Cilantro | 20something cupcakes

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chipotle-glazed squash skewers.

February 6, 2012 — 23 Comments

Welcome to the inaugural post for The Food Matters Project!

Each week, a group of food bloggers and home cooks are coming together to cook our way through The Food Matters Cookbook: 500 Revolutionary Recipes for Better Living by Mark Bittman.

I’m not gonna lie. This cookbook is overwhelming. Overwhelming in a way that I want to make at least 90% of the 500+recipes in this beast of a book. Overwhelming even moreso in a way that when I first read about what the “Food Matters” philosophy represents and stands for, I was so inspired that I decided to start this project.

In a nutshell, it’s about eating more plants and natural foods. In turn, we’re talking less meat and processed foods. And it’s about how all of that’s good for our health – duh – and the environment, too.

I selected this recipe to kick-off the launch of our project. It was so, so hard to pick just one. I’ve already cooked at least 5 or 6 recipes from the book, because they’re all just so simple and easy for everyday cooking. (If Mark Bittman’s new to you and if you’re a new-ish cook, I highly recommend you check out another book of his as well: How to Cook Everything.) There’s something about the way he explains things that’s so easy to understand, and his recipes are totally no-nonsense. He gives options and ideas for how to adapt almost any given recipe, so you can truly feel confident in what you’re doing if you’re new to experimenting with different flavors or ingredients. He makes cooking fun – and easy.

You know where I stand on this: If you’re not having fun, you’re doing it wrong. And yes, this applies even to healthy, easy-enough-for-a-weeknight cooking.

In Fabulously Simple, Food Matters Project, Healthy Eats butternut squash, chipotle, cilantro, lime, mark bittman, skewers, vegetarian, winter recipes

white bean + avocado dip.

January 31, 2012 — 11 Comments

I’ve always wondered if there was a way that guacamole could be improved upon.

I’ve discovered that there is. Well, that’s if you consider making it healthier an improvement. I do, when it still tastes just as good – if not better.

Question: Do you ever think it’s funny when you hear people say, “Oh, I make the best guacamole!” or “I don’t know what my dad puts in his guacamole, but it’s the best ever!” Now I’ve made guac many, many times. It’s, like, always good. I like to think I make the best guac, but in truth, I think pretty much everyone that takes a stab at it does a decent job.

This stuff is hard to mess up, peeps! Mash up some avocado, add lime or lemon juice to taste, maybe a chopped tomato if you’re in the mood, a little minced something from the allium family…are you WTF-ing over there? New vocab word of the day comin’ at ya: The allium family is made up of garlic, onions, shallots, scallions, leeks, and chives – yes, these little guys are imperative in the world of good eats when it comes to building and adding flavor. Lesson concluded.

Now back to the guac…seasoning! Seasoning can make or break your guacamole. And by seasoning, I mean salt. Add all of these ingredients – to TASTE, by the way, which anyone is capable of doing – and you too can make the very best guac that your mother, cousin, half-brother and his wife and kids have ever tasted.

In Healthy Eats, Starters avocado, basil, cilantro, dips + spreads, football fun-day, guacamole, lemon, mexican recipes, white beans

mussels with smoky bacon, lime, and cilantro.

November 17, 2011 — 2 Comments

These mussels will change your life.

If you like mussels, that is. Or rather – if you don’t like mussels. Because if you don’t like mussels, this recipe absolutely will change your mind.

Seriously – if you don’t like mussels, crabs, seafood in general… I know you’re out there… You’re missing out on a world of flavor and opportunity for deliciousness.

Mussels in particular are one of my favorite seafood dishes to enjoy, whether at home or at a restaurant – preferably waterfront, THANKYOUFORASKING. There’s just something special about pouring over a big bowl of them with people you love…throwing the empty shells into another bowl…over wine…and more wine…

In Main Dishes, Obsessed bacon, cilantro, lime, seafood, shellfish

black bean burgers.

June 28, 2010 — 10 Comments

Here’s a burger you can feel good about.

And by good, I mean healthy. Because we all know the kind of burgers that I feel best about aren’t going to be the vegetarian variety.

