Amanda's Apron

First Israeli Find - Falafel

2009-10-17T05:06:00.004-04:00

So I may have neglected to mention that I'm studying abroad for the next several weeks in Israel. So, since I have no access to a kitchen (besides my lovely in room microwave and mini fridge), and I didn't want to leave you hanging, I figured I'd share my foodie adventures here.

I found this post card after I'd already had two falafels...so I figured it must be true. I've actually heard that it's Israel's fast food (even though they do have McDonald's and kosher Burger King here.)

The back of the post card gives th recipe for falafel - which is the little fried balls on top of the pita. Check it out.

Grind it all together to make little dough balls and just lightly fry them. (They should be soft on the inside, and lightly browned and crisp on the outside.)

Then to serve, there's so many options! On my third meal of falafel, it was a put together your own type deal, so I spread my pita with hummus, a white sauce, put in the falafel and covered with freshly diced cucumbers and tomatoes, and some Israeli coleslaw. They are amazing!

Final note: Israeli coleslaw is not mayonaise-y like ours, but just the cabbage lightly brushed with olive oil and spices.

The white sauce is a mission of mine. I know it is tahini based, but everywhere I ask for the ingredients, I'm told "secret recipe." But don't you worry. I'll get to the bottom of this!

Enjoy!

Vegan Banana Ice Cream

2009-10-04T21:37:00.003-04:00

Ok, so goodbye to summer. I threw a bon voyage party with a vegan experiment. Technically, it was just an experiment since I’ve never made ice cream before, but combine that with making vegan ice cream AND not having an ice cream maker, and it was interesting. And surprisingly satisfying.

Also, a plus: it’s raw.

You’ll need:

3 large bananas, frozen

6T Agave necter

2 ½ (ish) cups coconut milk

1T vanilla

1 lime, juiced

Dash of sea salt

2/3t xanthan gum*

Combine everything in a blender or vitamix until smooth. If you’re working with a blender, you may have to cut up the banana and coax it the blend in.

If you have an ice cream maker, follow the instructions for mixture – it should only take 20-25 minutes. If you don't, I just put it in a freezer proof container and let it freeze until no longer wiggly. (I know - the technicalities I use.)

Serve!

*Note: Do not make this without the xanthan gum. Obviously, if you absolutely can’t, you can’t, but you can find it at most supermarkets and though it’s a bit pricey, it’s worth it. It helps give the ice cream the smooth, creamy texture that dairy free ice cream often lacks.

Sweet Potato Fries with Nutayo (Vegan Mayo)

2009-10-04T21:26:00.005-04:00

So first, you can’t steal my word, nutayo. Ok, you can. But I just made it up and I’m super proud of myself. And aside from the oober cool name, they are amazing! They made me

ready for fall!

You’ll need:

Sweet potatoes (I only used 1 huge one and it fed four of us)

1 cup pine nuts

Olive oil

1 lime

½ clove of garlic

¼ cup pure water

½ cup fresh coconut flesh

Chili powder

Sea salt

If you have a dehydrator, you could try that, or if you’re using an oven, preheat it to 375. Cut the potatoes into whatever shape you’d like, cover in olive oil, and sprinkle with sea salt and just a bit of chili powder. Cook for about 15-20 minutes.

While the potatoes are baking, have some fun cracking open a fresh coconut. I say fun because beau took it outside with a hammer, then so graciously scooped out the flesh for me.

Combine the coconut flesh, water, garlic, 2 T olive oil, and pine nuts in a food processor or vitamix. Squeeze half the lime juice into the mix and process until smooth.

After the baking process, if you want the fries a bit crispier, heat a dry saucepan and cook the fries a little longer. Lay on a paper towel to dry it a bit, and serve!

Tabouli Wraps

2009-09-29T22:46:00.010-04:00

Tabouli. Tabouleh. Tabule. It is crazy how many spellings there are to this dish. There are equally as many various forms of ingredients. Feel free to add or subtract any of the veggies.

