Warm Black Bean Soup

I found the Whole Foods 28 day challenge to healthier eating the other day and decided to give it a whirl.  So I've been busy this morning cooking up my lunches for the rest of the week and prepping my veggies for some quick dinners.  Meal number 1 is a black bean soup, whole foods provided a recommended recipe, but since I'm not good at following directions I took my own spin on it.  And, oh my was I ever rewarded, I think I might have just found my new go to food for those chilly winter days yet to come this year..

15 min prep 1 hour cook

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

3 cups water

1 tbsp chicken bouillon

2 or 3 cloves garlic (I used the mini cloves I had lying around in my garlic bin so I'm not sure how much I used)

1 medium onion diced

1/2 red bell pepper diced

2 tsp olive oil

1/2 tbsp cumin

1/2 tsp chipotle chili powder

1/2 tsp ground coriander

2 tbsp sherry

1 tsp lime juice

Saute the onions, garlic, and peppers in the olive oil until translucent and tender, around 5 minutes.  Add the beans, water, boullion, cumin, coriander, and chili powder and stir.  Heat to boiling and let simmer covered fro 45 minutes to meld flavors.  Add the sherry and lime juice and let it cool for a few minutes.

Puree the soup in a blender/food processor.   Return to the pot to reheat before serving.

Its fabulous as is for a great lunch or get fancy by adding a little sour cream and cilantro.

Apple Crisp in a Jiffy

Had a craving for something sweet and I'm trying to avoid the hoards of Halloween candy left in my house. Halloween candy is such a tempting treat - full of chocolate, readily available, and nice "bite size" pieces that make me think its ok if I just eat one, and then one more and one more.  So after some deliberation  between the Halloween candy and the apples that I purchased at noon thinking I'll eat healthier tonight if I have fruit lying around.  Since in the dual between the apple versus the candy I know the apple would loose, I decided to give it a boost and make an individual sized apple crisp instead.  Apple Crisp versus Halloween Candy - Apple Crisp wins!  And if you are my husband you can have your Halloween Candy and Apple Crisp too.

~ 10 min to prep ~ 25 min to bake

The filling:

1 medium apple diced

2 tbsp sugar

splash of orange juice

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp salt

Mix the diced apple, sugar, splash of orange juice, cinnamon, and salt and then divide into 2 custard cups.  

The topping:

1 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp all purpose flour

1 tbsp pecan pieces

2 tbsp oatmeal

1 tsp butter melted

Add the sugar, flour, nuts, and oats to the melted butter.  Mix until it becomes crumbly.  Divide and sprinkle on top of the apple filling.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for ~ 25 min or until apples are tender.

Enjoy one crisp now and have one for later

Chicken with Caper Sauce

So nice to be back home in my kitchen after a week in Seattle.  I felt like we heard about all these wonderful restaurants to try there, but since my two beautiful daughters were usually in a unsavory mood at dinner time we survived on take out and dinner in a hotel room.  Being the first day back we got to go to the grocery today and restock the pantry for the week- beans, diced tomatoes, chard, bell peppers, chicken.... and then tonight comes and I look at my pantry shelves, I use exactly none of them :). Hey I just wasn't in the mood.  I opted instead to go with a classic from one of my favorite cookbooks - Dining for Two - its a Weight Watchers cookbook from one of my many attempts to loose last 10 lbs.  Its actually and incredibly good cookbook with lots of easy, healthy items that taste gourmet.  Tonight's chicken with capers can be fixed in about 50 min assuming you've done no prep and have a 18 month old who wants to be held throughout it. If you don't have clinging children you could probably make it in 35 easy.

I chose to serve it with Rice a Roni's Long Grain and Wild Rice combo. I started the rice before starting the meal and it was finished just before the chicken ~ 35 minutes later.

Ingredients:

1 cup water

1.5 tsp chicken bouillon

.5 tsp sherry

4 cloves garlic

5 whole peppercorns

1 bay leaf

2 5 ounce skinless boneless chicken breasts

salt

pepper

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp capers, rinsed and drained

1 tsp butter softened

1 tsp flour

Directions:

Bring the broth, wine, garlic, peppercorns, and bay leaf to boil in a small saucepan.    Reduce the heat and simmer until the liquid is reduced and garlic tender ~ 8 minutes.  Discard the peppercorns and bay leaf. Puree the garlic mixture (I like to use my little Magic Bullet).  

