A Little Bite of Fate

National Provisions & a bit of rambling

2015-07-22T09:43:00.001-07:00

When Andrew and I started this blog four years ago, we had the intention of not only posting recipes, but for sharing our love of food and wine in general. We wanted to share the dishes and restaurants that we love and frequent, but it just never happened. I take all kinds of pictures and post them to my Instagram account, but time would slip away from me and I'd never write a post for our blog. I'm trying to change that...I'm trying to hold myself accountable for posting more often. Because I miss it. And because we love food and want to share that love with our family and friends. Luckily, with Lexington booming and the many farm to table restaurants popping up, this should be easy to do.

I'm that girl that has to take a picture of her food before she allows her husband to take a bite. THAT GIRL. And I'm sorry for that...but I adore having a memory of that meal that we loved. Sometimes I can go back, look at my picture of a previous meal and it will conjure up new ideas for a new meal. I know some people don't necessarily enjoy looking at pictures of food, but I'm not taking the pictures for them; I'm doing it for you other foodies out there that may enjoy them! Scroll on down if you want to hear about it!

Burrata Appetizer

Ahi Tuna

Scallops

Banana Split

It’s kind of crazy, but we hadn’t tried National Provisions for dinner until LAST NIGHT. It’s right in our neighborhood and definitely right up our alley, but we somehow just hadn’t made it there yet. Andrew had stopped by the market side (The Provisions portion of National Provisions) to pick us up the MOST DELICIOUS bone-in French pork chops (mouth- watering…literally; my mouth is watering thinking about that pork.), but we had yet to dine in on the restaurant side. Do yourself a favor and check out the market while you dine. They carry fresh local produce, flowers and herbs, there's a butcher and fish monger, and the best looking french pastries I've ever laid eyes on. I can’t believe we had waited so long to eat at National…but you can bet we’ll be posted up there from here on out. Bellied up to the bar at our favorite restaurants seems to be our specialty.

Yesterday just happened to be the start of their summer menu and we were more than willing to try it out. We started with the burrata salad that was topped with a summer pesto, heirloom tomatoes and finished with a balsamic reduction. I could have eaten ten more of those. There was a huge portion of cheese and was a great thing to split.

Andrew tried the prix fixe meal, so his first course was summer gazpacho, then ahi tuna and finished up with a bomb banana split. The gazpacho had big, yummy chunks of vegetables in it and the tuna was adorned with blueberries and strawberries, but the star of the show was definitely the banana split. The banana had a caramelized crust that resembled the top of crème brûlée and it was sooooooo good. So good that Andrew asked for more banana for his split. I didn't get to taste the ice cream, but Andrew assured me it was off the charts.

I ordered the scallops…and I made an excellent choice. The three perfectly seared scallops were on a bed of mashed avocado with a melon salad; there was a little addition of the summer pesto to top the dish off. I'll be dreaming about those scallops until I get them again. Obviously I had to enjoy some wine with my meal: I had the french Pinot Noir by the glass. It was a perfect pairing...and (of course) I felt compelled to have a second glass as my dessert.

All of the colors and flavors were definitely representative of summer. Bravo for the summer menu at National...hopefully I'll get to try it many more times this season.

Santé!

-Kirsten &Andrew

Grilled Pesto Shrimp Caprese

2015-07-21T12:17:00.002-07:00

Grilled Pesto Shrimp Caprese

I'm not going to lie...I have an addiction. To bone-in pork chops from Whole Foods. They. Are. The. Best. We've grilled pork at least once a week since it was warm enough to get outside and cook. I mean, obviously I still needed my pork fix this week, but we also wanted to grill something new. When Andrew found these huge shrimp (AND the monger peeled and de-veined these bad boys for us), he knew we needed them. I was determined that night to be creative. If we’re going to make the same meal at least once a week, I needed to assure myself we hadn't lost all of our creativity and risk-taking abilities in the kitchen.

This took less than 30 minutes to make. I started marinating the shrimp in the pesto sauce about an hour before Andrew started the grill, and I broiled the tomatoes and mozzarella in the oven while he grilled the shrimp. I love making our own homemade pesto, but our basil wasn’t growing yet; our favorite substitute is the pesto in the deli section of Whole Foods, but as long it’s bright green and fresh, I’ll eat the hell out of it. So that the pesto would coat the shrimp, I added some olive oil with salt and pepper to the pesto before adding the shrimp. If your pesto is thinner, you may not need the addition of any olive oil. Remember to stick your skewers in the water to soak if you use the wood kind. We have both wood and metal, but I’ve been finding myself reaching for the wood as the metal ones get so hot on the grill. Burn marks on your hands don’t make that manicure stand out quite like it should… J Also, our favorite source of heat is charcoal, but we were low on it that evening and had to use the gas side of the grill …still turned out perfectly so I don’t think it matters what kind of heat you use. (Andrew’s dad bought him this incredible grill for our wedding that includes a gas grill, a charcoal grill, an infared searer AND smoker. It really is amaze balls!) We wanted the mozzarella to brown a bit, so we put in the broiler for a few minutes. It made the tomato a little soft, but it was so delicious with the gooey mozzarella.

