My friend dropped off a bag of delicious bagels the other day and so I decided to make some vegetable cream cheese to go with it! I’m pretty happy with the result. If you like store-bought vegetable cream cheese, I suggest you whip up this homemade version – it’s so much better!
Avocados were on sale at the grocery store and I just couldn’t pass up the chance to make some guacamole. We devoured the entire thing in about 3 days using Manny’s Tortilla Strips (the absolute best) as the mode of transportation to get from the bowl to our mouths. Soooooo good! Maybe next time I’ll actually get around to making some Mexican food to go with it.
Best Guacamole
4 avocados, peeled, pitted, and mashed
1 lime, juiced
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup diced onion
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
2 Roma tomatoes, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 pinch ground cayenne pepper
In a medium bowl, mash together avocadoes, lime juice and salt. Mix in onion, cilantro, tomatoes, garlic and cayenne. Serve immediately or refrigerate until serving.
What comes to mind when you think of Wisconsin? Beer. Cheese. More beer. What better way to celebrate Wisconsin than with this beer and cheese soup? Mike absolutely loved it. I didn’t like it as much, but I’m not a fan of beer so that’s no surprise.
Make this with Wisconsin cheese and beer for bonus points 😉
Beer and Cheese Soup serves 2
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 large potatoes, diced and separated
1 cup chicken broth
1 12. oz beer
1/2 cup shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese
1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
sour cream
Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add onions and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add in garlic and cook for 2 more minutes.
Add 1 diced potato and brown 8 – 10 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent sticking. Add the beer and chicken broth and simmer for 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.
Cook remaining potato in a separate small pot.
Using an immersion blender, puree the soup until smooth. Stir in salt, pepper, paprika and vinegar. Add cheese and blend until smooth. Turn heat to low and stir in the second diced potato.
Granola bars are one of my favorite things to snack on. It’s perfect when I need something to hold me over from lunch to dinner. While it may be convenient to just buy a box (or two) from the grocery store, making them at home allows you to customize the bars to your tastes! I added coconut, walnuts and milk chocolate chips to the fruit and nut “base”, but you could add in an endless number of ingredients!
Granola Bars
2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup sliced almonds
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 teaspoon salt
6 ounces dried fruit
1/4 cup coconut
1/3 cup milk chocolate chips
1/3 cup walnuts
Preheat oven t 350°F. Butter a 9×9 baking dish and set aside.
Mix oats, sunflower seeds, almonds, and walnuts together and spread onto a half sheet pan. Bake for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Meanwhile, combine the honey, brown sugar, butter, vanilla extract and salt in a medium saucepan over medium heat until the brown sugar is dissolved.
When the oat and nut mixture is done, remove from oven and turn the oven down to 300°F.
Stir the oat and nut combination into the liquid mixture. Add in coconut, dried fruit, and chocolate chips. Stir quickly and spread into prepared 9×9 baking dish. Press down mixture firmly and distribute the mixture evenly.
Bake for 25 minutes.
Remove from oven, let cool completely, and then cut into bars.
I made this mid-summer and never got around to posting it, so I figured I would do it now. I had gone to the farmers’ market and gotten 2 pounds of green beans, with no idea what I wanted to use them for. They sat in my fridge for days before I decided to hit the internet. I scoured it for dishes that contained ingredients that I have never used before and stumbled across this one on Herbivoracious. I decided to give it a try. Mike and I both liked it a lot (he liked it more than I did) but it was just too much work! I don’t think I’ll be making this again any time soon since I simply don’t have the time to do this, but I will probably try it again next summer.
Vietnamese Lemongrass Green Beans and Tofu
from Herbivoracious
1 pound extra-firm tofu, patted dry and cut into 1/2″ cubes
1 pound green beans, stem ends trimmed
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 cloves garlic, minced or crushed
1 tablespoon peeled and finely grated fresh ginger (a microplane is ideal for this)
2 stalks of lemongrass (prepared as described below)
fresh chili peppers of your choice, minced
1 teaspoon soy sauce
salt
black pepper
In a large skillet or wok over maximum heat, fry the tofu in about half of the oil until it is crispy and brown, stirring occasionally. Remove to paper towels and season with salt and black pepper.
Add the remaining oil to the pan, along with the garlic, ginger, lemongrass and chilis. Fry until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the green beans and toss thoroughly. Continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until somewhat tender and nice brown spots are developing. If necessary, you can add a bit of water and cover the pan for a couple of minutes to steam them. (Or pre-microwave for 3-4 minutes first – this can be a really helpful technique).
Add the tofu back in, along with the soy sauce and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Stir, taste and make any final seasoning adjustments, and serve.
To prepare lemongrass:
Remove the tough outer leaves and discard.
Use a sharp, serrated knife to cut off the bulb end and discard.
Make thin slices up the stalk starting from the bulb end, and stopping before you cut the last 1/3. Discard the top of the talk.
