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Corn, Tomato and Avocado Salad with Honey Lime Dressing

July 10, 2012 by Erin

ahh yes. Another week as arrived. I spent the weekend moonlighting as Minnie Mouse at my niece’s Disney Carnival Birthday party (It was a bazillion degrees out!), working, and brunching it up with some friends at Fiori’s bakery (bagel sandwich with tempeh, avocado and spicy veganaise…so good!). I was hoping to catch up on some much needed sleep but that was the one thing I didn’t manage to fit in! There never seems to be enough hours in the day during the summer.

Anyway, due to the fact that it is, as a mentioned, a bazillion degrees out (and usually humid), my oven has officially been retired for the next few months (with the exception of roasted chickpeas…cause I’m obsessed!). I’ve been eating lots of salads, fruits and lighter meals which is why Wicked Vegan has been light on posts lately. Strawberries and blueberries drizzled with agave and shredded coconut (aka, my breakfast last week) is delicious but not super exciting! How many more weeks ’til fall? I miss the cool weather and comfort food!

Until then, here is one of the many salads I’ve been eating with yummy summer veggies.  Perfect for when you buy a crap load of corn on the cobb because they are 50 cents a piece…

Corn, Avocado and Tomato Salad with Honey Lime Dressing
salad was adapted from For The Love of Cooking;
serves 1-2  

  • 1 cooked corn on the cob (can be cooked however you like- grilled, boiled, etc)
  • a handful of cherry tomatoes, approximately 6, quartered
  • 1/2 an avocado
  • 1/8 c chickpeas (preferably roasted with a little salt and pepper)*
  • 5 strawberries, sliced
  • quinao (optional, about 1/2 cup per person)
Cut the cooked corn kernels off the cob. Toss with the tomatoes, avocado, chickpeas and strawberries. Drizzle Honey Lime Dressing (recipe below) over the corn mixture and let it sit for 10-15 minutes so the flavors mingle  and the avocado breaks down a bit (makes the dish creamier. yum!). Eat as is or mix with quinoa for a heartier dish.
*To roast chickpeas for this recipe, toss one 14 oz can with 2 TBSP of olive oil and salt and pepper (to taste). Roast for 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees. You can also use this cinnamon chickpea recipe with the cinnamon dressing for this salad and it also tastes delicious!

Honey Lime Dressing:

  • Juice of 1 lime
  • 3 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • Sea salt and fresh cracked pepper, to taste
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • Dash of cayenne pepper
Add all the dressing ingredients in a small bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside.

I know this recipe seems to have a lot of ‘approximates’ and vague ingredient amount. It’s because I make it a little different each time. I may have found a really good deal on tomatoes that day but am running short on chickpeas, or I’m having this as a small lunch or I’m throwing quinoa in for dinner. I love it because I almost always have these ingredients in the house during the summer so I can make this  quickly for almost any meal/snack. It’s light for summer, requires minimal stove work (I always make the chickpeas in the evenings when it’s cooler and make one big batch at a time) and it tastes fresh- all the things I require from a summer meal!

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Patriotic Popsicles and July 4th Roundup

July 3, 2012 by Erin

One more day until we get a mid-week day off! I have to say, even though I’d rather be on vacation this week with everyone I know, the lack of traffic in Boston is beautiful! It took me 7 minutes to get to work. 7! It usually take me at least 20. I am way too excited about this.
 
So what are everyones plans for the 4th? I foresee some serious sleeping in and laziness occurring for me. Maybe a mid-day BBQ, definitely a margarita and overall just enjoying the day I have off while secretly praying my 6-930 shift at my retail job is cancelled.
 
