DoughSeeDough

a balanced plate with room for dessert


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Shrimp Fra Diavolo

This was a week of “firsts” for me.

  • I tried boxing for the first time. Loved it! What a great stress reliever. I thought I was in shape since I work out 6 days a week between running, biking, strength, and Pilates, but I was not prepared for the oh-man-kill-me-now feeling I got during the boxing workout with Mike. Bring on the pain!
  • I did my first speedwork run. I ditched the half marathon training schedule I painstakingly wrote for myself and decided to try the FIRST program instead. I re-wrote my runs and incorporated my data from the McMillan Running Calculator to give me a training plan that spells out my training paces.
  • I drove in snow for the first time this winter. Ok, maybe it wasn’t the first time, but the other snowfalls didn’t count because they didn’t even stick for longer than a day. What’s up with that, WI?
  • I watched my first episode of Dance Moms: Season 2. I love bad TV.
  • My last “first”? I participated in my first recipe swap! Read on for more info about it…

Usually the participants just gets another blogger’s recipe, but they shook it up a little this week: we each got a blog and had the freedom to make whatever we wanted from that blog! I got Fried Ice and Donut Holes and she has so many great recipes to choose from!! I spent over an hour looking at her blog before finally deciding on the dish I wanted to try. The luck recipe? Shrimp fra diavolo! It’s been on my “must cook” list for a while and I figured this was the perfect time to try it.

The dish turned out pretty darn good. Mike loved it; I think it could have been a little (ok, a lot) spicier. But hey, I’m weird and I love major heat in my food. Next time I’ll be crankin’ up the spiciness by adding a few more sprinkles of red pepper flakes to my portion!

Shrimp Fra Diavolo
recipe slightly modified from Fried Ice and Donut Holes

1 pound whole wheat pasta
1 pound large, uncooked shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium onion, chopped
1 cup dry white wine
1-28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
2 teaspoons red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
Fresh basil, for garnish
Grated Parmesan cheese, for garnish

  1. Cook pasta according to package directions.
  2. Meanwhile, heat olive on in a large skillet over medium heat.
  3. Season shrimp with  salt and pepper. Add to skillet and saute for 1 minute. Turn shrimp and saute the other side until shrimp are cooked through and no longer translucent. Transfer shrimp to a separate plate.
  4. Add onions to pan and saute until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and saute for an additional minute. Add wine to pan to deglaze and allow to simmer for 1 minute.
  5. Add tomatoes, red pepper, and oregano. Reduce heat to medium-low and let sauce simmer for 10 – 15 minutes, until reduced to your desired consistency.
  6. Return shrimp to sauce and stir to coat.
  7. Toss cooked pasta with sauce and shrimp. Garnish with basil and Parmesan cheese, if desired.


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Fueling the Run with Cranberry Orange Bread

Born to run? Not me. Picked last in gym class? Spent afternoons after school in math club? That’s more like it. So, why did I choose running as my sport? To be quite honest, it’s because it is one of the few sports that don’t involve an object flying at your face. Yeah, I lack hand-eye coordination. Big time.

I was scarred for life when I played soccer in elementary school. Tennis lessons in middle school? Horrifying. To this day, I stay away from soccer, volleyball, tennis, kickball and any other sport that involves a fast-flying ball.

I started to run my junior year in college to prepare for a family vacation to the Boundary Waters. I decided to use the ever so popular Couch to 5K program as my training guide. I’m not going to lie, doing day 1 of week 1 was almost too much for me and I wanted to quit halfway through.  But, I pushed through it. Two days later, I pushed through another workout. Rinse and repeat until I could (gasp!) run for 30 minutes straight. Boundary Waters went off without a hitch. Unfortunately, having nothing to work towards after the trip, I stopped running.

I didn’t start running again until my younger sister talked me into running a 15K with her. I have no idea how she convinced me, but it turns out that my promise would change my life.  I spent that winter painfully, slooooowly running (a more accurate word would probably be shuffling) that winter, gradually working my way up to 1 mile, then 2, 3… when I finally hit 5 miles, I felt like I had conquered the world.

I trained as hard as I could and in November of 2011, I ran my very first race at the age of 24. Completing the 15k was probably one of the most proudest moments of my life. I had done what I thought was impossible: I was a runner. I ran a 5 mile Turkey Trot a few weeks later and knew I was hooked.

My sister (R) and me after the Hot Chocolate 15K in Chicago

Mike and me after the 5 mile Turkey Trot

I am now looking forward to another 15K in February and then a half marathon in May. I may not be fast, graceful, or have an athlete’s body, but I am a runner.

