midweek dericiousness

(sorry, kids...i've been slacking on the blogging. i know, i know. i'll be better, i promise!)

i was very disappointed to learn that there was no new lost this past week, but this was NO reason to not have a delicious midweek meal. jim was coming over for dinner, so it of course had to be something uber healthy. kiran was eating too, though, so it had to be something deceptively healthy. my solution?

turkey burger paninis & grilled asparagus

1 medium onion, thinly sliced

1 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 1/4 lb ground turkey (i used 99% lean for jimbo)

1/2 cup chopped artichoke hearts

1/4 cup chopped sundried tomatoes

2 tbsp dijon mustard

1 whole garlic loaf (or any loaf of bread), sliced into 16 slices

8 slices muenster cheese, each slice cut in half

1 bunch asparagus

4 tbsp olive oil

nonstick spray

1 lemon

put 2 tbsp of olive oil in a saute pan over medium low heat. warm the oil for a minute, then place the onion in the pan. sweat them and toss around in the pan occasionally until all the slices are covered in the oil, then pop a tightly fitting lid on it and lower the flame. allow it to caramelize while preparing the turkey meat, checking on it occasionally and stirring. when the onions are soft and a light brownish color (about 15 minutes), add the balsamic vinegar and pepper to taste and stir into the onions. set aside.

preheat a grill pan over a medium high flame. combine the turkey meat, artichoke hearts, sundried tomatoes, dijon mustard, and some salt & pepper. score the meat with your hand into 4 equal sections, then divide each section into 2 for 8 small patties. spray your grill pan with nonstick spray. form each patty to fit the shape of your sliced loaf and place on the grill. since they are small, they will only take about 2 minutes per side. in the meantime, set up an assembly line with your slices of bread, cheese on each piece and caramelized onion on each sandwich. once the turkey patties are cooked through, your assembly should look like this:

bread

1/2 slice muenster cheese

caramelized onion

turkey patty

1/2 slice muenster cheese

bread

use one side of the grill pan to grill and press the sandwiches to melt the cheese and toast the bread while you prepare the asparagus on the other side (or use a panini press and use the grill for the asparagus). the bread should have nice grill marks on both sides and the cheese should be slightly melty to bind the whole sandwich together.

while you're grilling the sandwiches, prepare the asparagus. toss with the remaining olive oil, salt and pepper and throw them on the grill for about 5-6 minutes while you grill the sandwiches on one half. when they're done grilling, squeeze the lemon juice on top and there you go...the perfect side dish to a healthy sandwich!

oscar night and tacos!

a few weeks ago, my friends sarah and tony decided to invite themselves over to my place for the oscars. i had also made a promise to my friend travis that i would invite him over for tacos at some point, so i decided to kill two birds with one stone and have a small oscars get-together with tacos! sarah and tony thought ahead and brought oscar ballots so we could play along. unfortunately, most of us got our asses handed to us by leila, who predicted the majority of the oscar winners correctly. [sidenote: how awesome was hugh jackman? give me him in a tux (or wolverine gear) any day. mmmm hmmmmm. okay, moving on...]

my goal was to make dericious (yes, i'm spelling it like that - it's so much more fun to say!) and healthy tacos. i think it turned out pretty well, and it gave me an excuse to make my guac again. :)


errrca's award winning (someday) tacos - ayayayayaya!!!

2 lbs. ground turkey
1 yellow onion, finely diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 jalapenos, seeded & finely chopped
1 tsp crushed red pepper
1 yellow squash, finely diced
1 zucchini, finely diced
1 bell pepper, finely diced (any color works)
1 tbsp chipotle chili powder
1 tbsp chili powder
1/2 tbsp smoked paprika
1 tbsp cumin
1 tbsp coriander
1 tsp cinnamon
couple pinches cayenne
1 tbsp honey
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
salt & pepper
2 tbsp olive oil

6 avocados
4 roma tomatoes, chopped
1/2 red onion, finely diced
4 limes
1 cup sour cream
corn tortillas
salsa
shredded sharp cheddar cheese

preheat the oven to 400. heat up the olive oil in a large deep skillet. when the oil is hot, add the ground turkey, breaking it up with a wooden spoon. while the turkey is browning, you can make the guacamole. combine the avocados, tomatoes, red onion, half the jalapeno, juice of 3 limes, and half the cilantro. mash everything together, leaving it a bit chunky (i use my hand, but that's because i like playing with my food). salt & pepper to taste.

when the meat is browned, add the yellow onion, garlic, the remainder of the jalapeno, and crushed red pepper. stir and cook for a few minutes, then add the squash, zucchini, and bell pepper. cook for another few minutes until they just start to get tender. then add all the spices (chipotle chili powder through cayenne) and stir into the meat mixture. cook for another 2-3 minutes so the spices get distributed through the mixture. then add the honey and the chicken stock and allow to simmer until the liquid has mostly evaporated.

while the turkey mixture is working, combine the sour cream, juice of 1 lime, pinch of cumin, and a small handful of the cilantro. mix together and set aside. wrap the tortillas in foil and put in the oven to warm.

when the stock in the turkey mixture is mostly evaporated, fold the remainder of the cilantro in. serve the tacos with the warmed tortillas, meat, sour cream mixture, cheese, salsa, and guacamole.

