Veggie Wraps with Feta, Hummus and Basil

Posted in Recipes by Annie T

Matt and I live about five minutes from work which means that we are able to drive home in the middle of the day to visit Bailey and eat lunch together. Usually we eat leftovers, lean cuisine pizzas, or lean pockets (my fav is the grilled chicken jalapeno cheddar!) but this week we decided to plan ahead and actually prep food on Monday that we could enjoy all week. The minimal amount of prep work at the beginning of the week was well worth it and we happily assembled and ate our fresh veggie wraps with feta, hummus, and basil on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

These wraps were inspired by Cosi‘s Hummus and Veggie Sandwich and Panera‘s Mediterranean Veggie Sandwich. We made a few changes including using soft, pliable flatbread from The Fresh Market and adding our favorite types of hummus. (I prefer Trader Joe’s Cilantro Jalapeno Hummus and Matt likes TJ’s Mediterranean Hummus.) The resulting sandwiches are flavorful, colorful, and just messy enough to give you an excuse to lick the excess hummus and melted feta off of your fingers when you’re done eating. 🙂

Veggie Wraps with Feta, Hummus and Basil (makes 6 sandwiches)

You will need…
6 pieces Flatbread or flexible, fresh pita bread
Approx. 1 cup reduced fat Feta Cheese, crumbled
Approx. 1 cup of your favorite hummus
1 Red Onion, thinly sliced into rounds and cut in half
1 Cucumber, thinly sliced on a diagonal and then cut into strips
1 Red Pepper, thinly sliced into long pieces
Handful of Basil Leaves, thinly sliced

Directions:
Place one flatbread on a microwave-safe plate and sprinkle with feta cheese. Microwave on high for 30 seconds to warm up the bread and slightly melt the cheese. Top the cheese with 2-3 spoonfuls of hummus and gently spread the hummus over the cheese with the back of the spoon. Top with sliced onion, cucumber, pepper, basil and a spoonful of feta. To eat your veggie wrap, fold up the edges of the flatbread taco-style and enjoy!

What do you eat for lunch during the work week? Please share! 🙂

22May2012

Herbed Pizza with Spinach and Feta

Posted in Adventures at Home, Recipes by Annie T

We made these delicious pizzas for dinner a few weeks ago just when the spinach in our garden was at its peak. I picked about 3 cups of baby spinach leaves (almost wiping out the whole crop but that’s ok… I was making room for pepper plants and basil!) and rinsed and dried them well before using them in this recipe. Fresh spinach leaves from the garden are juicy and bright green – very different from the bagged stuff you buy in the store! I’ll definitely be planting more spinach when the weather cools off in the Fall so we can continue to enjoy this delicious leafy green.

Herbed Pizza with Spinach and Feta

View the recipe

8May2012

Smoky Pork Tinga Tacos

Posted in Recipes by Annie T

I know that it’s already ocho de Mayo but I’ve been busy at work (and in the garden!) so I’m finally just getting around to posting about our yummy dinner from Saturday night. Ever since we made BBQ Chicken Quesadillas back in March we’ve been obsessed with La Tortilla Factory’s Green Chile Corn Tortillas and, as a result, we decided to make a meal that utilized these delicious little disks for Cinco de Mayo. We pulled out our trusty Mexican Everyday cookbook by Rick Bayless and Matt quickly declared that the Pork Tinga Taco recipe sounded like a winner.

After a quick mid-day trip to the grocery store we had the taco filling prepped and in the Crockpot. Most of the work for this recipe is done during the initial prep stage (6 hours before you eat) which is nice because this means that your dinner is basically sitting their waiting for you once dinnertime rolls around. In our case we were able to use our “free time” in the evening to enjoy homemade Salsa and Margaritas. 🙂

Smoky Pork Tinga Tacos with Avocado and Queso Fresco (from Mexican Everyday)
(serves an army in one sitting or serves two for dinner and provides 4-5 leftover lunches throughout the week)

