Chicken with Goat Cheese Vinaigrette

This recipe is from Real Simple and it was. I bought about 5 chicken breasts so I had to increase the recipe for the vinaigrette. I used the leftover basil I had from Shabbat dinner instead of parsley. We thought this was a really tasty quick meal. I took it to work for lunch for a couple days and it was great reheated also.

Ingredients:

1 box of orzo

1/3 cup olive oil, plus more for cooking chicken

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper

1/2 cup crumbled goat cheese

boneless, skinless chicken breasts, split horizontally

salt and pepper

Directions:

Cook the orzo according to the package. Meanwhile combine the olive oil, basil, red pepper and goat cheese in a small bowl. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and cook in a pan with olive oil heated over medium high. Cook the chicken in batches about 3 minutes per side. Set aside and cover with foil until ready to serve. Drizzle the goat cheese mixture over the chicken and orzo before serving.

Carrot and Mint Soup

I saw this recipe on foodgawker. I used mint instead of basil because I switched up the herbs I bought for the cauliflower side dish. I think putting the mint in the soup made it a lot more palatable for Blake, who doesn't like things to be as herbal as I do. I really liked how the chickpeas made the soup creamy. I didn't have vegetable broth so I used a vegetable bullion cube and enough water to cover the veggies.

Ingredients:

2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

1 onion, diced

about 10 carrots, chopped

1 can of garbanzo beans, cooked

5 cups of vegetable broth

1/4 cup mint, chopped

Freshly-ground sea salt and black pepper to taste

Cook the onions in olive oil over medium high heat. Add the carrots and chickpeas and stir until heated. Add the broth and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer until carrots are soft, about 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and puree with an immersion blender. Stir in chopped mint before serving.

Rolled Flank Steak with Roasted Cauliflower

For Shabbat dinner this weekend I made a rolled flank steak which came out much better than I expected. I asked for butcher's twine fromthe butcher counter at the grocery and used that to tie up the roll. It worked much better than toothpicks. I consulted a few recipes to find out how long to cook theroll, and it turned outperfectly cooked. I will definitely do this again with another combination sometime soon.

I also made roasted cauliflower and carrot soup, which I will post separately. The cauliflower recipe was from a different blog I saw on foodgawker. I bought mint for the cauliflower and basil for the soup, but ended up switching which recipe I put each herb in because I thought Blake would not like so much mint on his cauliflower.

I made challah too, but since I'm using the same Joan Nathan recipe I've already posted, I didn't take a picture of that. My iphone pictures are terrible anyway. I wish I wasn't too lazy to go get my nice camera out.

Rolled Flank Steak Ingredients:

1 flank steak, pounded out thin

fresh spinach

roasted red pepper strips

toasted pine nuts

feta cheese crumbles

olive oil

balsamic vinegar

2 garlic cloves, crushed

salt, pepper

Directions:

Pound out the flank steak until as thin as possible. Score crossmarks on one side of the flank steak. Marinate the steak in a bag with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and garlic for up to a day.

Lay steak vertically on cutting board with scored side down and layer stuffing ingredients on top. Spinach, then peppers, cheese and pine nuts. Leave 2 inches uncovered at the far end. Roll from the opposite end, closest to you, and then tie with twine. Season with salt and pepper, and cook seam side down in a baking dish for 40 minutes. Let rest about 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

Cauliflower Ingredients

1 head of cauliflower, cut into florets

6 garlic cloves, minced

olive oil

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 tbsp chopped fresh basil

salt and pepper

Preheat the oven to 500 F. Put the cauliflower florets and garlic in a roasting pan and drizzle with olive oil. Roast for 15-20 minutes. Remove, stir, and roast for 5 more minutes. Remove from the oven and season with salt and pepper. Toss with balsamic vinegar and sprinkle with basil before serving.

Honey Lime Tilapia with Blueberry Salsa

I saw this recipe from How Sweet Eats on foodgawker and made it a couple of weeks ago. I really liked the fish and the salsa. We had extra salsa left and used it on some awesome sandwiches later in the week. My picture does not look pretty but it was actually a great looking meal.

Honey Lime Tilapia

2 tilapia filets

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp honey

2 tbsp lime juice

1 tsp lime zest

2 garlic cloves, crushed

salt, pepper, oil

extra lime and honey to drizzle

Combine the olive oil, honey, garlic, lime juice and zest, salt and pepper in a bowl. Marinate fish in mixture for an hour.

