Baked Spinach & Artichoke Dip

1 cup mayonnaise or salad dressing
1cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1can (about 14 oz) artichoke hearts, drained and coarsely chopped
1box (9 oz) Green Giant® frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed to drain
1/4cup shredded Monterey Jack or mozzarella cheese (1 oz)
Toasted baguette slices or assorted crackers, if desired

Heat oven to 350ºF. Mix mayonnaise and Parmesan cheese. Stir in artichokes and spinach.
Spoon mixture into 1-quart casserole. Sprinkle with Monterey Jack cheese.
Cover and bake about 20 minutes or until cheese is melted. Serve warm with baguette slices.

Makes 24 servings (2 tablespoons each)

Thanksgiving Recipe Requests!

let's have 'em ladies....

Turkish Rolls

Recipe through a friend (also a Sana, haha)

1 cup warm water (for proofing yeast, so about 110 degress, or warmed up in the microwave for 1 min)
2 1/4 tsp or 1 pkt yeast
1 cup yogurt (room temp)
1 egg white (room temp)
1/2 cup oil
salt to taste
3-4 cups of flour

warm up the water, proof the yeast. if it gets frothy you know the yeast viable. pour the yeast in a mixing bowl, add yogurt, egg white and oil. mix it up and then add flour by first adding 3 cups and then if its still too sticky adding 2 tbsps at a time until it's a dough-like texture. i always add lots of salt, parsley flakes and garlic powder but the aunty who gave me the recipe doesn't do that. i think it tastes better that way.

make kheema to ur liking, add cheese.

take a small chunk, about the size of a golf ball. roll it out with a rolling pin. add a spoonful of the mixture, pinch it closed. place each on a baking dish and put a smear of egg yolk on top.

bake in oven at 350 until golden brown. about 8-10 mins.


Hi Gals! I just copied and pasted the turkish roll recipe a friend sent. The only adjustments I made was to make the kheema (ground beef) desi style (added a tsp of haldi, dhanya powder, salt, and paprika) plus a couple of tbsp of spaghetti sauce (very optional, I just decided to experiment). Also, in the dough, I added oregano & red pepper flakes because that's what I had on hand. Everyone LOVED it. VERY FILLING! I'm sure future experiments will turn out well too, iA (spinach and feta? spinach and kheema? possibilities are endless)

Chicken Tortilla Soup

My sister made this (using the recipe off The Pioneer Woman blog) and made a few changes and said I HAD to make it. So I did and I loved it! It was suuper easy, very hearty and fresh at the same time. I also served it with cheese quesadillas just to have something extra.

Ingredients:
one chicken breast
1 onion, chopped
half a green bell pepper, diced
half a red bell pepper, diced
3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 can Rotel tomatoes and green chillies
about 1-2 cups of chicken broth/stock (the bouillon cubes work too)
1 can black beans
1 can corn
3 tbsp tomato paste
2 tsp cumin powder
3 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
3 tbsp cornmeal
3-4 CORN tortillas
salt and pepper to taste

Garnish:
chopped cilantro
diced fresh avocado
minced jalapeno
sour cream
shredded cheese
salsa
chopped onion

cut the chicken into a few pieces and drizzle a bit of oil on them and then sprinkle some garlic powder, cumin, and chilli powder on them and bake or broil until cooked. should only take about 10 minutes or so. When they are done, shred with two forks (or your hands..desi style :D).

In a pot, heat a little bit of oil and add the onions, bell peppers, and garlic and saute for about 5 minutes. They shouldnt brown or even get too tender. Add the rest of the garlic powder/cumin/chili powder and throw in the chicken and stir. Pour in the rotel, chicken broth, tomato paste and a couple extra cups of water if you think it needs it. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and let simmer uncovered.

After about 30 minutes, add the corn and beans and mix the cornmeal with some water and stir into the soup. Check for seasonings and adjust. Cut up the tortillas into one inch strips. Let the soup simmer for about another 15-20 minutes.

Just before serving mix in the tortilla strips and garnish with your desired toppings.

Haleem - Slow Cooker Style

Ingredients

1.5lb lamb pieces, thawed
1 whole onion thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves chopped
2 cloves (long)
small fragment of cinnamon stick (size of your pinky toe)
half an onion chopped (to add before turning the cooker on, optional)
1 bay leaf (to add before turning cooker on, optional)

3tbs garlic/ginger paste
2tbs laal mirch
2tbs zeera powder
1tbs garam masala
1tbs haldi powder
1tbs zeera
1.5tbs of shaan haleem masala (optional)
salt to taste

1 cup rice
1 cup chana daal
1/4 cup urd/maas daal
1/4 cup mung daal
1/4 cup barely (haleem grains)

Directions:


proportions might vary depending on how much stuff you have or want to cook. been a little off but those are the basic measurements. the lamb pieces were put in with the bone and they cooked and shredded on their own in the cooker overnight for the most part

i let a huge onion (cut into thin slices) cook in some olive oil until it was golden brown. added zeera, minced garlic, and the lamb. topped it off with laal mirch, zeera powder, garam masala, haldi, and salt. added 2tbsp of garlic/ginger paste. added a bit of water and let it cook down the spices nicely

combine everything in the slow cooker (grains + meat/masala mixture), add a generous amount of water, and throw in a TINY fragment of a cinnamon stick, a couple of cloves, and half an onion chopped. once before i also added a bay leaf and it gave a nice deep flavor. set the cooker on low and TADA!

i stirred it on a couple of different times and added water each time if i felt the mixture was getting too thick. i turned the cooker on with all the ingredients at 8pm and by 8am it was done. i checked on it around midnight then after fajr. when we were going to eat it i added some more water and turned the cooker on again to let it get to a nice simmer

serve with french bread and the usual garnishings.

note: some people soak the grain mix for a few hours, but the last couple of times i used the slow cooker i just added the grains after rinsing them a few times. when i made it stove-top style, i did soak the grains for faster cooking. ive made the cooker haleem with 1.5lb of boneless chicken cut into bite sized pieces before, also, and it turns out nice.

Khausay

So this was a request from Afshan, I think. Khausay is a memon dish consisting of kari and a saalan eaten with spaghetti and garnished with your choice of toppings. It really is just YUM. I'm sure there are variations and a lot of people make it differently, but this is how I make it. :)

Kadi:
1 can coconut milk
1 1/2 cups yogurt
3 tablespoons besan (gram flour)
5-6 green chilies
2-3 cloves garlic
1/2 in. piece ginger
a pinch of haldi
salt to taste
cilantro, chopped

Saalan:
2 lbs boneless beef, cut into tiny cubes
1 tbsp garlic/ginger paste
5-6 black peppercorns
2-3 cloves
2-3 cinnamon sticks
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
3-4 onions, finely sliced
2 medium tomatoes (or one large), diced
2-3 green chilies, sliced
1/4 tsp. haldi
2 tsp. red chili powder
3 tsp. coriander powder
salt to taste
1/2 can tomato paste
1/4 tsp. garam masala
1/4 cup oil

1 16-0z box thin spaghetti, cooked as per package directions

For the kadi: In a blender, blend the yogurt, besan, green chilies, garlic, ginger, and haldi. Make sure you really use just a pinch of haldi, because this kadi isn't supposed to be too yellow. Then, in a saucepan, add the blended mixture and the coconut milk, and let cook on low heat until it thickens. Add some water and let it cook some more. Then add the salt and cilantro. The kadi should be creamy and not really spicy.

