Ten in 2010: Week Eight and Some Almost Famous Broccoli Soup

 

This week was another crazy one around here. What's new? One basketball season is finishing up and another is beginning. We have basketball tournaments and wrestling meets as well as Math Club and 4-H. You'd think I'd be used to it by now but somehow it never seems to work that way. 

This is week eight of Ten in 2010. I'd been hoping all these healthy new habits would be set by now. Seems like it's been two steps forward and one step back most weeks. But even then, I'm in a much better place than I was before. I may not be drinking as much water as I'd like, but it is more than before. I am exercising. I am eating more vegetables and though it hasn't seemed like it, we are eating out less than we used to.

Running went fairly well this week. I ran five miles on Sunday. Yippee! Slowly but surely I'm getting there and with all this glorious sunshine, anything seems possible! For me running on a treadmill is like torture so I'm happy to finally be back to running outdoors. We'll se how my 7 miler goes today!

I did make a few yummy things this week but there didn't seem to be enough time to get them posted. Hopefully that will get a bit better. Time is really going to be at a premium starting this week. In addition to all of the kid's activities, I'm beginning a big re-decorating project around here this week. Starting with the hallway on Monday, I'll be working my way through the entire house painting, removing old wallpaper and paneling, learning how to tile and maybe even how to install some new lighting in my kitchen! The challenge will come after we finish the hallway. I'll be heading into the kitchen. I'm planning to remove the hideous paneling and take out the outdated soffits. I'm installing some new lighting and putting in some new flooring. I'm not sure how long that's going to take but I can imagine that preparing meals will become more interesting. My goal is to limit eating out to maybe one pizza night during the project. We'll have to see how that works out. It should be interesting becaue this is our month to host the monthly dinner party! 

Broccoli Soup is one of my favorites. It's what I always pick when we eat at Panera Bread. A few months ago Food Network Magazine published a recipe for Almost Famous Broccoli-Cheddar Soup. It took me awhile to get around to making it, but it was definitely worth the wait! Even

Almost Famous Broccoli-Cheddar Soup

Recipe courtesy of Food Network Magazine

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 small onion, chopped

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 cups half-and-half

3 cups low-sodium chicken broth

2 bay leaves

1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

4 7-inch sourdough bread boules (round loaves)

4 cups broccoli florets (about 1 head)

1 large carrot, diced

2 1/2 cups (about 8 ounces) grated sharp white and yellow cheddar cheese, plus more for garnish

Melt the butter in a large Dutch oven or pot over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Whisk in the flour and cook until golden, 3 to 4 minutes, then gradually whisk in the half-and-half until smooth. Add the chicken broth, bay leaves and nutmeg, then season with salt and pepper and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, uncovered, until thickened, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare the bread bowls: Using a sharp knife, cut a circle into the top of each loaf, leaving a 1-inch border all around. Remove the bread top, then hollow out the middle with a fork or your fingers, leaving a thick bread shell.

Add the broccoli and carrot to the broth mixture and simmer until tender, about 20 minutes. Discard the bay leaves. Puree the soup in batches in a blender until smooth; you'll still have flecks of carrot and broccoli. Return to the pot. (Or puree the soup in the pot with an immersion blender.)

Add the cheese to the soup and whisk over medium heat until melted. Add up to 3/4 cup water if the soup is too thick. Ladle into the bread bowls and garnish with cheese.

February Dinner Party! Oooh la-la!

Our theme for this month's dinner party was French Food.

Not surprisingly, these Chocolate Dipped Oreos were a hit (even if they aren't really French! Oreos au Chocalat anyone?)

 

Always my favorite. Thank you Justin!

  

Justin's Coq au Vin. Delicious!

 

My favorite go-to dish:  Butternut Squash and Caramelized Onion Galette.

Cathy and Dave brought chocolate truffles for dessert.  (I didn't get a good picture so this is a picture from an earlier dinner party when she first made them!)

