When the weather gets hot here the last thing you want to do is turn on the oven. When I am hungry, the last thing I want to do is wait or take time to cook something convoluted. Enter hummus, and let’s change it up with some roasted red peppers. I got this recipe from Ellie Krieger’s cookbook but really 
there are tons of recipes for hummus out there. This recipe still uses chickpeas and then you add in the flavor of the red peppers. In a quick whiz of the food processor, blender, or whatever mix device with sharp blades you have, you instantly have this creamy concoction. Mine turned out a little too runny at first, but it sets up nicely after chilling in the fridge. I was too hungry to wait and with some garlicky bread slices I dove right in. Definitely a go to recipe for the summer, or for a nice snack or appetizer.
Roasted Red Pepper Hummus May 28, 2012
Supper Tart of Red Onions, Greens, and Grapes May 21, 2012
I am already a HUGE fan of The Splendid Table podcast and all the helpful advice and interesting stories that are presented each week. I know some people are not as much of a fan of either her voice or whatnots, but there is no denying that Lynne Rossetto Kasper knows her food. I have two of her fantastic cookbooks: How to Eat Supper, and How to Eat Weekends and this recipe comes from How to Eat Supper.
Lately I haven’t been craving much of anything but I while looking in the fridge and seeing I had all the makings for this tart I was sold. I am good now about keeping puff pastry from the freezer section around ever since I got the Breville mini pie maker and having some pie parties . The only downside is I’m always so impatient to wait for it to defrost, but puff pastry is always forgiving and it always comes out fantastic. I am a little bit on the fence about the 
cream and cheese added at the end. Perhaps mine just had too much, but I wanted a bit less than stated in the recipe. Next time I might do without the cream and just add the cheese. I love cheese. I loved how the greens got all crispy from being roasted and the grapes had burst open revealing their sweet touch. Let me tell you this all came together really fast. It was super easy, and the longest part was waiting for it to all bake so I could eat it. There are two other variations on this tart which I am eager to try! (Though at the end of the day just think of it as a fancy pizza and you can make it into anything) Definitely great as a appetizer, meal, snack, late night eats, and soo easy. A definite must-try!
Roasted Sweet Potato with Caramelized Onion Wraps May 14, 2012
This recipe was off of Thekitchn, when they did an article on the different lunch options as well as different recipes using sweet potatoes. I LOVE sweet potatoes. The sweetness just can’t be beat, but it isn’t too overpowering either. I used spinach tortillas here, and then as an added bonus I used my Redi Set Go (yes As Seen on TV) to toast up the outside. The filling was a multi-step process, perhaps because I had so much filling it needed to roast a lot longer than listed. Even still the potatoes never quite got soft enough for me but I was impatient and wanted to eat. The pesto was from my local CM, but I wonder if it just was too potent. 
The garlic aftertaste was really strong and almost bitter, and it doesn’t send me grabbing for these wraps as eagerly as I thought I would. The concept was great, all the ingredients are ones that I love, I think the garlic though is tough to handle during the day when you are around others. I wonder if there might be another type of sauce that would be less “offensive” to others that could be substituted.
I think I would try this recipe again, but I think I would have to do something that counteracted the garlicky smell. While I personally do not mind garlic, I have to be considerate about those around me. No one likes to be around stinky people. I hate having the lingering raw garlic aftertaste in my mouth too.. I might also try different veggies/ingredients, and definitely roast those sweet potatoes so they are the consistency I like.
Milk Bar Chocolate Chip Cookie May 7, 2012
Ok, I finally caved in and bought a copy of the Momofuku Milk Bar cookbook by Christina Tosi . After it arrived in the mail I immediately went to the grocery store and bought more butter…and some corn flakes. It is funny how many tastes we truly loved as kids (milk sweetened by cereal) that we tend to forget. Tosi reminds us of those times, but also she creates recipes that appeals to people with sweet, salty, crunchy, chewy tastes. (If one of these doesn’t appeal to you I’m not quite sure what you eat).
Perhaps what took up the most time was I had to hunt down some milk powder. Now it is NOT the instant stuff that they sell in packets that one would see in the supermarket. Ive tried that, it sucks, and I still wonder how that stuff can even be sold. Going to my local CM I finally found some in the bulk aisle. I then baked off some Cornflake crunch found in the cookbook. Then made some chocolate chip cookies (in the book) that utilized the cornflakes and marshmallows! Aside from the fact that the cookies and flakes use an unholy amount of butter, it is so worth it. So good and rich. These are not for those looking to eat healthy. Hey, all things in moderation right? The marshmallows were a great touch adding some soft puffs of goodness throughout the cookies. I gave away over half, because if I ate all of those cookies myself then I would’ve gained about 10 pounds.
If you haven’t gotten this book yet I would highly recommend it!! I’m looking forward to baking more from it.
Dubu Kimchi April 30, 2012
Kimchi, tofu, meat, spicy… I mean how could this all not taste good? I got the recipe from Asian Tofu cookbook by Andrea Nguyen . I didn’t have any pork belly but I had baked some teriyaki chicken and chopped that up instead. Pork belly would’ve made the dish a lot richer, but it seems pretty versatile with whatever meat you may choose to use. The key is that the kimchi has to be ripe. Mine was probably lethally ripe, but it tasted great after cooking it in a skillet. It developed a nutty flavor. Black sesame, was sadly just a decorative factor. There really was not much taste inflicted, but sesame oil used at the end of the cooking really brought home all the flavors. Definitely this is a dish to try again! When I first cooked it I had it as the main dish complete with a cold beer, but I think it would fare better as a side dish. It would be a great complement to many other main dishes.
