In an effort to eat more fish, I have been in search of recipes that call for fish other than salmon, my main seafood staple. I’ve made flounder once before and loved how quick it cooked up and how delicious it tasted.
So when I found this recipe for Pan Seared Flounder with Fried Rosemary and Garlic in Cooking Light’s Fresh Food Fast cookbook, I knew I had to try it.
I’ve had the Cooking Light Fresh Foods Superfast cookbook for a while now and just finally opened it. I found so many delicious recipes that I can’t wait to try!
It’s no secret that I love hummus. I’ve made quite a few different versions on this blog. So I was really excited when I was given the chance to sample some hummus through the Foodbuzz Tastemakers program. I was allowed to choose any hummus my little hummus-loving heart desired. But, I’ve actually tried them all before. And I’ve loved them all (some more than others, obviously). I decided instead to incorporate the classic hummus into a meal. A coworker gave me an awesome idea: hummus pizza. Brilliant!
Ingredients:
Pizza dough (I used Trader Joes)
Classic Hummus
1 zucchini
1 yellow squash
1 package of sliced baby bella mushrooms
1 small onion, chopped (I used red because that’s what I had)
I came across this Martha Stewart recipe this week and was kind of mad at myself for not thinking of it first. It’s brilliant. I love the idea of an entire breakfast within one little “muffin”. This would be a wonderful idea for a breakfast with guests: they look wonderful and really don’t take much time or preparation at all.
Ingredients: (makes 4)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
6 slices sandwich bread (I strongly suggest the Rye-Pumpernickel Swirl bread)
Are you getting sick of my pumpkin recipes? I think this recipe for Pumpkin Ravioli with Gorgonzola Sauce actually brings me to over a dozen posts on pumpkin-flavored desserts/meals. I wasn’t lying when I said I was pumpkin obsessed! Anyways, I’ve been trying to make this recipe for Pumpkin Ravioli with Gorgonzola Sauce from Cooking Light for almost 2 weeks, but for the life of me could not find wonton wrappers. I finally just adapted the recipe to use fresh pasta sheets from By George in Reading Terminal.
Ingredients (makes 3 servings):
1 1/4 cups canned pumpkin
2 tablespoons panko breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons fresh grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon minced fresh sage
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg, divided
6 pieces of fresh pasta lasagna sheets, rolled thinner if desired (I used pumpkin pasta, no surprise there!) – about 1 lb.
1 cup fat-free milk
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup (2 ounces) crumbled Gorgonzola cheese
1 tablespoon egg substitute or one egg, mixed
3 tablespoons hazelnuts, chopped
Fresh sage leaves for garnish
Note: It would be super helpful to have a ravioli stamp, (or ideally, to have a ravioli maker!) but you can get the same results by pressing firmly and separating using a knife.
To make the Pumpkin Ravioli with Gorgonzola Sauce, add a salted pot of water to your stove over high heat. Bring to a boil.
Begin by making the ravioli stuffing. Add the pumpkin, panko, Parmesan, minced sage, salt, pepper, and 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg to a bowl. Mix to combine.
If you’d prefer to make the pasta as thin as possible, use a rolling pin to roll out the dough even more. Place a generous teaspoon of the pumpkin mixture on one sheet of pasta, evenly spaced (I used my stamp as a guide). My sheets were able to hold about 6 teaspoons of the pumpkin mixture.
Using a brush, surround the pumpkin mixture with a thin layer of eggwash. This will help hold the pasta pieces together.
Place another lasagna sheet on top of the original sheet, covering the pumpkin mixture.
Using the ravioli stamp, press firmly around each pocket of pumpkin mixture. If you do not have a ravioli stamp, just use your hands.
Using a knife or a pizza cutter, cut the ravioli into individual pieces. Repeat with remaining pumpkin mixture and lasagna sheets.
Your pot should now be boiling. Add half of the ravioli to the pot. Cook for about six minutes or until the ravioli begins to rise to the top.
