caprese salad

Fresh ingredients really make a difference in certain dishes and Caprese salad is one of them. Caprese is typically an Italian antipasto or side dish and is so simple to make, which I love!

There are only a few ingredients, so the freshness and quality of everything is super important.

I chose to use heirloom tomatoes from Trader Joe's and fresh balls of mozzarella cheese. I also used fresh basil that I had left over from making pesto.

I love having Caprese as an appetizer because it’s really tasty, quick and doesn’t fill you up before dinner – it’s perfect!

 

Caprese Salad

Ripe tomatoes, sliced

Fresh mozzarella, sliced

Fresh basil, chopped

Extra virgin olive oil

Kosher salt

Freshly ground pepper

Alternately place tomatoes and mozzarella slices on a plate. Sprinkle with fresh basil and salt and pepper to taste. Drizzle olive oil over the top. Enjoy!

time for tiramisu

My favorite meal of the day is dessert. So when I make a special occasion dinner or just want a dinner that’s a step up from our week night meals, I love to include a dessert.

For my Italian themed dinner over the weekend, I carried the theme onto dessert by making tiramisu. And it wasn’t just any recipe – it was a recipe I got from the cooking class I took during my semester abroad in Italy, so it’s authentic!

I halved the recipe since it was just Alex and I, but it still turned out great! My favorite part is the mascarpone mixture, which is rich and a little sweet. I love tiramisu – cocoa, mascarpone cheese and espresso all goes so well together in this dessert!

There are tons of variations of tiramisu and this is one of my favorites.

Tiramisu

3 egg yolks

1 egg white

3 tablespoons sugar

400 grams mascarpone cheese

1 teaspoon rum

Lady fingers

Espresso coffee

Cocoa powder

Beat the egg yolks with the sugar until foamy. Add the mascarpone spoonful by spoonful, blending in slowly with a whisk. Gently add the egg white whipped to snowy peaks. Add the rum.

Dip the lady fingers into the espresso quickly – be sure they do not become soggy. Lay them next to teach other in a pan (or trifle bowl). Add a layer of the mascarpone mixture. Sprinkle with unsweetened cocoa powder. Continue making layers until you finish with the cocoa on top.

Keep in the refrigerator for at least 6 hours before serving.

an Italian feast

For Christmas, I got a pasta maker – the kind you might find in an Italian grandma’s kitchen with the crank handle – and I have been waiting for the perfect opportunity to test it out since then. So over the weekend, Alex and I made a three-course Italian dinner. On the menu was a light Caprese salad, homemade mushroom-filled ravioli with fresh pesto, tiramisu and of course vino.
It was delicious.
I was pretty impressed with our raviolis. Initially I was a little nervous because I had never made fresh pasta or raviolis, but these turned out perfect. They were full of their imperfections – some large and some small, some square and some rectangle – so they may not have looked like what a seasoned chef would have served, but they tasted delicious!
I’m going to be putting up a few posts from our authentic Italian dinner, but I wanted to start with our second course – Mushroom Ravioli with Pesto.

Once the ravioli is cooked, top with pesto and sprinkle with fresh Parmesan cheese and dinner is ready!

Fresh Pasta
This is Giada de Laurentiis’ recipe from her “Everyday Pasta” cookbook and it was so simple. This makes 1 ½ pounds of pasta, so after Alex rolled out the sheets for ravioli, he also had some left over for fettuccini. I have to admit that Alex did most of the rolling and it took a few tries through to get it the right thickness and size. We used the thinnest setting on the pasta maker.

Ingredients:
3 cups all-purpose flour
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
Place the flour in a food processor bowl. In a small bowl, lightly beat eggs. Add the salt and olive oil to the eggs and stir to combine. Add the egg mixture to the food processor with the flour and pulse to combine ingredients, scraping down the sides once or twice. Continue, with the machine running until the liquid is evenly distributed, about 1 minute. The dough should stick together if pinched between your fingers and be cornmeal yellow in color. Some of the dough will be clumping together, but will not form a ball.
Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface. Gather the dough into a ball and knead gently until the dough is smooth. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 30 minutes before rolling and shaping as desired.

