Recipes

Strawberry Pomegranate Smoothie

~ lk529 ~ Leave a comment

Stuart

Stuart and I are very different people. He is very outgoing, (thinks) he’s funny, and is never shy. He does a great job bringing me out of my shell, but never pushes too hard. Because of him, I have accomplished things I never thought I’d do! (like Tough Mudder!)

And just like our personalities would suggest, my husband likes to get creative in the kitchen with smoothie flavors and spice mixes. I typically need that recipe to reference – but I’m getting better and have my fair share of pork rub recipes!

This tart smoothie is a Stuart Everson Original.

Strawberry Pomegranate Smoothie

Ingredients:

  • 1 banana
  • 1/2 C raspberries
  • 5-6 strawberries
  • 1/2 pear, peeled
  • 3/4 C plain yogurt
  • 2 tbsp honey
  • juice 1 lemon
  • 6 oz pomegranate juice

Steps

  1. Combine all ingredients in a blender until smooth.

Smoothie Ingredients Strawberry Pomegranate Smoothie 1 Strawberry Pomegranate Smoothie 2

 

 

Crescent Calzones

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What do you do when your attempt a fancy dinner fails and there’s no time for take-out? Crescent Calzones! (Even better when your husband keeps you calm in the kitchen, makes you laugh, and helps you cook!)

Crescent Calzones 1 Crescent Calzones 2 Crescent Calzones 3 Crescent Calzones 4 Crescent Calzones 5 Crescent Calzones 6

An Original Recipe

Crescent Calzones

Ingredients:

  • 1 can crescent rolls (will yield 4 calzones)
  • 1/4 – 1/2 C jarred marinara sauce
  • 1 C shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 1/4 C packed spinach leaves
  • 12 slices pepperoni
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 2 tsp Herbs de Provence
  • 1/2 tsp kosher salt
  • 1 tbsp cornmeal

Steps

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Pinch together two crescent triangles to create a rectangle. Do this four times.
  3. Fill each rectangle with sauce, cheese, pepperoni, and spinach. Only do this on one half so you can fold over the remaining dough. With a fork, crimp the dough together. Cut a slit in the top of the dough with a sharp paring knife. Place calzones on a baking sheet sprinkled with corn meal – you could simply spray the sheet with non-stick cooking spray if you want. Note: you can substitute whatever protein/veggies you’d like. It’s a pizza – the limits are only in your pantry/fridge!
  4. Brush each calzone with olive oil. Sprinkle with seasoning and salt.
  5. Bake 12-15 minutes (or according to crescent directions).

Crescent Calzones 7 Crescent Calzones 8

Lemony Shrimp Scampi with Orzo

~ lk529 ~ 5 Comments

My favorite Food Network star is Giada De Laurentiis. (If I could be her for a day, I would!) I record her show Giada at Home and sit with my laptop on the couch and take notes. That’s me furthering my education – Food Network. 😉

Lemony Shrimp Scampi with Orzo 1This recipe was on the episode “Viewer’s Choice 2” and it looked like a perfect weeknight dinner. I was hoping to have some friends over for dinner the night I planned to make this dish, so I was prepared for making the full 4-6 servings. It ended up being just being the two of us, but none of the food went to waste! I took it to lunch the next day, and we even used it as a side dish later in the week too.

Lemony Shrimp Scampi with Orzo

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb orzo pasta
  • 1 lb peeled and deveined shrimp
  • 1/3 C extra-virgin olive oil
  • zest and juice of 2 lemons
  • 1 shallot, chopped
  • 1/2 C white wine
  • 5 C arugula or spinach or other (I simply used a store bought organic salad mix)

Steps

  1. Cook orzo in boiling pot of salted water until al dente.
  2. Whisk together 1/3 C olive oil, lemon, salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.
  3. In a large skillet, saute shallots in a little bit of olive oil over medium heat. Add in the shrimp and season heavily with pepper and salt. Once shrimp are pink, curled, and cooked through remove and set aside.
  4. Deglaze the skillet with white wine and add in your greens. Once the greens are wilted and most of the wine is evaporated add in the cooked orzo and shrimp.
  5. Toss with the vinaigrette from step 2.

