Category: Recipes

Fig Bismarck

Fig bismarckI normally try to make something special for weekend breakfasts. It’s fig season, so I had a bunch of figs in the fridge to use up. I’ve made a pear bismarck before, and that went over well, so I figured that could be reconfigured to use figs. Turned out quite well. I did cook the figs for a bit to cook off the water and start browning them.

Fig Bismarck

MealsWeLike.com
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Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Course Breakfast or Brunch
Servings 4

Ingredients
  

  • About a dozen figs
  • 2 T butter
  • 2 T brown sugar
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 cup flour
  • 1 cup milk
  • Maple syrup optional
  • Powdered sugar optional

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 450˚
  • Heat a cast iron skillet over medium high heat
  • Slice the figs in half or quarters
  • Melt the butter and add the figs and brown sugar
  • Cook, stirring occasionally until the water has been released from the figs and they start to dry out and caramelize a bit
  • Meanwhile mix the eggs, flour and milk.
  • When the figs are ready, pour the batter on top
  • Put the pan in the oven and bake 25-30 minutes until golden brown.
  • Remove from the oven, slice and serve with maple syrup and/or powdered sugar if desired

 

Ravioli with Sautéed Butternut Squash and Thyme

Ravioli with butternut squashFrozen ravioli makes a nice start to a fast dinner. We had gotten tired of ravioli a while back since all we did was add some spaghetti sauce. This recipe is a relatively fast and easy dish that adds flavor, veggies and something different to the routine.

We used beef ravioli, though with cheese ravioli this could be a vegetarian dish. To make the cooking go a bit faster at meal time, you can dice the squash ahead of time and store in the fridge until your ready to go.

Ravioli with Sautéed Butternut Squash and Thyme

MealsWeLike.com, adapted from Women's Day
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Course Main dish
Servings 4

Ingredients
  

  • 2 Tbs olive oil
  • 1 medium butternut squash about 1 lb, peeled and cut into ½ inch pieces
  • 2 cloves garlic thinly sliced
  • 1 tsp dried thyme leaves
  • 1 package ravioli
  • ¼ cup grated Parmesan Cheese

Instructions
 

  • Heat the olive oil in a large skillet and add the butternut squash.
  • Cook covered, stirring occasionally, until the squash is soft and starting to brown (10-15 min).
  • Meanwhile boil the water for the ravioli and prepare according to package directions.
  • When the squash is ready, add the garlic and thyme and cook uncovered for a couple of minutes.
  • Serve the ravioli, topping with the squash and a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese.

Pulled Chicken Sandwiches with Sweet Potato Fries

Pulled Chicken Sandwiches in the dutch oven ready to serve

This recipe came from DinnerALoveStory.com, one of my favorite blogs. Her site posts a stead stream of simple, healthy, yummy meals along with humorous stories about all kinds of things. Sometimes I’m in too much of a rush to read the stories, and head straight to the recipes, but I try to get back and read the stories when I’ve got a few minutes.
This recipe was simple and delicious, and our family devours sweet potato fries, so I added them as a nice side dish.Pulled Chicken Sandwiches with Sweet Potato Fries

Pulled Chicken Sandwiches with Sweet Potato Fries

MealsWeLike.com; adapted from DinnerALoveStory.com
A simple, fast recipe for pulled chicken sandwiches, served with sweet potato fries
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Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Course Main Course
Servings 4

Ingredients
  

For the sandwiches:

  • 1 cup barbecue sauce
  • ½ cup cider vinegar
  • 1 onion finely chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 2 lbs Chicken Breasts about 4
  • Potato Rolls

For the sweet potato fries

  • ~3 sweet potatoes
  • 2-3 Tbs Olive oil
  • Salt

Instructions
 

For the sweet potatoes:

  • Preheat the oven to 450˚
  • Slice the potatoes into ¼ inch stops
  • Working in batches, place cut potatoes in a ziplock bag and add some oil
  • Close the bag, shake to coat the potatoes
  • Spread potatoes on a rimmed baking sheet, sprinkle with salt
  • Bake for ~30 minutes, turning occasionally, until browned

For the sandwiches

  • While the fries are cooking, get a heavy pot
  • Add the bbq sauce, cider vinegar, onion, garlic, bay leaf to pot and mix
  • Add the chicken to the pot
  • Add 1-2 cups of water to cover the chicken
  • Add the bay leaf
  • Bring the chicken to a boil, reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, 15-20 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.
  • Remove the chicken from the pot and turn up the heat a bit to cook the sauce down some more while you shred the chicken (10 minutes or so)
  • Shred the chicken with two forks and return to the sauce
  • Serve on the potato rolls with the sweet potato fries

Sweet Potato Samosas

Sweet Potato SamosasI’m always on the lookout for new sweet potato recipes. Besides being tasty and popular with the kids, they have a lot more going for them than regular potatoes (e.g.: this site). So when I ran across this recipe for Sweet Potato Samosas on Culinate.com, I decided to give it a try. I added some ground beef, though you can leave that out for a veggie option. I’ve also thought peas were a required part of samosas, so I added a can. These were quite good and made a lot. In fact, with the peas and beef, I think you would need 2 batches of the dough for all of the filling. We just served some filing on the side and for left-overs. The green sauce was especially good! Sweet Potato Samosas

