Category Archives: Recipes

Chickpea Salad Wraps {Mock Tuna Salad}

Posted on March 21, 2012 by Veronica

The Jey of Cooking is donating $1 to the American Heart Association for each heart-healthy recipe that is linked to her fundraiser, and I thought this was a fun way to spread the word on the importance of heart health, so I decided to post this particular recipe because it’s chock full of ingredients to keep your ticker in tip-top shape!

Heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women in the United States. In 2008, 616,000 people died of heart disease. Studies have shown that lowering blood pressure and cholesterol can reduce your risk of developing of heart disease, and this recipe perfectly fits into a dietary plan focused on doing both.

The chickpeas and celery add dietary fiber (and so will your tortilla, if you choose a whole wheat one), which is well-known for naturally lowering cholesterol and blood pressure. What you may not know about onions is that they stave off heart disease by promoting thinner blood and breaking up blood clots. They contain a powerful antioxidant called quercetin, which can help with high blood pressure. These benefits are most powerful when onions are eaten raw, as in this salad. And last but not least, the sunflower seeds add some heart-healthy poly- and monounsaturated fat into the mix, not to mention a tasty crunch!

Now that we know how healthy this recipe is, let’s talk about how it tastes. Eating foods for the sake of health is all well and good, but I’m a firm believer that those foods should also be full of flavor to make it an enjoyable experience. And this salad certainly fits the bill! It tastes very similar to tuna salad, and if you like tuna salad, I know you will like this as well. The beans make it creamy, with a lovely contrasting crunch from the celery, onions and sunflower seeds. You might be surprised how similar this tastes to tuna salad, and if you are following a vegan diet, this would be a great substitute.

Chickpea Salad Wraps

Printable recipe
Printable recipe with picture

1 (15 oz) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
½ cup celery, diced
¼ cup roasted, salted sunflower seeds
¼ cup mayonnaise, Miracle Whip or Vegenaise
3 tablespoons red onion, diced
3 tablespoons dill pickle, diced (or use dill relish)
2 tablespoons fresh dill, minced (or 2 teaspoons dried)
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, minced (or 1 teaspoon dried)
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 garlic clove, minced
1 teaspoon reduced sodium soy sauce
½ teaspoon prepared mustard
Salt & pepper to taste

Place everything in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the blade attachment. Pulse until it is the texture you desire. I wanted mine to be slightly chunky and a little creamy, which took about 20 pulses. Serve in burrito-size tortillas, other wraps, or on bread as a sandwich.

Recipe source: adapted from Oh She Glows

*Sources for information on heart health: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, How Dietary Fiber Lowers Cholesterol, The Healing Power of Onions, Nutritional Power of Sunflower Seeds

And you know you want to see my First Day of Spring manicure (I did it yesterday):

I forgot the grass but still love it. Guess how many nail polishes I used on it? Every single one of these:

I know. I’m crazy. Big thanks to Suzie, who gifted me with a gazillion polishes, some pictured here. You know you’re feeding my problem, right Suze? ;)

27 Comments

Posted in Burgers & Sandwiches, Lighter Fare, Manicures/Nail Art, Meatless and tagged chickpea salad, diet-friendly, heart healthy, mock tuna salad, vegan. Bookmark the permalink.

Baba Ghanoush Two Ways: Classic & Tahini-Free

Posted on March 19, 2012 by Veronica

After last week’s sugar & booze fest, I thought it was time to break out a beautifully healthy AND delicious recipe. I’m feeling the need to cleanse my system after indulging in a few too many “tastes” of my creations and this is a perfect way to do it: with baba ghanoush!

Never heard of it? Baba ghanoush is a Middle Eastern roasted eggplant dip that is similar to hummus, but eggplant stands in for chickpeas. All other ingredients are pretty much the same!

I’ve always loved hummus but was never impressed with the baba ghanoush I ordered at restaurants. It was either too smoky or too bland, but I’m stubborn and I had it in my head that if it was prepared properly, I would love it. So when Jenna posted a recipe for it, and her beautiful pictures mesmerized and dazzled me, convincing me that indeed, I would love it if I made it myself, I ventured forth.

Behold, the baba ghanoush.

There was much jubilation in my kitchen upon the first bite, proof that baba ghanoush is delicious!!

I made the first batch and ate it within a week, then made a tahini-free batch the following week (I ran out of tahini, plus, leaving it out made the recipe 17 Day Diet-friendly). I actually liked the tahini-free version better, but that is more likely due to me roasting the eggplant longer (the first batch was a little undercooked) than the lack of tahini. I definitely recommend roasting your eggplants thoroughly (like Jenna says, when you think they’re done roasting, roast them a little more), because it makes a great difference in taste.

I tell you I can’t get enough of this stuff. I have half a jar in my fridge right now and I had to get up and take a spoonful as I was writing this blog. And that’s my favorite way to eat it, by the way. Straight from the jar (or the food processor) with a spoon. I use it more like a side dish than a dip, but it’s really good with pita chips too!

