Monika's Cinnamon Toast Cupcakes

Even though I am the 3rd blogger to post these cupcakes originally posted by my friend Monika, I must do it. They are unbelievably delicious and I do not bake and found these incredibly easy to make. Use them at your discretion, because once your friends know you can make these little bites of heaven, they will continually harass you to bring them to every event you attend. On the other hand, if you find yourself in the proverbial doghouse for whatever reason, a dozen of these babies will get you out of it. Guaranteed. Not that I've ever been there or had to use a bribe to get out of it.

Without further ado, I present the link to the Cinnamon Toast Cupcakes:

http://adamandmonika.com/Site/Sushi_%26_Chocolate/Entries/2007/9/5_Cinnamon_Toast_Cupcakes!.html

Enjoy.

Thai Green Curry with Shrimp & Tofu

My team at work goes to this nearby Thai place on a weekly basis, and since they never seem to get sick of it, I decided to try it out. They highly recommended the green curry, which I ordered with fried tofu. It was creamy, sweet, salty, with just the right amount of heat to bring out all the flavors. I loved it! This past weekend I decided to try to recreate it at home and was absolutely successful and surprised at how easy it was. I found this great recipe on epicurious.com as a start and made some modifications to it to match the restaurant version. I'll definitely be making it again!

Here are some tips I have learned about stir frying. Stir frying is so fast and easy, but the tricky part is the order in which to stir fry the ingredients. You don't want anything over- or under-cooked. Since it goes so fast, make sure to have all the ingredients prepped, opened, and ready to throw in the hot pan. You don't want to be fumbling around in the fridge searching for something while your shrimp is turning into rubber. Also, make sure to add the ingredients starting with what takes the longest to cook to the shortest. This may seem obvious but when you're dealing with a lot of ingredients at once it's easy to forget.

Update August 2010: Recently I discovered an Asian market nearby that sold green curry paste, so I bought it to replace the Thai Kitchen one that I usually use. Wow, what a difference! Previously when I made this dish, it came out somewhat bland and I had to kick the flavor up by adding garlic chili paste or more green curry. But using this authentic curry paste it was not bland at all, much spicier, and I didn't have to add any chili paste. Much improved!

RECIPE:

1 tbsp canola (or other type) oil
1/2 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
3/4 cup green onions, sliced (about 8 small)
8 oz shiitake mushrooms, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 pound uncooked shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 package extra firm tofu, pressed for 15-30 minutes, then cubed
1/2 can bamboo shoots, sliced into strips
1/2 red bell pepper, sliced into strips
2 tbsp Thai green curry paste (add more to taste if desired
1 tbsp Thai red garlic chili paste
2 tbsp fresh basil, sliced into strips
1 14oz can light coconut milk
1 cup low-salt vegetable or chicken broth
3 tbsp Thai fish sauce (nam pla)
1 tsp sugar
Chopped fresh cilantro

Heat oil in skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Cook onion and tofu about 5-7 minutes until onion is translucent and tofu is crispy brown on edges. Reduce heat to medium. Add green onions, bell pepper, mushrooms and green curry paste, stir for 2 minutes. Add coconut milk, broth, fish sauce, chili paste, basil and sugar. Bring to boil, then add shrimp. Cook shrimp until tails curl up to the heads and they have just turned pink. At this point turn the heat down low and taste your curry. If it's bland in flavor, add more green curry paste. If it's not hot enough, add red chili paste a tsp at a time. Garnish curry with cilantro and serve in a wide shallow bowl, by itself if you're going low-carb, or with sticky rice.

Black Bean & Corn Dip

My former roommate and I aptly named this "crack" because it was so addicting! I made it for a New Years' Eve pre-party and decided to post. Great dip to bring to parties with tortilla chips. It keeps well in the fridge for a few days, and actually tastes better the next day as the flavors meld. I also like to wrap a scoop in a tortilla for a quick snack.

