Roasted Sweet Potato

Remember when I told you that my mom sent me a giant sweet potato for my birthday and instead of cooking it it grew? Well I decided enough was enough, my mom is on her way to town next week and I'm sure she'd be hurt to see that I never used the potato she sent me mid-July. So I decided to cook it up.

I cooked it two nights ago to go along with the Chicken Tenders and Corn. I knew that I'd be the only one eating the potato, but really, it was time. Speaking of time, I didn't have it on my side so I wanted to make something quicker than a baked sweet potato but still with the sweetness one might have at Outback.

I scoured the internet for a recipe with these key words "Diced baked sweet potato." I realized I probably should have gone with cubed, but I found what I was looking for on a site I have never before heard of. I changed the recipe a bit because of the other recipe I was making and because I wanted something just a tad sweeter.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes
2 large sweet potatoes (I used only my giant)
3 T olive oil
1 t salt
1 t nutmeg
1/4 t pepper
3 T brown sugar

Preheat oven to 400
Cut the sweet potato into cubes
Combine the nutmeg, salt and pepper
Lay the potatoes in one layer on a baking sheet and toss with olive oil and spices
Bake for 20 minutes or until tender
Move to a bowl and sprinkle with brown sugar
Microwave for 1 minute until brown sugar starts to melt
Serve warm

Orangey Oat and Herb Crusted Chicken Tenders

When I visited Chicago last, my Aunt Dean gave me her copy of a cookbook by Robin Miller that has ideas of what to buy, cook, and then cook again a different way. It also has a variety of quick recipes that are kid-friendly. I'm not saying that my fiance is a child, but child-friendly food is definitely the way to go.

This week, I decided to do something that millions of families across the world do regularly and rarely even think about it. I plan to make dinner at home every night and bring my lunch to the office every day. Of course, I bring my lunch all the time anyway, but I don't cook nightly.

Sunday night I went to the grocery store and bought the ingredients for 5 recipes--all from Robin Miller's book. Last night was recipe number 1. It was O.K., I have definitely had some chicken tenders that were better, and I might not even count them as chicken tenders--but they were edible and mostly eaten by both my fiance and I. And, they had a ton of flavor. Plus, it only took me about 30 minutes to put together in total!

The main problem was that the crust wasn't all over the chicken--it was just dotted in places. I had a lot of trouble spreading the orange marmelade. I think if I were to make them again I would try apricot jam but also I would heat the jam slightly and use it to dip or coat the chicken before shaking it around with the oats. Also, there were not nearly enough oats for the whole 1 and 1/4 pound of chicken--so I recommend adding more, or doing the shake up with half and then the other half later.

Orangey Oat and Herb Crusted Chicken Tenders by Robin Miller
Ingredients
1/2 cup quick cooking oats
2 T flour
1 t dried oregano
1 t dried thyme
1 t garlic powder
1/2 t onion powder
1/2 t salt
1/4 t freshly ground black pepper
1 1/4 pounds chicken tenders
1/3 c orange marmalade
Cooking Spray

Preheat oven to 400F
Coat a large baking sheet with cooking spray
In a large ziptop plastic bag, combine ingredients through pepper. Close the bag and shake until combined.
Brush the chicken pieces all over with marmalade - this was hard so I recommend heating the jam
Add chicken to the oat mixture (half at a time) seal the bag and shake to coat.
Place chicken pieces on the prepared baking sheet and spray the tops with cooking spray.
Bake for 20 minutes until golden brown and cooked through (mine were cooked through but were not golden brown)
Serve with BBQ or Honey for dipping

Cold Sesame Pasta Chicken Salad

This recipe is a winner, I have already made twice within a few days. I love the site all recipes because of all the reviews. I found this recipe on all recipes here & it had so many good reviews, I had to try it. Changes I made from original recipe: added peppers (also think matchstick carrots would be another good addition), used penne instead of bow tie (I think you could use any pasta you already have in your pantry), & cut down the oil from 1/2 cup to 1/3 cup.

Also, best to make the day before & let in marinate as the original suggests.

Fresh Veggie Pesto Pasta Salad and Tomato Basil Rice Soup

We've just joined a CSA group, so we get fresh veggies from local farmers each Thursday. I thought it might be stressful to get the veggies and then have to figure out a dish, but it's actually easier than thinking up what to make and then going to the market! We had tons of fresh basil and zucchini, so I made up this recipe.

