Panzanella

I've made this salad three times in the last month. And I keep thinking of other reasons to make it. Clearly, I'm a fan.

Here are five things I love about it:

1. Grilled bread cubes soaked in garlicky dressing--um, yum.  
2. It's pretty heavy on the veggies without any greens. Sometimes I don't love greens.  
3. Cheese--you can opt for mozzarella or feta.  
4. It looks colorful and pretty and fancy (even though it's not) when assembled.
5. Makes a great, hearty accompaniment for many meals: pizza, salmon, pasta.

PANZANELLA 

• olive oil
• 1 small loaf artisan bread, cut into 1-inch cubes (6 cups)
• Kosher salt
• 1 hothouse cucumber, unpeeled, seeded, and slice 1/4-inch thick
• 1 red bell pepper, large diced
• 1 yellow bell pepper, large diced
• 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 red onion, sliced in half rounds
• 4 ounces feta or mozzarella
• 20 basil leaves, cut in chiffonade, see here (optional)

VINAIGRETTE

• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon dijon
• 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 cup olive oil 

Heat 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large saute pan.  Add the bread cubes and sprinkle with salt; cook over low to medium heat, tossing frequently for 5 to 10 minutes, until nicely browned. 

Place the cucumber, red pepper, yellow pepper, tomatoes, and red onion in a large bowl.  

For the vinaigrette, whisk together the garlic, oregano, mustard, vinegar, salt, and pepper.  While still whisking, add the olive oil and make an emulsion.  

Pour vinaigrette over the vegetables. Add cheese and bread cubes and mix together lightly. Top with basil, if using.   

Set aside for 30 minutes for the flavors to blend. Serve at room temperature. 

Source: Ina Garten 

Beet & Arugula Salad

I had a beet salad at a restaurant back in May and I've been thinking about it ever since. After looking at lots of recipes and sampling many different versions over the summer, this is how it ended up. I added shredded chicken so it would be more of a meal and ate it over the course of several days.

YUM-O!  

BEET & ARUGULA SALAD

• 8 medium-sized beets, tops removed and scrubbed 
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1/4 cup olive oil 
• 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
• Kosher salt
• pepper
• 4 ounces baby arugula
• 4 ounces feta (or goat cheese)
• 2 avocados 
• 1/3 cup roasted or candied nuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

Wrap the beets individually in foil and place on a sheet pan. 

Roast beets for 50-60 minutes, until a small sharp knife inserted in the middle indicates they are tender.  

Unwrap each beet and set aside for 10 minutes, until cool enough to handle.

Peel the beets with a small knife over a piece or parchment to prevent staining.

Whisk together the vinegar, olive oil, mustard, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and set aside.

While the beets are still warm, cut them into chunks and place them in a large mixing bowl.  

Toss the beets with half the dressing, 1 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.  

Place the arugula in a separate bowl and toss with enough dressing to moisten. 

Put the arugula on a serving platter and then arrange the beets, feta, avocado, and nuts. 

Sprinkle with salt and pepper and serve warm or room temperature. 

Recipe Source: Ina Garten (slightly modified) 

Kielbasa Hash

There's really nothing better than being able to throw together a tasty, hearty meal in just a few minutes. Feel free to tweak the ingredients, based on what you like!

KIELBASA HASH

• 1 (14 ounce) package turkey kielbasa, cut into 1/4 inch rounds
• 1 sweet potato, peeled and diced
• 1 russet potato, peeled and diced
• 1 yellow onion, diced 
• 1 yellow pepper, diced
• 1 zucchini, diced
• olive oil 
• salt and pepper

In a heavy skillet, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil over medium-high heat.  

Add the sweet potato and russet potato to the skillet and season with salt and pepper.  

Fry until golden and cooked through, 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally to ensure even browning.  

In a separate skillet, brown the sliced kielbasa for 5 minutes in 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium-high heat.  

Remove the kielbasa from the pan and set aside.  

Add the onions to the skillet and cook for 2-3 minutes.  

