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Can't Stop Baking!
2007-09-18 04:02:00
Since I got my new Kitchenaid mixer last Thursday, I've used it 5 times. It's just so much fun, and really does seem to produce a better baked good, from pie crusts, to cookies, to cakes, to breads (yup, I've already baked up that entire range!). Tonight Ben had a softball game, and I always like to take on a baking project when home alone - it seems to make the time go faster. I was in the mood for a spicy, gingery, chewy molasses cookie, and came across a recipe from - where else - my current favorite cookbook, Pumpkin. Because of course, everything in life is better with a little pumpkin! These are sweet, spicy, and deliciously chewy. A perfect compliment to your latte on a cool, crisp autumn day, and a wonderful stuffer for your cookie jar. If you love candles scented like fall baked goods (you know, the pumpkin, cinnamon, etc), you'll love how these make your home smell while baking. Simple as your favorite chocolate chip cookie, and a delightful change from the ordinary. E...
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Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies (PG)
2007-09-18 03:36:00
This weekend, I went searching for the perfect oatmeal chocolate chip cookie recipe. I found many different variations: some with fruit, some with nuts, some even with orange zest. However, none of them seemed to have just the right chemistry for the cookie I envisioned; I wanted something with lots of brown sugar to create a chewy end result, more oats than flour for a hearty, textured bite, and a little bit of autumn spice to create more layers of flavor. Finally I turned to the master of all things oatmeal: Quaker's very own website. These people seem to know their oatmeal cookies, and that a good one should be very heavy on the oats! I chose a basic recipe and added a few extra touches to make them unique. First of all, I insist on using real oats, not instant. Just look at the two side by side: the real ones are much larger and heartier looking, and I believe that one should actually be able to see the oats in a truly divine oatmeal cookie. Next, I added a touch of maple syru...
More About: Cookies , Chocolate , Chip , Choco , Meal

Date Night - Homestyle
2007-09-18 03:31:00
There's no denying it: a weekend is not a proper weekend for my fiance and I without the enjoyment of some really delicious food. We truly enjoy food, love the experience of trying new things together and appreciate good flavor combinations and textures. We do eat out quite often on the weekends, often indulging in things we tend to avoid during regular weekday meals. However, when cash, calories, or time is tight, we'll sometimes decide to stay in. And usually on these nights, I try to make something a little more special than I would during the week. Tonight, the two ingredients I wanted to incorporate into my meal were pecans and fresh sugar pumpkin which I needed to use up. I decided to make a risotto with roasted pumpkin and fresh sage, alongside pecan crusted salmon filets.For this entry, I'd really like to emphasize my love of cooking without a recipe and hopefully inspire those less comfortable that it's really ok to trust your instincts and throw something together. Jus...
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Pumpkin Pear Galette
2007-09-15 03:35:00
Here's another selection from my current favorite cookbook, Pump kin . The sugar pumpkin I cut up for my creamy shrimp and rice went quite a long way, so I wanted to make a Rosh Hashana dessert to use up some more of it. A galette, or rustic tart, is a wonderful, lighter dessert and this one was abundant in fall flavor. A delicately sweet pastry dough formed the base, and was topped with an autumn-spiced pumpkin puree, grated fresh pumpkin, and hearty sliced pears. There was a unanimous agreement on the success of the crust, it had a perfect flaky texture and light buttery taste with a hint of sweetness. The spiced pumpkin puree created a wonderful contrast. The only thing I would change about this recipe is that I think the fresh pumpkin was quite under-utilized in grated form. First of all, it just wasn't so visually appealing, and second of all, the taste was rather hidden. If I get a chance to make this again, I would cut the pumpkin into chunks and combine with the sliced pears...
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Homegrown Gourmet #1: Sandwiches
2007-09-15 03:34:00
We have a little tradition in my family, and that is that you MUST make chicken salad from the chicken leftover from making matzoh ball soup. It just wouldn't be right not to. This year, I decided to create something special for Erika's Homegrown Gourmet blogging event. She's asking us to create a dish that "celebrates local food traditions and creativity in using native ingredients in recipes", and for this round ,the theme is sandwiches. I decided on Curried Chicken Salad on Pumpkin Challah for my sandwich. For me, this meal represents my tradition of making chicken salad whenever we have holiday soup, but also incorporates the local and seasonal flavors of pumpkin and cranberry. You can read about my pumpkin challah here. For my chicken salad, I never use a recipe, I always just throw together whatever is on hand for a beautiful medley. Don' t measure, just add whatever amount looks good to your eyes and taste buds. Today, I used some finely diced red onion and celery, grated...
More About: Sandwiches , Grow

