Pork Tenderloin with Sauteed Apples

For the first time in my life, I didn't spend Easter with some portion of my family. I was just so rundown from being sick that I couldn't bear to dress up or put a smile on my face. And while I typically do not cook at all while I am sick, I was so hyper-vigilant about using hand sanitizer that I decided to make a quick but elegant Easter supper.

Pork tenderloin is my favorite thing to eat and to prepare, so that was a no-brainer, but I tried something new for a marinade and a side. I'm very excited to say that I used locally made bourbon for my marinade, and while I am no bourbon expert, I think it was very good. The end result on this dish was great. It was salty, sweet, spicy, and tangy all at once. Most of it I just made up as I went along, but I tried to keep track of what I was doing so I can re-create it some day!


Apple Bourbon marinade:

• 1 cup fresh apple juice (I used two granny smith apples and my neato juicer)
• 1 cup of Iowa bourbon
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• a few whole cloves
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 tsp cumin
• 2 TBSP light brown sugar

I rubbed the marinade onto a pork tenderloin that was just over a pound. I poured over the excess and let it sit for about 2 hours. The pork was on the grill for about 40 minutes (on medium high heat), and I turned it twice. After taking it off, I let it sit for 5-10 minutes before slicing it. While the pork was cooking, I turned the marinade into a sauce. Most importantly, I brought it to a ROLLING BOIL for several minutes to kill any raw-pork germs. Then, I just let it reduce. I added a few shakes of all the original spices b/c I felt like I couldn't taste them, but that's it.

Sauteed Apples

• 3 TBSP butter (well, I used smart balance)
• 1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
• 3 granny smith apples, pealed, cored, and thinly sliced. 
• ground ginger, ground cloves, cumin, and sea salt to taste
• 1 TBSP brown sugar

Basically, I melted the butter in a large skillet and then threw in the onions and apples to caramelize. I kept everything on Med-low heat and just let it do it's thing for probably 30 minutes. I stirred occasionally. Right at the end, I felt like things weren't as caramel-y as I wanted, so I added in the bit of sugar to quickly melt.

To serve, I put the apple onion mixture down on a tray, and laid the pork slices over the top, and then poured the sauce over the whole thing.

This was unique, but a winner!!

And for dessert? EASTER CANDY!

Birthday Picnic!

Though my birthday weekend was definitely dampened by being a sicky-poo, I had a wonderful time on Saturday with my honey. Tim put together a picnic for the two of us, and we drove up to Lake MacBride to enjoy some lunch by the lake. Unfortunately, it was like 40 degrees and windy and the sun didn't come out until we were already on our way back home, but it was a great time none-the-less.

On the menu--

• Ham and swiss on fresh baked Ciabatta bread (mine had mayo, mustard, spinach, and tomato too).
• Green grapes and diced up watermelon, and two apples that we never ate.
• Chips-- I had Cool Ranch Doritos, and Tim had Baked Lays
• Yummy chocolates
• Gatorade (had to keep our energy up for throwing the frisbee and football around... but then we ended up leaving before doing any of that. Oh well.)

  

  "staying warm" beat out "seeing"...

The picnic-chef sitting by the lake

It was a delicious lunch and a lovely way to celebrate my birthday!

Tilapia with Pesto and Cacio e Pepe

 

Hello. My name is Katy, and I am a month behind in blogging. I thought I could get away with this, since zero people read my blog... but alas, I have been found out. 

Anyway, sometime back in April I made tilapia with pesto. The pesto was super yummy and flavorful which was a good thing because the tilapia was BLAND without it. I usually love tilapia, but I just haven't had much luck lately. 

With the fish, I served one of my stand-by dishes-- cacio e pepe. In other words, noodles+cheese+black pepper= delicious. You can google this and find a thousand ways to make it, but my standard method is boil noodles in salty water to just a minute or so shy of my desired tenderness. Then, save a cup of the pasta water and drain the pasta. Meanwhile, heat 2 or so TBSP of olive oil in the pasta pan til it's realllllly hot. You can also throw some buttah in here (which I do when I have some). The, put the pasta back in and stir it around, and then pour the pasta water over it as needed. Throw in whatever kind of cheese you want (plain old parm is my favorite, but romano is decent too) crack a ton of black pepper over the top (and when you think you are done, just give it like two more shakes) and then lightly toss everything together. In theory, the cheese should stick to all of the noodles and make every bite taste salty and gooey, but sometimes you will end up with a giant ball of goopy cheese that is somehow not stuck to any pasta. It still tastes good if that happens, fyi.

