Hummus and Roasted Vegetable Wrap

Okay, I've recently discovered my new favorite lunch wrap. It's been hiding out in one of my Ellie Krieger's cookbooks, and I just happened to stumble upon it almost by accident. I was looking for a particular recipe, but my eyes wandered to this Hummus and Roasted Vegetable Wrap before I got there. A few hours later, this lovely meal was perched on my table for lunch.



First of all, can I point out how beautifully colorful and vibrant this wrap is? Look at that red, that green, that yellow! It's so fresh and delicious, not to mention super easy to assemble. All you need to do is grill or roast some fresh zucchini and squash (Ellie just used zucchini, but I had the yellow squash so I did half and half), then allow the veggies to cool a bit. Next, you put together the wrap by spreading hummus on the bottom, then sprinkling spinach leaves, pine nuts (toasted or untoasted, your choice), the zucchini and squash, and some roasted red pepper. Roll and wrap, and there's your lunch! Try it with some cheese or olives, too. The possibilities are vast!




Hummus and Roasted Vegetable Wrap
adapted from The Food You Crave
makes 4 wraps

Ingredients
1 medium zucchini, cut into 1/8-inch-thick rounds
1 medium squash, cut into 1/8-inch-thick rounds
2 tsp. olive oil
1/8 tsp. kosher salt
Pinch of freshly ground black pepper
1 cup hummus (store-bought or homemade; I used my Roasted Red Pepper Spread)
4 pieces whole-wheat wrap bread or whole-wheat tortillas
1/4 cup pine nuts
2 jarred roasted red peppers, drained, rinsed, and quartered
2 ounces baby spinach leaves (2 cups, lightly packed)
1/2 cup red onion, thinly sliced into half-moons (I didn't use any)
1/4 cup fresh mint leaves

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Toss the zucchini and squash with the oil and sprinkle with the salt and pepper. Roast the veggies on a nonstick baking sheet for about 15 minutes, until tender. Set aside to cool slightly.

2. Spread 1/4 cup of the hummus over each piece of wrap bread. Sprinkle 1 Tbsp. pine nuts on top. Top with 1/4 of the zucchini and squash, 2 pieces of red pepper, 1/2 cup of the spinach, a few sliced onions, and 1 Tbsp. of the mint. Roll each of them up and cut in half on a diagonal.

One Post, Two Cookies!

I didn't know which of these two types of cookie I wanted to talk about more today, so I just decided to do a two for one today and talk about both! Each cookie is delicious in its own way; your preference would probably be dictated by what kind of mood you're in, or if you prefer chocolate and nutty to smooth and full of cinnamon.

The first cookie, the Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie, is actually adapted from a Cat Cora cookie recipe. Hers is called the Peanutter Cookie, and is made with crunchy peanut butter and salted cocktail peanuts. That sounds amazing, naturally, but I thought I'd try an almond butter variation. I swapped smooth almond butter for the peanut butter, and threw in raw almonds in place of the peanuts. These were super delish! I wouldn't go so far as to say they are healthy cookies, but they certainly did taste a little less guilty than the peanut butter counterpart would. The almond butter is a much more subtle flavor than peanut butter, so the chocolate and chopped nuts really have a chance to shine through. I also added a bit of ground cinnamon, as I think this enhanced the overall taste.

The Snickerdoodle cookies I made are oldies but goodies. I make these at Christmas time each year, and since they are among my son's favorite treats I thought it would be nice to make them for his birthday party. I learned something about cream of tartar that I never knew before. I was confused by the lack of it in this version of the Snickerdoodle recipe (from Martha Stewart). I always associated cream of tartar with this cookie, but it turns out that you only need it if you are using baking soda as the leavener. If you use baking powder, on the other hand, the cream of tartar becomes unnecessary. It has something to do with the chemical reactions, etc. needed to make the cookie rise enough. So, I learned something new while baking these cookies!

Almond Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
adapted from Cat Cora's Classics with a Twist
makes 36 cookies

Ingredients
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. kosher salt
12 Tbsp. (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1/4 cup almond butter, crunchy or smooth (or crunchy/smooth peanut butter)
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips, preferably 3/4 cup each milk chocolate and semisweet
1 cup coarsely chopped raw almonds (or salted cocktail peanuts)

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Position the oven racks in the middle and upper third. Spray two baking sheets with nonstick cooking spray or line with parchment paper.

2. Whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in a small bowl and set aside. Beat the butter, almond butter, both sugars, and vanilla extract in a large bowl until creamy. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. On low speed, add the flour mixture in two batches, beating after each addition. When all the dry ingredients have been beaten in, stir in the chocolate chips and chopped almonds with a wooden spoon.

3. Drop the dough by rounded teaspoons onto the baking sheets, about 2 inches apart. Bake for 11 to 12 minutes, switching the baking sheets halfway through the baking time and rotating them 180 degrees, until the cookies are light golden. Let them sit on the baking sheets for a minute, then transfer to a rack to cool. Cookies will keep for 3 to 4 days in an airtight container.


Snickerdoodles
adapted from Martha Stewart's Cookies
makes 18-20 large cookies

Ingredients
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. coarse salt
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 1/2 cups plus 2 Tbsp. sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp. ground cinnamon

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt into a bowl. Put butter and 1 1/2 cups sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Mix in eggs. Reduce speed to low; gradually mix in flour mixture.

2. Stir together cinnamon and remaining 2 Tbsp. sugar in a small bowl. Shape dough into large balls, using a large cookie scoop. Roll in cinnamon sugar. Space 3 inches apart on baking sheets lined with parchment paper.

3. Bake cookies, rotating sheets halfway through, until edges are golden, 12 to 15 minutes. Let cool on sheets on wire racks for about 5 minutes before transferring to the racks to cool completely. Cookies can be stored between layers of parchment in airtight containers at room temperature for up to 3 days.

Meatless Mondays: Tabbouleh and Batata Harra (Spiced Potatoes)

As promised, here is the other half of my Middle Eastern meal from the other night. I figured it would be smart to blog today about the meatless side dishes I served, in honor of Meatless Mondays! I had the pleasure of making a Tabbouleh for the first time for this meal. Although I mostly used Cat Cora's recipe, I did make some changes to her formula.

I want to try her version soon, but I loved this one! Mine was more what you would consider a standard Tabbouleh, with tomatoes and cucumbers and parsley. Cat Cora's swapped out the tomatoes for red grapes, and fresh mint in place of the parsley. Yum! But I happened to have the tomatoes and parsley on hand already, so that is what I went with. It's a very easy side salad to make; the bulgur literally prepares itself once you pour boiling water over top. Once all your veggies are prepped and chopped, everything just gets tossed together with olive oil and lemon juice.

For the Batata Harra, or Lebanese Spiced Potatoes, I had to do a little bit of research. A couple weeks ago, my family ate dinner at a Middle Eastern restaurant, and there was a very big menu. I finally opted for a large tasting plate for my entree, but I had my eye on the Batata Harra as well. Since I did not order the potatoes in the end, I decided I would just find out how to make them myself; they sounded too good to pass up! And they were simple and very delicious. They have quite a kick; I used both a fresh jalapeno and cayenne pepper, and you could definitely feel the heat.

My preparation method was different from the recipe I found; I made mine a bit healthier. In the original recipe, the potatoes are deep fried, and then all the aromatics are tossed in more oil. I decided to bake my potato pieces, and then I tossed the aromatics in a much smaller amount of oil. I'm happy to say that my dish still turned out extremely flavorful, and the potatoes were deliciously crispy. I don't know what the restaurant version of these tastes like, but I'll be making these at home again for sure!

Tabbouleh
adapted from Cat Cora's Classics with a Twist
makes 8 to 10 servings

Ingredients
1 2/3 cups boiling water
1 cup bulgur
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1 cup chopped scallions
1 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/4 cup chopped fresh oregano
1 cup halved cherry tomatoes
1 cup diced cucumber (about 1 medium)
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 Tbsp. pine nuts, toasted

Directions
1. Pour the boiling water over the bulgur in a large bowl and stir just until all the grains are moistened. Cover and let sit for 1 hour at room temperature.

2. Pour the oil and lemon juice into the soaked bulgur. Add the scallions, parsley, oregano, tomatoes, and cucumber; toss to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

3. Cover and refrigerate tabbouleh for at least 1 hour so the flavors have a chance to meld. Top with the pine nuts just before serving.