Heat a pan over medium high heat and add enough olive oil to coat the bottom. Season some flour in a bowl and dredge the fish in the flour until you have a light coating. Cook the tilapia in the hot oil for about 4 minutes on each side. Remove and let drain on paper towel before serving with some extra lime juice and honey.

Blueberry Salsa

1 cup fresh blueberries

5 strawberries

1/4 red onion

1 tsp lime zest

lime juice (about 2)

1/3 cup cilantro

1 small avocado

salt and pepper

Combine all ingredients except avocado in a food processor and pulse until chunky. Season to taste and stir in chopped avocado pieces.

Pizza stuffed Zucchini

This was really easy to make, and not too filling. I've made a different version again since this one, with beef and taco seasonings, which was more of a meal. I got this idea from the budget bytes blog.

2 zucchini, tomato sauce, bread crumbs, parmesan, mozerella, italian seasoningSTEP 2: Place the scooped out zucchini halves on a baking sheet. Dump the reserved zucchini flesh out onto a cutting board and chop it into smaller pieces. Return the chopped pieces to the bowl and stir in the tomato sauce, bread crumbs, parmesan cheese and Italian seasoning.


STEP 3: Refill the zucchini halves with the prepared mixture. Top with mozzarella cheese and black olives. Place in the oven and bake for approximately 20 minutes or until the cheese has melted and is slightly browned. The longer the zucchini are in the oven, the softer they'll be so if you like firmer zucchini, bake for a shorter amount of time.STEP 2: Place the scooped out zucchini halves on a baking sheet. Dump the reserved zucchini flesh out onto a cutting board and chop it into smaller pieces. Return the chopped pieces to the bowl and stir in the tomato sauce, bread crumbs, parmesan cheese and Italian seasoning.STEP 3: Refill the zucchini halves with the prepared mixture. Top with mozzarella cheese and black olives. Place in the oven and bake for approximately 20 minutes or until the cheese has melted and is slightly browned. The longer the zucchini are in the oven, the softer they'll be so if you like firmer zucchini, bake for a shorter amount of time.STEP 3: Refill the zucchini halves with the prepared mixture. Top with mozzarella cheese and black olives. Place in the oven and bake for approximately 20 minutes or until the cheese has melted and is slightly browned. The longer the zucchini are in the oven, the softer they'll be so if you like firmer zucchini, bake for a shorter amount of time.

STEP 1: Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Wash the zucchini well to remove any grit. Slice the zucchini lengthwise and, using a spoon, scoop out the flesh from the center. Leave about one centimeter of zucchini around the edges. Save the scooped out zucchini flesh in a bowl.

Baked Crusted Tilapia

This was from a recipe on Kalyn's Kitchen. Another fish meal that Blake liked because it was crunchy. I made this in my new gratin dishes and served it with some sauteed snap peas and baby tomatoes.

2 tilapia filets
3 T pine nuts
2 T Parmesan Cheese
1/4 tsp. finely minced garlic (1 garlic clove)
1 tsp. basil pesto (I used purchased pesto)
1 1/2 T mayo (use regular or light mayo, not fat-free)

Preheat oven or toaster oven to 400F/200C. Spray individual casserole dishes with non-stick spray or olive oil (use one large casserole dish if you don't have individual ones.) Remove the fish fillets from the refrigerator and let them come to room temperature while the oven reheats. (Having the fish at room temperature is very important or it won't cook before the crust topping gets too brown.)

Use a large chef's knife to finely chop the pine nuts and mince the garlic. Mix together chopped pine nuts, Parmesan cheese, minced garlic, basil pesto, and mayo.

Use a rubber scraper to spread the crust mixture evenly over the surface of each fish fillet. Pile it on so all the crust mixture is used.

Bake fish 10-15 minutes, until fish is firm to the touch and crust mixture is starting to lightly brown. (I baked the fish pieces in the photo for 13 minutes.) Serve hot.

Broccoli Cheese stuffed potatoes

I made this for an easy dinner a while back. I seasoned and baked the potatoes at 400 for an hour, and then made a cheese sauce with broccoli cuts in a sauce pan. I don't remember exactly how I did that, but I used milk and cheddar and whisked in some seasonings.

