Grilled Eggplant & Goat Cheese from Mykonos, Greece

After spending some much needed fun time in my favorite city of Budapest, where I ate almost no Hungarian other than sausages and the occasional Goulash, I’m happy to say that I’m back to eating some regional cuisines. And what better place to start than in Greece? This was my light lunch for the day:

Location: Mykonos, Greece

Food: Grilled eggplant with baked goat cheese, tomato sauce and pita.

Thoughts: Simple but extremely rich, I couldn’t even finish the whole thing! It was very tasty but also a bit sharp. Could have done with a little more tomato sauce though. Perfect summer dish!

Super Cheesy Baked Macaroni and Cheese

As its starting to get colder (and rainer, grosser, etc) here in Kent and I’m finding myself stuck inside with tons of essays to do, I’ve started to crave some heavier comfort foods. Warning: this recipe is probably not very diet friendly! It is, however, absolutely delicious and perfectly dense and cheesy. It also should be fairly flexible, and would be great with some “fancy” elements, like bacon or caramelized onions (or both!). You could also add saffron, cayenne, or anything else to spice it up a bit. I found this recipe here, and clarified some of the steps (and removed some as well).

I keep my serving size small for this recipe because it is so dense and filling that I do not think you need to eat a lot of it to fill yourself up. And because everything is better in moderation!

Note: I apologize for the foggy quality of some of the photos. Our kitchen is terribly ventilated and the steam kept throwing the focus off in my photos.

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups elbow macaroni
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 cups milk (I used semi-skimmed)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 pound shredded Cheddar cheese (reserve some for topping)
• 1/4 pound Mozzarella cheese (reserve some for topping) (optional)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Put salted water on the stove and bring to a boil. Add the macaroni once boiling and cook until pasta is al dente.
3. While the pasta is cooking, melt the butter in a large saucepan. Once butter is melted, add the flour and stir until the flour and butter become pasty. 
4. Slowly add the milk, stirring constantly to prevent clumping. Add the cheese and heat until melted and the sauce begins to thicken. 
5. Once the pasta is done, strain it and return it to the pan. Add the cheese sauce once its thickened and stir. 
6. Put the pasta into a 9×13 baking pan. Top with extra cheese and put into the oven. Cook for approximately 45 mins, or until the top is well browned. 
7. Enjoy!

Taco Time!

Credit to Mission Foods Website

I’ve been really busy lately trying to see friends before they get to college, to go to the gym, to pack for my upcoming trips, and to try and find new recipes to cook for my blog. The other night I decided I would make tacos, because they’re easy, flavorful, and can be made to be healthy. Unfortunately for me, I have no idea how to actually wrap a taco (something I’ll try and learn later), and so I’ll be using a stock photo in lieu of my “finished product” photo to avoid looking like a total idiot on the internet.

For this recipe I made my own taco sauce using a recipe I found from Allrecipes.com. I had to modify it because I was lacking in chili powder, but I’ll retain the original recipe here. I made double the recipe, and added more of my homemade flavoring sauce when I felt that it wasn’t flavorful enough.

Note: After looking up images of “tacos” in the internet, I’ve kind of figured out that I’ve been trying to make burritos more than tacos and that they dont really need to be rolled. Oops.

Ingredients:

Taco Sauce:

• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• dash salt
• dash pepper

Meat:

• 1.5 lbs ground beef
• 1 onion

Topping Options:

• Tortillas or taco shells
• Shredded cheese
• Lettuce
• Tomato
• Cilantro
• Sour Cream
• Guacamole
• Black olives

Directions:

1. Combine all spices in a bowl.
2. Prepare your veggies. Seed and chop the tomatoes, chop onions, wash and chop lettuce, and chop cilantro and other veggies if you chose to add more. 
3. Brown the meat with the onions in a large skillet. Note: you do not need to add any oil to the pan as the meat will have enough. 
4. Once meat is nearly all browned, you can drain the meat slightly (don’t drain it all, though! The sauce will be gross and will not stick otherwise I’d suggest draining slightly less than half the fat). Add the taco seasoning and 1/3 cup of water.
5. Reduce heat slightly and continue to cook for another 3-5 minutes, or until the sauce seems to have thickened and congealed to the meat. The sauce should be and orange-brown color.
6. Prepare your tortilla/hard taco shell with preferred ingredients and enjoy!

Serves 4-6. Nutrition taken for 5 servings. Fat content will be reduced with draining. This is for meat, onions, and spice mix only– other ingredients will add calories.

Guacamole!

On Friday my family and I are having an “Around the World” themed party for their book group, and as a result I’m planning a couple of culturally-themed dishes to serve. This is definitely going to be going on the menu! After my first unsuccessful attempt at guacamole, I have finally found a recipe that I like and that tasted delicious. It was also a great appetizer/addition to the fajitas we had last night!

Ingredients:

6 tbsp finely chopped white onion

2 serrano chiles, seeded and finely chopped

1 garlic clove, minces

2 ripe avocados, halved, pitted and peeled.

1 large, ripe tomato, finely chopped (I suggest plum tomatoes)

1/4 cup lightly packed fresh cilantro leaves, finely chopped

1 tbsp fresh lime juice

sea salt

Directions:

1. In a bowl, mash 4 tbsp of the onion, chiles, and garlic with a pestle, potato masher, or fork to form a coarse paste. 
2. Add the avocado and mash until well incorporated. 
3. Stir in the tomato and all of the cilantro and lime juice. Season to taste with sea salt.
4. Let stand for a few minutes before serving. Sprinkle guacamole with remaining onion and serve. 
   
