Caramelized Brussels Sprouts Grilled Cheese

Guess what?!  I cloned myself!  (See previous post if you're confused.)  Yeah, I cloned myself, and my second self just made me lunch!  The best lunch EVER!  Well, okay, that didn't really happen, but I was able to time naps perfectly today, which left me with a few hours to make a REAL lunch and hopefully shower (I have a holiday party tonight so if I don't fit the shower in now it will have to be later with ALL of my kids hanging in the bathroom around an iPad).

Anyway, about the sandwich.  You know those bags of pre-shredded Brussels Sprouts?  I think they're genius, and almost always have one in my fridge (especially this time of year).  So for the sandwich... heat a tablespoon of butter or olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat and sauté two tablespoons of chopped onion and three tablespoons of shredded sprouts.  Season with salt and pepper, and cook until they're all brown and caramelized.  Remove, and place a piece of your favorite bread in the skillet (I of course put more butter on the bread).  Add a piece of white cheddar, then the sprouts and onions, then another piece of cheddar and top with bread (more butter).  Grill like you would a grilled cheese!  Voila!  It's really, really good.     

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Spinach Balls

I was recently on a "booze cruise" with a bunch of moms (and excuse me while I cry for not being there this very second).  We sailed along on a water ferry, drinking wine, eating appetizers and talking about how our kids and husbands drive us crazy!  Juuuuuust kiddddddding.  Anyways.  Someone made these Spinach Balls and they were FANTASTIC.  I asked her if I could share the recipe and she said yes, so here it is!  Funny story though, I made them over the weekend and forgot one giant ingredient: the 3/4 cup of butter.  I realized this after my first bite and wondered why they didn't taste as addictive as they had on the boat.  Butter... butter makes everything better.  However, they were still pretty good without the butter so if you're in the mood to make them SUPER healthy, you can go ahead and omit it.  (But I wouldn't recommend it cause I don't recommend those kind of things.) 

Spinach Balls

(Makes approx. 45)

Printable Recipe

2 packages 10oz. frozen chopped spinach, thawed

3/4 cup butter, melted

1 small yellow onion, diced

4 eggs

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 cups seasoned bread crumbs

1/4 tsp pepper

Pinch of salt (I was generous here)

Combine all ingredients, roll into small bowls, place on a baking sheet (I greased mine) and bake for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees, until the edges are golden.  Enjoy!

The next morning I sautéed the leftovers in BUTTER and added a fried egg.  Yum.

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Cookie Stacking and Other Things...

Hello Internet People.  I'm sorry I've been a little absent, but this has been a busy and emotional week.  Therefore, I present to you this scatterbrained post of odds and ends...

Many of you have been curious about the infamous "cookie stacking" Instagram post (infamous, really Siri?).  The origin of this layered dough can be found in this recipe for Peanut Butter Honey Cookies.  I was instantly intrigued to see if by stacking two blobs of dough on top of each other, the result would be a cookie that spread less, as suggested.  Well, perhaps I did something wrong, but my cookies just ended up looking like butts, so... delicious recipe, however.  Honey?  Peanut Butter?  Yes.

Last Thursday I was all set to appear on the Today Show, and you may have caught a glimpse of me even, however, breaking news about the Pope's whereabouts interrupted my segment.  Of course, I didn't mind in the slightest, and it was actually very exciting to witness... yet another reminder of how surreal it is to be a small part of a news institution like Today.  If you're interested in the recipes I was planning on preparing, you may click here: Buffalo Chicken Dip and Ultimate Queso Dip. 

Last night, I was very honored to be a part of the launch of Keurig Kold, a revolutionary new drinkmaker that brews perfectly chilled beverages like Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite and so, SO much more.  It is available for purchase today on their website... check it out!

And finally, I wanted to repost this recipe in honor of a great woman, Lucy.  If you've been following my blog for awhile then you probably know this sandwich, but to have known the woman behind it was something else.  The heavens above gained a beautiful soul.  Team Lucy forever!

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Shrimp Saganaki

Fifteen years ago, my knowledge of Greek food consisted of hummus and gyros (which I only ate when the bars closed).  Thank god it has expanded since then, because it might be one of my favorite cuisines.  One day, mark my words, I will go to Greece and eat my way through the country.  Until then, I will continue to explore the wonderful Greek restaurants this country has to offer, like Petros in California and Avra and Limani in New York.  My favorite things to order are Grilled Octopus, Moussaka, lamb anything and always, ALWAYS, Shrimp Saganaki, which is a simple, flavorful dish consisting of shrimp cooked in a tomato feta sauce.    

