Healthy Eating Part Duex

So with an upcoming wedding on the horizon, I'm trying to get on track with this healthy living lifestyle.  Now this should be easy to get on board with but for me for whatever reason its seems to be easier said that done.  I guess because I like to cook I find myself eating a lot testing and trying out new things, unfortunately the things I tend to come up with tend to be laden with butter and cheeses, so I'm making a conscious effort to try and eat healthier.  It probably wont be everyday because I love cheese and butter and cream, but I'll endeavor to try to eat healthy for at least 4 days out of the week.  Fortunately for me I like fish and fish is an easy way to start eating healthier, so you may see a lot of fish and seafood dishes coming on the blog at least initially, but I promise to start incorporating other proteins for my non seafood lovers but also for your convenience any of these seafood dishes can be easily substituted with another meat.  So I, like most of you I assume eat with my eyes first so not only do I want my meal to taste good it needs to be visually appealing to me especially if I'm taking out all the good stuff.  You don't have to do much to a burger and fries to make it look tempting but you have to put a little more work into making fish and veggies look like more than a bland blob on the plate. And I think that this recipe that I am going to share with you all fits the bill.  I delivers not only on the healthy aspect, but also in terms of taste and visual appeal.  The flavors  in this meal are bright and rich without being heavy.  I'm still able to get some of the creaminess and rich flavors that I enjoy without all the butter and fat that is usually needed to create those flavors. So without further adieu here's my recipe for coconut curry tilapia with broccolini and cilantro rice.  Hope you enjoy( and remember if you don't like fish take it out of the recipe and add chicken or whatever meat you like).

Coconut Curry Tilapia w/ Broccolini & Cilantro Rice

Ingredients:

For the Tilapia:

·         2 teaspoons minced fresh ginger

·         2-3 tbsp chopped garlic

·         1 cup halved grape tomatoes 

·         1/2 cup chopped green onions 

·         ½ cup diced red onion

·         1 teaspoon curry powder

·         2 teaspoons red curry paste

·         1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

·         4 teaspoons low-sodium soy sauce 

·         1 tablespoon brown sugar 

·         1 (14-ounce) can light coconut milk

·         2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro 

·         4 (6-ounce) tilapia fillets 

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       For the Broccolini:

4 bunches(1 1/2 pound) of broccolini

4 tbsp chapped garlic

1 tsp salt

3 tbsp olive oil

For the Rice:

2 cups basmati rice

2 cups of water

2 cups low sodium chicken broth

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

Directions:

Fill large pot with water and bring to a boil.  

While water is boiling start on the rice by adding rice, water, chicken broth, and cilantro to a pan.  Cook on high heat until it starts to boil, then turn heat to low, cover and cook for 20 mins.

Meanwhile, season fish liberally with salt and pepper, place to the side.  In a large saute pan heat 2-3 tbsp oil over medium high heat.  Once oil is hot add fish to the pan, cook for 3-4 mins on each side or until fish becomes opaque and starts to brown slightly on each side.  Remove fish from pan and set aside.  Add oil back into the pan then add garlic, ginger, red onions to pan, cook for 3- 4min until fragrant then add tomatoes and cook for 1-2 mins.  Add remaining ingredients stir and add fish back to pan.  Simmer on low for 10-15 mins.

Fill a large bowl with ice water and set aside.  Add the broccolini 2 bunches at a time into the boiling water and cook for 2 mins remove and immediately add to ice water, repeat with the second bunch until all the broccolini has been cooked and added to ice water.  Strain through a colander and place broccolini on a dish towel to drain off excess water.  Place chopped garlic on cutting board add salt on top of it and using the back of a spoon smash into garlic until a paste is created. Heat a large saute pan with the oil add the garlic paste cook for 1 min then add the broccolini , season lightly with salt and pepper cook for 5- 10 mins until just heated through(do not over cook until it becomes mushy).

Place all ingredients on a plate and DIG IN!!!

Hope You ENJOY and Keep SIMPLY COOKING!!!!!