You will need…
1 lb. Yukon Gold Potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
2 lbs. Boneless Pork Shoulder, cut into 1 inch cubes
2 – 15 oz. cans Fire-Roasted Diced Tomatoes, undrained
3 canned Chipotle Chiles en Adobo, sliced into 1/4 inch strips
1 tablespoon Adobo canning sauce from Chipotles
1 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
1 teaspoon Dried Oregano
3 cloves Garlic, pressed through a garlic press
1 1/4 teaspoons Salt
1 Medium White Onion, sliced into 1/4 inch thick slices
1 Mexican Chorizo Sausage, casing removed
16 Corn Tortillas, warmed
1 cup Crumbled Queso Fresco Cheese (substitute feta if you can’t find QF)
2 large Avocados, pitted and sliced into 1/4 inch pieces

Directions:
Approximately 6 hours before you plan to eat dinner, line the bottom of your slow cooker with the potatoes and top with an even layer of the pork. Combine the next seven ingredients (tomatoes thru salt) in a bowl and mix together. Pour the tomato mixture over the pork and top with the sliced white onion. Cook on “high” for 6 hours.

Pork Tinga mixture after slow-cooking for 6 hours. After this photo was taken we poured out the excess liquid, reduced it, and stirred it back into the pork to retain the intense flavor.

When your pork is done, brown and crumble the chorizo, drain the excess fat, and stir it into your pork mixture. Break up the pork into smaller shredded pieces as you stir. At this point check to see how much liquid is in your slow cooker. If yours is anything like ours was, it will be way too watery to spoon onto a tortilla. Rather than throwing away this excess liquid, pour it into a sauce pan and boil rapidly to reduce. Stir the syrupy reduced liquid back into the meat for maximum flavor.

Warm your tortillas. An easy shortcut is to sandwich a tortilla between two damp paper towels and microwave it on high for 30-45 seconds. This makes the tortillas warm, moist and pliable without dirtying a frying pan. 🙂 To build your Smoky Pork Tinga Tacos, place a few spoonfuls of the pork mixture on the warm tortilla and top with queso fresco and avocado. Enjoy!

6May2012

Fire-Roasted Tomato Salsa

Posted in Recipes by Annie T

Although Matt and I certainly don’t need an excuse to make a Mexican-themed meal, the fact that yesterday was Cinco de Mayo inspired us to choose two new recipes from our Mexican Everyday cookbook. Mexican Everyday was written by Rick Bayless (the chef behind Frontera Foods) and I love that Rick included a whole intro section that describes the use and preparation of various Mexican ingredients including chipotles en adobo, jicama, tomatillos, and queso fresco (all ingredients that I had never worked with before buying this book!).

For our Cinco de Mayo feast we snacked on chips and Fire-Roasted Tomato Salsa as we prepared dinner and then enjoyed Smoky Pork Tinga Tacos with Avocado and Quesco Fresco as our main dish. We also shook up a batch of delicious Margaritas on the Rocks using lime juice, tequila, triple sec, and simple syrup. This post will cover our salsa… more on the tacos coming up next! 🙂

Fire-Roasted Tomato Salsa (from Mexican Everyday)

You will need…
2 Jalapeño Peppers
3 cloves Garlic, unpeeled
1 – 15oz. can Fire-Roasted Diced Tomatoes, undrained
1/3 cup While Onion, finely chopped, rinsed, and drained
1/3 cup loosely packed Cilantro, chopped
1 teaspoon Fresh Lime Juice
Salt, to taste

Directions:
Place the jalapeño peppers on a grill over direct medium-high heat. Allow the peppers to roast for approximately 10 minutes, turning occasionally, until the skin becomes dark and splotchy in spots. At the same time, heat a small skillet over medium heat and lay the unpeeled garlic cloves in the skillet. Allow the garlic to roast for approximately 15 minutes until dark and splotchy in spots.

Dry-roast the Jalapeños until the skin becomes blotchy and blackened.

