Friday Recipes

Finally, it's Friday! Here are six recipes to help you through the weekend. Enjoy!

STRAWBERRY FOOL

This comes from Mark Bittman in The New York Times cooking e-newsletter. Mark wrote, “This Minimalist recipe is as basic as dessert gets, and especially in strawberry season it’s just perfect. It is essentially fresh strawberries and whipped cream (substitute heavy cream, sour cream or yogurt). It can be eaten right away or refrigerated. Only a fool would pass this up.” Yield: 4 servings; Time: 30 minutes.

To view this online, click here.

Ingredients

1 pint strawberries

1/2 cup sugar, or to taste

1 cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract, optional

Preparation

Hull strawberries, then wash them and chop into 1/4-inch-thick pieces. Toss with half the sugar, and wait 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until they give up their juices.

Place half the strawberries and all the juice in a blender, and puree. Pour puree back in bowl with chopped strawberries.

Whip the cream with remaining sugar and vanilla until cream is stiff and holds peaks easily. Fold berries and cream together, and serve immediately, or refrigerate for up to two hours.

LOW-CALORIE GLUTEN-FREE SWEET POTATO LASAGNA

This recipe was on The Today Show on May 18, 2016. The recipe begins, “This delicious main course from Kevin Curry, found of Fit Men Cook, is gluten-free and day lower in carbs than classic lasagna.”

To view this online, click here.

Ingredients

2 large sweet potatoes

1 pound extra-lean ground beef or 97% ground turkey

Olive oil

1 clove garlic

2 cups homemade or store-bought marinara sauce, or 4 or 5 roasted vine tomatoes

1 tablespoon Italian seasoning

Fresh basil, to taste

Sea salt and pepper

1 cup low-fat ricotta cheese or 2% cottage cheese mixed with 1 egg white

1/2 cup reduced-fat mozzarella cheese

Preparation

Preheat the oven to 400°.

Using a mandolin, slice the raw sweet potatoes to about the thickness of a dime coin.

In a large nonstick skillet, cook the lean beef, making sure that is finely chopped. Transfer the cooked meat to a large bowl and drain any visible grease. Set aside.

Heat the same skillet to medium-high heat and add the olive oil and thinly sliced garlic. After about 3 to 5 minutes of cooking, add the store-bought marinara or roasted tomatoes, Italian seasoning, basil and salt and pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes.

You can either add the ground meat to the marinara and mix together or you can add the meat and marinara to a blender and pulse to create an easy-to-spread restaurant-style meat sauce.

In a cast-iron skillet or casserole dish, add a few slices of the sweet potato to cover the bottom. Add a layer of the meat sauce, then top with a layer of the ricotta-egg mixture. Repeat again in the same order: the sweet potato slices, then the meat sauce and ricotta mixture. Top with the remaining sweet potato slices, then the final layer of meat sauce. Finish the dish with the mozzarella cheese.

Cover the skillet with foil and bake in the oven for at least 50 minutes. Remove the foil for the final 5 minutes of baking so that the cheese slightly browns. Cool for 5 minutes before serving.

GRILLED ROAST CHICKEN WITH SPINACH-RICOTTA CROSTINI

This comes from Melissa Clark in The New York Times cooking e-newsletter. Melissa wrote, “This whole chicken cooked on the grill is truly a best-of-both-worlds recipe: You get the incredibly succulent meat and brittle-crisp, burnished skin of a roast chicken, combined with the deep smoky flavor of the grill. To make it, you essentially use your grill like an outdoor oven, cooking a whole splayed chicken in a skillet instead of directly on the grill grate. Splaying the bird first — that is, flattening the legs so they lay flat in the skillet — helps the dark meat cook quickly and evenly. The skillet helps to distribute the heat and captures the juices, which would otherwise incinerate in the fire. Those juices are then put to good use as a cooking medium for dill-flecked, garlicky spinach. The greens absorb all of the chicken drippings before being heaped upon ricotta-smeared crostini. Added bonus: You don’t have to worry about setting off your smoke detector. Here, the smoke stays in the grill with the bird, which is exactly where you want it.” Yield: 4 servings.