Ravioli Filling
I love mushrooms, so I decided to include mushrooms in the filling. Alex also doesn’t feel like any meal is complete without meat, so I added pancetta, which is Italian bacon. Those two ingredients, combined with spinach and ricotta cheese made a really hearty filling.
Ingredients:
1 – 15 ounce container whole-milk ricotta cheese
1 – 10 ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and excess water squeezed out
6 ounces chopped pancetta
6 ounces mushrooms, chopped
2 large egg yolks
¾ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
In a skillet, cook pancetta until cooked through. Move cooked pancetta to a paper towel-lined plate to soak up extra fat. In the same skillet, cook mushrooms until tender, about 7-10 minutes.
In a large bowl, mix ricotta, spinach, pancetta, mushrooms, egg yolks, salt and pepper to blend.
Cut fresh pasta into desired size of ravioli.
Place about ½ to 1 tablespoon filling in the center of a pasta square. Brush the edges of another pasta square lightly with water and top over the square with filling. Pinch the edges to seal. Repeat with remaining pasta and filling.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Working in batches, cook the ravioli until just tender, stirring occasionally, about 3-4 minutes. Transfer ravioli to a large, shallow bowl.

Pesto
This is my absolute favorite recipe for pesto. It can also be made in large batches and frozen. This is also from Giada de Laurentiis.
Ingredients:
2 packed cups fresh basil leaves
¼ cup toasted pine nuts
1 clove garlic
½ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
½ cup extra virgin olive oil
½ cut grated Parmesan cheese
In a food processor or blender, pulse the basil, pine nuts, garlic, salt and pepper until finely chopped. With the machine running, gradually add the oil until the mixture is smooth and thick. Add the cheese and pulse until just incorporated.

chicken for dinner - spicy chicken sandwiches with cilantro-lime mayo

Sometimes the thought of eating another chicken breast it so unappetizing. The majority of meat Alex and I eat is chicken so it's easy to get in a chicken rut. But about a month ago I found this recipe for Spicy Chicken Sandwiches with Cilantro-Lime Mayo and I could seriously eat these every day. I already posted the recipe in my healthy, cheap, tasty, quick post, but wanted to share again just how good these are.

They are surprisingly filling and simple to make. And most of the ingredients I almost always have on hand. With the dressed-up mayo, it tastes like something you would order in a restaurant.
It's quickly become one of our favorites!

CPK copycat - Thai chicken pizza

Cleaning out my recipes, I came across one from California Pizza Kitchen for their Thai Chicken Pizza. This is one of my favorite things to order at the restaurant, so I decided to test out their recipe to see if I could duplicate their pizza.
It turned out great - the sauce was just as peanut buttery as I remember, with a little spicy kick and tons of toppings. The only downside? It's definitely a weekend dinner and I decided to make it for dinner during the week. It's definitely not a quick dinner option, but it tasted pretty close to CPK's.
I didn't realize how time consuming everything would be, so I made a few shortcuts.
First, the recipe calls for homemade pizza dough. Since I'm a big fan of Trader Joe's, I opted to use their pre-made original dough. The recipe also calls for refrigerating the cooked chicken until it's chilled through, adding the sauce and then refrigerating it once more. By skipping that step, I not only saved time, but I don't think it affected the taste at all.
Alex and I both love the peanut butter flavor in this and I also like that it's full of veggies, so I feel like it's somewhat healthy!

