Healthy Old Broad

Healthy Baked Goods Recipes Made Without Gluten and Sugar

Orzo Vegetable Salad with Citrus Dressing

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It’s getting to be summer time and that usually means more salads to eat. This Orzo salad with citrus dressing is light, tasty and can be brought to a pool party or picnic without spoilage worries. It can be served as a vegetarian dish or add chicken sausage like I did. Not a fan of the veggies I put in this salad than add the veggies you and your family like best.

Orzo Vegetable Salad with Citrus Dressing

Dressing Ingredients:

  • 1 lime – zest and juice
  • 1 Meyer lemon – zest and juice
  • 1/2 orange – zest and juice
  • 2 garlic cloves – grated
  • 1 shallot – grated
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 tablespoon whole grain Dijon mustard
  • 1 tablespoon capers
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 2 tablespoons fresh tarragon – finely chopped
  • 1/3 cup white balsamic vinegar
  • 1 cup olive oil
  1. while the orzo pasta is cooking combine all the ingredients for the dressing and whisk together

Orzo Veggie Salad Ingredients:

  • 1- 12 oz Delallo Orzo
  • 1 package baby broccoli
  • 1 package chopped cauliflower
  • 4 Perisian cucumbers – chopped
  • 1 yellow pepper ( or your favorite color) – chopped
  • 1 jar Kalamata Olives
  • mini heirloom tomatoes – halved
  • salt and pepper
  • 3 to 4 tablespoons olive oil
  • option: your favorite flavor of chicken sausage – cut into pieces
  1. Cook orzo per package instructions. When done, drain and rinse in cold water to start the cooling process. Transfer from strainer to large bowl and add about 1/2 cup of the salad dressing so the orzo can start absorbing it.
  2. In the pot where the orzo was cooked heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil, add the broccoli and cauliflower, salt & pepper and saute for 5 to7 minutes. Remove from pot and add to orzo bowl. Add chopped pepper, cukes, olive and tomatoes. Add additional dressing and toss all together.
  3. If you are adding the sausage, add about 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the pot and saute for about 3 to 5 minutes then add to salad.

Eggplant Ragu

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This is an easy one pan dish to make, and it goes quickly so I suggest you get all the items prepped and ready to add into the pan before you start the cooking.  Also this dish can get too salty so even though chef’s say to salt each layer I suggest you hold back on the salt and taste it before you add too much (believe me I learned that the hard way, I had generously salted each layer and the dish was good but way too salty)

eggplant stuffed

Ingredients:

  • 1 large eggplant – cut in half and the pulp removed from the skin carefully if you plan to serve it the skin – pulp cut into bit size pieces
  • 1/2 large red onion – diced
  • 4 to 5 Roma tomatoes – diced
  • 1 package Uncooked Silican Chicken Sausage with Tomato and Romano Cheese (from Trader Joe’s) – meat removed from casing
  • 1 – 14 oz can of artichoke hearts – drained and chopped
  • 6 oz baby spinach
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried cilantro
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 3-4 tablespoons olive oil
  • salt and pepper

Heat olive oil in large skillet.  Add onion and garlic to the heated oil with about 1/8 teaspoon Kosher salt.  Saute for about 3 minutes.  Add the sausage meat to the pan and crumble into pieces.  Cook the sausage mixture for about 5 to 6 minutes (until almost completely cooked).  Add eggplant to the pan along with the basil, cilantro and thyme…cook for about 3 to 5 minutes.  Add the spinach, tomatoes and artichoke pieces and cook until the spinach is wilted and the tomatoes & artichoke are heated thru.  Now taste for salt and pepper and add to taste.

This dish is now ready to be served in the eggplant skins or try it over brown rice pasta.

eggplant ragu w pasta

Lamb Leg Steak with Peas and Onions & Rosemary Parsley Sauce

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Retro spring dinner updated…this is easy, made in one pan and oh so good.

Lamb Leg Steak with Peas and Onions & Rosemary Parsley Sauce

Rosemary Parsley Sauce:

  • 1 large garlic clove – cut in half
  • 1/2 cup fresh rosemary (.75oz package) – stems removed
  • 1 cup fresh parsley
  • 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon fresh black pepper
  • 1 small lemon – zest and juice
  • 1/2 cup olive oil (or more if you want the sauce thinner)
  1. Place all the ingredients in a food processor and combine until ingredients are a thick sauce consistency. Place in small bowl, cover in plastic and let ingredients get to know each other while cooking the lamb.
  2. note: if you don’t use all the sauce you can freeze the remaining in Ziploc bags for a later use.