The best part? Running fueled a new interest in nutrition. I had a degree in dietetics, but never knew what I wanted to do with it until I started running. I realized how I felt after I ate certain foods. I found out my perfect pre-run (Greek yogurt and a small banana) and post-run (most recently cranberry orange bread) foods. Running urged me to continue my schooling, and that’s where I am now – working through a dietetic internship with a new passion for nutrition!

If you made it through this long-winded post (quite possibly my longest ever), I am amazed. As a thank you, I will offer you the recipe to my new favorite post-workout food – cranberry orange bread!

I have made the bread two ways now – one as written on allrecipes.com and the other with the changes published below. I prefer the recipe below – it’s a bit denser and not-so-sweet. Adding in whole wheat flour and reducing the amount of butter and sugar are an added health benefit, too!

Cranberry Orange Bread

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large orange, zested (about 1 heaping tablespoon)
1 1/2 cups fresh cranberries
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
2 tablespoons butter, softened
2 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
3/4 cup orange juice

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 9×5 loaf pan.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and orange zest. Stir in cranberries and walnuts. Set aside.
  3. In a large bowl, cream together butter, applesauce, and sugar until smooth. Beat in egg and orange juice. Stir in flour mixture, mixing until just moistened.
  4. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and bake for 55 – 65 minutes, or until bread is golden brown and springs back when lightly touched. Let stand 15 minutes and then turn out onto cooling rack to cool completely.

Recipe adapted from allrecipes.com


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Welcoming 2012 with Mocha Almond Biscotti

These biscotti are perfect for the chocolate lover in your life. The chocolatey goodness is highlighted with a hint of coffee and each bite is guaranteed to have some to-die-for chocolate chips and almonds. I loved biscotti back in my coffee drinking days. Now, I won’t touch the stuff, but I still enjoy biscotti on its own! They’re crisp but not hard and well… perfect.

So, start 2012 out right with some of these biscotti. Share the love and send some to friends and family 🙂

Mocha Almond Biscotti

2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 teaspoons instant coffee
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup chopped almonds
3/4 cup mini chocolate chips

  1.  Preheat oven to 350°F. Butter and flour a large baking sheet and set aside.
  2. In a bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.
  3. In separate bowl, beat together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
  4. In a small bowl, whisk together eggs and instant coffee. Add eggs and vanilla until butter mixture and beat until well combined.
  5. Stir in flour mixture and mix until a stiff dough forms. Stir in almonds and chocolate chips.
  6. On prepared baking sheet with floured hands form dough into 2 slightly flattened logs, each about 12 inches long and 2 1/2 inches wide.
  7. Bake for 35 minutes and remove from oven. Let cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes.  Transfer biscotti to cutting board.
  8. Using a very sharp knife, cut biscotti diagonally into 3/4 inch slices. Arrange cut slices onto baking sheet cut-side down. Bake 5 minutes and flip biscotti to other side. Bake for another 5 minutes or until biscotti are crisp.
  9. Let cool completely before storing in an airtight container.


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Wrapping up 2011 with Sea Salt Caramels

It’s been a long, crazy year. Even though I didn’t quite make it through my 11 in ’11 list (oops), I managed to accomplish a lot of things that I am very proud of. Mike and I bought our first house; I got accepted in the dietetic internship program of my dreams; I ran my very first race, the Hot Chocolate 15K in Chicago; signed up for my first half marathon; and celebrated one year of marriage with Mike.

Maybe 12 in ’12 will be a little more successful. I actually made most of the items on  my 11 in ’11, but I never found the time to write about them. I think once I graduate in May my life will become much more manageable and DSD will once again be updated regularly. So, keep an eye out in 2012 for my 2011 must-cook dishes!! Until then, stir up some of these delicious caramels – the perfect balance of sweet and salty goodness.

Microwave Sea Salt Caramels

1/4 cup unsalted butter, cut into 8 pieces
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
coarse sea salt

  1. Line a 9×13 pan with aluminum foil. Coat inside with cooking spray. Set aside.
  2. In a large microwave safe bowl combine butter, white sugar, brown sugar, corn syrup, sweetened condensed milk and vanilla. Stir together and place in microwave.
  3. Cook on full power for 6 minutes, stopping to stir thoroughly twice during the cooking time (every 2 minutes).
  4. Remove from microwave and stir until well mixed. Pour into prepared pan. Place in fridge until firm, about 45 minutes.
  5. Remove whole slab of caramel at one time by pulling up on aluminum foil. Place slab on cutting board covered with parchment and peel off foil.
  6. If caramels are oily from the cooking spray, blot them off with a paper towel. Sprinkle coarse sea salt directly on top of caramels.
  7. Cut caramels into desired size and wrap with parchment paper.
recipe from The Yummy Life


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Wok-Stirred Curry-Ginger Chicken with Zucchini

Trust me, the dish tastes as good as it sounds. And it’s so easy that even little ol’ me, an 8-to-5-employee-turned-dietetic-intern-with-no-spare-time-in-the-world, has time to make it! The complex flavors will blow you away. I was hoping to use this recipe as a main dish for my “theme meal” during my hospital food service rotation, but I was the unlucky intern that ended up with virtually no control over my own meal [[insert sad face]].

