Tag Archives: Recipes

Easy & Healthy Salad Recipes

You have all heard me say that salads are not considered lunch in my book. I don’t think they are filling, while I have had some tasty salads with chicken/meat in it I still don’t like salads to have any sort of animal meat, and in all honesty I feel like salads are deceiving. When I say “deceiving” I mean they can be so fattening! You hear someone say “I’m eating a salad” (as their meal) many will assume that they are one of those people that are conscious about healthy eating. But that’s such a lie! If I eat a salad every day, while at the same time stuff my face with the same foods I’m already consuming, will that make me shed a few pounds? Hmmm — probably not.

But, I am truly not a salad hater. I think salads can be very healthy and be loaded with flavor. While I won’t eat a salad as an entire meal, I will enjoy one in addition to something else I am gobbling down.

My most recent salad fetishes include what I like to call my “Greece, Meet Capri” salad and my “Wally the Goat”. I’m strange, I know. I make up strange names, but who cares — it’s just me creating these fabulous salads. After you read below how to make these salads of mine, you’ll agree that they are both fairly healthy and they were created off of inspiration of other salads I adore.

My father and I chatting with a local in Anacapri, Italy.

My father and I chatting with a local in Anacapri, Italy.

Greece, Meet Capri

I am totally my father’s daughter — I love olives! So naturally, I’m happy to throw them into my salad. Oh, wait, there’s already a salad that does that!? Actually, the salad I have created is a spin off of a Greek Salad; I love the combination of flavors, the color and of course the healthy ingredients are a plus! But, I am not a fan of thick salad dressing. It makes me feel like I have ruined my salad — turning it from a healthy snack or side dish to a fatty one, and who would want that? I have also come to love cooking & baking with lemons. Lemon juice, lemon zest — you name it, I love it. I was actually inspired by the world of lemons when I went to Capri with my family back in 2010. The citrus flavor can be used in recipes in countless ways — there’s also nothing unhealthy about it!

Close to Capri, in Pompeii, you'll see tons of drink stands that rely on their citrus!

Close to Capri, in Pompeii, you’ll see tons of drink stands that rely on their citrus!

What You Will Need:

  •  Romaine Lettuce
  • Red Onions
  • Kalamata Olives
  • Tomatoes (cherry or vine)
  • Feta Cheese
  • Sweet Peppers (or spicy, if you’d like!)

For the Dressing:

  • Olive Oil
  • Lemon Zest

Directions:

  • Everyone has a different preference as to how much of what ingredients they would like to use, so please feel free to throw in lots of tomatoes if they are your favorite (or lots of olives, I love those!)
  • Chop up the lettuce
  • Slice a few (or a lot) slices of red onion
  • Slice a tomato or multiple cherry tomatoes
  • Throw the ingredients into a bowl including the olives!
  • Crumble the feta cheese over top
  • Combine a cup of olive oil and 1 zested lemon into a bowl or salad dressing shaker if you have one, once shaken add over top of the salad and toss the salad!
My lovely "Greece, Meet Capri" salad!

My lovely “Greece, Meet Capri” salad!

Wally The Goat

I will admit, lots of folks out there may not be a fan of some of the overwhelming flavors of many of the ingredients in the first salad. Which is why I depend on my “Wally The Goat” recipe, which I have been making for years! It’s actually probably the first salad I ever fell in love with eating. Years may have gone by, but I still to this very day love every bite of this salad! A few years ago, I was trying to get a family friend’s child to taste-test this salad; the little girl asked me what the name of the salad was but I didn’t have an answer for her. So, I told her if she tried the salad, she could name it! We settled on “Wally The Goat” because two main ingredients are goat cheese and walnuts. What a smart (and cute) cookie she was!

What You Will Need:

  • Fresh “Spring Mix” of greens (or Spinach if you prefer — I like to take turns with these)
  • Chopped Walnuts
  • Plain Goat Cheese
  • Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing
  • Dried Cranberries

Directions:

  • Toss the Spring Mix, chopped walnuts, crumbled goat cheese, and dried cranberries
  • Add the dressing and toss well
  • BOOM! YOU’RE DONE! Stuff your face, and love the salad as much as I do!
A view from the Viceroy in Anguilla!

A view from the Viceroy in Anguilla!

Want to go a little crazy? Try this wicked fabulous salad I had once at The Hearst Tower cafeteria as an intern at Food Network Magazine. I later had it when I traveled to Anguilla for a vacation with my boyfriend. Who knows what it’s called, but I guarantee that several people reading this will think it sounds nasty — I promise you, it is not! So, for the sake of naming all of the salads in my life strange names… I’d love to hear from you — WHAT SHOULD I CALL THIS SALAD!? Tell me below in a comment!