Want to learn how to grill? Check out ”How to Grill”, by Sam Sifton.

To view the recipe online, click here.

Ingredients

2 teaspoons kosher salt, more as needed

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon high-quality chile powder (ancho or New Mexican are nice)

Finely grated zest of 1 lemon (save the zested lemon to juice over the crostini)

1 whole chicken (3 1/2 to 4 pounds), patted dry

Extra-virgin olive oil, as needed

2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced

2 anchovies (optional)

Pinch red pepper flakes

1 pound mature spinach leaves, cleaned (12 cups)

1 cup chopped dill

4 slices crusty country-style bread, 1/2-inch thick

Fresh ricotta, for serving

Preparation

In a small bowl, combine salt, pepper, chile powder and lemon zest. Rub the chicken inside and out with salt mixture. Place chicken on a rack set over a baking pan to catch any drips, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight.

Heat a gas grill, or light a charcoal grill for indirect heat (meaning pile the coals on one side of the gill, leaving the other side empty).

Place a cast-iron skillet on the grate directly over the coals. Cover the grill, and let the pan heat up for 10 minutes.

Remove chicken from the refrigerator. Use a sharp knife to cut the skin connecting the legs to the rest of the body. Use your hands to splay the thighs open until you feel the joint pop.

Rub chicken with oil and place it breast side down in the hot skillet. Cover grill and cook 5 to 7 minutes, until the breast is seared and golden and easily releases from the pan.

Using tongs and a spatula for balance, carefully flip chicken and cover the grill again. Continue cooking until the underside of the chicken is starting to brown, 10 to 20 minutes. Make sure the skin doesn’t get too dark; it will continue to brown even as it cooks over indirect heat. You’re looking for a medium golden color here, a shade or two lighter than what you ultimately want it to look like.

Move the skillet over to the unlit side of the charcoal grill, or turn off the burners on your gas grill that are underneath the pan. Cover grill and continue to cook until the bird is cooked through, 10 to 25 minutes longer. An instant-read thermometer should register 155 degrees in the breast. You’ll need to keep your eye on the grill heat as you cook. If you’ve got a thermometer on your grill cover, you’re looking for it to be at about 450 degrees. If it falls below 400 degrees or seems as if it’s not hot enough (i.e., your chicken is cooking too slowly), add more coals or turn up your burners. Use your intuition here.

Transfer chicken from the skillet to a cutting board, and tent with foil to rest.

Throw garlic, anchovies (if desired) and red pepper flakes into the skillet and cook, uncovered, until the garlic starts to sizzle and turn golden, about 20 seconds. Toss in spinach and dill and cook, stirring with your tongs, until just wilted, 2 minutes longer. If the spinach isn't wilting quickly, push the pan back over the flame to direct heat. Season with salt.

Place bread slices on grill and cook until lightly charred, about 1 minute per side.

To serve, drizzle toasts with oil and slather with ricotta. Top with spinach mix and a little lemon juice. Serve alongside sliced chicken.

BARBECUED RED ONION CHUTNEY

This comes from John Willoughby and Chris Schlesinger, also in The New York Times cooking e-newsletter. They wrote, “You'll need a medium-hot charcoal fire for this recipe. So either start cooking when the main dish comes off the fire or, if making this dish separately, light a charcoal fire in your grill, putting all the coals on one side, and wait until it has died down to medium. Serve this smoky chutney alongside pork or beef.” Yield: About 2 cups.

To view this online, click here.

Ingredients

3 large red onions, peeled and cut into half-inch circles

Vegetable oil for coating

1 tablespoon plus 1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon chile powder

1 tablespoon cumin powder

1 tablespoon curry powder

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 cup cider vinegar

Preparation

Coat onions lightly with oil. Mix together 1 tablespoon each brown sugar, chile powder, cumin and curry powder and rub onion circles all over with the mixture. (If you have metal skewers, thread two onion circles horizontally onto each skewer first, then coat with oil and seasoning.)

