Crunchy Salad

So we have ourselves a hit and a miss. I loved this salad but I enjoy asian inspired dressings and nuts on my salad. Mr. Lawyer dislikes asian inspired dressing and nuts on his salad. That being said I loved the crunch of the snow peas, apples, and nuts. The dressing is tart and intense. It all felt very summery.

Spinach and Snow Pea Salad with Cashews

(from Fast, Fresh, and Green)

Ingredients:
Spinach and napa cabbage
Sliced snow peas and apples
Cashews
2 tablespoons peanut oil
2 tablespoon cider vinegar
2 teaspoon soy sauce
2 teaspoons lime juice
2 teaspoon hoisin sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon grated ginger
1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
Directions: 
1. Mix the dressing ingredients together and whisk well.
2. Toss the spinach, napa cabbage, apple slices, snow peas, and cashews with the dressing and enjoy!

Chinese Walnut Chicken

I've been on quick and easy chicken and rice dinner mode as I re-adjust to school and find my cooking mojo! This is an old recipe that my mom use to make, I remember the Dork and I just dying for this. It's a nice basic recipe, no crazy flavors or anything weird. I did ad a dash of sesame oil to it because I'm all fancy and worldly now.

Chinese Walnut Chicken

(from the Mother Unit)

Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts, cubed
1/2 teaspoon pepper, salt
1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon cornstarch
5 tablespoons canola oil, divided
1 tablespoon soy sauce
Directions:
1. Mix cornstarch, salt, pepper, sugar, soy, and 2 tablespoons oil. Add chicken and stir.
2. Saute walnuts in 1 tablespoon oil. Remove from pan.
3. Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil and add chicken. Stir fry for 2 minutes. Add walnuts.
4. Stir in chicken broth and stir fry until chicken is cooked. Serve over rice.

Fancy Salads!

I'm continuing my eat more salad plan. The first week I stuck to pretty traditional/favorite flavors so this week I decided to get all fancy. I normally prefer savory salads but this sweet and tart salad really hit the spot. I looked at several different recipes and pulled my favorite parts from each. I had extra feta to use up, wanted some onions to balance the sweetness and I wanted the pecans for an extra crunch. I'm sure candied pecans would have been fabulous but less healthy.

Strawberry Feta Spinach Salad

Ingredients:
Spinach/baby romaine
Sliced strawberries
Red onion
Pecans
Feta Cheese
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup raspberry wine vinegar
2 tablespoon-1/4 cup sugar, to taste (I stayed on the lighter side)
1 teaspoon dijon mustard
1 teaspoon poppy seeds
Directions:
1. Put together your desired amount of spinach, strawberries, onion, feta and pecans. I generally like more stuff on my salad than Mr. Lawyer.
2. Mix together the oil, vinegar, sugar, mustard and poppy seeds. Dress your salad lightly and enjoy!

The dressing, nice and tart!

Double It!

After last night's dud I'm glad tonight's dinner had one major problem.....We didn't have enough!  I'll be keeping this lovely little pinterest find and doubling it next time. The lettuce wraps were a nice healthy twist and it was perfect when topped off with a little sriracha!

Cashew Chicken Lettuce Wraps

(from tastykitchen.com)

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon sesame oil
2 chicken breasts, diced
8 leaves of greenleaf or iceburg lettuce
3 tablespoons peanut oil
1 cup onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1/4 cup cashews, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
Directions:
1. Mix soy, vinegar, brown sugar, red pepper, ginger and sesame oil. Set aside.
2. Heat peanut oil in pan over medium to medium high heat. Add diced chicken and brown (about 4-5 minutes). Remove chicken from oil. Add onions, garlic and 1 teaspoon soy sauce to pan; brown. When onions and garlic are brown and tender, add stir fry sauce, browned chicken, and cashews. Saute mixture for a few minutes and remove from heat.
3. Spoon chicken mixture into individual lettuce leaves. Add your favorite hot sauce, more cashews or basil.

Hooty Who?!