Parsley, Pistachio, and Parmesan Pesto

As much as I love alliteration, this "perfect" masterpiece was a total accident, I swear! Yesterday I whipped up this pesto mostly out of boredom, but partly out of a craving. I spread some on a piece of toast for a snack of crostini yesterday afternoon, and tonight I'm going to use it with my dinner!

My basil plant is looking a little thin right now so I decided to leave it alone and instead use up the parsley I have in my fridge. In true Katy style, I didn't keep track of amounts, but I will do my best to remember.

Terrible photo. You know what pesto looks like, though, so oh well.

Parsley Pistachio and Parmesan Pesto

• Half a bunch of parsley; ripped leaves off (a few stems made it in, but that's fine)
• 3 or 4 garlic cloves, peeled
• Half of this little package of pistachios that I had. I'd say two palm-fulls? 
• a couple TBSP of shredded parmesan
• 2 TBSP warm water
• olive oil
• lemon zest (half a lemon's worth
• salt and pepper

Put all ingredients (except for oil and water) into food processor. Pulse until smooth and then add water and oil until it resembles pesto. Obviously change amounts, or ingredients to your taste.  This pesto is sharper than a basil/pine nut pesto. The parsley gives it an almost spicy bitter flavor that I am loving. The pistachios also give it a grittier texture than pine nuts would in a typical pesto. I am a fan, and I can't wait to try other pestos soon (arugula, cilantro, pecan.... the options are endless!)

poached eggs on toast

Working from home sometime has its benefits. Forgoing microwaveable meals or over-priced and likely unhealthy sandwiches on the go is probably one of the best!

Mondays I always try to start my week off right with some delicious high protein and high fiber meals. Today's lunch (which resembles a breakfast) was no exception.

Poached eggs on toast -- serves one:

• two eggs (I use farm fresh organic because they are so much richer and creamier, but any old egg will do)
• two slices crusty whole grain bread (mine is a take-and-bake batard from the grocery store)
• ~8 leaves baby spinach
• 1 TBSP parmesan
• black pepper
• 2 basil leaves for garnish

I don't have a poaching pan, so I just use a large skillet; fill it about 3/4 of the way up with water and bring to a boil. When the water starts simmering, pop the bread in the toaster (I do this first so they finish before the eggs). As soon as the water boils, crack the eggs right into the water. Obviously, the goal is for the egg to stay relatively in one piece, this sometimes works and sometimes does not. One of mine was fine, and the other practically exploded. Oh well, it still tasted good. Boil the eggs to your desired consistency. I don't like my yolks super runny so I let mine go until a healthy skin is formed over the yolk, and I help it out by spooning the boiling water over the top.

While they are cooking, get the toast out of the toaster, put some spinach leaves on each. Remove the eggs with a slotted spoon, making sure that you allow excess water to drop back into the pan, and place the egg on top of the spinach. Crack some black pepper over the top, and sprinkle with parmesan. I added a basil leaf for garnish, but it added a lot of flavor too.

This is a very quick and easy meal that is filling (thanks to the fiber and the protein) but light. Perfect way to energize me for my Monday afternoon!

Heart Healthy Fun!!!

This week, I got two pieces of big news from one of my college roommates. First, was that she gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, and second, was that she has some rare condition that landed her in the Cardiac ICU. Otherwise healthy 28 year old women are not supposed to have heart attacks-- especially when they have a tiny newborn to hold and love waiting at home for them, so this was obviously incredibly distressing. While Rachel, her lovely husband, and adorably sweet little one are now at home in St. Louis surrounded by an incredible support system of family and friends, I want to do my part to help out. Rachel is being put on a preventative heart-healthy diet and asked for some yummy recipe ideas. I'm taking this request completely overboard and putting together an entire cook book for her. I'm asking my mom, who cooked for my step-father after his heart attack, my aunt Julie who suffered a mini-stroke a few years ago, and all of my food-loving friends for recipes to include. I'm really excited about the project, and have spent the weekend testing and re-creating recipes that I want to put in the book.


Spicy Broccoli and Potato Stir-fry

Friday night, I made a spicy broccoli and potato stir-fry that was a stand-by in my house when I was growing up. My mom used to include marinated tofu in the mix, but I wasn't sure how excited Tim would be about tofu (it's all about baby steps with him), so I left it out, and instead served the stir-fry next to a piece of salmon that I marinated in the orange-soy glaze and broiled for seven minutes. It was juicy and delicious! It was a nice contrast to the crisp and spicy vegetables.

serves 4 as a side, or 2 as a main dish.

