Earthly Eating

Dinner solutions to the rescue. All you need is five simple ingredients:

• Fast Fajitas
Serves: 6

1. Bell pepper (1 14oz. frozen bell pepper strips)
2. Onions (1 12oz. frozen diced onions, thawed)
3. Taco Seasoning (1 tbs. low-sodium taco seasoning)
4. Baked Tofu ( 2 8oz. pkgs. baked seasoned tofu, cut into 1/4-inch strips)
5. Tortillas (6 8-inch flour tortillas)

Coat nonstick skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium high heat. Add peppers and onions and sauté 5 to 7 minutes, or until beginning to brown.

Stir in tofu and taco seasoning, and cook for 2 minutes more, or until heated through. Season with salt and pepper. And Serve with warmed tortilla shells.

• Salsa Stew
Serves: 8

1. Frozen Vegetables (1 1lb. bag frozen broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots, thawed)
2. Chickpeas (2 15oz. cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained)
3. Vegetables Broth (2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth)
4. Salsa (1/4 cup mild salsa)
5. Curry Powder (1 tbs. curry powder)

Coat a saucepan with cooking spray and heat over medium heat. Sauté vegetables, chickpeas and curry powder for 2 minutes.

Add the salsa, and simmer 5 minutes. Add broth and 2 cups of water and simmer an additional 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

• Greek-Style Panini
Serves: 6

1. Spinach (2 10oz. pkgs. frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed dry)
2. Hummus (3/4 cups hummus)
3. Feta Cheese (1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese)
4. Bread Rolls (6 French or Kaiser rolls, halved)
5. Roasted Red Peppers 2 jars roasted red peppers. each cut into 3 strips)

Combine spinach and feta cheese in a bowl. Spread 1/3 cup mixture over the bottom half of each rolls, and top each with red pepper strips. Spread hummus on top halves of rolls.

Heat skillet over medium-high heat, or preheat countertop grill. Spray sandwiches with cooking spray. Set 2 sandwiches in pan, and top with saucepan weighed down with 2 cans. Cook 3 to 4 minutes on each side. Or press 5 minutes total in countertop grill. Repeat with remaining sandwiches.

• Raspberry-Ginger Parfaits
Serves: 6

1. Honey (1/3 cup honey)
2. Granola bars (2 1.5 oz. granola bars, crushed)
3. Raspberries 4 1/2 cups fresh or frozen raspberries, divided)
4. Yogurt (3 cups plain nonfat Greek-style yogurt)
5. Crystallized Ginger (3 tbs. chopped crystallized ginger, divided)

Simmer 3 cups raspberries, 2 tbs, ginger, honey and 2 tbs. water over medium heat for 8 to 10 minutes, or until berries are soft. Strain out seeds.

Combine remaining 1 tbs. ginger and granola bars. Divide remaining raspberries among 6 bowls. Top with 1/2 cup yogurt. Spoon raspberry mixture over top and sprinkle with granola mixture.
_____________________________________________________________
Earthly Eating Recipe

Crab Cakes
Makes: 6 cakes

Remove all cartilage from the crabmeat, if any. Mix crabmeat with the breadcrumbs, eggs, mayonnaise and seasonings ion a bowl. If mixture seems to dry, add more mayonnaise. Shape into 6 cakes. Cook cakes in a frying pan, in just enough oil or butter to prevent them from sticking to the bottom until they are golden brown (about 5 minutes on each side). They can be broiled in the oven as well.

Happy Eating!