Chicken and Vegetable Korma

Korma is an Indian dish that is usually a creamy and somewhat spicy broth over rice with vegetables or meat, primarily chicken or lamb. It’s usually my go to dish in Indian restaurants. Cooking Light had a recipe for Vegetarian Korma in its March 2011 issue, which I used as a base and changed to fit my own taste. The result, Chicken and Vegetable Korma.

The spices in this dish are known to have great benefits. For those with type 2 diabetes, Cinnamon can help lower blood sugar, triglycerides, LDL, and total cholesterol. Cinnamon also has cancer fighting properties and can increase circulation. Tumeric may help impede the growth of cancer cells and can also help reduce swelling. Garlic is also known as a cancer fighter, can stop blood clots from forming, and also has anti-fungal, antibacterial and antiviral effects. Ginger not only helps with stomach ailments (nausea, motion sickness) but it also helps limit swelling due to arthritis and can help prevent blood clots. Cumin is a good source of iron and helps maintain a strong immune system; like ginger, it also helps with digestion and may also have anti-carcinogenic properties. Cayenne pepper has antioxidant properties and is also known to increase metabolism. Cayenne is also thought to help with high blood pressure and contains some cancer fighting properties. Whew!

Ingredients:

1 ½ tablespoons butter

1 cup chopped onion

1 tablespoon minced peeled ginger

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 ½ teaspoon ground cumin

½ teaspoon ground red pepper (canyenne pepper)
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup frozen shelled edamame

1 baking potato, peeled and diced (I couldn’t find my peeler, so the skin stayed on. Oh well, more nutrients!)

1 cup fat free, lower sodium chicken broth

1 teaspoon all-purpose flour

1 can light coconut milk

4 pieces of chicken tender strips

3 cups broccoli (original recipe called for cauliflower) florets

2 cups hot cooked long-grain white rice

Cook rice according to directions. Remember that rice usually doubles in size from uncooked to cooked, so you’ll only need about 1 cup of uncooked rice. I used light coconut milk instead of water to really get the coconut milk flavor into this dish. While rice is cooking, prep your broccoli, ginger, garlic and onions. Also feel free to mix your dry spices together because they will be added to the dish at the same time. Set the rice and your prepped food to the side.

prep work

Melt butter in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook for 2 minutes. Add ginger and garlic and sauté for 30 seconds stirring constantly. Stir in tomato paste and all the dry spices (cumin through cinnamon). Cook for 1 minute stirring.

This is what happens when you try to take a photo while stirring a steaming dish

Stir in edamame and potato. In a bowl, combine chicken broth, flour and milk stirring with a whisk until smooth (if the flour clumps a little, that’s fine). Add the broth mixture to the pan and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat and simmer for 8 minutes stirring occasionally. Stir in the broccoli and simmer for 9 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.

While the broth is simmering, season the chicken with salt and pepper. Add to another sauté pan with 1 tablespoon heated olive oil. Cook for 3 minutes on each side until browned. Add to the large sauté pan to finish cooking within the broth. Serve over white rice.

finished dish

I left the combining of the spices to my boyfriend, which may have led to an over-pouring of the spices. This dish was much spicier than I was prepared for. Not wanting to assume he did add too much of the above spices, I’d cut all the spices maybe in half. It’s nice to have some heat in a dish, but the spiciness of this meal actually took away from the overall dish. Past that, this was really tasty and filling. As a plus, the spiciness probably kept me from overeating!

not all that pretty. but spicy!

