Cake, Batter, and Bowl

Fajita Frittata

March 20, 2011

My mom used to make breakfast for dinner every Thursday night when I was growing up and I always looked forward to it. Really, is there anything better than a big plate full of cheesy eggs, pancakes with melted butter and maple syrup, and fruit salad? I would love to continue this tradition with Apolinaras, but unfortunately, he isn’t a fan. I think it’s partly because he actually gets up early enough to make eggs every morning, while I prefer to savor every last minute of sleep and usually just have cereal. I end up getting my egg fix on weekends or nights when I’m on my own for dinner. It’s so easy to whip up a broccoli cheddar omelet with whole wheat toast and turkey bacon for one – yum!

I made a frittata the other weekend with a fajita twist. It contained chicken strips seasoned with cumin, ancho chile powder, and oregano, and plenty of browned onions, bell peppers, and cheddar cheese. I topped the frittata wedges with a fun guacamole starring sun dried tomatoes. Mmm, it was the perfect breakfast! So, you can imagine my surprise when I saw Apolinaras warm up a leftover piece up for dinner one night. I had to call him out on it – he was enjoying breakfast for dinner! He tried to convince me that this frittata wasn’t just for breakfast and should be enjoyed anytime, to which I just smiled and nodded – I will convert him yet!

Fajita Frittata
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

Fajita Frittata:
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon ancho chile powder
1 teaspoon Mexican oregano
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into bite sized strips
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 yellow onion, cut into long strips
1 green bell pepper, cut into long strips
1 red bell pepper, cut into long strips
10 large eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Guacamole with Sun Dried Tomatoes:
1 avocado, peeled, pitted, and mashed
Juice of half a lime
1/4 cup chopped sun dried tomatoes
1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:
Heat oven to 350˚F. Mix cumin, ancho chile powder, oregano, and salt in a small bowl and rub spice mixture evenly onto chicken strips. Heat canola oil over medium heat in a 10-inch oven-proof nonstick skillet and sauté chicken for 5 minutes or until cooked through and no longer pink in the center. Put chicken in a bowl and add onion and bell peppers to the skillet. Saute 15 minutes or until veggies are tender and browned. Remove from heat and stir in chicken breast strips.

Meanwhile, whisk eggs, milk, and salt together in a large bowl until frothy. Stir in cheddar cheese and pour egg mixture into the pan over the other ingredients and bake at 350˚F for 30 to 35 minutes or until eggs are set.

Meanwhile, make guacamole by mixing mashed avocado, lime juice, sun dried tomatoes, and salt in a medium bowl. Cut frittata into wedges and top evenly with guacamole. Makes 6 servings.

Nutrition: 339 calories, 22.4g fat, 3.4g fiber, 26.2g protein per serving
Cost: $1.47 per serving

Signature

32 Comments - Leave a comment!

Sweet Potato Cups

March 16, 2011

We love sweet potatoes and always have them around, so when I saw the North Carolina Sweet Potato Sweet n’ Healthy Blogger Recipe Contest had a kid friendly category, I immediately knew I wanted to enter. Apolinaras and I may not have children yet, but we’re both big kids at heart and are all about Pixar movies and Disney World! I’m already looking forward to cooking with our future kiddos and wanted to create a healthy dessert that kids would have enjoy helping out with in the kitchen and look forward to eating. So, I decided it would be fun to make little smiling sweet potato dessert cups that kids could help decorate.

Well, most of them were smiling, but my personal favorite was this one that was sticking out its tongue!

These sweet potato cups were inspired by the bottom layer of my Mini Sweet Potato Cheesecakes. Although the cups contain cream cheese, they’re not nearly as heavy as cheesecake, and more like a light version of pumpkin pie filling, but with sweet potatoes! To make them, I just stirred together mashed sweet potatoes, cream cheese, maple syrup, an egg, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and salt. Then I scooped the batter into muffin cups and decorated them with dried cranberries, dried cherries, and pecans. The cups set up beautifully in the oven and we enjoyed the creamy treats after chilling them in the refrigerator. Since they only have a touch of added sugar with the maple syrup and less than 100 calories a pop, you can feel good about your little guys (or in my case, my one big kid!) enjoying them.