One things for sure- I will be concluding my BBQ lunch with these Popsicles, which I am a HUGE fan of. I’ve been craving popsicles like crazy lately but I haven’t been able to find popsicle molds anywhere. Popsicles are like the new cupcake. Come on, stores! Instead, I went the old fashion route- dixie cups, popsicle sticks and a spring form pan to keep the cups from rolling around in my freezer. Success! I imagine a lot more popsicle recipes in the future. Chocolate mint? Strawberry margarita? Cookie dough? oh yeah!
Patriotic Popsicles
from Taste of Home
  • 1 1/4 C sliced fresh strawberries
  • 1 3/4 c (14 oz) vanilla yogurt divided (I used Soy  Delicious vanilla coconut-milk yogurt)
  • 1 1/4 c blueberries, fresh or frozen
  • 6 popsicle molds or paper cups (app. 3 oz. each)*

Place the fresh strawberries and 2 TBSP yogurt in a blender and process until fully combined. Transfer to bowl and set aside.

In the blender, process the blueberries and 2 TBSP yogurt until full combined. Set aside.

Layer approximately 1 1/2 TBSP of strawberry mixture, 3 TBSP yogurt and 1/2 TBSP blueberry mixture in each mold or cup. Top with holders or cover plastic cups with tinfoil then insert popsicle stick. If you are using plastic cups, place the cups in a deep pan to hold them together in the freezer. I used a round springform plan and it worked perfectly!

*The original recipe said this made 12 popsicles by doing a 1:2:1 ratio of fruit, yogurt, fruit but when I tried doubling it to 2:4:2, I barely got 5. This 1.5:3:1.5 ratio I provided above should comfortably give you 6 popsicles.

 

And know for some great vegan recipes that should please everyone at your BBQ, or at least give you something to munch on!

Recipe Round Up:

appetizers/drink:

Black Bean Salsa

Blueberry Strawberry Salsa– My friend Amelia said this salsa changed her life. She could be exaggerating. Then again, maybe she isn’t…

Spinach Artichoke Dip

Strawberry Avocado Salsa

Strawberry Margarita– Best. Cocktail. EVER

Meals/sides:

Nuts and Oats Burger (make ahead of time and bring to the party that way they are ready to get thrown on the grill when the time comes. Also freezes well)

Peanut Pasta Salad with Fried Tempeh


Strawberry Chickpea Salad with Cinnamon Dijon Dressing- A change from the heavy pasta and potato salad, this dish would work as a side or as a full meal for those not interested in grilled meat.

Desserts:

Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie

Cookie Dough Truffles

Perfect Chocolate Cupcakes– Though these are chocolate and not white, which would be more ideal for the holiday, they are the perfect not-too-sweet cupcake that has always gotten thumbs up when served. You can go crazy with the frosting and sprinkles to make them more festive!

Fruit and Chocolate Dessert Pizza

Funfetti Cake Balls– these would look adorable with red white and blue sprinkles

Strawberry Margarita Cupcake

Trailmix Seven Layer Bars

Whole wheat Cherry Pecan Cookies– Cookies are great because they go together easily and are great for all ages

This round up has made me realize two things: 1. I have A LOT of dessert recipes and 2. I have A LOT of strawberry recipes. Good things 4th of July cook outs are perfect for both!

Have a safe 4th of July everyone!

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Peanut Pasta Salad with Fried Tempeh

July 2, 2012 by Erin

It’s Monday again. I hope you had an excellently exciting weekend.

A lot of my favorite bloggers are posting pictures of their weekend but I’m going to spare you that show. Unlike theirs, my weekend did not consist of yummy food, pool parties and oodles of socializing. In fact, most of my friends have peaced out of Boston and are vacationing this week. So I did almost nothing this weekend. I didn’t even bother wearing real clothes for most of it and pictures of me in my pajamas does not make for an interesting blog.

I did manage to go to the late showing of Ted on Friday night, which was hysterical. After that though, I pretty much spent all day Saturday in bed and soaking up the air conditioning. I enjoyed it, trust me, it just wasn’t picture worthy.

Anyway, so this week consists of a little holiday called the Fourth of July. Most of you will be enjoying the day off, BBQ’ing and boozing it up, with a nice little fire works show afterward.

I’ll be working until 9:30 pm. Apparently, retail stores don’t close on the 4th?? Who knew.

But, I wanted to give you a recipe that you could take to your cookouts that was a little different. Burgers and potato salads are so predicable. This is a nice little twist on the pasta salad.

Blanching system. Let’s pretend my stove isn’t uber gross and just focus on how awesome it is that I unintentionally matched all my pots and bowls!