While waiting for the past to cook, make your sauce. Add the milk and flour to a saucepan, stirring with a whisk. Bring to a boil and cook for one minute until it thinks slightly.
Remove from heat. Add the butter, stirring until it fully melts. Stir in the crumbled Gorgonzola. Add more minced sage leaves if you’d like.
Add 6 ravioli each to three plates. Drizzle with 3 tablespoons of the Gorgonzola sauce. Add a teaspoon of chopped hazelnuts, a few sage leaves, and a sprinkle of nutmeg.
This Pumpkin Ravioli with Gorgonzola Saucewas pretty darn good. I think it could handle a boost in nutmeg though; there was something missing from the overall flavor of the dish.
I strongly suggest adding a lot of sage leaves to the plate, a bite of fresh sage with every forkful was delicious!
I liked using fresh pasta instead of wontons; wontons tend to break apart in the cooking process, especially with a heavier filling like pumpkin.
I wish I knew what ingredient would really kick this recipe up from good to great; please feel free to leave suggestions in the comments!
One of my friends asked me if I’d be willing to add some tofu recipes to my repertoire. I was pretty wary to try it. I don’t mind tofu, but I can’t say I’ve ever had a hankering for it. Well, for some reason, I picked up some tofu this week so I decided to finally make a recipe including it for my friend. I also received tatsoi in my CSA share, which is the perfect opportunity to use the tofu in this recipe for Wilted Tatsoi with Sauteed Tofu.
Ingredients:
2 bunches of tatsoi
2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce (or coconut aminos to make gluten free)
A dash of rice vinegar
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
4-6 oz tofu, cut into cubes
Add the soy sauce, rice vinegar, ground ginger and brown sugar to a bowl and mix to combine and reserve.
Add 1 teaspoon of the toasted sesame oil to a saute pan over medium heat. Cube the tofu.
Add the tofu to the pan.
Cook for 1-2 minutes on each side, or until browned.
Remove the tofu from heat. Cut the stems off of the tatsoi.
Add 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil to the saute pan and turn down the heat to medium low. Add the tatsoi.
Cook for 1 minute, stirring to coat. Add the reserved sauce to the pan.
Stir to combine. Mix in the tofu and serve.
This was so quick and easy! I actually ate this as a meal, but if you cut the tofu pieces smaller, this could also work as a yummy side.
I loved the subtle sweetness of the sauce. Tatsoi tastes very similar to bok choi, so the flavors worked really well.
I was really pleasantly surprised by the result. You might just catch me making another tofu recipe in the future!
After visiting several supermarkets in search of pumpkin puree only to find they were sold out, I decided to take matters into my own hands. Amy’s Cooking Adventure had instructions on how to make my own puree using pie pumpkins so I tried it out. To test out my finished product (and as a nice pat on the back) I made pumpkin pie milkshakes to celebrate.
I honestly don’t know why I don’t make more dinners that involve chicken. I guess I just never have any on hand. This week, we were celebrating one of my friend’s birthdays by making her dinner and we settled on a chicken dish. I was really at a loss for what to make, so luckily Budget Bytes came to the rescue with her recipe for Balsamic Bruschetta Chicken. (Please excuse the photos in this post. I wasn’t exactly planning on making a post about it so they aren’t that fantastic. But this recipe is too good not to share!)
I am at a bit of a loss for what to do with eggplant. Eggplant Parmesan and Baba Ghannouj are the only two recipes I really know that use eggplant. However, I found a tasty sounding recipe from Eating Well that includes a bunch of other ingredients from this week’s CSA.
Ingredients:
1 medium eggplant
The juice and zest of 1 lemon
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
1 small green bell pepper, finely chopped
1 small jalapeño pepper, seeded and mince
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or to taste
1/4 teaspoon salt
Preheat your broiler. Line a pan with foil and place the eggplant on it. Poke a few holes within the eggplant so that it can let out steam while broiling. Broil for 14 to 18 minutes, turning the eggplant every 5 minutes. You’ll know it’s done when the skin is charred a little and a knife goes easily into the part right near the stem. Transfer to a cutting board until it’s cool enough to handle.
