Crab Enchiladas

Oh my.

Rarely do I make a blog post just hours after trying a new recipe - generally its a few days later, when I'm bored on a weeknight, and thinking to myself, "I'd rather be in the kitchen."

Yet, here I am, on a Friday night, with a million things on my wedding to-do list...and I just have to put this recipe on paper before it slips my mind.

These enchiladas are fun and flexible. I gathered tips and ideas from several different recipes, as well as a crab enchilada recipe that my mom recently tried out. I had a good sense of what flavors and textures I wanted in the crab filling versus the cream sauce. I wasn't scared to go my own route with this one. I had no recipe in front of me, and I took it slow. I wrote down what ingredients I used, and in what quantities.

I wouldn't change a thing next time - the only exception being that I would love more cilantro... however, my cilantro plant on the patio is still just a baby and I can't take all of its leaves off yet, right? ;-)

Crab Enchiladas

3 (6-oz) cans white crab (Chicken of the Sea brand) - drained well

6 oz can chopped green chiles

1 small onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

small bunch of cilantro, chopped

juice of 1 lime

mexican spice blend

1/4 C sherry wine

1 pint fat-free half and half

3/4 C fat free sour cream

3/4 C colby jack cheese blend, shredded

4 TBS butter, divided

2 tbs flour

salt, pepper

4 large flour tortillas

avocado and tomato, if desired

1. In large skillet, saute onions in 2 TBS butter until translucent. Add garlic and saute another 2 minutes. Place onions and garlic in medium bowl. Remove skillet from heat and set aside.

2. To the onions and garlic, add crab, green chiles, cilantro, juice of lime, and 1 TBS mexican spice blend. Mix well and set aside.

3. Place skillet back on med-high heat and add 2 TBS butter. When melted, add 2 TBS flour and cook one minute, until flour is lightly browned. Add sherry wine to the pan to deglaze, and whisk until smooth. Don't let anything burn. Add half and half slowly, whisking constantly. Continue to whisk several minutes as mixture comes to a slow boil and gradually thickens. Remove from heat. Let sit 5-7 minutes until slightly cooled. Add shredded cheese and sour cream. Stir well. Add a bit more mexican spice blend and season with salt and pepper as you like. Taste as you go.

4. Preheat oven to 350. Add 3/4 C of the cream sauce to the crab mixture. Spray a large baking dish with PAM. In each tortilla, place several large tablespoons of the crab filling. I had enough for 4 tortillas. Roll the tortillas and place seam-side-down in pan. If extra filling is leftover, just drizzle it on top. When all tortillas are in the pan, drizzle the remaining cream sauce over the top.

5. Bake 30 minutes. Before serving, place avocado and tomato over the top.

...Apologies for the so-so photos. I would have loved to take a picture of the inside of the enchilada, with all that yummy crab...however, as soon as my fork went in, it was all over... :-)

Joan's Baked Beans

Let's say my fiance and a bunch of his guys at work get together for food and indoor football. Let's say that everyone is assigned to bring a dish - some people bring hot dogs, others bring cole slaw, and because they're guys, someone else brings stale store-bought cookies.

Now let's say that as soon as Brett receives the sign-up list, he calls his fiance at work and asks her to bring her mom's famous baked beans.

"The spicy ones, yeah."

"Aren't they layered in bacon? Thought so."

Fiance (me) complies. Recipe is doubled and baked in a huge foil pan (only after the bacon is lathered on top.)

Finally, let's say that late that night, Brett comes home and says: "They raved over the beans. Fought over the beans. No one talked about ANYTHING but the beans."

My job here is done.

Joan's Baked Beans

3 cans pinto beans, drained and rinsed

1 can light red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 can dark red kidney beans, drained and rinsed

1 large onion, diced

1 green bell pepper, diced

3 cloves garlic, pressed or minced

1 TBS dry mustard

sprinkle of salt and pepper

1 tsp+ cayenne pepper

1/4 C worchestershire sauce

1/2 C brown sugar

2 TBS vinegar

1 tsp dried basil

1 bottle KC Masterpiece BBQ Sauce

1/2 package bacon

Mix all of the above ingredients (except bacon) in a large bowl. Pour into a deep cake pan (9x13 works fine.) Layer top with bacon slices, covering the beans.

