Pasta Bean Toss

Okay, so the majority of things I post are sweet -- my dirty little secret is that I don't really care about food all that much. I mean, I don't JUST eat sweets, but I wish I could.

This recipe below is adapted from one in the April 2010 issue of "Runner's World". I like it because it's easy, pasta-based and my kids will eat it without weeping.

Ingredients:

1/2 pound whole-grain penne

1 medium red onion

1 large garlic clove, minced

1 tsp vegetable oil

3 carrots, cut julienne-style

1 cup raw broccoli florets or snow peas

1 8 oz can diced tomatoes

1 1/2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce

2 tbsp fresh basil (optional)

1 15 oz can kidney beans

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Method:

1. Cook pasta.

2. While pasta cooks, saute onion & garlic in a large frying pan until tender. Add remaining vegetables, tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce & basil, if using.

3. Simmer for about 5 minutes, then add beans and simmer about 2 more minutes, or until veggies are tender.

4. Toss in pasta and cheese. Serve.

Serves 3.

Sour Cream Coffee Cake

This is from the March 2010 issue of Cooking Light. It's a little fiddly what with the toasting of oats and walnuts -- I don't usually like any recipes with too many steps, but it is worth it. I made this for a meeting with the School Board President when she came to my house to discuss an email I'd sent her. How many elected officials take the time to respond personally like that? Vote Yes for the budget!

I've noticed that I'm using a lot of sour cream lately. What can it mean?

Ingredients:

Cooking spray

3/4 cup old fashioned rolled oats

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar, divided

2 large eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 (8 oz) carton reduced fat sour cream

2 tbsp finely chopped walnuts, toasted

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 tbsp chilled butter, cut into small pieces

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 35o degrees.

2. Spread oats in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake for 6 minutes or until oats are barely fragrant and a light brown.

3. Coat a 9" springform pan with cooking spray and set aside.

4. Reserve 1/4 cup toasted oats and set aside. Whiz remaining oats in blender until finely ground.

5. Combine whizzed oats, flours, baking soda & powder and salt; stir with a whisk.

6. Put granulated sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar and 1/3 cup butter in a large bowl. Beat until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla. Add flour mixture, alternating with with sour cream. Batter will be slightly lumpy, so do not overbeat unless you like a tough cake. Spoon batter into pan.

7. For topping, combine remaining oats, brown sugar, nuts and cinnamon in a bowl. Cut in 1 tbsp of butter until well blended. Sprinkle over the top of the batter.

8. Bake for 40 minutes. Cool cake in pan for 10 minutes.

Lemon-Blueberry Bundt Cake

This is a five-year old recipe from Cooking Light. I'm always inspired to make it when the lemony forsythia bushes start to bloom.

Ingredients:

Cooking spray

2 tbsp granulated sugar

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 3/4 cups granulated sugar

1/4 butter, softened

1 tbsp grated lemon rind

4 large eggs*

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

16 oz reduced fat sour cream*

2 cups fresh blueberries*

Glaze:

1 cup powdered sugar

3 tbsp fresh lemon juice

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Coat 12 cup Bundt pan with cooking spray and dust with 2 tbsp granulated sugar. Set aside.

3. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda & salt in a small bowl. Stir gently with a whisk.

4. Put 1 3/4 cups granulated sugar, butter and lemon rind in mixing bowl and beat until well-blended. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in vanilla and sour cream

5. Add flour mixture and beat just until incorporated. Fold in blueberries.

6. Spoon into prepared Bundt pan and bake for at least 1 hour. Cool completely before glazing.

7. Drizzle glaze over cooled cake.

Makes 16 servings.

Today's full disclosure includes the fact that I used 5 eggs instead of 4, didn't have enough sour cream so used about 10 oz of Turkish yogurt plus 6 oz of sour cream and used frozen instead of fresh blueberries. (That last substitution required that the cake bake for an extra 1/2 hour.)

Salted Caramels

I have stolen this recipe in its entirety from my high school classmate, Miranda Levenstein. I simply ripped it straight off her website (as you can tell, because I never take pictures of the making, only the made.) Check out her blog: InSweetTreatment.com

Don't Be Scared Salted Chocolate Caramels
Gourmet, December 2006
Ingredients
2 cups heavy cream
10 1/2 oz fine-quality dark chocolate (no more than 60% cacao if marked), finely chopped
1 3/4 cups sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into tablespoon pieces
2 teaspoons flaky sea salt such as Maldon
Vegetable oil for greasing

Directions
Line bottom and sides of an 8-inch straight-sided square metal baking pan with 2 long sheets of crisscrossed parchment.
Bring cream just to a boil in a 1- to 1 1/2-quart heavy saucepan over moderately high heat, then reduce heat to low and add chocolate. Let stand 1 minute, then stir until chocolate is completely melted. Remove from heat.
Bring sugar, corn syrup, water, and salt to a boil in a 5- to 6-quart heavy pot over moderate heat, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Boil, uncovered, without stirring but gently swirling pan occasionally, until sugar is deep golden, about 10 minutes.
Tilt pan and carefully pour in chocolate mixture (mixture will bubble and steam vigorously). Continue to boil over moderate heat, stirring frequently, until mixture registers 255°F on thermometer, about 15 minutes.
Add butter, stirring until completely melted, then immediately pour into lined baking pan (do not scrape any caramel clinging to bottom or side of saucepan).