   

 

Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

This is my absolute favorite chicken noodle soup recipe. I love this recipe– its light, flavorful, delicious, and great on a cold day. Good during the summer as well, but definitely best as a winter soup.

Ingredients:

3-4 bone in, skin-on chicken breasts

3-4 carrots, large

2-3 stalks of celery

1 onion

1/2 tbsp butter

1 bay leaf

2 sprigs parsley

1-1.5 tbsp Better Than Bouillon Chicken Base

Water

1/4 tsp ground pepper

1 bag egg noodles or other noodles.

Directions:

1. Fill up a large pot 1/2-3/4 way full with water. Put on the stove and bring to a boil.
2. Chop carrots, celery, and, onions. 
3. In the meantime, brown onions slightly in a pan with butter. 
4. When the water boils, add chicken, vegetables, chicken stock, bay leaf, and chicken base. 
5. Let boil for several minutes, then turn down to a simmer, uncovered. Allow soup to boil for several hours, or until somewhat reduced and when the soup tastes rich and full. Remove the bay leaf and add parsley.
6. Begin to boil water for the noodles, then add once water is boiling. In the meantime, take chicken out of the soup and place in another bowl.
7. Pull chicken off of the bone and place into another bowl. Add as much as desired for an individual portion, then add soup broth and drained noodles. Toasted sourdough bread tastes great with this soup too! 

Garlic Hummus

I’ve been meaning to make hummus lately, and I finally got around to doing it today. Unfortunately, I had a few technical difficulties, so the hummus was not as smooth as it could have been, but assuming you have a working food processor you should be alright. I’ll be adding the recipe for the pita chips shortly as well! Note: to make it a bit less bitter, I’d recommend that you mince the garlic, throw it on a baking sheet and pop it into the oven or toaster oven until brown. 

Ingredients:

 2 tbsp olive oil

1 can garbanzo beans/chickpeas

2-3 cloves garlic

½ tsp salt

¼ cup (or slightly less) of chickpea juice from can

2 tbsp lemon juice

1 ½ tbsp tahini

 Directions:

1.  Drain chickpeas and put them into the food processor. Save ¼ c of the liquid and set aside. 
2. Puree all ingredients except for the liquid from can until smooth. 
3. Add the liquid slowly, checking the consistency of the hummus.
4. Once out, let sit for a moment to thicken. Make a small well in the middle. Add some olive oil or oil from a jar of sundried tomatoes to the well, 1-2 tbsp. Serve with veggies, pita, or pita chips.

Serves 20-ish

Kale Salad with Prosciutto, Cranberries, and Baked Goat Cheese

While waiting for the pizza dough to rise, I decided to make this salad for my mom and I to tide us over. Its pretty simple and very tasty! It goes fabulously with this Maple Balsamic Vinaigrette.

Ingredients:

Kale

Prosciutto

Cranberries

Goat Cheese

Directions:

1. Heat a toaster oven or standard oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cut goat cheese into 1/2 in thick slices. Cut one slice per salad and place on a folded sheet of aluminum foil, then place in oven. Allow to bake until cheese is soft, warm and beginning to melt.

1. In the meantime, wash and spin kale in a salad spinner. Once most of the water has been spun off,  put into a serving dish.
2. Tear prosciutto by hand and toss into salad.
3. Add cranberries.
4. Once cheese has melted, place on top of salad. Add pepper to taste, then pour some of the Maple-Balsamic Vinaigrette over the entire salad. Serve warm.

Big Cooking Day!

Hi all! Today I’m taking a day off from the gym, which leaves me with a lot of time to start preparing some recipes! I’ve got a bunch that I’m going to be making for posts to come, and I thought I’d give an update as to what I’m going to be preparing for the next couple of blog posts.

Recipes:

• Garlic hummus with home-baked pita chips
• Homemade Pizza
• Semi-homemade lemon Greek yogurt
• Kale salad with baked goat cheese, prosciutto, and cranberries with a maple balsamic vinaigrette
• Unsweetened Iced Green Tea

I’ll get back to you all later on how the cooking went!

Aloo Palak

Hi everyone! I hope everyone enjoyed the holiday yesterday. I didn’t cook anything yesterday, unfortunately, but it was nice to have a day off from that! Anyway, I’ve been wanting to make this dish for a while, but I haven’t had much of an opportunity lately with the 4th of July and other general business. Anyway, here’s some spicy flavor for a nice appetizer, afternoon snack, or even a meal. This is an Indian dish, and I’m using a modified version of THIS recipe.

Ingredients:

1 bag spinach, preferably organic

1 waxy potato

1 onion

1 chile pepper

1 1-in piece ginger

2 cloves garlic

>2 tbsp butter

1 tsp garam masala

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp cumin seed

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp ground cumin

pinch salt

Naan, garlic or otherwise.

Directions:

1) Chop all vegetables that need to be chopped.

2) Put spinach, ginger, garlic, onions, and chile into a non-stick pan. Cook for 5-10 minutes, or until spinach is wilted and onions are brown.

3) In the meantime, boil potatoes with turmeric and salt. Boil 10-15 mins, or until cooked.

4) When vegetables have finished cooking, put into a food processor and blend until it becomes paste-like.

5) Drain potatoes and let sit.

6) Begin to fry cumin seeds in butter. Add vegetable paste and simmer for several minutes.

7) Add potatoes and other spices. Allow to cook several more minutes.

8) Dish out and serve with naan or garlic naan. Super tasty!