Arugula Salad with Strawberries and Goat Cheese

Inspired by a new blog I may consider stalking when it's recipe hunting season is Sutterbean. It is where I found this recipe and modified it a bit for my tastes.

Arugula Salad with Strawberries & Goat Cheese

• 1/2 pint strawberries, rinsed, hulled, and quartered
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 2 bunches arugula, washed, dried, and trimmed
• 1/2 cup toasted pecan halves (or sugared almonds in my case)
  
• 1/4 cup goat cheese crumbles (sooooo worth it)
• thin slice of red onion, chopped
  
• a quarter of a red pepper chopped
  

Put pecans on baking sheet and toast in the oven at 350F for 8-10 minutes.

In a large bowl, toss 1/2 pint strawberries, rinsed, hulled, and quartered, with 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar; let sit 5 to 10 minutes.

In a small bowl, whisk together another tablespoon balsamic vinegar with 2 tablespoons olive oil and 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper.

To the strawberries, add vinaigrette, 1/2 cup toasted pecan halves, and 2 bunches arugula, trimmed and thoroughly washed and dried. Toss to combine, and serve. Add a bunch of goat cheese crumbles to push it over the top!

Cream of Cauliflower Soup and Red Beet Chips

Okay sometimes a woman's gotta do what a woman's gotta do. I know it's usually Pizza and Movie night on Friday night like tonight, but we've had two birthday parties in two days and one more tomorrow where I'm sure pizza will be served once again. So I broke tradition more than 100% and went with an absolute kid un-favorite.

But knowing their little bellies were plenty filled on cupcakes, tootsie rolls, peanut butter cups and juice boxes, I had no problem serving this soup, knowing they wouldn't eat it. At least they were extra ready for bed after coming down rapidly off of their sugar high. =)

But as for me, I thought this soup was heavenly. It wasn't at all what I was expecting. It is rich and smooth and a very full flavor. My cousin gave this recipe to me over a year ago. (The same cousin who once tried out for America's Next Top Chef.) It was time I gave it a try.

(And just so you know, tonight I just made the soup and not the beet chips or the fancy floret toppers. Come on! I've got three little kids. Never enough time.)

CREAM OF CAULIFLOWER SOUP with RED BEET CHIPS
(adapted from Keller’s “Ad Hoc”)

1 head of cauliflower
2 T butter
3/4 cup chopped yellow onions
1/8 tsp curry powder
kosher salt
1 cup milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 + 1/2 cups water

peanut oil for frying beet chips
1 beet
1 tsp white vinegar
extra virgin olive oil
black pepper, freshly ground

Make the soup….
Remove the leaves and core of the cauliflower, separate about 1 cup of good-looking florets, not larger than a quarter, and reserve them. Chop the rest of the cauliflower in chunks of similar size. Melt 1.5 T of butter in a large saucepan, add the chopped onions, curry powder, and cauliflower, sprinkle 1 tsp salt, and cover. Cover the saucepan with its regular lid, cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the cauliflower starts to get tender.

Add milk, cream, and water to the pan, and simmer for 30 minutes. Carefully transfer the mixture to a blender, and blend until fully smooth. Adjust the seasoning.

Make the red beet chips….
Peel the beet (wear gloves) and make paper-thin slices using a mandoline. Ideally, you want to use only nice, full circles (good luck!). Heat the peanut oil (about 1 inch of oil in a deep pan), and once it is hot but not smoking, add a few beet rounds. Fry them until they stop bubbling hard, it should take a little over 1 minute. Place them on a baking sheet over paper towels, seasoning with a little salt right after frying. If needed, keep them warm in a 200F oven.

Cook the reserved florets….
Bring some salted water to a boil, add the teaspoon of vinegar, and cook the reserved florets until tender, about 5 minutes. Drain them. Right before serving, melt the remaining 1/2 T butter in a small pan and allow it to get dark golden. Watch it carefully, because burned butter is nasty, and tastes bitter. Once the butter is turning a nice golden brown, add the florets and saute them until golden too.

Serve the soup….
If the soup is too thick, thin it with a little water. Ladle it into a bowl, add some cauliflower florets in the center, and a few beet chips on top. Serve more florets and chips alongside.

White Beans and Spicy Swiss Chard

Okay this turned out really good! I was inspired by a dear friend of mine over at Cafe Johnsonia when I read this recipe. However, I didn't have chicken. And I wasn't about to make my own beans when I had 30 minutes to whip together dinner while my kids were taking baths.

So I took what I liked and modified the rest. And what I came up with was pretty tasty if I do say so myself. I had one kid eat his entire portion. The other had a very sore arm and decided falling asleep on my lap was a much better idea than eating dinner. And the last, well he's three, so we don't expect much yet.

Ingredients

6 slices of bacon (and the grease for flavor if you'd like)
1/4 cup of white wine
1/2 onion
3-4 cloves of garlic minced
1 can of cannellini beans
1 can of tomatoes diced
red pepper flakes (a couple shakes)
1 bunch of swiss chard (stems removed)
chicken stock

Cook the bacon and then remove the slices and chop into small pieces. Pour the excess fat into a bowl and and add later at the end if you want more bacon flavor.

