Weekend cooking has commenced!

Don't ask me why I had this intense urge to make a quiche, but I was doing a little spinning at the gym when I felt like I really needed to make a quiche.  I did finish my workout before actually acting up on this urge though.  Only to dart over to the nearest Sunflower Market to get all the ingredients.  Now I know that most quiches are made with cream and such, but since I am not a huge dairy eater, I decided to try it with some coconut milk cream.  The recipe called for quite a bit of cheese, so I thought that my stomach was going to be set with that.  I found the recipe for this quiche on Food Network and kind of made the necessary changes needed with the substitution of coconut milk and egg whites instead of yolks.  Also, I am in loooove with Gruyere cheese.  So delicious!  :)  It reminds me of my first cheese love, Gouda (pronounced Gow-da please!)

Mushroom, Ham and Shallot Quiche (Crustless)

 (adapted from the Food Network)

5-6 slices deli Ham, sliced (I used Honey Ham about dime size thickness)

1 cup fresh Spinach, chopped

2 tbsp olive oil

8 oz sliced mushrooms, then chopped

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more for seasoning

6 medium shallots, finely chopped, about 1/2 cup

1 clove garlic, chopped

2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1 cup Coconut Milk Creamer

3 large eggs 

3 egg whites

Dash of nutmeg, black pepper and salt

4 ounces grated Gruyere, about 1 cup

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 

In a medium skillet, add 2 tablespoons olive oil, the mushrooms and 1/2 teaspoon salt. Cook, stirring over medium heat, until the mushroom juices evaporate, about 7 to 10 minutes.

Add the shallots and cook until tender and mushrooms are golden, about 3 minutes more. 

Add the garlic and spinach, mix to combine.  Remove from heat and let cool slightly.

Meanwhile, spray a 9-inch glass pie dish with some olive oil.  Sprinkle evenly with the grated Parmesan. 

Place pan on a baking sheet. Scatter half the Gruyere into the pan and place sliced ham on top. 

Add 3/4 of the mushroom and spinach mixture, then the remaining cheese. 

Whisk the coconut milk, eggs and whites in large glass measuring cup. Season with salt, pepper, and nutmeg to taste. 

Pour the custard over the fillings already in the pan. Top with remaining mushroom and spinach mixture.  (I added some more sliced ham)

 

Bake until the quiche is just set in the center, about 50-60 minutes. Cool completely on a rack before serving.

and on to Dinner...with my other love, Almond Butter! :)

Almond Chicken Soup with Collards, Sweet Potato and Ginger

(adapted from Wholeliving.com)

4 cups chicken stock

1/2 yellow onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces

1/2 cup smooth almond butter

1 cup collard leaves, coarsely chopped

2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger

Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper

2 heaping spoonfuls Stonehouse 27 Tamarind & Garlic Sauce, or to taste

 

Combine the stock, onion, garlic, and sweet potato in a stockpot and bring to a boil.

Reduce the heat to a simmer and add the chicken, then cover and simmer for 20 minutes.  

In a small bowl, whisk together the almond butter, 1/4 cup of the soup mixture and Tamarind sauce into a thick paste. 

Add the collard leaves and ginger to the soup and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 5 minutes. 

Stir in the almond butter paste. Season with salt and pepper.  

Ladle the soup into bowls and serve!

All in all, my tummy is very happy this weekend!

Yet another excuse to bake some cookies!

So this past Friday was one of my coworkers last days...she is moving on to much greater things, so I thought that she deserved some yummy treats before her official departure.  It couldn't be just any cookie...so I made a mash up! Complete success on the first try too...not like the stupid Milky Way cupcakes, which for the record, I am GOING to master one day! :)

Bitchin' Bites

2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened

2 tablespoons canola oil

1/3 cup light brown sugar (I dashed in a little extra)

1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 egg white

1 teaspoon vanilla

2/3 cup whole-wheat pastry flour  (add up to 1/4 cup extra for altitude, dough should be thick)

1/2 cup oatmeal (not quick cooking)

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 

1/4 cup Craisins (or any dried fruit...cherries, blueberries)

1/4 cup chopped pecans

1/4 cup Dark Chocolate Chips 

1/4 cup White Chocolate Chips

Preheat oven at 375 degrees Fahrenheit. 

