you’re going to gorge on Turkey, stuffing and pie…. oh yes… the pie… Make a batch of rice, dress it, and keep it in the fridge. Then steam or sauté some veggies, add some greens, and keep on shopping/cooking/eating….  you get the picture.

Forbidden Rice Salad with Cauliflower
Forbidden or black rice can be found in the Asian aisle at your market. It's rich in antioxidants and has a lovely chewy texture. In a pinch you can switch it out with Jasmine or Brown rice.
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313 calories
46 g
1 g
12 g
6 g
2 g
344 g
75 g
3 g
0 g
10 g
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size
344g
Servings
8
Amount Per Serving
Calories 313
Calories from Fat 107
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 12g
19%
Saturated Fat 2g
9%
Trans Fat 0g
Polyunsaturated Fat 2g
Monounsaturated Fat 8g
Cholesterol 1mg
0%
Sodium 75mg
3%
Total Carbohydrates 46g
15%
Dietary Fiber 3g
11%
Sugars 3g
Protein 6g
Vitamin A
10%
Vitamin C
68%
Calcium
6%
Iron
9%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your Daily Values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
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Ingredients
  1. 2 cups black rice
  2. 3.75 cups water
  3. pinch of salt
  4. 1 head of cauliflower, broken into bite size florets
  5. 1 tbsp lemon zest
  6. 3 Tbsp lemon juice
  7. 1 tbsp mayonnaise
  8. 1 tsp dijon mustard
  9. 6 Tablespoons olive oil
  10. 2 Tablespoons fresh minced tarragon
  11. 10 cups mixed baby salad greens
Instructions
  1. Place the rice, water and salt in a rice cooker and set to cook. Alternatively cook in a pot, bringing the water to a boil, then reducing to a simmer. Cover pot and cook until water is absorbed and the rice is tender. About 20 minutes.
  2. In a large skillet over medium heat, warm 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add the cauliflower and cook without stirring until charred on bottom side, about 3 minutes, then turn and repeat. Add 2 Tablespoons of water, cover the skillet and cook for another 2-3 minutes until cauliflower is tender. Season with salt and pepper.
  3. In a medium bowl combine: zest, lemon juice, mayonnaise, mustard and 5 tablespoons olive oil. Whisk until emulsified, then season with salt and pepper to waste.
  4. When the rice is done and still warm, toss with half of the dressing, then add the tarragon.
  5. Let rice cool for 10 minutes, then add the cauliflower and the remaining dressing.
  6. Serve over greens
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calories
313
fat
12g
protein
6g
carbs
46g
more
A Stack of Dishes https://www.astackofdishes.com/
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Forbidden Rice Salad~A Stack of Dishes

Creamy Polenta with Bacon and Mushrooms {and A Healthy Hunger is born! Almost…}

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Creamy Polenta w Mushrooms~ A Stack of DishesIt’s been a super hectic week as I’ve been furiously working on fleshing out the new website- A Healthy Hunger. As my loyal fans know, the new business is a menu subscription service for folks who want to improve their health with better eating. I offer a Clean Eating menu plan and a Diabetic Friendly menu plan.

I cannot begin to tell you how excited I am about this. First off it’s just such a blast creating healthy menus. There is SO MUCH good food to be had that is also healthy for you. Of course my food style as experienced here will translate into AHH. No boring plain-o plain-o. Nothing horribly esoteric either, just beautiful, delicious and healthy eating. Sounds heavenly right??

With luck the final touches on the techy aspect of things will be complete by Tuesday and we can launch full bore. In the meantime you can swing on over there and take a poke around and see what you think. BTW- feel free to drop me a line with thoughts or insights. Good or bad, I would appreciate it. I really want this to be a successful resource for people, so any advice to help me stay on the mark would be much appreciated. Thanks!

Meanwhile, MY eating has been sporadic to say the least. Quick, simple comfort food, such as this creamy polenta, is what’s fueling me right now. In another week I’ll have reached cruising altitude, so I’ll enjoy these indulgences for now.