Ingredients:

1 lb De-veined, cleaned shrimp (we used 1 lb for two of us- made about 5 skewers total)

3 tbsp pesto

Olive oil to taste

Salt & Pepper to taste

One large heirloom or beefsteak tomato, sliced

One large ball of mozzarella, sliced

Pam Olive Oil Grill Spray

Instructions:

Place pesto, olive oil, salt and pepper into a large bowl and stir; the sauce should be thin to coat the shrimp. Add the shrimp and toss. Cover the bowl and marinate in the fridge for at least one hour. When you’re ready to grill, skewer the shrimp- we did five per skewer, but our shrimp looked almost like prawns, so you may be able to fit more or less depending on the size of them.

While heating the grill, turn on your broiler to 550 degrees to preheat. Make sure to spray the grill with the grill spray (or at least coat with olive oil). Place the shrimp over medium heat, about 5 minutes per side; make sure the shrimp is pink on both sides before removing from the heat. Place the slices of tomatoes on an oven safe plate or pan, and top with pieces of the sliced mozzarella; place in the broil and watch closely. Ours took between 8 minutes, but our fresh mozzarella had been stored in water. When we do this again, I will make sure there is no remaining water on the cheese before slicing it.

After the shrimp have cooked and the caprese has baked up in the oven, place the tomatoes and ooey gooey cheese on your plate and top with the shrimp skewers. We placed a “dollop” of pesto on top of each shrimp…just because we’re over the moon for pesto.
#pestoaddicted

-A&K

Zucchini Ravioli

2015-07-21T09:50:00.003-07:00

After such a great response on our gluten-free, low carb eggplant and zucchini lasagna (over 10,000 repins on Pinterest! Seriously…I’m doing kart-wheels in my head right now over that!!), we thought we could do more Italian recipes with the zucchini noodles. So far we’ve had pesto linguini with roasted chicken, ravioli, spaghetti...all with using zucchini as the pasta. We had a lot of success with this recipe for delicious pesto and marinara ravioli…we’re constantly thinking of new variations we can make with ravioli. Doesn’t pumpkin ravioli sound good? We may just have to attempt that in the fall! I know a few people have mentioned not liking eggplant so we're trying just a zucchini (sans eggplant) lasagna and we'll let you know the results!

Zucchini Ravioli

5 zucchini

1 lb fat free ground turkey

4 oz part skim ricotta (or whatever form of ricotta you use; Toffuti works here too! You

can leave out ricotta all together)

1 onion, diced

1 green pepper, diced

8 oz mushrooms, diced

6 oz pesto (prepared or homemade)

5 sprigs thyme

4 oz basil

48 oz Marinara sauce (we used two bottles; one tomato basil and one garlic & olive

oil…but that’s because we love our sauces and this is our favorite combo.)

Like the lasagna, use your knife or mandolin to slice the zucchini into thin strips. Place in a colander and salt generously. After 30 minutes, rinse all of the salt off (and I pat the “noodles” dry with a towel).

Meanwhile, brown the ground turkey in a sauté pan (we use garlic powder and poultry season to flavor the lean meat). In a large sauce pan, heat olive oil, add onion and green pepper. Cook until the onion is almost translucent. Add the mushrooms and cook until they are soft. After turkey is almost finished, add half of the onion/pepper/mushroom mixture to the sauté pan with the turkey. Leave the remaining mixture in the sauce pot and add the marinara sauce. I then added basil and thyme (and a little Italian herb mixture) to the sauce. Simmer sauce for 30 minutes or so.

At this point you can add ricotta to the turkey if you’re using it, otherwise just add pesto to the meat, onions, peppers and mushrooms and stir.

Begin the assembly: place two zucchini noodles horizontally in front of you, then two noodles on top of that in the center vertically. (It should look like a cross). Place the turkey mixture in a mound in the center of the cross. Pull two of the horizontal zucchini pieces to the middle. Then pull two vertical pieces to the center, then the other two vertical pieces. Finally close the pocket together with the last horizontal piece.

Place this ravioli in a baking dish and repeat making the raviolis until all pieces of the zucchini are used. We ended up using two baking dishes to fit all of the raviolis. (Because we had extra of the ground turkey mixture we added what we didn’t use in the “ravilolis” to the sauce.)

Top the “raviolis” with the sauce and bake for approximately 20 minutes at 375. (We used our oven on the convect bake feature for 10 minutes at 375, so I’m guessing on the 20 minute bake time.) If you’d like, add a little mozzarella right before you’re done baking.

Eggplant & Zucchini Lasagna

2014-01-13T19:45:00.001-08:00

We just finished off a delicious dinner...and A even went back for thirds! Following in my grandfather's (aka Poppy's) footsteps, I love all things Italian when it comes to food. Loving Italian food when you're supposed to be gluten-free isn't easy though. We try to be "good" and follow a gluten-free diet whenever possible; we never cook pasta, bread, etc for meals at home but that doesn't mean I don't crave it. I, however, choose to use my "mess-ups'' or gluten mistakes on pizza. Usually Mellow Mushroom. Yummmmmm. But I digress...