For the saalan: In a pot, heat oil and fry the sliced onions with cumin until golden brown. Add the beef, peppercorns, cloves, cinnamon sticks, and garlic/ginger paste and let fry on high heat. Once the water is dried, add the tomatoes, haldi, coriander powder, red chili powder, and salt. Let bhun. Then add the tomato sauce and 1-2 cups water and let cook until the meat is tender. Add garam masala and cilantro and remove from heat.

For garnishing, everyone really has their own tastes for this. The standards are generally chat masala, cilantro, lemon juice, maybe fried onions. Also people do fried sliced garlic, potato chips, boiled potatoes (cut into small cubes), fried spaghetti sticks, chopped onions, etc etc etc. It's really a matter of personal preference.

This serves about 6-8 people. When serving, everything is laid out and everyone can add however much kadi, saalan and garnishes to the spaghetti.

I know Sunni makes it a little differently, I think she adds some coconut milk to the saalan as well (I tried that yesterday and it was great too!), and I know my mom's is really different - she makes it with regular kadi and that turns out good too. I don't know how Sal does it but I'd love to hear about it!

Chicken Sherazi

My Sis-in-law gave me this recipe ages ago and my son loooves it. He requests it and is the only thing he's happily willing to eat other than pizza.
For ingredients everything is an estimate. Im sure you all will be able to figure it out.

Ingredients:
1 whole chicken cut into 8 pieces
2 medium onions, chopped
1 medium tomato
1 small piece of ginger, sliced
Salt to taste
MSG 1 TSP (Optional)
Soy sauce (3 tsp)
Yogurt 1 cup
Black pepper to taste
Cilantro chopped
Dill (1 bunch)
Chopped jalapeños 1 cube

Recipe:
Warm oil. Add in chopped onions. Saute. Add in tomatoes. Cook for 5 mins till you can see the oil. Now add in chicken, cut-up ginger, MSG, salt, soy sauce, yogurt, black pepper. Cover and cook on medium-low til tender. Five minutes before serving add in cilantro, dill, and chopped jalapeños. Heat up well and serve. Adding these in at the end leaves them greenish looking otherwise they turn very brown and icky looking.

Enjoy!

oven roasted portobello mushroom burger w/ goat cheese & caramelized onions

yum. so today i made myself a yummy burger. it's vegetarian. a lot of times when you look for mushroom burger recipes, or spot 'mushroom burger' on a restaurant menu, you find that they're actually beef burger topped or stuffed with sauteed mushrooms. but i had an actual vegetarian portobello mushroom burger at cheesecake factory which was amazing, and although i didnt set out to recreate it today, i realized my creation tasted pretty similar!

as usual i skimmed a few recipes then did my thing. lately, ive been combining multiple recipes vs following one to the dot. i find it can be a great way to improve ones culinary skills

Again sorry about the vague quantities. Remember that the mushrooms cook down immensely, so you end up with maybe less than half of what you started with.

Ingredients

Portobello mushrooms (basically i bought a box of 8-9 portobellos. they werent as small as the baby sized ones, but maybe a size above. i originally wanted the largest ones they have, but alas)
Goat cheese (I used the one with herbs, mmm)
1 onion
1 tbsp sugar
Fresh minced garlic, a few cloves
Few tbsps olive oil
Few tbsps butter
Salt/pepper
Any mix of dried italian herbs. I used a blend with basil, oregano, rosemary, thyme, etc. Check the spices section at your local grocery store for 'italian seasonings'
Fresh baked bakery buns
French fries (optional)

Method:
Preheat oven to 350. Pull out the stems from the mushrooms and rinse lightly. Line on a baking sheet with the stem side facing up (so there is a nice opening to fill some herbs in). Melt one tbsp butter. Add one tbsp olive oil, garlic, 2 tbsp italian seasoning, salt and pepper to taste, mix. Using a spoon, fill the mixture into the mushroom opening generously. Make more of this mixture if you run out. Try to save a half tsp or so to use to saute the onions later. Cook the mushroom for 20-30 minutes or until they seem roasted to your liking. For a while they will seem soggy as the water dries up. I actually turned the mushrooms with the filling side facing down halfway into the cook time. Take them out of the oven when done and cool for 10 - 15 minutes, letting the juices and flavor soak in.

In a saucepan, melt some butter (or heat up some olive oil). Finely slice the onion, throw into pan, top with sugar and leftover italian seasoning + garlic mixture and cook on medium until caramelized. Cover the pan, remove from stove and let onions sit in  the heated pan. Add the cooled mushrooms to the heated pan and top both onions and mushrooms with goat cheese. Cover the pan again and let cheese melt in heat.

Toast the bakery buns and build burger with the mushroom-onion-cheese goodness. You may want to add more vegetables like lettuce and tomato if that's how you like your burgers, but this one tastes best on its own (to me, anyway). Serve with fries.

naan khatai / desi cardamom-pista-saffron cookies

I figured I should be a good daughter and make something that suits my parents taste buds once in a while. I've never really been into desi sweets, and baking them or creating them from scratch was just out of the question, but recently I've thought of expanding my horizons. I guess it all started with my aunts kulfi recipe last year!

I was surprised to learn that these appealed to my taste buds too! Not like I'd scarf them down as if theyre chocolate chip cookies or anything, but a small cookie or two is nice every now and then.


Here's my version, used a combo of a few recipes

3 cups all purpose flour
1 stick (1/2 cup) softened butter
12 tbsps powdered/confectioners sugar (if you dont have any, throw some regular sugar in a grinder and there you go)
1.5 tbsps of cardamom powder (made out of ground cardamom - WITH the skin)
1 egg yolk, beaten
1 cup full fat plain yogurt
2 tbsps crushed/powdered almonds
2 tbsps crushed pistachios (i mixed both types of nuts in a grinder and just crushed them in one go. the consistency should be powder like for the most part)
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
saffron (optional and as much as you want)

Preheat oven to 300. Cream the butter and sugar together, add cardamom powder and saffron. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda and then add the creamed butter sugar mixture and begin to incorporate using your hands. Add a few tbsps of yogurt at a time to get the dough to come together nicely, you may not need the entire cup. The end result should be nice and soft, like bread dough, which you can form into small golf sized balls. Place the balls on a baking sheet and flatten them ever so slightly from the top as you create a dent in the middle with your finger. Brush the egg yolk over the top, and fill dent with powdered nut mixture. Bake for about 15-20 mins or until golden brown.