CPK's Thai Chicken Pizza
Spicy Peanut Sauce
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon honey
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons minced ginger
2 tablespoons roasted sesame oil
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1 teaspoon dried chili flakes
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
2 tablespoons water
Other ingredients:
Pizza dough
Cooked chicken, cubed (enough to top pizza - about 10 ounces)
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
4 scallions
1/2 cup white bean sprouts
1/4 cup shredded carrot
2 tablespoons roasted peanuts, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped
Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Combine sauce ingredients in a small pan over medium heat. Bring to a boil gently for one minute.Use 1/4 cup of sauce to coat cubed chicken pieces.
Flour surface to roll pizza dough. Spread remaining spicy peanut sauce over the dough. Cover the sauce with 3/4 cup mozzarella. Top with chicken, green onions, bean sprouts and carrots. Sprinkle remaining mozzarella over the top of the pizza followed by chopped peanuts.
Transfer pizza to oven and bake for about 9 to 10 minutes, or until the crust is crisp and cheese is bubbly.
Remove pizza from oven and sprinkle with fresh cilantro. Slice, serve and eat!

dinner disaster

As embarrassing as it is to admit, I can think of two times in my life when I've cooked up a dinner that was awful. So awful they have been almost inedible. Last week, I had one of those nights.
The first time was a couple years ago when I was trying to stretch our food as far as possible before making a trip to the market. It sounds like a good way to save money, but it was probably mostly out of laziness. The pantry and fridge were nearly empty, but we did have spaghetti pasta, ricotta cheese, lemon and a few other things. Trying to be adventurous and forgo a recipe, I put together a dinner that will always be remembered in our household. I cooked up some pasta, mixed it with a little ricotta cheese, lemon juice and zest, salt and pepper and garlic and some type of vegetable we had, I think it was zucchini. Sounded like a good use of ingredients at the time. But I don't know if it was the ricotta cheese or lack of salt, but it was flavorless, bland and boring.
It's pretty hard to find a dish that Alex won't eat and this one was the first. The second happened to be this week during another night when I should have headed to the market instead of searched through the fridge and freezer for inspiration.
Alex found some cheese raviolis in the freezer and the first clue that this wouldn't be a great meal is that I couldn't remember when I had bought them. But I had half an hour to eat before heading back to work, so we took our chances. We had some frozen shrimp so we sauteed those up with butter, garlic and a little cream. We mixed them up with the cooked raviolis but again were left with a disappointing dinner. Some of the raviolis were soggy while others were chewy. The shrimp needed lacked flavor. And the sauce was bland. It was definitely another dinner disaster.
Even though I love to cook, these two times are just reminders that there's so much more to learn in the kitchen. I think that sometimes the kitchen screw ups are the most memorable, especially if you can laugh about it and order a pizza instead. I can follow a recipe and cook up a delicious dinner by tweaking it a little, but I'm still trying to master the art of building my own recipes. I can only hope that will improve with time!

cookbook favorites

Two large shelves in my pantry are devoted to cookbooks. I have books on cooking Italian, breakfast, cupcakes, healthy recipes, cooking basics, crock pot dishes and am constantly on the lookout for new cookbooks.
But a few of them are my go-to favorites that I use constantly.

When I’m looking for something guaranteed to be delicious and am not too concerned with the calorie count or healthiness of a dish, I head straight for my library of Giada de Laurentiis cookbooks. She specializes in Italian cooking and everything I’ve tried from her books turns out so good, from her pasta with meatballs to her chocolate-chocolate chip cookies. Most of the time I see her making a recipe on her “Giada at Home” show on the Food Network and test it out in my own kitchen, but I also like to flip through her books to find something I’ve never tasted before.
My favorite cookbook for the majority of my weeknight meals is All-new Complete Cooking Light Cookbook. I’m a subscriber to the magazine and constantly clip out new recipes I want to try, but the cookbook is filled with some of my favorite and healthy dinners. The best part about cooking from this cookbook is that the recipes include the amount of calories, fat, protein, carbs and sodium. Many times the recipes are knock-offs on well-known dishes but with a fraction of the calories and fat.
For cooking basics, I turn to Betty Crocker, where I find a lot of cooking techniques and classic dishes. When I can't remember how to hard boil an egg, I turn to my trusted Betty Crocker cookbook. If I need to find an immediate substitute for an ingredient I don't have, I can count on Betty Crocker. Not only that, but the cookbook is filled with some simple and tasty recipes.
When my sweet tooth kicks in, I love flipping through Better Homes and Gardens new baking book. With more than 600 recipes, it includes chapters devoted specifically to cheesecakes or cookies and others on quick breads or yeast breads. This one is also full of photos, which I love.
My last and most frequently used cookbook is a homemade binder full of all sorts of recipes. Most are recipes I've pulled from online or magazines, but others have become some of my favorite recipes or family recipes that I loved as a kid. When I'm making my market list and menu planning, I always make sure to take a look inside my recipe binder because I know I'm sure to find an old-time favorite or a fun new dish to try.