Bake covered at 310 degrees for 2 hours. Turn heat off, uncover, and let sit in oven for 30 minutes.

Avocado, Tomato & Mango Salsa

This is not your average salsa.

Actually, this isn't even salsa. But that's what it's called, so that's what I'm gonna call it!

This salsa is all of the things that I love about cooking - the comfort in standing over my cutting board, methodically chopping vegetables into perfectly imperfect pieces. The surprising combination of sweet and spicy in the same bite. The phenomenon of color - each ingredient being somewhat dull on its own, but contrasting and vibrant in the final product. The improvement of flavor with just a little bit of time, and patience.

This salsa is so much more than delicious alongside chicken or fish. This salsa is my favorite season, and my favorite colors, and my favorite fresh flavors, and my favorite hobby....tossed in a bowl and devoured shortly afterwards!

Avocado, Tomato and Mango Salsa

1 mango - peeled and diced

1 avocado - peeled, pitted, and diced

2 medium tomatoes, diced

1 jalepeno pepper, seeded and minced

1/2 C chopped fresh cilantro

3 cloves garlic, minced

sprinkle of salt and pepper

juice of 1 lime

half of a red onion, diced

1 TBS olive oil

1. In medium bowl, combine all. Refrigerate for 30 minutes and stir well before serving. Serve alongside fish, chicken, or shrimp. Would also be delicious with chips or tortillas.

PW's Pasta Carbonara

Another one cominatchya from Pioneer Woman: Pasta Carbonara.

Here's a short story. I am about to marry a guy who is a pretty big health nut. Holidays are a splurge, and weekends are sometimes, as well. But on weeknights, Brett wants lean meats, lots of veggies, and absolutely no grease - I practically have to get on my knees and beg just to fry something in olive oil.

So, with this upcoming wedding, Brett decided that he wanted to try two weeks of a very special "dinner diet." During this two weeks, his dinner was two tilapia filets, one sweet potato, and some sort of vegetable. I was of course willing to work his special dietary wishes into my recipe plan, and in fact, I was almost giddy about this food freedom - this gave me the chance to finally cook a few meals for me that were full of cream (!) butter (!) and full-fat cheese (!!!!!) I knew instantly that I would be trying out two recipes in particular. The first being broccoli cheddar soup, and the second being Pioneer Woman's Pasta Carbonara.

Bacon. Egg. Parmesan. Butter. I. Love. You. All.

PW's Pasta Carbonara

1/2 lb bacon

1/2 lb linguine

1 small onion, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 C white wine

1/2 C chicken broth

2 eggs

3/4 C shaved parmesan cheese*

small bunch of parsley, chopped

1/4 stick butter

salt + pepper

*the crumbly stuff in the plastic container is a no-no here

1. Slice bacon into 1-inch pieces. Place in a pan and sauté until brown and crispy. While the bacon is cooking, get your pasta going in boiling, salted water.

2. Remove bacon with a slotted spoon. Add diced onions to bacon grease. Cook several minutes, until tender. Add garlic. Cook another minute or so. Remove both onions and garlic from pan and set aside with bacon. Discard bacon grease.

3. Place pan back on stove. In a minute or two, it should start to smoke - when it does, add the wine. Scrape the bottom of the pan to catch all of the yummy drippings. Add the chicken stock. Whisk well. Return bacon, onion and garlic to pan. Let simmer over medium heat.

4. Your pasta should be done now. Drain well. Crack eggs into a large bowl. Add parmesan and parsley to bowl (leave a little of both aside for garnish.) Mix well. Now, add very hot pasta to the bowl and mix well - this is what cooks the egg a bit. Now add the bacon mixture and your butter. Sprinkle salt and pepper to taste. Mix well.