Salt and pepper both sides of the chicken breasts.  Heat the oil in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken and cook until browned ~ 5 min on each side. Add the garlic mixture and capers and cook partially covered for ~ 3 minutes, flipping chicken once.

In a small bowl mix the flour and butter until they form a paste. Stir the paste into the caper sauce until blended and smooth.  Simmer the sauce for ~ 1 minute to thicken.

Enjoy

Fingerling Potatoes and Green Beans

Its a blustery day so we decided to warm up with a warm comfort food.  This adaptation of boiled potatoes and green beans was quick and easy, with just simply things I had on stock in the pantry (I'm in desperate need to go to the grocery now).  The girls and I had 2 helpings each and are now feeling warm again and ready to have fun on this fall afternoon.

Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 large onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced 

1 1/2 pound frozen green beans

1 pound fingerling potatoes cut into ~ 2 inch slices

1/2 pound mushrooms sliced

6 cups chicken broth or vegetable broth

1/4-1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, to taste

1/4-1/2 teaspoon salt to taste (if using sodium-free broth)

In a large Dutch oven or saucepan, cook the mushrooms and onion until tender, adding a splash of water when necessary to keep it from sticking. Add the garlic and cook for another minute.

Add the green beans and the potatoes and then add enough broth to barely cover the potatoes. Add black pepper to taste, bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and cover. Cook until potatoes are tender, about 15-20 minutes.

As a note: I added some diced ham to the girls since they are such meat lovers.

Chocolate Chip Marbled Bundt Cake

I sat down the other day with every intention to make chocolate cake with white chocolate chips.  Thought I'd quickly see if I could find a nice recipe for one online, and after pursuing blogs for about 30 minutes...well, we ended up with a Chocolate Chip Marble Bundt Cake.  The cake turned out to be quite pretty with beautiful chocolate swirls.  It has a dense almost velvety texture, and is not overly sweet surprisingly.  I actually think it would work as a Sunday morning coffee cake after mass just as well as an after dinner delight.  And just like wine this cake needs to aerate a bit. The texture improves as it cools, so wait until it cools to take it out of the pan.  My husband and I found we thought it was actually better the second day than the first.  Which makes this perfect for those dinner parties and work birthdays when you want to bake ahead of time.

I found this recipe off of the blog a Piece of Cake http://shaunasever.com/2010/02/stupid-delicious.html -

Prep Time: 30 minutes Cooking Time: 1 hour Serves: 12 to 16

2 cups sugar

1 1/2 cup  semisweet chocolate chips, divided

1/4 cup light corn syrup

2 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract, divided

2 2/3 cups flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature

4 large eggs, at room temperature

1 cup whole milk, at room temperature

Mix 1/2 cup semi sweet chocoalte chips, 1/2 cup water, and corn syrup.  Heat in microwave until chocolatechips are melted.  Whisk in 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla. Set aside.

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat it to 350 degrees. Butter and lightly flour a 12-cup bundt pan.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt. In another bowl cream the butter with the remaining sugar until light in color and fluffy, about two minutes. Beat in the eggs one at a time until thoroughly incorporated. Scrape down the bottom and sides of the bowl. Beat in the remaining vanilla.

Reduce the mixer speed to low, and beat in a third of the flour mixture just until the flour begins to disappear into the batter. Beat in half the milk. Beat in another third of the flour, then the rest of the milk, and finish with the remaining flour until the batter is smooth. Stop the mixer and gently fold in the chocolate chips.

Scoop out a third of the batter into a medium bowl, whisk in the chocolate syrup and set aside. Pour another third of the batter into the prepared bundt pan and smooth it with a spatula. Pour the chocolate batter into the pan evenly over the first layer. Finish by pouring the last third of the vanilla batter over the top. Lightly swirl the batters with a wooden skewer or knife to give a “marble” effect–a continuous figure-8 motion while going around the pan works well.

Bake until a toothpick inserted comes out clean and the cake springs back lightly when touched, about 60-70 minutes. Cool the cake in the pan on a wire rack. Invert the cooled cake onto a serving platter and dust lightly with powdered sugar before serving if desired. Store any leftovers in a cake dome at room temperature for 4-5 days, maybe more.

Summer Squash, Bacon, Mozzarella Quiche

Quiche is something I think I spent my childhood disliking, and now I spend my adult years feeding my children.  Luckily for me they love anything with eggs, bacon, and cheese in it - so tonight I whisked together this recipe to utilize the summer squash I had in the fridge.  I altered the recipe here and there since I didn't have all the ingredients.  So the original recipe called for zucchini which is something neither my husband nor I can tolerate so I would have eliminated it anyway.  We try zucchini once a year to confirm its still not for us, and since we tried it this summer already we didn't need a repeat.  So here is my yellow squash only adaptation.

