Fun with Super Healthy Foods

                                            Hi, I'm Lauren and this is my friend Erica!

Oh, and one time, we met Nate Ruess, the lead singer of Fun.

Oh and, speaking of chicks…these are my chickens, Duchess, Pippa and Cindy Crawford…except Pippa is no longer with us thanks to a raccoon.  Rest in peace Pippa.

But we're not here to brag about our celebrity encounters and urban poultry.  We came to this blog to share our love for cooking, good health, and of course, eating!  So join us as we try new recipes and make up some of our own.

Tonight's menu:

Kale Pesto Pasta

Red Cabbage and Bleu Cheese Slaw

Beet Hummus

Asparagus and Ham Frittata

To start, we combined forces by looking in our refrigerators and gathering any and all ingredients that could be mashed, blended, or sautéed together and still remain palatable.  What do you do with 2 heads of kale?? Why not blend it with olive oil, garlic, and walnuts and see what happens.  This is how "Kale Pesto" was born.  Together with a box of boiled Rotini, parmesan cheese, and a bit of pepper and salt to taste (we would also recommend blending in basil leaves…we just didn't have any tonight because my basil plant is dead like Pippa)…we made a delicious pasta salad that we placed in the refrigerator to chill while we worked on the next dish…Red Cabbage and Bleu Cheese Slaw.

So lately, I've had a mild, but probably unhealthy obsession with….slaw.  That's right, slaw.  Think about it.  How can you not be obsessed with slaw?  It's just so versatile.  You could pick virtually any theme out there and make a slaw around it: Asian Slaw, Indian Slaw, Texas style Slaw, KALE slaw, Princess slaw, BLT slaw, Cowboy slaw…the list goes on and on.  Tonight, with the ingredients in my refrigerator, I came up with this little gem of a recipe:

Red Cabbage and Bleu Cheese Slaw

1 head of chopped (a lot of chopping) iceberg lettuce

1/2 head of chopped red cabbage

a handful of chopped cilantro

3 tablespoons diced red onion

1/2 chopped green bell pepper

2 chopped celery sticks

Bleu Cheese crumbles

Vinaigrette:

1 cup olive oil

2 splashes red wine vinegar

the juice from 1/2 lime

2 cloves garlic-minced

salt and pepper to taste

Our third dish was a Pinterest find and a very colorful addition to our meal. I've attached the link below for Beet Hummus.

http://acozykitchen.com

For this recipe you begin by boiling and chopping one fresh beet.  Next you strain and add one can of chick peas and 2 tsp of tahini paste.  Add these ingredients to a blender with 1/4 of olive oil and some water, lemon juice, garlic, salt, and pepper…then blend away.  This results in the most beautiful color of fuchsia I have ever seen (not to be confused with raspberry sorbet).  If you like playing mind games with your guests, this is the recipe for you.  It does NOT look like hummus, but it is packed with a ton of vitamins! 

For the Asparagus and Ham Frittata, I basically just threw frozen asparagus and chopped up ham in a cast-iron skillet along with salt, pepper, garlic powder and olive oil.  I let it cook until the asparagus was heated through, and then poured a mixture I had done in a separate bowl over the top (5 eggs, 1/2 cup milk, oregano and 1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese-all whisked together).  I cooked on the stove top until the egg mixture started to set…I couldn't tell ya how long.  Then I put it in the oven at 375 degrees to cook the rest of the way.  Right at the end I put in on low broil for a handful of minutes until it got slightly browned on the top.  How's that for a precise recipe?

We know the importance of cooking with The Three Goods: Good Ingredients, Good Company, and a Good Attitude.  Whether you're cooking for stress relief, fun, or…hunger...remember those 3 Goods and think of 2 Cooking Chicks.

*We would appreciate any feedback you would like to give us for future blogposts and recipes.  See you again soon!  -Erica and Lauren