Creamy Polenta with Bacon and Sauteed Mushrooms
The smokey salty bacon and the vinegar just love the earthiness of the mushrooms. I ate mine with a luscious zinfandel. I highly recommend it.
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196 calories
34 g
7 g
3 g
9 g
1 g
298 g
794 g
8 g
0 g
2 g
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size
298g
Servings
4
Amount Per Serving
Calories 196
Calories from Fat 27
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 3g
5%
Saturated Fat 1g
5%
Trans Fat 0g
Polyunsaturated Fat 1g
Monounsaturated Fat 1g
Cholesterol 7mg
2%
Sodium 794mg
33%
Total Carbohydrates 34g
11%
Dietary Fiber 3g
14%
Sugars 8g
Protein 9g
Vitamin A
9%
Vitamin C
2%
Calcium
20%
Iron
11%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your Daily Values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
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Ingredients
  1. 2 cups skim milk
  2. 2 cups water
  3. 1 cup polenta
  4. 1 teaspoon salt
  5. several healthy grinds of black pepper
  6. 1 basked of cremini mushrooms (you can mix in other varieties, but this was the offering at my market this week)
  7. 2 slices bacon, diced
  8. 2 cloves garlic sliced
  9. 1/4 cup picked sage leaves
  10. 3 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
  11. salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. In a medium saucepan add the milk and stir in the polenta until smooth. Then turn on the heat to medium and add the water and salt. I find this method is best as preventing lumps and takes the flurry of activity over a hot flame out of the equation.
  2. Simmer the polenta until thickened and cooked, about 10 minutes.
  3. Meanwhile: in a saute pan, cook the bacon over medium heat until crispy and most of the fat is rendered. Remove the bacon and pour off excess grease, leaving about a tablespoon of fat in the pan.
  4. Return the pan to a medium heat flame. Add the mushrooms top side down and cook for 3 minutes. Then turn over the mushrooms and add the sliced garlic. Cover and let cook for 3-5 more minutes, then remove the cover and add the sage and vinegar. Sprinkle with a generous pinch of salt and a grind of pepper.
  5. Serve a portion of polenta onto one of four plates then place the mushrooms on top. Return the pan to the flame and reduce the vinegar sauce until thickened, about 2 minutes.
  6. Sprinkle the mushrooms with bacon and drizzle with vinegar sage sauce.
  7. Serve immediately.
Notes
  1. A little shaved parmesan would be fantastic here- sadly my larder was bare. Add a hearty green salad and you've got an easy and complete meal.
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calories
196
fat
3g
protein
9g
carbs
34g
more
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Shaved Brussel Sprout Salad

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Brussel Sprout Salad~ A Stack of DishesFrom time to time a vegetable can surprise you, and such is the case with this Shaved Brussel Sprout Salad. I am actually a huge fan of cooked sprouts, especially when they are given the chance to get caramelized on the outside, but raw never seemed reasonable.

Shave Brussel Sprout recipes have been cropping up, and so far there hasn’t been one that I haven’t liked. The sprouts are more tender than regular cabbage and they are neutral enough to take on the lovely taste of the dressing.

dressingThis version has become our go-to during the week salad. I purchased a stalk of sprouts and simply pluck off the number of nobs that I need and we’re off and running. Simply stem, peel the outer leaves, and then shred away. The dried cranberries offer a nice chew and a tart sweetness which is perfection, and the toasted almonds a satisfying crunch.

Shaved Brussel Sprout Salad
A healthy and delicious salad that you are guaranteed to fall in love with. Don't skip the dried cranberries, they offer the right sweet/tart flavor that the sprout leaves need.
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325 calories
29 g
0 g
23 g
5 g
3 g
121 g
198 g
20 g
0 g
20 g
Nutrition Facts
Serving Size
121g
Servings
4
Amount Per Serving
Calories 325
Calories from Fat 199
% Daily Value *
Total Fat 23g
35%
Saturated Fat 3g
13%
Trans Fat 0g
Polyunsaturated Fat 4g
Monounsaturated Fat 16g
Cholesterol 0mg
0%
Sodium 198mg
8%
Total Carbohydrates 29g
10%
Dietary Fiber 5g
20%
Sugars 20g
Protein 5g
Vitamin A
8%
Vitamin C
63%
Calcium
7%
Iron
9%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your Daily Values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.
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Ingredients
  1. 2 cups raw Brussel Sprouts
  2. 1 stalk celery, finely sliced
  3. 1/2 cup sliced almonds, dry toasted
  4. 2/3 cup dried cranberries
  5. 4 Tbsp olive oil
  6. 2 Tbsp cider vinegar
  7. 1 Tbsp honey
  8. 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
  9. 1 clove garlic, finely minced
  10. 1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions
  1. Trim the sprout end and peel any damaged outer leaves and discard.
  2. Using a knife, finely slice each sprout, then toss into a bowl breaking up the layers. Add the celery and cranberries.
  3. If you are toasting the almonds, place then in a dry pan over medium heat and gently stir until just toasted, then remove the pan from the heat and move the nuts to a plate to cool. Do not cool in pan or they might burn.
  4. In a small bowl combine the oil, vinegar, mustard, honey, garlic and salt and whisk to combine.
  5. Pour half the dressing over the sprouts and toss until combined. Let the salad rest for 5 minutes, then taste. Add more dressing if necessary and serve with the toasted almonds.
Notes
  1. If you don't have dried cranberries on hand any dried fruit would do- raisins, apricots or figs would be great.
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calories
325
fat
23g
protein
5g
carbs
29g
more
A Stack of Dishes https://www.astackofdishes.com/
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Brussel Sprout Salad ~ A Stack of Dishes