Deli Roast Beef with Pesto & Havarti Cheese

I'm sorry, friends. I've been a bad food blogger lately. Why, you ask? Because I am in a food rut! I'm just not coming up with many new and tasty ideas, probably because for who-knows-why nothing sounds good lately! Not chicken, not beef, not much of anything. You'd think I was pregnant! (which I'm not!)

Anyway, I'm sure I'll snap out of it soon and be back to my normal nonstop baking, food blog prowling self.

For today, let me share with you what HAS sounded good lately. I'm pretty much obsessed with these sandwiches. I eat one for lunch every day.


The way I see it, you can't live in the Bay area without loving sourdough bread. I hadn't developed much of a taste for it before living here, but I have since grown to be quite fond of it. :) This sandwich was inspired by a sandwich I had at the Boudin Bakery once with my friend Amber and our kiddos. So glad I can make this version at home!!!

Here goes...

Deli Roast Beef with Pesto & Havarti Cheese
2 slices sourdough bread
1-2 thin slices of deli roast beef
1 teaspoon pesto, slathered onto bread
2 tomato slices
1 slice Havarti cheese (or whatever you have on hand!)
freshly ground black pepper and coarse salt

FYI, I use San Luis Sourdough Cracked Wheat bread (2 grams of fiber per slice), which I've found at Piazza's and Trader Joes.

Hope you enjoy this simple sandwich as much as I do! And hopefully it won't spoil you for all other foods, as it seems to have temporarily done for me...

Balsamic Roasted Vegetables

A few nights a week we eat vegetarian dinners. I wish I could claim that it was entirely for health reasons. (You know, eat red meat sparingly...) While that is a factor, our main reason is because we're cheap! For us, this recipe works as a main dish, packed with both veggies and flavor. But it also makes an excellent side dish, paired with flank steak or grilled chicken.
Balsamic Roasted Vegetables
1 zucchini, sliced into half-inch pieces
1 small butternut squash, cubed
2 red bell peppers, seeded and cut into bite-sized pieces
3 yukon gold potatoes
1 red onion, quartered
1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme (Last night I subbed the fresh thyme for 1 tsp. dried)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

1. Whisk together the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and herbs. Add fresh ground pepper and sea salt.
   
2. Toss the vegetables with the dressing, and let sit for about 10 minutes.
   Spread onto a large baking sheet.
3. Roast for 35 to 40 minutes in a 450 degree oven.
   

(Before going into the oven)

Broccoli Raisin Salad

I can thank BYU's cooking class for this recipe. (Man I loved that class.) It's full of varied flavors—broccoli, raisins, walnuts, bacon pieces—with a tangy sweet dressing. To me it's the quintessential bridal/baby shower salad. :)
Broccoli Rasin Salad
Serves 6

1 large head briccoli, washed and trimmed
1/2 cup chopped onion (I use red for color)
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
1/2 pound bacon, crisped and crumbled (I use 4 slices)

Dressing:
3/4 cup low-fat mayo
2 Tablespoons vinegar
1/2 cup sugar

Whisk together the mayo, vinegar, and sugar for the dressing. In a large bowl, pour dressing over salad ingredients and combine well. Refrigerate for a few hours (or even overnight) to soften the broccoli.

**I only make half the dressing recipe, and I think that is just enough for one head of broccoli.

Lemon Sugar Crusted Blueberry Muffins

While I was at my mom's in Utah, I had a lemon blueberry muffin from Costco. Naturally, since it was from Costco, it was amazing. That's why I was so struck by this recipe when I saw it on Melanie's blog, My Kitchen Cafe.
And yes, it's a keeper. Next time I think I'll try subbing a couple tablespoons of applesauce for butter, and I'd like to add either some lemon zest or lemon extract straight to the batter. Nonetheless, it's perfect as is, too.

Since the recipe is a bit involved and Melanie explains each step so darn well, I'm just going to send you straight HERE for the recipe.

Need to use up your leftover buttermilk? Try this wonderful buttermilk banana bread (also from Melanie!) and these delightful whole wheat pancakes.

Quick Teriyaki Chicken

It's the middle of the week, everyone. That means it's halfway over! Last night for dinner we had a simple teriyaki chicken that I thought I should share with you. Remember this lovely recipe for sesame chicken? (Oh man I love that recipe.) This is the weeknight version—same sauce, same veggies (well, whatever you have in the fridge, really), just a different cooking method for the chicken. Rather than take the time to fry it, and to spare some calories at the same time, I like to grill or saute the chicken for a quick but delicious weeknight dinner.
Last night I seasoned the chicken with S&P, slathered the chicken with the sauce, grilled for a few minutes on each side, and sliced it into strips to serve.

