Greek Goddess Dip

Tastes very much like Greek Tzatziki sauce, but packed with herbs.  Addictive for sure.

Ingredients

½ cup packed fresh dill

½ cup packed fresh mint

½ cup packed fresh parsley

⅓ cup packed fresh basil

2 garlic cloves, chopped

2 scallions, white and green parts, sliced

1 ½ tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

 Pinch kosher salt, more to taste

½ cup extra virgin olive oil

½ cup crumbled feta cheese

½ cup Greek yogurt

¼ cup mayonnaise, optional

 Raw chopped vegetables or pita chips, for serving

Place dill, mint, parsley, basil, garlic, scallions, lemon juice and salt in a food processor and process until finely chopped.

With motor running, drizzle in the olive oil until incorporated. Add feta and process until smooth; pulse in yogurt. Taste dip and add more salt, if desired. If you like a creamier, richer dip, add mayonnaise and pulse to combine. Refrigerate for at least an hour so that all the flavors come together.

Serve with vegetables or pita chips. Store in refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Recipe adapted from NY Times

Crunchy Spicy & Sweet Chickpeas

Ingredients

1 can chickpeas, drained, rinsed & patted dry

1 tsp sesame oil

1 T brown sugar

1 tsp Ancho Chile Powder

½ tsp Kosher salt

Preheat oven to 400*.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Place the chickpeas in a ziplock bag with all the ingredients. Shake well to coat. Spread on the prepared baking sheet and bake for 35-40 minutes, stirring every 15 minutes, until nicely browned & crunchy.

Super Moist Cornbread

Ingredients

1½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¾ teaspoon table salt
¼ cup light brown sugar
¾ cup frozen corn kernels, thawed
1 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
½ cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Spray an 8-inch square baking dish (glass is recommended) with non-stick cooking spray.

 In a large bowl, whisk the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda and salt until combined; set aside.

 In a food processor or blender, process the sugar, thawed corn kernels and buttermilk until combined, about 5 seconds. Add the eggs and process until well combined (corn lumps will remain), about 5 seconds longer.

Using a rubber spatula, make a well in the center of the dry ingredients; pour the wet ingredients into the well. Fold the dry ingredients into wet, giving the mixture only a few turns to barely combine; add the melted butter and continue folding until the dry ingredients are just moistened (do not overmix!).

 Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish and smooth the surface with a rubber spatula. Bake until deep golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 20 to 30 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes, then invert cornbread onto wire rack, turn right side up and continue to cool until warm, about 10 minutes longer. Cut into pieces and serve.

Recipe from The Brown Eyed Baker.

Pink Lemonade Thumbprint Cookies

Ingredients

1 1/2 C all-purpose flour
2 c confectioners' sugar, plus more for dusting
1 tsp coarse salt
2 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature
2 Tbsp finely grated lemon zest, plus 1/4 C fresh lemon juice
2 raspberries, forced thru a strainer to remove seeds

Preheat oven to 325*. Whisk together flour, 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar and salt in a bowl. In a large bowl, beat butter with 1/4 c confectioners' sugar, zest, and 2 Tbsp lemon juice on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in flour mixture on low speed.

Roll dough into 1-inch balls. Transfer to parchment-lined baking sheets, 2 inches apart. Freeze 10 minutes.

Bake 10 minutes. Remove sheets one at a time and press the end of a wooden spoon handle into center of each ball to indent. Continue to bake until golden on bottoms, 16 to 18 minutes more. Let cool completely on sheets on wire racks.

Whisk together remaining 1-1/4 cups confectioners' sugar and 2 tbsp lemon juice with strained raspberries in a bowl. Dust cookies with sugar, spoon glaze into indents, and let set, 10 minutes. Cookies can be stored in a single layer at room temperature up to 1 week.

Recipe taken from MarthaStewart.com

Enjoy!

Tomato, Ricotta & Basil Tart

Ingredients

1 pint Whole Milk Ricotta

2 large lemon, zested

1/2 cup Grated Parmesan

1 Egg, lightly beaten

1 teaspoon Kosher Salt

2 tablespoons Parsley, finely chopped

2 tablespoons Chives, finely chopped

1 sheet Puff Pastry

2-3 various Heirloom Tomatoes, sliced

1/2 cup Basil Leaves, torn

Flakey Sea Salt

Olive Oil

Black Pepper, freshly cracked

Parmesan cheese for garnish

Up to a day ahead of time, make the Ricotta mixture.  The flavors will continue to blend and enhance the longer it sits.

In a mixing bowl combine the Ricotta, Lemon Zest, Parmesan, Egg, Salt, Pepper, Parsley, Chives and 1 tablespoons of Olive Oil. Mix to thoroughly incorporate and refrigerate until ready to use.

Preheat your oven to 400°F. Place your Puff Pastry on a baking sheet and roll it slightly in to more of a rectangle shape. Fold the edges in and using your thumb and forefinger, create fluted edges. Blind bake for 10 minutes.  This ensures that your tart is not soggy or under baked in the center.  Cool. Next, spread the cooled pastry with the Ricotta filling. Bake until golden brown and bubbly looking on top, 20-25 minutes. 

Remove from the oven and slide on to a cutting board. Start layering your sliced Tomatoes across the top. Next add the torn Basil, a drizzle of Olive Oil, Cracked Pepper, a little more Parmesan and some flaky Salt. Slice in to 9 pieces and serve.

Adapted from The Chew.

Mangia!

Creamy Corn-Filled Sweet Peppers

Photo courtesy of Pillsbury.com

I have made these for 2 different occasions and they have disappeared as they are so scrumptious!