Note that my golf sized cookie dough balls were a bit too big at first, and i didnt flatten them out properly at all, so since these dont flatten out like chewy choc chip cookies, my first batch was kinda undercooked from the inside. So you might wanna keep that in mind. It wasn't a  big deal though. A day later I just cut them up in halves, and put them back in the oven for 10 minutes and they became nice and crispy again.


So yeah, they were nice. I'm gonna try out more recipes though. I think they should be a bit more crispier, but these were pretty good I'd say. Then again I don't have these cookies often. My dad who loves this kinda stuff was pleased with the result so I guess they must be alright

blackened cajun chicken + roasted vegetable sandwiches

this is AMAZING. i havent made it yet, and i know we have a rule here about not posting stuff we haven't tried BUT this is one exception. it sounds so, so good. its from someone i know and i just havent had a chance to try it yet but i will soon iA. it is amazing served on some hearty bread with yummy cheese.

ingredients and quantities are again kinda vague but you can probably figure it out

**
i had boneless chicken breasts the other day, and i did a blackened cajun rub on them, pan fried them, sliced them thinly and we had them with fresh bakery bread... i had pesto-mayo, sauteed mushrooms and red onions, swiss cheese, and baby spinach and then i grilled the sandwiches with a bit of butter to make them golden and melt the cheese. i'm making them again this week!


or the chicken, i actually had "cajun spice blend" but i used this method of cooking it,http://www.metro.ca/...chicken.en.html it says use a grill, but i just used a nonstick fry pan and it worked fine! pesto-mayo was just a tablespoon of store bought pesto mixed with 1/4 cup of mayo or so, and the portobello mushrooms and onions were sauteed with some crushed garlic and butter (yeah, this is so not a diet recipe, lol). we just layered the chicken, veggies, and cheese on the bread and then grilled the sandwiches on a butterednonstick pan until the swiss was nice and melty. honestly though, it was the bread that made it delicious! the husband picked it up from a nearby bakery, and it was perfectly crusty on the outside, soft on the inside.

oh, and i think provolone instead of swiss would have been super yummy too, will try that next time!

spinach and feta in puffed pastry

this is a really rough recipe. i make it by 'andaaza' so you guys will have to figure out quantity on your own!

ingredients:

spinach (frozen or fresh)
onion
butter or olive oil to brown the onions
crumbled feta cheese
puffed pastry sheets
italian seasonings such as basil, oregano, etc (whatever you have sitting around)
black pepper


method
basically, carmelize the onions in butter. remove from the pan, then in some olive oil, cook the spinach until a good portion of the water has been drained. this is hard to do! spinach is sooo watery. so you might wanna drain it after youre done cooking it on some paper towels, or in a strainer or something. afterwards, combine with the onions, add the seasonings + the feta cheese, stuff into puffed pastry and bake.

SUPER YUM!

amazing chicken salad sandwiches!

this recipe is to die for. its been a huge hit with friends and family!!! my friend made it for a mutual friends bridal shower recently and they were well received!

you can find it here. http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/cda/recipe_print/0,1946,FOOD_9936_15706_RECIPE-PRINT-FULL-PAGE-FORMATTER,00.html

 note: i used store bought mayo, and dill instead of terragon, scallions instead of sweet onions. serve them in croissants. SOOOO good. :)

the poaching chicken part on the bottom of that link is super important and gives it a LOT of flavor. its not that hard. basically u just throw in raw chicken in vegetable broth + carrot, parsley, an onion, celery etc and boil it till its cooked. then you shred or cut it up and mix in the salad related ingredients.

Egg-Salad Sandwiches

I just had my first experience with egg-salad sandwiches recently. Very recently. I know, it's sad. But ANYWAY, I really liked it and thought it was also easy to tweak with fun ingredients. I had some fun ingredients. Thus, I tweaked. The egg-salad, that is.

Ingredients:

2-3 hard boiled eggs, chopped up

handful of chopped onion

handful of chopped cucumber

a sprinkling of chopped chives or scallions

2-3 tbsp mayonnaise

1/2 tsp dill (fresh or dried works fine)

1/2 tsp parsley (dried works well here too) the parsley is really optional, but the dill is key, especially if you're a fan of dill, like me!

pinch of garlic powder

salt and pepper to taste

Mix all of the above, and VOILA, you have egg-salad. lol Spread generously on some good, yummy bread.

BUT, what made my egg-salad sandwiches extra fun this time was SMOKED SALMON! If you're a fan, you can either flake some up and mix it right into the egg-salad or you can slice up some and layer it in the sandwich. Just remember, it will be very bold in flavor while the egg-salad is very subtle, so be careful with the portions. I learned from my mistakes. :)

Egg Rolls

This is the way I make egg rolls every Ramadan. They're easy although a bit time consuming, but are great for making in mass quantities and freezing in little zip-lock bags.

I don't use exact measurements, just throw stuff in and taste-test-adjust along the way, so I will try to give a decent estimate of the measurements.

Ingredients:

1-2 lbs ground chicken

about 2 cups of shredded cabbage

2 cups of shredded carrots or carrot sticks

1 cup bean sprouts

1-2 cups sliced green onions

you can also add any of the following:

peas, beans, mushrooms, chopped up baby corn, bamboo shoots or water chestnuts

Soy sauce (a lot. like 1/3 cup at least)

a few tablespoons of red chili paste/sauce/flakes

2 tbsp ginger-garlic paste

1 tbsp ground black pepper

2 tbsp oyster sauce (optional)

salt to taste

samosa/egg roll wrappers

In a large wok, heat very little oil (about 2-3 tbsp) over medium-high heat. Add the ginger-garlic paste and fry for about 30 seconds. Add the chicken and stir until no longer pink. Add the veggies except the green onions and peas if you're using them. Add all the seasonings/sauces and cook over high heat, stirring, until ALL the water has evaporated. If there's too much stuff in the pan and it's taking forever you can transfer it all into a large bowl, and sautee small amounts of it at a time until it all dries up. Add the peas and green onions at the very end. When the filling is done, spread it out onto a baking sheet to let cool.

