Roasted Chicken Breast w/ Garbanzo Beans, Tomatoes and Paprika

Laura

Chickpeas are so special that they get two names. I once read an article that talks about why they're called by both names. It's got something to do with the pronunciation in French... Latin.... maybe it was Spanish. Well, the point is, whatever you call them, they're very tasty. (Aren't you glad you asked?)

I used chicken thighs in the roasted chicken breasts w/ garbanzo beans, tomatoes &; paprika recipe. I enjoyed it the first time and the leftovers were even better. It was very easy to make. The yogurt sauce was flavorful. (I used sour cream because I still haven't gotten over my Greek yogurt hangup.) I had it with a side of couscous. Honestly, even if I wasn't making this chicken, I'd save the recipe and make the garbanzo beans and tomatoes as a healthy, creative side dish.

Meredith

Two years later I am coming back to review this recipe and write this blog post. And I have made this dish probably 15 times since then. It's quick, easy, beautiful and delicious and I usually serve it with couscous. Don't skip the yogurt sauce either - one of the best bites is one with a little bit of everything. 

Good smoked paprika is worth hunting out. I find it for a good price and quality at places like Marshall's and TJ Maxx.

Roast Chicken Breasts with Garbanzo Beans, Tomatoes, and Paprika from Epicurious.com

Yield: Makes 4 servings
Active Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
4 garlic cloves, pressed
1 tablespoon smoked paprika*
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
1/2 cup plain yogurt or Greek yogurt
4 chicken breast halves with bones
1 15-ounce can garbanzo beans (chickpeas), drained
1 12-ounce container cherry tomatoes
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro, divided

Preheat oven to 450°. Mix first 5 ingredients in medium bowl. Pour 1 teaspoon spiced oil mixture into small bowl; whisk in yogurt and set aside for sauce. Place chicken on large rimmed baking sheet. Rub 2 tablespoons spiced oil mixture over chicken. Add beans, tomatoes, and 1/2 cup cilantro to remaining spiced oil mixture; toss to coat. Pour bean mixture around chicken. Sprinkle everything generously with salt and pepper.

Roast until chicken is cooked through, about 20 minutes. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup cilantro. Transfer chicken to plates. Spoon bean mixture over. Serve with yogurt sauce.

*Sometimes labeled Pimentón Dulce or Pimentón de La Vera Dulce; available at some supermarkets, at specialty foods stores, and from tienda.com.

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Laura and I actually cooked on Sunday since that's when we have time but it was definitely in honor of today!

Meredith
What could be more Irish than corned beef braised in Guinness? Probably one of the simplest recipes I've done in a long time and it turned out just delicious. In fact, I made it again ON St. Patrick's Day. Oh my... That means I've eaten two corned beefs in the last week. No wonder the scale was so mad at me this morning!

For me the roasted cabbage with lemon was just ok. I am huge fan of roasting things and the roasting itself was fine, but I'm not sure I loved the lemon here. It was fine but I don't think I'll do it again. I love cabbage and think I just prefer it traditionally done.

Finally, I baked my first loaf of soda bread. It was amazing! Just a little sweet with a wonderful texture, it was the PERFECT vehicle for butter.

Laura
Mmmmmm, corned beef. Everyone's Irish on St. Patrick's Day, right? I have to admit that I was a little skeptical about making corned beef. The recipe really couldn't have been any simpler. Three ingredients. One of them is beer. How do you NOT make this recipe? It came out great. I liked it so much that I used the broth that was left to make a beef stew. I don't know if it's authentic or not but it's how I'll be making corned beef for now on.

I loved the lemon in the cabbage. My issue was that I didn't slice the cabbage into even slices. Or, maybe I should have cut it into thinner wedges. At any rate, the outside of the cabbage was perfectly roasted and seasoned but the inside leaves of the bigger wedges could have used more oven time. Next time, I'll try smaller wedges when I roast the cabbage. I really liked the flavor.

Oh, right .... Irish Soda Bread. I used Splenda instead of sugar and whole wheat flour instead of white. I also didn't add any raisins. The verdict: Don't mess with a classic. It was denser than other Irish Soda Breads that I've tasted. It was still good but I think next year, I'll let someone else be in charge of the bread.

All in all, a very tasty meal. I'm certainly planning on making it again. I just hope it's not so far away as a year from now.

