Pasta with Slow Roasted Tomatoes (2 ways)

I keep buying large amounts of cherry tomatoes and then forgetting about them until it's almost too late. To use up a bunch at once before they go bad, I've been slow roasting them by lining a baking tray with tin foil, halving the tomatoes, giving them a quick mix with olive oil and baking them at 250 for about 3 hours. I've been trying not to use the oven since it's been so hot, but I LOVE tomatoes after they've been slow roasted and it's way better than letting any tomatoes go to waste. Remember to keep the oil - it's good.

I can definitely go for some plain slow roasted tomatoes, but I wanted to share a couple pasta recipe ideas that make good use of them.

Gnocchi au Gorgonzola 

(aka one of my all-time favorite things to make since high school... not healthy)

1 package gnocchi, cooked

1/2 cup Gorgonzola (or blue cheese), cut up or crumbled

1/4 cup butter

1/4 cup heavy cream or half & half

a lot of slow roasted tomatoes (in their olive oil if possible)

1 tbsp chives, chopped

In a small saucepan over medium low heat, combine the cheese and butter and heat until the butter melts, stirring to help melt the cheese. Add the cream and stir to combine. Don't let it bubble too much. Mix with the gnocchi, tomatoes and top with chives.

Nice & Simple Pasta - Garlic, Basil & Tomatoes

2 servings angel hair pasta, cooked 

(pictured is fresh angel hair pasta from Ohio City Pasta, bought at the Squirrel Hill Farmer's Market)

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

3-4 cloves garlic, minced

6-7+ leaves fresh garlic, chopped

1 tsp red pepper flakes

lots of slow roasted tomatoes

In a large pan, heat up the oil over medium low heat. Add the garlic, basil and hot pepper flakes and cook until the garlic is toasted a little. Add in the pasta and mix. Serve with slow roasted tomatoes. 

Fresh Summer Salsa

We visited relatives that have a pool AND their own Wheaten terrier, so we had a pretty nice summer afternoon hanging out in the pool and watching the crazy dog cousins run a million laps around the water. Twilly is totally wiped out now and will probably nap for the rest of the day.

I decided to make my favorite summer recipe (or maybe #2 fav behind tomato pie?) for a post-pool snack. I usually make this all the time when I have a successful tomato growing summer, but my tomatoes were only in pots this year and got all dried out before producing many tomatoes. Good thing there are plenty of farmer's markets around with beautiful heirloom tomatoes.

1-2 nice tomatoes, chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 lime, juiced
2 mild or hot peppers, finely chopped (I used 1 banana pepper and 1 jalapeno from the farmer's market)
kernels from 1 or 2 ears of corn (uncooked)
1 handful cilantro, chopped
salt & pepper

Once everything is chopped up, combine it all in a bowl and mix well. Add salt and pepper to taste and add more lime as needed. Sometimes I add garlic if I feel like it needs something else. And you can always add chopped fruit (peach, mango, watermelon, blueberries, grapes...) or avocado. It will keep for a few days in the fridge.

Peanut Butter Cookies

A couple years ago I posted some flourless peanut butter and chocolate/M&M cookies, and they've been at the top of my cookie baking rotation since then. I love how few ingredients the batter has, and they come out well every time. A couple months ago I started making another very similar peanut butter cookie from the same site, which has a ton of great peanut butter cookie recipes. I don't know if one is necessarily better than the other but it's definitely another good one! I don't normally make these ones with chocolate chips, but they're always an option.

Peanut Butter Cookies
From Averie Cooks

Note: Remember to allow for 2+ hours of chill time before baking.

1 large egg

1 cup creamy classic-style peanut butter or honey-roasted peanut butter 

3/4 cup light brown sugar, packed

1/4 cup granulated sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

Optional: chocolate chunks

In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients until smooth. Refrigerate the dough for at least 2 hours or up to a couple days.  When you're ready to bake, preheat the oven to 350. Use a tablespoon measuring spoon to make balls and arrange them on a baking sheet covered with a silicon baking mat, parchment paper or foil. If you want, place some chocolate chips or chunks on top. Bake for 8 minutes. They'll still be soft and should sit for at least 10 minutes.

Roasted Parmesan Green Beans

It's way too hot out to have the oven on at 400, but I went ahead and did it anyway to make these tasty parmesan-coated green beans with garlic mayo sauce. I actually made one smallish batch, finished them off, and then wanted more and still had leftover dip - so I turned the oven back on and make another round.

They are worth a even-hotter apartment. It looks like it's about to rain, so hopefully it will cool down soon!

