Food Archives - Page 2 of 6

Butternut Squash, Shrimp, Shallot & Shredded Carrot Soup

June 10, 2014 by Brooke

It started with a can of Amy’s Organic Butternut Squash Soup.

This creamy, squashy soup inspired a few additions for a little pizzazz, so while it warmed on the stove top, I thawed a dozen frozen cooked shrimp in the sink, then sauteed them in olive oil, adding a couple teaspoons of chopped shallots (about 1/4 of a whole shallot). As these sauteed, I sprinkled with Pampered Chef Red Thai Curry Rub, tumeric, salt and pepper.

I tossed the shrimp and shallots into the soup while it cooked, then peeled one organic carrot into the pot.
Within a few minutes, voila, Butternut Squash, Shrimp, Shallot & Shredded Carrot Soup.

Butternut Squash, Shrimp, Shallot & Shredded Carrot Soup Recipe

This butternut squash shrimp soup cried for some crusty bread to dip, so I made the quickest, laziest substitute for garlic bread ever: One hot dog bun, opened up, slathered with butter, sprinkled with garlic salt and shredded cheese, and popped into a toaster oven until the cheese melted and the bread crusted. It doesn’t get much easier than that.

Filed Under: dinner recipes, Food, seafood recipes, soup recipes Tagged With: carrots, cooking for two, shrimp, squash

S’mores Cookies Recipes

June 10, 2014 by Brooke

If summer had a flavor, it wouldn’t be lemonade or BBQ or even ice cream. Believe me, I eat ice cream all year long. Summer tastes distinctively like a s’more – melted chocolate and gooey toasted marshmallow sandwiched between a crumbly crunch of graham cracker, eaten as you stand over a cracking fire, turning away from the glow just enough that the dribbles of chocolate and marshmallow on your chin are hidden in the shadows.

I enjoy the whole experience of camping – the dirt, the making-do, the campfire cooking, the sunshine and breeze, the stars and the trees – but I love s’mores. So much that I have a whole board on Pinterest devoted to the s’mores trio of ingredients. Though I already kicked off camping season over Memorial Day weekend, devouring more s’mores than I probably should have, I was craving that gooey comfort food again last week.

After digging through the best s’mores recipes Pinterest had to tempt me with, I landed on these S’mores Cookies from Two Peas and Their Pod. I needed to use up some graham crackers left open from the camping trip, as well as some mini marshmallows that were starting to stick together. I even had an open bag of mini chocolate chips for Maria’s cute mini approach to this recipe.

Who needs the whole campfire? Bake the goodness of summer inside with these nostalgic S’mores Cookies.

Chocolate Chip Marshmallow Graham Cracker Smores Cookies Recipe

S’mores Cookies Recipe:

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temp

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup mini chocolate chips

1/2 cup Jet Puffed Mallow Bits

extra graham cracker crumbs

Substitutions/Ingredient Notes:

Graham cracker crumbs: Even though I had a box of ground graham cracker crumbs, I hand crushed crackers that were left open from a camping trip and needed to be enjoyed before they went stale. I left some courser chunks but most of it ended up finely ground. It took less than one sleeve of graham crackers crushed to make one cup of crumbs.
Whole wheat flour: As always, I subbed in a little whole wheat flour for all white flour. In this recipe, I used one cup of regular flour and 1/4 cup of whole wheat flour. Keep in mind that a lot of graham cracker dust becomes more dry ingredient, so the dough will be crumbly.
Eggless: With only enough eggs left for one more breakfast tomorrow morning, I wanted to substitute eggs with an alternative in my cookie recipe. Instead of an egg, I mashed a little more than 1/2 a banana into a 1/4 cup measure. The dough still seemed really crumbly after adding the banana and vanilla so I added a couple scoops of peanut butter made with honey. Because what’s even better than the trinity of chocolate, marshmallow and graham cracker? Throwing peanut butter in the mix – like by swapping out Hershey’s for Reese’s in a traditional s’more. Or add a peanut buttery binder to a crumbly s’more cookie dough.
Mini marshmallows: Not sure what exactly Mallow Bits are, but I used good ol’ mini marshmallows that needed to be used up.
In the original recipe, she presses Hershey chocolate bars, graham cracker pieces and Mallow Bits onto the balls of cookie dough before baking. I skipped this step. Actually, I tried stuffing a few cookies by forming balls of dough around extra marshmallows, but most of them popped open in the oven and made a sticky, carmelized mess.

