Sweet Potato Casserole

My roommate got this recipe from a friend and made it for a dinner party last week. It was so delicious, I knew I had to add it to the menu for my family's Thanksgiving dinner a few weeks ago, with a few minor tweaks. It was a hit!! Pretty sure we'll be seeing it again this Christmas!

You'll need:


Casserole
4 cups sweet potato
1/4 cup white sugar
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
4 Tbsp. butter, softened
1/2 cup milk


Topping
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup flour
3 Tbsp. butter, softened
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Wash potatoes and wrap in foil. Bake the potatoes at 300 degrees for about 2 hours or until a knife easily slides through them. The cooking time will depend on how big the potatoes are.

Unwrap potatoes and slice in half when done. Let them hang out about 10 minutes or until they're cool enough to handle

Scoop out the potato filling, and whisk along with all casserole ingredients until blended and creamy.

Transfer the mixture into a glass dish that's been sprayed with cooking spray.

Combine brown sugar and flour with butter.

Use a fork to cut up the butter.

Add chopped walnuts.

 Sprinkle topping evenly over the top of the casserole. Bake this for 20-25 minutes on 350 degrees.

Crispy, crunchy top. Sweet, creamy center. Yum!

Enjoy!

Cheesy Crash Potatoes

This is another twist on a Pioneer Woman recipe. Get creative and customize your crash potatoes the way you like them. This time I used seasoning from a potato topping packet and mild cheddar cheese, but I think my favorite was with just salt, pepper, goat cheese, and rosemary.

You'll need:

Red Potatoes

Butter, melted - 1/2 Tbsp. for each potato

Cheese, shredded

"Potato Topping" seasoning - a pinch on each potato

Olive oil for drizzling

This is one of my favorite toppings for potatoes. It's got salt, pepper, bacon bits, some dried herbs, and other tasty stuff. If you don't want to buy the topping packet, just make up your own.

Bring a pot of water to a boil, and cook potatoes until a fork slides right through them.

While the potatoes are cooking, shred up some cheese.

Then, drizzle the pan with some olive oil.

Place potatoes on top. (I was multi-tasking by cooking some asparagus on the same tray.)

Using a potato masher, smash each potato.

I probably should have used a bigger pan... Oh well, they'll still taste good.

Drizzle on some melted butter, and sprinkle with potato topping. 

Add the cheese. Don't be shy.

Bake on 350 degrees for about 15 minutes.

Delish.

Almond Basil Asparagus

This is a quick and simple dish that I make very, very often. It goes well as a side with almost anything!

You'll need:
20-25 stalks of asparagus
1/2 tsp. dried basil
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
3 Tbsp. olive oil
3 Tbsp. sliced almonds (or as many as desired)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

After you rinse and pat-dry the asparagus, throw all the ingredients into a large bowl.  Use a rubber spatula or tongs to combine everything, making sure the asparagus are evenly coated in olive oil and basil.

Spread out on a baking sheet.

Bake for 12-15 minutes.

Love this!  Sending you love from kitchen.

Balsamic Chicken & Tortellini Salad

This recipe is another steal from Multiply Delicious. All I changed were the proportions of the ingredients because, to be honest, I really despise exact measurements.  With the spinach, for example, I'd so much rather just grab a gigantic fistful of it and let that be my form of measurement... That's acceptable, right?

This pasta is phenomenal. I made it once for a baby shower to go with a few other appetizers, and I recently made it as a main dish for an Italian-themed potluck dinner.  It's served cold, and the dressing keeps the dish light and healthy without compromising the flavor. Feel free to play around with the proportions yourself!

You'll need:
2 lbs. tortellini (from the frozen food aisle, pre-cooked)
3 cups shredded chicken
1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
1 yellow bell pepper, diced
1/4 cup basil, chopped
2 fistfuls spinach
1 cup balsamic vinaigrette
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
Salt and Pepper to taste

First, cook the tortellini. Drain and set aside.

Shred chicken, cut tomatoes, dice pepper, and chop basil.

Whisk together the balsamic and mustard with a fork.

Throw all the ingredients into a bowl and drizzle the dressing over the top.

Add a bit of salt and pepper.

Add your fistfuls of spinach.

Toss together!

I like to refrigerate it for at least an hour before serving to let all the flavors marinate together.  Enjoy!

Sending you love from my kitchen.

Honey Mustard Chicken Tenders & Sweet Potato Fries

Recently I've been a little obsessed with reading other food blogs... to the point where I'm staying up way too late reading recipe after recipe.  Apparently, there's this whole Food Blog World (with conferences and everything!) that I had no idea even existed.  So, over the next few posts, I'll probably be featuring a few of my favorite recipes from this community of professional food bloggers (who make my own blog look a little silly).  Here are a few blogs that I'm especially hooked on:

Multiply Delicious: http://www.multiplydelicious.com/thefood/
Two Peas and their Pod: http://twopeasandtheirpod.com/
For the Love of Cooking: http://fortheloveofcooking-recipes.blogspot.com/
Pinch My Salt: http://pinchmysalt.com/
The Little Kitchen That Could: http://thelittlekitchenthatcould.blogspot.com/
Baking Bites: http://bakingbites.com/
Whole Eats & Whole Treats: http://zoedawn.wordpress.com/

Back to the food... I didn't make any major changes, so full credit goes to these pros: Multiply Delicious and Two Peas in their Pod.  Click HERE to see the original recipe for the Chicken Tenders and HERE for the Sweet Potato Fries.  I think it's a relatively healthy dish for being chicken tenders and fries.