Roasted Parmesan Green Beans with Dipping Sauce
From Buns in My Oven 

2 big handfuls green beans, rinsed & trimmed
1/4 cup or more Parmesan cheese, grated
1 tbsp olive oil
sea salt

1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1/2 tsp garlic powder

Preheat oven to 400. Line a baking sheet with foil or parchment paper. In a bowl, toss the green beans in olive oil and cheese. Spread them out on the baking sheet and sprinkle with a little sea salt. Roast for about 20-25 minutes, turning mid-way if you want. (I didn't.)

To make the dipping sauce, mix up the mayo, mustard and garlic powder in a small bowl or ramekin. I'm going to make it this way next time I make fries or chicken fingers - I've made a lot of mayo & mustard dips and never thought of adding garlic powder. It's very good. :)

Watermelon Rosemary Lemonade

Watermelon is my favorite fruit to make agua fresca - I usually just blend it up, maybe strain it and add lime juice. It's very refreshing and a pretty pink. This recipe was originally a boozy one with gin, but I've been drinking it booze-less for now. The boozy version adds 8 oz of gin.

Watermelon Rosemary Lemonade
Adapted from a recipe on Food 52

1/2 of a medium-sized watermelon, cut into big cubes
5-6 lemons, juiced
2 sprigs rosemary
1/2 cup sugar + 1/2 cup water

Blend the watermelon in a blender, juicer or food processor until completely blended. You don't have to strain watermelon juice, but I normally do - sometimes I leave in a little pulp but not all of it. I got about 4 cups of strained juice from half a medium watermelon.

In a small saucepan over medium low heat, melt the sugar in the water, with the rosemary sprigs. Once the sugar is melted, put the lid on the saucepan and let the rosemary infuse the simple syrup for at least 15 minutes, an hour or more if possible.

In a pitcher, mix the watermelon juice with the lemon juice and rosemary syrup. Either chill it in the fridge until cold or serve it immediately with ice. If you want, throw in rosemary and lemon slices.

Queso Dip

There are tons of variations on queso dip - here's the one I usually make if I'm not doing the slightly less classy but very delicious Velvetta and salsa version! If you want to mix it up, you can add corn, black beans, chopped jalapeños or different types of salsa or hot sauce.

Queso Dip

5 oz cream cheese, chopped into 1" pieces

1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded (pretty much any mild cheese will be good)

1/4 cup tomatillo salsa

1/4 cup milk

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp veg oil

In a medium saucepan, fry up the garlic and cumin in the vegetable oil until fragrant. Drop in the cream cheese and let it soften a little before adding in the cheese, salsa and milk. Keep stirring until it's all integrated and smooth. I keep mine pretty thick but you can add more milk or salsa to thin it out.

I don't usually top it with anything, but you can see in the picture that this time I spooned some more salsa and a few roasted cherry tomatoes on top. You can also throw some cilantro on there, 

Potluck-Ready Pasta Salad

Back when I was in AmeriCorps we had potlucks ALL THE TIME. People were pretty serious about them, too. Since then, I've learned that potlucks are not quite so frequent in your average office environment. However, we did have a potluck recently when our group of AmeriCorps members finished their one-year term. I made this almost-store-bought pasta salad after work the day before. 

This is pretty much a combo of a few things I picked up at Trader Joe's, so I'll write it up as I made it. Obviously, this is not sponsored by Trader Joe's. I wish!!

Potluck-Ready Pasta Salad

1 bag vegetable radiatore pasta (the multi-colored spiral-y one)

1 container pre-cut Healthy 8 chopped vegetable mix (or do the chopping yourself: red and green cabbages, carrots, broccoli, jicama, bell peppers, radishes and celery)

1 container crumbled feta

1 small can sliced black olives

1/3 cup red wine vinegar

2 tsp lemon juice

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

2-3 tsp dried oregano

1 tbsp fresh dill, chopped

1/3 cup olive oil

Combine the pasta, veggies, feta and olives in a large bowl. In a separate small bowl, mix together the vinegar, lemon juice, garlic, oregano, dill and olive oil. Pour over the pasta and mix well.

Chickpea + Avocado Hummus

The addition of avocado is a fun twist for a simple, quick homemade hummus. I got the recipe from Joy the Baker, whose baked goods are AMAZING along with everything else on her blog.

I ate most of the hummus with pita chips and fresh veggies, like the snap peas from my garden, but I also made a really good pita sandwich with chicken (with lettuce that's also from my garden!). 

AVOCADO HUMMUS

1 can (15 oz) chickpeas

2 ripe avocados

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

 1 1/2 tbsp tahini

2 cloves garlic

salt & pepper

Blend everything in a food processor until as smooth as you like - I like it to stay a little bit chunky for texture but some people like a very smooth hummus. 

Cauliflower Pineapple Curry

I wanted to make the cauliflower rice with mango that Michelle posted earlier this month, but I only had the cauliflower (and was tired) so I made this instead. It only takes a few minutes and is all done on the stovetop, so no heating up the oven. Now I need to buy another head of cauliflower so I can make Michelle's recipe!