• 1 head broccoli-- chopped into same-size florets
• 4 B sized red potatoes, thinly sliced and half way cooked (micro or parboiled; enough so the potatoes will finish cooking at the same time as the broccoli)
• 3 TBSP olive oil
• 3 TBSP low sodium soy sauce
• 3 cloves of garlic (more or less, to taste), minced
• zest and juice from one orange
• 1 tsp ground ginger (I might play around with this in the future, either using more, or using fresh ginger instead)
• red pepper flakes to taste

In a small sauce pan over low heat, add the soy sauce, orange juice and zest, and ginger. Bring to a simmer so the mixture reduces enough to thicken. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat the olive oil and garlic over medium high heat; be careful to stir enough that the garlic does not burn. When the oil is hot, throw in the potatoes and broccoli allowing vegetables to quickly sear before tossing. Once seared, pour glaze over vegetables, add red pepper flakes to taste, and toss.

Spinach and Goat Cheese Fritatta

Saturday morning, I continued the heart healthy trend with a breakfast that was high in both protein and fiber. This was another giant risk for my (formerly?) picky eater boyfriend. He loves eggs, but he wants them plain and scrambled. I have ever-so-slowly been adding things (like Penzey's garlic powder, salt and pepper, fresh herbs, or cheese- really crazy stuff)  to his eggs over the past two years, and he has been incredibly receptive of this, but I knew that changing adding a vegetable was going to be pretty epic. Luckily, he is a great sport and ate it all-- spinach and goat cheese included! I was very happy. Fritattas are great because you can really add anything to them. I picked the ingredients that I did merely because they were on hand.

serves two

• 1 TBSP olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• 2 cups fresh spinach
• (1 TBSP water)
• 2 eggs and 2 egg whites, beaten (I like to beat the two whites separately for more fluff, then fold back in to other eggs)
• 1 oz goat cheese (I normally would probably use two oz. but I only had one in the fridge)
• salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste

Preheat the broiler. Heat oil and garlic in small saute pan until garlic is softened. Add spinach to pan and toss to wilt. If necessary, add up to a TBSP of water to the pan to quickly steam the spinach; this is not necessary, but helps speed the process along. Pour egg over wilted spinach (make sure all water is gone) and garlic and crumble goat cheese evenly across top. If you are me, this is also where you added a ton of fresh cracked black pepper. Cook on stove top for 2-3 minutes, and then put under the broiler for 3-4 minutes more. If your pan's handle is not oven safe, wrap it in aluminum foil before putting it under the broiler. When you take it out, you should be able to slide the fritatta right out of the pan onto your plate. Enjoy!


Roasted Garlic on Crusty Whole Grain Bread 

• 1 head garlic
• 1 tsp olive oil

Yep, there are really only two ingredients in this yummy little treat! (Well, I suppose three if you include some whole grain bread to spread it on.) Roasting garlic is insanely simple, but you end up with something complex in flavor and incredibly elegant-- it is only reminiscent of what the garlic used to be. While roasted garlic is great for adding to mashed potatoes, sauces, or soups, it is also a fantastic spread on its own. When it spends long enough in the oven, it completely softens to the point that you can spread it right onto bread or a cracker and enjoy it's spicy sweetness as a finger food.

right out of the oven

The steps for roasting garlic are easy. First, you cut the garlic open so that some of the flesh is exposed. Side note-- most people say to cut the top off of the garlic, but I have found that cutting the roots off works way better. When you go to squeeze the gooey cloves out later, they aren't stuck to any roots and pop right out! Second, you drizzle olive oil onto the garlic and rub it in. Third, you wrap it up in aluminum foil, and then you pop it in the oven (I did 325 degrees for 40 minutes, and then let it sit in the foil once I took it out of the oven).

after I squeezed 'em out; they spread like buttah!

Once you are ready to serve it, you can either leave the bulb whole, or you can squeeze out all the cloves (see below). I usually squeeze them out because I'm typically throwing them into a pot of mashed taters, and I did that without thinking this weekend. 

Anyway, with barely any olive oil and all of the nutritional benefits of garlic, this is a tasty appetizer that is 100% heart healthy! Just make sure to brush your teeth before smooching your special someone...



Apple Latkes
Sunday I had book club. I love book club (you can see my other blog for proof). Not only do we discuss books, but we have incredible pot lucks. This Sunday was no exception. I made apple latkes, using the recipe found at Smitten Kitchen. I didn't take any photos, because everything was eaten too quickly (read: I forgot), but competing with the photography on Smitten Kitchen would be silly anyway. I followed the recipe for these little cuties exactly, and they were.... just okay. I think that my apples must have been too juicy, because the end result was a bit chewy for my taste. Next time I will either wring them out more (though I did so much that I got almost 2/3 a cup of juice!!) or add a bit more flour. Anyway, any sort of desserty item that includes no fat (animal or otherwise) and barely any added sugar is worth noting!

