Coconut Chicken, by Cheryl

On Monday night I was at a total loss for what to make for dinner! I put some chicken in the sink to defrost without knowing what I was going to do with it. I almost gave in and grabbed the take out menus, but as I stood staring at my pantry for awhile I thought I'd put some coconut to use. I found this coconut chicken recipe from an old issue of Cooking Light. Paired with some sweet chili sauce and white rice, this dish hit the spot. Yum!

Ingredients:

• 4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into 1/2-inch-thick strips
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 1 cup rice flour (I used regular flour)
  
• 1 cup whole buttermilk (I used skim, which is what I had on hand)
  
• 1 large egg
• 1 1/2 cups unsweetened flaked coconut
• 3 tablespoons canola oil
• Sweet chile sauce (optional)

Directions:

1. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Place flour in a shallow dish. Combine buttermilk and egg in a shallow dish, stirring well. Place coconut in a shallow dish. Dredge chicken in flour; shake off excess. Dip chicken in egg mixture; dredge in coconut.

2. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil and red pepper flakes to pan; swirl to coat. Add chicken to pan; cook 6 minutes or until done, turning to brown. Serve with chile sauce, if desired.

Minestrone, by Cheryl

I've been on a big vegetable kick lately. My goal is to have 5 salads a week as a complement to my lunch or dinner (I could never just have a salad as a meal). It surprisingly fills me up at lunch where previously I'd be starving by 3. Anyways, because I have so many vegetables on hand (and something always seems to rot in the fridge before I can use it) I thought I'd make a hearty minestrone soup. I found this recipe on www.funandfoodcafe.com and I'm so glad I did! Jon and I prepared some crescent rolls to dip and voila... you've got yourself a meal! Yum!

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons olive oil
4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 medium yellow onion, chopped
6 cups vegetable broth or water
1 cup thinly sliced Savoy cabbage
1/4 cup tomato paste
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1 tablespoon chopped basil
2 large stalks of celery, sliced
2 medium carrots, peeled and chopped
1 dried bay leaf
1 (28-ounce) can chopped tomatoes, with their liquid
1 cup canned chickpeas, drained
1 cup dried fusilli pasta
1 (15-ounce) can cannellini or white beans, drained
Salt and pepper to taste
3/4 to 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

In a large stockpot, heat oil over medium high heat. Add garlic and onions and cook until translucent.

Now add the broth, cabbage, tomato paste, parsley, basil, celery, carrots, bay leaf, and tomatoes along with their juice and cook for 30 to 40 minutes, until the vegetables are cooked tender.

Add chickpeas, pasta, and beans at the very end, and simmer for another 20 minutes. Season with salt and pepper according to your taste.

Ladle soup into bowls and serve with Parmesan cheese sprinkled over the top.

Chicken Parmesan Burgers, by Diane

The April issue of Cooking Light is in, and this one has some awesome recipes! This one caught my eye immediately. Chicken Parmesan is one of my top five favorite foods, and I am forever looking for ways to make it healthier. This recipe is not only healthy, but it looked cheap, easy, and interesting! It's only for 2 burgers, so I doubled the recipe for my weeknight family dinner. My only change was that the rolls were really hard, like a brick, when it came time to use them. I knew broiling them would make them even drier and crunchier, so I dropped them into a saucepan with garlic and butter and sauteed the bottoms until they were golden. The steam and heat from the pan softened them up, as did the coat of buttery garlic. Still delicious!! I served my burgers up with some healthy zucchini fries and a marinara dip (as shown on my very messy plate above!).

The end result was really, really good. I felt like I was eating something really bad for me, but it was actually healthy! I think this recipe would make really good meatballs as well, if you added some breadcrumbs and an egg. The only complaint was that the rosemary flavor was very overpowering, so I would cut the amount in half next time. I used dried rosemary instead of fresh, which may have made the taste stronger. At any rate, I'll definitely be making this again, and I can't wait to try them on the grill now that summer is almost here!

Ingredients:

2  (3-ounce) square ciabatta rolls
1 garlic clove, halved
1/2  pound ground chicken
1/3  cup plus 2 tablespoons lower-sodium marinara sauce, divided
1/2  teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
1/2  teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
1/4  teaspoon crushed red pepper
1/8  teaspoon kosher salt
1/8  teaspoon black pepper
Cooking spray
1/4  cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided
8  basil leaves

Directions:

1. Preheat broiler.

2. Cut rolls in half. Place bread, cut side up, on a baking sheet. Broil for 3 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove bread from pan. Rub each slice with cut side of garlic. Set aside.

3. Preheat oven to 375°.

4. Combine chicken, 1/3 cup marinara, rosemary, thyme, red pepper, salt, and black pepper. Divide into 2 portions, shaping each into a 1/4-inch-thick patty.

