Category Archives: Quick and Delicious

Emily Favorite, Fruit, Quick and Delicious

The Prettiest Guacamole in the Room

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I have been testing, testing and testing away dear readers and sadly none of the recipes I’ve tried have made the cut to share with you…until tonight. I’m getting ready to head back to East Texas for Christmas so I chose super simple recipes the next few days because well it’s the holidays and my nightly meals shouldn’t be too much trouble this time of year.

I made this Mango Pomegranate Guacamole recipe tonight and to turn it into an entree, I layered baked tostadas with the guacamole, canned (and rinsed) black beans with a little bit of sour cream. What a simple, vegetarian, healthy and DELICIOUS dish. With the addition of mango and pomegranate, the textures and flavors bounced off each other very nicely and the colors made the guac pop. This is an amazing twist on guacamole and you could serve at a party, to your kids, or by yourself while watching Antiques Roadshow. I’ll admit it, I love Antiques Roadshow. I just saw an 18th Century North American Indian Burlwood Bowl get appraised for $40,000 – 60,000. It’s a bowl. That’s insane. And awesome.

Emily Favorite, Quick and Delicious, Seafood, Soup, Uncategorized

My Favorite Mussels Recipe (So Far)

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I recall the time, waaaay back in the days of this past June, that I first tried to make mussels at home. Gosh, it seems just like yesterday doesn’t it? 

  

While I loved that first recipe, this delicious Mussels with Chorizo and Spicy Charmoula Broth concoction from Bon Appetit is light years (pun intended) ahead of all of the mussel recipes I’ve tried in the past (this one doesn’t count as one of my mussel recipes because it’s not just mussels, gosh I loved this recipe). According to the magazine, “Charmoula is a North African mixture of herbs, oil, lemon and cumin. The spicy charmoula broth needs to chill overnight so be sure to begin one day ahead.” I’ve seen charmoula-inspired sauces, broths and what have you used a lot recently and have tried it a few times, however it was most delicious on the mussels and once you mixed with the chorizo, whoa, it was perfect. If you do decide to try this, do yourself a favor and go ahead and cut yourself plenty of crusty bread. If you think you are going to eat two slices, make four. I’ll be the first to admit that I ate five pretty good-size slices of crusty bread with the broth and there may have been some slurpage even after that.
  
They don’t have the recipe online so here you go. If you are a mussels fan give this a try, it’s your density :). On one note, if you can’t find harissa paste which I luckily did at Central Market, in ten minutes you can make your own and let me tell you this would be good on LOTS of other food items (sandwiches, olives, roasted meats) so give her a try!
 

   

  

 Mussels with Chorizo and Spicy Charmoula Broth
Bon Appetit, December 2009 

1 cup of fresh cilantro sprigs 

1/4 cup paprika 

3 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice 

4 garlic cloves, chopped 

1 tablespoon tomato paste 

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil 

2 teaspoons harissa paste 

1 teaspoon ground cumin 

3 cups of vegetable broth 

3 ounces fresh Spanish chorizo. casing reomved, broken into pieces

3 pounds of mussels, scrubbed, debearded

Chopped fresh Italian parsley

Crusty bread

Puree first 8 ingredients in processor until smooth paste forms. Transfer to a large saucepan. Whisk in vegetable broth. Bring mixture to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer about 20 minutes to blend flavors. Season charmoula broth to taste with salt and pepper. Cool broth slightly; cover and chill overnight to develop flavor.

Heat large pot over medium heat. Add chorizo and cook until browned, breaking up meat with back of spoon, about 3 minutes. Add mussels; stir to coat. Add 1 1/2 cups of charmoula broth. Cover pot; cook until mussels open, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes (discard any mussels that do not open).

Transfer cooked mussels to large bowl. Season charmoula broth to taste with salt and pepper. Pour broth over mussels. Sprinkle with parsley and serve dish with crusty bread.

Emily Favorite, Potato, Quick and Delicious, Spicy, Uber Healthy

Eating Rainbow…Eating Rainbow!

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As I was eating my meal tonight, I had the theme song to Reading Rainbow in my mind the entire time. How much is this a flashback for some of you? This was one of my favorite TV shows growing up and I can still remember how excited I would get when the show started with this catchy tune. Ha, I love the dog that turns into a little star.

So why did I have this song in my head? Well, you guessed it, I was eating the colors of the rainbow for my dinner. If you’ve read food and nutrition literature over the past few years, you know that this is a very good thing. My delicious, nutritious and colorful meal was this Halibut with Spicy-Mint Chutney over a bed of fresh spinach and a baked sweet potato with a little bit of butter, maple syrup, cinnamon and a few chopped walnuts. For dessert, I had a mix of fresh pomegranate seeds and raspberries. Let’s see, I definitely got my green, orange, red and yellow from the little bit of lemon juice. Awesome.