Still, I really enjoyed making {and eating} these – it was a nice way to switch up the weeknight routine. I don’t typically cook things like burgers during the week, because in my house, we’re all aboard the healthy train until the weekend comes around. So this super-fast and easy recipe allowed me to sort of trick myself – or actually, trick Daniel. He was a little overly excited by the idea, and when he took a bite, I have to say – he was a little disappointed. He thought it was good, but it did look like a burger, and I guess he couldn’t get past the fact that there was no meat in it.

I absolutely loved them, and I think they’re a great as a healthy snack eaten without the bun – I doubled the recipe so I could have leftovers for that exact purpose. Beans are a great source of protein and fiber {not to mention high on the anti-inflammatory scale}, so you really can’t go wrong – and you could even play with the recipe a bit more, adding whatever spices or herbs you like.

Black Bean Burgers

Adapted from For the Love and Cooking Light

2 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
1 cup shredded light Monterey Jack cheese {I used a reduced-fat Mexican blend, though I usually prefer to shred my own}
1/4-1/2 cup whole wheat panko breadcrumbs
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1-2 medium jalapeño peppers, finely chopped
2 large egg whites {I used a hit of the egg whites out of the carton}

For serving:

4-5 whole wheat hamburger buns, lightly toasted
Lettuce, onion, tomato, and avocado for topping
Cilantro aioli {optional: light mayo, finely chopped cilantro, minced garlic, and hit of lemon juice}

Preheat oven to 350°. Place black beans in a medium bowl; mash with a fork or a potato masher. Stir in the rest of the ingredients. Shape the mixture into patties as thick as you’d like, and arrange them on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 20 minutes, turning once. Place on toasted hamburger buns and top as you like.

In Healthy Eats, Main Dishes anti-inflammatory, black beans, burgers, cilantro, fiber, protein, vegetarian, weeknight fix

weekend brunch: scrambled egg quesadillas.

April 13, 2010 — 4 Comments

There’s nothing better than a good weekend brunch.

{Except for sharing it with even better friends}

I decided to make these breakfast-friendly quesadillas after seeing them on one of my favorite blogs. I owe you a back-story here, as this was the very first food blog I ever discovered – and partly what inspired me to start my own. I was watching Ina on the Barefoot Contessa one day, and she had a special guest on the show. Her name was Phoebe, and she was was a writer for a fabulous food blog all about cooking in the quarter-life. I didn’t really know what a food blog consisted of at that point, but the idea seemed really cute so I went to check it out online. I probably don’t have to tell you that I have since fallen in love – but I will anyway. I was so into all of their great recipes, and most of all the fact that it was solely dedicated to cooking for women in this stage of life. After exploring more food blogs, and eventually other fashion and lifestyle blogs, I had an idea.

I thought, wouldn’t it be great if there was a blog that combined all of this *fabulousness* into one place for women exploring this stage of life? I thought about the quarter-life, and how so many call it a crisis – and I thought about how I couldn’t disagree more. I wanted to share that. And thus, 20something cupcakes was born.

I digress. But you did desperately want to know, didn’t you?

So. The quesadillas. As soon as I saw them, I knew I had to make them. Not only am I a huge quesadilla fan, but I’m a huge breakfast fan, so the combination is kind of ridiculous. And what’s even better is you can totally play around with the ingredients. That’s what I did on the second variety – they had used caramelized onions (which is always delish and since I usually have onions on hand, easy) and mushrooms, and as Daniel doesn’t eat mushrooms, I decided to throw in some prosciutto and switch up the cheese to Gouda. Still, I totally recommend making the first one just as they did. SO yummy. D-I-E for the chipotle crema.

Note: In case you’re interested, “crema” is a Mexican version of sour cream, kinda like the French have their version called “crème fraiche.” It can be difficult to find, so you can easily use regular sour cream, like I did.

I made 4 servings of each of the below quesadillas for a total of 8 servings. We had one couple over, so there were only 4 of us, but extra food is better than not enough (and we happen to love leftovers in our house). Quesadillas aren’t the greatest for large groups, as they’re best when made to order, but you can always keep them warm in your oven (at 200 degrees) if you want to make them ahead of time.

What’s brunch without the perfect cocktail? We enjoyed my deliciously spicy Bloody Mary’s with our quesadillas, of course. And it was pure perfection.

