Life Worth Living

Simple Salad Ingredients: 2 ripe tomatoes sliced 1/2 small red onion sliced very thinly handful of italian mixed olives 2 cucumbers cut to bite size 1 large clove  (or 2 small cloves) of garlic pressed 1 tsp. sea salt 1/4 cup olive oil 4-5 tbsp. fig vinegar Directions: Put all ingredients in a large bowl. Add salt, garlic, olive oil and fig vinegar. Salt will create a lot of juice from the tomatoes to go to the bottom of the bowl after a few hours. Add some lettuce to soak up the good juices. Voila!

Are you looking for a quick and delicious meal during the week. This is the recipe for you, and it only takes about 20 minutes to make. Ingredients: 1 bag of pumpkin or squash tortellini 3/4 stick of butter 4-5 medium size cloves of garlic 9 leaves of fresh sage salt to taste Directions: In a large pot, bring cold water to a boil. Add 1 tbsp of sea salt to the boiling water. Boil the tortellini for 5-6 minutes. The tortellini will float to the top. Meanwhile, in a small food processor, blend the garlic and fresh sage. Melt the butter in a small pot on low, add the garlic and sage mixture. Stir frequently so the garlic doesn't burn. Take 1/2 cup of water from the pot with the tortellini and add it to the butter/sage pot. Stir well, and add a little bit of salt to taste (I used very little- 1/2 tsp). Scoop out the cooked tortellini and add it to the sauce. Stir well. Voila!

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...