Baba Ghanoush

Printable recipe
Printable recipe with picture

3 medium eggplants
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup tahini
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
4 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/3 cup parsley, minced
Chips or bread, to serve

Prick each eggplant with a fork until the surface is covered with holes. Place the eggplants under a broiler (or on a grill) and cook for about 40 minutes, until blackened and slightly shrunken, turning occasionally. When they’re very tender, let them cool.

When cool enough to handle, scoop the eggplant flesh into a the bowl of a food processor with a spoon, discarding the skins. Add the lemon juice, tahini, olive oil, minced garlic, salt, and cumin. Process until desired texture, then add the parsley and pulse to combine. Serve with chips, pita bread, a baguette, crackers, etc.

Tahini-Free Baba Ghanoush

Printable recipe
Printable recipe with picture

3 medium eggplants
¼ cup lemon juice
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cumin
1/3 cup parsley, minced
Pita chips, crackers, or vegetables, to serve

When cool enough to handle, scoop the eggplant flesh into a the bowl of a food processor with a spoon, discarding the skins. Add the lemon juice, olive oil, minced garlic, salt, and cumin. Process until desired texture, then add the parsley and pulse to combine. Serve with chips, pita bread, a baguette, crackers, etc.

Recipes source: adapted from Jenna’s Everything Blog

29 Comments

Posted in Lighter Fare, Manicures/Nail Art, Mediterranean, Snacks & Appetizers and tagged baba ganoush, baba ghanoush, dip, Greek, healthy, party appetizer, roasted eggplant. Bookmark the permalink.

Guiness Brownies with Bailey’s Cream Cheese Swirl

Posted on March 16, 2012 by Veronica

In the name of culinary exploration, I bought a single bottle of Guiness to make Wednesday’s cupcakes, knowing I could never use an entire 6-pack. Unfortunately, the bottle was pretty ginormous so I still have more than half of it left. I also have quite a bit of Bailey’s left, and since I can’t give this stuff to people I know who drink because they either don’t drink anything but the occasional wine or have drinking problems, I’m either going to have to toss it or keep baking up a storm with it. And you guys know I can’t waste anything, right?

Hence, these brownies. These crazy, rich, gooey, decadent brownies. I went with my Kahlua brownies recipe, switching out the Kahlua for Guiness, and then went a little crazy with the mix-ins, adding butterscotch chips, white chocolate chips, and walnuts. Then I glanced the cream cheese in my fridge and got excited, thinking of my Brownie Cakes recipe and using it as a springboard to create a Bailey’s Irish Cream cheese swirl.

I liked these a lot, despite the Guiness. I’ve discovered from reading Guiness & chocolate recipe reviews on blogs that I may be the only blogger alive not in the “Yay, Guiness and chocolate are the best combo evarrrr!” camp, but at least the flavor was not overpowering here, thanks to the sweet chips and cream cheese swirl. There is a slight yeasty flavor from the Guiness, which is interesting but not off-putting. For most people, that would translate to, “Yaaaaaaay, Guiness brownies are the best thing EVARRRR!!!!”

The only bad thing about these brownies (unless you want to count the calories, but who counts dessert calories??), is that they used up so little of this leftover alcohol. I’m giving up on the Guiness, but as for the Irish cream…Bailey’s Banana Bread anyone?

Guiness Brownies with Bailey’s Cheesecake Swirl

Printable recipe
Printable recipe with picture

Guiness Brownies:
1 brownie mix
½ cup (1 stick) butter, melted
¼ cup Guiness Extra Stout beer
1 egg
Optional mix-ins (add up to 1 ½ cups total): chopped walnuts or pecans, caramel bits, butterscotch chips, white chocolate chips, milk chocolate chips, or semi-sweet chocolate chips

Bailey’s Irish Cream Cheese Swirl:
1 (8 oz) package cream cheese, softened
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 tablespoon Bailey’s Irish Cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease the bottom only of a 9×13” baking pan and set aside.

Combine the first four ingredients in a large mixing bowl and whisk until shiny and smooth, about a minute. Add optional mix-ins and stir until well combined. Spread into prepared pan; set aside.

Beat the cream cheese and sugar in a small mixing bowl until creamy, then beat in the egg and Bailey’s Irish Cream. Drop batter by spoonfuls on top of the brownie batter and swirl through with a knife.

Bake for 40 minutes, or until the cheesecake is golden on top and the brownies are puffed in the middle but firmer at the edges. Allow to cool completely before cutting.

Optional Reading:

OK, so this blog was too long to include this story before the recipe, but I wanted to put it at the end for those whose patience is still holding.

In high school drama class, we were doing a project where we were creating a spoof episode of the X-Files. I remember nothing about the episode we came up with, except that some genius decided to cast me as an evil leprechaun. (Speaking of evil leprechauns, doesn’t that one in my first picture look a little sadistic?) We were actually filming it, just like a real TV show.

I showed up on filming day dressed head to toe in bright green. I had no idea what I was going to wear for the role, but my mother happened to have a pair of bright green corduroy pants (oh, the glorious high fashion of the 90s!) stashed away in her closet. She was a tiny woman and even at 115 pounds, I really had to stuff myself into those things and could hardly breathe all day. I paired it with a matching shirt and called it golden (or emerald, if you will).

