ultimate egg salad

 I've never understood why a good amount of people claim to not like egg salad... except for the smell. You know - the aroma that escapes your container when you open it for lunch? Everyone within a couple feet of you can get a whiff, and they're not always happy about it.
Yet, it just tastes so good!!!

I have two tips for this recipe - and they'll all be separate posts, so bare with the links - but I'll explain the tips here so you don't have to click them if you don't want to.

First, hard boiling eggs! I personally have never had a problem with simply putting eggs in cold water and bringing it to a boil, then timing from that point 10 minutes. After 10 at a boil I take them off the heat drain the water and add cold water, and drain that when it gets warm and add more cold water...
Now here's where it gets tricky: peeling. There are so many tips involving baking soda and blowing the egg out of the shell with your mouth... it's too complicated for a fast lunch. So let your eggs cool completely, in the fridge overnight for tomorrow's lunch. Then in a bowl put your hottest tap water. Submerge an egg, count to 30 - remove. Roll the egg on a paper towel cracking the entire surface and peel. Tada! It works for me... hope it works for you, but please let me know!

Second tip involves everyone's beloved bacon. Whether it's turkey bacon or pork bacon - in this house we cook it in batches. When you want a quick breakfast what always takes the longest? The bacon! Well, unless you're okay with non-perfectly-crispy bacon...
I line a large cookie sheet with parchment paper - then fit as much bacon down on it as I can without overlapping. Then cover the pan with foil and place a smaller cookie sheet on top. Place in oven while off and then turn the oven on to 375 ˚ F. Now the cooking time varies depending on each type of bacon and it's thickness so you'll just have to keep checking it after 20 minutes til it's to your liking. But the effort is well worth it - I promise. I take my bacon out right before it starts crisping up - where it's still a bit floppy. I bag it and stash it in the fridge after it's cooled. Then in the morning when making breakfast for the hubby I heat it up in a pan and it crisps right away and leaves just a little fat behind to cook an egg in for him too.


Ingredients:

• 3 large eggs (hardboiled, peeled, and minced of course)
• 3 Tbsp of your favorite mayo (about 1.5 heaping spoonfuls will be plenty if you use your larger eating spoons to scoop out the mayo, but just eyeball it if you'd like)
• 1 tsp of aioli garlic mustard sauce (trader joe's) OR 1/4 tsp crushed garlic and 1/2 tsp dijon mustard
• 2-3 small stalks of scallions or chives cut into cute tiny pieces
• 2 slices of your favorite bacon crumbled (optional - but oh-so-yummy!)

Potatoes Au Gratin

Potatoes Au Gratin... all I can say is yum! This was easy, and delicious - how can you make a box mix again after eating this you ask? You can't! It's that good...

Ingredients:
5-6 potatoes
1 med. onion
2-3 cloves garlic
2 cups cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cups milk
5 tsp. butter
salt and pepper to taste

Do you have a mandoline? No not a mandolin instrument, a mandoline veggie slicer... I think they're spelled differently... eh hem - back on topic > you should get one! I got a cheap one and it works great, it was like $10. It'll last me just as long as the $20-$30 ones as long as I take good care of it and it's totally worth the care! Now I can make uniform french fries - out of potatoes or other veggies!

Preheat oven to 400.
Peel and slice your potatoes (unless you're using red skin potatoes or another thin skinned potato - then you can just clean and slice if you'd like).
To keep your potatoes from turning brown while slicing/peeling the others have them submerged in a bowl of water.
Cook the slices of potato over medium high heat, when water starts to boil turn off the heat and drain.
Peel and slice the onion while potatoes are cooking. Also peel and slice/dice/crush (whatever you'd like!) the garlic.

*now, why didn't we finish cooking the potatoes?! Well, we still want them firm and not completely cooked... you'll be putting them in the oven so they'll finish cooking in there!

Butter a baking dish and layer in the potatoes and rings of onions like so >
potatoes, onions, potatoes, onions...

