Swiss Chard With Egg and Cheese

Delicious and even decadent (and gluten free) breakfast below! (However, I may have had it for dinner last night!!)

Recipe for a single serving:

Ingredients:

5 Leaves of Swiss Chard (stems and leaves chopped separately and left in 2 piles)
1/4 Cup Onion, Chopped (approx)
1 Clove of Garlic, minced
1 Tsp. Olive Oil (Academia Barilla 100% Italian Unfiltered Extra Virgin Olive Oil, 750ml.)
1/4 Cup Cheese, Shredded (I used cheddar)
1 Whole Egg
1 Tsp. Butter

How To:

Preheat oven to 350. Rub butter on the inside (sides and bottom) of an individual sized ramekin ( "7-Ounce Stackable Ramekin in Cherry" ) to coat and keep dish from sticking. Next, sautee onions and swiss chard stems in olive oil over medium heat until they start to soften but not brown. Add in garlic then swiss chard leaves. Mix and turn until well combined. Let cook for a few minutes, flipped and mixing ingredients every 30 seconds or so until the swiss chard leaves have cooked down. Then, turn off stove and immediately add (almost all of) the cheese to the vegetable mixture. Stir till combined. Place vegetable and cheese mixture into the buttered ramekin, spread evenly in the dish. Crack the egg on top and sprinkle with remaining cheese. Cook in preheated oven for somewhere between 14-20 minutes (depending on how you want your egg yoke done). For example: I cook mine 18-20 minutes because I like my yoke cooked well. Carefully remove from oven and serve immediately right in the ramekin, perhaps with a piece of buttered (gluten free if you are me) toast! Delicious!

Enjoy!!!

Salmon Burgers with Cilantro Mayo

Recently Rob and I have been trying to broaden the types of fish we eat. Typically we just eat cod but we have trying to add in salmon as of late. I am not a picky eater, in fact, I cannot think of many foods I despise. However, in the past I have steered clear of salmon. I tended to find it too "fishy" tasting. Now I realize, it is all in the type of salmon you buy and how it is prepared. Tonight we had salmon burgers with homemade cilantro mayo, corn on the cob and zucchini (well, I had zucchini, Rob had the guacamole I made earlier today). Below I will tell you how the burgers with cilantro mayo were made.

Ingredients:

Burger-
2 Salmon Burgers (we used frozen from Whole Foods)
2 Slices gluten free bread (or regular bread or bun)
Cooking Spray (Spectrum Naturals 23460 Canola Oil Spray With Butter Flavor)

Cilantro Mayo-
1/3 Cup Mayo (I used light)
1 Cup Cilantro (fresh and chopped, stems & leaves)
1 Clove Garlic (fresh, minced)
2 Tsp. Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice
1/4 tsp. Black Pepper (Simply Organic 28644 Organic Black Pepper)

How To Make the Cilantro Mayo:

Mix all ingredients in a small bowl with a spoon until well combined. Cover with plastic wrap until burgers are ready.

How To Make Burgers:

Remove frozen burgers from freezer. Cook in a skillet on medium heat, cooking 5 minutes on each side.

Assembly:

Spread one (or both!!) sides of the bread with the cilantro mayo, place burger on top and enjoy! You can obviously add other toppings to the burger. I had mine with chopped red onion & a little yellow mustard (in addition to the cilantro mayo), Rob has his with lettuce, red onion & yellow mustard. Whatever tickles your fancy!

As always, leave comments or questions if you have them. Enjoy!!!

The Sabbatical is Over

Okay, so I was not really on sabbatical, just got lazy and sidetracked planning my wedding. Now that the event is over and there is no more crazy planning to do- I intend to start writing my cooking adventures in this blog again! Although I did not actually need to write a post for this, I figured if I did, I would hold myself accountable.

Updates since I last posted (what feels like forever ago)--- I am now gluten free. Imagine that, the girl who loves beer, pizza and dessert can no longer eat wheat/gluten. So, from here on out, all recipes coming from me will be glutenus minimus. (Unless Rob sneaks in a post of course...)

Sweet Corn and Black Bean Salad

This recipe is SO easy to make and would add nice color to any BBQ! To top it all off, it is gluten free, vegan & high in fiber! Doesn't sound good? Well, I challenge you to make it and then tell me it does not taste good... come on, I dare you! Hint hint- you will lose because its delicious!

Ingredients:

1 Can of corn, rinsed and drained
2 Cans of Black Beans (no salt added), rinsed and drained
1/3-1/2 cup diced red onion
1.5-2 Tb seasoned rice vinegar
1 Tb Olive Oil
1 Tb Lime juice (fresh squeezed!)
1/4 Tsp. Sea salt
1/2 Tsp Ground black pepper
1/2-1 Whole Red pepper, chopped
1/3 cup cilantro, finely chopped

How To:

Take beans, corn, diced onion and red pepper and put them into a strainer. Rinse thoroughly and let sit to dry. In a large mixing bowl, combine olive oil, rice vinegar, lime juice, salt and pepper. Whisk thoroughly until ingredients are well combined to create a dressing. Then, combine the bean mixture into the dressing. Toss until incorporated. Cover and chill for about 2 hours. Add cilantro before serving. Enjoy!