Pull the stems out of the roasted peppers and remove the garlic cloves from their skin. Place the roasted ingredients in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add the tomatoes with their juice and pulse a few more times until the mixture reaches your desired consistency. Pour the tomato mixture into a medium bowl. Add the onion and cilantro and mix well. Taste and season with lime juice and salt. Enjoy with corn tortilla chips and a nice cold margarita. 🙂

26Apr2012

Chicken Fried Rice

Posted in Recipes by Annie T

Fried Rice is one of the many dishes that Matt and I have wanted to master (or at least become proficient at making) since we got our wok back in November. We tried a fried rice recipe a few months ago but it was over-seasoned with white pepper (the smell of white pepper still makes me cringe!) and definitely not what we were hoping for. We were just talking about how we should try making fried rice again when, coincidentally, Danny from Danny’s Kitchen posted a tasty-looking recipe for chicken fried rice. I immediately decided that we’d try Danny’s recipe and I’m happy to report that it was delicious!

Making fried rice takes some forethought because the rice should be made a few days in advance and then refrigerated. I don’t have a rice cooker (though it’s sounding more and more like a gadget that I should get… maybe for our wedding?) so I cheated by microwaving some Trader Joe’s frozen jasmine rice on Tuesday and storing it until today. For the veggies, I used raw carrots instead of frozen ones since that’s all I had. I cooked the raw carrot with the frozen vegetables which left the carrots fairly crunchy and hard. If I were to use raw carrots again I would steam them slightly before adding them to the wok to ensure that they ended up with a softer texture.

Chicken Fried Rice (also check out the original recipe on Danny’s Kitchen!)

You will need…
2 – 10 oz. packages frozen Trader Joe’s Jasmine Rice (cooked 2 days prior and stored in a sealed container in the fridge)
Peanut Oil
2 cloves Garlic, smashed and roughly chopped
1/2 medium Yellow Onion, finely diced
1 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast, cut into 3/4″ cubes
2 Eggs, whisked together in a small bowl
Approx. 3/4 cup frozen vegetables (I used about 1/4 cup frozen peas, 1/4 cup frozen corn, and 3 chopped carrots since I didn’t have frozen carrots)
1 teaspoon Soy Sauce

Directions:
Heat up your wok over medium-high heat and add about a tablespoon of peanut oil. When the oil is hot, add the garlic and onions and saute for 2-3 minutes. Push the garlic and onions to the perimeter of the wok and add the chicken in one layer in the bottom of the wok. Allow the chicken to cook, undisturbed, for 1 minute, then stir fry the chicken until it is cooked through. Remove the chicken, garlic and onions from the wok and set aside.

Add more oil to the wok if needed, then add the whisked eggs and cook until they are scrambled. Remove and set aside. Add more oil again if needed, then add the rice and stir constantly for 5 minutes. Add the frozen vegetables and the soy sauce, then stir fry for 8 minutes. Add the egg and chicken back into the wok and stir fry for an additional 3-5 minutes until heated through. Season with extra soy sauce to taste and enjoy!

25Apr2012

Eggplant Parmesan – Trader Joe’s Style!

Posted in Recipes by Annie T

Matt has lacrosse practice one evening a week which means that Bailey and I are left to our own devices. I usually make some kind of simple, vegetarian meal for myself and then Bailey and I snuggle on the couch and watch TV. My latest guilty pleasure is the NBC show “Smash” which is about the drama and excitement of Broadway. I’m sure that Matt is very happy that I watch that when he’s at practice rather than subjecting him to it every week!

For tonight’s meal, I wanted to use up some of the Trader Joe’s Ciliegine Mozzarella and fresh basil that we had left over from our Sausage TBM Pizzas. After rummaging around in the freezer, I discovered half a box of Trader Joe’s Eggplant Cutlets and some frozen tomato sauce that we made back in February. So… what do you do with eggplant, mozzarella, basil and tomato sauce? Make Eggplant Parm, of course! Granted, I’ve never made Eggplant Parm and I never looked up a recipe (or actually used Parmesan cheese…), but those ingredients came together as a very tasty Eggplant Parmesan “Tower” for one.