Prep Time: 25 minutes Cook Time: 60 minutes Serves: 8 

Ingredients:

1 refrigerated pie crust - I'm too lazy to make my own!

1 tablespoon olive oil

1.5 cups yellow squash, sliced thin

1 clove garlic

1/4 cup onion, finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1 cup whole milk

3/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

5 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled

4 large eggs

1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place pie dough in a pie pan and press into pan gently. To prepare the filling, heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil and swirl to coat. Add squash, onion and garlic; saute for 5 minutes or until veggies are tender, stirring frequently. Set aside to cool slightly. Whisk together milk, salt, pepper, thyme, bacon and eggs in a medium bowl.

Arrange squash mixture evenly over crust and sprinkle with cheese. Pour the egg mixture over cheese. Bake for 45 minutes or until filling is set. Cool for 15 minutes before slicing and serving.

Before Baking

After Baking

Adapted from Cooking Light Magazine

GuacaPasta

So this week we seemed to have inadvertently been having "Mexi-Italian".   The first part of the week was a great Mexican Lasagna recipe I found on Fat Free Vegan  and then having leftover avocados I decided to make what my husband kindly referred to a guacapasta.  How do you make guacapasta?  Well I found several recipes online for creamy avocado pasta...but once I got to making the sauce it I realized I was making guacamole.  So therefore guacamole + pasta = guacapasta!
My family enjoyed it - we love guacamole and we love pasta.  The two actually go together suprisingly well. Its quick and refreshing making it a great summer meal that allows you to spend more time playing outdoors than locked in the kitchen.

GuacaPasta - 3 servings

Prep Time: 5 minutes Cook Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

1 1/3 cup dry whole wheat penne

1 large ripe Haas avocado, pitted and peel removed

1 tablespoon lime juice

2 clove garlic, minced

~1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1/2 teaspoon salt, or to taste

2 tablespoons salsa

1 cup diced tomatoes

Directions:

1. Cook according to box directions until Al Dente, about 9-11 minutes.

2. While the pasta is cooking, make the sauce by placing the avocado, garlic, lime juice, cilantro, salt and salsa into a food processor (I used my magic bullet). Process until smooth and creamy.

3. When pasta is done cooking, drain and place pasta into a large bowl. Add the sauce and tomatoes to the pasta and toss until pasta is well coated. Serve immediately.

Note: This pasta dish is best eaten the day it is made.

Adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod

Pumpkin Pancakes

We haven't made it officially to fall yet, but it seems like every time I glance at pinterest I'm seeing pumpkin recipes and Starbucks and Panera have already welcomed back their pumpkin spice lattes.  So I guess its no wonder this pumpkin addict's cravings are coming early this year.

So with the help of my little chefs-in-training, I set off this morning to make our first pumpkin pancakes of the season. Siena selects the eggs, Nala cracks, Mommy breaks.  Mommy levels, Nala pours in, Siena taps the  bottom of cup to make sure everything is out.  We all take turns stirring.  Daddy heats the syrup while they cook, and then we all enjoy!

It should be noted that when it comes to pancakes I am a lazy cook, I always make them with Bisquick® as my foundation. I've had a few mishaps over the years and have learned that while I love to cook, during the craziness of a Saturday morning with the girls its best to stick with the the semi-homemade approach.

Pumpkin Pancakes

Prep: 10 min Cook: 5 min

2 1/3 cups Original Bisquick® mix

2/3 cup canned pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix)

1 1/4 cups milk

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

Blend together: pumpkin, milk, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and spice until smooth.  Stir in Original Bisquick® mix, make sure the mix isn't clumpy, but don't over stir.  

Heat griddle to 275°F.  Pour pancakes onto hot griddle, I usually do about 2 heaping tablespoons of batter for each pancake.  Feel free to make fun shapes: pumpkins, bunnies, hearts, houses - yes I like to amuse my children :).  Cook until you see bubbles forming on top of the pancakes, flip, cook for another couple of minutes.  Then serve with warm maple syrup, whipped cream, and pecan bits.

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

Fun Food Friday at work tomorrow which means cookie baking for me. So given I'm known as a cookie girl around the office, why would one make one batch of cookies when you can make 2. I of course had to make the classic chocolate chip cookies which I'm known for. But, since its fall and i LOVE pumpkin I was so excited to try a new recipe full of sugar and spice.   Oh so yummy, I'm definitely thinking making these may need to become a part of my yearly fall baking rituals.

