Ja cię kocham…

My mom, sister, and I not only share DNA but a deep love for this dip.   My sister had a few wedding dress fittings and each time we were finished at the bridal boutique we went to the same restaurant for tea.  Each time we stared at our options on the menu, looked at each other and smiled as one of us inevitably said, “Do you want to split the pumpkin hummus platter?”.

OF COURSE WE DO!  It’s to die for!

This platter came with olives, pitas, and crudite.  Oh so good.  So we decided to make our own.  I decided not to use tahini (ground sesame seeds) in this hummus, and I’m happy to share that the flavor wasn’t negatively affected.   The consistency is different than that of a typical store-bought hummus.   This recipe is a little chunkier, but it definitely feels lighter and fresher.

I had to laugh because I come walking into my parents’ house with groceries and am so excited to get started on dinner when I realize that I brought absolutely nothing to dip into the pumpkin hummus.  Oops.

If it’s not a cake that I forget, it’s chips for the dip!  Geez!

Lucky for me my mom is a genius!  She whipped out some whole wheat wraps, did a little mommy magic and gave me some awesome pita chips for the hummus.   The pita chips were so stinkin’ easy that I made them last night for dinner.  I had three leftover wheat wraps in the fridge that were in there just long enough that I couldn’t fold them without them tearing.  I never thought of making chips out of them.  It seriously took less than 10 minutes from start to finish.  Gotta love that!

This whole hummus and pita recipe takes less than 10 minutes.   Just a little zip, zip of the food processor while your oven bakes and you have a fabulous appetizer.

Pumpkin Hummus withe Semi-Homemade Pita Chips

Source for Hummus: Libby’s Pumpkin Website
Source for Pita Chips: The Mommy

Serves 8

For Pita Chips:

Ingredients:

4 whole wheat wraps
cooking spray or 1 Tbs. olive oil
salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  Line two baking sheets with aluminum foil.

With a pizza cutter or knife, cut wraps into 8 equal triangles and place on baking sheets.  Spray wrap triangles lightly with cooking spray or gently brush with olive oil.  Flip and gently coat other side of wrap with cooking spray or oil.  Season with salt, pepper, and cayenne pepper.

Bake for 5 minutes or until bottoms are lightly brown.  Flip them.  Bake for an additional 3-4 minutes making sure to watch them carefully because they can burn very quickly.  Take them out and let cool.

For the Pumpkin Hummus:

Ingredients:

1 can (15.5 oz.) chickpeas or garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 tablespoon water
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt or more to taste
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley
sprinkle of paprika (optional)

Directions

Place chickpeas, pumpkin, lemon juice, water, garlic, salt and pepper into food processor; cover. Blend for 1 minute or until smooth.  Additional water, a teaspoon at a time, can be added if a smoother consistency is desired. Stir in parsley. Top with paprika.  Serve immediately or refrigerate in tightly covered container for up to 4 days. Makes about 2 cups.

I hope all of the Mommies in the food blog world had a FABULOUS Mother’s Day!!  I can envision your sweet, little children bringing you breakfast in bed or making a darling card out of construction paper and stickers and the grown up children giving you a phone call or paying you a visit that simply made your day.

You deserve it, Mommies.  You have worked so hard all of our lives to bring us the best that life has to offer and we thank you!

In case you didn’t already pick up on this – I absolutely adore my mom.  And honestly, she makes it very easy for us to love her.  The Mommy is such a giver and is literally the strongest, most loyal and loving woman that I have ever met.  Growing up she braided my hair, ironed my clothes, wrote me cute notes in my lunch box, drove me to dance lessons, cheered me on at field hockey games (which she still does even though I’m all grown up), and much, much more.  I don’t know what I would do without my mom.  I love you, Ma!  You’re the most beautiful woman on this planet, and I thank God for you each and every day!

Bearing this in mind, this Mother’s Day was very bittersweet this year because it was so exciting to celebrate the many accomplishments of my mom but we were missing another mother of equal importance.

My Mom and her Mom (Mom Mom) in 2007.

As you  learned from this post, our amazingly wonderful Mom Mom passed away less than a month ago.  In the few weeks since then we have been fortunate enough to have much to celebrate – my mom’s birthday and my sister’s wedding.  We are so thankful to have many joys in our lives at a time that can often be overwhelming.