Mom's Lemon Bars

Today's the first day of April. The forecast says the high is 84. Last night's dinner was salmon with a summer-y mango salsa. Every single window is wide open. I'm wearing open-toed shoes with my pretty little pedicure....

...I love this time of year!

Mom's lemon bars are a perfectly refreshing dessert for warm weather. They are best served chilled and yes, they are slightly tart - so pucker up! The crust is to-die-for. If you like shortbread cookies half as much as I do, you'll see what I mean.

Happy Spring to you all!

Mom's Lemon Bars

Mix with a fork:

2 C flour

1/2 C powdered sugar

1 C butter, softened

Grease and flour a 9x13 pan. Press above mixture into pan and bake at 350 for 25 minutes or until top is lightly browned.

Mix well:

4 large eggs

2 C sugar

1/2 C lemon juice + 1 TBS lemon zest

Then add to lemon mixture:

1/4 C flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

Pour lemon mixture over baked crust while crust is still hot. Bake another 25-30 minutes; you can tell they are ready when there are little bubbles on the top. The bars will be somewhat "set" and possibly a lightly-browned layer on top. Remove from oven and cool on counter for half hour; place in fridge to finish cooling 2-3 hours. Remove from fridge and sprinkle powdered sugar over bars. Cut into squares.

Pan-Grilled Pork Chops with Pineapple Salsa

There's something that you need to know. Something vitally important.

Grilled pineapple is indescribable.

Grilled pineapple is so juicy, that I don't even know how the juices get IN there! There isn't that much ROOM in a slice of grilled pineapple for all the juices that end up dripping down your chin! Where does it COME from???

I don't get it. I don't wanna get it. I just want more of it.

Pan-Grilled Pork Chops with (grilled, baby!) Pineapple Salsa

4 bone-in pork chops

1 large lime

1 fresh pineapple

1 small red onion

1 jalepeno

a grill (indoor/electric works great)

1. Roll the lime around on your counter to get the juices going. Sprinkle pork chops with salt and pepper. Cut lime in half. Drizzle the pork chops with the juices of half the lime. Set pork chops aside.

2. Cut pineapple into slices. How? Lay the pineapple on its side. Cut off the top. Cut off the bottom. Set the pineapple up. Slice it right down the center. Now cut each half in half again. Using a sharp knife, cut away the peel and the inner core. Slice the remaining (good) pieces into, well, slices.

3. Chop red onion into thick slices. Chop jalepeno into slices. Remember, everything goes on the grill - so don't finely chop anything. It all needs to be manageable.

4. Heat grill to medium-high heat. Spray with Pam. Put onion and jalepeno on grill. Cook 4-6 minutes until onion is tender. Set aside on the cutting board. Now add pineapple slices to grill for 4-6 minutes. While pineapple is grilling, chop onion and jalepeno into chunks. Place in bowl. Remove pineapple from grill, chop it up, and add to bowl. Now drizzle the juice from the remaining 1/2 lime. Sprinkle in some salt and pepper too. Set aside.

5. Re-Pam your grill and add the chops. Cook 5-8 minutes until cooked through. When done cooking, remove from grill and set on plate to "rest" for several minutes. This lets the meat finish cooking and allows juices to disperse evenly through the meat.

6. Serve pork chops alongside (grilled, baby!) pineapple salsa. I also served with plain couscous, that was drizzled with some lime juice. It was a perfect pairing.

Sweet Potato Fries

Did you know....that sweet potatoes are an excellent source of Vitamin A, Vitamin C, fiber, iron, and a slew of other vitamins and minerals?

Did you know...that there are over 400 varieties of sweet potato, ranging from white to dark purple? (Did you know...that the only variety I've ever seen or eaten, and you've probably seen or eaten, is the creamy reddish orange kind?)

Did you know...that Christopher Columbus brought sweet potatoes back to Europe after his first visit to America in 1492?

Did you know...that studies show that roasting sweet potatoes leaves more of the healthy compounds intact than boiling sweet potatoes? (no worries, these little guys are roasted...)