I didn't get a good picture of Dave's Beef Bourguignon either. And in our haste to devour Justin's chocolate dessert masterpiece, we forgot to take a picture. Hopefully he'll blog about it at his new blog Technically Gourmet. (While you're waiting for that recipe, check out his recipe for Chocolate Sabayon. Yum!) I also made an Apple and Hazelnut Clafoutis (which definitely paled in comparison to the other delicious, chocolate desserts) and which was definitely *not* photogenic. Unfortunately I didn't like as much as I liked this Blueberry-Pineapple Clafoutis that I'd blogged about earlier.

Next month's dinner party will be at our house and I'm responsible for coming up with the theme. During the past year we've done Mardis Gras, Camping Out, Tailgating, Italian, Mexican Fiesta!. I'd love to come up with a new, fun idea but I'm stuck! Any good suggestions for a March party which also lends itself to some good vegetarian options -- since it is my party after all! ;-)

Butternut Squash and Caramelized Onion Galette

Delicious. Easy. And it looks awesome too! What's not to like? I'd been eyeing this recipe for Butternut Squash and Caramelized Onion Galette over at The Smitten Kitchen for quite awhile before I got around to trying it. I mean, there's the whole making a pastry crust. I have a bad history with that, you know. And then the butternut squash. Funny looking. Hard to cut. Must taste nasty (because I'd never tried it before.) But I finally gave in and am a ever glad that I did. That was a year ago and now I think about it all the time and make it as often as I can. The first few time I made it, I used a refrigerated pie crust, but for a recent party I decided to go for it. I made my own crust and found out that it was easy. Easy and delicious. In fact, I'm planning to make this for dinner this weekend when my oldest comes home from college. He won't appreciate it (or even touch it!) but I will! ;-)

Butternut Squash and Caramelized Onion Galette
Recipe courtesy of The Smitten Kitchen


For the pastry:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into
pieces
1/4 cup sour cream
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup ice water

For the filling:
1 small butternut squash (about one pound)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 to 2 tablespoons butter (if you have only non-stick, the smaller amount will do)
1 large onion, halved and thinly sliced in half-moons
1 teaspoon salt
Pinch of sugar
1/4 teaspoon cayenne, or to taste
3/4 cup fontina cheese (about 2 1/2 ounces), grated or cut into small bits
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage leaves

1. Make pastry: In a bowl, combine the flour and salt. Place the butter in another bowl. Place both bowls in the freezer for 1 hour. Remove the bowls from the freezer and make a well in the center of the flour. Add the butter to the well and, using a pastry blender, cut it in until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Make another well in the center. In a small bowl, whisk together the sour cream, lemon juice and water and add half of this mixture to the well. With your fingertips, mix in the liquid until large lumps form. Remove the large lumps and repeat with the remaining liquid and flour-butter mixture. Pat the lumps into a ball; do not overwork the dough. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Prepare squash: Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Peel squash, then halve and scoop out seeds. Cut into a 1/2-inch dice. Toss pieces with olive oil and a half-teaspoon of the salt and roast on foil lined (for neatness sake) sheet for 30 minutes or until pieces are tender, turning it midway if your oven bakes unevenly. Set aside to cool slightly.

Caramelize onions: While squash is roasting, melt butter in a heavy skillet and cook onion over low heat with the remaining half-teaspoon of salt and pinch of sugar, stirring occasionally, until soft and lightly golden brown, about 20 minutes. Stir in cayenne.


Raise the oven temperature to 400 degrees. Mix squash, caramelized onions, cheese and herbs together in a bowl.

Assemble galette: On a floured work surface, roll the dough out into a 12-inch round. Transfer to an ungreased baking sheet. Spread squash, onions, cheese and herb mixture over the dough, leaving a 1 1/2-inch border. Fold the border over the squash, onion and cheese mixture, pleating the edge to make it fit. The center will be open.

Bake until golden brown, 30 to 40 minutes. Remove from the oven, let stand for 5 minutes, then slide the galette onto a serving plate. Cut into wedges and serve hot, warm or at room temperature.

