5 Minute Meals

During the winter I love to spend time in the kitchen making big meals and rich desserts. In the warmer months I prefer to eat lighter foods, and would rather spend my time outside. After grocery shopping this week I realized that I bought a lot of food (fresh fruits and veggies mostly) but didn't really buy anything to make for dinners. I've been so busy that I haven't really had much time to make anything terribly exciting, but I was able to put together a couple delicious meals using what I had in my fridge - and they only took a couple minutes to whip together. Perfect for warm summer nights that you're too busy to fuss with a long list of ingredients.

Open-Faced Apple, Fig and Cheddar Sandwich

You will need:

* 1 slice bread

* 1/2 apple, sliced thin

* fig spread

* few slices cheddar cheese

Chrissy brought over some really great fig spread the other day to have with cheddar cheese - the combination of the sweet figs and sharp cheddar is really remarkable.

I used the fig spread in my open-faced sandwich.

Start by lightly toasting a piece of bread (I used a slice of crusty rye bread from the bakery in Concord).

Spread your fig preserves on the bread. Chrissy said that less is more when it comes to fig. I think more is more!

Add a layer of sliced apples.

Cover apples with sharp cheddar cheese slices.

Bake in an oven that's preheated to 350 degrees for 3-4 minutes, until cheese is melted.

For a side I heated up some veggies from a frozen organic vegetable medley I bought at Trader Joe's. I added some pepper and garlic powder and was done!

Voila - the 5 minute dinner:

This sandwich was really satisfying - the rye bread paired well with the sharp cheddar and fig spread, and the apple slices added a little more sweetness and a crunchy texture.

Goat Cheese, Berries and Greens Pita Pizza

You will need:

* 1 pita pocket

* goat cheese

* handful mixed greens

* handful berries

* balsamic vinaigrette

I don't have a step-by-step of this for you, but I'm pretty sure you'll catch on quickly! Bake the pita in an oven that's been preheated to 350 degrees for a couple minutes, until crispy. Spread (or crumble) goat cheese on the pita. Cover the pita with mixed greens, then add berries (I used blackberries and strawberries) and drizzle with balsamic vinaigrette. 

This pizza was so quick and really good. I'm sure this would be really good if you filled the pita pocket or made a wrap with the ingredients as well, but I especially liked the crunch of the baked pita. Although it is a little messy to eat, this is certainly worth getting your hands messy for!

Honey Vanilla Oatmeal with Fresh Fruit

I've been on an oatmeal hiatus for a bit now but made myself a bowl a couple days ago and it was really good, so I wanted to share. I made my oatmeal the way I normally do, and when the oatmeal was almost done cooking, I added half a scoop of vanilla protein powder and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Once finished cooking, I added fresh blueberries and half a fresh peach (chopped) and then drizzled with honey.

This flavor combination was great. Lately I haven't been able to get enough berries, peaches and watermelon. Everything tastes so good this season! The protein powder made this bowl of oatmeal more filling and I didn't get hungry for several hours (note - if using protein powder - add it towards the end, if you add it in the beginning it changes the texture of the oats).

Baked Tofu with Sauteed Kale and Spinch

Seems like I've been eating a lot of meat lately, and I've missed my tofu. Last night I tried a new tofu dish (inspired by a recipe from the September 2010 issue of Cooking Light) and made some spinach and kale to eat with it. I'm very happy to report that the tofu was delicious, some of the best tofu I've ever made! The consistency seemed like it was fried, but it was baked!

You will need:

Tofu Ingredients:

• 1 package extra firm light tofu
• 1 tbsp dark brown sugar
• 2 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
• 1 tsp grated peeled fresh ginger (I didn't have fresh, so I used 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger)
• 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
• 1 garlic clove, grated

Spinach and Kale Ingredients:

• Few handfuls each spinach and kale, washed (kale torn into pieces)
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1/3 red onion, diced
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• Cooking Spray

Note: the total time of the tofu is a couple hours, but most of it is draining/marinating/cooking time, so you can do other things. Just don't try to start this at 6:15 and expect to eat at 6:30. Its certainly worth the wait though!

Directions:

1. Drain tofu and cut into 5 (1 inch thick) slices. Put tofu on layers of paper towels and cover with more paper towels. Top with a cutting board and heavy skillet. Let stand for 45 minutes, pressing down occasionally.

2. Cut each tofu slice into 10 cubes and arrange in a single layer in a shallow dish (a pie dish works great for this!)

3. Combine all other ingredients and pour over tofu in dish, turn to coat. Let stand for 25 minutes. I ended up letting this marinate for about 1 1/2 hours while I went to the gym (40 minutes on the elliptical and shoulders and legs strength training - just when my legs recovered from the squats I had to do them again!).

4. Arrange tofu in a single layer on a baking sheet coated in cooking spray. Bake at 375 degrees for 35 minutes, turning after 15 minutes.

Before going in:

Halfway point:

Finished baking:

When there was about 15 minutes left on the cook time for the tofu I began preparing and sauteing the vegetables. First I heated a large skillet on medium and added about 1 teaspoon of olive oil. I sauteed the garlic clove for a couple minutes until browned, then added the onions and cooked for an additional couple minutes. Instead of adding more oil, I used some cooking spray when I added the onions.

I added the kale in before the spinach (since it takes a couple minutes longer to cook) and sauteed for 2 or 3 minutes. Kale should have a little bit of water left on it from rinsing it, this will help it cook.

Then add the spinach and saute until wilted (just about 2 or 3 minutes).

And in less than 10 minutes, your vegetables are ready!

Serve dinner with a frosty glass of skim milk, and I'm in heaven! Everything was so delicious, I am definitely going to bake tofu a lot more now that I know how to do it. Next time I'll buy fresh ginger instead of using ground because I think that would enhance the flavor.

For dessert I had a fig. These are my new obsession. I don't know if I ever had them before, but I bought some last week and love them. I've been harassing Chrissy about them (Have you ever had figs? They're so beautiful! Go get some today. Seriously, buy some today, you won't regret it) so she might be sick of hearing about them. But if you haven't had one before, you're seriously missing out. So far I've just had them plain, but I do want to try incorporating them into some of my cooking!