Prepare your onion, pepper, jalapeño, basil and parsley.
Add lemon juice to a medium sized bowl. Cut the eggplant in half lengthwise.
Scoop out the inside of the eggplant into the bowl and toss with the lemon juice.
Add olive oil and stir with a fork until the oil is absorbed.
Add feta, onion, pepper, jalapeño, basil, parsley, cayenne and salt.
Taste and adjust as needed.
If covered, this recipe can be made up to two days ahead of time. The original recipe included a red bell pepper instead of a green one (I only had a green pepper), and that color would have really popped in this dish.
Serve with toasted pita. This would be a great addition to any mezze platter: tomatoes, hummus, grape leaves, etc.
Nothing tastes as fresh as homemade pesto. It is surprisingly easy to make and really blows the store-bought stuff out of the water. With a whopping 5 ingredients (plus salt and pepper), pesto is definitely something you need to try to make if you haven’t already! I made this to go with my gnocchi that I made for a food swap.
Ingredients (makes about 1 cup):
2 cups packed fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup grated Parmesan-Reggiano cheese
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/3 cup walnuts
3 garlic cloves, minced
Salt and pepper, to taste
Add the basil leaves and walnuts to a food processor.
Pulse a few times to combine.
Mince your garlic.
Add to the food processor.
Pulse to combine.
While the food processor is running, add the olive oil in a slow, steady stream.
Add the Parmesan cheese and pulse to combine.
Season with salt and pepper.
You can add more of whichever ingredient you think you need more of at any time. I prefer my pesto to be relatively firm, so I don’t use a lot of olive oil to make mine. I also tend to add more cheese on top of my pasta anyways, so I limit the amount of cheese I put into the pesto. You can also use pine nuts instead of walnuts; I just prefer walnuts.
Be sure to use high quality ingredients for this recipe if you can. Because none of it is cooked, you want basil when it is fresh, high quality olive oil with a smooth taste, and a nicely aged cheese. A little pesto goes a long way when used as a topping on pasta, so this recipe can luckily be frozen to use at a later date as well!
When I first came across this recipe for Jalapeno Ginger Butternut Squash Soup, I was intrigued by the ingredients. Never would I have thought to add jalapenos and ginger to a butternut squash dish. It seemed so odd, and yet so delicious as well. This weekend, the weather began feeling a bit more… autumnal. So I used this wonderful weather as an excuse to try out this recipe. I altered the original recipe a bit, but you can find the original here.
Ingredients (makes about 8 servings):
2 tablespoons olive oil
6 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tablespoons grated ginger
1 jalapeño chile, seeded and chopped
1 tablespoon salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
4 pounds butternut squash, peeled and cut into 2-in. cubes
3 cups water
3 cups chicken broth
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
1/4 cup coconut milk, plus more for serving
I’ve attempted to peel and cube butternut squash in the past. And it is absolutely not worth it. It takes forever and never seems to yield as much as you think it will. So I wimped out at bought the pre-packaged pre-chopped stuff. And I am so happy I did. I ended up using 3 20 oz containers of the butternut squash.
Begin by chopping your garlic and jalapeno and grating your ginger.
Heat the olive oil in a large pot over high heat. Add the garlic, ginger and jalapeno and cook stirring constantly for 1 or 2 minutes.
Add the cayenne pepper and cook for another 30 seconds, stirring.
Add the squash, chicken broth, brown sugar, and 3 cups water.
Bring to a boil and lower the heat to a simmer. Cook for about 20 minutes or until the squash is fork tender.
Add about 1/3 of the soup to a blender. Remove the top middle piece of the blender top to allow hot air to escape. Place a paper towel over the opening and puree until smooth. Add to a large bowl. Repeat with remaining soup.
