The Almost Fail: Polish Stir Fry

I was actually forced to photograph this dish even though I had *such* confidence that it would suck and that I would not need a photo. I was pleasantly wrong, and happy I took the photo, albeit a crappy one. Nonetheless, this was really very good! I’ve been talking with my officemate about Polish food and it got me wanting pierogis. After reading a lot of mixed reviews about this recipe (Rachael Ray), I decided to give it a shot anyway. This whole thing came together in about 20 minutes and was very good. The sour cream absolutely makes this dish – do not skip that.

Braised Lamb Shanks

If you are in the mood for slow-cooked food (and a lot of delicious, tender meat), make THIS. I served this with the suggested accompaniment, hard polenta cakes, which were kind of blaaaaaah. I would serve this with mashed potatoes next time 🙂

Polenta with Mushroom Ragu and Poached Eggs

I have to admit, this was delicious. A true vegetarian delight that will not make you miss meat at all. I followed the recipe pretty closely, but since I love herbs, especially rosemary, I added a bit more. I will make this again – but next time I will cut down on the amount of polenta and add another egg per serving. Otherwise, YUM.

Quinoa with Garlic, Pine Nuts and Currants

This is my first quinoa experience. I am still partial to rice and cous cous…but quinoa is just so damn healthy I might have to get behind it. I think that the finished product is a little mushy and a tad fuzzy, but the crunch of the nuts really makes it happen and it’s actually extremely tasty. I don’t think I would try to make this without some sort of nut or other crunchy element as the texture really is lacking otherwise.

Grilled Agave Salmon

This is hardly a recipe…it’s SO easy and healthy and fast and yummy. All of it. Eat it.

Chicken Torta with Pistachios and Capers

I’ve been looking forward to making this for a while now, but since it is a teensy bit labor-intensive (and the weather has been way too beautiful to sit inside and cook), it had to wait for this lazy, cool sunday afternoon. I think the best part of this recipe, for me, is that I again overcame my fear of dough and rolling pins. I intend on playing around with the filling (hello summer veggies!), but the crust was perfect, if I do say so myself.

**Update: I just ate this at room temp for lunch and I think I liked it even better this way. The lemon flavor really comes through and compliments the capers well. The pastry is still the bomb.

Steak Au Poivre

Recipe #2 from Rocco’s book, Now Eat This! So good! No wonder the book is already #1 on the New York Times Bestseller list. I wasn’t sure how I was going to feel about this since I’m a bit of a steak purist, but this was delicious. I would definitelymake this again, especially since it’s so quick and easy.

Stuffed Piquillo Pepper Crostini (aka Santa Hat Sammiches)

This recipe comes from a vegetarian cooking class I was treated to at Cambridge School of Culinary Arts. It’s a bit labor intensive, but overall it is a tasty and impressive looking treat. Colleen came up with the cute moniker (I just typed monkier by accident and laughed for 5 minutes to myself….ahhh, sigh) and I think it would be a super cute Christmas appetizer.

Blindfolded Eggs over Cheddar Garlic Grits

Remember when I said I couldn’t cook eggs to save my life? Well, I’m starting to consider them my specialty. I guess practice makes perfect.

As soon as I saw this recipe in my Cooking Light mag, I knew I had to make it. What the heck are blindfolded eggs, you ask? Well, besides an adorable name, it’s a method for cooking eggs that involves using ice and steam, which results in a combo fried/poached egg. Yum and great way to make sunny-side up eggs!

Broccoli Rabe and Turkey Sausage Pizzas

This yummy, cheesy pizza literally takes 15 minutes to make. Enough said.

Creamy Pasta with Bacon

This is my first attempt at making something from Rocco DiSpirito’s book “Now Eat This!“, which, frankly, is amazing. Buy it. Or, better yet, stay tuned here because I intend on blogging every damn recipe from it anyway. Each and every recipe looks yum and diet-friendly. Since carbonara is probably my favorite dish of all time, I had to try this first.

So, this recipe is technically called “Spaghetti Carbonara” in the book…but I wouldn’t really call it carbonara. It is everything a carbonara should be (rich, creamy, bacony), but it doesn’t really compare to the real thing. That said, it really is rich, creamy, and bacony and a perfect answer to a naughty pasta craving, AND it won’t put you in the hospital. All good things. I must say, I was pretty skeptical about his use of Hormel Real Bacon Bits, but at 50% less fat and actually really good, I think I am a convert.

Crispy Cereal Bars

I am in love with Kashi Honey Sunshine cereal. It tastes very much like Cap’n Crunch, it’s crazy good for you, and the name is adorable. I had it for breakfast this morning and needed to find another way to use it today stat. This is definitely my kind of “baking”… Step 1: Melt stuff & stir. Step 2: Cool & cut. Behold Crispy Cereal Bars! These bars are AMAZING and redonculously fibertastic.

Chicken Stuffed with Mushrooms, Spinach, and Ricotta

Chicken, chicken, chicken. Yes, my last few posts have been chicken dishes…but I’ve been a little uninspired lately. I’ve had scrambled eggs for dinner way too often lately. Hopefully we’ll be getting back on track soon 🙂

Denis Leary Chicken Wings

For about a week straight, pretty much the only thing my roommate said to me was, “I want wings”. So I gave them to her, and low-fat at that.

Basil Chicken in a Coconut Curry Sauce

I love any opportunity to use up some of the less popular spices in my cabinet, and this was a great way to do it. Did you you know you’re only supposed to have spices for a few months (a year, max) before they get stale? This produces immense anxiety for me, especially since I maintain a slightly indulgent spice cabinet…which I can justify because I shop at the best store on the planet for cheapie spices, Christina’s.

Anyway, back to the chicken. This was YUMMY, but I’m not going to lie, it’s a fairly spicy dish. I love spicy, but you may want to cut down to 1 jalapeno and cut back on the cayenne (which I added extra) if you’re sensitive to that kind of thing. I love Thai food, but I always feel slightly guilty ordering any sort of coconut curry in a restaurant because I know it’s made with full-fat coconut milk, which is just evil stuff. Light coconut milk tastes the exact same to me and is SO much healthier. Shout out to the We’re Not Martha gals for putting me on to this recipe – I will definitely be making this again the next time I crave a healthy Thai curry dish.

Low-Fat Semi-Ghetto Peach Cobbler

This peach cobbler is semi-ghetto for a couple of reasons: #1) It’s partially made in the microwave. I’m really ok with this, as I hardly ever use my microwave in regular cooking and I am not, by any means, a baking enthusiast. Nuke it up, I say. #2) It’s low-fat. In it of itself, that does not make something ghetto, but something tells me that peach cobbler (or any dessert, really), should not be very good for you. But this is!