Scrambled Egg Quesadillas with Cilantro Chimichurri and Chipotle Crema

Recipe courtesy of Cara & Phoebe, the Quarter-Life Cooks

Makes 4 servings

6 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
Pinch cayenne
4 8-inch tortillas*
2 cups Monterey Jack cheese, shredded

For the chimichurri:

2 cups cilantro
2 garlic cloves
1 lime, juiced
2 teaspoons white wine vinegar
Olive oil
Salt

For the crema:

1/3 cup sour cream (I use light, always)
2-3 small canned chipotle chilis, minced
1 tablespoon adobo sauce from the can (I may have added a little extra – I like it hot)
Pinch of salt
Hit of lime juice

Combine the ingredients for the crema in a small bowl, set aside. This can be done days in advance.

In a mini food processor, pulse the cilantro, garlic, lime juice, and vinegar until roughly chopped. Add the olive oil in a stream until the mixture becomes a finely chopped paste, but not too thin. Taste for seasoning and add salt accordingly. This can be stored in the fridge for a day or so.

In a small bowl, beat the eggs with the salt and cayenne. On a cutting board arrange the tortillas side by side. Slather the chimichurri on each round, just enough to cover them with herbs but not make them soggy (you may have leftovers). Divide a 1/2 cup of cheese between two tortillas.

In a small non-stick sauté pan, scramble the eggs over low heat until just coming together (they should still be pretty wet and gooey). Spread half the eggs between the two tortillas, cover with another 1/2 cup cheese, and fold them in half, pressing down so they are glued together.

Clean out the pan and return it to the stove over high heat. Get the pan hot, then toast the tortillason both sides, until dark and crispy with cheese oozing out the sides. Serve immediately with a generous dollop of chipotle crema and some extra cilantro leaves for garnish. Repeat the process with the other 2 tortillas.

Scrambled Egg Quesadillas with Caramelized Onions, Mushrooms, and Prosciutto

Makes 4 servings

2 cups chopped cremini, white button, or portobello mushrooms
4 ounces prosciutto, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
6 eggs, beaten
4 8-inch tortillas*
2 cups Gouda cheese, shredded

For the caramelized onions:

2 onions, thinly sliced (I like to make extra and use for other things like burgers or sandwiches)
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon white wine vinegar

Caramelizing onions is super easy, it just takes a few minutes. Melt the butter in a heavy medium skillet over medium heat. Add your onions, brown sugar, and vinegar; sauté until onion is golden brown, stirring frequently, about 25 minutes. Try to keep them spread about the pan as they’re cooking. Remove from the heat, and let them cool to room temperature.

Add the mushrooms to the pan with a little additional butter or olive oil and sauté until tender, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for an additional minute. Add the onions back to the pan, and season with salt and pepper. Cook for a couple more minutes, allowing the flavors to combine. Now your filling is done.

In the meantime, arrange two tortillas side-by-side on a cutting board. Divide a 1/2 cup of cheese between them. Add the eggs to the pan and toss until just combined—they should be very moist. Spread half of the egg-onion mixture over the two tortillas in one layer. Sprinkle another 1/2 cup of cheese over the top and fold in half, pressing down so the sides adhere.

Clean out the pan and return it to the stove over high heat. Toast the tortillas on both sides, until dark and crispy with cheese oozing out the sides.

Repeat the process with the other 2 tortillas. Serve immediately, and enjoy.

*Note: I use Mission Carb Balance Plus Flour Tortillas. They taste absolutely identical (we did a taste test to prove it) to regular flour tortillas, only they have 5g of protein and 11g of fiber per tortilla. Kind of obsessed.

In Weekend Brunch bloody mary, brunch, caramelized onions, chipotle, cilantro, eggs, i heart breakfast, proscuitto, quesadillas, weekend

weeknight fix: tropical inspiration.

March 4, 2010 — Leave a comment

Because I’m not not yet sailing along the Caribbean on the deliciously magnificent Oasis of the Seas, I decided to bring a little of the influence of the islands into my living room.

That, and I’m getting a little tired of my weekly rotation of either salmon + roasted asparagus or salad with grilled chicken.