 

Sweet Potato Samosas

MealsWeLike.com, adapted from Culinate.com
Sweet potato, beef and pea samosas
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Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 20 minutes
Servings 4 -6

Ingredients
  

Cream-cheese pastry

  • 8 oz. Cream Cheese
  • 1/2 cup Butter softened
  • 2 cups Flour--we used White whole-wheat
  • 1/4 tsp. Ssalt

Sweet-potato filling

  • 1 lb Ground Beef or, for a veggie option, omit and add some olive oil
  • 1 Large onion chopped
  • 2 Tbs lemon or lime juice
  • 1 tsp. Fresh ginger finely minced
  • 1 clove garlic minced (about ½ teaspoon)
  • 1/4 tsp. Cardamom powder
  • 3 Large sweet potatoes
  • 1 14 oz can Peas

Green dipping sauce

  • 1 cup Low-fat Greek yogurt
  • 1/2 cup loosely packed cilantro leaves
  • 1/2 cup loosely packed mint leaves
  • 1 jalapeño chile seeded, chopped (optional)
  • 1 garlic clove

Instructions
 

Prepare the pastry:

  • Using the paddle attachment of a stand mixer, beat the cream cheese and butter together until smooth and creamy.
  • Add the salt
  • Add in the flour half a cup at a time, mixing until it comes together in a ball.
  • Wrap in plastic, flatten, and refrigerate while you make the filling. (You can make this dough up to 3 days ahead of time and refrigerate or freeze it for up to a month.)

Prepare the filling:

  • Microwave or bake the sweet potatoes until soft.
  • Peal and mash the potatoes in a large bowl.
  • Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat.
  • Brown the ground-beef if using, or add some oil.
  • Add the onion and sauté
  • Add the lemon or lime juice, ginger, garlic and cardamom
  • Transfer the beef and onion mixture to the bowl with the sweet potatoes.
  • Fold everything together.
  • Drain the peas and gently mix them into the mixture.
  • Set aside to cool--the dough gets too soft if the filling is too hot.

Forming the samosas:

  • Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
  • Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  • Roll out the dough on a floured surface.
  • Using about a 3-inch round cookie cutter or biscuit cutter, cut circles in the dough--I used a big wide-mouth jar.
  • Place spoonful of the sweet-potato filling in the center of a dough circle and fold in half, sealing the edges.
  • Place on the parchment-lined baking sheet.
  • Once the sheet is filled up, bake until the edges are lightly browned, about 20 minutes.

Make the dipping sauce:

  • While the samosas are cooking, combine the sauce ingredients in a food processor or blender and process until smooth.

Serve the samosas warm or at room temperature.

     

    Feta Burgers with Grilled Sweet Potatoes

    Feta Burger with Grilled Sweet PotatoesIt’s great to fire up the grill in the summer and when I ran across this recipe for Grilled Sweet Potatoes, I knew I had to try them. Wow, the lime-cilantro dressing on these was awesome! Paired with a burger topped with feta cheese and some lettuce, this was a great, easy meal.

    Feta Burgers with Grilled Sweet Potatoes

    MealsWeLike.com, adapted from SimpleRecipes.com
    Burgers topped with feta cheese, served with grilled sweet potatoes and a lime-cilantro dressing
    Print Recipe

    Ingredients
      

    For the potatoes:

    • 2 lbs about 3 large Sweet Potatoes
    • 3-4 Tbsp olive oil
    • 1/4 cup Fresh cilantro finely chopped
    • 1 tsp Lime zest
    • Juice of one lime
    • 1/4 cup Olive oil
    • Pinch of salt

    For the Burgers:

    • 1 Lb of ground beef formed into patties
    • 4 oz Feta cheese sliced into 4 slices
    • Lettuce
    • Hamburger buns

    Instructions
     

    • Preheat the grill to medium-high, direct heat.
    • Peel the sweet potatoes and slice into 1/4 inch thick slices.
    • Coat the slices with olive oil.
    • Form the beef into patties.
    • Grill the potatoes and burgers, 3-6 minutes each side or until the burgers are cooked as you like and the sweet potatoes are softened and have some nice grill marks.
    • While things are grilling, mix the cilantro, lime zest and juice, oil and salt in a large bowl.
    • Add the sweet potatoes to the dressing and mix.
    • Place the burgers on a bun with a slice of feta and some lettuce.
    • Enjoy!

     

    Chicken Pesto Tart

    Chicken Pesto Tart

    The main downside of this recipe, adapted from TheKitchn, is that the kids devoured it and there were no leftovers for lunch! I was savoring my second piece, thinking that the kids surely would be happy with one and thinking of the yummy lunch I’d be having the next day, when they both asked for seconds. This is a quick and delicious meal, the puff pastry might not qualify it as supper healthy, but yum!