Quick and Easy Eggplant Parmesan (serves one)

You will need…
8 Trader Joe’s Breaded Eggplant Cutlets (or make your own!)
3 Small Mozzarella Balls (I used and recommend TJ’s ciliegine mozzarella balls)
1/4 cup Tomato Sauce (I used some smooth tomato sauce that we froze several weeks ago)
2 cloves Garlic, thinly sliced into “chips”
1 tablespoon Olive Oil
Handful Fresh Baby Spinach (Mine was straight out of my garden, woohoo!)
Sprig of Basil for garnish

Directions:
Cook the Eggplant according to the package instructions. For Trader Joe’s Eggplant Cutlets, this involves baking the eggplant slices in a 425° oven for 12-14 minutes. As soon as the eggplants are done, remove them from the oven and carefully begin to stack them on the baking sheet with the biggest slices at the bottom. When you get halfway, place one mozzarella ball between the 4th and 5th eggplant, then continue stacking upwards. Drizzle the stack with a few spoonfuls of tomato sauce then top with a mozzarella ball. Insert your eggplant tower into the over under the broiler.

Meanwhile, saute the garlic slices in olive oil over medium-high heat until they start to turn golden. At that point, add the spinach and stir constantly until the spinach wilts. Remove from heat.

Check on your broiling mozzarella tower. Once top cheese ball is melted, carefully add another mozzarella ball to the top of the tower and continue to broil until that ball is about 3/4 melted. Remove the eggplant tower from the oven.

To plate your dish, spoon about 3/4 of your remaining sauce into the center of a plate. The diameter of your sauce should be slightly larger than your largest “base” eggplant cutlet. Place your bright green, wilted spinach and garlic chips around the edges of the tomato sauce, then carefully transfer your eggplant tower to the center of your plate. Spoon the remaining tomato sauce around the top of your eggplant tower so that it drips down the side. Top with a spring of basil and enjoy!

24Apr2012

Another Delicious Pizza!

Posted in Recipes by Annie T

Mmm… is there anything better than homemade pizza fresh out of the oven? Pizza is easy to make, the toppings are fun to experiment with, and the results are tasty and rewarding. For me, the one problem with pizza is that I only like to use Trader Joe’s fresh pizza dough which means that I can only make pizza once or twice a month after we visit TJ’s. We used to live within walking distance of a Trader Joe’s but now a 20 minute drive (and bad rush hour traffic!) separates us from my favorite dough. I have tried the pizza dough from Whole Foods and, although it isn’t bad, it simply can’t compare with the crispy, chewy flavor of the dough from Joe’s.

So, as you might have guessed, we stopped by Trader Joe’s over the weekend and I picked up a bag of dough. We already had some hot Italian turkey sausage and basil so I decided to make a Sausage Tomato Basil Mozzarella (TBM) pizza for dinner last night.

A note about the cheese… TJ’s was sold out of the marinated mozzarella balls that I typically buy so I tried their Ciliegine mozzarella which is billed as stringier, softer, and more authentic. More authentic it may be but it also was much more watery and seemed to melt into nothingness on these pizzas. Next time I’ll hold out for the good mozzarella!

Turkey Sausage T.B.M. Pizza

You will need…
2 Turkey Sausages (we used Shady Brook Farms Hot Italian Turkey Sausage)
1 12 oz. can Diced Tomatoes with Italian Herbs
1 package Trader Joe’s Pizza Dough
Pepper, Parmesan Cheese and Garlic Powder to taste
Approx. 10 Mozzarella Balls (I highly recommend Trader Joe’s Marinated Mozzarella Balls, but for this recipe I used TJ’s Ciliegine Mozzarella Balls)
10-20 Basil Leaves, cut into strips

Directions:
Crumble and brown the turkey sausage in a large frying pan or wok. When the sausage is nicely browned, remove it from heat and set aside. Drain the diced tomatoes slightly and then saute over medium heat for 10-15 minutes to reduce. If you want a smoother tomato base, use a potato masher to slightly crush the tomato chunks. Meanwhile, stretch out your pizza dough into two rectangular pies on a large cookie sheet (see my Homemade TBM Pizza for instructions on how to do this).

