Asian Hummus!

Wow it's been a while since I've posted on here. Well anyway, I just wanted to share the fact that you can substitute edamame for chickpeas when you make hummus. Just buy the already shelled edamame from the frozen veggies section - you can even find them ready to put in the microwave. It's so good and I can't even tell the difference except it's green. Remember, edamame is a complete protein, while chickpeas are not!

Holiday cooking

I always think I'm going to cook/bake more over the holidays than I actually do. I think I cook out of necessity and I bake to procrastinate. Over the holidays, neither seems to apply - I'm busy being lazy/visiting friends and family that we mostly eat out or get home cooked meals, and there's nothing to procrastinate on (hooray!)

Nonetheless, I did make two meals for my main squeeze, Mr Taliaferro, who visited over break. They are as follows:

These were both towards the end of break, and Matt and I could never decide on what we wanted to eat. So we just decided to hit the grocery store and see what inspired us. The salmon is cooked the same way that I did in my previous recipe, with the spices mixed directly in the oil at the bottom of the pan.

The tortellini was store bought - I wish I could make those! But we added some to them: mushrooms and zucchini, sauteed with onions and garlic and some dried mint added at the end. The salad was simple - baby spinach with avocados, green bell peppers, tomatoes, with olive oil and red wine vinegar on top. All of this, including prep, took less than an hour.

Inspired by this success, we cooked again the following night. Chicken with pasta. The pasta recipe was one of my daily recipes e-mailed to me by the Food Network, found here: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/eating-well/broccoli-rabe-white-bean-amp-fontina-pasta-recipe/index.html?nl=ROTD_010410_3

Instead of broccoli rabe, which I couldn't find in Kroger, I used baby spinach that we had leftover from our salads. For the chicken, I cut up two chicken breasts into tender sized pieces (make them thin so they cook quickly.. mine needed to be thinner). Then I used store-bought plain bread crumbs mixed with salt and pepper to make a batter. I dipped the chicken in one egg slightly whisked with some milk, then into the bread crumb mixture. I just pan fried it with a little oil. Again, less than an hour! Delicious dinner for two people.

My sister has pictures of what I baked for New Year's Eve: red velvet cupcakes with cream cheese icing and s'more brownies. Pictures to come........


OMG IT IS SO COLD OUTSIDE!