Secret Recipe Club: Rosemary and Olive Oil Focaccia

Tags

food, baking, bread, comfort food, baking tips, recipe, secret recipe club

It’s that time of month again — Secret Recipe Club time! These posts are always fun for me to write. I love going on other blogs, browsing around, and picking out new and fun recipes that I had never thought of making before.

This month I was assigned to My Judy the Foodie. Shari’s blog is so sweet. It’s devoted to her mother, Judy, who died of cancer. She makes a lot of her mom’s old recipes, and talks about her mom so much in her blog. I was tearing up when I read her “About Judy” page. Wherever Judy is, she’s smiling about her daughter’s blog.

I originally wanted to make one of Judy’s recipes for SRC this month, but then I saw homemade focaccia that Shari made at a cooking class.

Homemade bread and I have an interesting love affair. When I feel the sudden need to indulge in an afternoon or evening of rising bread, kneading bread, rolling out bread, and baking bread, I have no choice but to give in. Baking is a type of therapy to me, especially the slow, gentle task of homemade bread.

So this week I was thankful to find this recipe for focaccia. Thank you, Shari!

Rosemary and Olive Oil Focaccia (From My Judy the Foodie)
Makes 1 pan
>> Click here for printable recipe

Ingredients:

• 5 cups all-purpose flour
•  2 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp of chopped, fresh rosemary (or 1 tbsp dried)
• 2 cups warm water (about 110 degrees F)
• 2 1/2 tsp active dry yeast (1 pkg)
• 6 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp coarse sea salt

Directions:

1. Mix together flour, salt, and rosemary in the large bowl of a stand mixer.
2. Measure the water in a separate bowl (I did this directly in the Pyrex cup). Whisk in the yeast and 3 tbsp of the olive oil. With a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, stir the yeast mixture into the flour mixture until all of the flour is moist. Then with the dough hook attachment to your mixer, mix the dough for 1 minute on medium-high speed until the dough comes together and starts to pull away from the sides of the bowl. Cover the bowl loosely with plastic wrap and set aside until it doubles in side, about 1 hour.
3. Spread 1 1/2 tbsp of olive oil onto an 11 x 17 inch jelly roll pan. Drop the dough onto the pan and pat and press the dough to fill the pan. Poke holes in the dough with your fingers about one inch apart. Pour the remaining 1 1/2 tbsp of olive oil onto the bread and sprinkle with salt.
4. Let the dough rise again until it doubles in size, about another hour. In the meantime, preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
5. When the dough is done rising, bake for 25 minutes. Cut into squares and serve!

My Two Cents: The smell of rosemary, olive oil, yeast, salt, and flour baking in the oven…oh my. They should prescribe this as medicine. (Keep this in mind future children and grandchildren when I am old and sick in the hospital and all I can eat is Jello. Just have someone come to my room and bake some bread for me. I’ll be all set in the realm of happiness.)

So if you’re not familiar with bread baking, or if you’re scared of it, don’t be. It’s pretty simple. The only thing that can really go wrong is that you either kill your yeast, or your yeast doesn’t activate — leaving you with a ball of dough that didn’t double in size, and therefore bread that doesn’t rise.

So here’s what you need to do for foolproof bread:

• Make sure your yeast isn’t expired. Expired yeast = dead yeast.
• The water temperature has to be just right. It can’t be too cold (yeast won’t activate). It can’t be too hot (yeast will die). You want the water temperature to be 105-110 degrees F. If you have a kitchen thermometer, use that. If you don’t, you can easily judge by the finger test — the water should be very warm to the touch. Not scalding. Not lukewarm. The perfect medium in between.
• If you are worried about your yeast, you can do a yeast test. Pour a little yeast into the water and wait a minute or two. Little bubbles should start to appear (nothing like baking soda and vinegar, but if it sits there and doesn’t create a few bubbles, throw it out and try again).

And then, my dear friends, after a few hours, you will have a pile of beautiful, beautiful bread.

For more recipes from this month’s secret recipe club, click the link below!

Mexican Chicken Bake

Tags

casserole, chicken, cooking, easy, food, mexican, poultry, recipe

I’ll be honest with you.

I have not had much desire to cook lately. I cooked twice last week. One meal was a one pot chicken curry meal (delicious by the way if you haven’t made that one yet). The other was your standard pizza (made with homemade pizza dough that I froze a few weeks ago.) I’m getting pretty resourceful this month and out of sheer busy-ness, I’ve been basically using up my pantry and freezer staples.

So was pretty jolly when I found this meal. It’s super pantry staple friendly. If you stock your cabinets with beans and salsa, and your freezer with chicken and frozen veggies, you can make this meal any gosh darn diddily day you want.

(By the way, how did people live without the internet? I have an entire bookcase full of cookbooks, yet often when I need a recipe, I type in the ingredients I have into Google and “bam”, we have a winner. Searching indexes? Flipping through pages? Not ever in the mood.)

Speaking of which, how do I index all of my cookbooks online?