For my scene, we were filming in the hall and I was told to run off laughing after delivering my line. It wasn’t until the camera started rolling that I thought to wonder how long I should run while laughing. Convinced I should fight my urge to do it only a few seconds, thinking it was just my shyness trying to get the better of me, I tore off down the hall, squealing insanely with evil leprechaun laughter, throwing my hands up over my head and swinging them wildly back and forth as I ran…all the way down the hall.

That’s right.

I passed about five classrooms, squealing with high-pitched insane laughter at the top of my lungs.

When I turned back around, hoping I’d laughed long enough, there were curious heads leaning out of every single closed door I had passed, and in the far distance, I could see my classmates rolling with laughter while my drama teacher looked like he wished he could crawl under a rug.

I could have died. The walk back to join my drama group was the longest walk of my life. Every classroom stared at me as I passed, surely wondering who the crazy girl dressed in green was and if there was anything beyond my insanity that spurred the laughter that disrupted their class.

And of course, after that day, I was known far and wide as “the evil leprechaun.”

The end.

11 Comments

Posted in Brownies & Bars and tagged Bailey's Irish Cream, cheesecake, cream cheese, easy, guiness, Irish car bomb brownies, party, St. Patrick's Day, swirl. Bookmark the permalink.

Guiness & Bailey’s Chocolate-Caramel Cupcakes

Posted on March 14, 2012 by Veronica

This seems to be happening to me more and more, the longer I blog: I either create a recipe out of my own head, or I see a blog with a recipe and I immediately think of a new direction I want to take it in. I type out the recipe, including the measurements and steps. Then, after I’ve made my new and improved recipe, I discover that someone else already did it. Kinda takes the wind out of my sails!

This has happened twice just this week. I typed up a recipe for banana bread (I always type up baking recipes before I actually go to town, since they require more precision than just throwing things in a pot and tasting as you go along) that I thought was pretty stinking original, but before I’d even made it, I found that same recipe, almost exactly with the same ingredients and measurements except for just a few things, on Steak & Potato Kinda Girl’s blog (it was a Joy the Baker recipe, though, from her new cookbook). I kinda had a freak-out and changed my recipe just so I wouldn’t be a copycat, even if I did come up with it on my own. (I really want the banana bread recipe I win with at the fair this year *knock on wood* to be my own creation. I’m in the process of creating the BEST recipe (or discovering, if I must) so I can beat my baking nemesis–more about that here.)

Then I decided I was going to make some Guiness chocolate cupcakes for St. Patrick’s Day and came up with my own decadent recipe, using this cake recipe, and using inspiration from this cake to add in some caramel to compliment the Guiness, chocolate, & Bailey’s Irish Cream flavors. Then I happened to stumble upon Annie’s Eats, who has a spookily similar recipe. She’s got the Guinness cupcake, the Bailey’s ganache filling (sans caramel), and Bailey’s Irish Cream frosting.

How is this even possible? Is this some weird phenomenon among food bloggers that we’ve read so many of each others blogs that we start thinking the same? Or am I just a freak of nature? (Don’t answer that.) Well, whatever it is, I’m considering myself flattered to have come up with similar recipes as the likes of Joy & Annie, who I respect greatly. Who knows, maybe I’m becoming one of these “great minds” that “think alike.” :)

Well, despite these cupcakes having doppelgangers in who-knows-what corners of the blogosphere, I’m pretty proud of them because, besides the cake recipe, they are my own creation. They are very decadent, as I intended, and are tremendously delicious.

Now, I need to tell you that I absolutely detest beer (except in beer bread, of course), and Guinness is at the top of my hate list *shudder*, but it somehow works in the chocolate cupcakes. Although I would definitely prefer a Guiness-free cupcake, the stout flavor does add depth to the chocolate, making it deeper and more sultry, with a slightly bitter edge. The rich caramel ganache is thick and sweet, and the frosting is like a fluffy silken dream-both elements a perfectly sweet compliment to the dark chocolate cake, and in my opinion, absolutely required to balance the cupcake. You get quite a heady feeling when taking a bite of these–although low in alcohol*, they are very “boozy” tasting (at least to my virgin palate), but not in an offensive way. Still, I wouldn’t recommend you try serving these to your toddler.

*A last note to those worried about the alcohol content. It bakes off from the cupcakes, leaving only the flavor behind, and the amount in the filling and frosting is not much more than you’d get from using vanilla. So never fear, you will not get intoxicated from eating one of these, though I still consider them to be an adult treat. To nix the alcohol completely, I believe you could use Irish Cream coffee creamer in place of the real Irish Cream in this recipe. I hope you enjoy!

Note: I didn’t edit my photos, but this one is pretty washed out so I did try to darken it, but just couldn’t capture the true color so I apologize it does not represent the cupcakes accurately. The cake is much darker than this. The other photos are pretty spot-on, even without editing.