Mix a few tbsp of all purpose flour and water to form a pancake-batter consistency. Carefully pull apart the sheets of egg roll wrapper. Place a wrapper in front of you with a corner pointing in at you. Place about 1 tbsp or so of filling in a rectangular shape near the bottom of the corner nearest you. Carefully fold the bottom corner over the filling and give it ONE tight roll. Fold in the sides, gently but tightly and then finish rolling the rest up. There should be a corner point on the outside. Spread a bit of the all-purpose mixture on the inside of the corner and smooth it down. The flour mixture dries pretty quickly and holds it all together. Place the folded egg rolls on a cookie sheet in one layer and freeze for about 20-30 minutes then you can put them all into zip-locks for easier storage. When you're ready to eat'em, do not thaw! Just deep fry until golden brown OR bake for a few minutes on each side for a healthier version. :)

Quick and Easy Szechuan Shrimp

This is so quick to make and goes well with fried rice. It's nice and spicy for the desi side of us. :)

Ingredients:

about 1/2 lb shrimp

1/2 cup water or chicken broth

2 tbsp ketchup or tomato puree

2 tsp honey

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp garlic-ginger paste

2 tsp red pepper flakes (adjust to your liking)

1 tsp corn starch

2-3 green onions/scallions, sliced

Mix the water, ketchup, honey, soy sauce and red pepper flakes together in a bowl. Heat oil over medium-high heat and add the ginger-garlic paste and half of the green onions and stir around for about 30 seconds. Add the shrimp and cook over high heat just until they turn pink. Add the sauce and cook for a minute or two and then stir in the corn starch (mixed with a little cold water) Stir and cook until the sauce is thickened. (Should only take about a couple minutes) Sprinkle on the remaining green onions.

Creamy Cajun Seafood Pasta

I made this a couple weeks ago because I was craving something....but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. I looked at a few recipes and just kinda winged it and honestly, I could eat this stuff everyday. And it's easy!

Ingredients:

1/2 lb shrimp

1 cup scallops

you can also use chicken or beef or crab or clams or whatever floats your boat

1 onion, diced

3-4 green onions/scallions, sliced

4-5 cloves garlic, minced

1 tomato, diced

1 can mushrooms

1/2 stick butter (i know. i know. but it adds the "yummy")

1 pint heavy cream

1/2 cup parmesan or Romano cheese

you can use any or all of the following seasonings (I just kinda threw in a bunch of stuff):

• paprika
• oregano
• black pepper
• salt
• cayenne pepper
• cajun or creole seasonings
• old bay
• Basil
• Crushed red pepper
• Parsley 
• Dill

Melt half the butter in a large pot/dutch oven and sautee the onions and garlic over medium heat, stirring constantly to prevent the garlic from burning. Add the shrimp or whatever meat you're using. If you're using scallops, add them when the other meat is almost done, they don't take very long to cook. Add the white parts of the green onions, mushrooms and tomatoes and cook for about 5 minutes. Add all the seasonings and the heavy cream. Adjust the salty/spiciness to your liking. Stir in the parmesan cheese. I added a bit of flour mixed with cold water to thicken it up because it was more of a soup consistency and I wanted to use it as a sauce. Garnish with the green parts of the sliced green onion and add the rest of the butter. Serve over angel hair pasta or linguine and possibly with some yummy garlic bread.

Vanilla Pound Cake with Nutella Swirl

I must give all the credit for this cake to Sally! She told me about it so I looked up the recipe and viola! My first attempt at cake from scratch was a success I would say.

Ingredients:

4 eggs, at room temperature

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

3/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

2 sticks butter, softened

1 1/4 cups sugar

1 jar of Nutella

Beat the eggs and vanilla together in a small bowl and set aside. In another bowl, mix together the flour, salt and baking powder and set that aside as well.

Beat the sugar and butter together with an electric mixer until light and fluffy (about 3 minutes). With the mixer on a low setting, slowly pour the egg mixture into the butter/sugar mixture and beat. Add the flour mixture about 1/2 cup a time and continue mixing. After all the flour is mixed in, continue to mix for another minute or so.

Microwave the nutella for about 10 seconds. (don't make it too runny!!) Pour 1/3 of that batter into a greased 9x5 inch loaf pan. Layer a good amount of the nutella over the batter. Pour another 1/3 of the batter on top. Do another layer of nutella. Pour the rest of the batter on top. Take a butter knife and run it through the cake a few times to create a swirl effect.

Bake at 325 for about an hour to an hour and 15 minutes or until it passes the toothpick test.

I think a nice nutella glaze would be yummy on top of this.

Asparagus and Gruyère Brunch Bread

I found a recipe for asparagus and gruyère tart on the Pioneer Woman's website and it sounded lovely, but I was planning on making this to take over to my IL's and figured it wouldn't work so well since the recipe called for puff pastry which would get soggy after a while. I thought a bread sort of thing might be better so I searched and here's a recipe I found and tweaked and liked!

Ingredients:

1 bunch asparagus spears, thin ones are best

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tbsp baking powder

about 3/4 tsp salt and pepper

2 eggs

1 1/4 cups milk

3 tbsp butter, melted

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 tbsp chopped thyme

1 tbsp chopped rosemary (you can also use chives or green onions instead of these spices)

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

1/2 cup gruyere cheese (asiago would also be great for this recipe)

Cut the bottom 1/2 inch to 1 inch of the asparagus spears and discard. Boil the asparagus spears in shallow water for just about 2 or 3 minutes. They should be bright green and slightly tender but still firm to the touch.

Combine the flour, baking powder, salt, pepper and spices in a bowl. Add the milk, eggs and butter and stir into a dough. Stir in half of the cheeses.

Pour half of the batter into a greased 9x9 inch baking dish and then layer on a few of the asparagus spears, about 1/3 of them. Pour the rest of the batter on top and lay the rest of the asparagus spears on top. Bake at 375 for about 35-40 minutes. Sprinkle on the remaining cheese and put back in the oven for another 10-15 minutes.

Cool and enjoy!

NOTE: You can also substitute the asparagus for sun dried tomatoes or olives or whatever you think would work.

Beef Stroganoff

This is another one of those easy, hearty comfort foods, just how I like it.

Ingredients:

1/2 lb beef, cut into thin strips

1 large onion, thick slices

1 pkg sliced baby mushrooms (or canned)

2 cloves of garlic, minced

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 cup beef broth/beef bouillon dissolved

1 tsp parsley flakes

salt, black pepper to taste

few tbsp sour cream (optional)

cooked egg noodles

Sautee the onions and mushrooms in about 3 tbsp butter and tiny bit of oil for just a minute or two. Throw in the garlic and then the beef and sautee until the beef is no longer pink. Add the cream of mushroom soup and the beef broth and stir in the spices. Let simmer for about 15 minutes. Add the end, stir in the sour cream. Okay so beef stroganoff is traditionally made with sour cream but I didn't add it yet and I really like the taste anyway. But as per the original recipe, I shall add it just before serving and see how it goes. Serve over cooked egg noodles.

Easy Thai Basil Chicken

I wanted something different and easy to make involving chicken today for dinner. I also wanted to try and use some fresh basil leaves I had left over from my bagels. * Tube light!* Thai Basil Chicken! It was really easy and fast too! Extra points.

Ingredients:

1 lb chicken, cut into small pieces

1 onions, diced

1 bell pepper, diced (I didn't use this)

1 cup of broccoli florets (the original recipe called for bok choy but I didn't have any)

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

1 tbsp fish sauce

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tsp sugar

chili sauce/paste/flakes to your preference

1/2 tsp corn starch

Sautee onions in a wok over medium heat until just a little tender and add the garlic. After a minute, throw in the chicken and cook until no longer pink. Meanwhile, mix all the sauces, sugar and chili paste/flakes together in a bowl and when the chicken is done cooking throw the sauce in and stir well. Adjust flavors to your liking. Add corn starch mixed with a little cold water to thicken the sauce. Turn off stove and add the basil. Serve over steamed rice.