Guinness® Corned Beef
4 pounds corned beef brisket
1 cup brown sugar   
1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle Irish stout
beer (e.g. Guinness®)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Rinse the beef completely and pat dry.
Place the brisket on rack in a roasting pan or Dutch oven. Rub the brown sugar on the corned beef to coat entire beef, including the bottom. Pour the bottle of stout beer around, and gently over the beef to wet the sugar.
Cover, and place in preheated oven. Bake for 2 1/2 hours. Allow to rest 5 minutes before slicing.

Roasted Cabbage with Lemon
1 medium-sized head of green cabbage
2 T olive oil
2-3 T fresh squeezed lemon juice
generous amount of sea salt and fresh ground black pepper
lemon slices, for serving cabbage (optional)

Preheat oven to 450F/232C. Spray a roasting pan with non-stick spray or olive oil.

Cut the head of cabbage into 8 same-size wedges, cutting through the core and stem end. Then carefully trim the core strip and stem from each wedge and arrange wedges in a single layer on the roasting pan (leave some space around them as much as you can.)

Whisk together the olive oil and lemon juice (use the larger amount of lemon juice if you like a lot of lemon like I do.) Then use a pastry brush to brush the top sides of each cabbage wedge with the mixture and season generously with salt and fresh ground black pepper. Turn cabbage wedges carefully, then brush the second side with the olive oil/lemon juice mixture and season with salt and pepper.

Roast cabbage for about 15 minutes, or until the side touching the pan is nicely browned. Then turn each wedge carefully and roast 10-15 minutes more, until the cabbage is nicely browned and cooked through with a bit of chewiness remaining. Serve hot, with additional lemon slices to squeeze lemon juice on at the table if desired.

Irish Soda Bread with Raisins
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
2 cups all purpose flour
5 tablespoons sugar, divided
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
3 tablespoons butter, chilled, cut into cubes
1 cup buttermilk
2/3 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray 8-inch-diameter cake pan with nonstick spray. Whisk flour, 4 tablespoons sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda in large bowl to blend. Add butter. Using fingertips, rub in until coarse meal forms. Make well in center of flour mixture. Add buttermilk. Gradually stir dry ingredients into milk to blend. Mix in raisins.

Using floured hands, shape dough into ball. Transfer to prepared pan and flatten slightly (dough will not come to edges of pan). Sprinkle dough with remaining 1 tablespoon sugar.

Bake bread until brown and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 40 minutes. Cool bread in pan 10 minutes. Transfer to rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Quinoa Pilaf and “Middle Eastern” Chicken

Meredith
This “Middle Eastern” Chicken recipe from Gourmet Magazine was just ok. It wasn't anything special and honestly tasted like a quick go-to marinade I might typically do before grilling. The thyme, oregano and curry were simply lost in the soy. The whole thing was just muddled and boring. I wouldn't bother with it again.

The quinoa pilaf on the other hand was really good! I had issues with getting the water to all absorb - it took longer than the 15 minutes - but that was my fault I'm sure. I also over salted. When the recipe called for a teaspoon and a half of kosher salt, my gut told me that seemed crazy. I know better than to trust a Food Network recipe 100%! Regardless of all of this, the quinoa was still really good. I always love the combo of shallots, mushrooms and thyme. It reminds me of my chicken marsala and that was one of the first fancy dishes I ever made. I'd make it again.

*Pardon my photo this week. I'm not sure why my camera insisted on making things so yellow! This was the only pic I took that wasn't horrible and you can’t even see the quinoa!

Laura
I didn't enjoy the chicken. I'm already looking for something to do with the leftovers. Middle Eastern Chicken Salad? Eh... I wouldn't bother with that chicken recipe again.

But the quinoa... wow... I loved it. So delicious. Have I mentioned how much I love mushrooms? I would say that I used about a cup of mushrooms instead of the 1/2 cup that the recipe called for. I'm glad I did. Half a cup just didn't seem to be enough. Make this recipe! Just pair it with something other than the chicken.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go eat mushroom quinoa, then figure out what to do with leftover Middle Eastern chicken.

Middle Eastern Chicken
1/4 cup low-salt soy sauce
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons water
3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 teaspoons dry Sherry
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon minced peeled fresh gingerroot
1/4 teaspoon curry powder
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme, crumbled
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano, crumbled
2 skinless boneless whole chicken breasts (about 1 1/4 pounds), halved
vegetable-oil cooking spray
1 small onion, sliced thin

In a ceramic or glass container stir together soy sauce, 1/4 cup water, lime juice, Sherry, garlic, gingerroot, curry powder, thyme, and oregano and add chicken. Marinate chicken, covered and chilled, turning occasionally, at least 1 hour and up to 1 day.