Lately I’ve been digging Epicurious’ recipes and site in general, so as I was browsing (read: being sucked into the Matrix) the other day, I clicked on the Healthy tab and this chicken recipe quickly caught my eye. I wanted to make something on the side, so the first thing I thought of was rice.

Meal planning and figuring out what goes with what is something my friends ask about all the time; if nothing comes to mind I either browse recipes for ideas or just start Googling away. Because I don’t normally cook this type of food, I went the Google route. “Caribbean rice” took me to coconut, so I then searched “coconut brown rice” and found this recipe on Saveur‘s website. And because I normally like to include some type of veggie when I am cooking, I grabbed some snow peas in the produce section and was good to go.

*Bonus points: Not only can you prep and cook your chicken while your rice is cooking, but you add your snow peas right on top of the rice as it finishes cooking, and they just steam away right in there with the rice. Love that.

Pineapple-Glazed Chicken with Jalapeño Salsa and Coconut Brown Rice with Steamed Snow Peas

Recipes adapted from Epicurious.com and Saveur.com, respectively.

Chicken:

3/4 cup pineapple juice
3 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons yellow mustard
3/4 cup 1/4-inch cubes fresh pineapple
3 tablespoons finely diced red bell pepper
3 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion
2 tablespoons finely chopped pickled jalapeno (I like it spicy – so use more or less depending on your taste)
4 boneless chicken breast halves

Rice and Snow Peas:

1 piece peeled fresh ginger (about a 1 or 2 inch piece)
2 cups brown rice (or brown jasmine rice if you can find it)
1 1/2 cups lite coconut milk
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Cilantro sprigs for garnish
Fresh snow peas (I just grabbed a package in the product aisle – however much you want to eat)

The rice takes the longest, so get started on that first.

This was my first time cooking with fresh ginger – and it was so easy and worth it. You can either use a vegetable peeler, or just flip a spoon upside down and scrape the skin off (it’s surprisingly soft). After it’s peeled, pound the ginger with the back of your knife (just like you do with garlic) a few times to soften it up and get the juices flowing.

Rinse the rice in a strainer under cold running water for 30 seconds. Transfer the rice to a 3 quart saucepan and add the coconut milk, 1.5 cups cold water, the salt, and the ginger. Place the pan over high heat and bring the liquid to a boil while constantly stirring so the rice on the bottom doesn’t burn. Allow the rice to boil for 15 seconds, and keep on stirring.

Now you’re ready to let it simmer for a while. Because it’s brown rice, it takes longer to cook. So reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, until the liquid is completely absorbed and rice is tender, about 45 minutes (if you notice your rice is drying up quickly you can add more water).

While the rice is going you can make your salsa and prep your chicken.

Preheat your oven to 400°F. Bring the pineapple juice, brown sugar, and mustard to boil in a small saucepan, stirring to dissolve sugar. No exact science necessary here; I actually tripled the recipe (recipe said 1/4 cup juice, I had 3/4 cup) and just threw in whatever brown sugar I had left in a bag. Boil for a couple minutes until the liquid reduces down into a glaze, and season it up with salt and pepper.

Now time for this ridiculously amazing salsa. I used a fresh pineapple here – another first for me! At first the thing scared me, but it was so easy to work with. Just cut the top off, then stand it up and cut the sides off in strips. If you have any leftover pieces you can use your knife or even a vegetable peeler to clean it up. That’s it – now just chop it up, and mix it with your red pepper, cilantro, onion, and jalapeno in a bowl. Season with salt and pepper.

Place the chicken breasts in a glass baking dish (or a sheet pan lined with foil) and brush with the glaze. Bake 15 minutes. Brush again with glaze, then broil until cooked through and golden, about 5 minutes longer (careful with the broil – don’t let it burn!). Take the chicken out and let it rest for 5 minutes (like you should do when cooking any meat – helps keep it nice ‘n juicy).

Your rice should be almost done now! Remove the pot from the heat; add the snow peas on top and allow them both to continue to steam, covered, for 10 minutes. Fluff rice with a fork and if you want to be fancy garnish with a few sprigs of cilantro (I did it because I had cilantro on hand for the salsa).

Spoon that salsa love all over the chicken and serve with the rice and snow peas.