Chicken Parmesan

I've been making this since I was like 10. Literally. It's easy but a bit time consuming but makes an impressive little dish. =)

Ingredients:

Chicken Breasts (1 for each person. Unless you have some chickens that have been on some major steroids. Then you can probably cut them in half)

Block cheese (I usually use pepper jack, but you can use fresh mozzarella, colby jack, swiss, whatever makes you happy)

3-4 egg whites, lightly whisked

about 1/2 cup or so of all purpose flour

about 1 or 2 cups of bread crumbs (plain or italian)

paprika powder, garlic powder, parsley flakes, italian seasonings, parmesan cheese, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper...and whatever other seasonings you have in your pantry that you'd like to throw in here. =P

Carefully make a pocket in each chicken breast with your knife as close to the edges as possible without tearing open the pocket. Season the eggs with salt and pepper. Season the bread crumbs with all the seasonings named above.

Insert the chicken pockets with a couple slices of the cheese. I used to "sew" the openings shut with soaked toothpicks to prevent cheese-ooze while baking, but you don't have to. Carefully dip the chicken breasts into the flour, shake off access, dip into egg, dip into bread crumbs to coat thoroughly. You can repeat the flour, egg, bread crumb process if you want a better breading.

Bake on a greased baking sheet at 375 for about 30 minutes or until the chicken is cooked. Serve over pasta with marinara sauce.

Home-Made Bagels!!

Dude this is so easy I can't even believe it. The bagels turn out perfectly - crispy on the outside, soft and chewy on the inside.

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cup warm water

1 1/2 tbsp yeast

1/2 tbsp sugar

1/2 tbsp vegetable oil

3/4 tsp salt

EXTRA STUFFS:

I threw in a palm-full of chopped fresh basil and chopped sun-dried tomatoes

you can also do cinnamon powder and raisins

walnuts and dried cranberries

dried blueberries

chocolate chips

jalapeno and cheddar or asiago cheese

chopped toasted onions, garlic

various herbs

Add the sugar and yeast to the warm water and let sit for about 3-5 minutes.

In a large mixing bowl, add the flour, salt and vegetable oil and when the yeast mixture starts to foam add that in too. Mix together with your hands or a stand mixer to form a tough elasticky dough. You'll probably need more water so just a tiny bit at a time.

NOTE: Throw in the extra flavoring stuffs while your mixing the dough together.

Cover and let rise in a warm place until it has doubled in size. I put mine in the oven after turning it on for a few minutes and turning it off. It took about 30 minutes. Turn it out onto a floured surface and knead well. Cut into 6 portions and form each one into a long thin snake-like rope. Wet each end of the rope and either form into a ring or into a twist (I did the twist like at Dunkin Donuts) Make sure the rope is long because it'll rise more. Place the formed bagels onto a floured surface and allow to rise for another 30 minutes or so.

Mean while, heat a pot of water to boiling. Add a bit of salt and sugar to the water. Carefully place 2 bagels a time into the water and cook on both sides for a minute each side. Place them onto a paper towel to soak the excess water. Place the boiled bagels on a lightly greased baking tray and bake for 18 minutes at 425 turning over after 10 minutes. If you want to sprinkle on top cheese or poppy seeds or garlic or onions or whatever, add it here. Done!

The 100th Post! WooHOO! Also, a Cajun Jambalaya recipe. :)

I made the 100th post on our blog!!! WOOT! lol That's actually kinda sad that I know that...and am excited about it. Whatever.

Anyway, here's a recipe for jambalaya I made for dinner today. It was so much easier than I imagined and turned out great! An awesome one dish dinner. Another WOOT.

Oh, this made about enough for two or three people.

Ingredients:

1 chicken breast, cut into small cubes

about 1 cup of shrimp

1-2 hot turkey sausages, diced (or hot dogs. or not.)

1 onion, diced

1 green bell pepper, diced

1-2 stalks of celery, chopped

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tomato, chopped (I ran out of tomatoes (I know, what desi runs out of tomatoes?!) so I just used tomato paste)

2 bay leaves

cajun/creole seasoning

paprika, oregano or Italian seasoning, dried parsley (all optional. the cajun/creole seasoning probably has these but I added extra anyway.)

1 cup uncooked rice

1 3/4 cups chicken broth or chicken bouillon cube dissolved in 2 cups water

Sautee the onions, celery and bell pepper in a bit of oil over medium heat. After about 3 minutes (the veggies don't have to be tender or anything) throw in the garlic and stir. Add the chicken and shrimp, bay leaves, cajun/creole seasoning and the rest of the seasonings and cook until the meat is no longer pink. Add the tomatoes or tomato paste and the chicken broth. Taste test and adjust for saltiness or spiciness. Add the rice, reduce heat and cook until the rice is tender. Voila.

I also fried up some homemade potato chips to go with this per Hubz's request.

Mexican Chicken-Rice thing.

Hi. I made this up one day. :)

I wanted to call it Mexican fried rice but then I realized it wasn't fried at all. Sooo...here ya go.

Ingredients

1/2 lb chicken breast

1 onion, chopped

1 bell pepper, chopped

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

1 jalapeno or serrano pepper, finely chopped

1 tomato, chopped

1 can black beans (optional)

1 tsp cumin powder

pinch of red chili powder

1-2 tbsp mexican oregano (I didn't have any so I used regular Oregano, you can also use Italian seasoning. I know, this is not an Italian dish, but whatever.)

1/2 tsp paprika

a few dashes of tabasco or taco sauce

salt to taste

1 cup rice

handful chopped cilantro

lime or lemon juice

Boil the chicken breast with a bit of salt and when its cooked and cooled, shred it up.

Heat oil in a sauce pan and sautee the onions and bell peppers for 1 minute. Add the garlic and stir for about 30 seconds. Add the tomato and jalapeno/serrano peppers and let cook for about 1 minute. Add the cumin, salt, red chili powder, oregano, paprika and the hot sauce and then stir in the rice and 1 3/4 cups of water. You can either add the chicken now or at the end after the rice is cooked. Let the rice come to a boil. When the rice is almost cooked, reduce heat to low, cover and let steam. When cooked, add the chopped cilantro and lime/lemon juice. Voila.

Apple Crisp

Warm, comforting, delicious apple crisp. Goes perfectly with vanilla ice cream. This is soo yummy and so easy to make. My SIL made it one day and I've been obsessed with it ever since. This is a recipe I found online for it, with a couple adjustments I made. This recipe will make enough for a 9x9 inch pan.

Ingredients:

4 or 5 apples (I use half red delicious and half granny smith) peeled, cored, and sliced a little thin

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 tsp or so of cinnamon powder

pinch or two of nutmeg

1 1/2 tsp all-purpose flour

1/4 cup water

You can also add blueberries, raspberries, etc into the filling if desired. 

