Ja cię kocham…

This picture that is way better than mine is courtesy of the New York Times Fitness and Nutrition section.

Ready to see mine?  Hahaha.  It makes me laugh.

AHHHHH!  The time change has made the evenings dark SOOO early that I can’t get a good picture in when it’s light out!  Dang you, Ben Franklin!!

Anyway, this side dish is a part of the pre-Thanksgiving meal that I have been talking about for 3 consecutive posts now.  OH MY LORD was this meal good.  Now I am a HUGE mashed potato-lover, but these were also really good.  It’s nice to change things up.  The coconut and cayenne definitely stood out.  Mmmmm!!

Coconut Cardamom Sweet Potatoes

Source: Clean Eating Magazine Nov/Dec 2009

Serves a huge crowd!

Ingredients:

5 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch pieces
3/4 cup light coconut milk
2 tsp. cardamom, ground
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. sea salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/3 cup unsalted pecan halves, chopped (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Bring a large pot of water to a boil.  Add sweet potatoes, return to a boil and cook until soft, about 10 minutes.  Drain.

In a large mixing bowl (or in the bowl of a stand mixer), add potatoes and remaining ingredients (except pecans).  Mix on medium speed until smooth.  Transfer to a 9×9 baking dish.  Sprinkle pecans on top.

Bake 45-50 minutes, or until edges are slightly browned.  Cool on rack for 10 minutes and serve

This chicken was a huge accomplishment for me.  For months I could not go near meat.  I was utterly repulsed.  I blame the Travel Channel and their wacky food shows.  Thank you Travel Channel for ruining meat for me for several months.

I have since overcome this repulsion and am back in the omnivorous swing of things.  What makes this particular recipe an accomplishment is the fact that it’s an entire chicken.  I can easily consume chicken, but when it’s whole… let’s just say I tend to stop in my tracks, stare at it and eeeeeew.  I have the same issues with the Thanksgiving Turkey.   I will spare you my exact thoughts.

What makes this less of an accomplishment for me was the fact that Jay did most of the hands-on prepping with the raw chicken.  I prepared the herbs and whatnot, and he put it on the chicken.  I can’t touch a whole chicken.  Weird, I know.  Again, blame the Travel Channel.

Once the chicken was cooking and the unbelievably appetizing aroma began swirling around my house, my phobia/repulsion/”sissy-ness” subsided.  Forget you and your creepiness whole chicken.  I will not let you ruin me!  Although I wussed out on tying the arms of the chicken back to prevent them from burning… Next time, chicken!  Your arms will be mine to defeat!

Boy… this whole chicken thing is a little outta control, don’t you think??

Emeril rocked this recipe!  This is a simple roasted chicken that takes 45-50 minutes to cook!  I love it!  It wasn’t the 2 1/2 hour ordeal that other recipes require.  AND the ingredients were not hard to find.  They were all in my kitchen cabinet.  ANNNNND buying a whole chicken is way cheaper than buying a pack of chicken breasts.  My whole chicken was $5.50!  Perfect for a family of two for dinner and lunch the next day.  See?  I’m starting to love this whole chicken business more now.

Emeril Lagasse’s Perfected Roasted Chicken

Mildly Adapted from FoodNetwork.com

Serves: 3-4

Ingredients:

3 carrots, peeled and cut into thirds
3 ribs celery, peeled and cut into thirds
3 onions, peeled and cut into quarters
1 (3 1/2 to 4 pound) chicken, rinsed and patted dry
1 1/2 tablespoons kosher salt
2 teaspoons cracked white pepper
1 lemon, halved
2 fresh bay leaves
6 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
4 sprigs rosemary, roughly chopped, plus 1 tablespoon for gravy
5 fresh sage leaves, roughly chopped
1 Tbs. dried celery flakes
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup chicken stock*
2 tablespoons roasted garlic*
1 cup dry white wine*

** denotes ingredients for chicken gravy, which I did not make**

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F.

In a 9 by 13-inch roasting pan, add the carrots, celery and onions.

Season the chicken both inside and out with the kosher salt and white pepper. Squeeze the lemon halves over the chicken and place the rinds inside the cavity. Place the bay leaves inside the cavity.

In a small bowl, combine the garlic, rosemary, sage, celery flakes, olive oil and butter. Rub the chicken both inside and out with the garlic rosemary blend and place in the roasting pan.

Place the pan in the oven and roast the chicken for 40 to 50 minutes, or until the juices run clear. To test this, insert a thermometer in the thickest part of a leg. It should register at 160 degrees internal temperature. Remove the chicken from the oven and allow to cool for 10 to 15 minutes before carving.