Lemony Shrimp Scampi with Orzo 2

BLT Salad

~ lk529 ~ 4 Comments

How do you make Salad Night exciting? Bacon! Bacon makes everything better, right?

The game of sandwich to salad and salad to sandwich is a fun one to play – caprese salads make great panini so why not turn the BLT into a salad? BLT Salad 1

This BLT Salad is better than the American classic BLT Sandwich because this salad has a balsamic-mayo dressing!

BLT Salad

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 romaine hearts, chopped
  • 2 on-the-vine tomatoes, seeded and diced
  • 6 slices of bacon
  • 2 handfuls croutons
  • 3 tbsp mayonnaise
  • 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
  • zest of 1/4 lemon
  • S+P

Steps

  1. Cook bacon until extra crispy (in your preferred method – in the oven, on the stove top, or in the microwave). Transfer to a paper towel to absorb extra grease. When cool enough to handle, break up the bacon.
  2. Whisk together mayo, balsamic, lemon zest. Season with S+P to taste.
  3. Assemble salad and top with dressing.

*This recipe is adapted from Lyndsy at http://www.dinnervine.com/2012/09/blt-salad/*

BLT Salad 2

Turkey Enchilada Meatloaf

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What is more comforting than meatloaf? But what is also more boring than meatloaf? Not much. This meatloaf recipe gets a makeover into a Mexican Monday favorite. The refried beans keep the loaf moist and the pepperjack cheese gives it a slight kick. Top it with enchilada sauce and sour cream instead of ketchup or barbecue sauce and you’re in for a flavor overload.

In a pinch I have substituted taco sauce in place of the enchilada sauce and it gives it just a little bit more heat. I guess in that instance it’d be called Turkey Taco Meatloaf!

Turkey Enchilada Meatloaf

Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 lb ground turkey
  • 1 C refried beans
  • 1 C shredded pepperjack cheese
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/4 C breadcrumbs or panko
  • 1/2 tsp each chili powder and cumin
  • 1 C enchilada sauce (or taco sauce!)
  • 1/2 C sour cream
  • 1/2 C honey

Steps

  1. In a large bowl, combine turkey, beans, cheese, breadcrumbs, seasonings, egg, and salt and pepper. Put into a loaf pan, cover, and set in the fridge for at least 10 minutes. You can also prepare this the night before.
  2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  3. In a small bowl, whisk together enchilada sauce, sour cream, and honey.
  4. Top meatloaf with about 1/2 – 3/4 of the sauce (save the remainder for leftovers or topping your meatloaf slices) before putting in the oven. Bake uncovered one hour.

*This recipe is adapted from Carrian at http://www.ohsweetbasil.com/2013/04/turkey-meatloaf-enchilada-style.html*

Turkey Enchilada Meatloaf 1 Turkey Enchilada Meatloaf 2 Turkey Enchilada Meatloaf 3

French Toast

~ lk529 ~ 6 Comments

Now, before you open this blog post with a preconceived notion of French Toast, I must warn you, Alton Brown would probably smack me silly for calling this breakfast dish French Toast. But, this is the French Toast that I grew up on, and so did Stuart! French Toast

You do not need fresh stale bread (oxymoron much?), you do not need to make it the night before, and you do not need to turn on the oven! What you do need are eggs, milk, vanilla, and sandwich bread. I like to sprinkle cinnamon sugar over top before eating too.

Before getting married, we had to go through Pre-Cana. One of the workbooks they had us talk through included a chart for chores. We’d agreed that Stuart would always make breakfast and I would tackle dinner. But then I became a “semi-professional chef” (Stuart’s words) and I knew I had to learn the breakfast world too. I haven’t tackled eggs yet, but I am a pro at waffles (our friends little boys have indicated they are the best they’ve ever had) and pancakes. I typically leave the French Toast to Stuart, as his father is the French Toast maker in their family too, but last weekend I stood at the griddle while he went on a run.

*Note: These amounts are all eyeballed. I prefer to use more milk in the egg mixture than my husband does. 