Fresh Veggie Pesto Pasta Salad

Basil Pesto (from The New Vegitarian Epicure by Anna Thomas)
5 oz. fresh basil leaves (2 C. leaves, packed)
1/2 C pine nuts (I didn't have these so I used raw sunflower seeds instead)
1/2 C grated Parmesan cheese
2 cloves garlic
5 T. fruity green olive oil
salt and fresh-ground pepper to taste

Wash basil leaves in salad spinner and remove large or thick stems. In food processor or blender, combine first 4 ingredients and process until nuts and garlic are finely chopped. Add the olive oil and process again, scraping down sides of container as necessary until you have a paste of the consistency you like. Add salt and fresh-ground pepper to taste.

Veggie Pesto Pasta
Pasta (any kind you like - I used ziti cut)
2-3 zucchini or yellow squash, chopped
1-2 carrots, diced
1 large fresh tomato, diced (don't saute!)
Basil pesto to taste

Cook the pasta according to package directions. In a little olive oil, saute squash and carrots along with any other vegetables that you're inspired to use. When pasta is cooked, drain and return to pan. Mix in sauteed veggies and diced tomato. Mix in as much pesto as you like. Serve warm or cold, but it is especially good warm! Serves about 4. (I used a yellow tomato cuz that's what I had but it would look pretty with red!)



I LOVE Anna Thomas' book, The New Vegetarian Epicure. Anna lives in Ojai and wrote one of the original vegetarian cookbooks, The Vegetarian Epicure, in the 70s. She told me the other day that she's working on a soup cookbook and I can't wait! The great thing about this cookbook is that the recipes are seasonal, so you can always find something to make with the freshest veggies available. Here's a delicious - and easy! - tomato soup recipe that comes from her book:

Summer Tomato Soup
by Anna Thomas

4 lbs. ripe, red tomatoes
2 T. virgin olive oil
1/2 onion, finely chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 t. salt, more to taste
handful of fresh basil leaves, chopped
2 C vegetable broth
2 C cooked rice (white or brown, but brown is amazing in this!)
fresh-ground pepper to taste

Scald tomatoes in boiling water for 45 seconds. Remove and peel them and trim off their stems ends. Cut in halves or in quarters and process briefly in blender; they should be somewhere between chopped and pureed.

Heat the olive oi in a large, non-stick saute pan and stir the chopped onion in it over a medium flame for about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and saute another 2-3 minutes.

Add the pureed tomatoes, a teaspoon of salt, and the basil. Simmer for about 1/2 hour, until the tomatoes are reduced to a sauce and dark red. Add the vegetable broth and the rice, and bring back to a simmer. Taste, and correct the seasoning if necessary with a touch more salt or a little fresh-ground pepper.

Serves about 5

Braised Chicken with Dried Plums

Everyday Food magazine has a lot of great ideas for quick meals. I scour the magazine every month and dog-ear pages...and then I file it away without making anything. I don't know why this is, but it happens a lot. This month, I decided to hunker down and do some cooking.

On Tuesday night I went to the grocery store with my magazine in hand and bought all the things I needed to make the braised chicken recipe. This recipe calls for wine which usually stops me dead in my tracks. Beer and wine are not my forte. When a recipe says "dry white wine" I think, how could wine be dry? It's a liquid. When a recipe calls for an light but robust beer, I stare at the section long and hard in deep confusion.

However, Everyday Food didn't let me down this time. Someone must have asked them for a wine feature because not only did they do a Wine Basics section but also recommended a type of wine to use in this recipe - Sauvignon Blanc. That said, it still took me remarkably long to find this wine in a reasonable size. I finally decided on the cheapest one I saw with a brand name I recognized -Sutter Home, $3.33 on sale.

The recipe calls for dried plums at the end. If you don't like dried plums, also known as prunes (which makes them sound particularly disgusting) you can use any kind of larger dried fruit that you like--for example apricots. You could probably omit the fruit too and just serve non-dried fruit on the side. I only liked it because it added texture.

I served this with store-bought mashed potatoes from the refrigerator section. This would be good also with polenta (their suggestion) or mashed rutabaga and potatoes. It needs something though to "soak up the rich sauce."

This recipe was absolutely delicious and ridiculously easy to make. I highly recommend it.

Braised Chicken with Dried Plums
INGREDIENTS:
2 T. Olive oil
8 bone-in skinless chicken thighs (about 3 pounds) - my supermarket did not have skinless thighs so I just removed the skin prior to making the recipe
salt and pepper
1 medium onion, chopped
1 T flour
2 C dry white wine SUCH AS Sauvignon Blanc
1 cup pitted dried plums

DIRECTIONS
1. In a heavy 5 quart (or bigger and you can do just one batch) Dutch oven or heavy pot with lid heat oil over med-high. Season chicken with salt and pepper (be generous on the salt). Cook in two batches until browned 6-8 minutes turning once (be careful, the oil spits). Transfer to plate.
2. TO pot add onion and salt and pepper. Cook stirring until onion begins to brown 3-5 minutes (reduce heat if it cooks too fast). Add flour, cook stirring 1 minute. Add wine and chicken along with accumulated juices.
3. Cover and cook until chicken is opaque throughout 8-10 minutes. Stir in dried plums. Serve hot with sauce over mashed potatoes.

