Shiritaki Vegetable Lo Mein

As a kid, Sunday night usually meant chinese food for dinner. We each had our favorite, whether steamed chicken with broccoli, beef and broccoli, and my personal favorite- vegetable lo mein. I liked these family traditions and they were always something to look forward to. Another family tradition was being picked on, which is a natural thing for being the youngest child. Many nicknames came about, and the running-joke of passing me my favorite thing to eat at Shabbat dinner- chicken skin. Right, I know it's gross, but as little afro and cheeky me, I wanted skin. The mere thought weirds me out now (along with my irrational fears of velvet and creamy items, such as sour cream). But my siblings still like to joke and pass me their chicken skins when we all gather for a family meal. Besides having piles of chicken skin on my plate, I then get the second let's-make-fun-of-Hannah-at-dinner run with the repeat of the story of how one time in the bathroom I yelled, "DADDY BUY ME DIAMONDS." With the thought of diamonds and chicken skin lingering in your mind, I hope you can fondly think of silly family memories that occurred around the dinner table, as I did and was then inspired to create this recipes. Happy eating.

Servings: 5-6

Ingredients:
4 packages of shiritaki noodles
1/2 cup of sliced red onion
1 cup of sliced mushrooms
1 green pepper
3 cups of sprouted mung beans
1 medium sized head of broccoli
1 cup of shredded carrots
1 cup of shredded red cabbage
4 tablespoons of hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon of soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon ginger powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder

Directions:

Cook the noodles according to packaging.

In a large frying pan or wok pan, heat oil or cooking spray. Add in the sliced onions and sautee them. Then add in the mushrooms and cook until they are tender. Once the mushrooms are cooked, add in the pepper and broccoli and wait until the broccoli becomes a light green.

Then add in the cabbage, carrots, and mung beans and allow them to slightly soften. Once the noodles are done, add them to the cooked vegetables. Then add in the hoisin and soy sauce. Add the garlic and ginger powder in.

Then toss all the ingredients together and enjoy!

Heartthrob Cookies

Sometimes you just need a good cookie. Whether after heartbreak, joy, stress, or just a sweet-tooth craving, a chocolate chip cookie is just the thing to satisfy. In one of my late night baking sessions, this recipe to concoct my "heartthrob" cookies popped into my head. From the start of smelling the fragrant toasted pecans, I slightly gave myself a little brush on the shoulder for baking up some great cookies (although my little brush usually follows my personal rendition of the harlem shake). After tasting these cookies I did do a little happy dance, because they were pretty darn good. I hope they make you dance, whether harlem shake or twerk (but let's hope yours isn't on the level of Miley Cyrus), but these are a dancing, heart-rate and heartthrob raising (due to dancing and maybe the amount of butter) good eat. Munch away. 

Adapted from Cook's Illustrated Thick and Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

Servings: about 42 cookies

Ingredients:
1 1/2 sticks of melted and slightly cooled butter
1 cup of dark muscovado sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
2 1/8 cups of flour
1/2 teaspoon slat
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped toasted pecans
1/2 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup of milk chocolate chips
1/2 cup of dark chocolate chips

Directions:

Heat your oven to 350 degrees.

To toast your chopped pecan, place them in the oven or toaster oven at 350 degrees. Allow them to toast for 8-10 minutes until they become fragrant. Set them aside to cool.

In a large bowl mixed together the sugars and melted butter until there are no clumps. Then add in the vanilla and eggs.

In another bowl mix together the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon). In small batches add the dry ingredients to the wet.

Then add in the chocolate chips and cooled toasted pecans.
On a parchment lined cookie sheet, place a small spoonful sized  of cookie dough that has been formed into a ball.
Cook for about 15 minutes until the edges of the cookies are browned and the center is still tender.
Once slightly cooled, transfer the cookies to a wire rack and allow them to cool completely.

Enjoy!