Batata Harra (Lebanese Spiced Potatoes)
adapted from Food.com
makes 1 lb. potatoes

Ingredients
1 1/2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil, divided
Nonstick cooking spray
1 1/2 lbs. red potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
1/2 cup scallions, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and diced
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. ground coriander
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/4 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
1 tsp. fresh lime juice

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Toss the potatoes with some salt and pepper, and 1 Tbsp. of the olive oil. Spread on a nonstick baking sheet, or a baking sheet coated with nonstick cooking spray, and bake for about 30-40 minutes, until potatoes are fork tender.

2. Heat a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the remaining 1/2 Tbsp. olive oil. Add the scallion, garlic, jalapeno, cayenne pepper, coriander, salt and pepper. Saute the mixture for about 2 minutes, stirring constantly to prevent burning. Toss the potatoes in the scallion mixture until well coated. Take the skillet from the heat; stir in the parsley and lime juice. Transfer to a serving dish and serve.

Grilled Baby Peppers (for Wine and Cheese Date Night)

Recently, my husband and I were afforded the blessed, rare opportunity to have a date night. With two little boys and no relatives living close by, we find that our alone time is pretty sparse these days. But the kids were off for a few days with their grandparents, so we decided to have a fun date night where we pretended we were sophisticated and know how to pair wines with cheeses. Silly us!



I went all out for this meal. I was inspired by some meals we have had at restaurants in the St. Louis area, where we always seem to order the assorted cheese plates. What can I say, we love our assorted cheese plates. They usually come with some type of dried fruit, some nuts, some olives, or some cured meats. Well, I figured I would just serve all of these!



We had golden raisins, green grapes, dried cranberries, and dried apricots. We had cashews and marcona almonds. We had a wide assortment of olives that I picked up from the olive bar at Whole Foods (which may be my new favorite section of the store!). We had pita bread, toasted wheat bread, and hummus. We had so much food I was a little overwhelmed by it all!

I went to a fancy cheese store that afternoon, and they were very helpful there. They let me sample pretty much any and every cheese I glanced at. I wanted a good variety, and there was so much to choose from. I settled on a Muenster, some Gouda, some Gruyere, a nice Manchego (which is a hard cheese, like Parmigiano), a bit of Camembert (that was my fave), and some super duper stinky blue cheese called Morbier. To go along with it, I picked up some spicy Spanish chorizo from the same store.

We lined up four different types of wine (two reds, two whites) and tried to pair up the various cheeses with the corresponding wines. In some cases, we were shocked at how beautifully it all worked. In other cases, though, it just didn't work out. We still had a blast trying to figure stuff out. It's not something we're likely to do every day, but it was great for a staying-in date! And I would imagine it was at least marginally less expensive than going out.

Now, because none of my blog entries seems complete without some kind of recipe, I will share with you the absurdly simply recipe for the baby bell peppers I served with this meal. I found it in Food Network Magazine, and it seemed like something that would go well with everything else we had that evening. It's a snap, and so very pretty!

Grilled Baby Peppers
adapted from Food Network Magazine
makes 4 servings

Ingredients
1 lb. baby bell peppers (or quartered full-size peppers)
1 Tbsp. olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
Chopped fresh mint, to taste
1/2 lemon, juiced
1/4-1/2 cup feta, crumbled

Directions
1. Preheat a grill pan to high. Toss the peppers with the olive oil, salt, and pepper. Throw them on the grill pan and cook for about 10 minutes, turning frequently, until blistered on all sides.

2. Remove the peppers from the grill pan and place on a serving dish. Sprinkle the mint over the peppers, along with the juice of the 1/2 a lemon and the feta. Toss lightly, and serve.

Poblano Pesto Potato Salad

Well, I made another potato salad. It seems to be my new thing. I love a potato salad, or at least I love them as long as they don't contain mayo. I don't do mayo. But fortunately for me, there are still plenty of creative things one can do with potatoes.



I had a couple of leftover poblano peppers to use up, and I thought I was being very clever when I decided that they would taste fabulous as a pesto sauce. However, it turns out that I was not the first person to think of this. A quick Google search revealed that another blogger had made a sauce just like the one I thought I had dreamed up. Using their basic recipe as a guide, I made my own with a couple of different ingredients, such as fresh cilantro and marcona almonds. I especially love the marcona almonds in there; they have such a nice flavor, and they're already roasted and salted. That means I can use less oil and salt in the pesto; score!

