Get Your Greens!

What a great week of cooking! Three easy, healthy recipes really hit it out of the park for me. I'll definitely be stealing a few of these techniques and flavors for more weeknight menus.

And I have to give the credit to Real Simple and their "Green is Good" Feb. 2013 feature. I had forgotten how much I LOVE sauteed spinach, kale, all those leafy greens! And if you're not usually a cauliflower fan, try roasting it for 20 minutes, it releases a meaty, slightly buttery flavor when toasted.

Here's what you'll need:
1/4 c. pine nuts
1 small head of cauliflower, cut into florets (you can also buy pre-cut florets, if you're really crunched on time)
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
4 T olive oil
1/4 c tahini (sesame seed paste; I couldn't find tahini, so I actually used a teriyaki marinade in my dressing, and added less water)
3 T fresh lemon juice (I ended up using a bit more than 3T)
10 c. stemmed and chopped kale or torn escarole
1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 c raisins

Heat over to 350 and toast the pine nuts on a baking sheet until golden, about 6-8 minutes. Transfer to a plate to cool.

Increase heat to 450. On the baking sheet, toss the cauliflower with the cayenne, 2 T of oil, 1/2 t. salt, and 1/4 t. black pepper. Roast, tossing half way, until golden, 20-25 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, whisk together tahini (or marinade of choice), lemon juice, 2 T oil, 1/2 c. water, and 1/4 t each salt and black pepper. You can add more water until you achieve a creamy consistency, if using thicker tahini. Add the kale, onions, raisins, pine nuts, and cauliflower and toss to combine.

This salad was super healthy and surprisingly filling. It also held up for lunch the next day. Boyfriend was a BIG fan, too. Always an important critique from him ;) Enjoy!

Bright, Fresh Coconut Key Lime Squares

So much baking this week, I love it!
I'm on to my last actual day of vacation, and I've been cooking up a storm, making all of those recipes that I just can't find the time to dig into during a typical work week.

These super citrus, fresh, bright coconut key lime bars are perfect for brunch, a quick morning treat with some hot coffee or just because! They make your typical lemon bar look a bit ho-hum.

I found this recipe via Martha Stewart Living Magazine a while ago, and have been holding on to it for far too long. Little bits of white chocolate make the crust a perfect sweet counterpart to the tart limes. I couldn't find key limes in the dead of winter, so I used regular limes, and the taste was perfect. The coconut didn't stand out too much, so if you're not a coconut fan, don't be discouraged. And if you love yourself some coconut, maybe sprinkle a bit on top of the bars, or add extra to the crust.

And my boyfriend said that these may be the best treat I've ever made...score!


Martha Stewart's Coconut Key Lime Squares
Takes about 1 1/2 hours to make, and you can make these a day ahead, too

Ingredients

• Crust

  • 6 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces, plus more, softened, for pan
  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 3 tablespoons light-brown sugar
  • Rounded 1/4 teaspoon coarse salt
  • 1/2 cup finely shredded desiccated unsweetened coconut
  • 3 ounces white chocolate, coarsely chopped (about 1/2 cup)

• Filling

  • 3 large eggs, room temperature
  • 2/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
  • 2/3 cup fresh Key lime juice or regular lime juice
  • 1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar, for dusting

Directions

1. Crust: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly butter an 8-inch square baking pan. Line bottom and 2 sides of pan with parchment, leaving a 1-inch overhang; lightly butter the parchment.
   
2. Combine flour, brown sugar, and salt in a food processor, and pulse a few times to combine. Add butter, and pulse until largest pieces are the size of peas. Add coconut and white chocolate, and pulse a few more times, just until mixture holds together.
   
   
   Transfer mixture to pan, and pack down firmly with the bottom of a measuring cup. Bake until crust is deep golden brown, 18 to 20 minutes. Remove from oven, and reduce heat to 300 degrees.
   
3. 
   3.  Filling: Whisk together eggs and granulated sugar in a bowl, then whisk in flour. Gently stir in lime juice (do not whisk or stir vigorously or batter will become foamy).\
   
   
4. Pour filling over hot crust, and bake until filling is set, about 15 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack.
   
5. 
   Run the tip of a knife along the 2 sides of the pan not lined with parchment, then remove from pan by lifting with parchment overhang. Transfer to a cutting board, dust with confectioners' sugar, and cut into 1-inch squares.
   