Tonight we chose to try an old favorite with a new twist. Let us know what you think. I personally think it's a recipe that even my Poppy would appreciate!

Adapted from Domestic Deep Thought

1 eggplant
3-4 zucchini
Salt

Extra virgin olive oil
1 jar marina sauce (we like garlic and olive oil)
1/2 sweet onion, diced
1/2 green pepper, diced
1garlic clove, minced
1lb 99% fat free ground turkey (we season the meat with garlic powder as it browns)
5 sprigs thyme, removed from sprig
2-3 oz basil

12 oz part skim ricotta or Tofutti
1/2 cup fresh or frozen chopped spinach
1 cup pesto
Pinch nutmeg

Fresh Mozzarella

1. Slice the eggplant and zucchini, place in a colander over the sink and salt generously. Seriously. A lot. Really generous. You'll wash it off before putting it in the lasagna...and this will save you from having a ridiculously soupy lasagna-ish mess. Let the salt rest on the veggies for at least 30 minutes.

2. While waiting, brown the meat in a sauté pan. Like I mentioned earlier, we season the meat as we do this since the meat doesn't have much fat/flavor.

3. In a sauce pan over medium heat, add 1 turn of the pan olive oil. Add onions and cook until translucent. Add a pinch of salt, the green pepper and garlic; cook down until the pepper starts to soften. Add browned meat and jar of sauce. Add thyme, half of the basil leaves and salt & pepper to taste. Simmer for 30 minutes or so.

4. In a mixing bowl, stir together ricotta (or Tofutti), spinach, pesto, remaining basil and nutmeg. (We also added a pinch of salt and pepper here).

5. Rinse the salt off of the vegetables and pat them dry.

6. Build the lasagna! Start with the turkey meat sauce on the bottom, top with an eggplant layer, then ricotta, zucchini, ricotta, meat sauce and finish with fresh sliced mozzarella. (Do this in whatever order you want...but put tomato sauce on the bottom so the veggies don't burn.) Bake at 400 degrees for 35 minutes; broil an additional 5 minutes to brown the cheese. (I added some more basil to the top after it was finished cooking.) Now try not to eat second and thirds!

A little update on our bite of fate...

2013-11-20T08:43:00.002-08:00

Well, we haven't posted in almost 2 years and we're embarrassed! In the two years a lot has changed! A proposed on December 14, 2011, we were married on September 29, 2012 and we bought a new home in July of this year! We've been busy, busy, busy and, unfortunately, slacking on our blog and recipes. We have a gorgeous new kitchen in our home now with a double oven gas range...and we're taking full advantage of it! Can't wait to share some of our recipes from the new oven! Here are some pictures of our time away from the blog...

A's proposal:

Isn't A so romantic? :)

He had a photographer hiding in the bushes until he proposed!


Of course I said yes!

Our wedding day:

Our awesome wedding party!

A few shots from the day we got the keys to our new home:

Toasting our new neighborhood!

Cheers!

We've been having fun with some fall recipes this season...will try to get them up on the blog soon! Until then, friends, we hope you're enjoying some warm cider and all of the colors of autumn!

Have you been snuggling up with a warm, cozy blanket on the couch like we have?

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-24T09:02:00.000-08:00

I hope you all are enjoying all the recipes we’ve posted on here over the past few months, as much as we have enjoyed making them. K and I were talking the other night about what makes a good recipe great and we couldn’t agree on any one single factor. Sure you can add special seasonings or marinade for a longer period of time or add that one special step to the process that makes the dish unique, but as corny as it may sound we believe the best ingredient in any recipe is love. You see, cooking isn’t just about combining ingredients in a bowl, cooking is a form of art. Those of us who love to cook, like all great artists, pour our hearts into everything we make and it was my mom that reminded me of that fact this past weekend. I had traveled home for a time honored family tradition, and when I awoke the first morning I was greeted with the sounds and smells of home cooked French toast. Now I must admit the ingredients were nothing unusual, but it was obvious that my mom had taken the time to make this simple dish, simply amazing by adding the best ingredient of all, love. With it being close to Thanksgiving I think this lesson is an important one to remember. No matter what your holiday plans are, no matter what type of dish you plan to contribute to your Thanksgiving feast, always remember to take your time and add a little love. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Cookies and Cream Oreo Bark

2011-11-18T17:49:00.000-08:00

Hi guys!! I've found the easiest recipe for some delicious dessert. So far we've made it for a tailgate, a cook-out and most recently, just because A wanted it last night. Right before we were walking out the door for a little wine and grocery shopping, we made this in five minutes. It takes a little longer to chill, but the entire recipe only takes less than 30 minutes! The even better part? It's only two ingredients. Seriously. No one believes it once they try, but see for yourself! This may become your go-to dessert from now on!