I divided the batch of pesto in half, and used one half to make a simple potato salad. It was delicious! Just the thing for July 4th. The other half is awaiting its use in my fridge; I'm thinking about just using it as a pasta sauce. It's very scrumptious; it would be good as a sauce for meat or shrimp, as well. Heck, you could even use it to top your tacos or fajitas; the poblanos and cilantro give it a Mexican kinda flair.




Poblano Pesto
adapted from The Food Medic
makes about 1 1/2 cups pesto

Ingredients
2 large poblano peppers, blackened over an open flame or under the broiler, with the skin, seeds, and stems removed
1 cup packed fresh cilantro leaves (you can include stems)
1/2 cup marcona almonds
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 lemon, juiced
3 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions
1. In a food processor, combine the almonds and garlic. Pulse until the almonds have been finely chopped. Add the poblanos, the cilantro, and the lemon juice. Process until the greens have been blended and the mixture resembles a coarse sauce. Slowly stream in the olive oil while the processor is running, then scrape down the sides of the bowl. Sprinkle in salt and pepper, to taste, and then pulse the food processor again until the mixture is uniform.

2. To make Poblano Pesto Potato Salad, simply mix half the pesto sauce with 1 lb. to 1 1/2 lbs. small Yukon gold potatoes that have been quartered and cooked in simmering water until fork tender (about 12 minutes). Store in the fridge until chilled, then serve. The other half of the pesto sauce can be kept in an airtight container in the fridge for at least a week.

Baked Sunday Mornings: Rosemary Apricot Squares

This week's Baked Sunday Mornings project was to make these Rosemary Apricot Squares, a pleasant surprise if ever there was one. Why? Well, I guess I just didn't think I'd like these bars very much; they don't sound quite as exciting as most of the other Baked recipes do. I'll be honest with you; I don't eat apricots. I don't buy fresh apricots, and I don't buy dried apricots. I've also never turned a dried fruit into a jam filling, so this recipe marked a couple firsts for me. I'm glad I took the plunge, because these bars were simply delightful.

You start out with a pretty simple shortbread crust. The addition of fresh, minced rosemary lends specks of color to this otherwise blond layer, and gives it a nice, floral dimension that I really liked.

The next layer is a fruit filling layer, and it actually couldn't have been much easier to make. I cooked a bunch of dried apricots down in a mixture of water, honey, brandy, sugar, and a pinch of salt. They did take forever to get to what I considered the "ready" stage, but it was all worth the time spent on the stove. The mixture is transferred to a food processor and pureed until smooth. I tasted it, and I was surprised at how good it was. Maybe apricots deserve another try, I thought.

This fruit filling is then spread over the cooled shortbread crust and evened out. A final layer of delicious topping is sprinkled over the top of the fruit. It's just flour, dark brown sugar, flour, a bit of salt, some butter, and chopped pecans. It tastes like crumb cake topping, but mine was a lot sandier and less chunky than crumb cake topping. Plus, I patted mine down so that the top layer looks more smooth and uniform, with just the lumps of pecan visible.

The squares were so fragrant while they were in the oven; my curiosity was officially piqued. Before making these, I didn't even know if I was going to try them. I figured the whole batch would be sent off to work with Andy, never to be seen again. But now I wanted to eat one!

When it came time to cut these into squares, I trimmed the edges from the outer sides of the block. The apricot had seeped out a bit and burned on the sides, and it just wasn't as attractive as the rest of the bars were. So I snacked. I tried those edges, and I loved them. The shortbread is tender (maybe a bit too tender and crumbly, but still delicious!), the apricot layer is sweet and smooth and wonderful, and the topping is the perfect nutty, salty foil to the rest of the bar. This cookbook has done it again; it's taken flavors that are an odd pairing, and transformed them into an amazing, cohesive dessert that seems to work on every level. I am very impressed with the Rosemary Apricot Squares. Now I think I better make sure the rest of them do make it to work with Andy, because they are dangerous to keep around!

Find out if everybody else in the group was impressed with these bars, too. The blogroll can be found right here.

