What I Want Wednesday

this really cute Emile Henry Pie Pan!

Vegan Noodles with Peanut Sauce

Happily, I received the cookbook I coveted, Peas and Thank You in the mail on Friday. I am excited to try new recipes from the book!

This is a recipe adapted from her blog. I liked it to much the first time, I made some small changes and made it a second time! I make it on Sunday, and bring it for lunches at work during the week. I have been trying to eat vegan or vegetarian at 2 of my daily meals, so this is an easy pack-able lunch.

Peanut Sauce:
1/2 c light coconut milk
1/2 c fire-roasted tomatoes in juice (i.e. Muir Glen Organic Fire Roasted Tomatoes)
1/3 c natural peanut butter
3 T reduced sodium soy sauce
juice of 1 lime
2 t  minced ginger
1 t minced garlic
1 T maple syrup

Noodle Salad:
8 oz. rice noodles
1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 green bell pepper, chopped
2 c baby bok choy, chopped
2 c edamame, frozen or fresh (thawed)
1/4 c fresh cilantro, chopped (optional)
1/4 c peanuts, chopped

For the sauce, combine coconut milk, tomatoes, peanut butter, soy sauce, lime juice, ginger, garlic, and maple syrup in a blender and blend until smooth. Meanwhile, prepare rice noodles according to package directions. Drain and set aside. 

Coat a large skillet with cooking spray and heat over medium high heat. Add bell peppers, bok choy and edamame and stir fry until crisp tender, about 4-5 minutes

Add sauce from blender to pan.

Add cooked noodles to pain, stir to coat. Top with chopped cilantro and peanuts.

Mexican Chocolate Pie

I work in a very emotionally draining profession. Sometimes, you just need a little chocolate to soften the emotional blow. This pie was really good. Had a bit of a kick to it, due to the red pepper. And it wasn't all that bad for you!

Mexican Chocolate Pie, from Cooking Light

Crust:

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs (about 10 cookie sheets), divided

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons egg white

2 tablespoons butter, melted

Cooking spray

Filling:

1/2 cup sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

1 tablespoon unsweetened cocoa

1/4 teaspoon instant espresso powder

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper

1 large egg

1 large egg yolk

1 3/4 cups 2% milk

2 ounces dark chocolate, chopped

1 1/2 cups frozen reduced-calorie whipped topping, thawed

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 375°.

2. To prepare the crust, reserve 1 tablespoon crumbs for topping. Combine the remaining crumbs, 2 tablespoons sugar, cinnamon, and 1/8 teaspoon salt in a bowl, stirring well. Stir in egg white and butter. Press crumb mixture into bottom and up sides of a 9-inch pie plate coated with cooking spray. Bake at 375° for 9 minutes or until lightly toasted; cool completely on a wire rack.

For filling, combine 1/2 cup sugar and the next 7 ingredients (through egg yolk) in a bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Place the milk in a medium, heavy saucepan over medium-high heat; cook until milk reaches 180° or until tiny bubbles form around edge (do not boil). Gradually add hot milk to egg mixture, stirring constantly with a whisk. Return milk mixture to pan; cook over medium heat 10 minutes or until thick and bubbly, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add chocolate; stir until smooth. Place pan in a large ice-filled bowl for 10 minutes or until mixture cools, stirring occasionally.

 Spoon filling into crust, and cover surface of filling with plastic wrap. Chill for 3 hours or until set; remove plastic wrap.

Spread the whipped topping over filling; sprinkle with reserved cracker crumbs.

Yum!

Double Chocolate Muffins

These muffins are only about 200 calories each, not to bad for a breakfast.

Double Chocolate Muffins, from Cooking Light

1 3/4 c all-purpose flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup warm water
1/4 cup canola oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips, divided
Cooking spray

1. Preheat oven to 400°.
2. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 5 ingredients (through salt) in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Make a well in center of mixture. Combine 1 cup water and next 4 ingredients (through egg) in a bowl, stirring well with a whisk. Stir in 1/4 cup chocolate chips. Add oil mixture to flour mixture, stirring just until moist.

3. Place 12 muffin-cup liners in muffin cups, and coat liners with cooking spray. Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups.

4. Sprinkle remaining chocolate chips evenly over batter. Bake at 400° for 15 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes in pan on a wire rack.

What I Want Wednesday

I want to try Paella. Therefore, I need a Paella pan!

That's What I Want this Wednesday!

Sirloin Tip and Sweet Potato Salad

Sirloin Tip and Sweet Potato Salad

Serves two
8 oz sirloin steak, but into bite size chunks
1 sweet potato, peeled and cut into bite size chunks
Mixed greens
1 tomato, cut into chunks
Crumbled bleu cheese (4 oz should be enough)
Steak seasoning
Kosher salt
Pepper
Cooking spray
1 T olive oil

Coat a small non stick skillet with cooking spray and warm over medium heat. Preheat oven to 400. 

Coat sweet potatoes in 1 t kosher salt and pepper to taste, coat in olive oil. Place on baking sheet and roast in oven for 20 min until done. 

Season steak pieces with steak seasoning, and add to skillet. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, and draining any steak juices that accumulate. I like mine medium well, but cook to taste.

Plate mixed greens, top with cheese, tomato, sweet potato, and steak. I didn't think this salad needed dressing. The soft sweet potato, seasoned steak, and bleu cheese added enough flavor.