Sweet Potato Cups
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
2 large sweet potatoes, scrubbed and pricked several times with a fork
4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1 large egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
A handful of edible decorations – dried cranberries, dried bing cherries, pecans, etc

Directions:
Heat oven to 400˚F. Place sweet potatoes on a baking sheet and bake at 400˚F for 1 hour or until fork tender. Cut the sweet potaotes in half, scoop out the flesh with a spoon, and mash well in a large measuring cup. Place 2 cups mashed sweet potatoes in a large bowl and let mashed potatoes cool to room temperature, about 10 minutes.

Reduce oven heat to 350˚F. Place cream cheese, maple syrup, egg, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and salt in the bowl with the mashed sweet potatoes and stir well. Scoop batter evenly into 10 cups of a muffin tin lined with papers. Decorate your sweet potato cups with dried cranberries, dried cherries, and pecans (I made fun faces!). Bake cups for 30 minutes at 350˚F or until set (the tops will feel firm). Cool completely to room temperature and then place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes or until chilled. Makes 10 sweet potato cups.

Nutrition: 93 calories, 4.5g fat, 1.3g fiber, 2.3g protein per cup
Cost: $0.39 per cup

Signature

24 Comments - Leave a comment!

Sesame Chicken with Soba Noodles

March 12, 2011

I spent the last week at a science conference in Colorado – check out the gorgeous views! While most people ski during the afternoon breaks at Keystone meetings, I decided against pushing my luck with my poor knee that has been acting up again when I jog. I did get to the top of one of the mountains though and went showshoeing with my labmates Joo and Chris.

The peaks were beautiful and the trek was challenging – between the hills and high altitude, I was struggling to catch my breath so it was an exhilarating workout. We also had fun checking out the Keystone village and outlet mall, and the foodie highlight was a tasty buffalo burger at one of the local pubs.

After eating out for so many days, the first thing I wanted to do today was make a nice healthy meal, but of course our fridge was empty and we ended up going out instead. I know what I would have made if all the ingredients had been around though – these delightful soba noodles!

I whipped up this dish a few weeks ago after our trip to HMart, where I scored the frozen buckwheat noodles and black sesame seeds. The soba noodles are addicting with the flavorful dressing and chunks of cucumber and red pepper, and the crispy chicken on top makes it a filling meal. I’m glad to be home and can’t wait to get back in the kitchen tomorrow now that we’ve restocked on groceries!

Sesame Chicken with Soba Noodles
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

Sesame Chicken:
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 cup panko
1/4 cup white sesame seeds
1/4 cup black sesame seeds
2 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts, cut into thin strips

Soba Noodles:
1 pound soba noodles
1 English cucumber, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup rice vinegar
3 tablespoon canola oil
1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon honey
1 shallot, minced (1/4 cup)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

Directions:
To prepare the chicken, heat oven to 350˚F. Place flour and salt in a shallow dish and mix well. Place eggs in another shallow dish and mix well with a fork. Place panko and sesame seeds in a third shallow dish and mix well. Lightly dredge both sides of the chicken in the flour, then the egg, and then the sesame panko mixture until well covered. Place coated chicken strips in a 13×9-inch pan and bake at 350˚F for 10 minutes or until cooked through and no longer pink in the center.

Prepare soba noodles according to package directions, drain, and rinse with cold water. Place in a large bowl, along with the chopped cucumber and red pepper. Mix soy sauce, rice vinegar, canola oil, sesame oil, honey, shallot, garlic, and cilantro in a small bowl and mix well. Pour dressing over soba noodles and mix well. Even distribute noodles into bowls and top with chicken strips. Makes 6 servings. Serve cold or at room temperature.

Nutrition: 609 calories, 18.8g fat, 2.8g fiber, 36.3g protein per serving
Cost: $1.81 per serving

Signature

30 Comments - Leave a comment!

Cheddar, Feta, and Pecorino Romano Mac & Cheese

March 7, 2011

First of all, thanks to everyone who entered my blogiversary giveaway. A few of you correctly guessed the very common ingredient I don’t like is….black pepper! In fact, when Apolinaras wants to make sure I don’t dig into his portion of mac & cheese, he’ll sprinkle black pepper all over it. Celery was another popular guess, and while it’s not my favorite, I do enjoy it in stuffing, gumbo, and jambalaya. So, congrats to commenter number 52, Danielle, who guessed correctly and won the $80 CSN Stores gift card! The cookbooks went to commenters 54 and 81, Reeni and Amaranthian, who chose Mexican Everyday and 660 Curries, respectively.