Pour off excess fat from pan and return to heat. Whisk in chicken stock, roasted garlic, white wine and chopped rosemary, scraping up the bits on the bottom of pan. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Reduce gravy by half, until thickened.*

Serve chicken with gravy on the side.*

** denotes directions to make the chicken gravy, which I did not make**

Today we had a heat index of 105 degrees F.  And I was outside pretty much allll day looooong.  Needless to say, I wasn’t about to have anything hot for dinner.  I needed something cool and refreshing.  It was a night for salad.  I did it a little differently.  Instead of throwing it all in a bowl, I decided to make a platter out of it and put the lettuce on the side.  So go ahead.  Make a salad platter.  It makes the simplest of meals look beautiful and fancy.

My platter from Left to Right:

Red bell peppers
Green hot peppers
Avocado
Bacon
Chicken
Eggs
Scallions
Mushrooms
Roma tomatoes

I used endive lettuce and ranch dressing.  I know I should have used blue cheese, but I just love ranch!

ENJOY!

Man do we love homefries and hash browns in this house!  Normally we buy the frozen hash browns and have to stand around for 45 minutes or so for them to cook.  Today was a little different.  I had some left over potatoes from another dish that I decided to use for my OWN homefries.  Boy did they turn out good.  Even with the chopping, these were WAY quicker to make than our frozen hash browns.

There are only two rules that I must share with you when you embark on homemade homefries:

1.  You MUST use butter.  I used a butter/olive oil combo so the butter wouldn’t burn in the skillet, but it is the BUTTER that turns these babies into a beautiful, crispy, golden brown.  Do not skip the butter.  Even if it’s a tiny pad of butter… it’s a must to get the best results.  (And this is coming from a girl that usually uses olive oil for everything!)

2.  When you initially put the potatoes in your skillet.  Do not… I repeat, DO NOT stir them or move them for the first 5 minutes or so.  You want them to turn nice and crispy and this won’t happen if you constantly stir them.  So… place them in the skillet, go sit by the tv for a minute with your freshly brewed coffee and relax.  Let them crisp!  We don’t want mushy potatoes!

So go ahead… make your own diner deluxe breakfast.  Toast, eggs, bacon, and homefries.  It costs only pennies per person and it tastes soooo good.

Homemade Homefries

Serves 4

Ingredients:

5-6 small baking potatoes (I used butter gold potatoes), chopped into 1-inch cubes.
1 Tbs. olive oil
1 Tbs. butter
salt and pepper to taste
cayenne pepper to taste (optional)
2 cloves garlic, finely minced

Directions:

Heat large skillet to medium-high.  Add olive oil and butter.  Once butter begins to melt, swirl it around coating the entire skillet.

Add potatoes in a single layer.  Add salt, pepper, and cayenne.  LEAVE ALONE for 3-5 minutes or until the one side is golden brown.  (Time varies depending on your stove top.)

Give them a good stir.  Let sit for another 2-3 minutes.  Repeat one more time.  Add garlic when your potatoes are almost done.  you don’t want it to burn.

**Once my potatoes were pretty much done, I scooted them over to one side of my skillet (mine is 14 inches) so I could cook up some eggs.**

Remove from heat once potatoes are nice and crispy on the outside and relatively soft on the inside.  Season with salt and pepper again.

One of the rare times that I use ketchup!

If someone told me that I was only allowed to eat one type of cheese for the rest of my life, as painstakingly awful as this would be, I would definitely choose goat cheese.  When I go out to dinner, if I see something with goat cheese on it – a burger, a salad, a veggie sandwich – I order it.  No questions asked.  Goat cheese is the bomb.

See my Grilled Vegetable, Herb and Goat Cheese Sandwich or my Roasted Rainbow Pepper Sub for other fun things to do with goat cheese.

What I didn’t realize about goat cheese is its low calorie and fat content in comparison to other cheeses – 70 calories per ounce as opposed to 100+ calories per ounce.  Gotta like that!  Another thing that I didn’t realize about goat cheese is that you can put it on PIZZA.  So yummy.  FYI – if you aren’t a goat cheese fan, by all means use YOUR favorite cheese on this pizza.  It doesn’t have to be spreadable; it just needs to be delicious to eat.

If you are going to use goat cheese the only recommendation that I have for this pizza is to spread A LOT of it on the dough.  I don’t think that I had enough because the cheese cracked a lot in some places by the time it was done baking.  It still tasted good, but it could have looked better.  That’s just me.