French Toast

Ingredients:

  • 4 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1/4 C milk
  • pinch of salt
  • 8 slices sandwich bread
  • butter for greasing

Steps

  1. In a bowl wide enough to fit a slice of bread whisk together eggs, vanilla, milk, and salt.
  2. Melt butter over a hot griddle, or in a skillet over the stove.
  3. Dip bread in egg mixture, flipping to coat both sides. Place on griddle and cook until browned.

French Toast We always argue about syrup – my family and I like to keep our syrup in the fridge while Stuart and his like to heat it up. What’s your preference?

Nut-Free Basil Pesto

~ lk529 ~ 2 Comments

When I found a recipe that called for pesto I opted to make my own instead of buying it. So I scoured the internet and happened upon this recipe for Nut-Free pesto. My father has a nut-allergy so I found this to be an exciting discovery.

Even though I wasn’t cooking for anyone with a nut-allergy that night, it’s nice to know that these meatballs can be prepared anytime we’re hosting company.

Nut-Free Basil Pesto

Ingredients:

  • 4 C spinach
  • 2 C basil
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 tbsp lemon juice
  • 1/4 C parmesan cheese
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp pepper
  • 1/3 C + 1 tbsp olive oil

Steps

  1. Puree all ingredients except olive oil in a food processor.
  2. While the machine is running, stream in the olive oil.

*This recipe is from Maria and Josh at http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/spinach-basil-pesto/*

Nut-Free Basil Pest

I used this pesto in mini meatballs – ground turkey, pesto, panko breadcrumbs – on top of linguine pasta with jarred marinara sauce for a quick dinner that still tasted from scratch.Turkey Pesto Meatballs

Broccoli Chicken Salad

~ lk529 ~ 2 Comments

Here’s a lettuce-less twist to Salad Night. And a great way to practice your knife skills. I actually prepared this salad the night before we ate it. I knew if I didn’t we’d end up ordering pizza or picking up Chick-fil-A, because let’s face it what sounds better – pizza or broccoli? But if dinner is ready to go, no waiting, then it’s hard to argue with healthy. I can’t promise you that this recipe is tastier than pizza, but I can assure that it’s delicious in its own right. And it’s most definitely better for you.

Broccoli Chicken Salad

Ingredients for salad:

  • 1-2 tbs olive oil
  • 1 lb ground chicken
  • 1 lb broccoli, chopped
  • 2 carrots, diced
  • 1 C shelled edamame
  • 1 red bell pepper, diced
  • Crunchy Chow Mein Noodles for garnish

Ingredients for dressing:

  • 2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
  • 2 tbsp canola oil
  • 1 tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 1 tsp sesame oil
  • 1 1/2 tsp sriracha
  • 1 1/2 tbsp minced ginger
  • 2 tsp minced garlic
  • 1 tsp salt

Steps

  1. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil.
  2. In a medium skillet brown chicken in olive oil over medium-high heat. Season liberally with salt and pepper.
  3. Par-boil broccoli for 2-3 minutes. Drain broccoli and put into an ice bath.
  4. In a salad bowl, combine the broccoli with the edamame, carrot, and red pepper.
  5. Whisk together dressing ingredients and toss with the salad. Top with the Chow Mein noodles. Note: If you choose to make this ahead of time like I did, keep the dressing separate from the salad until serving.

*This recipe is adapted from Sara at http://www.wherethecookiesare.com/2013/07/10/chinese-chicken-broccoli-salad-with-fresh-ginger-sesame-dressing/*

Broccoli Chicken Salad 1 Broccoli Chicken Salad 2

Goat Cheese Cheesecake

~ lk529 ~ 2 Comments

July 30th is National Cheesecake Day! I have been dying to try baking my own cheesecake, but have never been brave enough. And with a husband who claims not to like cream cheese, there hasn’t been much incentive. (He loved this dessert and simply gave me a “yeah, whatever” when I teased him about his cream cheese aversion.)

And then I started this blog. Stuart has been really supportive with this newest hobby of mine and I think he’s enjoying the side effects of more homemade dishes. It wasn’t until “late” in life that I was aware of my love for cooking. I discovered the Food Network late my senior year of college, and parked myself in front of the TV with a notebook before finally becoming employed. I love trying new recipes and exploring the world of food blogs.