Yum

Chicken and Vegetable Korma

Total Time: 40 minutes

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

1 ½ tablespoons butter
1 cup chopped onion
1 tablespoon minced peeled ginger
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 ½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon ground red pepper (canyenne pepper)
1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup frozen shelled edamame
1 baking potato, peeled and diced (I couldn’t find my peeler, so the skin stayed on. Oh well, more nutrients!)
1 cup fat free, lower sodium chicken broth
1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
1 can light coconut milk
4 pieces of chicken tender strips
3 cups broccoli (original recipe called for cauliflower) florets
2 cups hot cooked long-grain white rice

Instructions

Cook rice according to directions. Remember that rice usually doubles in size from uncooked to cooked, so you’ll only need about 1 cup of uncooked rice. I used light coconut milk instead of water to really get the coconut milk flavor into this dish. While rice is cooking, prep your broccoli, ginger, garlic and onions. Also feel free to mix your dry spices together because they will be added to the dish at the same time. Set the rice and your prepped food to the side.
Melt butter in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook for 2 minutes. Add ginger and garlic and sauté for 30 seconds stirring constantly. Stir in tomato paste and all the dry spices (cumin through cinnamon). Cook for 1 minute stirring.
Stir in edamame and potato. In a bowl, combine chicken broth, flour and milk stirring with a whisk until smooth (if the flour clumps a little, that’s fine). Add the broth mixture to the pan and bring to a boil.
Reduce heat and simmer for 8 minutes stirring occasionally. Stir in the broccoli and simmer for 9 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.
While the broth is simmering, season the chicken with salt and pepper. Add to another sauté pan with 1 tablespoon heated olive oil. Cook for 3 minutes on each side until browned. Add to the large sauté pan to finish cooking within the broth. Serve over white rice.

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Wilted Spinach with Garlic Vinaigrette

Most sides are a bit of an afterthought. I tend to just whip something up really quick to give my dish more color, or to make me feel like I’m being healthy because there is some green on my plate. But this Wilted Spinach with Garlic Vinaigrette side dish is so good, I’d be happy to have just this for dinner. I am not the biggest fan of mustard in general, but the small amount of Dijon mustard really ups this side from good to great.

Ingredients

1 ½ tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

½ teaspoon Dijon mustard

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/8 teaspoon salt

3 garlic cloves, minced (or thinly sliced, whatever makes you happy)

6 cups baby spinach leaves

¼ cup sliced red onion

To prepare the vinaigrette, combine the first 5 ingredients in a bowl (up to salt) combining with a whisk. Heat the vinaigrette in a sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic and cook for 2 minutes. Gradually add the spinach (it will shrink up a lot!) and toss to combine. Remove from heat when wilted (1-2 minutes).

The spinach ended up stealing the show when I made it (I had a pasta/chicken dish along with it). It was a very quick and easy side; I cannot wait to make this again!

Lemony Chicken Saltimbocca

I have quite the aversion to pig products (pork, ham, pancetta, etc) and my poor boyfriend usually just has to suffer through dinner without these ingredients. But the January/February issue of Cooking Light had a recipe for Lemony Chicken Saltimbocca that looked delicious, so I decided to finally treat him to a little bit of prosciutto. (I hope he doesn’t get used to this!)

Ingredients:

4 (4-ounce) chicken cutlets
1/8 teaspoon salt
12 fresh sage leaves
Extra dried sage (if you want a bit more sage taste)
2 ounces very thinly sliced prosciutto, cut into 8 thin strips
4 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
2/3 cup fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon cornstarch
4 oz angel hair pasta

Chicken Piccata Over Pasta

Chicken Piccata is one of those meals that I always happen to have the ingredients on hand, making this my go-to dish on a “I forgot to go food shopping” night.

Ingredients: (1 serving, multiply as needed)

1 chicken breast

Salt and pepper

All-purpose flour

2 teaspoons paprika

2 teaspoons dried parsley

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 tablespoons olive oil

1 lemon

¾ cup chicken stock

¼ cup white wine

¼ cup brined capers (optional)

Fresh parsley (optional)

1/2 cup pasta (I used lemon-pepper pappardelle)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook pasta according to directions. Set aside.

Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil over medium high heat. While it heats up, combine a small amount of flour (maybe 1/4 cup), paprika, parsley, garlic powder, and onion powder in a shallow dish. Season chicken with salt and pepper and dredge chicken in flour. Shake off excess flour mixture. Reserve the extra flour mixture for later use.