I've been dying to try it at home and I finally did.  It was extremely easy to make and I loved it.  Make sure you buy some crusty bread or soft pita to sop up this sauce.  I followed the recipe here (and ditched the greek liquor because I didn't feel like buying an entire bottle).  This is a wonderful transitional meal for the change of seasons... comforting but not TOO heavy.  Make it.  Opa!  

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Cheeseburger Stuffed Shells

You read that right, Cheeseburger Stuffed Shells.  If classic Italian stuffed shells and good ol' American cheeseburgers made sweet love and had a baby, it would be this dish.  A perfect, family friendly, crowd pleaser.  Make it ahead, pop it in the oven, freeze the leftovers.  I apologize for not writing in full sentences but I'm so tired.  The second week of school is WAY more intense than the first.  But, my delirious state of mind aside, it was so much fun cooking with Hoda and Carson this morning on Today!  If you missed the segment, you can check it out here.  Enjoy the weekend!

(Photo credit: the lovely Director of Culinary Production at the Today Show, Bianca Borges)

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Veggie Pizza Balls

By now, if you're a parent, your children are probably back to school (if not, I offer you my deepest condolences).  You're probably also in major "fall schedule" mode.  Back-to-school shopping and haircuts and soccer and dance (and figure out those carpools!) and school open houses (with so many forms to fill out) and easing back into homework.  It's a lot!  It's so much!  And on top of it all, you probably keep forgetting you need to feed your children breakfast and pack their snacks and lunches and figure out something (what!?) to make for dinner.  Which is why I love finding things you can make the night before, or in the 20 spare minutes you find during the day, and can pop in the oven that night.  Weelicious to the rescue!  If you're not familiar with her site, check it out.  She offers a slew of easy, healthy, kid-friendly recipes.  Like these Pizza Balls you can stuff with anything!  Cheese, marinara and then, if you think your kids will eat it... veggies.  I added some finely chopped cooked cauliflower to mine.  My kids loved them (oh, and I ate 10).  Check out the recipe here.

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Black Kale Salad from L&S

On one of our recent trips to Los Angeles, we went to the restaurant Love & Salt and fell in love (as seen in this post).  They have the type of menu that makes you want to go back every day to try something new.  Nothing disappoints, and I mean NOTHING.  Like their salad that's made up of black kale, soppressata, olives, pickled peppers, breadcrumbs and ricotta salata.  Everything about this salad is perfect, especially the way they julienne the ingredients so they are perfectly uniform.  When everything is the same size it's just easier to eat!  That's my jam.  And then let's talk about the breadcrumbs which, if I had to guess, are toasted in olive oil or butter until they reach a crisp, golden perfection.  The crunch they offer the salad is beyond... and such a nice change from biting into a big crouton.  The pickled peppers and olives give off the perfect, salty bite.  I can't imagine a better protein than the soppressata or a lovelier, creamier cheese than the ricotta salata and the black kale is the perfect vessel for this salad... a sturdy, earthy green that holds everything together.

My son would say, why don't you marry this salad??        

Maybe I will, son, maybe I will.   

As you can see, I tried to recreate it at home using a red-wine vinaigrette and it was pretty damn close to the restaurant version.  Excuse me while I pat myself on the back.  If you decide to try this combination... make sure to julienne your ingredients and do NOT forget to toast your bread crumbs.  In fact, I took leftover focaccia bread from our pizza delivery, put it in the food processor and THEN toasted it in the best olive oil I had!  I made a ton and now I put it on every salad.  The End.  

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Fresh Corn & Egg Scramble

One of my go-to "I have no idea what to cook tonight" meals is breakfast for dinner.  It's different for the kids, it's easy, and you can get rid of all your leftovers.  Just scramble eggs, and throw everything in it!  I had never really thought about putting corn in my eggs until I had breakfast at Martha's 22nd Street Grill in Hermosa Beach, California.  They make a white corn scramble that's to die for.  During the summer, I almost always have leftover corn in the fridge, and I love slicing off the kernels into salads, pastas and now... scrambles!  This was delicious, probably due to the cream and Boursin cheese I added (no judging) but also because of the delicious, fresh, summer corn.