Guiness & Bailey’s Chocolate-Caramel Cupcakes

Printable recipe
Printable recipe with picture

Guiness Chocolate Cupcakes:
1 ½ sticks unsalted butter (cold is fine)
¾ cup unsweetened cocoa
1 cup Guinness Extra Stout (cold is fine)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 eggs

Bailey’s Chocolate-Caramel Filling:
½ cup semisweet chocolate chips
¼ cup caramel sauce, plus more for garnish (I used homemade)
1 tablespoon Bailey’s Irish Cream
½ cup powdered sugar, as needed

Bailey’s Irish Buttercream:
2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 lb. (4 cups) powdered sugar, sifted
3 tablespoons Bailey’s Irish Cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line two dozen cupcake tins with papers.

In a small saucepan, melt butter and whisk in the cocoa powder until smooth. Stir in the Guinness and vanilla extract and remove from heat.

While the Guinness mixture is cooling, whisk together the sugar, flour, baking soda, and salt. Pour the Guinness mixture onto the dry ingredients, then add the eggs and whisk until the batter is shiny and smooth, about a minute. Divide batter between cupcake tins, filling half full. Bake for 17-20 minutes, or until a tester comes out clean. Remove from pans to cool completely on a wire rack.

Meanwhile, make the filling. Combine the chocolate and caramel sauce in a microwave-safe bowl and heat on 50% power for 1 minute. Stir until the mixture is smooth and glossy, then stir in the Bailey’s Irish Cream. Set aside to cool and thicken.

Lastly, make the buttercream. Beat the butter until creamy, then add the sugar and Bailey’s. Beat on low until mixed, then increase speed to medium and beat until fluffy, light, and silky, about five minutes. Set aside.

Return to the filling, which should be room temperature by now. (If not, refrigerate for five minutes and stir, repeating until cooled completely.) Remove two tablespoons to a small bowl, then stir in powdered sugar ¼ cup at a time into the remaining filling, until the filling is your desired thickness.

Put the filling into a pastry bag fitted with a round tip or a squeeze bottle with a nozzle. Insert the tip into the top of each cupcake and squeeze briefly to fill, stopping once the top starts to rise. Once all are filled, pipe or spread the buttercream on top. Drizzle with the reserved filling and caramel sauce. Serve at room temperature. If making more than two days in advance, you can keep the cupcakes in the refrigerator and remove them two hours prior to serving.

Recipe source: cake recipe from Global Table Adventure, cupcakes inspired by Culinary Concoctions by Peabody, filling & frosting recipes and method by Veronica Miller

22 Comments

Posted in Cake & Frosting and tagged Bailey's Irish Cream, caramel ganache, celebration, filled cupcakes, frosting, Guiness chocolate cupcakes, party, St. Patrick's Day. Bookmark the permalink.

Cauliflower Colcannon

Posted on March 13, 2012 by Veronica

I’m linking this post with the GreensLove bloghop. If you are posting a recipe with any sort of greens this month, check it out and join the party!

A couple years ago I made lasagna and garlic bread for dinner on St. Patrick’s Day and happened to mention it in my Facebook status. I don’t really celebrate the holiday, so it wasn’t on my radar, but one of my Facebook friends was like, “Hey! Where’s the corned beef and cabbage???” I’d never made any sort of Irish-type food whether on St. Patrick’s Day or otherwise, and thought I just might try it the following year.

And so I purchased my first beef brisket last year. It turned out to be the worst brisket in the history of briskets. It. was. horrid. I still shudder just thinking about it. (80% fat, with a foul flavor.) But, I also made this cauliflower colcannon, which was very good and ended up being the main course rather than our side dish.

The pureed cauliflower serves as a lower-carb, more nutritious replacement for the mashed potatoes that colcannon is usually made with. I opted for kale instead of cabbage in my colcannon, but it would be good either way. This made a mighty tasty dish, and a good alternative to traditional colcannon if you are going to be eating a high-calorie dessert afterward. Kinda helps balance things out. And I’m a Libra, so I’m all about balance. Cauliflower Colcannon + 1 dozen Andes Mint Cupcakes = balance. Right? Right. Let’s do this.

Cauliflower Colcannon

Printable recipe
Printable recipe with picture

1 medium head cauliflower
1 tablespoon cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided, plus more for serving
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3 lightly packed cups kale, cabbage, or other greens
½ cup chopped green onions
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic (1 clove)
Milk or heavy cream for thinning, if necessary

Set a stockpot of water to boil over high heat. Meanwhile, clean and cut the cauliflower into small pieces. Cook in boiling water for about 6 minutes, or until very tender. Drain the cauliflower well and pat it very dry between several layers of paper towels, not allowing it to cool.

In the bowl of a food processor, puree the hot cauliflower with the cream cheese, Parmesan, 1 tablespoon of the butter, salt, and pepper until almost smooth. Set aside.

Melt the remaining 3 tablespoons butter in a skillet and add the greens. Cook over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes, until greens have wilted and given off some of their water. Add the onions and garlic and cook one minute more. Stir in the cauliflower mixture and thin with milk or cream, if necessary. Serve hot with a pat of butter, if desired.

11 Comments

Posted in Lighter Fare, Side Dishes and tagged Atkins, cauliflower colcannon, healthy, kale, low carb. Bookmark the permalink.

Andes Mint Cupcakes

Posted on March 12, 2012 by Veronica

Guess what??? It’s Monday and I have the day off with my husband. I’m SO excited! Before I became permanent and my schedule changed, we had the weekends off together, but now we only get one day off together once every five weeks so it’s cause for celebration. I’m going to relish it.

