Roasted Eggplant Dip

Tags

cooking, dip, eggplant, recipes, roasted

Roasted Eggplant Dip 

Serves 4

I like to serve this smoky dip alongside lamb or with pita triangles. This dip also turns into a wonderful sandwich spread with roasted veggies or with chicken.

Ingredients:

• 3 Japanese eggplants (or 2 small American), peeled and cubed
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1/3 cup olive oil plus more for drizzling
• 1/2 lemon, juiced
• pinch cayenne pepper
• pinch cumin

Directions:

Heat oven to 400 degrees.  Spread cubed eggplant out on a large baking sheet.  Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper and toss around with your fingers to coat all pieces well.  Bake for 30 minutes until lightly browned and soft.

Scrape eggplant into food processor. Season with salt and pepper, cayenne and cumin.  Pour in lemon juice and olive oil and pulse until smooth. You can add more or less olive oil for desired consistency.

Drizzle with a little extra olive oil to serve and a pinch of cayenne.

 

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Kale Chips

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chips, kale, low-fat, recipes

Kale Chips

Kale chips are the newest food revolution.  I, sadly, had not caught on to this revolution until just recently.  I am now in LOVE with them! In a potato chip fight, they would give them a serious beat down.  They are healthy, GREAT for you (fiber, phytochemicals, antioxidants, need I list more?), taste way better than a cruddy bagged chip full of chemicals, and easy to make. You could toss them with a bit of garlic powder, smoky paprika, and or toss them with a bit of lemon juice.

Remove the rough ribs down the center with a knife and tear the leaves into 3 inch pieces. Toss the leaves with 1 tablespoon olive oil, and a 1/4 teaspoon salt. Spread the leaves out on 2 baking sheets. Bake at 350 degrees until browned around the edges and crispy, 12 to 15 minutes.

Low Fat Black Bean Dip

Tags

black beans, dip, healthy, low-fat, recipe

Low Fat Black Bean Dip

After much deliberating (with myself), I opted to go low-carb for my New Year’s Res. This means that I will be cooking a bit healthier (lucky us).  I despise store-bought bean dips, they taste horrible to me. Therefore, I decided to whip this one up, which you will love.  AND…it is sans guilt.  You know, that feeling you get after scarfing down an entire bowl of artichoke spinach dip and half a bag of tortilla chips? Yep, did just that last week pre-diet. Serve this delish dip with whole grain pita chips or whole wheat lavosh.  You can also slather it on a tortilla and add some grilled chicken, lettuce, tomato and a dollop of light sour cream for a yummy sandwich.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

• fat free butter spray (I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter makes a good one)
• 1/2 red onion sliced thin plus 2 tablespoons diced for garnish
• 3 tablespoons canned chipotles en adobo juice (if you want heat, add one chopped chipotle)
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic (the kind in a jar really works best here)
• 1/4 teaspoon chile powder
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin
• 1 14-ounce can fat free refried black beans (I used Trader Joe’s)
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• non-fat plain Greek yogurt or low-fat sour cream
• whole grain pita chips or whole wheat lavosh

Directions:

1.)  In a medium skillet over medium heat, add 6 sprays of butter.  Add sliced red onion and saute until slightly browned and softened, stirring frequently, about 4 minutes.  Add garlic, stir and cook another minute.  Add chipotle juice, chile powder, cumin, and black beans. Season with salt and pepper, stir and let cook over medium low heat for 1-2 minutes.

2.)  Pour dip into serving bowl, top with a dollop of yogurt or sour cream, 2 tablespoons red onion, a little pinch of chile powder (for presentation!).

Blue Cheese Dressing

Tags

blue cheese, dip, dressing, recipes, salad

Blue Cheese Dressing

I love a chunky blue cheese dressing!  This is a great dip for chicken wings or a great dressing for a nice wedge salad.  For salads, you may need to thin it out a bit with a tablespoon or two of water or milk.

Makes 1 1/4 cup

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/4 cup blue cheese crumbles
• dash hot sauce
• dash Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon fresh chopped chives
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and mix well.

Jen’s Chicken Wings

Tags

chicken wings, cooking, grilling, hot sauce, recipes

Jen’s Chicken Wings

My husband is an absolute wing nut.  He has this odd little smash-and-suck-the-meat-off-the-bone move to eat them (he may need to trademark that).  When he is finished, he piles the bones into this strange little stack.  I of course always have to mess with his pile of accomplishment.  This was definitely one of those recipes I knew I needed to master to impress him (and score brownie points when needed).  For the football game today I made these; he was in bone piling heaven.  These are a bit spicy but not make your eyes water and go screaming to the fridge for milk kind of hot.