One of my favorite things to do is cook for my friends. I think I get this from my mom who is always finding a reason to throw elaborate dinner parties. I honestly hope that I can one day host parties that impress as many people as she can.
I made this for Mike and a couple of our friends one night for dinner and served it with some crumb-topped rhubarb for dessert.
This dish was very easy to make and so good! People who have a lower spice tolerance won’t find it too spicy and if you can handle the heat, then bring on the cayenne!
Fettuccine with Sweet Pepper Cayenne Sauce adapted from allrecipes.com
12 ounces fettuccine
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
2 red bell peppers, julienned
1 large onion, sliced
3 gloves garlic, minced
3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (or adjust to taste)
1/2 cup chicken broth
3/4 cup Parmesan, grated
1 cup fat free sour cream
salt and pepper to taste
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Cook pasta according to directions and drain.
Heat oil in a large pan over medium high heat. Cook bell peppers and onions for 1 – 2 minutes. Add garlic and cayenne and cook for 3 more minutes.
Stir in broth and simmer, uncovered, for 5 minutes. Remove sauce from heat and stir in Parmesan. Salt and pepper to taste. Whisk in sour cream until smooth.
This pasta is hands down the best pasta I have ever had. It’s cheap, easy, and delicious. What more could a girl ask for? I need to find a place to buy sun-dried tomatoes in bulk so I can make this dish more often.
Spaghetti with Sun-dried Tomatoes and Feta
1 16-ounce package spaghetti
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 medium onions, sliced into rings
3 ounces sun-dried tomatoes, softened and chopped
1 8-ounce package feta cheese, crumbled (the tomato basil feta was exceptionally good!)
1 cup grated fresh Parmesan cheese
1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
Cook pasta in a large pot according to directions. Drain and return to the pot.
Heat olive oil over medium high heat in a large skillet. Saute garlic, onions and sun-dried tomatoes until the onions are translucent. Mix into the spaghetti and stir in feta, Parmesan and cilantro. Serve immediately.
As the GRE crept closer and closer, I found myself cooking less and less. Looking back, I can’t even remember what I ate for the past week. The only thing I remember is going to Harvest with Mike for our fourth anniversary.
Now that I’m done with the GRE, I have a little time to enjoy food again… or at least until I start applying to grad school 🙂
This pasta salad is probably the easiest thing I’ve ever made. It’s food like this that keeps me sane when I’m stressed.
Easy Pasta Salad
1 pound tri-colored rotini
1 pound mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cup black olives
2 green peppers, chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 cucumbers, sliced
4 Roma tomatoes, chopped
1/2 cup Italian dressing
Cook pasta according to directions. Rinse with cold water and set aside to cool completely.
Mix mushrooms, olives, green peppers, onion and cucumbers together with the dressing. Stir in the pasta, chill for 2 hours or overnight and serve cold.
When it’s hot outside and you have no air conditioning at home, the last thing you want to do is have the stove or oven running for a long period of time. The beauty of this recipe? It takes just minutes to make on the stove, and you can use the microwave if you want! This couscous salad is extremely quick and easy to make and the leftovers taste great!
Couscous Salad serves 8
2 cups couscous
2 cups boiling water
1 tablespoon butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cucumber, chopped
4 Roma tomatoes, diced
1 red onion, diced
1 cup feta, crumbled
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste
1. Boil the water with the butter and salt. Once boiling, add couscous and stir quickly. Remove from heat and cover. Let sit for 5 minutes. Stir with a fork to break up the clumps and set the couscous aside to cool.
2. Mix the cucumber, tomatoes, and onion together in a bowl. Add olive oil and balsamic vinegar, to taste. I used about 2 tablespoons olive oil and 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar.
3. Pour the veggies and dressing over the couscous. Stir until evenly coated. Continue to add balsamic vinegar and olive oil as desired. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
I love the taste of vinegar and will add copious amounts of it to whatever I’m eating. If you don’t like the taste as much, please feel free to use less of it!!
One of my favorite things to do is cook for my friends. The more people there are and the more food I make, the happier I am. I think that this is a trait I got from my mom who loves to have elaborate dinner parties that never fail to amaze people. I hope that one day I can be as good a cook as she is.
I stumbled across this recipe on allrecipes.com and decided that it would be a good dish for a dinner I had with Mike and two of our friends.
Fettuccine with Sweet Pepper-Cayenne Sauce adapted from allrecipes.com
12 ounces fettuccine
1/2 teaspoon vegetable oil
2 red bell peppers, julienned
2 onions, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 teaspoon cayenne – adjust more or less depending on spice tolerance
1 cup fat free sour cream
1/2 cup chicken broth
3/4 cup fresh grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste
Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Cook pasta according to directions and drain.
Heat oil in a large skillet and saute red bell peppers, onions and garlic for 3 – 5 minutes.
Stir in broth and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in sour cream and cheese.
Toss pasta with sauce and season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately.
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DoughSeeDough 