Peanut Pasta Salad with Fried Tempeh Bits
from Skinny Bitch: Ultimate Everyday Cookbook; posted on Madejustright.com

Makes 4 Servings

  • 4 tablespoons sesame oil, divided
  • 1 (8-ounce) block of tempeh, crumbled
  • 1 large carrot, julienned
  • 1/2 cup broccoli slaw (you can also use broccoli florets if you want but the texture creeps me out which is why I went the slaw route)
  • 1 red bell pepper, julienned
  • 1 (8-ounce) package of brown rice pasta spirals (or any other pasta)
  • 3 tbsp  peanut butter
  • 1/4 cup water
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce, to taste
  • 1 tbsp agave nectar
  • 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
  • 2 tsp minced fresh ginger
  • Sesame seeds, for garnish

Directions 
1. Heat 3 tbsp of the oil in a skillet over high heat. Fry the tempeh until slightly crispy, about 10 minutes. Stir occasionally.
2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Blanch the carrots, broccoli, and red pepper separately until they turn bright in color, or about 30 seconds. Do not overcook. Drain, rinse under cold water, and set aside. (I had three bowls set up for this which I found easy: 1 pot with boiling water, 1 pot with ice water, and one pot with  mess strainer over it. (See Above) So you boil the veggies for 30 seconds, plunge them in the ice water until their cool, and then dump them in the strainer. For the broccoli slaw, I put the broccoli in a different mesh strainer with handles on the side, plunged the strainer with the broccoli into the hot water and then into the cold water. This way, since the slaw is so finely cut, you don’t have to worry about fishing little pieces out of the water.)
3. Cook the pasta, according to the directions on the package. Drain and set aside.
4. In a blender, mix together the peanut butter, the remaining sesame oil, the water, soy sauce, agave nectar, vinegar, and ginger. Toss the vegetables, pasta, and sauce together. Garnish with the sesame seeds. Serve warm.

Blanched veggies!

Voila! Something new and exciting to bring to your BBQs. Don’t forget some veggie patties and you’ll be good to go.

Stay tuned this week! Tomorrow I’m posting a 4th of July sweet treat and some other recipes that are BBQ worthy. That’s right… I used my time Sunday to actually plan out this week’s posts and be productive! Crazy how much you can get done when you don’t sleep until noon like I did on Saturday. I did still spend all Sunday in my PJs, though…

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Grilled Veggie and Portobello mushroom Tacos

June 29, 2012 by Erin

And the New England weather strikes again!

Dun dun duuunnn

Ok, for all of you who aren’t blessed with Boston weather, this summer has been weird! hot, cold, humid, rainy, dry- it’s ridiculous. It makes planning a menu for the coming week difficult!

Last week was pretty humid so I decided that I would definitely be able to fit some grilling in during the week. Well, Tuesday, when I went to light up the grill, it was drizzling, cool and super windy. Lighting my mini charcoal grill with matches was um, a bit challenging! My roommate, Allie, came to my rescue though and schooled me on grill lighting. After he helped, I had the grill blazing within 5 minutes! Of course, with the wind, I was 92% sure I was going to burn my apartment down. I caught myself staring at the dancing flames with huge eyes, shoulders tense, knuckles white while gripping some fancy tong thingies, just waiting for something to catch fire.  BUT we all survived and I had a wicked yummy dinner to show for it.

Not that these pictures do my yummy veggy tacos justice. The fact is, I failed you in the picture area again my friends. My achilles heel in food photography seems to be mexican food. Remember my chimichangas? yeah…I still blame the refried beans…

Grilled Veggie Tacos

Black Beans:
from Crockpot 356

  • 1 pound black beans, soaked overnight, then drained*
  • 6 cups veggy broth
  • 6 cloves garlic, smashed and chopped
  • 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, or 2 cups fresh chopped tomatoes
  • 1 tablespoon cumin
  • 1 tablespoon chili powder
Use a 6-quart slow cooker. Soak your beans overnight and drain.
 