Fresh Corn & Egg Scramble

(Serves 4)

Printable Recipe

2 T unsalted butter

6 large eggs

1/4 cup milk or cream

4 ears of cooked corn, kernels sliced off

1/4 cup Garlic & Herb Boursin cheese (or garden veggie flavored cream cheese), crumbled

1 T chopped fresh cilantro (or parsley)

Salt and pepper 

In a large skillet, heat butter over medium heat.  While heating, whisk the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl.  Add to skillet, and cook until fluffy using a rubber spatula to stir eggs.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  

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Grilled Cheese with Sweet Relish

I'm trying to figure out how to start this post, but I'm extremely distracted by my own photo, because even though I just ate exactly what I'm looking at, I WANT ANOTHER.  How do you say, this is the best grilled cheese ever?  Oh, just like that.  THIS IS THE BEST GRILLED CHEESE EVER.  Of course, you have to be into the sweet and savory combo, and you have to not care that nothing about this is good for you.  Meaning, I don't think bread that is slathered in mayo and cooked in bubbly butter as a vessel for ooey, gooey cheese is diet food.  Eat some fruit with it or something, I don't care, just EAT IT.  I followed this recipe... and loved how she added the sweet relish after cooking the sandwich on the stove.  It kept it cool, which was a nice contrast to the crispy, hot sandwich.  

Bread and cheese cooking in bubbly butter... all is right in the world.

You also might like this Grilled Cheese and Pickle Panini

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Kale, Quinoa and Chicken Salad

People, it's hot.  Like, real hot.  Like, I thought I'd sit outside for a minute with my computer and let my just-showered-hair (after 3, fine 4 days) dry in the summer breeze until I realized my boobs were already sweating HOT.  When it's this hot, I feel the need to eat really light, probably because my body feels bloated and heavy and I also want nothing to do with the kitchen.  This is, eat lots of vegetables (and sip white wine for lunch?) type of weather.  But I always forget how easy it is to throw a salad together for lunch.  For some reason it doesn't SEEM easy, but with leftovers involved and some minor weekend prep, a week-day salad can be effortless.  See the one I just made below...

Kale, Quinoa and Chicken Salad

Serves 3

Printable Recipe

1 bag frozen quinoa with vegetables* (or 2 cups cooked quinoa)

3 cups baby kale

1 cup shredded roasted chicken

1 avocado, diced

3 Tbsp pine nuts, toasted

1/3 cup crumbled greek ricotta** (or goat cheese, or feta)

Balsamic glaze

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

Prepare quinoa as instructed on bag (I did this Sunday night and kept it in tupperware).  Assemble rest of ingredients and toss.  Drizzle with balsamic glaze and olive oil, and season to taste with salt and pepper. 

*Found this in the organic section of the freezer.

**Sometimes I get in a feta/goat cheese rut, so I tried this Greek ricotta the other day and I'm OBSESSED!  So creamy.

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Bacon American Flag Pizza

I'm not the best at following directions.  If I feel like I can do something on my own, I will try before really thinking it through, or looking at an instruction manual.  Why must there be so many words?  So many steps?  So many, before you begin's?  I don't want to before I begin!  I wanna begin!  

I'm a child.  This impatience can get me in trouble in the kitchen.  I see a photo on pinterest and think, I can do that!  I'm going to do that!  And then I attempt without really thinking it through.  This Bacon American Flag Pizza is case in point.  I saw this photo, started jumping up and down (no really), and grabbing things in my fridge.  I happened to have pizza dough in the freezer, fresh mozzarella cheese, purple potatoes (surprising), bacon (less surprising) and pizza sauce.  Who needs directions!?

Well, had I looked at the ACTUAL recipe (found here), I would have realized I needed to bake the bacon first to get it crispy.  And I would have realized that using alfredo sauce instead of a tomato-based sauce would have kept the cheese whiter.  And if/when I make this again, I will use shredded mozzarella cheese.  Oh well, you can still tell that it's a flag, right?  It tasted good! 

Now I want to make a patriotic dessert.  Any ideas? 

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Chipotle Bowls at home!

Who doesn't love Chipotle?!  (No, that's not a rhetorical question, I really need to know if someone in this world exists who doesn't love Chipotle.)  It's a magical place with fresh ingredients, quick service, salty chips and BEER!  There's even beer.  The kid portions rock, the guacamole is insane, and you can customize your order pretty much any way you like it.  Unfortunately, or maybe fortunately, we don't live very close to one, so I decided to make our own bowls at home!  