Soup and Sammies Night

OK,  so for the most part I really enjoy cooking, it relaxes me, it make me happy, and I overall just enjoy the creative process.  However, during the summer months, it is 1) just too damn hot for me to be standing over the stove cooking, and 2) too many things going on that I don't want to spend the time in the kitchen when I can be out having a good time.  So the summer for me includes a lot of quick easy to make meals that don't require a lot of prep or cook time. I also don't want to eat anything to heavy that will inevitably lead me into a the dreaded food coma. Whenever I think of something quick and easy to eat that I can make at home I usually have a sandwich.  Normally my sandwich consist of a few slices or turkey and cheese between two slice of wonder bread, but every now and a again I like to jazz it up a bit.  For me personally I like a lot of add ins (onions, peppers, spread, etc) on my sandwich, but hey if your not a fan you can easily omit those ingredients.  That's the good thing about a sandwich there's no strict recipe to adhere to, you have the freedom to make it your own by adding as little or as much as you like.  This recipe that I am sharing today is my take on a Cuban sandwich.  Now let me put out a disclaimer......If you are a Cuban sandwich purist, this is not the sandwich for you.  I looooovvvvvve the traditional Cuban sandwich, I wanted to try something a little different so this is my take on a Cuban style sandwich.  The first deviation from the traditional you'll notice is that I have taken out the roast pork and replaced it with turkey, I also add a tomato relish, but trust me this sandwich is just as good, different, but just as good as the original.  I add a soup to the sandwich to round out the meal, being that this is a summer meal I didn't want a hot soup so I served it with a gazpacho, which is a chilled soup.  If cold soup is not your thing you can easily heat the soup or opt not to have soup with your sammie.  Hope you enjoy.

Turkey Cuban w/ Tomato Gazpacho

Ingredients:
Turkey Cuban:
1 loaf of cuban, french, italian, or cibatta bread
8 slices deli turkey
6 slices thinly sliced deli ham
4-6 slices B&G sandwich topper pickles(New York Deli Style) 
8 slices thinly sliced Swiss cheese
1/4 cup  Hellman's Dijonnaise
1 small tomato seeded and diced
1/2 small red onion diced
1/2-1 jalapeno diced(depending on how spicy you like it)
1 tbsp chopped cilantro
1 tbsp oil oil
1 tbsp white vinegar
1 tbsp chopped garlic
salt and pepper

Ingredients:
Tomato Gazpacho:
3-4 large tomatoes cut in half
2-3 cups crusty bread, crust removed, cut into 1/2-inch pieces 
1 red bell pepper diced
1 cup English cumber diced
1 cup chopped red onion
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
2 tbsp minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 cup water

Directions:                                                                                                                                                   Turkey Cuban:

Slice bread in half lengthwise, spread dijonnaise evenly on both sides of the bread. Layer the turkey, ham, Swiss cheese, and pickle slices on the bread in that order.  Place tomato, onion, jalapeno, cilantro, garlic, salt, pepper, vinegar, and oil in food processor and pulse until just combined. Spread tomato mixture over top of sandwich and top sandwich with other slice of bread. Heat griddle pan or large frying pan with butter or olive oil. Place sandwich in pan cook until it browns on one side ( you can weigh sandwich down with another pan or grill press) once browned flip to other side and cooked until browned on that side.  Remove from pan and slice into thirds or fourths.

Directions:
Gazpacho:

Gently squeeze tomatoes over a bowl to remove seeds and juice. Strain removed seeds and juice to separate juice from seeds, discard the seeds. Chop tomatoes and transfer the chopped tomatoes,tomato juices and remaining ingredients except for water into a blender or food processor. Puree gazpacho adding water in batches until smooth.  Strain gazpacho through a strainer, pressing on solids to extract as much liquid as possible.  Season with salt and pepper and serve cold or room temperature.  Garnish with a little sour cream if you like.

 Hope You Enjoy and Keep SIMPLY COOKING !!!