Be very very careful doing this! I managed to burn my hand pretty badly when removing the top off the blender. Ouch!
Stir in the coconut milk and serve. I added a tiny bit more of the coconut milk on top of a poured serving and swirled it.
This was a surprisingly tasty soup. The smooth texture is really nice and the butternut squash taste shines through, with a hint of coconut milk. There is a very slight heat at the end from the jalapeno and cayenne, but is definitely not spicy. I honestly couldn’t taste much of the ginger, so next time I might add a bit more. This soup can also be frozen so I look forward to enjoying it in the colder months, but it only took maybe 40 minutes from start to finish so this can easily be made on a weeknight.
As much as I try to like bok choy, I just don’t really like the flavor. However, I received two baby bok choy in my CSA so here’s my attempt to hide the cabbage-y taste using a Bon Appetit recipe as a base that includes a Thai Red Curry sauce.
Ingredients: (this only makes 1 serving)
2 baby bok choy
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1/4 teaspoon Thai red curry paste
1/2 can coconut milk
the zest of 1 lemon
the juice of 1 lime
2 teaspoons fish sauce
1 6-ounce salmon fillet
Chopped scallions, for garnish
Salt and pepper, to taste
Preheat your broiler.
Roughly chop the baby bok choy and place on one side of a cookie sheet.
Place the salmon on the other side of the cookie sheet and season with salt and pepper.
Broil for 5 minutes. Stir the bok choy and broil for another 4 minutes, until the salmon is cooked through and the bok choy has crisped a bit.
While the salmon and bok choy are cooking, heat the oil in a saute pan and add the red curry paste.
Cook for 30 seconds and add coconut milk and lemon zest. Boil until the mixture thickens slightly, about 5 minutes. Stir in lime juice and fish sauce.
To serve, add baby bok choy to a plate and top with salmon. Drizzle curry sauce over the entire plate. Top with chopped scallions if desired.
The curry sauce did a fantastic job of making the baby bok choy palatable. I still did get a hint of the taste of the baby bok choy, but it was much more subtle than just a steamed bok choy recipe. I wish the sauce had a bit more spice to it, so next time I’d probably increase the amount of the red curry paste.
I was apparently quite hungry and started eating this before I topped the salmon with scallions. Oops. But after having a few bites without the scallions and a few bites with, I strongly suggest adding them, they really work great with this dish.
One of the best parts of starting this blog is that I get to make food outside my comfort zone. I try to make new and different recipes to expand cooking repertoire. As a member of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program, I received a box of Kikkoman Kara-Age Soy-Ginger Seasoned Coating Mix. Kara-Age (pronounced KAH-rah AH-geh) is a method used in Japan in which meat is coated in a soy sauce, garlic and ginger, dipped in flour, and fried. Although Kara-Age is typically used for chicken, I decided to try to make a “Kara-Age Popcorn Shrimp”.
Ingredients:
1 lb peeled and deveined shrimp (medium or small)
1 package Kikkoman Kara-Age Mix
1/3 cup canola oil
1 teaspoon chopped cilantro
1 teaspoon chopped mint
Juice from 1/2 a lemon
Heat the oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Depending on the size of your saute pan, you may need more or less oil- you want about 1/4 inch of vegetable oil in the pan. Heat the oil to 350 degrees.
Pour the package of Kikkoman Kara-Age Mix into a plastic bag. Add the shrimp to the bag, seal the bag, and shake well to coat each piece of shrimp evenly.
Remove shrimp from the bag and discard the remaining mix.
Pan-fry 6-8 shrimp at a time in the hot oil for about 2 minutes per side, or until shrimp is cooked.
Remove from the pan and drain on a paper towel.
Repeat with remaining shrimp. Squeeze lemon juice over the cooked shrimp and sprinkle with chopped cilantro and mint. Serve hot.
