Ja cię kocham…

I give you the final recipe from my Mother’s Day Dinner Menu!

Oh boy these were amazing.  I know these aren’t the healthiest version of green beans out there, BUT it is okay to indulge every so often!   The beauty of this recipe is that you can use as little or as much of the fattening ingredients as you would like.   If you are being cautious about your caloric intake you can make the proper adjustments (center-cut bacon, turkey bacon, Canadian bacon, reduced fat cheese, etc.) to meet YOUR needs.   You don’t have to follow the recipe exactly.   It still tastes good even if you use less cheese or omit the bacon.  I just thought that this was the perfect compliment to my Rosemary Pork Tenderloin.

Does my plate look good?  Trust me, it was amazing.  So make this meal, savor it, and then go relax on your porch, deck, or couch.  I went on my parents’ deck….

My husband, dad, sister, brother-in-law, and I all went to Temple University for undergrad so of course there is a TU flag at my parents’ house!  Even though my Mom and Uncle went to different colleges, they still have pride for the Cherry and White.

Just had to throw that out there

Nutty Green Beans with Bacon and Blue Cheese

Source: Claire Robinson of 5-Ingredient Fix
Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

Kosher salt
2 pound green beans, trimmed (frozen are fine, just thaw them before using)
4 slices bacon
4 ounces blue cheese, cut into small chunks
1 1/2 cups toasted whole pecans, coarsely chopped
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Have you ever made something that is so unbelievably fantastic that you don’t understand how you lived before trying it?   Something so good that you seriously consider putting on the list of things you would make sure to have if you were stranded on a desert island?

This dish is one of those things.  Honestly, if I had to choose only one thing that I was allowed to eat for the rest of my life, this would be a deep consideration.

Mom and I were preparing for Christmas dinner last year, and she came across this recipe by Tyler Florence.  Ever since she brought this gem into our lives, every person that has consumed it falls in love instantly and wants the recipe.  Now I have had a lot of incredible potato dishes in my life but this one by far surpasses every single one of them.

So what are you waiting for???!!!   Get crackin’ on some Gratin!

Scalloped Potato Gratin

Source: Tyler Florence
Serves 4-6

1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 sprig fresh thyme
2 garlic cloves, chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Butter
2 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/8-inch thick slices
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup grated Parmesan, plus more for broiling

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

In a saucepan, heat up the cream with a sprig of thyme, chopped garlic and nutmeg.

While cream is heating up, butter a casserole dish. Place a layer of potato in an overlapping pattern and season with salt and pepper. Remove cream from heat, then pour a little over the potatoes. Top with some grated Parmesan. Make 2 more layers. Bake, uncovered, for 45 minutes. Sprinkle some more Parmesan and broil until cheese browns, about 5 minutes.

As soon as these bad boys were done, I stacked them on my plate, added BBQ sauce (Jay added hot sauce), and started shoveling them in my mouth.  Half way through my piggy-fest I realized I didn’t take a picture!  So here you go.  I had to take a picture of Jay’s fries since mine were almost gone.

The reason for my extreme excitement was the fact that I am on a strict diet to get ready for my sister’s April wedding, and I am getting to eat french fries!  No, I’m not going extreme and eating 100 calories a day or eating only cabbage soup.  I’m just allowing myself to consume a certain amount of calories a day based on the metabolic testing I had done at the YMCA.  This testing determined how many calories a day I burn if I were to lay on the couch all day.  It also determined a healthy calorie range for me for to lose the unwanted pounds.  I started on Monday writing every single calorie that I eat and drink and am doing well.  I am refusing to get on the scale for the first few weeks because I don’t want to become either complacent with what I’ve achieved so far or disappointed with how much I still have to lose.

As Oprah has so wisely put it:

Weight isn’t a number.  It’s when you get to the size where you start strutting your stuff.

I want to strut.

So WHY am I making french fries if I’m trying to lose weight?!  Doesn’t that seem hypocritical?

First off, no one can take my french fries from me.  They are far too amazing to take them away so I just made my own and tweaked the recipe to meet my needs.  And they totally met my needs.  I love you, french fries.