Now for the most important part! The CHEESE SAUCE!
In a small pan melt the butter over medium heat.
Add in milk and heat up - but don't boil.
Once it's hot add in 1 cup of cheddar cheese. (I like using sharp cheddar - you could also use a mixture with some parmesan) Stir often if not constantly until the cheese has melted and mixed in with the milk and butter. Make sure not to let any stick to the bottom of the pan and/or burn.
Now add in salt, pepper, and the garlic.
Turn the heat to simmer and let it blend for about 2 minutes, stirring often.
Pour cheese sauce over the layered potatoes.
Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top and bake for 45 minutes or until potatoes are just getting soft and cheese is browning.

PDF file for printing out this recipe: Click Here

mashed cauliflower

It's very rare that I actually enjoy eating cauliflower - never mind making sure I get every last bit of it off my plate like I did with this dish! A good friend, a while back, made me mashed cauliflower one day when we were over. And while I was thrilled and excited to have found a way to enjoy the white veggie it was because it was loaded with cream cheese and parmesan... this is just a bit better health wise but tastes better thanks to a little experiment that worked out well...

Ingredients:
1 med. head of cauliflower
1 - 2 cups chicken stock
1 tbsp ground almonds
1 tbsp earth balance* or butter
1/2 tbsp cream cheese
fresh shredded parmesan to taste


I know, I know - there's still cream cheese and parmesan - but it's a lot less than the original I assure you.
The almonds give this so much flavor - it's so good!

Directions:
> Cut up your cauliflower and place in a pot with the stock... cook until the cauliflower is very tender.
> Pour excess into a cup and save in case you need it later when mixing.
> Using an immersion blender (or reg. blender) mash/puree the cauliflower.
> Mix in the butter, almond meal, cream cheese, and parmesan... adding more parmesan if needed.

Enjoy!

* note: make sure if you use a butter substitute to use one that has non-hydrogenated oils as these are very bad for you according to many sources... When substituting butter I use organic or soy free Earth Balance

cauliflower pizza crust

So, I started here: http://www.eat-drink-smile.com/2011/04/cauliflower-crust-pizza.html

But although there are many comments on how well it worked we found
some issues we couldn't ignored and I tweaked the recipe.

The ingredients:
1 large head of cauliflower
olive oil
parmesan cheese
mozzarella cheese
oregano
garlic salt
eggs
garlic cloves (optional)


Directions:
> Wash and cut the cauliflower up into small pieces - trying to limit the amount of stalk/stem you use.
> In a food processor just pulse it until it looks grainy but is not at all mushy/pureed. (The slower and  ouch-I-cut-myself way > use a cheese grater to rice the cauliflower.)
> Using a metal strainer with very tiny holes - steam in a large pot for 5 min. with only the tiniest bit of water in the bottom of the pot, just enough to cover the bottom really. (Microwave option: just microwave the bowl of riced cauliflower for 8 min.)
> Press as much water out of the cauliflower as possible after cooking. (I do this by measuring the amount of cauliflower I'll be using (1.5 cups) and scooping it into the middle of two paper towels (layered on top of each other) then gathering the sides up and squeezing.)
> Then mix 1 1/2 cup cauliflower with 1 egg, 1/2 cup parmesan, 1/2 cup mozzarella, 1/2 tsp oregano, 1 clove crushed garlic (optional for those who love garlic), and 1/4 tsp garlic salt until it seems like you could form it into a dough ball basically.
> Lightly oil your pan (make sure to use your thinnest pan). I found a cheap stainless steel pizza pan at my local dollar store and it's perfect for the job.
> Put your ball of 'dough' onto the cookie sheet and press it out gently into a circle shape approximately 11 inches wide. I like to leave the middle at about 1/2 centimeter thickness and the outer crust at a bit over 1/4 inch. Brush with olive oil if you want extra browning on the top...
> Bake on the lowest rack possible in your over for 15 minutes at 475.

> Remove from the oven, turn off the oven. Let it sit for about 5 minutes to firm up... although not necessary if you're really hungry - we found it helped a bit.
> Put your toppings on and place under the broiler (on low) until the cheese is melted and to your liking.
> Take out and let sit for at least 5 minutes, this lets the parmesan do it's magic and results in a sturdier crust.

> EAT!

* 1 large head of cauliflower with yield about 2 to 3 of these crusts...