Spoon and spread the reduced diced tomatoes evenly onto the two pizza pies. Sprinkle the browned sausage over the pizza and top with ground black pepper, Parmesan, and garlic powder. Next, distribute the mozzarella balls evenly over the pizza. I like to use a pair of kitchen shears to cut each mozzarella ball into several pieces — this helps to cover the pizza evenly without using an entire container of cheese! 🙂

Bake pizzas in a preheated 350° oven for 12 minutes. Remove the pizzas from the oven and top with your sliced basil. Enjoy!

22Apr2012

Rainy Day Cupcakes

Posted in Recipes by Annie T

It has been raining all day (2.12″ worth of rain so far!) so I haven’t been able to do much in the yard besides watch the grass seed we planted last weekend wash away. Oh well! I decided to make the most of being stuck inside by tackling a cupcake recipe.

Baking is not my strong point and we’ve had more than one frosting recipe go awry, so I was delighted when these cupcakes turned out exactly right! The frosting is light and fluffy and the cakes puffed up nicely in the oven.

As you’ll notice, most of my photos are rather dark. Believe it or not, I was actually taking the photos by a big window at 4:00 in the afternoon but it’s so dark out that these look like night shots. I think the dark shadows convey the mood of the day pretty well. Oh, and I also listened to Johnny Cash the entire time I made these so he added a bit of moodiness as well. 🙂

Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Buttercream Frosting (from The Complete Magnolia Bakery Cookbook)

You will need:
For the cupcakes…
1 1/2 cups Self-Rising Flour
1 1/4 cups All-Purpose Flour
2 sticks Unsalted Butter, at room temperature
2 cups Sugar
4 Eggs, at room temperature
1 cup 2% Milk
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract

For the frosting…
3 sticks Unsalted Butter, at room temperature
2 tablespoons 2% Milk
9 ounces Semisweet Chocolate
1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
2 1/4 cups Confectioners’ Sugar

Directions:
Combine the two flours in a small bowl and combine the milk and vanilla extract in a measuring cup. Set both mixtures aside.

In the mixing bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter until it is smooth. Add the sugar gradually and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each egg. Add the flour mixture and the milk mixture in three parts, alternating between flour and milk and beating between each flour-milk addition. Do not overbeat. Use a silicone spatula to scrape the batter off of the sides of the bowl and make sure that all of the ingredients are well mixed.

Spoon the batter into lined muffin tins and fill each cupcake liner approximately 3/4 full. In my case, this yielded 20 cupcakes. I only have one muffin pan so I did a batch of 12 first and then a batch of 8. Place the muffin pan on the center rack of a preheated 350° oven and cook for approximately 23 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Cool the cupcakes completely before icing.

For the frosting, start by melting the chocolate in a double boiler over simmering water. When the chocolate is completely melted and smooth, remove it from the heat and allow it to cool to lukewarm before adding it to your frosting mixture.

I finally got to use the double boiler that my brother got me for Christmas!

In the bowl of your electric mixer, beat the butter until creamy, approximately 3 minutes. Add the milk and beat until smooth (watch out, it splatters!!). Add the melted chocolate and beat for approximately 2 minutes. Add the vanilla and beat for another 3 minutes. Gradually add the sugar and beat on low speed until the frosting reaches your desired consistency.

My first successful frosting! (There have been many failures before this..!)

To frost my cupcakes, I transferred the frosting into a large resealable gallon bag and snipped about 3/4″ off of one of the corners. I squeezed the frosting out onto each cupcake and then used a knife to spread the frosting evenly over the cake.

What do you do on a rainy Sunday when you can’t go outside? Please share! 🙂

20Apr2012

Bucatini with Meatballs and Tomato Sauce

Posted in Recipes by Annie T

We have been on a quest for the perfect meatball recipe for several months and I think last weekend we finally found it! Previously we had made gluten-free meatballs, turkey meatballs, and ground beef meatballs based on recipes we found on the internet. All of these came out fine but were lacking the wow factor (and yes, now I know that there can be a wow factor when it comes to meatballs!). Ironically, after all of that searching on the world wide web we found the perfect recipe within the pages of our very own Cooks Illustrated The New Best Recipe book. Page 253, to be exact.