Even though Mom Mom wasn’t physically present at our Mother’s Day Dinner we made sure to honor her by using her dishes.

Small things such as preparing a loved one’s favorite meal or using his or her every day dinnerware brings about a sense of comfort and love.

Are the dishes adorable?!  I think so!

This Mother’s Day, The Mommy and I made a simple but fabulous dinner.  It wouldn’t be a family meal without The Mommy and I in the kitchen cooking together!

Normally when I’m cooking a family dinner, I make a detailed schedule of when to prepare and cook each dish and inevitably wind up behind schedule for some reason like talking too much or forgetting something like BAKING A CAKE.  Yes, I forget to bake cakes.  I’m that bad.

Thankfully, this meal was very relaxed in terms of preparation and cooking.  Maybe I’m getting a knack for cooking family meals.

We made very low maintenance dishes that required few ingredients and minimal active prep time.  For once I didn’t have every last detail written down and wouldn’t you know it – everything came out PERFECTLY and ON TIME.

Sometimes I look back on past meals and wonder why I feel the need to make things so complicated.  I’m truly learning that less is more.  I know I keep saying that over and over again in this blog, but I cannot stress it enough!  LESS IS MORE!

I’m going to give you the run down of our menu and will post individual recipes in the near future.  I’m just too excited about this meal that I want to show you what we made!

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Pumpkin Hummus with Semi-Homemade Pita Chips

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Rosemary Pork Tenderloin

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Scalloped Potato Gratin

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Nutty Greens with Bacon and Blue Cheese

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And we had vanilla bean ice cream with chocolate syrup for dessert!

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It was delicious!  I loved being able to spend more time with my family without having to constantly pop into the kitchen to check on the food.  After dinner, we sat around with coffee and chatted around the table until 10pm!  It doesn’t get any better than that.

I just had two weekends both consisting of going out with my girlies.  And yes, it’s Friday night, and I already went out this weekend with my girls.  And yes, it’s before 8pm and I am home already.  Don’t judge.  I start early

Confession: I cannot tell you the last time that I had a girls’ night out let alone having it happen two weekends in a row.  One of which was my darling sister’s bachelorette party downtown filled with laughter, mojitos, and tapas and the other consisted of a bunch of co-workers hitting up Happy Hour at a local restaurant.

Another Confession: If I’m out with a bunch of friends and the restaurant offers free bread to snack on before our meals come out, I’m doomed from the start.  You can be pretty certain that I’m the first one to take a piece of bread and then wait until everyone has eaten her share to see if I can also have the last piece of bread.  Don’t you hate when there is just ONE piece of bread left untouched in that basket?  Personally, I think it’s a crime, but so often I find that no one is willing to take that last piece of bread as if it makes them greedy or something.  C’mon, we all know you want it.  I know I want it.

Sometimes I wish that they wouldn’t even offer that bread because then I’m “forced” to eat it until I’m full.  Then my meal comes out and I’m “forced” to eat that, too.  I can’t let it go to waste, right?  We won’t talk about the dessert that I inevitably always have room for despite eating most of the bread and my meal.  I can’t divulge too many secrets right now.

We’ll just stick with the irresistible bread.

I have to laugh because I made this bread WAY back in February when my area was slammed with several MONSTER snow storms.  The snow piled up against my sliding glass door, and I had nothing to do besides bake (even though I am challenged in the baking department) and play Wii.  Since I work at a school and the snow was well over 2 feet high, I had several days to mill around the house finding something to do.

That’s when I discovered this guilt-free bread.

Did you catch that, people!?  GUILT-FREE bread!!  You may wonder why this bread is worthy of such a title.  Does it have carbs?  Yes.  Does it satisfy your hunger?  Yes.  Is it tasty enough for restaurants to put it on their tables instead of the yummy white bread?  YES!  It’s that good.

And it has minimal ingredients.  And the ingredients are good for you.  This bread was specifically made so that we can consume it without a guilty conscience.  SWEEEEET!!!

Let’s have a go with it, shall we?