CEIMB: Apple Pecan Muffins

Wow, I almost completely spaced on this week's Craving Ellie in My Belly this week! I must really still be on vacation or something! But I managed to pull it together long enough to snap some photos of this week's recipe, Apple Pecan Muffins, chosen by Joanne of Apple Crumbles.

If you're wondering how I could have produced muffins to photograph when I could barely even manage to remember to post about them, the answer is very simple. I always, always have these muffins on hand in my house. Out of all of Ellie Krieger's recipes that I have tried (and I've probably tried over a hundred by now), this one is the hands-down household fave. In fact, my husband eats two every single work day! I freeze single and double batches of these muffins, so that he can easily thaw and tote some to work each and every day. I've even tried varying the basic formula, but he just likes the muffins the way Ellie intended them; no bells and whistles are needed here! It's probably the first recipe I've ever committed to memory; I could crank these puppies out in my sleep by now. One quick note: I can usually get at least 15 muffins per batch, rather than the yield of 12 listed in the book.

It's been about 3 years now since the first time I have made the Apple Pecan Muffins, and I still have not been able to bake my husband a muffin that he prefers over these. So I probably would have eventually chosen these as my weekly pick, but Joanne beat me to it! I'm so glad the group is finally making these, because in my opinion the whole world should know about these! Thanks to these muffins, I am no longer afraid to eat apple in baked goods. Not only that, but they've taught me how to transform any old muffin recipe into a lower-fat version, and for that I will always be grateful to Ellie.

If you made these muffins this week, I'm dying to hear how you liked them! Everybody's results can be found by heading over to the blogroll, here. And for the full, glorious recipe, you can go to Food Network's website and find it here.

Spinach Pistachio Pesto

This pesto was another brain child of my week prior to vacation, when I had to get rid of some fridge staples and didn't want to grocery shop. I happened to purchase a pretty big ol' bag of pistachios not that long ago, and for some reason I was in the mood to make a pesto. Since I had some fresh cilantro and fresh spinach to use up, I decided to see what would happen if I combined all of these ingredients in my food processor!



I have to say, this was a pretty great idea! I generally make my pesto on the coarser side, because I like it to be less oily and caloric. I will drizzle a bit of olive oil into the pesto, and then I will use my hot, reserved pasta liquid in the pasta to compensate for the lack of moisture in the pesto. Normally, about 1/2 cup of the water will do the trick, but you can always add more if necessary. One final thing: I was all out of Parmesan cheese that day, which was a shame because it would have been so good in there. You can definitely add it into the pesto if you'd like, but I really liked the simplicity of this pesto without it. Either way, I don't really think you can lose with this one!

Spinach Pistachio Pesto
recipe by Bri
makes enough to cover 1 lb. pasta

Ingredients
4 cups spinach, loosely packed
1/2 cup cilantro (can use stems and leaves), loosely packed
1/2 cup raw, shelled pistachios, toasted
2 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil
1/2-1 tsp. salt
4 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped
Parmesan cheese, optional

Directions
1. Combine the pistachios and garlic cloves in the work bowl of a food processor; pulse to chop them finely. Add the spinach and cilantro; run the food processor long enough to make a coarse paste.

2. With the processor running, drizzle in the olive oil and about 1/2 cup to 1 cup warm water (reserved pasta water works very well for this). The pesto will still be similar to paste, but will be looser and almost creamy looking. Add salt to taste.

3. Toss with your choice of pasta shape; add Parmesan cheese before serving if desired.

A Week of Muffins: Pistachio-Chai Muffins

Marching on with our week filled with diverse, delicious muffins, we'll discuss Pistachio-Chai muffins today! These muffins are the only ones out of this whole week's worth that contain nuts. We love pistachios, and I don't think I've ever made a muffin with pistachios in them until now. I have to say, they really work great. They're slightly salty, even though I bought the raw, pre-shelled kind, and it was a nice contrast to the sweet muffin.

Unlike Martha Stewart's Chai Cupcakes, which I made not too long ago, these enlist the use of the contents of a couple of chai tea bags. With Martha's cupcakes, you infused the milk that went into the cake batter with black tea, then added into the dry ingredients the usual spices you would find in a chai tea. So, the end results are actually pretty different. With these muffins, you can see little flecks of the tea leaves running through the batter, and in the finished product. Plus, these are even more dense than the cupcakes were, and those cupcakes were on the denser side.

