With grilling season here, I am in search of recipes that aren’t just, well, burgers. I love a good grilled burger, but they can get old pretty quickly. I realized recently that I haven’t had many mushroom recipes lately so this is the perfect time to try grilling a portobello mushroom! I kind of combined two recipes for inspiration for this post. The mushrooms are first brushed with a soy-balsamic marinade and grilled. They are then filled with a mixture of tomatoes, mozzarella, roasted garlic, and basil.
Seafood is a great weeknight meal because it cooks up so quickly. The only problem is getting to the supermarket to get it because you don’t really want seafood sitting in your fridge for more than a few days. A few weeks ago, my supermarket was having a sale on uncooked frozen shrimp so I grabbed two bags to use for a quick meal.
I somehow have never made Shrimp Scampi, so when I saw a version on Cooking Planit, I decided it was about time! This recipe takes about 30 minutes if you buy the shrimp already peeled, deveined, and with the tails removed. (I have a review of Cooking Planit within my Braised Baby Back Ribs and Creamy Polenta with Brussels Sprouts and Pancetta post if you’d like to read more about this app.)
Whenever I visit my friends who live on the Chesapeake, I try to bring some food. I found a recipe for a Tart with Grilled Fruit in a cookbook called Crazy About Pies that I bookmarked for my next trip to Maryland because we always end up grilling and I thought it would make a great complement to a barbecued dinner. I decided to instead make a dark chocolate brownie to go with the grilled fruit instead of the tart. (I will have a post about Crazy About Pies in the near future, there are some amazing sounding recipes in this cookbook!) The brownie recipe is adapted from an Alton Brown recipe.
Ingredients (makes 16 servings):
2 pints of ice cream, preferably fruit based (I used a strawberry almond milk ice cream)
Brownies
4 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
8 ounces melted butter (2 sticks) plus more for greasing
1 cup dark chocolate cocoa
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Fruit
Fruit of your choice (about 1 cup): I used pineapple, kiwi, and watermelon
I’ve mentioned on here many times, I really stink at getting an entire meal on the table. I can usually handle making the main dish and then I just scramble to throw a salad together and call it a meal. So when Cooking Planit told me about their app, it was like they had made it with me in mind!
The app, available for the iPhone and iPad (android coming soon) can also be accessed online. Your usage is synced up through your login, so you can browse on your computer, iPhone, and iPad seamlessly. (The app is currently on sale for $0.99 for iPhone and $1.99 for iPad)
The overall goal of Cooking Planit is to get a meal, sides included, on the table at the same time. The app includes tons of recipes that come already packaged as meals, but you can also mix and match to suit your tastes.
Once you choose your recipes/meal, you can add it to “My Cookbook” to store for future use. When you’re ready to go food shopping, just add the meal to your grocery list. The app gives you the option of planning for 2, 4, or 6 servings which I absolutely love! The grocery list can be viewed as a list by aisle (produce, dairy & eggs, canned goods, etc.), images (in case you have no idea what a leek looks like), or by recipe so you can see what you need for which recipe. Once you find and purchase your ingredients, just check them off and remove them from the list.
When you’re ready to get cooking, just bring up the recipe and click get started. The app will walk you through the meal, step by step, so that all parts of the recipe will finish at or around the same time. The app even shows you which cooking equipment, kitchen supplies, and appliances you need to make your meal, almost foolproof! It also lets you know how long it will take to make from start to finish. I liked being able to browse the recipes online at work, get the grocery list up on my phone at the supermarket, and then use my laptop at home to view the directions while I cooked. Super easy! The iPhone/iPad app also has voice control, so if you’re elbow deep in cooking, you can give voice commands like “Move On” or “Go Back.” When parts of the recipe need a timer, automatic timers show up at the top of the screen for you. The app will also tell you when to slow down so that all parts of the recipe finish at the same time.
So I decided to try it out and give the results below! I (of course) messed with the recipe slightly so my version is below. I chose “Sunday Supper” but changed it to Baby Back Ribs instead of Short Ribs and used my slow cooker instead of the oven.