    Chicken Pesto Tart

    MealsWeLike.com, adapted from TheKitchn.com
    A delicious, quick chicken pizza on frozen puff pastry
    Print Recipe
    Servings 4

    Ingredients
      

    • 2 sheets frozen puff pastry thawed
    • 1 head garlic peeled
    • 1-2 Tbs olive oil
    • 1/2 cup Fresh basil leaves chopped
    • 3-4 chicken breast 1lb, cooked and diced
    • 1 cup mozzarella shredded
    • 2 Tbs Parmesan grated

    Instructions
     

    • Pre-heat the oven to 400˚F.
    • While the oven is heating, thaw the puff pastry and peel the garlic. Put the garlic on a baking sheet and bake until soften and golden brown, 10-15 minutes.
    • Line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Unfold the puff pastry onto the lined sheets and stretch it out a bit. Prick all over with a fork to prevent the pastry from rising too much.
    • Brush the olive oil onto the pastry, then top with the chopped basil.
    • Top with the diced chicken and then the mozzarella and parmesan cheeses.
    • Bake for 15-20 minutes--until the cheese is melted and nicely browned.

     

    Portobello mushroom wraps

    Portobello mushroom wrapsThese wraps from FoodandStyle.com were easy to make and delicious. This is a great weeknight recipe as everything comes together quite quickly. We used spinach tortillas which, surprisingly enough, were a hit with the kids.

    Portobello mushroom wraps

    MealsWeLike.com, adapted from FoodandStyle.com
    Portobello Mushroom Wraps with Mozzarella, Peppers and Spiced Mayonnaise
    Print Recipe
    Servings 4

    Ingredients
      

    For the mushrooms:

    • 3 Tbs olive oil
    • 4 large Portobello mushrooms – stems trimmed caps brushed clean
    • Freshly ground pepper to taste

    For the wraps:

    • 4 to rtillas we used spinach tortillas
    • 3 Tbs Mayonnaise
    • 1/2 tsp lemon juice
    • 1/2 tsp paprika
    • 1 8 oz jar roasted bell peppers sliced
    • 12 oz mozzarella sliced kind of thick
    • 1-2 handfuls baby spinach

    Instructions
     

    • Preheat oven to 500°F.
    • Cut the mushrooms in 1/4” slices.
    • Lightly brush a rimmed baking sheet with olive oil.
    • Spread the mushroom slices onto the sheet in a single layer.
    • Brush with the rest of the olive oil and grind some pepper over them. Bake for 6 minutes.
    • Turn the mushroom slices over and continue baking for another 6 to 8 minutes until the slices are golden-brown at the edges.
    • While the mushrooms are cooking, mix the mayonnaise, lemon juice and paprika.
    • Arrange the mushrooms in a row across the bottom third of the tortillas.
    • Spread the mayonnaise on top of the mushrooms (about 2 tsp of mayonnaise for each tortilla).
    • Top with the mozzarella slices and sprinkle pepper to taste.
    • Top with peppers and the baby spinach leaves.
    • Roll each tortilla, cut in half and serve.

     

    Saving extra fresh basil

    A few weeks ago we planted a pot herb garden. We actually have 5 pots, one with basil, one with mint, and 3 with cilantro that we started from seed–the only cilantro plants we could find in town looked really pathetic! The garden has been doing fairly well, though after the recent rains, I need to remember to go back to watering it almost every day now.

    Photo of basil in ice cube tray, adding olive oilThe basil plant keeps getting taller and taller, so we decided to trim it back quite a bit to keep it from bolting too much. That lead to the “problem” of having too much fresh basil. of course I hadn’t thought far enough in advance to plan a meal needing pesto or using lots of basil, so we wanted to find a way to save it for later.

    The best idea I found online was to chop it up, put it into an ice cube tray add some olive oil and freeze. Worked out really well. This morning I threw a cube into a skillet and scrambled up some eggs for breakfast–oil and seasoning all in one!

    Basil in ice cube try with oil ready to freeze

     

    Burger with Feta-Yogurt Sauce and Mint

    We’ve started a pot herb garden with mint, basil and cilantro. So far, the mint has been going gangbusters, so there’s an abundance of fresh mint for recipes. Googling around for a good way to use mint in a main dish led me to this recipe from the Miami Herold. It was a nice change from standard burger, but very easy to make. We made some bread to serve it on and served with sweet potato fries.

    Burger with Feta-Yogurt Sauce and MintBurger with Yogurt-Feta Sauce and Mint

    Adapted from Linda Bladholm’s A Fork on the Road (reprinted here)

    • 1.5 lbs ground beef
    •  8 slices good bread
    • 1/2 c plain Greek yogurt
    • 4 oz crumbled feta
    • 1 Tomato sliced
    • Fresh mint leaves

    Form beef into patties, season with salt and pepper if desired. Cook on bbq grill.

    While burgers are cooking, mix yogurt and feta. Toast or grill the bread.

    Assemble burger with a dollop of sauce, slice of tomato and fresh mint leaves.