Sweet Potato and Beet Hash with a Mixed Greens Salad

A dream of mine is to have a breakfast food truck. Minus the stress of being in the food business, I think it would be so cool to roam a city selling great breakfast food. From that, I hope you can tell I am a bit of a breakfast aficionado. From french toast, to pancakes, or a crazy omelet- I'm all about that early bird special to late Sunday afternoon brunches. I thought I should start on my breakfast collection of food blog recipes- although I have to admit I did eat this for dinner. But hey, why not bend the rules and have breakfast for dinner or dessert before your entree? My grandmother used to let me do that and I always felt so special for having something different for dinner, even if it meant a nice scoop of ice cream. Regardless of the time to eat this meal- a tasty dish is always important. And after my recent visit to my grandparents in Atlanta, Honey (my grandmother) told me " Sugar, you're jus the best darn little cook!" So like it or not, Honey decreed- I can cook.

Servings: 4 large servings

Ingredients:
2 sweet potatoes
4 beets (peeled)
1 shallot
2 garlic cloves
1 tablespoon of olive oil

Salad Ingredients:
1 bunch of dandelion greens
1 bunch of watercress
1 bunch of beet top greens
2 tablespoon of spicy brown mustard
Juice of 1 lemon
Salt, pepper, and garlic powder


Directions:

Using a food processor, shred your sweet potatoes and beets. Place them in a large bowl and generously season with salt and pepper.
In a large skillet, heat the olive oil and begin to lightly brown your diced shallot and garlic cloves.
Then add in the sweet potato and beet mix. Add olive oil as you see fit to make the hash a bit crispy. To help with the cooking, place a lid over the skillet to slightly steam the vegetables. Cook until the hash vegetables are tender.

Place the greens in a mixing bowl. Then in a smaller bowl whisk together the lemon juice, mustard, salt, pepper and garlic powder. Pour the dressing over the greens and toss.

To assemble your plate- place the hash patted down on a plate. Then add the mixed greens on top and and egg as the last layer if wanted.
(If desired, cook an egg to your preferred style (I did a semi sunny-side up style) and place over your greens.)

Enjoy!
 

Zucchini Noodles with Lentil "Meat" Sauce

Every Sunday my mother tends to find a plethora of garage sales to attend and buy random items. Mind you we recently finished cleaning out our house which was once inhabited by my post-war hoarding Grandmother (who I never met) that also had the all the walls coated in a vomit green color. Recently, my mom brought home a apple peeler and corer and I thought, hey why not make zucchini noodles with it! Well, lets say it was a semi-epic fail since I could not figure out how to set up the contraption. Instead lazy and frustrated girl kicked in and hand-cut some zucchini "noodles." Either way, with fun kitchen gadgets or being kitchen crafty, enjoy this delicious and veggie filling dish!

Servings: about 6

Ingredients:
4 zucchinis
1 medium onion diced
3 garlic cloves diced
1 large carrot diced
1 large celery stalk diced
2 1/2 cups tomato sauce
1/2 cup fresh sliced grape tomatoes
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/2 cup lentils
1 1/2 cups water
Fresh basil (for garnish)

Directions:

In a large pot, either using olive oil or cooking spray, begin to cook down the onion and garlic. Once translucent, add in the celery and carrots.

Once all the vegetables are softened add in the grape tomatoes, tomato sauce, lentils, chopped parsley and water. Coved the sauce and allow it to simmer for about 30 minutes until the lentils are tender.

Using a sprializer, juliener, or crafty knife skills (like me!) thinly slice your zucchinis and create noodles. Then steam them (whether with bamboo steamer or a strainer placed over a boling pot of water) for about ten minutes, until tender.

Once the sauce has finished cooking, season with salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes (if heat desired) to taste. Ladle the sauce of the steamed zucchini noodles and garnish with fresh basil.

Enjoy!

Triple "C" Curry: Cauliflower, Chickpea, and Coconut Curry

Last week at work my mother texted me. Usually these texts are semi-comical, and this one was no exception. "Woo hoo got good cable channels back after complaining I can't see honey boo boo- now we have good channels!" Do we actually watch Honey Boo Boo consistently? No- but, for a while we were only limited to a few channels, one of which was the  Food Network. By all means that is not a terrible thing for a foodie like myself, but when Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives is the only show on, you get a bit stir crazy. Is this recipe name a slight poke at "triple d" for naming it a "triple c" curry- possibly. But, sometimes it is just an easy to target to chuckle at the man wearing his sunglasses flipped back around his neck and having some spicy mayo or lettuce flop from of his mouth because he is indulging at some  dive while simultaneously trying to explain to viewers the taste of the dish. Regardless of television frustration or "crying" for the mere fact you cannot hear Honey Boo Boo tell you about My momma, the coupon QUEEN, this curry is a nice hearty meal packed with flavor that might just make you yell  A dolla makes me holla honey boo-boo child!