Let caramel stand 10 minutes, then sprinkle evenly with sea salt. Cool completely in pan on a rack, about 2 hours.
Carefully invert caramel onto a clean, dry cutting board, then peel off parchment. Turn caramel salt side up.
Lightly oil blade of a large heavy knife and cut into 1-inch squares.
Yield: 64 caramels
More notes: Additional sea salt can be pressed onto caramels after cutting.
Caramels keep, layered between sheets of parchment or wax paper, in an airtight container at cool room temperature 2 weeks or they can be wrapped in 4-inch squares of wax paper; twist ends to close.

Chocolate Walnut Cake

I'm always looking for desserts to bring to potlucks or dinner parties that are not decadent and fat-laden. I don't know, maybe I've been watching too much "Food, Inc." or "Super Size Me" lately, but I'm kind of obsessed with how rotten the American diet has become. And I don't exclude myself from that statement -- I can snack all day and never eat a proper meal. So, when I'm asked to contribute something to a meal, I want to make it healthy and tasty. (God, I sound like Nancy Drew or something!)

Here's a recipe I adapted from a Weight Watcher's recipe of the same name. It has only FOUR ingredients!

Ingredients:

9 large eggs, separated

1 cup sugar, divided

5 oz bittersweet chocolate, melted (I used 4 oz semi-sweet and 1 oz unsweetened just because that's what I had in the house!)

1 cup walnuts, ground to a powder (just use your food processor or blender)

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Beat eggs yolks and 1/2 cup sugar in a small bowl. Pour in warm chocolate (not hot or you'll cook the eggs) and 1/2 of ground nuts. Mix well.

3. In a large bowl, beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Add 1/2 cup sugar. Beat some more until egg whites are glossy and hold their shape.

4. Mix a heaping cup of egg whites into the chocolate mixture. Then, fold chocolate mixture into egg whites (do NOT use the blender, do this by hand with a spatula.)

5. Spoon batter into an angel food pan and bake for about 75 minutes. (Test with a toothpick)

6. Remove from oven invert cake pan on rack to cool (if your angel food pan doesn't have feet, invert over a bottle.) Cool thoroughly before loosening with a knife to remove cake from pan. (If you do this before the cake is completely cool, it will break apart!)

7. You might want to serve this with a drizzle of chocolate syrup, or a scoop of ice cream or whipped cream.

However, without any toppings, this makes sixteen teeny tiny pieces at 4 Weight Watchers points per piece.

One Dish Sausage & French Toast Breakfast

I just love hearty weekend breakfasts. And since my days of brunching on Columbus Avenue seem from another life, this is as close as I can get!

This recipe is adapted from one I found on the Fleischmann's Yeast website.

Ingredients:

Batter:

1 1/2 cups flour

3 tsp Rapid Rise yeast (sometimes known as "bread machine yeast")

2 tbsp sugar

2/3 cup milk (heat in microwave for 60 seconds. Check with thermometer if obsessive)

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp cold butter, cubed

1 egg

Topping:

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

3 eggs

2 tbsp milk

6 pre-cooked sausage patties (I use Morningstar veggie patties to feel healthy.)

Method:

1. Coat an 8" x 8" baking dish with cooking spray.

2. Combine batter ingredients in bowl, scrape into prepared pan.

3. For topping, combine sugar and cinnamon in measuring cup. Beat eggs and milk together in a small bowl.

4. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar evenly over batter. Put sausage patties on top, pour egg mixture over all.

5. Place in COLD oven, set temperature to 350 degrees. Bake for approximately 30 minutes.

6. Drizzle maple syrup on top before serving if you need your teeth to fall out.

Wild Mushroom and Lentil Cottage Pie

On first glance this might just look like a bowl of chips, but in fact this is $8 worth of organic mushrooms purchased this morning from the Briarcliff Farmer's Market. Yes, I'm going to realize my dream of acting like a talented chef who can whip up a meal based on the freshest, seasonal ingredients that present themselves to her.

The following recipe comes from the December 2009 issue of Cooking Light.

Ingredients:

Filling:

1 cup dried lentils

4 cups water

1/2 tsp salt

1 bay leaf

2 1/2 cups organic vegetable broth, divided

3 tbsp all-purpose flour

1 tbsp olive oil

1 1/2 cups onions, finely chopped

1 cup carrots, finely chopped

1/2 cup celery, thinly sliced

4 oz. exotic mushroom blend, sliced

2 tbsp dry sherry

1 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp tomato paste

1 tsp thyme leaves

1 tbsp white truffle oil (optional)

Topping:

1 1/2 lbs. Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cubed

1 1/2 tsp. salt, divided

2/3 cup buttermilk

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

Dash of ground red pepper

Method:

1. For the topping, put potatoes and 1 teaspoon of salt in a saucepan. Cover with water and bring to a boil. Cook for 20 minutes, drain. Return potatoes to saucepan and add buttermilk, 1/2 teaspoon salt, nutmeg and red pepper. Mash until smooth and set aside.

2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

3. For the filling: combine lentils, 4 cups water, 1/2 teaspoon salt and bay leaf in a saucepan. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, simmer for 25 minutes or until lentils are tender. Drain and set aside.

4. Combine 1/2 cup vegetable broth and flour in a small bowl, whisking until well blended. Set aside.

5. Heat olive oil in a 2-qt casserole (one you can use on the stove top!) Add mushrooms, onion, carrot & celery; cook for 7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add sherry, soy sauce, tomato paste, thyme, vegetable broth & lentils to mushroom mixture. Bring to a simmer then add flour mixture. Cook until mixture thickens, stirring constantly.

6. Top with potato mixture and bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes, or until potato topping is golden. Serve, drizzling truffle oil over the potatoes if desired.

Yield -- 8 servings

Calories: 235

Fat: 4.3 g

Protein: 9.8 g

Fiber: 5.8 g

Sodium: 734 mg