This is a Mediterranean classic and can be enjoyed on its own, or put in a wrap or sandwich. Speaking of Mediterranean…Beau and I are leaving in 12 days for our study abroad trip to ISRAEL!!!! I’m so excited! No worries, I’ll still blog, but since I’ll be in a school dorm and we’ll be eating out most of our meals – and I don’t even know if I’ll have access to a kitchen (yikes!) – the blogs for the next several weeks may be more travel/cultural oriented. It’s gonna be good!

Ok, so the recipe. You’ll need:

2 cups bulgur wheat

2 cups water

1 seedless cucumber (or you can take the seeds out yourself)

1 tomato, chopped

1 bunch green onions, chopped (about 8 stalks)

1/2 cup fresh mint, chopped

2 cups fresh parsley, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1t pepper

2t salt, or to taste

Look at this beautiful spearmint plant! I bought this little guy from Whole Foods Market that day.

First, bring the water almost to a boil. Let it sit for about a minute to slightly cool, then add the bulgur to the water. It should sit about 30 minutes so all the water is completely absorbed.

Meanwhile, chop all your veggies and herbs, and combine together in a large salad bowl. (The cucumbers when into fine bits after the picture was taken.)

To ensure the salt and pepper is distributed evenly, combine the last four ingredients in a separate bowl.

Once the wheat is ready, add to the veggie-herb bowl. Add the liquid mixture and stir well. This lovely salad can be served chilled or at room temperature. This makes A LOT – about 12 servings, so scale it down if it’s a recipe for one or two people.

To give our wraps some kick, we covered them in hummus. For my recipe for hummus, check out the "labels" to the right. Forgive the mess…when you’re hungry, you’re hungry.

Add the tabouli and wrap it up! Yeah!

Mango Pesto

2009-09-29T22:38:00.005-04:00

Here's a freebie. As a side to one of my new vegan meals, I whipped this up as an accompaniment to some fresh nectarines. This sauce is incredible and surprisingly yummy. It goes well with fruit, and I could totally see it as a topping to some vegan ice cream.

All you need is:

1/4 cup of ice

1 ripe mango

1 1/2 cups fresh spinach

(You can also substitute the ice and fresh mango for a cup of frozen mango.)

Cut up the mango into chunks. And make sure its a soft, fresh mango. You should be able to smell the sweetness before you even cut it.

Throw it all into a blender or food processor and process!

Viola! Sweet, mango pesto. Eat liberally.

Hummus

2009-09-23T22:40:00.006-04:00

So…vegan…(ism?) I admit, I’m the first one to think I’d be the last one to become vegan. I think my oldest brother (who at one time owned a meat-lover’s restaurant) may disown me. So…the story.

Last year, a friend was diagnosed with cancer. He went through surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation treatment, and now still has several spots where cancer resides in his body. A few weeks ago, his doctors said the next best option was to eat only whole, natural foods. Aka, vegan + no sugar. Separately, a few weeks ago, beau and I started researching how meat diets effect health. I don’t want to bore you or gross you out with any of the facts, suffice it to say, I am now choosing to lead a mostly vegan lifestyle. Of course, living in America where many of our meals are in restaurants doesn’t always lead to the strictest of vegan diets, but I’m going as close as possible. We’re calling it a “plant-based diet.”

To kick off the new way of life, beau and I cooked for our friend and his wife. This week’s recipe: hummus. It was delicious – and makes a delightful base for wraps. (That recipe will come soon.)

You’ll need:

1 can chickpeas (or garbanzo beans, same thing)

3 T tahini paste (ground sesame seeds, found near peanut butter)

4 T extra virgin olive oil

1.5 garlic cloves

1 lemon

½ t ground cumin

salt & pepper

paprika for garnish

Drain and rinse the chickpeas

and put in a food processor along with the garlic and tahini paste. I didn’t have a big enough food processor, so I used a blender. It worked perfectly. Blend until it is very smooth. Add the salt and pepper, juice from the lemon, and cumin.

Be careful with the cumin! I let a little too much fall in, and it was way to kickin’! I had to mellow it with more tahini since I didn’t have any more chickpeas. So, don’t do that. Blend the mixture for another 2-3 minutes.

Taste to see if it needs more salt. Mine did, so we threw a bit more in, then blended once again.