Pumpkin Snickerdoodles

25 min prep, 1 hr set, 10 min cook

Cookie Ingredients:

~2 cups flour

3/4 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 stick melted butter

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup pumpkin puree

1/2 large egg

1 teaspoons vanilla extract

Sugar coating:

1/2 cup sugar

2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Melt butter.  Stir in sugars completely. Whisk in pumpkin, egg, and vanilla, one at a time. Add the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Mix thoroughly.  If using a mixer be sure to not over mix. Cover the dough, and refrigerate for one hour, until firm.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Line baking sheets with parchment paper. In a small bowl, mix together the sugar and spice for the coating. Scoop dough (approximately 2 1/2 tablespoons) and roll into a ball. Roll the dough ball in the sugar mixture, and place on the lined baking sheet, leaving about 2 inches between each cookie. Take a glass with a flat bottom and use to flatten the balls. Add extra sugar topping to cookies as needed.

Bake the cookies for 10 minutes. Remove when the centers of the cookies have set. Let cool on the baking pan for approximately 5 minutes, and then transfer to wire cooling racks to cool completely.

Adapted from from: http://abitchinkitchen.blogspot.com/2011/10/pumpkin-snickerdoodles.html

Chocolate Chip Recipe is as always inspired by the Nestle Tollhouse on the back of the bag :)

Sausage Broccoli Tomato Rotini

My husband gave me the Flavor Bible this past year for Christmas. And, sadly it hasn't been something I've consulted too often.  Instead I tend to just peruse recipe blogs for culinary inspirations.  But, when I was contemplating my veggie bin on Sunday afternoon I found myself debating what to pair with broccoli. My initial thought was to grill some chicken with it, it would be healthy, maybe add some bbq sauce, but somehow that still just didn't sound right.  It sounded almost depressing, like I was on a diet or something: chicken with steamed broccoli.  So I opened up the Flavor Bible and looked up broccoli to see what flavors paired best with it.  Eureka!  Low and behold - chicken wasn't listed - no wonder it hadn't sounded good. Instead sausage was listed. Chicken or Sausage?  Yes, italian sausage with lots of flavor would be great.  Some tomatoes, fresh basil and garlic.  This was sounding even better.

On Tuesday night I needed a quick meal, and this combo worked great.  Chop, dice mince,...pause to welcome husband home, ...15 minutes...,"Honey, its time for dinner." The pasta is so fully of yummy veggies I decided to forgo a salad. I topped the pasta with some fresh Parmesan cheese and paired it with a slice of fresh baked whole wheat artisan bread. Oh so delicious.  I'm so glad I chose to reference the Bible and opted for the italian sausage.  I'm just wondering if next time I might just have to make it with chicken italian sausage?

Prep Time: 15 minutes Cooking Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

2 small heads broccoli, cut into pieces

4 roma tomatoes, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

3 basil leaves, chopped

.5 lb ground italian sausage

salt to taste

8 oz rotini cooked accordingto package.

Steam the broccoli (microwave/stovetop). Meanwhile brown the sausage in medium skillet over medium heat.  Add the tomatoes and garlic to the sausage.  Cook an additional 3 minutes, pressing on the tomatoes to help them release their juices. Add basil and salt, cook an additional minute.  

Add the broccoli to skillet to mix flavors. Add broccoli, sausage, tomato mix to pasta and toss. 

Bon Appetit.

Mediterranean Lemon Cumin Chicken Pita

Happy to be back in my kitchen after a fun and busy weekend.  Tonight was an experiment with Mediterranean flavors which isn't something I do much.  But, after rave reviews from my husband I'm thinking maybe I should.  Tonight's inspiration started with me finding an great little kebab recipe and then deciding, that oregano and dill just didn't sound yummy and since it was raining outside grilling kebabs was out.  So off I went to the cupbard to see what I could discover.  In the end I opted for a lemon + cumin + garlic + chicken combo and it was worth it. The lightness of the salad was refreshing with the warm flavors in the chicken.  Almost like the rain we were having on that warm summer day.  The salad really made for a great topping to the chicken in the pita and refreshing side.  I'm thinking I might remake this weekend and use it as  lunch entree when my parents visit. 

