Blondies

What do you do when you say on a cold, rainy day, "hey kids, wanna make brownies?" and then realize you have neither brownie mix nor cocoa powder, and only 1/2 cup of chocolate chips?  Make blondies!  These are fabulous and quick.

Blondies (from Smitten Kitchen)

1 stick butter, melted
1 cup  brown sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
Pinch salt
1 cup all-purpose flour

Grease an 8×8 pan.

Mix melted butter with brown sugar – beat until smooth. Beat in egg and then vanilla.

Add salt, stir in flour. Mix in any additions (below). I added 1/2 cup of chocolate chips.

Pour into prepared pan. Bake at 350°F 20-25 minutes, or until set in the middle.


Further additions, use one or a combination of:

• 1/2 to 1 cup chopped nuts, toasting them first for even better flavor
• 1/2 to 1 cup chocolate chips
• Stir 1/2 cup dried fruit into the prepared batter (craisins and white chocolate chips, yum)
• 1/2 cup mashed bananas
• Top with a vanilla butter cream or chocolate peanut butter cream frosting

Sweet Potato Fries

This is my new favorite sweet potato "fries" recipe.  It's so darn simple! No fancy drizzles, sugars, spices....just sweet potatoes with salt and a little cajun seasoning (I used Tony's).  Healthy.  We loved them.

My new friend (who I've never actually met but I know we'd be friends if we did) posted the recipe on her blog, so go there to read it. 

Steamed Asparagus with Lemon Vinaigrette

Tonight for dinner, we had Lemon Thyme Tilapia (sprinkle fresh thyme at the end), Roasted Sweet Potato Fries (recipe later this week), and Steamed Asparagus with Lemon Vinaigrette.  I don't know about you, but when I eat a healthy dinner, I feel so much better for the rest of the evening! 

A friend of mine facebooked something I've been thinking about all day:  "If you do what you've always done, you'll get what you've always gotten. So last night I did something different. Instead of having a piece of cake for dessert, I took the dog for a 25 minute walk! This morning, I'm getting on the treadmill."  It's kind of profound and really applies to living a healthy lifestyle.

Steamed Asparagus with Lemon Vinaigrette

This is hardly even a recipe.  Steam asparagus in an inch of water in a saucepan for one minute.  Drain asparagus.  Make vinaigrette using lemon juice, dijon mustard, olive oil, and salt and pepper.  Pour it over the hot asparagus and serve.  I sprinkled it with a little Fluer de Sel at the end.  That stuff is totally worth paying $14 for a jar of salt. 

Sauteed Fresh Corn with Basil

We love fresh corn on the cob in our house.  Love it. But it's even better when you have a wonderful mother/wife who will cut it off the cob for you and cook it this way!  No corn in the teeth!! 

5 ears fresh corn on the cob, shucked and cleaned of any silks
2 tablespoons of butter
salt and pepper
fresh basil to taste

Cut the corn off of the cobs using a serrated knife. Heat butter in a saute pan until melted.  Add corn, salt, and pepper and cook for about 5 minutes.  Add herbs at the very end and serve.

We also had BBQ Grilled Chicken to go along with the Sauteed Fresh Corn with Basil.  Perfect summer meal!

Feta in Phyllo

John and I first ate Greek food at the Greek Food Festival in Little Rock when we were first married (not a lot of Greek restaurants in Arkansas when we were growing up!).  We spent all afternoon one day sampling the best food we'd ever tasted, and ended up going back every year we lived there.  John always jokes that he must be part Greek, based on his love for the food (have you seen him? Definitely not Greek.).

So when one of Beta's sweet preschool teachers offered to make me something she had eaten on a recent trip to Greece, I was so excited!  She handed me the dish of feta cheese wrapped in phyllo, and I had every intention of saving some for John....but then I tasted it, and had to eat the whole thing! It's salty, sweet, crunchy, gooey.

I'm not sure what to call it, and I can't really find the exact recipe she gave me anywhere, so I'll just call it Feta in Phyllo, since it's kind of like Brie en Croute.  It's an appetizer, but I had it for lunch. :)

Feta in Phyllo

1/3 of a whole block of feta
several sheets of phyllo dough (the directions are on the box)
butter, melted
honey
sesame seeds

Wrap the feta cheese with sheets of Phyllo dough, each sheet coated with butter.  Bake until brown and then drizzle with honey and sprinkle with sesame seeds.  Serve hot.

Grilled Tenderloin Steaks

Happy Mother's Day! It's been a wonderful day around here. My family planted a vegetable and herb garden for me and my husband prepared breakfast, lunch, AND dinner.  And I just watched it all. :)

John's Grilled Tenderloin Steaks

Melt 1/4 cup of butter with 1 tablespoon herbs de provence.  Salt and pepper the steaks and marinate in the butter/herb mixture for an hour.  Grill on high heat for about 5-7 minutes each side for medium rare, depending on the thickness of the meat.  Then, let it rest for about 10 minutes before serving.

Panzanella

Panzanella is one of my favorite summer meals.  When the tomatoes are perfect, there is nothing better than this salad.  These tomatoes weren't perfect (with it being May and all), but it was still a delicious sneak peek of what is to come in a few weeks.  Tomatoes are my favorite food, after all...