Remove chicken from marinade and pat dry with paper towel. Reserve marinade.
Coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray Heat skillet over moderately high heat until hot but not smoking and cook chicken 1 minutes on each side, or until browned. Transfer chicken to a plate. To skillet add 2 tablespoons water and cook, stirring with a wooden spoon and scraping up brown bits, 30 seconds. Add onion and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until softened. Add chicken, reserved marinade and remaining 1/4 cup water and simmer, covered basting chicken frequently, 10 minutes, or until chicken is cooked through. Serve chicken over couscous if desired.

Quinoa Pilaf with Crimini Mushrooms
1 tablespoon kosher for Passover olive oil
1 small shallot, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup crimini mushrooms, wiped clean and thinly sliced
1 1/2 cups quinoa
1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves removed from their stems
1 bay leaf
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
3 cups vegetable stock, or water

Place a saucepan on high heat and get it hot. Add the olive oil and swirl it around to make sure the entire surface is covered with oil. Add the shallot and sweat (cook until translucent but not brown). Add the crimini mushrooms and cook until brown. Add the quinoa, thyme leaves, bay leaf, kosher salt and black pepper to the pan and stir. Let the ingredients heat up and roast a little to bring out all their fullest flavors. The steam coming up should be very aromatic.

Slowly and carefully add the vegetable stock (it will spatter because the pan and ingredients are hot). When it comes to full boil, reduce the heat to a low simmer, cover and allow to steam for about 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes, turn off the heat, remove lid and fluff the quinoa and then replace the lid and allow to sit for about 10 minutes.

Taste for seasoning and adjust, if necessary. Serve.

Chicken Stuffed with Goat Cheese, Mushrooms and Rosemary

Laura
Sometimes in life, you just want to stuff a chicken. This was one of those times. My idea was to stuff chicken breast and Meredith wanted to use mushrooms and goat cheese. The final product was to take a Big Thick Pork Chops Stuffed with Rosemary, Mushrooms and Goat Cheese recipe and use chicken instead.

Goat cheese is yummy and gooey and delicious. Pair it with mushrooms and you can't go wrong. This meal was South Beach friendly, which was nice, too. I used a little Panko bread crumbs to top off the chicken and the rest is delicious history. (I'm just sad that the picture doesn't do this dish any justice.)

Meredith
What more can I say? The combo of melty goat cheese with mushrooms is really delicious. I could have done without the rosemary to be honest, but I really enjoyed this chicken. I paired it with a Tyler Florence recipe: Caramelized Onion and Potato Tart and sauteed squash. My photo doesn't do the dish any justice either. It's really very sad. But at least it doesn't look like an alien! Also- when did Laura start making gravies??

Enchilada Lentil Soup (nee Chicken Tortilla Soup with Lentils)

Meredith
The appeal of this soup, I think, is in it's recipe instructions: add all ingredients to crockpot and cook for 6 hours. How can anything that easy taste anything but good? But apart from that I actually enjoyed the soup itself. Loaded with protein and fiber, it fits the heathy bill while being comfort-foodie at the same time. Ideally I'd dump the taco packet for some real spices but for it's simplicity, I still give it a thumbs up. Bonus: it freezes really well.

Laura
This recipe was originally called Chicken Tortilla Soup with Lentils but Meredith was kind enough to rename it since the original name "didn't make any damn sense". I can't say that I blame her, I mean... if something is going to have "tortilla" in the name, they should be in the recipe.

I enjoyed cooking with the lentils. It was my first lentil adventure. (I'm looking for something to do with the rest of the bag so if you have a great lentil recipe, let me know!)

This was a very cozy tasting dish. It was warm and perfect for a chilly day. I wound up freezing some of it, which makes me happy. Nothing makes me happier than knowing that yummy food is just a few microwave minutes away.

The verdict: Make the dish on a night when you want to eat on the couch, under a throw blanket while watching reality television. You won't be disappointed!

Hot Chocolate on a Stick

Meredith
I originally stumbled upon this recipe for Hot Chocolate on a Stick and shot Laura an email saying I might make these as gifts this year for the office folks. She took it a step further and found a blogger (Foodie with Family) who’d made the recipe AND added homemade marshmallows. AND then convinced me to blog the whole thing. So here goes!

The fudge making itself- VERY easy. And very tasty. I snuck in a teaspoon of coffee extract at the very last stage, but to be honest I didn’t notice it in the end product. The marshmallow making - I definitely had my doubts. I’d never worked with plain old Knox gelatin before nor had I even used the whisk attachment on my stand mixer. Turns out that whisk attachment made the marshmallows for me! Once I poured the mixture into my pan to set, I swirled in some red and green food coloring to make the marshmallows a little festive.