Pour the wine into the pot to deglaze the pan. Sautee the onions for 5-10 minutes. Add garlic.

Dump in beans and tomatoes. Throw in the red pepper to kick up the spice. About now is when I start adding a little chicken stock as the juices evaporate. Add the chard about 5 -8 minutes before you are reading to serve the dish.

Chunky Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls

The title alone is all you need to know. It's perfection.

Chunky Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls

2 cups chunky peanut butter

1/2 cup butter

1 lb powdered sugar

2-3 cups of rice krispies

2 bags of milk or semi-sweet chocolate chips

Melt PB & butter together in microwave. Stir in powdered sugar. Reheat if necessary before you add the rice krispies. It makes it so much easier to stir them in when it is hot. Roll into 1/2 balls and place on cookie sheet. Freeze for 10-15 minutes or however long it takes you to sweep or vacuum your home. Melt chocolate chips in microwave (though be careful not to burn them because you get chunky chocolate). Dip PB balls in chocolate and chill. I like them best when they are cold, plus they don't melt all over everything. I usually just keep them in the fridge.

Amish Bread

This was the first bread recipe that I learned to cook. It deserves much attention. It was given to me by Miss Glenna Mae, one of my YW leaders back when. Her direct quote was, "This is the easiest recipe and you can't mess it up." Weeeell, I have messed it up before and I've tried variations.

And I think I've made it into perfection.

Amish Bread

2 ½ cups milk (or water, but milk makes it much more moist)

5 Tbs sugar or honey)

3 Tbs butter

1 Tbs salt

… mix and heat in microwave until slightly hot to the touch.

add ...

2 pkgs (or 4 ½ tsp) of rapid rise yeast

Then pour into your mixer and add...

flour

You want the dough to be soft almost sticky. The less dry it is the less hard the loaf will be after cooking. Mix in blender just until mixed and then hand knead it a little bit. Do not over knead. Grease bowl and dump it in. Put in oven with no light to help the dough rise.

Let rise 8 minutes and punch it down. Repeat this 4 times total. Ooooor, just forget about it like I do and punch it down in an hour and again when you remember.

Divide the dough in two pieces. Roll into a log and bend it like an arch. For decorative purposes, cut ½ inch deep along top of bread. Brush egg yolk and 1 tsp milk over bread.

Place in oven and THEN turn it on to 360 degrees. When your oven tells you it has reached that temperature, then set your timer for 20 minutes.

Artichoke Dip

If you don't like Artichokes, leave now. This is perfection. I could have eaten this all night at the baby shower, but I was hosting, so I had to soooome mingling. Thank you Kyndra for bringing this one to the party.

Ingredients.

2 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup grated Romano cheese
2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
salt and pepper to taste
2 (14 ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1 can artichoke bottoms, drained and chopped
1 cup frozen chopped spinach, thawed and drained
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions

350 degrees
Lightly grease a 9x13 baking dish.

In a medium bowl, mix together cream cheese, mayonnaise, Parmesan cheese, Romano cheese, garlic, basil, garlic salt, salt and pepper. Gently stir in artichoke hearts and spinach.

Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking dish. Top with mozzarella cheese. Bake in the preheated oven 25 minutes, until bubbly and lightly browned.

Chicken Verde Stew and Hominy

I was sick the other day. My friend said that if she lived closer she would make me this stew for me. So since I was feeling better that day I went to the grocery store and bought it all and made it. Tasty.

Ingredients

• 2 Anaheim chiles
• 1 1/2 pounds tomatillos
• 1/4 cup cilantro chopped
  
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 2 cups chicken broth
  
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
  
• 1 1/2 cups finely chopped onion
• 1/2 cup chopped carrot
• 1/2 cup chopped celery
• 1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 4 teaspoons finely chopped garlic
• 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  
• 1 (29-ounce) can hominy, rinsed and drained
• 6 tablespoons sour cream

Preparation

1. Preheat broiler.

2. Halve, stem, and seed chiles. Place chiles, skin side up, on a foil-lined baking sheet coated with cooking spray; broil for 5 minutes or until charred. Let stand for 15 minutes. Peel and discard skins. Arrange tomatillos on prepared baking sheet, and broil 14 minutes or until blackened, turning once. Combine the chiles, tomatillos, 1/4 cup cilantro, cumin, and oregano in a blender. Add 1 cup broth; process until smooth.

3. Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add 2 teaspoons olive oil; swirl to coat. Add onion, carrot, celery, and bell pepper; sauté for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in flour; sauté for 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add garlic; sauté for 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Place onion mixture in a large bowl.

4. Sprinkle chicken with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Add 2 teaspoons oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add half of chicken; sauté 3 minutes. Add browned chicken to onion mixture. Repeat procedure with remaining chicken and 2 teaspoons oil. Combine remaining 1 cup broth, tomatillo mixture, onion mixture, and hominy in pan over medium-high heat, and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Ladle 1 2/3 cups stew into each of 6 bowls, and top each with 1 tablespoon sour cream. Garnish with cilantro, if desired.