At first, you may be put off by using a large quantity of goat cheese because of its expense.  If you’re fortunate enough to have a local Trader Joe’s (I know… I’m giving them yet another shout out), you can buy 11 ounces of goat cheese for a few bucks.  In a typical grocery store 4 ounces costs $7!!  I can get almost three times that at Trader Joe’s.   This is also where I get my pizza dough.  For $0.99 I get a big ball of dough!!  Although, I recently discovered a recipe on Oven Love (a food blog of one of my sister’s best friends…) for a quick and easy pizza dough that doesn’t take hours.  I’ll have to try it one of these days!

Lemony Zucchini Goat Cheese Pizza

Source: Smitten Kitchen

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 batch  store-bought pizza dough that will yield one small (approx. 11 to 12 inches across), thin pizza
1 lemon
4 ounces goat cheese, at room temperature
Few leaves of fresh basil, cut into thin slivers
1/2 medium yellow zucchini, sliced as thinly as you can pull off with a knife or your mandoline
1/2 medium green zucchini, sliced as the same as above
Drizzle of olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Roll your pizza dough into a thin 12-inch circle and lay it on a tray or stone that has been dusted lightly with cornmeal.

In a small bowl, stir together the goat cheese with the juice of half your lemon. Season it with salt and freshly ground pepper, and spread it over your pizza dough. Scatter fresh basil slivers over the cheese.

Arrange your zucchini coins in concentric circles over the goat cheese spread, overlapping them slightly.  Squeeze the juice of the second half of your lemon on top of you zucchini, then drizzle with olive oil and finish with more salt and freshly ground black pepper.

Bake in preheated oven for 10 to 15 minutes (your baking time will vary, so please watch carefully), or until the edges of your pizza are golden brown and the zucchini looks roasted and a little curled up at the edges.

Tis the season for glorious tomatoes!   Driving to work I pass lovely produce stands filled with freshly picked tomatoes.  How could I not indulge?   For the fantastic price of $5.50 I got myself 11 beefsteak tomatoes just waiting to be used for a homemade sauce.

Given the fact that I am not a fan of jarred spaghetti sauce, I’ve made plenty of my own but never with fresh garden tomatoes.  I typically use canned crushed tomatoes and go from there.  It is by no means as wonderful as making a sauce from scratch, but it does save time.  This recipe is a little more time consuming that a typical Ja cie kocham post, but it is well worth the wait.

My only advice is this – if you are going to invest the time to make homemade sauce, you might as well make a lot so you have some for later.  Being a novice spaghetti sauce maker, I failed in this regard.  I made just enough sauce for one box of spaghetti.  Keep that in mind.

I have a few reasons for making this spaghetti sauce – 1.  I’ve always wanted to make it from scratch.  2.  I’ve made a pledge to Buy Fresh and Buy Local as much as I can for the months of July and August.  3.  My parents 30-year anniversary was on Monday, and as a gift I made them dinner.

This sauce was a huge hit with my parents!  I also sauteed some fresh zucchini, onion, and eggplant in olive oil and placed it on top of the sauce to give it some color.  I WISH that I took a picture of the final pasta dish that I made for my parents.  Looks like I’m going to have to make it all again just for you!

Homemade Spaghetti Sauce

Source: Loosely Adapted from Allrecipes

Time: Prep: 45 minutes  Cook: 2hr 15min

Serves 6-8 (makes enough for one box of spaghetti)

Ingredients:

**feel free to double or triple the batch for leftovers!!**

10 beefsteak tomatoes
2 Tbs. olive oil
2 Tbs. butter
1 white or sweet onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 vegetable bouillon cubes
generous handful of fresh basil, torn (or 1 tsp. dried)
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
2 bay leaves
salt and pepper to taste
2 Tbs. corn starch
fresh lemon zest

Directions:

Bring a pot of water to a boil. Have ready a large bowl of iced water. Plunge whole tomatoes in boiling water until skin starts to peel, 1 minute. Remove with slotted spoon and place in ice bath. Let rest until cool enough to handle, then remove peel and squeeze out seeds. Chop tomatoes and puree in blender or food processor.

In a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat, cook onion and garlic in oil and butter until onion starts to soften, 5 minutes. Pour in pureed tomatoes. Stir in bouillon cubes, basil, Italian seasoning salt and pepper. Place bay leaves in pot. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 2 hours.   Every 30 minutes, drain the excess liquid from the pot.  With a 30 minutes left or so, stir in the corn starch.  This will help the sauce thicken faster. When at desired thickness, discard bay leaf, add lemon zest and serve.

I bought all of this at a local Amish produce stand on my way home from work for $6!