So, if I can’t share it with the staff, patients, and visitors of the hospital, I will share it with the rest of the world! I hope you love it as much as I do.

Wok-Stirred Curry-Ginger Chicken with Zucchini
serves 4 

1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast cut into 1-inch dice
1 tablespoon cornstarch
4 tablespoons canola oil, divided
1/2 teaspoon freshly minced ginger, divided
2 teaspoons Madras curry powder, divided
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
2 medium onions, chopped
2 small zucchini, cut into 1 inch pieces
1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth

  1. In a medium bowl, toss chicken with cornstarch. Mix to coat chicken completely. Set aside.
  2. Heat a wok or large pan over medium heat, combine 2 tablespoons oil and 1/4 teaspoon ginger. Cook until ginger is fragrant. Add in 1 teaspoons curry powder and stir to combine. Increase heat to high and swirl oil in wok to coat the sides.
  3. Add chicken and stir-fry until just cooked through, about 3 – 5 minutes.Season with salt and pepper. Remove chicken to a plate.
  4. Repeat step 2 with remaining oil, ginger, and curry powder. Add onions and stir-fry until soft, about 2 minutes.
  5. Add zucchini, season with salt and pepper, and stir-fry until the zucchini is tender, about 4 – 5 minutes.
  6. Return chicken to wok, add broth, and bring to a boil, about 30 seconds. Stir, remove from heat and taste. Season with additional salt and pepper, if desired.
  7. Serve immediate with rice.

adapted from the Simply Ming cookbook

 


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Apple Streusel Bars

Mike and I went apple picking with my family a few weeks ago and we went home with a 10+ pound bag of apples. I ate as many as I could (I think I averaged 2 a day). My new favorite snack? Apples with vanilla yogurt and a sprinkle of cinnamon. YUM. There is such thing as too much of a good thing, though. I decided to bake something before I started to hate apples.

My only criteria was that it had to be something I’ve never made before. So, caramel apples, apple pie, baked apples, applesauce,  and apple cupcakes were all out. I finally stumbled across a recipe for apple streusel bars over at Our Best Bites. They looked pretty darn tasty and the recipe was simple, too. Simple is a must because I find myself with so little time to cook and bake now with the internship…

These bars are perfect for breakfast, dessert or even a snack. Mike likes them warmed up a bit in the microwave before he eats them. No microwave? A toaster oven or even a hair dryer might work 😉

Apple Streusel Bars

For the pastry:
2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, softened
1 egg, beaten

For the filling:
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
4 cups sliced, peeled baking apples

For the glaze:
2 cups powdered sugar
3 tablespoons milk
1 teaspoon almond extract

  1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
  2. For the crust: combine flour, sugar, salt and baking powder in a medium bowl. Cut in butter until pea-sized crumbs form. Gently mix in beaten egg. Spray a 9×13 baking dish with cooking spray. Gently pat about 2/3 of the crumb mixture onto the bottom of the dish.
  3. For the filling: combine flour, sugar, and cinnamon. Toss with apples. Spread apples on to prepared crust. Sprinkle reserved crust mixture over apples evenly. Bake in preheated oven for 40 minutes. When cooked, allow to cool completely.
  4. For the glaze: whisk together powdered sugar, almond extract and milk. Place glaze into a zip-top bag and cut off a small portion of one of the corners. Drizzle glaze over cooled pastry and allow to harden. Cut into bars and serve.


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Black Bean Salsa

I first had this salsa at a friend’s wedding brunch. And I had it again when we went to visit these friends in Minnesota. It swept me off my feet the first time I had it and the feeling didn’t change. Obviously, I had to get the recipe! So, thank you Kirsten, for passing Georgette’s Black Bean Salsa recipe to me! Can you spot it in this yum-licious pile of nachos??

I made a huge batch a few days ago and the flavor just gets better and better every day. Yum. I think I need to always keep ingredients for this on hand.