Fast forward to the next night and the assembly of these things. Step one went just fine and I cut the fudge into 36 cubes (using a ruler of course) and arranged on top of little squares of Christmas cards I’d cut. The marshmallow cutting went just fine too – I’m still finding powdered sugar in random places in my kitchen though. Then I stuck the lollipop stick in, yadda yadda yadda...

All in all the assembly and packing wasn’t a huge deal. It’s just that there were 36 of them. To be stuck, packaged and tagged. And ribboned. And I started the whole process at 8pm- which means because I’m slightly particular about presentation, I was finally done around midnight. The fun part was handing them out the next few days and hearing the oohs and ahhs.

It wasn’t until late Sunday night after Christmas when I was all snowed in and cozy that I got to actually TASTE the Hot Chocolate on a Stick. So good. Just really really good. Now why didn’t I save myself more than one??

Laura
Don’t let Meredith fool you! She still has some left over. Moving right along...

These treats were easy to make and so much fun to give away. I really loved the idea of giving away a little something to people that I might not have normally given a gift to. I didn’t swirl any food coloring in my marshmallows. The hot chocolate was really easy to make... easy like fudge. The marshmallows were surprisingly a non-issue. I was scared of the gelatin. So much so that I had decided that I might just buy marshmallows for this recipe instead. Ever the boss, Meredith put the kabosh on that quickly. Don’t tell her, but I'm glad she did.

Lots of people asked for the recipe. That’s always a nice compliment. And honestly, it felt good giving away something so unique that I made. It was different enough to set itself apart from all the cookies, etc that go around this time of year.

"Healthified" Thai Shrimp and Quinoa Curry

Laura
Mmmmmm quinoa. Where has this healthy, little seed been all my life? The quinoa was the star of this Healthified Thai Shrimp and Quinoa Curry dish. The shrimp was good but I wanted it to be a bit spicier. In my opinion, the coconut milk made the shrimp too mellow. I'd be interested in making more Thai dishes but I don't know that I'd make these shrimps again. I will say, that the dish was very filling. I'm attributing that to the quinoa. Over all, I was neither impressed nor repelled by the dish. It was just... eh.

Meredith

I tend to agree with Laura on this dish. The quinoa was delicious. I’d never made or had it before. Very very filling dish, but just lacked any flavor. More spices or a marinade on the shrimp would have definitely gone a long way. I’d make something similar again, but I wouldn’t bother with this as the recipe is written.

Asian Pork Roast

Meredith
Ohhh Asian Pork Roast! Where did you go wrong? Could it have been the instructions to brown the meat after I just rubbed raw garlic on you? Could it have been the use of cloves? Whatever happened, I wasn’t a fan. Most of my roast was dry - I suppose I overcooked it. The onions sweetened to the point of tasting like apples. The whole thing was just not very good. I ate the leftovers throughout the week, but omitted the onions and went light on any sauce. There have got to be better recipes for Asian pork than this. Recipe was was Taste of Home and can be found here.

Laura
Asian Pork Roast sounds delicious, right? Okay, maybe it was a little weird that it smelled like pumpkin pie while it was cooking. I’m assuming that was the ginger and cloves that made it smell that way. Fine, it tasted like someone accidentally seasoned the pork with pumpkin pie spice. There. I said it. Not my favorite dish. Also, mine didn’t cut as pretty as the picture did. My pork shredded. So, what I wound up with was shredded pumpkin pie pork over peas and rice. And those are onions on the top of the pork. They had a weird texture, too. I'm not making this again. I should have allowed the last reviewer of the recipe to be a warning. Lesson learned.

Tuna Casserole

Laura

Let me tell you how this tuna casserole blog came to be...

I was cleaning out my pantry. I had some things that I'm sure I got because they were on sale and I never managed to use them. For example, cream of celery soup. I don’t even LIKE celery. Add that to the cans of tuna and the 1 1/2 bags of egg noodles that I had and I had myself a tuna casserole. 

I’ve never made tuna casserole. I had one experience eating it as a kid and I didn’t like it. It seems comforting though, like mac and cheese is. I mentioned thinking about making it and soon, Meredith was helping me find recipes that we might make.

That being said, I wound up making a hybrid of two recipes. The base of the tuna casserole, I made using this Cheesy Tuna Casserole recipe. Then for the topping, I used this Light and Hearty Tuna Casserole recipe. The only changes I made were to the base recipe: I added the aforementioned cream of celery soup and I accidentally left out the frozen peas.

