Erica

Simple Guacamole

November 13, 2012 by Erica

Guacamole makes everything better, don’t you think?

Chips. Tacos. Spoons. Tuesdays. All made tastier by mashed-up avocado goodness.

As for this post, I’m not so sure it’s a “recipe.” It’s really just… the way I make guacamole.

Everyone has the guac ingredients and method they swear by. Salsa vs. tomatoes, chunky vs. smooth, food processor vs. fork, avocado pit in the bowl or not… these could all become heated debates. I think I learned to make it this way from my mom. And you just don’t mess with Mom’s recipes! They are time-tested and Dad-approved.

(Although Mom now informs me that she adds cumin and cayenne to hers. Sorry Mom – I messed with it!)

There are only a few ingredients in my guac, which makes it ideal for whipping up quickly before a party. Or do what we did last Sunday night and scoop some on top of these chipotle sweet potato tacos from Naturally Ella!

5.0 from 2 reviews

Simple Guacamole

Hands-on time

10 mins

Total time

10 mins

Author: Erica

Yields: 6

Ingredients

4 ripe avocados
1 vine-ripened tomato, diced
¼ to ½ red onion, finely diced
juice of 1 to 2 limes
½ tsp salt plus more to taste

Instructions

Halve the avocados and scoop the flesh out into a large bowl. Mash quickly with a fork or potato masher, leaving some chunks.
Dice the tomato and onion and add to the bowl with the avocados. Depending on the size of the onion, I usually start with a quarter and see how that looks, then add a bit more if necessary.
Juice 1 lime over the bowl, sprinkle ½ tsp salt over, and stir to combine. Taste test, then add up to 1 more lime and another ½ tsp of salt to suit your tastes.
Serve with tortilla chips or however your prefer!

How do you like your guacamole?

Weekend + Gingery Peanut Soba Noodles

November 12, 2012 by Erica

Good morning. How was your weekend?

Mine was SNOWY.

We got over a foot of snow here in Salt Lake, and about 4 feet up in the mountains! That means skiing next weekend for sure. Hooray!

Friday night Nate and I braved the storm to go out for dinner at Sage’s Cafe, our favorite vegan restaurant (slash only vegan restaurant we’ve tried) in Salt Lake.

We ate so much food! We split the bruschetta to start. This is my entree, the picadillo vegetariano. It was delicious and full of spices – I will definitely be recreating it at home sometime soon. Nate got a pasta ragout special that was also yummy. And then we had dessert – brownie and ice cream with peanut sauce for me, chocolate raspberry cake for Nate. We should have split a dessert… mine put me over the edge!

It snowed pretty much the rest of the weekend, so I holed up inside and cooked and baked up a storm. So much fun! And also very tiring. But it means I have plenty of food to share with you this week! Luckily I did bundle up and make it to yoga and the gym, although it was still probably not enough activity to offset all the sampling I did while cooking :)

Speaking of cooking, let’s get to the recipe part of this post.

These noodles actually weren’t part of my weekend cooking extravaganza; I made them last Thursday night. Healthy, tasty, and ready in 20 minutes flat – if that’s not a recipe for weeknight success, I don’t know what is! They are my favorite thing to whip up when I get home in the dark after work and yoga and we have no leftovers and I am HUNGRY. And the best part is that while I’m at it, I get to use up any extra vegetables that are lurking in my crisper causing guilt.

There’s really no wrong way to make this dish. I usually aim to have about equal parts noodles and vegetables. You can throw any veggies you like in here, and even better if they are ones that often appear in Asian dishes (I happened to have broccoli, carrots, a red pepper, and some frozen edamame this week). You can also add cubed tofu in for protein, which I usually do but forgot this week. Roasted peanuts and green onions on top are also yummy if you have those lying around. But what reallllly makes this dish is the sauce! I love love love peanut sauce and could eat it on pretty much anything. Thank goodness Nate feels the same way!

5.0 from 1 reviews

Gingery Peanut Soba Noodles

Hands-on time

15 mins

Cook time

5 mins

Total time

20 mins

This perfect weeknight meal is healthy, tasty and ready in 20 minutes flat.