Pumpkin Challah
2007-09-15 03:33:00
I'd like to say I bake challah at least once every year, it's my Rosh Hashana tradition. But I only started last year. So I guess now I am two for two. So far so good! Last year I made a basic challah and it really turned out wonderful - soft, doughy, yellow middle and tender, slightly sweet crust. This year, I planned on using the same recipe until I came across Martha Stewart's Pump kin Challah. I immediately began thinking of the possibilities of such a unique bread - surely it would make a wonderful french toast, bread pudding, or turkey sandwich.I set to work with my new stand mixer in order to prepare this for a Rosh Hashana lunch for my mother, brother, fiance, and me. I cut the recipe in half to just make one loaf, and chose to braid it rather than preparing it in loaf form. I was a little skeptical when my yeast-water mixture did not get foamy - maybe my water wasn't warm enough? I can't be sure, since I have not made enough yeast breads yet. Mixing and kneading went we...
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Creamy Coconut Rice with Pumpkin and Shrimp
2007-09-13 03:32:00
Last year, I purchased DeeDee Stovel's Pump kin , a wonderful and unique cookbook that takes this treasured vegetable beyond the realm of pies and breads. Many of the recipes call for fresh pumpkin, something new to me as I have only ever cooked with canned pumpkin puree. Unfortunately, I purchased this book past the short-lived pumpkin season, so I didn't get a chance to experiment. Other winter squashes, such as butternut and acorn, work just as well in these recipes too, but I wanted to experience the real thing. I chose this one-pot meal with an interesting combination of flavors as my first attempt at cooking with fresh pumpkin. I did my reading and learned about what kinds of pumpkins are best for cooking (you want the smaller varieties, not the large jack-o-lantern type) and purchased a few small sugar pumpkins to keep on hand for autumn cooking. It turns out, pumpkin is actually pretty easy to work with; perhaps even easier than other winter squash varieties. I found it fair...
More About: Rice , Coconut , Shrimp

My No Recipe Chicken Chili Recipe
2007-09-11 04:42:00
Sometimes, the best things in life are thrown together without a recipe. This is what happened with my chicken chili, something I started making last fall and which then became a dish very often requested by my fiance. And why not? It's delicious. It's easy and full of flavor. And rather versatile to what you have on hand. I've tried my best to turn it into a recipe so that I may it with you, but don't fret if you can't follow it exactly - chances are, your white chicken chili will turn out pretty tasty anyway!Start by placing 3 chicken breasts in a pot, and cover with water. Bring to a boil, then simmer till cooked through.Meanwhile, chop 1 large onion and place in a large pot coated with cooking spray, over medium heat, and begin sweating it out. Add a few cloves of minced garlic, 2 chopped bell peppers (I like to use a red and a green), and something for heat - this could be 1-2 minced chili peppers (I use the canned kind), a jalapeno, a big fresh green chili, whatever. Cont...
More About: Recipe , Chicken , Chili , Hili , Reci