Combine butter, oil and brown sugar in a large bowl and combine with a mixer on high speed until fluffy.

Add applesauce, egg white and vanilla into the butter mixture.  Mix to combine.

Add flour, oatmeal, salt and cinnamon. Mix to combine.

Add in the Craisins, chopped pecans and dark & white chocolate chips into the dough. It should be pretty thick at this point.

Spray a cookie sheet with cooking spray and place a spoonful of cookie dough onto sheet about 2" apart.  Press down with the spoon a little on top of each ball, as the cookies will not settle like other cookies.

Bake for approx. 12 minutes, or until the cookies are slightly browned, but still soft when pressed upon.

Let cookies cool on baking rack until ready to serve or keep in airtight container for later snacking :)

Makes 2 dozen.

Feels like spring!

Since I had the day off, I decided that I would make one of my favorite dishes.  I attempted it this time in the slow cooker, so I could let it cook low and slow for the day.  It turned out pretty well, but I would have preferred the BBQ sauce to be a little thicker.  I had to put some of the sauce on the stove to thicken it up before serving. From this, I personally think that I liked it better when I let it cook on the stove for about 3 hours.  You can't beat the tender meat that comes from cooking low and slow though...sooo delicious!  

Here is my Tuesday food creation, thanks to Aarti Sequiera from the Food Network. 

Mango BBQ Pulled Pork 

(adapted from Aarti Sequiera)

Ingredients:

 

1 boneless pork shoulder (Boston butt), about 3 pounds, excess fat removed

 
Rub: 

2 tablespoons dark brown sugar 

1 tablespoon paprika 

2 teaspoons kosher salt

BBQ Sauce:
1/4 cup vegetable oil    (lessen or omit this if you are using slow cooker)
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon fennel seeds
1 onion, finely minced
2 tablespoons minced ginger
1 serrano pepper, thinly sliced (I would add 2 next time with seeds since this is a very sweet BBQ sauce)
Kosher salt
2 cups mango puree (pureed fresh or frozen mango with a little lemon juice)
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons molasses
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

Bread, rice, or Napa Cabbage

Combine the rub ingredients, in a small bowl and massage it into the pork shoulder until well coated.  

Sear pork shoulder on each side in a large pan.  

Set aside.

In a large saucepan, warm the oil, over low heat, until hot and shimmering.

Add the cumin and fennel (warning, this may cause the oil to splutter!)

Once the spluttering subsides, add the onions, ginger and serrano and a little salt, to taste. 

Saute until they soften but don't let them get any color.

Add the rest of the sauce ingredients.

Simmer about 5 minutes. 

For slow cooker:

Pour BBQ sauce into the bottom of the slow cooker and place pork shoulder on top. 

Cook on low for approx. 7-8 hours.

Remove pork from slow cooker and shred with two forks.

Place shredded pork back into the sauce to coat.

For the stove top:

Add the pork shoulder to the saucepan, coating it with the sauce. 

Cover, and gently simmer until the pork falls apart easily.

Stir and turn often for about 3 hours.

Remove pork from pan and shred with two forks

Place shredded pork back into the sauce to coat

Serve on bread, rice or Napa cabbage leaf (seen above)

Pork and sauce mixture thickening and about to be shredded

Spinach Fruit Salad

Ingredients:

Fuji Apple, cut into matchsticks

Strawberries

Blueberries

Pecans, roughly chopped

Broccoli

Red Onion

Roma Tomato

Dressing:

4 teaspoons honey

4 limes, juiced

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon garam masala 

Extra-virgin olive oil 

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Combine dressing ingredients and chill in fridge while preparing salad, so that it can chill.

Place a few handfuls of spinach in a bowl or enough for each serving.

Cut apple, strawberries, broccoli, red onion and tomato into bite size pieces.

Place fruit on top of spinach

Sprinkle salad with chopped pecans.

Drizzle with dressing.

Quick Cinnamon and Cayenne Sweet Potato Fries

1 Bag Alexia Sweet Potato Fries, julienned
dusting of cayenne pepper and cinnamon

Place sweet potato fries in a single layer baking sheet.
Dust with cayenne pepper and cinnamon, to taste.
Bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 20-25 minutes.


To make them crispy: Broil at the end for a few minutes (keep watch as they may burn!)

