Citrus Basil Quinoa Salad

It's no secret.  I Love Quinoa.  Hot, cold, for breakfast... you name it.  I'm a huge fan of this "superfood" =)

I just came across this recipe when looking for cool, fresh foods to make for a dinner party... I hope you like it as much as I do! (recipe from detoxinista.com)

* The picture on her site actually had carrots in it, but they weren't in the ingredient list, so I forgot to add them.   I think they would be a good, and colorful addition, though)

Ingredients:

For the Quinoa Salad:

1 1/2 cups dry quinoa
3 cups water
1 cup Orange Basil Dressing (recipe below)
1/2 cup finely diced red onion
1 cucumber, chopped
2 cups fresh spinach
1 red bell pepper, chopped
salt and pepper

For the Orange Basil Dressing:

1/2 cup orange juice
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
1/4 cup tightly packed fresh basil
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon honey

Directions:

Combine the dry quinoa and water in a medium saucepan over high heat. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce the heat, allowing the quinoa to cook for 15 minutes, or until all of the water is absorbed. Remove from the heat, and fluff with a fork.  (I did and would recommend that you allow to cool before adding the dressing and vegetables to keep the spinach from wilting).

To prepare the Orange Basil Dressing, combine all of the ingredients in a blender, and blend until completely smooth and emulsified. Adjust the flavor to taste, if desired.

Transfer the quinoa to a large bowl and toss with one cup of the Orange Basil Dressing and all of the chopped vegetables.  Season with salt and pepper, to taste, and allow to marinate in the fridge for at least an hour before serving. Serve chilled, or at room temperature.

Twice Baked, Egg-Filled Potatoes

 Filling holes in food with eggs seems to be all the rage now, squash, avocado.. and potatoes.  I think it's brilliant! =)

Directions:

Bake potatoes however you normally do.  I do them in the microwave just because it's quickest.   It takes about 4 minutes (flipped halfway through) to bake two medium sized potatoes.

Preheat oven to 400.

When cool (ideally), cut and scoop out the insides of the potato (making sure you don't break the "walls" of the potato).   Place on greased foil on a baking sheet.

Sprinkle in chopped bacon, cheese, chives - whatever you want.  (Not too much though, there's not a lot of room in there), and top with an egg.   * When I added the egg, I placed the potato in a bowl, so any extra egg white would flow over in there and I could discard it, instead of it making a mess on the baking sheet (this isn't a crucial step, I just wanted mine to be pretty).

 Ready to bake!

Place in oven for 10 to 15 minutes or until the eggs are set.   Top with additional cheese, bacon, sour cream, salsa, avocado, etc.

Enjoy!

Homemade Peanut Butter Cups!

Peanut Butter Cups

(fitfoodiefinds.com)

The blog where I found this recipe touted them as "Healthier Peanut Butter Cups" because they had no sugar, no gluten and no dairy.    I'll post her recipe, along with my own variations.  You're going to want to go ahead and just double this up to start. =)

Bottom Layer: 

• 2 Tbsp coconut oil, melted (I had never used this before, but it's awesome and makes them very creamy - does not leave a coconut taste, though)
• 1/4 cup smooth peanut butter 
• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (can also substitute 3 squares of semi sweet baker's chocolate) melted until smooth
• 8 drops of liquid stevia (or to taste) (I substituted sugar because I didn't have stevia, 3 tsp)

Top Layer:

• 2 Tbsp coconut oil, melted
• 1/4 cup natural smooth peanut butter
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• optional: unsweetened coconut for topping

Method

Line a mini muffin tray with 12 cupcake liners. Stir all ingredients for the bottom layer together until smooth ( you may have to melt the coconut oil and peanut butter for 20 seconds to get them to mix well) and divide between the wells (each should be about half full). Put the tray in the freezer on a flat surface and freeze until solid (It took mine about 10 minutes). Meanwhile, stir all ingredients together for the top layer until smooth (again, you may have to heat the coconut oil and peanut butter for 20 seconds to get them to mix well) and divide on top of the set chocolate mixture. Return to the freezer and freeze until solid (it took me an additional 10 minutes). Store the treats in the freezer.

Yield: 12 peanut butter cups.

Yum. SO. Yum.

Reese's Peanut Butter Cups may never see the inside of my mouth again.

