I must have been a super good girl this year, because Santa already brought my present! Isn’t it pretty?

Apolinaras insisted I open my gift early so I could figure out how to use it before we visit the Grand Canyon over the holidays. He’s just the best! We don’t know anyone in Arizona, but my parents wanted to spend Christmas someplace warm this year and found a great deal on a Phoenix condo with their time share points. I was actually pretty disappointed that we wouldn’t be spending Christmas at my parents’ house because I love traditions and snow, but I was outvoted by everyone else. Oh well, I’m going to do my best to still get into the Christmas spirit, because it’s not where you are that’s important, but who you’re with, right? My mom did cheer me up when she promised I could make Christmas dinner in our condo. Anyway, I’ve been slowly plugging away at this book, which contains tips specifically for the T1i, but between playing with my new toy, baking Christmas goodies, and trying to wrap everything up at work, I actually haven’t had much time to cook real dinners. Except this one.

I love roasted potatoes and decided to make a meal out of them by throwing in some green beans, mushrooms, and chicken sausages. Then I tossed everything with a flavorful lemon horseradish mustard sauce. This meal comes together quickly and is so healthy that I think it balances out all the Christmas cookies I’ve been indulging in at work!

Roasted Potatoes and Sausages with Green Beans and Mushrooms
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
5 red potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 1-inch chunks (2 pounds)
2 tablespoons olive oil
3/4 teaspoon salt
12 ounces fresh green beans with trimmed ends
5 shallots, chopped (1 cup)
1 12-ounce package sliced mushrooms
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 12-ounce package fully cooked chicken sausages, sliced into 1/2-inch thick rounds
1/4 cup horseradish mustard
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400˚F. Place potatoes in a 13×9-inch pan and toss evenly with 1 tablespoon olive oil and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Bake at 400˚F for 30 minutes. Remove pan from oven and stir in green beans. Bake for an additional 15 minutes at 400˚F or until potatoes and green beans are tender.

Meanwhile, heat remaining one tablespoon olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Add shallots and mushrooms to the pan and sauté for 7 to 10 minutes or until veggies are tender; add garlic and sauté 1 additional minute. Sprinkle evenly with remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and place in a large bowl. Add chicken sausage slices to the same pan and sauté for 7 to 10 minutes or until lightly browned and warmed through.

Mix horseradish mustard and lemon juice in small bowl until smooth. Place mushroom mixture, chicken sausage slices, and horseradish mustard sauce in the 13×9-inch pan with the roasted potatoes and green beans. Mix all ingredients in the pan until thoroughly combined. Makes 6 servings.

Nutrition: 309 calories, 11.2g fat, 4.3g fiber, 22.0g protein per serving
Cost: $1.65 per serving

I love Halloween and have gone as the rocker Jem of the 80s hit cartoon Jem and the Holograms three years in a row now. I have no shame, I loved Jem growing up and adore the costume so much that I may even use it again at some point! I have very fond memories of watching the cartoon, and based on the reaction my costume always gets, most little girls growing up in the 80s did too! Who wouldn’t want to be able to transform into the lead singer of a band with pink hair just by pressing her earring?

You know what else I think about when I look back on the 80s? Baked potatoes! 1983 was a good year for my family, my brother was born, and Wendy’s put baked potatoes on their menu. My whole family always ordered baked potatoes over French fries at Wendy’s since their fries were sort of subpar. A few years later, my very favorite thing to do at the mall was hit the baked potato stand in the food court (which sadly, seem to have disappeared). I think they actually had some pretty decent toppings, like cheese and broccoli, but I was a picky eater and only had eyes for the huge tub of fake butter. I think the butter weighed more than the potato itself, making it oh so good. So, in honor of the 80s, I decided we had to have baked potatoes for dinner tonight!

I actually just nuked my sweet potatoes in the microwave in order to speed things up and then mixed the flesh with shredded chicken and some spices. I was thinking about how I always like having a perfect bite of both stuffing and mashed potatoes at Thanksgiving and was inspired to top the potatoes with crumbled cornbread. Then I added a bit of goat cheese because it just makes everything better!

Truly Outrageous Baked Sweet Potatoes
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 large sweet potatoes, scrubbed
2 cooked boneless chicken breasts (I poached mine), shredded
Juice of one lime
1/4 teaspoon ground thyme
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups crumbled cornbread
3 ounces crumbled goat cheese

Directions:
Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat and saute onions for 5 to 7 minutes or until soft; add garlic and saute one additional minute.

Poke sweet potatoes several times with a fork and microwave on high for 15 to 20 minutes or until cooked. Cut potatoes in half lengthwise and scoop out flesh with a spoon. Place flesh in a large bowl with the onion mixture, shredded chicken, lime juice, thyme, chili powder, and salt, and mix until well combined.

Preheat broiler. Place sweet potato mix evenly in the potato shells on a large cookie sheet. Top evenly with crumbled cornbread and goat cheese. Broil for 2 to 5 minutes or until warmed through. Makes 6 servings.

