Recipes – Page 17 – Well Dined

18
Nov
2013

Chocolate Banana Pops

categories: Recipes

My friend Melissa (you know her by now as Smells Like Brownies) threw a Curious George themed birthday party for her 1 year old. She wanted to have some kind of banana snack at the party (cuz duh – monkeys) but really hates bananas, even the smell of them. So I volunteered to make something for her. These banana pops could not be easier, and they ended up being a huge success!

Start by cutting bananas (however many you want to use) in half and carefully insert popsicle sticks. Pop them into the freezer for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, make your chocolate dip. Place chocolate chips into a microwaveable bowl – you can use either milk or dark, I prefer dark. 8 oz of chocolate will cover 2 bananas (4 halves). Next, mix in some oil or butter – this makes sure the chocolate melts evenly and that it is shiny. I used coconut oil for the health factor and because it tastes great with chocolate. The ratio is 1 tbsp oil to 8 oz chocolate. Stir to coat the chips evenly with oil, then microwave 30 seconds at a time, stirring in between, until the chocolate is just melted. Do not overcook it – once you burn chocolate, you can’t take it back.

While the chocolate is still warm, take the partially frozen bananas and dip them into the chocolate to coat. You may need to use a rubber spatula to ensure that the entire banana is coated. Allow any excess to drip off. Working quickly (the chocolate will harden quickly on the frozen banana), sprinkle with or roll in whatever toppings you want to use. I used sprinkles, walnuts, and toasted coconut. Return the bananas to the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Allow to soften for about 5 minutes at room temp, or longer in the fridge, before you serve them so that they won’t be rock hard. The banana inside should be the consistency of ice cream.

I used a 32 oz bag of chocolate chips to make 16 banana pops (from 8 bananas). These are super fun to make – I bet kids would love to get involved. And there is not a lot of sugar, depending on what kind kind of chocolate and toppings you use, making it a healthy snack/dessert. So go bananas! (more…)

12
Nov
2013

Butternut Squash and Bacon Mac and Cheese

categories: Recipes

I’m not really sure how to do food styling for mac and cheese – as you can tell from this photo. Oh – a chunk or orange stuff, yum. Well don’t let my bad photography fool you – this mac and cheese is the bomb. It’s the ultimate comfort food, and I should know.

You see, I lost my cat last month to illness. Other pet owners out there might understand this – he and his (adopted) brother were my first pets as an adult. That is a whole different situation from childhood pets, or even pets you get later as a family. I literally think of my boys as my children, so this was extremely difficult for me. It was also very sudden. Animals, as you may know, hide their sickness so that they won’t be perceived as weak. Which means that by the time they start acting sick, it is often too late. In our case, we took him in the same day he was acting weird and found out that night that there was nothing we could do. He was gone the next day.

The grief affected me like the flu – I had fever, chills, and nausea. The only thing I could stand to eat was macaroni and cheese, and after a couple of days of my husband making me the boxed stuff, I finally started cooking again. I made this butternut squash mac and cheese and lived off it for a week. It was definitely very comforting.

It’s ooey gooey with both cheddar and Gruyere, with a bit of caramelized onion, pops of salty bacon, and sweet butternut squash – partially mashed so that there is sweetness throughout, but also some chunks here and there. I even splurged and used regular, white pasta so that I could get my favorite shape – gemelli.

The top is sprinkled with more cheese and buttery breadcrumbs. Perfection. This is possibly the most delicious food ever. So whether you are sad or you just like macaroni and cheese, go dive face first into a bowl of this stuff. You won’t regret it. (more…)

06
Nov
2013

Salted Caramel Apple Hand Pies

categories: Recipes

Hand pies are so much fun. You just pick up your own personal mini-pie and munch away. No sharing! And when those flaky pies are filled with cinnamon spiced apples and gooey salted caramel, you won’t want to share.

Putting these together is pretty easy – divide up your apple mixture among the circles of dough, top with a few bits of caramel candy, sprinkle with sea salt, place another round of dough on top.

