Cucumber Salad with Blueberries, Walnuts and Feta Cheese

I came up with a cucumber salad recipe containing blueberries, walnuts, cherry tomatoes and feta cheese tossed in a balsamic vinaigrette dressing.  This recipe contains approximately 4 servings at 244 calories per serving when using fat free Feta cheese and 1/4 cup of the prepared dressing.  Note that if the fat free feta cheese is replaced, the calories per serving increases to 265.  This is a great salad to serve with a light dinner or have as a light lunch.

Cucumber Salad with Blueberries, Walnuts and Feta Cheese

3 cups cucumbers, washed, peeled and sliced.  I used 6 mini cucumbers.
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries, rinsed and drained
1 pint cherry tomatoes, rinsed and cut in half (approximately 1 1/2 cups)
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts
1/4 cup feta cheese, crumbled
1/4 cup Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing, or to taste

Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing

1/4 cup Balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup extra virgin Olive oil
1 garlic clove
1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/4 teaspoon pepper, or to taste
1 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Wash, peel and slice cucumbers.

Rinse and drain the fresh blueberries.

Rinse and drain the cherry tomatoes.

Cut each of the cherry tomatoes in half.

Coarsely chop the walnuts.

Toss the cucumbers, blueberries, cherry tomatoes and chopped walnuts.  Next add the feta cheese.

Combine Olive oil, Balsamic vinegar, garlic clove, salt, pepper, oregano, and red pepper flakes.  Place dressing ingredients in a screw top jar or cruet and shake to combine.  Adjust seasonings to taste. Finally add Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing to taste (I used 1/4 cup), mix ingredients together and serve.  Sprinkle with additional feta cheese or walnuts if desired.

Enjoy!

Stir Fry Steak and Peppers

I prepared a stir fry with sirloin strips and peppers for dinner on Thursday night.  I marinated strips of sirloin steak which I served with brown rice and a pineapple fruit salad.  The recipe serves 4 and has approximately 550 calories per serving.  I don't prepare steak very often, but we do enjoy it as a special treat.  It helps to keep it healthy by trimming the excess fat and serving it with plenty of fresh vegetables.  Enjoy!

Stir Fry Steak and Peppers

1 pound sirloin steak, cut into thin strips
1/2 cup soy sauce (I used a low sodium variety)
2 Tablespoons honey
1 Tablespoon Sherry
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon clove garlic
1 large onion, sliced into thin strips
1 green pepper
1 red pepper
1 yellow pepper
2 cups mushrooms
1 TBS. olive oil to stir fry beef
1 tsp. olive oil to stir fry vegetables
Cooked brown rice

Cut the sirloin steak into thin strips and trim the excess fat.

In a seperate bowl mix together soy sauce, honey, sherry, ginger, red pepper flakes, and the clove garlic.  Pour over beef stirring to combine and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

While steak is marinating slice the mushrooms, onions, and peppers into thin strips.

Heat 1 Tablespoon olive oil to medium in a skillet. Add beef slices and stir fry until just cooked through.

While beef is cooking, heat 1 tsp. olive oil in a skillet to stir fry the peppers and onions.  I heated them seperately until they are just crisp.  I wanted to make sure not to overcook the vegetables so that they retain their nutrients.

Add vegetable mixture to beef mixture and stir fry for 1-2 minutes to allow the seasonings and flavors to blend.

Serve immediately with cooked brown rice.  I served this dish with a pineapple fruit salad which I will share in a later blog entry.  There are approximately 550 calories for the steak, vegetables, and brown rice.