1/2 cup quick-cooking oats

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

1/8 tsp baking powder

1/8 tsp baking soda

1/2 stick of butter, melted

You can also throw in some chopped pecans into the topping. 

Mix the apples with the first set of ingredients until thoroughly covered with the mixture.

Mix the second set of ingredients together. It will be kind of clumpy and crumbly. If it seems too wet, like a dough, add a bit more oats and flour.

Put the apples in the pan and pour whatever liquid is left in the bowl over the apples. Crumble the oat mixture over the apples evenly. Pop it in the oven at 350 for about 45 minutes. It'll be nice and golden brown and the place will be smelling loooovely!

Corn and Bean Salsa/Salad

This is really fresh and tasty on its own as a salad, or with chips as a salsa! You can play around with the ingredients and seasonings too - it's very versatile.

Ingredients:

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1 can whole kernel corn

1 small green or red bell pepper, chopped

1 onion chopped and rinsed

1-2 green chilies (I used serranos, they're about 20 times hotter than a jalapeno)

handful of chopped cilantro

1 tomato, chopped (optional, I didn't put any in)

1 firm avocado, chopped (also optional)

3-4 tbsp lime/lemon juice

1/2 tsp cumin powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder (or fresh minced garlic)

salt and black pepper to taste

Mix everything together. Done. :)

Lychee Mocktail

This is also totally my SIL's recreation of a drink she had at an Indo-Chinese restaurant (I believe) and it was SOOO GOOOD. I think you have to be a fan of lychee to really love it though. It's fresh and tropical and a super easy yet creative drink to have at your next gathering that'll impress the crowd.

Ingredients:

a can of lychees

grenadine (you can find this in the drinks section of most grocery stores or target.)

2-liter bottle of ginger ale

Pour the juice from the canned lychees into a large jug. Add about 1/3 cup to 1/2 cup of grenadine. Pour in the ginger ale. Stir, taste and adjust. You can either throw the lychees in the jug or add them individually to the glasses. Yummyyyy.

Mexican Hot Chocolate

So this is totally my sister-in-law's recipe that she made up on the spot after drinking some mexican hot chocolate at some place. It was confusing, silly, fun, exciting, spicy, and lucious. And other adjectives.

Ingredients:

Milk (preferably whole...because it's yummy)

hot chocolate mix of some kind or chocolate syrup

red chili powder (to your taste)

cinnamon powder (I'll say about 1/4 tsp per cup? does that seem like a lot? I dunno, eyeball it.)

a tiny dash of salt

Boil milk, add chocolate syrup/mix. Throw in chili powder, cinnamon and salt. Taste, adjust, enjoy.

NOTE: My SIL put in a good amount of cinnamon and chili powder. The cinnamon was yummy, not too strong, but the chili powder gave you a good kick in the back of your throat when you swallowed. =)

Mmm..Chicken Salad

LOL! I make this salad for my husband to take to work everyday! (he's on a 'DIET') and I cant believe I haven't mentioned this yet. I got this recipe off of some website years ago, but I tweaked it a bit to make it my own.

It turns out really really good! And when you pair it with a great italian dressing and croutons and maybe a hint of cheese over a great salad it turns out quite impressive although you haven't done much work.

Also, what I like to do, is ill marinate a bunch of chicken (maybe 4-5 lbs) at once and then separate into baggies and freeze it. so that way, i only have to slightly defrost in the morning and then bake it and hubby is ready to go! Which is also a good idea if you might have guests over suddenly.

so heres the recipe:
Ingredients:
2 lb chicken breasts cut into filets
10 tbsp. Minced garlic
1 tsp cumin powder
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp red flakes
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp oregano
salt to taste
olive oil to fry

Warm olive oil in a pan. Add in all ingredients except chicken. Let simmer on med lo for 5 mins or until brown. Remove and let cool. Mix with thin chicken filets and let marinate for 3-4 hrs. Bake at 350 degrees until cooked (around 25-30 mins). Cut into strips and serve with salad of choice (lettuce, carrots, cucumbers, etc).

ok remember, what i mean by filets is that chicken breasts are waay too thick, so you want to make them thinner. so basically you just cut them into thin slices like pasandas and then put slits in them as well, so you chicken isnt white and the flavor seeps all the way through. also after you're done baking do not discard the juices! make sure you keep that on the chicken as it gives it a more juicy flavor.

Do not use garlic paste, because the minced garlic really does give it a great flavor!
You don't have to cook the ingredients if you don't want to. The original recipe didn't. I just like the brown garlic and the flavor that comes after cooking. Again it's a very versatile recipe. Make it your own if you like!

Pineapple Chicken

i had more boneless chicken i wanted to experiment with so i did what i did last night. grilled in olive oil in an cast iron skillet and waited until the sides were browning. then i dumped in an entire can of crushed pineapples and let it simmer, almost completely covered. i threw in a huge sliced green bell pepper and some mushrooms (thickly sliced). afterwards, when the juices were drying up, i sprinkled some crushed red pepper on top and viola! it was amazing alhamdulillah

Ingredients

Boneless Chicken (1lb) thickly cubed
Olive Oil
Large Can of Crushed Pineapple
Sliced Bell Pepper
Sliced Mushrooms
Crushed Red Pepper

Sunshine Chicken

Ingredients

1lb boneless chicken cut into large bite sized pieces
1/2 green bell pepper cut into strips
5 large mushrooms sliced (thick)
1 cup of orange juice
2-3 lemon slices
salt/pepper to taste
olive oil

Directions

Grill boneless chicken pieces in the olive oil. I used a cast iron skillet. Once chicken is cooked on both sides and is browning, add the vegetables in the skillet. Saute the vegetables around the chicken and add the orange juice. Let simmer (half covered) until liquid evaporates. Add more OJ if your chicken seems dry. Season with salt/pepper and toss the lemon slices on top. Cover to retain moisture and to wilt he lemon slices (so flavor goes into the chicken/vegetables). Serve with rice or over pasta.

This literally took 30 minutes. Tasted awesome. Mushrooms are GREAT for soaking up flavor. Next time I may use canned pineapples.

Mac 'n Kheema Casserole

I literally made this up (to fit peoples dietary needs). Please feel free to experiment and update on how yours turns out, inshaAllah

1/2-1lb kheema
1/2 bell pepper chopped
1/2 Onion chopped
2 garlic cloves minced
2+ cups of thickly sliced mushrooms
2 cups of macaroni elbow noodles
1/4 cup spaghetti sauce of choice
olive oil
cajun spice seasoning
other spices (salt/pepper) as desired

Sautee mushrooms until half tender. Remove and place in medium sized casserole dish (covering the bottom of pan). Cook kheema until done (I added in some desi masalas here, laal mirch/haldi/ground black pepper). Add the spaghetti sauce and other vegetables. Mix well under high heat. Cover mushrooms in casserole dish with everything in the pot.