Serves 6.

Ten in 2010: Week Three

What to say about week three? Hmmm.... The scale is not so much going down anymore. But that's ok. Losing weight is not my main goal. Getting fit is what I'm shooting for and hubby and I ran five (yes, 5!) times last week. Huge improvement, obviously. As long as I take my inhaler along, we'll be fine. I forgot it today and hubby had to sprint home to get the car and come back for me. He did get a good workout that way but I'd rather not do that again. ;-)

I did well on the blogging front. I posted 6 times last week. I'm shooting for 5 times a week so I'm happy with that. I made four out of the six items I had on my menu plan. I had an ear infection that included a bout with vertigo for a couple of days so hubby took care of dinner for me. The things I did make were fairly healthy choices (and we liked most of them) so that's one for the win column too.

Adding more veggies to our diet was also one of my goals. I can't recall ever eating a Brussels Sprout. My mom doesn't care for them so we never ate them while I was growing up. Hubby has a strong dislike for them so they were just never something I bought. After reading so many of my favorite bloggers rave about Brussels sprouts I decided to give them a try. I'm glad I did. These were delish! I ate half of them myself before they even made it to the table!

Golden-Crusted Brussels Sprouts Recipe

Recipe courtesy of 101 Cookbooks

24 small Brussels sprouts
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for rubbing
fine-grain sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup grated cheese of your choice

Wash the Brussels sprouts well. Trim the stem ends and remove any raggy outer leaves. Cut in half from stem to top and gently rub each half with olive oil, keeping it intact (or if you are lazy just toss them in a bowl with a glug of olive oil).

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in your largest skillet over medium heat. Don't overheat the skillet, or the outsides of the Brussels sprouts will cook too quickly. Place the Brussels sprouts in the pan flat side down (single-layer), sprinkle with a couple pinches of salt, cover, and cook for roughly 5 minutes; the bottoms of the sprouts should only show a hint of browning. Cut into or taste one of the sprouts to gauge whether they're tender throughout. If not, cover and cook for a few more minutes.

Once just tender, uncover, turn up the heat, and cook until the flat sides are deep brown and caramelized. Use a metal spatula to toss them once or twice to get some browning on the rounded side. Season with more salt, a few grinds of pepper, and a dusting of grated cheese. While you might be able to get away with keeping a platter of these warm in the oven for a few minutes, they are exponentially tastier if popped in your mouth immediately.

Serves 4.

Thai Grilled Chicken, Fried Rice and Zucchini medallions

Some days it all works out.

Since I am still in denial about the end of summer, I'm having trouble getting back into the hectic swing of things that is our life during the school year. The past few nights that ds has had tennis matches, dinner has been sad. Very, *very* sad. In fact earlier this week I even stooped to frozen pizzas. Now, granted, I was sick and dragged myself out to watch him play ... but *still*. Sad. So sad. So since I knew we'd all be at his match last night, I decided I needed to get prepared. I grabbed the recipe for Cilantro Thai Grilled Chicken that I'd bookmarked over at Artsy-Foodie, mixed up the marinade and tossed in a couple of chicken breasts and had it grill-ready in the fridge before we left.

After some celebratory high fives (ds won his games), dh started the grill as soon as we came home. Within minutes, I'd started the rice and sliced up the zucchini for Kate's Zucchini Rounds, topped them and had them all set to go under the broiler. When the grill was ready, I'd already sliced, diced and gathered all the ingredients necessary to throw the fried rice together. Dinner was delicious and ready at a reasonable time.

The chicken was tasty and moist. Flavored simply with cilantro, garlic, Asian Fish Sauce and Toasted Sesame Oil it was a breeze to make. If you need more detailed directions, check out Alexa's beautiful blog: Artsy-Foodie. He pictures will make you drool and before you know it, you'll be bookmarking page after page of recipes that you want to try.