Clean Whole Wheat Bread

Source: Clean Eating Magazine and Eric Pater
Yields 18 slices

Ingredients:

3 cups whole-wheat flour
2 tsp yeast
1 tsp kosher salt
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp olive oil

Directions:

Mix 1 ¾ cup warm water, flour and yeast in a small bowl. Let rise until mixture doubles in size, approximately 30 minutes.

Combine remaining ingredients with dough and knead by hand or with bread maker until dough is sticky. Add additional warm water if needed. If kneading by hand, let rise for 30 minutes, knead again and let rise for 30 minutes. If using a bread maker, let rise once, then put it in standard bread loaf pan to rise for an additional 30 minutes until dough fills out loaf pan.

Bake at 350°F for 40 minutes. Slice to desired width and serve.

NUTRIENTS per 2 5/8-inch slices:

Calories: 160
Total Fat: 3.5 g
Sat. Fat: 0.5 g
Carbs: 30 g
Fiber: 5 g
Sugars: 14 g
Protein: 3 g
Sodium: 55 mg
Cholesterol: 0 mg

After the roads have finally be cleared of the 2ft+ of snow that the Northeastern part of the US just received, we are again in the midst of a Nor’easter.  As I sit here, I see the snow piling up on my deck, inch by inch.  And I just got word that my school is closed tomorrow.  Ahhh…a day off.  What shall I bake?

We’ve been fortunate enough (or unfortunate – depending how you look at it) to have our major snowstorms of the 2009-2010 winter on SATURDAYS.  I won’t mention the fact that the first one that blew through in December destroyed my birthday plans at a Tapas and Vodka bar.

No, strike that.

The FIRST real snow prevented my Drexel U ladies from trekking to my house for a Girls’ Weekend, the SECOND snowstorm caused the cancellation of my much needed and highly anticipated tapas and vodka ON TAP with 30 of my closest friends and family members.  This storm owes me an appearance during the week when my house is already clean, and I can just kick back and relax.

May we have Thursday off, too?  Chances look good.  How about a 2hr delay on Friday?  Am I dreaming?  Maybe, but it’s fun to dream!  Plus, Old Man Winter owes me.

A day work-free means I get to spend some quality time in my beloved kitchen, and since I only have an iPhone to take pictures for now (my camera lens STILL won’t open… grrrr*), I can manage to squeak in some pics of food with some decent sunlight.  I loathe the dark food photos.  But what’s a girl gonna do when BOTH cameras decided to fart and die on her?  Maybe my dead cameras and Old Man Winter should have a party somewhere else and give me my tapas party back.

During the snowstorm this weekend, I whipped up a batch of my sister’s Whole Wheat Crackers that very much remind me of our family favorite, Wheat Thins.  These were a hint sweeter because of the added vanilla and sugar, but don’t worry they were savory enough to go along with the adored fruit and cheese platter that so many of us include when we entertain.  And my sister is right, these bad boys go quickly.  One batch is good for a small party of 6-8, but you might as well double it so you can enjoy some later.

Simply the best crackers I have ever had.  Thanks for the recipe, Emmy.  Loveyou.

I’m totally thinking about adding cocoa to these and turning it into a chocolate cereal.  Okay, maybe that’s what I’ll do tomorrow since I’m snowed in.

Sweet Whole Wheat Crackers

Source: Cleanliness is Next to Godliness & King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking Cookbook

1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour or white whole wheat
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp paprika
4 Tbs (1/2 stick) cold butter
1/4 cup cold water
1/4 tsp vanilla
Additional salt for topping (optional)

Combine the flour, sugar, salt and paprika in a medium bowl. Cut the butter into small pieces and mix it in thoroughly, using your fingers, a pastry blender, a mixer or a food processor. Combine the water and vanilla, and add to the flour mixture, mixing until smooth.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly grease baking sheets or line with parchment paper.

Divide the dough into 4 pieces; keep the other pieces covered while you work with one at a time. Lightly flour your work surface and your rolling pin and roll the piece of dough into a large rectangle, which should be at least 12 inches square when trimmed. Keep your pin and the surface of your dough evenly floured. Flip the dough frequently to keep it from sticking, but too much flour will make it difficult to roll. Keep rolling until the dough is as thin as you can get it without tearing, at least 1/16 inch thick. Trim the dough to even the edges and use a pizza cutter or a sharp knife to cut the piece into squares approximately 1 1/2 inches wide.