 

What You Will Need:

  • Cubed Watermelon
  • Kosher Salt
  • Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing
  • Crumbled Goat Cheese
  • Chopped Basil (optional)

Directions:

  • Pour the cubed watermelon on a plate
  • Sprinkle lightly with some Kosher salt
  • Sprinkle with goat cheese
  • Drizzle with Balsamic Vinaigrette (or, for a more intense taste, just drizzle *lightly* some balsamic vinegar. I love this!)
  • Add some chopped basil for some extra flavor — not necessary though!

I hope everyone enjoys some of my favorite salad recipes! I promise, next time I make these, I will take more photos to share them with you!

Melt Shop Grilled Cheese

Let’s get right to the point — Little Muenster has some major competition. Just like cupcakes, grilled cheese sandwiches aren’t just a food trend — they are a classic comfort food that has been pleasing many for generations. Which is why it isn’t a surprise to me that grilled cheese shops are popping up all across town.

The credit here goes to my boyfriend who found Melt Shop just around the corner on West 26th Street. That’s the first major plus, I didn’t have to go all the way downtown like I did for Little Muenster. Convenience is key. I also appreciated the speediness of the service and the wide selection of sandwich choices.  What’s even more exciting? They offer a breakfast menu as well — something that I need to try out! To see the entire menu, click here!

Knowing what types of food I love… take a wild guess at what I ordered.

truffle grilled cheese

Yup — I went for the Truffle Melt… a grilled cheese made up of havarti, arugula, and cracked black pepper that has truffle oil drizzled on top, all melted together in between two pieces of sourdough bread. Did you know, if you add truffle to dairy the flavor really pops? So, what could be better than cheese and truffle? Hmmm, probably nothing.

The sourdough bread had the perfect crispiness after it came out of the sandwich press, and the arugula added the perfect greenery to the grilled cheese.

Looking for something with a little more substance? Melt Shop offers grilled cheeses made with meat — chicken, pork… you name it!

So, I leave you with this thought — what could be better than a warm grilled cheese on a cold winter day? These sandwiches really hit the spot and take the grilled cheese food trend to a whole new level.

Follow Me on Pinterest

Instagram

Hot Granola

This past weekend I posted about a breakfast dish I had — Hot Granola. I’m telling ya, folks, if you want to see the food I’m eating way before I blog about it — follow me on Instagram! A few of my Instagram followers saw this picture and couldn’t help but ask, “how on earth does someone recreate this dish?” And I’m over here blogging this post wondering the exact same thing.

For the past several months I have been baking and cooking with rolled oats. But I have never had hot granola before. So, I’m opening up a forum of discussion to talk about the best way to recreate a hot granola dish that I’m dying to make at home. Feel free to venture to the “Contact Me” tab if you aren’t wanting to share any recipes with other bloggers, or simply comment on today’s post.

hot granola

This specific hot granola that I ate for breakfast last weekend was filled with hearty flavors — raisins and almond slivers also added some extra texture to the dish. The consistency was filling but didn’t weigh me down… I’m thinking it would be the perfect breakfast to consume before heading out for some wintery activities. 1. It will warm you up before you bolt out into the cold and 2. It gives you the perfect amount of energy to stay active for hours before having to eat again. Oh — and did I mention that it’s healthy? Full of whole grains and just a little bit of spices to give it that bold flavor — it’s a guilty-free start to your day!

Follow Me on Pinterest

Instagram

Festive Holiday Inspiration

You can’t really miss holiday inspiration “this time of year” — it’s every where! And I love it, it’s exactly what we need. And, when I say “we” I mean — “we, people, that live in cold locations”. Holiday cheer excites almost everyone and it’s that perfect joy I need — it lifts my spirits in the dead of winter.