Platinum Chef Challenge - Round 5 Wrap-Up
2007-09-06 13:36:00
Well ladies (and gents if you're out there!), we've had 5 successful weeks of Platinum Chef so far and I'm really happy this event has achieved some popularity and there have been some fabulous contributions. Round 5's challenge included black beans, avocado, rice, basil, and grapes. It was a challenge indeed! But again, we proved that these flavors actually can work together and compliment each other.Kate from Paved with Good Intentions was once again inspired to make something with Mexican flair. She started off with a yummy black bean burrito with avocado and rice. Can't go wrong with that classic combination! She also prepared a summer spinach salad with grapes, wild rice, basil, and blue cheese. And she washed it all down with a grape-basil cocktail. Sounds so refreshing! ErikaBean's Bistro decided to focus on rice and made some fish and rice cakes studded with raisins and black beans and complimented by an avocado sauce. She wonders where in the world one might find such...
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Gluten Free Peach Tart for V
2007-09-05 02:32:00
One of the things I love about my friend Vanessa is that she encourages me to try new things and broaden my cooking experience. This is because she has a gluten intolerance. I don't look at this as prohibitive in the kitchen at all - we've had lots of great dinners together, often involving her favorite - risotto - but we've also had our share of experience with gluten-free homemade ravioli, chocolate cakes, and zucchini pancakes. On Monday, V invited us over for a barbecue, and I decided to bring a peach tart. Of course, I wanted her to be able to enjoy it just as much as everyone else, so I had to come with a gluten free crust to form the base of the tart.This was actually not nearly as difficult as it sounds. I simply combined pecans, coconut, gluten free flour, melted butter, and cinnamon in my food processor and pulsed to form a soft dough. I pressed this into my tart pan and baked for about 17 minutes, and later filled with a mixture of whipped cream, cream cheese, sugar, r...
More About: Free , Gluten Free , Tart , Peach

PCC #5: Stuffed Avocado
2007-09-04 14:58:00
I'll be the first to admit, this set of ingredients (grapes, black beans, avocado, rice, and basil) really stumped me for a while. Black beans and avocado are a natural and traditional combination, so that seemed easy enough. But basil isn't particularly southwestern. I also thought about making a rice pudding with raisins. But ultimately, I wanted to find a way to combine all the ingredients in one dish. I thought that the grapes would add a nice sweetness next to cool avocado, and the basil would give it a little fresh kick. However, I could not imagine any way in which the texture of black beans would sit well with grapes.I gave it much thought, and finally, I came up with a pretty little picture in my head of a halved avocado stuffed with a grape and brown rice salad, sitting on a pool of black bean puree. Something was missing though, something that would compliment each flavor individually and tie it all together: I decided that ingredient was mango. Thus, I dressed the rice...