Speaking of mac & cheese, I’ve admitted before that I sometimes make boxed mac and cheese with a few modifications to spice it up (I usually I use half the amount of butter, add buttermilk, and tons of cheddar cheese). One day I ran out of cheddar and randomly threw in the only two types of cheese in our fridge at the time – pecorino romano and feta. I really enjoyed it and knew I would have to make a homemade version with sharp cheddar, feta, and the pecorino – so good! I baked this version and spread a nice layer of crispy pita chips on top. This is the perfect comfort food for a cold day.

Cheddar, Feta, and Pecorino Romano Mac & Cheese
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
1 pound whole wheat rotelle pasta
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups milk (I used 2%)
2 1/2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cups crumbled feta
1 cup freshly grated pecorino romano
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup crushed pita chips (I used 2 1.5-ounce bags from Stacey’s)

Directions:
Heat oven to 350˚F. Prepare pasta according to package directions. Drain and place back in a large pot.

Meanwhile, melt 1/4 cup butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in flour until smooth and cook one more minute or until mixture starts to brown. Whisk in milk and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and mix in cheddar cheese, feta, pecorino romano, and salt. Heat 5 minutes or until cheese is melted and mixture is smooth (note – my chunks of feta didn’t melt). Mix cheese sauce with cooked pasta in the large pot. Pour pasta into a 1 1/2 quart oval stoneware baking dish.

Place remaining 2 tablespoons butter in a small microwavable bowl and microwave on high for 30 seconds or until melted. Mix crushed pita chips and melted butter in a small bowl. Sprinkle chips evenly over mac & cheese and bake at 350˚F for 30 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and pita topping is golden brown. Makes 8 servings.

Nutrition: 602 calories, 30.5g fat, 5.9g fiber, 26.5g protein per serving
Cost: $1.09 per serving

Signature

34 Comments - Leave a comment!

Vanilla Joe-Joe Strawberry Cheesecake

March 2, 2011

We have a drawer at work filled with snacks that help get us through the day. There are usually choices like pretzels, granola bars, nuts, chocolate, etc, but you’ll always find Trader Joe-Joe’s Vanilla Sandwich Crème Cookies (with real vanilla bean speckles!) because we’re completely addicted! I usually munch on one type of snack for a couple of weeks until I get sick of it and then move onto something else, but we just can’t get enough of these cookies. You have to go get a box if you haven’t tried them yet, and don’t go thinking you can substitute Golden Oreos or the brand from Whole Foods – we’ve tried them all and they’re not nearly as good!

So, when it was time to bring in a treat for Sima’s birthday, I knew I wanted to use Vanilla Joe-Joes! Sima requested cheesecake, so that made things pretty easy. I made a crust with the Joe-Joe’s and also stirred some cookies into the cheesecake itself. Then I topped the cheesecake with strawberries, spread on a layer of whipped cream, and garnished my creation with a few more Joe-Joe’s. Yes, there’s an entire box of cookies in this cheesecake and I wouldn’t have it any other way – this is the perfect celebratory dessert!

Vanilla Joe-Joe Strawberry Cheesecake
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

Crust:
24 Trader Joe-Joe Vanilla Sandwich Crème Cookies, pulsed in the food processor into crumbs (2 1/4 cups crumbs)
3 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted

Cheesecake:
4 8-ounce packages cream cheese, at room temperature
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
4 large eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
12 coarsely chopped Trader Joe-Joe Vanilla Sandwich Crème Cookies (I cut mine in fourths, 2 cups)

Strawberries and Whipped Cream Topping:
1 pound strawberries, hulled and sliced (3 1/2 cups)
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1 cup heavy cream
6 coarsely chopped Trader Joe-Joe Vanilla Sandwich Crème Cookies (I cut mine in fourths)

Directions:
To make the crust, heat oven to 350˚F. Mix cookie crumbs and melted butter in a medium bowl. Transfer the mixture to a greased 9-inch springform pan, and press into a uniform layer over the bottom and up the sides of the pan. Cook crust for 10 minutes at 350˚F.

