Food In Many Forms

There is nothing that says Memorial Day more than a good old American  barbecue. But chances are that barbecue will have plenty of chips, dip, and desserts, and very few vegetables. Pasta salad is the answer to this problem, it is a socially acceptable, well-liked side that you can pile on with vegetables and people will just think it's got great color! The trick is to make sure your pasta salad is healthy ;) 12 oz Pasta 1 Yellow Bell pepper, chopped 1/2 cup carrots, shredded 1 cup grape tomatoes, halved 1 medium cucumber, peeled and quartered 1/4 cup Brianna's New American Balsamic Vinaigrette 1 Tbsp Italian seasoning Cook the pasta and rinse it in a collander with cold water. Pour the prepared vegetables and pasta in a large bowl and mix to combine. Add the salad dressing and Italian seasoning and mix well until the pasta is coated with dressing. Allow to "marinate" for at least an hour before serving.

After a late night watching Food Network, I was inspired to try one of Ellie Krieger's Meal Makeovers! Check out this Video, and Get Inspired! First on the list was her "Macaroni and 4 Cheeses" - made with more than a pound of pureed butternut squash and low-fat milk. I stepped it up a notch by using whole wheat pasta, and using half the amount of bread crumb topping.  After reading the reviews, I was concerned that the squash would overpower it, but after trying it, I thought there was a really great balance between subtle squash flavor and cheesy goodness.  I served it with a sprinkle of Old Bay Seasoning for an extra kick, instead of the Cayenne Pepper that Ellie recommends. On the side, I had some fresh asparagus from the University Farmer's Market yesterday. It was absolutely delicious after I brushed it with olive oil, sprinkled on some parmesan cheese and roasted it under the broiler until soft. Ingredients Cooking spray 1 pound whole wheat elbow m...

The last of the Tortilla Pizzas are baking in my oven, and they look spectacular! I think scallions and tomatoes are the perfect toppings for these little gems, and they toasted up very nicely. I am even considering eating one for breakfast tomorrow morning so I don't have to wait til dinnertime to enjoy them!  Of course, I always end up tweaking the recipe a little bit when I'm making it, mostly if I'm missing ingredients. This time, I left out the chopped onion that was meant to be mixed into the refried beans. Since I only used about half of the refried beans in the can, I'm glad I skipped that step.  Also, since the recipe makes so many servings, I'm testing the stability of the pizzas in the freezer and in the fridge. I'm always looking for new delicious leftover foods! Honey What's Cooking? Mexican Tortilla Pizza Number of Servings: 4  Serving Size: 1 pizza Ingredients Non-stick cooking spray 8 small yellow corn tortillas 1/2 can ref...

I'm totally on a Mexican Food Kick these past couple months... Mexican Noodles, Mexican Pizza, Mexican Dip... but hey, I will always take advantage of an opportunity to use taco seasoning and tons of fresh vegetables! So when my work today brought me to the CDC recipe database -  http://apps.nccd.cdc.gov/dnparecipe/recipesearch.aspx  - I obviously chose the tortilla pizza to go in the cookbooks we are sending home with students next week after they visit the University Farmer's Market.  And isn't it only fair that I try out some of these recipes first?   And just to make this a little more interesting, I'm going to have a little nutrition face-off with a fellow blogger's Tortilla Pizza recipe - someone who "watches her weight" and tells us how her recipe is full of protein, fiber, calcium, vitamin A and vitamin C. We will see about that!  Skip below for recipes - I'm warning you, I might ramble a bit! Honey What's Cooking Mexican ...

So, I know I've talked about Ellie Krieger in the past, but I'm not sure I've ever actually made one of her recipes. She is the only Chef on the Food Network that is also a Registered Dietitian, and you know I am in support of that! This past Cinco de Mayo, I finally decided to make one of her recipes - a five-layer Mexican dip. It disappeared in the first twenty minutes of the party, and it was pretty easy to make. The only time-consuming part of the recipe was chopping up the veggies, but it was worth it! And the best part about Ellie's recipes? She does the nutritional analysis for me :) Ingredients 2 teaspoons olive oil 1 medium onion, diced 2 cloves garlic, minced 1 (15.5-ounce) can black beans, preferably low-sodium, drained and rinsed 1 tablespoon minced chipotle pepper in adobo 4 tablespoons lime juice 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin 1 tablespoon water 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 cups corn kernels (10-ounce box frozen corn) 1/4 cup chopped cilantro leaves...

