I just have to say that I am extra excited about the fact that today is Friday! It has been a long, busy, and stressful week, so the weekend cannot get here soon enough! Plus, today at work we are having a department retreat day off campus and get to head home at 2 p.m. You have to love getting off of “work” three hours early! And finally, am I the only one who is already super excited about the fact that next week’s work week will only consist of three work days? I am pumped about this and also very eager to be able to head home for the holiday weekend. All in all, today is a great day!
And in celebration of this fabulous Friday, I am going to share with all of you four of my favorite recipes that I have enjoyed recently. That’s right, folks, I cut down my “bookmarked” recipes by four this week…though I am pretty certain that I added more to the list, too. Oops? 😉
Friday Foodie Favorites: June 28, 2013
Up first is Tara’s Eggplant and Mushroom Stir-fry. I am a major eggplant lover and am always looking for new ways to prepare it. This dish was so easy to throw together and cook up in my wok. And, It was packed full of healthy vegetables. I followed Tara’s recipe nearly exactly, but also added in fresh kale and coleslaw mix. I wanted to bulk up the dish a bit, and I needed to use these leftover veggies from my fridge before they went bad. It was super tasty, but next time I think that I might roast the eggplant first, because I just love roasted eggplant!
During the last two weeks I also made…
Kelly’s Slow Cooker Black Bean Tacos. This is seriously one of the fastest, easiest, and most versatile slow cooker recipes to throw together. The beans were very flavorful and I was loving coming up with creative ways to use them. I made “tacos” in hearts of Romaine lettuce wraps topped with salsa, tomatoes, and nutritional yeast…
…and then used the leftovers for breakfast with this creation of a tortilla, beans, scrambled eggwhites, spinach, salsa, and nutritional yeast. I absolutely loved using these to create a new and unique breakfast outside of my “norm.”
Another recipe that I loved was Kathy’s Rustic Tomato Rice Kale Stew. This is such a tasty stew (and yes, I eat soups and stews during the middle of Summer when it is 90 degrees outside ;)). My stew turned out to be pretty thick and chunky. I could have added additional broth, but I prefer a chunkier soup/stew, so I stuck with it the way that it was. And I was so not disappointed with this decision. It was thick, yet creamy, chocked full of veggies, and downright delicious! This is absolutely a MUST make…even in the Summer! 😉
And last but certainly not least…
I mentioned these cute little polenta pizzas a couple of weeks back in a WIAW post. And now is the time that I will finally share a little bit more about these beauties with you! I based my recipe off of Tina’s idea/cooking technique, and used Italian herb-seasoned polenta to bake up mini pizzas.
I have also seen tomato and basil seasoned polenta that I am sure would be great, as well! I topped my polenta pizzas with pizza sauce, sauerkraut, onions, spinach, red and orange peppers, mushrooms, and vegan shredded “cheese.” These were SO tasty. This was the first time that I had ever eaten polenta, and it certainly has not been the last time. I am loving it :).
There you have it. Four of my favorite foodie finds from around the blog world. I hope you all enjoy these recipes and that you have a wonderfully awesome Friday and weekend. See you on Sunday! 🙂
