CEIMB: Cobb Salad

This week's Craving Ellie in My Belly is from by Gabi from The Feast Within. The recipe can be found on the Food Network Website. It was easy to put together, and I substituted a few things I had on hand for the vegetables on top. Instead of avocado and watercress, I used celery, shredded carrots, and red cabbage. The star of this salad, however, is the dressing. It is really delicious. I would definitely use it again when making a salad. Another good one from Ellie.

Pasta with Pesto, Potatoes, and Green Beans

I was browsing through my copy of Everyday Food: Great Food Fast when I came across this recipe. It combines pasta, potatoes, and great beans, then tosses them with basil pesto. I had all of the ingredients on hand, and it was super simple to put together. I had some fresh green beans that I picked from my garden today, and they were so tender. This is the first time that I have planted them, and I don't know if I can go back to store bought. I had never tried pasta and potatoes together (I don't know why, starch mixed with starch, sounds like something I would love), but they really go well together. The pasta was al dente and the potatoes I used were really creamy. I would definitely recommend this recipe. I added some fresh mozzarella and some crushed red pepper to perk it up a bit, and it tasted great.


Pasta with Pesto, Potatoes, and Green Beans
Serves 4

Ingredients

Serves 4

• 2 waxy potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes (I used about 4 medium-sized red potatoes)
  
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 8 ounces short tubular pasta like cavatappi, penne, or rotini
  
• 8 ounces green beans, trimmed and halved
• 1/2 cup basil pesto (I used Buitoni brand pesto)
• fresh mozzarella, cut into 3/4 inch cubes
• crushed red pepper (optional)
  

Directions

1. Peel and cut potatoes into 1-inch cubes; place in a large pot of water; bring to a boil.
2. Add 1 tablespoon salt and 8 ounces short tubular pasta; return to a boil; cook 2 minutes.
3. Add 8 ounces trimmed and halved green beans. Return to a boil; cook until vegetables are tender and pasta is al dente, about 6 minutes.
4. Drain; toss with 1/2 cup pesto; season with salt and crushed pepper. Stir in mozzarella and serve warm or at room temperature.

CEiMB: Shrimp Roll

This week's Craving Ellie in My Belly is from MacDuff of Lonely Sidecar. MacDuff chose for us to make a web-based recipe, Lobster or Shrimp Rolls, by Ellie Krieger. This is a healthier version of the standard Lobster Roll. The recipe stated that you could use shrimp in place of the lobster. I happened to have some cooked shrimp on hand, so I went with that option. This recipe is a lighter version of the traditional roll because it substitutes some of the mayonnaise with non-fat Greek yogurt. I used a fat-free version from FAGE Yogurt. Other than that, the recipe is pretty standard, there is lemon and scallions, but I also added some fresh dill and fresh parsley. I thought the Shrimp Roll tasted pretty good. The yogurt didn't seem to take away from the flavor too much, and I definitely think that the addition of the fresh herbs really helped brighten up the flavor as well. If I made this again, I would probably use lobster. I think what was missing for me was the sweetness that the lobster would have added to the mix. The shrimp isn't as sweet as lobster, and the lobster would have added a nice balance to the tanginess of the lemon juice and the yogurt.

CEiMB: Breakfast Cookies

This week's Craving Ellie in My Belly is from Natalie of What's For Supper? She chose for us to bake a web-based recipe, Breakfast Cookies, by Ellie Krieger. These cookies have a bit of everything in them, oats, cereal, dried fruit, and nuts. I took some liberties with the recipe and made quite a few substitutions. Instead of bran flakes I used Kashi's Oat Flakes with Wild Blueberry Clusters. To go with the cereal, I used dried wild blueberries instead of the raisins called for in the original recipe. I didn't have any walnuts on hand, but I did have almonds, so I used them because I love the combination of blueberries and almonds.