Add chicken to the heated saute pan. Cook for 3 minutes until browned. Flip and cook for 3 more minutes on the other side. Remove from pan and place in a bake safe dish (you want to use the saute pan to make the sauce). Place chicken in the oven and cook for 15 minutes.

finished chicken

In the original saute pan, add chicken stock. Before juicing the lemon, use some zest from it and add it to the stock– I used a grater. (Be careful to not to down to the white part inside, that is very bitter). Add lemon juice, and capers (if you’d like) and stir, scraping up the brown bits from the chicken. Bring to a boil. Add white wine and again bring to a boil. Add butter one tablespoon at a time, stirring constantly. Reduce heat. While constantly stirring with a whisk, sprinkle flour into the sauce little by little until thickened to your liking.

thickened sauce

To assemble dish, pour sauce over pasta and chicken. Garnish with fresh parsley and lemon if preferred.

finished dish

So I have no clue how/why the sauce turned brown. BUT it was amazing. The lemon zest enhances the lemon juice without being too sour. I admit, this isn’t a pretty dish at all, so I don’t think it is exactly one to make for company. But it sure did make my stomach happy after a long Monday. Enjoy!

Almond Chive Salmon

Everyone knows how amazing salmon is for you: lots of protein, omega-3 fatty acids, vitamin D… so whenever I can, I try to make some. Salmon with butter and lemon is delicious and quick, but all that butter seems to outweigh the health benefits of the fish (at least in my mind). I’ve tried to alternate that with this Almond Chive Salmon.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup sliced almonds

2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley (or 1 teaspoon dried parsley)

1/2 teaspoon grated lemon rind

4 tablespoons panko (breadcrumbs)

1/2 teaspoon salt, divided

1 pound salmon fillet

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Cooking spray

2 lemon wedges

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Combine the almonds, chives, parsley, and lemon plus 1/4 teaspoon salt in a food processor (I use my Magic Bullet). Pulse until finely chopped.

Add the panko to this mixture, stir to combine.

Sprinkle the salmon with the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Sprinkle the panko mixture over the salmon evenly, pressing to make it stick. Place salmon on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray.

I put A LOT on mine; use as much/little as you’d like

Bake for 15 minutes or until is flakes easily. Serve with lemon wedges.

This is one of my go-to recipes: beautiful, quick, flavorful. It’s also a great introduction to fish:.The almonds and spices make it a bit less “fishy” to those who aren’t fans of seafood.

Salmon BLT

I’m not the biggest fan of sandwiches in general. PBJ, BLT, Turkey and Cheese… they just don’t cut it. I recently saw the last 3 minutes of a cooking show where they were making Salmon BLTs and couldn’t get the idea out of my head. It seemed easy enough (I didn’t catch their actual ingredients and preparation) so I tried it out for myself. Apparently these types of sandwiches usually come with mayo or some other condiment, but I left that out. There was still plenty of flavor!

Ingredients:

10 oz salmon fillet (or two 5 oz salmon fillets)

1 tablespoon olive oil

3 slices of bacon

3 slices of bread (I used rye)

1 beefsteak tomato, sliced

A handful of raw baby spinach leaves

Salt and pepper, to taste

Note: this is for 2 servings

Continue reading Salmon BLT

Fettuccine with Mushrooms and Hazelnuts

Despite growing up on pasta, I didn’t experience fresh pasta (besides ravioli) until recently, and I fell in love with it. As much as I wish I had my own pasta maker so that I could enjoy it all the time, I don’t have the space, money, or time to whip out fresh pasta for dinner. However, I found a place near me that sells fresh pasta in different widths (spaghetti to lasagna sheets) and flavors (egg, spinach, pumpkin, etc). So I was beyond excited when this month’s Cooking Light came with a recipe for fresh Fettuccine with Mushrooms and Hazelnuts. I made some very slight alterations (ie bigger mushroom to pasta ratio) but the overall recipe is mostly intact.