That's not to say these muffins are bad, though; on the contrary, they're great if you're looking for something that tastes vastly different from your run-of-the-mill muffin. The tea makes it taste exotic; the nuts give it a nice texture. One note: there's a simple powdered sugar glaze in the recipe for these; you'll notice in my pictures that I left that off my muffins. I was trying to cut down on the sugar, but feel free to try the glaze for yourself.

Pistachio-Chai Muffins
adapted from Cooking Light
makes 12 muffins

Ingredients
7.9 oz. (about 1 3/4 cups) all-purpose flour
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
2 chai blend tea bags, opened
1 cup low-fat buttermilk
2 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
2 Tbsp. Smart Balance Light Buttery Spread, melted
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract, divided
1 large egg, lightly beaten
Nonstick cooking spray
1/3 cup shelled, dry-roasted pistachios, chopped
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 Tbsp. water

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 4 ingredients (through salt) in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Cut open tea bags; add tea to flour mixture, stirring well.

2. Make a well in the center of the mixture. Combine buttermilk, butter, Smart Balance, vanilla, and egg in a separate bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add buttermilk mixture to flour mixture, stirring just until moist.

3. Place 12 muffin-cup liners in a muffin tin and spray each with nonstick cooking spray (I simply sprayed my muffin tin with spray, which worked fine). Divide batter evenly among muffin cups. Sprinkle nuts evenly over batter. Bake for 15 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes in the pan before turning the muffins out onto a cooling rack.

4. Combine the remaining 1/2 tsp. vanilla, powdered sugar, and 1 Tbsp. water, stirring until smooth. Drizzle evenly over the muffins.

CEIMB Rewind: Breakfast Cookies

There won't be any post about Ellie's Muesli Parfaits today, unfortunately. Those parfaits were the assigned recipe for today, chosen by Sarah of Sarah's Kitchen Adventures for Craving Ellie in My Belly. However, I opted to do an Ellie rewind instead.

Why? Well, the main reason is because I really, really dislike yogurt, and that is one of the main ingredients in the Muesli Parfaits. And while I have been known to forge ahead and make recipe of Ellie's that I don't think I'll like, I had to take exception with this one. I wish I could like yogurt, but there just seems to be no getting around it. I could have made this recipe for my husband, but I had actually just made Ellie's Breakfast Cookies late last week, and it just felt like doing a rewind here would be a good way for me to blog about them.

These Breakfast Cookies were made all the way back in the first week of July of 2009, nearly two years ago! I was not yet part of the group, and may never have known about this cookies, since they are not found in either of Ellie's cookbooks. But I've seen them on Food Network's website and they are reviewed very well, so I wanted to give them a shot. Plus, I'm building up a small arsenal of portable baked goods that I can take on my upcoming trip to Disney World (whoo-hoo!), and these fit the bill nicely.

The ingredients list for these cookies is long, but the recipe itself is very simple to put together. The cookies are made from, among other things, whole wheat and all-purpose flour, rolled oats, bran cereal, raisins, and walnuts. I substituted pistachios for the walnuts, and Fiber One Bran Cereal for the bran flakes. Also, I had no carrot baby food, so I just used some unsweetened applesauce. The cookies turned out hearty, tender, and just sweet enough. I think maybe two of these could suffice for a nice breakfast; one may not be quite enough. Still, I am very excited to take these on my trip for quick morning fixes!

Thanks to Sarah for hosting this week, and I do apologize for not making these along with everybody. If you're curious about whether the other members of the group liked their parfaits, be sure to check out the blogroll, here!

CEIMB: Roasted Tomato and Almond Pesto Pasta

I am thrilled to be able to present you with this week's Craving Ellie in My Belly recipe, because Ellie Krieger herself has chosen it for us! That's right. Somehow Ellie managed to find out about our little blogging group, and she kindly offered to share with us a new dish that she has come up with. Needless to say, we jumped on it and it was placed on the rotation for this week.

The dish, Whole Grain Spaghetti with Roasted Tomato and Almond Pesto (or whole grain rotini, which is what I used), is definitely one of Ellie's best, at least in our opinion! Not only is it packed with flavor and nutrition, but it's absolutely, uniquely delicious and so very easy to make! As you are boiling some water for pasta, you can easily assemble the pesto sauce. It starts out with some toasted almonds and a clove of garlic, which are chopped finely in a food processor.