Put the drained beans into your slow cooker, then add the chopped garlic, broth, tomatoes, cumin, and chili powder. Stir well to combine. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.
 
*The original person who posted this recipe suggested using the Quick-soak method, which is bring your dried beans to a boil for 10 minutes, cover and let sit for 1 hour. This did NOT work for me. My beans ended up being crunchy after 8+ hours and I had to put them on high for an additional 3 hours. Save yourself the trouble and soak them over night!
 
Guacamole: 
  • 1 avocado
  • 1/2 tsp lime juice
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
Mix all the ingredients together. If you have left overs, store them with the avocado pit. It slows the browning process a bit.
 
Grilled Veggies:
  • 1 summer squash
  • 1 zucchini
  • 2 portobello mushroom caps, stems removed and cleaned
  • 3 TBSP olive oil
  • Mrs Dash Fiesta Lime Seasoning (find it in the spices section of any grocery store)
  • salt
  • skewers (optional)
Dice up the summer squash and the zucchini. Toss them with 2 TBSPs of olive oil and 1-2 tsps of Mrs Dash Fiesta Lime Seasoning (depending on how Fiesta-y you want your vegetables). You can either skewer the vegetables after you are through tossing them or you can wrap them in foil, whichever you prefer. Both ways will give the veggies the smoky taste of grilling but the foil wrapper will take a bit longer.
 
Brush the mushroom caps with the remaining TBSP of olive oil and sprinkle with salt.
 
Place the vegetables on your grill (I have a charcoal grill so I have no settings. I would imagine its about medium heat though). Cook until tender about 15- 20 minutes on the skewer, 20-25 in the foil pouch.
 
Place the mushroom caps on last. They will only take about 5-10 minutes.
 
Additionally you may need:
  •  small taco shells (I used corn this time but I prefer flour. They hold together a little better)
  • salsa (fresh salsa would taste great with this or I used Stir It Up Cuisine’s Pepper Jelly with Lime. I bought it at the Farmer’s market on Sunday and it is seriously delicious! I believe Stonewall Kitchen has something similar)
  • vegan cheese
  • fresh tomatoes
  • lettuce

Slather your freshly cooked beans, grilled veggies, guacamole and other toppings onto your taco shell and enjoy dinner!!

Seriously? Why does that mushroom at the top of the picture look so weird??

This recipe seems long and complicated but the great thing is, it really comes together pretty fast. The beans cook over night and while your at work and the veggies cook up pretty quickly on the grill. While they are cooking you can make the guacamole. And it doesn’t require you to heat your oven up!

Plus, you can substitute  in almost any veggies you find at your local farmers market- peppers, onion, different mushrooms, tomatoes, etc. Yeah for summer food!

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

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Strawberry Chickpea Salad with Cinnamon Dijon Dressing

June 26, 2012 by Erin

With my oodles of strawberries that I purchased at the Farmer’s Market on Sunday, I’ve been putting strawberries in everying! Water, oatmeal, margaritas (but that’s nothing new) and most importantly, this salad! It’s almost as addicting as the cookie dough truffles but without the guilt!

When I googled ‘strawberries salads’ at the beginning of the week, I was seriously disppointed with my options! Spinach + strawberries + pecans + balsalmic vinegar may equal a yummy salad but it also equals a boring salad! Where’s the ingredients that are going to hold me over from lunch to dinner?? A pile of spinach ain’t gonna cut it, People!

One of my favorite blogs, Peas and Thank You, came to the rescue, though! The chickpeas and dressing are directly from her website and I tweaked the salad a bit to make it a little more hearty for lunch.

Strawberry Chickpea Salad with Cinnamon Dijon Dressing

Pumpkin Spice Roasted Chickpeas
from Peasandthankyou.com
possibly serves 4 if you don’t eat half of them when they come out of the oven

  • 1 can of chickpeas (approximately 14 oz), drained, rinsed and dried*
  • 2 T. maple syrup (you can also use Agave here in a pinch but the maple syrup provides a much nicer flavor)
  • 1 t. canola oil (or oil of your choice)
  • 1 t. apple cider vinegar
  • 1/8 t. salt
  • 1/4 t. nutmeg
  • 1/4 t. ginger
  • 3/4 t. cinnamon

Instructions:

* if you are using dried chickpeas, soak about a cup of chickpeas in water over night. Drain the chickpeas and cover with clean water in a medium size pot. Simmer for 45-1 1/2 (depending on your desired firmness and how long the beans soaked for) with the lid half on. Once they are done, drain and let the beans cool a bit. Once they are cool enough to handle, measure out 14 oz and dry them off a bit. Continue with the steps below.

