Strawberry in Pom Juice n Red Wine Sauce

Have I ever mentioned that my husband loves grocery shopping! If I told him that we were out of eggs and milk, he would quickly drive to store and come home with not just a dozen of eggs and a carton of milk, but also, broccoli, cucumbers, tomatoes, carrots, lettuce, oranges, grapes, and so on…which we didn’t really need more since we already have all that!   And I... have to manage all of those he brought home to fit into the refrigerator.   Anyway, today he brought me 2 boxes of really good looking strawberries (I told him that I only need 1 box for my smoothie) and said, “here's for dessert tonight.”   O-k-a-y!  Just cut them up, add some sugar, and top with whip cream, done! That’s what I told him.  His response was, “c’mon, you can do better than that!”  and I just gave him a blank stare thinking…hmm…what I can do with those strawberries!  Opening the refrigerator and browsing from top to bottom…I see half a bottle of Chianti red wine I had the  other night with dinner.  I see Greek yogurt. I see pomegranate juice.  Wham!  Here we go…the quick and easy dessert of all time.  Let's have some fun!

What you need:  for 2 servings

2 cups strawberries halved

1 cup red wine – I used Chianti red

1/2 cup pomegranate juice

1/2 cup sugar

1 stick cinnamon

1 tbsp lemon rind thinly sliced or grated

Yogurt topping:

1cup non-fat Plain Greek yogurt

1-2 tbsp honey and lemon zest

Mix well and chill

How to:

1. In small saucepan, combine red wine, pomegranate juice, sugar, and cinnamon stick over the medium-low heat.  Boil for 5 minutes.  Turn off the heat and add lemon rind or zest and let it cool down.

2. Place strawberries in the medium bowl. Pour the wine mixture over the strawberries include cinnamon stick, cover and let it chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours to blend flavors.

3.  Serve chilled strawberries with a dollop of yogurt mixed topping or whipped cream as desired.

Enjoy!

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Tri-color Pasta-Jumbo Squid-White Wine/Sun-dried Tomato Sauce

I went shopping at Cost Plus World Market store over the weekend and found this gorgeous tri-color pasta nest egg Grand’Mere made in France and I thought…umm…white wine, squid, and homemade sun-dried tomato I made from last summer using tomatoes from my own garden!  And this dish just popped up in my head right away. 

I grabbed a bag of this colorful pasta and quickly walked over to the wine section thinking what kind of wine that I can drink and use for cooking at the same time.   Dry white wine? I knew that some recipes are called for dry white wine in pasta dishes but I have tried it before….nah!  And then I remembered watching Rachel Rey and all the food guru on the cooking channel which I heard it so many time over and over again of what they said…“cook with any wine that you like or usually drink, don’t waste it!”  Aha…Chardonnay?  Yeah, I can drink Chardonnay.  That’s it.   Here we go…let's have some fun.  And remember, life is not perfect, so food doesn't have to be either!

What you need:  serve 3-4 servings depends on how hungry you are!

6 nests Tri-color pasta Grand’ Mere

1 ½ lb. packed frozen jumbo squid sliced crosswise
½ cup red onion sliced
3-4 clove garlic chopped
½ cup yellow bell pepper sliced
½ cup sun-dried tomato chopped
2 cups baby spinach chopped
¼ cup parsley chopped
3-4 tbsp olive oil
1 1/2 cup white wine – any that you like to drink
Salt and pepper to taste
Grated Parmesan cheese
**Tabasco hot sauce or Sriracha chili sauce is optional for those who like some heat.  I do!

How to:

1.  Cook pasta according to the package.

2.  While the pasta is cooking, heat the large pan on the medium heat, add olive oil, garlic, and onion and cook about 2-3 minutes.

3. Add squid and make a few stir, and add sun-dried tomato, bell pepper and cook for about 5-7 minutes.  Note: squid doesn't required that long to cook.  if they are overcooked, they will become rubbery.

4. Add white wine, salt and pepper to taste.

5.  Toss in chopped spinach and basil at the end when you are happy with the taste, and turn off the

heat.

**Serve with a sprinkle of grated Parmesan cheese and chopped parsley on top... and the rest of Chardonnay if you may!

Enjoy!


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The Green Goddess Smoothie...

I’ve always wanted to try a green smoothie but one of the ingredients that make this smoothie turn green is either spinach or avocado, and that make me think…uuhhh may be I will try it later.  Since I’ve been saying that I will try(I will try...) to have smoothie every day, today was a day that I was thinking green….in which exactly I was telling myself that if not today maybe it’s not going to happen ever! …and the result?  It was AWESOME!  And I pinched myself of being such a chicken and tedious and afraid of trying this green goddess.  I used a handful of baby spinach for the bright green color which I've added a little of lime juice so the spinach would leave you a bad taste in your mouth  since the acid in the lime juice would help reduce that tartness.  And if you not a fan of Greek yogurt, you can use plain or any yogurt of your choice.....I don't make a rule here.
So, if you’ve never tried it before, you must!  and I promise, you'll like it!   ^____^

What you need:

1 medium apple of your choice

1 medium Kiwi

1 medium or half of large ripe banana

½ cup or a handful of spinach

2 tbsp lime juice

2 tbsp honey - you can add more if you like

8-ounce non-fat plain yogurt

½ cup crushed ice

 :Blend everything until it turn smoothly. 

Enjoy!
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