Sweet Potato Black Bean Chimichurri Salad, by Diane

This is a Diane creation, inspired by an organic restaurant I love that always mixes these cool "bowls" of things I wouldn't think to combine. This is a protein-packed, healthy vegetarian dish that will keep you full forever and is pretty easy to make too! This was my first time making chimichurri sauce, a typical south american sauce, and I thought it would go really great with these ingredients- which it did!!

As a note: I only had salad shrimp which cooked down so tiny that you can't see them in the recipe- so make sure you start out with bigger ones!

Look to the right of the fork to see how small the shrimp got- they got confused with the rice at times!

Ingredients:

1 cup fresh parsley 
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil 
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar  
2 tablespoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons ground cumin  
1 teaspoon salt  
1/2 tablespoon minced garlic  
1/2 tablespoon pepper sauce
1/2 cup black bean liquid
1 package baby bella mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
1 cup shrimp, cooked and cleaned
2 cans black beans, lightly drained
1 package quinoa brown rice blend (I used rosemary and olive oil flavor), cooked according to package
3 sweet potatoes, steamed until just soft and cubed
1 avocado, cubed




Directions:

1. Combine parsley through black bean liquid in a food processor, and pour into a medium hot skillet along with the mushrooms. Saute until mushrooms are softened. 

2. Add in shrimp, beans, and quinoa. Mix through and cook for 2 minutes.   

3. Gently fold in sweet potatoes and avocados and heat on low for 5 minutes. 

Light Chicken Paprikash, by Diane

I got this recipe from Crockin' Girls and was intrigued. I've heard of the dish before but had always associated it with a lot of fat. This recipe was really good, and would've been amazing served with dumpling or noodles. Really warming and filling, and since it's in the crockpot it was insanely easy.


Ingredients:

2 Cups Mushrooms

1 Onion, coarsely chopped

1 Clove garlic, minced

1 Sweet red pepper

1 Teaspoon Hungarian Paprika

3/4 Teaspoon Salt

1/2 Teaspoon Black pepper

1/2 Cup Chicken broth

1 Pound Uncooked, boneless, skinless chicken breast

1 Tablespoon All purpose flour

1/2 Cup Fat free sour cream

 

 

Directions:

 

 1. Coat a nonstick skillet with cooking spray and heat to medium high. Add mushrooms, onion, garlic and red pepper. Sautee 5 minutes. Stir in paprika, salt and pepper; cook 30 seconds more.

 

2. Spoon mixture into a 4-5 quart slow cooker. Add broth and chicken. Cover and cook on low setting 5 to 6 hours.

3. Stir together flour and sour cream in a cup (to prevent the cream from curdling in slow cooked dishes). Stir mixture into slow cooker. Cover and cook on low until the mixture is thick and hot, about 10 minutes more. 

 

Cheesecake Cupcakes with Salted Caramel Topping, by Cheryl

Her picture is better. Cooking Classy

It's been a loonnnggg time since I posted a new recipe! I've been sticking to my tried and true recipes lately, but now that we are packing out and moving back to the U.S. in a month I wanted to give my Italian oven one or two more new recipes. I had pinned this recipe on Pinterest and I usually never end up making them, but this looked so good how could I not? This has to be the best dessert I've ever made and Jon has been eating about two a night. The caramel sauce alone is superb and can be used as a sauce for other desserts. I completely forgot how easy it is to make caramel sauce! This recipe comes from Cooking Classy.


Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 cups finely crushed graham crackers (from 18 sheets) (I used a food processor)
• 3 Tbsp granulated sugar
• 7 Tbsp salted butter, melted
• 4 (8 oz) pkg cream cheese, softened
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
• 4 large eggs
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• cupcake liners (not foil)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a mixing bowl, whisk together crushed graham crackers with 3 Tbsp granulated sugar. Pour in melted butter and stir mixture until evenly coated. Divide graham cracker mixture among 24 paper lined muffin cups, adding about a heaping Tbsp to each. Press mixture into an even layer. Bake in preheated oven 5 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool while preparing filling.

In a small mixing bowl, whisk together 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar with 3 Tbsp flour until well blended. Add softened cream cheese to a separate mixing bowl and pour sugar mixture over top. Blend mixture on low speed until smooth. Mix in eggs one at a time and blend on low speed, while scrapping sides and bottom of bowl and mixing just until combined after each addition. Add vanilla, sour cream and heavy cream and mix just until combined. Tap mixing bowl against counter top about 30 times to release some of the air bubbles. Divide mixture among muffin cups filling each cup nearly full. Bake in preheated oven 20 - 23 minutes, centers should still jiggle slightly, don't overbake (if they begin to crack they are starting to become overbaked). Remove from oven and allow to cool 1 hour. Cover loosely with plastic wrap and transfer to refrigerator and chill 2 hours. Serve chilled with a spoonful of Salted Caramel Sauce or Strawberry Sauce (note: for best results spoon topping on just before serving). Store in an airtight container in refrigerator or freeze.

Caramel Sauce:

Ingredients

• 1 1 /2 cups granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp water
• 6 Tbsp salted butter
• 1 cup heavy cream
• Maldon or coarse sea salt, for sprinkling

Directions

• Gather all of your ingredients and have them nearby ready to add to the mixture as needed. In a heavy-bottomed 3 quart saucepan, heat sugar and water over moderately high heat whisking constantly to dissolve sugar. Once mixture reaches a boil, stop whisking and allow mixture to boil until it reaches a dark amber color, carefully swirling pan occasionally. Once mixture reaches a dark amber color, immediately add butter and whisk until butter has melted then immediately remove from heat. Wait 3 seconds then carefully pour in cream and immediately whisk to combine (it will bubble vigorously). Whisk until mixture is smooth. Allow caramel to cool several minutes then pour into a glass jar to cool. Sprinkle lightly with sea salt after spooning caramel over cheesecakes.