Just so you know, organic potatoes seriously last for only a few days.  I JUST bought them this week, and by Friday I knew I had to use them or lose them.  It makes me wonder what is in non-organic potatoes to make them last weeks rather than days.

Okay, we won’t go there.

I have been making french fries for years always being slightly disappointed with the results.  No matter how long I soak them in water and/or sugar, they always end up mushy!  That’s not a french fry, that’s a mashed potato.  And no, I have never used a deep-fryer.  I don’t own a deep-fryer, and if I want deep-fried and greasy french fries (and I get these cravings often), I go to McDonald’s.

Well today I can proudly say that I conquered the squishy french fry!  I now have a recipe that gives me healthy, crispy, and delectable french fries.   I’m so excited.  No more mush, no more potatoes sticking to the baking sheet, no more “bleh” french fries.  Stand back fast food restaurants, I have found your replacement!

Perfect Oven Baked Fries

Source: Slightly adapted from Annie’s Eats and The New Best Recipe

Serves 4

Ingredients:
3 russet potatoes (about 24 oz. total), peeled and cut lengthwise into even sized wedges
5 Tbs. vegetable, grapeseed, canola or peanut oil, divided
¾ tsp. kosher salt, plus more to taste
¼ tsp. freshly ground black pepper, plus more to taste

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 475˚ F.  Place the potato wedges in a large mixing bowl.  Cover with hot water; soak for 10-30 minutes.  Put 4 tablespoons of the oil onto a heavy, rimmed baking sheet.  Tilt the sheet side to side to evenly coat the pan with oil (a pastry brush can also help with this).  Sprinkle the pan evenly with the salt and pepper.  Set aside.

Drain the potatoes.  Spread the wedges out on layers of paper towels or on clean kitchen towels.  Pat dry with additional towels. Wipe out the now empty bowl so it is dry.  Return the potatoes to the bowl and toss with the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil.  Arrange the potato wedges on the prepared baking sheet in a single layer.  Cover tightly with foil and bake for 5 minutes.  Remove the foil and continue to bake until the bottoms of the potatoes are spotty golden brown, 15-20 minutes, rotating the baking sheet after 10 minutes.  Using a metal spatula and tongs, flip each potato wedge keeping them in a single layer.  Continue baking until the fries are golden and crisp, 5 -15 minutes.  Rotate the pan as needed to ensure even browning.

When the fries are finished baking, transfer to a paper-towel lined plate to drain some of the grease.  Season with additional salt and pepper to taste.  Serve warm.

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!

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

Here is a little secret for you all.

I want a Canon Rebel XSi with a 100mm macro lens for Christmas.

I know what you’re thinking – “Keep dreaming…” – I know this, but a girl has to dream, right??  I’m getting pretty tired of mediocre pictures.  I made an amazing pre-Thanksgiving feast last night with pictures that do not do the meal justice whatsoever.  Boooo.  Boooo to you crappy pictures.

Even though the pictures of my meal are an absolute eye-sore, I am posting anyway.  The recipes are too good, too healthy, and too easy to ignore.  So I say just cringe at the crappy pictures and move on.  I will try my very best to do the same.

It’s November, and you know what that means, right?  Thanksgiving is just around the corner!  I cannot wait to gorge myself with turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes and more!!  Just the thought of Turkey Day makes my mouth water.  I decided to have a pre-Thanksgiving dinner for the hubby and I just to get into the spirit of the holiday season.  This meal consisted of recipes from the Clean Eating Magazine, which I absolutely adore.   CE Mag makes fresh food and wholesome food seem so simple and appetizing.  No bland recipes here.  They are so full of flavor that you’re family won’t know how healthy they really are.

For my first post of the pre-Thanksgiving Feast, I am sharing the cranberry sauce.  It was done in 12 minutes, and it tastes soooo much better than the canned stuff.  Oh how I love recipes that are super easy… they make my world go ’round.