  • Preheat oven to 350. Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl until evenly coated.
  • Spread chickpeas on a cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray.
  • Bake for 25-30 minutes. Stir chickpeas every ten minutes to ensure even crisping.

Cinnamon Dijon Dressing
from Peasandthankyou.com

  • 1 t. Dijon mustard
  • 3 T. apple cider vinegar
  • 3 T. lemon juice
  • 1/3 c. agave nectar or pure maple syrup
  • 1 t. cinnamon
  • ½ t. ground ginger
  • ½ t. salt
  • 1/4 c. canola oil

Instructions:
Whisk all the ingredients together. Or, if you are taking this salad with you somewhere, just place all the ingredients in a jar with a tight seal (mason jar, etc) and then shake it up and throw it in your lunch bag/picnic basket/etc!

For the Salad
one meal sized salad

  • 1 heart of romain lettuce, finely chopped
  • 1/2 cucumber
  • 1 carrot, sliced
  • 1/4 cup strawberries, sliced
  • 1/4 cup pineapples
  • 1/2 avocado
  • 1/4 of the batch of Pumpkin Spice chickpeas
  • sprinkle of craisins
  • sprinkle of pecans
  • cinnamon dijon dressing

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl and top with the cinnamon dijon dressing.

The avocado and cinnamon dressing are sort of to die for in this salad. They make the best combo! But the best part of this salad? Minimal stove time. The chickpeas take about 30 minutes in the oven but if you make up a big batch at the beginning of the week, they can last you all week! That sounds good to me because my apartment gets hot in the summer!

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Chocolate chip cookie dough truffles

June 19, 2012 by Erin

Happy Tuesday, Everyone! I hope you had a great weekend and a Happy Father’s Day.

I asked Dad if he’d help me make a coffin table for halloween one year. I envisioned a cheapy plywood table- he took my idea and ran with it. And it came out awesome!

I know that I definitely had a rockin’ weekend. Since my Dad is the bestest Dad ever (I mean, come on…how many Dad’s would make their daughter a life-size coffin to use as a beer pong table for their halloween party??), I decided for Father’s Day to take him and my mom to the SoWa market in Boston. It has a farmer’s market and food trucks that I thought my Dad would get a kick out of. (I also bought him some Croc’s because he was practically begging for them. They’re so ugly though, I made him swear he wouldn’t wear them in public!)

We got free samples, we ate lunch out of food trucks (Clover’s is SO good!) and we OD’ed on craft tables (my Dad just adored that part as you can imagine). I was a bit disappointed that there weren’t more veggies in the farmer’s market area but it is still early in the season and I did walk away with some amazingly awesome strawberries (expect some strawberry recipes in the futures) so I can’t complain too much. Plus, Dad seemed to really enjoy it so that’s all that mattered! (Though, I think we walked away with matching Father/Daughter  sunburns so check back in with me tomorrow- We may be singing a different tune.)

Some of my favorite booths were Nella Pasta (I bought a frozen box full of sweet potato apple raviolis, which were awesome when I tried a sample), Soula’s Salsa (their black bean and corn fiesta salsa was super flavorful!) and Emrys Fynery, which was a jewelry table that had all this great, victorian- inspired, off-beat jewelry. Their etsy page doesn’t do them justice- they had a ton of stuff on display. SoWa is such a fun market. If you are in Boston and are looking for something not-so-touristy, I would definitely check it out.

Anyway, I also went to a porch party this weekend and I brought these super yummy truffles along. They went so fast! In fact, I went to check on them at one point to see if there were any left (because apparently the one hundred I ate while making them and on the way to the party weren’t enough…), and not only were the truffles gone but even the tupperware holding them was gone! I sort of imagine some super drunk kid huddled in a corner licking the crumbs out of it…they were seriously that good!

