I am a carb fanatic — I’d eat pasta with some day-old bread every single day if I could. But on really hot summer days, sometimes you need something that feels lighter while still filling you up. Cooking Light’s Pulled Pork Lettuce Wraps are a nice filling meal that are perfect on warm days; pulled pork is wrapped in Boston Bibb lettuce rather than added to a roll. The result is a super yummy and crunchy dinner!
I use my slow cooker year-round and this adaptation is no exception. Slow Cookers are such a simple way to get an awesome meal on the table in no time. Plus, it gives your oven a break!
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons sugar
2 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
1 white onion, quartered
1 (2 1/2-pound) boneless pork shoulder, trimmed
1 tablespoon grated peeled fresh ginger
2 tablespoons sherry
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons unsalted chicken stock
1 tablespoon gochujang (Korean chile paste) (gluten free is available)
1 1/2 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce (or coconut aminos to make gluten free)
I live in an apartment that has no outdoor space, so we clearly do not have access to a grill, which is causing me to only want grilled food! Luckily, I have a grill pan so I can get my fix, and I’ve been using it nonstop!
A really simple weeknight favorite of mine is to grill up some shrimp and serve over rice. This recipe is quick and easy to make, but delivers on flavor! Blue Chair Bay Rum sent me a bottle of their Coconut Rum that I knew would be perfect for a glaze on grilled shrimp. The glaze caramelizes beautifully, adding a nice char and sweetness to the shrimp.
I adapted this recipe from a Cooking Light recipe, adding more hints of coconut to play off of the Blue Chair Bay Coconut Rum.
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
the juice of one lime
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 garlic clove, minced
24 jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined (about 1 1/2 pounds)
6 sugarcane swizzle sticks, each cut into 2 pieces
This month, Zwilling sent me a fun challenge: use a fillet knife. June’s knives of the month are boning and fillet knives, so Zwilling sent me their ZWILLING Pro 7″ Fillet Knife to try out. I have never used one before so I was so excited to learn how to use one; gotta love learning a new technique!
Fillet and boning knives are exactly what they sound like: knives used to cut meat off of the bone (to fillet something is to remove it from the bone). The knife is long, thin, and super flexible to allow it to get as close to the bone as possible.
You can fillet anything with a bone — chicken, beef, etc. but most people immediately think of fish, so I decided to revisit an old recipe on my blog to try out this lovely new knife!
This recipe for fish tacos with lime cilantro crema is a Cooking Light recipe and a favorite of mine. I switched it up a touch this time, just to try something a bit new.
One of my favorite cookbooks is Love and Olive Oil‘s Breakfast for Dinner. (I did a post highlighting their Huevos Rancheros Tacos a while back.) So it’s probably not surprising that I make a few recipes from this cookbook on a regular basis. One that I love to make in particular is their version of the Hawaiian dish Loco Moco.
Typical Loco Moco is usually made with white rice, topped with a hamburger patty (or spam), a fried egg, and brown gravy. Love and Olive Oil’s version substitutes coconut sticky rice for the white rice, uses ground pork instead of the hamburger patty, and finishes the dish off with a sweet-spicy-salty soy sauce reduction rather than brown gravy.
I decided to alter their recipe slightly to give it a local spin; this version is topped with pork roll (or Taylor ham) instead of the ground pork, and this recipe for New Jersey-style Loco Moco was born!
Pork Roll is originally from Trenton, New Jersey (hence the name of this post), but can also be found in parts of Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Maryland. The pork product is thinly sliced and pan fried and is a staple in most breakfast places in the area.
This Slow Cooker Saucy Chicken Over Rice is one of my favorite go-to recipes, so I was really surprised to find that I hadn’t shared it on my blog yet!
My fiance is a runner, so I tend to make this recipe a few days before the race because it has a nice balance of carbs and protein with no dairy. (Note: every runner is different and has their own preferred menu on the days leading up to a race, this just happens to be one of my fiance’s favorites.)