Turkey Patty Melts

Last night was Detroit's first play-off game. And, as the girlfriend of a Detroit Red Wings fan, it is pretty much obligatory that I am also a fan. Luckily, I took to the wings, and the sport of hockey right away (in fact, I won our fantasy hockey league!) Anyway, the first play-off game of the season would be reason enough to cook a celebratory dinner, but it was also Wednesday night which is our standard weeknight date night. This may seem boring, but a fun mid-week dinner with my honey somehow makes each week go much more quickly.


Tim and I always like patty melts-- I mean, who doesn't. They are greasy and meaty and covered in melted cheese. Pretty much a no-brainer on the delicious scale, but also patty melts have a way of instantly starting a war between my stomach and my taste buds. The solution to this giant grease brick in my tummy, I thought, would be a nice light version! Luckily, I had a pound of ground turkey on hand, so I began my "light" patty melt recipe.

The patty melt:
First, I caramelized a medium sized yellow onion. I sliced it thinly (in 2.5 seconds thanks to my food processor) and put it in a skillet over very low heat with a TBSP of butter for what seemed like a very long time. Luckily, I didn't really stir it that often so I was able to do other productive things like empty the dishwasher and kill a bunch of ants trying to sneak in through my deck door while the onions were going. After 25-30 minutes, I de-glazed the pan with two glugs (a very official unit of measurement) of sherry, and then I removed the onions from the heat.

Next, I prepared the turkey burgers. Trying to convince a red-meat loving man that a turkey burger is worth eating was going to be a feat. Turkey has the tendency to be bland, and to dry out, so these were two things I desperately was trying to avoid. So, I added a few flavors and "mix-ins" to my burgers. Two finely minced garlic cloves, a TBSP of olive oil, a handful of chopped parsley, and two pureed stewed tomatoes. This last move was risky, but tomatoes are sweet and moist and red-- I figured they'd give the turkey some flavor AND some color. Finally, I mixed in enough bread crumbs (I made them from parmesan black pepper bread last fall and they've been living in my freezer) to make the mix workable.

photo credit: Timmy

Once the burgers were formed into patties (I ended up with five patties somehow), I salted and peppered both sides. I grilled them on a pre-heated grill  at Medium heat for 7 minutes, turning once. This was probably one minute shy of being done, which was good, since the burgers were going to go back on the grill with the bread, onions, and cheese.

While the burgers were grilling, I sliced up several pieces of some artisan rye bread and brushed one side of each piece with some olive oil, and headed out to the grill. I put the bread down-- two pieces right next to eachother-- and then plopped the patty, and a scoop of caramelized onions onto one of the pieces of bread. I then topped the whole thing with a piece of organic Farmer's cheese from a local farm (I saw it at the store and it was on sale, I didn't go out of my way to buy this... and it was good, but I think I would have liked something a bit stronger like provolone or swiss even more!) The cheese was a bit bigger than the patty or the bread, so having the second ("top") piece of bread close by to catch the excess "melt" was great. After about 90 seconds, I removed everything from the grill and assembled the sandwiches.

While these sandwiches still had the flavor of grease/oil, and were still covered in melted cheese, they were definitely a much healthier and lighter version of a traditional patty melt. The turkey was incredibly moist and flavorful (and Tim liked it! YESSSS!), the onions were sweet, and the rye was crunchy and flavorful. YUM. I don't know if I would make this exact dish again, but more panini on the grill are certainly in my future. 

The sides:
1. Sweet Corn: 

I was using frozen corn, but I still wanted that "grilled" flavor, so I used my old stand-by method and made a foil packet. I sprayed the bottom with pam, put in the corn, diced up one TBSP of butter and sprinkled it over the top, and seasoned with salt, pepper, and garlic powder (I use Penzey's and it is the greatest garlic powder ever. I used to only use fresh, but I now will use powder on occasion). I threw the packet on the grill for about 10 minutes. This is such an easy way to make any vegetable, and really spruces up a frozen veggie especially. The corn absorbed the smokey grilled flavor of the turkey patties, and was absolutely delicious! I topped it with some fresh chives from my garden.

2. Fresh Tomato: 

Sometimes, the most simple dish is the best. I saw a bright juicy tomato at the store yesterday and deluded myself into thinking that it was tomato season.... it was still what I call a "winter tomato" inside (not exactly red... not exactly soft... not exactly flavorful), but it got me ready for summer. I simply sliced the tomato, drizzled with olive oil, lemon juice, salt (a lot-- it has a dramatic effect on tomatoes), black pepper, and some fresh basil. It was good enough to tide me over til I have fresh tomatoes from my own garden!