The ingredient list sounded delicious: cranberries, white chocolate chips, oatmeal, pecans....and then I got to the name and it sealed the deal: Cranberry Hootycreeks. HOOTYCREEKS! I love it. Even the internet doesn't know how they got that name. When I presented them to Mr. Lawyer he said "hooty who?!" They are delicious and I just know that they'll be even better tomorrow (as all oatmeal-based cookies are). I did have to substitute regular chocolate chips for the white chips but it was still delicious.

Cranberry Hootycreeks

(adapted from allrecipes.com)

Ingredients
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 cup and 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/3 cup white sugar
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup white chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 butter, softened
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a cookie sheet or line with parchment paper.
2. In a medium bowl, beat together 1/2 cup softened butter, 1 egg and 1 teaspoon of vanilla until fluffy.
3. Add all dry ingredients, and mix together by hand until well blended.
4. Drop by heaping spoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheets.
5. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until edges start to brown. Cool on baking sheets, or remove to cool on wire racks.

HOOTYCREEK!

Wine and Cheese

Every year in grad school I had a wine and cheese party with my roommates. The house changed, the roommates changed and if I put one together for this year it would be the 5th annual wine and cheese party! Maybe for my birthday, nothing better than cheese on your birthday! One of the dishes that Nyk made was this delicious baked brie. It was so popular that the following year after she graduated we decided to make it in her memory. I have also just made it for no real reason other than to eat a round of brie for a week. Delicious. This photo is from the 4th Annual Wine and Cheese Party, we tried to make a little puff pastry wine glass to decorate it with...it kind of worked. I'm sad I don't have a picture of the cheese oozing out.

Holiday Brie en Croute

(adapted from Pepperidge Farm)

Ingredients:
1 egg
1 tbsp. water
All-purpose flour
1/2 of a 17.3-ounce package of puff pastry

1/2 cup apricot preserves
1/3 cup dried cranberry
1/4 cup toasted sliced almond
1 (13- to 16-ounce) Brie cheese round
Crackers for serving
Directions:
1. Heat the oven to 400°F. Beat the egg and water in a small bowl with a fork.
2. Sprinkle the flour on the work surface. Unfold the pastry sheet on the work surface. Roll the pastry sheet into a 14-inch square. Spread the preserves on the pastry to within 2 inches of the edge. Sprinkle with the cranberries and almonds. 

3. Place the cheese in the center of the pastry. Fold the pastry up over the cheese to cover. Trim the excess pastry and press to seal. Brush the seam with the egg mixture. Place seam-side down onto a baking sheet. Decorate with the pastry scraps, if desired. Brush with the egg mixture.
4. Bake for 20 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown. Let stand for 45 minutes. Serve with the crackers.

The spread!

I melt for you.

Gooey warm cheese and mushrooms, need I say more? I first had this recipe back in Syracuse when Nykoel made it for us girls and it was delicious! I have been craving it and it seemed like a nice reward for surviving my first three days of the new job. I didn't have any parsley or sage and I don't get all fancy with the mushrooms. I used a combination of baby bella and button. Oh, and of course I added more mushrooms because you can never have enough! Plus I was using at a main dish, not as an appetizer. My one issue is the first time around the walnuts are too hard and you get these crunchy little bits with your nice gooey cheese and soft mushrooms. However, reheating it the next day they soften up a bit and the dish is divine. I think I like it better as leftovers. 

Warm Camembert with Wild Mushroom Fricassee

(Food and Wine)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup walnut pieces
One 8-ounce wheel of ripe Camembert in its wooden box, at room temperature
1 tablespoon walnut oil
3/4 pound wild mushrooms, trimmed, caps thinly sliced
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 shallot, minced
2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley
2 large sage leaves, minced
Sourdough toasts, for serving
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Spread the walnut pieces on a baking sheet and toast in the oven for about 7 minutes, until lightly browned. Lower the oven temperature to 300°.
2. Remove the Camembert from the box and unwrap it. Put the cheese back in the bottom half of the box and set it on a baking sheet. Bake for about 10 minutes, until soft.
3. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat the walnut oil. Add the mushrooms and season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Uncover and cook, stirring, until lightly browned, 3 minutes longer. Add the shallot and cook until softened, 2 minutes. Stir in the parsley and sage; season with salt and pepper.
4. Invert the Camembert onto a platter. Stir the walnuts into the mushrooms and spoon over the cheese. Serve with the toasts.