Mini meatloaf dinner

I got the idea for these mini meatloaves here but I made up my own recipe which I can't remember anymore. I think I included shredded carrots, chopped onions, tomatoes, bread crumbs, egg, milk, beef and some cheese. I glazed them with a ketchup, brown sugar, worcestershire sauce mixture. We grilled asparagus and corn to go with this.

Citrus Crusted Tilapia

I've made this recipe twice now that I saw on the sea salt with food blog here. It was very simple and quick and healthy and Blake likes it because it has a crispy topping.

4 Tbsp Panko Breadcrumbs
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 425˚F.
In a small bowl, combine the breadcrumbs, fresh coriander, lime zest, garlic, and red chili.

Grease a large baking tray with 1 Tbsp of olive or peanut oil. Toss the remainder oil to the fish, and season with salt and pepper. Place the fish fillets on the baking tray and top with coriander and lime breadcrumbs. Pour the melted butter all over the fish fillets. Bake the fish for about 6 to 8 minutes, until the fish fillets are fully cooked. Serve immediately with some lime wedges and mango salsa.
In a small bowl, combine the breadcrumbs, fresh coriander, lime zest, garlic, and red chili.
Grease a large baking tray with 1 Tbsp of olive or peanut oil. Toss the remainder oil to the fish, and season with salt and pepper. Place the fish fillets on the baking tray and top with coriander and lime breadcrumbs. Pour the melted butter all over the fish fillets. Bake the fish for about 6 to 8 minutes, until the fish fillets are fully cooked. Serve immediately with some lime wedges and mango salsa.
Grease a large baking tray with 1 Tbsp of olive or peanut oil. Toss the remainder oil to the fish, and season with salt and pepper. Place the fish fillets on the baking tray and top with coriander and lime breadcrumbs. Pour the melted butter all over the fish fillets. Bake the fish for about 6 to 8 minutes, until the fish fillets are fully cooked. Serve immediately with some lime wedges and mango salsa.
In a small bowl, combine the breadcrumbs, fresh coriander, lime zest, garlic, and red chili.
Grease a large baking tray with 1 Tbsp of olive or peanut oil. Toss the remainder oil to the fish, and season with salt and pepper. Place the fish fillets on the baking tray and top with coriander and lime breadcrumbs. Pour the melted butter all over the fish fillets. Bake the fish for about 6 to 8 minutes, until the fish fillets are fully cooked. Serve immediately with some lime wedges and mango salsa.
Grease a large baking tray with 1 Tbsp of olive or peanut oil. Toss the remainder oil to the fish, and season with salt and pepper. Place the fish fillets on the baking tray and top with coriander and lime breadcrumbs. Pour the melted butter all over the fish fillets. Bake the fish for about 6 to 8 minutes, until the fish fillets are fully cooked. Serve immediately with some lime wedges and mango salsa.
Grease a large baking tray with 1 Tbsp of olive or peanut oil. Toss the remainder oil to the fish, and season with salt and pepper. Place the fish fillets on the baking tray and top with coriander and lime breadcrumbs. Pour the melted butter all over the fish fillets. Bake the fish for about 6 to 8 minutes, until the fish fillets are fully cooked. Serve immediately with some lime wedges and mango salsa.

A Handful of Fresh Coriander (about 4 Tbsp), chopped
1 Large Lime, zest
1 Clove Garlic, chopped
½ Red Chili, finely chopped
3 Tbsp Olive Oil or Peanut Oil
2 ½ Tbsp Butter, melted
Sea Salt to taste
Fresh Ground Black Pepper
Lime Wedges

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 425˚F.

In a small bowl, combine the breadcrumbs, fresh coriander, lime zest, garlic, and red chili.

Grease a large baking tray with 1 Tbsp of olive or peanut oil. Toss the remainder oil to the fish, and season with salt and pepper. Place the fish fillets on the baking tray and top with coriander and lime breadcrumbs. Pour the melted butter all over the fish fillets. Bake the fish for about 6 to 8 minutes, until the fish fillets are fully cooked. Serve immediately with some lime wedges and mango salsa.

Ingredients:

2 tilapia filets

Beer can Chicken and Butternut Squash

A friend of ours told us this beer can chicken was delicious so we had to try it. We seasoned it with some kind of poultry magic mixture and Blake grilled it on top of a tall boy beer can. It was very juicy when it was done. I had a butternut squash to use so I sliced it up and seasoned it with some oil, honey, salt, pepper, and cayenne, and roasted it for about 20 minutes on 400.