Meanwhile, you slow-roast about 6 tomatoes in the oven (Ellie also presents the option of using a can of diced, fire-roasted tomatoes), which makes the tomatoes' flavor concentrate and become tangy-sweet. Sooo, sooo good. After they have roasted, into the food processor they go, along with some fresh basil, red wine vinegar, and crushed red pepper flakes.

You blend in some olive oil, then add salt to taste. What I could not get over at this point was how creamy the sauce became. I suppose if I had not processed the ingredients too much, I could have had a chunkier pesto, but I happen to like it the way it turned out. It wasn't completely smooth; there were still little nut pieces and basil flecks, which gave the sauce a great texture. Finally, you throw in some Parmesan cheese and gently pulse to combine. That's it for the sauce.

I was about 97% faithful to the original recipe. I did use rotini instead of spaghetti, and I also reduced the olive oil by 1 Tbsp. (I used 2 instead of the recommended 3) and bumped up the red wine vinegar from 1 tsp. to 4 tsp. I do like things tart, and this made it slightly more so. Finally, I served the pasta on a bed of fresh spinach, just to plump up the bowls a bit. Overall, we absolutely loved, loved, loved this dish! Even my son, who routinely gives me trouble at dinnertime, inhaled this and declared it "really good!" That's a huge compliment from him!

So, Ellie, if you're reading this, thanks so much for this wonderful recipe! I can hardly wait to make it again (and again). And if you have any other new recipes lying around that you want us to try, please don't hesitate to share! I hope the other ladies in the group had as much fun making, and eating, this as I did! You can find this recipe on our main CEIMB site, here. That's also where you will find the blogroll, so do stop by if you get a chance!

Mexican Chocolate Pistachio Fudge

It's Cinco de Mayo, and it's time for dessert! Well, actually, it might not really be time for dessert yet, depending on when you are reading this. But since I have already blogged about a starter, a beverage, and a main course this week, clearly at this point you need a little something sweet to wash it all down with!

So I made this wonderful Mexican Chocolate Pistachio Fudge. We're big fudge fans, the husband and I. But I usually stick to my tried-and-true fudge recipe, and rarely branch out from that. There have been some pretty interesting results the few times I have strayed from what I know works. A certain time I made bacon fudge comes to mind...

Anyway, this fudge is a snap to make. I did use my regular recipe as a base, but I expanded on it and I'm really happy with the results. I made the chocolate more "Mexican"-tasting by adding ground cinnamon and cayenne pepper. I thought pistachios would be great in there, so I mixed in a bunch and then scattered even more over the top. The fudge turned out creamy, rich-tasting, and so interesting with that little bit of spice and heat. You don't really taste the cayenne pepper, but you know it's there because you get a nice little burn at the back of your throat after you've eaten a piece. You could leave it out, and the fudge would still be great, but I think it's necessary in there. It's a fiesta in fudge form (sorry, I couldn't resist)!

Mexican Chocolate Pistachio Fudge
adapted from about.com
makes 36-40 squares, depending on the size you cut them

Ingredients
2 Tbsp. butter
2/3 cup fat-free evaporated milk
1 1/3 cups granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 cups miniature marshmallows
12 oz. (1 bag) semisweet chocolate chips
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground cayenne pepper
6 oz. raw, shelled pistachios, divided

Directions
1. Line a square, 8x8 inch baking pan with nonstick foil, or regular foil that has been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside. Combine the marshmallows and chocolate chips in a bowl and set aside.

2. In a medium, heavy saucepan, combine the butter, milk, sugar, cinnamon, cayenne, and salt. Turn the heat to medium-high, and stir until the sugar dissolves. Allow the mixture to come up to a boil. Continue to boil, stirring constantly, for 5 minutes. Remove from the heat.

3. Stir in the marshmallows, chocolate chips, and vanilla, and continue mixing until the marshmallows and chips have almost completely melted. Throw in about 3/4 of the pistachios and continue mixing well. Note: you should work quickly here, because the fudge starts to harden around this point and it becomes harder and harder to stir.

