Roasted Chickpea and Tahini Sammies

May 21, 2013 By Leave a Comment

I love chickpeas. They’re fantastic. They add delicious texture to salads. Tired of boring old lettuce, no problem, just add a few chickpeas. Tada! They make a delicious salad on their own, with a little bit of balsamic vinegar and red peppers.

Oh and they are the main ingredient in hummus. Which is DELICIOUS! But did you know that you can roast chickpeas? Yes, you can just roast up a can of chickpeas and pop them as delicious little snacks.

OR, even better you can roast them and use them to fill a delicious sammy. Dress them with some tangy tahini and fill up a warm pita and they make a delicious sandwich. It’s like hummus, but undone. Deconstructed. And crunchy.

Happy Eating!

~Nikki  [Read more...]

Filed Under: Entrees, Snacks, Vegetarian Tagged With: , , , ,

Creamy Avocado Quinoa and Black Beans

January 19, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Have you ever looked in the pantry or the fridge and just been inspired? Most days it isn’t like that. You either know what you are going to make or you don’t. And when you don’t you look at recipes, then you open the fridge again, then you go back to looking at recipes and then back to the fridge…because maybe if you open and close it enough times dinner ideas will magically appear? Or you’ll have a sudden moment of dinner time clarity and create something delicious, healthy and just amazing. And then you settle on a sandwich?  Ah, moments of true inspiration are rare I suppose, unless your on Iron Chef or Chopped.

However, when I was visiting my parents recently I had one of those truly delicious moments. I was digging through the pantry and fridge when I found a giant bag of avocados, a bag of tortilla chips and a Costco sized container of Feta. I spent the rest of the day fantasying about how good these would taste together. Could I blend the Mexican and the Greek? Would it be served hot? Cold? Salad? Soup? [Read more...]

Filed Under: Entrees, Vegetarian

Garlic Ginger Fried Rice

January 3, 2013 By Leave a Comment

Do you like chinese food? I’ll admit it openly. I’m not a fan. I’m a seriously picky eater.  Literally picky. I will spread things around on a plate, examine bits, smell pieces. So when it comes to chinese food, I’m generally only eating rice. Plain rice preferably. And forget vegetables! Oh yes, let’s take perfectly delicious and wholesome veggies and drown them in sauces to make them taste like fish! I agree with Monti from Master Chef “What the hell is fish sauce? And why does it taste like DEATH?!”  Making veggies slimy and covering them in fish and oyster sauce…bleck!

But I do like fried rice. Usually. As long as their are no stray bits of chicken in there. Or shrimp. Double bleck!  And a while back I saw this recipe for ginger fried rice. And I thought, ginger and garlic, that sounds yummy. I like ginger. I like garlic. I think they will taste good with rice. But I’m lazy, and I didn’t make it. And I have a well documented history of being unable to fry a decent egg.  And then I saw this recipe for skinny fried rice and I thought, YES!  I can fry rice with out having to fry an egg. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Entrees Tagged With: , , ,

Pumpkin Round-Up

November 22, 2012 By Leave a Comment

I didn’t realize that I had a pumpkin “thing”. I guess maybe I did. I knew that I was buying a lot of pumpkin. I guess I thought it was a new development. And then I started looking at this and seeing all of the pumpkin related posts. Yeah, I’ll admit it. I love that big orange squash. It’s just so versatile and yummy! Sweet, Savory it can be anything! Bread, pasta, cakes…yay! So now that Thanksgiving has come and gone and you still have an extra can of pumpkin puree hanging around, why not  use it sooner then later. Here is a round up of some of my favorite pumpkin treats you can try!

If you haven’t tried it already, Pumpkin Whoopie Pies are my new favorite treat. They are delicious with chocolate filling.

Or just as delicious with a cream cheese filling. They are also delicious on their own, with no filling, if you’d like to pretend you’re starting a holiday diet.

If you are tired of Turkey leftovers you could make a delicious vegetarian lasagna with this Pumpkin Lasagna recipe. It’s one of my favorites, but please forgive me! I took the picture with my Iphone! I promise it taste much better than this picture does justice.

If you’re interested in trying something new, try pumpkin ravioli. These combine sweet and savory for a delicious autumn dinner.

If it’s cold outside, whip up a Pumpkin Latte and snuggle up on the couch while all those crazy folks head out for black friday deals. If you live somewhere were it isn’t cold out (like me, in Singapore where it’s muggy and rainy!) turn up the AC, grab a blanket and pretend that it’s cold out while you curl up with one of these.

Happy Eating

~nikki

Filed Under: Beverages, Desserts, Entrees, Holiday Baking, Snacks Tagged With: , , , , , , , , ,

Macaroni and Cheese Cups

September 15, 2012 By Leave a Comment

What is it about things that are miniature that makes them infinitely more appealing? Is it their little tiny details? Is there something whimsical about miniature? Is this an ailment that affects only women? Men seem immune to the pull of things miniature. Yu’ll never catch  a group of men cooing over how adorable that miniature kitchen set is.