Browniebabes Round 3, Take 2!
2007-09-02 01:37:00
When Myriam announced an extension of Brownie babes Round 3, I thought it would be nice to improve my original submission, but that I probably wouldn't have the time or opportunity to bake. When a little fall chill hit last week, I began thinking about one of my deepest foodie loves, pumpkin. If you know me, you knew it was only a matter of time before pumpkin made its first fall-ish appearance in my blog! (I do cook with pumpkin year-round, but it's extra special in the fall.)I began contemplating new ideas for pumpkin and realized that while pumpkin bread and muffins always shine, the combination of pumpkin and chocolate and is often overlooked. Sure, chocolate chips will sometimes stud a pumpkin loaf, the two aren't quite treated as equals. I wanted something that really allowed two of my favorite flavors to come together and strike a glorious taste bud. It finally came to me - take that all-time favorite, the cheesecake brownie, and kick it up a notch with pumpkin. Everyone lo...
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Inspiring Ingredients
2007-08-29 03:54:00
I really try to avoid impulse buys at the grocery store, but when I saw the Maple Grove Farms Maple Fig vinaigrette on sale one day, and then checked the nutrition label and saw that it was completely guilt-free, I couldn't resist. My first instinct for this dressing was actually not a salad at all, but for roasted squash. I quartered and seeded an acorn squash, brushed each piece with some butter spray and some of the maple fig vinaigrette, and sprinkled with cinnamon. I wrapped these in foil and tossed them on the grill until tender, for a summer spin on a fall classic. The dressing really complimented the squash, so I began thinking about what might be the perfect fall salad. Nothing was settled until a few days later, when I spotted this pear & apple stilton cheese. All of a sudden the idea came together: my perfect fall salad would contain baby spinach, roasted butternut squash and onions, crumbled pear & apple stilton, grilled balsamic chicken, and roasted pumpkin seeds f...
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Cocoa in my Caponata
2007-08-28 02:37:00
I have a confession. When I decided to make eggplant caponata for a dinner party last week, I was really hoping there would be leftovers. I've made this a few times before (it's a Mario Batali recipe), and it might be one of the most delicious things I've ever tasted. Sweet, spicy, and savory - this dish has got it going on. It makes raisin-haters embrace the golden little morsels and eggplant-virgins into believers. Most people spoon some caponata onto a baguette and call it a day. But I can't get enough of this stuff, so I've come up with some other uses. It's full of Mediterranean flavors, so I've used it as a chutney of sorts with roasted leg of lamb. As I was sprinkling in the seasonings last time and smelling the wonderful aromas come together, I dreamed up a vision of sauteed ground turkey mixed with leftover caponata and stuffed into bright green summer zucchini. Plus, because the caponata contains cocoa powder, this dish could fit right into Le Petite Boulanger's Th...
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White Bean & Roasted Pepper Dip
2007-08-28 02:32:00
Here's a quick, easy, healthy, inexpensive dip to throw together for company. When my guest list for a dinner party unexpectedly dwindled last week, I considered cutting this off the menu. But, I decided to make it anyway, since it's so easy and I wouldn't have any problem eating the leftovers. The only problem? There were no leftovers! We enjoyed this with baguette slices and baby carrots.1 can of cannelini beans, drained and rinsed4-5 cloves of roasted garlic1 whole roasted red pepperjuice from half a lemonleaves from one sprig of fresh rosemarysalt and pepper to tasteCombine all ingredients in food processor and blend until smooth and creamy. Enjoy!
More About: White , Bean , Pepper

I just couldn't resist
2007-08-25 22:39:00
Today is August 25th. So when I was walking through Target and saw Halloween candy by the registers, I kind of laughed to myself at the thought of anyone who would be buying their Halloween candy a good two months early. But then I saw something that drew my hand right to the shelf and caused a bag of candy to fall right in my basket. In the ever-evolving line of special edition kiss flavors Hershey's keeps putting out this year, is a brand new gem: Candy corn flavored kisses! Candy corn is my weakness, I look forward to it every fall. And considering I'm also somewhat of a choco-holic, my curiosity in this new product was tapped. What does candy corn-flavored chocolate taste like? What color are the kisses inside the wrapper? Would these really be a fall hit? These were questions I need to learn the answers to, so I told myself it was ok to buy a bag and find out.The verdict: I'm not quite sure they taste like candy corn. But then again, what does candy corn really taste like? P...

Blackberry Pear Flirtini and Monthly Mingle
2007-08-25 22:38:00
Several months ago, I enjoyed a delicious martini at one of our favorite local restaurants, The Struck. Their ever-changing list of seasonal libations has something for everyone, and for me this time it was a blackberry pear martini. It was sweet and refreshing, and though I don't normally choose to eat pears, I really enjoyed the flavor complimented by tart blackberries in this drink. I wanted to recreate this at home for a dinner party, so I picked up some Absolute Pear and blackberry brandy. My first stab at it was a 1:1 ratio of the two - holy shot! At this point I realized I needed a mixer of some sort. I made some blackberry syrup (16oz bag of frozen blackberries, 1/3 cup of sugar, and a squeeze of lemon juice cooked on the stove until the sugar dissolved; cooled, pureed, and strained.) I discussed the idea with my friend and go-to-mixologist, Vanessa, who was going to be coming over for dinner. She had some ideas of her own and insisted on playing bartender. She showed up wi...
More About: Blackberry , Ming , Lack , Mingle