1/13/13 Week in Workouts and Food!

I've been a bit sick this past week. Don't you hate being sick? It totally limits productivity, rearranging prioritites to accomplish the few things I can while I'm sick.

I'm usually a stickler about not working out while I'm sick. The gym doesn't need my germs, and the fastest way for me to get better is to tax my body as little as possible. So I skipped workouts on Thursday, and probably today, too. Going to sit around and read some magazines and cookbooks - woe is me!

Depending on how I feel, I probably won't fit in any extra workouts outside of what I'm teaching this week, so here it is, my week in workouts:

Sunday : OFF

Monday : Teach 6AM Spin

Tuesday : Teach BodyPump Express and CXWORX in evening

Wednesday : OFF - will go to yoga if this cold has cleared up!

Thursday : OFF

Friday: Teach 6PM Spin

Saturday: Teach Body Pump


I'm loving getting back to cooking, and can't wait to cook my way through another big group of recipes:

Sunday: Peppered Flank Steak

Monday: Tomato Soup with Parmesan and Croutons - Super easy, and soup is perfect for when you're sick!

Tuesday: Leftovers/Something Quick

Wednesday: Roasted Chicken and beets

Thursday: Chopped winter salad with squash, apple, and feta

Friday:  TBD

Saturday: TBD

1/7/13 - Week in Workouts and Food!

This week, I need to keep up with my workouts, but I'm hoping to fit in a yoga class to get some stretching in. Getting back to regular workouts means that my muscles are tightening up like crazy. Last week, some work craziness threw me off of my planned workouts, but I brought my workout gear to the office and was able to sneak in some short runs during lunchtime in our building's small gym.

Here's the plan:

Monday: Teach 6AM Spinning

Tuesday: Teach 6:45PM Body Pump Express/CXWorx

Wednesday: 7:00PM Yoga

Thursday: Boxing / I may take Thursday off, depending on how I'm feeling later in the week. I try not to work out everyday, but when you teach 4 days a week and really want to get in your own workouts, it can be tough.

Friday: Teach 6PM Spinning

Saturday: Teach 3PM BodyPump

Sunday:  Run Outside / Day Off - If I go to boxing on Thursday, I probably won't work out on Sunday.


Because of traveling and baking for the holidays, my kitchen hasn't been seeing much dinnertime action. This week needs to see a resurgence of meals, and I'm trying to sneak in a few vegeterian nights. Tonight I picked up a rotisserie chicken and made this brussels sprouts side dish with onion, apple, and bacon.

And for the rest of the week:

Monday: Portobello and Zucchini Tacos

Tuesday: Pizza - boyfriend and I both have late nights

Wednesday: Peppered Flank Steak and Salsa

Thursday: Asparagus and Lemon Risoto



The rest of the week is a bit TBD, as some work craziness might come up.

New Years Day Prep

A quick post before I get ready to head out for an exciting New Years Eve!

While out and about running errands, I saw so many girls popping into Akira, Express, Anthropologie, nail salons, and hair salons getting fixed up for tonight. Instead, I was gathering last minute ingredients and serving pieces for a New Years Day Friends and Family Brunch that boyfriend and I are hosting. I may be 24, but I have the personality of a 28-year-old, that's for sure. 

Boyfriend helped me prep as much as possible tonight so that tomorrow morning we can wake up and just pop a few things into the oven. He even cleaned the apartment while I finished up in the kitchen. Isn't he great!? Parties are the perfect excuse to give your place the cleaning it's been needing for a while, and I'm hoping it stays this organized.

 The menu came from a Christmas Brunch article in December 2012 issue of "Martha Stewart Living" and includes a spinach-and-fontina strata, winter fruit salad with basil syrup, cider-braised slab bacon, cheddar-apricot puffs, and doughnuts filled with grapefruit-vanilla jelly (doughnuts from a 12/2011 "Bon Appetit" magazine. How grown-up is that!? 

Boyfriend even helped me chop 2 lbs of spinach for the strata. 

I really hope I have enough food. I even got out our drip coffee maker, will brew up some tea, and will be serving pear bellinis and, of course, mimosas.
 
I hope you all have a fun, safe night, surrounded by people you love when the ball drops. :)

Making Caramels

I LOVE CARAMEL.

So when I came across this recipe with a few alternatives in Martha Stewart Living's December issue, I decided to make caramels for my co-workers for Christmas.