Recipe adapted from Bakers Royale

Ingredients:
1 bag mini Oreos
16 oz (or so) of white chocolate chips (We used Ghirardelli)

1. Place approximately 11 oz of the white chocolate into a medium sized glass bowl. Heat in the microwave for 2 minutes, stopping every 30 seconds to stir the white chocolate chips.
2. With oreos still in their bag, crush the bag against a hard surface, crumbling the cookies.
3. When white chocolate is melted and easily stirred, add the bag of crushed Oreos to the chocolate and stir to combine.

4. Put the remaining white chocolate chips in a small glass bowl and melt approximately 1 minute, 30 seconds. (Stopping again every 30 seconds to stir)

5. Line a small pan with parchment paper. Pour Oreo and white chocolate mixture into the pan and spread out with a spatula. When flat, pour the remaining white chocolate on top of the mixture and spread with the spatula.
6. Place the pan in the refrigerator for 15-20 minutes.
7. Remove and break the bark apart with a fork.

See how easy?! Hope you guys enjoy it as much as our friends do! Have a wonderful weekend!

Love,
A & K

Peanut Butter & Chocolate Pretzel Sandwiches

2011-11-14T18:47:00.000-08:00

We made these tasty little sweet treats for Halloween! I had been seeing a lot of chocolate-dipped peanut butter pretzels all over Pinterest and I knew we had to test them out! Like the chocolate chip cookie dough bites, we chose to use candy coating instead of melted chocolate chips as it carries more of a crunch and sets faster than warmed chocolate. Judging by how quickly these disappeared at home and the office (although A didn't allow for more than a handful for the other taste testers), we'll definitely be making these over and over!

Recipe adapted from Foodaphilia

1 cup creamy peanut butter

2 tbsp room temperature butter

¾ cup powdered sugar

¾ cup brown sugar

Pretzels (we used approximately 8 oz or half a bag)

1 pkg chocolate candy coating

1. Cover a cookie sheet in parchment paper or wax paper.

2. Combine room temp butter and peanut butter with a mixer until combined.

3. Slowly add the powdered sugar a little at a time, then repeat with the brown sugar. Mix until all ingredients form together to resemble dough. If the mixture is sticking to your hands, add more sugar. Form into a ball.

4. Pull up chunks of the “dough” and roll them into small balls. Press these small balls between two pretzels into a sandwich. Lay them out on the cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and place in the freezer for 20-30 minutes.

5. Once the sandwiches are hard enough, place the chocolate coating into the microwave and cook for 30 second intervals, stirring in between each interval. The chocolate should be completely melted after 1:30-2 minutes.

6. Dip each sandwich into the chocolate individually. Foodaphilia says to dip each sandwich in half-way, but "A" preferred the sandwiches dipped all of the way, so we did a little of both. Since we had a whole bag of pretzels, we kept dipping them into chocolate even after we ran out of peanut butter mixture! Return each sandwich to the cookie sheet after dipping. After all sandwiches are dipped, return the sheet to the freezer for another 20 minutes or so.

7. Because the chocolate coating can lose its “crunch”, keep the sandwiches in the refrigerator until you’re ready to serve them.

Happy Monday to all!
Love, A & K

Healthy mini lasagnas

2011-10-28T17:53:00.000-07:00

Thank goodness it's Friday! It's been such a long week for us both...but before we slip into "pamper ourselves" mode, we wanted to share this healthy and easy recipe. This recipe is also adapted from Kevin & Amanda's blog.

Because A's company was so busy today (he didn't get home until 7 pm!), he didn't get to eat lunch. And if you know A, you know that he can't handle that. So, I decided to give this recipe try that I've been wanting to test on him! These little guys are the cutest thing...and once A got home, he inhaled 3 in less than a minute, so one can only imagine how delicious they must be! We try to be healthy as often as possible, so when we make spaghetti (or spaghetti squash), we use ground turkey if we want meat in the dish. So I decided to do that in the mini lasagnas too. There was a lot of sauce leftover after making the lasagnas, but I just threw it in the fridge and we’ll add it to something this week! I hope you enjoy this super simple and super delicious recipe!

Extra virgin olive oil
1 lb lean ground turkey (we've found Purdue has the least amount of fat)
Ground garlic, poultry season and other spices to taste
2 cups spaghetti sauce (I used leftovers from spaghetti...the fact that it had been sitting a couple of days made it so flavorful! The sauce had sauteed onions & garlic, fresh basil, thyme and oregano...yummm!)
1 cup lowfat ricotta cheese
2 tbsp fresh herbs (I used parsley, oregano, basil, Italian basil and thyme)
1 pkg wonton wrappers (found ours at Fresh Market)
2 cups mozzarella (I used half shredded mozz and half fresh mozz)
Salt & pepper to taste

In a sauté pan over medium low heat, add 1 turn of the pan of extra virgin olive oil. Let the oil get hot, then add turkey to the pan and brown. Add ground garlic, poultry seasoning or any other spice you enjoy on meats. With ground turkey, I feel like the more the seasoning, the merrier!