craving cupcakes

At Icing on the Cupcake, a sugar rush is welcome. In fact, they encourage it.
The boutique cupcakery opened up in Rocklin, Calif. in 2007 and has since grown from one small corner shop to now three locations - one in Midtown Sacramento and another in Folsom, Calif. Rumor has it another local location is also in the works.
Lucky for me and my sweet tooth, Icing on the Cupcake is located next door to where I work.
It’s all about the details at this local dessert shop, from the decorative cake toppers to the stickers that dress up the otherwise plain brown packaging. When I picked up the latest flavor, the sticker read: “Hey there, cupcake!” I love the personality this small dessert shop has.

The cupcake menu is full of yummy flavors. Daily flavors include two of my favorites – their chocolate cake topped with a pink vanilla buttercream frosting called Pinkdelicious and Chocolate Mint, a chocolate cake frosted with peppermint buttercream. Some of their other flavors include PB & J, Carrot Cake, Blueberry Cheesecake, Maple Bacon and Cookies ‘n Cream.
A new flavor is also introduced each month, this month, in celebration of St. Patrick’s Day, they’ve baked up an Irish Cream cupcake - an Irish cream-infused cake topped with Irish cream buttercream frosting and specks of shamrock sprinkles. This one was hard to resist. The cake was moist and sweet and almost had maple syrup flavor.

Since I work next door, I can constantly smell them baking up a storm and it’s so tempting to stop in for an after work pick-me-up. I like to get two flavors and cut them into bite size pieces so that Alex and I can share the two mini cakes. So when I picked up the Irish cream cake, I had to pick up one of their customer favorites – Red Velvet. I love the cream cheese frosting that tops this red cake – it’s very sweet but so good!

Icing on the Cupcake
http://www.icingonthecupcake.com/

rainy day banana bread

Besides eating, the next best thing about baking for me is the sweet smell that takes over the whole house. Especially on a cold, rainy day, I love to take some time to bake something sweet and comforting.
So when I had a few bananas that got a little riper than I like, it was the perfect timing to make banana bread. My favorite way to eat home-baked banana bread is warmed up and topped with butter – I love the sweet flavor of the bananas, the crunch from the bread top and the saltiness of the butter – it’s just so good.
I tried a new recipe that sounded delicious – in addition to the banana, the recipe also called for cinnamon and nutmeg as well as lemon zest. The bread turned out sweet, moist and had a crunchy top, which I love. In my opinion, the best way to eat a slice of banana bread is to start at the bottom, working your way up, saving the best bite for last- the top. You get the moistness from the bread but also the crunch from the top crust - it's just so good!

Banana Bread
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 eggs, beaten
1 ½ cups mashed bananas (about 5 bananas)
1 cup sugar
½ cup cooking oil
Lemon zest
Grease a loaf pan. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Combine flour, baking powder, soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix well and set aside.
Combine eggs, banana, sugar, oil and lemon peel all at once to dry mixture. Stir just until moist.
Spoon batter into loaf pan and bake for 55 to 65 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Top with foil for the last few minutes to avoid over browning the top. Let cool on a wire rack.
(recipe from Better Homes and Gardens new baking book)