Ingredients:

1/2 pound fresh fettuccine
1 tablespoon butter
1/4 cup chopped blanched hazelnuts (You can find blanched hazelnuts in stores. I already had hazelnuts, so I blanched them myself. I’ve included a how-to below)
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 package each of portobello, cremini, and shiitake mushrooms, sliced
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage
2 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, shaved or grated
2 tablespoons chopped chives

To blanch hazelnuts:

As you can see in the bottom right corner in the above photo, I had shelled hazelnuts on hand. Instead of buying blanched hazelnuts, I decided to try on my own. It honestly was pretty darn simple!

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place hazelnuts on a baking sheet (just for convenience, use one with a lip so that they don’t roll off. Cook the hazelnuts for about ten minutes. Using a paper towel or a cloth towel, take a few hazelnuts at a time and rub them back and forth within the towel to remove the dark brown layer. Some of mine were being stubborn, but I think it was overall a success.

Blanched hazelnuts, w/ some brown left on (oh well)

Cook the fettuccine in boiling water with no salt or fat added (if there are directions, follow them. mine, I guessed 5 minutes and it tasted A-ok to me). When draining the pasta, put a bowl or measuring cup under the colander to reserve 3/4 cup water.

To prepare the mushroom/hazelnut mixture, melt the butter in a saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the blanched hazelnuts and cook for 3 minutes. Make sure to keep an eye on them, you want a somewhat even toast on them. Remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.

toasted hazelnuts

Add oil to the pan. When heated, add the garlic and mushrooms, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and black pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes.

Stir in chopped sage, pasta, reserved cooking liquid, and remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and toss. I gave it a minute to sort of meld together over the heat (I have an electric stove, so I turned off the burner, but left the pan over the still warm burner). Remove from heat, and add cheese, hazelnuts, and top with chives.

This turned out great! The flavors were fantastic. I was pretty wary about a sauce-less pasta dish; my previous posts show how much I love sauce, but there was enough going on that a sauce wasn’t needed at all. A definite plus, this took about 20 minutes from start to finish! How I love feasible week day meals.

Chicken and Asparagus with Melted Gruyere

Trying to eat something other than pasta, but still craving a decadent comfort food dish, I found this recipe for Chicken & Asparagus with Melted Gruyère cheese.

Ingredients:
4 ounces asparagus
1/3 cup chicken broth
2 tablespoons plus 1 tablespoon flour, divided
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
Salt, to taste
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 shallot, thinly sliced
1/2 cup white wine
1/3 cup reduced-fat sour cream
1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon (or 1 teaspoon dried)
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2/3 cup shredded Gruyère cheese

To steam the asparagus, place asparagus in a steamer basket over 1 inch of boiling water. Cover and steam for 3 minutes. Remove asparagus and set aside.

Whisk broth and 1 teaspoon flour in a small bowl until smooth. Set aside.

Place the remaining flour in a shallow dish. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper and dredge both sides in the flour, shaking off excess flour.

Heat oil in a sautee pan over medium heat. Add chicken and cook for 3 to 4 minutes per side. The chicken should have a nice brown sear on it, but the heat may need to be adjusted to prevent burning. Remove from heat and cover to keep warm.

Add shallot, wine and the reserved broth mixture to the pan. Cook over medium heat, until thickened (about 2 minutes) stirring constantly. Reduce heat to medium-low. Stir in sour cream, tarragon, lemon juice and the reserved asparagus until combined. Return the chicken to the pan and coat with the sauce. Add cheese on top of each piece of chicken, cover and continue cooking until the cheese is melted (about 2 minutes).

Return the chicken to the pan and coat with the sauce. Add cheese on top of each piece of chicken, cover and continue cooking until the cheese is melted (about 2 minutes).