5. Heat an ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add patties to pan; cook for 3 minutes. Turn patties, and place pan in oven.

6. Bake at 375° for 8 minutes. Top each patty with 2 tablespoons cheese; bake 1 minute.


7. Layer bottom half of each roll with 2 basil leaves, 1 patty, 1 tablespoon marinara, 2 basil leaves, and roll top.

Grilled Steak with Avocado Sauce, by Cheryl

So I've become a little obsessed with www.lifesambrosia.com. This is yet another recipe that hails from this website. I'm so happy I found it because lately, I've been running low on ideas.

I don't make steak that often, much to Jon's dismay. I really don't crave red meat a lot so I tend not to make it or order it in restaurants (at most I have it about once per month). On the other hand, I think Jon could eat red meat at least five out of seven nights a week! He was super excited when I showed him this recipe and even offered to cook it! Since it was pretty nice out on Saturday, he took it to the grills in our courtyard and cooked it there. I did all of the other work ;)

The avocado sauce was a nice supplement to the steak and added a lot of flavor. Yum!

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin 
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 1/2 pounds flat iron steak
• 1 avocado, skin and pit removed, diced
• 1/3 cup chopped cilantro
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar (I used sherry cooking wine)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• juice from 1 lime

Directions:

1. Combine first 5 ingredients in a bowl. Rub all over the steak.
2. Preheat grill to medium heat.
3. Place remaining ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth. Place in the refrigerator until ready to use.
4. Cook steak about 5 minutes per side for medium rare. We ended up doing about 8 minutes per side for medium rare. Transfer to a plate and allow to rest for 10 minutes.
5. Slice steak and spoon avocado sauce over the top or on the side. Serve.

Apple Dumplings, by Diane

These dumplings are delicious and impressive for when guests come over, but they are pretty labor intensive because you have to make the dough from scratch. Recently though, I thought why not switch the dough for puff pastry to make them more like turnovers? The result: I didn't miss the dough at all and saved myself a LOT of time and work! I think I'll be making them like this from now on. :)

If you do want to make it with the dough, here is the website I found this recipe from: http://www.apple-pie-crisp-dumplings-recipes.com/

Ingredients:

Dumplings:
8 apples (macintosh or gala, no more than 3 inches in diameter)
2 packages puff pastry (4 sheets)
Sugar
8 tsp. cinnamon
Nutmeg
16 tbsp. butter/margarine

Sauce:
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1/8 tsp of cinnamon and nutmeg, each
2 tbsp. butter/margarine

Directions:

1. Thaw pastry at room temperature by laying on paper towels unfolded if possible.

2. Peel apples, cut in half, and core them. Make sure to cut out the area around the stem on top and the blossom on the bottom. While you work on the apples you can place the ones you've finished peeling and coring into a glass dish with lots of ice and water to keep them from browning. Try to keep the halves near one another so you can match them up later if possible.

3. Cut each sheet of puff pastry into four squares (two per apple).

4. Prepare the dumplings: lay the two apple halves open core side up on one square of pastry. Fill each core with sugar, then 1 tsp. of cinnamon and a dash of nutmeg, then quickly close together. Wrap the pastry around the apple, pinching at the corners to hold the apple together. Place 2 tbsp. of butter/margarine in the groove at the top of the apple where the stem was. Place another square of pastry on top and mold to fit the top half of the apple, pressing into the bottom layer of pastry to seal. Should the pastry crack you can seal it with a little bit of water on your finger. Cut a slit in the pastry at the top of the apple to let the air vent while baking and place in a large 9x13 baking dish.

5. Preheat oven to 375.

6. Make the sauce: place all ingredients except butter/margarine in a saucepan over medium heat. Stir often until boiling, then add butter/margarine and stir in until melted. Remove from heat and pour over apples in dish.

7. Bake for 35 minutes. Make sure the apples are soft inside, if not bake until soft. Serve hot, preferably with vanilla ice cream!

Nutella Brownies, by Cheryl

My father in law, Joe, recently showed me the website www.lifesambrosia.com. I have found so many recipes that I want to try... I'm so excited! So I signed up for the emails and the most recent one was this brownie recipe. I'm game for anything involving nutella and I actually had all of the ingredients on hand (with the help of my awesome neighbor Ashley) to make it on a whim, which this was. I didn't quite have a full cup of nutella so the taste is subtle, but you definitely get the hazelnut taste in your mouth. Yum!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3/4 cup flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup nutella

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour an 8 x 8 baking dish.
2. Melt butter and 1 1/2 cups of bittersweet chocolate chips in a pan over low heat. Once melted remove from heat and let cool, about 10-15 minutes.
   
