Cool shadow! I took this photo at 7am on a rainy day…

After a long smoothie obsession, I have finally succumbed to the early morning laziness I have long been fending off. I used to not mind spending 5-10 extra minutes every morning making smoothies before heading off to work, but now it feels more like a chore. Especially after my last smoothie creation: banana papaya with almond milk kept congealing into an inedible texture! (But thank goodness for those protein shaker balls–worked like a charm in making the smoothie a normal consistency!)

So I decided I need to do something different this week and found this recipe for banana oat bars. The nutrition is all there and I love that the bars contain only a handful of ingredients and you can taste every single of one of them in each bite. I think they turned out great but don’t expect them to be as sweet as a store-bought bar. The only sweetness comes from the banana and the dried dates which is enough for me, but you may want to add some honey in if you crave that sweetness in the morning. 

The recipe said to use a 9×9 pan. I used an 8×6 and it worked fine.

Ingredients

2 large, very ripe bananas
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups rolled oats
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup pitted, chopped dried dates
1/4 cup chopped nuts –I used walnuts
Nutmeg and cinnamon for the topping

Directions

Heat the oven to 350°F and lightly grease a baking dish with olive oil or butter.

Peel the bananas and mash their flesh in a medium mixing bowl. Mash very thoroughly until no large chunks remain; the bananas should be essentially liquid. (You will have between 1 cup and 1 1/4 cup.) Stir in the vanilla and then stir in the oats. Stir in the salt, dates, and nuts.

Pat the thick mixture evenly into the baking pan. Sprinkle the top lightly with nutmeg or cinnamon. Bake for 30 minutes or unti the edges just begin to crisp up.

Place the baking pan on a rack to cool.

Now that summer is here, I have been so inspired by all of the beautiful fruit I’ve been seeing at the market. I’m especially excited for the return of my favorite farmer’s market where there lots of fruit, and more importantly, lots of cheese.

I found this recipe for raspberry buttermilk cake and was foaming at the mouth. It was the perfect first fruit cake of the summer and so surprisingly easy to make! More times than not, I am a raging lunatic in the kitchen but preparation for this cake was seamless and it so fun to make!

Luckily, the final product didn’t disappoint either. It was light and airy–perfect for the hot summer day we were having but full of flavor. Definitely add the optional lemon zest. It makes the raspberries really pop and also makes the cake batter super lemony-fresh tasting.  I thought it was delicious and everyone else who tried it, told me the same. Unless they were all lying to my face, I think this cake is a winner!

I added many more raspberries to the top after this photo was taken because I realized it looked too sparse…

Ingredients

1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened
2/3 cup plus 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar, divided
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest (optional)
1 large egg
1/2 cup well-shaken buttermilk
1 cup fresh raspberries
Powerded sugar to top

Directions

Preheat oven to 400°F with rack in middle. Butter and flour a 9-inch round cake pan.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and set aside. In a larger bowl, beat butter and 2/3 cup sugar with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, then beat in vanilla and zest. Add egg and beat well.

At low speed, mix in flour mixture in three batches, alternating with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour, and mixing until just combined. Pour batter into cake pan, smoothing top. Scatter raspberries evenly over top and sprinkle with remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar.

Bake until cake is golden and a wooden pick inserted into center comes out clean, 20 to 25 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack and cool to warm, 10 to 15 minutes more. Invert onto a plate.

I added powdered sugar to the top of the cake once it was cool and scattered a handful of raspberries on top.

When alliteration is the title of a blog post, you know it’s going to be a good one. I have no idea if that’s really true, but I DO know that it’s true for this one!

I’m a recent pea-convert and made peas with pesto and pasta few weeks ago. It was good and all, but I used pre-made pesto because my one attempt at pesto was so terrible that I was afraid to try again. And linguine noodles were definitely not the way to go. I was losing peas left and right.

I knew I wanted to re-attempt this one since it should be a no-brianer. Then I saw an episode of Barefoot Contessa where Ina cooking with chef from Rao’s and they made his famous peas and prosciutto side dish. I immediately got inspired to turn his side dish into a main course and  simultaneously try my hand at pesto once again.