one fish, two fish

On days when I work eight hours and have about an hour to make and eat dinner before heading back to work, the last thing I want is a labor-intensive dinner. That’s when fish dishes are so appealing. Not only do studies find fish to be a beneficial protein to incorporate into your diet, it’s also so easy to cook. And quick too.
According to an americanheart.org article, eating a fish dish twice a week can benefit people who are at risk for cardiovascular disease, among other benefits. So when I find a dinner that’s quick and healthy, the next test is if it tastes good. One favorite fish dish I’ve cooked up many times is a tweak to a Cooking Light recipe called Oven-Roasted Sea Bass with Couscous and Warm Tomato Vinaigrette.
I’ve changed this recipe around a little and have tried other fish in addition to sea bass. Halibut and mahi mahi work well too. The fish is cooked in the oven simply sprinkled with salt and pepper and slices of lemon or lime. While the fish cooks, cook up the tomato vinaigrette and couscous and you’ll have dinner on the table in 20 minutes.
This recipe is a Cooking Light all-time favorite, and it’s no surprise as to why.

Oven-Roasted Sea Bass with Couscous and Warm Tomato Vinaigrette
1 green onion
olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup chopped tomato
3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon sherry vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1 ¼ cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
2/3 cup couscous (wheat works well too)
4 (6-ounce) sea bass or halibut filets
ground pepper
lemon slices
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cut green onion and chop tomatoes. In a large skillet heat oil, enough to coat pan, over medium-high heat. Add garlic and sauté for about 30 seconds. Add tomato and onion, reduce heat to medium and cook for about 1 minute. Stir in 2 tablespoons lemon juice, vinegar and ½ teaspoon salt. Simmer and cook for a few minutes. Remove from heat and keep warm.
Sprinkle fish with salt and pepper. Place fish in a baking dish sprayed with cooking spray. Place lemon slices on filets (I use the rinds from squeezing the lemon juice, as well as fresh slices). Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes until fish flakes easily with a fork.
While the fish bakes, combine 1 tablespoon lemon juice, ¼ teaspoon salt and broth in saucepan, bring to a boil. Gradually stir in couscous. Remove from heat, cover and let stand 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork.
Serve fish over couscous, top with vinaigrette and enjoy!

a sunday morning breakfast - old soul co.

I first heard about this place in 2007 when I was interning at Sactown magazine for a summer. I’m not sure why it took me four years to finally make it into Old Soul Co. bakery and coffee house; I definitely should have made the stop in sooner.
When I first read the Sactown magazine article a few years back, what intrigued me was the story behind the hidden eatery. Located in a tucked-away alley in the heart of Midtown Sacramento, Old Soul Co. first started as a wholesale business selling fresh coffee and bread using local ingredients. But the aroma of sweet, just-out-of-the-oven pastries and freshly roasted coffee got the attention of locals passing by. Soon the shop opened for patrons to stop in for coffee and whatever pastries they happened to be making that day. With no cash register, it was all based on the honor system.

Things are a little different today, but not much. Although they have adapted to using a cash register, large burlap bags full of coffee beans, flour and sugar are piled on the floor. The brick walls are lined with the work of local artists and only a few couches and tables fill the warehouse shop for customers.
Alex and I came in on a rainy Sunday morning. The menu is small, but they recently added a weekend brunch menu with three simple options – French toast, an egg scramble or potatoes. We both opted for their Breakfast Sando – a breakfast sandwich a la carte. In between the English muffin were eggs scrambled and cooked to make a peppery crust, ham, an avocado spread, cheese and tomatoes. To wash down the tasty breakfast sandwiches, I ordered their hot chocolate, sprinkled with cocoa. It was a perfect breakfast for a cold and rainy Sunday morning.

Before leaving, we also picked up a chocolate cream cheese muffin. Since they’re known for their baked goods, it was hard to pass up. The cake-like muffin was perfect for an afternoon snack.

Old Soul Co. now has two other locations in addition to Midtown, both also in Sacramento. The Midtown location is the original, located in a brick-walled warehouse building.

