So Easy, So Healthy and So Tasty - Yogurt with Fresh Berries

I forget sometimes that you do not need much to make a healthy and tasty dessert in less than 5 minutes. Today while pork ribs were slowly cooking in the oven I made this quick dessert - Yogurt with Fresh Berries. I took 3 strawberries, washed, sliced and put them in a bowl. Then I took a handful of raspberries and blueberries, washed them and added them to the bowl with strawberries. Next I opened Organic Yami Low-Fat Vanilla Yogurt and scooped it into the bowl with berries. I took the spoon out and enjoyed this so called dessert. Organic Yami yogurts have relatively low sugar compared to other regular yogurts. Taste of fresh berries is amazing and yogurt gives you some needed protein.

You can make this more of a dessert by using say Greek Gods Honey Yogurt instead of regular Low-Fat yogurt and adding a slice of a pound cake. That will be delicious! I have done it :)

Pork Ribs with Bone Suckin’ Sauce

Tonight was the first time I made barbecued pork ribs and they came out delicious and "blog-worthy"! I have made similar recipe using pork loin before but this time I tried cooking ribs. The key is a good barbecue sauce. I have been using Bone Suckin' Sauce for several years now. It is just amazing! You can buy it in most grocery stores like Whole Foods, QFC, PCC Natural Markets. The advice is to take time with cooking pork.

Ingredients:

About 1 or 1 ½ lbs rack of pork ribs

1 jar of Bone Suckin’ Sauce (16 oz)

Salt and Pepper to taste

Cajun Spice (Optional)

Water

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 325F. Cut a rack of pork ribs in half, wash with cold water and pat dry with a paper towel. Next, rub both sides of pork ribs with salt, pepper and cajun spice. 

Put ribs in an ovenproof glass dish and add about 2/3 of an inch of cold water, cover with aluminum foil and put into the oven to cook for 3 hours. After 3 hours, take ribs out of the oven. They should be cooked through and very tender.

Carefully transfer ribs into Le Creuset Dutch Oven.

Next step is to pour Bone Suckin’ Sauce on the ribs, close with the lid and let ribs cook on a stove on medium-low (more on a low side) for another 1 ½ hours. 

Sometime in the first 30 minutes the sauce will start boiling slowly, make sure that sauce does not burn.

After 1 or 1 ½ hours take ribs out of the dutch oven and enjoy!!!! Tonight I had ribs with roasted fingerling potatoes and steamed brocollini. Here is a picture of the complete dinner.

And here is a picture while eating the ribs. The meat was just falling of the bones and the sauce is so delicious!

Roasted Fingerling Potatoes

 

I love roasting potatoes this way and they come out crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. This recipe is very easy to follow. The hardest part is cutting each potato in half. Be careful not to slice your finger or nail. I have been a victim of this myself more times than I want to admit.

Ingredients:

3/4 lb of fingerling potatoes, washed and cut in halves

3 tablespoons of Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper to taste

Fresh herbs like Rosemary, Dill, finely chopped, for garnish 

Preparation: 

Preheat oven to 500F. In a large bowl mix potatoes, oil and salt and pepper together, making sure potatoes are covered in oil. 

Lay potatoes on a cookie sheet skin side up and place in the oven. Lower temperature to 425F and let potatoes roast for 20 minutes. 

Take potatoes out and using tongs turn them over. 

Cook potatoes in the oven for another 20 minutes, or until they are crispy and brown on the outside and soft and cooked on the inside. This time I cooked potatoes for 25 minutes. 

After that transfer potatoes into a bowl and sprinkle with some chopped fresh herbs. Potatoes are ready to serve. Tonight I served them with barbecued ribs (recipe to follow).

Beet, Blue Cheese and Hazelnuts Salad

Ingredients:

3 medium-small golden beets, roasted, peeled and chopped into bite size squares

1 inch by 2 inches piece of blue cheese, cut in small pieces

½ cup of roasted hazelnuts, chopped

1 cup of mixed salad greens

Hazelnut oil

Salt and Pepper to taste

Preparation:

1. Roast beets the day before. Preheat oven to 400 F degrees. Put beets in an ovenproof glass dish and pour 1.5 inch of water. Cover dish with aluminum foil and put in the oven and roast for 1-1.5 hours until beets are tender when you poke them with a fork. Let beets cool off and keep them in a fridge until ready to use.

2. To make a salad mix together greens, blue cheese, hazelnuts and beets. Drizzle some hazelnut oil on top and salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy!

Grilled Rosemary Lemon Garlic Chicken Breast

This recipe has evolved over the years. I am not even sure how I came up with it. I like making chicken breast this way. It comes out tender and juicy.

Ingredients:

2 chicken boneless breasts

juice of ½ lemon

2 cloves of garlic, minced

2 sprigs of rosemary, finely chopped

3 tablespoons of olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

1. In a small bowl combine lemon juice, rosemary, olive oil and garlic. Rub chicken breasts with the marinade, generously salt and pepper both sides. Let chicken marinade overnight in a refrigerator.

2. Preheat the grill. Turn one buner to low and keep the others on high. Grill chicken on a low heat burner 9 minutes a side with a grill lid closed. Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes before serving.