Fish with lemon tomato butter sauce

This was a fish dinner that Blake really liked. It got a little crispy on top and had a lot of flavor. Saw the recipe on foodgawker, as usual.

Ingredients:

Tilapia

tomato paste

lemon

onion

butter

salt, pepper, olive oil

On the bottom of a deep-sided baking dish, sprinkle a few slices of onion, a few cut up olives, a heavy drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. On top of that, lay a nice size fish fillet that has been seasoned with salt and pepper and a drizzle of Olive oil. On top of the fish, lay a few slices of lemon.

Cook in a preheated 350F oven for about 20 minutes.

While the fish is cooking, mix about 2 tbls of softened butter with 2 tbls. of tomato paste. Remove the fish from the oven after 20 minutes and brush the Tomato Butter all over the fish.

Return the fish to the oven and cook for about 8 minutes more for the butter to caramelize and help create a buttery sauce for the fish. Remove and allow to cool for about 5 minutes. Serve the fish with the sauce from the pan. It's healthy, fast, fresh and looks a lot more complicated than it is; as they applaud, just smile and nod.

Orzo stuffed Peppers

We happened to see this on an episode of Giada on foodnetwork so I decided to make it. I substituted carrots for the zucchini. I really liked this because of the mint, but It wasn't very substantial as a meal. I think next time it would make a better side dish.

Ingredients

• 1 (28-ounce) can Italian tomatoes

• 2 zucchini, grated

• 1/2 cup chopped fresh mint leaves

• 1/2 cup grated Pecorino Romano, plus more for sprinkling

• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

• 3 cloves garlic, minced

• 1 teaspoon salt

• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

• 4 cups chicken broth

• 1 1/2 cups orzo (rice-shaped pasta)

• 6 sweet bell peppers (red or yellow)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Pour the tomatoes into a large bowl and break apart using a pair of kitchen shears or your finger tips. Add the zucchini, mint, cheese, olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine.

Meanwhile, bring the chicken broth to a boil in a medium saucepan over high heat. Add the orzo and cook for 4 minutes. The orzo should be only partially cooked. Use a fine mesh sieve to transfer the orzo to the large bowl with the other vegetables. Stir the orzo into the vegetable mix to combine. Transfer the warm chicken broth to a 3-quart baking dish.

Slice the tops off the peppers and remove all ribs and seeds. Cut a very thin slice from the base to help the peppers stand up.

Place the peppers in the baking dish with the warm chicken broth. Spoon the orzo mixture into the peppers. Cover the dish with foil and bake for 45 minutes. Remove the foil, sprinkle the top of each pepper with cheeseand continue baking until the cheese is golden, about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven, carefully transfer the orzo stuffed pepper to a serving plate.

Asian Noodles

I already can't remember where I got this recipe, but basically I soaked the rice noodles in hot water for about 30 minutes while I sauteed the bell pepper, mushrooms and carrots in some vegetable oil. I think I used a packaged sauce mixture and added a lot of lime juice and some chili sauce.

Bruleed Grapefruit

When I was in New York for my girl's weekend before the wedding, we went to Cafe Cluny and I had a bruleed grapefruit. I thought it was such a great idea that I registered with Blake for a mini torch so I can have this for breakfast now. The sugar on the first one was kind of sticky so we've learned that it's best to cut the slices and then pat the extra juice off before sprinkling the sugar and burning it.

Spinach Artichoke stuffed Portobello

I got this idea from this post that I saw on foodgawker. I changed it by adding the artichokes and cooking it all in the oven. We had some leftover pasta with tomatoes and peppers etc. that I'd made another night.

Ingredients:

2 large Portobella Mushroom Caps 1/2 package of cream cheese sour cream

1 can artichoke hearts, quartered

10 oz package frozen Spinach

monterey jack cheese, shredded

parmesan

bread crumbs

S&P

Olive Oil

Directions:

Wipe down the mushroom caps to remove excess dirt or debris (don’t ‘wash’ mushrooms, just use a wet paper towel to wipe down). Scrape out the gills and remove the stem if it’s there. Brush with olive oil and season, and broil for a few minutes.

Defrost the spinach, and mix together with the cheese and artichokes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Divide the spinach mixture in half and fill the mushroom caps. Top with some monterey jack and parmesan and a little bit of bread crumb. Bake at 350 until golden brown on top.

