Life Worth Living

photo taken by Brendan Giusti Everything tastes great on the grill! Ingredients: 10 medium size spears of asparagus olive oil 1 tsp. sea salt black pepper to taste Directions: Coat the asparagus spears with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Wrap 5 spears at a time in foil. Twist the ends of the foil closed tight. Place on the hot grill and let it cook for 10-12 minutes or until tender. Enjoy!

If you like Lasagna, you will love this easy pasta bake. I created this dish because making I love lasagna, but it takes so much time to prepare. This has the same flavors and is quick to make. I recommend making your own tomato sauce, but you can use canned as well.  Ingredients: 1 pound spiral noodles (1 box or bag) 1.5 cups of ricotta cheese 1 small ball of fresh mozzarella cheese diced into 1 inch pieces 4- 6 cups of tomato sauce (see recipe under December 2012) 4 sweet sausage links Parmesan cheese to taste 1 tsp. sea salt Directions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bring a pot of cold water to a boil, add 1 tsp of sea salt. Then cook your noodles for 8 minutes. They should be almost cooked. Drain the noodles in a colander and set aside. Slice the sausage links into bite size pieces and saute in the same pot with 1 cup of water. The water will evaporate and then the sausage will become nice and brown with out using any oil. In a large casserole di...

If you have never loved or liked brussels sprouts, give this recipe a try. This is the most tasty way to prepare this vegetable, and it is very healthy for you. Ingredients: 12-15 fresh brussels sprouts olive oil 6-8 cloves of garlic 1tbsp sea salt Directions: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Rinse the brussels sprouts with cold water. Pour a good amount of olive oil in the bottom of a small casserole dish. Stir in the brussels sprouts so they are coated with olive oil. Press 6-8 cloves of garlic into the casserole dish and add the sea salt. Stir the brussels sprouts around so that they get coated with the garlic and the salt. Cover and bake for 1 hour (Stir the brussels sprouts after 30 minutes of baking). Voila!

This is a simple recipe that is baked in one casserole dish. This makes for easy clean up afterwards. Baked Eggplant: 2 cups of tomato sauce (see Basic Homemade Tomato Sauce Recipe -December 2012) 1 medium eggplant seasoned bread crumbs (approx. 1 cup) 1 cup of half and half (you can use skim milk also) Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a baking sheet with olive oil spray. I usually don't use olive oil for this step because it can get greasy. Slice 1 medium size eggplant. Each slice should be about 1/4 inch thick. Have a bowl filled with half and half, and a pie plate filled with seasoned bread crumbs. Dip each piece of eggplant in the half and half until fully coated, then into the bread crumbs. Lay the eggplant slices on the baking pan and cook for 15 minutes on one side, flip them, and cook for another 15 minutes until the slices are soft. Parmesan Potatoes: 4-5 medium size red potatoes 1/2 red onion 2 tsp garlic powder (or more if you are a garlic lover ...

Did you know Guacamole was invented by the Aztecs? This avocado spread dates back to the 1500's. This lovely dish is also very healthy for you because avocados are a real super food.  You can read more on the history of Guac here: http://www.burritophile.com/articles/2006/02/quick-history-of-guacamole.php Ingredients: 3 ripe avocados (I prefer Hass) 1 medium size tomato diced 1/2 red onion large handful of cilantro Salt to taste Juice of 1 lime (optional) Directions: In a food processor, blend the juice of the lime, cilantro and and onion. Cut and scoop the avocado into a small bowl. Add the diced tomatoes and the mixture from the food processor to the bowl. Then add salt to taste (approx. 1-2 tsp) Using a fork or a large spoon, mix everything together well and mash down the avocados. Voila! Avocados can become brown very quickly just take the pit of the avocado and place it in the guacamole and it will never go brown. This is a very handy tip when you  h...

This is a basic chicken and rice dish. It is easy to make and only 1 pot is used so the clean up is very fast. For this meal, you will need a large pot and a food processor. This recipe will serve 4-5 people. Ingredients: 6 chicken drum sticks or thighs 1 tomato chopped (chop the tomato into 5 or 6 large chunks) 1 sweet onion 6 garlic cloves 1 bunch of cilantro 1 red pepper 1 green pepper 1 hot pepper (optional) 1 packet of Sazon Goya con Culantro y Achiote salt and pepper to taste 3 cups of dry white rice  1tsp. sugar (optional) Directions:  In a food processor blend the onion, garlic, cilantro, and peppers. It will make a nice paste. Pour a little olive oil to coat the bottom of the pot and add the sugar. Brown the chicken on both sides over medium/high heat. If you use the sugar, the chicken will brown very quickly. Once the chicken is browned, add the mixture from the food processor to the pot. Saute for 5-8 minutes on medium heat. Ad...

Hummus is a favorite of mine. This basic recipe is from one of my favorite cookbooks "Moosewood". I made some small changes to the recipe. Hummus is an Arabic and Middle Eastern dish that is very versatile. You can use it as a spread on sandwiches instead of meat, or it can be used as a dip for fresh vegetables. Hummus is an ancient food. The earliest known recipes similar to hummus were written in cookbooks published in Cairo in the 13th century. Hummus is not only delish, but it is also very healthy. It is high in iron, vitamin C, folate and vitamin B6.  Here is my simple recipe. Feel free to experiment with different seasonings. I have included two of my favorites. You can use canned chick peas as well, but I prefer the dry beans. Just remember to soak the dry beans the night before. This recipe makes a lot. I use 2 containers, and put half in the fridge and the other half in the freezer for a later time. Ingredients: 1 bag dry chick peas (makes approximately ...