Honey Lime Fish with Blueberry Lime Salsa

How Sweet It Is is probably my favorite food blog. I love her writing (hilarious) and her recipes are delish. I tried this recipe the other day. I used Grouper, instead of Tilapia. Bad idea. :) I should have stuck with Tilapia or Cod. The Grouper had to strong of a flavor, and was to tough. I marinated the fish all day (prepped it before work), which worked out well. I also got to use my brand new cast iron pan! yay!

P didn't really like this recipe, but I think it was mostly because of the Grouper, and he doesn't like fruit salsa. I thought the salsa was great, I even ate it the next day (without the fish!) for lunch. I also really liked the flavor of the marinade for the fish. 

Honey Lime Fish

4 fresh (or thawed) tilapia filets or cod
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 teaspoon lime zest
1 garlic clove, crushed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/3 cup flour
2 tablespoons olive oil for frying

In the morning,season fish with salt and pepper then lay in a baking dish or into a large ziplock bag. In a bowl, combine olive oil, honey, lime juice and zest, and crushed garlic and whisk until combined. Pour over fish and let marinate all day (although 1 hour would also be fine). Add flour and a bit more salt, pepper, and lime zest to a bowl and set aside.

Heat a cast iron skillet (or a non-stick skillet) over medium-high heat and add olive oil. 

Dredge each piece of fish through the flour until you have a very light coating. Making sure the pan is hot, add fish to the oil and cook until flaky and crispy on each side – about 3-4 minutes per side. Remove from pan and let drain on a paper towel for a few minutes. Serve with blueberry lime salsa.

Blueberry Lime Salsa

1 cup fresh blueberries
5 medium strawberries
1/4 red onion
1 teaspoon lime zest
juice of one lime
1/3 cup fresh cilantro leaves
1/2 avocado, chopped

Combine blueberries, strawberries, onion, lime zest, juice and cilantro in a food processor or blender and pulse. I left about half of mine chunky. Fold in chopped avocado. Serve with pita or corn chips, or on top of fish or chicken.

Jam Thumbprint cookies

We recently visited Philadelphia. In Philly, there are all these little bakeries, and they sell boxes of assorted cookies. These are cookies my boyfriend adores. One of the cookie types is a fruit filled thumbprint cookie. I decided to try and recreate those cookies. Well, these cookies are really nothing like the bakery cookies in Philly. The cookie base is to buttery, and I should have used fruit instead of jam. But, they are good in their own right, buttery and sweet. 

Adapted from Cooking During Stolen Moments

1 c. butter, softened
1/2 c. sugar
2 egg yolks
1 t. vanilla
1/2 t. salt
2 c. flour
Raspberry jam, although you can use your preferred flavor

1. Beat butter and sugar together until creamy. Lightly beat the egg yolks and add to the mixing bowl. Add vanilla and salt and mix until combined. Add the flour slowly, mixing with each addition.

2. For each cookie, roll slightly more than a teaspoon of dough into a ball. Place on a baking sheet, make an indentation in the center with you thumb and add a dollop of jam. Repeat until done.

3. Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. Cool on a wire rack.

Strawberry Vanilla Vegan Overnight Oats

It has been over 100 degrees outside for weeks. With no end in sight, and no rain. Ugh. This is the worst summer I've had in Texas! Given the heat, hot breakfasts don't sound very appealing.

I have seen Overnight Oats all over the food blogging world, and decided to give it a try. I have to say, perfect for a hot morning! This was really good, I recommend trying it.

Serves one
1/3 c oatmeal
1 c vanilla almond milk
2 T chia seeds
Toppings (optional)
6 strawberries, halved
1 T peanut butter, microwaved for 30 sec
1/2 T maple syrup

Add oatmeal, chia, and milk to bowl. Stir. Place in fridge overnight. In the morning, add your toppings!

Yum!

Win Austin City Limits tickets

From Sweet Leaf Tea!

http://www.sweetleafalmanac.com/contest/#

Bacon Corn Chowder with Shrimp

Started the new job this week. So far, it's been crazy busy. I haven't really been cooking anything exciting so far this week. I have a couple recipes lined up for this weekend tho!

The other thing tho....when it is 105 degrees outside every day, the idea of heating up the stove sounds awful. I've really been craving cool foods like fruit, salad, yogurt. For some reason, while meal planning this week, soup sounded ok! Go figure!

Recipe adapted from Cooking Light:

6 slices center-cut bacon, chopped
1 cup prechopped onion
1/2 cup prechopped celery
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1 garlic clove, minced
4 cups frozen corn kernels, thawed
2 cups fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth
3/4 pound peeled and deveined medium shrimp
1/3 cup half-and-half
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon salt
Preparation
1. Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add bacon to pan; saute 4 minutes or until the bacon begins to brown. Add onion and next 3 ingredients (through minced garlic) to pan, and saute for 2 minutes. Add corn, and cook 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add broth; bring to a boil, and cook for 4 minutes.
2. Place 2 cups of corn mixture in a blender. Remove the center piece of blender lid (to allow steam to escape), and secure lid on blender. Or use immersion blender to blend 2 cups. Blend until smooth. Return pureed corn mixture to pan. Stir in shrimp; cook 2 minutes or until shrimp are done. Stir in half-and-half, pepper, and salt.

This is a quick, 30 min or less weeknight meal! I really thought it was filling and tasty. Yum!