Author: Erica

Yields: 4

Ingredients

5 oz soba noodles
8 oz extra-firm tofu, cubed (optional)
Chopped vegetables - I used:
1 red bell pepper
2 carrots
2 crowns broccoli
1 cup frozen edamame
1 Tbsp reduced sodium tamari or soy sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
Sauce:
1 knob ginger, chopped or grated (about 2 Tbsp)
1/2 cup peanut butter
2 Tbsp rice wine
1/3 cup reduced sodium tamari or soy sauce
1/3 cup warm water
2 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp honey
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
chopped fresh cilantro for sprinkling

Instructions

First, prep the vegetables, ginger and optional tofu. (If I don't do this first, I tend to let the noodles cook too long.)
Next, heat water for the soba noodles. Once boiling, add noodles and remove from heat. Let soak for several minutes, until tender but not mushy. This really takes almost no time at all, so keep a close eye on them! Strain and rinse in cold water, then set aside.
Heat a large pan over medium-high heat. Once hot, add vegetables and saute for 2-3 minutes. Stir in tamari, sesame oil, and optional tofu and continue sauteing a few more minutes until tofu is heated through and veggies are slightly softened.
While vegetables are sauteing, mix the peanut sauce. Add all sauce ingredients (ginger through red pepper flakes) to a small bowl and (ideally) blend with an immersion blender. Whisking will also work fine - just make sure to chop the ginger as finely as possible beforehand.
To serve, divide soba noodles among individual bowls. Add vegetables and top with peanut sauce and cilantro. Enjoy with a big mug of green tea!

Notes

Peanut sauce from Eat, Live, Run http://www.eatliverun.com/peanut-soba-noodle-bowls/

Have a good start to your week!

Roasted Fall Veggie Pizza with Balsamic and Rosemary

November 9, 2012 by Erica

Do you have some homemade pizza dough handy?

Oh good. Because tonight is pizza night!

And we’re starting with:

Rosemary. There is so much rosemary in my life lately.

It might have something to do with the stuffed peppers I made a few weeks ago that required only a teaspoon of rosemary. Really any recipe that calls for dried herbs (because when can you ever use more than a tiny bit?) guarantees that the rest of the packet will rot in my fridge and make me feel guilty until I throw it out weeks later. (In case you’re wondering: I feel the same way about green onions, Thai chili peppers, lemon halves, cilantro… the list goes on.) Anyway, I’ve made it my personal mission to get through that packet of rosemary. Hence this lovely cake (total success because it not only called for a whole tablespoon of rosemary, but I used another sprig for garnish) and now this fall-inspired pizza.

This pizza isn’t overwhelmingly rosemary-y, but the flavors do go nicely together! And especially when drizzled with some extra balsamic reduction, it is yummmmmy. I may have had a slice or two for breakfast the other day.

Have a great Friday!

Roasted Fall Veggie Pizza with Rosemary and Balsamic

Makes 2 medium-sized pizzas

Ingredients:

4 cups cubed butternut squash (1/2 inch pieces) – 1 small or ½ medium butternut squash
2 parsnips, cubed (about 2 cups)
½ red onion, chopped
½ lb fresh spinach, rinsed

1 Tbsp finely chopped rosemary
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 ½ Tbsp olive oil, divided
1 Tbsp honey
2 Tbsp minced garlic (4 large cloves), divided
½ tsp black pepper

2 pizza doughs
cornmeal
balsamic reduction (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450.

In a small bowl, whisk together the rosemary, balsamic vinegar, 1 Tbsp olive oil, honey, 1 Tbsp garlic, and black pepper.

Add the chopped butternut squash, parsnips and red onion to a large bowl. Pour the dressing over and stir to coat.

Line a baking sheet with foil for easy clean-up. Spread out the vegetable mixture on the sheet and roast until tender but not mushy, about 25 minutes.

While the veggies are roasting, heat a large pan over medium-high heat. Add the remaining ½ Tbsp olive oil and saute the spinach until tender. Remove from heat.

Sprinkle cornmeal on two pizza sheets and stretch out dough on top. Brush with a bit of olive oil and sprinkle with the remaining garlic. Top with spinach and veggies when they are done roasting.

Bake pizza at 450 for 10-12 minutes, until crust is golden brown.

Drizzle with optional balsamic reduction. Slice and serve!

Whole Grain Pizza Dough

November 8, 2012 by Erica

This is my favorite pizza dough.

You can always buy pre-made pizza dough in a bag at the grocery store, but it just doesn’t taste as good. Plus your friends will be impressed when you serve them pizza on homemade crust! They don’t know how easy it is. Shhhhh. Don’t tell.