Ginger Scallion Noodles April 23, 2012
I was craving some noodles and decided to try Momofuku’s recipe. I threw in some quick salted/pickled cucumber on top and these fantastic seaweed pieces on top. It was a quick cook~ in fact the part that took the longest was boiling the water. Surprisingly, even with the oil added in the sauce it was very light. I only needed one small ladle to flavor my bowl of noodles. I had roasted some bokchoy and green beans a couple days ago, and threw in yet another staple sauce on top from the cookbook. This was definitely a great, quick, and easy dish to make! I would definitely make this again, and probably try to throw in some protein like tofu, or some thin sliced meat. Yummy.
Seriously this book has so many great sauces. They are staples that could go anywhere your imagination can go. Looking forward to trying some more 
Slow Cooker Sausages Over Slow Cooker Polenta April 16, 2012
I have been trying to use up things in my freezer and pantry since it seems like such a shame when I open the freezer and it’s stuffed, but I can’t think of anything to eat. So I had lots of Texas style sausages, and I got some sweet apple/gouda sausages and threw them into the slow cooker along with a can of diced tomatoes, and a can of tomatoes with green chilies. I was inspired by this $5dollardinner recipe but I couldn’t find frozen green peppers cut in a style I thought would taste good. I had good intentions to just saute some julienned green peppers and onions that way they would stay crunchy, but in the end I was too hungry to wait. I liked the texture of the sausages, and what was surprising was the mysterious TX sausage texture was preferable for me over the more “known brand” apple sausage. I could’ve used more kick, I thought it would be spicier with the green chili peppers added, but it was too mild for me.
The other slow cooker recipe I used was Creamy Slow Cooker Polenta from Not Your Mother’s Slow Cooker for Two by Beth Hensperger . Aside from the fact that I LOVE all cookbooks by Hensperger, I was thinking the tomato-y sausages would taste great over something creamy, and I have all this corn meal to use! I researched trying to do polenta in a slow cooker because I didn’t have time to stand over a stove and stir. I didn’t even really stir during the cooking since I was away at work. I used chicken stock instead of water so adding the salt probably made it a tad bit too salty, but the creamy consistency was PERFECT. A little pat of butter was all it needed (no cheese!) and the sausages with tomatoes paired perfectly. I had two servings!!!! I know the recipe said it was enough for 4, but I ate so much that there is barely 1 serving left for tomorrow!
Roasted Eggplant with Smoked Almonds and Goat Cheese April 9, 2012
This dish on Thekitchn looked more like a filling salad. However, it was actually rather light in a sense. The goat cheese added a sense to richness and I liked the almonds because it added a nice crunchy texture. The green onions added sparks of freshness, but I must say it’s also good that no one is around to smell my onion breath. I used asian eggplant and pretty much kept everything else the same. I wanted to use some more honey since it seemed rather too tart for me with the amount of vinegar. I probably will add more when I make this again. I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn’t too salty, even with adding the soy sauce at the end. I used soy sauce that had ponzu added in it, so I didn’t use the lemon asked for in the recipe. I ate this as a main dish with some tasty pita chips, but I think this would do better as a side salad, in accompaniment to a main dish. Definitely an easy recipe, and I would probably make it again if I have the all the ingredients handy.
Chicken Enchiladas April 2, 2012
I was inspired by 5dollardinners when I received an email about using chicken in enchiladas . Her recipe uses chicken that was marinated in hot sauce, cooked slow and then shredded. I had leftover chicken from when I used the slow cooker to make Orange Hoisin Chicken from Not Your Mother’s Slow Cooker cookbook. So my chicken had a distinct asian flavor and I was contemplating if enchiladas would even work or totally taste awful. I made some homemade taco seasoning and I put in some Korean dried hot pepper in the seasoning instead of red pepper flakes. I also put in some Montreal Seasoning since I was short of onion powder and didn’t add salt/pepper since it was already in there. For the sauce I used the left over sauce from the chicken and added a big dollop of tomato paste in there that I had leftover from making some pizzas awhile back. It sounds awful, but I tasted it before I dumped in the rest of the sauce. The whole combination was surprisingly rich, tasty, tangy, with a smoky aspect to it from the cumin in the spices. I (finally!) used the tortillas I had to put in some chicken, and gorgonzola cheese crumbles rolled them up and nestled them into a 8×8 pan. I had just the right amount of chicken! Mixing up the sauce I poured it over the top. I’m sure I could’ve used more sauce but I had no more and in the end it turned out to be just right. Sprinkling over leftover mozzarella cheese I didn’t have enough so I sprinkled some more gorgonzola on top. That cheese didn’t melt so well on top but it still tasted great. I don’t think I’ve ever met a cheese I didn’t like. All in all I was really happy with the turnout. I used things I had on hand and wanted to use up and it was a total experiment with no real written recipe (except for the seasoning!). Enchiladas~ a new “clean-out-the-fridge” recipe.
Braised Coconut Chickpeas with Spinach and Lemon March 26, 2012
I had cooked this recipe awhile back, and DEVOURED it. I wanted something hearty, but with no meat, and also learn how to use chickpeas besides making hummus. Compared to the other chickpea recipe I did, this one was creamy, savory, with a good amount of sauce with a taste that was so addicting. Coconut added to the rich texture, but not adding other fats or whatnot, this dish is pretty darn healthy. The lemon also cuts through the richness so that it isn’t too overpowering. I had good intentions to put it over a sweet potato, but instead opted for some couscous.
It was still FANTASTIC, and I’m sure I’ll be making this dish again and trying it out on a sweet potato. Try this one out! You won’t be disappointed.