Chocolate (yep, chocolate) banana bread

I am not really sure what inspired me to start googling chocolate banana bread recipes, but I am certainly thankful I did because I am currently savoring my second slice of pure goodness. I saw a few recipes, but I opted for this one from Evil Shenanigans. I was first drawn to it because it didn't require me to take a trip to the grocery store, but I was also really intrigued by the addition of coffee.

I followed the recipe except I used probably double the cinnamon, and I'm not sure how many bananas I used. Whenever bananas get overripe in my kitchen, I peel them, throw them in a ziplock, and freeze them. The bunch I got out of the freezer tonight I had pre-mashed as well, so I guesstimated that there were three, but it may have been four. Also, either my oven or my loaf pan just does not do the best job sometimes, so I baked it probably twenty minutes longer than suggested.

What turned out was pretty incredible. The edges are crisp (probably because of my extended baking time) but not hard, the inside is incredibly moist, the chocolate is rich but the banana reminds you that you are being "healthy". I think this one is a keeper!!

Whole wheat penne with Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

Sometimes after yoga, all I can think about is the incredibly delicious and healthy meal that I am going to carefully make for myself, savoring every moment. Other times, such as tonight, I am so hungry that I would eat any combination of crap that I happened to pull out of my fridge. Luckily, this evening, those things sorta went together.

I just made a serving of whole wheat penne and threw the red pepper sauce that I made on Saturday on it. I added a handful of parmesan, several shakes of cracked black pepper, and a palm-full more of fresh basil.

Not the greatest thing I've ever eaten, but it did the job!

Namaste.

Dinner with the parents

my very full tiny grill

Last Wednesday night, my parents drove up for dinner. Since my mother is the best cook I know, and the person who taught me everything I know (thanks, Mom), I am always really nervous when serving her a meal. Impressing her is totally thrilling! So, I opted for my old stand-by: pork tenderloin on the grill. After deciding on the main course, I figured I may as well make the whole meal on the grill. Lately I have been intrigued by grilling things that typically are not found on a grill and this inspired me to pick my two side dishes-- carrots and fennel. I also made a salad (not pictured) of arugula, pistachio, and baby heirloom tomatoes.

1. Grilled pork tenderloin
I put a dry rub on the pork and let it marinate for about an hour. The dry rub consisted of fennel seed (both whole and ground), dried parsley, a dash of cayenne, the zest of one orange, a bit of salt, and a healthy amount of cracked black pepper. I threw the tenderloin on the grill (Medium-ish heat) for 40 minutes, turning twice. I let the pork sit ten minutes (under a foil tent) before slicing. THIS IS THE MOST CRITICAL STEP! Pork can very easily dry out, so it is very important to let it sit and hold in all of its juices and flavor. The pork was GREAT. The outside was crusty with just a little kick; the inside was tender and juicy. There were not any leftovers, so that would seem to be a success!

2. Grilled carrots
I peeled a pound of carrots and rubbed them with olive oil. After some research, I decided to grill them for 20 minutes, turning every 5 minutes. The last time I turned them, I covered them with a glaze of OJ, butter, and brown sugar. After removing the carrots from the grill, you can add a bit more of the glaze (I did), sprinkle with some salt, and garnish with parsley (the recipe I saw online recommended fresh thyme which would have been fantastic!) The flavor of the carrots was incredible, but they were not evenly cooked. If I were to do this again, I would flash boil (or even microwave) the carrots first and grill them just for a few minutes. 


3. Grilled fennel
I adore fennel. This should be well known by now. I try to eat it whenever possible, and constantly try to trick Tim into sharing my passion for it!
The idea of grilled fennel was just fantastic to me. I personally think it was better in theory than in application, but everyone else enjoyed it well enough. Basically, you quarter the fennel while keeping the core still in tact so the quarters are held together. Toss with olive oil, grill for about 12 minutes, and then when you remove it, cut the cores out and drizzle with lemon juice and salt and garnished with parsley. The fennel looked great, and the flavor was good, but like the carrots, I felt that the pieces were just not very evenly cooked. I will have to try again and perfect my strategy!

Mini-pizzas in a flash

It is hot outside. Legitimately. I spent the day working in the yard and sweating, and the last thing I wanted to do was spend a lot of time in a hot kitchen making dinner. So, I opted for a super easy and quick meal that ended up surprising me with how good it was.

Mini and fast pizzas -- serves 1

• 1 "sandwich thin". I've been using these instead of bread for my lunches lately and really like them. The whole bun is the same amount of calories as a normal piece of bread, but it tastes the same! Anyway, open up the sandwich thin so you have two little round flats. These will be the pizza crusts. 
• 1TBSP goat cheese. Spread half on each "crust"
• Toppings-- I used a few thinly sliced golden tomatoes on one and some baby zucchini on the other.
• Brush everything with olive oil (probably used less than 1 TBSP total)
• Sprinkle on parmesan
• Pop under broiler for 5-6 minutes (until parm is golden)

"it's a good one to remember"

Today was a gorgeous spring day. I spent much of it outside walking or gardening, and the beautiful freshness of spring just made me crave a healthy meal.