OLE!

weekend brunches rule

i woke up saturday morning and asked kiran what she wanted for breakfast: sweet or savory. after waffling between the two for 5 minutes, i finally made the decision for her and decided to make both! i had read a couple different recipes for egg crepes online and decided this would be a good time to try it out.

sweet or savory egg crepes

(this makes about 14-15 little crepes in a small frying pan)

3 eggs

6 tbsp water

salt

cooking spray

for sweet:

5 tbsp granulated sugar

2 tbsp cinnamon

for savory:

filling from stuffed eggplants

shredded mozzarella

beat the eggs, water, and pinch of salt together. beat them well, until they are completely incorporated together. make sure the whites are fully mixed in. you may need to beat them while making the crepes if they start to separate.

heat a nonstick pan with medium heat. don't allow the pan to become scorching hot. spray the pan with the cooking spray before each crepe. take the pan off the heat and pour enough of the egg mixture to just coat the bottom of the pan. swirl the mixture around to coat the bottom in a thin layer with the eggs. allow to cook slowly over the medium heat. after it has solidified a little bit, carefully loosen the edges with a spatula. when the top of the egg layer looks set, shimmy the mixture in the pan and slide off onto a plate. repeat for as many times as needed to use up the remainder of the egg mixture. you may need to wipe out the pan after about 4-5 crepes.

you can them roll them up with whatever stuffing you choose. i stuffed some of them with the eggplant stuffing and shredded mozzarella and rolled them up. for the sweet ones, i mixed the cinnamon and sugar together (to make cinnamon sugar - who'da thunk it) and sprinkled it on the inside of the crepe and on top after it was rolled up. the cinnamon sugar ones were awesome because there was this great mix of salt and sweet in it.

a little labor intensive, but so good!

i love the weekend!!!

is it just me, or did this week just drag on forever? i was SO happy that friday finally rolled around. not only is it a long weekend, but i had a bunch of produce to use up! my roommate kiran and i have lived together for almost 4 years now, and during that time, i have converted her to enjoying (working on loving) vegetables. she now buys random vegetables for me to cook for her. her choices this week? eggplant and asparagus. my friend cmoore came over for dinner too, so it became an awesome girls' night in (dessert included)!

girls' night in

stuffed eggplant, grilled asparagus, and roasted garlic shmear (drooling yet?)

dessert: nectarine-blueberry crumble

2 heads (whole) garlic, plus 2 cloves, chopped

olive oil

1 1/4 lb ground turkey

1/2 onion, chopped

1/2 green bell pepper, chopped

1 bunch asparagus, 3 stalks chopped, rest reserved whole

6 mushrooms, chopped

1/4 cup roasted red peppers, chopped

7-8 greek olives, chopped

2 carrots, grated

1 tbsp honey

1 large eggplant

1 lemon

1 french loaf

for the dessert:

3 nectarines, pitted & chopped

1 small pack of blueberries

1 1/2 cups instant oatmeal

2-3 tbsp butter, softened & chopped

1/2 cup brown sugar

3 dashes of cinnamon

preheat the oven to 400 degrees. take the 2 heads of garlic and chop off the top 1/4-1/2 inch of them so the cloves are exposed. put each head of garlic in foil and drizzle 1 tsp of olive oil over each head and wrap them individually. place on a baking sheet and put in the oven for 30-45 minutes until they are soft and buttery. when they are cool, squeeze them out into a small bowl and mash with a fork into a shmear.

while the garlic is cooking, cut the eggplant in half lengthwise. scoop out the insides of the eggplant, leaving a 1/4-1/2 inch of flesh on the skin. chop up the inside flesh of the eggplang. heat up 2 tbsp of olive oil in a large skillet. brown the ground turkey in the hot oil, breaking it up with a wooden spoon as it cooks. add in the chopped garlic and onions and allow to sweat out for a bit. then add in the peppers, chopped eggplant, asparagus, mushrooms, olives,

carrots, and honey. cook everything together until the mixture is all heated through. (at this point, i think i would have added a 14 oz can of tomato sauce, but i didn't have any on hand. next time!) fill the eggplant halves with the turkey mixture. (you'll have extra that you can use as leftovers...check out the next post.) place the halves on a baking sheet. drizzle olive oil and sprinkle salt & pepper over the eggplants and put into the oven for about 15 minutes.

heat a grill pan on medium high. toss the whole asparagus in olive oil, salt & pepper. place on the grill and cook for about 5-7 minutes, until it is grilled and cooked through.

split the french loaf in half and toast in the broiler. serve with the roasted garlic shmear.

when the eggplant is ready, cut into sections. squeeze lemon juice over the eggplant and grilled asparagus.

for the dessert, combine the nectarines and blueberries in 3 small, individual pyrex bowls with the cinnamon. in a separate bowl, combine the oats, brown sugar, and oatmeal. mix them with your fingers. portion out the oats over each pyrex bowl and place into a 450 degree oven. cook for about 15-20 minutes, until the oats are crispy and bubbling. serve with ice cream (if you have it). yeeeeeah. :)