Old Soul Co.
http://www.oldsoulco.com/

trader joe’s top 10

I am big fan of Trader Joe’s. Almost every time I make a trip there, I end up coming home with something not on my list.
Their prices are great, food is good and there are so many specialty items you can’t find in many other stores.
As a tribute to one of my favorite stores, I’ve come up with my top 10 favorite Trader Joe’s products, at least for right now. In no particular order:

1. Milk Chocolate Mini Pretzels: I crave these. I love the salty and sweet; the melt-in-your-mouth from the chocolate and the crunch from the pretzel – it’s perfect. If you haven’t tried them yet and are a fan of the salty/sweet combo, watch out – you might become addicted like me.

2. Garlic Chipotle Salsa: I like that this salsa is not too spicy, but has a tiny kick. I also like the tomato chunks and taste of the chipotle. It’s great not only with tortilla chips, but topped on tacos and quesadillas. A spoonful also mixes well with cooked brown rice to give the rice a little more flavor.

3. Fresh flowers: The seasonal tulips and peonies are two of my favorite flowers, so when Trader Joe’s sells these, I almost always come home with a bundle. The cost is great and they usually have a large selection of colors too.

4. Mandarin Orange Chicken: If I’m really feeling lazy and lacking inspiration in the kitchen, this is the first dish that comes to mind. Served with TJ’s vegetable fried rice (I add two scrambled eggs to doctor up the rice), this is a great at-home dinner that tastes like you made a visit to the local Chinese restaurant.

5. Cilantro Salad Dressing: This dressing is so good with a simple salad. I love it with romaine lettuce, black beans, corn, tomatoes and chicken. The one thing I’m not crazy about is the long-lasting taste it leaves in my mouth.

6. Organic Vodka Sauce: I just recently tried this pasta sauce and really loved it. It’s also great for a quick meal – cook up the pasta, heat the sauce and sprinkle with cheese and dinner is on the table in 20 minutes.

7. Apple Blossoms: My dad introduced these to me and I’m glad he did. They’re a great mini dessert, topped with vanilla bean ice cream. I even have a method to eating these, saving the perfect bite of apple and crumble for last.

8. Carne Asada: Alex loves fajitas. He could eat them every day if he had his way. I have yet to find a great fajita marinade, so when he brought home TJ’s carne asada for fajitas one night, it was worth a try. It was amazing – so moist, so flavorful and so tender. Served with grilled up bell peppers and onions and wrapped into a warm flour tortilla, topped with guacamole, sour cream and salsa, it’s one of our favorite Trader Joe’s meals.

9. Trader Joe’s beer and wine: Large selection and small prices make TJ’s my favorite spot to pick up beer or wine. Two-buck Chuck has become our recent favorite, as well as Trader Joe’s light beer.

10. Basil: Their large container of fresh basil is perfect for making a fresh batch of pesto. It’s also a good fresh addition to pasta sauce, homemade pizza, scrambled eggs, salad and so many other dishes.

healthy, cheap, tasty, quick

The majority of the meals I make during the week, I want them to be healthy, cheap, tasty and quick. Even though I enjoy cooking, sometimes the only thing I want to do when I get home from a long day at work is to relax and have dinner ready when I get home. When that’s not an option, I have a few go-to recipes that I love to make when the thought of cooking is less than appetizing.
Within the last few years, I’ve really tried to focus my meals around eating healthy – adding more fruits and vegetables, watching portions and incorporating more fish and seafood into my dinners. But sometimes, healthy doesn’t always equate to inexpensive and visa versa. It can also be tough to find dishes that are healthy and full of flavor, as well as dishes that are quick and healthy. So, when I find a dinner that’s healthy, cheap, tasty and quick, it’s definitely a keeper.
Here are five of my favorite dinners that fit those four wants:

Chipotle Shrimp Tacos
I love chipotle – the smokiness and spiciness is so good, especially in this shrimp taco recipe. The salsa verde also is something I don’t usually use, but in these tacos it’s the perfect topping. Shrimp is such a quick ingredient to cook, which makes getting this meal on the table super quick.
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon sugar
½ teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon ground chipotle chili powder
1 ½ pounds peeled and deveined shrimp
olive oil 
white corn tortillas (6-inch)
shredded iceberg lettuce
1 ripe avocado, cut into slices
salsa verde
Combine the first five ingredients in a bowl, add the shrimp and toss to coat.
Heat a small amount of olive oil in a pan over medium-high heat. Add shrimp mixture to pan, cook until shrimp are cooked through. Remove from heat.
To serve, dish shrimp into corn tortillas, top with lettuce, avocado slices and salsa verde.
(recipe from Cooking Light)

