LEMON BLUEBERRY CHEESECAKE BARS
This comes from Tyler Florence, of The Food Network's Tyler's Ultimate. Total time: 4 hr.; Prep: 25 min; Inactive: 3 hr.; Cook: 35 min; Yield: 10 bars; Level: Easy
Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/lemon-blueberry-cheesecake-bars-recipe.print.html?oc=linkback
Ingredients
For the base:
Butter, for greasing
2 tablespoons sugar
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
9 graham crackers
1/2 stick unsalted butter, melted
For the filling:
16 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
2 eggs
2 lemons, zested and juiced
About 1/2 cup sugar, eyeball it
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
Powdered sugar, for dusting
Directions
For the filling:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
For the base:
Grease the bottom of a 9 by 9-inch baking pan with butter. Then place parchment paper over the top, pressing down at the corners. In a food processor, process the sugar, cinnamon and graham crackers until you have the texture of bread crumbs. Add the melted butter and pulse a couple of times to fully incorporate. Pour into the lined baking pan and gently pat down with the base of a glass. Bake in the oven for 12 minutes until golden. When done set aside to cool.
For the filling:
Add cream cheese, eggs, lemon zest, lemon juice and sugar to the food processor and mix until well combined. It should have a smooth consistency. Pour onto the cooled base and then cover with blueberries. They will sink slightly but should still be half exposed -- as the cake bakes they will sink a little more and break down.
Bake in the oven for 35 minutes or until the center only slightly jiggles. Remove from the oven and cool completely before refrigerating for at least 3 hours. Once set, remove from pan using the parchment lining and slice into 10 rectangular bars. Dust with powdered sugar.
CLASSIC BAKED MACARONI AND CHEESE
This comes from Tablespoon.com, and starts off, "This classic macaroni and cheese recipe is a perfect side dish for your fall meal." While it's still officially spring, I think that this would work just fine for a rainy day in any season. Prep time: 20 minutes; total time: 50 minutes; makes 6 servings.
To view this online, click here.
Ingredients
1 package (7 1/2 oz) elbow macaroni (2 1/2 cups)
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 cups milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper (cayenne)
2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese (8 oz)
Directions
Heat oven to 400°F. Spray 2-quart casserole with cooking spray. Cook and drain macaroni as directed on package, using minimum cook time.
Meanwhile, in 3-quart saucepan or Dutch oven, melt butter over medium-low heat; stir in flour with whisk until smooth. Cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Gradually stir in milk; cook 5 minutes, stirring constantly, until thickened. Remove from heat. Stir in salt, black pepper, red pepper and 1 cup of the cheese. Stir in cooked macaroni.
Spoon mixture into casserole. Sprinkle with remaining 1 cup cheese.
Bake uncovered 20 minutes or until bubbly. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.
CHOCOLATE CHAI
This comes from Lindsey Goodwin, About.com's Coffee and Tea expert. Lindsey writes, "Although many would consider me to be a tea snob, I'm gonna tell it like it is: chocolate chai can be delicious and delightful, and I love a nice big mug of it on a cool day. This is my favorite way to make chocolate chai. It combines the chocolaty richness of pure cocoa powder with all the bold glory of chai. It focuses on chocolate-friendly spices, such as cinnamon and ginger, and slips in a little vanilla to keep the chocolate in its element. And it relies on a classic, assertive black tea like Assam or Keemun for its tannic notes (which are needed to balance out the sweetness)." Lindsey's notes immediately follow this recipe, along with links. Prep Time: 3 minutes; Cook Time: 11 minutes; Total Time: 14 minutes; Yield: two mugs of chocolate chai
To view this online, click here.
Ingredients
2 cups water
1 cup whole milk, almond milk or coconut milk
1/4 cup heavy cream (optional)
2 tablespoons pure cocoa powder, plus a little extra for dusting
2 tablespoons brown sugar, dark honey or other tea sweetener
3 teaspoons loose-leaf black tea (preferably Assam, English Breakfast, Irish Breakfast or Keemun) OR 3 black tea teabags (in a pinch)
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated ginger root
1 medium-sized cinnamon stick
2 cardamom pods, crushed slightly
pinch cayenne pepper (optional--it gives the chai a spicier kick)
scant pinch sea salt
pinch cinnamon powder (for dusting)
Preparation
Put the water and spices in a double boiler or heavy bottomed saucepan. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer for five minutes.
Add the milk, cream, tealeaves, cocoa powder, sweetener and sea salt. Stir well.
Stirring constantly, simmer for another five minutes.
Strain into two mugs and dust each chai with cocoa powder and cinnamon powder.
Notes: Be sure to use a good quality tea and good quality cocoa. Both will make a big difference in the finished chai.
If you want to top your chai with something more than a dusting of cocoa powder and cinnamon, go for whipped cream. I recommend using one of these whipped cream recipes.
Thinking of a pairing already? I don't blame you! While you could go all rich and chocolaty, I find it can be an overkill. Instead, I recommend trying it with something simple, like shortbread cookies or vanilla poundcake.