Transfer the squares to a prepared baking sheet; you can crowd them together, as they don’t expand while baking. Sprinkle the squares lightly with salt, if desired. Repeat with the remaining pieces of dough. Save the scraps under plastic wrap and re-roll them all at once just one time.

Bake the crackers, one sheet at a time, until crisp and browned, 5 to 7 minutes. If some of the thinner crackers brown too quickly, remove them and return the remaining crackers to the oven to finish baking. These crackers bake quickly, so watch them closely – even 30 seconds can turn them from golden brown to toast! Remove the crackers from the oven and cool on the pan or on a plate; they cool quickly. These crackers will stay crisp for several days, but are best stored in airtight containers.

I woke up yesterday morning to find 2 feet of snow at my door step.  That’s a lot of snow, at least for people in my area.  Noodles, on the other hand, had no issues with it.  She was in her glory. (Probably because she didn’t have to shovel!)

For some reason massive amounts of snow bring on a baking bug for a lot of us.  So many of my friends told me that they were baking this weekend because of the snow.  Being cooped up causes us to get ants in our pants!  Since the superbowl is this weekend, I decided to make something that would go with the beer that the husbands will be consuming.  I’m not a beer drinker, but I do love my pretzels!

They were super simple, but a little time consuming.  Anything that needs to be kneaded then rise, then rolled, then risen again will take time so make sure that you have the day to relax and enjoy making your pretzels.

They were bland in my opinion (probably because I didn’t put the huge chunks of salt on them – the huge salt makes me cringe), but this is easily remedied by putting that salt on them, sprinkling some cinnamon sugar on them or dunking them in salsa con queso!  Mmmmmmm….

Whole Wheat Soft Pretzels

Source: Delicious Wisdom
Yields: 12 small pretzels

Prep Time:  About 2 Hours (mostly inactive)
Cooking Time:  15 Minutes

Ingredients:
1 Cup Warm Water
1 Package of Dry Active Yeast
1 ½ Cups + 1 ¼ Cups Whole Wheat Flour
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
3/4 Tsp Sea Salt
3 Cups Water
2 Tbsp Baking Soda
Course Sea Salt (optional)

In a large bowl, stir yeast into warm water and set aside to dissolve for 10 minutes.  Stir in olive oil, sea salt and 1 ½ cups of flour.  Once well combined, add remaining flour and knead for about 5 minutes.  Place into a dry bowl, lightly cover with a kitchen towel and let rise for 1 hour.

Divide dough into 12 equal portions and roll into balls.  Roll each ball into a long snake-y piece and form into pretzel shapes.  (See below.) Let them rise for about 30 minutes.  Preheat oven to 475 degrees F.  Bring water and baking soda to a simmer in a deep pan.  Simmer pretzels in simmering water for about one minute, flipping halfway through.  Place pretzels on a lightly greased baking sheet, sprinkle with sea salt, and bake for 10-12 minutes or until golden.

Try to eat them the day of baking that’s when they are the best!

For Christmas my parents got me this awesome cookbook – Simply Salads by Jennifer Chandler.  Now my Ma knows that I LOVE when my cookbooks have pictures to go with each recipe.  Lucky for me, these cookbooks tend to be less expensive than the ones without pictures.  Not sure why, but it works for me!

Perusing this book, I had no idea that it would be an inspiration for using up MORE of my leftover ham.  The recipe calls for pancetta, which is a dry cured meat that reminds me of bacon.  Instead of buying pancetta, I just used my Christmas ham.  Ham doesn’t create the same drippings in the skillet as bacon when you cook it, but a little olive oil solves that problem.  You still get the flavor, you just need a little assistance from the oil.

We had this salad right after church.  It hit the spot!  We wanted something light, but we wanted something that felt like a meal.  We served this salad with my homemade Ham and Cheddar Biscuits.  Home run, I tell you!  Never thought to warm wild mushrooms and place them on a salad.  Good call, Jennifer!

