Anyway, I was armed with the cutest little heads of cabbage from the farm and, yup you guessed it, feta. :) So i decided to combine them together and I’m so glad I did! This was fabulous! I almost ate the whole bowl in one sitting. I had to force myself to save it for dinner.

I had both the husband and child taste it. The husband said it was ok but he’s not a cabbage man. His reaction was pretty much what I expected. The Little Guy, well, let’s just say he was brave to try it even though he ended up spitting it out. Hey.. you can’t win them all. :)

• 2 small heads of cabbage (about 2 cups shredded 140g) I used 1 red and one green.
• 1/4 cup crumbled feta (34g)
• 1/2 tbsp honey (10g)
• 1 tsp olive oil (5g)
• 1 tsp oregano
• 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
• Pinch of fresh ground black pepper or more to taste.

I told you. They are so stinkin’ cute I had to post a few picures of the cabbage heads.

The purple one especially.

Even shredded it’s pretty! :)

To make the dressing put the feta, honey, olive oil, oregano and vinegar in a bowl and…

… whisk with a fork, squishing the feta making a creamy dressing like so…

Pour the dressing over the shredded cabbage…

and toss!

Enjoy! I could easily eat the whole batch but I’ll split it into 2, 1 cup servings. It’s a nice size. You could easily split it 4 ways for a small side with dinner.

FULL DISCLOSURE: I have partnered with ATHENOS Feta to serve as one of ATHENOS Change for the Feta Bloggers. I am compensated for my time commitment to the program, which includes blogging about my cooking experiences with ATHENOS Feta. I have also been compensated for the food purchased for my Change for the Feta creations. However, my opinions are entirely my own and I have not been paid to publish positive comments. Click here to see all my Feta Ideas!!

As the name suggests I’d much rather throw these on the grill however, they work perfectly fine in the oven. So why not?

If you’ve never had grilled cabbage you are in for surprise. It’s hardy, super light in calories and very filling. I flavor mine with a bit of lemon juice, worcestershire sauce, pepper and bacon bits but you could really use anything. Even the toddler was intrigued by this one and asked for a bite. He gave it 2 thumbs up. The husband didn’t eve bother trying it. Just not his thing.

• 1 tsp olive oil (5g)
• 2 tbsp real bacon bits (14g)
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper (more or less to taste)
• 1 Medium Head of Cabbage

Preheat the oven (or the grill, you lucky son of a b ;) to 425 degrees.

Mix the olive oil, bacon bits, lemon juice, worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper to make the marinade.

Prepare the cabbage. Rinse it under water and remove any yucky loose leaves.

Cut the head in half on the core..

Then cut the halves in half again…

…to make quarters.

Lay each wedge on a sheet of aluminum foil large enough to wrap it up in. Spoon about 2 tbsp of the marinade on top making sure to get it in all the nooks and crannies.

Wrap each wedge and bake for 20-30 minutes.

I say 20-30 becuase they will continue to cook once you pull them out. If you are going to let them sit for a little while pull them out around the 20 minute mark.

The wedges reheat wonderfull in the oven or the microwave!

I knew joining a CSA would be a good way to get me over the hump with some of the more intimidating veggies and in the first week it already is!

I made a huge salad with greens I would have never bought, tried kohlrabi for the first time and now I am cooking with rainbow chard. Scratch that… WE are cooking with chard. That’s right "WE!" Last night’s dinner was a collaboration between Little Guy and I. We were home alone for dinner and decided to play. :)

The result was a healthy vegetarian pasta dish that both him and I LOVED! Let me show you how we made it… And I do mean SHOW you.. I went picture happy again. ;)

• 6 oz of cooked whole wheat pasta (we used bionaturae Organic Whole Wheat Chiocciole)
• 2 tsp olive oil (10g)
• 1 small sweet onion chopped
• 3-4 cloves of garlic minced
• 1/2 lb Rainbow Swiss Chard washed
• 15oz can of diced tomatoes
• 1-2 pinches of salt
• 1/2 tsp drid basil (plus more to taste) and/or fresh basil leaves
• 1 15oz can of great northern beans drained and rinsed
• Parmesan cheese (optional)

Put on a pot of boiling water and cook the pasta according to the package.