Someone call the orthodontist!
2007-08-22 04:51:00
My corn needs braces! Just wanted to share some funny pictures of an actual ear of corn we had the other night. My fiance totally had a blast when he pulled the husks off this one to find such funny cob! You can imagine the red-neck cartoon-type voices that emanated as he played Mr. Buck-tooth Corn-on-the-Cob. Ha! (Note: It tasted just fine, of course!)
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My 100th Post! Let's Celebrate!
2007-08-21 04:29:00
I had no idea that tonight would be my 100th post, but ironically, I made somewhat of a celebratory dinner. Well at least according to my fiance, who claimed that tonight's meal was one of the most gourmet I have made in a while (hmm, have I been slipping?). We absolutely love lamb, so it's always a treat in our house. The meat is so delicious that it really can suffice on it's own, but of course lends itself very well to Greek and Mediterranean flavors. With some feta, pine nuts, and fresh herbs, I threw together a delicious pesto-of-sorts for the lamb chops, to make them just a little extra special. And that they were! We really enjoyed the tangy cheese and earthy pine nuts and rosemary with the tender meat.Here are some other fun factoids about tonight's dinner:*I used the new grill pan we received at our wedding shower for the first time. It was chilly outside, not too cold to go outside and grill by any means, but a good enough excuse to stay and try out a new piece of cook...
More About: Post , Celebrate , Rate

Platinum Chef Challenge: Round 5!
2007-08-21 04:10:00
Welcome to another round of the Platinum Chef Challenge - where creative cooks of all levels get together to challenge ourselves with new and exciting combinations of ingredients to form delicious meals. We've had some delicious creations over the past four rounds, and look forward to more from you! Here's a recap of the rules.*Current host will choose 5 ingredients for the challenge*Participants must create a meal using those ingredients*The meal can consist of 1 or 2 dishes - so you can use all the ingredients in one recipe, or make two. Ex. main dish + side, appetizer + main dish, main dish + dessert, etc. But, if more than one dish is created, each dish must use at least two of the ingredients (and, any ingredient may be repeated and used in both dishes if desired).*You can add whatever other ingredients you like*The event will run for two weeks at a time*When you've decided upon and prepared your dishes, please post pictures and recipes in your blog, link to this post, and s...
More About: Round , Halle

Browniebabes Round 3
2007-08-16 03:35:00
Browniebabes - doesn't that sound exciting? Like, a lot more than eating leftover chili for dinner? I thought so too. So, I decided to whip up an impromptu entry for this round of Browniebabes and enjoy my creation for dinner.Chewy praline blondie crust. Sweet cream cheese filling. Juicy summer peaches. Sound like a plan? My thought exactly! So, Peaches n Cream Blondie Tarts. I started with a basic blondie recipe, added pecans and baked in individual tart pans. Then I topped with a sweetened, whipped cream cheese topping and fresh sliced peaches. What a treat! Actually, I'll admit that I would need to tweak the recipe next time I make it, so what's posted below is what I would try next time and recommend to others. I actually did not use whipping cream in the filling, I tried to substitute something else which will remain un-named (it's shameful), and that didn't work so well for whipping. I promise, it won't happen again! It still tasted great, I just didn't achieve the thic...
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Baking with Bananas
2007-08-14 03:27:00
I have a confessi0on. We don't really eat bananas that much, and I don't really bake that much. But since I had to buy a banana for my banana raita this week, I was secretly really looking forward to picking up a bunch and letting them get nice and ripe for the weekend. Armed with 3 brown-spotted bananas and a few hours to spare, I set out to find a killer banana recipe. I didn't want to make your everyday banana bread; I wanted to go all out and make a really special treat. Banana Coffee Cake with Chocolate Chip Streusel sounded too good to be true!One of the reasons I don't bake that much is because Ben and I really do watch what we eat, and unless we are having company to help us eat these sweets, there's really no good reason for us to have them in the house. Of course, things like cookies and brownies and cupcakes can be carried into the office and shared with others, but what does one do with a partially eaten cake? Here's a tip: I baked two small ones. The original reci...
More About: Baking , Nana