Ingredients

1 bag (11 oz) Green Giant™ Steamers™ frozen honey roasted sweet corn

1 package (8 oz) cream cheese, softened

1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 teaspoon Watkins™ Italian Seasoning

11 mini sweet peppers (3 to 4 inches long), cut in half lengthwise leaving stem attached, seeded

1 can Pillsbury™ Crescent Recipe Creations™ refrigerated seamless dough sheet or 1 can Pillsbury™ refrigerated crescent dinner rolls (8 rolls)

3 tablespoons butter, melted

Heat oven to 375°F. Line large cookie sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Microwave corn as directed on bag. Cut open bag; cool 10 minutes.

In large bowl, beat cream cheese with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Add corn, 1/2 cup of the Parmesan cheese and 1/2 teaspoon of the Italian seasoning; mix well. Place cream cheese mixture in large resealable food-storage plastic bag. Cut off 1/2 inch from corner of bag. Squeeze bag to pipe filling into each pepper half.

Unroll dough. (If using crescent roll dough, firmly press perforations to seal.) Press to form 11x9-inch rectangle. With pizza cutter or knife, cut dough into 22 (9x1/2-inch) strips.

Wrap 1 dough strip around each pepper, from stem to tip. Place filling-side up on cookie sheet, tucking in ends of dough under pepper.

Bake 12 to 18 minutes or until golden brown.  Meanwhile, in small bowl, mix melted butter and remaining 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning. Remove peppers from oven; brush with butter mixture. Sprinkle remaining 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese evenly over peppers. Serve warm.

Recipe taken from Pillsbury website.

GF Baked Oatmeal Popables with Fruit & Bittersweet Chocolate

There is a recipe going around on FB called Healthy Cookies.  I took my idea for these very tasty snacks from that.  They taste like sweetened cooked oatmeal, but in convenient snack-size mounds. You're gonna love 'em and so simple to make. If you use a vegan chocolate bar, this recipe becomes vegan as well as GF!

Ingredients:

2 large very ripe bananas, mashed
1/3 cup applesauce (I used unsweetened)
2 cups GF old fashioned oats (like Bob Mill's Organic)
1/4 cup coconut or almond milk, your preference
1/4 cup chopped dried cherries
1/4 cup chopped dried pineapple
1/4 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup dark or bittersweet chocolate (I used Ghiradelli bittersweet. You can substitute a vegan bar)
1 tsp vanilla bean paste (you can substitute vanilla extract)

Preheat oven to 350*.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment.  Mix all ingredients together. Using a medium cookie scoop, place them 1/2" apart.  They do not spread, so 1/2" is plenty.  Bake for 16-20 minutes or until firm.  They really do not brown, so don't be concerned. Baking them makes them hold together.  Let cool and give them a try!

Enjoy!

Super Moist Glazed Lemon Loaf

Ingredients

1 ½ cups flour

1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

3 eggs at room temperature

1 cup sugar

2 tbsp. butter

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2 tsp. lemon extract

1/3 cup lemon juice

1/2 cup oil

Zest of one lemon

Glaze

1 cup powdered sugar

2 tbsp. melted butter
1-2 T milk

1/2 tsp. lemon extract

1/2 tsp. lemon zest

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. While oven is heating, grease and flour a loaf pan.

Mix flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a large mixing bowl. Use a wire whisk to mix together.

Combine eggs, sugar, butter vanilla extract, lemon extract and lemon juice in a mixing bowl. Consider using an electric mixer to make the process easier.

Pour dry ingredients into wet ingredient bowl and combine. For best results add dry ingredients slowly and in increments so the dry ingredients don't spill from the bowl.

Add oil and lemon zest and continue to mix well. 

Pour mixture into the prepared loaf pan.

Bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean.

Make the glaze. Whisk powdered sugar, melted butter, 1 T milk and lemon extract  & lemon zest together in a bowl. Add more milk if necessary for spreading consistency.

Drizzle glaze over war, loaf on a wire rack placed in a cookie sheet.  Allow glaze to set.  Slice and serve!

Variation: Try adding 1/2 c fresh blueberries to the batter before pouring into loaf pan!

Recipe adapted from Wikipedia.

Spicy Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

In this recipe I used small seeds from Sugar Pumpkins.  Larger seeds from regular pumpkins would require longer baking times.  I will put those in parenthesis.

Ingredients

3 c raw pumpkin seeds (from 6 Sugar Pumpkins)
Olive Oil
1 rounded T of Kosher salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp Ancho Chile Powder

After removing flesh from the Sugar Pumpkins, separate the seeds and rinse thoroughly.
Preheat oven to 300*.  Line a cookie sheet with foil.  Spread out the pumpkin seeds in a single layer and bake for 20 (30) minutes; stirring halfway through, to dry them out.  Meanwhile, in a small bowl or ramekin, mix salt, garlic powder and chili powder together.
Increase oven temp to 350*.  When seeds are cool enough to handle, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with spice mixture.  Coat seeds completely using your hands.  Spread out in even layer and return to oven for 16 (24) minutes; stirring halfway through.  Pumpkin seeds should be crunchy.

Variations:
Cinnamon-Sugar: For a sweeter snack, replace olive oil with melted butter and replace the spice mixture with 1/2 T Kosher salt, 1 1/2 T granulated sugar, 1 tsp. cinnamon.
For spicy sweet, add 1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper to the above mixture.
Maple Brown Sugar: Another variation would be to replace the butter with maple syrup and replace the spice mixture with 1/2 tsp Kosher salt, 3 T brown sugar and 1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper (optional).
Experiment.  Really, any combination of your favorite spices would work here.