Finished Dish

Yum. I really liked this meal. The sauce was rich and creamy, I didn’t even miss the lack of starch. This is definitely a meal that would be good for guests; it looks much more difficult than it actually is. If you can, try to get fresh tarragon, it really brightens the dish!

Sauces for Ravioli

As much as I love cooking, sometimes I am just too exhausted at the end of the day to whip together a tasty meal. But why should my taste buds be punished? So I always keep a few different types of ravioli in my freezer for a quick meal. Tomato sauce on meat or cheese ravioli is great, but I tend to lean towards mushroom, pumpkin, butternut squash, or spinach fillings. So here is a short list of a few different sauces (besides tomato) that you can cook in the time it takes to cook the ravioli.

White Wine Sage Sauce

(great with mushroom ravioli)

Ingredients:
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 clove minced garlic
1 tablespoon dried sage
1/2 cup white wine (whatever you have open, I have been using a Pinot Grigio recently)
Optional ingredients:
Truffle oil
Panko bread crumbs
Parmesan cheese (grated or shaved)
Note: This is for one serving, so multiply as needed!

To make, add the olive oil to a saute pan. Heat over medium-high heat, and add the garlic and sage. Let cook for one minute. Add the white wine, and turn the heat down to medium-low. Let simmer for a few minutes until it reduces. Remove from heat and pour over cooked ravioli. I really enjoy adding a little drizzle of truffle oil and then topping the ravioli off with panko and parmesan cheese. The truffle oil enhances the flavor of the ravioli and the panko adds a bit of a light crunch to the dish.

Brown Butter Sage Sauce

(great with pumpkin or butternut squash ravioli)

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon butter

4 sage leaves

Lemon juice, to taste

Parmesan cheese, to taste

Note: This is for one serving, so multiply as needed!

To prepare, melt butter in a saute pan until a light brown color appears (about 3 minutes). Add the sage leaves and cook for one minute more (to help the leaves get a little crispy). Remove from heat and add a few drops of lemon juice. Add some Parmesan cheese and mix. Pour over the ravioli and serve.

Brown Butter Sage Sauce with Dried Cranberries

(great with pumpkin or butternut squash ravioli)

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon butter

1 teaspoon dried sage

1-2 teaspoons dried cranberries

Salt, to taste

Pepper, to taste

Note: This is for one serving, so multiply as needed!

To prepare, melt butter in a saute pan. Add the sage and dried cranberries and cook until a light brown color appears (about 3 minutes). Remove from heat. Add salt and pepper and mix. Pour over the ravioli and serve. Note: If you have walnuts, they would be fantastic in this dish, I just didn’t have any. Toast the walnuts in the oven at 350 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes. Add the walnuts to the melted butter when you add in the sage and dried cranberries.

Roasted Walnuts – more of a topping than a sauce

(great with cheese or spinach ravioli)

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 clove chopped garlic

1/4 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 teaspoon lemon juice

Salt, to taste

Pepper, to taste

1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley

Parmesan cheese (grated or shaved), to taste

Note: This is for one serving, so multiply as needed!

To prepare, heat the oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and walnuts and cook until the walnuts are slightly toasted, stirring frequently (about 5 minutes). Add lemon juice, salt, pepper, and parsley. Remove from heat and pour over ravioli. Top with the Parmesan cheese.

Pasta in a Creamy Wild Mushroom Sauce

When the weather gets cold, I start craving pasta, pasta, and more pasta (I fully blame this on my Italian mother). I don’t want to get stuck eating the same thing every night though, so I try to have a few recipes on hand that I can cycle through so that I don’t get sick of my delicious carbs.

Combining my love of mushrooms with my affinity of pasta, I tend to use this recipe a lot. This recipe does include whipping cream though, so I wouldn’t suggest making this a weekly staple. But it is a really easy and comforting meal.

