Tostones

This past summer, I took a trip to Miami with my husband, and we pretty much ate our way through Little Havana. Our favorite restaurant was Versailles. The food there is amazing and really authentic. One of our favorite appetizers was tostones or fried plantains. I decided to try my hand at these. They aren't very hard to make, but tostones are unique because they are fried twice. Some people like them completely starchy, but if you want them to have a hint of sweetness, wait until there are some black spots on the skin of the plantain. The darker the sweeter.

Here is what you will need:


Step 1: Cut the plantain into chunks.



Step 2: Heat the oil in the frying pan and cook the plantains for 3-5 minutes, remove, and drain the excess oil under paper towels.



Step 3: Smash the plantains under a frying pan or coffee mug (there is an actual 'tostone smasher' they sell in stores, but this works just fine).



They will look like this...



Step 4: Fry again until golden brown (3-4 minutes)



Step 5: Soak up the excess oil with paper towels.



Step 6: Sprinkle with salt and enjoy!



Complete list of ingredients:

Green plantain cut into 1-inch slices
Vegetable oil for frying
Salt

Penne with Two Tomatoes and Mozzarella

It's Friday of the second week of Lent, and being the good Spanish Catholic that I am (Hi, mom!), I am giving up meat today. This actually doesn't feel like a sacrifice, but for some reason, the moment I can't have meat, I have no idea what to cook that doesn't involve meat. This recipe is another one from Martha Stewart. It took only half an hour to make, and I really enjoyed it. This is just a really light and simple dish; I can imagine making this for a summer picnic or potluck when tomatoes are really fresh

Here is what you will need:



Step 1: In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta until al dente.



Step 2: Cut the mozzarella and place the cheese in the freezer. According to Martha, chilling the mozzarella cubes in the freezer for 15 minutes helps them retain their shape when they're added to the hot pasta.



Step 3: While the water boils, slice the sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, and chives.




Step 4: When you drain the pasta, set aside 1/2 cup of the pasta water.



Step 5: In pasta pot, heat oil over medium-high. Add cherry tomatoes, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, and pasta water. Cook until cherry tomatoes soften--this took me about 10 minutes.



It will look like this...


Step 6: Add pasta, chilled cheese, and chives to pot, season with salt and pepper, and toss to combine.




Full list of ingredients:
6 ounces fresh mozzarella, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (I used an 8 ounce package)
Coarse salt and ground pepper
12 ounces penne rigate
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, sliced
2 garlic cloves, sliced
1/4 cup snipped chives

Ginger-Honey Glazed Salmon

The best day of my life (ok, except for maybe my wedding day) was the day I saw Oprah at the Kennedy Center. I am serious when I say she doesn't walk; she floats. With that said, I not only love her book club picks, her best-life advice, and her Manolos---I love her food recommendations! She has a list of "29 Healthy, Eat-Right Recipes" that I plan to cook my way through. I was craving salmon, so I started with that. This recipe also features one of my favorite ingredients---Sesame Oil. This stuff is amazing! Asian recipes often call for it, and it is packed full of flavor.

Here is what you will need:


(not pictured: soy sauce--whoops)

Step 1: In a small saucepan, bring orange juice, soy sauce, ginger, honey, and sesame oil to a simmer over high heat. Reduce to medium-low; cook 5 minutes.



Step 2: Cut the salmon. This was about 1.5 pounds, so I cut it into about 3 pieces (we eat large servings in my house).



Step 3: Pour half of marinade into a shallow dish large enough to hold fish in a single layer; cool 10 minutes. Add fish; coat with marinade.



Step 4: Add fish; coat with marinade. Cover with plastic; set aside 10 minutes.



Step 5: In a large frying pan, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Place fish in the pan for about 3 minutes on each side (I tend to cook mine skin-side up first, This helps keep it moist. Then, when you flip it, you have the presentation side up).



Step 5: Flip and cook just until opaque throughout, 2 to 3 minutes more.



I like my salmon medium-rare....cook to your preference.

ENJOY!!



List of Ingredients:

1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 Tbsp. fresh ginger , finely chopped
2 Tbsp. honey
1 tsp. toasted sesame oil
1 fillet of salmon (2 pounds; preferably wild), skin on, cut into 6 equal pieces
2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

Crushed Oreo Cookies

When you write a food blog, people tend to talk to you about food--a lot. And obviously, I have a passion for researching new recipes, so I don't mind. Well, a few weeks ago at a friend's birthday party (a lady Gaga/Miley Cyrus themed birthday party, I should add), I was talking with my friend, Hannah (obligatory shout-out), about the one cookie recipe I was DYING to find--the Crushed Oreo Cookies sold at Wisemiller's in Georgetown a.k.a. the reason I gained the Freshman 15. That night, she got home and went on a google-mission and found this recipe for oreo cookies. As I read the recipe, I thought, "Could this be it???"

I am going to have to do an official side-by-side comparison at some point, but this comes pretty close to the real deal!