Would I make it again? Sure. I’d maybe like to find a tasty but healthier recipe to use. I have a whole year to find out. I figure that's the next time I’ll be cleaning out my pantry...

Meredith
I grew up eating tuna casserole maybe weekly. I love the stuff. But it wasn’t until I was in my first apartment and asked my mother how to make it, did I find out that she HATED tuna casserole. My mom recently told me that she hasn’t made tuna casserole since I left home. My poor dad.



I loosely followed this recipe from Food.People.Want. with modifications, of course. I started by sauteing crimini mushrooms with garlic, onions, the celery and green (instead of red) peppers. To that I added the cream of celery soup, milk, mayonnaise, some cheese and the tuna. Finally I folded in cooked egg noodles and poured the mixture into my casserole dish. I used the same topping Laura did: panko breadcrumbs, butter, paprika and Italian seasoning – over top of more cheese though. This was a really good bowl of food and it just got better as the week went on. Next time I’ll have my dad over and I’ll try and remember the peas!

Steak San Marco . . . Polo!

Laura
Where has Steak San Marco been all my life? Super easy and really delicious. I’m definitely making this again.  It felt comforting and rustic. I put it over rice but next time, I’d put it over pasta. (Note to Meredith: Egg noodles are not to be considered pasta.)

I didn’t change a single thing since the recipe was so easy and straight-forward.  This is the perfect way to make something delicious using items that you probably already have in your pantry.

Meredith
One of my favorite dishes that my grandmother makes is Steak San Marco. One day I said to her how much I would LOVE her recipe. She was beyond excited to give it to me. So she went to her desk and hand wrote it on a little piece of stationery that I tucked it away in a binder when I got home. When I was finally ready to make the dish, I Googled “Steak San Marco” to see if it was an actual thing or just something my grandmother had given a name to. Well wouldn’t you know it – her handwritten recipe was COPIED WORD FOR WORD from cooks.com!!! So much for being a family dish! Oh well, it’s super delicious and almost guiltily easy to make.

STEAK SAN MARCO

• 2 lb. chuck meat in cubes
• 1 env. onion soup mix
• 1 can (1 lb.) Italian tomatoes
• 1 tsp. oregano
• Ground pepper
• Garlic powder
• 2 tbsp. cooking oil
• 2 tbsp. wine vinegar

In a large saucepan arrange meat. Cover with dry soup and mix. Add tomatoes, sprinkle with oregano, garlic powder, pepper, oil and vinegar. Simmer 2 1/2 hours. Serve over rice.

Enchiladas Especiales Tacuba Style

Meredith
Working our way down our “bucket list” of Sunday dinners, we reach enchiladas – on precisely the same week that Laura decides she wants to cook something “more involved.” And so here we have Rick Bayless’ Enchiladas Especiales. These chicken enchiladas are covered in a cream sauce that’s a vibrant green from roasted poblanos and fresh spinach. While there were quite a few steps, none of them seemed difficult. I like spending time in the kitchen anyway. The result was one amazing dinner. The enchiladas were rich and cheesy and chickeny – As good as I could get in any Mexican restaurant.

Laura
Let me just say that this is the best dish of food I've eaten in a while!  I don't think that I'll ever be able to eat enchiladas in a restaurant after this.  They were DE-LI-CIOUS!  The poblano peppers gave the green sauce just a little bit of kick in the background.  And there's spinach!  While the enchiladas were "involved" as far as steps went, it wasn't like we had to do some weird cooking method or anything.  They were easy and straight-forward.

So, if you're looking to wow your guests with a dish that tastes like you spent all afternoon in the kitchen, make this dish.  The best part is that you can make the enchiladas ahead of time, clean up your dishes (you'll have a few), then throw them in the oven as your guests arrive.  Your kitchen will be clean and you'll be relaxing knowing that deliciousness awaits.

Stuffed Pork Chops

It was one of those weeks where we started with an idea and went off in search of our own recipes.

