Cheesey Tomatoes

I've made these tomatoes a few times in the past. I got the inspiration from the 'london broil line' at VT. If you don't know what that is, I feel sorry for you. Regardless, its an easy side dish that is filling and pretty healthy

1-2 Tbsp cheese (parm/Feta whatever)
Oregano
Basil
Pepper
Olive oil
3 large beef steak tomatoes (any large firm tomatoes)

Cut the tomatoes in half horizontally. Take out the excess seeds/juice from the tomatoes. These were very firm so there was not alot of deseeding/dejuicing necessary.

Before "deseeding/juicing



after

Line up the tomatoes on cookie sheet, sprinkle oregano, basil, pepper and olive oil.

Add a bit of cheese to the little natural pockets in the tomatoes.

Bake on 400 for about 20-25 minutes or until tomatoes look a bit wrinkly and the cheese is melted. You can also broil on lo for about 4 mins to get the top browned a bit more.

Baked Scallops

After an intense weekend in Miami, Monday called for a hearty healthy meal. I had bought a bag of huge frozen scallops awhile back but wasn't sure how to make them. I found a recipe for baked scallops that I adjusted a bit.

1/2 cup whole wheat seasoned bread crumbs (yes this exists)
1 tsp Paprika
1-2 tsp onion salt
4 cloves crushed garlic
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp dried parsley (or fresh, whatever)
1 tbsp butter or margarine
1tbsp olive oil

Pat your defrosted and rinsed scallops dry, making sure they are completely dry.

Melt the butter in the microwave and then mix in the olive oil after the butter is thoroughly melted. Toss the scallops in the butter/oil mixture and add to baking dish, add the remaining butter/oil to the dish as well. It looks super buttery but trust me the 1tbsp of butter goes a longggg way when its mixed with olive oil. I would even do 1/2 a tbsp the next time I do it.

Mix the remaining ingredients into the same empty butter/oil dish. 

Sprinkle the breadcrumb mixture on top of the scallops in the baking dish.

Bake in preheated oven at 400 degrees for about 20-25 minutes or until scallops are firm.

This tasted as FANTASTIC as it looks.

Steak Roll ups

I originally saw this on a blog strictly for crockpots. I adjusted a few things, added a veggie  but overall I would have to give the credit to the crockpot blog.

2 cups cheese (I use Gorgonzola/feta)- you definitely want to use a very pungent cheese, blue etc. 

4 cups thawed broccoli

2 lbs flat steak, I used Flank.

3 cups red wine

1 cup soy sauce

6 crushed garlic cloves
3 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce 


This is a really great recipe that is simple and definitely for a carnivore. I recommend marinating the meat overnight, however if you only have a few hours it will do fine.


Combine the red wine, soy sauce, Worshtershire and crushed garlic in a container for marinating, or big ziploc bag with the meat...Let  it marinate overnight in the fridge..

Take out the meat and lay it flat...do not toss the marinade...

 If you have a meat tenderizer use it at this step if you are still waiting for yours to arrive in the mail like I am, just fork the meat and create little slits with the your knife. Also cut the slab of meat into 4 strips...

The sprinkle on your cheese I also tried to stuff some cheese into the slits so when rolling it up all the cheese won't fall everywhere. It still will be a little messy but not as much if  you put the cheese into some slits.

 Then roll up the bad boys, not too tight... and toothpick through the bottom..

 Place them in the crockpot....Gently of course.

 

And now pour your marinade back over the meat..

Let cook on high for about an hour and 15 mins. When you lift the lid you will see the meat is no longer red..

 I would add in the veggies now, I used brocolli and I didn't want to add it too early on so they would brown and get too soggy, If you were adding carrots and potatoes you would definitely want to add them in the beginging.

Dump into your crockpot..

Let the brocolli cook for another 30 mins and soak up the yummy marinade, if the meat looks thoroughly cooked at this point you could turn down to low to cook the brocolli.

Then serve your yummyness.. ps take out the toothpicks..

Indian Samosas- 2 ways

Alex got me into Indian food recently and because I love vegetarian food its worked out well. One of my favorite apps are Samosas, they are typically in a triangle shape and ALWAYS deep fried. Well the last time I had one I decided I no longer wanted them deep fried and  I wanted to make my own:

4 cups chopped potatoes
1 cup frozen peas
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped carrots
1 tsp garam masala
1/2 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp tumeric
2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp salt
2 cloves crushed garlic
Wonton wrappers

Don't be turned off by the spices if you don't have them all, if you google a few recipes you will find one that has your mix of spices, which is what I did. This mixture is enough two make two batches (24 cups and about 30 triangles), so I made them two different ways. The first time, I made them into 'cups' using my mini muffin pan and the second time I made them into the traditional triangle. They were both just as good, the triangles are a little more tedious and require a bit more filling.

Dice up about 2-3 large potatoes add to a microwave safe bowl, with about 3 tablespoons of water, cover with saran wrap and microwave for about 6 minutes. Cook time may vary, you basically want them mashable. You could also do this in a pot but hey less dishes this way.