I loved every aspect of this meal and that chutney is spicy, creamy and perfect. Gosh I just love sauces, chutney and relishes. To me, anything you can drizzle, dip, glop, gloop or pour over something else is ideal , and Cooking Light has a thing for nailing delicious, low fat/low-cal sauces. Love, love this dish!
Dessert, Quick and Delicious, Sandwich

Grilled Peanut Butter and Banana Split Sandwiches

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This simple twist on a traditional peanut butter, banana and honey sandwich from Cooking Light makes it “ice cream split” style by adding chocolate chips, strawberries and pineapple jam. Please go back and read that sentence again. Go ahead, I’ll wait.

How delicious does that sound!?

I can happily report that this scrumptious and easy to assemble sandwich lives up to its yummy sounding name. I mean how can you go wrong with this combo? It is very sweet so if you don’t have a sweet tooth then this may not be for you, however since I’m like a five-year old kid I loved it. Is it bad that I was wondering how this would taste with bacon on it?
I loved how everything melted together once you grilled the sandwich so it got all gooey and melty. Two switch outs were I used whole wheat bread and instead of butter I used Smart Balance spread to cut it down a smidge. This was a little messy when you tried to assemble but who cares it’s cooking!
Now this is a wee bit of an indulgence but hey I was watching the Horns beat the Baylor Bears so that’s better than traditional football fare eh? Please for the love of sandwiches make this one right away.
Bacon is always awesome, Eggs, Quick and Delicious

My Kind of Eggs Benedict

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I love sauces. In fact, any kind of sauce is a friend of mine and welcome in my tummy. If I had a sauce friendship meter however, hollandaise would register to be around a two or three. It’s always been OK to me but a little too rich or “much” in my opinion. I feel the same way about alfredo sauce, it’s good but whoa nelly after a few bites.
So when I came across this lightened Eggs Benedict recipe in the November issue of Every Day with Rachael Ray I thought I give her a try. Now, they don’t show an original or basic Eggs Benedict recipe to compare but the before vs after comparison of nutritional information was eye-opening, plus if it’s a lighter in flavor hollandaise sauce then I’m all for it.
Eggs Benedict before –
Calories: 731 (once on the lips, a lifetime on the hips)
Saturated Fat: 30 g (ewwww!)
Dietary Fiber: 1g (sad)
Carbs 28 g (ugh)
Eggs Benedict after –
Calories: 271 (better)
Saturated Fat: 6.5 g (much much better)
Dietary Fiber: 3.5 g (I approve)
Carbs: 19 g (yay)I really liked this recipe, especially the sauce. It was light and flavorful, probably because the amount of butter was cut and chicken broth was used instead. I also used a low-sodium version even though the recipe didn’t call for it. The crisp asparagus, a best friend of hollandaise, was also perfect and light for breakfast.

I cut this down for just one person but I’m really happy I have all of the ingredients to make this a few more times this week for breakfast because it was so quick to make and delicious. I think next time I’m going to add some fresh chives on top to give it an herb-y kick. I can’t find the recipe online so I thought I would share here in case you would like to give her a try too.

Every Day with Rachael Ray
Eggs Benedict
Serves 4
Prep 10 min
Cook 20 min
1 pound of asparagus
4 ounces of turkey Canadian Bacon
2 tablespoons of butter
1 tablespoon of flour
1/2 cup of chicken broth (low sodium if you prefer)
4 large eggs, plus 2 large egg yolks
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
Salt and Pepper
2 whole wheat English muffins, split and toasted
1. Preheat the oven to 150 degrees. Fill a large, deep skillet with enough salted water to reach a depth of 1 inch and bring to a boil. Add the asparagus and cook until crisp-tender, 3 to 4 minutes; drain. Reserve the skillet.
2. Heat the reserved skillet over medium heat. Add the turkey bacon and cook, turning, until browned about 3 minutes. Transfer the bacon and asparagus to an ovenproof dish and place in the oven to keep warm; reserve skillet.
3. In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the flour and cook, stirring for 1 minute. Slowly whisk in the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Cook whisking for 1 minute. Remove from the heat, then whisk in the 2 egg yolks, 1 at a time. Stir in the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper. Strain the sauce into a bowl.
4. Fill the reserved skillet with enough water to reach a depth of 1 inch and bring to a boil. Crack the 4 whole eggs into the skillet and poach for 2 minutes for soft-set.
5. Place an English muffin half on each of the 4 plates. Divide the bacon among the muffins and top each with asparagus, a poached egg and some sauce. Season with pepper.
Emily Favorite, Quick and Delicious, Salad, Uber Healthy