So, I thought I’d share with you some of my holiday inspiration that has kept me excited for Christmas and Hanukkah this year — remember, folks, Hanukkah starts this Saturday!

home alone soundtrack

I heavily rely on my Pandora radio, it’s free and it seems to play the music I like (most of the time). But it’s always right on the money with my favorite holiday songs. This past weekend some Home Alone music popped up on my Pandora Christmas station and it inspired me to watch the movie. I was flooded with nostalgia as I watched Kevin set up the house to scare off “the bad guys” — I watched this movie ever year growing up, it’s such a classic!

holiday glitter tree

Check out this adorable mini Holiday Glitter Trees I came across at Trader Joes! How darling and festive! They are real trees and need to be watered, hopefully mine won’t fall over from thirst! A bigger hope I have is that I won’t continue to find the glitter around the house far after the holidays are over.

holiday food network magazine

The one thing I rely on every year is my Food Network Magazine — this never lets me down on great inspirational recipes to make for the holidays. One recipe I am obsessed over this winter season is the Oatmeal Lace Cookie recipe I can’t seem to stop making. Seriously, I can’t stop making it; I have made this recipe 4 times since my December issue arrived in the mail and I think I may have gained a couple cookie pounds.

Something cute I thought I’d share is this really fun pin I came across on Pinterest. Last year I had a very New York City festive seasonal/holiday card and when I saw this pin I thought how perfect it would be to turn into greeting cards.

christmas color palette

Be sure to follow me on Instagram for some of my personal Holiday photos! And of course, be sure to follow on Pinterest too, I can’t help go a little crazy over all of the seasonal ideas — from baking to decor, I love (and pin) it all! Above is a color palette I adore, Design Seeds has some fantastic ideas for color palettes — I promise, you’ll be inspired!

Follow Me on Pinterest

Instagram

Citrus Brussels Sprouts

I know, I have been horrible with blogging the past couple of months. Actually, I have recently received a few, lets call them, “hate emails” asking when the next time I’ll be posting.

I have been spending a lot of time cooking and baking — surprise, surprise! And I am excited to share with you that I have had some fantastic success stories that I will be able to catch you up on.

Which is exactly what I am going to do right now…

Thanksgiving is right around the corner, and lets all admit it… you should never, EVER, make a recipe for the first time on Thanksgiving. Am I right? I’m such a dork when it comes to recipes, I have to test them out in advance. This weekend, I couldn’t help but get a bit creative with some gorgeous brussels sprouts. Actually, it wasn’t that creative, rather it was a middle ground of a mixtures of flavors that everyone in my family would enjoy.

Here’s what I did with the little bite-size veggies…

What you’ll need:

  • 1 small basket of brussels sprouts
  • extra virgin olive oil
  • salt & pepper
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • juice of half of a lemon

Preheat oven to 375 degree. Cut the brussels sprouts in half and lay on a baking sheet. Drizzle some extra virgin olive oil over top, sprinkle with salt and pepper and two garlic cloves that are chopped up into small pieces. Toss this mixture together and spread out on to the baking sheet. Bake for 20-23 minutes. Remove from oven and place into a serving bowl. Juice half a lemon over top of the brussels sprouts. Serve!

It’s that easy, and I swear you’ll love it! I can’t help but enjoy a combination of garlic and citrus on top of a very flavorful green vegetable! Let me know what you think, and be sure to enjoy this recipe this Thanksgiving!

 

Okay folks, lets give this a shot — are you a Pinterest fanatic like myself? Now you can pin my yummy Citrus Brussels Sprouts recipe to your Pinterest food boards! Be sure to hit the “Pin It” button below!

Homemade Pita Pizzas

At the end of the week when I have veggies in the fridge that need to be eaten right away, I’ll typically cook them up for some quesadillas or pizzas. Who says you can put asparagus in a quesadilla? And you can pretty much get away with putting whatever you want on a pizza — pineapple, mushrooms, peppers, zucchini … you name it! You probably wouldn’t put all of those ingredients on your pizza at the same time, but you know what I mean.

I never knew how convenient pita bread actually is either! I’m a sucker for thin, crispy crust on my pizza and that’s exactly what pita bread will end up being when you bake it — nice and crispy!

Last night I didn’t have much in my refrigerator, I am actually extremely low on groceries. But what I did have was: pita bread, garlic, fresh mozzarella, and a tomato. So, I split open the pita bread so I could cut out just a thin piece of it and I saved the rest of the bread for some hummus for a snack this weekend. Then I chopped up one small clove of garlic and spread it out on to the bread. Next, I grated some fresh mozzarella and sliced up a few pieces of tomato. I spread on the tomato slices, followed by the cheese and then topped it with 2 pinches of hot pepper flakes. I love my homemade pizza to be garlicy with a bit of a kick!

My little pita pizza was popped into the oven (I used my handy toaster oven) at 425 degrees for 10-12 minutes. It was so light, crispy, and flavorful and since it took me maybe 15 minutes to prep and cook — I know I’ll be making it again very soon!