Ingredients:

1 lb skinless boneless chicken breast, cut into 1 inch cubes

4 Pitas

Marinade:

2 teaspoons olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

3 tablespoons lemon juice

5 teaspoons ground cumin

2 teaspoons grated lemon peel

salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

Salad:

1 1/4 cups cucumber

1 cup diced tomato

1/4 cup diced bell pepper

1/4 cup black olives

1 1/2 teaspoons vinegar

1 1/2  teaspoons fresh lemon juice

2  teaspoons olive oil

1  teaspoon parsley

salt and black pepper to taste

Toppings:

2 cups lettuce

1/2 cup feta cheese

Directions:

Marinate the chicken at least 2-3 hours or overnight. 

Combine the first 12 salad ingredients (cucumbers through salt and black pepper, not the lettuce) and set aside in the refrigerator to let the flavors set.

Cook chicken over medium heat for ~ 10 minutes.

Serve with Pita, lettuce, cheeese, chicken, and salad.

Peach Pie Pleasantries

On a cloudy drizzly day, what better thing to do is there but to bake?  Some yummy comfort food? Peach pie?  Oh so yummy! And this recipe seemed so easy.  All I needed was 3 peaches, well maybe 4 by the time you account for all the snacking my daughters did while mommy cut up the fruit.  Opted not to peel the peaches to preserve some of the additional fiber, plus it helps provide some more structure and color in the final pie.  Actually, after an hour of baking you don't even notice the peel onthe peach, it was so soft I could cut my peaches with my fork.  I used martha stewarts recipe as a basis, but I always cheat and use a store bought crust.  Being a working mom, I can have the girls help me arrange peach slices and sprinkle topping.  Bonding with kids + getting my baking on yields a very happy mommy.

1 pie crust 

5 TBSPs creme fraiche

Filling

3 peaches (pitted and sliced)

4 TBSPs granulated sugar

Prepare the filling by slicing the peaches, stir in the sugar, and let sit for at least 10 minutes.

Streusel

1/4 cup cold butter

1/2 cup flour

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1/4 tsp baking powder

dash salt

Prepare the streusel  by mixing the dry ingredients together and creamingin the cold butter until it becomes crumbly.

Heat oven to 375.  Spread 2 TBSPs of creme fraiche on the pie crust, sprinkle with 1/3 of the streusel. Spread the peaches slices evenly over the crust. Spoon the remaining 3TBSPs of creme fraiche between the peach slices. Sprinkle with the rest of the streusel. Bake for 50 minutes or until the streusel is golden.  

Let cool and enjoy.

And just because I'm feeling silly - a poem:
Time flies by, evening is nigh
Where has the day gone?
Baking peach pies, singing lullabyes, and
now time to cuddle with my sweetie pie.
Bye bye.

Eggplant Ragu

Decided to experiment with some eggplant tonight and found an interesting recipe for a beef and eggplant ragu on eatingwell.com.  It made my husband happy since it included beef and provided a great excuse to use my herbs growing outside my door.  They seem to be the only plants thriving at this point in time in my yard.

All in all this turned out well.  I did forget to add oil when I added the eggplant, but quickly figured out I needed to add some when things got a bit sticky.  This small mishap didn't seem to affect the flavor.   This dish really features the red wine - so be sure to open up your favorite red to enjoy while cooking and in the recipe. We chose the Kenwood Reserve Sonoma County 2007  Cabernet Sauvignon.  An ode to Sonoma where we just spent the past weekend.

I loved the dish, the eggplant plays a vital role as well by absorbing all the flavors to enhance the dish.  And, overall it didn't take long to make, less than 30 minutes in total, so it makes for a nice week night dinner.

8 ounces whole grain rotini

.5 pound 92%-lean ground beef

4 cloves garlic, chopped

1/2 teaspoon fennel seed

3 cups diced eggplant 

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

14 oz can tomato sauce

.5 cup red wine (Cabernet Sauvignon)

1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano from the garden

1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil from the garden

.5 teaspoon salt

.5 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

garlic powder + Italian seasoning to taste

Cook Pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, cook beef, garlic, and fennel seeds in a large skillet over medium heat, until the beef is browned, about 3 minutes. Add eggplant and oil; cook, stirring occasionally, until the eggplant browns, about 5 minutes. Add tomato sauce, water, wine, oregano, basil, salt and pepper - I decided to add a dash of garlic powder and a sprinkle of Italian seasoning.  Stir occasionally, until the sauce thickens, about 10 minutes. Drain the pasta; serve topped with the sauce. - Inspired by Rigatoni with Beef & Eggplant Ragu at eatingwell.com