Cake, Batter, and Bowl

Chicken and Soba Romaine Salad with Thai Vinaigrette

April 5, 2011

If you happened to peek in my fridge last weekend, you would have known I was on a sugar high. Imagine tins of cupcakes and bowls of custard and ganache precariously balancing on trays of brownies, cheesecakes, and tarts. I’ve been hard at work creating recipes for the Pillsbury Bake-Off and have been devoting all my efforts to my strongest category – desserts! I’m having a blast dreaming up new treats, and although I don’t think I’ll get through my entire list of ideas before the recipes are due April 18, I’m definitely doing my best! I often find that when I’ve been overindulging my sweet tooth that I actually start craving more healthy meals than usual. Enter this salad.

It was inspired by a salad I had at an airport. Yep, an airport salad, that had a delicious Thai sweet chili dressing. I mixed romaine lettuce with red peppers and cucumbers and topped them with sesame soba noodles (since I’m now convinced all salads need some carbs), chicken, and peanuts. The vinaigrette, which contained sweet chili sauce from Trader Joe’s, canola oil, rice vinegar, and a touch of soy sauce, pulled it all together. This is definitely my favorite plate of greens on my blog so far! Ok, off to work on my next Bake-Off entry!

Chicken and Soba Romaine Salad with Thai Vinaigrette
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

Soba Noodles:
8 ounces soba noodles
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon sesame oil

Thai Vinaigrette:
1/2 cup Thai sweet chili sauce
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce

For Assembly:
3 hearts of romaine lettuce (24 ounces), cut into bite sized pieces
2 red peppers, chopped
1 English cucumber, sliced
2 cooked chicken breasts, cut into bite sized strips
1/2 cup salted peanuts

Directions:
Prepare soba noodles according to package directions, drain, and rinse with cold water. Place noodles in a large bowl and mix in soy sauce and sesame oil. Whisk sweet chili sauce, canola oil, rice vinegar, and soy sauce in a small bowl to make the vinaigrette. To serve, mix romaine lettuce with red pepper and cucumber slices. Distribute greens on four plates and evenly top with soba noodles, chicken, and peanuts. Drizzle on desired amount of vinaigrette. Makes 4 servings.

Nutrition: 681 calories, 29.2g fat, 4.7g fiber, 43.1g protein per serving
Cost: $2.99 per serving

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Crab Topped Mahi Mahi with a Lemon Sauce over Brussels Sprouts

April 1, 2011

Apolinaras recently sold one of his business ventures so I decided to whip up a celebratory meal with several of our favorite splurge ingredients – lump crabmeat and wild Mahi Mahi fillets! I made a crab cake mixture and piled it high atop the fish. Apolinaras loves Brussels sprouts, so I finally tried roasting some and immediately fell in love – why haven’t I tried doing this sooner?!? I nestled the flilets on top of the Brussels sprouts and pulled it all together with a luscious lemon sauce with a touch of honey and heavy cream. I used Vermouth in the sauce because we had it around, but you could substitute a dry white wine as well. It was so fun to have an excuse to make such an indulgent dinner!

Crab Topped Mahi Mahi with a Lemon Sauce over Brussels Sprouts
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

Roasted Brussels Sprouts:
2 pounds Brussels sprouts, trimmed of the brown bottom and cut in half
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt

Crab Crusted Mahi Mahi:
1 pound lump crabmeat
3/4 cup panko
1 large shallot, chopped (1/4 cup)
1 garlic clove, minced
2 tablespoons mayonnaise
1 egg
3/4 teaspoon salt
4 9-ounce Mahi Mahi fillets

Lemon Sauce:
1/2 cup vermouth
1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/2 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions:
Heat oven to 400˚F. Place Brussels sprouts on a large cookie sheet. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with salt. Mix well and roast at 400˚F for 25 minutes or until browned and tender, stirring once halfway through roasting.

Reduce oven to 350˚F. Place lump crabmeat, panko, shallot, garlic, mayonnaise, egg, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a large bowl and mix well. Evenly sprinkle remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt on both sides of Mahi Mahi flilets and place on a greased cookie sheet. Evenly top fillets with crab mixture, packing it well on top. Bake at 350˚F for 22 minutes or until fish is cooked through (center should be 145˚F). Remove from oven and heat broiler. Broil for one minute or until crab topping is golden brown.

Meanwhile, make lemon sauce by placing vermouth and lemon juice in a small saucepan. Heat for 6 to 8 minutes over medium heat or until reduced by half. Place butter in a small saucepan and melt over medium heat. Whisk in flour until smooth and add vermouth lemon mixture and honey. Mix until slightly thickened, then remove from heat and stir in heavy cream and salt.

To serve, make a bed of Brussels sprouts on 4 plates. Top with fish and spoon sauce around the sprouts. Makes 4 servings.