Makes 24 wings

Ingredients:

• 24 chicken wings (combo of drumettes and wings)
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 stick of butter
• 1 cup Franks Original Red Hot Sauce
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• carrots and celery slices for serving
• blue cheese for serving (see dips for recipe)

Directions:

1.)  Preheat grill.  Season chicken wings with salt and pepper on both sides.  When the grill is hot, add chicken wings in a single layer.  Grill for about 12-15 minutes, turning every few minutes, until the juices run clear and the meat is pulling away from the ends of the bones a bit.  Remove wings to a large bowl.

2.)  In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine butter, hot sauce, cayenne pepper, and black pepper.  Stir until well combined.

3.)  Pour sauce over wings and toss.

4.)  Serve with carrots, celery sticks and blue cheese dressing (or ranch).

Potato Skin Cakes

Tags

baking, Post A Week Challenge 2011, potato skins, recipes, tailgating

Potato Skin Cakes

These are great for football season!  Been thinking of ways to make a potato skin into something easier and fun.  My hubby and I were watching the ASU game today and I thought what a fun food to compliment our chicken wings.  Needless to say my husband was in love with these gooey little potato cakes.  These can be made without the bacon as well for a vegetarian version.

Makes 12

Ingredients:

• 5 small Idaho potatoes, scrubbed and cut into large chunks
• 3 strips cooked bacon, chopped (optional)
• 4 green onions, chopped
• handful fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 1/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• dash hot sauce
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

1.)  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a large pot of boiling salted water, add potato chunks and cook over medium heat for 10-12 minutes until fork tender.  Drain and set aside to cool for about 5 minutes.

2.)  In a large bowl, stir together potatoes, bacon, green onions, parsley, cheddar, baking powder, sour cream, hot sauce, salt and pepper.

3.)  Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and spoon potatoes onto pan into 12 even patties, flattening the tops of each one.

4.)  Bake for 1 hour until browned.  Remove to a serving platter and garnish with chive sour cream and extra chives.

Chive Sour Cream

• 1 cup sour cream
• 3 tablespoons fresh chopped chives
• salt and freshly ground black pepper

Stir all ingredients together until combined.

Famous Roque Guacamole

Tags

avocados, cooking, guacamole, post a week chal, recipes

Famous Roque Guacamole

 

Serves 4 as an appetizer

As long as I can remember, our friends have begged us to make our famous guacamole.  Give me a bowl of guac, some chips and a margarita and I am good to go!  We sat on our balcony in Rocky Point, Mexico and did just that one day, it was amazing.  The key to a perfect guacamole is the avocados; make sure they are perfectly ripe, not brown and mushy.  When pushing on the skin it should have a little give and the skin should not be overly shriveled.  Also, when removing the pit, take a large sharp knife and hack into it.  Give it a twist and the pit should come away with the knife.

Ingredients:

• 3 medium, ripe avocados, halved, pitted, and diced
• 1 medium tomato, cored, seeded and diced
• 1/2 jalapeno (or 1 whole), minced
• handful fresh cilantro, chopped
• 1/8 cup diced red or green onion
• juice of 1 lime
• salt and freshly ground black pepper
• pinch garlic powder

Directions:

1.)  In a medium bowl, add the avocado and mash slightly with a fork.  Add all remaining ingredients and stir to combine.  Proceed to take massive scoopfuls onto a chip and get happy!

Edamame Puree with Crostini

Tags

cooking, crostini, edamame, recipes

Edamame Puree with Crostini

Ingredients:

• 1 bag frozen shelled edamame (or fava beans)
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 lemon, zested and juiced
• 1 cup olive oil
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• Pinch dried mint (optional)
• 1/2 loaf Italian bread, sliced
• Parmesan cheese curls (a vegetable peeler works well here), for garnish

Directions:

1.)  In a medium saucepan, boil soy beans over medium heat for 4 minutes.  Drain and rinse under cool water.  Place in bowl of food processor or blender.  Puree soy beans, garlic, lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, pepper, and mint.  In a slow stream, add 3/4 cup olive oil.  Reseason if necessary.

2.)  Place an oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat broiler to high.  Brush each side of the bread slices with olive oil and place on baking sheet.  Broil on each side for one minute.  Make sure to keep an eye on the bread as it will burn very quickly.  Remove toasted slices to a serving platter.

3.)  Top each crostini with edamame puree and parmesan cheese curls.