The fired rice is always a hit with picky dd. And I love, love, *love* Kate's Zucchini Rounds. They are a quick side, prefect for any meal. And, hey ... it's topped with fresh Parmesan and gets all brown and yummy under the broiler. Of course it's good.

Kate's Zucchini Rounds
Recipe was posted once upon a time at homemadesimple.com or you can look here where I've blogged about it before.

Zucchini
Melted butter or margarine or butter-flavored cooking spray
Parmesan cheese
Garlic powder

Slice zucchini (as much as you want to make) and arrange on a no-stick cookie sheet. Drizzle with melted butter or margarine, or spray with butter-flavor cooking spray. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and garlic powder. Broil until cheese bubbles and browns.

Sher's Zucchini and Goat Cheese Appetizers

I am so addicted to these things. This is the fourth time I've made them in the past couple of weeks. I've made them with zucchini. I've made them with eggplant. With marinara and without. They are a wonderfully delicious excuse to devour some goat cheese. Any one know where I can find a 12 Step Program?

Find the recipe here on Sher's site or over here where I originally blogged about them.

A Tribute to Sher: Eggplant and Goat Cheese Sandwiches

I've been walking around in a shocked fog all day. After spending a relaxing weekend camping with the family, I came home to the awful news that Sher of What Did You Eat? had suddenly passed away. Sher's blog was one of the first food blogs I'd discovered, and even though I'd lost track of her there for awhile when I started my own blog, I'd recently rediscovered What Did You Eat? and had been enjoying catching up with Sher's life and bookmarking her recipes to make later on.

Reading Sher's blog, you had a sense that you knew her; that she was a long lost friend. And though I'd never had a chance to personally correspond with Sher, I still feel a real sense of loss. Loss for her family. Loss for her friends. And loss for all these people out in cyberspace, whose lives were touched by a few minutes of reading Sher's blog. Readers who came away with a new recipe and a smile on their face. Such a tragic loss.

In order to honor Sher and celebrate her life, her friends have decided to each choose and recreate a recipe from her blog and write about it. Glenna from A Fridge Full of Food has offered to collect the links to all of the posts and include them with her Tribute to Sher. It is truly amazing to see how many lives one woman has been able to touch. And so terribly sad that she was never able to know just how many of us were out here.

Looking through Sher's recipe, it's very hard to pick just one. I bookmarked four or five more just today while looking through them and I know several have been bookmarked for awhile. I decided to try her Eggplant "Whoopie Pies", otherwise known as Eggplant and Goat Cheese Sandwiches with Tomato Tarragon Sauce. While many other recipes called to me and are on the rotation for upcoming weeks, this recipe made me get up out of my chair and start cooking right away. Unfortunately, my eggplant has not started producing but I did have a fridge full of zucchini so mine are more "Mini Whoopie Pies." This recipe was delicious with zucchini and I know it will be equally as wonderful when I make it again with eggplant.


Eggplant and Goat Cheese Sandwiches with Tomato Tarragon Sauce
Recipe from Sher at What Did You Eat?

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
3 cups fresh or canned crushed tomatoes in thick puree (one 28-ounce can)
1 teaspoon fresh tarragon
1- 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon fresh-ground black pepper
1 cup dry bread crumbs (I used plain Panko)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan
2 eggplants, peeled and cut to make sixteen 1/2-inch-thick slices in all
4 eggs, beaten to mix
Cooking oil, for frying
1/2 pound mild goat cheese, such as Montrachet, cut into 8 rounds

In a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil over moderately low heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, tarragon, 3/4 teaspoon of the salt, and the sugar and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 25 minutes. Stir in 1/4 teaspoon of the pepper.

Meanwhile, heat the oven to 350°. In a medium bowl, combine the bread crumbs, Parmesan, and the remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.

Dip each slice of eggplant in the eggs and then in the bread-crumb mixture, coating well. In a large frying pan, heat about half an inch of cooking oil over moderate heat until very hot. Fry the eggplant in the hot oil, in batches, turning once, until golden and cooked through, 1 to 2 minutes per side. Drain on paper towels.

