Feta Fan

I love me some cumbled feta cheese! In fact I love most cheese in general. Cheese just makes everything better! Have you ever noticed that? Seriously, eat it as a delicacy in the form of baked brie, or just grab a stick of good ole' string cheese--it's all great. With a few exceptions. I'm not that fond of blue cheese or swiss cheese. However, this post is highlighting the wonderful world of feta. Here are a few very EASY, very quick, and very healthy recipes of my own that co-star the white crumbling goodness. Btw... you can use the low-fat feta and it tastes just as good in these recipes! Also, note that I don't put a serving size because the recipes are so easy you can change the amount based on how many you are cooking for. It's not rocket science people!


Pear and Feta salad:

Ingredients
Red Leaf Lettuce
Container of Crumbled Feta cheese
One whole ripe Bosc Pear (skin on or off your choice)
Plump raisins (as many as you like)
Toasted Pine Nuts
Poppy Seed Dressing

Preparations
1. Wash, dry, and tear the lettuce (salad spinner works best).
2. Place pine nuts (don't skimp on these it's your choice how many you want on your salad) in a small skillet (ungreased). Toast on stovetop, medium heat, for several minutes or until golden brown slightly stirring throughout. *Don't skip this step. Toasting the nuts brings out their natural oils and gives a great flavor to the salad. Just be sure you keep on eye on them because they will burn easily (yes this advice comes from personal experience).
3. Skin and core the pear (if you prefer no skin) and begin to slice off pieces of the pear atop your lettuce. Keep going until you have all the pear you could ever want in a salad! (If you can't find a ripe bosc pear at your grocery store, using canned pears actually tastes good too, although fresh is preferable. Just be sure to drain the juice well).
4. Sprinkle nuts, raisins, and tasty feta crumbles over your salad and toss in dressing. Enjoy a sweet spin on salad!

Salsa Scramble:

Ingredients
4 Egg Whites
Cumble Feta Cheese
Mango Salsa-  (I will have a full recipe for this one day, but for now I use the fresh mango salsa from Publix-it's next to the hummus section! This is semi-homemade folks.)
Salt
Pepper

Preparations
1. In a greased hot skillet, crack each egg and utilize egg whites only (or the whole egg if you're hungry!).
2. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Sprinkle crumbled feta cheese immediately.
4. Begin to scramble up the mixture as the cheese melts.
5. Add the mango salsa (you can substitute any salsa you like) so that it heats up at the end.
6. Enjoy a twist on the old plain scrambled eggs. This dish is great for dinner too!

Tomato Feta salad:

Ingredients
Container of Grape Tomatoes
Crumble Feta Cheese
Fresh Flatleaf Parsley
Salt
Pepper
Balsamic Vinaigrette

Preparations
1. Wash and slice tomatoes in half. Then place in large serving bowl.
2. Add crumbled feta to the tomatoes.
3. Finely chop about a large handful of flatleaf parsley and add to bowl.
4. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
5. Toss in a small amount of dressing to coat the ingredients (I have made my own dressing for this before, but we'll save that for another day. We are keeping it simple today people!)
6. Enjoy this very fresh summer side dish--it's great alongside some salmon btw!

Hope these recipes hit the spot for you. I'll have to actually start keeping track of how I prepare stuff because so much of it is just tasting and adding. That's the fun of cooking. Up until now, I've never thought the need to write anything down!  Bon Appetite!