That’s actually exactly what I need.

Anyway, back to the recipe.

I was very happy when I made this recipe.

• Um, getting married in less than two months = utter happiness
• Chris is home before 10:30 every night now!
• The sun is out until 8 pm every day!
• And more!

And I think my happiness made it taste better.

But even if you had just an OK day, trust me, this will still taste good.

Mexican Chicken Bake (Adapted from Kraft)
Serves 5-6
>> Click here for printable recipe 

Ingredients:

• 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into 1 inch pieces
• 2 tbsp taco seasoning (homemade or packaged)
• 2 tbsp Italian dressing (I used Olive Oil Vinaigrette)
• 1 (15 oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1/2 medium onion, finely diced
• 1 (16 oz) jar of your favorite salsa
• 3/4 cup mozzarella, cheddar, or Monterrey jack cheese (or combo of all 3)
• 5-6 servings of cooked brown rice

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Add taco seasoning to the chicken in a medium bowl; toss to evenly coat.
3. Heat the dressing in a large skillet on medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook until it’s browned. Spoon into a casserole dish (I used 9 x 13, which was a little too large, but got the job done), and cover with layers of beans, corn, peas, onions, and salsa.
4. Bake for 20 minutes. Top with the cheese and bake for another 5 minutes or until the cheese has melted. Spoon over rice to serve.

My Two Cents: This had some zip, some tang, a whip, and a zang. Make it with chicken breasts to be even healthier. (I had chicken thighs in my freezer because they were on sale last week — thighs also have a richer, moister taste to them.) And the layers can be a free-for-all, really. Add some peppers, jalapenos, cilantro, etc. to make it even more Mexican. Use what you have on hand. Get creative. Be joyous.

And also, try to walk 10,000 steps a day (about 5 miles), drink lots of water, and go  outside during your lunch break. You will feel so much happier! (not to mention — healthier!)

No Sugar Added Banana Bread

Tags

baking, banana, banana bread, Breakfast, food, quick bread, recipe, treat

I like having fruit in my apartment, and bananas are the most affordable. But I have a tendency to put a banana in my lunch bag for work, then come home with a sad bruised banana that never got eaten.

So I cut up the rotting and bruised bananas and freeze them.

Usually I turn them into a healthy dessert (chocolate banana ice cream). But the other week I wanted to make it into banana bread for several reasons:

a.) the smell of a quick bread baking is one of the most heavenly smells in this world. Be it banana, pumpkin, apple, zucchini, you name it, it smells damn delicious.

b.) I had some Greek yogurt to use up, and love throwing that in quick breads.

c.) I wanted to eat this in the morning instead of my lame tasteless granola bars.

But I wanted this banana bread to be even more healthy. And that means no sugar. And most certainly none of that stevia/splenda/truvia nonsense. But does such a recipe exist? More importantly, would it taste good?

Thankfully, YES! Sugarless banana bread does exist AND taste good. Why? My theory is that bananas have a big bundle of sugar in them in the first place, so adding sugar to banana bread isn’t necessary. Also, the Greek yogurt gives it that distinctive sweet tang.

And so a healthy, hearty, stick-to-your-ribs banana bread was born from my oven.

No Sugar Added Banana Bread (From Tasty Kitchen)
Makes 1 loaf
>> Click here for printable recipe

Ingredients:

• 3 bananas, mashed
• ¾ cups plain Greek yogurt
• ⅓ cups vegetable or canola oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoons salt
• 1 cup dark chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Stir together all of the ingredients in a large bowl with a wooden spoon.
3. Pour into a greased 8.5 inch loaf pan and bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.
4. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove and place on a wire rack to cool completely.

My two cents: I ate this for breakfast and a few snacks throughout the week. When the bread is cool, slice into individual portions for an easy grab and go breakfast. You can also freeze the individual slices or the whole loaf.

Enjoy!

Chicken Mango Chutney Stir Fry

Tags

chicken, cooking, easy, food, quick meals, recipe, stir-fry

How many times have you opened the fridge, sighed, grumbled, growled, and said, “There’s noooooothing to make for dinner.”

I do it a lot, especially when at the grocery store I decide that I don’t need certain things because I’m already spending money on other things — then I’m left with odds and ends in my cabinets that don’t seem to mesh. (Yeah, I’ll admit, for a food blogger, I sure am not the best planner.)

So this past week I opened up my cupboard and saw a jar of mango chutney from Trader Joe’s.

It has been sitting there for months, hidden in the back. I had to brush off some dust.

And I figured, hey. I might as well use this. But with what?

Then I remembered that chicken is super splendid with any fruity combo. I made this blueberry ginger chutney once last year to go with some chicken, and it was finger lickin’ good.

So I had my answer! I had some rice. I had some chicken. I had some chutney. Dinner was on its way.