Speaking of my husband and celebrations, I made these cupcakes for his birthday in December, and everyone at the party fell in love. Mel calls these “over-the-top” and I’d have to agree. It starts with a moist, deep chocolate cupcake. Then there’s the cool & creamy mint frosting. Garnished with peppermint ganache and an Andes mint. But there’s more to these cupcakes than what meets the eye, and my only regret is that I did not have the chance to snap a photo of the inside to show you they are also filled with the same peppermint ganache that is drizzled over the top. Making them, you might say, over the top. :)

These would be great for your St. Patrick’s Day festivities!

Andes Mint Cupcakes

Printable recipe
Printable recipe with picture

1 recipe of your favorite chocolate cake*, baked into 24 cupcakes and cooled completely

Chocolate Mint Filling:
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
6 tablespoons heavy cream
2 teaspoons peppermint extract
2/3 cup powdered sugar

Mint Buttercream:
1 cup (2 sticks, 16 tablespoons) butter, softened to room temperature
8 ounces cream cheese, softened to room temperature
2 lbs. powdered sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 teaspoons peppermint extract
Green food coloring

24 Andes mints for garnish

For the mint filling, place the chocolate chips and heavy cream in a small microwave-safe bowl and heat for 1 minute at 50% power. Stir. Repeat the process until the mixture is smooth. Stir in the peppermint extract and powdered sugar, whisking until smooth. Let the mixture cool to room temperature (but don’t let it get too stiff) and pour it into a disposable pastry bag fitted with a small round tip, or a squeeze bottle with a tip.

Insert the decorating tip or tip of the squeeze bottle into the center of the cupcake and press gently to fill the middle of the cupcake with the mint ganache. You can be pretty generous, squeezing until you see the top of the cupcake start to rise a little. Repeat with the remaining cupcakes.

For the frosting, in a large bowl, beat the cream cheese and butter until light and fluffy. Add the powdered sugar and mix until smooth. Add the heavy cream and peppermint and vanilla extracts. Beat until light and fluffy. Add green food coloring until the color you like is achieved.

Frost the cooled, filled cupcakes with frosting (using a large star tip, I used Wilton # 1M) or simply spread the frosting in a large dollop (again, you can be generous-there is plenty) with a butter knife or flat spatula. Garnish with a drizzle of leftover ganache (make sure the ganache is completely cool or it will melt the frosting when you drizzle it on top of the cupcake), and an unwrapped Andes mint. Serve at room temperature.

*I used a devil’s food cake mix, but this is my favorite from-scratch chocolate cake recipe.

Recipe source: adapted from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe

***

I had to share a few more photos from his party, which was actually only half for his birthday (our preacher and his wife had a holiday dinner/birthday party combo). One of the games we played was holding paper plates on top of our heads and trying to draw a picture of Dennis playing his guitar without looking. You have no idea how difficult this is until you try to do it! This is what I ended up with:

However, this is what his best friend, Jack, came up with:

Highly suspicious.

Here’s Dennis and Jack trying to look natural after I urged them to try embracing each other for a photo. I don’t think this is natural for most men, but they pulled it off better than I expected. :)

And here’s Dennis practicing his Kung Fu moves with our preacher’s bat’leth (a Klingon weapon…as in something a Trekkie would totally recognize but me, not so much) shortly before we left (and yes, this thing is super sharp and dangerous! Yet he was swinging it like the pro he is.):

Your Klingon Kung Fu is strong, honey.

***

Reminder: this is the last week to get your postcards out to Beverly! You can get the deets here if you missed the announcement: Operation Postcard for Beverly.

15 Comments

Posted in Cake & Frosting and tagged andes mints, cake, celebration, cupcakes, dessert, food, green, mint, party, St. Patrick's Day. Bookmark the permalink.

Low-Carb Eggplant Parmesan with Fire-Roasted Tomato Sauce & Fried Garlic {gluten-free}

Posted on March 10, 2012 by Veronica

Growing up, my Mom made an eggplant dish about once a year that was basically chopped up eggplant mixed with homemade marinara sauce, garnished with Parmesan cheese. The only way I could swallow the evil stuff was to absolutely drown it in Parmesan–I’m pretty sure I used half a bottle of the grated cheese every time she made it. It’s not that the taste was terrible, the marinara was always good, as was the Parmesan, but the eggplant itself was spongy and a bit bitter, so I had to distract myself by making it super cheesy in order eat it.

Despite never fully enjoying this dish, I was convinced that I would enjoy eggplant if prepared differently. I really wanted to try making eggplant Parmesan, sensing that frying eggplant and making it crispy could be the key. But for some reason, I just never got around to it. Probably because I had been tainted by a long history of a dish with similar elements that was always abhorrent to me. I finally tried eggplant on a pizza (click here for the recipe: Eggplant & Olive Pizza) and then in baba ghanoush (a Middle Eastern roasted eggplant dip) and discovered I was right, I did like eggplant!

