Special Suprise Delivery!!!

My good friend Dj has the kids today, so I was able to make a few errands (and also blog today - twice!!). As I waiting for them to be dropped off, I am surprised with a special surprise delivery. My good friend Nina (from that's what friends are for blog) had a bag of hot of the grill goodies dropped off to me (I love her). I even kissed the delivery man (my husband, lol) for such a special delivery. I opened the bag and it was two hot foiled wrapped hidden treasures. So like a kid, I hurried to open what was hidden inside. Whatever it was, the smells started to escape the bag and fill my nostrils with enchanting aromas that was blissful (yes, it was that serious). I finally open the bag, and.......

Grilled Tikka Chicken!!!

As I'm texting, I am eating and I must say these grilled tikki wings are grilled and seasoned to perfection. Thanks Nina! You did again

Moroccan Eggplant Salad

Have you ever look in your frig and see certain items you normally don't buy when you grocery shop, but at the time it looked so good you had to get? That's what happened to me when I bought 2 large eggplants last week. I like eggplant, I just don't cook it. When I was younger, I did try but it came out horrible. Since then I would just avoid buying or cooking it. However, a local moroccan restaurant makes this eggplant salad that is finger licking good - literally. See you eat the salad with you fingers or by scooping up with a homemade bread that is served with it. So I wanted to do something with these 2 large pretty eggplant (yes, they were pretty). I didn't want to parm it - too easy. Whatever I did, I wanted the flavors to tantalize my taste buds. The eggplant salad came into mind and I immediately attacked the frig. I looked online and found a recipe that had a list of ingredients of which I had at home. Great! The recipe was simple and I was finished in no time - less then an hour. Now, this salad can be served warm or cold. In the restaurant it was always served cold. However, last night the flavors were really good warm so I served it over some basmati rice that had a spring of rosemary and flavored olive oil. This is one of those "I want a light with substance " type of meal. It was also good the next day spread over an organic rosemary boule bread for breakfast. You should try it yourself, here's the recipe:

Moroccan Zaalouk Recipe - Cooked Eggplant and Tomato Salad

Serves four to six. Serve with crusty bread to scoop up the salad.

• 1 large eggplant - peeled and chopped
• 4 large tomatoes - peeled and chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
• ¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
• ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley
• 1 tbsp paprika
• 1 tbsp ground cumin
• 1½ tsp salt
• hot paprika or ground red pepper, to taste (optional)
• ¼ cup olive oil
• ¼ cup water
• small 1" wedge of lemon (optional)

Directions:

1. Place all ingredients -- except the lemon wedge -- in a 10” or 12” skillet or pot and mix.Don’t be alarmed by the quantity; the vegetables will reduce as they cook.
2. Cover the pot and bring to a fast simmer over medium-high heat. Cook, covered, for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the eggplant and tomatoes are very tender.
3. Mash the cooked eggplant and tomatoes with a potato masher or large spoon. If desired, add the wedge of lemon.
4. Continue cooking -- now uncovered -- to reduce the liquids; this could take another half hour or more. Stir frequently, and adjust the heat as necessary to avoid burning.
5. Remove the pan from the heat when the liquids are reduced to oils and the zaalouk forms a mass that can be stirred away from the sides of the pan. Adjust the seasoning as desired.
6. Serve either warm or cold. If desired, drizzle additional olive oil on the salad as a garnish.

Click here for recipe site. Enjoy!!

Dal Atta Noodles in a Spicy Coconut Curry Broth

Today was a noodle bowl aka noodle soup. I wanted something spicy too, so I thought I was gonna just cook another one of my staples - Rice Noodle Soup Bowl from Trader Joes. To my recollection I was all out. I've learned while pregnant, always have a backup that is close (in tasting) to whatever it is you are craving. I realized I had some Maggi Dal Atta Noodles that I could be creative with. I like these noodles because they provide 5 grams of fiber and 8 grams of protien in a serving which is great! I don't use the season packets; one reason being they are full of sodium and I like to flavor to my liking. I made a coconut curry broth to go along with the noodles. Yumm-O as Rachel Ray would say. Here's the ingredients:

Dal Atta Noodles in a Coconut Curry Broth

1 pack of Maggi Dal Atta Noodles
1 clove of crush garlic
1/2 cup of coconut milk
3 cup of water
2 tablespoons of Dal Curry Seasoning
1 tablespoon of fresh chopped cilantro
1/2 teaspoon of asian chile paste (optional if you want a nice kick of spice)
Chopped green onion to garnish
Salt to taste

Add garlic, water, coconut milk, dal curry seasoning, cilantro and asian chile paste into a pot and bring to a boil on a medium - high heat. Once its starts to boil add noodles to pot and turn heat to low and cover pot. Let cook for 2 minutes and stir and turn off heat. Place the lid back on the pot and allow to sit for 2 minutes. Garnish with green onion and serve.

CHICKPEA & BASMATI RICE FALAFEL

Now that I am in my second trimester I can eat and cook too! YAY! Anywho, I had a taste for falafels after watching Throwdown with Bobby Flay:

I wasn't able to get to my falafel joint (the Falafel truck in Center City), so I had to do something and something fast. This baby was really wanting a good falafel. So I decided to do my own version of a crispy on the outside fluffy on the inside falafel. I had the ingredients and just needed the energy to do it.