Meatless Mondays

So a number of my family and friends recently have either decided to become vegetarian or at least go meatless a few days out of the week.  I am definitely a meat eating kinda girl and am not really on this vegetarian train, but I like to challenge myself and try new things.  And since many of my friends think that I can't make a vegetarian meal because I'm always looking for the meat on my plate, I decided to prove my some of my friends and family wrong and show that I can not only make a vegetarian meal, but also eat and enjoy it.  So I came up with the recipe just messing around in my kitchen mixing different flavors and textures and came up with this wonderful delicious hearty meal.  Now I have to say while I'm not ready to go completely vegetarian, I could definitely eat this casserole as my main meal and I don't even miss the meat.  So whether your are already eating vegetarian or aren't quite ready to go all the way vegetarian but want to eat meatless a few days a week, this is a great recipe to add to your repertoire.  I served this casserole alone but you can easily add a salad and a piece of crusty bread to balance out the meal and for my people who are just need to have meat as a part of their meal, this also makes a great side dish.

Potato, Spinach, Mushroom, and Poblano Pepper Casserole

Ingredients:

• 1lb red or yuknon gold potatoes
• 1 1/2 cup sliced portabella mushrooms
• 3/4 cup chopped baby spinach
• 2- 3 poblano peppers
• 1 cup of vegetable broth
• 1 large onion halved and sliced
• 4 oz of Neufchatel cream cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded Italian blend cheese
• 1 tbsp. chopped garlic

Directions:

Heat oven to 425 degrees and spray a 8X8 or 9X9 glass baking dish.

Roast your poblano pepper by placing your peppers directly on top of your burner, turn the burner up to its highest setting leave the pepper on the burned until the skin starts to blister and turn black (about 1 min)  then using tongs or the stem of the pepper turn the pepper and let cook until the pepper is charred on all sides.  Once peppers are charred immediately place into a zip lock bag and let sit for 5-10 mins.  Remove the peppers from the zip lock bag and using your hands or a damp towels remove the charred skin off the pepper.  Once the skin is removed slice pepper in half remove the seeds and slice into long strips and cut into dice size pieces.  Put diced peppers to side.

In a large pan, heat 1 tbsp. of oil over low heat, add the garlic and cook for about 1 min (do not brown the garlic).  Turn the burned up to medium high heat then add the onions and cook for 2-3 mins then add the mushrooms salt and pepper liberally and cooked until slightly caramelized.  Remove onions and mushrooms from the pan, add more oil is needed then add the spinach, season with salt and pepper and cook until just wilted and remove spinach from the pan.

In a small saucepan, heat the broth, cream cheese and shredded cheese until melted add the cooked spinach and poblano peppers to the cheese mixture and take off the heat.

Slice potatoes into half moons season with salt, pepper, and garlic and herb seasoning and pour cheese mixture over the potatoes and mix until all potatoes as evenly coated.  Pour 1/3 of the potato mixture into the baking pan, then layer half of the cooked onions and mushrooms over the potatoes , then add 1/2 or the remaining potato mixture, layer remaining onion and mushrooms over the potatoes, and finally layer the remaining potato mixture on top.  Cover casserole with remaining cup of shredded cheese. 

Reduce oven heat to 375, cover casserole loosely with foil and cook for 1 hour or until potatoes are tender when pierced. Turn oven back up to 450, remove foil and cook casserole for 5-10 mins or until cheese on top starts to brown. Let cool for about five mins after taking out of the oven, slice into squares and serve.

Hope You Enjoy and Keep SIMPLY COOKING!!!



4th Of July Chocolate Explosion

Sooooooooo....... I know its been a while since I've posted anything on my blog but I've been a little busy the past few months. But the good news is I'M BACKKKKK!!!!! I'll be here all summer long with new culinary post for you to view, try and make your own. Since I've been gone for so long I've decided to treat you to not one but two wonderful and easy to make recipes this week. Over this past fourth of July weekend I was invited to a few BBQ's.  I don't like to show up anyplace empty handed but also don't really want to go through the hassle of having to really cook something so bringing a dessert is always a good go to option for me when bringing something to a get together.  Dessert is easy and quick to make and people will always be happy to have dessert so its a win win. So today I'll be sharing with you two simple and easy to make chocolate desserts that I always get compliments on whenever I make them. And the best thing about these two desserts is once you get the basics down you can customize them to your liking by adding different add ins and toppings. So I hope you give these a try!!!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownies & Triple Chocolate Fudge Cake