Serve with Mango BBQ Pulled Pork and Spinach Fruit Salad 

About 3 servings of sweet potato fries

 

Mock Whole Foods Kale

I was inspired this morning when I was looking at the produce for another meal that I was shopping for and saw such pretty Red Chard.  I had come across this really good Paleo recipe awhile ago and use a very similar dressing on my salads.Why not just add it to this beautiful red chard!

Mock Whole Foods Kale Salad

1-2 bunches Kale (Depending on size)
1/4 cup Craisins
1/4 cup Pecans, chopped

Dressing:
3 tbsp Olive Oil
1 tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
1 tbsp Lemon juice
1 tbsp shallot, finely chopped
1/2 tbsp honey or agave nectar
1 tsp Dijon mustard
salt and pepper to taste

Finely chop the shallot and whisk all the dressing ingredients together.

Wash Kale and tear kale into bite size pieces ( Always make sure you cut off most of the thick stems because of its bitter taste and is hard to eat raw)

Toss everything together.

Let the salad sit in the refrigerator for a couple hours before serving. (It will make the kale more tender)

Some foodie tid bits...

Went to see the doctor today for the little ski mishap that happened yesterday...during the HOUR that it took to just see the doctor for about 15 minutes, I found some recipes.  This recipe is from the Kaiser magazine actually :)

Chocoholic Oat Cookies

(adapted from Kaiser Permanente recipe)

2 cups rolled oats
2 cups dark chocolate chocolate chips
1 cup  walnuts, chopped
1 cup Smart Balance Butter, light
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup Truvia
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 tbsp reduced fat milk
4 egg whites
1 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine oats, chocolate chips and walnuts in large bowl. Set aside

In a large bowl, beat together the Smart Balance, brown sugar and Truvia until creamy.

Add flour, baking soda, salt, and cocoa mixing until thoroughly combined. The batter will be stiff.

Add milk and then egg whites one at a time, mixing after each one.
Add vanilla extract and mix well.

Add oats, chocolate chips and walnuts. Mix until combined.

Using a 2-inch scoop, drop batter about 2 inches apart on cookie sheet. Bake for 9 - 12 minutes. The cookies will still be slightly soft in the middle.

Let cool on pan for 2 minutes then remove to wire racks to cool completely.

Sunday Dinner: Chipotle Pork Tenderloin, Mock Whole Foods Kale with Pecans and Craisins, Red Potatoes mashed, and Lemon Shallot Green Beans

Always planning ahead, I made my breakfast for the morning!  I love eggs, so of course, it's usually a breakfast staple in my house!

Egg Cups

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Place slice of ham (I used Boar's Head Black Forest Ham about nickel thickness) into muffin tin making a cup shape.

Crack 1 egg into the ham cup.  Sprinkle with pepper and salt

Place in oven for approximately 15 minutes, depending on how you like your eggs.

Remove from oven and serve!

Saturday Night Family Dinner

So today was beautiful here in Colorado!!! I can't believe that I actually could wear shorts and not be cold! :)  I would have rather been up skiing in the mountains, but I thought that I would give my neck a little rest after the trauma of last weekend's fall! So with this beautiful day, I went for a nice bike ride, got a pedicure and made dinner for the family.

On tonight's menu: Herb Baked Chicken, Sauteed Zucchini, Squash and Broccoli, alongside a Kale, Red Pepper and Goat Cheese Quinoa Risotto.

All in all, my stomach is very satisfied.

Herb Baked Chicken

2 Chicken Breasts

Handful of dried Italian Herbs (Savory is a great spice shop here in Littleton, so I used their Italian Herb blend)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Place chicken on baking sheet, spray with a little olive oil and sprinkle each breast with a generous amount of herbs

Bake chicken at 350 degrees for roughly 30 minutes or until there is no longer any pink. 

(I used a meat thermometer to make sure they were done and baked them until the thickest part of the breast reached 160 degrees)

Kale, Roasted Red Pepper and Goat Cheese Quinoa Risotto

(my adapted version of a recipe I found on livestrong.com that had spinach and sun dried tomato)

1 cup Quinoa, whole grain (dry)

8 oz medium white wine

1 tbsp Olive Oil

 2 cloves Garlic

1  Shallots

4 oz Soft Goat Cheese

4 tbsp grated parmesean cheese (optional)

1/2 cup Roasted Red Peppers

1 bunch fresh Kale

2 cups Organic Vegetable Broth - Low Sodium

Pinch of Nutmeg

1 tbsp Lemon

Sautee garlic and shallots in olive oil over medium high heat until fragrant but not browned.