Warm Wild Mushroom Salad

Serves 4 for a meal or 6 for an appetizer

Source: Simply Salads by Jennifer Chandler, pg. 128 (& pg. 106 for salad dressing)

Ingredients:

Salad:

1/4 cup Sherry Vinaigrette – *recipe follows
1/4 pound pancetta, bacon, or ham ** if using ham, add 1-2 Tbs. olive oil
1 shallot, minced
1/2 lb. assorted wild mushrooms (I used oyster, porcini, and shiitake), ends trimmed
1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted
Kosher salt and pepper to taste
1 bag (8oz) Field Greens

Sherry Vinaigrette:

(I doubled this recipe for my salads)

1 shallot, minced
1 tsp. dijon mustard
2 Tbs. sherry wine vinegar (or red wine vinegar)
6 Tbs. olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Prepare the Sherry Vinaigrette - In a small bowl whisk together shallot, mustard, and vinegar.  Slowly add the olive oil in a stream, whisking to emulsify.  Season with salt and pepper.  (Makes about 1/4 cup)

In a medium skillet, over medium-low heat, cook the ham (with olive oil) or pancetta/bacon without oil.  Cook until outside is crisp, about 4 minutes.  Transfer ham to paper-towel lined plate to drain, reserving the drippings in the pan.

Increase the heat to medium.  Add the shallot and cook, stirring often, until tender, 3-5 minutes.  Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring often, until lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Transfer the mixture to a medium bowl.

Add the ham and pine nuts to the mushroom mixture and toss.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

In a large salad bowl, toss the Field Greens with the vinaigrette to taste.  Divide the salad among individual plates. Top with mushrooms.  Serve immediately!  (Otherwise the greens will get droopy!)

If I had known all along how easy this was to make, I would have been doing this instead of buying it!   I LOVE Greek yogurt.  I use it in dips, in desserts, and in my baking.  It’s so creamy and full that it makes other yogurt seem weak.  My only issue with Greek yogurt is its expense.  It’s $5 for a teeny container or nearly $2 for a single serving.  I can’t justify that.

Well, I have found a solution.

Are you ready for the easiest recipe of all time (aside from just buying something from the store)??

Homemade Greek Yogurt

Source: Sunny Anderson

Yields 2 1/2 cups

Ingredients:

4 cups plain lowfat yogurt

Directions:

Line a strainer with a paper towel and place the towel-covered strainer on top of a bowl.  You don’t want the bottom of the strainer to touch the bowl.

Pour yogurt into strainer and place in fridge for 7-8 hours or overnight.  When it’s done, the liquid will be in the bowl and you will be left with the delectable Greek yogurt in the strainer.  Please note that the amount of yogurt will reduce, but you will still have plenty to use.  Discard liquid in bowl.

Enjoy!

I love game days.  Saturday for the first time in…oh let’s see… 4 or 5 years, I put on my shin guards, picked up my old stick and stick bag and played some field hockey.  It felt so good to be a part of a team again, and I look forward to playing more and more.  (I just need to get back into shape before I REALLY enjoy it!)

I also love game days at home.  Jay had the picture-in-picture (PIP) on our television so we could watch two football games simultaneously.  Most of this multi-game interest can be attributed to a fantasy football league that someone is participating in addition to our Philadelphia Phillies who were ALSO playing at the same time.  Busy day!  A busy day of sports calls for game day snacks!

One of the snacks that I prepared for my darling sports-junkie husband was this hot and cheesy bean dip.  In 10 minutes I had it on the table with tortilla scoops.  The dip was so amazingly good that I wish that I had made more because between Jay, my sister, and myself, the bowl was completely polished clean!

Next time you have friends over to watch a game, whip up this dip.  It will be a crowd favorite, guaranteed.

Hot & Cheesy Bean Dip

Source: Annie’s Eats

Serves: 6 (or three piggies like the ones in my household!)

Ingredients:
1 Tbs. olive oil
½ onion, chopped
1 jalapeno, seeded and finely diced
1 (14.5 oz) can refried beans
2 Tbs. sour cream
¼ tsp. ground cumin
½ tsp. kosher salt
1/3 cup cheddar cheese, in ½-inch cubes
1/3 cup pepper jack cheese, in ½-inch cubes

Directions:
Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Add the onions and jalapeno, and sauté until tender, about 3-5 minutes.