Platinum Chef Challenge Round 4 Wrap-Up
2007-08-14 02:37:00
Round 4 - Sweet Potatoes, Cilantro, Garlic, Yogurt, and Chocolate. Sound like a challenge? It certainly was! But of course, these ladies came up with some really tasty creations. Thanks everyone for participating!MrsTrouper joins us for her first PCC with Spicy Sweet Potato and Chicken Burritos with Cilantro Lime Yogurt Sauce. I personally love this because it reminds me of one of my favorite meals, Sweet Potato and Black Bean burritos. Evidently, sweet potatoes are a natural partner for anything with spice! What a flavorful and healthy meal :)Kate decided to mix up sweet and spicy and ended up with admittedly one of her best creations ever. It sounds perfect to me too - spicy chocolate-laced mole sauce comes together with sweet potatoes and carrots in a deliciously healthy soup, cooled by tangy yogurt. I am super-impressed by her ability to use all the ingredients in one dish!Michelle was very excited by these ingredients, as it gave her the opportunity to prepare something by one ...
More About: Platinum , Chef , Challenge , Round , Wrap

Grilled Zucchini & Rice Casserole
2007-08-10 03:04:00
It's a good thing Ben and I learned about the honor system on our visit to the goat cheese factory. Otherwise, we might not have known what to do when we stumbled upon a colorful farmstand on a back road between Amherst and Noho, with no other people in sight. Corn, tomatoes, cucumber, blueberries, peaches, and peppers - and tucked in a corner, a box to leave your cash. We let them keep the change and drove off with some goodies, include a big baseball bat of a zucchini for a whopping fifty cents. I went back and forth with a few ideas on how to use this in dinner this week, but settled on a variation of a zucchini and rice casserole (here's my inspiration). I decided to grill my zucchini rather than steam or saute, because I really love the flavor it brings out. I used cottage cheese to bind the ingredients and feta for extra cheesy flavor, as well as a handful of fresh herbs (oregano and thyme) from my garden. I topped the casserole with thinly sliced tomatoes, after all, this w...
More About: Rice , Casserole , Grilled , Zucchini , Grill

Tandoori Chicken & Platinum Chef #4
2007-08-10 03:02:00
When Kate suggested yogurt as an ingredient for this round of Platinum Chef , she claimed "it's so easy to just throw into everything." Huh? Yogurt is a challenge for me since I don't use it that much, so it seemed like a good choice for this round. The truth is there are plenty of uses for yogurt - you can use it in baking, as a substitute for sour cream, as a salad dressing base, and a chicken marinade. Yup, I decided to try out a tandoori-style chicken dish. I had read plenty of recipes like this that called for marinating chicken in yogurt and spices. At first I thought that sounded a little strange, but as I've learned more about how ingredients work together, the functionality has become quite clear. Just like marinating in buttermilk, yogurt really makes the chicken very moist and tender. Also, it holds the flavors of whatever else you are marinating in and really infuses them throughout the meat. I did some searching online and adapted a few recipes to come up with my own ...
More About: Chicken

Moroccan Stuffed Peppers
2007-08-08 02:58:00
This past weekend, I found a wonderful treat at my local farm stand: big, beautiful yellow and orange peppers for $1.39/lb. I picked up two of each knowing they would make for some lovely stuffed peppers. I never quite fell in love with the traditional stuffed pepper, but typically I do some kind of southwestern spin on my stuffed peppers. However, when searching for recipes for mango chutney, I came across this Cooking Light recipe for Moroccan Chickpea and Couscous Stuffed Peppers . I found it intriguing, but missing something. After some thought, I decided to add raisins and pine nuts - a real palette-pleasing combination fairly common in food from this region. In fact, I am not sure why Cooking Light did not include any dried fruit or nuts in the original recipe, because I think it added great flavor, texture, and complexity to the dish. I didn't have any chutney but still wanted to use some kind of sauce, so I mixed together some apricot preserves, yogurt, peach-mango hot sauce...

