Delicious and Nutritious… Pizza?

Like I said before, so many of my culinary creations come out of the fact that my fridge is eclectically stocked and I need to use some ingredients. I’m still truckin’ through those lentils and spinach and so tonight for dinner I came up with something new (and fantastic!). I will absolutely be making this one again. Here’s my dinner tonight!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 C cooked lentils
• handful spinach
• olive oil
• garlic
• tomatoes
• (~1/4 C) tomato sauce
• grated cheese (I like cheddar jack)
• piece of bread (I like oat nut, but any bread will probably do)

Directions: Dice tomatoes to about the size of a thimble. Add olive oil and garlic to a pan; after heating, sauté tomatoes until they’re just about the softness you’d like, and add spinach. Continue cooking until spinach is just wilted, and add tomato sauce to pan. Add however much you like, I only used a little because there are also diced tomatoes, it’s just nice for the herbs and flavors. Continue heating until you feel all the ingredients have mixed together well. If you used a clove or chunk of garlic that is still visible, remove and throw it away. Now, take your “sauce” off the heat and put it onto your piece of bread. Sprinkle with cheese, and put in the oven on about 400 degrees until bread is toasted to your liking, and enjoy. 🙂

Make it What You Want: Tomato Soup

Living in my own house has given me so many opportunities to become more creative in my culinary endeavors. Although I eat out probably about five times a week, I cook quite often and really enjoy it. I don’t always have all the ingredients I need to make specific recipes, so I often just look at what I have in my pantry and mix things together that sound good to me. Today, I really needed to use up some lentils I cooked last week, so here’s what I came up with!

Ingredients:

• 1 can Campbell’s Tomato Soup
• approx. 1 C cooked lentils
• garlic
• olive oil
• ~ 1 handful of spinach
• 1 C diced tomatoes

Directions:

Make tomato soup according to the directions on the can. Pour in cooked lentils. Set to side. In a pan, pour a little olive oil and add crushed garlic (~ 1/4-1/2 clove, depending on personal preference). Add diced tomatoes to pan and sauté for a few minutes until almost cooked to desired softness. Add spinach to the pan and sauté until just wilted. If there is a lot of olive oil in the pan, drain out. Otherwise, add everything in the pan to the tomato soup. Heat again to desired hotness and enjoy!

As you can see, I used the soup as a base and added ingredients I already had. You can do this with anything, though! I was thinking next time I might add garbanzo beans, tomatoes, and broccoli (and maybe cheese?); or maybe even a little chili powder, some black beans, and corn! The possibilities are endless, comment with your brilliant ideas! 🙂

P.S. It’s always yummy and even more wholesome to crush up some whole grain crackers on top. 😉

Apple Toast

This morning I had the most delicious breakfast! Inspired by a delicious fruit salad sauce that my lovely friend Alli taught me, I made this!

Ingredients:

• oat nut bread
• agave nectar
• cinnamon sugar
• apples

Sprinkle cinnamon sugar onto your bread. Slice apple thinly and cover toast. Drizzle agave nectar onto the top of the apples and toast until it looks perfect to you. Take out, drench in more nectar, and enjoy! Mmmm…

So easy.