Meredith
I tackled Emeril Lagasse’s Homemade Andouille-Stuffed, Bacon-Wrapped Double-Cut Pork Chops with Awesome Ham Hock Gravy. Four kinds of pig on one plate? Yep- I went there! Firstly, I did NOT make my own andouille sausage. Other than that, I think I followed the recipe to a T. A couple of things: the stuffing to me was lacking in flavor. The andouille seemed wasted and superfluous; the cornbread stayed grainy; it just wasn’t very interesting. Next, the amount of bacon I was supposed to wrap these chops in? WOW. My saute pan was a pool of bacon fat and I had to pour most of it out before I went into the oven. About half the bacon would have been plenty rich. BUT the star of the show - The Ham Hock Gravy - OH MAN was that ever a winner! Absolutely delicious. I probably won’t bother with much else of this recipe again, but I’ll need to find places to put this gravy in the future.

Laura
Well, the recipe I used was supposed to be an easier version of the one Meredith used, but honestly, whoever wrote it neglected to reread it.  (Yeah, this is the part where Meredith tells me that if I read the recipe more than once, I might have noticed it.)  Moving right along . . .

The pork chops were really good.  They were actually better the second time around.  I find that happens a lot.  I always seem to enjoy food the next day so much more.  My only issue was that there was way too much bacon on the pork chops.  I'm not convinced if the bacon was used to flavor or to hide the messy stuffing job.  Look, I'm the only person on the planet that thinks that while bacon does have it's place in my life (BLTs, with eggs, maybe even on the occasional burger), I don't think it needs to be EVERYWHERE.  This might be one of those times.  I feel like everywhere I look, a baconista (just watch that word catch on) is putting bacon in cupcakes or some other similarly inappropriate place.  Wait, I was talking about pork chops, wasn't I?

The end result was very good.  I enjoyed the pork chop.  I'm glad we made them but I'm still not over the bacon!

South Beach Diet Extravaganza!!

This was an entire day of cooking. We made egg muffins to have for breakfast through the week and then  dinner and dessert for that night.

Egg Muffins My recipe goes something like this:

12 eggs, beaten

4 oz low fat cheese, grated (I used pepper jack)
4 oz turkey sausage, browned
1 red/green pepper
1/2 onion

Brown, turkey with pepper and onion. Season with salt and pepper. Line muffin tins with cupcake liners and spray VERY WELL with non-stick spray. Spoon sausage and veg mixture evenly throughout muffin tins. Top each with cheese. Pour eggs over top and bake at 350 for 30 minutes-ish or until eggs are set.

Spinach Souffle Stuffed Chicken
This is one of my tried and true South Beach Diet Cookbook recipes. It awesome every time. It’s something I’d consider eating everyday. It’s best served with mashed cauliflower and the sauce that the recipe instructs. Decadent even.

Mocha Creme Somethings
This is my second attempt at a South Beach Cookbook dessert. BLEH BLEH BLEH. Nothing I’ve ever made is any good. I will stick to my fudgsicles.

Laura
Here's the recipe I used for my Egg Muffins:
Kalyn's Kitchen Egg Muffins 
(Note: I've used this website a couple of times now.  There are a lot of healthy and delicious recipes on there.  Definitely check out some of the other recipes on there, too.)  So, the muffins are great.  This obviously can be changed based on the vegetables, cheeses and meats that you have on hand.

The chicken recipe I used was the same exact one that Meredith used.  South Beach has never tasted so good!  I'm not sure if I did something wrong, but it was kind of a messy prep.  Well worth it, though.  The spinach souffle was surprisingly very flavorful.  I'd definitely make this again.  The best part was, when I brought it into work the next day, my friend commented on how delicious it looked.  She couldn't believe that it was made with a frozen food product.

 And finally for that disastrous dessert.  Obviously, something went very, very wrong because my eggs tasted scrambled instead of custard-like.  I won't make that ever again!  Lesson learned!

July 4th Weekend YUM-O Food!!

We did nothing but eat the weekend Laura was here for July 4th!!

Weber’s Real Grilling Grilled Crab Cakes
Salsa
1 ripe mango, about 1 lb, peeled, seeded and cut into 1/4 inch dice
1 medium red onion. finely chopped
3 tbsp finely chopped fresh basil
1 tbsp fresh lime juice
1 tbsp minced jalapeno pepper
1/2 tsp kosher salt

Crab Cakes
3/4 pound fresh, frozen or canned lump crab meat
1 cup plain breadcrumbs
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1 egg, beaten
2 green onions, white and light green parts, minced
1/2 tsp soy sauce
1/4 Tabasco sauce
1/4 tsp kosher salt
1/8 tsp pepper

To make the salsa: in a medium bowl combine the salsa ingredients. Mix well and let stand at room temperature for 30 minutes to 3 hours until flavors blend.