The first time I ever used spelt flour was in this pizza dough. I was making the original Eat, Live, Run recipe and realized I was out of all-purpose flour. Emergency! I went digging around in my cabinets and found an unopened bag of spelt flour I must have bought to try out a forgotten recipe. Well, I was doubtful, but in it went! And it turned out amazing, and I’ve made it that way ever since. Crisis averted! Anyway, if you have a favorite whole grain flour (or just have all-purpose flour in your pantry), you can definitely sub that in here.

This dough is nice and chewy and gets golden and a little crispy in a hot oven. Go make it right now, because tomorrow I’m posting a fall pizza recipe perfect for a Friday Pizza Night!

Whole Grain Pizza Dough

Adapted from Eat, Live, Run

Makes 2 medium-sized pizza doughs

Ingredients:

1 ⅓ cup warm water
1 packet yeast (¼th oz)
2 tsp sea salt
1 ¾ cups spelt flour (or all-purpose or another whole grain flour)
1 ½ cups whole wheat flour
2 tbsp olive oil

Directions:

Combine warm water and yeast in a large mixing bowl.

Stir in the salt and both types of flour. When the dough holds together, dump it onto a floured work surface and knead for 8 minutes, incorporating the olive oil a ½ Tbsp a time as you go. (You could also do this in a KitchenAid mixer, but I’ve never tried this way.)

When the dough is soft and elastic, rub with olive oil and place in a clean bowl. Cover with a dish towel and let rise in a warm spot for one hour.

After an hour, the dough should have about doubled in size. Cut in half and store in ziploc bags (either 1-2 days in the fridge or much longer than that in the freezer). I like to use one half immediately and freeze the other half for later – just defrost in the fridge overnight.

When you are ready to make your pizza, sprinkle cornmeal on a pizza tray. Stretch out the dough, top with your favorite ingredients, and bake at 450 for 10-12 minutes.

Enjoy!

Healthy Stuffed Sweet Potatoes with Lemon Tahini Sauce

November 7, 2012 by Erica

I don’t want to get too political or anything… but I am one happy girl today.

OK, now back to food.

Until recently, I didn’t think I liked sweet potatoes.

I think I’d mostly seen them in a casserole dish (there’s your first mistake) covered with marshmallows and tasting as sugary as candy. That’s just not my idea of a potato, you know? If I have to pick a potato, it’s going to be white and mashed up with lots of butter and cream. With so many dishes on the table at Thanksgiving, even I can’t do them all, and my potato compartment has historically been reserved for mashed potatoes only.

But last winter my roommate introduced me to sweet potatoes without all the other sweet stuff, and I kind of liked them! And now, after making these stuffed guys, I really like them.

These taste simple and yummy and are simple to make. Saute some onions, spinach and chickpeas while the potatoes are cooking, whisk together the dressing, heap it all on top of each other, and grab your fork.

This dish is healthy and so filling! It got the Nate stamp of approval – always a good sign. Best served with some Utah beer, as pictured above!

Healthy Stuffed Sweet Potatoes with Lemon Tahini Sauce

Inspired by The Kitchn and Smitten Kitchen

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients:

4 small sweet potatoes
½ red onion, diced
1 lb fresh spinach
3 cloves garlic, minced (divided)
1 15-oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 tsp lemon zest
juice of 1 lemon
1/4 cup tahini
2 Tbsp olive oil
¼ cup water
½ tsp kosher salt
parsley for sprinkling (optional)

Directions:

First, bake the sweet potatoes. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Wash sweet potatoes thoroughly, pat dry, and pierce each one several times with a fork. Place on a baking sheet in the oven and bake for about 45 minutes or until potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork.

While sweet potatoes are baking, make the dressing. Combine all dressing ingredients (lemon juice, tahini, olive oil, water, kosher salt and half of garlic) in a small bowl and whisk (or blend with an immersion blender – my favorite!) until smooth.

Heat a bit of olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook for about 5 minutes, or until translucent and beginning to brown. Add in the chickpeas and the rest of the garlic and cook until the chickpeas begin to turn golden, about 3 minutes. Add the lemon zest.

Toss in the spinach in large handfuls, waiting a minute or so for each handful to wilt and make room in the pot before tossing in the next. Once all the spinach has been added and reduced a bit, stir in about half the dressing. Toss so that everything is evenly mixed and continue to cook for a minute or two until the chickpeas and spinach are heated through.

Cut a slit down the center of each sweet potato and stuff with the spinach and chickpea mixture. Serve with extra dressing on the side and parsley for sprinkling.

Enjoy!

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