Cookin’ Good With Sitto

This Christmas, my mom gave me a cook book that was created by a church in upstate NY — the book is filled with recipes compiled from the locals’ personal recipe collection. Where my dad grew up — Utica, NY — there is still to this day a large population of Italians and Lebanese and Syrian families. And I just so happen to be both Syrian and Italian. Woah! What a combo!

I was excited to see that some of my Nannie’s (aka grandmother) recipes made it into the book! I was also so surprised to see how beautiful the book turned out — it’s divided into sections (dips, appetizers, side dishes, main dishes, desserts etc.) and there is even a spice index which will help me know what I am looking for when I go grocery shopping.

After opening up this Christmas gift from my mom, I opened up one from my grandmother. I couldn’t help but chuckle when I saw that she gave me a similar cook book but it was published in 1976 called ‘Cookin Good With Sitto’ (Sitto means grandmother). As old as the book is, it is in pretty good condition but the inside looks ancient — filled with hand drawn pictures and held together with a plastic binder of a spine (I’m surprised it has held together so well).

I’ve decided for New Years Eve I’m going to make two classic dips for when I get together with my boyfriend and part of his family. What’s on the menu? Very easy things to make but I unfortunately don’t have a fraction of the ingredients (ugh, that means more to carry home from the store). But I am planning to make Hummus and Emhammara which is a red pepper dip.

I’m running into a small dilemma though. I have these two cook books, which recipes do I follow? My grandmother’s recipe for Emhammara just so happens to be in the newer cook book and her recipe calls for a half a jar of Mild Ajvar (eggplant and red pepper spread) but the other recipe has nothing of the sort. But when it comes to the hummus, the recipes are very similar and I actually think I will be following the 1976 recipe version because it calls for fresh garlic and more lemon juice and those flavors I love!

I thought I would share with you the recipes — take a look at the newer and older recipes (you’ll be able to tell the difference based on the text, plus you can also see that the newer version has the recipe credited to someone).

When I make these on Saturday I will be sure to take photos and share with you next week! Happy New Years!

My grandmother’s recipe for Emhammara (Red Pepper Dip):

Ingredients:
3/4 lb. Shelled Walnuts (Ground)
2 lbs. Red Peppers Cut, cleaned and ground
1 sleeve of Saltine or Ritz crackers, crushed (I prefer Saltine)
1/2 cup oil
Juice from 1 fresh lemon
2 oz. of Pomegranate Molasses
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/2 jar of Mild Ajvar (eggplant and red pepper spread)

Directions:
Mix together ground walnuts, crushed crackers and add to ground red peppers and 1/2 jar of Mild Ajvar. Mix with a fork and add lemon juice, oil, salt and pomegranate molasses.
Refrigerate for 2 hours before serving.

Triple Chocolate Chunk Brownies

chocolate browniesYes. I am from Hershey Pennsylvania. Where the air smells like chocolate, where teenagers call the town “the chocolate bubble,” and where all of the amazing chocolate candies are created.

I don’t really enjoy Hershey’s products that much any more. There used to be bite sized chocolate covered pretzels that I loved but they discontinued them. I still do enjoy putting a Christmas Tree shaped Reese’s peanut butter cup on my s’mores, and I love Take-5 bars that are chocolate covered pretzels with peanut butter and caramel. Yum. How amazing does that sound?

Betty Crocker has a Hershey’s Triple Chocolate Chunk brownie mix that is to die for. You can also bake them from scratch with a recipe that you can find here. But if you make them from the box I would suggest adding some chunks from a Hershey’s bar to the top and then top it off with a sprinkle of powdered sugar (not pictured in the photo, but that’s the final touch I always put on my brownies).

These brownies are always such a big hit! When I make these from scratch everyone always asks me to make them more! So be sure to check out the recipe and make these for friends and family this holiday season!

I’d love to hear all about what everyone is baking this winter. Either post a comment or contact me!!!

Happy Holidays everyone!!!!

Campbell’s Green Bean Casserole

Green Bean CasseroleA traditional Thanksgiving staple is the classic green bean casserole. A Thanksgiving dinner table would be incomplete with out it and luckily it is probably the easiest thing to make. This year, I spent the holiday in Chicago with my boyfriend and his family. My boyfriend’s sister can cook but she isn’t extraordinarily kitchen savvy so I gave her a lot of credit when she wanted to make Campbell’s Green Bean Casserole all by herself. She pulled the recipe out of a People Magazine issue that had an advertisement for the classic dish on an advertisement. I watched her make and bake the entire dish! You can either use the frozen green beans or you can use the fresh ones. I watched as my boyfriend’s sister washed and chopped up some fresh green beans — she ran into some difficulty when reading the recipe because the recipe called for 4 cups cooked green beans. How on earth do you measure 4 cups of cooked green beans? So, she guessed — luckily she did a good job. After steaming the fresh beans she mixed in a separate bowl the milk, soy sauce, cream of mushroom soup, and two thirds cup onions. She then poured the mix over the green beans, tossed it all up and added some more of the crunch onions to the top, she then put it in the oven. It came out gorgeous!