Nutrition: 831 calories, 39.5g fat, 4.7g fiber, 76.6g protein per serving
Cost: $8.34 per serving

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Pink Lemonade Sorbet

March 28, 2011

We lived in California when I was 3 years old and one of my favorite pastimes was picking lemons from the tree in our backyard. I actually only vaugely remember the lemon tree (apparently my mom had to routinely stop me from picking too many at once), but freshly squeezed lemonade has made me happy ever since then. Pink lemonade is my favorite and since the winter has just been dragging on and on here in Boston, I decided we needed a little taste of summer to cheer us up. Plus, Meyer lemons won’t be in season much longer and it’s about time I made something with them!

My sorbet contained lots of Meyer lemon juice and zest, frozen raspberries, sugar, and a touch of Cointreau to keep it from getting too icy. Mmm, the perfect winter/summer/anytime treat!

Pink Lemonade Sorbet
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup water
1 cup freshly squeezed Meyer lemon juice (from 4 lemons)
1 teaspoon finely grated Meyer lemon zest
1 12-ounce package frozen raspberries
1 tablespoon Cointreau
1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions:
Place sugar and water in a small saucepan and heat over medium high heat for 3 minutes or until sugar is dissolved, stirring occasionally. Let cool 5 minutes. Place simple syrup, lemon juice, lemon zest, and frozen raspberries in a food processor and pulse until smooth. Strain to remove raspberry seeds and stir in Cointreau and salt. Pour into your ice cream maker and churn according to the package instructions (the mixture will be cold and ready to churn without refrigerating it first because of the frozen raspberries). Place in the freezer until it firms up, about an hour. Makes 4 servings.

Nutrition: 218 calories, 0.5g fat, 0.7g fiber, 1.1g protein per serving
Cost: $1.45 per serving

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Avocado Ranch Israeli Couscous Salad

March 24, 2011

I’m not a huge main dish salad fan. It seems like whenever I just have greens with veggies and protein for lunch, I end up with a grumbling tummy only a couple hours later. My outlook recently changed after a lab potluck though. Sima brought in a lovely spinach salad topped with Israeli couscous and chicken mixed with a variety of goodies. I loved it and felt like the extra carbs on top turned it into a complete and satisfying meal. Of course, I had to put my own twist on the idea and here is the result!

I mixed some spiced up shrimp with the Israeli couscous, red pepper, corn, black beans, and grape tomatoes. For the dressing, I pulsed an avocado and some ranch dressing in my food processor until it was smooth, which ended up being quite tasty. Since the salad was just for us, I mixed all the dressing with the couscous and then placed it atop the undressed spinach. When we mixed the couscous with the spinach, I thought we got the perfect amount of dressing, but you could also serve the dressing on the side so everyone can add as much as they’d like. Definitely lunch worthy!

Avocado Ranch Israeli Couscous Salad
Printable Recipe

Ingredients:

Shrimp:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
1 tablespoon honey
1 tablespoon ancho chile powder
1 teaspoon adobo sauce from chipotle peppers
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 pound peeled and deveined shrimp

Israeli Couscous:
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 red onion, chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
1 1/3 cups Israeli Couscous (1 8-ounce box from Trader Joe’s)
1 3/4 cups low sodium chicken broth

Dressing:
1 avocado, peeled and pitted
1/2 cup ranch dressing
1/2 teaspoon salt

Salad Assembly:
1 1/2 cups cooked corn
1 can 15.5-ounce black beans, rinsed and drained
1 pint grape tomatoes, chopped in half
10 ounces fresh baby spinach leaves

Directions:
To make the shrimp, place butter, honey, ancho chile powder, adobo sauce, and salt in a medium bowl and mix well. Add shrimp and mix until well covered. Heat a nonstick pan over medium high heat and place shrimp in the pan; saute for 3 minutes or until shrimp are opaque and cooked through. Remove shrimp with slotted spoon and place in a large bowl.

To make the couscous, heat canola oil over medium high heat in a large saucepan; add onion and red pepper and saute for 5 to 7 minutes or until tender. Add couscous and saute 2 minutes or until light brown. Add chicken broth to the pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, put on lid, and simmer for 8 minutes or until broth is absorbed and couscous is tender. Put couscous in the bowl with the shrimp.

To make the dressing, place avocado, ranch dressing, and salt in a food processor and pulse until smooth. Place dressing in the bowl with the shrimp and couscous.

To assemble the salad, place corn, black beans, and grape tomatoes in the bowl with the shrimp, couscous, and dressing, and mix well. Place spinach leaves on a large platter and arrange couscous on top. Makes 6 servings.

Nutrition: 530 calories, 21.0g fat, 8.7g fiber, 27.1g protein per serving
Cost: $2.72 per serving

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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

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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

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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

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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