Plate and garnish with the paprika. We used blue corn chips, but you could also eat it with vegetables, or crackers – or use it as a spread! However you eat it, enjoy!

Chicken Parmesan

2009-09-16T23:49:00.005-04:00

adapted from Bobby Flay

The beauty of crusted chicken without the health detriments that come with deep fried food!!! This meal is amazing…and ironic since the beau and I are in the process of becoming vegan. More on that next week. For now, let’s enjoy this beauty.

It comes from Bobby Flay so you know it’s going to be good, and you can make it super spicy if you’d like to.

You’ll need:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 cup all purpose flour, seasoned with salt & pepper

2-3 eggs, beaten with 2 T water

2 cups of panko bread crumbs (I used the Italian seasoning flavor)

1 cup of olive oil or vegetable oil

1 small ball of fresh mozzarella

Freshly grated Parmesan to taste

Fresh basil leaves

For the sauce:

1 medium white onion

3 cloves of garlic

1 large can of tomato puree

1 large can of crushed tomatoes

1 small can of tomato paste

Salt, pepper, & Italian seasoning

Ok, so here’s a meal beau and I recently had with some friends. It was great for entertaining, but word to the wise: start this well before company comes if you’re all hungry. Now it’s time to prepare the garlic. On your own, this garlic smashing business would take forever. Thankfully beau’s dad introduced me to this wonderful thing called a garlic press. I highly recommend it.

Once you’ve got your garlic ready, smash it to make a paste.

Finely chop your onions, and put both in your sauce pot to soften. Once soft, add the puree, crushed tomatoes, paste, and 1 cup of water. Bring it to a boil, and then season to taste. Reduce the heat, and let it simmer until slightly thickened – about 30 minutes.

Oven on at 400 degrees. If your Parmesan is not pre-shredded, shred now. And slice the mozzarella.

I wanted pasta on the side (and the sauce recipe makes a ton, so don’t worry!) and I was in the mood for angel hair. I started the water boiling for that and prepared the chicken and three dipping bowls.

Pound the chicken out so they are thin. (Good to get out aggression.)

Season both sides with salt and pepper.

Heat oil in a large sauté pan (or two if you want to cook all four pieces at once) over high heat until the oil is almost smoking. Meanwhile, dredge each breast in the flour and tap or gently shake off the extra.

Dip in egg mixture, again gently shaking the extra off.

Lastly, dredge both sides generously in the bread crumbs.

Add the chicken to the pan and cook about 2 minutes per side.

Place the chicken in a baking pan and top each breast with some tomato sauce…(look at the steam, mmmm! Good shot, Hon.)

a piece of the mozzarella…

and a tablespoon of the Parmesan. Bake in the oven until the chicken is cooked through, and the cheese is melted – about 5-7 minutes. This method of searing the outside and baking the inside leads to moist chicken.

I put the extra Parmesan on the pasta for fun, (ok, really, to make it extra cheesy) and then topped it with sauce (to make the cheese melt of course!)

Add some garlic bread and EAT!

Blackberry Croustade

2009-09-07T23:14:00.008-04:00

Happy Labor Day!

Here’s a sweet treat that is not too sweet, and definitely the perfect end of a meal. I was inspired by my foodie girlfriend to make these after seeing her pictures go up on Facebook. So, give them a whirl!

There are two recipes, one for the blackberry croustade itself, and one for homemade cream to top it.

You’ll need:

Berries (fresh or frozen)

8 oz. Cream Cheese

2/3 Cup Sugar

1 Cup flour

For Cream

½ Pint Whipping Cream

1 t Vanilla

1/8 Cup Sugar

As much as I would have loved to make this dessert with fresh berries, I wanted the dessert more than I wanted to wait for them to come back into season. So, if you’re using frozen like me, first defrost the berries. Remember, this can be made with any kind of berry you like. I dumped the bag into a colander and set it over the sink, sprinkling the top with a little sugar to bring out the sweetness.

Next, make the cream so it has time to set up a bit in the fridge. Pour the whipping cream into a small to medium sized mixing bowl. (I dumped the whole carton since I got a mini size.) Add the vanilla and sugar little by little while making the mixture frothy with a whisk. Place it in the fridge to cool.

