Super Spaghetti Squash

Last week I made spaghetti squash for the first time and it was great! My mom had made it over Thanksgiving and after seeing that it wasn't that hard to make and since I had a recipe waiting to be made, I went for it! The recipe was for Coriander Spaghetti Squash from BitchBuzz.com, but I actually didn't have any coriander. Below is my recipe, which varies slightly from the original.

Ingredients:
- 1 medium spaghetti squash
- 1 tsp olive oil plus another 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 large onion, diced
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 1 15-ounce can of red beans
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp salt and black pepper to taste
- 1 15-ounce can crushed tomatoes
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 cup spinach, chopped
- grated Pecorino cheese (optional)

Directions:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
- Cut squash in half, lengthwise. Scoop out center seeds and rub the inside of each half with a 1/2 tsp olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Fill a rectangular glass baking dish with 1-inch of water and place the squash face down in the dish. Bake for 30 minutes or until the peel is easily perforated with a knife. Once done baking, remove from oven and set aside.
- After about 20 minutes of baking, heat the remaining olive oil over medium heat in a large pot.
- Add onion and saute for 4 minutes
- Add garlic and saute for another minute
- Add beans, continue to saute for 3-4 minutes
- Add cumin, salt, and pepper and stir for 30 seconds
- Pour in crushed tomatoes, water, and spinach
- Increase heat to medium-high and cover pot, simmering for 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, with a fork pull out the flesh from the spaghetti squash halves.
- Add the spaghetti to the pot and stir everything together.
- Top with grated Pecorino or Parmesan cheese if desired.


The end result was so good! I could definitely permanently replace real spaghetti with spaghetti squash. A couple observations... spaghetti squash is not as easy to cut as I thought it would be. There are other ways to bake it (like poking holes and sticking it in the microwave, which I'll probably try next time), but I wanted to follow the recipe. I was also amazed at how much spaghetti came from one medium sized squash. This made about 6 hefty sized portions and as far as weight watchers it's 4 PointsPlus/serving.


I will definitely be making spaghetti squash again and even my roommate gave this her seal of approval!

Another First - Fritatta!

I got to use my brand new cast-iron skillet this morning and it was a success! I've been wanting to make this recipe for Spinach & Artichoke Fritatta from In Good Taste Blog for a very long time! It was originally posted on that site a year and a half ago and I remember finding it and drooling just reading it. One weekend I was even tempted to buy a cast iron skillet to make it, but then decided against it. This morning, though, I finally made it! And it was definitely worth the wait!

Ingredients:
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 small onion, sliced
- 4 eggs, beaten
- 4 egg whites, beaten
- 1/2 cup canned artichoke hearts, chopped
- 1 cup fresh baby spinach, washed and stems trimmed
- 1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (I used pecorino)
- salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a small skillet, heat 1 tbsp olive oil over medium-high heat and sautee onions until they've started to caramelize into a deep, golden-brown color. Remove from heat and set aside.
- In a separate bowl, combine eggs and egg whites. Beat lightly until eggs are fully combined; stir in spinach artichoke hearts, onions, and half of the cheese into the mixture until all ingredients are blended.
- Spray skillet with PAM and pour egg mixture in. (The recipe said to use a 10" skillet. Mine is 12" so that's what I used).
- Place skillet on stove top over medium-high heat and cook until the bottom of the fritatta has set but the top is still jiggly.
- Top with remaining Parmesan cheese and place in oven. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until the fritatta is set and begins to brown.

This makes about 4 servings at 5 PointsPlus/serving and is delicious! I topped mine with a little bit of sour cream and salsa. And it even tasted good cold! So excited to have my new skillet and for breaking it in with this awesome brunch recipe!

Mmm... straight from the oven and ready to dig in!

PB and Chocolate Chip "pod" Cookies

Last night I went to a Chrismukkah party and though it wasn't required to bring anything it was a perfect opportunity for me to bake cookies! As you know I rarely bake, unless for an occasion, so that's exactly what this was. I decided to make this recipe for Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies (Mr. Goodbar Cookies) that was one of the very first I found and bookmarked. It's from a Weight Watchers friendly blog that seems to no longer be active. But in any case, here goes.

Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 1/2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
- 1/3 cup chunky peanut butter
- 1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp brown sugar, packed
- 1 large egg
- 3/4 tsp vanilla extract
- 1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and cover two baking sheets with parchment paper (I used a silpat for one and foil for the other)
- In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, and brown sugar.
- In a large bowl, cream the butter and peanut butter together with a hand mixer on a high speed. Add in the egg and vanilla; beat until fluffy.
- With the mixer on a low speed, gradually beat in the flour mixture until well blended. Stir in chocolate chips.
- Drop dough by tablespoons onto the baking sheets, forming 24 cookies total.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes
- Transfer to a cooking rack and cool completely.

The original recipe said to use the bottom of a drinking glass to press down on each dough ball and then use a fork to create criss-cross marks; I didn't do this. My dough was very crumbly and it was hard for the balls to stay together so when I tried to press them down they just fell apart, so I stopped. The original also mentions how her cookies didn't spread and mine didn't either! It was very frustrating. They ended up like little pods of cookies, as you see below.

In the end, yes they tasted good (I mean peanut butter and chocolate don't often taste bad together), but they looked not so good. They were definitely not an attractive cookie; however, still ended up being a success at the party and got eaten up! They're only 2 PointsPlus/cookie so definitely a good Weight Watchers option, if you can get past the weird look.

A Simple Salad

With only a couple weeks left in 2010, I find myself wanting to get as many new recipes under my belt as possible. This weekend, for example, I knocked off three!

First off the list was this awesome Asparagus, Pecorino and Red Onion Salad from The Food Network. It was so extremely easy to make and so delicious! When I finally get through all my new recipes to make, this will definitely be one that I repeat!

Ingredients:
- 1 bunch asparagus, tough bottom stems removed
- 1/2 medium red onion, finely diced
- 3/4 cup coarsely grated aged pecorino cheese
- 1/2 red wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- kosher salt

Directions:
- Cut the asparagus, including the tips, into very thin slices crosswise and place in a medium bowl. Add the red onion and pecorino and toss to combine. Dress with the vinegar, olive oil, and salt and toss again. Refrigerate.

As the original recipe says, the salad should be heavily dressed as the vinegar sort of cooks/tenderizes the asparagus. It's also best to let the ingredients sit for at least an hour so all the flavors blend together well.

I let mine sit in the fridge overnight and when I tasted it today, it was great! Perfectly pungent with the sharp cheese and everything tasted great together. I would definitely recommend this as a good dish to bring to a dinner party, it's easy to make and easily portable. It's also pretty healthy. My ingredients vs. the original are a little smaller in portion size, since I'm cooking for one, so the value for my entire recipe is 7 PointsPlus and you can get at least 2-4 servings from this. Definitely a good dish!

Proof of a Succesful Resolution

Below my blogger friends is proof of a successful resolution. Why you ask? Because one night for dinner and another day for breakfast I decided to take the time to actually MAKE A MEAL! It wasn't from a bookmarked recipe or cookbook, but I looked in my cabinets and took the time to prepare, wait, and eat a delicious meal.


The first meal included cooked barley (which takes about 45 min to cook), black beans, sauteed spinach and mushrooms tossed with some red pepper flakes and spices, and topped with some fresh salsa!
Mmm good!




And the second...

A 3-egg white omelet. I used 2 pans - one for the vegetables and one for the eggs. First I sauteed some spinach, mushrooms, and cauliflower. Then added them to one side the omelet with laughing cow cheese on the other side.

Flipped it over, topped with a little bit of salsa and breakfast was served.

Quinoa Again!

Moving right along with my recipes, this week was book club so I decided to make another type of Quinoa salad. It was alright, nothing spectacular, but easy enough and didn't require much advance shopping. The recipe is from The Kitchen Sink Recipes and is called Quinoa Salad with Asparagus, Lemon & Feta.