Add the yellow pepper and zucchini and a pinch of salt and cook for 2-3 minutes more.

Add the cooked potatoes and kielbasa to the skillet and mix everything together.  

Source: modified from The Two Bite Club 

Mango and Black Bean Quinoa

I like the flavor combinations in this little salad. Sometimes mango in conjunction with more savory things like black beans and red peppers is just so tasty.

*Note on Quinoa:
The first time I made this I used 2 cups of uncooked quinoa, which was way too much.  Clearly, I didn't read the directions carefully. Cook about 3/4 cup and you should have just enough for your 2 cups of cooked quinoa.

MANGO and BLACK BEAN QUINOA

• 2 cups cooked quinoa, cooked in vegetable or chicken broth, at room temperature or chilled
• 1 can (15 ounce) black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 medium mango, peeled and diced
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 4 green onions, white and green parts thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
• 4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Place cooked quinoa in a large bowl.  Add mango, red pepper, green onions, black beans, and cilantro.  

In a small bowl, combine vinegar, olive oil, and lime juice.  Whisk until smooth.  

Pour dressing over salad and toss to combine.  

Add salt and pepper to taste.  

Chill for at least one hour before serving. 

Source: Mel's Kitchen Cafe 

Strawberry Cupcakes

While strawberry would never be my first choice of cake flavor, I've been asked a couple times in the last year to make strawberry cupcakes for kids' birthdays.  So, instead of looking each time for a recipe, I thought it best to document it here for my own future reference and for anyone out there who loves strawberry cupcakes!

I made these for one of my favorite little people, Maddie,who turned three a while back and requested strawberry cupcakes. (I think she was actually more set on pink than strawberry.) This was the result and they were quite tasty.  I particularly enjoyed the fresh strawberry in the cupcakes.

Here's me with the birthday girl, all decked out in our princess gear.  

STRAWBERRY CUPCAKES

• 1 2/3 cup cake flour **(see note #1 below)
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder 
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 large egg
• 2 large egg whites
• 1/3 cup fresh strawberry puree
• 1/4 cup buttermilk **(see note #2 below)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• red food coloring (optional)
• 3/4 cup small diced strawberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  

Sift cake flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium-sized bowl.  Whisk to combine.  

In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, whip butter and sugar until slightly fluffy.  

Mix in egg and egg whites one at a time.  

In liquid measuring cup containing buttermilk, add strawberry puree and vanilla extract and whisk together.   

Working in three separate batches, beginning and ending with flour mixture, add 1/3 of the flour mixture alternating with half of the buttermilk mixture and mixing just until combined after each addition.  

Fold in diced strawberries. 

Divide batter among 12 paper lined muffin cups, filling each 3/4 full.  

Bake for 20-23 minutes or until toothpick inserted into center of cupcake comes out clean.  

Allow to cool several minutes in muffin tin and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. 

Frost with your desired frosting.  I would use this cream cheese buttercream or this whipped frosting.  

NOTE #1 ON CAKE FLOUR:

Cake flour is hard to find where I live, but luckily it is very easy to make.  Here are the very simple instructions. Make as much or as little as you need!

1. For every 1 cup of flour, remove 2 tablespoons of flour.  

2. Add 2 tablespoons of corn starch to replace the flour removed.  

3. Sift 5-6 times and it's ready to use!  

NOTE #2 ON BUTTERMILK:

I never have buttermilk on hand, I just make it.  Add 1 teaspoon of lemon juice or white vinegar to a liquid measuring cup.  Then add enough milk to reach 1/4 cup.  Let rest for 3 minutes.  

Source: Cooking Classy and Food.com 

Easter Macaroons

I've made macaroons a few times before, but have often been frustrated with how they tend to ooze and spread out when baking.  I think this must have something to do with the step where you fold in the egg whites.  The great thing about this recipe is that you don't fold in egg whites and they have nowhere to ooze since they are baked in mini muffin tins. They are super easy and perfectly festive for the Easter season.

