Summer Vegetable Quiche!

This may be the 5th quiche post on this blog, but it is such an easy and tasty dish to make really for any season or meal. A quiche can be extra eggy for breakfast, full of protein for lunch, or elegantly decorated with roasted veggies for dinner.

My new favorite blog, Sally's Baking Addiction, recently featured a low calorie version of a crust-less quiche. Needless to say I made some in my tart tins and the result was tasty and light.

Recipe link here.


-I sliced up some yellow squash, zucchini, yellow onion, and garlic, and sauteed them until soft in olive oil over medium heat.

-I whisked together 3 whole eggs plus 3 egg whites, milk, salt, and pepper.

-In another bowl, I grated small hunks of sharp cheddar, havarti, parmesan, and gouda cheeses, and mixed it in with the egg/milk mixture.

-Once the veggies cooled, I mixed it all together, and poured it into Pam-sprayed tart tins. They baked for about 40 min in a 350F oven.


My boss at work had the ingenious idea of decorating her lunch plate with cherry tomatoes and raspberries, it had such a gorgeous summer look!

Mac n' Chese Cupcakes!

For a co-worker without a sweet tooth (gasp!), I had so much fun playing around with a savory cupcake recipe. These mac and cheese 'cupcakes' were delicious and adorable - the baked breadcrumb topping really set them off!

Potato Quiche!

This is probably the 10th quiche posting on my blog, as quiche is one of my favorite things to make. You can customize your recipe to include whatever is on hand, both in pantry and fridge. It is fun to make, and interesting, as you probably will not have the same exact quiche each time.

This particular past Sunday, I had some extra red potatoes on hand, so I peeled, sliced, and roasted them. I mixed up a variety of cheeses to make the quiche filling, including diced slices of Munster, ricotta, shredded cheddar, heavy cream, cream cheese, and Parmesan. I was lazy and did not want to make a crust, so I just filled my tartlet pans with the cheesy mixture, and then topped with the roasted potato rounds. Yum!

Pão de Queijo!

Pão de queijo are delicious, Brazilian cheesy bread balls. The texture is amazing, it has a nice crunch on the outside, but the insides are soft and chewy. A good recipe to make them from scratch can be found here, however this is one instance where the boxed mix will literally produce the same results. This bread uses a very specific type of flour that may not be available everywhere, however you can find the mix in most grocery stores. Bom!

Good Eats!

I can't believe it's already August! This summer has truly flown by. Between my new job and summer class, I haven't had as much time as I'd like to spend in the kitchen. In the past two weeks I did manage to get in there and cook a bit. One night for dinner, I made chimichurri sauce to go along with skirt steak I picked up at WholeFoods.

Chimichurri sauce is a very versatile marinade and sauce, made with lots of fresh parsley, garlic, salt, pepper, olive oil, and a hint of red pepper flakes. It is simple but flavorful, with a lovely vibrant green color. I used a recipe from Gimme Some Oven and it came out great. To accompany, I sauteed some diced butternut squash, yellow squash, and zucchini rounds in a pan with lots of olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and white wine. I added some garlic bread and a healthy serving of a Merlot-Sangiovese blend of red wine to finish off the meal.

A few nights later I had some time for dinner, and picked up some gorgeous tilapia filets on my way home from work. I seasoned them simply, with salt and pepper, before dipping them in eggwash (two beaten eggs) and tossing in a bowl of Italian breadcrumbs. I baked them on an olive oil-greased baking sheet until the fish flaked when poked with a fork. I served it with rice pilaf and green beans tossed with sliced almonds and balsamic vinegar (sides not pictured).

This past week was the last day of one of my co-workers, who LOVES Spiderman so naturally, I tried my hand at Spidey-themed cupcakes! The cake part was chocolate with milk and white chocolate chips, and the frosting was a vanilla buttercream mixed with a little cheese cream to cut down on the sweetness.

And last but not least, we are throwing a birthday party today for one of our very good family friends, so I made two savory appetizers - mini corn cakes with sour cream frosting and pea garnish, and brie and jam filled phyllo cups (blackberry, raspberry, and apricot jam).

Mini Corn Cakes!

Brie Jam Phyllo Cups!

Chicken Enchiladas, Part Two!