While the meat is browning, preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Once the meat has finished, add the spaghetti sauce. Let simmer for about 5 minutes.

In a bowl, combine ricotta, fresh herbs and salt & pepper. (To make the lowfat ricotta easier to deal with, I let it come to room temp first.)

Liberally spray 12 muffin cups and place a wonton wrapper in each cup. Place a small spoon full of ricotta on top of each wrapper. Then add sauce & ground turkey mixture and top with cheese. Add another wonton wrapper and repeat the process so that you have two layers of: wonton, sauce/meat and cheese. (Since we have two trays of 6 muffin tins, I tried one muffin tin with fresh mozzarella and the other with shredded. Both turned out wonderfully!)

Place in the oven and bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until cheese is melted and wonton edges are brown. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes before moving the mini lasagnas.
Enjoy!

Delicious chocolate cake

2011-10-17T19:35:00.000-07:00

Happy Monday!! While this recipe is neither gluten or dairy free, "A" says this cake is delicious! I took it to a UK tailgate at my brother’s house for his roommate’s birthday. It was definitely a hit! Here’s the recipe adapted from Kevin and Amanda's blog paired with the decadent chocolate icing recipe from my good chef friend, Aaron Taylor!

Cake ingredients:

1 cup sour cream

1 cup vegetable oil

4 beaten eggs

½ cup milk

1 tsp vanilla

1 box devil’s food cake

1 pkg Jello chocolate pudding mix

2 cups chocolate chips

1 pkg dark chocolate mousse

1. Pre-heat oven to 350. Mix all of the wet ingredients (top 5 on the list) with a beater, then add the devil’s food cake and Jello pudding to the mix. Batter will be very thick. Fold in the chocolate chips.

2. Grease two 9 inch pans and pour batter evenly between the two pans. Cook for 40-45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean..

3. While cake is cooking, prepare the mousse. (I've made mousse from scratch and mousse from a packet, and I think the packet is just as good with a lot less effort!)

4. Remove cakes from oven. Let the pans rest for 5 minutes and then remove cake from pans. Allow cake to rest about an hour or until completely cool.

5. Once cool, use a spatula to spread out the mousse on top of one cake. Place the second cake on top.

6. Prepare icing:

Ingredients for Icing:

1 stick softened butter

2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa

3 ½ cups powdered sugar

1/3 cup of milk

Pinch of salt

1 tbsp vanilla

Mix butter, cocoa and powdered sugar with a beater. Add milk slowly and then salt and vanilla. Add more milk for whatever consistency you like!

7. Use a rubber spatula to ice the entire cake.

Now try not to eat the entire thing!!

Spaghetti Squash

2011-09-25T11:39:00.000-07:00

Hey guys! Happy Sunday to you all! We FINALLY are going back to posting a gluten free, dairy free recipe! Turned on to the idea of making spaghetti squash as a substitute for real spaghetti by a friend (thanks, Lindsey!!) we just had to try it. And guess what?! It was so worth it! And incredibly easy too! So here it is for all of you food lovers to try!

1 large spaghetti squash

16 oz spaghetti sauce (we just used

Bertolli Tomato & Basil)

1/2 white onion, chopped

1 clove of garlic, chopped

1 green pepper, chopped

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees. Poke squash 8 times or so with a fork so that the squash won’t burst. Place in a baking dish and cook for an hour.

2. Place spaghetti sauce in a sauce pot large enough to encompass the sauce as well as the spaghetti squash when it is finished. Simmer on medium heat for about 20 minutes. I add basil, thyme, parsley and oregano to our sauce.

3. In the mean time add olive oil (two turns of the pan) to a sauté pan. Heat for 2 minutes, then add onions and cook until they are almost translucent. Lower heat to medium-low and add garlic and green peppers. Continue to Cook until the peppers are cooked down.

4. Add peppers, onions and garlic to the simmering tomato sauce and continue to simmer until squash is finished.

5. When the squash is finished, cut in half, length-wise. Remove all of the seeds and skins.

6. Run a fork top to bottom to loosen the “noodles” out of the squash.

7. Mix spaghetti and sauce together. Serve!

Chocolate dipped chocolate chip cookie dough bites

2011-09-06T19:29:00.000-07:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful Labor Day weekend! Last time we posted, we said there'd be a recipe coming for these lovely little things. Unfortunately, that post was over two weeks ago! A and I (with the help of my father) have been building a closet, leaving everything in the house in disarray. It's been difficult to cook and even harder to find the time to blog! But, as promised, here is the recipe for the chocolate dipped chocolate chip cookie dough bites. Now this recipe is not for me by any means...but if you have a steel trap as a stomach like A does, you definitely need to try this one!! I took these to work last week and everyone seems to love them and they're so incredibly simple. Good luck wanting to share! My recipe is super simple since we use pre-packaged cookie dough but Love and Olive Oil has an amazing recipe without eggs. Pillsbury cookie dough uses dehydrated and frozen eggs (so we feel safe using their chocolate chip cookie dough) if you feel like cutting corners like we did!