A New Goddess in My Kitchen

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(Photo from Food & Wine.com)
And you thought there could be only one! Ha! This lovely dish graces the cover of the September issue of Food & Wine magazine and let me tell you it is worthy of such an honor. After a late work night, I came home and seriously thought of just pouring myself a bowl of cereal and mouthbreathing on the couch – I’m glad I didn’t. Now, I have made some Green Goddess Dressings in my lifetime – including this one from Molly Wizenberg that rocks – but this recipe’s dressing mixed with the kalamata olives, celery, bread, jarred piquillo peppers (who knew!) is worthy of being served to Aphrodite.
I particularly liked all the salty, crunchy parts with the creamy, herb-y dressing that coated everything perfectly. I’ve never included Piquillo Peppers in anything and it was a nice alternative to typical jarred bell peppers and packed a little more punch. This was really, really easy to put together and did not interfere with my couch potato time one bit.
I had plenty for leftovers today and it was still quite amazing. Bow down to the goddess, no, not me silly! 😉
Emily Favorite, Global Flavor, Quick and Delicious, Seafood, Spicy, This may contain fish sauce or anchovies

Flexing My Cooking Mussels!

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I love mussels, especially with some warm, toasty bread so you can dip it in the delicious broth once you are done…exquisite. I have never attempted to cook mussels at home and I have to admit this was very similar to my scallop-phobia which I have quickly overcome. Was I as successful with mussels? It is a resounding yes my friends!
I came across this Coconut and Basil Steamed Mussels recipe in Cooking Light and the dialogue in my head was something like:
Emily: “I love mussels but would I dare try to make them at home? I will probably massacre the poor little buggers.”
Emily: “Maybe, but you never know unless you try.”
Yoda: “Do or do not, there is no try.”
I don’t know why Yoda popped in my head but that green, big-eared creature is right, I must just do it!
I was certainly surprised at how super-easy and delicious this turned out. I love the flavor combination of chicken broth, coconut milk, fresh basil, fish sauce, lime juice and Sriracha (spicy!) and it worked beautifully with the mussels. I served this with a side of scallion rice and sauteed spinach as suggested.
I also enjoyed this with a crisp and light Montecillo 2006 Rioja white wine that complemented the flavors really well and is on sale for $10 at Whole Food Market. From the back of the bottle “It is a dry, smooth and fruity wine with notes of pear and wild apple. Suited for drinking as an appertif or with grilled or sauteed fish, seafood, pasta or paella or Emily’s amazing mussels”…ok last part was a stretch.
I will now seek out mussel recipes and see what else can be done, maybe next time with some toasted bread?
Emily Favorite, Fruit, Pork-a-licious, Quick and Delicious

Grilled Pork with Blackberry-Sage Sauce

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You know when you first take a bite of something and then you immediately slow down because it’s so good you want to savor every bite? Yeah, that was this dish in a nutshell. I ate this so slowly and was quite upset when the experience ended. Now that’s a great dish! I love me some pork tenderloin and the blackberry-sage sauce was the perfect complement to the juicy, succulent pork.

The sauce was pretty simple to make and I simply roasted the pork tenderloin in the oven until it registered 155 degrees and let it rest for ten minutes. I served with a side of sauteed garlic green beans. In my eyes this was a perfect Sunday dinner.
Beefy McBeefy, Dose of Veggies, Fruit, Quick and Delicious, Uncategorized

Grilled Steak with Tomatoes and Scallions and a Great Mango Salad

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So it was the last night of the Everyday Food “1 bag, 5 meals” idea featured in the June issue. Last up was the Grilled Steak with Tomatoes and Scallions. Due to my lack of access to a real grill, I grilled the steak on a grill pan and broiled the cherry tomatoes and scallions in the oven until charred. This was a simple and flavorful dish and I really loved the tomatoes and scallions on top of the juicy steak.

As some of you know, I work in food public relations and one of the unfortunate (ha!) aspects of my job is that my team and I have to test recipes to ensure the dish ideas we provide to consumers are delicious and easy to assemble. It’s a hard job but somebody’s gotta do it. Of course I love all the recipes we try but one that has stood out continuously over time is the Mango, Chicken and Avocado Salad with Poppy Seed Dressing from the National Mango Board.
Because a steak just wouldn’t be enough, I also decided to make this healthy and delicious salad sans chicken to round out my meal. I love this salad so much, since the first day we tested it until now it has been one of my favorites. It provides a perfect balance of sweetness in the mango and dressing, plus the creamy avocado and the crunch of pistachios…great flavor and texture balance.
Coming up next, has a burger I just tested from Bon Appetit already beaten my recent favorite from Food & Wine magazine? Stay tuned!
Dose of Veggies, Pork-a-licious, Quick and Delicious

Grilled Pork Chops with Cucumber-Dill Salad

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I took some great pictures of this dish last night and then found out my camera hates me and somehow deleted them! Oh well. I have a sweet spot for any kind of a Cucumber-Dill Salad and this one was a good one. The pork chops were simply seasoned with salt and pepper and were quite juicy and perfectly cooked if I do say so myself. 😉

This was a simple, easy and healthy weeknight meal and one of my favorites of the 1 bag, 5 meals idea from Everyday Food. Enjoy!