Drain the crab meat in a sieve. In a medium bowl, flake the meat with a fork and discard any shells or cartilage that might remain. Add the remaining ingredients, mixing gently but thoroughly. Shape into 12 small cakes. Place cakes on a plate, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes until firm enough for the grill.

Grill over direct high heat until the bread crumbs are toasted, 6-8 minutes, turning once with spatula very carefully. Serve warm with salsa spooned on top.

There was also steak, bread and zucchini. But, really, who cares about that?

Also that weekend we had smoked ribs, caprese kabobs and Mexican street corn (inspired by our corn the week before in New York City) Dos Caminos. The ribs I smoked for about 5 hours with a rub and then threw them on the grill with sauce to finish them off. The kabobs Laura put together with mozzarella, cherry tomatoes and fresh basil. She finished those off with a balsamic glaze made by simply reducing balsamic vinegar on the stove. The Mexican Street Corn was kind a a creation made by looking a various recipes online and throwing together what I had on hand. I grilled the delicious sweet white corn to start. Then spread on a mixture of sour cream, a dash of heavy cream to loosen things up, chili power, garlic, chipotle puree, salt and pepper. Finally topped the hot corn with a squeeze of lime juice and grate queso fresco. OMG it was SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO good. Best thing I ate all weekend HANDS DOWN. (notice the paper towel and beer. Both necessary).

Laura
All I can add to this is that I've never had Mexican street corn before this. I was pleasantly surprised at how delicious corn can be. The crab cakes were awesome, too.  Honestly, the whole weekend of food and fireworks was perfect. Especially since I got to throw together some skewers and Meredith did all the hard stuff.  I'm sure she knew that I was too drunk to cook.  Hey, where's the rum punch recipe?

Holy Chipotle Meatloaf Batman!

Meredith
A friend of mine turned me on to a place around here that makes food for you. It’s not a restaurant - it’s a take home and heat kind of joint (Cena). I was looking through their menu and came across their “most requested” entree: Chipotle Meatloaf. That sent me on an internet search for the BEST Chipotle Meatloaf. Without a doubt Luna Cafe delivered with this. This was beyond a doubt the best meatloaf I’ve ever had for starters. And if you dig a little further they suggest a Potatao, Yam, Garlic, Smoke Cheddar Gratin Mashed Potato something to accompany it. I did a mash-up of the mashed potato and the gratin. OMG DELICIOUS. It was even better the next day. I sent plates home with my parents who happened to stop by. Mom called a month later to get the recipe. It’s a keeper. It might even be a once a weeker. (Luna Cafe’s pics are WAY better!!)

Laura
I love meatloaf. It's comforting and cozy and reminds me of when we all used to sit down together at the dinner table. Meatloaf gets some sort of bad rap but it shouldn't. Next time the family rolls their eyes at the thought of meatloaf, surprise them with this recipe. They won't be disappointed. I know I wasn't. It's just as comforting as I remember meatloaf to be with the added benefit of being more modernized. I agree with Meredith that it was so much better the second day. I'm thinking I might make this again real soon and just freeze individual portions of it. Who am I kidding? It won't make it to the freezer this time, either!

Burgers MY Way

Meredith
I am iffy on burgers. I rarely crave them. When I do, It’s satisfied with just a regular homemade grilled burger. This day I made Chipotle Burgers with an Avocado Cream Sauce.

Burger
1 lb. ground sirloin
2 tbs minced chipotle with adobo
1/2 diced onion
1/2 tbs extra virgin olive oil

Mix all burger components together and form into patties. Grill to desired doneness. 

Avocado Cream Sauce
1 avocado
1/2 Mexican Crema
1 tsp lime zest
Juice of 1 lime
1 garlic clove, minced
salt & pepper to taste
Combine all ingredients into food processor and mix until smooth.

Toppings
Pico de gallo
Grilled Vidalia Onions
Grilled ciabatta with olive oil and salt & pepper
Grill both after burgers come off

I’m so glad I sought out the quality sirloin. I think that it made all the difference in these burgers. Or else it was the chipotle kick that I’m on these days. In any case, this was a super delicious burger. 100% juicy, full of flavor and messy like a good burger should be. I had mine with some grilled sweet potato fries FTW.

Laura
In an attempt to go low carb, I made bunless Portobello Burgers. When making veggie burgers, make sure you drain all the extra liquid out of the vegetables or you'll wind up with a soggy mess! That's my tip of the day. Also, TVP is just vegetarian crumbles.  I used Morningstar Meal Starters.

The burgers cooked up crispy and I thought they had a ton of flavor.  I really enjoyed eating them.  It almost made me sad to give two away to my sister. They're a little time consuming to make, but honestly, they tasted way better than any of those frozen vegetarian patties that I've tried.