Secondly, I wouldn't be a good food blogger if I didn't post discoveries like this one. Trader Joe's frozen brown rice is amazing!! I hate cooking rice for some many reasons...Half the time I forget to start the slow-cooking rice only to remember right before dinner is ready. Then I have to opt for minute rice, which I don't think tastes as good—especially in brown rice. But this option is foolproof. All you do is take a bag of it out of the freezer and microwave it for 3 minutes. That's it! Plus the texture of the brown rice is perfect, not grainy at all.

Well, have a great week, friends! Let me know if you have any questions.

Skinny Cows

I'm back from The World's Best Family Vacation and am getting ready to tackle some new recipes. Until then, have you tried the Skinny Cow products? They come Oprah- and Erica-recommended (who else's recommendation could you possibly need??) and are as tasty as their full-fat competitors.
Mmmm... The ice cream bars come in vanilla (Ryan's favorite), mint (my favorite), chocolate, peanut butter, and even strawberry shortcake. So next time your sweet tooth starts calling, reach for one of these babies instead.

Chocolate Chip Cookies (Take 2)

Remember when I promised you'd be seeing more chocolate chip cookie recipes in the future? Well, today's the day. I described the last recipe I shared as thick and chewy. These ones, on the other hand, spread a bit thinner when you bake them, leaving you with slightly crispy edges and soft centers.

Chocolate Chip Cookies (Take 2)
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup white sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons hot water
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

1. Preheat to 350.
2. Cream the butter, white sugar, and brown sugar. Beat in the eggs one at a time, and then stir in the vanilla. Dissolve baking soda in hot water. Add to batter along with the salt. Stir in flour, chocolate chips, and walnuts (if using). Drop by large spoonfuls onto ungreased pans.
3. Bake for about 10 minutes. Remove immediately and cool on a wire rack.

With the millions of chocolate chip cookie recipes out there, I have a feeling I'll still post more down the road... So stay tuned! :)

Fettucini with Parmesan and Cremini Mushrooms

I made this quick and easy pasta dish tonight and thought I'd toss it up here as another weeknight meal idea. Have you discovered cremini mushrooms? I'm just branching out into the mushroom world, and I've got to say, creminis blow regular old white mushrooms out of the water! (er, forest floor?) Anyway, the combination of fresh basil, nutty parmesan cheese, and satueed cremini mushrooms really makes this easy dish a winner.

Simple instructions:

1. Cook whole wheat fettucini according to package directions.
2. Saute some cremini mushrooms in a frying pan with some olive oil. (Remember that the mushrooms will shrink down, so start with a bit more than you think you'll need.) After sauteing, generously season with kosher salt and fresh black pepper. (The regular stuff works too. :)
   
3. Slice basil into strips.
4. Combine pasta (no need to rinse), basil, mushrooms, and add parmesan cheese (1/4 to 1/2 cup, depending on how much pasta you're making). Add 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes. Serve warm.
   

Next time I make this I'm going to add asparagus and cherry tomatoes. As with any pasta...at least in my opinion...keep the veggie-to-pasta ratio heavy on the veggies.

Cilantro Citrus Chicken with Caesar Salad

Finally, I've got a new main dish to share! This marinade will jazz up your good 'ole standby— grilled chicken. It makes the chicken super-moist and gives it a zesty flavor from the cilantro and orange & lime juice. A big thanks to Cafe Johnsonia, a beautiful food blog, for the recipe.


Cilantro Citrus Chicken
From Cafe Johnsonia, via Cooking Light

1/2 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup fresh cilantro leaves
1/4 cup fresh parsley leaves
juice of 1 orange
juice of 1 lime
1 tablespoon canola oil
2 garlic cloves
6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Cooking spray
Lime wedges to serve squeezed over the top of chicken

1. Process the first seven ingredients in a blender until smooth. Marinate the chicken in the herb mixture for an hour. When finished, discard the marinade and let the chicken sit for 15 minutes.
2. Coat the chicken on both sides with salt, cumin, and pepper.
   
