Tartines with Veggies and Goat Cheese

Make a tasteful appetizer or a quick and light dinner with these perfectly crispy and savory tartines

It's late and you are exhausted after a long day at work. For sure you don't feel like spending too much time around the stove. Here is an amazing idea for a super fast, light and healthy dinner. These tartines topped with organic spinach, roasted red peppers, kalamata olives and goat cheese are your answer!

Also, this open-faced sandwiches could be also cut in smaller pieces and served as a deliciously enticing appetizer. Perfectly crispy and oh-so delicious!


Ingredients: making 8 slices (2-3 servings)

• 8 slices of French or rustic freshly baked bread 
• extra virgin olive oil
• 1 garlic clove
• 2 handful of fresh baby organic spinach
• about 8 oz grilled red peppers (jar)
• about 16 kalamata olives
• 4 oz goat cheese

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Directions:
Step 1: Quickly grill the slices of bread, sprinkled with olive oil, on both sides. Over medium-high heat should only take a couple of minutes.

Step 2: Brush each side with garlic - cut the clove in half to make it easier.

Step 3: On each slice, place some spinach cut in pieces. Top with few strips of red peppers, a couple of olives (cut in half) per slice. And top with a thick slice of goat cheese.

Step 4: Place the tartines on a baking sheet and bake on the top shelf at 400 degrees for about 5 minutes. Serve hot or at room temperature. Delicious :-)

Pearl Couscous Salad with Chicken and Grilled Peppers

Couscous salad with roasted chicken and deliciously tender, smoky and colorful grilled peppers.

Today's recipe is another of my super healthy, picnic dish ideas to make your outdoor meal memorable. Perfect to take along at the park or at the beach, or great idea for your next barbecue or casual party. I made this Israeli couscous salad yesterday for lunch for my family day at the beach. It was a huge hit with my husband and the kids!
I had some left over roasted chicken from the day before, which wasn't enough for another meal, but plenty to add to the couscous. If you don't have leftover chicken, you can always use a fresh chicken breast, marinate it with rosemary and garlic, cut it thin, and quickly grill it. Just like I did in my couscous salad with chicken and zucchini.
To make this couscous salad a complete, one-dish meal, I add some organic yellow, red and orange peppers that I roasted in the oven: this won't take too much time, nor much work and it's so easy to clean up. Here is my step-by-step, super easy recipe:

Ingredients:

• 3 peppers (I used red, orange and yellow)
• 1.5 cups of cooked chicken (about one chicken breast)
• 1.5 cups of couscous (I used Israeli pearl couscous)
• extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 lemon, juice
• 6-7 leaves of fresh basil
• salt 

Preparation time: 40 minutes

Directions:
Step 1: Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Roast the peppers by placing them on a baking sheet covered with aluminum foil for easy clean up, in the upper part of the oven. Remember to turn them over every 8 minutes or so. Leave in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until the skin all around is dark and soft. Remove from the oven and wrap the peppers in the foil for 5-10 minutes. This way they become soft and juicy. And easy to peel!

Step 2: While the peppers are in the oven, cut the cooked chicken in small cubes.

Step 3: Cook the couscous following the direction on the box. I simmered the couscous for about 11 minutes in salted water. Drain the couscous and run it under running water to cool it off.
Step 4: Unwrap the peppers, peel them (should be very easy!!) and cut in small cubes.

Step 5: In a large bowl, mix together the couscous with the chicken and the peppers. Season with a few tablespoons of olive oil, lemon juice and basil leaves cup in pieces.

Enjoy!!

Fettuccine Pasta with Zucchini, Eggplants and Peppers

Super healthy, vegetarian fettuccine pasta packed with tons of nutrients.

Are you ready to try an incredibly tasty pasta loaded with veggies? Easy to make, ready in no time, super healthy and so colorful! It even tastes more delicious than it looks!
Here is the nutrition label for this recipe.
This pasta is packed with vitamins, especially C and A, fibers and anti-oxidants. As you can see,  there are less than 450 calories for a big plate of pasta. Amazing, right? And the only fats presents are from the Parmesan cheese, which is optional, and the olive oil that, as you probably know, is one of the few "good" fat and the healthiest of the cooking oil. Olive oil is rich in mono unsaturated acid fatty, which lower the bad cholesterol and increase the good one, and seems to prevent  heart diseases. This is why, as you probably have noticed, I only use olive oil in my recipes!

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons of olive oil
• half onion, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, crushed
• 2 zucchini
• 1 pepper (I used half red, and half yellow pepper)
• 1 small eggplant (or half of a large)
• 2 large tomatoes (I used one yellow and one red tomatoes)
• 3 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese (optional)
• salt to taste
• 12 oz fettuccine or linguine pasta or similar

Preparation time: about 30 minutes

Directions:
Step 1: In a large skillet, saute' the crushed garlic and the chopped onion in the olive oil for one minute. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil, and cook the pasta when boiling.

Step 2: Cut the zucchini, the eggplant and the peppers in long thin strips. Add to the skillet, and cook covered for a few minutes at medium-high heat.

Step 3: Peel the tomatoes (if you like!), by running them under hot water, or placing them into a small pot of boiling water. Cut the tomatoes in small strips removing most of the seeds. Add to the skillet and cook for a few more minutes until the vegetables are as soft as you like them to be. You will need to stir the veggies, but be careful not to mix too much and make them mushy. If ready before the pasta, keep the vegetables warm at the minimum heat.

Step 4: Drain the pasta and mix well in the large skillet with the vegetables. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and serve immediately.

Buon Appetito!

Penne Pasta with Peas, Peppers and Pancetta

You will be surprised by how easy, quick and delicious is this pasta with peas, peppers and pancetta!

Let's start the week with a super easy, extremely fast, really delicious, one-dish meal recipe, to make your Monday dinner a breeze.
I call this pasta "the Four Ps ",  because of its four simple ingredients: piselli (peas), pancetta (or bacon), peperoni (peppers) and pomodori ... well, that's tomatoes. I guess the name doesn't quite work in English :-(
To prepare this sauce all you need is to place the ingredients in a pan and let them cook for 20 minutes or so. Yes, it's that easy. Check out the recipe!

Ingredients:       Printable Recipe

• 1 cup of green peas
• half red pepper, cut in small cubes
• 2 slices of pancetta or bacon, cut in small cubes
• 12 oz of crushed tomatoes (I used organic canned tomatoes)
• 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons of Parmesan cheese, freshly grated (optional)
• salt to taste
• 12 oz of penne pasta, or other short pasta

Preparation time: 25 minutes

Directions:

Step 1: Place all the ingredients for the sauce (olive oil, peas, pancetta, peppers, tomatoes and salt to taste) in a medium pan, over medium-high heat for a couple of minutes. As soon as it start boiling, cover the pan and simmer for about 20 minutes over medium flame. Stir occasionally. Check the sauce and uncover the pan for the last 5 minutes if you need to make it a little denser.

Step 2: While the sauce is cooking, bring to boil a large pot of salted water. Cook the penne. Drain the pasta when ready. Place in saucepan and mix well. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese if you like.

And voila'! Dinner is ready!