This recipe from MyRecipes.com is a really simple slow cooker meal that involves about 15 minutes prep in the morning before popping everything into the slow cooker. The result is a yummy, tender, chicken recipe that freezes and reheats great as well! I’ve adapted the recipe slightly, but the general concept is still there. If you’d like to see the original, visit MyRecipes.com.
A while back, I was contacted by a healthy snack company based out of Britain called Natural Balance Foods. Their Eat Nakd Bars are snack bars made from natural ingredients including fruits and nuts and are gluten free, wheat free, and dairy free with no added sugars.
The company was kind enough to send me a bunch of the Nakd Bars to try, including their Cashew Cookie and Berry Delight Bars, which were my two favorites.
I brought a bunch of the Nakd Bars hiking and they were the perfect portable treat for the day. (I actually ended up spraining my ankle and spent most of my day at the base of the mountain, but hey, sprains work up an appetite as well!)
These little bars don’t skimp on flavor and are a great on the go snack for busy days.
So, what sets Eat Nakd apart from the rest?
A typical cereal bar can contain as many as 30 ingredients, many of which I can’t really pronounce.
It only takes 35 minutes to make an Eat Nakd bar, from start to finish, while a baked cereal bar can take almost 4 hours to process.
The lack of sugars doesn’t result in a cardboard tasting bar, however. The bars typically are made with dates, which adds natural sweetness to the other flavors. Eat Nakd currently has nine different bars, so it’s worth trying them all to find your favorite!
The company also has Eat Nākd Crunch bars which are are dairy, wheat and gluten free, packed with soya crunchies for extra protein to keep you feeling fuller for longer, and are completely vegan friendly. Flavors include Banana, Strawberry, Apple and Cocoa.
I enjoyed these bars so much that I want you to be able to try them too! One I Can Cook That Reader will will an Eat Nakd Sampler Box! The Sampler Box includes one of each of their yummy bars —
One of each 9 Eat Nakd fruit and nut bar flavors; Rhubarb & Custard, Caffe Mocha, Cocoa Orange, Cashew Cookie, Pecan Pie, Berry Delight, Cocoa Mint, Ginger Bread and Cocoa Delight (9x 35g bars)
One of each 4 Eat Nakd Crunch bars: Apple Crunch, Strawberry Crunch, Banana Crunch and Cocoa Crunch (4x 30g bars)
Use the widget below to enter. Also, be sure to check out their website and pick up some of the bars for yourself — because Natural Balance Foods is relatively new to the U.S., they are currently offering free shipping on all U.S. orders!
I have been having a crazy couple of weeks, so despite cooking a bunch of weeknight-friendly meals, I haven’t had much of a chance to write any posts to share those recipes! This one is too tasty to not share right away though.
This Thai Basil Chicken Stir Fry from Cooking Light’s latest issue is super simple and really flavorful. I served it with Cashew and Green Onion Rice (because I didn’t have any bulgar on hand) and it was an awesome complement!
The whole recipe took about 20 minutes to make (including the rice) so it’s a nice option for busy weeknights. I made a couple of substitutes to the original recipe, so be sure to check out the original to see if it’s more your style.
Ingredients:
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons fish sauce
2 tablespoons canola oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 poblano chile, thinly sliced
1 lb skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into bite sized pieces
May is National Strawberry Month! I have many a strawberry-filled recipe on my blog (like this recipe for Strawberry Shortcake Cupcakes) but most are desserts. Strawberries are considerably more versatile than I give them credit for and can be used in all sorts of recipes from breakfast, to drinks, to dinner. Driscoll’s recently contacted me to highlight National Strawberry Month so I decided to make a more savory recipe this time around!
The sweet strawberries in this recipe help offset the spiciness of the jalapeno and work really well with the creaminess of the avocado to bring a super balanced salsa.
This recipe for Tortilla Crusted Fish with Strawberry Avocado Salsa is adapted from two separate recipes; a blue tortilla crusted fish recipe from Food Network, and a Strawberry Avocado Salsa recipe from Cooking Light.
Ingredients:
Fish:
the juice of 1 lime
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
Salt and freshly ground pepper
12 ounces corn tortilla chips
4 mahi mahi fillets (about 6 ounces each), or any other white fish you prefer
Hooray for spring weather! As the days get warmer, the produce offerings also get better. It’s the perfect time of year to experiment with more veggies!