Panzanella Salad 

(you can substitute whatever you like and adjust quantities, but you have to tomatoes and bread to call it panzanella)

3 tablespoons olive oil
1 loaf crusty bread, cut into 1-inch cubes
1 teaspoon kosher salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper
2 large ripe tomatoes, or 2 pints cherry tomatoes
1 hothouse cucumber, cut into chunks
1 orange bell pepper, cut into chunks
1/4 red onion, thinly sliced
5 large basil leaves and 3 mint leaves, coarsely chopped

For the vinaigrette
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons champagne vinegar
1/3 cup olive oil
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper


1.Chop up the bread, drizzle olive oil, toss with salt and pepper, and toast in the oven at 400 degrees until it starts to brown. 5-10 minutes
2. For the vinaigrette, whisk together the ingredients.
3. In a large bowl, mix the tomatoes, cucumber, orange pepper, red onion, basil, and mint. Add the bread cubes and toss with the vinaigrette. Season liberally with salt and pepper.
4. Serve immediately, or allow the salad to sit for about half an hour for the flavors to blend.

Grilled BBQ Chicken and Pineapple Quesadillas

I was planning to grill some chicken and serve it with rice and pineapple.  But THEN, I stumbled upon this recipe.  And I'm so glad I did!  It was delicious.
 

Grilled BBQ Chicken and Pineapple Quesadillas (click to see the step by step)


Flour Tortillas
Butter
2 cups Grilled Pineapple, Sliced
3 whole Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
Salt And Pepper, to taste
3 cups Monterey Jack Cheese, Grated
Cilantro
3 Tablespoons Barbecue Sauce

To grill pineapple: cut wedges, and grill over low heat. Cut into slices.

To pound chicken, place inside a Ziploc bag and pound with a mallet or large can to flatten to uniform thickness.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper and Cajun spice (or cumin/cayenne, etc.) Grill on outdoor grill, brushing with barbecue sauce. Set aside and slice into very thin slices.
Warm griddle over medium heat and put sizzling butter in the pan. Slightly warm and toast tortillas on both sides, then remove from griddle and set aside.
To assemble, sprinkle four browned tortillas with grated Monterey Jack. Arrange chicken slices evenly over the surface. Add pineapple slices. Sprinkle on cilantro. If desired, drizzle extra barbecue sauce over the top. Add second browned tortilla on top of each one.
Add to oven to warm, or back to skillet to warm, until cheese is melted. Cut each quesadilla into six wedges. Serve with sour cream, pico de gallo, and lime wedges.

The Best Coffee Cake Ever

This is seriously the best coffee cake.  The recipes says it is so, but I can attest to the fact that it is.  It was even better because my friend brought it over when she came to visit.  Eating coffee cake and visiting all morning was very Mad Men of us....

The Best Coffee Cake
 
FOR THE CAKE:
1-½ stick Butter, Softened
2 cups Scant Sugar
3 cups Flour, Sifted
4 teaspoons Baking Powder
1 teaspoon Salt
1-¼ cup Whole Milk
3 whole Egg Whites, Beaten Until Stiff
_____
FOR THE TOPPING:
1-½ stick Butter, Softened
¾ cups Flour
1-½ cup Brown Sugar
2 Tablespoons Cinnamon
1-½ cup Pecans, Chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt. Beat egg whites and set aside.
Cream butter and sugar. Add flour mixture and milk alternately until combined. Don’t overbeat. Fold in beaten egg whites with a rubber spatula. Spread in a well-greased 9 x 13 (or LARGER!) baking pan. A cake pan with higher sides would be best.
In a separate bowl, combine topping ingredients with a pastry cutter until crumbly. Sprinkle all over the top.
Bake for 40 to 45 minutes.

Tortilla Soup

It feels like winter here today instead of spring, so it was the perfect evening for Tortilla Soup, which is my favorite homemade soup.  I've used so many different recipes for Tortilla Soup in the past, that I've kind of made up my own recipe. 

Chicken Tortilla Soup

2 whole carrots, peeled and chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 medium yellow onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 red bell pepper
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 can Rotel
1 can diced tomatoes
32 oz chicken stock
1 teaspoon coriander
1 teaspoon cumin
1 can black beans
2 whole chicken breasts, shredded (I used a deli rotisserie chicken)
3 corn tortillas, sliced into strips
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
salt and pepper
toppings: avocado, grated cheese, sour cream, cilantro, fresh lime, tortilla chips

Saute carrots, celery, onion, garlic, and red bell pepper in a tablespoon of olive oil until soft.  Add a tablespoon of tomato paste and stir until combined.  Cook for 3 minutes and then add chicken stock, Rotel, tomatoes, coriander, cumin, salt n pepa, and black beans.  Cook at least 10 minutes, but if you want to let it simmer longer, just let it go as long as you want on low heat, adding more stock if necessary.  Add the corn tortillas, most of the cilantro, saving some for garnish.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and then simmer for 20 minutes.  The tortillas break down and thicken the soup.  Serve in a large bowl (you need lots of room for toppings!) with avocado, grated cheese, sour cream, cilantro, fresh lime wedges, and crushed tortillas chips.