Ingredients:

1 box uncooked farfalle pasta
1 tablespoon butter
1 package of each of the following: shiitake, cremini, portobello and oyster mushrooms (if your supermarket has an exotic mushroom blend, grab 2 of those. If some other mushroom is calling your name, feel free to sub), sliced
½ cup chopped onion
1/3 cup chopped shallots
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 ½ teaspoons salt, divided
Pepper, to taste
¼ cup dry white wine (I just used whatever white wine was on hand and open)
2/3 cup whipping cream
½ cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Scallops Grapefruit and Fennel? Hmm…

After watching a few episodes of Top Chef Masters recently, I had a hankering for some scallops (which I’m going to blame on seeing Jamie, who made like 14 scallop dishes during her season on Top Chef). Luckily, the December issue of Cooking Light had a recipe for scallops that looked really appealing: Seared scallops with fennel and grapefruit salad. I was interested to see how such strong flavors would work together.

Ingredients:

1 large grapefruit

1.5 cups sliced fennel bulb (1 small-ish bulb)

½ cup flat-leaf parsley

2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon butter

½ – 1 lb sea scallops (about 12 for two people)

Salt and Pepper, to taste

To start, peel and section the grapefruit, reserving about ¾ cup grapefruit sections in a bowl. With the remaining grapefruit, squeeze to extract the juice (about ¼ cup) and set aside (apart from the grapefruit sections.

To cut the fennel, trim off the stalks and discard. Remove any dirty or hard areas on the bulb (that white part at the bottom) by peeling off the first layer if needed. Cut the bulb in half and lay them on the cutting board flat side down. Slice across the bulb in thin slices.

Combine the grapefruit sections, fennel, and parsley in a bowl. Set aside.

grapefruit and fennel salad

I always thought cooking scallops would be a daunting task, but it is actually really easy, and quick too! However, be careful to not overcook them, scallops can get very rubbery if left on the heat too long. This recipe called for pan frying the scallops so I started by heating 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 1 tablespoon butter in a sauté pan. While waiting for the pan to heat up, I sprinkled some salt and pepper on the scallops and then added them to the pan one by one (I used tongs to put them in so that the liquid didn’t splash all over the place). Let the scallops cook one that one side for about 4 minutes. Use the tongs to flip the scallops over and cook for another minute. Remove the scallops and keep warm.

seared scallops

Add the reserved grapefruit juice to the pan and cook for about two minutes. Remove from heat.

To assemble the dish: place half of the fennel mixture on each plate (I made two servings). Divide scallops evenly (each plate should have 4-6 scallops) then top with half of the rendered juice.

This ended up being a really pretty dish, if I do say so myself. Taste-wise, it was something nice and different, but I don’t think I enjoy fennel ( = mild licorice) enough to add this to my list of rotating dinners. However, I’m pretty jazzed to add scallops to my list of foods I can handle cooking!

Hello from Snowmageddon 2010!

I have a good feeling my posts will be numerous tomorrow. The lovely city of Philadelphia is being hit with its first snow storm of the season. In true Philadelphia spirit, I was completely unprepared for this storm and refused to enter a supermarket today (here’s hoping Reading Terminal is open tomorrow!) but I thankfully made a batch of beef enchiladas Thursday and individually froze them. I used a recipe from Budget Bytes, a great source of delicious meals perfect for a small wallet. The recipe can be found here. So I owe Beth M a huge thank you for keeping me full during the storm!

Beef Enchiladas, right out of the oven

Cookies Everywhere!

I can’t even begin to know a thing about baking. I still follow recipes to a T. I spent last Saturday making batch after batch of cookies, and all of these were well received.

The recipe for Black and White Chocolate Chip Cookies can be found here. These ended up looking almost like macaroons (shiny, cracked) but were delicious. I used Kahlua, not coffee, but I think the coffee might take some of the sweetness out, in a good way. (I forgot to take a photo! So sorry)

I attempted the Peanut Butter-Fudge Cups, recipe here. Despite following the recipe, I ended up with half of the number of cups and they look NOTHING like the photo with the recipe. But, they were delicious.

