Baked Tomatoes with Parmesan

And here is another easy, delicious, healthy Mediterranean diet recipe for you.

Ingredients:
Plump Tomatoes
Olive Oil
Oregano
Parmesan Cheese
Salt
Pepper

Directions

• Heat oven to 400F.
• Slice Tomatoes (I cut mine into thick pieces). 
• Place on tin foil in deep dish pan. 
• Sprinkle with Salt & Pepper. 
• Sprinkle with dried Oregano (or use fresh if you want/have it)
• Sprinkle on Parmesan cheese (I grated a nice Parmesan on ours)
• Drizzle the Tomatoes with Olive Oil
• Place in oven for 10 minutes.
• After 10 minutes, broil for a minute or two to lightly brown the top of the cheese.

I served the tomatoes with a Parmesan crusted Tilapia I picked up from Whole Foods and Far East Garlic & Herb CousCous.

Enjoy! XO

Ted's Bulletin {Brunch}

We went over to Eastern Market the other Sunday and decided to brunch in the Capital Hill neighborhood. Friends have been raving about Ted's Bulletin so we decided to give a try - just FYI - the wait was a true hour long and this is pretty typical. So we put in our name and then went and shopped at Eastern Market a few blocks away.

The wait was definitely worth it! Homemade pop tarts, milk shakes, and the most delicious breakfast sandwiches - and all reasonably priced (hard to come by in DC!)

We ordered a cinnamon pop tart and a strawberry pop tart to start along with a Bloody Mary and a Pomegranate Mimosa.

For my meal, I ordered Ted's Ultimate Breakfast Sammy - omg, so good! A fried egg, scrambled egg, sausage, bacon, cheddar cheese on Texas toast, with a side of shredded hash browns (the best kind) - all under $10.00 - amazing! I could only eat half of it because it was so big.

Alex ordered the Walk of Shame Breakfast Burrito that comes with sirloin steak, scrambled eggs, hash browns, cheddar cheese and green chili sauce for about $12.00. Again - delicious!

If you have yet to go to Ted's, you're missing out. I also think it's great place to go with guests from out of town - especially if they aren't accustomed to DC brunch prices. This is a great meal for a great price - and c'mon - they have homemade pop tarts!!

Enjoy! XO

Greek Island Chicken Marinade

Continuing with my weekday Mediterranean Diet plan, I found this delicous and easy! recipe on Allrecipes.com. I changed up the recipe a little bit to use what I already had in my fridge.

Instead of white vinegar, I used apple cider vinegar. I also omitted mushrooms (hate them) and didn't grill them on skewers.

Ingredients:
1/4 C of olive oil
1/4 C of lemon juice (I squeezed 1 and 1/2 fresh lemons)
1/4 C of white vinegar (I used apple cider vinegar and was delish)
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 teaspoon of cumin
1 teaspoon of dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon of dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon of salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
2 large bell peppers: I used yellow and green
12 cherry tomatoes, diced

You really can use whatever vegetables you prefer or what you have in the fridge. And if you don't already have some of these spices, I highly recommend buying them - you'll find them in most Mediterranean diet recipes.



Directions:
Since I changed up the recipe a little bit, my directions will differ from that on Allrecipes.com

• Whisk the olive oil, vinegar, garlic, cumin, oregano, thyme, salt, and black pepper together in a large glass or ceramic bowl. Add the chicken and evenly coat. I then transferred this to a large Ziploc bag. 

Chicken in the greek island marinade

• Preheat oven to 375F.
• Remove the chicken from the marinade and shake off excess liquid. Discard the remaining marinade. If you have skewers, then you can thread your meat and vegetables and then bake (or grill) them. I didn't have any skewers so I just laid everything out on aluminum foil. I added a little olive oil to the vegetables.

Yellow pepper, green pepper, cherry tomatoes, marinated chicken

• Bake until the chicken is no longer pink, about 15-20 minutes. 
• I prepared half of a box of original cous cous to lay the chicken and vegetables over. (Takes about 5 minutes to make. You can find a box of cous cous that comes with seasoning at any grocery store)

Added fresh wheat bread and a side of olive oil 

Enjoy! XO

Seafood Cous Cous Paella {Mediterranean Diet}

If you haven't heard about the study recently published about the Mediterranean Diet than you may have been living under a rock.

Indulging in extra-virgin olive oil, nuts, red wine and easy on the red meat are a few highlights of the study that have shown if you stick to the Mediterranean diet, not only will you live a healthier life, you will be happier. You think that's why the Greek's economy tanked? Because they're too busy enjoying life?
Maybe :)

Anyway, I found this delicious Seafood Cous Cous Paella from EatingWell.com. A note, it is only a serving for 2 so you may want to double up on the recipe. I love all seafood so I did stick to the recipe and make it with bay scallops and shrimp - if you're not a fan of either one of those - you could try it with another seafood of your liking. We also had a lot of the ingredients already in the house - except for the Saffron Thread - which is not cheap by any means. But I was able to find some at my local Whole Foods.

Ingredients:

• 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon fennel seed
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• Pinch of crumbled saffron threads
• 1 cup no-salt-added diced tomatoes, with juice
• 1/4 cup vegetable broth
• 4 ounces bay scallops, tough muscle removed
• 4 ounces small shrimp, (41-50 per pound), peeled and deveined
• 1/2 cup whole-wheat couscous

Directions:

• Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion; cook, stirring constantly, for 3 minutes. Add garlic, thyme, fennel seed, salt, pepper and saffron; cook for 20 seconds. Stir in tomatoes and broth. Bring to a simmer. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 2 minutes.

• Increase heat to medium, stir in scallops and cook, stirring occasionally, for 2 minutes. Add shrimp and cook, stirring occasionally, for 2 minutes more.

•  Stir in couscous. Cover, remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes; fluff.

This is a very simple recipe once you get your chopping done! We made a Greek salad and paired with a Merlot.

Enjoy! XO