Southwestern Quinoa Salad

This salad was a delicious and refreshing treat, especially now that spring is near and its getting warmer outside. I ate this as a one-bowl dinner, but it could be a lovely side dish brought to a potluck or cookout. Its filling and incredibly healthy. Yum yum yum.
Adapted from www.letsdishrecipes.com.

INGREDIENTS
2 cups cooked quinoa
1 can black beans, rinsed & drained
1 cup canned corn, drained
3/4 cup red bell pepper, chopped
1 avocado, chopped
1 small jalepeno, seeded & chopped
1/4 cup red onion, thinly sliced
1/3 cup cilantro, chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped

Dressing Ingredients
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon oregano
1 lime, juiced


Add all the salad ingredients to a large bowl and stir/fold to combine using a spatula, so as to not mush the avocado. Mix together the dressing ingredients in a jar and shake to combine. Pour over salad and stir to incorporate. Refrigerate for 2+ hours before serving.

Chocolate & Bailey's Truffle Pudding

I have wonderful friends. They are kind and hilarious and always have my back. My friend Stephanie (Stephanie's Blog) is one such friend. She is always helping me dream up ways in which we can quit our day jobs and open up a bakery and spend our days cooking, eating, and feeding people. Yesterday, she sent me a recipe that had my name written all over it, knowing that if I happened to overlook it, I'd be devastated. Within 2 minutes, my shoes were on, keys in hand, and I was walking running out the door to the grocery store. Within 20 minutes, I was back home and cooking. I'm no psychologist (...), but I think I have a problem.

The original recipe described this as a no-bake cake that you slice. Well, if thats what I was going for, my attempt was disastrous. It was impossible to slice, did not hold shape, and had to be scooped into bowls. But then, after my first bite, I realized that sometimes when recipes don't work out the way you intended they actually turn out better than you could have ever imagined. This is a WINNER. Elegant, smooth, rich, flavorful, silk. Perfection. Recipe from How Sweet It Is.

PUDDING INGREDIENTS
15 ounces milk chocolate
12 ounces heavy cream
4 ounces (1/2 cup) Bailey's Irish Cream

Heat the cream and Bailey's in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Do not boil. Meanwhile, melt the chocolate in a double boiler or in the microwave, stirring every 15 seconds until just melted and smooth. Once the cream is heated, remove from heat and pour in the chocolate. Whisk until mixture is totally incorporated and smooth- this could take 3-5 minutes. Pour into a bowl and chill in the refrigerator for 6+ hours.

Once ready to serve, spoon into ramekins, wine glasses, or martini glasses with a dollop of Bailey's whipped cream on top!

BAILEY'S WHIPPED CREAM
1 cup heavy whipping cream
3 tablespoons Bailey's Irish Cream
2 teaspoons sugar

Using an electric mixer beat together the cream and Bailey's. Once thickened, slowly add the sugar and continue beating until finished.

Sausage Egg & Cheese "Bodega" Sandwich

Confession: I have this terrible, horrible, no good, very bad habit of prematurely turning my nose up at foods like this... I'm foolish in the worst way possible. Before even tasting certain foods, I've decided that they're too simple, or have too many processed ingredients, or whatever soap box I'm on that day. Its honestly terrible... I'm trying to get better, because I am wrong 99.99% of the time. Dead wrong. Hence my first experience with a sausage, egg, & cheese breakfast sandwich at a bodega in NYC. I was on my way to a museum one morning and a friend thought we should get coffee and split a sandwich from his corner bodega. Trying to be polite I said, "sure!'... but was thinking, "oh gross. a bodega egg sandwich? i'll probably take one bite and let him finish the rest."

Time stopped when I tasted that sandwich. And I've thought about it many times since. Lucky me that I stumbled upon a recipe for such a sandwich last week... even more lucky: I'm going to NYC in less than 2 weeks and am assured that the best bodega breakfast sandwich is actually on the corner of a different friend's block.

INGREDIENTS
1 english muffin
1 teaspoon butter
1 egg, plus 1 egg white
1 1/2 teaspoons water
1 slice american cheese
1 patty breakfast sausage (I used turkey)
salt & pepper

Cook the breakfast sausage until cooked through (if you buy precooked sausage then just warm it up). Keep warm.

Meanwhile, beat the egg and water together in a small bowl. Add salt and pepper and stir. Heat a small pan on medium heat and melt the butter. Pour the eggs into the pan and swirl the pan to coat the whole bottom in a thin, even layer. Place the cheese in the middle of the egg and cook for about 1 1/2 minutes, or until cooked. Using a spatula fold the egg over the cheese like the fold of an envelope... continue to fold sides of the egg on top of the cheese, working clockwise (all together 4 folds). Cook for another 30 seconds.

Place on half of a toasted english muffin and top with the sausage and other half of the muffin (or one of those thin bagels would be good, too). Serve and enjoy!