I am a big fan of homemade Mexican food. Beans, sour cream, avocado, cheese, tortillas ... what's not to love? The ingredients are delicious, and versatile. With a few pantry staples and spices, you can whip up your own version of a taquito, enchilada, burrito, quesadilla, etc! My first attempt at chicken enchiladas was back in April but I knew I needed to try them again. For lunch today, I decided to make them, but minus the red sauce. My goal was to use ingredients I had on hand and to not run to the store last minute!

I had some leftover chicken cutlets in balsamic vinegar from dinner last week, so I shredded them and then marinated them with lime juice, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, salt, and pepper.

Next I diced some slices of Swiss and muenster cheese, and started to form the enchiladas. I rolled the chicken, black beans, and cheese bits in corn tortillas.

Assembled enchiladas, with cubed cheese on top.

Baked, golden brown, bubbly goodness!

I mashed up an avocado with a bit of lime juice and salt and slathered it on top of the enchilada pieces, along with some sour cream.

Yum! :)

Baby Quiche Bundts!

I LOVE quiche. I love quiche with or without crust, and in miniature pans or one large pie dish. I have made quiche enough times that it has become one of the few recipes I feel fairly confident 'whipping up' while glancing at a recipe list very briefly. My favorite crustless quiche recipe comes from All Recipes, (and I have previously made it here and here).

I always loosely adapt my quiche recipe depending on the ingredients in my fridge. Since I am going away for a 5-day weekend (Washington D.C., Gainesville, and Orlando), I wanted to use up some ingredients already in my kitchen. For today's mini quiches, I sauteed some shallots and garlic together and then added fresh spinach. I whisked together eggs, salt, pepper, and various cheeses, including Muenster, Boursin (herb & cheese), Ricotta, Mozzarella, and Cheddar, and added the veggie mix. I recently purchased a mini bundt pan so I thought, why not bake the quiches in it? They came out very cute!

Spring Veggie Quinoa & Biscuits!

I love lazy Sunday afternoons, especially in our Floridian summer, where there is always a hint of a thunderstorm outside. Is there anything better then dancing around the kitchen, wooden spoon in hand, with clouds and rain outside?

For today's late lunch, I loosely adapted a recipe from Annie's Eats, Veggie Quinoa. I really liked quinoa the first time I cooked it, which was in the form of Quinoa Cakes, so I was eager to cook with it again. First I started by roasting four different vegetables, halved cherry tomatoes, sliced white mushrooms, and diced rounds of yellow squash and zucchini. I poured copious amounts of EVOO, salt, and pepper over them and let them roast for 40 minutes.

LOVE the pop of colors here!

Cooked quinoa...

Everything put together!

Served with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of shaved Parmesan cheese.

Later on I had a craving for a buttery biscuit, so I whipped up a quick batch of cheddar garlic biscuits (a play on the ones served at Red Lobster). I used a recipe from Gimme Some Oven.

Variations: I added 2 tbsp more melted butter (oops!), used a mix of shredded mozzarella and cheddar cheeses, and topped with parsley instead of oregano. Yum!

Beef Tostadas!

Even though I am a little late on the Mexican food bandwagon (considering Cinco de Mayo was 3 days ago!), last night I decided to make tostadas inspired by a post I saw on Gimme Some Oven. She made hers with chicken, but I choose to use ground beef marinated in enchilada sauce (I cheated - from a can!) instead. First I brushed the corn tortillas with olive oil and crisped them up in a super hot oven. Then I spread a layer of refried beans (also from a can - but a good recipe for homemade beans can be found at Annie's Eats) and topped with shredded cheese (Mexican blend). I baked them again for a few minutes to heat up the beans and melt the cheese, then took them out and topped with shredded lettuce, avocado slices, and a heaping dollop of sour cream.  This was a big hit at home, my bf and dad definitely ate their way through this one. This dish is so pleasing because there are layers of flavors as well as so many great textures. In fact, I made it tonight too!

Baby Peanut Butter Pretzel Brownie Cupcakes!