I had to cook the macaroni noodles on the side (bc some ppl can't have too many carbs) BUT I think if you cooked them WITH the kheema/veggies the taste would be better integrated. Also, I couldn't top it with cheese but a cheese & spinach topping would be divine (along with a 1/2 cup of cheese inside the kheema mixture to hold it together). I cooked the macaroni noodles with some cajun spice seasoning and it was YUM.

Cinnabon Clones!

I searched through many Cinnabon clone recipes and decided this one seemed like the best. There were literally about 350 reviews on it and they were all raving about how moist and yummy and exactly-like-the-real-thing they were. I made them the other day and thought they were pretty good but I need to figure out a way to make them more.....gooey? Anyway, this is the recipe with a couple modifications that I made after taking tips from all the reviews.

Ingredients:

1 package dry active yeast (2 1/4 tsp)

1 cup warm milk

1/2 cup sugar

1/3 cup butter

1 tsp salt

2 eggs

4 cups all purpose flour

Filling:

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 1/2 tbsp cinnamon powder

1/3 cup butter, softened

Icing:

8 tbsp butter, softened

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar

1/4 cup cream cheese, softened

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/8 tsp salt

Mix the yeast into the warm milk. In a big bowl, combine the sugar, salt, eggs, butter, flour and yeast and mix well to form the dough. If you think it's way too sticky, add a little bit of flour at a time while mixing. Knead the dough for a few minutes, put in a big bowl and cover with a towel and set aside to rise. I put mine in the oven after turning it on for a bit and sticking a bowl of water in there and then turning it off. I left mine in there for a couple hrs to rise. It should be double its original size.

Roll the dough out on a floured surface until its about 20 inches by 16 inches. It should be about 1/4 inch thick. Spread the softened butter over the entire surface of the dough and then sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture evenly over the butter. If you want you can add crushed pecans here too. Carefully roll up the dough from the long end. Cut the dough into about 1 inch to 1 1/2 inch thick rounds. Some people said they used string or floss. I just used a serrated knife and didn't press down very hard in order to maintain the round shape. Place in a lightly greased baking dish. At this point, some people had let the rolls rise again before baking them, but I was growing impatient so I just baked them at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes or until golden brown.

To make the icing, combine all the ingredients and mix with electric mixer until fluffy. Ice and enjoy. You can also add more pecans on top when finished.

Whateveryouwannacallit/Easy Chicken&Rice Pulao-ish thing.

My khala saw this on some desi cooking show (I think) and then my mom tried it out and I thought it was great and sooo easy! It's great for leftover rice, too!

Ingredients:

1/2 lb or 1 lb chicken breast, cut into small cubes

1 large onion, diced

1 green bell pepper, diced

1 tbsp garlic-ginger paste

tandoori masala

BUTTER :)

lemon/lime juice

sliced green onions

chopped cilantro

If you have a cup or two of leftover rice you can use that, otherwise, boil up a couple cups of rice, until cooked but firm, not very soft or mushy.

Sautee the chicken over high heat, with garlic-ginger paste and a tsp or two of tandoori masala, in a couple tbsps of butter until cooked. Remove and set aside. Reduce the heat to medium, add more butter to the pan and some oil if you want and throw in the onions and sautee for a minute or two. Add the bell peppers and sautee another few minutes until they just start to get a little tender. Throw in the chicken chunks and the rice and add a few more tsps of tandoori masala and stir well. Let it all cook together for a minute or two until the rice is warmed through, then add a couple tsps of lemon juice to taste. Taste for salt. Turn off the stove, and add a couple more slices of butter, the chopped green onions and cilantro. TADA! This literally took me like 15 minutes to make, fresh boiled rice included!

V8 Beef Stew

Ive made this many times and always messed around with the ingredients. I feel the barbecue sauce gives it a smoky flavor, but skip it if you like. I saw some recipes online that brown the cubes first. You can do that too if you like, but I've never done it before.

All in all, I feel this is an extremely easy recipe thats good too. Just toss it in the cooker, and forget.

1 pound cubed beef
2 1/4 cups chopped potatoes
1 cup chopped carrots
1 1/2 cups chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 large can V8 juice
Black Pepper
3-5 dashes of hot sauce (As spicy as you'd like it)
Oregano
Barbecue Sauce

Just put all the ingredients in a slow cooker and let cook on low for 10 hours. Or you could use a regular pot, and add in all the ingredients but the vegetables. Add the vegetables after an hour or so of cooking.

Just make sure the stew has become thick before serving. It should be a stew, not a soup.

Peach Cobbler

I had this at an interfaith even that I went to and it was amazing! normally i dont like deserts of any sorts but this was just soooo good.

Ingredients:

4 cups peeled, sliced peaches

2 cups sugar, divided

1/2 cup water

8 tbsp butter

1 1/2 cups self-rising flour

1 1/2 cups milk

ground cinnamon, optional

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 F

Combine the peaches, 1 cup sugar, and water in a saucepan, and mix well. Bring to a boil and simmer until sugar is dissolved (around 5 mins). Remove from the heat.

Put the butter in a 3-quart baking dish and place in oven to melt.

Mix remaining 1 cup sugar, flour, and milk slowly to prevent clumping. Pour mixture over melted butter, do not stir. Spoon fruit on top. Gently pouring in syrup, sprinkle top with ground cinnamon if desired. Batter will rise to the top while baking.

Bake for 35 to 45 minutes until the top is golden brown.

To serve, scoop onto a plate and serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.

Potato and Leek Soup

I've been craving soup lately so I googled a bunch of random recipes. I tried this one today. It's pretty easy and so creamy and buttery and yummy. I think it'd be really good with little chunks of beef in it too.

Ingredients:

3 or 4 potatoes, peeled and cut into small chunks

2 leeks, only the top, white part, washed thoroughly and chopped finely

1 stalk of celery, finely chopped

2 shallots, finely chopped

1/2 stick of butter

1-2 cups of chicken broth or water

1/2 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup milk

salt and pepper to taste

Sautee the shallots and leeks in half of the butter until tender or about 5-7 minutes. Add the water or chicken broth, celery and potatoes, cover and simmer for about 20 minutes or until the potatoes are very mushy. Mash the potatoes in the pot with a potato masher or puree in a blender if you want a very smooth soup. Add the cream, milk, and the rest of butter and heat for another few minutes. Taste (the butter and broth will already make it salty) and then add salt and pepper to taste. The original recipe called for parley to garnish but I added a little bit of fresh dill and it was great.

Steak Quesadillas with the fixin's

They have these at Chili's and I decided to recreate them at home with my own variations. This is just a fun and easy dinner idea.