Door-to-Door Organics, a home delivery organic and grocery company, is a great way to receive seasonal and organic fruits and vegetables. Their produce is USDA Certified Organic and is locally sourced whenever possible. You choose a produce box size (little, small, medium, or large), type (fruits, veggies, or mixed), and delivery frequency. A few days before it will be delivered, you will receive an email with what will be in the box. You can make up to 5 substitutions, which is really a great feature.
You can also shop for other groceries and add them to your delivery, including diary, meat, bread, etc. Their Facebook page is also an awesome resource. You can find some recipes, links to some of their helpful blog posts, and get more information about Door-to-Door Organics!
I have been using Door-to-Door Organics for a few weeks now (I get the Little Mixed Box box delivered every other week courtesy of a coupon given to me by Door-to-Door Organics) and was so excited to see that my latest delivery had beautiful rainbow baby carrots in it!
I love when my food has vibrant colors, so I couldn’t wait to roast these beauties up. My box also came with a red onion, a head of garlic and some fresh Italian parsley, perfect accompaniments to the carrots.
This recipe for Honey Mustard Roasted Rainbow Carrots is really simple and takes about 30 minutes, depending on how soft you like your carrots (I like mine to have some crunch to them!)
If you want to try Door-to-Door Organics for yourself, they were nice enough to offer a discount for I Can Cook That readers! Use the coupon code ICANCOOKTHAT to receive $10 off!
This Sunday is the beginning of the end of Mad Men. Sniffle. I have been a huge fan of the show for years and am sad to see it end. But that doesn’t mean I can’t still throw a little party of my own in celebration of the final premiere!
All week, bloggers have been featuring their own spins on Mad Men-inspired recipes to gear up for the premiere this Sunday, when we will have a Virtual Mad Men Finale Party!
I adapted some recipes from The Unofficial Mad Men Cookbook: Inside the Kitchens, Bars, and Restaurants of Mad Men by Judy Gelman and Peter Zheutlin. I wanted to cheers to Mad Men in style, so I made a version of Trudy’s Rib Eye in the Pan, Individual Potatoes au Gratin, and Perfect Manhattans.
If you’re a Mad Men fan, you probably remember Trudy calling Pete at the office early into their marriage asking what he wanted for dinner. His response: “Rib eye, in the pan, with butter.” So Pete, this one’s for you! This version is a pan-seared New York Strip Steak with cognac butter. (I made New York Strip Steaks instead of Rib Eye, because that would have just been way too much meat for me.)
The steaks are paired with an adapted version of Julia Child’s Potatoes au Gratin, served in individual crocks.
And what’s a Mad Men Party without a cocktail?? I decided to make a more modernized version of a classic, called a Perfect Manhattan, which refers to using equal parts sweet and dry vermouth.
If you want to also Party Like a Mad Man, you’re in luck! I also have a copy to give away! Details after the recipes.
Adapted from The Unofficial Mad Men Cookbook
Ingredients:
Steak in the Pan with Butter:
4 boneless New York Strip Steaks, ~1 inch thick
4 teaspoons canola oil
Salt and pepper, to taste
4 oz cognac
8 tablespoons butter
Potatoes au Gratin
3 tablespoons butter, divided
1 cup finely chopped onions
1/2 pound raw potatoes (about 2-3 large potatoes), peeled and diced into 1/2 inch cubes
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups half and half
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese, crumbled (I used Valley Thunder from Valley Shepherd in Reading Terminal)
Perfect Manhattan
8 oz rye whiskey (I prefer Dad’s Hat’s version that is finished in Vermouth barrels)
Next week, many Philadelphia restaurants will be participating in Caribbean Cuisine Week.
The week, held from April 8th – April 10th this year, helps raise funds to send over 700 high school athletes from Trinidad, Jamaica, St. Vincent and Grenada to attend the 2015 Penn Relays.
The Penn Relays is the largest track and field meet in the United States and draws over 110,000 people to Philadelphia each Spring.