Stir in the refried beans and cook until smooth, stirring occasionally.

Stir in the remaining ingredients and cook until the cheese is melted.  Transfer to a bowl and serve hot.

Jay tells me that I’m a facebook addict.  Apparently I completely zone out and do not hear anything anyone is saying while I’m surfing my friends’ pages.   Sorry, honey.  You know I love you anyway.

Here are some perks to succumbing to online social pages:

1. You find out that dear friends from preschool and elementary school live a quarter mile down the road.  (Hi Christina!)
2. You don’t feel so lonely on lazy Saturday nights because you find out that there are other people staying home, too.
3. You can send out invitations to parties without having to spend a dime.  A simple mass message on FB does the trick… AND it keeps track of who’s coming and who isn’t.
4. People post food that they are making allowing you to be nosey and ask for their recipe.

This leads me to my friend Molly.  I have known Molly since elementary school.  (I even have our 4th grade class picture from Mrs. High’s class…hehehe.)  Well, yesterday on Facebook, she posted that she was making crab-stuffed mushrooms for a family picnic.  CRAB-STUFFED MUSHROOMS!  I immediately asked for the recipe because it just sounded so good.  What makes this recipe even better is how easy it is to make them!  In a matter of minutes, I have these adorable mushrooms on my table and a happy husband with delicious food while watching the Eagles game.

Thank you, Molly!  These are literally the best stuffed mushrooms I have ever had.

Molly’s Crab-Stuffed Mushrooms

Serves 6

Source: My childhood friend, Molly

Ingredients:

24 baby portobella mushrooms, stems removed, and cleaned with a damp paper towel
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
6-8 oz. lump crab meat (sift through it with your fingers to make sure there aren’t any shells)
1 Tbs. Parmesan cheese
1 Tbs. +1 tsp. fresh parsley or dill, chopped
1 tsp. garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
cayenne pepper (optional)
mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Spray baking sheet with cooking spray.  Place mushrooms on sheet.

In a medium-sized bowl, mix the cream cheese, crab, parmesan, 1 Tbs. dill/parsley, garlic powder, salt/pepper, and cayenne pepper.  Put a generous amount of cream cheese mixture into the cavity of each mushroom.  Add a dash of cayenne pepper and sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.

Bake for 10-12 minutes or until the mushrooms are hot and water starts to appear on the baking sheet underneath the mushrooms.  Garnish with dill/parsley.  Serve immediately.

I wish I could relive this moment over and over….

Despite the fact that our wedding day has passed, Jason and I continue to create and enjoy memories that are tender, loving, and sweet.

 

One fond memory is this weekend’s feast in celebration of our upcoming anniversary – made from scratch and made from love.

 

As I mentioned in my previous post, we wanted a fun and exciting meal, but we didn’t want to gorge ourselves into utter guilt and discomfort.  Our meal was made from just about all clean ingredients (we did have some wine spritzers!).  Eating clean simply means that you are staying away from processed foods.   Slightly processed items such as spices and extra virgin olive oil are perfectly fine, but the key is staying away from packaged goods with chemicals and scary toxins.

I will be the first to admit that I am not always good at eating clean.  Cake and ice cream just tempt me beyond belief (you know, the kind with all that high fructose corn syrup and “natural flavors”, which are nothing more than chemicals), but just know that it is okay to eat that kind of stuff as a treat every once in a while.  Just don’t make it a daily ritual.

I am reminded of an episode of Oprah I watched last year; a girl in her twenties was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and was basically handed a death sentence.  She decided that it was not her time, bought a juicer and began consuming loads of fresh fruits and vegetables.  Her clean diet saved her life.  She is now in remission.  REMISSION!!!  Healthy food has power, people!  It saves lives!

Now that I have said my piece, I will step off of my soap box and focus on our anniversary meal ;o) …

Jason and I thoroughly enjoyed our clean meal.  We ate until we were full and an hour later, we felt great!  (Even ready to eat a little more!)   The next day, my little pudgy belly was flatter, and I felt incredible!   Need I say more?!