Directions to Make S’mores Cookies:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with a silicon mat or parchment paper, or use a baking stone like I did. Also, because my ancient oven runs so hot, I turned the temp down to about 325.
In one bowl, whisk together graham cracker crumbs, flour, baking soda and salt.
In another mixing bowl, beat butter and sugars about 3 minutes till creamy and smooth. This is where you would mix in egg and vanilla, but I substituted mashed banana and a bit of peanut butter to get the consistency without the eggs.
Slowly add the dry ingredients from Step 2 into the mixing bowl from Step 3. Mix until just combined.
Stir in the marshmallow bits and mini chocolate chips.
Roll teaspoonfuls of cookie dough into a ball, and try not to eat more than you put on the pan. I rolled each ball in a dish of extra graham cracker crumbs for a little dusting.
Place the dough balls on a cookie sheet about an inch apart. I baked these about 5 minutes then pressed them down a bit with the bottom of a small glass dipped in graham cracker crumbs before baking a final minute or two. Let them cool and set on the baking sheet for a couple minutes before transferring. These cookies were so gooey they fell apart on a wire wrack, so I had to coat it with wax paper.

Warning: These cookies are very hot out of the oven and the melted marshmallows will burn your mouth. You may be able to eat real s’mores immediately, and I know we all love fresh cookies right out of the oven, but please learn from my mistakes, and give these a few minutes to cool before you try to touch or eat them! They’ll be just as gooey after cooling, and they’ll still taste just as much like the classic s’more you’re craving.

Want to take these cookies on the go? See my easy, cheap life-hack for shipping cookies in the mail!

Filed Under: cookie recipes, dessert recipes, Food Tagged With: camping, chocolate, eggless, smores, substitutions, summer

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Almond Buttercream Frosting

October 28, 2013 by Brooke

All year long, I look forward to pumpkin. It’s such a seasonal flavor that only seems fit for the fall season. I wait until October to start baking with pumpkin – just like I have to wait until the month of Halloween to watch horror movies excessively.

So, the Friday before Halloween becomes a crafty day of finishing my homemade Poison Ivy costume to accompany boyfriend Bane to a Hallowbash that night, while baking Homemade Pumpkin Cupcakes with Almond Buttercream Frosting to contribute to the party’s feast.

I clipped this recipe out of Better Homes & Gardens, where they were originally called Football Cakes. But because I’m going to a Halloween party, not a Super Bowl party, I’m ditching football from the title.

Pumpkin Cupcake Recipe
2 cups flour
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
Stir together these dry ingredients in one bowl.

In a separate bowl, combine:
4 eggs, lightly beaten
1 (15-oz) can pumpkin
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
2/3 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil

Add flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture, one-third at a time, stirring each time just until combined. Spoon about 1/4 cup batter into paper-lined muffin tins. I baked these at 325 degrees for just shy of 15 minutes, but my oven tends to run hot. The original recipe called for 15 minutes in a 350-degree oven. Just check on them every 5 minutes or so until the toothpick test comes out clean.

Almond Buttercream Frosting
1/3 cup butter, softened
3 1/2 to 4 cups powered sugar
3 Tbsp milk
1 tsp almond extract (the original recipe called for vanilla)

Beat butter with an electric mixer until smooth. Gradually add a couple cups of the powered sugar, beating well. Beat in milk and vanilla. Gradually, add in as much of the remaining powered sugar needed to reach desired consistency. Spread it on!

To turn seasonal fall pumpkin cupcakes into spooky Halloween cupcakes, specifically, I used matching black and orange bat liners and decorative picks that I found on clearance. These cupcakes don’t taste too pumpkin-y at all; it’s almost more like a spice cake.

Filed Under: cupcake recipes, dessert recipes, Food Tagged With: frosting, Halloween, pumpkin

Breakfast of Champions: Pancakes, Sausage & Poached Eggs

October 24, 2013 by Brooke

A hearty Breakfast of Champions if ever there was one:

Silver Dollar Pancakes

Poached Eggs

Grilled Sausage Links

Blackberries

Not just once, but two days in a row.

How do you follow up a breakfast like this?

The rest of the day’s meals have a tough act to follow.

Filed Under: breakfast recipes, Food Tagged With: eggs

Asian Fruity Fish Salad

October 21, 2013 by Brooke

We start with two salmon fillets on a foil-lined pan, topped with a few shakes of extra virgin olive oil, lemon juice and fish oil, with ground garlic, ground ginger, and a fresh grind of black pepper and sea salt. These bake at 350 while we get the rest of the salad ready.