Where's the cheese?!

Beautiful Brown Butter!

Given the fact that this recipe was incredibly simple, delicious and you probably have all of the ingredients (except the ravioli) in your kitchen making the cost minimal, this recipe is a ten star keeper. I picked up two packs of frozen butternut squash ravioli for six bucks and had pecans on hand (from many baking adventures) which worked out well since The Lawyer isn't a huge fan of walnuts. I have also had this done with hazelnuts at a restaurant so I imagine that just about any nut you have will work well. Despite being accused of trying to kill us with the amount of butter, this recipe was amazing and made a simple dish into something fancy. The browned butter and nuts gave it a nice nutty flavor, the balsamic just a hint of tang which played wonderfully off the slight sweetness of the butternut ravioli.

Ravioli with Balsamic Brown Butter

(Giada, Food Network)

Ingredients:
18 to 20 ounces store-bought ravioli (cheese, mushroom, or squash)
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup toasted, chopped walnuts (or pecans!)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
Directions:
1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the ravioli and cook 4 to 5 minutes, until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally. Drain ravioli onto a large serving platter.
2. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan cook the butter over medium heat, stirring occasionally. When the foam subsides, and the butter begins to turn a golden brown, about 3 minutes, turn off the heat. Let cool for about 1 minute. Stir in the balsamic vinegar, salt, and pepper.
3. Transfer the ravioli to the pan saucepan with the balsamic brown butter. Sprinkle walnuts and Parmesan over the top. Serve immediately.

Macadamias, I love you

Yesterday we had Brad and Christine over for dinner. I promise I'll take a break from cooking my wonderful turkey burgers. It's just like my tortellini, I find something I like and then make it a bunch!

I saw these cookies in my magazine last month and had been wanting to try them but Mr. Lawyer banned me from baking yummy treats because "you're making me fat!" psh. Portion control baby. Don't eat 1/3 of the rum cake for breakfast. Yeah. That totally happened.
Not only did these cookies look good but I just wanted an excuse to have macadamia nuts in the apartment. I developed a love-hate relationship with these cookies. First off, Martha dipped half of each cookie in chocolate. I don't have a good track record with dipping cookies in chocolate (please reference my cookie massacre) so I took the Jackson Pollock approach and just splattered chocolate all over them and it looked pretty awesome. While I was chilling batter and cutting them I swore up and down that I would not be making these again. But then I ate one and I can't quite put my finger on it. And now I might make them again because I keep eating them. It's a weird lemony shortbread sorta macadamia cookie. If you didn't know it contained macadamias I'm not sure you would realize it right away.

Chocolate-Dipped Macadamia Cookies

(Martha Stewart, Everyday Food)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/3 cup confectioners' sugar
1 large egg yolk
2 tablespoons finely grated lemon zest and 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1/8 teaspoon course salt
1/2 macadamia nuts, toasted and finely ground
1 cup all-purpose flour
5 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
Directions:
1. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat butter and sugar on medium-high until light and fluffy, 2 minutes.
2. Add egg yolk, lemon zest and juice, and salt and beat until combined. Beat in buts. Add flour and beat until combined.
3. Form dough into a 4.5 inch log, wrap in plastic, and freeze until firm, 30 minutes.
4. Preheat oven to 350. Cut dough into 1/4 inch slices, bake until golden at edges about 14 minutes. Cool completely.
5. Melt chocolate (microwave at 30 second intervals), dip half of cookie into chocolate, set on parchment paper to set. Or drizzle all over the place.