Recipe:

1 pkg chocolate chip cookie dough
1 pound chocolate candy coating

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Roll cookie dough into small balls; these can be as large or as small as you want! Lay them on the parchment paper without any of the balls touching.
3. Place the baking tray in the freezer for 15 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, heat the candy coating until melted. The Kroger brand candy coating comes with it's own melting "tray" so you can pop it straight in the microwave!
5. Remove cookie dough balls from the freezer and individually roll each ball in the candy coating.
6. Place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.
7. Try not to eat the entire batch in one sitting.

See? So easy...

After my first try with these cookie dough balls, I tried it with white macadamia nut cookie dough and vanilla candy coating. And A says these are just as good! I'm pretty sure any combination of cookie dough and candy coating can't be wrong!! Any other combinations that you guys think would be good?

Peace, love and cookie dough! :)

A Southern Tradition: Tomato Pie

2011-08-17T08:43:00.000-07:00

I told you guys that I spent my Saturday just cooking away. I was not kidding. We’re talking tomato pie, mini burgers, cheesecake, chicken sandwiches and chocolate covered chocolate chip cookie dough (recipe definitely to follow for these since, according to A, it’s like a little bit of heaven and they are soooo easy…but more on those later with a little sneak peek!).

This was my first ever try at tomato pie. I figured that, being a Southern girl and loving tomatoes and basil as much as I do, I had to try it. It did not disappoint! Instead of just using the staple in tomato pie of chopped fresh basil, I added our favorite: pesto! The pesto adds some great flavor to the tomatoes and mozzarella. You could even call this caprese pie! We used a ready made pie crust, but I’m sure it’d be even more delicious with a homemade crust. A lot of the ingredients can be eyeballed and measurements aren’t something that really seems to matter in this dish! Enjoy, ya’ll! :)

1 ready-made pie crust

4 tomatoes (we used 2 heirloom tomatoes and 2 beefsteak tomatoes, but it doesn’t matter what you use…just chose your favorite!)

½ cup green onions

½ cup white onion, sautéed

10-15 sprigs thyme, de-stemmed

8-12 fresh basil leaves, chopped

¼ cup sour cream (Dairy-free Tofutti Sour Cream for us)

Sea salt and pepper

4 slices buffalo mozzarella

1 cup shredded mozzarella

½ cup prepared pesto

Fresh pesto (We’ve included this before, but wanted to have it on this recipe to make it easier!)

5 cups Basil (roughly chopped)

4 tbsp minced garlic

½ cup pine nuts

1 ½ tbsp sea salt

1 – 1 ½ cup olive oil

Combine first 3 ingredients and the olive oil (½ cup to start) for the pesto into a food processor (a blender will work just as well). Season with the salt to taste and add oil based on the consistency you like. The less oil you use, the thicker the pesto will be.

Now...back to the tomato pie recipe:

Bring a pot of water to boil with 1 tsp of sea salt. Also prepare a bowl of water with enough ice cubes to cover the top of the water.
If you’re using a ready-made pie crust, bring the crust to room temperature and lay the pie crust in a pie shell, use a fork to poke some holes and bake at 375 degrees for 8-11 minutes. When you remove the pie crust, brush the entire thing with olive oil. Turn oven down to 350 degrees.

3. While the crust is baking, place a crisscross slice in the bottom of each of the tomatoes:

4. Slowly drop tomatoes into the boiling water for about 20-30 seconds, remove and immediately drop them into the ice water for a few seconds. Remove and peel the outer layer of the tomato’s skin. After peeling the tomatoes, cut them into slices and place in a colander in the sink. Run water over the tomatoes long enough to remove most seeds, then place on paper towels to remove excess water. Place tomato slices back into the colander and add kosher salt or sea salt and stir around with your hands. Let the colander set for 30 minutes.

Place tomato into boiling water for 20-30 seconds:

Then drop in an ice bath for 5-10 seconds:

The skin should easily peel away:

Peeled heirloom tomatoes:

5. Mix pesto, shredded mozzarella, green onions (reserve some for the top of the pie), white onions, basil (reserve a small amount to sprinkle on the top of the pie when finished), thyme and sour cream/Tofutti in a bowl.

6.With a spatula, spread enough pesto to cover the bottom of the pie crust.

7.On top of the pesto, add a layer of tomatoes. Then add another layer of pesto. Keep doing this until the very top of the pie. On the level that you want to be the top, alternate a tomato with a piece of sliced mozzarella for this level.

First two layers: tomatoes layered on top of pesto

For the top layer, alternate the tomatoes and slices of mozzarella:

8. Bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees. (I had to bake our pie for an hour due to it being an older gas oven, but just keep an eye on yours! You may have to bake it that long as well.) Sprinkle chopped basil, thyme and green onions on top of the pie. Let cool completely so that the water from the tomatoes sets. I placed mine in refrigerator after that, but it can also be served warm!

