I am always pleased when a hodgepodge of ingredients cleans out the fridge AND creates a meal. This dinner is an example.

I had some brie in the fridge, rye bread in the freezer, and came home with frisee from my CSA with Ollin Farms. I was going to grill some tempeh, but them we realized we were out of cat food (wet food for a treat, not the dry food we leave out all day… don’t want to sound like I neglect my cat). So, we opened some home-canned tuna so Owsley could snack on the juice. As a side note: I did not can the tuna myself, Debbie, my mother-in-common-law, cans it each year and gives us a great supply.

I sliced half of a golden delicious apple and layered it with some brie and Urfa Crushed Red Pepper Flakes (also known as Isot pepper). If you don’t know what Urfa pepper is, you can find out at Savory Spice Shop. Assuming you don’t have any at home… I would crack some fresh black pepper and add a pinch of red pepper flakes. Or, better yet… go to their website and buy some. Why not?

I baked the apple and brie at 350 for just a few minutes until the cheese melted.

Meanwhile, I sauteed 1/2 of a red onion, chopped, in a little olive oil until it softened. Then I transfered it to a small bowl and added a little Tangerine Fig Balsamic Vinegar that I received as a gift. To substitute, I’d add a little honey to some balsamic and mix that in with the onion.

I went back to my pan and added some frisee to wilt it with a clove of minced garlic in some olive oil. Then I plated the meal:

Wilted frisee and chopped tomato with onion balsamic dressing, real fisherman caught and former fisherman’s wife canned tuna, sliced rye, and baked apples with brie.

Turned out to be pretty good, especially for the hodgepodge of ingredients.

Why make one large pizza when you can make four small pizzas? Mix it up a little…

The four I made, from left to right, are:

• Turkey Meat Sauce and Green Pepper
• Shrimp with Roasted Garlic Oil and Green Pepper
• Caramelized Onion, Apple, and Blue Cheese
• Roasted Garlic

I roasted garlic for my Roasted garlic flatbread-style pizza, and used the oil as a base for the shrimp pizza. I spread some oil, put on some chunks of shrimp, green pepper, salt, and pepper.

Here is another healthy lunch smoothie. Super healthy, and not so bad going down.

Ingredients:

• 1 apple
• 2 carrots
• lettuce (large handful)
• 1 cup pineapple chunks (I used frozen)
• 1/3 red beet
• 1 green onion
• splash of Boulder Hot Sauce, Smokey Serrano flavor
• 2 cups water

This might not sound good to you. I don’t know if it would have sounded good to me a few months ago… during the stage of my life before I had my Vita-Mix. Everything has changed now.

Why has everything changed? Because now I grind up a ton of veggies to drink for lunch. I had been living on peanut butter or almond butter sandwiches for lunch for almost the entire 5 years I’d been living in Colorado. This past January I spent my birthday money (plus some of my own) on a Vita-Mix, and it has changed my life. If you have one, you’ll likely understand. If you don’t, you might find me weird. Either way, here is one of my healthy lunch smoothies.

Ingredients:

• 1 apple
• 2 kiwis
• 1/4 golden beet
• 1 stalk celery
• 1 handful parsley
• 2 carrots
• 3/4 cup snow peas
• 1/2 cup frozen strawberries
• ginger (as much fresh ginger as you like- I used 1 tsp)
• 1-2 cups water (add more if you like it thinner… or should I say, less thick)