RECIPE:
1/3 cup lime juice
1/4 cup olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp salt
1/8 tsp ground cayenne pepper
2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1½ cups corn, thawed
1 avocado, peeled, pitted and diced
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
6 green onions, thinly sliced
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

Place lime juice, olive oil, garlic, salt, and cayenne pepper in a small jar. Cover with lid and shake until ingredients are well mixed. In a salad bowl, combine beans, corn, avocado, bell pepper, tomoatoes, green onions, and cilantro. Shake lime dressing and pour it over the salad. Toss salad to coat vegetables and beans with dressing and serve, or cover and chill. Makes 8 servings. (per serving: About 450 calories, 12g fat, 21g protein, 67g carbohydrates)

Wild Rice Pilaf

Recently I hosted a girls' dinner at my place with a menu of chicken breasts stuffed with prosciutto and asiago cheese, roasted asparagus, and this rice pilaf that stole the show. I think everyone at the table went back for seconds! See the website link for a picture, I forgot to take one!

REVIEW: This recipe got rave reviews on allrecipes.com which is usually a good sign, and it didn't disappoint. It was sweet, salty, crunchy, and starchy all in one scoop. Definitely use fresh parsley in this recipe, I made it again for Christmas dinner with dried and it was missing something for sure. I liked that this recipe was easy to make and can be made the morning of the party then reheated in the oven.

RECIPE:
3 1/2 cups vegetable broth
2 cups wild rice
1 cup golden raisins
1 cup almonds, slivered
1/2 cup fresh parsley, minced
1 tbsp butter
canola oil
salt & pepper

Bring 1/2 cup vegetable broth to a boil. Add golden raisins, remove from heat, cover and set aside. Prepare wild rice according to package directions, adding a tbsp butter to the water. You made need more or less broth than the recipe calls for depending on the type of rice you get. While rice is cooking, heat a small amount of oil in a skillet on medium heat. Toast almonds in oil until they are a light brown color. When rice is done, combine it with fresh parsley, almonds, and golden raisins. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Makes 10 servings. (per serving: 230 cals, 6g fat, 38g carbs, 10g protein)

Warm-You-Up Meal in TX...Not Quite Right

Terrible photo, yummy mac & cheese with tomato-basil soup! This time of year I usually make fun of the southern folk who, as soon as November hits, don their sweaters, furry boots, and scarfs NO MATTER WHAT temperature it is outside. Well, now I did basically the same shameful thing but with food. I decided to make a cozy comfort dish sure to warm me up, but seeing it was a 75 deg day, it was totally inappropriate. But no less delicious! For the soup I had an interesting time trying to get the soup to stay in the blender and not splatter hot liquid all over the place. This is the first time I've made anything but smoothies in my new blender, so there must be a trick to it. One thing that helped was pureeing only 1/2 the mixture at a time.


REVIEW: Mac & cheese to me is kinda boring. It's noodles & cheese made for picky kids who refuse to eat normal food, so what? Haha. This gourmet version from Cooking Light totally changed my mind. I paired it with a creamy tomato basil soup (also Cooking Light) that my bf and I could not get enough of. Would've been perfect on a cold night.

RECIPE (3-cheese mac & cheese):

1 medium onion, chopped fine

2 tbsp flour

1 1/2 cups 1% milk

1 bay leaf

1/2 cup gorgonzola cheese, crumbled

3/4 cup fresh parmesan cheese, shredded

2/3 cup low-fat mozarella cheese, shredded

2/3 cup plain breadcrumbs

2 cups whole-wheat pasta (I used mini shells)

salt & pepper

olive oil

Sautee onion and garlic in skillet with olive oil med-high heat for 8-10minutes. Add flour and cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in milk and bay leaf, bring to boil. Cook 2 minutes until thick, stirring constantly with whisk. Stire gorgonzola and parmesan until completely melted. Discard bay leaf. Preheat oven to 375F. Cook pasta in boiling water until almost tender, drain, then add to cheese mixture. Coat baking dish with cooking spray, spread mac & cheese in pan. Sprinkle breadcrumbs, pepper, and parmesan on top. Bake for 25 minutes. Makes 6 servings. (per serving: 321 cals, 10g fat, 41g carbs, 17g protein)

RECIPE (tomato-basil soup):

4 large tomatos, peeled and seeded

4 cups tomato juice (low sodium if you can find it)

1/3 cup fresh basil leaves, chopped fine

1 cup 1% milk

4 oz low-fat cream cheese

salt and pepper to taste

Bring tomatos and tomato juice to a boil, reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 30 mins. Puree tomato mixture and basil in blender or food processor. Return puree to pan, stir in milk, salt and pepper, cream cheese. Whisk and simmer med-high heat until cheese is melted and soup is thick. Serve with crusty bread. Makes 8 servings, 1 cup soup 1 slice bread for each. (per serving: 133 cals, 4.4g fat, 19g carbs, 5g protein)

The Healthiest Meal Ever (that actually tastes great!)