I followed this recipe using black beans instead of pinto (that I warmed on the stove with some chopped cilantro and green onions) and leftover grilled corn off-the-cob (with lime juice and zest).  Oh, and I may have gone to the restaurant to get their guacamole and chips to-go.  In case you're wondering, the Chipotle cheese is a blend of monterey jack and white cheddar.  Brilliant.  

What's your Chipotle go-to order?

*Even though I wrote their name 1700 times, this post was NOT sponsored by Chipotle, but hey, IF YOU'RE OUT THERE READING THIS, YOU MAGICAL PLACE YOU, FEEL FREE TO SEND ME COUPONS.  That was classy.   

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Cheesy Turkey Cauliflower Quesadilla

You guys, I've decided to go on a massive diet.  I'm going to omit food for 16 days, and only drink beet juice with kale and cayenne and maybe the occasional jar of baby food and... OKAY I CAN'T, April Fools!  It's still April 1st, right?  Food, you're my favorite and I'll never quit you.

Ok, moving on from my lame prank... while I don't really believe in "diets" I DO believe in tricking your kids to eat vegetables.  I wish it didn't have to come to that in my household, but alas, it does.  So I introduce to you... the Cauliflower Quesadilla!  To be honest, my kids eat cauliflower on their own, but I'll gladly shove it in other foods if it means they're getting an extra oomf of vegetables.  Oomf?  Who am I what am I saying??  Anyway, it's white, it can be pulverized into a rice-like constancy, it's basically the perfect April Fool's Day vegetable.  Last night, I made cauliflower rice and added it to our quesadillas with ground turkey and Mexican cheese.  Delicious, for kids and grown ups alike!  It just added a little something extra, and I promise I won't say "oomf" again, ever.      

Etta loved it, in between nose pickings.

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Hot Ham & Cheese Party Rolls

I was trying so hard to get this post done yesterday, but instead the day was spent mostly in my pajamas, watching movies with my kids because school was cancelled, slowly cleaning up the remnants of a gigantic Super Bowl party and... there were leftovers.  Aren't you supposed to spend "Super Monday" eating light and healthy and cleansing your body of the junk you consumed the day before?  Yeah, that didn't happen.  (In fact, with three pounds of shredded cheese that was supposed to get turned into nachos and never did, I made Beer Cheese Soup.  More on that ridiculous-ness later in the week.)  Our party was insane.  It was as if we thought the snow would force us to hibernate for weeks, and therefore we needed every kind of food under the sun to keep us fed.  Shall I list off some of it?  Careful reading, you might throw up.  

Chips and salsa and guacamole and french onion dip, layered taco dip, buffalo chicken dip, nuts of every kind, freshly popped parmesan popcorn, crockpot chex mix, pretzels, homemade soft pretzels with a horseradish cheese dipping sauce, rice and beans and short ribs and empanadas, three gigantic logs of sandwiches from the deli, buffalo wings, stuffed mushrooms, swedish meatballs, italian meatballs, baked ziti, pigs 'n a blanket, fried chicken 'n a biscuit (more on that later too), a bowl of fruit and a tray of veggies (because you have to), a beef chili station, and this:

I'm probably forgetting something (and no, I did NOT make all of that you crazy people).  Of course, we all know how I feel about our friend Lucy's Ham Sandwiches, so obviously they are a staple at any large gathering.  This time, however, a friend sent me this recipe for a pizza roll version with the same sticky, delicious ingredients.  So I had to make both, duh.  They were a hit!  And a fun twist on a family favorite.  I think I will always be partial to the original sandwich, but you must try both at your next gluttonous gathering.  

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Cauliflower Pizza Crust

You guys, my picky eater ate vegetables, and I totally tricked him into it.  I didn't even have to lie!  I said, hey Jack, want to help me make pizza?  He said, yes, of course, and so we made the crust together.  Crust, that is, made up entirely of cauliflower.  Of course, I had turned the vegetable into "dough" before he came to help, so all he saw was this:

...and he never asked me what it was.  No lies!  But I'll tell you what that is, it's cauliflower.  An entire head of florets, coarsely chopped and then pulverized in a food processor.  Next, any excess water is squeezed out (I used a paper towel) to ensure a crispy crust, and then the cauliflower is combined with cheese, spices and egg whites.  Pizza dough!  

The crust is crispy and cheesy and delicious.  I made a plain cheese version for the kids and topped ours with thinly sliced zucchini and sautéed mushrooms.  This would be fun to make for the Super Bowl, and then you don't have to feel guilty about eating an entire bag of potato chips dipped in an entire bowl of french onion dip!    

Recipe here.

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