To make the cheesecake, combine the cream cheese and sugar in the bowl and beat on medium-high speed with a mixer for 3 minutes or until smooth. Beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Blend in the vanilla. Gently stir in chopped cookies. Pour into prepared crust and bake at 350˚F for 60 minutes or until edges are set and middle is slightly wobbly. Cool to room temperature, about one hour. Place in the refrigerator for several hours or until chilled.

To make the topping, mix strawberries and 1/4 cup sugar in a large bowl. Let the berries macerate for an hour at room temperature. Meanwhile, place cream and remaining 1 tablespoon sugar in a bowl and use an electric mixer with a whisk attachment and beat until stiff peaks form. Immediately before serving, evenly spread strawberries over chilled cheesecake with a slotted spoon (note – if assembling the night before I suggest not macerating the strawberries so no juice runs out). Spread whipped cream on top of the strawberries and evenly sprinkle with chopped cookies. Makes 20 servings.

Nutrition: 400 calories, 30.0g fat, 1.3g fiber, 6.2g protein per serving
Cost: $0.62 per serving

Signature

35 Comments - Leave a comment!

Two Year Blogiversary Giveaway

February 26, 2011

Today is my second blogiversary! You can read the story behind why I started my blog here. I love interacting with you all – every comment makes me smile and it really makes my day when someone tries one of my recipes, so thank you!

To celebrate, you know I had to do a giveaway. I actually have two, one sponsored by me and one from CSN Stores, who as you probably know, has everything from modern dining room furniture to gorgeous bakeware.

First, I wanted to share the two cookbooks that have inspired me most in the past year. Cooking from 660 Curries by Raghavan Iver has given me enough confidence to try creating my own recipes with an Indian twist, like Indian Saag Naanburgers, Chicken Tikka Masala Naanwiches, Indian Spiced Salmon with Pineapple Chutney, and Indian Spiced Cauliflower, Potato, and Pea Soup. Cooking from Mexican Everyday by Rick Bayless made me realize how much I like ancho chile powder, which I’ve used in my Mini Meatball Mexican Soup, BBQ Chicken Tacos, and Latin Crab Bisque. I love both these books and wish I could send you all copies.

Two readers will each win one cookbook and there are two ways to enter:
1. Leave a comment letting me know which cookbook you’d like.
2. Tweet about this giveaway and leave another comment letting me know you tweeted.

In addition, I also have an $80 CSN Stores gift card to giveaway. To make this contest extra fun, I’d like to do a little scavenger hunt. There’s one very common ingredient that I’m not a fan of and is not in any of my recipes. Think you know what it is? To enter to win the gift card, leave a separate comment letting me know. The winner will be chosen randomly from all the correct answers. If no one gets it, I’ll choose a winner randomly from everyone who entered. Fun, huh.

Entries must be in by 11:59 pm EST on Saturday, March 5. Sorry, only U.S. and Canadian readers only are eligible for the CSN gift card, but I’ll ship the cookbooks anywhere. Good luck and thank you for following me on my foodie adventures!

The fine print: I’m sponsoring the cookbook part of this giveaway myself and CSN is sponsoring the $80 gift card, but I received no compensation for this post and all opinions are mine. The winners will be picked with random.org on Sunday, March 6 and announced shortly thereafter.

Signature

113 Comments - Leave a comment!

Chicken Parm Eggplant Stacks

February 22, 2011

Do you enjoy any odd snack foods? I have a thing for croutons. Not only do I go out of my way to scoop as many as is politely possible onto my salad plate at buffets, I also really like snacking on them on their own – yep, right out of the package and usually when I’m making dinner. I’ve even been known to pour some in a bowl and munch on them while I’m watching TV. My very favorite use for them, however, is in chicken parm because crushed croutons are my secret breading ingredient! They make the perfectly seasoned golden crust.

Chicken parm is one of our favorite dishes and I recently decided it needed to be amped up a bit. In this version, I topped my breaded chicken not only with marinara and mozzarella, but also with a layer of creamy ricotta and roasted eggplant. Mmm, if you enjoy chicken and eggplant parm, you’ll love this!

Chicken Parm Eggplant Stacks
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

Eggplant:
1 tablespoon olive oil
6 1/2-inch thick long eggplant slices (from 2 medium eggplants cut lengthwise)

Chicken:
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1 cup of your favorite crouton crumbs
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, butterflied in half lengthwise so you have 6 pieces
2 tablespoons olive oil

Assembly:
1 cup part skim ricotta cheese
1/2 tablespoon dried oregano
1/2 cup freshly grated pecorino romano cheese
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups of your favorite marinara sauce
1 1/2 cups shredded part skim shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:
To roast the eggplant, heat oven to 375˚F. Brush eggplants slices on both sides with olive oil and place on a large cookie sheet. Roast eggplant at 375˚F for 15 to 20 minutes or until tender.