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Truffles
from loveandoliveoil.com
makes about 3-4 dozen…if you don’t eat the dough as you go…

  • 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) Earth Balance, room temperature
  • 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/3 cup soy milk
  • 1 cup mini vegan chocolate chips (or regular sized if you can’t find the mini chips. I only found some at Shaw’s and they were so expensive I opted not to get them)
  • 14 oz vegan chocolate chips for the outside shell
  • 1 tsp vegetable shortening

directions:

Beat Earth Balance and sugars and in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy. Add soymilk and vanilla. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt and mix on low speed (or by hand) until incorporated. Stir in chocolate chips.

Cover and chill dough for 1 hour.

When dough is firm enough to handle (it may help to lightly flour your hands), form dough into 1″ balls and arrange on a baking sheet lined with waxed paper. Place sheets in freezer and let chill for 30 minutes.

Melt chocolate and vegetable shortening in a double boiler. Using forks or a dipping tool, dip cookie balls into chocolate. Tap fork on side of pan to remove any excess coating, and return to waxed paper-lined baking sheets. Chill until set. Store, chilled, in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

PS. these do have chocolate chips in them. For whatever reason, the one above just doesn’t. And I mean, I couldn’t very well bite into another one because I’d already eaten three!

 Loveandoliveoil.com came to my attention when I discovered the new book, The Cookie Dough Lover’s Cookbook, which was written by Lindsay Landis, who writes the blog Love and Olive Oil. I MUST find this cook book and try more recipes because these truffles were so addicting. They were legit cookie dough without the eggs. I don’t know why I have never thought to roll up my vegan cookie dough, dunk it in chocolate and call it a new dessert. I mean, DUH! But Landis beat me to it so I gotta give her props! These were super delicious! And everyone at the party who tried them seemed to agree.

Dad and me a few years ago.

Anyway, I hope everyone has a good start to their week! And Happy Father’s Day again, Dad! (and if anyone sees him wearing those Croc’s anywhere besides his garden, let me know ASAP! Because that is definitely not allowed!)

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Banana Muffin Smoothie

June 14, 2012 by Erin

I think I’m in denial that summer is here. It’s pretty easy to do since it hasn’t gotten above 70 here in Boston for a few weeks and I spend most of my time in a freezing cold office building.

Also, my apartment has no AC and I get burnt when I just look at the sun. Going to the beach usually results in sunburn lines that you can see well into January and February…no matter how much sunscreen I put on. So most of the time I just like to pretend summer doesn’t exist.

I realized earlier in the week, though, that I must have been in denial about summer for the past two years because I seriously have no summer clothes. I have 1 pair of jeans I turned into shorts, 1 sun dress and a pair of studded gladiator sandals that I’m not even sure are still in style. Anyone? Am I safe to wear those? Or will the fashion police come and arrest me?

One thing I have fully embraced regarding the warmer weather though is smoothies. I love smoothies in the summer! They are light, fruity and cold and are seriously, the perfect start to my work day.

This one will give you the satisfacation of eating a baked good BUT is way better for you. Which is awesome when you need to fit into your summer shorts and tank tops…which clearly I don’t have to worry about cause I’ll be wearing my sundress/jeacut-off jeans/outdated sandals look all summer. Chic, I know!

Ingredients
slightly modifued from Healthfulpursuits.com

  • 1 cup unsweetened almond milk + 1/4 cup for blending
  • 1 frozen banana
  • 3 tbsp uncontaminated regular oats
  • 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
  • 2 tbsp raw walnuts or pecans
  • pinch of ground cinnamon
  • Optional toppings: coconut, raisins, walnuts, or chocolate chips
  1. Night before: combine all ingredients [but the frozen banana and 1/4 cup almond milk] in a glass or plastic container. Stir to combine and place in fridge.
  2. Morning: pour contents of container into blender, add banana and additional almond milk, blend until smooth.