Arrange half of the eggplant slices in a single layer on a baking sheet. Put a slice of goat cheese on top of each and then top with the remaining eggplant slices. Bake until the cheese melts, about 10 minutes. Put the sauce on plates and top with the eggplant.

Broccoli Soup

About time to try another recipe from Food Network's Down Home with the Neely's. Since I'm trying to eat more fresh veggies, their Broccoli Soup fit the bill. I had plenty of broccoli and carrots in the crisper that needed to be used soon. Since the broccoli was already chopped, the soup went together quickly. Keeping pre-chopped onion in the fridge makes it even quicker. Less than 30 minutes and you have a tasty -- and healthy -- bowl of soup. I cheated a bit. I added some shredded cheddar that I had in the fridge. Yum!

Not what I'd normally think of on a 90 degree day but it hit the spot nonetheless. :-)


Broccoli Soup
Recipe courtesy The Neely's

4 tablespoons butter, room temperature
1 1/2 pounds fresh broccoli
1 large onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup cream

Melt 4 tablespoons butter in heavy medium pot over medium-high heat. Add broccoli, onion, carrot, salt and pepper and saute until onion is translucent, about 6 minutes. Add the flour and cook for 1 minute, until the flour reaches a blonde color. Add stock and bring to boil.

Simmer uncovered until broccoli is tender, about 15 minutes. Pour in cream. With an immersion blender, puree the soup. Add salt and pepper, to taste, and then replace the lid back on the pot.

Robin Miller's Cheese Fries

Here's a recipe from Quick Fix Meals from Robin Miller that we actually enjoyed. I've already blogged about the Pulled Cuban Chicken Wraps before over here. While we did like the Pulled Cuban Chicken Wraps a lot, I did find it odd to pair it with Cheese Fries. But hey, why shouldn't cheese fries go with everything? The fries were good. (Of course they are. Why wouldn't they be? Cheese, bacon. Isn't that the definition of "good"?) But I had problems with getting the cheese to stay on the wedge-shaped fries. Maybe I made my wedges too big? Dunno. But they were delish!



Pulled Cuban Chicken Wraps And Cheese Fries With Turkey Bacon
Recipe Courtesy of Robin Miller

4 slices turkey bacon, cooked until crisp and crumbled (4 to 6)
Reserved roasted potato wedges
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup sliced red onions
4 reserved roasted chicken breast halves
1 cup prepared salsa
1/3 cup prepared ranch dip
4 spinach tortillas, (8-inch)

Arrange potatoes on a large, foil-lined baking sheet. Top with cheese and bacon pieces. Bake 8 to 10 minutes, until cheese melts. Using two forks, pull chicken apart into shreds. Set aside.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and saute 3 minutes, until soft. Add chicken and salsa and bring to a simmer. Remove from heat and stir in ranch dip.

Arrange tortillas on a flat surface. Top with chicken mixture and roll up. Serve with cheese fries on the side.

Broccoli with Cheddar Sauce

I'm usually in a hurry at dinner time and out of habit I always grab frozen broccoli. After reading this recipe for Broccoli with Cheddar Sauce in the current issue of Cooking Light Magazine, I realized that fresh broccoli could be almost as quick. Luckily I had picked up a bunch of fresh broccoli on my excursion to Aldi's this week. Unfortunately I left the broccoli steaming a bit too long and lost some of the bright green color but it still tasted delicious. The sauce was quick and easy to make. Since I am the only one who will eat broccoli around here, I saved half of the sauce and used it to make a quick mac and cheese.


Broccoli with Cheddar Sauce
Recipe from Cooking Light Magazine, May 2008

1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 cup fat-free milk
1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded reduced-fat extra sharp cheddar cheese
3 tablespoons grated fresh Parmesan cheese
1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme object
2 1/2 pounds broccoli florets (about 9 cups)

1. Place flour in a medium saucepan. Gradually add milk, stirring constantly with a whisk until smooth. Cook over medium-high heat 2 minutes or until mixture is bubbly and thickened, stirring constantly. Cook 1 additional minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add cheeses, mustard, salt, pepper, and thyme, stirring with a whisk until smooth. Keep warm.