Quick Cauliflower & Pineapple Curry

1 head cauliflower, chopped
1 cup fresh pineapple, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tbsp red curry paste
1 tbsp heavy cream (optional)
1/2 cup green onions, chopped

Heat a little oil in a skillet over medium heat. Cook the cauliflower for about 5-7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and pineapple and cook for another couple minutes, stirring until the garlic is fragrant and only slightly toasted. Add the curry paste and mix until it coats everything. If using, add a little heavy cream (or half & half) and stir. Cook for another minute or so and add the green onions.

Kind of Cuban Sandwich

I've been vaguely craving a Cuban sandwich since I saw Chef, the Jon Favreau movie with the Cuban food truck (which is on Netflix Instant now!), a few months ago. Such a cute movie! I kept expecting something terrible to happen with the kid, but (spoiler alert?) everyone just keeps getting happier and eats delicious-looking meat.

Making this sandwich reminded me of the Croque Monsieur I posted a while ago - I need to make that again!! It was pretty simple and very very good.

Kind of Cuban Sandwich

Makes 1 sandwich, multiply for more

1 roll of bun (It should be crispy outside, soft inside. I used both ends of a loaf of ciabatta for this one.)

3 slices pork (I had roasted a pork tenderloin)

2 slices turkey

2 slices dill pickle

2 slices provolone cheese

1 tsp yellow mustard

Spread yellow mustard on the inside of the bread. Layer on the pork, turkey, pickles and cheese. Then either use a panini press or grill in an oiled skillet by placing something heavy on top - I used a bigger cast iron skillet and a smaller on top. 

Burrito Bowl

On my way home I was really tempted to go to Chipotle but I stopped myself because 1.) Chipotle is kind of expensive and I've been eating out more than usual and 2.) I might as well make that stuff at home. I thought about making a copycat version of their burrito bowl, but I ended up making my own simple version that's more like a normal-ish salad, mostly by cutting out the cilantro rice and adding a scrambled egg.

Burrito Bowl

Serves 1

Handful of salad greens (I used baby kale)

1 chicken thigh

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp veg oil

1/4 cup cilantro leaves, rough chopped

1/2 avocado, cut up

1/4 cup pinto beans

1/4 cup mozzarella cheese, shedded

1 egg, scrambled

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 tbsp salsa or hot sauce (I used Trader Joe's Hatch Valley Salsa)

Maybe a squeeze of lime?

Season both sides of the chicken thigh with the cumin, garlic powder, chili powder and salt. Saute the chicken thigh in the oil over medium high heat for a few minutes, until cooked through. Cut it into bitesize pieces.

Combine the salad greens, cilantro, avocado, pinto beans, cheese, scrambled egg, black pepper and salsa. 

Banana Chocolate Buttermilk Pancakes

I made these for a quick weekday dinner the other night and they were perfect, just what I wanted to eat right then. I've been working a lot of evenings lately so I come home, feeling like I've worked a full day, and then I need to go back out for another hour or so - I need something to pick me back up. Since I was making them just for myself, I ate half the batch for dinner and the other half for breakfast the next morning.

Banana Chocolate Buttermilk Pancakes

Adapted from Inspired Taste

Makes 6-7 smallish pancakes

1 cup flour

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp baking powder

pinch salt

1 cup buttermilk

1 egg

3 tbsp butter, melted

1 ripe banana, mashed

1/3 cup chocolate chips

Baked Brie with Oats & Apple Topping

This is basically a quick version of baked brie + apple crisp! I was very impressed with this idea, and it makes a great snack.

Baked Brie

Adapted from Half Baked Harvest

16 oz brie (1 round or a couple wedges)

1 cup oats

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1 cup pecans (or pecan pieces)

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 apple, cut into 1" pieces

Preheat the oven to 350 and butter a baking dish or cast iron skillet. In a bowl, combine the oats, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, pecans and butter. Mix in the apples. Place the brie in the skillet and top with the oats mixture. Bake for about 20 minutes or until the apples are softened and the topping is a little browned. Serve with crackers or just eat with a spoon.

Flourless Extra-Fudgy Brownies

For my sister's birthday a couple weeks ago I got her a cookbook called Flourless: Recipes for Naturally Gluten-free Desserts. This afternoon I made the first recipe from it, and so far I am very impressed - the Double Chocolate Brownies are probably my favorite brownies I've ever had, much less baked myself. For me, a perfect brownie = crisp on the outside + moist on the inside + lots of chocolate flavor. These ones fit the bill.

Double Chocolate Brownies
From Flourless: Recipes for Naturally Gluten-free Desserts by Nicole Spiridakis

5 oz semisweet chocolate
1/2 cup butter
1 1/4 cups dark brown sugar
3 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Baked Chicken Tenders

Even though it's definitely not a big, dramatic story, one of my family's most-mentioned vacation memories is from our first trip to Prince Edward Island, when my sister and I were both in elementary school.