So that's what we've come up with thus far... I'm looking into what chickpeas might do for the crust, and maybe also fully replacing the mozzarella with just parmesan although I think that'd result in too strong of a flavor honestly... I'm also going to try making a quiche with this recipe... I'll let you know how it turns out eventually.

unbaked crust 

baked crust

finished pizza

last revised:   3-10-12

stuffed mushrooms

My mother-in-law makes these delicious mushrooms stuffed with a sausage mixture, we had them one Christmas and I knew I needed to try my hand at them, and quick - they were SO good. She rattled off the ingredients when I asked for the recipe; she does it by memory and never has measurements. But I forgot what she said by the time I got around to making them. My husband said he'd eat them, but that he disliked how they get so slimy. So I set out to make them non-slimy, and I succeeded. Don't know what I did to be successful in that endeavor, but I'm glad he scarfed them down with a smile.


Ingredients:

> 1 package stuffing mushrooms (washed and patted dry) 14oz.
> 1 package ground pork sausage 16 oz.
> 1 cup of Cabot's Seriously Sharp shredded cheddar cheese
> (optional) 1/8 cup of any other cheese you'd like if you're a cheese lover (american cheese, provolone, parmesan...)
> 1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper
> 1 small onion finely diced
> 2 cloves of garlic finely diced
> 1/4 cup of quick oats (make sure to use the gluten-free variety if you are sensitive to gluten!)
> (optional) 1 tsp - 1 tbsp of crushed red pepper flakes (if you like things with some spice)

Remove the stems from the mushrooms and finely dice them.
Peel and finely dice your garlic and onion.
Cook up the ground sausage, drain and set aside.
In the same pan you just used for the sausage saute the onion, garlic, and mushroom pieces until the onions are translucent.
Mix the sausage back in along with the pepper and quick oats. Cook, stirring often for 2-5 more minutes.
Remove from heat and mix in cheese.
Stuff your mushroom caps and put in the oven at 350 for 15 mins.
Turn off the oven after 15 minutes and let the mushrooms sit for 5.
Take them out and let them sit for another 2-5 minutes to cool.
Serve and enjoy!

You will most likely have left over stuffing mixture... you'll be happy about it though.
It goes great mixed in with some cooked rice and then baked for a bit, or stuffed into peppers. ^__^

easy & fast garlic chicken lunch

Okay, so the ingredients are...
<<< Salmida's state fair lemon garlicious sauce
fresh spinach
boneless, skinless chicken (marinated, grilled, then torn into pieces)
cream
butter
olive oil
italian blend shredded cheese



(onions would be a great addition, sliced very thin and caramelized a bit - but that'd add time to what's meant to be a 5-minute meal! )



> Marinate the chicken over night or for a whole day. Then grill or bake, putting aside the leftover sauce from your night of marination, not what's left in the bottle. Once chicken is done and cooled, using your fingers, break it into bite-size pieces. Put aside.

> Using the leftover sauce from marinating, put it into a small pot and bring to a boil to make sure there are no yucky chicken germs having a party in there... add some cream and some butter... stir and continue to boil for 5 minutes. If it's not thick enough already ( you're going for a gravy type consistency but an easily pourable gravy...) then add 1/2 tsp of starch or arrowroot powder at a time, whisking in until you've reached your desired consistency. Give it one to two minutes each time before adding more...

> Those two items can now be packed for the fridge and saved for quick lunches... but of course you're hungry now so let's get started! We'll pretend it's the next day and you're starting with cold ingredients from your fridge...
------------------------------------------------------ - - -  -  -  -    -    -       -           -

>Take a small handful of chicken pieces and heat up in a small skillet with a bit of olive oil over medium-high heat. (don't stir, we're going for a super simple lunch - one with few dishes to wash afterwards... so we want a clean fork yet.)
> Once chicken is sizzling a bit, add one good heaping forkful of the sauce. Stir.
> Now take 2 to 3 heaping handfuls of (rinse and patted dry) spinach and simply tear in into smaller pieces and toss into the skillet along with the stems. Stir carefully, trying to cover the spinach with the sauce.
> Once spinach is sufficiently wilted remove the pan from the heat, sprinkle with a little italian blend cheese and let cool for 1-2 minutes.

> EAT! Right in the pan - so now you've made yourself a yummy lunch within 5 minutes and you only have two things to clean - a pan, and a fork... ^__^

  Enjoy!