Pea and Basil Soup with Turkeyball Kebabs

For Shabbat dinner a couple of weeks ago I made this pea and basil soup. It was very easy and light. I found the recipe via foodgawker, of course. I didn't really look at the recipe because I didn't want to make so much. I also made some turkey meatball kebabs because I couldn't think of any way I wanted to use the ground turkey and pineapple we had. We ended up cooking the meatballs in a frying pan first because otherwise they would have fallen off the skewers when we grilled them. I just made the meatballs with turkey, egg, breadcrumbs, and some chopped cilantro.

Ingredients:

1 bag frozen peas

1 onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, chopped

water or stock

olive oil

basil

salt, pepper

Directions:

Heat the olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat and sautee the onion and garlic until translucent. Add the peas and stir to heat through. Add water or stock, bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer until ready to puree. Puree with an immersion blender, season, and mix in chopped basil just before serving.

We had some tomatoes from my father in law's garden so I mixed them together with some other veggies we had on hand for a quick salad. It has cucumber, chickpeas, feta, and my orange infused olive oil from Croatia.

Chicken Adobo

Made this for dinner a couple weeks ago. Found the recipe on a foodgawker blog. The sauce was very good. I reduced it for a long time until it was very, very thick. I roasted the carrots in the oven with some olive oil, honey and balsamic vinegar.

Ingredients:

1 package bone in skin on chicken breasts
½ cup soy sauce
½ cup apple cider vinegar
2 large cloves garlic, sliced
Freshly ground black pepper
1 cup water

Directions:

1. Rinse the chicken with water and pat dried with paper towel. Combine all the ingredients forSauce in a large pot (I used my Le Creuset). Make sure the pot is big enough so the chicken will not overlap each other.

2. Bring the sauce to a boil over medium heat

3. Add the chicken and reduce the heat to medium low. Cover and cook 30 minutes. Turn the chicken once 15 minute through.

4. Set the broiler to High and transfer the chicken onto a baking pan with wire rack (so the oil will drip down). The skin side facing down first.
5. Broil the chicken for 4-5 minutes on each side.
6. Meanwhile turn up the stove to high and reduce the sauce until it thickens. Make sure it doesn’t burn when the sauce is boiling.

Creme Brulee

Since I had to have a little mini torch, I thought I should find some other ways to use it. This was my first attempt at creme brulee and I was so excited that it turned out so well. I can't wait to make it again and change it up a little bit.

I used Alton Brown's recipe but cut it in half. I didn't want to waste the egg whites so I used the them to make some meringue cookies that day as well.

• Ingredients:

• 1 quart heavy cream

• 1 vanilla bean, split and scraped

• 1 cup vanilla sugar divided

• 6 large egg yolks

• 2 quarts hot water

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.

Place the cream, vanilla bean and its pulp into a medium saucepan set over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Remove from the heat, cover and allow to sit for 15 minutes. Remove the vanilla bean and reserve for another use.

In a medium bowl, whisk together 1/2 cup sugar and the egg yolks until well blended and it just starts to lighten in color. Add the cream a little at a time, stirring continually. Pour the liquid into 6 (7 to 8-ounce) ramekins. Place the ramekins into a large cake pan or roasting pan. Pour enough hot water into the pan to come halfway up the sides of the ramekins. Bake just until the creme brulee is set, but still trembling in the center, approximately 40 to 45 minutes. Remove the ramekins from the roasting pan and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 3 days.

Remove the creme brulee from the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes prior to browning the sugar on top. Divide the remaining 1/2 cup vanilla sugar equally among the 6 dishes and spread evenly on top. Using a torch, melt the sugar and form a crispy top. Allow the creme brulee to sit for at least 5 minutes before serving.

All kinds of stuff

I started this blog so that I could have a way to record the recipes I make. I haven't posted anything in months though because of the wedding. Now that things are getting back to normal I'm going to try to post what I remember and keep up with it better.

It's been so long that I don't remember a lot of the recipes that I used. I'm going to put all the photos of the stuff I've made in this post and put any information I

remember.

asian chicken with mushrooms

chicken with onions and mushroom pepper quinoa

pecan crusted fish with chickpea, tomato, feta salad

seared tuna and edamame salad

crusted chicken with roasted potatoes and sauteed vegetables

marinated grilled flank steak, broccoli slaw, and smashed potatoes

mushroom soup with truffle oil

pan fried chicken with mushroom sauce and vegetable crumble