Chicken Mango Chutney Stir Fry
Serves 4
>> Click here for printable recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 lb chicken, cut into cubes
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 1 (9 – 10 oz) jar mango chutney (I used Trader Joe’s)
• 1 cup basmati or brown rice

Directions:

1. Cook the rice according to the package directions — either on the stove or in your rice cooker.
2.  Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. When the pan is hot, add the chicken. Cook until the chicken is lightly browned and no longer pink in the middle.
3. Stir the chutney into the chicken and warm through for 2-3 minutes. Serve immediately over the rice.

My Two Cents: The moral of this story is to always have a jar of some sort of chutney in your cupboard. Pour it over some cooked cubed chicken. Serve over rice. Cook up some of your favorite green veggies on the side, or serve with a salad.

You have a meal.

And it always takes under 30 minutes to make.

Quinoa Spinach Salad

Tags

cooking, easy, food, healthy, quick meals, quinoa, recipe, recipes, salad

Quinoa is pretty stellar.

I have a container of it on my shelf that never goes below half-full at all times. It can be used in place of rice, as part of a stuffing for a vegetable (peppers or eggplant), or, my favorite way to use quinoa, as the star of a super healthy salad.

Healthy.

Salad.

Two words that are essentials for my diet in the months leading up to the wedding. I have a severely irrational fear that my dress won’t fit on the day of the wedding. I don’t know if all brides suffer from this, but food has been on my mind way more than usual lately. I’m used to just eating whatever, whenever (all in moderation, of course), but still. Every time I eat a piece of cake, an extra candy, or a side of fries, my brain goes into panic mode: “You’re definitely going to have to work out now.” or “Guess you’re eating a salad tomorrow at lunch.” or simply, “baahhh.”

I’ve realized this is an unhealthy approach to food. I told my sister about this fear and she simply said, “why don’t you just eat normally?”

She’s right.

Plus. I don’t want the opposite to happen. I don’t want that dress to fall off of me!

So I took my straight spinach salad, and spruced it up with some more filling and healthy ingredients — quinoa and black beans — inspired from an awesome cooking class I took last week with Kathy Day from Kathy Can Cook with Chef Bernard.

Quinoa Spinach Salad (Adpated from Chef Bernard)
Serves 4
>> Click here for printable recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 cup quinoa
• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1 medium red pepper, diced
• 1 1/2 cups fresh spinach
• 1 (14 oz) can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 cup white or red onion, diced
• 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
• 1 clove of garlic, smashed and chopped
• juice of 1 lemon
• 2 tbsp olive oil

Directions:

1. Cook the quinoa according to the package directions.
2. Toss the rest of the ingredients together in a large bowl.  When the quinoa is done cooking, toss it into the bowl while it’s still warm.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice and olive oil. Toss with the salad. Taste, add salt and pepper if desired and/or more olive oil and lemon juice  to your taste preference.

My Two Cents: This is a great lunch.

However, I must warn you, the onion taste is quite pungent. I recommend using red onions, which are aren’t quite as strong as white onions — or use Vidalia onions, which are sweeter. I only had white on hand, so…good thing I like onions.

The original recipe called for vegetable broth in place of the water, but if you don’t have broth on hand (like me), water is clearly A-Ok to use.

Enjoy this guilt-free, filling, healthy, hearty, super-duper salad

Skillet Lasagna

Tags

cooking, easy recipes, fast meals, food, lasagna, quick meals, recipe, recipes, skillet meal, whip it up wednesday

Making lasagna can be a chore, and it certainly is never an option during the week because of all the labor that goes into it.

So when my mom told me there is such a thing as skillet lasagna, I got a little giddy. Lasagna in less than 45 minutes? Hoo-rah!

Skillet Lasagna (Adapted from Kraft Foods)
Serves 4-5
>> Click here for printable recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground turkey
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 1 small eggplant, chopped
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
• 12 no boil lasagna noodles, broken into quarters
• 1 (24 oz jar) spaghetti sauce
• 1 and 2/3 cups water
• 1 cup shredded cheddar or mozzarella cheese

Directions:

1. Brown the ground turkey in a large skillet; drain.
2. Meanwhile, in a separate skillet, cook the onions, eggplant, and pepper until the onion and eggplant is soft and the pepper is crisp-tender. Add the vegetables to the skillet with the ground turkey; stir well.
3. Add the garlic, sauce, water, and Italian seasoning to the skillet; stir well. Bring the mixture to a boil, then stir in the noodles.
4. Cover and cook on medium-low heat for 10-15 minutes, or until the noodles are tender, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat, sprinkle the cheese on top of the mixture — serve and enjoy!

My two cents: Simple, scrumptious, full of flavor, and the essence of lasagna!

Thanks to my mom for the beautiful kitchen and natural light. Also, these meals are now essential to me as the big day draws closer. Instead of coming home and worrying about what kind of big, complicated meal I’m going to cook, I can make something simple and hearty, then sit down with my laptop and plan away

(Though, I will admit that I really love to take breaks on weekends and relax by baking or kneading my own homemade pizza dough…)

It all evens out in the end.

Enjoy!