These meatballs were decadent and were so tender that they were almost creamy. The combination of ground chuck and ground pork was way better than the turkey (duh) and standard ground beef that we tried in previous attempts and the tomato sauce was tasty and thick.

Bucatini with Meatballs and Tomato Sauce

You will need:
For the meatballs…
2 slices White Bread, crust removed and slices torn into small pieces
6 tablespoons Plain Yogurt thinned with 2 tablespoons fat free Half and Half
3/4 pound Ground Chuck
1/4 pound Ground Pork
1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese (or Parmesan/Romano Blend)
2 tablespoon minced Parsley Leaves
1 Egg Yolk
1 Garlic Clove, minced
3/4 teaspoon Salt
Pepper, to taste
1 cup Canola Oil, for pan-frying

For the tomato sauce…
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
1 Garlic Clove, minced
1 28 oz. can Crushed Tomatoes
1 tablespoon minced Basil Leaves
Salt and Pepper

1 pound Bucatini Pasta, cooked according to package instructions

Directions:
Combine the bread and yogurt mixture in a small bowl. Mash together with a fork and let sit for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally until a paste forms.

Place the next eight ingredients (ground chuck through pepper) in a small bowl and add the bread-yogurt paste. Mix together very gently (just as was the case with the guacamole-chipotle burgers, the lighter your touch, the more tender your end product will be!) and form the mixture into 1 1/2 inch diameter meatballs. Press the meatballs together somewhat firmly to make sure they hold togethery during the cooking process. (Some of our very gently-formed meatballs fell apart but they were still delicious!) You should end up with 10-14 meatballs.

Pan-Frying the Meatballs

Pour the canola oil into a large straight-sided skillet so that it is approximately 1/4″ deep. Heat the pan over medium-high heat until the edge of a meatball browns if it is inserted into the oil. Once the oil is hot enough, place the meatballs in the pan in a single layer. Fry, turning several times, until the meatballs are evenly browned and slightly crispy on all sides (approx. 10 minutes). Remove the meatballs from the pan and place on a plate lined with paper towels. Set aside.

Meatballs warming up in the Tomato Sauce

Discard the oil in the skillet but retain any browned bits of meatball. Add the olive oil and garlic and saute until garlic becomes golden, approx. 30 seconds. Add the crushed tomatoes, stir, and simmer until sauce thickens, approx. 10 minutes. Stir in the basil, salt and pepper, then carefully add the meatballs. Stir gently to coat the meatballs and then allow to simmer for about 5 minutes to reheat meatballs.

Spoon several spoonfuls of the sauce over your cooked Bucatini and stir well to coat the pasta. Serve the pasta and top with meatballs and sauce. Enjoy!

18Apr2012

Corn and Black Bean Salad

Posted in Recipes by Annie T

This healthy, colorful salad is easy to make and the combination of rice vinegar, lime juice and cilantro give it a great, fresh flavor. Because you can make it several hours ahead of time, this has been a go-to side dish for us when we’re having people over for dinner. The leftovers (if there are any!) keep well and are delicious either alone or as a chunky salsa/dip with tortilla chips. We found the original recipe on Whole Food’s blog.

Corn and Black Bean Salad

You will need…
2 – 15 oz. cans of Black Beans, drained and rinsed
15 oz. frozen Corn, rinsed (if using canned corn boil it for 1 minute and then drain)
1 small Red Onion, chopped and rinsed
1 Red Bell Pepper, chopped
2 tablespoons Rice Vinegar
1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 tablespoon Lime Juice
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
1/3 cup Cilantro, chopped

Directions:
Rinse the beans, corn and red onion in a large colander. Allow to drain thoroughly, then add the red bell pepper.

Meanwhile, combine the rice vinegar, olive oil, lime juice, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. Mix well, then add the bean, corn, onion, and pepper mixture from the colander. Add the chopped cilantro. Mix the entire salad well and then cover and place in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour to chill. Stir again before serving.