The lure of the miniature can apply to just about everything. Really. Shrink anything so that it fits on the tip of your finger and try to deny it becomes instantly cuter.  I am partial to mini things. Puppies of course fit into the mini thing category as well. Babies however, I’m not so sure about.

The undeniable appeal of things that are miniature of course applies to food as well. Cute … and delicious? Sign me up! Another great thing about miniature food is that it makes for fantastic party food. Individual servings are always a hit because they are easier to handle. You don’t have to worry about providing a spoon for a dish. Mini food is good conversation starter. Did I mention that they look cuter because they are miniature? These Mac and Cheese cups are no exception to the miniature rule. Make them in an ordinary muffin tin (with or without a muffin liner) and pop them on a cute tray to serve.

While you make these bite sized treats I’m going to start a list of mini things that I want.

A mini horse

Source: indulgy.com via nikki on Pinterest

 

A mini pig (actually I want a micro mini pig hybrid)

Source: krumcake.tumblr.com via nikki on Pinterest

A mini pug (okay, I had one of these already and she turned into a regular pug so I guess I’ll keep her.)

A mini whisk (they just look cuter!)

Source: qcidirect.com via nikki on Pinterest

 

A mini hedgehog (which is really a baby hedgehog)

 

A mini cooper

 

Happy Eating!

~nikki

 

Print
Macaroni and Cheese Cups
Author: 
Serves: about 18 cups
 

Individual Mac and Cheese cups make great party treats Inspired from Shine! on Yahoo
Ingredients
  • ½ pound elbow macaroni
  • 2 tablespoons flour
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 2 cups milk
  • 8 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, grated
  • 1 large egg, beaten
  • salt and pepper to taste
Topping
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • ½ cup panko bread crumbs

Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 F. On the stove top, bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil and add about two teaspoons of salt the the water. Then add the pasta and cook according to the package directions. Drain the pasta, but don’t rinse it and set it aside.
  2. In a separate pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Whisk the flour into the butter and cook for about five minutes. Keep the mixture moving and smooth, without lumps.
  3. Slowly, whisk the milk into the mixture and allow to simmer for about ten minutes.
  4. Remove from heat and stir in about ¾ of the grated cheese. Fold the cooked pasta into the cheese mixture, making sure that all of the pasta is coated.
  5. Add the beaten egg to the mixture and continue to fold the pasta to make sure the egg is well incorporated. Season with salt and pepper.
  6. Spoon the mixture into muffin tins (I used a nonstick pan so I didn’t spray them with nonstick spray or use liners…but you could.)
  7. To make topping, melt remaining tablespoon of butter and toss the breadcrumbs to coat.
  8. Top the muffins with a sprinkle of bread crumbs and a pinch of the remaining grated cheese.
  9. Bake for about 20 minutes, until they are browned on top. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 15 minutes (they’ll need to cool a bit to finish firming up) before removing from the pan.
  10. Serve and enjoy!
  11. Preheat oven to 350 F. On the stove top, bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil and add about two teaspoons of salt the the water. Then add the pasta and cook according to the package directions. Drain the pasta, but don’t rinse it and set it aside.
  12. In a separate pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Whisk the flour into the butter and cook for about five minutes. Keep the mixture moving and smooth, without lumps.
  13. Slowly, whisk the milk into the mixture and allow to simmer for about ten minutes.
  14. Remove from heat and stir in about ¾ of the grated cheese. Fold the cooked pasta into the cheese mixture, making sure that all of the pasta is coated.
  15. Add the beaten egg to the mixture and continue to fold the pasta to make sure the egg is well incorporated. Season with salt and pepper.
  16. Spoon the mixture into muffin tins (I used a nonstick pan so I didn’t spray them with nonstick spray or use liners…but you could.)
  17. To make topping, melt remaining tablespoon of butter and toss the breadcrumbs to coat.
  18. Top the muffins with a sprinkle of bread crumbs and a pinch of the remaining grated cheese.
  19. Bake for about 20 minutes, until they are browned on top. Remove from oven and allow to cool for 15 minutes (they’ll need to cool a bit to finish firming up) before removing from the pan.
  20. Serve and enjoy!