CCW partners with restaurants throughout Center City by encouraging the Chefs to prepare Caribbean inspired dishes and offer as specials. The restaurants will donate 5% of food proceeds from the three day period to help bring the students to Philadelphia.
The list of participating restaurants can be found here. One of the restaurants participating, 48th Street Grille in West Philly, invited some local bloggers to check out their offerings. 48th Street Grille is a Caribbean-American restaurant led by Executive Chef Carl Lewis Sr. who is originally from Jamaica and brings the flavors and spirit of his home to his food.
Appetizers included garlic roasted shrimp, jerk chicken quesadillas, 5 island wings, and my personal favorite, conch fritters.
Garlic Roasted ShrimpJerk Chicken Quesadillas5 Island Wings
Fried Conch Fritters
We were also treated to quite a few of their entrees, including sweet chili glazed salmon, jerk chicken, and savory curried chicken, which were all amazing. I am fairly certain I had dreams about the curried chicken sauce that night (I loved it so much, I didn’t even take a photo! boo), while my fiance was wowed by the flavors and tenderness of the jerk chicken.
Chili Glazed SalmonJerk Chicken
In case we weren’t full enough, we were also served mashed yams with scallions, green beans, and braised cabbage.
Mashed Yams with ScallionsGreen BeansBraised Cabbage
I wanted to share with you a Caribbean-inspired recipe given to me by CCW, in case you don’t live in the area and can’t participate next week.
I turned this recipe for Curry Shrimp in Coconut Milk into a main dish by serving it over coconut rice, but it also would work well as an appetizer.
Ingredients:
2 (14 oz) cans lite coconut milk, divided
1.5 cups uncooked rice (or about 1 can full)
2 tablespoons margarine
1 cup onion, chopped
1 1⁄2 tablespoons curry
1/2 cup bell peppers, diced (I used an assortment of green, red, and orange peppers)
This shop has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and its advertiser. All opinions are mine alone. #JustAddRotel #CollectiveBias
With the big tournament upon us, having yummy snacks to share with a crowd is a must! I love party appetizers that can be set on the coffee table in front of the TV and enjoyed as a group.
This recipe for Seven Layer Dip Nachos adds the ingredients of a seven-layer dip right on top of tortilla chips to make a convenient and super yummy loaded nachos recipe.
I was planning on using Original or Mild RO*TEL Diced Tomatoes to make a quick and easy guacamole and pico de gallo (no dicing of tomatoes, woo hoo!), so having the flavors of lime and cilantro already combined in the diced tomatoes was an awesome find!
The Mexican Lime and Cilantro Diced Tomatoes mix vine-ripened tomatoes, with jalapeno peppers, garlic, cilantro, and lime juice, making it the perfect ingredient for this recipe!
These nachos are topped with seven layers of deliciousness: cheese, refried beans, guacamole, pico de gallo, lettuce, sour cream, and sliced olives. You may need to double the recipe though, they are super tasty!
Ingredients:
1 (10 oz) bag corn tortilla chips
6 oz shredded Mexican blend cheese (or a mixture of Monterey Jack and cheddar cheeses)
1 (10 oz) can RO*TEL Mexican Lime and Cilantro Diced Tomatoes, drained, divided
1/2 medium sized red onion, diced, divided (about 4 tablespoons)
I have a serious sweet tooth. I feel like no meal is complete without dessert! So when a friend told me about a healthier cookie company that was raising funds on Kickstarter, I knew I had to check them out.
source: www.greenpeacookie.com
According to their website, Green Pea Cookies are based off a recipe from Singapore and are made with roasted green peas, powdered sugar, non-GMO sunflower oil, unbleached white flour (or brown rice flour for their gluten-free version), salt, and “happeaness.”
source: www.greenpeacookie.com
The cookies currently come in three flavors: original, chocolate dipped, and cranberry, and can be purchased in three sizes: Small: 18 cookies (110g), Medium: 24 cookies (145g), Large: 34 cookies (200g).
source: www.greenpeacookie.com
Green Pea Cookie is in their final days of their Kickstarter and have been doing an awesome job. They have already reached their initial goal, but now have a new goal of distributing 1 million cookies (as of writing this, they were up to over 40,500 distributed).