I made the classic caramels as well as the chocolate coconut caramel candies.

The process was very simple, but there are a few things you need to be particular about in order to be successful.

Temperature is key!
 You really do need an accurate candy thermometer, and I don't think mine was too accurate. I ended up using the look of the caramel, color, gauging when it started to really crystallize. This recipe calls for the caramel to reach 248 degrees F, but working with a gas stove made that pretty difficult, as the pot doesn't heat up evenly.


I was worried about burning the caramels (you can't come back from that!), so I took my classic caramels off the stove a pinch too early. After 8 hours of waiting for them to set, though, they firmed up and had a great caramel consistency.

I definitely took the chocolate caramels off the stove too early, as I couldn't guess the color of the caramel after the chocolate was added. These only firmed up to a thick chocolate sauce consistency, so after they set, I melted the caramel in a pot and heated it up a bit more. This totally fixed the consistency problem, and they turned out even better than the classic caramels.

And you really do need to use a LARGE POT for these. Because of the cream, the mixture boils and foams up pretty high, so you need that extra height to prevent it from spilling over.

Be patient and watch these on the stove. Don't overmix. Sometimes it's good to just let the mixture be on the stove.

The recipe did make a large number of caramels. It took FOREVER to wrap them all up in saran wrap.

I packed them in these cute Martha Stewart gift boxes from Michaels to bring to the office.

What do you usually give your co-workers for the holidays?

Sonoma Sustenance

A major perk of having a fabulous mother with mad cooking skills is that she's in the "In Club" at Williams-Sonoma. Meaning she works there, for their nice discount - and that discount treats you nicely.

When my mother came to Chicago about a week ago, we, of course, took a trip to Williams-Sonoma at 900 North Michigan Shops, because "Chicago has things that the Cleveland store doesn't have." Which is true, I guess.

We picked up two holiday-themed chocolate goodies:

1. Peppermint Baked Brownie Mix - A+++ This stuff was delicious. Not only does it come with a peppermint candy topping, but the actual brownie mix itself is infused with peppermint. Just add butter and eggs to their packaged mix, fold together gently, and bake for about 30 minutes. My shotty oven required me to bake them a bit longer than 30 minutes.

These brownies came out thick and gooey, boyfriend was so upset that I was making them for my co-workers and not him (don't worry, I did leave him a few).  They were a hit with my co-workers. At $16.95 per box,  yes, these are the most expensive brownies I have ever baked/eaten, but hey, it's the holidays. And they are SO GOOD.

2. Williams-Sonoma Hot Chocolate Mix - A+ Finally! REAL hot chocolate. This isn't a cocoa powder, the container holds real flecks of chocolate that you melt with milk on the stove. This hot chocolate is so creamy and thick, one cup will definitely fill you up. Make a cup for your boyfriend so he doesn't try to steal yours. Careful, the calorie count is pretty high, and this stuff is addicting.

There is also a peppermint hot chocolate flavor, but the bulk of the peppermint taste is lost after boiling with water. I'd stick with the classic flavor.

At almost $20/jar, still an expensive investment in hot chocolate, but what do you expect from Williams-Sonoma?



*If you buy the hot chocolate, you MUST ALSO BUY the Williams-Sonoma homemade marshmallows.  They come in two sizes (the minis are plenty) and are shaped like giant cubes, not  the look or consistency of your typical Jewel-Osco marshmallow, but they melt so perfectly in a cup of hot chocolate, creating a creamy, marshmallowy layer of perfection. Both the classic marshmallow and the peppermint marshmallow are great.
 

TJ's Heaven - Gingerbread Molasses Cookie Dough

I discovered this ready-to-bake cookie dough at Trader Joe's just one month ago, and I've already baked three packages. Trader Joe's Gingerbread Molasses Cookie Dough is easily the best ready-to-go cookie dough I've tasted. And it's just as good cooked as it is raw! The test of a good cookie.

Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees F, break the dough apart and roll it in the included sugar crystals. Bake for 15 minutes. These come out of the oven pretty fluffy, but quickly deflate. Still, they're a chewy bunch. 

 Little Ellie waiting for me to drop a piece of dough

Stock up on these when you find them at your local Trader Joe's, as they don't stay on the shelves very long.

TJ's should definitely come out with a full line of ready-to-bake doughs. Don't you think? Chocolate chip, peanut butter - that would be a huge hit! Mmmm... I need another cookie.