Makes 2 cups

So far, in my brief look online for summer clothes, I’ve put 3 pairs of shoes on my shopping list, one of which is a pair of black flip flops with studs on them to replace my gladiators. Whew! I thought for a second I would have to function in the summer without a proper pair of studded sandals!

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Strawberry Lime Granita

June 12, 2012 by Erin

Last week was a really weird food week. I was in a major food funk.  For the first half of the week, I was completely unmotivated to make anything. One night, I walked into the kitchen and just stood in the middle of it. I unenthusiastically opened cabinets and refrigerator doors but just could not figure out what I was in the mood to make and eat.

I settled on a banana dipped in pb. Then I curled up in bed and caught up on Girls. I may have had an additional spoonful (or two) of peanut butter before I was done my tv marathon. Maybe… And that was my dinner.

Another night, I had some leftover blueberry salsa lying around so I baked a tortilla shell (one of the huge ones) and just ate that and the salsa. Except, there was maybe ¼ cup of salsa left and it was gone before I was even half way through my tortilla. So I just ate a plain, baked tortilla. And that was my dinner for that night.

Nothing says a well rounded meal like a plain, baked tortilla covered in sea salt! oh yeah!

Truthfully, I think my weird food phrase may have had to do with the weather. I had planned out a menu of grilled items and light salads but then it got cold and rainy. Suddenly, curling up in my pjs, eating a banana and pb for dinner and watching hours of Girls seemed way more fun then trying to get my grill lit for a measly veggy burger..when it’s cold…and rainy.  Yuck!

Thankfully, the blogs I follow posted some amazing looking food last week and by the time Saturday rolled around, I was ready to cook again!

The first thing I had to make was Strawberry Lime Granita that Angela posted over at Ohsheglows.com. We all know that I’m obsessed with lime recently (especially when mixed with strawberry) courtesy of my Strawberry Margarita addiction. For breakfast one morning last week I had hot water with lime because it was 10 degrees in my office, I had no tea and because, well, I’m addicted to limes. I’m hoping this dessert will feed my Strawberry Margarita addiction without me having to reach for the booze. That handle of tequila is disappearing a bit faster than I would like!

Strawberry Lime Granita
from Oh She Glows

Ingredients:

  • 1 pound fresh strawberries, hulled
  • 5-6 tbsp fresh lime juice, to taste*
  • 1/3 cup agave nectar
  • 1/2 cup water

1. In a food processor, combine all ingredients and process until smooth. Adjust agave or lime juice to taste.

2. Pour mixture into a 9-inch square pan (or equivalent non-stick pan) and place into freezer for a couple hours, uncovered is fine. After a couple hours, scrape the mixture with a spoon or fork to break it up a little. You can repeat this process in another hour. It should be ready after 4-5 hours of freezing, but this may vary based on your freezer.

3. When it’s firm enough, scrape/shave it with a fork or spoon and serve. Cover and freeze leftovers in the freezer until ready to enjoy.

*As I may have mentioned, oh…8 times?…I’m really into lime so I added the full 6 TBSPs of lime juice. It turned out very sour and almost overpowers the strawberry. I’m clearly ok with that as I’ve been practically squirting lime juice directly into my mouth but you may want to start with 3 or 4 TBSPs and work up. Just a little warning

This dessert is perfect for the summer! It’s cold and refreshing but doesn’t have the heaviness of ice cream. Plus, won’t ruin any diets your on. Win all around!

Now can someone please tell me what I’m supposed to think of Adam and Hanna on Girls? I can’t decide how I feel about their relationship.

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Blueberry Salsa

June 1, 2012 by Erin

This has definitely been a week of celebrating! The most fun was celebrating my friend, Melinda’s, birthday.

If you read this blog often enough, you know Melinda is my fellow foodie friend. As such, I feel like I should give a little shout out to her:

Melinda and I have known each other since we were youngin’s in college. We met at a find-a-roommate night: I needed a roommate because my freshman one ended up not working out and Melinda needed one cause she had just transferred. We bonded over her purple vans and ended up rooming together off and on through college and after we graduated.

What can I say, a good pair of shoes can change your life.