Grilled Chicken with Avocado-Corn Salsa
What I love about this dish is all the different flavors coming together – the sweet corn, creamy avocado, fresh lime and cilantro. The one thing that takes a small amount of planning is marinating the chicken in the refrigerator for 20 minutes.
3 ½ tablespoons fresh lime juice (about 3 limes)
4 tablespoons chopped cilantro
½ teaspoon salt
pepper to taste
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
2 ears fresh corn (can also use canned corn, but fresh is much sweeter and tastier)
1 ripe avocado, diced
Combine 2 tablespoons of the lime juice, 2 tablespoons of the cilantro, ¼ teaspoon of the salt and dash of pepper in a large zip-lock bag. Add the chicken and seal. Refrigerate for 20 minutes.
To prepare the salsa, combine the corn and water in microwave-safe dish. Cover and microwave on high for about 3 minutes, until tender-crisp. When cool enough to handle, cut the corn kernels from the cobs. Combine the corn kernels and avocado with remaining ½ tablespoons lime juice, 2 tablespoons cilantro, ¼ teaspoon salt and dash of pepper, in a bowl.
Coat grill with nonstick spray. Grill the chicken until cooked through. Serve with the salsa.
(recipe from Weight Watchers cookbook)

Spicy Chicken Sandwiches with Cilantro-Lime Mayo
The spiciness of the chicken tastes really great with the mayo mixture. This is a new recipe Alex and I have already tried a few times and love each time. It’s pretty filling and very tasty. What takes a little prep is marinating the chicken but is easy to do in the morning before work.

(Photo from cookinglight.com)

Mayo:
¼ cup mayo
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon fresh lime or lemon juice
1 garlic clove, minced
Chicken:
1 egg
3 tablespoons hot sauce (we have used both Tabasco and Tapatilo)
1 teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon salt
2 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
tortilla chips
Remaining ingredients:
4 sandwich rolls, split
lettuce leaves
tomato slices
To prepare the mayo, combine the first four ingredients.
To prepare the chicken, combine the egg, hot sauce, oregano and salt in large zip-lock plastic bag. Cut chicken breasts in half horizontally form cutlets. Add chicken to the bag, seal and marinate in the refrigerator for 2 hours or up to 8 hours.
Ground tortilla chips by placing in a food processor or by putting chips into a large zip-lock bag and gently grounding with hands or rolling pin. Ground enough chips to coat chicken.
To prepare the chicken, remove one cutlet from the marinade, coat chicken completely with chips. Set aside and repeat process with remaining chicken and chips.
Heat a large, non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add olive oil to pan to coat. Add chicken to pan, cook about 3 minutes each side or until browned and cooked through.
Spread mayo on each of the rolls. Top with chicken, lettuce and tomato.
(recipe adapted from Cooking Light)

Penne with Mushrooms, Italian Sausage and Broccoli
Pasta is such a quick meal and adding sausage and veggies make it not only quick but also hearty and healthy. What I also like about this dish is you can add more or less of the ingredients as you like. We typically add a little more sausage to the dish.
¼ pound Italian style sausage, casings removed
about 10 ounces white mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
4 cups broccoli florets
4 cups cooked, drained penne (about 10 ounces dried)
¾ cup reduced sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
crushed red pepper to taste
grated Parmesan cheese
Crumble sausage into a large nonstick skillet and cook until golden brown. Remove the sausage and let drain on a paper towel-lined plate. Discard any fat left in the skillet. Add the mushrooms and broccoli and cook until mushrooms are golden and broccoli is still slightly crisp to bite.
Add the garlic and cook, stirring until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the sausage, penne, broth, lemon juice and crushed red pepper. Cook until heated through. Serve topped with Parmesan cheese.
(Adapted from Weight Watchers)

