I’m a big believer in trying other people’s recipes and sharing them. I found this recipe on the Garlic and Sea Salt blog – full of interesting and healthy choices! So, try this out and tell me what you think!

Cucumber Avocado Soup with Mint (see the full post here.)

What you need:
- 2 large cucumbers, peeled and diced
- 1 large avocado, diced
- 1 garlic clove
- 1/4 cup fresh mint leaves
- juice of one lemon
- 1 1/4 cups soymilk
- 1 tsp sea salt
- freshly ground black pepper to taste
- mint oil for garnish*
- fresh mint leaves for garnish

What to do:
Combine all the soup ingredients in a  blender, and process until smooth. Place in the fridge to chill until very cold. Ladle soup into bowls, and drizzle about a Tbsp mint oil onto each bowl, garnish with mint and serve! This recipe for Cool Cuc Soup makes 1 delicious serving for a LARGE serving and you can use it for 2 servings using smaller bowls.

*Mint oil:
1/2 cup olive oil
4 Tbsp fresh mint leaves

So, in my mostly faithful following of the Medifast diet (more on that in a later post) I am making tonight, my “lean and green” meal – Stuffed Portabella Mushrooms. Even though I’m eating this as a meal,  you can definitely make this into an easy appetizer to share.

First, let me say that I love mushrooms. I love every kind of mushroom. My almost-12 year old wrinkles his nose up in disgust when I serve them. But I know a secret he doesn’t. He’ll grow into the nutty, earthy taste of mushrooms – just like I did. And he’ll thank me. I’m sure of it. (NOT!)

Take a look at this yummy-ness and try it yourself. Let me know how it works out. What would you do differently, if anything?

What you’ll need:
- 1 lb. (16 oz.) of portabella mushroom caps
- 2 cups of shredded moderate-fat mozzarella cheese*
- 1/2 cup (1 medium size) fresh tomato, chopped
- 1/2 tsp fresh rosemary, finely chooped OR 1/8 tsp dried rosemary (fresh is better)
- 2 tsp fresh lemon juice
- 2 tsp fresh cilantro, chopped
- 1 tsp low-sodium soy sauce
- 1 tsp olive oil, divided
- 1/8 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 clove garlic,  minced

* Moderate-fat cheese equals 3-6 grams of fat per 1 oz. or 1/4 cup, shredded serving.

What to do:
First, preheat your oven to 350° OR an outdoor grill to medium-high heat. (No outdoor grill? Try a Grill Pan!).

In a medium sized bowl, combine the tomatoes and mozzarella and toss with 1/2 tsp of olive oil, rosemary, black pepper and garlic. Remove the stems from the mushroom caps and discard.

Using a spoon, scoop our the interior of the mushrooms to create cute little “mushroom bowls”.

Then, in a small bowl, mix 1/2 tsp of olive oil, lemon juice, and soy sauce. Using a pastry brush, apply the soy sauce mixture on both sides of the mushroom caps.

Choose your cooking method:
In the oven: Bake the mushroom caps until soft, then divide the tomato and cheese mixture and place inside the caps. Cook an additional two minutes or until the cheese is melted.

On the grill: Once warm, grill mushroom caps, starting with stem side down. 5 minutes on each side or until soft. Divide the tomato and cheese mixture and place inside each cap. Cover and grill about 2 minutes or until cheese has melted. (For easy clean-up, place a piece of aluminum foil directly on the grill, lay the mushrooms on the foil. No fuss, no muss!)

Garnish with the cilantro and serve it up! This recipe makes 2 appetizing portions.

For those following the Take Shape for Life and Medifast diet, this serving counts as 1 lean protein serving, 3 vegetable servings and 2 optional condiment servings.

Nutrition info
Calories: 410
Total fat: 24g
Saturated fat: 14g
Cholesterol: 60mg
Sodium: 880mg
Total Carb: 14g
Fiber: 4g
Protein: 35g

Enjoy!

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Don’t forget to visit Easy Appetizer Recipes for more Simple Appetizer Recipes.

It’s summer. And in my family, we tend to grill our meals. What’s not to love about grilling? I just recently posted a recipe on how to grill your salad… Deeeelish! But in this post, I wanted to give you 3 tips that will help you grill vegetables beautifully.

There’s nothing quite like the taste of veggies on the grill. It just makes eating your essential vitamins and minerals all the more fun. I just posted this article on EzineArticles a couple of days ago and thought I’d share it with you here.

Step 1. Choose your vegetables. They can be anything: Here’s a list to start your creative juices going: zucchini, red onions, summer squash, Japanese eggplant, fennel, carrots, cauliflower (yes! cauliflower is GREAT bbq’d!), broccoli, leeks, and even artichokes!

Vegetable kabobs are a popular way to grill and besides that, they look nice when you combine different colored veggies. Try putting together cherry tomatoes with mushrooms, yellow bell peppers and red onion. Gorgeous!

If you are not using a kabob to grill your vegetables, then cut your veggies into thin slices, but not TOO thin. This is crucial since thinly sliced veggies grill up beautifully, but sliced too thin and you risk them becoming a burned, gooey mess.

Step 2. Seasoning your vegetables. Use a variety of flavor and seasonings. Salt and pepper of course, cumin, oregano, thyme, rosemary, chipotle – there are so many and here’s an opportunity to use your imagination on what herb or seasoning sounds good to you.

What you should avoid, though, is over-salting. Too much salt makes vegetables inedible, but also salt helps the veggies release their moisture. Too much moisture will mean they will not crisp up very much and you could very well end up with soggy, unappetizing vegetables. Yuck! BBQ-ing, roasting and grilling vegetables does make the veggies softer, but why make them softer than they need to be? Also, don’t get heavy-handed on the spice. A little goes a long ways.

Step 3. Apply the appropriate amount of oil. What’s appropriate? Just coat your vegetables with the oil of your choice. Don’t over do it. I like to use EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) for flavor, but other vegetable oils work well too.

If you don’t want to coat your vegetables, then put the oil on your grill pan or BBQ – enough so the veggies don’t stick and burn. Like I said before, the most important thing to avoid is using too much oil.

If you stick to the steps outlined above, you’ll end up with vegetables that are cooked just enough but not so much that they are soggy and unappetizing. Plus, you’ll get that wonderful BBQ flavor instilled in whatever you choose to grill.

I am such a grill-hound because of this! The flavor that a well-seasoned BBQ adds to anything you grill is just as true for veggies as it is for meat (Check out this recipe for Spicy Grilled Shrimp!)

Now that you’ve mastered how to grill vegetables, you can go on to grill your salad! Whatever you decide to do with your nicely grilled veggies, you’ll be sure to agree that vegetables never tasted so good! Enjoy!

For more great easy appetizer recipes, visit the Simple Appetizer Recipes page from Easy Appetizer Recipes.

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