Jalapeño Black Bean Burgers

I think I just made the best thing I've ever made.  I know I say a lot of things are delicious, but this was phenomenal.  I got this recipe from Eat, Live, Run and wow, this is going in my permanent recipe book… for life.

They were so hearty, garlic-y and had a great kick with the jalapeño .  These black bean burgers are extremely healthy and vegetarian friendly.  The recipe calls for all natural ingredients and I only slightly panfried the patties.  I am not a vegetarian and I promise, even non-vegs will love this!   

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Seafood Cioppino

When I was back in LA, I got to cook with my roommate (who I miss so incredibly much) and we made shrimp!  Surprise surprise, she loves shrimp so usually when we cook together, that’s something we can agree on 🙂  It’s funny how someone can be your best friend, practically sister, and you have complete opposite taste buds.  And I mean completely opposite.  Nonetheless, I love her and I miss her weird, cheese-loving, celery crunching, soggy-cereal-loving self.

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Crockpot Veggie Chili

I finally got a crockpot!!!!!!  I have read so much about the magical wonders of crockpots but I have never owned one until now.  AND  I got a fantastic deal.  My goodness, I love Black Friday.  My mom and I went to Kohl's and look how much we saved!!  One of my greatest secret pleasures is looking at the receipt and seeing how much money you saved.  Actually, it's not even secret.  Most people know I'm a sucker for a good deal.  Groupon, Living Social, Yipit, Woot and all coupon apps (yes I have a few) are made for crazy people like me.  Oh, and can't forget happy hours… of course.

Who wouldn't love saving $472???

Anyways, I lugged all my new items and this sucker from California to Austin (I found out later TSA inspected my bag, haha).  I knew the first thing I wanted to make was veggie chili.  From the days back in my sorority, Armando would cook this turkey chili along with this amazing veggie chili.  Then I got hooked on the Vegetarian Chili at Trader Joe's, which I always kept stocked in my pantry.  Since Austin doesn't have a Trader Joe's (although one is coming soon!!!!!), I have been sad and veggie chili-less.

I chose a pretty standard and simple recipe.  It turned out pretty good for my first chili, but I think for the next one, I'm going to alter the recipe and add a few more things to it.

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Baked Pumpkin Pasta

Right when it turned into Fall, I went out and bought canned pumpkin and I couldn't wait to try some new pumpkin recipes!  I love pumpkin everything… muffins, scones, breads, cookies, lattes, pie, sauces, smear, ice cream and anything else?  Yes, I'll take it!

As I was browsing pumpkin dishes to bring to a potluck, I came across a baked pumpkin pasta recipe and decided to give it a shot.  It was interesting because I am not used to pumpkin flavor with pasta, but the party go-ers enjoyed it!

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Spaghetti Squash and Meatless Meatballs

Fall is here!!  Which means it is time for my favorite fall vegetables, including winter squash!  I have only made spaghetti squash one other time, and thought it was time to revisit this delicious veggie.

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Wine Party with Spinach Artichoke Stuffed Pasta

Just like I love Groupon, I also love Living Social. There was great deal for an in-house wine tasting party with six different wines from PRP Wine International.  How could I resist???  It turned out to be a great deal and one of the best nights with my girlfriends.

We did the wine-tasting on a Wednesday, which was great because it broke up the work week very nicely.  We turned it into a potluck with plenty of wine, cheese, bread, crackers, pasta… overall, quite the delectable party.

Cheers!

I decided to make a stuffed pasta dish as the main course, to give us some extra padding for the wine.  I decided on a Spinach-Artichoke Stuffed Pasta, and of course, added some more veggies to the layers.

Spinach-Artichoke Stuffed Pasta
2 cloves garlic, minced
10 oz frozen spinach
1 can artichoke hearts, chopped
16 oz low fat ricotta cheese
3 cups low fat mozzarella cheese, shredded
2 Tbsp basil, chopped
1 bag of pasta (I used tubes)
2 zucchinis, chopped and stir fried
2 jars pasta sauce of your choice

Directions:
Cook pasta “al dente” style (some of the sauce will be absorbed when the noodles are baked)
For the stuffing, mix garlic, spinach, artichoke hearts, basil, ricotta and 1 cup of mozzarella in a bowl

Place a layer of pasta sauce at the bottom of the baking dish
When the noodles are cooled, stuff the pasta with the spinach-artichoke mixture

Pack the dish with the stuffed pasta and top off with the cooked zucchini

 Fill the dish with the pasta sauce and top with the rest of the mozzarella cheese

Bake covered at 375 degrees for 20 minutes and uncovered for 10 minutes

To save time, I cooked the noodles and the stuffing the night before.  Fun fact: to store cooked noodles over night, place them in a ziploc bag with a little bit of olive oil to keep them from sticking and getting mushy!

I have the most incredible friends ever, who are quite the chefs themselves.  Take a look!

Appetizers

So proud of this homemade cheese ball by Shane 🙂

Kelly’s amazing fruit skewers

Garlic Shrimp Scampi

I have gotten substantially behind on my posts, but in the last few weeks, I did a lot of cooking, so I will be sure to make up for it.  A few weekends ago, I decided to try a shrimp recipe.  I LOVE shrimp, and conveniently, so does my roommate.  We had the most blissful day with a workout, the farmer’s market and then we spent the rest of the day at the beach relaxing and reading.  We topped it off with a delicious homemade dinner and some wine… just the perfect Sunday night date 🙂

We made a shrimp scampi that was cooked in garlic, parsley and white wine and tossed it with some whole-wheat noodles.  Like most of my cooking, it was very simple to make, and didn’t take long at all!