2. Add water to a large saucepan to a depth of 1 inch; set a large vegetable steamer in pan. Bring water to a boil over medium-high heat. Add broccoli to steamer. Steam broccoli, covered, 4 minutes or until crisp-tender. Serve broccoli immediately with sauce.

Kate's Zuchinini Rounds

Day number one of the Get in Shape Challenge in our household. Dh and I both weighed-in (Scary!) and measured and started tracking everything we eat and all exercise we do. It's amazing how quickly all those healthy habits have evaporated. This is like starting right back at square one. Got a lot of motivation though. My class reunion is in July. The last one was right after I'd given birth so right there is plenty of motivation to be slim and trim in time for this one! ;-)

To kick off this Challenge, I'm trying to come up with new ways to fix vegetables that we'll actually eat. We are really bad about that and don't get nearly enough. Now that Farm Stand season is almost upon us, I'm hoping to take advantage of the fresh, local produce and find ways to make it so yummy that we'll want to eat it! Tonight's recipe was a great start. (Especially since I'm going to be growing zucchini in my garden this summer! Yum!) Simple and quick but still tasty. Just the way I like it! This is a great side dish for anything grilled and I expect it will show up on our table on a regular basis. I love how beautiful it looks, with the bright green and yellow and the cheese toasted on top. Mmmm! This is a recipe that I've had in my files for quite awhile but never got around to trying. I have it marked as coming from Home Made Simple but apparently it isn't there anymore.

I'm going to need some help convincing my family that veggies are a good thing. Send me your healthy yet yummy vegetable recipes. I'll gather them all up and post them all Monday during the next Get in Shape Challenge check in. My family will vote on the ones they want to try and I'll make the most popular choices and blog about the results. Email your recipes to ImRunningToEat at gmail dot com.


Kate's Zucchini Rounds
Recipe from homemadesimple.com

Zucchini
Melted butter or margarine or butter-flavored cooking spray
Parmesan cheese
Garlic powder

Slice zucchini (as much as you want to make) and arrange on a no-stick cookie sheet. Drizzle with melted butter or margarine, or spray with butter-flavor cooking spray. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and garlic powder. Broil until cheese bubbles and browns.

Sweet Potato Fries

We're still on vacation so no new recipes this week but I'll be sharing some of our family favorites that I haven't blogged about. Be back soon. Hopefully refreshed and recharged and ready to try some new recipes!

One of my new favorite Food Network shows has given me one of my absolute favorite new recipes: Sweet Potato Oven Fries with Avocado Dip from Simply Delicioso with Ingrid Hoffman. It's quick and easy with lots of flavor. ( And pretty much the only way I like to eat sweet potatoes!) The dipping sauce is to die for. Whip up a batch tonight and enjoy!

Sweet Potato Oven Fries with Avocado Dip
Recipe courtesy Ingrid Hoffman, 2007

Sweet Potato Fries:
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled or unpeeled, cut into 4-inch long and 1/4 to 1/2-inch thick fries
2 tablespoons olive oil, or more as needed 1 teaspoon paprika

1/2 teaspoon chili powder

1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
Coarse ground rock salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Avocado Dip, recipe follows

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and set aside.
Place the sweet potatoes in a large bowl and toss with olive oil until the sweet potatoes are coated. Add the paprika, chili powder, coriander, salt, and pepper; toss to distribute evenly.
Arrange the coated fries in a single layer on the prepared pan. Bake for 20 minutes on the lower rack until the sweet potatoes soften. Transfer the pan to the upper rack of the oven and bake 10 minutes longer, until fries are crispy. Serve with Avocado Dip.