Ingredients:
- 1 cup quinoa (I used Red Quinoa because that's all the store had)
- 2 cups water
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
- 1 lb asparagus, trimmed
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tbsp shredded parmigiano-reggiano cheese (I used grated)
- black pepper to taste
- 1 large garlic clove, peeled and left whole*
- 1 tbsp dijon mustard
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 1/2 cup sliced almonds (recipe calls for them toasted, I didn't do that)
- 1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
* [I forgot to buy fresh garlic so just used the jarred stuff I already head, thus spread it over the asparagus as opposed to a while clove]

Directions:
- Combine the quinoa, water, and 1/4 tsp salt in a medium size pot. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and cook (covered) for about 20 minutes or until the water is absorbed.
- While the quinoa cooks, spread the asparagus on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper or foil. Drizzle 1 tbsp oil, the parmigiano cheese, and salt and pepper over the asparagus; toss to coat the spears evenly and spread into one layer. Place garlic evenly on top of spears and roast for 15 minutes until the asparagus is blistered in spots, but retains a bite. Allow the spears to cool slightly and slice into one-inch pieces.
- While the asparagus roasts, whisk together the mustard and lemon juice in a large bowl. Whisk in remaining oil, season with salt and pepper.
- Add the cooked quinoa, sliced asparagus, and almonds to the large bowl. Toss to distribute vinaigrette throughout the quinoa. Taste for seasoning and add salt/pepper as needed.
- Transfer to serving bowl and top with crumbled feta.
* Because I was making this for the next day, I transferred it to Tupperware and stuck it in the fridge. Then when it had cooled I tossed in the feta, put it back in the fridge, and took it to book club the next day!*
- Can be served warm, room temp, or cold. I served it cold.


The end result, as previously mentioned, was ok. Nothing to scream from the rooftops about, but definitely more than edible. The original recipe said it was for 2-4 servings. At that serving size this would be about 9.5 PointsPlus/serving, but I would say you could probably get more out of this if served as a side dish (which it was).

My First Crock Pot Experience!

Diving in to my new plethora of kitchen appliances I decided to start with the crock pot. I've had a bunch of recipes bookmarked that are made in the crock pot/slow cooker, but since I didn't have one up until a few weeks ago I never made them. But now I can! First up, if you couldn't guess, was Mac n Cheese! This time a Creamy Macaroni Cheese Recipe from Paula Deen.

Ingredients:
- 2 cups uncooked elbow macaroni
- 4 tbsp butter, cut into pieces*
- 2 1/2 cups (about 10 ounces) grated sharp Cheddar cheese (I actually used shredded)
- 3 eggs, beaten
- 1/2 cup reduced fat sour cream
- 1 (10 3/4 oz) can condensed Cheddar Cheese Soup
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 cup fat free milk
- 1/2 tsp dry mustard
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
*(As I wrote these ingredients out, I realized that I didn't cut the butter in to pieces, which may have had something to do with my end result. I'll get to that. I also used low fat dairy products when the original calls for full fat).

Directions:
- Boil the macaroni in plenty of water until tender; drain.
- In a medium saucepan, mix butter and cheese. Stir until the cheese melts.
- In a slow cooker, combine cheese/butter mixture and add the eggs, sour cream, soup, salt, milk, mustard, and pepper and stir well. Then add drained macaroni and stir again.
- Set the slow cooker on low setting and cook for 3 hours, stirring occasionally.

The almost final product still in the pot...

So the final product? Well as I've said with almost every other macaroni and cheese recipe, it's never going to be bad. But this probably wasn't my favorite. A couple of things... I think one of the great things about a crock pot is that your ingredients can sit and cook while you do other things (run errands, go to the gym, shop, etc.), but this recipe said to stir frequently so that sort of defeats the crock pot purpose. Also, my cheese/butter mixture was very clumpy and in the final product there were some weird chunks that seemed to turn into fat (like the kind of fat you pick off a gravy or soup). I'm thinking this happened because I failed to slice my butter into pieces. I just had a chunk of butter melting, mixing with cheese, becoming a fat mess.

Though in the end mac and cheese is mac and cheese. It was creamy and delicious and despite being a little too fatty or oily was still good. [If interested, in the new PointsPlus world this was really only 7 pts/serving - assuming you get 12 servings, which may be pushing it]. Will I make this exact recipe again? Probably not. Will I try another macaroni and cheese recipe? Of course! And maybe even another one in the crock pot (there are tons out there). In any case, it's another recipe checked off the list and I got to christen one of my new kitchen toys :)

Happy Holidays!

And specifically for me it was a Happy Hanukkah! This year, for the first time ever, my Hanukkah gifts were all cooking related and these were things I wanted! It just shows how successful this past New Year's resolution has truly been. A year ago I had no interest in any utensils or appliances that involved cooking/baking because well I didn't do either. But now look who I've become:If you can't tell the gifts include (from bottom to top): a crock pot, magic bullet, square and rectangular Pyrex bake ware, and a cast iron skillet with cook book!