Chipotle Chicken Taco Salad
When I think of a salad, I don’t immediately think of a salad with a spice or kick. But this salad has it. The spiciness of the chipotle is calmed down with the sour cream, but can be heated up as much as you like.
Dressing:
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
2/3 cup light sour cream
1 tablespoon minced chipotle chili, canned in adobo sauce; or ¼ teaspoon ground chipotle chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
4 teaspoons fresh lime juice
¼ teaspoon salt
Salad:
4 cups shredded romaine lettuce
2 cups chopped roasted skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
½ cup diced peeled avocado
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (15-ounce) can no-salt added whole corn kernels, rinsed and drained
To prepare the dressing, combine first seven ingredients, stirring well.
To prepare the salad, combine lettuce and remaining ingredients into large bowl. Top with dressing and toss gently to coat.
(recipe adapted from Cooking Light)

Enjoy!

grazie giada

One of the tests of a good dish is if you can enjoy the leftovers, night after night, without getting sick of it. Giada de Laurentiis’ Nonna Luna’s Rice passed that test.

(Photo from foodnetwork.com)

Ever since I saw Giada make this dish on her “Giada at Home” cooking show, it was one I was dying to try. What held me back was that I wasn’t sure Alex would like it.
I was wrong.
So wrong.
In fact, he said it was one of the best dishes I’ve ever made. Thank you, Giada!
The dish is pretty simple, with only a few ingredients, but those ingredients mesh so well together. In every bite, you get tons of flavors – lemon, shrimp, zippiness from the hot sauce, a slight al dente from the rice and rich creaminess from the sauce.
It’s not the healthiest dish, but it’s definitely a great meal for special occasions or every once in a while. If you’re looking for a new dish to add to your dinner repertoire, this one is definitely worth a try.

that's amore

When I think of Italy, I think of freshly-made pastas mixed with creamy sauces, crispy pizzas, delicious desserts, sweet wines and fresh herbs like basil.
Even though I always loved cooking, especially baking, as a kid with my mom and sister, I think my love of great food and cooking grew during and after my semester abroad in Italy. I was lucky enough to spend six months traveling throughout Europe, tasting local cuisine and getting a glimpse into other cultures.
It was in Italy that I was first introduced so many dishes that are now hard to forget:
The margarita pizza simply topped with tomatoes, buffalo mozzarella and basil that I devoured during a spring break trip to Naples;
The creamy and chocolaty profiteroles from a restaurant just blocks away from the university where I studied;
The rich, espresso-drenched tiramisu in Venice;
The fresh-from-the-sea pasta dish cooked with mussels and clams that I indulged in while dining on a cliff in Cinque Terre, overlooking the Mediterranean sea;
The cold and creamy gelato found as frequent as Starbucks in the states;
And the sweet and sparkling Moscato d’Asti white wine that became a favorite of mine.
Not only did I come back to California with thousands of photos and an extra 15 pounds, I also brought with me so many great memories – many of them revolving around the Italians’ knack for good food.
Picturesque Italy is the perfect backdrop for devouring delicious dishes.

Some of my favorite photos of Italy


Florence, Italy





Venice, Italy





Rome, Italy


Capri, Italy


Lucca, Italy


Cinque Terre, Italy

blog revamp: cooking experiment

I’ve decide to step into my kitchen for a cooking experiment. In an effort to revitalize my blog, I’ve decided to take on a project. Each month, I plan to make a multi-course meal that will center around a theme – an ingredient (think Iron Chef without the “secret” ingredient), a city or country, a season, a type of food and so on.
This, I thought, would be the perfect excuse to indulge in my love of trying out new recipes and dishes.
For my premiere month, I’ve chosen to center a meal around one of my favorite places in the world: Italy.
In the meantime, I hope to share recipes, cooking stories and restaurant reviews with fellow foodies.