As promised, here’s a little a glimpse of the chocolate dipped chocolate chip cookie dough!

Happy Wednesday to you all!
"A world without tomatoes is like a string quartet without violins." - Laurie Colwin

Cookout time! Healthy mini burgers & mini chicken sandwiches

2011-08-16T10:49:00.000-07:00

On Saturday, A and my brother had a long day of moving. Since I spent my day waiting on (the slowest) cable man to set up the internet, I was cooking away. I knew the guys would be famished when they returned, so I decided to make some mini burgers as a snack for them and mini chicken sandwiches for me since I (unfortunately) can’t eat red meat. Technically I’m not allowed to have the bread on the sandwiches either…but come on! A and I call it the “cheatin’ weekend” for a reason! (And nooooo…not what you’re thinking!) The weekend wouldn’t be the weekend for me without a little gluten! (For all of the gluten free peeps, I promise to post some more food for you soon…I just went a little crazy this weekend, cooking everything I'm not supposed to eat. Besides, the chicken is so juicy and yummy that it doesn’t even need the bun!)

These mini burgers are adapted a bit from Ina Garten on Barefoot Contessa and the guys loved them! I tried to use most of the same ingredients for the chicken that I used for the burgers to make the preparation easier! I’ll definitely be having a cookout with the friends and family soon to share these bad boys! Hope you like the mini burgers and mini chicken sandwiches as much as we did! (FYI: The picture doesn't even begin to do justice to the burgers!)

Mini burgers

1 lb Laura’s Lean beef

2 tbsp Dijon deli mustard

1 tbsp chopped or minced garlic

8 sprigs fresh thyme, without stems

Salt and pepper to taste

3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1.Stir with a fork- don’t use your hands because you don’t want to compound the burgers. Make into small patties; again, don’t press too hard or compound the meat. Once patties are formed on a plate, sprinkle granulated garlic and Emeril’s Essence on top. (We love the flavor that the Essence gives, but I think the burgers would turn out just as well without it or with some other seasoning that you love!)

2. We chilled our burgers for approximately 3 hours, then brought to room temperature and grilled on the charcoal grill. Grill each side approximately 4-5 minutes, but don’t press the meat to the grill.

3. Grill mini rolls approximately 1-2 minutes. You can use any smaller bread for this, but breads and rolls found in bakeries or in the bakery section of groceries seem to be great for this recipe! (You can be grilling the rolls on the sections of the grill that aren’t as hot while you’re grilling the meat.)

4. Serve with arugula or spinach, tomatoes (heirlooms are great on this!) and cheese if prefer (mozzarella or bleu cheese is perfect for this recipe).

Mini chicken sandwiches

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

2 tbsp Dijon deli mustard

1 tbsp chopped or minced garlic

¼ cup chopped green onions

8 sprigs fresh thyme, de-stemmed

Salt & pepper

1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1. Place the chicken breasts on a cutting board and cover with a sheet of plastic wrap. With a flat mallet, pound the chicken for 30 seconds. Remove the plastic wrap and cut the chicken small enough for multiple sandwiches. 1 chicken breast made 5 mini sandwich size pieces for me after pounding the chicken down.

(Before using the mallet)

(After using the mallet)

2. Prepare the marinade in a large plastic zip-lock bag with all listed ingredients except the chicken. Seal the bag and squeeze it to mix around all of the ingredients. Add the chicken, and squeeze the bag again. Let marinade 2-3 hours in the refrigerator.

3. Remove from the refrigerator with enough time before grilling for the chicken to come to room temperature. Grill 6 minutes per side.

4. Grill the buns while waiting for the meat to finish. This will take approximately 1-2 minutes. Serve with tomato and arugula.

Sorry our picture taking is lagging...we'll pick up the pace! The next post will more than make up for it! :)

Chicken Pesto Lasagna

2011-08-10T12:28:00.000-07:00

We use basil pesto in so many recipes because we have a small obsession with it....our recipe is included below the list of ingredients.

Ingredients neeed:

1.5 pkgs frozen chopped spinach, defrosted

Fresh pesto (recipe below)

1 cup chopped onion

3 cloves minced garlic

3 cup cooked and cubed chicken breast meat (canned is fine)

1 egg

2 cups sour cream (we used lactose free- Tofutti)

12 partially cooked whole wheat lasagna noodles

½ pkg baby bella mushrooms, rinsed and roughly cut

4 cups mozzarella

¼ cup of parmesan

Fresh pesto

5 cups Basil

4 tbs minced garlic

½ cup pine nuts

1 ½ tbs sea salt

1 – 1 ½ cup olive oil

A close-up of pesto makes for an interesting picture... :)

Recipe

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 13 x 9 casserole dish with cooking spray. Spread
2-3 tbs of pesto in the bottom of the baking dish.
2. Heat 3 tbs olive oil in a large sauté pan on medium heat.
3. Add in onion and garlic. Saute for 5 min or so.
4. Add mushrooms and sauté for another 3 min.
5. Slowly add the defrosted, chopped spinach.
6. Add chicken to sauté pan and cook for another 5 minutes.
7. In a large bowl, combine egg, sour cream, remainder of pesto and parmesan.
8. Add mixture in sauté pan to the bowl and stir thoroughly.
9. Lay 4 noodles, overlapping on top of the pesto. Layer1/3 of the mixture from the bowl,
top with a 1/3 of the mozzarella cheese. Repeat two more times.