Platinum Chef: Chocolate & Yogurt
2007-08-05 06:12:00
A fun cool treat for a hot summer night - just take your favorite cookies and ice cream and make sandwiches! It's best to let your ice cream soften up a little, prepare each sandwich and wrap in plastic wrap, and freeze until firm. Of course, you could also add chocolate chips, nuts, sprinkles, fudge, caramel, or whatever other toppings your tummy desires :) For these treats, I made Sinless Chocolat e Chews and stuffed them with my favorite low fat frozen yogurt - Mint Cookies and Cream from Turkey Hill. Yum! They also fit two of the ingredients for Platinum Chef Round 4, so I'll consider this my dessert entry :)
More About: Yogurt

Summer Entertaining with Beer Can Chicken
2007-08-05 06:03:00
A few months ago I heard mention of something called beer can chicken. Not being quite sure that this was, I could only imagine it to be some kind of trailer park specialty. None of my close friends or family had heard of it either, so I just figured it wasn't something too common in our neck of the woods. But I'm always curious and my desire to find out more about this was insatiable. I did a little research online and found out that cooking a whole chicken standing up on top of a beer can on the grill is a popular and easy way to get a juicy, flavorful bird. I also discovered that if I wanted to make beer can chicken, I'd likely need a device designed to hold the can and the chicken, something like this: So, when I found one just like that on sale for $10 at my local wholesale club (plus a bonus flavor injector, oh boy!) I didn't think twice.I've been looking forward to trying it out for quite some time, since cooking chicken requires a little too much of our time on a weekn...
More About: Summer , Beer , Chicken , Entertaining , Entertain

Presto Pasta Night - Chicken, Broccoli and Spaghetti Squash!
2007-08-02 02:55:00
First let me say, I hate my crockpot. I don't think I have ever cooked something just right, it always tends to overcook. Tonight was an exaggerated example of that. The plan was to have turkey meatballs and sauce over spaghetti squash. Spaghetti squash, if you haven't tried it, can be a great alternative to pasta, and works particularly well in dishes that have a lot of other flavor going on (for example, I make a killer spaghetti squash lasagna - you'll see it here in the blog someday, I promise!). The plan was thwarted by the evil crockpot, which insisted, even on "low" setting, to completely dry out the sauce and burn the balls. Well, I had really been looking forward to these meatballs and not cooking tonight, but I managed to throw something together. I wasn't so happy about having to make something, but I was certainly happy to eat, as it came out pretty darn delicious. I made somewhat of a spin on the classic chicken-broccoli-ziti (the one dish my little brother would or...
More About: Pasta , Night , Chicken , Broccoli , Squash

Did someone say SPBBB?
2007-08-01 03:31:00
BBFCCC. GCC. CCC. SPBBB?It's not often that enough people try a recipe and that it is good enough to earn an acronym on the Nest.com Cooking forum, so when it does, you know it's a must-try! I've been making this recipe for Sweet Potato and Black Bean burritos for a few years ago, and last fall I shared it with my message board buddies, and enough people tried it and liked it that it quickly joined the ranks of the infamous Garlic Cheddar Chicken, earning the nickname SPBBB. I wish I could take credit for the original recipe, but it comes from the Moosewood Collection Lowfat Favorites Cookbook. But I will say that when browsing through this book (which is fabulous, by the way) in the store, this recipe was one of the main reasons I felt compelled to buy the book.The first time I made this meal, I remember my fiance asking, "what's for dinner?" "Burritos," I answered."What kind of meat?""None.""What kind of cheese?""None."He was a little confused about how we could possibly be ea...
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