I used Mark Bittman’s pesto recipe and cut out a few things from Rao’s recipe because making a garlic oil when the peas and prosciutto are about to be covered by garlicy pesto seemed redundant.

It turned out insanely delicious with simple but powerful flavors. This pesto recipe is definitely going to be my new go-to. I used 2 giant cloves of garlic and a little more than the 1/4 cup of cheese the recipe called for which made the pesto explode with flavor. Make this now!

Pesto

Ingredients:

2 loosely packed cups fresh basil leaves, big stems discarded, rinsed and dried
Salt to taste
½ to 2 cloves garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons pine nuts or walnuts, lightly toasted in a dry skillet
½ cup extra virgin olive oil, or more
½ cup freshly grated Parmesan or other hard cheese

Directions:

Toast nuts in a dry skillet over medium heat, shaking frequently, until fragrant, browned and not burned.

Pulse them in a food processor until chopped but not at all powdery.

Add basil to the food processor with the garlic and as much oil as you need to allow the machine to do its work. Process, adding salt, pepper and oil as needed. When the pesto is smooth, stir or pulse in the cheese.

Peas and Prosciutto
(Adapted from Rao’s recipe)

Ingredients

1/4 cup olive oil
1 package diced prosciutto
1 15-ounce can/frozen bag green peas, drained, or 2 cups fresh peas, cooked
1 cup chicken broth
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Heat oil in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add in the prosciutto and saute for an additional 3 minutes.

Add the peas, broth and salt and pepper. Cook for about 3 minutes or until hot.

Drain off all liquid and combine with the pasta. Mix in the pesto until all ingredients are covered.

Wow–I haven’t blogged in forever! I have been cooking up a storm but haven’t gotten to blog any of the amazing (not included the not-so-amazing…and there’s been just as many of these…) meals that I’ve made recently.

I know people are weary of Gwyneth Paltrow after hearing the comments she made about her children’s diet, but her new cookbook It’s All Good has some amazing looking recipe ideas that aren’t as scary as you might think. They’re all gluten-free and healthy but still retain the comfort food feel that she loves.

I made her Japanese Chicken Meatballs and was blown away! I thought I would surely miss the egg binding it together and was weary about them being too sweet with the maple syrup, but they were full of interesting flavor and healthy to boot. You HAVE to make these…they’re soooo good and surprisingly filling. After 5 meatballs I was beyond stuffed.

Recipe here, makes about 2 dozen meatballs. I added some Panko breadcrumbs to her recipe but I’m sure it would still be great without it.

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground chicken (preferably dark meat)
• ½ teaspoon coarse sea salt
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 garlic clove, very finely minced
• 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons good-quality maple syrup
• 2 tablespoons neutral oil (like canola, grapeseed, or safflower oil)
• 1/3 cup Panko bread crumbs
• Lee’s Hoisin Sauce for serving

Directions:

Thoroughly mix the chicken with the salt, pepper, garlic, ginger, soy sauce, oil and maple syrup.

Roll the mixture into golf ball–sized meatballs. Grill, roast, broil, or pan-fry the meatballs until they’re cooked through.

*I baked the meatballs in a 400 degrees oven for 20 minutes, until they began browning.

Serve with Lee’s Hoisin Sauce.

Vietnamese cooking genius, Charles Phan is not messing around with this one. I’ve been dying to get my hands on his cookbook, Vietnamese Home Cooking but haven’t got it just yet, so when I found this recipe in Food and Wine, I wasted no time before trying it out.

Omg. Just…omg. This beef stir fry is the reason why I adore Vietnamese food. Simple, fresh, no muss, no fuss and just has really, really good flavor. The barely-cooked minced garlic, scallions and red onion add so much unexpected “umph” to the beef. And if a nice little Jewish girl like me can hit this one out of the park (at least I was told it was that good) then I know anyone can successfully cook this.