So, I checked the content of my fridge and was inspired. I served pan seared tilapia with a roasted red pepper sauce, roasted curried cauliflower, and a fennel orange and mint salad.



Tilapia
- four small tilapia fillets
- salt, pepper
- 2 tsp lemon oil
Pat the fillets dry and salt and pepper both sides. Heat oil in fry pan on Med-High heat making sure entire surface is coated. Add fish and cook for 8-10 minutes, turning once.
Tilapia could not be easier to prepare; however, it is very bland and requires either a very flavorful sauce or some intense seasoning to be good. Tonight, I opted for the former.


Roasted Red Pepper sauce
- 2 red bell peppers
- 1 clove garlic
- 2 TBSP olive oil
- salt/pepper
- 1 TBSP butter
- 1 cup fat free Greek yogurt
- rough chopped basil (in sauce and for garnish, to taste)

First, roast the red peppers: Put them under the broiler or over  a burner (turning when necessary) until skin is charred and blistered. Put in a plastic bag and allow to cool for 45 minutes. The skin will separate from the flesh very easily at this point. Discard seeds and blackened skin and put the softened flesh into a food processor or blender.
Next, roast the garlic (these two steps actually overlapped for me). Cut the roots off of a garlic head, and put the head on a piece of aluminum foil. Drizzle with olive oil and then wrap it up and roast it for around 30 minutes. Cutting the roots off instead of cutting the top off allows for very easy removal of the garlic cloves once they are roasted-- you can literally just squeeze them out! Once pieces are roasted, squeeze them into the food processor with the red pepper.
Add the olive oil and pulse til smooth. Optional-- you can add basil at this point and puree. I rough chopped and saved it til later.
In a small sauce pan, melt the butter, and then add the puree to the pan. Add yogurt (milk would also work) and basil if you have not yet. Salt and pepper to taste.
This sauce was AMAZING. It is sweet and flavorful, and Tim has already come up with many more uses for it (veggie dip, on crackers, etc). I will DEFINITELY be making this again. I think I would like to try other bell peppers too 

Roasted Curried Cauliflower
- 1 head cauliflower
- 2 TBSP olive oil
- curry powder, salt, and pepper to taste

Chop up cauliflower to even sized florets. Put in a 9 x 13 pan. Drizzle with alive oil, and sprinkle with desired seasonings (I think I used about a TBSP of curry and a 5 "twists" each of cracked pepper and sea salt). Toss til all pieces are evenly coated. Put in a 425 oven for 40 minutes. Take out and re-toss half way. I always forget about cauliflower, but I saw a recipe similar to this last week and thought it sounded good. The curry gave it some good flavor without being over powering, and roasting it allowed some of the florets to caramelize and brown on top which was pretty fantastic. Tim liked it too, especially doused in the red pepper sauce.


Fennel, Orange, and Mint Salad
I was inspired by this recipe. I followed the recipe in terms of ingredients (fennel, orange, almond, and mint; EVOO, OJ, and mustard for the dressing) but not at all for the proportions. I don't really know how much of each ingredient I used other than oranges (1.5) and fennel (1 bulb). Anyway, it was a DELISH. Tim was less excited about this than the rest of the meal, though he did say he liked the fennel. It tasted springy and fresh to me, and I hope to have it again soon. I might try keeping the fennel raw for some variety.

Spring is for grilling

Man, I am behind on blogging! But re-living these dishes I prepared a week or more ago is making my mouth water. Especially this one. For one thing, I love any meal where I don't have pots and pans to wash afterward; for another, I love any meal I can share with my honey, especially when he likes it!

So, this Wednesday night dinner-off-the-grill was perfect in every sense. I should say, having nice steak is not super common for me, and mid-week steak is even more rare. But after my taste of filet mignon for one a few weeks ago, I just had to go back for more. Plus, we were celebrating Tim being done with a big presentation at work (perfect excuse to indulge, right?)

On the menu-- grilled filet mignon with rosemary, grilled potatoes with sweet onion, and grilled romaine salad.

1. Steak
While I brought my steaks up to room temperature, I gave them a very simple marinade. I just coated them with olive oil, sea salt and cracked black pepper, and a few bruised sprigs of rosemary. I just wanted them to have the aroma of rosemary.  The grilling was very easy. The grill was pre-heated to Med-High, and I had them on the grill for 8 minutes, turning after four. Once I took them off the grill, I let them rest for 5 minutes or more under a foil tent. Before covering them, I put a pat of butter and a sprig of rosemary on each-- not only did this add more flavor, but when the foil was removed, they looked absolutely gorgeous!
They were perfectly medium, tender, and delicious. Next time I'd grill for about a minute less to get a little more pink inside, but they were very close to perfect.

