Puree of Asparagus Soup

Remember the cauliflower puree from a couple posts back? Well now I made an asparagus puree in the form of a soup! Sprinkled with a little Parmesan cheese and we are rockin' and a rollin'.  

Always start with the freshest veggies you can find!

Then prepare with just a pinch of love!

This was one of my favorite recipes so far.  Not only was it easy but since I don't purchase asparagus often, it was a new adventure. 

Do I have something in my teeth?  Name that movie!

Italian Chicken and Vegetable Soup

Last week I made this really easy and delicious soup.  I cut the recipe in half and it still lasted me 3 meals.  Even with all the veggies, I still had room to add in spinach (Gotta get those extra vitamins A, C, E, and K!)

 Enjoy this one! Click here for recipe.

I Won a Year Supply of Meatballs!

 

I won a year supply of meatballs!... just kidding!  Just look at all the meatballs I made tonight. I know this picture is not blog-worthy but I just thought all those meatballs looked so funny!

Seared Salmon with Red Potatoes and Dijon Broth

I really wanted to make a salmon dish so I eventually I came across this recipe on epicurious.com which has recipes from a bunch of different food magazines.  The recipe serves 4 so I just cut it in half.  I also substituted tarragon for a little bit of rosemary and basil. This meal turned out so delicious that I'd definitely make it again. It is healthy and pretty quick!

The dijon broth was such a great part of the dish; the flavor wasn't overbearing and it really paired nicely with the salmon.  The only mistake that I made was boiling the potatoes too long initially because I forgot that they were going to go in the oven with the salmon, so in the end they were a little mushy.... but we still ate them anyway!

Sushi

I love love love sushi.  So why not make it myself?  Looks legit right?!  The process wasn't actually that bad and it was fun too!  My shopping list consisted of: sushi grade tuna and salmon from Citarella in NYC and other ingredients like nori (seaweed wrap), sriracha (Asian hot red chili sauce), avocado, carrot, cucumber, wasabi powder, sushi rice, and seasoned rice vinegar.

As a team, Dave and I made 3 rolls: spicy tuna roll, philadelphia roll, and salmon and tuna roll.  For the philadelphia roll, we rolled it "inside out" which made the rice the outside layer instead of the nori.

Isn't the display plate so pretty? Dave got that for me from Hawaii; it's handcarved and matches the sushi theme so nicely!

Baked Ziti with Beef Ragù and Roasted Eggplant

This recipe comes from a Williams-Sonoma Pasta cookbook. Besides making a homemade beef ragù beforehand, the recipe was pretty quick and easy. You may notice that is not a traditional baked ziti with ricotta, but the eggplant is a nice touch! I actually cut the recipe in half but I will post the full recipe here for you. You can also quickly make this a vegetarian recipe by simply using regular tomato sauce instead of a meat sauce... so have fun sisters!

Ingredients:
2 cups Beef Ragù
6 tablespoons Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper
3 small Eggplants, cut into chucks
3/4 lb Ziti, penne, or other tubular pasta
2 Tomatoes, chopped
1/2 lb Mozzarella Cheese, cut into small pieces
1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese, freshly grated

1. Roast the Eggplant: Preheat the oven to 450. Line baking sheets with foil. In a bowl, combine the oil and 1/2 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Drizzle eggplant chucks with oil arrange on the baking sheet so they are not touching. Roast until golden, about 10 minutes. Remove from oven and let cool. Reduce the oven temp to 400.

2. Cook the pasta: Bring pot of water to boil, and add 2 tbsp salt and the pasta. Cook, until still very al dente, about half of the timing on the package directions.

3. Assemble and bake the dish:  In a large bowl, toss together the pasta, sauce, roasted eggplant, and tomatoes. Spread half the dish, layer with half the cheeses, spread the other half, and top with the rest of the cheeses. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil and bake about 5 minutes longer, until the surface is golden and bubbly.

Oreo Truffles

I got this recipe from my girl Colleen. She used to make these delectable chocolate-y truffles for us at PSU, so I thought I'd take on the challenge myself. But of course, I gave it my own little twist! You can't tell from the picture but under the chocolate shell, and inside the truffle are either peanut butter or caramel fillings.  The peanut butter ones are soooo good!

Oreo Truffles

Ingredients: 

- 1 bag of Oreo cookies

- 1 package of cream cheese (room temperature)

- 1 bag of chocolate chips (white, or semi-sweet.. your choice!)

- 1 cookie sheet and wax paper (optional)

- 2 tablespoons shortening

Procedure:

1.   Crush up entire pack of oreos (food processor would work best, if not a blender works, or even putting them in a ziploc and pounding).  The finer you crush the oreos, the better.

2.  In a bowl, add room temperature cream cheese to crushed oreos.  Combine completely until mixed evenly throughout.

3.  Spoon 1 inch balls of cookie dough onto a cookie sheet covered with wax paper. This is where I added in the peanut butter and caramel. Just dab inside the middle of the cookie dough and roll up!

4.  Put into refrigerator for an hour (or until completely firm)

5.  Once firm, melt half the bag of morsels with a dab of vegetable shortening (to thin) in the microwave (follow melting directions on packaging) *I do half a bag at a time just to keep the chocolate soft

6.  Dip balls into melted chocolate

7.  Drizzle remaining chocolate over top of the truffles

*These truffles usually need to be refrigerated at all times to avoid melting of the outer chocolate.

Thanks Coll! 

Smoothie Time!

Good morning Hoboken! Every morning, I wake up and make a smoothie for breakfast. This usually consists of me throwing what ever fruit and juice I have in a blender then running out the door. But today, I had a little more time to put some love into my creation.. and it looked so pretty that I just had to take a picture!

Today we have - Acai juice, bananas, mangos, spinach (yes spinach!), strawberries, and yogurt.

Drink it up!

Roasted and Pureed Cauliflower

This was a fun and easy recipe to make; similar to mashed potatoes.. but better!  I've never had cauliflower puree before but after making it, I'm definitely a fan! Trust me, you should give it a try. It's a delicious side dish to any meal.

Roasted and Pureed Cauliflower

• 2 heads cauliflower, core removed, cut into florets
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 cups whole milk
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• 1/2 bunch chives, minced for garnish

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

- On a sheet tray, spread 1/4 of the florets with the oil, season with salt and bake until caramelized, about 25 minutes.
- Meanwhile, combine remaining cauliflower, milk and half a teaspoon of salt in a medium saucepan over medium heat.
- Bring mixture to a simmer, cover, and cook until cauliflower is tender, about 20 to 25 minutes. Strain cauliflower from milk mixture, reserving both.
- Transfer cauliflower to a blender. Add remaining 1/2 teaspoon of salt and butter to the blender. Add half of the reserved milk liquid.
- Secure top on blender and puree mixture until smooth. If mixture is too thick, thin by adding some of the remaining liquid. Season, to taste.
- Serve in a large serving bowl topped with caramelized florets.
(foodnetwork.com)

Special White Pizza

Today's lunch special: Garlic white pizza topped with spinach, broccoli, mutz (in Hoboken thats means mozzarella), and goat cheese. SOOO good! My sister Jillian gave me the recipe to her pizza dough a while back and I use it often... Homemade pizza just tastes so much better than take out.


Pizza dough:

2 cups flour (I use 1 cup whole wheat and 1 cup white)
1 1/4 tsp yeast
3/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp olive oil
3/4 cup warm water

Mix dry ingredients.
Add olive oil and water.
Knead and let rise.