Spiced Peppers and Eggplant

As usual, I can't remember where I found this recipe, but it is REALLY GOOD.

Ingredients

SERVINGS: 4

• 4 garlic cloves
• ¾ tsp. coriander seeds, crushed
• ¾ tsp. cumin seeds, crushed
• Pinch of saffron threads (optional)
• 4 sweet peppers, any color (about 1 lb.), cut into 2” strips
• 2 baby eggplants (about ½ lb.), quartered lengthwise, or ½ large eggplant, cut into 2x1” pieces
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
• 1 cup torn fresh basil leaves
• 1/4 cup olive oil

Preparation

TOTAL: 30 MIN

• Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add garlic, coriander, cumin, and saffron, if using; cook, stirring often, until garlic is softened, about 4 minutes. Add sweet peppers and eggplants; season with salt and pepper. Cook, tossing occasionally, until vegetables are tender, 15–20 minutes. Remove from heat and add vinegar. Just before serving, add basil and toss to combine.
• Do Ahead: Vegetables can be cooked 4 days ahead. Cover; chill. Bring to room temperature before adding basil and serving.

Melon and Ham Salad with Burrata Cheese.

I was a little skeptical to try this.. ham? With melon?? Okay, sure, I love ham & pineapple pizza, but I would have never thought of adding it to a melon salad.

I'm so glad I tried this, I really enjoyed it.

2T white balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp. minced shallot
1/2 tsp. honey
Pinch of sea salt
2 tbsp. canola oil
1/4 small cantaloupe
1/4 small honeydew
2 oz. thinly sliced ham
4 oz burrata cheese
1/4 tsp. cracked black pepper

Combine vinegar, shallot, honey and salt in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Slowly add oil, stirring constantly.

Shave the melons into strips using a vegetable peeler. You should have about 1 1/4 cups each of the melon.

Mix the ham and melon and place on a platter. Top with the burrata cheese and drizzle the vinegar mixture over the top.

Creamy Cheese & Garlic Pasta

I can't remember where this recipe came from, it's one of those word documents that I cut/pasted some time ago and saved to the computer.

And then never make.

I seem to do that a lot from the count of all the documents in the recipe folder.

So I made this the other night and The Husband loved it. 

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 8 oz spaghetti
• 1 cup cooked pasta water
• 1 chicken bullion cube
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 and 1/2 cups of Four-Cheese Italian White Cheese Blend (Mozzarella, White Cheddar, Provolone, Asiago)
• Salt, pepper, Thyme
• 1 pound chicken breast tenders, boneless, skinless

Instructions

1. Heat olive oil and butter on medium heat in a large skillet, add minced garlic and cook for about 1 minute on medium heat, without burning.
2. Cook pasta in a separate pan, drain. Reserve some of cooked pasta water. Dissolve 1 cube of chicken broth bouillon in 1 cup of hot pasta water.
3. While pasta is cooking, rub chicken with salt, pepper and Thyme - as much or little as you like - and cook in the skillet with olive oil and about two minced cloves of garlic. Remove from the skillet when done. Drain some of the olive oil (save garlic bits!) if there is a lot left in the pan.
4. Add pasta water (with the dissolved chicken broth bouillon cube in it), heavy cream, and cooked spaghetti to the skillet with cooked garlic. Bring to boil, stirring. Once the liquids are boiling, immediately add cheese and keep stirring everything together (spaghetti and the cream), while boiling, until cheese melts and coats pasta, for about 1 minute. Reduce to simmer and continue to cook, constantly stirring, to thicken the sauce - for another minute or two.
5. Serve topped with the chicken strips/tenders.

Tomato and Roasted Lemon Salad

I made this salad recently and it was sooo very good!

Tomato and Roasted Lemon Salad

2 medium lemons, halved crosswise, seeds removed, and cut into paper-thin slices (9 oz)
3 tbsp olive oil
½ tsp superfine sugar
8 sage leaves, finely shredded
2 2/3 cups baby tomatoes, yellow or red or a mixture of both, halved
scant ½ tsp ground allspice
1/3 cup flat-leaf parsley leaves
½ cup mint leaves
seeds of 1 small pomegranate (2/3 cup)
1½ tbsp pomegranate molasses
½ small red onion, thinly sliced (about ½ cup)
salt and black pepper

Preheat the oven to 325ºF.

