Homemade Pitas and Hummus
Homemade pita bread with creamy lemon-garlic hummus is perfect for a tapas party!
Udon with Ponzu and Brown Butter Sauce
These udon noodles with ponzu and brown butter sauce are one of my favorite recent creations. It’s amazingly simple and takes almost no effort to throw together. There are certain words that I really don’t like to use to describe food; they’re overused and cliche. But sometimes, there’s just no other appropriate way to describe something. So I’m going to break one of my own unwritten rules and come out and say it – unctuous. That’s the only way that I can describe these fat, slippery noodles that are lightly coated in a buttery, citrusy sauce. The ponzu and brown butter sauce is incredibly rich and fills your mouth with a rounded flavor. Red peppers and green onions add color to the dish as well as pierce through the richness of the sauce to make the dish seem light on the palate. The noodles themselves are so rich that you don’t need much steak in this dish, but it does deserve a special mention. A quick marinade of sesame oil, ponzu, and ginger imparts tons of flavor. A quick kiss by a hot pan will cook the steak perfectly, making it so tender that you barely need to chew it. [….]
Mini Pineapple Upside Down Cakes
Life has been insane lately and I haven’t had the time or energy to post, but I couldn’t wait any longer to post these.
I hadn’t had pineapple upside down cake in forever. I actually kind of forgot that it existed! But a few months ago, a little pineapple upside down bundt cake at Panera caught my eye. i bought one and was happily surprised when the cakes were fully of crunchy little poppy seeds. I loved the texture that they gave the cake! I immediately knew that I wanted to recreate them at home.
These came out great! The pineapple reminds me of summer and makes even the dreariest winter day seem immediately tropical. The pineapple and brown sugar almost melts into the cake, which is moist and doughy with the great crunch. [….]
Daring Cooks: Pork Satay with Peanut Sauce
It seems like on the 13th of every month you can find me scrambling around in the kitchen rushing to finish the Daring Cooks challenge. I don’t know why I always procrastinate! I was especially excited for this month’s challenge too, so I really had no reason to put it off. You see, this month we made satay. Pork satay. Pork satay with Peanut Sauce. Yeah.
I love peanut sauce. Although I rarely order satay when we go out, I always consider it. All because I want that peanut sauce! Unfortunately, the chicken that they pair it with never seems worth it, and I wind up getting something else. But now, thanks to Daring Cooks, I can have peanut sauce whenever I want! I’ve tried to make it at home before, but it never came out right – it was always too sweet, and too thick. Apparently the trick is using coconut milk, lemon juice, and some random spices. The sauce is light and smooth, with a slightly sweet flavor and a little bit of spice at the end. Perfect. And the pork? So much better than chicken. Although if you don’t eat pork, I’m sure chicken would work just as well in this recipe. [….]
The Best of 2009
I don’t know about you, but after indulging so much over the holiday I’m more than ready to get back to eating healthy, nutritious foods. I’ve been cooking up a storm in the kitchen and have a few great new recipes to share with you. But first I thought it would be appropriate to reflect back on some of my favorite recipes from the past year. I’ve made more than a few great dishes since I got serious about blogging last winter and it seems like a shame to let them get lost in the archives.
So to help you start the New Year off on the right foot, here’s a roundup of some of the most crave-worthy recipes that have appeared on Healthy.Delicious. in 2009. This list certainly doesn’t represent all of my favorites (if I don’t absolutely love something that I make, I generally don’t post it) but they are some of the healthier recipes that I keep going back to and that you can realistically make during this time of the year. I had some fabulous recipes over the summer, but they just wouldn’t be the same without fresh, in-season produce.
Here’s to a great New Year full of healthy and delicious meals, good friends both new and old, and success in and out of the kitchen! If you had to pick one meal as your favorite of 2009, what would it be?
Vegan Dosas
Southwest Stuffed Acorn Squash
Egyptian Lentils with Yogurt-Marinated Chicken
Beef pho
Risotto with Crab and Lemon
Pumpkin polenta with chorizo
Spicy gumbo with andouille and bacon wrapped shrimp
Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Cranberries
San Francisco and the Foodbuzz Blogger Festival
WOW.
That’s all I can say. Thank you so much to Bertolli and Foodbuzz for this incredible experience! I had the best weekend – full of wonderful new friends, amazing opportunities, and delicious food. The entire weekend was surreal and I had a blast!!
The weekend was so jam-packed that I can’t even imagine trying to fit it all into one blog post. But since I really want to share the experience with you all, I’ll do my best. 🙂 This post is pretty heavy on the photos, but tons more can be found HERE.
Cooking Basics: Browned Chicken Stock
As the weather continues to cool down I find myself wanting soup more and more often. I think soup is just about as close as you can get to the perfect meal: warm, comforting, balanced and great for wither lunch or dinner (and in some cultures even for breakfast!). I usually make my soup with boxed stock, but nothing beats homemade soup made with homemade stock. This browned chicken stock is a great base for almost any soup – it’s richer than regular chicken stock, but the chicken flavor isn’t so overpowering that you can’t use it in a vegetable based soup too. I most recently used it in my Pho Ba, and it was wonderful. If you have a few hours one afternoon to let the ingredients simmer, you can easily make enough of this delicious stock to last you through a few pots of soup. Just divide it into smaller containers and freeze it – since you can cook it right from froze, you’ll be able to make a great homemade soup whenever you want. [….]