Tips:

*After adding the cilantro and you serve the dish, if all is not eaten- it keeps well in the fridge for a few days.
*The reason you rinse the red onion is to get rid of the sharp flavor

Homemade Granola Bars

Do you ever find you are too busy to make yourself a healthy breakfast or even make breakfast at all? Well, this recipe will solve all your problems! Not only are these homemade granola bars nutritious and delicious they are super easy to make!

Ingredients:

2 Cups Oatmeal ( I used quick cook)

1 Cup Sliced Almonds

1 Cup Shredded Coconut

1/4 Cup Flax Seeds

3 TB Unsalted Butter

2/3 Cup Honey

1/4 Cup Brown Sugar (I used light brown)

1-2 Tsp. Vanilla Extract

1/4 Tsp. Salt

1 Cup Dried Fruit, chopped (I used strawberries)

How To:

Preheat your oven to 325. Then butter an 8x12 or 9x13 inch glass baking dish and sprinkle a little flour in it. Set this aside for later. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the oatmeal, coconut and almonds. Spread onto a baking sheet, bake for 10-12 minutes,  stirring occasionally. Coconut should start to brown a little. After 10-12 minutes, transfer bake into mixing bowl and stir in flax seeds; set aside.

Into a small sauce pan, add the butter, brown sugar, honey, salt and vanilla. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stir for 1 minute. Pour  over oatmeal mixture; add fruit. Mix well.

Pour mixture into prepared baking pan. Press mixture evenly into the pan with your fingers or a spatula. Bake for 20-25 minutes until light golden brown. Remove from oven and let your creation cool for at least 2 hours, preferably 3 hours before cutting. Cut into individual bars, wrap in plastic wrap and store in pantry.

Enjoy!

Notes:

I used dried strawberries, but if your want a cheaper option you can substitute strawberries for raisins or cranberries.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars

Tonight I had the urge to bake so I made chocolate peanut butter bars, yum yum! This recipe is so incredibly easy and so delicious!


Ingredients:


1 Cup Peanut Butter (creamy)
6 Tb Butter, softened
1 1/4 Cup Sugar
3 Eggs
1 Tsp. Vanilla Extract
1 Cup Flour
1/4 Tsp. Salt
2 Cups Chocolate Chips, divided


Process:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, beat peanut butter and butter until smooth. Add sugar, eggs and vanilla, and mix until creamy. Blend in flour and salt. Stir in 1 cup of the chocolate chips. Spread into ungreased 13x9 inch baking pan. Bake 25-30 minutes, or until edges begin to brown.

Remove from oven and immediately sprinkle all remaining chocolate chips over the top of the dish. Let stand 5 minutes, this should give the chocolate enough time to start melting. After 5 minutes, use a spoon to spread the chocolate to an even layer across the entire top of this dish of deliciousness! Let it cool completely before serving.

DIG IN!

Suggestions/changes:

The recipe says to let the dish cool completely before serving... I definitely jumped in and cut myself a bar after about 15 minutes out of the oven and it was still extremely tasty! Also, the recipe calls for creamy peanut butter- I used fresh ground and it worked just fine. I could see how creamy peanut butter would work butter, but fresh ground was all we had and it did the trick!

Kale Chips

Something Rob and I recently started making rather frequently are kale chips. They are super easy to make and delicious! Something nice about cooking with kale is that it is SO good for you. Whole Foods uses a scale to measure nutrition called ANDI that basically rates foods 1-1000, 1 being least nutritious and 1000 being most. Kale is 1000 on that scale. However, I believe by making them chips it diminishes some of the nutrition but they are still fantastic!

Ingredients:


1 Bunch of kale
1 Tb Olive oil
Salt
Pepper

Process:


Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Wash all kale but do not dry completely. Rip leafy part of kale away from the stem in medium-large sized pieces. Once you have all leafy pieces pulled away from stems, place leafy kale pieces in a bowl and toss completely with olive oil (throw stems away). Once covered in olive oil, sprinkle a small amount of pepper and toss again. Then, spread kale onto a cookie sheet (I cover mine with aluminum foil). It is okay if the pieces overlap, but try to spread it out the best you can. Place in the oven for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, take kale out of the oven and flip over. Some pieces should be starting to slightly brown and become smaller. Once pieces are flipped, place them back in the oven for 5-7 minutes. Make sure to keep your eye on it- it can easily burn. Kale is done when all pieces are crispy. Remove from oven and sprinkle lightly with sea salt. Serve immediately!

Yummy yummy! We enjoyed our kale chips with spaghetti with meat sauce but they really go with so many different types of meals! They also make a great snack.

Enjoy!