Thank you, Hannah!


Here is what you will need:



Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cream butter and sugars until well combined. Add the eggs and vanilla.



Step 2: Place flour, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl, and stir. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients.



Step 3: Add crushed oreos and chocolate chips. (At what point does eating spoonfulls of batter stop counting as "taste-testing"?)



Step 4: Scoop dough onto parchment-lined baking sheet (about 1 tablespoon). I sprinkled each cookie with crushed oreos (they looked like they needed a little extra oreo). Bake for 7-9 minutes or until cooked, but still soft. Let cool on baking sheet for 3 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.





The full list of ingredients:

2 sticks softened butter
12 Tablespoons sugar
12 Tablespoons brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 Cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
16 broken pieces Oreo Cookies (I thought it could use a few more cookies, actually--maybe 19 or 20?)
2 Cups chocolate chips

Meatloaf Muffins

First lesson of meatloaf muffins---they are not photogenic (I tried taking photos of them from 20 different angles, and this was the best one) nor are they guest-worthy....but they are a perfect weeknight meal at home, and this version happens to be healthy and really good.

Another lesson, double-check the pantry before heading to the grocery store. I under-estimated our recent ketchup consumption. Exhibit A:



This was barely enough. I usually love to really smother the tops with ketchup, so I had to be a little more frugal. (BBQ sauce probably would have been a good substitute, but we were fresh out of that too.)

This recipe is from Cooking Light. Rather than use bread crumbs, they use crushed fat-free saltines. As always, I was skeptical, but it works well. I highly recommend serving these meatloaf muffins with mashed potatoes. I served mine with roasted garlic mashed potatoes. Cooking them in the muffin cups creates perfect little servings and definitely reduces cooking time.

Here is what you will need:



Step 1: Preheat oven to 350°. Chop the vegetables.




Step 2: Heat the olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chopped onion, chopped carrot, dried oregano, and minced garlic; sauté 2 minutes. Cool.



Step 3: Crumble the saltine crackers while the vegetables cook. Since I am still living life without a food processor, I used a zip lock bag and smash the crackers until they are finely crushed.



Step 4: Combine onion mixture, 1/2 cup ketchup, and the remaining ingredients except cooking spray (lean beef, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, eggs, and freshly ground pepper) in a large bowl.



Step 5: Spoon the meat mixture into 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Top each with 2 teaspoons ketchup (I don't really measure, I just smooth the ketchup on until they are each sufficiently covered). Bake at 350° for 30 minutes or until a thermometer registers 160°. Let stand for 5 minutes.



List of Ingredients:

1 teaspoon olive oil
1 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup finely chopped carrot
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup ketchup, divided
1 1/2 pounds ground beef, extra lean (raw)
1 cup finely crushed fat-free saltine crackers (about 20)
2 tablespoons prepared mustard
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 large eggs
Cooking spray

Basic Jambalaya

In my house, we joke that I run the kitchen like a college cafeteria, and by that, I mean I love theme nights! I like to dye food green on St. Patrick's day, shape food into hearts on Valentine's Day, eat Mexican food on Cinco de Mayo, etc. etc. So of course, I took advantage of Mardi Gras and decided to try my hand at a classic New Orleans dish--Jambalaya. I think I have eaten jambalaya maybe once in my entire life (same goes for my husband a.k.a. my taste-tester), so we actually had no real point of comparison. So without any preconceived notions, we thought this was delicious.

I got the recipe from Martha Stewart,but I had to make a couple of adjustments. They didn't have any andouille sausage at the grocery store, but the butcher told me, "well, if you're talking jambalaya, what you really want is chorizo." So I trusted him, but since I was worried the jambalaya wouldn't be spicy enough without the andouille sausage, I threw in 1/2 a teaspoon of cayenne pepper. I think it had enough kick, but you can always taste and add more if necessary.

Here is what you will need:


Step 1: Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Season chicken with salt and pepper. Cook until golden brown, about 5 minutes per side. Cut into 3/4-inch pieces; set aside.





Step 2: Cut the vegetables, and add vegetables to pot. Cook, stirring, 5 minutes.




Step 3: Add sausage; cook 3 minutes. Add garlic; cook 1 minute.



Step 4: Stir in stock, Old Bay, tomatoes, and 1/2 cup water; bring to a boil. Add rice and chicken. Reduce heat; simmer 5 minutes.





Step 5: Cover; remove from heat. Let stand until rice is tender and liquid is mostly absorbed, 30 to 35 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.




List of ingredients:
1/4 cup olive oil
1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
3 celery stalks, finely chopped
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 green bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and finely chopped
1 pound andouille sausage, cut into 1/2-inch pieces (I used Chorizo*)
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups homemade or low-sodium store-bought chicken stock
3/4 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
1 can (14 ounces) crushed tomatoes with juice
1 cup long-grain rice

*if using chorizo, add 1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper for some additional kick.