Well, finally, in a lower-carbohydrate phase of our diet last month, I decided to try my hand at eggplant parmesan, using only cheese for “breading” before frying it. It. was. fabulous. I’m sure I’d love it with the breading as well, but this was truly delicious and in my opinion, need not be changed. I seriously can not wait to make this again. I’m now a full-fledged eggplant convert. They key, it seems, is not so much in the frying, which obviously doesn’t hurt, but in the salting and draining prior to cooking. This takes away the bitterness and makes the eggplant flavor much more enjoyable.

I also want to take a moment to mention the tomato sauce, which I snagged from Jenna’s blog and kicked up a notch with fire-roasted tomatoes, and a touch of fennel seeds and red pepper flakes. This is my most favorite marinara sauce I’ve made to date, very flavorful and a great compliment to the eggplant. It makes a large batch, so you’ll have enough leftover to freeze for future eggplant Parmesan meals, or to ladle over pasta. It gives me such a heady feeling to know this delicious sauce is waiting for me in pre-portioned bags in the freezer, and all I have to do is defrost it in order to enjoy it again. Thanks for the wonderful recipe, Jenna!

One last note: the fried garlic is totally optional but I highly recommend you throw some cloves into the oil while you’re frying your eggplant. I discovered that frying garlic gives the same flavor as roasting it, sweetening it and making it so delicious you can just pop the whole thing into your mouth without any of the sulphurous burning that usually accompanies such an act with raw garlic. It is so delicious, I’ve found it to be addictive! I ended up keeping this part of the recipe secret from my husband, who arrived after I’d eaten an entire bulb of fried garlic because I couldn’t keep my hands off of it after I popped the first clove into my mouth. What he doesn’t know won’t hurt him. :)

I’m submitting this recipe to Renee for this week’s BSI (Blogger Secret Ingredient contest): Parmesan.

Low-Carb Eggplant Parmesan with Fried Garlic

Printable recipe
Printable recipe with picture

1 medium eggplant, peeled
Salt
2 eggs
¼ cup water
1 cup shredded or grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for garnish
Garlic powder
½ cup olive or canola oil
1 bulb of garlic, peeled
1 ½ cups Fire-Roasted Tomato Sauce, warmed
Fresh parsley, chopped, for garnish

Peel and slice eggplant into ¼” thick slices. Sprinkle both sides liberally with salt and place in a colander set over a bowl. Allow the eggplant to drain for 30-45 minutes or until 2 tablespoons of water have been drawn out from the eggplant. Tear off three sets of two sheets of paper towels (each set of two still connected), stack together, then lay out eggplant slices on top of it. Tear off another three sets of two paper towels, lay on top of the eggplant, and press down firmly on each slice to draw out excess moisture.

In a flat-bottomed bowl large enough in diameter to fit the largest eggplant slices, whisk the eggs and water together until foamy. Put the Parmesan cheese on a plate and have your garlic powder nearby. Line a baking sheet with foil, sprinkle evenly with garlic powder, and set nearby.

Dip each eggplant slice in the egg mixture, shake off, then sprinkle both sides with Parmesan. Lay the slices on the prepared baking sheet as you finish them. Once all slices are coated, sprinkle garlic powder on top.

Heat a cast iron or other heavy-duty skillet over medium-high heat. Add enough oil to cover the bottom well and come up about 1/8”. Place as many eggplant slices in the skillet as will fit, and tuck as many of the cloves of garlic in between them as you can. Fry the eggplant until the first side is golden brown, about 2 minutes, then flip. Flip the garlic cloves when then skin is golden brown and bubbled. Once the second side is golden brown, remove to a cooling rack lined with paper towels to drain. Remove the garlic as it is finished cooking as well. Continue cooking eggplant in batches until all is fried. If the first batch of eggplant has cooled too much by the time you are finished frying it all, pour out the oil in the skillet and add them back in to reheat for a minute. Alternately, as the eggplant is drained, you can add them to a foil-lined baking sheet and keep them in a warm oven until ready to serve.

To serve, arrange eggplant slices on plates with fried garlic scattered around. Scoop tomato sauce over the top and garnish with Parmesan and parsley, if desired. Serve hot.

Fire-Roasted Tomato Sauce

Printable recipe
Printable recipe with picture

1/3 cup olive oil
1 large onion, diced
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 stalk celery, diced
1 carrot, diced
Kosher salt and black pepper, to taste
1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
2 (14.5 oz) cans fire roasted tomatoes, undrained
2 dried bay leaves
1 tablespoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
¼ teaspoon fennel seeds
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes

In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Add the onion and garlic, and cook for about 2 minutes, until soft and translucent. Add the celery, carrot, and some salt and pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes, until softened. Add the tomatoes, bay leaves, basil, oregano, fennel seeds, and red pepper flakes, and cover the pot with a splatter screen. Turn down the heat to low, and simmer gently for 1 hour.

Remove the bay leaves and taste for seasoning, adding salt and pepper as needed. Using an immersion blender, blend the sauce until smooth. Allow the sauce to cool completely and, if not using immediately, pour it into freezer bags in 1-2 cup portions. It will keep frozen for about 6 months.

14 Comments

Posted in Italian, Meatless, My Favorites and tagged breadless, diet-friendly, eggplant parmesan, fire roasted, fried garlic, gluten-free, gourmet, low carb, marinara, tomato sauce. Bookmark the permalink.