Georgette’s Black Bean Salsa

1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup sugar
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
1 can white corn, drained
3 large tomatoes, diced (about 2 cups)
1 green pepper, diced
1 red onion, diced

  1. Combine oil, apple cider vinegar, and sugar in a small pot over medium heat. Warm until sugar is dissolved. Set aside to cool.
  2. Combine remaining ingredients in large bowl. Pour dressing over vegetables and stir to combine.


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French Dip Sandwiches

When life gives you a humongous roast, you might as well use it took cook up something delicious!

Slow cooker meals are my saving grace right now. The dietetic internship has been keeping me busy busy busy. I rarely have the energy to cook after a long day of school/work and then a workout. But slow cookers? I can prep the stuff the night before and shove it into the fridge and then have Mike start cooking it at around noon. I’m really digging this system, and it’s so convenient!

I skipped the soy sauce in the recipe below (didn’t have any… no idea how that happened!) and just tossed in about 4 sliced mushrooms instead for the umami that soy sauce lends. It turned out great and the sodium levels were cut even more!

French Dip Sandwiches
makes 7 sandwiches 

1 medium yellow onion
3/4 cup low sodium beef broth
1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 1/4 pound chuck roast, trimmed
salt and pepper to taste
7 sandwich rolls
7 slices provolone or Swiss cheese

  1. Slice onions into 1/4″ rings and place in the bottom of the slow cooker. Add broth, soy sauce, water, Worcestershire sauce and garlic.
  2. Salt and pepper all sides of the roast and place on top of the onions. Cook on low for 6 – 7 hours or until beef is fall-apart tender.
  3. Transfer roast to a cutting board and shred with two forksReturn roast to crock pot.
  4. Toast bread in oven until just browned. Remove tops of bread and set aside. Scoop beef onto sandwich bottoms and top with a slice of cheese. Heat in oven until cheese is just melted. Top with sandwich tops and serve with small bowls of jus.
recipe from stick a fork in it


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Souvlaki

I love meals that Mike and I can work on together. Translation – he can grill. I also love meals that are fairly easy to prep. Souvlaki was just that!

I served this with homemade pita bread and some Greek salad for the perfect meal. So, quick, give this meal a try before it gets too cold to grill! I swear we’re only a couple of weeks away from our first snow.

Souvlaki
serves 6

1 lemon, juiced
1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 teaspoon dried oregano
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 – 3 pounds pork tenderloin, cut into 1 inch pieces
2 medium onions, cut into 1 inch pieces
2 green bell peppers, cut into 1 inch pieces
skewers

  1. In a large non-reactive bowl,  whisk together lemon juice, olive oil, soy sauce, oregano, and garlic.
  2. Add pork, onions, and green pepper to the marinade and stir to coat. Cover and refrigerate for 6 hours or overnight.
  3. Preheat grill to medium-high heat.
  4. Thread pork, onion, and green peppers onto skewers.
  5. Lightly oil grate. Cook pork for 10 – 15 minutes, turning once.


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General Tso’s Chicken

Problem: Mike loves “Chinese” takeout. My stomach can;t handle the grease.

Solution: make it at home.

I made it this time with a lightly battered fried chicken, but I think next time I’ll skip the frying all together. It will 1) save time and 2) be just a tad bit healthier. Using low sodium chicken broth is absolutely essential. The sauce will be horribly salty if you don’t!!

So, give it a go. Who knows? Maybe you’ll end up opening your own Chinese restaurant…

General Tso’s Chicken
serves 4

1 1/2 teaspoons toasted sesame oil
1 large egg white
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon soy sauce, divided
1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons cornstarch, divided
1 pound skinless boneless chicken breast, cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces
1 cup low sodium chicken broth
1 teaspoon Chinese chile-garlic sauce
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon vegetable oil, plus more for frying
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh ginger
2 large garlic cloves, minced
4 scallions, thinly sliced
Rice, for serving

  1. In a medium bowl, combine sesame oil, egg white, 1 tablespoon soy sauce, and 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons corn starch. Add chicken, stirring to coat. Let stand at room temperature for 20 minutes.
  2. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine chicken broth with chile-garlic sauce, sugar, and 1/4 cup soy sauce and 1 tablespoon cornstarch.
  3. In a large, deep skillet, heat 1/2 inch of oil until shimmering. Carefully add the chicken, one piece at a time and fry over high heat, turning once or twice, until brown and crisp, about 4 minutes.
  4. Remove cooked chicken to paper towels to drain and immediately add to the sauce with the scallions. Cook until just coated, about 30 seconds.
  5. Serve immediately with rice.
adapted from foodandwine.com