Servings: 6-8

Ingredients:
1 head of cauliflower
1 cup of chopped onion
1 tablespoon of cumin seed
2 chopped garlic cloves
1 can of chickpeas
1/2 cup of green peas
2 cups of tomato sauce
1/2 can of light coconut milk
1/2 cup of brown rice

Spices:
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 tablespoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon curry powder
Cayenne pepper (adjust to heat preference)
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

In a large pot add some olive oil or cooking spray and add the cumin seeds. Allow them to cook until they become fragrant. Then add in the chopped onion and garlic and allow them to saute. Once softened add in the cauliflower. Place the top on the pot to help steam the cauliflower.

Then add in the green peas and chick peas. Allow these to cook for a few minutes. Then add in the tomato sauce, coconut milk, and brown rice.  Add in the spices. Place the top on the pot and allow the curry to simmer for about 30-40 minutes, until the rice is fully cooked and the curry has fully developed.

Adjust the spices to your preferences and enjoy!

Chocolate Cupcakes with Orange Merlot Frosting

A very special lady's birthday just happened- yes, this lady is my mother. In honor of her birthday celebration, I decided to bake up some cupcakes for all of us to enjoy at her birthday dinner. When brainstorming I wanted to create something from flavors my mom loves- two ideas came to mind: malted milk balls and red wine. The dessert needed to be non-dairy, for we were having a friday night meat shabbat meal, so mixing the meat and milk just wouldn't be kosher (hope this pun at least received a chuckle, but my forced funny is a work in progress). I decided to then make a chocolate cupcake with merlot frosting. When I told my mom she was not down, but after setting of the gas alarm all night from reducing the merlot and two sleepless nights of baking and frosting, her birthday cupcakes were completed. The best part of all was she liked them- but c'mon chocolate and red wine, how wrong could you go? (Okay semi-wrong due to the alarm incident). Regardless, in hopes of having a delicious dessert to accompany your dessert wine these cupcakes are a go to, if in hopes of getting drunk and then laughing all to much with your family at an inappropriate card came (no reference to birthday dinner night at all...) these might let you down.

Servings: about 24 cupcakes

Ingredients:

1 yellow cake box mix
3/4 cup cocoa powder
1 teaspoon of instant coffee
3 eggs
1 stick of butter melted and slightly cooled
2/3 cups of water
1/3 cup of vegetable oil
1 cup of chocolate chips

For Frosting:
2 sticks of vegetable shortening
4 cups of powdered sugar
2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
5 tablespoons of merlot
2 tablespoons of orange juice
1 teaspoon of orange zest

For Reduction:
1/2 cup of merlot

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line a cupcake pan with cupcake liners.

Melt the butter in the microwave. In a large bowl add the cake mix, cocoa powder, instant coffee, eggs, water, and vegetable oil. Then add in the melted butter and mix well. Once mixed add in the chocolate chips.

Using an ice cream scoop, ladle the batter into the lined cupcake pan. Place the cupcakes into the oven and bake for about 20-25 minutes. Once cooked allow them too cool for a few minutes in the pan and then transfer them to a wire rack to cool fully.

While the cupcakes are baking you can begin the frosting. Place the two sticks of vegetable shortening and the powdered sugar in a mixer and cream them together. Note, the sugar could fly everywhere, so I place a towel over the mixer to prevent the large mess. Then add in the vanilla and continue to mix. (Every so often, scrap the frosting down the bowl and off the mixing paddle to ensure all the flavors are fully incorporated and mixed.) Then add in the orange juice, merlot, and orange zest. (If wanting a thinner frosting consistency, add more liquid.)

Once your cupcakes are completely cool, frosting your cupcakes either using a piping bag or a spreading knife.

Then to make the reduction for garnish, take the 1/2 cup of merlot place it in a shallow pot or pan. Bring to a simmer and allow the merlot to thicken- this will be about 10 minutes. Once thickened, take a small spoon and lightly drizzle the reduction over the cupcakes.

Enjoy!