Chocolate Chip Cookie Brownies

Ingredients:

• 1box of Betty Crocker Ultimate Fudge Brownie Mix
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup of vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1 package refrigerated chocolate chip cookie dough

Directions:

Heat oven to 325 degrees.  In a medium bowl mix brownie mix, water, oil, and egg until well blended.  Spray a 11x7 glass baking dish with cooking spray.  Pour brownie mix into baking pan.  Cover brownie mix with rounded tsps. of cookie dough spacing approximately 1 inch apart.  Place brownie in oven and cook for 36-39 min or until an interested toothpick comes out clean.

Triple Chocolate Fudge Cake

Ingredients:

• 1 box Betty Crocker Triple Chocolate cake mix
• 1 box instant sugar free chocolate pudding
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup of chocolate milk
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 1/2 cup half and half
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tbsp. semi sweet chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup crushed chocolate wafer cookies

Directions:

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease and lightly flour fluted tube(bundt) cake pan, or spray with baking spray with flour. In large bowl, mix cake mix, chocolate milk, butter, eggs, and dry pudding mix  until well blended ( note the batter will be very thick). Bake for 45- 49 minutes or until top springs back when touched lightly in center. Let the cake cool for about 10 mins then turn upside down onto a cake plate and remove pan. Continue to let cool for about 1 hr.  While cake is cooling, in a small saucepan, heat 1/2 half and half on low flame for 1- 2 mins add chocolate chips and stir until chocolate is completely melted and smooth. Drizzle over cake and let cool for 20-25 min in fridge and serve.

Hope You Enjoy and Keep SIMPLY COOKING!!!

Southern Breakfast



I've been a little busy the past few weeks and haven't had the time to post anything on the blog, but I didn't want to let another week go by with out posting a little something.  So this is something quick and easy to make that will definitely be one of your new favorite things. 

So I made some sweet potatoes for dinner the other night and had some left over.  I didn't want to throw them away but I didn't have anything to eat them.  So a few mornings later I see the sweet potatoes still sitting in my fridge and I still don't want to throw them away so I try to figure out what I can do with them for breakfast and voila, I'm like I can make pancakes.  So I did and these turned out amazing if I have to say so myself.  These are my new favorite pancake recipe.  I hope you enjoy also.  So try them out and let me know what you think.

Sweet Potato Pancakes

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/4 tsp. ground nutmeg

2 tbsp. brown sugar

1 1/4 cups mashed cooked sweet potatoes

2 eggs, beaten

1 1/2 cups milk

1/4 cup butter, melted

Directions:

Mix dry ingredients together in a bowl. Combine remaining ingredients in a separate bowl, then add to flour mixture.  Heat a griddle pan with butter and pour 1/4/cup of pancake mixture onto griddle for each pancake.  Cook one until bubbles start to form in the pancake and browned on one side, then flip and cook on other side until browned. Serve with warm maple syrup and powdered sugar.

Enjoy and Keep SIMPLY COOKING!!!

Dinner Party!!!

So I decided to invite a few friends over recently for a small dinner party.  While I enjoy having friends over and enjoy setting a good table I have to admit that always have a little frantic energy trying to decide what to make.  Whenever I have people over I want to cook something that's easy enough to make so that I'm not too exhausted after spending hours in the kitchen to enjoy the wonderful party I put together, but elegant enough to impress my guest. 

So I figured that a pasta dish was the way to go.  Pasta is pretty simple to make and doesn't take that much time to prepare.  Plus you can easily fancy it with the ingredients you add to it.  For me, whenever I think of fancy elegant meals I always think about seafood like crab and shrimp so I decided to incorporate them both in this recipe.  Fortunately all of the guest I invited over eat seafood so this was a perfect meal.  However I know that many people don't eat seafood and the great thing about this meal is that it can easily be adapted for non seafood eaters by swapping out the shrimp and crab for chicken.  I have made the chicken version of this meal for my dad, who doesn't eat seafood and it went over just a well as the shrimp and crab version.  However for the purposes of this blog and because of my own personal taste preference I'll be posting the seafood version.  So here's the recipe for my Cajun Shrimp and Crab Pasta, serve it at your next dinner party or intimate meal with a side salad and a glass of wine and its sure to be a hit.