If you're preparing it as a dairy-free, vegan chai, almond milk and coconut milk really are the best options. They bring the texture and richness that a drink like this needs. Homemade 'milks' get the top score--they are usually far superior to store bought. Otherwise, a good quality organic one is fine, too. (And, yes, if you like vanilla flavoring in it, that's OK, too.)
Add a shot of espresso for a chocolate dirty chai.
If you want to play around with spices, consider these alterations:
Replace the tea with Lapsang Souchong or Russian Caravan and the cardamom with star anise (still two pods).
Add a bit of nutmeg, allspice or cloves if you want a more wintery, warming flavor.
For a more focused flavor, drop out two of the three main spices (ginger, cinnamon and cardamom) and increase the volume on the remaining one.
If you love a hot spiciness to your chai, add more cayenne and ginger, or add a bit of good quality, freshly ground black pepper.
VEGGIE PATCH SOUP
Yield: 10 servings
Source: "Mr. Food Every Day's a Holiday Diabetic Cookbook"
Info: http://diabeticgourmet.com/book_archive/details/89.shtml
Ingredients
6 cups water
2 medium-sized white potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
4 large tomatoes, cored and cut into 1-inch chunks
4 medium-sized carrots, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
3 medium-sized zucchini, cut into 1-inch chunks
2 medium-sized green bell peppers, coarsely chopped
2 medium-sized onions, coarsely chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Directions
In a soup pot, combine all the ingredients; mix well and bring to a boil over high heat.
Reduce the heat to medium and cook for 1 hour, or until the vegetables are tender.
Nutritional Information Per Serving (1 cup): Calories: 84, Fat: 0 g, Cholesterol: 0 mg, Sodium: 383 mg, Carbohydrate: 20 g, Dietary Fiber: 4 g, Sugars: 7 g, Protein: 2 g, Diabetic Exchanges: 1/2 Starch, 2 Vegetable
VEGAN GINGERED CARROT SOUP
This comes from Jolinda Hackett, About.com's Vegetarian Food expert. She writes, "Colorful and fragrant carrot and ginger soup is a light and soothing soup. Carrot soup with ginger is a nutritious and low fat soup recipe with just a touch of sweetness and a touch of spice." Prep Time: 15 minutes; Cook Time: 40 minutes; Total Time: 55 minutes
To view this online, click here.
Ingredients
3 tbsp olive oil
1/2 yellow onion, diced
1/4 cup fresh ginger, minced
4 cups chopped and peeled carrots (about 1 1/2 pounds)
3 cups vegetable broth
1 1/2 cups orange juice
dash nutmeg
salt and pepper to taste
Preparation
In a large pot, sautee onions and ginger in olive oil until soft, about 3-5 minutes.Add carrots and vegetable broth and reduce heat to medium. Allow to simmer for about 40 minutes, or until carrots are soft.
Add orange juice and stir well.
Working in small batches and using a food processor or blender, process soup until smooth.
Return to pot or serving bowl and add nutmeg, salt and pepper, stirring well. Serve with a dollop of yogurt or sour cream if desired and enjoy!
REWORKED VEGETARIAN CHILI
I've fixed this recipe probably several hundred times, easily. This is a take-off on a recipe I'd found in Runner's World, which I've listed in several posts on this blog (with full credit).
Note: I have a habit of buying anywhere from 16 to 20 (or more) peppers of varying colors at the same time, then chopping them all up, putting them into several containers, and freezing them. When I put them into the containers, they're not separated by color, but, rather, dumped in together. This way, I end up with containers with red, green, yellow and orange bell peppers all thrown in together. Then, whenever I need cut up peppers, I end up with a colorful bunch of peppers in whatever I'm putting them in. If you prefer, you can buy one or two peppers as needed (like for this recipe) and cut it up at that time. You can use whichever color bell pepper you want; if I'm out of frozen peppers, and am planning to buy only one or two for this recipe, I usually go with the green peppers, since they're usually the cheapest.
Also, with the onions, I usually try to have both yellow and red onions on hand; when I do, I use one of each in this recipe. Finally, for the cans of beans, I lean toward one can of black beans and one can of either Navy or Great Northern beans, both of which are white. Between the multi-colored peppers, two different kinds of onions, and different colored beans, it makes for a more colorful chili. But if you only have two cans of white, red or black beans, that's fine, too.
Tofu, straight from the package
Crumbled
2 T olive oil
2 onions, chopped
4-6 cloves garlic, minced
1-2 peppers, chopped
16-ounce package extra-firm tofu, drained and crumbled
2 19-once cans of beans, drained
1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
3 medium carrots, sliced
2 Tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
Salt & Pepper to taste
Note: For cutting up onions, check here.
Sauté the onion, peppers & garlic in oil over medium heat.
onions, peppers and garlic
Add tofu and sauté until crisp & lightly browned. While this is cooking, peel and cut the carrots. Add the beans, crushed tomatoes, carrots, chili powder, cumin, & salt & pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat & simmer for 50-60 minutes. Serve over noodles. Serves 4.
Chili, cooking
Make sure to stir periodically to keep chili from burning
YUM!
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