Hungry Girl is a great resource for low-calorie recipes, but as with most things, it's all checking your nutrition labels and making the best choices at the grocery store. I learned that the hard way when I tried to make Hungry Girl's Chicken Flautas . The Hungry Girl (HG) wants fat-free cheeses, corn tortillas and plenty of spices. My little downtown grocery store has none of this.  Let me cut to the chase - this 188 calorie recipe became a 420 calorie recipe out of no where! Mostly, I blame the tortillas, only afterward did I realize that flour tortillas have more calories than corn tortillas. It is still a great recipe even with my inadequate groceries, and it makes me think I want to start an under-500 calories series . It is a bit overdone, but being informed is always a good thing! Ingredients: 1/4 cup salsa 1/4 cup shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese 4 oz. cooked and finely chopped skinless lean chicken breast 3 tbsp. diced onion 1/8 tsp. cayenne ...

What better time to blog about  warm weather  and  picnics  than when it is rainy and cold outside! Last week, when it was warm and sunny, I rounded up some of my girlfriends and we set out for Patterson Park with  Tuna Sandwiches, Pasta Salad, Watermelon Slices and a Bottle of Wine . Sitting under a tree, watching baseball and eating refreshing food makes for an idealistic Sunday afternoon. I can't wait to do it again. I used bowtie pasta and added fresh basil. I just wish I had taken a picture of it, it looked even better than the picture on the website. A lot of pasta salad recipes use salad dressing, but I like that this  dressing  is relatively  natural  and  simple . INGREDIENTS Serving Size 6 servings (1-1/3 cups each) 12 ounces dry rotini pasta, uncooked (12 oz = 4-1/2 cups) 2 tablespoons Canola Oil 2 tablespoons Gulden's® Spicy Brown Mustard 1/2 pint grape tomatoes 1 large cucumber, sliced 1 can (2.25 oz ...

It's my birthday this Saturday, but everyone wins when there are funfetti cupcakes! I've been  baking for the last three hours, and I'm bringing the extra into work tomorrow to celebrate my last day of trauma. Staff relief here I come! There are so many reasons to celebrate! Fluffy Vanilla Cupcakes Yield: 42 large cupcakes Ingredients: 10 large egg whites at room temperature 1 1/2 cup 1% milk, at room temperature 4 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract 5 1/2 cups cake flour, sifted 3 1/2 cups sugar 2 tablespoon + 2 teaspoon baking powder 1 1/2 teaspoon salt 24 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature and cut into cubes 1 cup rainbow sprinkles Method 1. Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Grease cupcake pans or line with cupcake liners. 2. In a medium bowl or measuring cup, combine and stir the egg whites, 1/2 cup of milk, and the vanilla. Set aside. 3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the dry ingredients ...

When St. Patrick's Day comes along, I feel obligated to produce baked goods involving either green food, green food dye, or beer . This year, pinterest led me to this lovely recipe: http://squarebakery.blogspot.com/2009/03/this-ones-dedicated-to-shamrock-shake.html Green Food Dye it is!  A lot of reviewers complained of the intense minty flavor , and at first I wondered what they were talking about. Then I realized, I used peppermint extract, instead of peppermint oil.  The substitution is:  1/4 teaspoon oil = 1 teaspoon extract So basically, I only used a quarter of the amount of peppermint called for in the recipe. I'm sure I would have complained too, if I used that much peppermint! I used 3 teaspoons of peppermint extract , and I was happy with the results, but I'll post the original recipe below: Mint Meltaway Cookie Recipe  Makes 24 cookies You will need: 1 cup unsalted organic butter 1/2 cup sifted powdered sugar 2 teaspo...

Don't let it's looks deceive you, this Turkey Noodle Casserole is pure delicious-ness. The peppers gave it a nice little kick without being overwhelming. Now if you like a little heat, you could probably use two or three chipotle peppers with no problem, but I liked it with just one. Doing the recipe analysis for this recipe, I was shocked how many calories 1 cup of cheese can have (about 400 calories for the brand I chose)! It's easy to forget at the grocery store that the cheese is all made with whole milk, unless it says otherwise. I feel especially silly for buying whole milk cheese, since I know 2% tastes exactly the same . Just making that simple switch could save you around 120 calories in this recipe and 12 g of fat ! Turkey Noodle Casserole (Serves 6) Ingredients 1/4 cup canola oil, plus more for preparing the pan 10 ounces rigatoni or other shaped pasta 1 medium onion, diced 3 large garlic cloves, minced 1 teaspoon taco seasoning 1 teaspoon drie...