3. Grill for about 10 minutes on each side. (A thermometer should register 165, not that I ever do that...)
   

I sliced the chicken up after letting it sit for about 15 minutes and served it right alongside the salad. It would go well with all kinds of salads, so have fun with it.

Black Bean Salsa

I got this recipe from the cooking class I took at BYU, and it's a keeper. It's a fresh take on the traditional tomato salsa, with black beans, avocados, and corn as the star ingredients. As with a lot of my recipes, it is completely adaptable according to your taste.


2 avocados, diced
1 can black beans, drained and well rinsed
3/4 cup corn (I use a really good frozen sweet white corn)
2 roma tomatoes (or 1 if it's a larger tomato variety)
1/4 cup cilantro
A quarter of a jalepeno, seeded and diced (optional)
Salt and pepper

Dress with half an Italian dressing packet, made up (meaning you need to vinegar & a salad oil on hand).

If you want to just make up the whole packet, you could use the other half of the dressing to marinate these fajitas.

Kitchen Tip: Snipping cilantro right off the bunch with clean kitchen scissors is much easier (and quicker!) than removing the leaves by hand and chopping them with a knife.

Enjoy the salsa!

Buttermilk Banana Bread

My husband devoured this bread.

I loved it too.
I think it's the buttermilk—my new favorite ingredient. Don't ask me how, but it adds a hint of tartness, sweetness, and creaminess all at once.

This recipe is from yet another awesome food blog, My Kitchen Cafe. (Thanks, Melanie!) I've never tried a light variety of banana bread like this one, but now we can't get enough. It has a milder banana taste than some banana breads, and the crust is buttery deliciousness.

I substituted 3 tablespoons of applesauce for 3 (out of 8) tablespoons of butter, and I honestly couldn't tell. (The last time I made this recipe I didn't make the substitution, so I do have something to compare it to, by the way.)

Buttermilk Banana Bread
From My Kitchen Cafe

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs, well beaten
1 cup mashed bananas (About 3 average-sized bananas)
4 tablespoons buttermilk
1 3/4 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
dash baking soda

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs, bananas, buttermilk, and vanilla. In another bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Add dry ingredients to the wet mixture. Mix until combined. Poor batter into a greased and floured bread pan and bake at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove the loaf immediately and let cool on a wire rack.

It's bread is fantastic as is, but for a sweet twist, I added a buttermilk glaze. Mmmm!

Buttermilk Glaze
Start with 1 cup powdered sugar and 3 Tablespoons buttermilk. Whisk to combine. Add a 1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla, depending on your preference. You may have to add more buttermilk or sugar until you get a good consistency.

Penne Rustica: Revisited

Remember this recipe?
I thought I'd remind you that it's great. I made it again the other night and wanted to share a couple tips. First off, I liked it even better with whole wheat rotini and/or bowtie pasta. I think the other ingredients just stick better to these pastas than to penne. Next, it's all about the veggies. The more artichoke hearts, roasted red peppers, zuccini, red onion, and basil—the better. So keep the veggie to pasta ratio heavy on the veggetables.

Have these tips convinced you to try this one? It's a healthy pasta you shouldn't pass up. Have a great week! I've got a to-die-for buttermilk banana bread recipe coming soon.

*Need another to use up those roasted red peppers in? Try Real Simple's provolone and roasted red pepper crisps.

Simple Honey Wheat Bread

Sorry to post another bread recipe so soon, but I am in love with this recipe. I can't help but agree with the 353 reviewers on allrecipes.com who gave this recipe 5 stars. It's fabulous!

Beware: This makes a lot of bread. Three loafs, to be exact. My kitchen aid mixer was full to the brim with dough, but it all worked out in the end. My friend Amber and I had a bread-baking day, and we each went home with one BIG loaf and a mini loaf, thanks to my cute mini loaf pans.

This bread's texture is fantastic—moist and tender—and the hint of sweetness is exactly what I look for in a homemade wheat bread. And don't forget to try it as toast!

3 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
2 Tablespoons active dry yeast (equal to two 2-oz. packages)
2/3 cup honey, divided into two
5 cups bread flour
3 Tablespoons butter, melted
1/3 cup honey
1 Tablespoon salt
3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

1. In a large bowl, mix warm water, yeast, and 1/3 cup honey. Add 5 cups white bread flour, and stir to combine. Let set for 30 minutes, or until big and bubbly.