Add Quinoa and stir until mixed with garlic.

Add white wine and bring to a low boil. Cook until around 1/2 the liquid is gone, 1-2 minutes.

Add vegetable broth and bring to a low simmer. Cook for 10-12 minutes until most of the liquid is absorbed.

Steam kale and roughly chop. 

Chop roasted red pepper.

Add in a pinch of salt, pepper, kale, roasted red pepper, nutmeg, lemon juice, and goat cheese to cooked quinoa and stir.

Top with parmesean and serve.

Start of the sauteed shallots

I had this on hand...tasty!

Sauteed Squash and Broccoli 

1 Zucchini Squash

1 Summer Squash

Head of broccoli

Chop each into bite size pieces.

Sautee in 1 tbsp of olive oil until tender. (I prefer my vegetable to be al dente, not mushy!)

Chopped squash and broccoli alongside the steamed kale for the risotto

Sautee

I hope you enjoy!!

Cupcake Failure

I was so excited to make these Milky Way Cupcakes today.  I went to the store last night to get all the ingredients, so that I could come home today and make them before Bible study tonight.  It couldn't have been a more perfect day either...sun shining and nearly 60 degrees here in Denver, drove home from work with the windows down at around 4pm and got straight to baking.  I had found the recipe for these Milky Way Cupcakes from the Cupcake Project website.  I have always struggled with using cake flour in recipes here in Denver, I believe because of the altitude.  It all started off so well....when I realized that the cupcakes that were delightfully poured into their mini cupcake papers were now a molten volcano in my oven!!  I should have taken a picture of this because it was a MESS!  24 mini cupcakes had now formed into one thick layer of cupcake goo.  Angrily, I took these out of the oven and took them directly to the trash.  Meanwhile I am trying to work on my caramel that was supposed to be spread across the top of them.  The caramel, though, was turning out really well!  One success of the night!  Stubbornly, I am insisting to get these cupcakes right, so that I can bring snack to the group later in the evening.  I scrounge up the ingredients again to make the cupcake batter and start again.  The wet and dry ingredients are all ready to go and I begin to mix them all together with hopes that these will turn out much better than the previous attempt.  I place them in the oven...10 minutes go by and I peak at them.  They are rising nicely and looking like they are going to turn out this time.  Flick the light on again at about 15 minutes and what do I see...molten lava of cupcake AGAIN!  They are bubbling, popping, flowing everywhere and look nothing like cupcakes from the top!  I swear there was steam coming out of my ears at this point, as I frantically am trying to think of: A) what did I do so wrong for them to turn out this way? and B) what am I going to bring to group tonight?!  So I take the "cupcakes" out of the oven and plop them on top of the stove to cool.  Now let me tell you, these things don't even look like cupcakes at this point.  Being curious, I decide to pull one apart and to my surprise, the inside of the cupcake is a nice flaky texture and actually resembles cake!  There still could be saving grace to these cupcakes!  All in all, I take on the tedious task of scraping out all the good cake parts of the cupcakes and crumbling them all up in a bowl to make the perfect little addition to a sundae!  So final piece was Vanilla Bean Ice Cream, Milky Way cupcake crumbs, homemade Southern style caramel and a chocolate drizzle!  Not too bad for having a volcano of cupcake erupt in your oven!

Before the molten lava cupcake disaster...

The batter was incredible to taste...

I couldn't resist posting the pictures of my delicious Valentines Day breakfast at Snooze!!  It's one of my favorite places to go, not only for their Bellinis and Mimosas, but their innovative take on breakfast!  Here is the Pancake of the Day: Red Velvet with White Chocolate Chips-Drizzled with Cream Cheese Frosting and a Pecan Praline Sauce.  Also, I got the Benedicto Tuscano- Tomato Ragout with White Beans, Kale and Squash, as well as, the Upstream Benny, which has Honey cured Salmon on it!  DELICIOUS!  Check them out sometime!

I had to put up a picture from skiing this past weekend too...Breckenridge is one of the most amazing places!!! I love Colorado! :)