Next, we saute a handful of raw peeled shrimp with fresh minced garlic, fresh minced organic ginger, and mandarin orange juice along with a few slices. This boils until the sauce is thick and the shrimp is pink. We strain out the shrimp and let them cool, adding the liquid mash to the top of the salmon baking in the oven.

The salad is a simple shred of organic green chard topped with: sliced organic celery, sunflower seeds, fresh minced organic ginger, raspberries, blackberries, and mandarin oranges:

It’s topped off with shrimp, a slab of saucy salmon, and a shake of rice wine vinegar to become Asian Fruity Fish Salad:

With (and before, and after) the meal, we shared a bottle of Zin Your Face wine. Of course, a white probably would have been more appropriate, but with an evening rain storm rolling in and Nightmare on Elm Street playing on TV, it felt more like a red wine night. A raspberry-colored wine with a plummy, nutty scent, it comes in jammy and finishes off with spicy tannins and tobacco. Like any good and dangerous wine, it gets tastier the more you drink.

Filed Under: dinner recipes, Food, salad recipes, seafood recipes Tagged With: chard, ginger, salmon, shrimp

Sweet & Spicy Salmon, Shrimp & Chard

August 27, 2013 by Brooke

When you forget to thaw any meat before you get hungry, go straight for the seafood. Fish and shrimp are easy to “quick thaw” in a colander under cold running water. Then, they bake and saute quickly. And, for some reason, they seem far fancier than the chicken or pork that usually stocks my freezer and takes hours just to thaw.

But besides the time savings, the health benefits of fish abound. Just 4 oz. of salmon can contain more than 2 grams of omega-3 fatty acids, which is more than most adult Americans get from their entire diet over several days. Omega-3 fats fight inflammation, cancer, macular degeneration, and even promote cognitive function, youthful-looking skin, and lustrous hair.

A beauty food that gives me less time in the kitchen and more time to strut my stuff? Sold.

So, in the few minutes that the salmon filets and shrimp sit under running water, I start tearing up green Swiss chard, which brings its own punch to the plate. One cup of it, just 35 calories, provides more than 300% of your daily Vitamin K, plus healthy doses of Vitamins A and C, magnesium, potassium, iron and fiber. .

Meanwhile, my sous chef starts the mashed potatoes. OK, I’ll admit, the instant mix probably isn’t the healthiest way to go about this, but we are making this dish because we wait to the last minute without planning ahead, remember? To the standard instant mix and water, he adds a tablespoon of butter, 4 minced garlic cloves, garlic, cayenne, salt and pepper. And, because I love how mashed potatoes taste when served with a steak smothered in sauce, he adds a “tidge” of A1 Steak Sauce.

As soon as the salmon thaws, I sprinkle them with salt, pepper, turmeric, lemon juice and extra virgin olive oil. While it bakes on tin foil in a 375-degree oven, my sous chef whips up a glaze of maple butter and raspberry preserves – a combo that resembles peanut butter and jelly until he heats and reduces the sweet sauce.

Next, I add the shrimp to a skillet with extra virgin olive oil and douse generously with Tastefully Simple’s Red Thai Curry Rub, cayenne, and a garlic chili grind. At the same time, in the other half of the skillet, I heat the chard in butter. Eventually, this all gets stirred together, coating it all in a spicy heat that will be a delicious complement to the sweet glaze on the salmon. With a nice cut of bitterness from the salty chard and an echo of garlicky heat in the potatoes, this dish came together so stunningly it’s hard to imagine it thrown together last-minute.

Filed Under: dinner recipes, Food, seafood recipes Tagged With: cooking for two, salmon, shard, shrimp

Chicken Pear Protein Salad

July 29, 2013 by Brooke

The latest healthy meal in my recent kick was inspired by, well, the ingredients in the fridge that needed to be used up. When you stock your fridge with fruits and veggies, you get salads packed with anti-oxidants, protein and – most importantly – variety from boring ol’ greens.

You get something like:

Chicken Pear Protein Salad

We start with the leftover Mango Salsa from the Meal of Mangoes, and add a heavy sprinkle of sunflower seeds, chia seeds and hemp seeds. This goes into half of a red, round bowl.
Into the other half of the bowl goes a leafy mix of spinach and kale, both organic, of course.
Meanwhile, the chicken breast left over from Enchilada Night grills on the Foreman. Then, sliced, it tops the salad.
Meanwhile, one sliced pear with a handful of dried cranberries saute in the skillet with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and wasabi powder. The fruit, along with any remaining ‘warm dressing,’ then top the chicken atop the salad.
For a final touch, some sliced scallions top the pears atop the chicken atop the salad. Ta-da.