Whole Wheat Sweet Potato Pancakes

Wow, it's been a YEAR since I've posted on here!   And no, this recipe isn't a dessert, but it's amazing and I wanted to share it on here:

Whole Wheat Sweet Potato Pancakes

(found on sparkrecipes.com)

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour

3 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1/4cup of brown sugar

1 1/2 cups of mashed sweet potato

2 eggs

1 3/4 cups of milk

1/8 cup of olive oil

Directions:

Mix dry ingredients well. Mix wet ingredients until well blended. Add dry ingredients just til mixed. Drop by quarter cup onto hot lightly greased/sprayed skillet. Brown on both sides (about 1.5 minutes each.) Makes 18 four inch pancakes. 3 pancakes per serving. Serves 6. 

These were so flavorful that in the future, I don't think I will even use syrup!

New York Style Cheesecake and Strawberries

YUM!

The directions for this are quite lengthy (but easy), so I'm just going to put the link here for you to use.  This is by far the best cheesecake I've ever made.

Pavlova

I made my very first pavlova yesterday. Why haven't I made one before now? I have no idea!! I have very fond (and yummy!) memories of my Grandma Woodford making these for desserts often (with whipped cream and peaches) when we'd visit when I was a child.

Most recently, Tim and Steph had a GORGEOUS one on their blog, and since I needed to make several desserts for an event at our house last night (and pavlova is naturally gluten free, which makes it okay for Rebekah S), it seemed like the perfect dessert to try!

Not nearly as artistic as the one Steph made and Tim decorated, but edible nonetheless =)

Here is the recipe that Steph shared with me:

The Best Pavlova (adapted from allrecipes.com)

-4 egg whites (room temp)

-1 pinch salt

-1 cup sugar (divided)

-1 1/2 tsp cornstarch

-1 tsp lemon juice

 

-1 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream
-1/2 cup icing sugar

fruit of choice

 

1. Preheat oven to 250 F/150 C.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.  Draw a 9 inch circle on the paper.

2. In a large bowl, beat egg whites on high speed until soft peaks form.  Add **3/4 cup** of sugar 1 Tbsp at a time, while continuing to whip.  Make sure sugar is completely dissolved.  Mix together the remaining 1/4 cup sugar with the cornstarch; lightly fold into merigue with lemon juice.

 

3. Spread a layer of meringue to fit circle on parchment paper, making the edges a little higher than the center.

 

4.  Bake for one hour and fifteen minutes.  Turn off oven, but leave meringue in oven for additional 30 minutes (I leave it until it's cool, but probably doesn't matter).  When cool, the meringue should be hard (and lightly browned) on the outside, and slightly moist on the inside.

 

5.  In a large bowl, combine the cream and icing sugar, and whip until thickened.  Decorate with fruit of your choice!  

Here's mine after it baked and cooled.  If you've never had pavlova, it is a delicious, light dessert that is crispy on the outside and has a soft marshmallow-like center.  

All dressed up...

It's About Time!

Raspberry Chocolate Cream Cheese Cookies(recipe from Bonnie Sharp)

Cookie jar full of goodness!

I first had these cookies Years ago (made by my sister in law's mom) and loved them, but had never gotten the recipe or known where to find the raspberry chocolate to make them! When Bonnie posted the recipe on Facebook, I hunted down the chocolate (can be found at some Target stores, but I found mine at Wal-Mart), and Finally made them! It won't be the last time!

Ingredients:

1 pkg cream cheese, softened ( 8 ounces)
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 egg
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups milk chocolate chips
3/4 cup hershey's extra dark chocolate with raspberry flavor. They come in a bag of individually wrapped squares of chocolate. * I couldn't actually find the dark chocolate, I just found milk chocolate ones with a "raspberry meltaway center". They worked great!
2 1/4 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda

Directions:
Heat oven to 325 degrees. Beat cream cheese with butter, egg and sugar until light and fluffy. Melt 1/2 cup milk chocolate chips and 1/2 cup of raspberry flavored chocolate. Mix into batter. Stir in flour and baking soda, along with 1 cup milk chocolate chips. Drop from tablespoon onto ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten slightly with fingers. Bake for 7 to 9 minutes. Do not overbake!! When cool, melt 1/4 cup of raspberry flavoured chocolate and drizzle over top of cookies. (I used at least twice this much) I usually put them into the fridge or freezer for 5 minutes to harden the chocolate drizzle.