After working for 2 years, cooking every night started to seem more like a chore – well really the piles of dishes were deterrent enough. Making a home cooked meal 6 nights a week turned into 3 nights. But writing this blog has brought me back up to about 5 nights a week. So I have to say thank you to my readers for rekindling my love of cooking.

Baking isn’t something I feel I’ve particularly mastered. Which, being an engineer I find a little amusing because baking is a science; it’s following a recipe and measuring out ingredients properly. There’s more flexibility in cooking, and maybe I need the break from exact, and I get to find that in savory dishes. Regardless, baking a cheesecake seemed to be above my comfort level.

Until I found this recipe! On an episode of Food Network’s Best Thing I Ever Made, Anne Burrell said this cheesecake was the best thing she ever made with cheese. She walked through the steps and I thought to myself, “I could do that!” So, on National Cheesecake Day, I am enjoying a large slice of Goat Cheese Cheesecake.

I will apologize in advance for making your house smell like a gourmet bakery. And I don’t recommend tasting the filling before putting the eggs in because you might just give up on the final product and eat the entire bowl of cream cheesy goodness; taste at your own risk.

Nilla Wafer Crust 1 Nilla Wafer Crust 3

Cheesecake Filling 2 Cheesecake Filling 3

Cheesecake 1 Cheesecake 3

Goat Cheese Cheesecake

Ingredients for crust:

  • 6 tbsp butter, melted
  • 2 1/2 C Nilla wafers
  • 1/4 C sugar
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ground ginger
  • pinch nutmeg

Ingredients for filling:

  • 16 oz cream cheese
  • 12 oz goat cheese
  • 1 1/2 C sour cream
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1 1/2 C sugar
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract

Steps

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
  2. Put all ingredients for the crust in the food processor and pulse until you achieve the look and feel of wet sand. Press the crust into a buttered spring form pan, pressing it halfway up the sides.
  3. In a stand mixer, beat the cheeses. Add in the sour cream and beat until combined. Add in sugar and vanilla. Add the eggs one at a time. Pour filling into the crust.
  4. Bake 30 minutes. Rotate the cheesecake and bake another 30 minutes. Allow cheesecake to cool completely before serving or setting in the fridge overnight for best results.

Goat Cheese Cheesecake 1 Goat Cheese Cheesecake 2 Goat Cheese Cheesecake 3

Mexican Pizzas

~ lk529 ~ 6 Comments

It’s another Mexican Monday and today my suggestion is to try these “Taco Bell Mexican Pizzas”. I do not frequent the local Taco Bell, so I can only trust the source I got the recipe from that they are indeed “Taco Bell Mexican Pizzas”. Either way, they’re delicious and a simple week night dinner – I opted to add ground beef to the pizzas, but you could omit the meat and keep them vegetarian. Don’t be deceived, these tortilla sized pizzas are surprisingly satisfying.

Mexican Pizzas

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 lb ground beef
  • 1/8 C taco seasoning or 1/2 pkt
  • 1/4 C water
  • 4 wheat tortillas
  • 1 C refried beans
  • 1/3 C enchilada sauce
  • 2 Roma tomatoes, diced
  • 1/2 small red onion, diced finely
  • 2/3 C shredded Mexican cheese

Steps

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
  2. In a medium, non-stick skillet brown ground beef over medium-high heat. Stir in taco seasoning and water according to taco seasoning directions. *If making your own taco seasoning, use 1/4 C water and 1/8 C seasoning for the 1/2 lb of meat.
  3. Crisp up tortillas in a skillet sprayed with cooking spray, flipping often.
  4. Heat the refried beans (the microwave will work just fine) until they’re warm and easier to spread. Spread over two of the crispy tortillas.
  5. Top each tortilla with the remaining two tortillas. And spread the enchilada sauce over top. Pile on meat and veggies. Cover with cheese.
  6. Bake 10 minutes, or until cheese is melted.

*This recipe is modified from Allyson at http://domesticsuperhero.com/2013/05/20/taco-bell-mexican-pizzas/*

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