When I have time on Sundays (which isn’t terribly often), I like to make a batch of muffins so I have breakfast for the week. Because I had some overripe bananas, this week I decided to make Banana Bread Muffins. I was recently sent some coupons to try Kretschmer Wheat Germ products so I thought adding some of the Honey Crunch would add some nice texture and flavor to the muffins.
So what exactly is wheat germ? Wheat germ comes from the wheat kernel, which is the part removed when refining whole grains into white flour. Wheat Germ is a great source of Vitamin E, B vitamins and folic acid. You can find it in the cereal aisle. Wheat germ can be used in recipes calling for flour or breadcrumbs so its quite versatile. I’ve also used it in smoothies.
So that you can try wheat germ for yourself, Kretschmer is giving away some coupons good for free wheat germ products to an I Can Cook That reader! More on that below.
Ingredients (makes 12 cupcake-sized muffins, of 6 large muffins):
I am in a grilling mood so there is going to be an influx of barbecue recipes on here, I think very few people will complain. We finally have a grill, but haven’t set it up yet (oops) so I am still making this recipe on my grill pan. This is a recipe from Cooking Light in the latest issue. I made a few changes just based on what I could find but the recipe is primarily in tact.
Ingredients:
1/4 cup nonfat buttermilk
3 tablespoons 0% Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 tablespoon minced shallots
1 teaspoon minced fresh thyme
1 teaspoon cider vinegar
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
1 large garlic clove, minced
4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
I am so happy that it is finally grilling weather again! There is nothing better than hanging out with friends and family in the back yard, grilling up some burgers, and playing games. Last night I was able to go to my first barbecue of the season and I couldn’t be happier about it. I look forward to many more this summer!
I am an unapologetic lover of cheeseburgers. I never get sick of them. But eating a cheeseburger, oh, once a week all summer is not a good habit at all. I’ve stayed away from veggie burgers for the most part because I was never a fan of the texture. But when MorningStar Farms contacted me about their new Veggie Mediterranean Chickpea Burger I was intrigued. There is a vegan pizza place in Philadelphia called Blackbird Pizzeria that has Chickpea Parm that I’m kind of obsessed with, so I was really looking forward to trying a chickpea burger too!
The chickpea burgers also have spinach, Roma tomatoes, and Greek herbs and spices mixed in which deliver a ton of flavor without the fat and calories. These burgers are just 110 calories per burger and have 70% less fat than ground beef.
Morningstar Farms is also giving away a prize pack valued at over $80 to one reader! I’ll have more details below!
To highlight the Mediterranean flavors in the burger, I decided to make a Tzatziki style topping and finish it off with some feta cheese. Tzatziki is normally made with a strained yogurt, cucumber, lemon, and mint. I decided to make a topping that is in the style of tzatziki but uses tomatoes and dill with a touch of a ranch dressing dry packet to really amp up the flavor.
Almost every citrusy post I have on my blog is dedicated to my mom. She is obsessed with orange, lemon, bergamot, etc. So in honor of Mother’s Day, here’s another one!
As a Walkers Official Blogger Ambassador, Walkers Shortbread sent me an awesome assortment of treats my way to make a spring/Mother’s Day themed post. Walkers Rapsberry Thins was in the mix, my mom also loves raspberries, so I decided to use the rapsberry thins to make a shortbread crust for a lemon tart. To make it even more citrusy, I topped the tart with candied orange peel.
Ingredients:
Candied Orange Peel:
2 oranges
Water
1/2 cup sugar
Crust:
1/2 cup finely ground Walkers raspberry shortbread thins cookies (about 6 cookies)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup salted butter (cold cut into small chunks)
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Spring has some of the best vegetables and it’s about time I put some of them to use! Anne Burrell has this fantastic recipe for Seared Wild Striped Bass with Sauteed Spring Vegetables using some of bright green veggies available right now and pairs it with a method for cooking seared wild striped bass that gets the skin super crispy without it curling up.