2. Mix in 3 tablespoons melted butter, 1/3 cup honey, and salt. Stir in 3 cups whole wheat flour. Flour a flat surface and knead in additional wheat flour (1/2 cup to 1 cup) until the dough just pulls away from the counter, but is still sticky to the touch. Place in an oiled bowl, turning once to coat the surface of the dough. Cover with a dishtowel. Let rise in a warm place until doubled.

• If you're mixing in an electric mixer, you can skip adding the flour by kneading on a floured surface and instead add the flour directly to the bowl as the mixer does the mixing. The point of this step, by the way, isn't kneading; it's incorporating the remaining flour. Just make sure the dough pulls together.
  

3. Punch down, and divide into 3 loaves. Place in greased 9 x 5 inch loaf pans, and allow to rise until dough has topped the pans by one inch.

4. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 25 to 30 minutes; do not overbake. Remove from pan to cool loaves on a wire rack. Lightly brush the tops of loaves with melted butter or margarine when done to prevent crust from getting hard.

If you're timid when it comes to making bread, read this fabulous tutorial on breadmaking: "For Beaming, Bewitching Breads."

Enjoy the bread and be proud of your domesticity!

Giant Chocolate Chip Cookies

Dessert first, right?

The best food blog I know of for family friendly food is Picky Palate. She shared a cookie recipe I just had to try. I love all chocolate chip cookie recipes, and I rarely make the same one twice...So you'll probably be seeing more in the future! This particular recipe is a must-try if you like your chocolate chip cookies thick and chewy. I scooped my cookies about half the size that the recipe calls for (making 2 dozen instead of 1 dozen), and they were still big and soft in the middle.

These are knock-off cookies of a famous bakery in NYC called Leavin's.

8 ounces (two sticks) unsalted butter, room temp
3/4 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
3 cups BREAD flour (13 1/2 oz)
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/3 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
1 to 1 1/3 cups coarsely chopped, untoasted walnuts (I skipped these.)

1. Preheat oven to 350.
   
2. Mix butter and sugars just until they come together. Don’t overbeat. Add the egg and beat just until incorporated. Mix together the flour, salt, and baking soda. Add to batter and stir just until blended. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts. The dough should be neither sticky nor dry.
3. Divide dough into about 12 mounds, but keep the mounds kind of raggedy. That is, don’t smash them into compact balls. Bake on ungreased insulated cookie sheet or an upside down rimmed cookie sheet for 20 minutes at 350. Cool on sheet for about 10 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool.

This should make a dozen 4 oz. cookies or eight 6 oz. cookies.

I worried that my dough was too dry, but the cookies turned out beautifully. So don't stress if your dough seems a little dry. It barely pulled together in my kitchen aid—guess that's just the way it is! Anyway, the neighbors on both sides of us were very happy with the cookies, so I hope you are too!

Barbecue Chicken Salad

(FYI, this is more of a weeknight dinner idea than an actual recipe. Nonetheless, de-lish.)

Barbecue Chicken salad is a great way to use up all your extra veggies because pretty much anything works in it. I think I'll be experimenting for months to get just the right combination of ingredients suited to my and Ryan's taste. After making it tonight and evaluating what we needed more of, I'd say this is the perfect start for us:

• Romaine lettuce
• Tomatoes
• Grated (sharp) cheddar cheese
• A whole bunch of white corn
• A ton of red onion, sliced in rings (not pictured here)
• Grilled barbecued chicken
• BBQ sauce for dressing
• One bunch of cilantro (I think this ingredient is key—the more, the merrier!)

Then if you're feeling like it, you could throw in a few of these ingredients too:

• Black beans, to boost the fiber and protein.
  
• A red bell pepper, which I used tonight because I had one on hand. I would definitely recommend it; it lends a nice crunch.
• Broken tortilla chips, for even more crunch.
  

I know a lot of people like to dress a BBQ chicken salad with ranch, so go for it if you're a ranch fan. To cut some fat calories, we usually skip the ranch and just dress the salad with a little extra BBQ sauce.

Cupcakes

Has everyone noticed what a huge trend cupcakes are right now?

I was so excited when I was asked to bring cupcakes to a church function this week. I had a couple of weeks of advance notice, so I spent some time browsing marthastewart.com and other fancy sites for some killer cupcakes. But in the end, practicality won. A box mix and store-bought frosting. :) But with some creative toppings, I think they turned out pretty cute, don't you?


Have a great week, everyone!