Lamb Leg Steak:

  • 1 lb lamb leg steak
  • Kosher salt and pepper
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 whole garlic clove
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Heat the olive oil in an iron skillet with the whole garlic. Salt and pepper both sides of the lamb steak. Remove cooking garlic before it burns! Place steak in the heated pan and cook on high for 6 to 8 minutes on each side, remember brown means tasty food. Move pan with the steaks to the oven to complete the cooking. About 10 minutes to medium rare, and if you like your meat more done, just leave it in a few minutes longer.
  3. When lamb steak is done, remove to platter to rest.

Green Peas and Pearl Onions:

  • 1 cup frozen petite peas – defrosted
  • 1 cup frozen pearl onions – defrosted
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
  1. In the iron skillet that the lamb steak cooked in melt the one tablespoon of butter on a medium heat, add the peas and onions and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes (if peas and onions are still slightly frozen cook a bit longer).

Plating:

Spread the sauce on the serving platter, place rested and sliced lamb steak on top and add the peas and onions on the side of the platter and bon appetite.

Lemon-Thyme Chicken with Carrots and Potatoes

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A friend of mine gave me some lemon-thyme from his garden and it is now a new favorite herb of mine.

Lemon-Thyme Chicken with Carrots and Potatoes

Ingredients:

  • 1 sweet onion diced
  • 4 to 5 tablespoons olive oil
  • 3 whole garlic cloves
  • chicken – I used the 2 breast 4 leg package of cut up chicken, but you can use whatever pieces of the chicken you prefer
  • 10 oz cremimi mushrooms sliced
  • 2 medium lemons quartered
  • 20 sprigs fresh lemon-thyme
  • 1 cup Pinot Grigio wine
  • 3 cups Vegetable broth
  • 6 carrots – chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
  • 1 lb 8 oz Dutch baby potatoes – halved
  • salt and pepper
  • 3 to 5 tablespoons drained capers (optional)
  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Heat olive oil with the whole garlic cloves in a dutch oven. When the garlic starts to turn brown remove from pan. Salt and pepper the chicken pieces. Add to heated oil and brown on all side. Remove browned chicken and set aside.
  3. Add the onions to the pot, lightly salt and saute for 3 to 5 minutes. Add the slice mushrooms and continue to saute with the onions for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the carrots and potatoes and saute for another 2 to 3 minutes.
  4. Add the wine to the pot to deglaze.
  5. Add the lemon-thyme, chicken quartered lemons and vegetable broth to the pot. Cover and bake in a 400 oven for 1 hour.
  6. Remove chicken, carrots and potatoes from dutch oven to a platter. Turn heat to high and reduce liquid to 1/2. Using cornstarch make a small slurry in a separate bowl, add to the reduced broth and cook for about 7 to 10 minutes. Strain the gravy.
  7. Put the drained caper into the pot and cook for a couple of minutes. Add as garnish to the chicken platter.

To make the sandwich

  1. Slice the focaccia in half, your choice of a lite white cheese, a lite schmear of horseradish sauce, springs greens or lettuce, tomato slices, sliced horseradish roast beef. And since it your sandwich add what you think will be good on it.

Chicken, Lentil & Greens Soup

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This soup is healthy, nutritious, filling and just so very flavorful.

Chicken, Lentil & Greens Soup

Ingredients

  • 6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs – cut into bite size pieces
  • 1 sweet yellow onion – diced
  • 2 medium shallots – diced
  • 2 garlic cloves – finely minced
  • 2 quarts low sodium vegetable stock
  • 1 1lb bag mixed greens: mustard / turnip / collards / spinach mix
  • 1 9oz bag snow peas – stings removed and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
  • 1/2 cup green lentils
  • 1 15oz can garbanzo beans – drained and rinsed
  • salt and pepper
  • 3 to 4 tablespoons olive oil
  1. In a dutch oven heat the olive oil. Salt and pepper the chicken pieces, add to hot oil, sauté for 10 to 15 minutes (so chicken get color but it is not cooked completely).
  2. Remove chicken from pot, add onions and shallots, salt and pepper and cook for 3 minutes.
  3. Add the minced garlic and cook for 1 additional minute. Add 1/2 cup of the vegetable broth to deglaze the pot.
  4. Add the balance of 1 of the quarts of vegetable broth and sautéed chicken and simmer for 30 minutes.
  5. Add the 2nd quart of vegetable broth, garbanzo beans and greens. Stir the mixture to combine and simmer for about 15 minutes to wilt the greens.
  6. Taste the soup to see if you need to add salt and pepper.