I tend to think all fried things taste the same. Well, Kikkoman just proved me wrong. The soy-ginger flavor still shines through the crispy fried coating and delivers awesome flavor. The cilantro-mint-lemon topping adds even more flavor to the dish without competing with the seasoning.
This can be served as an appetizer, or as a meal. I love how quick this was, probably 10 minutes in total to prepare and make. Very little effort for a whole lot of flavor!
To make this recipe healthier, instead of frying the shrimp, broil them on a sheet coated in olive oil. Spray the shrimp with cooking spray before broiling.
It’s difficult to not associate barbecues with Labor Day weekend. The unofficial end of summer is usually spent the same way summer began on Memorial Day: relaxing (preferably at a beach) and enjoying the company of friends and family while eating burgers, hot dogs, and grilled chicken. Well, there was no beach for me this weekend, but I was still able to “grill” despite the kind of crummy weather so that I still got my barbecue fix. Cooking Light has a surprisingly simple looking recipe for Pulled Chicken Sandwiches that I just had to try.
Ingredients:
For the chicken:
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon chili powder
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground chipotle chile pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken thighs
Cooking spray
For the sauce:
2 teaspoons canola oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
1 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1 tablespoon molasses
Remaining ingredients:
8 sandwich rolls, toasted
Pickles, your choice
Don’t let the number of ingredients deter you from making this. It really is simple! The original recipe actually used dark brown sugar, but I had light brown sugar on hand. Feel free to use whichever one you happen to have. You can substitute chicken breasts for this, but thigh meat adds extra juiciness to the sandwich that you really don’t want to miss out tasting.
Begin by preheating your grill. I was stuck indoors, so I just used a grill pan.
Combine first 7 ingredients (light brown sugar through ginger) in a small bowl. I somehow misplaced my measuring spoons so I kind of eyeballed all of these ingredients. Don’t worry about getting the perfect amounts, it’s more about the proportion to the other spices.
Rub the mixture evenly over the chicken.
Place chicken on a grill rack coated with cooking spray.
Cover and cook for 20 minutes, or until a thermometer registers 180 degrees, turning occasionally.
Let stand for 5 minutes.
Shred with 2 forks.
Set to the side for now.
Prepare your onions. If needed, slice your pickles. My boyfriend prefers sweet pickles so we bought the mini ones and minced them for an easy topping.
To prepare sauce, heat oil in a medium saute pan over medium heat. Add onion and cook for 5 minutes or until soft. Stir in 2 tablespoons brown sugar, and the next 5 ingredients (chili powder through ground red pepper) and cook for 30 seconds.
Add ketchup, vinegar and molasses.
Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 10 minutes or until slightly thickened, stirring occasionally.
Stir in chicken and cook for 2 minutes, making sure the chicken is thoroughly coated in the sauce.
Toast the buns.
Place about 1/3 cup chicken mixture on bottom halves of the toasted roll.
Top with pickles if desired.
This recipe was promising from the start. I haven’t seen my boyfriend so excited for a meal I’m cooking in a long time; he even offered to help out! (He worked on grilling and shredding the chicken while I prepped and worked on the sauce, it really sped up the cook time). And this recipe really delivered. It tasted like it had slow cooked for hours, subtly sweet and spicy at the same time. I really don’t like pickles, but my boyfriend had his topped with pickles and said it really made the sandwich that much better.
This meal could easily be used in the winter months to remind you of the warmer weather. You could make this as I did on a grill pan, or to really enhance the flavor, you could cook the chicken in a slow cooker for 5 hours on low.
I received another eggplant in my CSA share this week so I thought I’d attempt Eggplant Parmesan. I saw this slightly different version of the recipe on MyRecipes.com, originally from Sunset Magazine and thought I’d give it a try.