Avocado Dip

1 avocado, see Cook's Note*

1/3 cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup cream cheese
1 jalapeno, seeded and chopped
2 scallions, white and light green part only, chopped
1 lime, juiced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Place the avocado, mayonnaise, cream cheese, jalapeno, scallions, and lime juice into a blender or small food processor. Blend for 1 minute or until you have a smooth paste. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Serve as a dip for the Sweet Potato Oven Fries.

* Cook's Note: We find that Hass avocados make the smoothest and best tasting Avocado dip.

Creamy, Cheesy Goodness!

My first "back to the kitchen and see how it goes" meal. I picked up a few strip steaks that had just been marked down while I was staggering through the store (modified to add that I was staggering through the store while I was still sick.) I'd heard the temperature was supposed to make it into the 60's yesterday and figured dh could throw the steaks on the grill and give me one less thing to have to do. Of course, I missed the part about it being 60 degrees and pouring rain. (About 4 inches so far!) Oh well, I used my new grill pan and it turned out fine.

Creamy, cheesy, potato-y comfort food was what I was craving so Potatoes Au Gratin fit the bill. Easy to throw together then leave in the fridge until you are ready to bake it. Perfect! I added some green beans as a side, some crusty Italian bread and a bagged salad and we were finally able to sit down as a family and eat a meal And best of all ... lots of cheesy, comforting leftovers!


Potatoes Au Gratin

2 pounds hash browns, frozen, partially thawed
1 can cream of celery soup
1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, grated (1/2 cup reserved)
1 stick butter, melted
1 medium onion, diced
1 pint sour cream
salt and pepper, to taste
paprika, to taste

Mix all the ingredients together and put in a greased casserole dish. Sprinkle with paprika. Sprinkle with 1/2 cup grated cheese the last 15 minutes of baking. Bake at 350 for 1 1/4 hours.

Eggplant Parmesan

Tonight I was too tired to be very creative so I fell back on an old favorite: Eggplant Parmesan. I bought an eggplant a year or so ago, before I'd ever even tasted one. I didn't really know what I was going to do with it. I wasn't exactly sure what to do with them. Peel it? Don't Peel? They just looked pretty so on an impulse I bought one. At home I hit the internet and came up with a couple of tasty looking recipes for Eggplant Parmesan.

Given the fact that I'm the only one around here who will touch an eggplant, those recipes were a little too labor intensive for a dinner for one. Over the past months I've worked at making this a much quicker weeknight meal. I even found a healthier recipe that calls for baking the eggplant rather than frying *and* it tastes good as well!

Eggplant Parmesan in a Hurry

1-2 eggplants
Coarse ground Kosher salt
olive oil
1/2 cup flour
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup bread crumbs (I prefer Italian Seasoned bread crumbs.)
1 jar pasta sauce (your favorite flavor)
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Peel eggplant and slice into 1/4 inch rounds. Salt heavily and allow bitter juices to come out. Rise with cold water and pat dry with paper towels.

In a heavy skillet heat olive oil. While oil is heating, dip eggplant slices into flour, then into egg and finally in seasoned bread crumbs. Add eggplant rounds to heated skillet in a single layer. Cook for approximately 2 minutes and turn over. When golden brown on both sides remove from skillet and allow to drain on a paper towel-covered plate while preparing the rest of the eggplant. You can also place the eggplant slices on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray and broil them 3 minutes on each side or until lightly browned.

Cover bottom of a greased baking dish with a ladle-full of pasta sauce. Next spread fried eggplant rounds in a single layer. Top with sauce and mozzarella cheese. Repeat as needed. Top with Parmesan cheese.

Bake in a 375 oven until cheese is bubbly and dish is warmed through. Serve with Parmesan at the table.

I often prepare more eggplant than I need for the meal and allow the fried rounds to cool, pop them into a freezer bag and store them in the freezer. On nights when I'm in a hurry, I can just prepare the dish using the frozen eggplant and dinner can be ready in just a few minutes. I can also use the frozen eggplant to prepare a single serving of Eggplant Parmesan just for myself.