 

Here is our wonderful pre-anniversary dinner menu with recipes:

Roasted Eggplant Dip with Herb Rubbed Pita

Adapted from: Martha Stewart Living, July 2009

Serves: a hungry crowd

 

Ingredients for Dip:

3 medium eggplants
1 small garlic clove, minced
1/2 cup + 2 Tbs. olive oil
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt (the recipe calls for full-fat, but I used non-fat and it turned out well)
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (from two lemons)
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Chop up eggplant into small chunks.  Place on baking sheet, toss in 2 Tbs. olive oil, and bake for 20 minutes or until browned and tender.

Using a knife, press the flat side of the blade back and forth across the garlic with 1.5 tsp. salt to create a garlic paste.

Add eggplant and garlic into food processor.  Gradually add the remaining olive oil while processing.   Once done with processing, place mixture into a bowl.  Gently stir in yogurt and lemon juice.  Season with salt and pepper.

 

Ingredients for pitas:

1/4 cup finely chopped mint
1/4 cup finely chopped parsley
Coarse salt and pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
4-6 pitas, sliced horizontally if thick

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degree F.  Stir herbs together in a small bowl.  Season with salt and pepper.

Rub over pitas, and slice into triangles.

Place on baking sheets and bake for 10-14 minutes until golden brown.

 

 

Pumpkin & Pear Soup

Source: Oxygen Magazine, June 2009

Serves: 4-6

 

Ingredients:

2 Tbs. olive oil
1 chopped onion
1/2 cup fresh ginger, minced
3 pears, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
2 small cans pumpkin puree
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
4 cups chicken broth

 

Directions:

Put first four ingredients in a large soup pot and saute until tender, about 10 minutes.

Stir in remaining ingredients and bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes.

Puree in batches in a blender or use a stick blender to blend until soup is smooth.

 

 

Moroccan Chicken and Lentils

Source: The Eat-Clean Diet Cookbook, p. 150

Serves: 12 (we made 4 servings for our meal)

 

Ingredients:

8 cups water
3 tsp. sea salt, divided
1 lb dried lentils, rinsed drained and picked over

1 cup plus 2 Tbs. olive oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
3 Tbs. ground cumin, divided
2 Tbsp. plus 2 tsp. chili powder
2 garlic clove, peeled and minced

1 large onion, peeled and chopped
2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken or turkey breast, thinly sliced
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 cup fresh parsley or cilantro

 

Directions:

Combine water and 1 tbs. salt in stock pot over high heat.  Add lentils.  Bring to a boil.  Cover and reduce to medium heat.  Simmer until lentils are soft, about 20-25 minutes.  Drain well.  Rinse under cold water and drain well.  Place in a large bowl and set aside.

In a small bowl, mix 1 cup oil, vinegar, 2 Tbs. cumin, 2 Tbs. chili powder, garlic and 1 tsp. salt.  Pour all but 2 Tbs. of this dressing over lentils.  Toss gently and set aside.

In a large skillet, heat 2 Tbs. oil.  Add onion and saute until well cooked, about 5 minutes.  Onion should appear dark brown and soft.  Add chicken or turkey and saute 2 minutes more.  Add 1 tsp salt, 1 Tbs. cumin, 2 tsp. chili powder and cinnamon.  Saute until chicken/turkey is cooked through.

Arrange lentils on a large serving platter.  Place sliced chicken on top of lentils.  Use any remaining dressing to pour on top.  Sprinkle with chopped parsley.  Serve at room temperature.

 

 

Marinated Zucchini with Mint

Source: Everyday Food, July/August 2009

Serves: 4

 

Ingredients:

3 zucchini, thinly sliced lengthwise
4 Tbs. olive oil
coarse salt and ground pepper
1 garlic clove, minced
1 Tbs. white wine vinegar
2 Tbs. fresh mint

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 475 degrees F.  On two large rimmed baking sheets toss zucchini with 2 Tbs. oil.  Season with salt and pepper.  Roast until tender and brown underneath, about 10-15 minutes.

On a serving platter, sprinkle zucchini with garlic and 2 Tbs. oil and vinegar.  Let stand for an hour.  (If you don’t have time to let it stand, don’t worry about it.  It tastes great served immediately!)

Sprinkle with fresh mint.