Also, you're going to want to try this Bean Salad. It was the perfect match for the burger.

Carne Asada

Meredith
I went to 1,000,000 stores to find skirt steak this week. I have to say it may have been worth the searching. We made Carne Asada from Simply Recipes. Turns out it was pretty simple! It’s a very basic marinade that gives HUGE flavor to a wonderful cut of beef. I tossed my meat on a super hot grill for for about 7 minutes total time and then let it rest before cutting it across the grain about 5 minutes later. I used the grill to warm my corn tortillas – almost turning them into hard taco shells. After topping them with shredded cheese and a quick homemade pico de gallo, they were ready to eat!

Laura
Skirt steak is not cheap, so my first piece of advice would be to buy it when it's on sale THEN make the carne asada. I used my cast iron skillet for the steak. It worked really well, but I think at some point, I want to buy a grill pan.

My second piece of advice would be to let the steak marinate for as long as possible.The flavor was really great, but I didn't get to marinate for the entire four hours. I bet it would have made the flavors way more intense.

Over all, this was a really great meal. It was very tasty and filling. I'd make carne asada again, but I'd like to experiment with different recipes.

Guy Fieri’s Coyote Quesadillas

Meredith
This was a joint cooking attempt/venture since we were in the same place at the same time. I (Meredith) came to visit Laura in May at some point and we made THESE Coyote Quesadillas!

Holy crap they were good! After almost burning down Laura’s apartment, we turned out some pretty good food. I learned that #1 DON’T BLACKEN THINGS unless you're prepared for it. Man that’s a lot of smoke! and #2 Quit being so bossy. I’m kind of a terror in the kitchen – even if it’s not mine.

Since it’s been 2 months since we made these I can only *kind* of remember all the flavors. I know that I loved it and had seconds. I also know that it was a LOT of food. Have friends over. They will love you.

Laura
I think Meredith's always known she was bossy (in the kitchen). I also think that had she not had so much Sangria, she might not have smoked out my apartment. That's really not here or there . . .

These quesadillas were delicious! I was really happy to have extra black bean salsa. The chicken was flavored really well, too.  I'd definitely make these again.  Or, make them the first time, depending on your side of the story.

Mmmmm Nachos

Laura
Nachos are the perfect food. I love them. The nachos I made are hard to blog because I didn't have a recipe. I don't even know how much of anything I used.

I bought a rotisserie chicken. I shredded it and threw it in a pan along with corn, jalapeno peppers, chipotle peppers, black beans, red kidney beans, diced tomatoes and some spices. I tackled the nachos like they were a lasagna. The chips were a mixture of blue corn chips and red bean and rice chips. I layered them in a casserole dish, added the chicken mixture and topped it with habanero cheese. I had 3 layers that reminded me a little of our Mexican casserole dish. They sat under the broiler until the cheese melted.

These were really yummy. And hot! I plated them topped with hot salsa, sour cream and avocado slices.

Meredith
Lucky’s Nachos are the perfect food. I was merely trying to replicate them here for Cinco de Mayo. I decided at some point I was GRILLING the nachos. I took my cast iron skillet and started with a layer of blue and white tortilla chips, topped that with a mixture or pepper jack and sharp cheddar. Next: the chicken. (I, too, used a rotisserie chicken, shredded it and added stewed tomatoes, sliced jalapeños, onion, garlic and some cumin, chile powder, etc. I’m not even sure). A black bean and corn salsa I threw together went on next and then onto the grill. They went about ten minutes until the cheese was all melty. I topped the platter with sour cream and green onions. OLÉ!

Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup

Laura
It shouldn’t really come as a surprise that Split Pea Soup follows our ham blog.   It’s a great way to use up leftover ham and the ham bone.  The soup was good.  It was a little thick but still good.  I gave most of it away.  Honestly, it just kept reminding me of that awful ham.  Further proof is the fact that there's no picture on my camera for the soup.  Here’s hoping Meredith took one.

Meredith
Oh wow- you poor ham.... Laura really hated you, didn’t she? Aaaaanyway- split pea soup. It was good! Super quick and easy- I threw it in the crockpot and went to bed. I made drop biscuits when I got home from work and reheated the soup for a 10 minute dinner. I loved the homey-ness of something so simple and tasty. I did snap a pic before I chowed.
 

CRAP! I forgot to mention my super cute Pier 1 Easter/Spring dishes. I had the ham in them and then the soup!