Finally, the dough. Yummm. Preheat your oven to 375. Combine cream cheese, sugar, and flour and get it well mixed, rolling out to parchment paper or your counter to flatten. Unfortunately, I didn’t have a heavy duty rolling pin on hand, so my crust was a little thicker than I’d like, but it still worked out. So, you can make the crust as thick or thin as you’d like to. Also, the mixture can be a little dry to work with, so I added a tiny bit of the fresh cream mixture to make it more pliable.

I made four individual ones, but you can make two larger sized croustades if you’d like. I simply cut the dough with a pizza cutter…

Loaded the berries on and brushed the whole tart with fresh cream…

And baked them for 30 minutes. (Or until the crust slightly browns.) Sooo… if you don’t have any fancy oven safe dishes that resemble mini pies, you can simply fold the dough over on top of each other as I did. I did have to put toothpicks in the top to keep them upright as they baked in the oven.

Top with fresh cream and serve immediately. So yummy!

Man-etizers - Turkey Taquitos

2009-08-31T22:55:00.009-04:00

So summer is beginning its end, yet parties still happen. (Yay!) Since I live in Florida, it’s a rather “summery” climate most of the time, and these fun appetizers are always appropriate and sure to please everyone from the littlest kids to the most manly man.

I had to invent a new word to describe them: man-etizer. That's right, an appetizer so wonderful, they cannot be in the same category as finger sandwiches and tea cakes. Well, these were a success at game night! And of course, I’ve given them a few healthy twists.

The ingredients:

1 lb ground turkey (of course you can use beef)

1 small to medium onion

1 clove of garlic

1 jalapeño

¾ cup of salsa

Chili Powder

Garlic Powder

Onion Powder

Salt

Pepper

Oil

20 small (6-inch) tortillas (I chose flour)

1 cup shredded cheese

Sour cream for dipping

So, traditional taquitos are fried, but healthier living leans to baking. So, preheat your oven to 400. Trust me, you won’t lose any flavor, and you’ll love that you’re doing yourself a favor.

Heat some oil in a large skillet over medium heat, and dice the garlic, onions, and jalapeño. Throw them into the pan to soften. This will take about 2-3 minutes.

Add your meat and use a wooden or plastic utensil to break it up as it cooks. Cook until the meat is no longer red. (Look at the beautiful sizzle in that picture!)

Add in the powders and salt and pepper to taste. Finally, stir in the salsa. I actually did not have enough salsa, so I ran to the pantry and came up with these little beauties. I threw in 1/3 of the can. Cook it all over low heat, stirring occasionally for about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, stack the tortillas on a microwave safe plate alternating between tortillas and wet paper towels. Microwave for about a minute and a half, or until the tortillas are nice and warm.

Once it's al cooked, drain your pan of any lurking grease. This is important. Ok, now spread a small amount of this beautiful, savory filling over the tortillas about an inch away from the edge of the tortilla. Top with cheese, and roll the babies up!

Make sure to place the taquitos seam side down on a lined, greased cookie sheet. Brush them lightly with oil for an extra crisp, and bake until they are lightly browned (about 8-12 minutes.)

Serve them fresh out of the oven with some sour cream, salsa, or guacamole! Ole!

Chicken A'lagont

2009-08-24T22:49:00.010-04:00

Today’s recipe is one near and dear to my heart. This is the homey, feels good in your mouth and tummy type of recipe. The type of meal where you pick at the pan even after you’re full just because it tastes so amazing! Is it fancy? Nope. Is it a lot of work? Nope! Sounds basically like the perfect meal, right? Basically.

It brings me back to childhood because my mom made this often as I was growing up. In a big family, you have casseroles often because dinner just makes more sense that way.

Chicken A’lagont. I tried looking up how to spell a’lagont, since that's what Mom always called it, but couldn’t find it anywhere. So I’ve concluded she made the word up. And in her sense of wry humor tried to make it sound like "elegant chicken," even though I have yet to find a “elegant” casserole.