To prepare the chicken, place flour and salt in a shallow dish and mix well. Place eggs in another shallow dish and mix well with a fork. Place crouton crumbs in a third shallow dish. Lightly dredge both sides of the chicken in the flour, then the egg, and then the croutons until well covered. Heat one tablespoon of olive oil over medium high heat in a medium nonstick skillet. Place three pieces of chicken in the pan and cook for 3 to 5 minutes on each side for or until cooked through, no longer pink in the center, and firm to your touch. Repeat with three remaining pieces of chicken and olive oil. Place cooked chicken pieces in a 13×9-inch pan.

To assemble the stacks, heat broiler. Mix ricotta cheese, oregano, pecorino romano cheese, and salt in a small bowl until smooth. Top cooked chicken pieces evenly half the marinara and then the ricotta mixture. Top ricotta mixture with roasted eggplant slices, remaining marinara, and mozzarella cheese. Broil for 2 to 3 minutes or until ricotta is heated through and mozzarella cheese is melted. Makes 6 servings.

Nutrition: 491 calories, 23.0g fat, 6.2g fiber, 47.7g protein per serving
Cost: $2.03 per serving

Signature

28 Comments - Leave a comment!

Udon Miso Soup

February 18, 2011

Apolinaras and I ventured back to HMart on Super Bowl Sunday and enjoyed big bowls of udon soup for lunch from the Japanese section of food court. We always go back and forth on what to order because everything looks so tasty, but I think we made a good choice, because the soup was just delicious and packed with thin slices of tofu, seaweed, green onions, and broccoli– so good! We’d also never had udon noodles before and had a great time slurping them up. In fact, we enjoyed it so much, that I immediately got out my shopping list and jotted down all the ingredients I could identify in the soup so I could attempt to recreate it at home.

Look at all the goodies I scooped up that I’ve never bought before – frozen udon noodles, fried tofu, dried seaweed, and dashi miso (from what I can tell, this type of miso has bonito extract in it, which is commonly used to flavor Japanese soup stocks). I also got a huge package of dried shitake mushrooms, because I thought they would add a great extra layer of flavor, and I couldn’t resist buying them because where else can you can get so many dried mushrooms for just $3?

I was super happy with how my soup came out. I cooked the udon noodles according to the package directions and added them to a pot with the rehydrated shitake mushrooms and mushroom stock, chicken broth, seaweed, broccoli, and tofu. Then I added the miso and green onions after reducing the heat. I like to mix miso with a couple cups of broth in a small bowl to make sure the miso fully dissolves, before adding it to the stock pot, otherwise big chunks of it end up floating around. This meal came together really quickly and I’m very happy that I still have enough of all the ingredients to make it again soon – yay for HMart!

p.s. Congrats to Monica, who won my Guylian Artisanal Belgian Chocolates giveaway!

Udon Miso Soup
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
2 9-ounce packages frozen udon noodles
3 ounces dried sliced shitake mushrooms
3 cups boiling water
12 cups low sodium chicken broth
0.3 ounces dried seaweed, cut into strips
4 cups broccoli florets (I used 12 ounces of frozen florets)
9 ounces fried tofu (called soy cutlets), cut into long thin strips
1/2 cup dashi miso paste with bonito extract
5 green onions, thinly sliced

Directions:
Prepare udon noodles according to the package directions, drain, and rinse well with cold water.

Place mushrooms and boiling water in a medium bowl and stir well; let sit for 30 minutes or until mushrooms are rehydrated. Place mushrooms and mushroom stock, chicken broth, seaweed, broccoli florets, and tofu in a large stockpot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and place 2 cups of broth in a medium bowl. Stir in miso and return to stockpot; stir well (make sure the miso doesn’t boil or you will kill the flavor!). Stir in noodles and green onions and serve. Makes 6 servings.

Nutrition: 444 calories, 10.8g fat, 4.8g fiber, 18.8g protein per serving
Cost: $1.98 per serving

Signature

23 Comments - Leave a comment!