Wash the chard. It’s so pretty, isn’t it?

Chop it up a bit and seperate the steps from the leaves. We are going to cook them at different times since the stalks will take longer.

Heat the 2 tsp of oil in the pan over medium high heat. And yes that is 2 tsp, can you see it? Coats the pan nicely without drowning everything in oil.

Add the onion and the garlic. I love having a helper!

Add the chard stalks.

The pan may start to get dry as the onion and garlic cook. That’s ok. Add the can of diced tomaotes.

I plucked some baby basil leaves from my garden if don’t have any, no worries we’ll be adding dried in a bit. :) Add a pinch of salt

Add the leaves of the chard and…

…stir until they start to wilt. (I had SUCH a great helper!)

Add the beans.

At this point we tasted it and thought it needed some more basil. We added 1/2 tsp and another pinch of salt.

Add the cooked and drained pasta and…

… again stir to coat.

It should look like this…

As soon as all ingredients are well mixed, serve! We liked it with a little Parmesan cheese. Honestly, I was shocked at how good it was AND that Little guy ate a whole serving! Don’t tell the husband, but dude… we eat MUCH better without him. ;)

Both the husband and the child were not impressed. I got a "ewwwww green soup" from little guy and the husband said it looked "strange." However hubby was brave enough to give it a taste. He liked it but would never choose it over, say, Chicken Noodle. Hey.. that’s ok.. more for me! ;)

• 1 tsp olive oil (5g)
• 1 small to medium vidalia onion chopped
• 1 fennel bulb with stalks and leaves chopped
• 2 celery stalks chopped
• 2 14.5 oz cans of chicken broth (or veggie)
• 4 cups raw baby spinach (about 1/3 of an average bag)

In a large pot heat the tsp of olive oil over medium high heat. Add the onion, fennel, and celery with a pinch of salt.

Sauté for about 10 minute stirring occasionally.

Add the broth and bring to a boil. Boil for about 10 minutes until all the veggies are soft.

Transfer the cooked soup in batches to the blender or use a hand blender (mine broke :(

Once liquified add the baby spinach and continue to blend until smooth.

serve!

The entire recipes makes just a bit over 6 cups. I’ll do the nutritional information per cup but just so you know, 2 cups is only 1 point! :)

Surprisingly BOTH husband and child ate this with NO complaints. I mean, I had to coax the little guy a bit but I didn’t get any "I don’t like these" or "Those are Yucky"’s As for the husband… he’s come a loooong way from his ‘I only eat broccoli and corn‘ days. lol

Here’s how I make Simply Roasted Brussels Sprouts for my family…

• 1 lb Brussels Sprouts
• 1 tbsp olive oil (14g)
• 1/2 tsp Kosher Salt

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees

Clean and half the brussels sprouts like so.

First rinse the sprout.

Cut a bit of the base off.

Some leaves may fall off. That’s ok.

Cut the sprout in half from the base.

Place all halves in a bowl.

Measure of the tbsp of olive and and the 1/2 tsp of salt. Toss in the bowl to cover all sprouts with oil and salt.

Pour onto a cookie sheet covered with aluminum foil.

Roast for 20 minutes shaking and tossing about half way through.

I don’t why but making and posting these put a smile on my face tonight. :)

So after returning from the gym this morning I looked in the fridge, saw the bulgur. Looked in the freezer, saw the bag of frozen veggies and tadaaaa Asian Inspired Tabouli Salad was born!

It is tasty! A wonderful chilled salad and very filling. You can totally put this out for a party, use it as a side dish or separate the recipe into two servings for lunch!

• 1/2 cup dry bulgur (80g)
• 1 cup of water
• 1 16oz (1lb) bag of frozen Asian vegetables (or stir-fry mix)
• 1/2 tbsp honey (10g)
• 1 tbsp olive oil (14g)
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tsp dried cilantro
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• Kosher salt & fresh ground black pepper

In a small saucepan bring the bulgur and water to a boil. Cover and let sit for 15 minutes until all the liquid is absorbed. (note: I did this ahead so mine was chilled when preparing although I don’t think it will make much of a difference) (double note: DO NOT lift the lid. That’s always my downfall.)