Haha, I love how I'm posting this right after my "meat 'n' potatoes" meal. But nevertheless, lately I've been trying to do my body right by eating more natural and vegetarian. Not sure how long I'll last before I crave a juicy burger, but it's 3 weeks in and I'm doing ok! The most fun part has been finding creative ways to get the same amount of protein I used to consume on my low carb diet. With so many resources out there, and several stores close by that carry a variety of natural ingredients, it hasn't been as hard as I expected. While searching allrecipes.com this week, I ran across this quinoa salad that got rave reviews AND packed almost 30g protein! I read about all the benefits of quinoa but had never tried it so this was my first time cooking it. Tastes pretty much like rice but less starchy, it might be bland on its own but mixed in with yummy flavors here, it was perfect.

REVIEW: I will be making this recipe again for sure, but I may try different veggies next time to change it up. It seems to be very versatile. Start to finish took me about 30mins, 1 pan, and it was easy! In Cooking Light I read that if you're stir frying tofu, you should press it between two towels (paper or cloth) with a weight on top for about 20-30 mins to squeeze out all the extra moisture. I've only made tofu twice and I did that both times, so I can't say what would happen if you didn't, but I bet the tofu would crumble during all the stirring.

RECIPE:
1 block extra-firm tofu, cubed
3/4 cup quinoa, uncooked
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1 cup corn, fresh or canned or frozen all work
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1 can black beans
1 tsp cumin
dash cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste

Heat canola oil in skillet on med-high heat. Sautee tofu cubes, onion, garlic, bell pepper for 8-10mins until onions are transluscent and tofu is slightly brown on edges. Add vegetable broth and quinoa, cumin, cayenne, salt, and pepper. Mix together and bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer covered for 20mins. Add corn, black beans, and cilantro and mix until heated through. Serve! Makes 6 large servings. (per serving: 400 cals, 6g fat, 30g carbs, 26g protein)

Nothin' Like Some Meat & Potatoes...

Sometimes you just have a craving for a meat and potatoes dinner. With Hurricane Ike looming upon us this past Saturday night, I decided to cook a meal that "sticks to your ribs"....you know, in case we got flattened by 85 mph winds and flooded by 8ft waves (none of which happened, although the weather people made sure you thought it would!).

This was my first attempt at cooking steak. I don't eat it much, so when I do I'll simply go to the numerous steakhouses on hand and satisfy my craving. Not knowing what I was picking out at the store didn't help. Luckily for me, Target had a sign posted that told me which cut was best for what. It was like "Steak for Dummies"! I ended up choosing a top sirloin 8oz steak to share.

REVIEW:

The best part of the meal was the mushroom-onion sauce that was drizzled over the top. With rich flavors of balsamic vinegar, garlic, and red wine, it complemented the meat soooo well. A side of baked sweet potato and sauteed broccoli completed the meal and (maybe) made up for the not-so-healthy side effects of beef.

RECIPE:8 oz top sirloin steak

garlic salt

pepper

Mushroom Glaze: (also from Cooking Light mag, slightly modified)

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 cup onion, chopped

2 cups mushrooms, thinly sliced (any kind works)

1 tsp thyme

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

2 tbsp red wine (basically just splashed it in the pan until it tasted good)

salt & pepper to taste

Heat oven to 350F. Sprinkle steaks with garlic salt and pepper on both sides. I also added meat tenderizer just in case my handy Target sign steered me wrong. Cover baking pan with aluminum foil (to catch the drippings), put rack on top of foil, and set steak on rack. Bake for 15mins, check on how it's cooking, then 10-15mins more until it reaches desired doneness. I really don't like overdone steak so I think checking it in the middle helps. While steak is cooking, heat 1 tsp EVOO in skillet on med-high heat. Sautee garlic 30 sec, then add mushrooms, thyme, salt & pepper. Saute until mushrooms are tender. Stir in balsamic vinegar, red wine and simmer until liquid is almost completely reduced. Serve over steaks with side dishes. Makes 2 servings. (per serving: 326cals, 11g fat, 23g carbs, 35g protein)