This weekend my friends and I organized a “Friendsgiving” where we each brought our own dish. I decided to make my classic chicken and pearl couscous recipe which was definitely a hit and also brought along pumpkin pastry twists. The original chicken and pearl couscous recipe came from Martha Stewart’s Living magazine years ago and is both healthy and delicious–it’s one of our family favorites. I’ve adjusted it a bit and the ingredients are listed below.
Note: if you are lucky enough to have leftovers, it’s even better the next day.
Pumpkin Pastry Twists
For dessert I made Pumpkin Pastry Twists using the ingredients listed below–along with these simple instructions.
First, preheat the oven to 425 degrees and line a baking sheet. Whisk together the brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt. Then on a smooth, workable surface, unfold or unroll your puff pastry until it’s laid out evenly. Spread the pumpkin puree even across all of the puff pastry. Sprinkle on the brown sugar mixture until the pumpkin is well covered. Cut your puff pastry into thin strips. Grab the ends of one strip and start twisting the pastry then lay the twisted strip on your prepared parchment paper and repeat with the remaining strips. Bake the pastries for 15-20 minutes and sprinkle them with powdered sugar. These twists are so easy but look impressive (and taste delicious) so I definitely recommend them.
Tonight I wanted to be really healthy and make an utterly non-meat dinner for the family. I researched a bunch of recipes and found one that seemed like it might even satisfy my dad (he likes veggies but also thinks meat should be meat.) I found this recipe at itdoesnttastelikechicken.com and despite my dad’s skepticism, I think he ate more of this than anyone else! Here are the ingredients for the Shredded Tofu:
For the cabbage slaw: just toss shredded red and green cabbage, sliced carrots, and a bit of mayonnaise to taste.
First, drain the tofu and shred it using a cheese grater, you don’t have to press the tofu because the water will dry off in the oven. Mix the oil, soy sauce, chili powder, smoked paprika, and garlic powder in a large bowl then add and coat the shredded tofu with the seasonings. Spread the tofu evenly on a pan with oil or parchment paper. Bake for about 30 minutes, stirring the tofu halfway through, until the tofu is browned. Heat the BBQ sauce and water in a pan, and then stir in the baked tofu. Heat the BBQ sauce and water in a pan, and then stir in the baked tofu. For the cabbage slaw: just toss shredded red and green cabbage, sliced carrots, and a bit of mayonnaise to taste (definitely add salt and pepper).
I served the bbq tofu on a bun with cabbage slaw and a side of warm corn salad + a simple green salad.
For the warm corn salad, I sautéed corn with butter, chopped red onion, cherry tomatoes, and chopped red pepper (add cumin if you want a bit more flavor). And for the green salad, I tossed romaine lettuce, avocados, and tomatoes (but add whatever else you feel like).
Plating this was fun because there were so many bright colors, and the tastes were just as bright!
For desert I made low sugar, fluffy chocolate chip muffins. I made an adjusted version of this recipe.
The ingredients are: 1½ cups all-purpose flour, ¼ cup sifted cocoa powder, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon baking soda, ¼ teaspoon salt, 1 cup whole-milk plain yogurt, ⅓ cup maple syrup 2 eggs, ¼ cup unsalted butter (melted and cooled), 2 teaspoons vanilla extract, ½ cup chocolate chocolate chips (I used mini ones).
Start by setting the oven to 375 degrees and greasing a muffin pan. Stir together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and once combined add the yogurt, maple syrup, eggs, butter, and vanilla. Gently fold together and finally add the chocolate chips. Pour the batter into the muffin pan and bake for about 15 min. Let cool and enjoy!
These were honestly perfect because they aren’t overwhelmingly sweet and are made with whole, healthy, ingredients. They just disappeared too fast!
Today for lunch I wanted to make something healthy and light–but still tasty. I found a couple recipes for frittatas, including epicurious’s Fresh Corn Frittata with Smoked Mozarella and heynutritionlady’s Vegetarian Frittata with Corn and Tomatoes. Based on those two recipes I came up with my own version. Frittatas are pretty forgiving so if you don’t like a particular ingredient — or don’t have it, you can always substitute. For example, feta would be a good substitute for the cheese I used. In any event, here are the ingredients I used:
The first step is to preheat your oven to 350 Degrees. Then prep all your vegetables.
Next, heat the olive oil in a large oven-proof skillet and cook till translucent (about 5 minutes), stirring frequently. Add the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds (do not let brown).
Then add the corn kernels, stir in and let cook for about 4 minutes, stirring once or twice. Add in the tomatoes and cook until starting to soften.
Whisk the eggs, add the milk, salt, and pepper, and 1/2 of the cheese, and chopped basil. Use a spatula to even out and gently lift the corn and tomatoes up. Let cook for 3-5 minutes on low heat until eggs begin to set. Sprinkle the top of the frittata with the remaining cheese. You can also add additional parmesan cheese if you like.
Place the frittata in the preheated oven. Bake for 5 minutes and then switch to the broil setting. Broil the frittata for about 5 more minutes, but watch as you don’t want it to get too brown. The frittata is done when it’s nicely browned and only jiggles a little. (If you don’t want to risk burning it with the broiler, you can just bake it for an additional 5-7 minutes but it won’t puff up as much.)Let cool for a few minutes before serving–garnish with extra basil, avocado, cheese…and whatever else you feel like.
Brown Butter Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies
For dessert I made Brown Butter Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies from HandleTheHeat. This was the first time I’ve ever used brown butter in cookies and I won’t be going back. Not only did it completely elevate the taste but it also made the kitchen smell like caramel. For these cookies you will need 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, 1.5 cups flour, .25 teaspoon salt, .5 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, .25 teaspoon ground ginger, .25 teaspoon nutmeg, .125 teaspoon cloves, .75 cup white sugar, .25 cup light brown sugar, 1 egg yolk, 1 teaspoon vanilla extract, .3 cup pumpkin puree, and .75 cup (or more!) semisweet chocolate chips
First you brown the butter by melting it over medium heat, swirling occasionally until brown bits form at the bottom. Then remove from heat and pour into a medium mixing bowl. Add the sugars to the hot butter and stir to combine. Let cool.
In a separate bowl mix the flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and cloves. Then egg yolk, pumpkin puree, and vanilla to the cooled butter mixture. Slowly add the flour mixture in until a soft dough forms. Then fold in the chocolate chips.
Chill the dough in the fridge until firm and place on the lined baking sheets. Bake for 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees, let cool and enjoy!
Tonight I wanted to try another of The New York Times one pan dish recommendations and found this easy recipe for shrimp and pearl couscous with harissa. Harissa, a hot chili pepper paste with herbs and spices from northern Africa, is definitely the key ingredient for the dish and because it can be very spicy, I suggest going easy the first time you try the recipe. I also made sure to buy sustainable shrimp from Fresh Direct!
The recipe (with my modifications) is below:
For dessert, I needed something comforting (and cooling for my taste buds!) We had a couple of ripe bananas so I decided to make banana bars from an adjusted a recipe from WellPlated. They were surprisingly easy and disappeared very quickly.
Preheat the oven to 350° and line a 8×8 pan with parchment paper. Mash the bananas and make sure this is exactly a cup. Stir in the sugar, cooled butter, milk, egg, and vanilla. Then in a different bowl mix the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt). Next, add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and combine. Lastly, add in the chocolate chips and pour the batter into the baking pan. Bake for 15- 20 minutes then cut into squares and enjoy!