Fresh Cranberry Sauce with Apples and Ginger

Source: Clean Eating Magazine Nov/Dec 2009

Serves: 8 (or 4-6 hungry folks)

A much prettier picture courtesy of The Food Network and Tyler Florence

Ingredients:

12 oz. cranberries, fresh or frozen and defrosted
1 apple, cored and chopped into 3/4 inch pieces
1/2 cup honey (CE calls for raw)
1/2 cup water
1 1/2 Tbs. fresh ginger, finely minced
Zest and juice of 1/2 lemon
1/8 tsp. salt

Directions:

Add all ingredients to a large saucepan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.  Reduce heat to medium-low and cook for 8-10 minutes, or until cranberries break down, apples soften, and mixture thickens.

Stir often.

Transfer to a serving dish or storage container and allow to chill in fridge.  Serve at room temperature.

Happy Outdoor Grill Season!  In our family it’s always outdoor grill season, but this time of year is particularly fun because Mother Earth gives us fantastic fruits and veggies to grill.

We LOVE grilling corn on the cob.  The flavor is intensely smoky…. mmmmm…  My only advice is that when you grill your corn on the cob you do one of two things – keep the corn in the husk (with cornsilk removed) OR remove the husks and rub the corn with oil and/or juice (such as lime).

I saw this recipe on one of Rachael Ray’s 30 minute meals.  Personally, I love her recipes but find a lot of them to be expensive to make.   Sorry Rachael, I do love you, but my pantry is meager compared to yours!

This recipe uses items that are already in your kitchen.  Rachael whipped up her own homemade BBQ sauce to top the corn with and in hindsight, I should have done the same thing.  I used store bought BBQ sauce, which was yummy, but I wish I had tried making my own.   It requires mixing a few staple ingredients together such as brown sugar, ketchup, vinegar, etc. in a sauce pan.  Easy enough for me!

The only thing that I did NOT have on hand were scallions to throw on top of my bbq’d corn.  That would have added a beautiful finish to these babies.  There is always next time )

BBQ Corn on the Cob

Source: Rachael Ray’s 30 Minute Meals

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

(including items needed to make your own BBQ sauce, which are indicated with an asterisk “*”)

If you want to use store bought BBQ sauce, omit the items and directions with an “*”…

4 ears corn on cob
2 limes, juiced
A drizzle extra-virgin olive oil
Salt
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar*
2 tablespoons brown sugar*
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce*
1 tablespoon grill seasoning, a palm full*
1/2 cup ketchup or tomato sauce*
1 tablespoon hot sauce*
2 scallions, finely chopped

Directions:

Heat grill over medium-high heat.

Husk corn and cover with lime juice, drizzle with oil and season with salt.  Grill corn for 10-12 minutes, rotating it every few minutes.  Make sure there are lots of char marks on your corn!

Combine vinegar and brown sugar over medium-low heat, stir in Worcestershire, grill seasoning, ketchup or tomato sauce, and hot sauce. Simmer a couple of minutes.*

Baste corn liberally with sauce and cook 1 minute longer. Remove from grill, cover corn with chopped green onion and serve.

Just about every time I purchase a head of cauliflower I use half of it and leave the rest in the fridgie.  Having only two people in the house causes me to place left over veggies in the fridge.  Consequently, within a few days, my entire downstairs REEKS of something foul, which ends up being my cauliflower going bad.  It’s sad that it doesn’t last as long as I’d like.  After buying cauliflower for my Sweet Chile Roasted Vegetables, I had to come up with an additional recipe to use up the rest of my cauliflower.

101 Cookbooks never fails me.  Conveniently, Heidi, the author of the fantastic food blog, posted a cauliflower recipe exactly when I needed it.   It was definitely something that I would never have thought up on my own.  Thank you, Heidi )

Instead of using olive oil, I used coconut oil to saute the vegetables.  Coconut oil reminds me of butter but with a fresh, coconut fragrance that delightfully lingers in the house hours after cooking with it.

Coconut oil can be found at Whole Foods Market.   It’s a tad pricey ($6-8 a container), but it lasts a while.  If you’re a cook that likes to spice things up in the kitchen, I suggest purchasing unrefined coconut oil.