Chicken Tenders

You'll need:
10-12 Chicken Tenders (I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts because that's what I had and just cut them into smaller pieces.  They ended up being all different shapes and sizes but still delicious.)
1 1/2 cups Newman's Own Light Honey Mustard Dressing
2 cups Honey Toasted Cereal (I used Fiber One Honey Clusters)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Break up the cereal in a food processor or blender until finely ground, and pour into a shallow bowl.  Pour the dressing in a bowl as well.  Once you clean the chicken tenders, just dip them in the dressing and dredge in the crushed cereal.

Then, I put them in a glass dish on a sheet of parchment paper (because the stuff is magical and prevents anything from sticking).

Bake for 20-25 minutes (depending on how big your pieces are), turning halfway through.

Sweet Potato Fries

You'll need:
2 Sweet Potatoes
3 Tbsp Olive Oil
Salt
Pepper
Fresh Rosemary

Peel and cut potatoes into strips.  Try to make them about the same size so they'll cook evenly.

Throw potato strips into a bowl and add olive oil, salt, pepper, and rosemary.

Toss until all the fries are coated with olive oil and seasoning.  Spread on a baking tray and bake for 30-40 minutes, turning halfway through.

Sending you love from my kitchen (and the greater food blog world).  Enjoy!

Spinach Salad with Raspberry Vinaigrette

Happy New Year everyone! I thought I'd start the new year off with something healthy for all those with "get in shape" resolutions. :)

I made this salad for a lunch with some friends and served it on the side of homemade chicken strips and sweet potato fries... those recipes are coming soon!  I was originally wanting to a make a strawberry salad and dressing, but strawberries this time of year are not very pretty.  Raspberries turned out to be the perfect choice.  I love how everything is fresh and colorful.  Enjoy!

For the salad, you'll need:
Spinach
Sliced almonds
Fontina cheese, cut in small rectangles
Raspberries
Raspberry Vinaigrette (See recipe below)
*Don't worry about proportions too much, just put however much feels right.  :)

Fill a bowl with spinach and pile on the fresh raspberries, Fontina, and almonds.

Drizzle with vinaigrette.

Raspberry Vinaigrette

I'm really proud of this because I made it up on the spot.  Luckily I wrote down the ingredients because I'm making this again for sure!

You'll need:

1 1/2 cups fresh raspberries

2 tablespoons white wine vinegar

Juice of 1 lime

A few basil leaves

1 tablespoon water

1 tablespoon sugar

4 tablespoons olive oil

Salt and Pepper to taste

Put all ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until you get a vinaigrette consistency. My recipe made about a cup of dressing.

Sending you love (and a wonderful 2011) from my kitchen.

Lemon Herb Veggies

This is one of those dishes that would make my mom so proud. (1) Because it's healthy, and (2) Because it's fresh!  Mom gets mad when I use any frozen or canned ingredients, and I have to agree...  the fresh stuff really does make a difference.

Sorry about the "fistful" approximations again.  There really is no reason to measure the veggies exactly... just follow your stomach when it comes to adding some of these ingredients. :)

You'll need:
1 fistful of fresh asparagus spears, halved
1 fistful of  fresh broccoli, cut in bitesize pieces
1 fistful of green beans (with trimmed stems)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 large sweet onion
1/2 red bell pepper
1/2 cup baby bella mushrooms, halved
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon chopped fresh basil
1 teaspoon chopped fresh oregano
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme (Use 1/2 teaspoon fresh if you have it.)
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
Dash of salt and pepper

Wash the green beans, asparagus, and broccoli, and then blanch them. (Boil for 3-4 minutes, drain, and shock them with ice cold water.)

Chop the onion, mushrooms, bell pepper, garlic, basil, and oregano.

Start with sautéing the onion in olive oil on medium low heat for 5 minutes until tender.

Add the bell pepper and mushrooms and sauté for another 5-7 minutes.

We want these veggies to be tender and for the onions to start caramelizing.  I actually really dislike raw onions, but onions cooked this way are delicious!

Add the veggies that you just blanched.

Add herbs, salt, and pepper.  Stir and let the mixture hang out for a few minutes.

Add spinach, and fold together.

The spinach will shrink as it cooks, so you'll want to keep folding occasionally so the spinach at the bottom of the pan doesn't burn.

After about 2 minutes, remove from heat and serve!

This is a great side with almost anything!  My batch made a couple of servings, so I ate some of the veggies with a burger tonight, and I can take the rest to work tomorrow with a turkey sandwich. :)  Hope you enjoy!

Sending you love (and fresh veggies) from my kitchen.