Smoked Salmon Pasta

The Ingredients

1/2 package whole wheat fusilli pasta

1/2 small pack of wild smoked salmon

1 tbsp capers

1 lemon (zest and juice)

1/4 cup yellow onion

2 roma tomatoes

1 tbsp olive oil (just enough to coat the bottom of a pot)

pepper

In one pot, boil some generously salted water and cook pasta. Once cooked, set aside. You can use the same pot for the "sauce" preparation. 

First, coat the bottom with some olive oil. Then, chop your onions and add them to the oil. They should sizzle. Let them get translucent. Then, add capers and diced tomatoes. Note that you do NOT need to salt this dish, as the capers and smoked salmon already do that for you. Add lemon juice from 1 lemon, and use zest of that same lemon to add some more flavor. Add pepper to taste. Then, add the pasta. Chop the smoked salmon into small pieces and add to the mixture. You do not need to cook it- just add it into the pot. The last thing you want is for it's texture to change. 

Enjoy! 

Lemon Vanilla Meringues

The Ingredients

3 egg whites

1/2 c sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

zest of 1 lemon

lemon juice (1 lemon)

Note: if you don't want to waste your egg yolks, set them aside. You can use them for delicious hollandaise sauce for eggs benedict. 

Combine all ingredients into a bowl. If you want to get fancy, you can fold the other ingredients into the egg whites. Use a standing mixer to mix ingredients until the egg whites have stiff peaks. They should still stick to the mixer like this:

Bake for 3 hours at 200 degrees. Enjoy! 

Ready to be baked

Baking time

They should be baked for about 3 hours at 200 degrees. The trick is to cook them "low and slow." I read that often the oven door can be propped open with a wooden spoon (which I did). Next time, I may try this with my dehydrator! The texture on these is amazing, and the vanilla and lemon really work well together. 

Light, sugary nom noms

Not the prettiest, but they are amazing! 

Italian-style drumsticks w/ pepper parmesan dressing

Italian-style drumsticks

6 drumsticks

1 lemon

2 tbsp butter

2 cloves of garlic

2 tbsp port (yes, port)

salt

10 peppercorns

thyme

rosemary

sage

Italian breadcrumbs

I had a craving for wings one day, but then decided I was going to do something a little different. Maybe I just had a craving for chicken (?). There are a few steps to the process, but it isn't very hard to follow. Anyway, here is my recipe...

First, place the drumsticks into a container. I covered them completely with water and added 2 whole cloves of garlic, port, salt, peppercorns, thyme, rosemary, and sage. I would have added red wine vinegar was well, but the port not only adds some sweetness, and it adds that acidity as well. I let the drumsticks sit for around 4 hours to really soak up the brine and flavor the drumsticks. 

Remove the drumsticks and discard the water. Place the chicken into a baking pan/casserole dish and top with more sage, rosemary, thyme, lemon juice, and dredge in Italian breadcrumbs. The lemon juice helps a lot with letting the breadcrumbs adhere to the chicken. Then, top with some butter and pepper. Note: you will not need salt since the brine is salty and it penetrates the chicken quite nicely. Bake for 30 minutes at 375 degrees. Enjoy! 

Chillin' in the brine

The beautiful top layer of herbs and spices

Ready for breadcrumbing

Ready for baking

Perfectly golden brown and ready to eat

Close-up time. Super juicy! Baked lemon also tastes delicious! 

Pepper Parmesan Dressing

1/4 c Greek yogurt

1 tbsp mayonnaise

truffle salt

2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese

1 tsp black pepper

I served this with my chick and some delicious, organic veggies 

Ro-ta-to

The Ingredients

1 potato

salt

pepper

butter

I was inspired by a twist potato I ate in Italy 1.5 years ago and recently saw it come up on my newsfeed. That's when I said that I HAD to make this delicious baked potato. It's a great "twist" on an all-time favorite! The trick is in the cutting- make sure you cut the potato just enough to expose the deliciousness inside but without cutting all the way through. You want it to be intact so that as it cooks it opens up more, ready for you to eat it! Add salt, pepper, and butter to taste and voilà:

I served it on the side of some broiled salmon with garlic-lemon yogurt sauce, and sautéed haricots verts with some parmesan. Delicious! 

