Green Beans, Feta Cheese, and Dill

Kate Langenburg/A&E Groove

Yummy little veggies. Photo by Kate Langenburg.

As of late, I have been getting into making a lot of cold mediterranean salads. I must admit, I like the feta cheese! But every time I open a new container of feta cheese, there lurks another wonderful recipe on the back of the lid.

Last week, I decided to make a special kind of green bean salad from the back of one of my feta cheese lids, so I went down to the local farmer’s market and picked up a few pounds of the locally grown veggie.

After reading a little bit about how I was going to make this salad, I got to work. I recommed using the basil and tomato flavored feta cheese for this one. Here’s my recipe for green beans and feta cheese with dill:

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds fresh green beans
• 1/2 cup italian dressing
• 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
• 1/4 cup chopped red onion
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh dill

Step 1: Cook beans in water seven minutes or until tender and crisp. Drain. Rinse with cold water

Step 2: Toss beans with dressing, cheese, onions, and dill in a large bowl.

Step 3: Refrigerate for several hours until chilled. (You can serve this immediately, but I don’t think it tastes as good as it does when you let it sit in the fridge for a while.)

After making this great concoction, I fed it to my room mate, family members, and I ate a whole bunch, too. This recipe is easy, and a must have for anyone who likes dolled up green beans.

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Mediterranean Pasta Salad

Mine is the anti-tomato version. It's still delicious! Photo by Kate Langenburg.

Kate Langenburg/A&E Groove

As some of you may know, family gatherings are a great opportunity to bring different kinds of foods for everyone to enjoy. Well, as luck would have it, I recently had one of those kinds of family gatherings, at which I tasted the best pasta salad I’ve ever had.

I would like to introduce you to Mediterranean Pasta Salad, courtesy of Norma. In a span of about two hours, the huge bowl she had made completely disappeared, and the reserve stock in the fridge was eaten later that night!

The greatest thing about this dish is its versatility. As Norma herself said it, she never follows a recipe and she always puts her spin on it. That, my food loving friends, is highly recommended with this pasta salad. You can throw in new veggies, take out what you don’t want, or even include some other form of dressing other than the oil and vinegar suggested.

Ingredients:

• 1 (8 ounce) package of spiral or curly noodles, cooked and drained
• 3 ounces feta cheese, diced into 1/2 or 3/4 inch pieces
• 3 tomatoes, chopped
• 1 medium sized cucumber, peeled, seeded, halved and thickly sliced
• 1/2 cup pitted ripe olives, halved
• 1/3 cup walnut pieces
• 2 tbsp finely sliced red onions, optional
• 2 tsp minced fresh parsley
• 1/4 cup minced fresh basil leaves
• 2 tbsp vinegar
• 2-3 tbsp olive oil
• salt and pepper, to taste

Step 1: Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Toss gently until well mixed.

Step 2: Refrigerate several hours before serving. That’s it!

If I were you, I’d double the recipe. It makes a smaller amount, so if you like to keep eating leftover pasta salad all week like me, doubling is the way to go. This stuff goes great with a sandwich and transports easily for lunches on the go!

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Southwest Black Bean Salad

Kate Langenburg/A&E Groove

Does this Southwest Black Bean Salad look great? Photo by Kate Langenburg.

Scanning my cookbooks for something tasty I could make in abundance and take for lunch, I came across a recipe for this Southwest Black Bean Salad. It comes from the Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook and boy, is it zesty and delicious.

It calls for one jalapeno pepper. I used one that I grew in my container garden. (Apartments leave little space for real gardens.) It was definitely zippy, but if you are a real fan of spicy things, I would recommend using two jalapenos. That way, you’ll get a little more bang in your salad.

Ingredients:

• One 16 ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 cup diced roasted red pepper
• 1/2 cup cooked corn kernels
• 1 red onion, finely chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
• 4 scallions, thinly sliced
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded, deveined, and finely chopped
• 4 teaspoons fresh lime juice
• 4 teaspoons olive oil
• 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

Step 1: In a large mixing bowl, combine all the ingredients, then toss. Let stand, covered, until the flavors are blended, at least 1 hour.

Step 2: There is no step 2. It’s that easy!

This recipe would go great at a bbq or similar function. You’ll have all the guests on your invite list asking you for more when it disappears! In that case, of course, you might want to double the ingredients.

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Top Banana Bread

Hungry Girl's Top Banana Bread. Photo from hungrygirl.com.

Kate Langenburg/A&E Groove

This is by far the sweetest, most succulent, delicious banana bread recipe I have stumbled upon. (And that’s saying a lot because I LOVE banana bread.)

Of course, it’s from the Hungry Girl cookbook, 200 Under 200. If you don’t have the book, don’t worry! You can get more information on this recipe and other great eats from the Hungry Girl website.

Another thing I really like about this bread is that the servings are HUGE. So not only is it healthy and tasty, but it’s also satisfying. You can have it for a snack, an appetizer, a side dish,  a dessert or even for breakfast on-the-go. It’s so versatile!

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup Splenda No Calorie Sweetener (granulated) — or 1/2 cup works, too
• 1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 3 whole bananas)
• 1/2 cup fat-free liquid egg substitute
• 1/2 no sugar added applesauce
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Step 1: Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Step 2: In a large mixing bowl, combine both flours, Splenda, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Mix ‘em well.

Step 3: In a medium mixing bowl, combine bananas, egg substitute, applesauce, and vanilla extract. Mix ‘em well. Add these ingredients to the dry ingredients and blend them together.

Step 4: Spoon batter into a large loaf pan (9 inches by 5 inches) that has been sprayed with nonstick spray. Bake for 50 minutes or until a knife inserted in the middle of the loaf comes out clean.

Step 5: Allow the loaf to cool slightly, then cut into 8 slices. (Each slice has only 140 calories and about 4 grams of fiber.)

You can add some Cool Whip if you want. It adds a little something extra-delicious. Also, this bread will turn out very moist because of the applesauce and egg substitute. Because of it’s moisture, it has a tendency to go bad quicker than other breads. It is my suggestion that you eat it immediately after baking. And anyway, it tastes better warm.

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