After a couple of days of the chickpea craving not subsiding, I finally moved to my lab and got started. I had some basmati & wild rice left from a previous dinner. I then had an light bulb moment - put the rice mixture (which also had red peppers, onions and mushrooms in it too) into the chickpea mixture. Now the falafel mix I made was from scratch using the following ingredients:

1 medium onion
3 cloves of garlic
15 oz of organic chickpeas (drained)
1/4 cup of fresh organic parsley
1/4 cup of fresh organic cilantro
1 1/2 cup of toast bread crumbs (I made my own from some spelt bread I had left over)
Salt and cayenne pepper to taste
1/2 cup of the rice mixture

Put everything in a food processor and pulse for about 20 seconds. If its not sticking add a little a teaspoon of flour followed by a 2 tablespoon of water. You want the consistency to firm and sticky enough to hold a form. Form into ball or patty and fry in 2 inches of oil.

Now traditionally falafels are made into balls and fried, but I made mines into patties so it was easier to put into a wheat tortilla or burger bun.

I topped my sandwich with organic tomato, fresh organic cilantro, and organic green onions with some mustard and garlic mayo*. Sooooooooo good


*Garlic Mayo
Mayo ( I use Veganaise)
2 cloves of fresh crushed garlic
1/8 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
pinch of salt.

Mix and and enjoy. You can always add more cayenne for more of a kick.

Did someone say, LASAGNA!!!!!!!

Just a few weeks ago, I had a craving for some lasagna. I am known for making a really good lasagna, especially vegetarian style lasagna(meat-lovers never know its not real meat). But this time I did add a little chicken to it. I used a product from Trader Joes called Chicken Serenada which is so flavorful. I also used fresh lasagna noodles to give the dish a tenderness that has everyone screaming for seconds, and thirds.

Fresh Lasagna Noodles or Egg Noodle Sheets
2 jars of your favorite spaghetti sauce
1 package of Trader Joes Chicken Serenada (you can substitute with a marinated grilled/broiled chicken breast)
1 bag of frozen organic whole leaf spinach (if you can't find organic, then use non organic)
4 cloves of garlic (crushed)
16 oz ricotta cheese
2 cups of shredded mozzarella, Gruyere and sharp cheddar cheese
2 cups of soy crumbled "meat"

I took the container of ricotta cheese, spinach, garlic, and chicken serenada and placed in the food processor and pulsed for until the chicken was minced into the cheese mixture. You can season with salt and pepper if you think its needed. You can warm up spaghetti sauce and add soy crumbled meat and season to your liking. Since the noodles are fresh you will not have boil because they will bake in the oven and trust me, it will be tender.

Now for assembly! In a 9x13 inch pan start with your sauce, then your lasagna noodles, next is the ricotta cheese mixture, noodles, sauce and sprinkle 1/2 cup of shredded cheese, and keep repeating until you reach the top of the brim which is going to end with noodle, sauce and remaining shredded cheese. Bake for 45 minutes and turn oven off and take out of oven and allow to stand for 10-15 minutes.

Enjoy!!

Take a look at the finishing touches:

Spiced Sea Scallops & Shrimp Gyoza

Last night was a great experience in my lab (the kitchen). I initially wanted a rice noodle soup with viggies and gyozas (thai dumplings). That obviously changed. Instead, I took some sea scallops I had from Wholefoods and sliced them in half giving me about 8 scallops (I had 4 scallops to start with). I rubbed them with an indian spice mixture for fish (*Shan Fish Seasoning) and some extra virgin olive oil and allowed them to sit while I made everything else.

I then started on the spinach sauce which consist of Organic frozen spinach(wholefood 365 Brand) that were blanched in about 1/2 cup of water. I added the spinach and liquid to the blender with 2 chopped onions, 2 tablespoons of minced garlic, ground cardamom, Shans Curry Dal seasoning, non-dairy cream cheese (Tofutti Brand), coconut milk (1 can), kosher salt to taste and a pinch of REAL cayenne pepper. Blend for a few seconds and - BAM!

Once the sauce was done, I fried the shrimp gyoza's from Trader Joes (which is one of my absolute favorite thing to eat, seriously). Once they were almost done, I then started to heat up my pan and added a little olive oil and seared the scallops to get a nice color without overcooking, and Viola! A beautiful dinner and tasty sauce.

Braised Fried Turkey Wings

I wanted to try something new and different. I braised some turkey wings(just the wing with tip parts) last night in a jerk spice sauce. I actually braised them in the pressure cooker which only took 30 minutes (I will introduce you to my Pressure Cooker at a later but sooner date). I place them in the frig because I changed my mind on dinner. But today, had a hmmmmm moment. What if I took those braised turkey wings out the frig, and light coat them with a spiced (not spicy) flour and fry them to brown (didn't take long since they were already cooked).

Hmmmmmm.....

So, I did it. I must say, they were very tasty. Tender from the braising, and a nice crispy on the outside. And the flavors were PERFECT!

I also put together some garlic roasted broccoli which was easy, fast, tasty and healthy too. I just used some frozen organic broccoli, lemon-pepper sea salt, evoo (extra virgin olive oil), a tablespoon of crushed garlic and finish with a tablespoon of butter. Put in the the oven on 400 degrees for about 10 minutes. Yummy! With a lil crunch to it too.
You can sprinkle a lil cheese on it too if you like.

Well, that was dinner tonight. Quick, Tasty and Healthy.