Cod Cooked in Parchment Paper

I was inspired by this recipe by the AMAZING Ina Garten but put my own spin on it: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/herb-roasted-fish-recipe/index.html

The Ingredients

2 filets of codfish

1 lemon 

8 large green olives

2 tsp capers

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

kosher salt

pepper

First cut your parchment paper and lay your filets down separately. Top them off with juice from the lemon and slice the lemon thinly. You will use this for garnish and some extra flavor when baking. Throw the olives into the parchment alongside the filet, as well as some capers. Add a few capers and top with olive oil, salt, and pepper to taste. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. Enjoy!

Pre-parchment

Baking time!

Ready to devour

Gluten-Free, Flourless Coconut Macaroons

The Ingredients

2 cups almond meal

2 cups almond milk

1 egg

1/2 cup coconut butter

1/4 cup apple sauce

1/2 cup sugar

2 tbsp ground flax

Pre-baking

Ready to eat! 

Chickpea and Potato Soup

The Ingredients

1 can garbanzo beans, strained

4 potatoes, peeled

3 pieces of bacon

1/3 large white onion

2 roma tomatoes

olive oil (to coat the bottom of a pan)

2 ice trays of veggie stock

4 c water

salt

pepper

rosemary

thyme

I grew up eating a lot of chick peas, either with pasta or in a soup. The recipe below is the same one I have eaten many times thanks to my mother. The only change is that I added thyme. 

First, strain a can of garbanzo beans and set aside. Clean and peel 4 potatoes. Cube them into small pieces so 3 can easily fit onto a teaspoon/are just slightly larger than chickpeas. This is a sure-fire way to guarantee you get a few with each bite! Set aside the cubed potato pieces. Dice 2 roma tomatoes so they are similar in size to the other ingredients. Set aside. Dice 1/3 of a large white onion. This should yield about 1/4 cup. 

Lightly coat a pan with olive oil. When heated, throw on the onions so you hear that delicious sizzle. They should become translucent within a few minutes. As they are cooking, cut 3 pieces of bacon into small pieces a little smaller than chickpeas. When the onions have cooked down, add the bacon to the pan and cook for a few more minutes. Set aside. It should look like this:

Add two ice trays of veggie stock. I use my own, which I freeze and take out when needed. Then, throw in the bacon and onion mixture, potatoes, and tomatoes. Add 3 cups of water, some salt and pepper to taste, and a dash of rosemary and thyme. Both these herbs are extremely flavorful, but can be bitter if too much is used. Since the garbanzo beans are already cooked, they can be added to the crockpot once the potatoes are al dente. Keep on high heat for 2-3 hours.   

The smokiness of the bacon adds some great flavor, and the potatoes thicken up the mixture. So hearty and delicious on a snow day :).



Serious nom noms.

Cranberry Yogurt Muffins

The Ingredients

1/4 cup ground flax

1 c flour

1 c almond meal

1/2 c sugar

1 c cranberries

1/2 c Greek yogurt

1 tsp baking powder

Combine all ingredients into a bowl and mix well. It should be a nice, thick batter. The Greek yogurt and almond meal make these super moist. Butter a muffin tin and pour the mixture halfway up the indentation. Bake for 12-15 minutes at 350 degrees, or until golden brown. They are quite delicious and  surprisingly filling with the extra protein from the Greek yogurt. Yum!

11 small muffins, or 10 smaller ones

Delicious! 

Savory Mustard and Scallion Scones

The Ingredients

1 c all-purpose flour

1 c white whole wheat flour

2 scallions, chopped

1 c Greek yogurt

4 tbsp cold butter

flax seed sprinkles

1 tsp salt

2 tsp dijon mustard

2 tbsp whole grain dijon mustard

1 tbsp baking powder

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Mix all dry ingredients into a bowl and set aside. In a separate bowl, add greek yogurt, mustards, and butter. Make sure the butter is cold! Throw the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix well. The butter should be in small pieces that are somewhat consistent in size. This should now look like a dough that is cohesive. The Greek yogurt is an excellent binder of ingredients and helps get a moister texture. Also, this would be delicious with cheddar cheese, but I decided to just stick with the butter and not add too much more fat in there. 

Butter a baking sheet or parchment paper. Bake for 20 minutes at 425 degrees, until brown. Enjoy!

The dough

Cut and ready to bake

Golden brown deliciousness

Close-up