The Best Guacamole I’ve Ever Made – recipe Jul 04 2008 **Happy 4th of July everyone (in the USA)!!!I miss being out of the States on this holiday. I was searching the inter-tubes for a good-looking guacamole recipe the other day. It was flavorful, but not over powering, creamy and chunky at the same time, and gone 1/2 way through our meal! I found the recipe here at The Daily Green. Here’s how I did it: Ingredients: 2 ripe Avocados, peeled and pitted juice of 1 Lime 1/4 Cup minced Red Onion 2 Tablespoons minced Cilantro 1 small clove Garlic, minced 1 teaspoon Kosher Salt or 1/2 teaspoon Table Salt 1/2 teaspoon Pepper 1 Tablespoon minced Jalapeño Directions: Halve the avocado and remove the pit. Serve immediately. Makes 3-4 servings (but it will go so fast you should double it!). ShareThis Leave a Reply
Chicken Tamale Pie Today’s lesson is on healing foods. You might be thinking of brightly colored veggies and lean proteins, and I can dig that . Most of the time. But today I’m thinking of creamy corn bread, spicy enchilada sauce, seasoned chicken, and melted cheese baked into a pie dish. A PIE DISH. That right there is healing. I’ve had a rough go of it the last few days. The Pistachios. Let me tell you something about myself. So in an effort not to eat the whole bag of pistachios in between lunch and dinner, I’ve been spending my evenings making one bazillion types of pistachio baked goods. No pistachios were thrown at the kitchen wall. Just when I was about to throw in the towel on baking for the rest of my life, Bjork asked for this tamale pie. One last thing: Tamale Pie loves the camera. Like, whoa. Chicken Tamale Pie Author: Pinch of Yum, adapted from Cooking Light Prep time: Cook time: Total time: Serves: 8 ⅓ cup fat free milk ¼ cup egg substitute 1½ tablespoon taco seasoning, divided ¼ teaspoon ground red pepper
Balsamic Pot Roast (in the Crock Pot) A couple of months ago I was reading a Taste Of Home magazine while in the waiting room at my son's orthodontics appointment, and I came across a recipe for Balsamic Braised Pot Roast. I made a mental note of it and filed it away in my brain for later use. This week, as I was struggling for dinner ideas, that recipe popped into my head. I prefer to cook my pot roasts in the slow cooker, and I knew Tuesday would be perfect since I had lots of errands to do after work that day. Ah, the smell was amazing when I walked in the door that night. The balsamic made a huge difference in flavor AND I do believe it helped to tenderize the meat as well. While I prefer to cook my pot roast in a crock pot, I do think it's essential to sear the meat first. *If you want to shorten the cook time for this, cook it on high for 6-7 hours.
Spanakopita Bites Buttery, flaky phyllo appetizers are especially popular in my family. I guess I can't blame them since who can resist buttery, flaky phyllo dough anyway?! My mother in law requested these Spanakopita Bites as an appetizer for the birthday party she was throwing for her husband. Spanakopita Bites recipe adapted from CBSrecipe yields 60-72 mini muffin sized bites 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil 1 small onion, chopped 3 green onions, chopped 10 ounces frozen chopped spinach. thawed and squeezed dry 4 to 6 ounces domestic feta cheese, crumbled 1 cup cottage cheese OR ricotta cheese OR cream cheese 1 egg Salt and pepper to taste 1 pound phyllo, thawed 8 tablespoons butter (1 stick), melted 2 tablespoons vegetable oil Preheat oven to 375 degrees Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in medium skillet over medium heat. Meanwhile, mix spinach, feta, cottage cheese and egg in medium bowl. Combine the remaining butter and oil and set aside until ready to use. Remove the phyllo dough from the package and stack up.
Caprese Baked Egg Cups I learned five things yesterday. 1. Having a cocktail after making a freakishly giant mess in the kitchen helps calm the stress of cleaning up AND makes it go faster… or just makes you forget how long it takes? 2. 3. iChatting with loved ones in another state after a big cocktail (oops I know… I left out the part about how big it was in #1) is awesome. 4. 5. Geez. All hangovers and unrealistic, dreamy 2002 relationships aside, these baked eggs are where it’s at. Well, I totally thought that and I was totally wrong. Caprese Baked Egg Cups makes 4 cups [2 x 3 1/2 in ramekins] 4 or 8 eggs (depending on if you want 1 or 2) 1 pint grape tomatoes, halved 3-4 ounces mozzarella cheese, chopped (I used marinated mozz from Trader Joe’s, hence the seasoning) 8-10 fresh basil leaves 2 teaspoons cream or milk salt and pepper softened butter Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Butter each ramekin and fill with a few pieces of tomato, cheese and basil. I want a mimosa.
Tomato Basil Pizza The other day, I was looking at the overload of tomatoes that I bought as the season was winding down as the end of summer nears. But I realized that I was being gradually shoved out of my small kitchen by them, so I oven-roasted the louts with garlic and herbs to reclaim a few precious inches back of kitchen counter space. Yet when they were finished, I looked in my refrigerator, and there wasn’t any room in there either. So I was left holding a bowl of roasted tomatoes that needed to get used up. Coincidentally, I also had a round of yeasted dough in my refrigerator from a batch of recipe testing that hadn’t found its meaning as something else yet—as experimental leftovers are want to do. I’ve oven-roasted plenty of tomatoes in my lifetime, especially when I need to pull and extract as much flavor as I can from less-than-exemplary specimens. Basically, you just take some tomatoes, toss them in a splash of olive oil, some herbs, and sliced up garlic. (I know, I know. Chewswise Pesto
Back Away From The Bottle: Homemade Salad Dressing Recipes Many of us have succumbed to the convenience of bottled salad dressing, assuming it's not worth making salad dressing recipes from scratch. (Big mistake guys.) Take a look at the ingredients list on a bottle of store-bought dressing -- you might want to reconsider. It's time to embrace homemade salad dressings and vinaigrettes. Want to read more from HuffPost Taste? Loading Slideshow Filed by Julie R.
The Comfort of Eggs in a Basket Eggs in a basket was the first meal I ever cooked. I was in 5th grade, and it was a Sunday morning at my best friend's house after a sleepover. We woke up hungry, and for some reason his parents weren't home. This confused me--my parents would never do that--but more important than confusion was the fact that I was terribly hungry, and I didn't see how that problem was going to be solved, since his house never had any cereal in it. "We'll make eggs in a basket," my friend said, pulling out a loaf of bread, a jug of oil, and a carton of eggs. You mean, we'll be cooking? The resulting breakfast was awesome: runny yolk and crisp bread dripping with oil (we filled the skillet so much oil it was basically deep-fried). Ideally, make this with slices of toast cut thick. I guess I have a fondness for very fast and simple eggs + bread dishes, my love of "eggy bread" evidence of this, which is basically French toast without sweetness or spices. What are your go-to quick meals when hunger looms?