Crimp the edges with a fork to seal, but the dough is going to puff up like puff pastry so it doesn’t have to be perfect. Egg wash and coarse sugar make the crust a beautiful golden brown.

The one issue with these is that you do have to eat them warm or the caramel will re-solidify. If you don’t eat them all immediately (which, good luck with that) you will need to reheat them before serving. There is also quite a bit of dough in proportion to filling. If that is not your style, make sure to roll it out extra thin. (more…)

30
Oct
2013

Butternut Squash and Kale Mac and Cheese

categories: Recipes

So I actually made this a year ago and didn’t manage to post it before it was way past butternut squash season, doh! I figured I would just hold off and post about it the next Fall, which is what I am doing now. The problem is, my photography has improved leaps and bounds since then so these photos look really awful. I am so sorry in advance, but the mac and cheese is really good. I promise.

I saw this recipe on an episode of The Chew, and the idea was that it was orange and black for Halloween. Orange from the squash, black from the kale. Except that kale is green, even when it’s wilted… Whatever – it uses Fall produce and it’s delicious, so let’s pretend it works.

Cook up some bacon (I used pancetta because stuff and things), add some butter, sweat some onions and garlic, wilt some kale – awesome. So here’s where the original recipe gets weird (The Chew website is notoriously bad at reviewing their recipes) – it says to have 1 butternut squash, peeled and diced, and to saute the squash in the pan. Then later it says to add in the butternut squash puree. What butternut squash puree? There is no butternut squash puree in the ingredient list. Huh? Also – sauteed squash? Meh. So here’s what I did (as you can see in the previous picture) – tossed that cubed squash with olive, salt, pepper, and nutmeg; then roasted it. Yummy. Then I took half the roasted squash and mashed it. Ah-ha! Now there is butternut squash puree, sort of. (more…)

28
Oct
2013

Apple Oat Muffins

categories: Recipes

Let’s start the week out with something sweet, and not even that bad for you. These muffins are mostly oats, held together by a little yogurt, and studded with chunks of delicious apples. The are unbelievably moist and spiced with cinnamon. Breakfast, dessert, whatever – these are going to get gobbled up fast.

I used braeburn apples, but any good baking apple will do. Some stores have little signs that tell you which apples are good for what.

See what I mean? There is more than 2x as much oats as there is flour.

The batter is very wet, but this is a good thing. I would dice the apples smaller next time.

My husband practically inhaled these bad boys. Seriously. Go make these. Right now. I’ll wait… Did you make them? Aren’t you glad you did?

You can invite your neighbor over for muffins and hot chocolate. I bet they’d love it.

They might even take one of the muffins you give them on an adventure to the airport. Cuz who wants to eat airport food, right? (more…)

25
Oct
2013

Healthy Moroccan Lamb

categories: Recipes

Super comforting spiced lamb on top of creamy mashed potatoes – how could that be healthy? Well for starters, there are no potatoes – that is a cauliflower and white bean puree. This looks like comfort food, and it totally is, but it is all veggies and protein with no carbs!

Start by caramelizing some carrots to release that sweetness. Then brown up some lamb. I used lamb chops and discovered that there is very little meat on them – next time I am definitely using cubed meat.

When the lamb is browned, add in garlic, spices, chard, and chickpeas (more protein!). I wondered why the original recipe didn’t call for tomatoes – they make so much sense here. So I went ahead and added them. The original recipe also just used paprika, which I thought was a little boring. I used paprika, cinnamon, cumin, and coriander.

Another change from the original was that it called for polenta to serve with the lamb. Polenta is cooked corn meal, and I am trying to avoid grains. So I used a cauliflower puree instead and it was creamy and delicious – a good counterpoint for the tangy spiced lamb. (more…)

16
Oct
2013

Paleo Chicken and Carrot Cauliflower Puree

categories: Recipes

I am trying to avoid carbohydrates and starches as much as possible for health reasons (and not being very successful). For this reason, I like it when I happen upon a tasty looking Paleo recipe. I do not follow the Paleo diet by any means, but I do agree with some of their basic assumptions – like grains and processed vegetable oils are bad, and animal fat is good.