Place the bag of frozen veggies in a microwave safe dish and cook until defrosted but not hot. I did 2 minutes stirred and then 2 more minutes.

In a large bowl add the honey, olive oil, soy sauce, lemon juice, cilantro, ginger, 2 pinched of salt, and some cracked black pepper.

Whisk.

Add the veggies and bulgur.

Stir to coat everything in the dressing.

Chill in the fridge until ready to eat.

As you can see the little guy was unwilling to try. :( He said it looked "yucky." *sigh* he’s turning into your typical 4 year old picky eater.

I’m giving the nutritional information for 2 servings but split it up anyway that makes sense for you. The picture above is 1/2 the recipe.

Anyway, last year I perfected the mashed potatoes and invented my crock pot sweet potatoes. Which my mom really fell in love with and they are now part of our Thanksgiving dinner tradition. Which is fabulous as they are such a “set it and forget it” type of dish on such a crazy day.

A few years ago we started including asparagus on Thanksgiving. We’ve never been a big green bean casserole type of family. Honestly, I never understood the green bean casserole obsession in this country. It looks totally gross to me. If I’m gonna eat green beans I much rather them straight up anyway. Just my preference.

So instead of the green beans we go asparagus and I normally just roast them with some garlic. But this year I wanted to try something new. Why? I don’t know… it’s fun! :)

Here’s how I made them last night. You can of course double, triple or even use different proportions of onion to asparagus.

• 5oz pearl onions peeled (this technique works well)
• 1 bundle of asparagus
• 1 tsp olive oil (4g)
• 2 tbsp real bacon bits (14g)
• Kosher salt

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

Toss the onion with the olive oil and a bit of salt in a bowl.

Spread the onions on a cookie sheet lined with aluminum foil. Roast for at least 20 minutes shaking and tossing a few times.

Meanwhile clean and cut the asparagus. Snap off the ends and discard. Then cut them in chunks about 2 inches long. I sliced mine diagonally for a pretty effect.

Put the clean asparagus in the same bowl you tossed the onions with the olive oil. Add the bacon bits and cooked onions. Toss again and return everything to the same cookie sheet and sprinkle with a bit more salt. Roast for another 10 minutes until asparagus softens a bit.

My plan for next week is two 10oz package of onions. and 3 bundles of asparagus.. I may have 14 coming. Yikes!

You’d think, considering I started and run a site called GreenLiteBites I’d seek solace in healthy wholesome food but no. This week I’ve eaten out at least 3 times, ate almost an entire bag of Dorritos and my "handful" of M&M’s were more like cups. So yesterday in the middle of my disaster zone…

…I decided to find comfort NOT in the quick, mindless, junk food munch but in the satisfaction of preparing a healthy meal from scratch. Amazingly the processes of scouring my empty fridge and pantries for what I had on hand and finding a creative way to put it all together was much more of a stress release for me.

I can’t promise many new ideas in the coming weeks but I will try to use my current situation to challenge myself. If I don’t, I see a lot fast food in my future and although the husband would be ecstatic I want to treat my and the kid’s (the toddler recently celebrated is 4th birthday) bodies a just little better then that.

So on to this idea! For some reason I have a gross of zucchini in the fridge. It’s actually the only fresh veggie in there. I also had ripening grape tomatoes, a small chink of onion and some REALLY old garlic. This is what I came up with…

• 1 medium zucchini
• 1 tsp olive oil (4g)
• 1-2 slices of a sweet onion chopped
• 1-2 cloves of garlic minced
• 1 carrot diced
• about 10 grape tomatoes halved
• 1/4 cup uncooked quinoa (42g)
• 1/2 cup of our fav broth (water would work but you many want to add bouillon for flavor)
• Dried parsley your fav dried spices (optional)

Cut the zucchini in half lengthwise and scoop out the flesh with a spoon or melon baller. Chop the flesh and set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a medium sized pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook until the onion starts to get transparent and garlic just starts to brown. Add the diced zucchini guts, carrots and tomatoes. Cook for a few minutes allowing the flavors to merge and the veggies to soften a bit.