We’ve come a long way since we rocked the vans and ate ramen noodles in our dorm room. I think one of the reasons we’re still hanging out (besides the fact that we’re both awesome!) is that our interest in food has weirdly enough followed a similar path. Granted, Melinda is always a step or so ahead of me buuut…she’s a year older then me. So, you know, with age comes wisdom? Or something like that…

Anyway, so it goes without saying that to celebrate Melinda’s birthday, we cooked. Obviously!

Homemade veggy burgers, grilled veggies and potatoes and almond joy cake truffles. Yes, please! Oh yes, there was also dancing in the rain, some speeches, drinking and Melinda as grill master. All good things!

Of course, I’ve already made and posted most of what we ate which meant I need to incorporate a recipe that I hadn’t shared with you.

Introducing Blueberry salsa aka, our appetizer:

Blueberry Lime Salsa
 from How Sweet Eats (aka, the queen of fruit salsas)

  • 1 cup fresh blueberries
  • 5 medium strawberries
  • 1/4 red onion
  • 1 teaspoon lime zest
  • juice of two limes
  • 1/3 cup fresh cilantro leaves
  • 1 avocado, chopped
  • salt and pepper to taste

put blueberries, strawberries, onion, lime zest, lime juice and cilantro in a food processor. Pulse 5-6 times for a chunky salsa or longer if you want it smoother. Pour into a bowl and fold in the chopped avocado. Season with salt and pepper.

Basically, this was just an excuse to feed my new lime addiction. It’s weird because I loath lemons and anything with lemon in it. But limes? Limes I can’t get enough of! I had a ton lying around because I’ve been drinking lime water like its going out of style (and possibly margaritas…)so obviously, blueberry lime salsa was just begging to be made.

Anyway, you will notice there aren’t any action shots with this salsa. It’s because someone who was in charge of the chips *cough Amelia cough* took their sweet time arriving. By the time the chips did arrive, we were so famished and weak from hunger that we bypassed the photo sesh and just dug right in.

And it was delicious! Totally worth the excruciatingly long wait for chips and it was the perfect light, summery appetizer!

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Chocolate Mint Cupcakes

May 29, 2012 by Erin

My Memorial Day weekend consisted off:

– Tudors marathon on BBC America (seriously, Natalie Dormer made the best Anne Boleyn! All the other wives were so dull. And Henry Cavill…yes please!)

– Doing ALL my laundry, which took forever

– Celebrating a belated Mother’s Day. I baked Mom some Strawberry Margaritas Cupcakes. Dad made us some yummy grilled veggies and pasta. It was the only grilled food I had this weekend. Bummer! I’m remedying that tonight though

– Working

– Watching the new Underworld. What’s this? Underworld 5? Bring it!

– Cooking and baking…a lot! I made almond joy cake balls for Melinda’s birthday (she’s been telling me she wanted these for her birthday since I made them the first time- I’m not exaggerating). And I made these yummy cupcakes!

I know they are a bit of a cop-out because I’ve made the chocolate cupcakes before BUT the mint frosting and chocolate glaze are so yummy! I had to share them with you.

Chocolate Mint Cupcakes

cupcake:
My Perfect Chocolate Cupcake recipe found here

Mint cream:
from easybaked.net

  • 2.5 cups confectioner’s sugar
  • 1 tsp peppermint extract
  • 1/4 c. melted butter
  • water
  • green food coloring (optional)

Chocolate Glaze:

  • 6 oz vegan chocolate
  • 2 TBSP butter

Prepare the cupcakes according to the recipe. Allow to cool completely.

For the mint cream, mix the confectioners sugar, butter and peppermint extract together. If the mixture is not coming together, or is too dry, add a little water until it is a spreadable consistency. Add food color if you want. Spread on the cupcakes and put them in the fridge for about 30 minutes- 1 hour until the mint cream has hardened.

For the chocolate glaze, melt the chocolate and butter together in a double boiler (or a microwave). Once melted, spoon the chocolate on the cupcake.

Tonight, I party it up with Melinda and crew. We’re hanging out, grilling, eating and going out drinking- all the things that make a good party! Pictures (and recipes, or course!) to come.

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