4. Spread the fudge into the prepared pan and even it out, smoothing the top. Before it has a chance to set, sprinkle the remaining pistachios over the top of the fudge and press down lightly so the nuts will stick. Place the pan in the fridge to allow the fudge to set completely before removing and cutting into squares.

CEIMB: Wheat Berry Salad

This week's Craving Ellie in My Belly recipe was her Wheat Berry Salad, chosen by Leslie of Lethally Delicious. I have to admit, although I was excited to make this recipe and use wheat berries for the first time, I ended up taking a lot of liberties with it. I think in the end, it was probably not even Ellie's salad anymore; it was more my derivative take on it. But I loved it!

I made this as a last-second side dish with a meal I made last week, so I hadn't fully checked the ingredients list before I dove in. Turns out, I didn't really have everything I needed to make it, but I did have close approximations! So, instead of dried cherries, I used dried cranberries. Instead of walnuts, I used some hazelnuts (yum!). I had no lemon juice, so in went a bit of fresh key lime juice and a splash of pomegranate red wine vinegar instead. I didn't even have celery, but I had cucumbers, so I just used some of those. Like I said, it's not really even the original recipe anymore, but it's the same general idea.

Since I have never cooked wheat berries before, I was really unsure about when they were supposed to be done. I followed Ellie's instructions and submerged them in water, and let it come to a boil. However, by the time all the liquid evaporated, the wheat berries were still a little too hard for our tastes. So, I kept dumping more water into the pot and letting it cook off. I probably had the heat turned up way too high; at times I would raise or lower it, but the directions were really unspecific as to whether you should just simmer the mixture, or let it continue to boil. After about two (!) hours, I finally just decided they tasted good, and I took them off the heat. They still had a fair amount of crunchy pop to them, so I was happy with how it all turned out.



Well, obviously I can't speak for Ellie's full, unaltered recipe here, but my version was wonderful! I'm really starting to dig the whole grain/dried fruit/nut combo in a cold salad, and this one was a real winner. The wheat berries were delicious, I thought. I was happy with their texture, and they really felt hearty, bulkier than rice or barley and possibly more filling. I am definitely going to be making this again really soon, but this time I'll have the correct components and I'll do it right!

Thanks very much to Leslie for choosing this! It was one of the best cold side salad-type dishes I've had in a long while. If you'd like the recipe, click on over to Food Network's website, here. And to see the CEIMB blogroll, click here.

CEIMB: Blueberry Coffee Cake

It was my turn to pick the recipe for Craving Ellie in My Belly again this week, and I was craving something sweet! I have been recording old episodes of Ellie's cooking show, which now air on Cooking Channel, and recently saw an episode where she made this Blueberry Coffee Cake. As soon as I saw it, I knew that it would be my next choice for the group.



It's a lower-fat variation on an old classic: moist, lightly sweetened coffee cake, with a middle layer of fresh blueberries, cinnamon, sugar, and walnuts. The cake batter is topped with more streusel, and then baked until nice and golden brown.

Since I will look for just about any opportunity to use my silly brownie pan (the one that pre-slices the brownies/cake/granola bars for you), I decided to utilize it here. What can I say, I just happen to take my portion control seriously! I like the peace of mind of knowing that each slice of cake is evenly cut; that way, when I calculate the calories and such, I can feel more confident that it'll be the same with each slice. The drawback to using this pan is that I think once the slices are cut, they don't stay as fresh as they would if you just cut slices as you ate through the cake.

That said, I think this cake actually kept very well. I had it in an airtight container for about 5 days, and the cake was still very good on the last day. I preferred eating it warm to room temperature. Microwaving the cake for just about 20 to 30 seconds before eating it really served to wake up the flavors better.

I did love this cake, although you could definitely tell it was healthier than "regular" coffee cake. It lacked the sweetness of other coffee cakes, but that was just fine with me. It just helped you experience the other flavors better. I adore cinnamon, so of course I loved it here. The blueberries really brought a welcome tangy punch to the table, and the walnuts were just perfect. I could see this being a coffee cake that I revisit when I have overnight guests, or even just when the boys and I might be in the mood for something different thrown into our breakfast routine.

Thanks to everyone for baking along with me this week! For some reason, the link to this recipe over at the CEIMB site doesn't work anymore, but hopefully this one will. To check out the blogroll, click here.