Stir in the dry Quinoa. Add the broth and bring to a boil. Cover and reduce to a simmer. Simmer for 10-15 minutes until the quinoa absorbs most of the liquid.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a small casserole dish with aluminum foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray. Sprinkle the zucchini with some kosher salt and your favorite spices (totally optional.) I used garlic powder, onion powder and a bit of chili powder.

By this time the quinoa should be about done. Scoop the mixture into the zucchini boats. You will have more then enough, just pile it in there. Top with a bit of dried parsley and bake uncovered for about 15 minutes allowing the zucchini to soften and the stuffing to dry out just a bit.

Enjoy!

BORING

I said, "Trust me, let me make something new." :) And I whipped us an Asian inspired glaze/marinade using what I had on hand. I marinated the chicken overnight and grilled it today.

Verdict?

My mom was the first to try it and said, "It’s Delicious!" That became the phrase of the day. People would say "Have you tried ‘The Delicious Chicken’?" "Have a piece of ‘Delicious Chicken’, it’s delicious!" :) Nothing could have made me happier.

The husband? Well he conceded. Apparently my new marinade was better then boring old BBQ sauce. :~D

• 1/2 cup sugar free Apricot preserves (68g)
• 2 tbsp rice wine or apple cider vinegar
• 2 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
• 1 tbsp honey (21g)
• 1 tsp olive oil (4g)
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1 tsp dried chives

Whisk are all the ingredients together. I doubled for 5lbs of chicken (10 pieces.)

Put a little on the side to glaze with while cooking and pour the remaining in a large plastic bag. Add the chicken. Seal, removing as much air as possible.

Marinade for a few hours or overnight. Grill the chicken until done (vague I know but this post is about the marinate, not how to grill chicken- cooking times will vary greatly depending on what cuts of chicken you decide to use)

No nutritional information. Again it will vary depending on how you use the marinade.

I love the beans texture with the small pasta shapes. Mom always used a type of Tubettini. I used elbows as the choices of whole grain shapes are pretty limited.

When I told the husband and toddler what I was making I got a face from both of them. I just rolled my eyes and made it anyway. To their surprise they both liked it! The toddler didn’t finish his plate but he hate enough to constitute a meal and husband devoured his bowl. Now.. when will they TRUST me? ;~)

• 2 tsp olive oil (8g)
• 5-6 cloves of garlic minced
• about 1/4 cup diced sweet onion
• 2 8oz cans of tomato sauce
• 1 can (~15oz) Northern Beans drained and rinsed
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp dried basil
• black pepper
• 12oz whole wheat elbow macaroni
• dried parsley and Parmesan cheese for sprinkling on top

Heat the oil over medium heat in a medium to large saucepan (big enough to hold all the pasta.) Add the garlic and onion and cook until the garlic just starts to brown. Add the two cans of sauce, beans, dried herbs and pepper. Cook until bubbles start to form then lower to simmer.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil for the pasta and cook according to package. The sauce will simmer as you wait for the water to boil and the pasta to cook, about 20 minutes total.

When the pasta is finished drain and add to the sauce and beans. Shut off the heat and stir to coat all the pasta with the sauce. Scoop out, top with some parm cheese, parsley and eat!

See I generally only keep 1-2 baking potatoes on hand for the husband as a quick side dish when I know he won’t like what I’m making (for example sweet potatoes, quinoa, bulgar, couscous – that’s right he won’t eat any of those.) I’ll simply bake a potato and he’s happy. Actually besides mashed it’s the only other way he’ll eat potatoes. Boy, now that I think about it, he IS freakin’ picky. But I digress.