Filed Under: Entrees, Snacks Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Beer Pizza Dough

June 9, 2012 By 2 Comments

Today is a very sad day. Sad indeed. Today is the day movers will come and haul away my beautiful, shiny, stainless steel oven so it can go to its new home.
And we will be ovenless for the next two months or so. I haven’t told you that we’re moving? Ooops. I loathe moving, but somehow I end up doing this way too frequently. That’s a whole different story, but yep, we’re headed off for our next adventure on July 25th and we’ve got to start emptying out our flat, selling our belongings and getting ready for the movers. So, today, at 6 pm the new owners of my oven will come to take it away.
So I had to make a going away dinner, one last hurrah before parting with the oven. But I couldn’t think of anything…until I opened the fridge and saw that one, lonely bottle of beer that had been sitting on the bottom shelf of the fridge for months now. It wasn’t that it was a bad beer, it was just a maltier beer than I prefer. And there was only one. But it would be perfect for pizza.There are few things that go together as well or complement each other as perfectly as beer and pizza. But put the beer in the pizza? Yes, perfect! It was the perfect final meal to cook with the oven. And it was delicious. A delicious yeasty dough, sweetened ever so slightly by honey. Yum! Easy and delicious!
Happy Eating!
~Nikki

Click below for recipe

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Bread, Entrees Tagged With: , ,

Pumpkin Ravioli

March 22, 2012 By 1 Comment

pumpkin ravioli What a week! Thank goodness it’s finally Spring Break! I’m so excited, J will be back in a few days and then we are heading to Istanbul for a week. I’m going to see me some Whirling Dervishes (Isn’t that just fun to say??) and eat oodles and oodles of turkish delight! I love vacation 
pumpkin In the meantime, I promised you a recipe for ravioli! Last Thursday was a really frustrating day at work (it should have been a sign of what was to come this week! yikes!!) and when I came home from work I really needed to work out some stress in the kitchen! Making ravioli was the perfect way to do that because you get to take out all of your aggression on some pasta dough which is really gratifying when you beat and pound something and then as if by magic it turns into a delicious dinner!I had these little potsticker/ravioli molds that I’ve been dying to use, but J isn’t a big fan of pasta so they have been sitting in the drawer for a few weeks. So since he wasn’t here, I was having pasta for dinner. I gave up on those molds about halfway through, they were a bit tedious, but pretty! I just started making little triangles and pressing the edges with a fork on each side to seal. Less pretty, but much faster and equally tasty.spoon in a small amount of fillingsqueeze and trim edges

I really had my heart set on butternut squash ravioli, which they serve at this restaurant we used to love going to back home. But apparently, like so many other seemingly average things, I couldn’t find my beloved squash here in the middle east. Maybe if I lived in a bigger city with a fancy organic grocery… Alas, I deferred to my equally delicious friend, the canned pumpkin, and he didn’t let me down. [Read more...]

Filed Under: Entrees Tagged With: , , , ,

Easy Pizza Dough

March 8, 2012 By Leave a Comment

I love pizza. But I love a lot of food. I think it would be easier to give you a list of things I don’t like, but then you would be painfully aware of how unrefined my palate truly is. I like pizza SO much that I can sit down and eat an entire large pizza by myself. Really, I’ve done it more than once. It’s one of those fabulous dishes that you just keep going for that next slice, even when your already full and you know that it’s going to hurt…but you just keep eating. But one of the real reasons I like pizza because it can be a relatively balanced meal: a little carb, a little fat and lots of veggies. It’s the perfect meal. Now I’m not talking stuffed crust pizza from your local delivery or greasy pizza that’s more like soup and leaves a greasy puddle on your plate. I’m talking about a pizza with a thin, crispy crust a touch of cheese and loads of yummy veggies. The best pizzas are the ones you make at home.

That being said, I’ve had a difficult time finding a good pizza dough recipe that doesn’t get chewy or gummy so I’ve always just purchased pre-made pizza dough and then topped it myself. But after tweaking this recipe I will never purchase pizza dough again! J and I went on a pizza kick last week, testing this recipe with different toppings and it was, well it was a fantastic night of eating!

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Entrees Tagged With: , , ,

Vegetarian Pumpkin Lasagna

December 17, 2011 By 3 Comments

With Christmas right around the corner, I can’t help but start to think about lasagna. Now, this might seem like a strange train of thought to you, but hey I’m a strange person so you’ll have to excuse it (or not, your choice I suppose). Anyhow, lasagna is a traditional Christmas dish where I come from and I think it’s far superior to oh, say, ham or roast turkey. Turkey is for Thanksgiving as far as I’m concerned, but I suppose if you live across the pond and you don’t have Thanksgiving you need an excuse to roast up a turkey and then Christmas seems like a fine time to do that. And well don’t even get me started on ham. Ham? How is that festive? It’s a pig, er big hunk of lunch meat! And what part of the pig does that even come from anyway? It’s bum? It can’t be it’s bum it’s got a big ‘ol bone in the middle of it…is it a giant thigh? I don’t know and I’m not sure I want to.

So when a coworker was on a pumpkin baking spree a few weeks ago I thought, hey do you know what would be really delicious? Pumpkin Lasagna. She was kind enough to provide me a couple cans of the coveted squash (canned pumpkin isn’t a staple on shelves round these parts).

[Read more...]

Filed Under: Entrees Tagged With: , , , ,