These cookies smelled great while they were baking, and had a great cake-like texture to them. I think it's because the recipe only has a small amount of butter in it, instead, the recipe called for canola oil. They tasted great. The blueberries went really well with the almonds, and the cereal added a nice crunch. I can't wait to eat more tomorrow morning!

CEiMB: Vegetable Cheese Strata

This week's Craving Ellie in My Belly is from Jenn of A Mid-Life Culinary Adventure she chose for us to make Vegetable Cheese Strata from The Food You Crave: Luscious Recipes for a Healthy Life by Ellie Krieger. I was excited to try this recipe. The ingredients broccoli, mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, two types of cheeses all sounded delicious. Unfortunately, I have been extremely busy, and the recipe calls for the strata to sit overnight in the refrigerator to allow time for the bread to absorb the egg mixture. So tomorrow morning, I will have beautiful picture of my strata to post. I only made a few substitutions, I used scallions instead of onions, and and like Leslie over at Lethally Delicious, I threw in some spinach as well. I can't wait to see how this turns out tomorrow!

The next day...



The strata looked just gorgeous when it came out of the oven. It puffed up nicely, and was golden brown. I baked mine for 70 minutes, and added a little bit of extra mozzarella on top during the last 10 minutes. I forgot to mention yesterday, that I halved the recipe, and used a 9x6 pan. I also wasn't exactly precise when measuring the vegetables, so mine is full of them, which I love. And the taste? I really loved it. The cheese and veggies go great with the eggs, and the sun-dried tomatoes add just a hint of sweetness. I will definitely make this one again. I am so glad I have joined this group. The first two recipes I have made have been excellent, and I can't wait to keep trying more!

CEiMB: Double Chocolate Pudding

I have joined a new group of talented bloggers! Much like Tuesdays with Dorie, each week, a member of the group picks one recipe from the cookbook, and everyone in the group makes and blogs about that recipe. This group is called Craving Ellie in My Belly, the cookbook from which we are cooking is called The Food You Crave: Luscious Recipes for a Healthy Life by Ellie Krieger.

Ellie is a Food Network chef and a dietitian. I have often watched her show, Healthy Appetite with Ellie Krieger, and I am excited about trying a lot of the recipes in her cookbook.

This week's recipe pick is from Tessa of Handle the Heat. She chose for us to bake the Double Chocolate Pudding Pie from The Food You Crave: Luscious Recipes for a Healthy Life by Ellie Krieger. Since it was just me who would be enjoying this dessert I took a suggestion from the Craving Ellie in My Belly website and decided to just make the pudding and not the whole pie. I halved the recipe and the pudding fit perfectly in two small bowls. Other than that, I stuck to the recipe exactly. After the pudding had cooled in the refrigerator, I topped it with whipped cream and crushed graham crackers. You can find the recipe here.

It is called Double Chocolate Pudding because it contains both cocoa powder and bittersweet chocolate, and I think that it really adds to the deep flavor of the pudding. Instead of relying on heavy cream to thicken the pudding, Ellie's recipe uses two thickeners, cornstarch and gelatin, which makes the pudding thick enough for a pie, but perhaps a bit too thick for pudding alone. This is a really rich pudding, it is hard to believe that it is made with skim milk. I really liked this recipe, next time, I might add some instant coffee to the pudding to make it have a mocha flavor. I look forward to upcoming recipes!!

TWD: Parisian Apple Tartlets

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie is from Jessica of My Baking Heart. She chose for us to bake the Parisian Apple Tartlets from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan. You can find the recipe here. I knew that when this recipe was picked that I was going to participate this week. This recipe couldn't be simpler. It only contains four ingredients, puff pastry, apples, brown sugar, and butter. All you do is place the apples on the puff pastry, sprinkle brown sugar on top, dot with butter, and pop in the oven. I sprinkled a little cinnamon on top to give it a little spice, but other than that, I didn't make any other substitutions. My pastry took a bit longer than the recipe called for, about 30 minutes, but it was well worth the wait. These pastries are tart and sweet (I used Gala apples), and very buttery. I think this would be an elegant but easy dessert to serve to guests. I definitely will be making this again, I would love to try it with pears, plums, or peaches.