Anyway, I must have planned on making mashed a couple of weeks ago so I picked up a few extra. Then I forgot I did and picked up a 5lb bag this past week because they were on sale. Now I have a gross of white potatoes on my hands. So what do I do? Make home fries out of potatoes of course! (that was suppose to be a play on ‘make lemonade out of lemons’ but I don’t think it worked too well. lol)

• 1 tsp olive oil
• thick slice of sweet onion chopped
• medium bell pepper chopped (I used 1/3 red 1/3 green but they were big)
• 1 medium-large sized baking potato (around 280g) cubed
• kosher salt & pepper

Heat a non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the oil, onion then pepper. Cook for a few minutes while you cube the potato. Add the potato. Liberally sprinkle with kosher salt and a bit of pepper. Cover.

Now. LEAVE IT ALONE for 3 minutes. Sorry, didn’t mean to scream but this is the key. We want to just about burn the side that’s down. After 3 minutes toss and assess the burnt-ness. If is too black then you may want to lower to medium. I kept the heat at medium-high but I was going for the scorched look. Re-cover and leave alone for another 3 minutes.

After the second three minutes, toss again and give a potato a try. It should be getting soft. If you’d like to add more seasoning do so now. Cover and cook for an additional 3 minutes. This should be long enough to cook the cubed potatoes. If it isn’t, repeat the process until they are to your liking or simply lower the heat to medium-low and keep the cover on until you are ready to eat.

Now, I did used a tsp of olive oil but I also tried the technique with cooking spray and it worked as well. However, to me this is a perfect meal to use a bit of real oil as all the other ingredients are naturally fat free. It’s when I’m using meat that I generally skip the added oil. That’s just my approach. Either way the nutritional information below is with the tsp of oil.

As for the family, they LOVED IT and so did I! The toddler was completely interested in the entire process. Here he is stealing piece of zucchini from the cutting board. Look at that expression, I love it!

When we sat down to eat he was at first, a little intimidated by the pie piece but once I showed him how to eat he went to the town. Even the husband had nothing but good things to say. I was shocked! Although he thinks it would be better with my sauce. Ok, how can I argue with that? :)

My strategy was simple… reduce, replace and add some veggies. It’s what I always do!

• 12 oz whole wheat rigatoni
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 8 oz extra lean ground turkey
• 1 medium onion diced
• 3 gloves garlic minced
• 1 medium zucchini diced
• Kosher Salt & Pepper
• 1 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes
• 1 tsp dried basil (or more to taste)
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
• 4 oz fancy shredded part skim mozzarella cheese
• dried parsley

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Bring a large pot of water to boil and cook the pasta until just done. Shave off 1-2 minutes from the time given on the box. I cooked mine for 10.

While preparing the pasta you’ll be making the sauce. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Brown the turkey with the olive oil, onion and garlic. Add the zucchini and sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper.

By this time your pasta should be ready. Drain, rinse with cold water and put back in the pot. Add 1/4 cup of the crushed tomatoes and stir to coat the pasta. Set aside.

Add the remaining crushed tomatoes to the skillet. Stir and add the tsp of basil. It should boil fairly quickly. Lower to a simmer.

Returning to the pasta, add the 1/2 of Parmesan cheese and stir to coat.

Spray a 9-inch springform pan with non-stick cooking spray. Begin to place the pasta upright in the pan. It will be a little touch and go for a bit but you’ll get the hang of it. I started with the perimeter and worked my way to the center. It took me about 10 minutes. Don’t worry some will be taller and shorter. Some will even have a bend. It will all work out once you are finished.

Top the pasta with the meat sauce. Now, I do NOT have patience to make sure there is meat and sauce in every tube. I just banged the pan a few time allowing things to setting and then added some more sauce until all but about a cup or so was on left in the skillet.

Bake in the preheated 400 degree oven for 15 minutes. Remove and top with the mozzarella. Sprinkle a bit of parsley on top. Return to the oven for 10 more minutes.

Remove and let sit for at least 5 minutes. Run a butter knife around the edge. Release the spring form and viola!

Add a splash of water to the remaining sauce in the skillet to serve on the side in case anyone wants a little extra.

Now, for the nutritional information. I reduced the amount of pasta, cheese and meat from the original recipe, yet used the same size pan. Using the ingredients originally posted on Noble Pig and using the same number or portions for each recipe (6), I reduced everything but fiber, that I increased. :) Here is a little side by side from Nutrition Data. Remember these are just estimates.