Pesto, White Bean and Broccoli Dip

I was sent a copy of The Truly Healthy Family Cookbook by Tina Ruggiero and after a brief page-through I knew it was a keeper.  You can usually tell when a healthy dish will end up stale and flavorless just by reading the recipe, and all of these sound delicious (yes, I read recipes for fun, what's it to you?).  Some of the meals on my to-do list: Risotto with Mushrooms, Butternut Squash and Kale, Mini Salmon Sliders and Turkey Meatloaf with Chipotle Glaze.  Yes, please, all of that.  

Right off the bat I made this Pesto, White Bean and Broccoli Dip because I'm trying to feed my daughter more iron.  Beans and Broccoli are great sources of iron!  Iron, iron, i-ron... that's a weird word.  Anyway.  This was simple to make, yielded a HUGE batch, and was great on pasta or crackers.  

Thanks for the book, Tina!  Recipe here.
  

Red Lentils with Feta and Tomato

As I type this, I'm sitting in my family room staring at large pieces of plywood and plastic covering.  I can't see my kitchen.  Have I mentioned we're redoing our kitchen?  So you'll have to bear with my postings for the next few months.  I might make a lot of peanut butter toast and easy mac & cheese.  Which both sound delicious to me!  But for now lets talk about lentils.  Lentils!  Doesn't that excite you??  Well it should, because while they might have a bad reputation, they're delicious.  I've had a bag of red lentils in my pantry for months, and I finally decided to do something with them over the weekend.  And because my best friend AND her sister are having babies on the same day, which is today(!), and because my mind is being blown over this construction, I am not going to write a recipe...

Take one cup of red lentils and put them in a pot with one cup of water.  Bring to a boil, then lower temp, cover and let simmer for roughly 10 minutes until liquid is absorbed.  Meanwhile, sauté halved cherry tomatoes in 1 tablespoon olive oil.  Add 1 clove of minced garlic and then a splash of really good balsamic.  Let cook over low heat until all bubbly and delicious.  Once lentils are done, add tomato mixture and crumbled feta cheese.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  A great side dish!  

Fiesta Food

It appears I have made a lot of Mexican dishes over the years.  Mucho, if you por favor.  

Sorry, I took French.  But here are some ideas for your weekend fiesta...

Albondigas

Soup Azteca

Arroz con Pollo

Roasted Chicken Tacos

Ground Beef Tacos

Baked Tostada

Spanish Beans

Guacamole

Margarita Cupcakes

Mexican Chocolate Brownies

Southwest Spaghetti Squash

In between the cookies and fudge and homemade ice cream, I try to create a balance by looking for healthier dishes and I find most of my inspiration at my sister-in-law's house.  She's always cooking something completely creative and good for you.  It's where I go to escape my evil "let's have brownies for dinner" self.  Over the weekend, she made this Southwest Spaghetti Squash from a vegetarian cookbook (I do not know the source).  It's completely delicious, and I only adapted it slightly to add a little more spice (green onions for tang and hot sauce for zing).  By the way, did anyone notice I just put the words "tang" and "zing" in parentheses?   

Southwest Spaghetti Squash

(Serves 6-8)

Printable Recipe

1 spaghetti squash, sliced lengthwise, seeds removed

1 14 oz. can diced tomatoes (I used one with bell peppers), drained

1 14 oz. can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 cup shredded Monterey Jack or Mexican Mix cheese, divided

1 bunch green onion, white and pale green part only, finely chopped

1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp garlic salt

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

Hot sauce (optional)

Preheat oven to 350.  Spray baking pan with cooking spray.  Place squash cut-side down in dish and bake for 45 minutes.  Let squash cool slightly, and then shred with fork into large bowl.  Add tomatoes, beans, half of the cheese, green onions, cilantro and spices.  Sprinkle with hot sauce if using and stir.  

Place back in baking dish and top with remaining cheese.  

Bake for 30 minutes and serve immediately.  (If you want, you can garnish with more cilantro or sour cream.)

Spinach, Chickpea and Tomato Frittata

Last night was one of those "ugh, dinner" nights.  I had no inspiration, nothing (or so I thought) in my fridge or pantry, and zero desire to drive to the market.  On the couch I sat, putting off doing anything about it until the very last minute in hopes that a magical dinner elf would come and take care of it for me.    Until I remembered that magical dinner elves ask for stupidly expensive tips and also aren't real.

So I slapped myself 5 times across the face (I actually used to do that in college), and marched to the kitchen whistling a semi-happy tune.  I started pulling stuff out of cabinets, freezers and the fridge.  A can of garbanzo beans, a box of frozen spinach, some cherry tomatoes, eggs and garlic.  Our dinner...

Heat a couple tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat.  Add one clove of minced garlic.  When it starts to brown, turn down heat to medium-low and add sliced cherry tomatoes and a half a can of garbanzo beans.  Season with salt and pepper.  In the meantime, defrost frozen spinach.  Make sure to squeeze out as much excess liquid as you can.  Add to pan.  Season with more salt and pepper and some paprika.  Let cook for 10-15 minutes over medium-low heat.  

