Fish and Veggies

When I'm watching what I eat, my go to meal is fish and veggies! I love to get fresh salmon, bake it and serve it with whatever vegetable I'm feeling that day.

Today, I'm having baked salmon, lemon pepper and olive oil baked eggplant and steamed broccoli with a little butter and cheese. Check it out:

 

 

 

I typically cook these in mass and make containers for work and home for the week. I don't like to get burnt out though, so I usually make a variety of veggies and only enough fish for 2-3 days.

 

For any recipe request, let me know in the comment section below. Happy, healthy eating!

Remake of the Starbucks Roasted Tomato and Mozzarella Panini

When I'm in a rush and need a sandwich, I love Starbucks Roasted Tomato and Mozzarella Panini. But, I've often thought this could be SO much better. So, I remade it into an Eggplant, Tomato, Spinach, Mozzarella, Pesto Panini. Here's what mine looked like:

It was delicious! Here is the materials you need to make it:

• Cutting Board
• Knife
• Spatula
• Frying Pan
• Plate
• Napkins

Here's the ingredients that you will need:

• Spinach
• Eggplant
• Tomato
• Mozzarella
• Pesto Sauce
• Panini Bread
• Non-stick Cooking Spray
• Cayenne Pepper (Optional)

Let's get cooking! (Takes roughly 15 minutes):

1. Thinly slice your eggplant into 1/4 or smaller pieces. You will use roughly 4-6 pieces per sandwich.
2. Spray your skillet with non-stick spray and heat to medium.
3. Add your 4-6 pieces of eggplant (or how many will fit). I sprinkle Cayenne Pepper on mine to make it a little spicy. Just add a few sprinkles to each piece, because Cayenne is really spicy.
4. After a few minutes, check the underneath to see if it is browning. Once browning, flip and cook the other side.
   
5. While your eggplant is cooking, go ahead and slice your Panini in half to prep for layering.
6. Smear Pesto Sauce on both sides of your Panini bread.
7. Your eggplant should be cooked by now, I dry some of the oil out by letting it dry on a plate covered with paper napkins.
8. In the same skillet, add 1/4 inch cuts of your tomato. You will want roughly 3-4 slices per sandwich. This takes a lot less time to grill. Grill for roughly 60-90 seconds on each side.
   
9. While your tomato is cooking, go ahead and slice your Mozzarella cheese (if you bought a block).
10. Now that everything is cooked and cut, let's layer your sandwich. You've already added the Pesto Sauce, so now add fresh spinach to one side and your tomato on the other.
    
11. Next, add your mozzarella cheese to one side and eggplant slices to the other. Make it as cheesy as you want:)
    
12. Last, fold the sandwich together and toss it back in the skillet to melt the cheese. I cook mine on Medium-Low. Be sure to watch it so that it doesn't burn, but allows the cheese to melt. Roughly 90 seconds on each side.

Enjoy!!!

VegOut! Challenge

For this challenge, I have 30 days to eat 30 different vegetables, but I don't think it will take me that long! Today is day 5 of the VegOut! Challenge and I've already had 12 different vegetables. Here's what I've had so far:

I started on Saturday, March 1st with a  healthy breakfast. One fried egg over easy topped with salsa and served with avocado (Veggie #1) and grilled Tomatoes (Veggie #2) and White Onions (Veggie #3).

I went to Mardi Gras the rest of the weekend so didn't worry about the VegOut! Challenge. On Monday, I was back at it:

For lunch on March 3, I made Okra Stew served over rice. In it I pan cooked Okra (Veggie #4), Chives (Veggie #5), Celery (Veggie #6), Green Bell Peppers (Veggie #7), Garlic (Veggie # 8), Eggplant (Veggie #9) and a few other vegetables that I've already counted like White Onion and canned Tomatoes.

For a snack that afternoon, I had more vegetables!

I love eating vegetables with either ranch, peanut butter or hummus. On Monday, I added Cucumbers (Veggie #10) to my veggie log.

For dinner on Tuesday, March 4, I made one of our favorite meals:

This is wasabi and soy marinated tuna steaks, cooked with tomatoes and onions and topped with avocado. For sides, we had wasabi and soy mashed Russet Potatoes (Veggie #11) and fish sauce Brussels Sprouts (Veggie #12).

All in all, this VegOut! Challenge has been fairly easy. It has challenged me to be more creative and more complex. I'm a very simple cook, meaning I can make a meal with anything I find in my kitchen. This has caused me to add more ingredients to normal meals and grocery shop more frequently.

So far, I've been sticking with the veggies that I know and love. But, I can't wait to add a few new vegetables that I don't cook or eat very often like: Bean Sprouts, Cabbage, Edamame, Daikon, Mustard Greens, Kale, Turnips and more!