For the next 21 days, I am participating in the Buy Fresh, Buy Local 21-day challenge.  Basically you just alter your lifestyle for 21 days to support local business.  The change can be as minimal or as large as you want it to be.  Buying local is good for the environment because excess fuel isn’t wasted on transporting foods from one country to another, it’s good for YOU because the ingredients are much fresher than they would be in a grocery store (do you really know how old that watermelon is in the grocery store?????), and it’s good for local business because they are getting your business!

I’m lucky because I live in an area surrounded by the Amish who are known for their local produce stands with fresh breads, homemade butters and jellies, and homegrown fruits and vegetables.  I pass a stand everyday to and from work, so it’s really easy for me to make the effort to buy fresh and local.

Needless to say, I purchased zucchini from the “bargain bin”.  It was $1.25 for 3 enormous zucchini because they were picked yesterday rather than today.  As if that really matters to me!   I also picked up some purple and white eggplants and a few tomatoes.  And yes, they were all organic.  I know, I know.  It was a sweet deal!

Then to make matters more convenient for me, Cindy, my husband’s mommy dearest, sent us home a huge bag filled with fresh herbs from her garden.  I was set!  Dinner is served!

I made baked eggplant wraps with zucchini, tomatoes, basil and mozzarella.   In the past, I have used roasted red peppers instead of tomatoes.   Mushrooms would also be good in this.  Whatever works for you!

Stuffed Eggplants

Serves 4 as side dish

Ingredients:

2 Tbs. olive oil
2 small eggplants, thinly sliced lengthwise
1 small zucchini, thinly sliced lengthwise
1 tomato, thinly sliced
handful of fresh basil
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese (I used shredded this time, but I normally buy the ball of mozzarella and slice it.)
salt and pepper
toothpicks

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

On a large baking sheet, sprinkle olive oil.  Place eggplant and zucchini slice on sheet.  Bake for 5-7 minutes or until slightly tender.  Allow to cool.

Place eggplant back on oiled baking sheet.  Place a zucchini slice on top of each eggplant, followed by a slice of tomato, some mozzarella, and a few basil leaves.  Salt and pepper to taste.

Tightly roll eggplant, placing a toothpick in them to secure.  Have patience with them as they may be challenging to roll.  Place seams face down on baking sheet.  Bake until cheese is melted (about 3-4 minutes).

I’m not going to lie.  I completely made this recipe up.  Now I’m sure that somewhere out in cyberspace there is a recipe similar to this, but for me, this was totally original.  The only inspiration that I had was my craving for Mexican food and steak.

I knew that I didn’t want nachos.  As delicious as they are, I have no control over how many I eat.  My family is known for ordering nachos as our main meal when we go out to eat.  Forget nachos as an appetizer to nibble, I want the whole plate!  Because of this obnoxious need I have to eat all of the nachos, I steered clear from them for this meal.  I wanted the flavor without the tortilla chips.

What I really liked about this recipe is how versatile it is.  It’s great on steak, chicken, and fish, and then make great wraps the next day for lunch.  When I made this recipe, I also snuck a piece of chicken in the mix, and I think that it turned out better than the steak.  The chicken was soooo moist from marinating in the fresh lime juice.  It was super tender and juicy even after microwaving it the next day at work for my wrap.  Fan-flipping-tastic!

I had every intention of making my own salsa for this recipe, but I didn’t want to spend $6 or$7 on tomatoes when I was already buying avocados at $1.50 each.  Instead I bought a much cheaper, fresh pico de gallo.  Just in case you don’t know what pico de gallo is, it’s a Mexican condiment very similar to salsa.  The only difference is that pico de gallo isn’t nearly as watery as salsa.  It’s pretty much just coarsely chopped tomatoes, onions, and jalapenos.  It’s very fresh and very good.

Lime Chili Steaks with Pico de Gallo and Homemade Guacamole

Serves 4

Ingredients:

4 steaks or chicken breasts with all fat removed
3-4 limes
3 avocados  (Make sure that when you squeeze them, the flesh gives just a little.  That’s how you know they are ripe.)
1/4 of a red onion, coarsely chopped
1-2 jalapeno, seeds removed and thinly sliced
a handful of cilantro
salt and pepper
4 Tbs. chile powder (I used a blend of ancho, chipotle, and Mexican chile powder)
1 Tbs. olive oil**  (Only if you are using an indoor grill or skillet.)
1 container pico de gallo
1 small container sour cream
handful of scallions, chopped, for garnish

Directions:

If you are using an outdoor grill, preheat it to medium-high.  If you are cooking it indoors, skip this step.  You will preheat your grill pan later.