You’ll need:
Either a whole chicken or about 6 chicken breasts
A bag of Pepperidge Farm Herb Seasoned Stuffing (Trust me, this is the brand Mom used & you won’t want another)
1 can of Cream of Celery Soup (I used 98% Fat Free)
Either 8 oz Sour Cream or 8oz plain Greek Yogurt
Salt & Pepper
For Stuffing:
6 T butter
Onion, chopped (optional)
Celery, chopped (optional)

Alright, so if you’re using a whole chicken, bake it, then once it has cooled, cut it to bite sized pieces. This gives the chicken a great flavor. Or, if you have less time, use chicken breasts, cut them up, and boil them. Save the water. Just trust me.

While the chicken is cooking, cook the stuffing according to the directions on the back of the package. Easy, right?

You just sauté the onions and celery (or one or neither) in the melting butter, add the stuffing and some water and stir, baby, stir! If you’re boiling the chicken, use the water to flavor up the stuffing. As you’re mixing it all together, make sure you leave it a little crunchy. You don’t want it to be totally soft.

Place the prepared chicken in a medium sized mixing bowl and add the soup, salt, pepper, and sour cream or yogurt.

Alright, healthy tip time. I’m on a very disciplined work out routine right now, so I’m very conscious of everything I eat. Not in a guilty sort of way, but in a I-don’t-want-to-ruin-what-I’m-doing sort of way. So, in order to have the comforts of one of my childhood favorites (and because my sweet beau requested it,) I got creative. I used the nearly fat free version of the soup, which cuts out a ton of fat, and I substituted the Greek yogurt for sour cream which not only cuts out all that fat, but skyrockets the protein count. So now, the only “bad” part of this meal is the stuffing on top, and (yay!) it’s not that bad. For all of you who are curious, I’ve also used the yogurt as a sub for mayo and it worked beautifully!

Alright, so you’ve got your chicken mixture. Layer it into an oven safe casserole dish, and spoon the stuffing on top of it.

Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes, or until the top looks crispy. Warning: this dish will make you crave Thanksgiving associated food.

It’s so good! And for all you calorie freaks out there:

Chocolate Chip Cookie Bars

2009-08-17T22:49:00.014-04:00

adapted from worthhersalt.com

Sooooo….this week, Beau and I celebrated two years together! Yay! One of our celebrations involved a picnic and I decided to make one of his favorites: Chocolate Chip Cookies. But, I tried the in bar form and they are easy, fairly quick, and you simply cut them like brownies – yummmm!

The picnic? Well, let’s just say we got lost, then drenched as lightning surrounded the gazebo we found, but the cookie bars are delightful any time, any where. And at least for us, they made a GREAT memory!

Here’s what you’ll need:

2 cups of flour

10 T of butter

1 cup of brown sugar

½ cup of sugar

2 eggs

2 t of vanilla

½ t of baking powder

salt (about ½ t)

1 12-16 oz bag of milk chocolate chips

If you’re oven takes forever, preheat it to 325 first. Melt butter and combine it with the sugars, eggs, & vanilla until well mixed. Fold in the remaining ingredients (except chips) with a spatula.

Once you’ve got the white clumps mushed in, (yeah, I made that word up) fold in the chocolate chips.

Spread in a greased 9x13 pan, and bake like you like your brownies. (The middle should be somewhat soft, and the edges golden kissed.) It will be about 25-30 minutes.

And then! They look like this. Tada!!!

I hope they make fun memories for you, too.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Lava Cakes

2009-08-10T21:02:00.018-04:00

This week’s recipe…Chocolate Peanut Butter Lava Cakes!

adapted from www.mysweetandsaucy.com

This recipe makes four cakes. Here’s what you’ll need:

A stick and one half of butter

¼ cup of flour + a little extra

½ cup of sugar

Confectioners sugar

1 tablespoon of cocoa powder

3 eggs at room temperature

3 tablespoons of peanut butter

Just over a handful of milk chocolate (about 6 oz.)

Tad bit of salt

I first preheated the oven to 425 degrees while getting a small bowl to combine the cocoa powder and a little bit of flour.