Coconut Curry Caulifower

Source: 101 Cookbooks

Serves: 2-3 as a side

Ingredients:

2 – 3 heads of small cauliflower (or 1/2 head large)
2 tablespoons of unrefined coconut oil
a couple pinches of sea salt
2 tsp. curry powder
1 small bunch of chives, chopped

Directions:

To prep the cauliflower, remove any leaves at the base and trim the stem. Now cut it into tiny trees not much larger than a table grape.  Rinse under running water, and set aside.

Heat the coconut oil and fine grain salt in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add the cauliflower and stir until the florets are coated. Wait until it gets a bit brown on the bottom, then toss the cauliflower with a spatula. Brown a bit more and continue to saute until the pieces are deeply golden – all told about six minutes.  Stir in the curry.

Remove from heat and stir in the chives, and salt to taste.  Serve immediately.

Omigosh, I know – it’s chicken!  We all thought that I was vegetarian!!!  I didn’t eat meat for MONTHS.  I was absolutely appalled by the thought of meat.  But the truth be told, I’m anemic, and months without adequate iron and protein left me exhausted.  I seriously thought that I had mono again.   Despite all of the multi-vitamins, leafy greens, and other supplements that I was consuming to compensate, I still felt like I was hit by a large truck every single morning.  It got to the point that no matter how gross I thought that meat was, my body craved it.  I fought it for a while, but eventually caved in.  I’m sorry vegetarians and vegans.  I knew deep down that this wasn’t permanent.  I just didn’t know how long my meat-free ways would last.   I still prefer vegetarian meals, and I always have, but if my body screams for meat, I will give my body meat.  And let me tell you, the day after I finally ate meat for the first time, I seriously felt like a million bucks!  I went and ran for an hour.  Fantastic.

Anyway… I was flipping through my Eating Clean magazine and came across a winner.  Long ago, I made an Eat Clean Pad Thai and was not too fond of it, but these two recipes were awesome!!  I’m so glad that I tried them.

Fresh after work on a day that my students were screaming, kicking their peers, and jumping in puddles in their socks in front of their mothers, I needed a real meal.  (And a real drink.)

Here it is!  The meal was perfect for the day that I felt that wouldn’t come to an end ;o)

Stuffed Chicken & Sweet Chile Roasted Vegetables

Source: Eat Clean Magazine July/August 2009

Serves 4

Chicken Ingredients:

Olive oil spray
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1 cup fresh spinach, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 roma tomatoes, seeded, cored and diced
2 Tbs. bread crumbs
4- 4 oz. boneless, skinless chicken breats, pounded thin (I found chicken breasts cut thinly at the market that avoided this step)

Chicken Directions:

Heat a large nonstick or cast orin skillet over medium-high heat for 2 minutes.  Mist with cooking spray and add onion, garlic, spinach, and tomato.  Saute for 5 minutes or until just cooked.  Remove from heat and mix in breadcrumbs.

To stuff chicken:

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat again for two minutes.

Place 1.5-2Tbs. veggie-breadcrumb mix in the middle of each chicken breast.  Fold chicken over filling and secure with toothpick.

Mist skillet with cooking spray.  Place stuffed chicken into skillet and cook for 3-4 minutes per side or until golden brown.

Sweet Chile Roasted Vegetables:

Source: Eat Clean Magazine July/August 2009

Serves 4

Roasted Vegetables Ingredients:

2 Tbs. agave nectar (or honey)
2 tbs. water
1 Tbs. olive oil
1 Tbs. balsamic vinegar (if you have white balsamic, use that)
1/2 tsp. chile powder (I used chipotle chile powder, YUM)
1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp. each of salt and pepper
1 medium head of cauliflower
24 pieces thin asparagus, ends trimmed
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved lengthwise

Roasted Vegetables Directions:

Preheat oven or toaster oven to 400 degrees F and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

In a small bowl whisk together all ingredients except for veggies.  Set aside.

Cut cauliflower into florets about 1 inch in size.  Place them into a large mixing bowl, add half of marinade to bowl and toss gently.  Arrange cauliflower in a single layer onto one baking sheet.  Using the same mixing bowl, repeat with remainder of veggies, arranging them in a single layer on the other baking sheet.

Place veggies into oven and rost for 12-15 minutes, until tender or a light goldern brown color.  Serve immediately.