Place onions on grill over coals and cook until cut sides are golden brown streaked with black, 3 to 4 minutes per side. Move to side or back of grill where temperature is low and cook, flipping once or twice, until onions are soft enough to yield easily when squeezed with tongs, at least 15 and up to 40 minutes, removing smaller onions from grill as they become cooked to this stage. Remove from grill and, if not using immediately, refrigerate, covered, until ready to use.

To make chutney, roughly chop onions. Heat olive oil in large sauté pan over medium heat until shimmering. Add onions and cook until very soft, about 5 to 10 minutes. Add remaining 1/2 cup brown sugar and the cider vinegar, bring to a simmer and cook 10 minutes, until slightly thickened. This chutney keeps, covered and refrigerated, about 1 week.

CHEDDAR AND BACON TWICE BAKED POTATOES

This comes from Diana Rattray, About.com’s Southern Food expert. Diana wrote, “Bacon, cheese, and green onions add fabulous flavor to these twice baked potatoes. Use large baking potatoes for this recipe, preferably russets.

“These make an excellent side dish to serve with steaks, chops, ham, or a roast.”

Prep Time: 25 minutes;Cook Time: 75 minutes; Total Time: 100 minutes; Yield: 8 Servings

To view this online, click here.

Ingredients

4 large baking potatoes

olive oil

kosher salt

4 tablespoons butter

1 cup sour cream, plus more for serving

1/2 cup milk or half-and-half

8 ounces shredded sharp Cheddar cheese (2 cups), divided

4 tablespoons chopped green onions, divided

salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

8 strips bacon, cooked, drained, and crumbled, divided

Preparation

Heat the oven to 400° F.

Scrub the potatoes and pat dry; rub with olive oil and sprinkle with the kosher salt.

Arrange the potatoes on a baking sheet and prick all over with a sharp fork or skewer.

Bake until fork tender, about 1 hour. Reduce the oven temperature to 350° F.

Let the potatoes stand until cool enough to handle. Cut the potatoes in half lengthwise.

Scoop the potato out of the shells into a bowl.

Place the shells back on the baking sheet and set aside.

Mash the potatoes with the butter. Blend in the sour cream, milk or half-and-half, and half of the Cheddar cheese.Stir in 2 tablespoons of the chopped green onions. Add salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste.

Spoon the mixture into the potato skin shells.

Combine the remaining 1 cup of shredded cheese with the remaining 2 tablespoons of green onion and half of the crumbled bacon.

Sprinkle each stuffed potato with 2 tablespoons of shredded cheese mixture; press down lightly to pack onto the potato.

Bake the potatoes until the cheese melts and the potato filling is set, about 15 minutes.

Sprinkle with the remaining bacon before serving.

ALMOND JOY

This yummy recipe comes from the April 2005 issue of Vegetarian Times. While I love most of the recipes I find in Vegetarian Times, some of them really stand out, as far as I'm concerned; this is one of them. It begins, “As delicious as a candy bar, this delicate dessert whips up in an instant. Use prepared chocolate syrup to garnish the cake. If you really want to fancy it up, make your own fudge sauce, and drizzle it on before serving.” Serves 8 in 30 minutes or less.

To view this online, click here.

1 14-oz. premade angel food cake

2 12-oz. pkg. soft silken tofu

4 Tbs. confectioners’ sugar

1 Tbs. almond extract, or to taste

1 8-oz. pkg. almond paste

2 cups sliced almonds, toasted, for garnish

Chocolate syrup, as desired

Tear angel food cake into about 2×4-inch rectangles, and put about half of them into 3-quart serving dish.

Put tofu, sugar, almond extract and almond paste into blender or food processor, and purée until smooth. Pour half mixture over cake pieces, and top with remaining cake. Pour remaining mixture over cake, and garnish with almonds and drizzles of chocolate syrup. Chill, or serve immediately.

nutritional information Per SERVING: Calories: 470; Protein: 15 g; Total Fat: 23 g; Saturated Fat: 2 g; Carbohydrates: 53 g; Sodium: 380 mg; Fiber: 5 g; Sugar: 16 g