Now I have to start using them!

Thanksgiving Cooking - SWEET POTATO!

My second contribution to the Thanksgiving feast was a sweet potato dish. But different from the traditional casseroles this was closer to a salad - Roasted Sweet Potato Salad with Black Bean Dressing, to be exact.

Ingredients:

- 3 large sweet potatoes (about 1 1/2 lbs.), peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks

- 1 large red onion, chopped

- 1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

- 2 tbsp minced fresh hot pepper (I used jalapeno)

- 1 clove garlic, peeled

- juice from 2 limes

- 2 cups canned black beans, drained

- 1 red pepper, seeded and finely diced

- 1 cup chopped fresh cilantro

- salt and pepper

Directions:

- Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Put sweet potatoes and onion a large baking sheet, drizzle with 2 tbsp oil, toss to coat, and spread out in a single layer. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast for 30-40 minutes, turning halfway through, and until potatoes begin to brown and are just tender inside. Remove from oven; keep on pan until ready to mix with dressing.

- Put jalapeno in a mini food chopper with garlic, lime juice, 1/4 cup oil, and a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Process until blended.

- Put warm vegetables in a large bowl with beans and bell pepper; toss with dressing and cilantro.

- Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Serve warm or room temperature, or refrigerate for up to a day.

I made this earlier in the day, refrigerated it, and served it cold. It was a success! Definitely something different than traditional sweet potato recipes, but also something appropriate for any day of the year - not just Thanksgiving! We also warmed it up for leftovers the next day and it was just as good warm!

Again, I didn't point this out, but we probably got close to 20 servings and I used less oil than the original recipe called for. That's the only thing that brings this up in points value - the oil. But I think it's worth it. With black beans and sweet potatoes there's not much to mess up!

So cooking for my first Thanksgiving holiday was indeed a success!

Thanksgiving Cooking - STUFFING!

As a sort of vegetarian I'm not usually a fan of stuffing since it's often made inside the turkey, so when I found this recipe for Dried-Fruit Stuffing it not only sounded great, but also like a super alternative!

Ingredients:

- One 1-pound loaf unsliced white sandwich bread, cut into 3/4 in cubes (I actually cheated and used store bought prepared stuffing bread mix)

- 1 1/2 (6 ounces) unsalted butter

- 3 large granny smith apples, cored and finely chopped

- 1 large onion, chopped

- 3 ribs celery with leafy tops, chopped

- 2 cups chicken/vegetable broth

- 1 cup golden raisins

- 1/2 cup dried sour cherries

- 1/2 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

- salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Chop/dice/prepare all the ingredients and preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium-high heat and add the apples, onion, and celery. Stirring frequently, cook until softened, about 10 minutes. Transfer to a large bowl and stir in the bread, broth, raisins, dried cherries, and parsley. Season with salt and pepper. Transfer to a 3 to 5-quart baking dish and cover. Bake for 20 minutes covered, remove cover and bake for 15 min more or until golden.

The final product was perfect! The combination of dried fruit and veggies made it a great blend of sweet and savory. I kept going back for more as did mostly everyone at the table. The ultimate compliment came from my Bubbie who kept saying how much she liked it! She was genuinely shocked I made it. That to me is a huge compliment because I know I've become a much better cook over the past year. Plus she has probably never eaten anything I've made (not because it was bad, but because it didn't exist)!

As far as WW... I never pointed it out, but I don't think it's that bad! We probably got about 20 servings. I would definitely make this for future Thanksgivings!

Another first - Thanksgiving cooking!

Well, seeing how my venture into cooking begun just about a year ago it's no surprise that I never helped cook the Thanksgiving meal. Part of that was because I usually arrive at my parents house on Thanksgiving day and the other part being that I was not at all interested in helping. But alas, a year later I have all these recipes under my belt and dozens more waiting to be made. Plus this year I arrived the day before the holiday, ready to help!

I discussed what to make with my mom ahead of time and chose options from my long list of bookmarked recipes. In the end we decided I would be responsible for the stuffing and sweet potato dish. Two perfect vegetarian friendly dishes!

The full recipe posts coming next, but the end result looked like so:

Without even trying there was no lack of food! All the staples were covered and it was exciting to have been a part of this!

Now on to the recipes...