Bring a small saucepan of water to a boil, add the lemon slices, and blanch for 2 minutes. Drain well, place the lemon in a bowl, and add 1 tablespoon of the oil, ½ teaspoon salt, the sugar, and the sage. Gently mix and then spread the lemon mixture out on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Place in the oven and cook for 20 minutes, until the lemons have dried out a little. Remove and set aside to cool.

In a bowl, combine the tomatoes, allspice, parsley, mint, pomegranate seeds, pomegranate molasses, onion, the remaining 2 tablespoons oil, ¼ teaspoon salt, and some freshly ground pepper.

Add the lemon slices, stir gently, and serve.

Ginger Beef, Mushroom & Kale Stir-Fry

Ginger Beef, Mushroom & Kale Stir-Fry

Prep: 5 mins Cook: 25 mins Total: 30 mins

Ingredients:

Marinade Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup soy sauce (if making gluten-free, be sure to use GF soy sauce)
• 1/2 cup vegetable broth (or chicken/beef broth, or water)
• 3 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar
• 2 Tbsp. corn starch
• 2 tsp. ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp. freshly-ground black pepper

Stir-Fry Ingredients:

• 1 lb. thinly sliced flank steak or sirloin, cut diagonally across the grain into thin strips
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 8 ounces baby portobello or button mushrooms, halved
• 4 ounces shiitake mushrooms, halved
• 3 cups chopped kale
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced

Directions:

To Make The Marinade:

Add all marinade ingredients to a bowl and whisk to combine. Pour marinade into a large bowl or ziplock bag, then add in the steak and gently toss to combine. Cover/seal and refrigerate for at least 15 minutes.

To Make The Stir-Fry:

Once steak has marinated, heat 1 Tbsp. oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Remove steak from marinade with a slotted spoon, reserving the marinade, and add to saute pan with garlic. Saute for about 2-3 minutes until browned, stirring occasionally. Remove steak with a slotted spoon and set aside.

Add mushrooms, kale, and reserved marinade to saute pan, and stir to combine. Cook for 3-4 minutes, until the kale is wilted, the sauce has thickened, and the mushrooms have cooked, stirring regularly so that sauce does not burn. Add in the steak, and toss to combine.

Serve immediately over rice or quinoa, garnished with chopped green onions.

Super simple baked chicken recipe.

 

Easy!

• 1 cup mayonnaise
• ½ cup Parmesan
• salt & pepper to taste
• ½ tsp garlic
• boneless, skinless chicken

1. Mix all ingredients together except for the chicken.
2. Place the chicken in a single layer in a baking pan; brush the mayo mixture over the top and sides of the chicken.
3. Bake at 375 for 45 minutes.

Lemon Crinkle Cookies

• ½ cups Butter, Softened
• 1 cup Granulated Sugar
• ½ teaspoons Vanilla Extract
• 1 whole Egg
• 1 teaspoon Lemon Zest
• 1 Tablespoon Fresh Lemon Juice
• 1-½ cup All-purpose Flour
• ¼ teaspoons Salt
• ¼ teaspoons Baking Powder
• ⅛ teaspoons Baking Soda
• ½ cups Powdered Sugar 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease light colored baking sheets with non stick cooking spray and set aside.

In a large bowl, cream butter and sugar together until light and fluffy. Whip in vanilla, egg, lemon zest and juice. Scrape sides of bowl and mix again. Stir in all dry ingredients (except powdered sugar) slowly until just combined. Scrape sides of bowl and mix again briefly.

Pour powdered sugar onto a large plate. Roll a heaping teaspoon of dough into a ball and roll in powdered sugar. Place on baking sheet and repeat with remaining dough.

Bake for 9-11 minutes or until bottom of cookies begin to barely brown and cookies have a matte finish (not melty or shiny). Remove from oven and cool cookies about 3 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.
*If using a non stick darker baking tray, reduce baking time by about 2 minutes.