Ingredients:
Salt
1 bunch asparagus, snapped where it wants to naturally break
2 cups sugar snap peas, tips and strings removed
1 cup shelled fava beans
Extra-virgin olive oil
3 cloves garlic
1/2 cup morel mushrooms, cleaned and cut lengthwise in 1/2
I am less than one month away from attending Eat Write Retreat in Philadelphia and am getting so excited for it! Not only is the lineup awesome, but I get to meet a ton of other bloggers, what could be better? As we get closer to the big weekend, the attendees were sent a secret ingredient and were asked to try to incorporate into an appetizer recipe. I received California raisins, which people tend to think of more for sweet foods, but play off savory dishes oh so well. It goes without saying that I haven’t been able to get California Raisins’ classic commercial out of my head since I received them! OXO generously also sent us a few spiffy tools to help create our recipe; I can never have enough of their products!
Raisins are a great addition to a meal to add some sweetness without any added sugar. The dried fruit is loaded with antioxidants and fiber while being fat free and cholesterol free. Did you know that one serving of raisins (just 1/4 cup) has more potassium than a banana?
I have a friend that absolutely raves about Mediterranean Stuffed Peppers that her grandmother used to make for her, with rice, nuts, spices, and golden raisins. I decided to make an appetizer version, using mini sweet peppers. My version of these Mediterranean Stuffed Mini Peppers are stuffed with a lamb-farro mixture that includes tomatoes, raisins, pine nuts, and a touch of lemon zest (using my new snazzy OXO zester (paid link)). The peppers are then topped with feta cheese and broiled to make this recipe for Mediterranean Stuffed Mini Peppers!
Ingredients (serves 8):
16 mini sweet peppers, seeded
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped (no more than ½ cup)
2 garlic cloves, minced
½ lb ground lamb
2/3 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 teaspoon cumin
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 plum tomatoes, seeded and chopped
1 tablespoon tomato paste
the zest of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons golden raisins
2 teaspoons raisins
2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts
½ cup cooked farro – I used Tuscan Fields vegetable farro
I have a bit of a taco obsession, partially fueled by Cooking Light’s delicious selection of taco recipes. Because of that, I have almost 10 taco recipes on this blog! With Cinco de Mayo around the corner, I thought it might be helpful to put all of those yummy recipes in one place as well as a few other spins on Mexican favorites. I also included some appetizers that would also be a hit at any party. Click the photos below to go to the recipe!
Vegetarian:
Huevos Rancheros TacosBlack Bean and Cheese Enchiladas with Ranchero SaucePortobello and Black Bean QuesadillasBlack Bean Soup with Orange-Jalapeno Salsa
Seafood:
Fish Tacos with Lime Cilantro CremaFish Tacos with Tomatillo Sauce and Red CabbageChilean Sea Bass Tacos with Chipotle CreamCumin-Spiced Fish Tacos with Avocado Mango Salsa
Poultry:
Kung Pao Chicken TacosShredded Chicken Tacos with Tomatoes and Grilled CornWine Infused Thanksgiving Leftover EmpanadasSeared Chicken with Avocado Salsa
Beef:
Steak Tacos with Lime MayoKorean-Style Beef Tacos
Appetizers:
Black Bean Mango Salsa on Jalapeño Parmesan CrispsCilantro Lime HummusFresh Salsa
I tend to make dinner based on what I’m in the mood for and my boyfriend just has to at least pretend to enjoy it. That involves a lot of fish, pasta, and rice which I’m sure can get a bit boring. So I thought it might be nice if I finally made some steak. But, naturally, I still included some scallops, because I’m still the one cooking! This recipe for Seared Scallops and Steak with Manhattan Sauce from Rachael Ray is simple, quick, but absolutely delicious. It’s a perfect date night meal.
Ingredients (serves 2):
Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling, plus 1 tablespoon
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