Of course, variety is the key to any tolerable salad IMHO: fruits and veggies, nuts and berries, greens and reds and yellows. And here, even the cold crunch of chilled veggies contrasts with the warm tenderness of the pears and chicken for a variety of textures and temperatures that almost makes me forget I’m eating a salad at all – and, to me, that’s a good salad.

Filed Under: chicken recipes, dinner recipes, Food, salad recipes Tagged With: cooking for two, mango, pear, vegetables

Enchilada Night

July 28, 2013 by Brooke

I know enchiladas are not difficult or daunting to prepare by any means, but they do take a whole pan’s worth of commitment to make. I can recall countless times helping my mom throw a pan together to feed the whole family. But, until tonight, I had never created a pan of enchiladas – let alone a complete Mexican meal.

homemade shredded chicken enchiladas with chicken rice, refried beans and guacamole ethnic mexican recipes

OK, so I just followed the basic recipe on the can of enchilada sauce, and the refried beans and rice came straight from a can and box, respectively. But still – I made a complete Mexican meal on my own.

Easy Shredded Chicken Enchiladas:

Grill 2 chicken breasts, totaling about one pound, on the trusty Foreman to peak juiciness. Shred (which can be great angst-relief).

Combine the shredded chicken with 3/4 cup of enchilada sauce and a handful or so of shredded mozzarella cheese. (Officially, I think it called for 1 cup.)

Spoon this filling into tortilla shells. Tuck in the ends, fold one side of the shell over, and roll the rest of the way closed so the seal is on the bottom of the pan. Oh yeah, we’re using a 13×9 pan, right? And the oven should probably be heating up. (Because I made big fat enchiladas, I stuffed 5 with this filling recipe…which allegedly makes 8-10 regular skinny-chiladas.)

Pour the remaining enchilada sauce over your enchiladas, no matter how fat or skinny they are, and sprinkle with another half cup (or smaller handful) of shredded cheese.

Accompanied by:

Rice-a-Roni chicken rice (how’s that for authentic?)
Refried Beans
Guacamole made fresh in the Nutri-Bullet with organic avocados, cilantro, onion, garlic and green chili

Filed Under: chicken recipes, dinner recipes Tagged With: ethnic food, Mexican

Turkey Cacciatore Meatballs with Mango Basil Linguine

July 25, 2013 by Brooke

I never thought I could like ground turkey until I discovered Rachael Ray’s recipe for Turkey Cacciatore Burgers during my summer internship in Vail. I just happened to take my lunch break when 30 Minute Meals aired, and I’d sit in my apartment above the newspaper newsroom overlooking the mountains, eating far less nutritious less than 30-minute meals while taking down her recipes for future reference.

The favorite recipe proved rather flexible this week, too. We’d been wanting to fix stuffed mushroom caps (but I kept forgetting crab as I stocked up on fresh fruits and veggies for juicing) and stuffed peppers (even though I forgot, until now, that we planned that meal to use up the expiring can of Beefaroni in the cupboard, per an old family recipe.) Like I said, the Turkey Cacciatore recipe proved flexible in both cases, plus leftover meatballs for another day.

Here’s the basic recipe, tweaked a tad from Rachael Ray’s original burgers to become…

Turkey Cacciatore Meatballs Recipe

1 1/3 lbs ground turkey

1/2 green bell pepper, finely chopped

1/2 red onion, finely chopped

3 tablespoons tomato paste

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

the stems of the 6 mushrooms we’ll be stuffing, removed and chopped.

The one thing I clearly remember about the recipe from the TV show is that you combine all the ingredients by hand.

The meat filled 6 large button mushrooms and one large green pepper (de-seeded and cleaned, of course.) There was enough left over for about 6-8 large meatballs. Baked at probably 400 degrees for, maybe, 20 minutes? I don’t remember, just bake it till it’s done.

We had Organic Basil Linguine leftover from Bacon-Infused Seafood Alfredo night, which made the perfect bed for the meatballs, served with a sprinkle of extra virgin olive oil, a shake of Parmesan, a snip of fresh basil and splay of fresh sliced mango. Behold, Turkey Cacciatore Meatballs with Mango Basil Linguine:

Welcome to summer, spaghetti and meatballs.

Filed Under: dinner recipes, Food Tagged With: basil, mango, pasta, stuffed