Their marketing is absolutely adorable by the way. Each of the cookies has a name (Peater is the original, Penelopea is cranberry, and Dimpea is chocolate dipped).
source: www.greenpeacookie.com
Depending on your donation amount on their Kickstarter page, you can receive some of the cookies, a t-shirt (they are so cute!), stickers, or a monthly box of happeaness. With my donation, I will receive a t-shirt and cannot wait to rock it with pride. Seriously, how great are these shirts?
The founders of Green Pea Cookies were kind enough to send me a sample of their original flavor. I am happy to say they are absolutely delicious!
The texture is kind of like shortbread, crumbly but rich. I honestly didn’t taste much “pea” flavor in mine, but my fiance said he did get a hint of it and really enjoyed it. They are both salty and sweet, which makes for a pretty fantastic combo.
The little bite sized cookies are perfectly pop-able, but at just 100 calories a serving (which is 6 cookies), you can keep on popping them!
They would make the perfect “afternoon work” snack, don’t you think?
I can only imagine how tasty the chocolate dipped cookies are, but I personally think the cranberry ones must be amazing — sounds like such a great combo!
It’s awesome to see how great this company is doing so far on Kickstarter, but I’d love to see them get to their goal of 1 million cookies. Be sure to check out their Kickstarter page ASAP (it ends March 15, 2015) and consider donating!
Bob’s Red Mill has been providing gluten-free flours, cereals, baking mixes, and grains for over 30 years. The company is so committed to it’s gluten-free promise that they even have a separate gluten-free packaging division to ensure their products are purely gluten-free.
Camilla V. Saulsbury’s new cookbook showcases the breadth, depth and versatility of Bob’s Red Mill’s gluten-free grains. As more and more people move towards a gluten-free lifestyle (either due to allergies or other health reasons), one of the easiest ways to transition to a gluten-free diet is to embrace the many grains available that are naturally gluten-free.
The cookbook, Bob’s Red Mill Everyday Gluten-Free Cookbook, includes 281 whole-grain recipes for entrees, side dishes, baked goods, desserts, etc. that include grains such as amaranth, quinoa, millet, and teff. The book also includes a section describing the grains, their uses, and how to store them.
There are a bunch of really delicious sounding recipes in the cookbook, but I wanted to try a baked recipe because that seems to be the toughest type of recipe to make gluten-free and still maintain the same texture and taste.
This recipe for Gluten Free Coconut Cardamom Carrot Bread uses a mixture of sorghum flour, millet flour, and potato starch to make a gluten-free bread. The bread is flavored with grated carrots, coconut flakes, and cardamom.
Before sharing the recipe, I thought it might be helpful to give some information about the different ingredients used in this recipe that may be a bit unfamiliar.
Sorghum Flour is a good source of protein, iron, dietary fiber and antioxidants. Sorghum promotes a healthy metabolism due to its high magnesium and copper levels. The starch and protein in sorghum flour take longer than other similar products to digest, making it particularly helpful for those with diabetes. Sorghum flour adds slight sweetness to baked goods and can be added or substituted in any recipe that calls for flour. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 months or in the freezer for up to 4 months.
Millet Flour is a good source of protein, essential amino acids, and dietary fiber, as well as manganese, phosphorus, and magnesium. Millet flour helps keep the digestive tract operating smoothly and lowers the risk of diabetes and heart disease. It has a light, mild flavor and works well in sweet or savory baking. Millet flour delivers a cake-like crumb to baked goods. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 months or in the freezer for up to 12 months.
Potato Starch is used as a thickener for sauces, soups, and stews, or is used in baking with a combination of other flours (rarely by itself) and is a natural way to add moistness to many baked goods. Store potato starch in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 6 months or in the freezer for up to 1 year.
Virgin Coconut Oil can be stored at room temperature or in the refrigerator. When kept at room temperature, coconut oil will go in between being a liquid and a solid, which doesn’t affect the oil’s quality. It’s easier to measure out larger amounts of coconut oil when it is a liquid, so run the jar under warm running water before opening to liquify when measuring for this recipe.
