Weekly wrap up: 2/26 - 3/3

The past several weeks I have been spending what seems like every waking minute working on my prospectus. And while this leaves little time for writing blog entries (despite my New Year's Resolution to increase all types of writing activity), I did take time to cook a few times and snap some quick photos. Here are all the yummies from the last week!

Sunday Brunch for 1: Rum Raisin, Cinnamon Swirled Baked Oatmeal. Sunday morning I was really craving something slightly sweet. Because making pancakes (from scratch) for one is quite difficult, I turned this yummy looking pancake recipe into a baked oatmeal recipe! So, I soaked the raisins in rum, and added them to my standard baked oatmeal (1/2 cup oats, 1/2 cup 1% milk, one egg) and then swirled in a mixture of cinnamon, raw sugar, and about a 1/2 teaspoon of water (to make it into a paste). I baked it at 350 for 20 minutes and then devoured it in 20 seconds. Oh-- I poured more milk on it before I ate it too, because I was feeling extra indulgent.

Sunday dinner: (Leftover) Fontina polenta with mushroom saute. For "vampire night" this week, I was on dinner duty. I went to my go-to source for a great meal, the December 2010 issue of Cooking Light magazine. This sounds really odd, but this magazine has given me more "winners" of recipes than most cook books I own! For a $2.95 price tag, that is not half bad. This recipe was no exception. It came together really quickly and was absolutely delicious. The leftovers weren't half bad either! I just changed a few things with the recipe-- for one, I used fontina cheese instead of fontal. Also, I used chicken stock instead of veggie, and my mushrooms were a blend of shitake and white button. Finally, I skipped the whole "put the polenta in the broiler" step and just ate it straight from the pot. And you know what? I got no complaints. 

Wednesday dinner: (sideways?) Cauliflower and Kale pasta bake and my go-to spinach salad. Wednesday I tried a recipe that I have on Pinterest. Well, I didn't so much follow the recipe as I did say "oh cauliflower and kale sound good" and made it up as I went along. I don't really know what I did here, but I know it was just okay. The star of the meal was my go-to salad. Some type of green (spinach in this case) + poppyseed dressing + a tangy cheese (gorgonzola) + a bit of bite from an onion (shallot) + some nut or seed (walnut) + dried or fresh fruit (crasin) = instant salad success! Especially when the greens are tossed in the dressing and the toppings are added later. Fool proof! 

Friday dinner for two: Kale Caesar Salad and Shrimp Scampi Rice Pilaf. Last week while working on my prospectus over at Tim's, I caught a recorded episode of Symon's Suppers (yes, my boyfriend DVR's cooking shows for me-- that is why he's wonderful!), and was inspired by the one and only Michael Symon to make a Caesar salad with kale instead of romaine. I didn't follow his recipe, but it was still super delicious. To make the dressing, I combined a grated garlic clove, the zest and juice of one lemon, an anchovy, some black pepper, parmesan cheese, and then slowly whisked in olive oil. I then tossed the kale leaves in the dressing and let it sit for close to an hour (while most salads would be ruined from sitting in dressing, the kale gets better as the acid slowly "cooks" it) and topped it with some thinly sliced shallots and tomatoes. YUM. 

Cooking dinner for Tim and I during lent is always nice because it lets me stretch my seafood legs a bit. Last Friday I made shrimp scampi rice, which is based off of a dish my mom made probably twice a month when I was growing up. It couldn't be easier, and it's sooo delicious. Basically, I melted about two TBSP of butter with another TBSP of olive oil (this was for four servings, so not much in each) and then sauteed some grated garlic, red pepper flakes, and scallions. Meanwhile I cooked up a pot of brown rice (if it was minute rice I would have just made it in the same pot as the yummy butter mixture, but it was the regular old "cook it for 30 minutes" kind instead). Just before the rice was done, I threw the shrimp in to steam up and then tossed in the yummy sauce. Last but not least, I topped it with the zest of a lemon (Tim proceeded to pick out every little piece of lemon, so next time I'll skip that step) and some more fresh scallions and finely minced parsley. So easy and delish! 

Saturday night dinner: Pantry Pasta (aka black squid ink fettucine with artichoke hearts, sundried tomato, spinach, and parmesan). Sometimes I just don't feel like grocery shopping. This is rare, since any food market is basically my heaven. But, Saturday was one of those "I can't bare putting on shoes, let alone real pants" kinds of evenings, so I had to go shopping in my pantry instead! I had half a package of black fettucine left from Valentine's day, so I put on a pot of boiling water, and meanwhile made a quick sauce of chopped canned artichoke hearts, the last couple sundried tomatoes out of a package, and half a bag of spinach (along with garlic, EVOO, red pepper, parm, and that sort of stuff). Tossed it all together and YUM. Not the worst pantry pasta I've ever had. 