2. Potatoes
I thinly sliced up 4 B-sized taters and half a sweet Spanish onion in my food processor. I tossed this whole thing with a tablespoon of olive oil and a few shakes of salt and pepper. Then, I wrapped the whole thing up in a foil packet and grilled them for about 30 minutes. This is a fantastic (and my go-to) way to cook potatoes on the grill. The ones on the bottom get crusty and crisp and add so much color and texture to the group. The sweetness of the onions starting to caramelize oozes through the packet and makes everything aromatic and delicious. Plus, there are so many variations available-- switching out onions for garlic, adding herbs, using butter instead of oil, etc. It's always great.

3. Salad
I have always wanted to grill salad, but have always been scared to try. It was surprisingly easy! I just took one washed and dried romaine heart, sliced it in half vertically, and brushed it with olive oil (and salt and pepper). I grilled it cut side down for about 90 seconds, and then plated it grilled side up. I actually grilled it in the same spot that the steaks were so it was extra flavorful. I dressed the romaine with fresh lemon juice and a teeny bit more olive oil (which had been soaking with a bunch of super sweet grape tomatoes). I sprinkled some parmesan on at the end.
I loved the salad, but Tim was skeptical of cooked lettuce. He loved the tomatoes at least!

This was definitely one of the best Wednesdays I've had in awhile. Everything here will be repeated, for sure!

Dinner on the grill

Last night I was cooking for one, which is usually BORING (not to mention difficult!) but I decided to take advantage of the sunny day and fire up my grill. I kind of made things up as I went, and it ended up surprisingly good.

Herb stuffed chicken for one--
1 chicken breast
a bunch of fresh herbs (I had fresh parsley and basil on hand)
olive oil
1 clove garlic
lemon
two strips of bacon
tooth picks

First I made a fresh rough-chop pesto. So, I smashed up a clove of garlic, chopped up a big handful of flat leaf parsley and then basil. I have two varieties of basil in my house. One is the standard basil you'd get everywhere, and the other (of course I don't remember the name) has as smaller leaves and a fruitier flavor. For this, I used a combination of both. I added a splash of olive oil , a bit of lemon zest (and one squeeze of juice) and salt and pepper.
Next, I preheated the grill on Medium-High.
To stuff the chicken, I took a paring knife and cut a pocket into the chicken where it is thickest. I shoved all the pesto in. There was more pesto than could fit, but that was okay. I wrapped the overflowing chicken in bacon to hold in all of the goodies, and then ran toothpicks through the end to hold it all together. I threw this on the grill for 20 minutes, turning once (beware of flareups from the bacon!) Wrapping the chicken in bacon ensures that you will end up with juicy and tender meat, even if you leave it on the grill too long.

To serve, I sliced it thinly. In hindsight, I should have just left it whole. The bacon fell apart and it just got ugly. But it tasted pretty good!

Green Beans
1 serving of frozen green beans
1TBSP olive oil
salt and pepper

These were super easy and surprisingly delicious. I took 1 sheet of aluminum foil, sprayed the bottom, and then threw the frozen beans down, and drizzled the oil and seasonings over the top. I sealed up the foil packet and threw it on the grill for about 8 minutes. I make fresh veggies this way (potatoes in particular) fairly often, but this was my first foray into the frozen/grill world. The beans turned out great! They were tender, the ones on the bottom of the packet picked up the grill marks, but the whole packet developed a great smokey flavor. I can't wait to try grilling other veggies!

Somewhere over the rainbow (trout)

In preparation for Friday night Lenten dinners, I've been spending a lot of time at the fish counter lately. Typically I go for salmon or tilapia (and lately I've been picking up the scallops a bit more). But lately, all of the salmon available in my grocery store is farm raised, has dye added, or is extremely expensive. For this reason, I decided to try to prepare trout this week.

The two rainbow trout fillets were much less expensive than salmon, and seemed to have more color than even the "dye added" cuts I was looking at. The only problem was, I've never prepared trout before! It was surprisingly easy. On the side, I had a "what is in my fridge that I need to use up" party.

Rainbow trout: serves 4 (or two with leftovers)
2 1/2 pound trout fillets
zest and juice of one lemon
1TBSP butter
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup (or so?I don't know, I didn't measure) roughly chopped flat leaf parsley
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350. Pat fillets dry with a paper towel. Salt and pepper to taste and put on a baking sheet. I sprayed the sheet AND the fillets with olive oil (I find that spraying allows for a more even coat, no excess oil, and fewer calories!) Bake fillets for 10-15 minutes depending on thickness.