Ingredients: (makes 2 servings)
1 eggplant
1/2 tube cooked polenta
Olive oil cooking spray
1 onion, peeled and chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil leaves or 2 teaspoons dried basil
1 can (14 oz.) tomato purée
1/4 cup water
Salt and pepper, to taste
3/4 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese (6 oz.)
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons panko breadcrumbs
Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Begin by preparing your eggplant. Rinse the eggplant and cut off both ends. Cut the eggplant crosswise into 4 equally thick slices.
Using only half of the tube of polenta, cut the polenta crosswise into 4 equal slices.
Lightly spray a cookie sheet with the cooking spray and add the polenta and eggplant to the sheet. Spray another layer of the cooking spray on the slices.
Cook for 20 minutes, or until the eggplant is soft and the polenta is heated through.
While the eggplant and polenta are cooking, prepare your onion, basil and garlic.
Heat a saute pan over medium-high heat and add the onion, garlic and basil.
Cook until the onion is lightly browned, about 5 minutes.
Add the tomato puree and 1/4 cup water.
Stir to combine. Simmer uncovered for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add salt and pepper to taste. Reduce heat and cover to keep warm until the eggplant and polenta are finished cooking.
When the rounds are heated, sprinkle mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses over the slices. Return to the oven and bake until the cheese is melted, about 2 minutes.
To assemble, add one of the larger slices of eggplant to a plate.
Top with 1 tablespoon tomato sauce.
Add one polenta slice.
Top with another tablespoon of sauce.
Repeat with another eggplant slice, tomato sauce, polenta slice & more tomato sauce. Top with 1 tablespoon panko. Repeat this process to plate the other eggplant Parmesan stack.
If desired, spoon the remaining tomato sauce around the stacks.
What an inventive “eggplant Parmesan” dish! It was really simple too, the whole meal was ready in just over 30 minutes.
I think I honestly prefer this version to the traditional eggplant Parmesan. I always find the breading to be a bit too heavy for the eggplant so the polenta was a happy alternative. Not to mention, I was able to make only two servings so nothing went to waste! Now to find a recipe to use the rest of my polenta…
After a weekend of brownie and brie baking, I’m back on track making normal meals. Keeping with my tomato-corn themes, I was happy to find a recipe from Fine Cooking that included both of these ingredients. Even better, it is also a risotto!
Ingredients:
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups of frozen corn kernels
2 Tbs. unsalted butter
1 shallot, minced
1 cup arborio rice
1/3 cup dry white wine
1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
2 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil
3 Tbs. torn fresh basil leaves
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano
So I chickened out this time on the corn. Out of my last batch of a half dozen corn cobs, 5 (FIVE!) of them had worms. Goo. I understand it is very difficult to grown corn organically, but I needed to just take a step back from the whole surprise-in-my-corn.If you are using fresh corn, click on the link above to see the original recipe, I used frozen kernels for mine so I had to adapt the recipe accordingly. You will need three corn cobs.
Add the chicken broth to a pot and heat over medium-low heat. In another saute pan melt the butter over medium heat. Add the shallot and cook for 2 minutes.
Add the rice and stir to coat.
Add the wine and cook until absorbed, about 1 minute.
Ladle in 1 1/2 cups of the warm broth into the saute pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until the broth is absorbed (about 3 to 5 minutes). Add a 1/2 cup of broth at a time, waiting until the broth is absorbed before adding the next 1/2 cup.
Combine the tomatoes,olive oil, and 2 tablespoons of the basil in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper and set aside.
I’d be happy just eating this!
About 16 minutes into the cooking of the rice (you’ll still have broth left), stir in the corn. Continue to add the broth in 1/2 cup increments until the rice is creamy, about 20 to 25 minutes in total.
Remove from heat and add the Parmigiano cheese and tomato-basil mixture. Top with the remaining basil and serve.
Somehow, this risotto was light and refreshing. I loved the sweetness from both the tomatoes and corn, it tasted like summer! I ate the leftovers from this the next day for lunch and it held up really well, which is always a plus.