Last thing: in case you’re wondering, it’s calling “shaking” beef because you  shake your pan to incorporate all of the delicious sauce and butter. I, however, was using a rather large wok so I wasn’t able to shake it like the directions said!

Ingredients:

• 1 pound filet mignon, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 3 1/2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon canola oil
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
• 3 tablespoons light soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons Asian fish sauce
• 2 tablespoons white vinegar
• 1 teaspoon rice wine (optional)
• 6 scallions, cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 small red onion, thinly sliced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
• Lime, for serving

Directions: 

1. In a bowl, toss the meat with 1/2 tablespoon of the sugar, 1 tablespoon of the oil and 1 teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Let stand at room temperature for 1 hour.
2. In a small bowl, whisk the remaining 3 tablespoons of sugar with the soy sauce, fish sauce, vinegar and rice wine, if using.
3. Heat a large skillet until very hot. Add the remaining 1/3 cup of oil and heat until smoking. Add the meat and cook over high heat undisturbed for 1 minute, until browned. Turn the meat and cook for 1 minute longer. Tilt the skillet and spoon off all but 1 tablespoon of the oil. Scatter the scallions, onion and garlic over the meat and cook for 30 seconds. Stir the soy mixture and add it to the pan, shaking to coat the meat; bring to a boil. Add the butter and shake the pan until melted.
4. Line a platter with watercress and pour the shaking beef and vegetables on top. Serve with lime wedges and little fresh squeezed lime juice.

I love holidays and even holidays that I don’t celebrate because there always is an excuse to bake something delicious!

I wanted to make cupcakes and try something new, but not too new because I’ve never messed up cupcakes before and didn’t want to start now! Trust me, I have a never-ending baking bucket list that includes all kinds of crazy cupcake ideas, but after reading so much of Mark Bittman’s books, I think his “simple is better” edict is starting to sink in and I chose not to make the crazy stuffed cupcakes I had in mind originally.

Then I saw Giada had an amazing sounding strawberry mascarpone cupcake recipe but when I clicked on it, I was horrified to see that it used BOX MIX. Nooooooooo!  C’mon Giada. I was so annoyed that I nixed the idea completely. Then a search on one of the best baking blogs led me to this. Ahhhhhh. Baking serenity sans box mix. Life was good, and so were the cupcakes.

If you’re looking for a not-too-sweet, fresh, light and airy dessert, bake this. It’s so easy and I can’t wait to make this again with maybe a few slight tweaks and using other fruits!

Recipe via Joy the Baker

Ingredients: 

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup  unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 egg
• 8 ounces ricotta cheese mixed with 1/4 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup diced strawberries, fresh

Directions: 

Center a rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Line a muffin pan with 12 cupcakes papers and set aside.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and set aside. Dice strawberries and set aside. In the bowl of a stand mixer, fit with a paddle attachment, or in a medium bowl with a hand mixer, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

Add the egg and beat for another 1 minute. Beat in the vanilla. Add the ricotta mixture alternately with the flour mixture. Starting and ending with the flour mixture. Fold in the strawberries. Divide among the 12 muffin tins and bake for 12-15 minutes, or until risen and very lightly browned. Remove from the oven and let cool completely before frosting.

For the frosting you’ll need: 

• 2 large egg whites
• 1 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup water

Combine all ingredients in a metal bowl set over a saucepan of simmering water, and beat with a handheld electric mixer on low speed until mixture is warm and sugar is dissolved. (I first dissolved the sugar in the water and then mixed it with egg whites in a stand mixer with the whisk attachment.) Increase speed to high and beat until frosting is thick and fluffy, about 7 minutes.

Remove from bowl and beat until slightly cooled.

Add a dash of vanilla extract and food coloring if desired.

I LOVE appetizers. It’s a love that always gets me in trouble. I have big eyes and a small stomach and I cannot resist appetizers (and BREAD) before eating dinner. It’s real sad when I get all excited about a meal and can’t take more than a few bites because I’ve filled up so much on the first course.