Crockpot Chicken Cacciatore

Posted on March 5, 2012 by Veronica

It’s Secret Recipe Club time again! I can’t tell you how thankful I am to Amanda for starting this club. The amount of fun I have with it is a little ridiculous. My favorite part is getting my blog assignment and stealthily stalking that blog, hunting down recipes that I want to make and post for reveal day. I always bookmark a million and it takes me an entire week to narrow down my choice to one recipe.

{You can find my past Secret Recipe Club posts here.}

This month I was assigned to A Little Nosh and unlike previous assignments, I knew which recipe I was going to make within a minute of clicking on her blog. I still went through Amy’s archives and bookmarked half her recipes, but did eventually return to the original that caught my eye and knew I couldn’t fight it. I had to make the crockpot chicken cacciatore because:

1) It’s beautiful and I like pretty food.

2) I’d never eaten or made it and thought it would be fun to try something new.

3) It fit perfectly in our diet plan while we were in the 2nd cycle of the 17 Day Diet.

4) I noticed the recipe originally came from one of my blogging buddies, Renee of My Kitchen Adventures, and it tickled me to think that I’d be making Amy’s and Renee’s recipe at the same time.

I changed the recipe to make it on a slightly larger scale with a higher ratio of veggies, and it completely filled my 6-quart crockpot to the brim. The leftovers were enough to last us all week, and what beautiful lunches we were bringing to work! The vegetables and sauce were such a tasty compliment to the tender chicken breast meat, which pretty much fell apart as soon as you touched it with a fork. So delicious.

Thanks, Amy, for sharing this great recipe. I never even saw it on Renee’s blog, so I’m glad to have gotten the opportunity through you and the SRC to try it!

Crockpot Garden Chicken Cacciatore

Printable recipe
Printable recipe with picture

6 large skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 yellow or orange bell pepper, seeded and chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
2 large ribs of celery, diced
3 large carrots, diced
2 (4 oz) cans sliced mushrooms, drained
2 tablespoons minced garlic
2 (14.5 oz) cans of diced tomatoes with basil, oregano and garlic
1 (6 oz) can tomato paste
½ cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
¼ cup cornstarch
1-2 tablespoons water or chicken broth
Additional salt and pepper, to taste

Place chicken breasts inside the bottom of a 6-quart crockpot. Add in the bell peppers, onion, celery, carrots, mushrooms, and garlic. Pour the juice from the tomatoes into a medium bowl, then put the tomatoes into the crockpot.

Into the bowl with the tomato juice, add the tomato paste, chicken stock, and balsamic vinegar. Mix well, then pour on top of the tomatoes and vegetables. Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours, or high for 4 hours, or until the chicken is tender.

Mix the cornstarch and water together until no lumps remain, then pour over the top of the vegetables. Stir, turn the crockpot to high, and allow to cook for another 20 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened. Season with additional salt and pepper to taste.

Serve over brown rice or your choice of starch.

Recipe source: adapted from A Little Nosh, originally from My Kitchen Adventures

To check out the other submissions in Group A for The Secret Recipe Club, click on the Mr. Linky below!

18 Comments

Posted in Italian, Lighter Fare, Meats, Secret Recipe Club, Slow-Cooker/Crockpot and tagged chicken cacciatore, crockpot, diet-friendly, garden vegetables, healthy, low calorie, low carb, slow cooker. Bookmark the permalink.

Balsamic Vinegar & Garlic Glazed Flat Iron Steak

Posted on March 2, 2012 by Veronica

I have a significant backlog of recipes waiting to be blogged, but I made this one yesterday and two things prevailed upon me to post it immediately:

1) This week’s BSI (blogger secret ingredient) is beef so this is perfect timing to submit it for the contest, and

2) It’s so delicious, I couldn’t wait!

Fish aside, I’m not much for meat. I’ll put a bite on my plate, then fill the rest with dessert vegetables and potatoes, etc. Then I usually share what little meat is on my plate with Jessie. But this steak was so delicious I was sneaking bites of it from the platter before Dennis came home and almost couldn’t stop myself. Between us, we ate an entire 1-lb flat iron steak in one sitting. It was just incredible.

Dennis was beside himself. “How did you get it so juicy? What did you do to this? This is so good. What did you put on it? THIS is the best steak I’ve ever eaten.” “Even over the steak au poivre?” I asked. “Yes, even over that one.” An hour after eating, Dennis looked over at me and said, “That steak was really, really good.”

This recipe was inspired by my friend, Suzie*, who shared a recipe for Balsamic & Garlic Glazed Strip Steaks with me last summer. At the time, I knew my hubby would love it but I didn’t think I’d ever use it. Then I happened to pick up a flat iron steak because it was on sale and because I’d never heard of it before. I had NO idea what I was going to do with it so I searched all the recipes I had for steak to get some ideas, and found Suzie’s. The marinade was just PERFECT for this steak.

*Suzie just started her own food blog this week! If you’ve been reading long, you’ve seen many recipes on my blog from her. She’s a great cook with a great sense of humor. Check her out here!