Meanwhile, saute chopped onions, carrots, and crushed garlic with olive oil

Add all the spices about a minute later and cook until onions are translucent about 10 minutes on medium high heat.

Once potatoes are done, mash them up. I used my mix and chop that I typically use when cooking ground meats but it doubled as an excellent potato masher!

Mix in spiced onion and carrot mixture.

After the spiced mixture is mixed well with the potatoes stir in frozen peas.

Now from here you can make them two ways:

Samosas cups
Line your mini muffin pan with the wonton wrappers and place into preheated oven at 350 degrees for about 5 mins. I like to spray the wonton wrappers with a bit of pam to give them a crispy look, you could just as easily brush a little oil onto each.. Once they are out of the oven, spoon in the mixture and place back into the oven for another 10 mins. Watching closely to make sure the wonton wrappers don't burn....I didn't really take pictures of this process,oops sorry!

They satisfied my Deep fried Samosas craving without the fat...Success!

Traditional Triangle Samosas (you'll need an egg for this one)

 

Mix your egg in a separate bowl and set aside..Lay out your wonton wrapper flat, using a small scoop, scoop enough mixture to fill up the spoon.

The small scoop from pampered chef is a really good size for this and works well when making anything in the mini muffin pan too. Place the scoop onto the wrapper, and brush two edges of the wonton with egg so you will be able to seal the samosas,

Next gently seal up the samosas. When placing the scoop try your best to drop if on one half of the square wonton wrapper.. This picture is halfway through the sealing process...

And repeat, over and over again. Like I said this is definitely more labor intensive, if I were to make this as an appetizer for a big party, I would probably still do the cups because it is quick and I like that people won't keep asking me whats on the inside because with the cups you can see! Gently brush more egg on the tops of the triangles to give them a pretty glow..

Bake on 350 for about 15-20 mins, till pretty and golden brown! I used Greek yogurt as a dipping sauce because everything is better with Greek yogurt.

Spinach Alfredo

Another fat buttery thing that I love to make myself knowing  its healthier and refuse to order at a restaurant....

½ cup half and half
½ stick of 1/3 reduced fat cream cheese
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons flour
1  cup chicken broth
4 cups fresh chopped spinach/broccoli * I did nearly double and that was not a good idea.
4 slices of  bacon…..cook and crumble...then use it as a topping
1 box fettuccine 
1 cup parmesean cheese
4 cloves crushed garlic

Boil fettuccine like normal, when draining save 3/4 cup of the 'pasta water'

Meanwhile, chop up the fresh spinach. If you want to use frozen be sure to thaw it out completly and to pat it dry, you don't want the spinach water it will take over the taste. To be honest I would avoid frozen chopped spinach for this recipe.

In empty pot combine half cup pasta water, butter and cream cheese (and garlic!) and bring to a boil then reduce heat and thoroughly mix (takes a few minutes, make sure to stand over and constantly mix)

Meanwhile in a separate bowl combine flour and chicken broth..

Pour into the  pan over medium heat (be careful it starts to turn doughy if you don't  have it mixed in the separate bowl and continue to mix as you add) add in the spinach and brocolli and mix in the half and half.

Keep mixing this all together adding salt & pepper. I did way too many veggies and had to actually add in additional broth/flour/cream cheese. So in order to appease to the sauce measurements do not add any more than 4-5 cups of veggies total(combined) I did about 4 cups spinach and 4 cups broccoli. so the 8 cups was a bit overwhelming for the sauce ingredients

Add your pasta in, mix around and cook over medium heat for about 10 mins.

If your sauce needs to thicken a bit let the pasta sit for about 10 mins before serving. Top with parmesean and  bacon to serve!

Pumpkin Cinnabon

I wanted some pumpkin for breakfast but I also wanted something that was low key and 'on the go' kind of breakfast so I just made this up. It was really good too, duh.

3/4 Cup Pumpkin (not the pie filling with sugar added)

1 tsp Cinnamon

2 tbsp Sweet Cinnamon Sprinkle

1 Tube reduced fat crescent rolls

Spread out the crescent roll and seal the perforated edges so it becomes one piece of flat dough. Spread out your pumpkin, sprinkle on your cinnamon and Sweet cinnamon Sprinkle. If you don't have the sweet cinnamon sprinkle from Pampered Chef which I'm sure 99% of you don't (even though its AMAZING on everything, oatmeal etc) you could do a mixture of sugar/cinnamon as a sub-par substitute.

Roll up the roll into a tube, gently and not to tight or too loose, you don't want the seams to burst..

Cut into 2  inch thick rolls..

Spread them all over the baking dish..

Bake on 375 for about 10-15 mins maybe even 20 I really don't remember, use your judgement and read the packaging. If you want to be fat/fancy you could brush a little melted butter over the rolls to give them a shiny look.. I didn't and I think they still look fab.