Lemon and Goat Cheese Pasta

I really love goat cheese on anything, so it was only a matter of time before I made this dish. It is so easy and comes together in a snap. I thought it was going to blow my mind, because, well, goat cheese usually does. I'm not going to lie and tell you that this dish changed my life, but it was good. Definitely good. Easy, fast, and comforting.

INGREDIENTS
1/2 pound spaghetti
zest of 1 lemon
juice of 1/2 a lemon
3 ounces goat cheese
1/2 cup parmesan, grated
1/4 cup olive oil
pinch of salt and pepper

Boil the pasta in salted water according to directions. While pasta is boiling, prepare the sauce by mixing all the ingredients together in a large bowl. Ladle a bit of the hot pasta water into the cheese mixture and whisk to combine.

Drain the pasta and pour into the cheese mixture and toss to coat. Serve immediately and grind a bit of fresh pepper on top. Serve and enjoy!

Whole Wheat Banana Pancakes!

These are the best pancakes in the world. Seriously. I feel strongly that you need to make them ASAP. As in tomorrow morning for Sunday brunch. These get my highest stamp of approval.

I found this recipe on one of my favorite food blogs Let's Dish and it took very little convincing for me to make them after I read that the blogger's entire family deemed these the best pancakes they'd ever tasted. I told this story as I was serving these this morning and was met with vigorous head nods in agreement after the first bite (no words were spoken because mouths were full of buttery sweet banana cakes). Oh, and I served these with a sweet vanilla maple syrup. And you should, too. Top notch.

I apologize for the lazy iphone picture... I was unwilling to wait the 5 seconds it would have required to get my camera, adjust the settings, and snap a photo. These really needed to be eaten. Fast.

PANCAKE INGREDIENTS
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 1/3 cup milk (or more)
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
3 ripe bananas, mashed
2 tablespoons butter, melted

Whisk together the dry ingredients in a large bowl (both flours, baking powder, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg) and set aside. In a separate bowl stir together the milk and vanilla extract and slowly pour into the dry ingredients, stirring just until incorporated (don't over-mix pancake batter or else too much gluten will be released and they'll be consistency of bread, not fluffy pancakes). If the batter is too thick, add more milk. Add the bananas and melted butter and stir to combine.

Heat a griddle or nonstick pans over medium heat. I found that I needed very little to no butter on my nonstick pans, but its up to you if you want to use it or not. Dollop about 1/4 cup of batter for each pancake and cook for a few minutes on the first side and a bit less on the second (if they need more browning, you can always flip it back over). Repeat with remaining batter. Keep warm while the rest of the pancakes are cooking.

VANILLA MAPLE SYRUP
1/2 cup pure maple syrup (the real stuff)
2/3 cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mix above ingredients together, heat briefly in the microwave and pour over pancakes. Mmmm. Drool.

Guacatillo Salsa

The first (and only time until recently) that I've had guacatillo salsa was at a local taco place in North Carolina. Its an amazingly creamy dip that tastes like an exact mix between green salsa and guacamole. It's very easy to make and is a nice change of pace if you're looking for a new recipe to serve to friends. I made this as part of my contribution to our Super Bowl party a few weeks ago. It's a winner.

Bonus#1: its the easiest one-bowl thing to make.
Bonus#2: it makes a TON!

INGREDIENTS
4 medium ripe avocados
5 fresh tomatillos

1 bunch cilantro leaves

1 whole jalepeno, stemmed (I left the seeds in, but if you don't like spicy food, you could take them out)

1/2 onion (red or yellow)

1 garlic clove
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
salt and pepper

Add all the ingredients to your food processor and blend. Taste for salt and pepper. The end.

Serve with tortilla chips!

Red Velvet Brownies

The other dessert snack that I served at the Valentine's Cocktail Party was red velvet brownies. I've not always been a red velvet fan, but I've found a few recipes that include a fair amount of chocolate (and therefore a TON of red food coloring) and I have now officially switched sides. These are sort of a mix between a brownie and cake and are super yummy! And its a 1-bowl batter! Adapted from Heidi Bakes.

INGREDIENTS

4 oz. chopped bittersweet chocolate

3/4 cup butter

2 cups sugar

4 large eggs

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 oz. red liquid food coloring

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/8 teaspoon salt

Melt together the chocolate and butter in a microwave proof bowl, stirring every 15 seconds just until melted. Add the sugar and whisk together. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, whisking just until blended after each egg. Gently stir in the flour and stir lightly. Add the food coloring, baking powder, vanilla, and salt at the same time and stir until incorporated. Pour into a 9x9 brownie pan lined with lightly-greased foil. Bake for about 40-45 minutes at 350 degrees, until toothpick in center comes out almost clean. Let cool completely. Meanwhile, make the frosting. 

FROSTING INGREDIENTS

1/2 stick butter, softened

4 ounces cream cheese, softened

2 cups powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

1-2 tablespoons milk

Beat together the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add the powdered sugar and vanilla and beat until incorporated and smooth- add milk to desired consistency. Spread over cooled brownies and let frosting set. Cut into squares and serve!