10. Cook for 35 minutes at 350 degrees. Allow lasagna to cool for 5 minutes.

Sorry for the lack of pictures this time...we didn't use the giant camera, but the camera on the phone! :) Feel free to comment if you have any questions!

Jerk grilled chicken with pineapple avocado salsa served with summer salad

2011-08-05T09:22:00.000-07:00

Chicken:

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 6 oz each)

8 ounces of any kind of Jerk marinade

3 tbsp fresh herbs (we used thyme and rosemary)

2 cloves chopped fresh garlic

Pineapple Avocado Salsa

4 pineapple rings (fresh or canned)

½ avocado, chopped

¼ cucumber, chopped

¼ Vidalia onion, chopped

2 tbsp cilantro (we used fresh but dried is okay, just not as flavorful), chopped

1 tbsp olive oil

Sea Salt to taste

Cracked pepper to taste

Easy Summer Salad:

¾ cucumber, sliced and quartered

½ avocado, sliced or chopped

5 roma tomatoes, sliced and quartered

2 tbsp cilantro, chopped

Sea salt and pepper to taste

8 oz Italian Dressing or Italian Vinaigrette (We love Robusto Italian by Wishbone best for this salad; just use your favorite.)

2-4 large pieces of lettuce, cabbage, etc.

In large plastic, sealable bag, add chopped fresh herbs and garlic with the jerk marinade and the chicken. Squeeze to mix all ingredients with the chicken. Let marinade in the refrigerator for 2-8 hours. Remove bag from the fridge and let sit for about 30-45 minutes before cooking
Start grill.
Combine all ingredients for the salsa except the pineapple. Cover.

(Cucumber, cilantro, avocado, oil and sea salt)

4. Combine all ingredients for the summer salad in a medium mixing bowl. Stir, cover and chill until the rest of the meal is ready.

(Cucumber, tomato, avocado, cilantro, onion, Italian, sea salt and cracked pepper)

5. Remove chicken from marinade and discard bag. Place chicken on the grill. Let cook 7 minutes. Turn the chicken and cook the same amount of time on the other. Chicken should be completely white, with no pink. We use a cooking thermometer to check the temperature of the meat before we remove it. If you do this, the chicken should be 165 degrees.

6. Grill the 4 slices of pineapple for 2 minutes on each side. Dice the pineapple and add it to the pre-made salsa.

7.Grilled the pieces of lettuce for 30 sec on each side (or until grill marks are added).

8. Plate the chicken and add a few tablespoons on the salsa to the top of each piece of chicken. On the other side of the plate, lay the lettuce and spoon the summer salad on top.

Friday is my gluten cheat day so we added some whole grain artisan bread to dinner!! Delicious!

Pan seared sea bass with balsamic glazed white peaches

2011-08-02T08:46:00.000-07:00

We served our sea bass with zucchini and eggplant sauteed in truffle oil.

Sea bass:

1 white peach

¾ pound sea bass

Balsamic glaze (can use pre-made or mix 1/2 cup warmed honey with 1/2 cup balsamic)

Sea salt and freshly ground peppercorns to taste

½ tsp truffle oil

Olive oil

Truffle oil zucchini and eggplant:

1 medium size zucchini

½ medium size eggplant

Poultry seasoning to taste

½ tbsp truffle oil (white or black)

2 tbsp olive oil

In a medium size mixing bowl, pour a splash of the truffle oil and 1 tbsp of the olive oil. Add poultry seasoning. We like a lot of flavor from the seasoning, so we use approximately 2 tablespoons.

2. Slice the zucchini in half length-wise, split each half into a quarter. Slice each quarter into slices. Cut the eggplant the same way, only using one half.

3. Place both the zucchini and eggplant in the mixing bowl and stir (or use your hands) to coat.

4. If the pound of sea bass is one whole filet, cut in half.

5. In a large sauté pan, add a little more of the truffle oil and slowly add the zucchini and eggplant. Saute for approximately 10 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender.

6. On a serving size plate, season both sides of the fish with the sea salt and ground pepper.

7. Heat two turns of the pan of olive oil on medium heat for approximately 2 minutes.

8. Add the two pieces of sea bass carefully to the pan. Cook the fish on one side about 3 minutes, and turn it.

9. While the fish is cooking, slice the white peach into 6 slices.

10. Finish on the other side for approximately 3-4 minutes.

11. Plate the fish, immediately top with the peaches to warm them. (We like to plate our sea bass on argula for color and texture!) Glaze the fish and peaches [and arugla] with the balsamic glaze.

12. Serve with the truffle oil sautéed zucchini and eggplant.

ENJOY!