Happy Easter!

COCONUT MACAROONS

• 3/4 cup (5 large) egg whites
• 6 tablespoons sugar
• 10 ounces sweetened shredded coconut
• 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
• 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
• pinch of salt
• Cadbury Mini Eggs
• chocolate (optional)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. 

In a heavy saucepan combine egg whites, sugar, and shredded coconut.  

Cook over medium-low heat, stirring frequently until all the ingredients combine, about 12 minutes. This mixture should be sticky and moist, not dry.  

Remove from heat and stir in almond and vanilla extracts.  

Set aside and let cool for 10 minutes.  

Spray nonstick mini muffin tins with cooking spray.  

Drop heaping tablespoons into each tin, lightly pressing mixture into the bottom and up the sides of the tin to make the nests. A small measuring spoons works well.   

Bake 22-25 minutes, or until golden.  

Let cool 10 minutes, then carefully remove from muffin tins and allow to completely cool on a wire rack.  

Optional: I added a dollop of melted chocolate to each nest before topping with the eggs.  

Makes 24-36, depending on the size of your mini muffin tins.  

Source: Skinny Taste


I packaged these up  and took them to my Easter brunch with me this morning:

Cream Cheese Buttercream

I made a pumpkin cake (using this recipe) with this cream cheese buttercream for my teammate's birthday a few weeks back.

It was almost a disaster.

I had planned on making a simple powdered sugar cream cheese frosting, but as I've said before, the powdered sugar here is just terrible.  I should have known better.  The frosting was way too sweet to use on a whole cake and gritty and blah. I used a little of it for the middle filling, but then moved on to something else.

I found a recipe online for cream cheese buttercream, but got impatient and didn't let the cooked mixture cool enough.  Attempt #2, fail.

After reading some comments online and finding another recipe, I attempted this THIRD frosting.  Talk about wasted butter. Ugh. Well, after working my way through the recipe, I thought this one was going to be pretty ho-hum.  The texture was weird, but it tasted fine and seemed firm enough to hold up on a cake.  I actually spread it on the cake and resigned myself to an end product that wasn't pretty, but would taste okay.  It would just have to do.  While I was frosting the cake I left the leftover buttercream running in the stand mixture.  I was curious to see if it would get any better, texture-wise. And, LO AND BEHOLD, it finally came together!! Hallelujah.  I was so relieved that I actually removed the buttercream from the cake, re-whipped it until it smoothed out and frosted the cake over again. In the end, it turned out lovely and delicious.

And, it is really good and less time-intensive than most buttercreams I've tried.  The cream cheese flavor is subtle and the texture gloriously smooth.

So, the moral of the story is this: when making buttercream, do not give up.  Keep beating it.  It will come around. Eventually.

CREAM CHEESE BUTTERCREAM

• 4 large egg whites
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon vanilla
• 22 ounces unsalted butter, room temperature, cut into small pieces
• 12 ounces cream cheese, room temperature, cut into small pieces

In a double boiler, whisk together egg whites and sugar.  Heat until the sugar is dissolved and the mixture is warm (about 140 F), whisking frequently (about 3-5 minutes).


Transfer the egg white/sugar mixture to the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment.


Add the salt and beat on high speed until the mixture is thick and glossy (about 5-7 minutes).


Beat in the extract.


Then gradually add the butter and cream cheese piece by piece while beating; stop beating when the buttercream is thick and smooth.


NOTES: 
This is the part where you might need to persevere.  Follow these tips and you should be successful:

• Scrape the bowl down frequently. 
• Let each piece of butter or cream cheese incorporate fully before adding more.  
• Let the buttercream beat for a long time.  If it looks grainy or too wet, keep going.  
• If it is still not coming together, put the bowl in the refrigerator for 20 minutes and then continue beating it. 

Seriously, I thought my buttercream was a goner, but it just needed more time. When it is finished it will be smooth, glossy, and fluffy.

Source: An Edible Mosaic