I managed to have a few bites of this before dinner and I was so proud of her! It came out so tasty! And the flavors were much better with the use of fresh green beans instead of the easy to use frozen green beans. The texture was crunchy, but of course cooked enough. When she reheated the dish later, she added some extra onions on the top so they would be nice and crunchy.

I don’t know why we don’t make Green Bean Casseroles more often, year-round. It’s such an easy dish to put together and I don’t know anyone who doesn’t like it. Here’s the recipe from the Campbell’s website:

    Ingredients:

  • 1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell’s® Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup (Regular, 98% Fat Free or Healthy Request®)
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1 teaspoon soy sauce
  • Dash ground black pepper
  • 4 cups cooked cut green beans
  • 1 1/3 cups French’s® French Fried Onions
    Directions:

  • stir the soup, milk, soy sauce, black pepper, beans and 2/3 cup onions in a 1 1/2-quart casserole.
  • Bake at 350°F. for 25 minutes or until the bean mixture is hot and bubbling. Stir the bean mixture. Sprinkle with the remaining onions.
  • Bake for 5 minutes or until the onions are golden brown.

Potato-Gruyere Tartlets

There’s something about Puff Pastry that has everyone hooked. It could be the light, fluffy, crispy consistency — that does it for me! But it could also be all of the fabulous things you can do with such an easy to work with ingredient. Really, Puff Pastry dough is something that you should keep in your freezer at all times. You can easily find ingredients to chop up to put on top of a puff pastry to turn it instantly into an incredible hors d’oeuvre. That’s exactly what I did this weekend. I found a very simple recipe in ‘Cooking Light’ and I only needed to pick up one extra ingredient (the Gruyere cheese).

The recipe called for:
6 baby Dutch or fingerling potatoes (done, already had them so I could make some rosemary potatoes)
Frozen puff pastry dough
1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt (done, I bought new salt and pepper grinders from Trader Joe’s when I ran out last week)
1/3 cup shredded Gruyere cheese
1 1/2 teaspoons chopped rosemary (I always have fresh rosemary, I am constantly cooking with this tasty ingredient. It can turn something bland into something fresh and exhilarating.)

Here are the directions from ‘Cooking Light’:
Place potatoes in a saucepan; cover with water. Bring to a boil Reduce heat; simmer for 5 minutes or until almost tender. Drain; rinse with cold water. Cut crosswise into thin slices.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Unfold dough; place on a surface dusted with flour. Roll to a 10 x 9 inch rectangle. Cut into 20 (2 1/4 x 2-inch rectangles). Score each rectangle about 1/8-inch from edge. Prick dough liberally with a fork. Arrange on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper; chill 10 minutes.
Arrange 2 potato slices onto each dough piece, and sprinkle with salt. Combine cheese and rosemary. Sprinkle about 3/4 teaspoon cheese mixture over each tartlet. Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes or until golden.

From experience, I will probably cut the puff pastry pieces to be a big smaller than what I had done my first time around. I would love them to be literally a bite size so no one would need to take two bites to eat one piece. Also, I ended up adding extra cheese. When my friend Ken and I were cooking for our ‘Modern Family Dinner’ we were laughing over how we have never heard anyone ever say “this food is too cheesy.” (Please, correct me if I am wrong, but I don’t think anyone would ever say such a thing, right?)

The salt I added was also more of a larger piece of salt than usual table salt. I love that extra crunch and salty seasoning. Also, once I took the pieces out of the oven, I shuffled the pieces onto a cookie rack in order to cool. I didn’t want the puff pastry to become soggy.

Ultimately, the Potato-Gruyere Tartlets turned out incredible! the rosemary makes the appetizer so fresh, the fluffy and crispy texture of the puff pastry dough satisfies your craving too for something warm and cozy. It’s a perfect winter appetizer to make and it’s also so simple and easy to create.

For more puff pastry recipes take a look at the ‘Cooking Light’ recipes below! I’m falling in love with this magazine — they have so many brilliant ideas! the next on my list to cook-up is the Caramelized Onion Tartlets that includes onions and asiago cheese!