These sweet potato fries are one of the most easy and fun side dishes that I've ever made for a quick weeknight meal. They are very inexpensive - at my grocery store, sweet potatoes are running <$1.00 apiece, and you only need a couple for this recipe. Let them bake while you're getting the rest of your meal ready. I served these fries along jerk-seasoned turkey burgers and it was so wonderful knowing that these weren't fried in grease. The sweet flavor is very prominent and these fries definitely don't go well with ketchup (in my opinion). We ate them plain but it would be fun to try them with ranch or honey mustard.

Enjoy!

Sweet Potato Fries

2-4 large sweet potatoes, scrubbed and patted dry

olive oil

salt

1. Heat oven to 400. Peel sweet potatoes with potato peeler (or you can leave the skin on for extra nutrients!)

2. Slice sweet potatoes into thin strips - and try to slice them evenly, so they cook evenly. I found the easiest way to do this was chop the rounded ends off, then cut the potato in half again and again until I was left with little strips. Remember, the thinner they are, the quicker they look.

3. Place potato strips on large baking sheet so no fries are overlapping. Drizzle with olive oil and salt; shake the pan to coat evenly (another option here is to spray with Pam, or even better, use an olive oil spray can to evenly spray olive oil onto the fries.)

4. Bake for 20 minutes, and flip the fries. Bake another 20 minutes. Test for tenderness somewhere along there - if you like them, you can remove them early. If you want crunchy, let them go longer. Have fun!

Creamy Spinach Artichoke Dip

There are yummy appetizers. There are crunchy appetizers. There are sweet appetizers. There are mmmmmmm good appetizers.

And then there's this appetizer.

A so-good-I-just-ignored-half-the-KU-game-because-I-can't-stop-stuffing-my-face-appetizer.

A dinner-is-ruined-appetizer.

A you-said-what?-I-wasn't-listening-to-you-appetizer.

Make this dip, eat this dip, and repeat this dip. Enjoy every second of this dip.

Creamy Spinach Artichoke Dip

1 (14 oz) can artichoke hearts (in water,) drained and chopped

3/4 package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained

3/4 C italian cheese blend

1 C sour cream

1/3 C real mayo

8 oz cream cheese, softened

2 garlic cloves, minced

1. Preheat oven to 375.

2. In medium bowl, mix together all ingredients.

3. Place dip in oven-safe dish and cover. Bake about 25 minutes or until hot and bubbly.

Serve with crusty sliced bread, crackers, chips, or vegetable slices.

Orange Asian Chicken

Is there anything more consistently delicious than chinese takeout? Nope. It's greasy. It's saucy. It's sweet and salty. It's everything that is so, so good - and so, so bad for you.

I've definitely never worked in a chinese food place - but I can make a few assumptions. I can assume that the grease comes from vegetable oil, full of trans fat (you won't find a bottle of vegetable oil anywhere in my pantry.) I can also assume that the sweet and salty sauces you find in dishes like "General Tso's" or "Sesame Chicken" consist primarily of corn syrup. And heaps of salt.

For these reasons, I am always on the lookout for asian recipes to make at home - this allows me to incorporate yummy asian flavors without all the terrible ingredients.

In this recipe, the chicken is cooked in hot olive oil, and finishes cooking in a low oven. The sauce has no artificial or syrup-based ingredients. The chicken marinates for several hours so the flavor isn't just on the outside, but on the inside, too.

Served alongside steamed edamame, over hot rice with the orange sauce drizzled on top, this asian chicken is seriously one of the top ten recipes that I've ever - ever! - made.

Orange Asian Chicken

Sauce

1.5 C water

2 TBS freshly squeezed orange juice

juice from one lemon

1/3 C rice vinegar

2.5 TBS soy sauce

1 TBS grated orange zest

1 C brown sugar

1-inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and minced

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 TBS chopped green onion

1/2 TSP red pepper flakes

2 tsp cornstarch

1 TBS water

Chicken

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts - cut into 1-inch pieces

1 C flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

1/4 C olive oil

1. Pour water, orange juice, lemon juice, rice vinegar and soy sauce into small saucepan and place over medium-high heat on the stove. Stir in the orange zest, brown sugar, ginger, garlic, green onions and red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil and stir well. Remove from heat, and cool 10-15 minutes.