That’s why it’s always a good idea to have an appetizer night in lieu of a real dinner once in a while. With my family, it usually consists of some frozen pigs in a blanket, mozzarella sticks and cheeses. But since I’ve been painfully aware that my beloved potato skins are all but gone from appetizer menus everywhere, I decided to make my own.

Even though it was a little more time consuming than I expected, I would definitely make these again. We ate these with some edamame on the side, drank some good beer and watched Friday Night Lights on Netflix. If only Coach Taylor and Tami could have joined us…! I definitely think this could be Texas-worthy food!

Recipe via The Pioneer Woman

Ingredients: 

• 8 whole russet potatoes
• 4 tablespoons canola oil
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1-1/2 cup grated cheddar cheese
• 8 slices bacon, chopped
• Salt to tast
• 2 whole green onions, chopped
• 1/2 cup sour cream

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Scrub potatoes clean and allow them to dry. With a paper towel or just with your hands, rub the skin of the potatoes with 2 tablespoons canola oil so that they’re moist.

Place potatoes on a baking sheet and bake until skin is crisp and potatoes are tender, about 30 to 40 minutes. Remove the pan and allow to cool until you can handle the potatoes.

Cut potatoes in half lengthwise. Scoop out the insides, leaving a little bit of potato in the skins. Melt the butter with 2 tablespoons canola oil, then brush both the outside and the inside of the potatoes. Sprinkle the inside lightly with salt. Place potato halves face-down and return to the oven for 5 to 8 minutes. Using tongs, turn the potatoes over and continue to bake until the edges of the potatoes start to turn golden brown.

Remove from oven. Sprinkle the insides of the potato skins with cheddar, then add the chopped bacon. Return to the oven long enough for the cheese to melt, about 3 to 4 minutes.

Top with green onions and a dollop of sour cream. Serve immediately.

This is a little Sandra Lee of me, but this is a pizza made with refrigerated pizza dough (gasp, gasp from meanie food bloggers who look down on those who don’t do everything from scratch!). You could make your own dough for this. It would be easy enough, but the reason for making this exact pizza is that it’s stupid easy but will taste amazing. Even if you’re spending a couple extra bucks on the dough, it’s still way cheaper than ordering a pizza!

And I just lovveee cherry tomatoes. They’re so much sweeter than regular tomatoes and give this pizza more flavor than an average margherita pizza has.

This takes no time at all, prep time is no more than 15 minutes and baking time is another 10-15 minutes, which means dinner on the table in a half hour! This could make for a great appetizer or party food as well. Enjoy!

Adapted from Bon Appetit

Ingredients:

• 1 roll refrigerated pizza dough (thin crust if you can find it)
• 1 12 oz container cherry tomatoes
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 4 oz ball fresh mozzarella, diced
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh basil leaves, plus extra leaves for garnish

Directions:

Remove dough from refrigerator 10 minutes before cooking to make it easier to work with.

Place rack in top third of oven and preheat to 425 degrees F.

Unroll dough on a large baking sheet and pull dough to encompass most of the sheet. Fold over edges of dough to make crust and pinch any tears in the dough to seal.

Heat a large skillet over high heat and then add olive oil. Add tomatoes and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Saute for about 5 minutes, until the tomatoes are starting to break down and are slightly charred. Add the garlic to the pan in the last 2 minutes of sauteing.

Pour the tomatoes into a large bowl and add in red pepper flakes. Add more salt and pepper to season as needed. Using the back of a fork, crush tomatoes in bowl while leaving large chunks.

Sprinkle mozzarella  and chopped basil leaves evenly over the dough, right up to the crust. Spoon tomato mixture evenly, right up to the crust.

Bake pizza for about 10-15 minutes or until the crust is crisp and brown and the cheese is bubbly and beginning to brown.

Garnish with remaining basil leaves and serve hot/

I need to practice “filling” the thumbprints. Badly.

For my family Pre-Passover dinner, I volunteered to make dessert. My mom makes the best Matzah ball soup that I’ve ever had and a mean brisket so I was glad to leave the cooking to her and stick to baking cookies!