Shell Pasta Salad with Cheese and Peas

I am always looking for new pasta salad recipes, so when I came across this recipe from Pillsbury, I thought it would be a good side dish for a recent family get-together. I changed some of the ingredients from the original recipe, but for the most part, it is pretty similar. Overall, I think this is a good dish for a gathering or picnic. The sweet peas balance out the saltiness of the chunks of cheese, and the addition of honey mustard is a nice twist to a traditional mayonnaise based pasta salad.


Shell Pasta Salad with Peas and Cheese
from Pillsbury.com

serves 8-10

For the Salad:

• 8 oz. (2 cup) uncooked small shell pasta
• 1 cup frozen sweet peas
• 1 cup sliced celery
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced carrots
• 6 oz. sharp Cheddar cheese, cubed (1 1/2 cups)

For the Dressing:

• 2/3 cup light mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup sweet honey mustard
• 3/4 to 1 teaspoon salt (depending on your seasoning preference)
  
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 2 tablespoons fresh flat leaf parsley.
  

Directions:

• Cook pasta in a post of boiling salted water to al dente as directed on the package, adding peas during last 3 minutes of cooking time. Drain and rinse with cool water. (Usually I do not like to rinse my pasta, but it does get rather sticky when it cools if you do not rinse it.)
• In medium bowl, combine cooked pasta and peas, and all remaining salad ingredients.
• In small bowl, combine all dressing ingredients; blend well. Add to salad and toss gently to coat. Sprinkle with parsley. Cover and refrigerate 30 minutes to blend flavors.
  

TWD: Cinnamon Squares

This week's Tuesdays with Dorie is from Tracey of Tracey's Culinary Adventures. She chose for us to bake the Cinnamon Squares from Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan. The recipe can be found here. I was excited to try these. The recipe is extremely easy to put together, and I really like the combination of chocolate and cinnamon. Usually I make quite few substitutions to these recipes to put my own spin on them, but this one I kept simple. The only think I changed was substitute skim milk for the whole milk because that is all I had on hand. I figured it wouldn't make much of a difference given all the butter that was in the recipe. The whole house filled up with the smell of cinnamon. The cake took about 50 minutes to bake.

I halved the recipe for the icing and only spread a thin layer of it over the cake, because I didn't want the cake to be too sweet or the chocolate to be the dominating flavor. I think this cake tasted great. I might reduce some of the sugar in the batter next time because it still was rather sweet, but not too bad. This cake goes great with coffee or milk. Another great recipe from Dorie! Be sure to check out the blogroll to see what other bloggers did.

Crab Salad in Phyllo Cups

For my cousin's bridal shower, I decided to make a simple crab salad. To dress it up a bit, I served it in these miniature phyllo cups. I used a mixture of real crab meat and imitation crab meat, just because real crab meat is so expensive where I am from. This was easy to put together, and was a big hit at the party.


Crab Salad in Phyllo Dough Tartlettes
makes about 65-70 appetizers

Ingredients

• 8 oz crab meat (I used back fin meat)
• 16 oz imitation crab meat, chopped
• 1 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1 stalk of celery, minced
• 2 green onions, minced
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1/4 cup milk
• 2 teaspoons (or more if you like) Old Bay Seasoning
• 3 tablespoons flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
• salt and pepper
• Approximately 70 miniature phyllo dough cups
  

Directions

• In one bowl, combine the crab meat and the imitation crab meat.
• In a separate bowl, combine the mayonnaise, celery, green onions, lemon juice, milk, Old Bay, and parsley. Season with salt and pepper.
  
• Pour the sauce over the crab meat, and gently mix. Try and fold the sauce into the crab meat as to not break up the pieces of crab meat. Overmixing can result in a "pasty" salad.
  
• Spoon the salad into the phyllo cups and serve immediately. I probably fit about 2 teaspoons into each cup.