Cajun Shrimp and Crab Pasta

Ingredients                     

• 1 box (16 ounces) fettuccine pasta
• 1 lb shrimp (peeled and deveined)
• 1 16oz can on lump crab meat    
• 1 large onion chopped  
• 1/2 cup (each) chopped yellow and orange pepper
• 3/4 cup grape tomatoes halved   
• 1 tbsp. chopped garlic            
• 1 1/2 cups half and half                     
• 1/4 cup  cream cheese (softened)
• 2 cups shredded Italian blend cheese
• 2 teaspoons  cornstarch mixed with 1 tablespoon water
• 3 tbsp. Cajun seasoning
• 1/2 cup scallions
• Shredded Parmesan                     

Directions

Heat a large pot of salted water for pasta, once water comes to a boil add pasta and cook for 15-20 mins until al dente, then drain.

Heat a large sauté pan, add 2 tbsp. oil.  Season shrimp with salt, pepper, and Cajun seasoning, add to pan and cook for 3-4 mins and remove from pan. Add onions, peppers and garlic to pan cook for 5-6 mins, add grape tomatoes and cook for 2- 3 mins then add crab meat until just heated. Remove from pan. In sauté pan, heat half and half over medium heat until bubbly. Remove from heat and whisk in cream cheese, Italian cheese blend, and 3 tbsp. of Cajun seasoning until melted Stir in cornstarch-water mixture and return pan to heat. Bring to a simmer, stirring until smooth. Add shrimp and crab/onion/pepper mixture to pan, simmer for 2-3 mins. Sprinkle scallions over top of dish  Add pasta to plate, top with shrimp crab sauce, garnish with shredded parmesan cheese.

Enjoy and Keep SIMPLY COOKING!!!!



Foodcation

So with the weather we have been having recently all I have been thinking about is getting away from the cold on some tropical island.  Unfortunately my finances and accumulated time or should I say unaccumulated time at work won't let me do that right at this moment.  So until I can take the much deserved vacation(which is on the horizon-in case you cared), I have to try and bring the vacation vibe to me.  You can transport yourself to an island destination through the right combination of flavors.  My foodcation started with a libation cause a fruity drink always makes me think of laying on a beach.  I will share the recipe with you also, unfortunately I forgot to snap a shot to post for the blog so you'll have to use your imagination a little on that.  Anyway, the recipe I want to share with you is a Caribbean inspired chicken dish that is easy to recreate.  The dish is showed below with fried sweet plantain but you can easily add some rice flavored with cilantro and lime rice to make a meal.  So all aboard and let get ready to take a trip to the Caribbean.

Caribbean Chicken w/Fried Sweet Plantain

Ingredients:

4 4oz boneless skinless chicken breast

1 cup of mild(or hot if you like) salsa

1/2 cup canned pineapple tidbits plus 1/4 of the juice from the pineapple

1/8 cup hot sauce

2 tbsp. wet jerk rub

1/2 cup chopped scallions

1 tbsp. lime juice

Directions:

Mix all of the ingredients except for the chicken in a bowl and set aside.  Season the chicken liberally with salt and pepper. Heat a large sauté pan and add 1 tbsp. of oil.  Add chicken to the pan and cook until browned on each side.  Once chicken is browned add salsa mixture to pan, reduce heat and simmer for 15-20 mins.  Garnish with and left over scallions and pineapple and serve with fried plantain or add rice for a complete meal.

Bonus Drink Recipe-Tropical Sunrise:

In a large container mix one cup light rum, frozen concentrated pink lemonade(thawed), 1/2 cup cranberry juice, 3/4 cup ginger ale, and 1/2 cup of pineapple juice. Serve over ice.

Enjoy and Keep Simply COOKING!!!!!