2. Place the chicken pieces into a 1-quart resealable bag. Add 1 cup of the cooled sauce. Reserve the remaining sauce. Place the chicken in the fridge to marinate for 2-3 hours.

3. Place the flour, salt and pepper into a separate resealable bag. Add the marinated chicken pieces and shake well until all pieces are coated.

4. Preheat an oven to 220 degrees. Heat olive oil over med-high heat in a large skillet. Working in three batches, add chicken to hot oil and brown well on all sides. Do not move the chicken around while its browning - let it sit to develop the nice color. When each batch is done browning, place on a cookie sheet in the low oven.

5. In a small saucepan, heat the reserved sauce over low-medium heat. It should thicken slightly over several minutes. Place chicken pieces on a bed of hot jasmine rice and drizzle the thickened orange sauce over the chicken.

Spinach Salad with Salmon & Asian Vinaigrette

Well, I didn't lie.....I told you that I was on a salad kick!

The grilled chicken salad with cilantro vinaigrette was just so good, I had to make another salad. Another salad with homemade dressing, interesting ingredients (mango? why not!) and a warm piece of lean, healthy protein.

How did I come up with this one? Well, I went in search of dressings, and found a super easy Asian vinaigrette. This is certainly nothing exotic...this is just rice vinegar, a bit of oil, a drizzle of soy...(ok, and maybe a couple other things.) Also, I simply had to use avocado again - it is just THAT good. I also had some spinach leaves left, so that was the base. For extra crunch, I added broccoli slaw and for a hit of sweet flavor, I used mango slices. I thought this salad would go wonderfully with broiled salmon, so that's what ended up on top.

This is definitely a "will-make-again!"

Spinach Salad with Salmon & Asian Vinaigrette

For the salad:

fresh spinach leaves, rinsed and patted dry

broccoli slaw

avocado, sliced

mango, sliced

slivered almonds

fresh salmon filets (if frozen, thawed)

salt, pepper

For the dressing:

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 TBS fresh ginger, minced

1/4 - 3/4 C olive oil

1/3 C rice vinegar

1/4 C - 1/2 C soy sauce

3 TBS honey

1/4 C water

1. Before you begin - please understand that the measurements for the dressing are a starting point. Start with less, and add as you like. I like sweet, acidic dressings - this meant more honey, more vinegar, and less soy. Do what you like! But anyway, in a food processor or a jar with lid, make your dressing: just throw it all together and blend/shake well. Set aside.

2. Sprinkle salmon filets with salt and pepper. Place under broiler in oven for several minutes, until flakes easily with fork.

3. Assemble your salad: spinach leaves, slaw, avocado, mango, almonds, salmon...then drizzle the dressing over the salad.

PS - sorry for this totally weird-looking picture. The original photo didn't come out well, so I went a little overboard with the photo editing on iphoto...(this is why I work in finance.)

Its salmon on a salad...you get it, right? :-)

Gnocchi Nicoise

Let's go back to something called "Gnocchi." I've only made gnocchi once in my life - it was last year, and I decided to sort of throw my own recipe together with a cream-based sauce, ham, asparagus, and a package of gnocchi that I found at World Market. It was just ok, but nothing spectacular. Of course, as life as taught me so many times - "try, try again!" So I here I go once again, with these cute little potato dumplings.

Gnocchi is easy to find and relatively inexpensive. One pound of vacuum-sealed gnocchi runs about $3-4. This recipe - "Gnocchi Nicoise" - is actually from Food Network and is very, very good. The flavors are bold, and I think the red wine makes them even more so (something about wine, it brings out the best in everything :) ) I was intrigued by this recipe due to the combination of interesting flavors, like orange peel and shallots. The one thing that should be written into this recipe is that crusty french bread on the side is a must!!! It was the only thing missing when we ate this for dinner last week. With so much wonderful sauce sitting on our plates, it was a shame that we didn't have any good bread around to take care of it!