For my first single Valentine's Day in a couple years, I felt I owed it to myself to keep up the tradition, and cook myself a nice meal. My roommate was also home last Tuesday, so we teamed up and made a meal that we could be proud of. This salmon recipe from Giada De Laurentiis was perfect for our purposes. By the time we got home from work, we didn't have much patience to wait around for a nice meal. Really, this is a perfect every day meal, but we felt like we were eating gourmet food just the same. I made it even easier for myself, and instead of mixing all of those vegetables, I just steamed up some snow peas, and covered them with glaze too. Couscous was an easy addition as well. After dinner, we made cupcakes :) Giada's Balsamic-Glazed Salmon Ingredients Glaze: 3/4 cup balsamic vinegar 2 tablespoons maple syrup 1 clove garlic, peeled and smashed or chopped 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard (optional) Salmon: Four 6-ounce center-cut salmon fillets, skinn...

This past week was Restaurant Week in Baltimore , so my roommate and I made reservations for dinner Friday and Today at an Italian restaurant and a steak house. At the steak house, we both got the prime rib dinner with salads, sides and dessert for a great price , but found ourselves with more food than we knew what to do with.  Well, I think this steak house had the right idea. When they came back with my leftovers all packaged up they also attached a card with this website that had recipes using leftover steak . I think this would be a great trend for restaurants to start! Less overeating and less waste? That's what I'm talking about!

Persian Ghotab, Almond-Filled Cakes I always love to try new foods, and these cakes/pastries/cookies were certainly fun to make. My old college roommate is Persian, and she loves to make Ghotab with her mom for parties and family get-togethers . It's wonderful how food can remind you of so many traditions and memories. Although, she admitted to me that this recipe from the internet, is better than her mom's. I plan to reproduce this recipe in my own kitchen some day. But until then, I have no way of knowing exactly how much of any ingredient we added (The dough was too moist so we added more flour then the recipe called for). This makes it pretty much impossible for me to do a nutritional analysis . So, for the time being, I can live in ignorance, and actually enjoy this indulgent, fried dessert! Ingredients:  2 egg yolks ½ cup butter ½ cup yogurt 1½ cups flour 2 cups vegetable oil 1 cup confectioners sugar 1 tsp baking powder Pinch of salt Filling: ½...

I just finished prepping to make my favorite Jambalaya recipe  tomorrow, and I thought this would be a great opportunity to update the recipe with nutrition information.  Of course, as soon as I look at the nutrition breakdown, I realize the sausage is full of saturated fat and sodium. So I may consider switching out the sausage for shrimp. Replacing one sausage link with 3 oz of shrimp saves 76 calories, 10 g fat, 3.5 g sat fat and 810 mg sodium per serving!  Cajun Rice a la Ocean City Ingredients: 1/2 onion, finely diced 1 can dark red kidney beans 3 stalks celery, finely chopped 1 red bell pepper, finely chopped 4 pack of precooked Cajun Andouille sausage, sliced Bouillon cube (Recommended: Edward & Sons Not Chick'n)  Worcestershire sauce 1 1/2 cups white rice Salt & Pepper Directions: 1. Boil 3 1/3 cups of water, drop in 1 bouillon cube and allow to melt, pour in rice 2. Sauté onion, celery, and bell peppe...

As a future dietitian, I should know better. I know which fats are the "healthy" kind and which ones to avoid.  But I love my sausage, be it at breakfast or dinner, be it in patty form or bulk, be it Italian or Andouille. In this case the good outweighs the bad . And I can prove it. (If you trust me already, skip to the bottom for a delicious recipe; if you want my evidence, read on.) I just learned about this great new tool called the Super Tracker . It is part of the government's MyPlate campaign , and it tracks just about anything you could want. In this case, I wanted to know how many servings of vegetables  I am getting. The Super Tracker tells me that one half a squash has 1 cup of vegetables (40% of my Daily Value) , and 1 1/2 oz protein (27% of my Daily Value). (The other 1/2 oz sausage per serving contributes to my discretionary calories due to the fat content.) In my opinion, for the average healthy person can handle a little fat from a natural, mini...

I finally brought some of my cook books from home when I came back from winter break, and the Pioneer Woman Cooks was first on my list. Just out of sheer luck, one of my friends mentioned he loved pineapple upside down cake, so when I found this recipe, I had to make it for him.  Unlike Ree Drummond, I don't happen to own a cast iron skillet, so I had to adapt a little and transfer my caramelized pineapple into a cake pan, and drizzle the buttery brown sugar on top. On the plus side, I didn't have to pour the entire half-stick of butter in. The cake portion was super moist and the pineapple looked great (even though they stuck to the bottom of the pan at first).  Ingredients: 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 3 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 2 cups granulated sugar 1 1/2 stick  (3/4 cup) butter 1 1/2 cups milk 2 large eggs 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract One 20 oz can sliced pineapple, 2 Tablespoons juice reserved 1 1/2 cups ...