I liked this recipe even more when I saw that it was for the slow cooker. Loaded up with carrots, cauliflower, onion, garlic, and chicken stock – a pot of goodness!

Now, I usually don’t like chicken thighs, especially skin-on and bone-in, but I get that breasts dry out and fall apart so I followed the recipe on this one. Picking around the bone was still pretty irritating to me, but that skin that I crisped up (twice) in bacon fat? Yum city. I also threw a little fresh thyme in here because I grow it and why not?

The flavor is rich and satisfying, really great as comfort food. I will say that the proportions of this recipe as written are off. There is so little meat on these thighs that it would take 3-4 to fill someone up, especially if you don’t make some other kind of side (greens would have been so good!). And there was a huge amount of puree – I had enough leftover after serving to turn into a soup! So next time, I would double the amount of chicken and will reflect that in the recipe below. (more…)

07
Oct
2013

Butternut Squash Quinoa Salad with Goat Cheese

categories: Recipes

I don’t know if you’ve noticed yet, but warm quinoa salads are kind of the go-to for my friend, Melissa, and I (like this one, and this one, and this one). So when we didn’t really have a lunch plan a couple of weeks ago, we decided to throw some her CSA veg into, you guessed it, a warm quinoa salad. I would apologize for the repetition, but these salads are healthy and filling and delicious, so I’m not sorry!

This time around, Melissa was drowning in fall squash. So we diced up a butternut and threw it in the oven with a sliced onion.

Meanwhile, we cooked up our pretty tri-color quinoa and tossed in some toasted pine nuts. You could easily sub walnuts or pecans instead.

In went the roasted veg and some arugula, along with some fresh thyme. Again, you could easily sub another type of green (I do love peppery arugula, though) and whatever herbs you have on hand.

Lastly, and certainly not least, we added in some goat cheese. We both seriously love goat cheese. We mixed half of the cheese into the salad to get it melty, and crumbled the rest on top so there would be nice pockets of it.

Butternut Squash Quinoa Salad with Goat Cheese
original recipe, click here for Melissa’s post
serves 4

1 small butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 small onion, sliced in half-moons
1 tbsp olive oil
salt and black pepper
1 cup dry quinoa
2 cups water
1/3 cup pine nuts, toasted
1 tsp fresh thyme
2 cups baby arugula
4 oz goat cheese, crumbled

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Toss the squash and onion in olive oil, season lightly with salt and pepper.

Spread the veggies in a single layer on a rimmed cookie sheet covered in foil. Roast for 25–30 minutes, turning the veggies over halfway through. When the squash is tender, remove from the oven.

Meanwhile, combine the quinoa and water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil. Cook, stirring frequently, over medium heat, until the water is absorbed and the curlicues pop out. Season with salt and pepper.

Stir the pine nuts, roasted veggies, thyme, arugula, and half the goat cheese into the quinoa; crumble the rest of the cheese over top. Serve warm.

03
Oct
2013

Blueberry Cheesecake Galette

categories: Recipes

I actually made this the same day as the shrimp galette. Two galettes in one day? Girl. Get a hold of yourself. I can’t though, I have a problem.

No seriously, I have a problem. The second pie crust in that package needed a home, though! Right? Bad foodie, using store-bought. I don’t care, don’t judge me! Oh lordy, somebody please help me.

Fresh blueberries tucked inside pie crust with a smear of sweetened cream cheese – heaven (even if it springs a leak and starts bleeding purple juice) (more…)

30
Sep
2013

Kale and Corn Galette with Shrimp and Feta

categories: Recipes

This is one of those transitional dishes that takes you from one season into another – the last of the summer corn, combined with dark leafy greens in a warm tart. The original recipe didn’t have any protein, but it did use feta and dill, so I thought shrimp would be perfect.

If you don’t eat shrimp, then no problem – leave them off. The veggies and cheese are hearty enough on their own. (more…)

Category: Recipes