The Pecan Bar Cookies were surprisingly delicious. (Recipe here) They stayed chewy days after making, but were also nicely crunchy on top. I mixed the chocolate chips within the batter instead of melting the chocolate down and spreading on top.

My pumpkin obsession continues. These Iced Pumpkin Cookies (recipe here) made me so happy. These are a little more spicy (as in many spices, not hot) than a typical cookie, but the drizzled icing is a great contrast.

pumpkin cookies pre-iced

iced pumpkin cookies

Sugar cookie recipes can be found everywhere, I think you can even pick up sugar cookie mix, or pre-made cookie dough. I honestly doubt there would be much of a difference between the recipe I used here and buying dough from the store. The real fun with sugar cookies is decorating them! I used cookie cutters I picked up from the dollar store. For icing, I mixed confectioners sugar, vanilla extract, and a small amount of milk. I split the icing into different bowls and added food coloring. I also used sprinkles from the local grocery store to add some more pizazz. I know they look like a child made them, but I think that is part of their charm.

Happy cookie making!

My Attempt at Afghan Cusine

There are two Afghan restaurants near where I live, and I love them so much that not one, but both restaurants know me by name. That’s when it hit me that I should probably attempt to recreate some of these delicious meals myself, to help my poor empty wallet. So, here’s my attempt at Korma-E-Murgh (at least that’s what it is called on their menu). The dishes are usually made with lamb or chicken, and the lamb far surpasses the chicken. But making lamb still intimidates me, so I’m trying this with my trusty chicken. On the menu, this dish is described as “delicately seasoned boneless diced chicken with tomatoes, onions, and selected Afghan spices, served with white rice”… here goes..

Ingredients

For the sauce:

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 tablespoon chicken bouillon granules
2 teaspoons paprika
3 teaspoons ground cumin
3 teaspoons ground coriander
1 cup water

For the chalow:

1 cup basmati rice
1 1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
Chicken

Continue reading My Attempt at Afghan Cusine

Mexican Night

With Thanksgiving right around the corner, I need to clean out my fridge to make room for all of the leftovers I plan on hoarding from my relatives. (I love that they end up feeding me for the whole weekend) The best (and tastiest) way to do this is to make tacos for dinner.

Ingredients

Chicken
Taco Seasoning (recipe below)
Yellow Rice
Lettuce
Tomatoes
Onions
Green Pepper
Guacamole (recipe below)
Cheese (I used pepper jack and cheddar)
Taco shells or soft tacos

I usually have most of the above lying around, which is why this is my favorite recipe to get rid of a bunch of ingredients. As a side note: I live alone, so I just buy a bunch of chicken on sale, put the pieces in individual freezer bags, and pull them out the day before to defrost in the fridge.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook the rice according to directions. While the rice is cooking, put 1 tablespoon olive oil in a pan on medium heat. While that warms up, season the chicken with the taco seasoning.

Taco Seasoning Recipe

Taco Seasoning

4 parts chili powder
4 parts ground cumin
2 parts paprika
2 parts salt
2 parts black pepper
1 part garlic powder
1 part onion powder
1 part crushed red pepper flakes
1 part dried oregano

Mix. Store remaining spice mix in an airtight container.

Brown the chicken on both sides and place in the oven for 20 minutes. While the chicken and rice are cooking, chop all vegetables (tomatoes, green peppers, onion and lettuce)

To make the guacamole, cut avocados removing the seed. Put in a bowl and mash with a fork. Add onion, some chopped cilantro, chopped onion, 1 teaspoon lime juice, 1 teaspoon lemon juice, 1/2 teaspoon salt, a dash of black pepper, and some of the chopped tomato. Mix.

Homemade Guacamole

Make sure to leave yourself enough onion and tomato to have as a topping for your tacos. Once the chicken is finished cooking, cut into bite size pieces and serve.

Not to shabby of a spread!

Each person can build their own taco to their liking. I usually take the leftovers and combine them for lunch the next day too. Yum!

Finished Product