I took a bite before I remembered that I needed a picture.

Italian Sausage Lasagna

One of my great aunt's sent me Ina Garten's Family-style cookbook for my engagement. The book is filled with amazing pictures and, if you have ever watched Ina before, you recognize Ina's banter in the notes section. The first recipe I tried from the book was Ina's Italian Sausage Lasagna. We had a couple of friends over and served them the dish and it was a huge hit! Ever since I made it the first time, Joey has been asking me to make it again.

So last night we invited a few people over and made it again. The recipe is a little time consuming in the preparation, so I refuse to make it on a weeknight, but it is well worth the trouble.

Ina's recipe can be found in the book or here, but I'll rewrite it anyway for ease.

Italian Sausage Lasagna

INGREDIENTS:

Sauce
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup chopped yellow onion (1 medium onion)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 pounds sweet Italian turkey sausage, casings removed, broken up into chunks with 2 forks
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes in tomato puree
1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
2T chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves
1/2 t Kosher salt
1/4 t black pepper

Cheese Mixture
15 ounces ricotta cheese
2 T parsley, chopped
3 to 4 ounces creamy goat cheese, crumbled
1 cup grated Parmesan
1 extra-large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 t Kosher salt
1/4 t black pepper

Other
1/2 pound lasagna noodles (~10)
1 pound fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced
1/4 cup grated Parmesan

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
2. Heat olive oil in a large skillet or pan over medium low heat (I used a large dutch oven because last time it splattered all over the stove) add onions and cook for 5 minutes until translucent
3. Add garlic and cook for one minute more. Add Italian sausage and cook for 8-10 minutes until no longer pink
4. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, parsley, basil, salt and pepper and simmer over med-low heat for 15-20 minutes until thickened.
5. Meanwhile, fill a large bowl with the hottest tap water and soak the noodles for 20 minutes
6. In a medium bowl, combine all the ingredients for the cheese mixture. Set aside.
7. Ladle 1/3 of the sauce into a 9x13 baking dish (I use glass). Spread evenly across the bottom and then layer with half the pasta, half the mozzarella, half the cheese mixture and 1/3 of the sauce. Top in the same way with the rest and finish with sauce.
8. Sprinkle 1/4 cup of Parmesan over the top.
9. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes until the sauce is bubbling. Let cool for 10-15 minutes before serving. Serve with garlic bread and salad.

Applesauce Cake

I don't like those little individual servings of applesauce. I don't like them because they are so watery. So when I'm jonsing for some applesauce, I have to buy the big jar. Then I eat a little of it and that's enough and I don't know what to do with the rest.

I read somewhere that you could use applesauce in place of oil in any cake. But how often do you make cake? Then I had it, autumn is eminent, why not make an applesauce cake? I used Google Blog Search to find a recipe and came up with a golden ticket. As luck would have it, I had some extra buttermilk lying around too!

Unfortunately, I made an error in cooking time..or perhaps there is a misprint in the recipe? Either way, this is what happened. I cooked th cake in an 8x8 glass cake pan for the listed time, I tested it with a toothpick and it came out clean. I let the cake cool. Late into the evening--around 11, I decided to cut the cake into squares so that I could bring it to work and not eat it all myself. The edges were done, but unfortunately, the middle was not. It was completely raw, but it had been cooling for so long. I salvaged the edges and the bottom and threw the remainder away.

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
½ tsp. allspice
½ tsp. nutmeg
¼ tsp. ground cloves
½ tsp. salt
½ cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
3 eggs
½ tsp. vanilla
1 cup applesauce
¼ cup buttermilk

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Grease and flour the bottom of an 8x8 pan (next time I will use 2 regular circle pans)
2. Sift together the first seven ingredients
3. Beat together butter and sugar until fluffy.
4. Add eggs one at a time. Add vanilla and applesauce.
5. The mixture at this point is very wet. Alternate flour mixture and buttermilk with the mixer at very low speed. Be sure to start and end with flour.
6. Bake at 375 for 25-30 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.

This was a big hit at the office. Thanks for the recipe, Kristen!