Shrimp Scampi
1.5 lbs shrimp
2 tsp olive oil
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 onion, chopped
1/4 c. white wine
2 tbsp parsley
3 handfuls of spinach
Whole Wheat Spaghetti

Directions:
Heat the olive oil, onions and garlic until the onions are browned

Add the shrimp, cook through (I like to brown them on each side a little)

Add the spinach, white wine and parsley.  Let it simmer for 5-8 minutes…

Toss with noodles and enjoy! 

Pizza Pizza!

I love love love making pizza!  Especially with Trader Joe’s Whole Wheat Pizza Dough that gets sooooo crispy in the oven!

For awhile, I have wanted to cook eggs on pizza and I finally got the chance to!  My friends and I had a fun roommate dinner date, where we all cooked various things.  My friend AND roommate both claim they are terrible cooks but everything they make always tastes great! 🙂  We all contributed and it was delicious.

I love making pizza because I get to be creative and put whatever I want on it.  Plus, I get to control how much cheese is on it! 🙂  My favorite is to load my pizza with broccoli, tomatoes, artichoke hearts and basil.  This time, we used a combination of arugula, spinach, tomatoes, goat cheese and eggs.

Basil Base

Arugula and Spinach

We found it best to cook the pizzas until they were almost done, then crack the eggs, and cook them for another 7-9 minutes.

cracking the eggs

Cooked Pizza #1

Pizza #2!  So crispy 🙂 🙂

This pizza was so good.  I think eggs have become a staple topping on my pizzas!  With all these ingredients, we had whole grains, veggies and protein… healthy right?  Check out the delicious feast we had!

Arugula and Goat Cheese Quesadillas

Prune and Walnuts with goat cheese and strawbs 🙂

Garbanzo Bean Salad

Chow down!

Couscous Patties

Lehka Hlava’s couscous patties

In Prague, I had one of the top 10 best meals of my life.  Yes, it’s a bold statement, but yes, it is true.  Unfortunately the service was not the best, but the FOOD was unreal.  We ate at Lehka Hlava, a vegetarian restaurant in Prague.  I started my lunch with eggplant tartare which came with arugula and delicious nutty, seeded bread.

My main course was couscous patties with feta cheese, sun-dried tomatoes and celery, served on a bed of lettuce and with a spicy soy dip.  And of course, I accompanied this scrumptuous meal with a nice cabernet.

I couldn’t wait to try to recreate this meal.  The eggplant tartare will come soon, but I attempted to make couscous patties.  I used different ingredients than  Lehka Hlava’s, but I did a version of my own with the ingredients I had.

Whole Wheat Couscous Patties
Makes 10 medium sized patties
1 cup whole wheat couscous
1 cup water
1/2 large eggplant
3-4 small bell peppers
2 cloves of garlic
1 tbsp cumin
3 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp basil
6 tsp plain greek nonfat yogurt

cute baby peppers!

Directions
1.  Place the couscous in a bowl and pour 1 cup of boiling water. Close the lid and let it sit aside for about 10 minutes or until all the water has been absorbed.

2. In a skillet, add 1 tsp of oil and fry the eggplant until soft and golden. Place aside

3. Use 1 tsp oil to cook the onions and peppers.  Cooking them separately helps them cook properly

4. In a big bowl, combine the couscous, eggplant, onions, peppers.  Add the rest of the ingredients and mix it up well!

5.  Shape them into patties and refrigerate for 15 minutes

6.  Since all the ingredients are already cooked, you can eat them as is, or you can bake them for a little to give them a little crisp.  (I baked them at 400 degrees for about 8 minutes)

There were a lot of patties so I individually wrapped a few in plastic wrap to save for lunch!  Also, I recommend adding more spices, onions and perhaps using non-greek yogurt.  I think they would have been a little less dry.  But I served them to my friends with a few dips from the local farmer’s market, and it was delicious!

Quinoa-stuffed Bell peppers

Work has been busy, so it has been hard to keep up to date here, but thankfully, I got the chance to go home last weekend and recharge.  Since I have been on such a quinoa kick, I decided to make some for my family.  Along with my mom’s phenomenal ribs, I made a side of stuffed bell peppers!

They turned out very pretty, making for great appetizers for parties.  Due to the baking of the peppers, the quinoa was a little toasty on top and we loved it.  I was pleasantly surprised!  Quinoa is very healthy for you and is considered a whole grain.  I chose to try the peppers with tomato and basil quinoa.

Tomato Basil Quinoa
makes 3 bell peppers (6 halves)

Ingredients

• ½ onion, chopped
• 4 green onions, chopped
• 1 c quinoa
• 2 c water or vegetable broth
• Handful of basil (we added a lot due to my dad’s love for basil)
• 3 tomatoes, chopped
• 3 bell peppers
• Goat cheese (we didn’t have any, but it would have been delicious!)

Directions:

1.  Chop up the onions and green onions and sautee until cooked

 2.  In the same pan as the onions, cook the quinoa with water or vegetable broth, according to instructions.  (If I use water, I add a cube of chicken bouillon)

3.  While the quinoa is cooking, clean and shell out the seeds of the bell peppers.  

4.  Cook the peppers in a pot of boiling water for about 5 minutes.  This lessens the time that you have to bake them after.  After 5 minutes, set aside to cool.

5.  Chop up the tomatoes and basil.  Add to the cooked quinoa

Fresh Basil from Trader Joe’s

yummmm 🙂

6.  Once the quinoa is prepared, spoon and fill the peppers with the quinoa

filled with quinoa

7.  Cover with foil and bake for about 25-30 minutes

the quinoa gets a little toasted!

I had to show off my mom’s mouth-watering ribs!

Enjoy!