Couscous Salad with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes and Mushroom

Couscous is one of my favorite variety of starchy food, and I love to incorporate it mostly in my salads -It is also known that couscous is among the healthiest grain-based products!-.

Here is what you will need to prepare this salad:

- A drizzle of olive oil

- A pinch of garlic powder

- 1/4 cup of couscous

- 1/3 cup or about less than a half cup of water

- 1/4 cup cherry tomatoes (Halved)

- 3 mushrooms (Halved)

- A small bunch of spinach

- Drizzle the cherry tomatoes and mushrooms with some olive oil, pinch of salt and pepper and pop them into the oven for about 10 minutes 180 c.

- Until they get roasted, in a saucepan, bring water to boil. Add salt and stir, then add couscous and directly remove from heat and let it sit for about 5 minutes. Couscous should absorb all the water, fluf with fork and sprinkle with garlic powder.

Little Tip: You can add vegetable stock instead of  water to add more flavor to the couscous!

- Mix the spinach leaves along with couscous, cherry tomatoes and mushrooms and serve immediately.

Enjoy your warm salad! 

Guiltless Baked Banana

Baked banana is a pleasant warmness in a plate for such lovely cold weather! It's naturally sweet and Better yet, it's healthy!!

This recipe is soo simple that you will only need literally 3 little ingredients; 1 banana, pinch of cinnamon, and 2 teaspoons of honey!!

All you need to do is peel and cut the banana in half lengthwise, put it in a baking dish and sprinkle the rest of the ingredients on top. Cover with aluminum foil and into the oven for about 10 to 15 minutes. And voila!!! You can have this dish with some whipping cream, ice cream, with oatmeal, or even on top of pancakes!! 

Enjoy my loves...

Mixed Berry Parfait

Hello again my dear readers,,, Hope you all had a wonderful Eid break!!

Here is a sweet, easy, and short post on how to make your own healthy mixed berry parfait that you can have it in the morning to get you going through the day, or even as a light dinner!

Simply, what you'll need:

- 1/2 cup of any of your favorite berry mix (Fresh or frozen; doesn't matter)

- one small packet of sweetener, I use either (Stevia or Splenda). Or you can substitute it with one tablespoon of honey

- Low-fat yogurt 

- 1/3 cup granola

Method:

1. Combine yogurt and sugar/honey in a bowl

2. In a glass or goblet, alternately layer granola, yogurt, and berries. To build the parfait, you need to repeat the layers until all of the ingredients are used completely.

3. Garnish with granola and berries. 

4. Chill or immediately serve,,, Enjoy!

Serves 1...

Sweet Potato Wrap

Hello my pretty followers/readers, I am soo sorry for my absence for quite some time. But I am finally here with a new delightful recipe awaiting for you to try! 

It is soo easy to prepare, delicious, fulfilling, and it is vegetarian friendly!!! All you need is the following:

- 1 medium sweet potato, roasted, peeled and mashed

- 2 wraps, I use low fat tortillas, no cholesterol (Garden Spinach and vegetables)

- 1/2 small onion, chopped

- 4 small mushrooms, diced

- Drizzle of olive oil

- 1 teaspoon paprika powder

- Dash of ground pepper

Method:

1- Roast your sweet potato in the oven 200 c for 35-40 minuts.

2. Warm the wrap in a large pan -No oil needed in this step!-, just to soften it up for about 1 or 2 minutes on each side!

3. In a pan, drizzle some olive oil and saute the onion and mushroom.

4. When potato is ready, peel and mash with fork or a potato masher.

5. Sprinkle paprika powder and ground pepper on the mashed potato.

6. Spread the mash potato over the warm wrap, add the mushroom and onion, roll the wrap and slice it in half, and enjoy the goodness of this recipe!

Happy eating!! xxx

Watermelonade

Here is a quick and easy this summer's most refreshing drink that you can easily prepare and enjoy in no time! -The ingredients below makes for 2- 

Ingredients:
- 2 slices of watermelon (Deseeded and cubed)
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 1 tablespoon sugar, or don't, if you prefer to avoid added sweetener!
- 120 ml water

Method:

- Add the watermelon chunks in a blender - The smaller the chunks, the easier to blend-, juice of one lemon, and 2 tablespoons water. Blend well until it's smooth.

- Add 1 tablespoon of sugar to 100 ml water, and mix until the sugar is dissolved.

- Mix the watermelon puree with the sweetened water, add more sugar to adjust the taste. Serve it cold/ with ice and drink away!

Happy Sunday everyone... xx

Pesto Spaghetti Salad

Yesterday I was so hungry and had nothing in my kitchen to make a proper lunch for myself! So I found few things here and there and thought of making spaghetti salad with pesto dressing from these few limited ingredients! And it turned out to be a fulfilling yummy dish! I was going to make pesto spaghetti only, but I was so hungry that I had to add few of what I have left in my fridge, so I turned it into a yummy salad that can be eaten cold or warm!

Ingredients:
- Whole wheat spaghetti
- 1 Tomato, diced and deceeded / or 5 cherry tomatoes halved
- 1/4 Bell pepper cut into small squares
- 1 Spring onion (small)
- 1/2 Avocado cubed
- 3 mushrooms

Pesto Ingredients:
- 1 cup fresh basil leaves
- Few mint leaves/ cilantro
- 1/3 cup pine nuts or walnuts
- 1 clove fresh garlic / 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
- Few drizzles of olive oil
- pinch of ground pepper
- A juice of half lemon

Method:
- Cook spaghetti according to package directions.
- In a food processor, gradually add the pesto ingredients and blend until everything is well combined.
- Now combine both the pesto paste and spaghetti, and enjoy!

Happy cooking! xxx

Oven Roasted Baby Potatoes

This is a very easy and a quick side dish post; oven backed baby potatoes. It can be served as a side dish to pretty much all kind of dishes you like; soups, meat and poultry entrees, fish entrees, and vegan dishes.

Ingredients:

• 6 small white/red baby potatoes, scrubbed and halved
• 1 tablespoon Italian herbes
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• Salt and ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup fresh dill

Directions:

1. Boil the baby potatoes for 10 minutes only, then drain them well.
2. Preheat oven to 200 degrees C.
3. Put the potatoes in a large bowl. Sprinkle the herbs, garlic, salt and pepper, and oil, mix till the potatoes are well coated.
4. Transfer the potatoes to a baking dish and into the oven.
5. Turn the potatoes occasionally. In the first 30 minutes, add the fresh dill to the potatoes, and put them back in the oven for another 30 minutes or until golden and tender. -So the whole process may take approx one hour-. 
6. Finally, serve the potatoes hot or warm, and enjoy.