3. In a bowl beat sugar, eggs and vanilla together. In another bowl mix flour and salt.
4. Once the chocolate has cooled, mix it into the egg mixture. Then slowly add flour mixture and mix until combined. Fold in remaining chocolate chips and nutella. Batter will be thick.
5. Spread brownie mix into baking dish. Bake for 35 – 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out with a few crumbs on it. Allow to cool before cutting. Serve.

Baked Cinnamon Sugar Donuts, by Diane

Warning: these donuts are so freakin good you may swear upon tasting them...and /or eat way more than you intend to in one sitting!!

Taken from: http://girlwhobakes.blogspot.com/2011/02/cinnamon-sugar-donut-muffins.html

Have you ever eaten something so good that with every bite it somehow gets more and more tastier like you can't believe? These donuts are a great example of that. I recently came across this recipe when I was looking for healthy desserts, and thought it looked really good. I liked the way that the author changed around the recipe to make the donut/muffins healthier, and they looked really quick and easy to make. A friend and I made them one night when we were craving something sweet, and oh my gosh were we glad we did. These little pieces of heaven were so soft, and had a donut/cake texture that was was buttery and cinnamon sugary all at the same time. We didn't think they tasted like muffins, as the author suggested, but more like warm donuts that just came out of a bakery- all from my oven with a cheap muffin tin!!! I will definitely be making these VERY soon, but in a smaller batch to prevent me and my guests from getting sick off too many healthy donuts!!

Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce, strained
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
3/4 cups granulated sugar
1 large egg
3/4 skim milk
2 tablespoons melted butter
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Directions:

1. Strain applesauce via sieve or paper towels for 15-20 minutes.

2. Combine flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and 1/2 tsp. cinnamon in a bowl and set aside.

3. In a large bowl, whisk together applesauce, oil, sugar, egg, and milk until combined.

4. Slowly add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and whisk together until no large lumps remain.

5. Scoop into muffin tins 3/4 full and bake at 350 degrees for 15-17 minutes. (ours took 20).

6. In the last two minutes while donuts are baking, melt butter in a heatproof bowl in the microwave. In a separate dish, mix together sugar & cinnamon until combined.

7. Take donuts out of the oven and while still hot, shake out of muffin tins. Dip tops into butter, then cinnamon sugar mixture,  and place back into tins to keep warm.


8. If you like, take any extra butter and cinnamon sugar mixture and stir together to form a glaze that you can frost the donuts with. Either way, you can't go wrong!!!

Green Goddess Dip, by Cheryl

Anyone who knows me knows that I am not a huge fan of chain restaurants. I think in the past 9 years I can count the number of chain restaurants I've been to on one hand... except for one and that is The Melting Pot. I love this restaurant, which I think I may have stated numerous times on my fondue post :) One of the dips I love is the green goddess dip. I typically will take some boiled mushroom caps and fill them with the green goddess mixed with a little teriyaki sauce.... mmm heaven. I made this the night of my little fondue party a couple of months ago. The only thing I would change is put in more of the onion, parsley, and chives that the recipe calls for in order to give it more flavor. Sooo good!

The Melting Pot's fondue dip:

Ingredients:

8 ounces cream cheese, cut into slices

1/2 cup milk

1/4 cup sour cream

2 tablespoons finely chopped onion

2 tablespoons finely chopped parsley

2 tablespoons finely sliced chives

Directions:

1) In a microwave-safe container, microwave cream cheese and milk for 2 to 4 minutes, whisking after each minute, until cream cheese melts and mixture is smooth.

2) Stir in sour cream, onion, parsley and chives. Refrigerate until cold.

Nutella Pinwheel Cookies, by Cheryl

I got this recipe courtesy of my friend and neighbor, Ashley (ashleyscookingadventures.blogspot.com) who got it from www.abusynest.com. Ashley's always coming up with something interesting to make... how could I resist a recipe with nutella?? These cookies were awesome and I thoroughly enjoyed licking the spoon for the nutella numerous times :)

Ingredients:

1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup Nutella
1/4 cup toasted hazelnuts, chopped

Directions:

1) In a medium bowl mix together the flour and baking powder. In a separate bowl cream the butter and sugar and then beat in the egg and vanilla. Mix in the dry ingredients slowly until combined.

2) Place dough between two sheets of waxed paper and roll out into a rectangle. Remove the top sheet of paper and spread the dough with Nutella. Sprinkle with hazelnuts. Place in the fridge and chill for at least 2 hours, or until ready to bake. Preheat oven to 375.

3) Cut dough into 1/4 inch slices and place on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.

4) Bake for 10-12 minutes or until edges of cookies just begin to brown lightly. Cool on a wire rack.