Nutrition: 296 calories, 7.9g fat, 3.5g fiber, 24.4g protein per serving
Cost: $1.19 per serving

I apparently have a bit more Martha in me than I’ve previously appreciated because when I stumbled upon some habanero lime flour tortillas at Trader Joe’s the other night, my eyes got wide with excitement and I squealed, “they’re orange, they have bright orange tortillas!!” Before Apolinaras could ask why I was causing a commotion over tortillas, I had already dashed away in search of black beans and canned pumpkin. You see, I’d been mulling over savory Halloween treat ideas and when I saw the tortillas I was immediately inspired to make Halloween pumpkin quesadillas!!

On the ride home I brainstormed a bit and decided that I’d use a cookie cutter to cut little pumpkins out of the tortillas and then carve jack-o-lantern faces into them using a sharp knife. I already knew I wanted to stuff them with the pumpkin and black beans I had picked up, along with some shredded chicken, lime juice, and adobo sauce. But what really make me grin was when I came up with the idea to top the filling with cheese so that the cheese would cause the eye, nose, and mouth holes to “glow”! I got home and immediately went to work “carving” my pumpkins. I had so much fun making these and they’re super cute, if I do say so myself! They are the perfect treat to serve at a Halloween party and I’m already thinking it will be a fun Halloween tradition to make these every year with our (future!) kids too! Oh, and they taste great! Enjoy!

Halloween Pumpkin Quesadillas
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1 package Trader Joe’s Habarnero Lime Flour Bright Orange Tortillas
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 yellow onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 15-ounce can pure pumpkin
1 15-ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 cooked boneless chicken breasts (I poached mine), shredded
Juice of one lime
1 teaspoon adobo sauce from a can of chipotle peppers (or to taste)
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:
Use a pumpkin shaped cookie cutter to cut tortillas into small pumpkin shapes (I got 3 pumpkins per tortilla). Carve faces into half the pumpkins.

Heat olive oil over medium high heat in a large nonstick skillet. Add onion and sauté for 5 to 7 minutes or until tender; add garlic and cook one additional minute. Add pumpkin, black beans, shredded chicken, lime juice, adobo sauce, and salt to the pan and stir until smooth and heated through.

Preheat broiler. Place non-carved pumpkin shaped tortillas on a large greased cookie sheet. Spread filling evenly on top of the pumpkins, and top evenly with cheese. Place carved pumpkin tortillas on top and broil for 2 to 5 minutes or until cheese is melted and quesadillas are heated through. Makes 5 servings (of 3 pumpkin quesadillas each).

Nutrition: 667 calories, 24.7g fat, 6.7, 10.7g fiber, 46.4g protein per serving
Cost: $1.87 per serving

Dear disappointing Boston restaurant,

My hubby and I can rarely resist ordering crab cakes when we eat out, and I was really looking forward to trying your twist on our favorite appetizer during our recent visit to your restaurant. So, you can imagine our disappointment when we couldn’t see or taste the crab in the 4 bites of our $15 appetizer. Perhaps you should rename this dish to something more appropriate, like tasteless fried breadcrumbs?

Although we won’t be frequenting your establishment again (the meal did not get any better as it progressed), I do have to thank you for inspiring me to make my own crab cakes at home for the first time. Crab cakes are something I’ve been hesitant to try putting together myself, because I was nervous about ruining the expensive lump crabmeat. But after our horrible experience at your restaurant, I realized that I couldn’t do any worse than your chef, so I went ahead and splurged on the one pound $15 tub of fresh lump crabmeat from Costco. I used avocado in place of mayo and crushed plantain chips instead of breadcrumbs, and served the cakes over black beans, mango, and red peppers – yum! They were just as good as any restaurant version I’ve had and I made 3 huge dinner-sized portions for the fraction of the price they would cost at a restaurant! So thank you for pushing me to step outside my comfort zone in the kitchen!

Sincerely,
A Boston food blogger

Avocado Crab Cakes with Crushed Plantain Chips
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
2 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
2 green onions, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 pound lump crabmeat
1/4 cup mashed avocado
1/2 cup crushed plantain chips
1 egg, beaten
1 lime
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 15.5-ounce can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 mango, chopped
1/2 red pepper, chopped

Directions:
Heat 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat and sauté onions for 2 minutes, or until soft. Add garlic and sauté one additional minute.

In medium bowl, mix together the lump crabmeat, onions, avocado, plantain chips, egg, juice of half the lime, and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Shape mixture into 6 crab cakes.

Meanwhile, mix black beans, mango, red pepper, juice of the remaining half of the lime, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt in a medium bowl.

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium high heat in a nonstick skillet. Add 3 crab cakes and cook until golden brown, about 3 to 4 minutes per side. Repeat with remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil and 3 crab cakes. Serve crab cakes over the black bean, mango, and red pepper mix. Makes 3 large servings.

Nutrition: 514 calories, 22.1g fat, 14.6g fiber, 24.4g protein per serving
Cost: $6.17 per serving