Flat iron steak is the second most tender cut of meat, next to the tenderloin, and that obviously helped with the resulting steak. The acid from the balsamic vinegar also tenderizes it a bit during the marination process, so you’re left with an incredibly juicy and tender piece of meat. The marinade is simple but just perfect. I couldn’t believe how delicious it made the meat!

Balsamic Vinegar & Garlic Glazed Flat Iron Steak

Printable recipe
Printable recipe with picture

½ cup balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup olive oil
3 large garlic cloves, minced
1 (1 lb) flat iron steak
Kosher salt
Fresh ground black pepper

In a small bowl, whisk together balsamic vinegar, olive oil and garlic. Reserve ¼ cup marinade and pour the rest in a large Ziploc bag. Put the steak in, press out the air and zip it up. Let rest at room temperature for 30 minutes to 1 hour before grilling.

Meanwhile, light your charcoal mound in the grill (yes, I was grilling yesterday-the weather was so nice!) and then spread the coals out once the fire dies and they get ashy around the sides. Remove steak from bag, discard marinade. Salt and pepper steaks. Grill covered for ten minutes on each side for medium-well, brushing with extra marinade while it cooks.

Set grilled steak on a platter, tent with foil, and let rest for 5 minutes so juices can recirculate throughout the meat. Enjoy!

Recipe source: adapted from Suzie S.

15 Comments

Posted in Meats, My Favorites and tagged Balsamic vinegar, best, easy, flat iron steak, garlic, grilled, juicy, marinade, simple, summer, tender. Bookmark the permalink.

Skinny Dark Hot Cocoa

Posted on February 29, 2012 by Veronica

Hot cocoa? Hot chocolate? I’ve always said hot chocolate, no matter if it’s made with real chocolate or cocoa powder or a mix. I also have always said pop, not soda or soda pop. Potato, potahto I guess. What about you?

Anyway, remember how Dennis and I weren’t planning on having sugar on Valentine’s Day? Well, it would be just be unAmerican not to have any chocolate on the day when the rest of the country is eating 58 million pounds of it. (I know, right?) So, inspired by Faith’s delicious Skinny Caramel Hot Cocoa, I made this plain version for our Valentine’s Day dinner dessert, only changing the basic recipe a smidge to deepen the chocolate flavor (had to make up for our lack of chocolate candy, you know). We like our chocolate dark in this house.

This hot cocoa is so sweet, so chocolatey and delicious, creamy even, that you wouldn’t guess that it’s fat and sugar free. That it’s actually healthy. Protein and calcium-rich milk? Check. The antioxidant power of cocoa powder? Check. Totally natural with no chemical sweeteners? You got it.

I’m usually semi-opposed to healthifying sweet treats because, in my opinion, they’re called treats because they are meant to be enjoyed. Mostly what cutting out fat and sugar does is make them less enjoyable (although I hope to prove my own theory wrong because I’m going to be experimenting soon, given that we’ve nixed sugar in our house!). But when you can do it with such a satisfying result, I’m all for feeling great about drinking something that tastes so sinful.

*A note about stevia: I’m a huge advocate of using stevia to sweeten things, versus chemical sweeteners and even real sugar. This is the ONLY completely natural sweetener out there that is also calorie free. It is taken from the leaves of a plant and it is tremendously sweet so you need much less of it than sugar. I was blessed to win a bunch of NuNaturals products through a giveaway from Renee of My Kitchen Adventures (thank you so much Renee!), and hope to do a review soon with comparisons to other sugar substitutes. NuNaturals products are by far the best I’ve tried and I highly recommend them.

Since I’m not counting calories on the 17 Day Diet, I didn’t calculate them for this cocoa when we drank it, but just going from the labels on the milk and the cocoa (the only things that have calories in the recipe), I can tell you that there is 120 calories, 1 g fat, 22 g carbohydrates, and 2 grams fiber. Not to shabby, and I think you’ll agree that this hot cocoa is totally worth every healthy & delicious calorie.

Skinny Dark Hot Cocoa

Printable recipe
Printable recipe with picture

1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1 tablespoon Dutch process cocoa powder
2 packets NuNaturals NuStevia
Pinch fleur de sel or kosher salt
1 ¼ cups nonfat milk
½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Whisk together the cocoa powders, stevia powder, and salt in a small saucepan. Add half the milk and whisk vigorously until the cocoa powder is dissolved. Turn the heat to medium, and whisk in the remaining milk. Heat until the hot cocoa starts to steam (do not boil), and pour into a mug. Enjoy!

For a caramel hot cocoa: stir in ¼ teaspoon caramel extract along with the vanilla at the end.

Serves 1

Recipe source: adapted from An Edible Mosaic

Yummy either way!

P.S. Happy leap day! I know this is crazy, but this is the first year I’ve actually been aware that it’s a leap year. How did I miss the other seven I lived through? Queen Oblivious here! I know I’m getting random here but did anyone else used to watch the show Quantum Leap? I honestly can’t remember a thing about it except I think I liked it (I was pretty young so maybe it was too mature for me), and I always associated the name with leap year. Did it even have anything to do with a leap year? OK, seriously, I’ll shut up now.