Meanwhile, in a small saute pan, melt the butter, and toss in the pecans to toast lightly. Nuts are very easy to burn, so keep the heat on medium, stir often, and use your nose to smell when they are done! When they are fragrant, turn heat on very low (or just turn it off) and add in lemon juice (I found the sauce wasn't bright enough so I added in the zest too-- I would typically recommend zesting the lemon BEFORE you cut and juice it, but it happened in the reverse order here). When the fish comes out of the oven, spoon the sauce over and sprinkle with parsely.

The fish was good, but next time I will try trout without butter on top. It is rich and delicious enough as it is! But, it is definitely a fish I am happy to add to my repertoire. 

My side dishes:
1. White shoepeg corn.
This was gross. I will never buy it again. Frozen corn is the only thing that gets this Iowa girl through winter and spring in anticipation of fresh, delicious sweet corn, but I will NEVER get anything with "white" or "shoepeg" in the name again. It wasn't sweet, it was chewy, and it looked yucky on the plate.
2. Buttermilk mashed potatoes.
I had three russet potatoes and a few cups of buttermilk leftover from St. Paddy's day so I decided to use them up. I peeled and diced up the taters and got them in a pot of water on the stove. I added salt to the water once it was boiling. Once soft, I drained them, and threw them back in the pan with a TBSP of butter (actually it might have been butter substitute) one clove of minced garlic, a handful of chopped parsley, and buttermilk. I started with about a quarter cup, wanting to make sure I had the right ratio. So, as I mashed, I added more until it was a consistency I wanted.
I thought the potatoes were good-- the tang was a nice contrast to the rich fish. Tim was less impressed. He ate them, but he had a very confused expression on his face the entire time. The tang definitely threw him for a loop.

Overall, a decent dinner!

Monday night fail

Tonight I made Cajun tilapia with a side of lemon scented orzo and broccoli. I still think it sounds like it should taste good, but it just... didn't. The pasta was okay, but could have used even more lemon... or lime actually. The garnishes were nice (cilantro and red onion), but they needed more of that fresh citrus burst. Granted, I am only a few steps away from my kitchen and could easily fix this, but I'm too lazy (fail again!)

For the fish, I just used a mix of Cajun seasoning, dried parsley, black pepper and -- here is the bad part-- salt. I forgot that Cajun seasoning is already salted. I cooked the fish in 1 TBSP of vegetable oil over medium heat. The texture is really nice, but it's just too darn salty. It makes it taste so gross. Next time I will just make my own seasons with cayenne and paprika and control the amount of salt.

pumpkin soup

Not only is Pumpkin Soup one of my favorite Kate Nash songs, but it is one of my favorite dinners as well. The original incarnation of this was a pretty basic spicy pumpkin black bean soup recipe I saw on Rachel Ray's website, with a ton of garnishes and condiments to serve on top. The soup turned out okay, but the next day, the leftovers (with all of the garnishes and toppings mixed in) were a beautiful marriage of flavors and textures. Since then, this new version of the soup has been a go-to dish every fall and winter. It's not exactly spring-y, but I had exactly one can of pumpkin left in my cupboard and felt inspired!

Drastcally adapted from Rachel Ray--
1 medium sized onion (yellow or white), chopped
1 TBSP olive oil
1 chipotle pepper (canned, in Adobo sauce)
1 TBSP cumin
1 tsp cinnamon
1 (Mexican, preferably) beer
1 can pumpkin
1 can chicken/vegetable stock
1 can black beans, drained
1 apple, peeled and diced
1/4 cup (or so) roughly chopped cilantro plus more for garnish
1/4 cup diced red onion, divided
sour cream for garnish
salt and pepper to taste

Sautee chopped onion in olive oil until translucent. Add in one chipotle pepper (diced) and one teaspoon of Adobo sauce from can. This pepper has a lot of punch so start with one, and if you like spice you can always add more. Sautee for 3-5 minutes. Pour in the beer and simmer until reduced by half. Add in spices, pumpkin, broth, and black beans. Stir and cook over medium heat. Immediately before serving, add in apple, cilantro, and about half of the red onion (adding these at the last second keeps incredible texture). Serve garnished with sour cream, cilantro, and red onion. Tortilla chips also make a good garnish.

at least I enjoyed it!

This soup is flavorful, healthful, extremely filling, and delicious!

I made it Friday night, and sadly Tim didn't like it. But bless his heart, he tried it. Little by little I'm working on him to be an adventurous eater. Everyone else who has tried the soup has enjoyed it, especially people who like a little spice.