I wanted to try something from How to Eat Everything but ended up getting stuck on the idea of thumbprint cookies. So too Google I went to find out how Mr. Bittman makes them. This is his cookie recipe, but the fillings he suggested were way beyond my family’s comprehension. Most of them like good old fashioned chocolate with nothing fancy added. But I was feeling a little daring and made a few salted caramel cookies, too (which were MORE of a hit than the plain chocolate–it was a shocker, trust me).

The “fillings” are from Martha Stewart. I decreased the caramel recipe by quite a lot since I only made a quarter of the cookies with that filling, but that is the general idea. These were my kind of cookies: soft, with just enough sweetness that made them taste perfectly balanced with the filling/topping whatever you want to call it.

I can’t wait to make these again and be a little more adventurous with the  fillings!

Cookie ingredients:

• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 egg
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• Pinch salt
• 1/4 cup milk, plus more if needed

Chocolate ingredients:

• 2-3 ounces semi-sweet chocolate
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter

Salted Caramel ingredients:

• 6 tablespoons heavy cream
• 12 ounces small soft caramel candies
• A pinch of sea salt for each cookie

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Using an electric mixer, cream together the butter and sugar. Add the vanilla and egg and beat until well blended.

Combine the flour, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Add half the dry ingredients to the dough, beat for a moment, then add the milk. Beat for about 10 more seconds, then add the remaining dry ingredients. You can add a little more milk, if necessary, to make a soft dough.

To form the cookies, roll the dough into 1 inch diameter balls and then press the pad of your thumb into the middle to flatten the ball and make an indentation.

Arrange on baking sheets and bake until bottoms are brown, for about 10 minutes.

While the cookies are baking, melt the chocolate and butter together and the caramel and heavy cream together in 2 separate double broilers.

You can press your thumb, or use another kitchen tool (I used the bottom of a whisk) to make the thumbprint if they have disappeared while baking. Let cookies cool for a few minutes on drying racks and then add in the melted chocolate or the caramel.

Even though I love cooking and more importantly, love eating, I don’t know very much about the culinary world. I watch Top Chef and someone will say “This tastes great but needs more acid!” Acid? I nod in agreement with Padma but I really have no idea what’s she’s talking about.

But with this baked shrimp scampi, I know what I’m talking about. I also know it has acid because it has lemon juice and lemon zest–suck on that, Padma. What I really mean when I say I know what I’m talking about is that I knowwwww this shrimp is the best shrimp you might ever have.

It’s almost too flavorful–if that’s even possible. A stick and a half of butter, olive oil, seasonings, an egg yolk, onion, lots of garlic, white wine…. you just have to try it. It’s too legit to quit. Your stomach will probably hurt after this one if you have too many, like I did, but it’s worth it I PROMISE.

Baked Shrimp Scampi altered slightly from Ina Garten

Ingredients

• 2 pounds (12 to 15 per pound) shrimp in the shell
• 3 tablespoons good olive oil
• 2 tablespoons dry white wine
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3 teaspoons minced garlic (3 cloves)
• 1/4 cup minced onion
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley leaves
• ½ teaspoon dried rosemary leaves
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1 large egg yolk
• 2/3 cup panko bread crumbs

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Peel, devein, and butterfly the shrimp, leaving the tails on. Place the shrimp in a mixing bowl and toss gently with the olive oil, wine, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper. Allow to sit at room temperature while you make the butter and garlic mixture.

In a small bowl, mash the softened butter with the garlic, onion, parsley, rosemary, red pepper flakes, lemon zest, lemon juice, egg yolk, panko, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper until combined.

Starting from the outer edge of a 14-inch oval gratin dish or your preferred baking dish, arrange the shrimp in a single layer cut side down with the tails curling up. Pour the remaining marinade over the shrimp.

Crumble the butter mixture evenly over the shrimp. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until hot and bubbly. If you like the top browned, place under a broiler for 1 minute.