Roll all of the limes on your cutting board, placing an ample amount of pressure on them while you roll them.  This helps them to get ‘juicier’.   Juice all but one lime into a medium-sized bowl.  Place meat in with the lime juice.  Let marinate for at least 10 minutes.

While meat is marinating, juice your final lime into another medium-sized bowl.   Peel the avocados and cut the flesh into large chunks, placing them into the second bowl of lime juice.  For instructions on how to cut an avocado, click here.  Add onion, jalapeno, cilantro to lime/avocado mixture.  Toss gently.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Set aside.

If you are using an indoor grill pan or large skillet, preheat it with 1 Tbs. olive oil to medium-high for steak and medium for chicken.

On a large plate, rub steaks/chicken with chile powder.

Regardless of which grill you are using (indoor or outdoor)…

Steak:  Cook for 2 minutes on each side or until at desired cooking temperature.
Chicken:  Cook for 3 minutes on each side or until no longer pink.

Let meat sit for 10 minutes, covered with aluminum foil.

Then place on serving plate.  Top with pico de gallo, guacamole (avocado mixture), and sour cream.  Garnish with scallions.

I tend to go to restaurants, order a beautiful salad, and try to replicate it at home.  Typically, I fail.  For me, I feel as if everyone BUT me makes delicious salads.  For instance, my mom always makes these gorgeous rustic salads with dried blueberries, fresh asparagus, and more!   She sprinkles it with Parmesan cheese and a homemade lemon vinaigrette.  Yum!  My other mother (Jay’s momma) puts out a fantastic display of freshly cut vegetables like avocado, cherry tomatoes, and broccoli sprouts and makes a salad bar.

How can I possibly compare??

Wellllll…. I’ve been practicing.  Yeah, I know… it sounds really silly to practice making salads, but when I mean “practice” I really mean testing out different combinations of lettuces, bean sprouts, dried fruits, fresh fruits and vegetables, and fresh herbs.

Let me tell you something.  Adding TONS of fresh herbs to your salads is the most incredible thing you can ever do.  I’m serious.  It’s THAT good.  For those of you out there that have already done this, you know what I’m talking about.  It adds a depth and a freshness to your salad that cannot be matched.

So this is one of my no-brainer recipes.  But it’s too good to not share with those that haven’t tried it before.

Fresh Herb Salad

Serves: 6-8 as a side dish

Ingredients:

16 oz. organic spring mix
3 oz. shitake, crimini, and oyster mushrooms (I got a package of them at Trader Joes, but any mushroom works)
a bunch of cherry or baby heirloom tomatoes, sliced
handful of chopped scallions
handful of fresh dill, chopped (reserve some for garnish)
handful of fresh basil, chopped (reserve some for garnish)
salt and pepper to taste
favorite salad dressing (I used a red wine vinaigrette)

Directions:

Toss all ingredients (except for some of the chopped herbs) into a large salad bowl.  Top with leftover herbs.

Oh, and look at my homegrown cherry tomatoes (well, tomato)!  I planted yellow cherry tomatoes, but I guess they decided to be orange.  They are so fresh and sweet.  It’s like eating a piece of candy.

This salad is so incredibly refreshing on a hot summer day.  You may be put off by the ingredients initially, but trust me, it is sooo good.  It’s savory and it’s sweet all in one.  I’ve had this thing lately for mint.  I just crave it.  Through this craving of mine I’ve discovered how amazing mint is with vegetables.  Try my Marinated Zucchini with Mint.  It’s awesome.  You’ll have to scroll down to the bottom of the page because this posting has a slue of recipes on it.   But while you’re on there, check out my herbed rubbed pitas.  Again, I use mint.  I’m telling ya, mint is incredible!

Watermelon and Feta Salad with Mint

Source: Smitten Kitchen

Serves 4-6

Ingredients:

1 pound Campari or plum tomatoes, diced, drained
1 1/2 cups diced seeded watermelon
1 large green bell pepper, seeded, cut into 1/3-inch cubes
1/2 large English hothouse cucumber, seeded, cut into 1/3-inch cubes
1/2 cup very thinly sliced radishes
3 tablespoons olive oil, divided
10 ounces feta cheese, cut into small cubes (about 2 1/2 cups),
2 divided green onions, chopped, divided
1/4 cup thinly sliced fresh mint leaves, divided
1/2 cup plain Greek-style yogurt
1 teaspoon dried oregano

Directions:

Toss first five ingredients and two tablespoons oil in large bowl. Add half each of cheese, green onions, and mint. Mix remaining cheese, green onions, mint, and oil in processor; add yogurt and oregano. Process just to blend (do not over-mix or dressing will get thin). Season dressing with salt and pepper; mix into salad.