Oven Fried Calamari

Fried calamari is virtually impossible to resist for me. Since I know that breaded AND fried food are not so healthy, I was excited when I saw Rocco take on this recipe in his book. I know I go on and on about this book, but seriously, every recipe I’ve tried – and there have been a few (crab and bacon stuffed mushrooms, panko crusted pork caesar salad, shrimp pad thai, creamy pasta with bacon, steak au poivre, pork and snap pea stir fry with orange peanut sauce…) – has been amazing. One of the tricks to getting a fried texture is the use of panko breadcrumbs. Whole wheat panko can be tricky to find, but once you do – stock up. I found mine at Whole Foods and my mom snagged some for me at a health food store while on vacation in Florida. Another trick is using the wire rack so that the heat in the oven can get on all sides of the food – this is key for maximum crispiness. My roomie and I devoured these…”serves 4″ is clearly just a suggestion, right?

Eggy Breakfast Muffins with Ham and Cheddar

I was drawn this recipe for many reasons, namely because I LOVE EGGS and egg products. Also, this uses almond meal, which I have a ton of from Trader Joe’s that I never seem to use. I made a sixer of these and intend on having one each day for breakfast (I like them at room temp.) and making more to bring to the Cape this weekend for the loooooong weekend with my family and my man. These breakfast muffins are delicious, and can really be eaten for breakfast or a light lunch with a salad. My one complaint: I wish they contained more vegetables. That’s my next mission.

Goat Cheese Stuffed Mini Peppers

I bought a big back of these adorable mini peppers at mecca/costco the other day (Brian will tell you it’s because I couldn’t resist the mini pepper cartoon guy on the package, but don’t listen to him) Anyway, I also happened to buy a 50lb log of goat cheese (slight exaggeration) and thought these would make a delectable little snack. I was right. I mixed the goat cheese with basil as I had a gigantic bushel from my CSA this week…any other fresh herbs would be fantastic too.

Greek Bomb Pizza

This pizza is THE BOMB. BOMB pizza, that’s what I’m calling it.

Flatbread Pizza with Turkey Pepperoni and Mushrooms

I’m on week 3 of eating under the South Beach doctrine, and I have to say, I kind of love it. Lots of veggies, minimal sugar, no heavily processed foods. Thus far, I feel energized, never hungry, and I’m down close to ten big ones. While bread and pasta are hard to give up, especially for this Sicilian girl who grew up using bread as a utensil, one of my few remaining cravings has actually been pizza. Which I guess goes to show how often I was eating it before…not good. While I know my days of enjoying the deep fried pizza offerings of City Slickers down the street from my house (not really deep fried, but it tastes like it is. omg SO good!) are behind me for at least a little while, I figured I could try my hand at a healthier alternative.

This pizza uses a lavash bread by Joseph’s, a low sugar pizza sauce (harder to find than you might think! when you start looking at the labels, you’ll be surprised by the dichotomy in sugar content among popular jarred sauces…), and some veg. I love a good thin crust pizza, and this is exactly that. It’s almost like a crunchy cracker with yummy, melty toppings. I think I might do mushrooms or pepperoni next time. Both was a little confusing. Eat it.

Crab Cakes with Creamy Red Pepper Sauce

While the ingredient list is rather long, the recipe itself is easy and yummy. You probably already have most of the ingredients in your cupboard. This makes a perfect, light summer supper.

Crab and Bacon Stuffed Mushrooms

I just bought another ginormous tub o’ crabmeat at Costco (if Costco were a person, I’d marry it). Expect to see a couple of crab recipes coming up, as I love it, and have a TON of it. Anyway, this is a super easy and relatively healthy recipe from one of my favorite cookbooks, Now Eat This by Rocco Dispirito. It was intended in the book to be an appetizer (and would make a lovely one using smaller mushrooms), but I decided to bump it up a little to make it suitable for lunch.

White Fish with Almond Garlic Scape Pesto Crust

Today was the first day of my very first CSA! I think my favorite part of this gig is going to be discovering new veggies that aren’t readily seen in grocery stores. One such thing is the garlic scape, which seriously packs a punch.

Veggie Pie with Cheesy Zucchini Crust

As soon as I saw this recipe, I new I had to make it. I love zucchini (and mostly all veg), and this was a perfect meal. It actually reminds me a lot of pizza!

Kale and Chick Pea Saute

At first, I wasn’t too impressed by this dish. But, as I continued to eat it, the lemony goodness won me over.

Souffle Stuffed Chicken

So far, I have been VERY impressed by the recipes I’ve tried from the South Beach Diet book. This recipe was so easy, and so good that I might serve it at my next dinner party. The lemon dijon sauce is optional — I think this would be great with or without.

Spinach Frittata with Salsa

I love frittatas. I love them because they’re eggs, I love them because they’re way easier than omelettes, and I love them because they remind me of my mom, who often has different variations sitting on the counter ready for snacking. This week, I particularly love them because they’re a perfect way to get veggies at breakfast, a south beach req, and perfect to cook in advance. Be prepared to see more frittata recipes here as I plan on sticking every veggie known to man in one of these puppies.

Cold Peanut Noodles

As last weekend was going to be be my last chance to carbo-load for a while, I looked toward my waiting recipe list for what to cook up. This is my mom’s recipe – and is super good! Great for a summer lunch or a side dish.

Spring Rolls

I had to psych myself up a little to make these, as I thought they’d be a little tricky. It was much easier to work with the rice paper than I thought it would be…can’t wait to try other spring roll recipes now! BTW, these were fantastic.

Pupusa Tacos

When I told my favorite vegetarian friend that I was making pupusa tacos for dinner, she endearingly asked me if i was making tacos out of puppies. Although I’m sure that would be delicious, I instead chose frozen Goya pupusas. When I traveled to El Salvador a few years ago, we went to a restaurant that was entirely devoted to pupusas, which are fluffy corn tortillas that are stuffed with cheese or beans and cheese. These were, by far, my favorite Salvadoran food stuff. So why not make an overstuffed open-faced taco with them?

Refried Beans

It’s virtually impossible to make a big pile of refried beans look appetizing in a picture, but trust me, these are GOOD. A super easy side-dish to any Mexican meal.

Berry Oat Crumble

Another yummy accident. These were techincally supposed to be bars, but for some reason they didn’t set up for me when I try to cut them. Either way, this is probably the best crumble I’ve ever had. You can use whatever berries you like (the original recipe used strawberry jam and blueberries only).

Lemon Poppy Chicken with Cheesy Peasy Rice

I was organizing my recipes this weekend and came across this one. This chicken is so good and perfect for a quick weeknight meal.