So, that's what I cooked last week! I'm hoping for some equally delicious meals this week! Maybe some even inspired by the spring weather we will be having??

Shrimp, Scallop, and Veggie Kabobs with Mint Pesto

I'm tired of blogging. I need to stop procrastinating and just write about things when they are fresh in my mind! But, it's too late for that now. Last Wednesday I made some kabobs on the grill and they were pretty tasty.

I made shrimp, bay scallop, cherry tomato, and one with red onions and green peppers. I marinated the shrimp and scallops in a mint pesto (mint leaves, parsley leaves, almonds, water, olive oil, and garlic-- in food processor) which was surprisingly good. I would make it again-- especially on a lamb burger or something!

I served the Kabobs with a spinach and arugula salad with edamame, pecans, and goat cheese. It was kind of a weird combination, but all I had on hand. The dressing was balsamic vinegar mixed with some of the mint pesto. I saved the extra to drizzle on the Kabobs.

I have nothing else to say about this and feel like I sound like a robot. So.... I'm going to be done now.

Crispy Quesadilla with Spinach, Black Bean, and Tomato

This was a super quick lunch I made about a week ago. Basically, I assembled the quesadilla  in the following order: corn tortilla, cheddar, spinach, black bean, tomato, cheddar, corn tortilla.

This looks like Pac Man...

Instead of trying to flip this bad boy in the pan, I actually put both tortillas in the pan (just sprayed them with cooking spray first) on high heat. I piled the layers on to one, and just cheddar onto the other. After the tortillas started to crisp up, I put the loaded one on a plate, and topped it with the other. The melty cheese acted as glue, and the veggies got just warm enough to get tender. I garnished it will my favorite-- some Greek yogurt. The crispy texture of the tortillas was really good, though they were difficult to eat without making a mess. Luckily this meal was just for me, and not part of a date night :)


**oh, I remember this not being bland, so I'm pretty sure I had some cayenne or chili powder sprinkled on the black beans....

Steak, Salad, and Sauce (I love alliteration)

I am actually up to date on blogging! It's a miracle! This is a meal I made just two days ago for Wednesday night date night with Tim. It wasn't the best meal ever, but I am pretty much obsessed with the poblano yogurt now.

Grilled Sirloin Steak and Red Onion Slices 
I put a dry rub on the steaks of cayenne, chili powder, minced garlic dried parsley, fresh cilantro, lime zest, cumin, S&P. It was very tasty, but the steaks were a bit tough. The onions just had canola oil, salt, and pepper and I grilled them for about five minutes. The thicker slices should have gone for a minute or two more but overall they were great!

Poblano Yogurt Sauce

• poblano pepper
• 2/3 cup plain Greek yogurt
• garlic powder (better if it was fresh and also roasted but oh well)
• sea salt

Fiesta-Green Goddess Salad

• spinach and arugula leaves 
• avocado, diced
• cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 cup frozen corn kernels (thawed or cooked or whatever)
• cilantro
• juice from half a lime
• 1/4 crumbled feta cheese
• 1 TBSP poblano yogurt dip

Everyone (I assume) has heard of Green Goddess salad. It's a delicious blended yogurt-y, green-y salad dressing over a delicious bed of greens and fresh veggies. After taking a bite of my poblano yogurt sauce, I realized that if I thinned it down just a bit (with the juice of a lime), it would make a fantastic salad dressing very similar to a green-goddess dressing. But, keeping with my spicy "fiesta" theme, my other toppings all somewhat resemble Mexican food (except the feta of course, but just go with me).

As with all salads, I toss the greens with the dressing first so each leaf is coated and I don't use too much dressing (yay low calorie), then I throw on half of the toppings, toss once or twice, and then put the rest of the toppings on before serving.

Quote of the night: "Is this Arugula?" -Tim  This may not seem like a big deal to anyone else, but I am just so proud that my "picky eater" boyfriend can now successfully identify arugula. He's turning into a regular foodie!!

spinach and tomato quesadilla

Monday night, I was a hungry girl. The kind of hungry where I couldn't make decisions, including what to eat for dinner. So I kept putting it off as I ran around the house whining about being starving. And then I went to the grocery store. Disclaimer- I do not under any circumstances recommend going to the grocery store while hungry because you will spend ten times more than usual. Except... I was still so indecisive that I this time I some how did not spend more money than usual. And I came home with ingredients for last night's sweet potato gratin and tonight's fish tacos and still nothing to satiate my crazy hunger. And then out of nowhere, as if my body took over, I was wilting baby spinach leaves with some garlic and a drop or two of EVOO and slicing a tomato and putting them on a corn tortilla with a little bit of sharp cheddar and before my eyes a quesadilla was forming. By even more of a happy accident, I accidentally made it into a crispy quesadilla as the tortilla fried in the tiny bit of oil (smart balance + omega 3) I had in the pan. I topped it with a dollop of greek yogurt and some cilantro (but this wasn't needed)

lousy photo... but I'm honestly surprised I took a photo before I jumped in.