My dad found out about a lobster supper going on at a nearby church, so we all went for dinner one night. He was all excited about it because he liked to hang out with locals and generally stick to "off the beaten path" experiences on our trips. When we got there and saw the menu, the only options were a big lobster supper, with lobsters fresh from the local fishermen, and dino-shaped chicken nuggets.. and my sister and I both opted for the nuggets.

Fortunately we went to the eastern coast of Canada almost every summer, and I had many more opportunities for great lobster suppers! Pretty much ever since that trip, I would always go for the lobster given the choice, especially when they're caught right by where I'm staying, no matter how dinosaur-shaped the other option might be.

(Another related vacation story from around the same age: the time when we were at a diner and I ordered a BLT without the bacon or lettuce...)

That said, I also love chicken tenders (although not nuggets so much anymore) and get cravings for them every once a while! This recipe is a good quick one when a craving comes around.

Baked Chicken Tenders
Adapted from Natasha's Kitchen

6-7 chicken tenderloins or about 3 breasts cut into 1" strips
salt & pepper
1/4 cup Dijon mustard
1/4 cup mayonnaise
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups panko (+ 1/2 cup if necessary)

Honey mustard sauce:
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup mustard
1/4 cup mayonnaise

Fig & Balsamic Pork Tenderloin

I've had my eye on this recipe for a few months - I usually have Trader Joe's fig butter and balsamic vinegar on hand but I hadn't bought the pork. Finally I had all of the ingredients on this nice, short ingredient list on hand so it was time to try it out. I really appreciate recipes like this that have a lot of flavor but include just a few interesting ingredients and are short on prep time. 

Fig & Balsamic Pork Tenderloin

From Skinnytaste

1 pork tenderloin

salt & seasoning to taste (a little garlic powder or a spice mix, nothing too strong)
1 1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp fig butter
(optional) chopped parsley for garnish

Mote Pillo (Hominy Scramble)

Michelle's Vegetarian Tortilla Soup recipe, which includes hominy, reminded of this Ecuadorian dish, mote pillo, so the next time I was at Giant Eagle, I picked up a big can of hominy. I've made the mote pillo, now I've got to make the tortilla soup.

Twilly's dreaming of Ecuador

Mote Pillo

From Laylita's Recipes

Adapted to serve 2 for a small breakfast or side

1 tsp butter
1/4 tsp ground achiote (you could probably sub paprika (normal, not smoked)?)
1/2 onion (or leek), diced
salt & pepper
1/2 lb hominy (I used canned)
2 tbsp milk
2 eggs, whisked
1 tbsp chopped green onions or chives

Favorite Roasted Potatoes

Roasted potatoes don't require a recipe, but I wanted to post them because it's my favorite winter side dish. My favorite way to prepare it is with equal parts butter and olive oil along with salt and pepper, fresh herbs and heads of garlic. I've used pretty much every variety in the store, including fingerlings and sweet potatoes. 

I like to mix them up so some are facing down and some are facing up so they end up different levels of crispiness. I bake them for at least 30 minutes at 400, sometimes more. I either roast them in a cast iron skillet or a foil-lined dish. 

Even if you're not usually a garlic person, you should try roasted garlic if you haven't already!

Cheesy Jalapeños

These are like those fried jalapeño poppers but homemade and better. I made them gluten-free for Linda by using cornmeal for the breading.

The recipe that these are pretty loosely based on calls for cutting a slit in each jalapeño and actually stuffing them with the cheesy filling but the first time I made these I didn't read the directions and had sliced all but one in half before I saw that. So I did the last one the "right" way, but I liked the halved ones better.

Cheesy Jalapeños

Adapted from Epicurious (from a 2008 recipe from Gourmet)

8 fresh jalapeños

1 cup cheese, shredded (I used gouda the first time, mozzarella the second, both good.)

1/2 cup cream cheese

1/2 tsp paprika

1 egg, beaten

1/2 cup cornmeal

2 tsp oregano

1/4 cup frying oil (veg or safflower)

Hot & Sour Soup

I am very much in agreement with Michelle - I've been making soup almost every day this week. This one is Martha Stewart's hot & sour soup - I was actually really sure I had already posted this because I've been making it since college, but it looks like I haven't. Usually I do include the tofu, but this time I didn't have any, and it was way too cold to go out and get some.

HOT & SOUR SOUP
From Martha Stewart

3 cups chicken broth
2 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
4 cups fresh mushrooms, thinly sliced (I usually use button but the original recipe calls for shiitake)
4 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tbsp corn starch
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cup tofu, cubed
2 tbsp freshly grated ginger
4 green onions, thinly sliced