Gnocchi Nicoise

1 TBS olive oil

4 oz bacon (about 1/4 of a package), diced

4 cloves garlic, smashed

1/2 lb ground beef

2 TBS red wine (I used Pinot Noir)

3 shallots, diced

1 C carrots, diced

1 stalk celery, diced

1 TBS tomato paste

salt, pepper

15-oz can whole tomatoes

1 C chicken broth

1 bay leaf

2 one-inch strips of orange peel

2/3 C nicoise olives, pitted and chopped*

1 pkg. (1 lb) vacuum-sealed gnocchi**

*As hard as I looked, I could not find nicoise olives. Online, it says that a good substitute is kalamata olives - which I had on hand anyway from making greek pasta a few weeks back.

** My personal preference would have been to double the amount of gnocchi. The potato dumplings are just so good, I wanted more! But, like I said, a good crusty french bread would have satisfied my cravings.

1. Heat oil in skillet. Add bacon; cook 2-3 minutes. Add garlic; cook 2-3 minutes. Add ground beef, and cook several more minutes, until mostly browned. Add wine, shallots, carrots, celery, and tomato paste. Cook until the vegetables soften, about 4-5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

2. Crush the tomatoes into the pan with your hands, and add any juices from the can. Be very careful! When you crush a whole tomato, the juices go everywhere; I've ruined a few shirts, no joke. Stir in the broth, bay leaf, orange peel and olives. Bring to a simmer and lower the heat; cover and cook 20 minutes.

3. Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to boil. Add gnocchi and cook 2-3 minutes. When they start floating to the top, remove them immediately, or they will get soggy. Drain. Remove the orange peel and bay leaf from sauce, and toss the gnocchi with the sauce.

4. Serve with crusty french bread :) :) :) and a glass of that same Pinot Noir!

PW's Meatballs

Last month, I went to a wine tasting with two good friends, Heather and Kristin. While there, they started talking about someone called "Pioneer Woman." At first, I didn't even tune into this conversation, as anything about "pioneers" is pretty low on my list of interests (though in grade school, I was fascinated by pioneer stories and of course, Oregon Trail!) But as these two friends were talking, one of them turned to me and said "wait - Sarah, have you heard of Pioneer Woman?" After hearing my reply, and knowing that I am such an avid cook, they were shocked - "what?! You have to google her! She's amazing...!"

A few days later, I decide to google this lady. Her website has quite a few things going on - information about home schooling, her love story...and of course, her cooking blog. And Pioneer Woman knows how to cook! Living on a ranch with 4 kids and a cowboy husband, she's learned how to make the richest stews and the most buttery rolls and the creamiest sauces and the crispiest pie crusts. I have become completely obsessed with her cooking blog, checking it multiple times per day.

And finally, last Sunday, I made one of her awesome recipes: "BBQ Meatballs." They aren't really barbecue as we know it here in Kansas, but they are certainly delicious, filling, and easy.

Now we're talkin'!

Pioneer Woman's BBQ Meatballs

1.5 lb ground beef

3/4 C oats

1 C milk

1/2 C onion, minced

salt, pepper

1 C all-purpose flour

canola oil

1 C ketchup

2 TBS sugar

3 TBS white vinegar

2 TBS worcestershire

1 dash red tabasco

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. In bowl, combine beef, oats, milk, 1/4 C onion, and a pinch of salt + pepper. Roll into medium-small balls and place on a cookie sheet. Place in freezer for 5 minutes (this makes them much easier to handle.)

3. In large skillet, heat some canola oil over medium-high heat. While oil is heating, dredge meatballs in flour. Brown meatballs in oil for several minutes, until just brown.

4. In small bowl, mix ketchup, sugar, vinegar, worcestershire, remaining 1/4 C onion, and tabasco. Place meatballs in baking dish, and pour sauce over meatballs.

5. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes.

Note - PW suggests serving these along something starch-y, like egg noodles, potatoes, or bread. I served them with mashed red potatoes and mixed vegetables.