It was delicious. And not just because I was so hungry I'd think anything was delicious. It really was. The veggies were so fresh, and the tiny bit of cheese was so melty against the crisp tortilla. Other bonuses were the fact that it took five whole minutes to make, and it was actually quite healthful.  Yippee.

Shaved Asparagus Pizza and Strawberry Goat Cheese Spinach Salad

Shaved Asparagus Pizza

What a disappointment. I think I just had too high of expectations going into this dinner. I saw this recipe on smitten kitchen ages ago and have been drooling over it, and then when my friend Lisa sent me a very similar recipe and sang her own praises, I thought, "I have to try it!" It was definitely something that was outside of Tim's comfort zone, but I was hopeful he would adapt since he likes pizza crust, cheese, and asparagus separately...

Anyway... it was okay at best. I was just really disappointed. I feel like it was bland and the textures creeped me out. But man oh man, is it pretty!

Strawberry Goat Cheese Spinach Salad

• 1 bag baby spinach
• 1.5 TBSP poppyseed dressing (I just use store-bought)
• Sliced strawberries
• chopped pecans
• crumbled chevre goat cheese (about an ounce)

My salad totally stole the show-- It was a little twist on my go-to salad and it is one I will re-create again and again. My rule for salad is to toss it til you think you are done and then toss it three more times. The more you toss, the less dressing you need to use. So, for both Tim and I, I was able to use less than one serving of dressing. The flavor is still there, but the calories and fat are not. Another trick I use, is I first toss just the leaves. Then, I throw on half the mix-ins and toss a few times, and then throw the rest of the mix-ins on top.  For this salad, I only put the goat cheese on top. It was insanely good. 

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!

I love myself

Today I am feeling super in love with myself. Mostly because I just made myself the most incredible dinner. I've been in a funk at work lately and when I got home today I decided I needed a treat!

So-- I channeled Ina Garten and tried out her Steakhouse Steak recipe. I've always struggled with knowing how long to cook meat (red meat especially) since we were largely vegetarian growing up. Last summer, Tim and I experimented with my grill non-stop and though we had perfected just about every dish, I have since forgotten all cooking times and temps. Oh well, I can practice again soon enough. Anyway, I have never successfully prepared a steak indoors.... until tonight!

It turns out that a quick sear in a screaming hot pan and popping a little filet in the oven is all you need. My filet was perfect tonight-- tender, flavorful thanks to the bite of cracked pepper and sea salt, and perfectly pink inside.

YUM.

On the side, I had roasted red potatoes which I tossed in olive oil, dusted in herbs, S&P and roasted on a sheet pan at 400 degrees for about 25 minutes plus however long the steak was in there. I also made spinach with sauteed mushrooms and garlic for a little extra punch of iron and vitamin c.

To repeat. I love myself.

The opposite of a night on the town

I was pretty worthless today-- I woke up with a tummy ache and never really made it off of my couch. By dinner tie I realized I was starving but a trip to the store seemed out of the question. So (with some help from my honey who picked up a bag of red potatoes on his way over) I just through something together with some goodies from my freezer: Herb crusted pork tenderloin with roasted potatoes (roasted in the pan drippings I might add) and a side of creamed (er... 2% milked spinach).

Pork and Potatoes

Pork tenderloin is my all time favorite dish to prepare. It's easy, it's delicious, it's healthy-- what's not to love? I have honestly made it every way imaginable. On the grill, in the oven, marinated in just about everything. Tonight I opted for a dry rub-- mostly a mix of sage and thyme with some garlic powder, sea salt, and course black pepper mixed in. I plopped it in a pan surrounded it with sliced potatoes and chopped onion, drizzled it with olive oil, and put it in the oven at 375 for 45 minutes. After the pork was out of the oven and resting, I made the spinach. Just one box of frozen spinach, a few tablespoons of butter, about a quarter cup of 2% milk and a few teaspoons of nutmeg. Right before serving I sprinkled some romano cheese over the top.

Spinach

As usual, the pork was great. Letting it rest for 5-10 minutes after coming out of the oven (or off the grill) is really the key step to juicy delicious pork. The potatoes tonight were a-mazing. I haven't ever roasted them in the same pan as the pork before, and they absorbed the salty rich flavor of the tenderloin. I was also really surprised with how creamy the not-actually-creamed spinach was!

The recipe-free meal got good marks all around, and in fact, I may go dig into the leftovers any minute... until then, it's back to my comfy couch.