Brush four small ramekins (I used 6 ounce size) with some melted butter to coat the sides and a little in the bottom. Dust the flour & cocoa mixture in the ramekins, tapping out the excess. (Trust me, this helps sooooo much later.)

In a small saucepan, melt a stick of butter with the chocolate on low heat, making sure not to let the bottom burn. I used milk chocolate that was designed for melting in achocolate fountain, but any kind or flavor of chocolate will do. If you like dark, go for it!

After the chocolate butter is melted, let it cool slightly. Grab a small bowl and mix the peanut butter with about 1 tablespoon of confectioners sugar and 1 tablespoon of butter. This will make it nice and sweet.

Random fact: Skippy Peanut Butter Natural is the only shelf peanut butter (that I’ve found) that both tastes good and doesn’t have hydrogenated oil in it, so it is a step in the right direction for health purposes. Ok, I’m off my soapbox. Back to the food!

In a separate bowl, beat the sugar, salt, and eggs with an electric mixer until it is well blended. It will be a little frothy and in a liquid state.

Using a rubber spatula, fold the chocolate butter into the egg mixture until no streaks remain. Then slowly fold in the flour.

Ok, fun part. Fill the four ramekins with about 2/3 of your chocolate-flour mixture. Then, spoon the peanut butter mixture into all four. For all you fellow peanut butter lovers out there, look at the goodness!

Cover the peanut butter with the remaining chocolate mixture, set the ramekins on either a baking sheet or a small casserole dish, and throw ‘em in the oven. Bake for approximately 15 minutes, until the tops look toasty, but the cake is still a bit jiggly. Let them cool for a few minutes.

I took that picture; Beau had stepped out for a minute. I’m just proud of myself, ok!

Use a knife to loosen the edges, and place a plate of each ramekin. Flip it all over so the cake lands on the plate. (Be sure to use protection for your hands. Everything will still be hot.) Dust the warm cakes with confectioners sugar and serve immediately.

They’re so rich and yummy!!! And I won’t be offended if you added a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top. Ohhh…I need to make them again.

Margherita Pizza

2009-08-03T23:32:00.014-04:00

I couldn't think of a better way to start this blog than a double date with the beau and our friends who live six states away. Yay for video chatting and making the same meal & eating it together! So the food? Margherita Pizza! Yum!

This was actually the first time I've ever worked with "real pizza dough" and it changed my mind about making homemade pizzas - it's easy, fast, and totally worth it to get exactly what you want and make it as healthy (or not) as you want!

I gathered 16 oz. of pizza dough, 3/4 cup of ricotta cheese, 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, 1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese, one tomato, 7 leaves of fresh basil, extra virgin olive oil, and sea salt.

Note: The fresh basil makes it! DO NOT MAKE THIS PIZZA WITHOUT FRESH BASIL. I mean, I guess if you want it to be lame....ok, just kidding. Also, you could add some fresh garlic if you dig that, but I didn't have any. And play around with the measurements. I don't believe in being "precise" in cooking.

I turned the oven to 350 degrees and oiled up the good ol' pizza stone. (If you don't have a pizza stone, a flat edge baking sheet works, too.)

Threw the dough around a little just to feel like I was really making pizza, then rounded it out over the stone, flattening it out with a miniature rolling pin.

While the dough was rising...ok, I made that up. Ahem. In the meantime, I sliced and chopped the tomato, and cut the basil into ribbons. Put them together in a bowl and add some olive oil until it looks good to you. Note: If the basil does not soak in oil for a few minutes, it will smoke upon entry to the oven and turn to ash. Not the taste we're going for.

While that trio of goodness is soaking, I added the three cheeses to the dough, starting with an even layer of ricotta (in lieu of sauce), followed by mozzarella, and parmesan.

Add the tomato mixture evenly across the top, brush the crust with a little oil, and sprinkle the whole thing with a tiny bit of oil and a little sea salt. You can use regular salt but supposedly sea salt is better for you - and it tastes amazing!

Normally, I leave things in the oven until they just "look right" but for all of you out there who need numbers, I think it was in the oven for 10-15 minutes, or until the edges were golden kissed.

Mmmmmm!!! Enjoy!