Preheat oven to 450.  In two bowls, separate 6 eggs, saving the yolks for another day.  Add a splash of milk to the egg whites and whisk, seasoning with salt and pepper.  

Add to pan.  When corners start to set, place entire pan (uncovered, and make sure it's oven-proof) in the oven.  Bake for 10 minutes or until egg whites have cooked and turn brown and bubbly.  

*This was very delicious.  Smoky from the paprika, hearty from the garbanzo beans, flavorful from the garlicky tomatoes and spinach.  Would be excellent served on toast, but we ate it as is (smothered with hot sauce, mmm).  SEE!?  YOU CAN MAKE DINNER EVEN WITHOUT MAGICAL ELVES!

Minestrone Soup

Do you say "minestrone" or "minestron-eee"?  More importantly, what do you think Giada says?  You know, because she's super Italian and all and can't say the word spaghetti without morphing into Sophia Loren.  Hmmm.  It doesn't really matter to me because I love it, with or without an Italian-American accent.  

Until last night, I had never attempted to make my own.  Naturally, I used a Giada recipe which was simple yet authentic.  Pureeing some of the Cannellini beans thickens the broth nicely, and adding the rind from Parmesan cheese gives the soup a wonderful depth of flavor.

I'll leave you with this: what on earth am I doing making hot winter soup on an 80-degree day.       

Have wonderful weekends!  I'm going to make these and buy some new sweatpants for Valentine's Day (for real).  

Spanish Beans

Last night was Taco Thursday at our house.  But not just any Taco Thursday (that sounds so wrong), let me explain...  

A couple weeks ago I was at my friend Cindy's daughter's first birthday party.  Cindy's mom, Monica, was visiting.  Monica is originally from Ecuador and as Cindy says, she's an incredibly talented and super yummy cook.  From Ecuadorian dishes to Dominican cuisine, she provides that extra something that makes her food delectable.  I'll tell you what that something extra is.  SOFRITO.  Click on that link if you don't know what it is.  Monica sent me home with a jar of it, homemade.  Holy beans that stuff is good!  Monica's sofrito is made with fresh vegetables, and Cindy says she uses it in several dishes including beef, chicken or even just plain ole spanish beans with rice.  The following is her recipe.  There is nothing "plain ole" about them.  They are magical.    

Lookie here, you can purchase sofrito on the interweb.  But if I were you, I would go to Disney's Animal Kingdom where Monica is an Area Manager and beg her to make you some.    

Spanish Beans

(Serves 4)

Printable Recipe

1 T vegetable oil

1 strip bacon, diced

1 T sofrito

1 tsp vinegar (or capful)

1/2 can tomato sauce

1 can red kidney beans (do not drain)

3 stems cilantro, chopped

Heat oil in pot over medium heat.  Add bacon.  Once bacon is crispy, add sofrito.  Listen to it sizzle and breath it in.  Yum.

Stir sofrito and cook briefly.  Add vinegar and tomato sauce.  Cook until it begins to bubble (I turned up heat slightly).

Once bubbling, add entire can of beans, stir.  Bring to a boil, then lower heat and cover.  

Let simmer until beans are soft and cooked through.  Add chopped cilantro and serve with white rice.

Southern Fried Chicken

I saw The Help over the weekend and I literally lost my mind in the movie theater. I don't know where the term, "basket case" comes from, but that's what I was. A case of wet, sobbing baskets... gulping for breaths in between snotty spasms of tears. (I hope you're picturing that.) Anyway, the movie left me with a sense of sadness, hope and a STRONG craving for fried chicken. Luckily, here I am on vacation with Carson's mom, a true Southerner from Lilesville, North Carolina.

For some reason, I have known her for 5 years and have never tasted her fried chicken. In the next five years, I plan on having it 1,825 times. 1,826 if we're expecting a leap year soon. I just did that math, I really did.

There she is. And there I am. Her taste tester.


Carson supplied the chef jacket, and wear it well she did. Because we weren't just treated to fried chicken, no, we were fed a proper Southern meal, all prepared by Miss Pattie. Let's start with the chicken, and the basics...

Whole milk. She lets her thighs, legs and breasts rest in milk for awhile...


A heaping pile of flour, sprinkled generously with salt and pepper. She even took a bite of the flour, just like her grandmother once did, to make sure it was well seasoned.


Eggs. None of that egg white baloney.


Finally, the most important part. CRISCO. Just go see The Help, and you will want to lick it off your fingers.


Pattie takes her chicken that's been sitting in milk and follows this order: egg, flour, egg, flour. EXTRA CRISPY.


Aaaaaaand into the hot Crisco it goes...


Starting to crisp...


Getting even crispier...


Ohmygod yum. I ate 3 pieces. I wasn't supposed to tell you that.


As I mentioned, it was a PROPER Southern meal. Which means Country Gravy...


...and Mashed Potatoes...


...Lima Beans in Butter and Herbs...


...and a Southern Salad...


I lost my mind after this meal. Like a pig rolling around in dirt. A happy pig, nonetheless, not the wet, basket case kind. Thanks PDC!!!