Ingredients:

I used NY strip steak, cut into thin, 1-inch-long strips (you can also use chicken)

1 medium onion, sliced thick

tortillas

shredded cheese of any kind. you can usually find a "mexican" cheese mix at the grocery store

sliced jalapeños (I used the pickled kind you get in a jar)

red chili powder, cumin powder, garlic powder, paprika, lime juice and salt

Sautee the onions in butter and a bit of oil until caramelized and tender. Set aside. In the same pan, add more oil if you need and throw in the steak strips. Add in the seasonings and cook for about 10 minutes or until no longer pink. Set aside.

On warmed tortillas, sprinkle a little cheese on one half, then add the steak strips, and then some jalapeño slices then cover with more cheese. Fold the tortilla over and toast in a clean frying pan, covered, until brown and crispy and the cheese is melty. Cut into triangles. Serve wiiiiiiiith.....

Home-made Guacamole:

Mash together a few ripe avocados, chopped onions, tomatoes, cilantro, lime juice, salt, red chili powder/minced green chilies, cumin powder, garlic powder.

Also serve with salsa and sour cream.

Koshary

I was recently introduced to this delicious dish that is a staple in Egyptian cuisine. It's simple but has so much flavor and is easy to make. It goes perfectly with some yummy kabobs.

Ingredients:

1 cup rice

1 cup WHOLE masoor dal/lentils

1 cup macaroni pasta

a handful of vermicelli or angel hair pasta

1 can chick peas

olive oil

garlic powder

salt and pepper to taste

Sauce:

1 small onion, chopped

handful of celery leaves, chopped

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1/2 jalapeño, chopped 

about 2 cups tomato sauce or 2 tbsp tomato paste mixed with water

1/4 tsp cumin powder

1/4 tsp paprika 

1 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper 

salt and pepper to taste

Sliced, fried onions 

Cook the rice with chicken broth or chicken cube dissolved in water. Boil the lentils and pastas separately until cooked. Mix everything together including the chick peas and drizzle with olive oil, garlic powder, adobo seasoning, salt and pepper. Set aside.

Heat oil and add onions and jalapeño, sautee for 2 minutes or until tender. Add garlic and celery leaves and stir. Add tomato paste/sauce and stir well. Add spices and let simmer for 10 minutes. Blend with immersion blender until smooth. 

Garnish with fried onions.

You can either serve them separately or mix it all together before serving. I like to serve it separately so you can add as much sauce as you like.

Super Easy Sugar Cookies and Home-made Frosting

I was in the baking mood today and decided to try THESE! Really easy and really yummy sugar cookies!

Ingredients:

1 cup shortening (1 stick)

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda (I actually didn't have any so I used baking powder and it turned out fine)

1/4 cup butter, melted

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 pound (about 2 to 2 1/2 cups) confectioner's/powdered sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream together the shortening and sugar. Beat in the egg, then add the flour, salt and baking soda and stir to form dough. Drop heaping tablespoonfuls of dough onto ungreased cookie sheet. The dough doesn't spread too much so I had to flatten the balls of dough and it worked better. Bake for about 10-12 minutes. They shouldn't be golden brown or anything.

In a seperate bowl mix together the powdered sugar, egg, melted butter and vanilla with an electric mixer until smooth. This will thicken a bit while it sits. Frost the cookies when they are completely cool.

Easy Shrimp Scampi with Angel Hair Pasta

Hubbs is on call today. Which means I've exhausted all things that could possibly keep me busy/entertained and I'm officially bored. I was also hungry and had no idea what to eat soooo I whipped this up in like 5 minutes and it was gooooood!

Ingredients:

Shrimp, peeled and thawed

about 3-4 tbsp butter

couple tbsp vegetable or olive oil

1 minced garlic clove

about 1 tsp parsley flakes

parmesan cheese. lots of it.

crushed red pepper

salt and black pepper to taste

Boil the angel hair pasta for about 5 minutes or until al dente. It probably doesn't even take 5 minutes.

Heat the oil and butter until melty and add the shrimp and fry until cooked. Add the garlic and stir for a minute. Add the parsley, crushed red pepper, parm, salt and pepper and stir. Add the pasta and stir to coat. There won't be a lot of sauce but the pasta will be coated and buttery and yummy. I added more parsley and parm on top. YUM.

Tropical Fried Rice

This is a different and refreshing take on regular fried rice and goes well with the coconut shrimp recipe I posted.

Ingredients:

2 cups cold cooked rice

1 cup pineapple tidbits

1 onion, chopped

1 small bell pepper, chopped

2-3 green onions, sliced

1-2 green chilies, sliced

1 tomato, chopped

1-2 eggs

1 tsp ginger-garlic paste

1 tbsp fish sauce

2-3 tbsp soy sauce

1 lime

black pepper to taste

red chili sauce/sambal to taste

chopped cilantro to garnish

I made this with small cubes of chicken. So first, I cooked the chicken over medium high heat until cooked and set aside. Scramble the eggs and set aside.

Add the ginger-garlic paste, fish sauce, soy sauce, and veggies to the wok and stir fry for a minute or two. Add the rice and stir thoroughly. Add the pineapple, chicken, egg, squeeze the lime over the rice, throw in the cilantro and mix thoroughly. Taste test and add more soy sauce or red chili sauce to taste.

I feel like you can totally play around with this recipe and add other things like mandarin oranges or coconut. Yum!

Coconut Shrimp

This is sooo easy and turns out exactly like restaurant quality coconut shrimp! I'm so excited.

Ingredients:

Large, uncooked shrimp; peeled, deveined and thawed

2-3 egg whites

1/2 cup all purpose flour

about 1 cup of unsweetened, shredded coconut

about 1/2 cup of Panko bread crumbs

red chili powder (optional)

lime zest (optional)

salt to taste

Heat enough oil to deep fry shrimp over medium heat. Don't let it get too hot or the breading will burn and the shrimp will remain uncooked.

Whisk the egg whites with a couple pinches of salt and red chili powder if you like some heat. Mix together the coconut, bread crumbs and lime zest (optional). Dredge the shrimp in the all purpose flour, then coat with the egg mixture, then coat with the coconut mixture. Kind of pressing the coconut mixture onto the shrimp ensures a good coat of breading. Fry the shrimp in the oil until they turn golden brown, or about 3-5 minutes.

The website I got the original recipe from had reviews from people who said the shrimp went well with some kind of chipotle or habanero dipping sauce. I didn't make any sauce because...I forgot. BUT...I did serve it with some really yummy tropical fried rice....recipe to follow.

Grilled Veggie Salad

My mother-in-law made this salad this past weekend and it was so good!

Ingredients:

1 large eggplant

1 large tomato

1 large onion

2 jalapeño peppers

2-3 cloves of garlic

Do not peel or cut any of the veggies. Place them all into a small baking dish and broil until brown and wrinkly. My MIL said some people drizzle olive oil over them before broiling. Let the veggies cool after they are done. Peel and smush the garlic cloves. Peel everything else and chop into small cubes. Mix together with olive oil, lemon juice, salt, pepper, and a pinch of cumin powder. I can't remember but I think she may have added something green and leafy...cilantro? mint? parsley? Anyway, serve cold.