Awhile back, when I first discovered lovely Joy the Baker, I bookmarked a brownie recipe of hers - these heavenly-looking Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Brownies. The combination of sweet n' salty, always a winner in my book, grabbed my attention right away. I'm not a big brownie maker so I decided to convert this recipe to mini cupcakes. I also didn't feel the need to make the peanut butter into a sauce by adding sugar and vanilla extract, so I simply swirled creamy peanut butter onto the brownie cupcakes once cooled, and topped with a pretzel. I had to spray the mini cupcake liners to death with Pam, or else the brownie batter would've stuck like glue (and it still did, a teeny bit). The end effect is lovely, perfectly sized chocolatey, peanuty, pretzely (yes, these are all words) bites!

Note the adorable mini cupcake spatula, courtesy of Crate & Barrel!

My dinner consisted of an alarming amount of the above brownie cupcake minis, half a bottle of Merlot, and a plate of raspberries, cheese rounds, and olive crackers! :)

Brie Cups!

I went to my friend's wedding last weekend, and one of the appetizers served during cocktail hour were brie and jam filled phyllo cups. Bite-sized, colorful, and tasty - basically, they stole my heart. I knew I had to recreate them and a quick Googe search led me to straight to Gimme Some Oven, aka my new favorite food blog! So today I made Brie Phyllo Cups and filled half with seedless raspberry preserves and the others with apricot preserves. They are so easy to make, look elegant, and are incredibly versatile. I had some fresh berries with the idea to place them in the cups, but in the end I didn't want to cram them - they are delicate layers of dough as it is!

Golden, warm, toasted - lovely!

Chicken Enchiladas

For once I was in a non-Italian mood and decided to try my hand at Mexican/Tex-Mex. I had an inkling to attempt enchiladas but couldn't find a cohesive recipe to follow, so I merged Rachel Ray's version with Tyler Florence's. I was a little apprehensive of the sauce flavor, and next time I will make it more flavorful and a little bit more spicy, but it worked! I caved and bought the bag of generic Mexican blend cheeses but I was glad I did - they were great!

Love the bubbly, crispy cheesiness! Enchiladas definitely require some broiling.

My boyfriend said he wasn't a fan after his first bite - and then cleaned the remaining half of the dish! (Most of the first half was gone thanks to my dad!) This wasn't my favorite dinner, but evidently it is a good one for the mens ;)

Spinach Quiche!

Being a fan of spinach, cheese, and anything that comes in tart-form, quiche has been in my repertoire for some time. My favorite 'filling' recipe comes from All Recipes, and I had never really wanted (or felt the need) to bake it with a crust before today. Having recently ordered these gorgeous little tart pans, I knew I wanted to improve my standard quiche. Using Foodo Delmundo's crust recipe, this was the best quiche yet!

Made on 03/28/2012.

Rolling out the dough and filling the tart tins ....

Mix cheeses, salt, pepper, and eggs...

Saute thawed spinach, garlic, and onion in olive oil....

Cutting the remaining dough for the outer crust ....

Prick tart pan bottoms with a fork and brush the dough with a beaten egg....

Pre-bake the crusts at 350 degrees F....

Mix the spinach/onion/garlic mixture in with the eggs, cheeses, and seasoning....

Fill the quiche crusts with 1/3 cup of the filling ...

Bake for 30-40 minutes, until cheese is golden and bubbly....

Let cool....

Lovely!

Yay!

Okay, this is the last quiche glamor shot. ;)

Pesto, Spinach, and Mushrooms!

Thanks to so much Italian in my life, I've discovered a late-blooming love for spinach and mushrooms. I liked them before just fine, but now find myself absolutely devoted. Pesto has always been a favorite of mine, but only homemade! Store-bought pesto is atrocious. I'm also really into whole wheat pasta, more and more. The color is pleasing (as well as natural!) and tends to have more of a bite to it, something I appreciate as a total al dente fan. Last night I made a simple pesto (basil, pine nuts, walnuts, lemon juice, garlic, Parmesan, salt, pepper) and tossed it with whole wheat mini shells (conchiglie). I sauteed sliced white mushrooms in butter and olive oil until tender and wilted a big bunch of fresh spinach with it. I mixed everything together, sprinkled Parmesan on top, and voilà! Dinner is served :)

Made on 03/19/2012.

Baked Squash Mac & Cheese!

Baked Squash Mac & Cheese!

Made on 03/11/12.

Variations: I used sour cream instead of Greek yogurt, and my three cheeses were Pecorino Romano, Parmesan, and Cheddar. I used whole wheat rotini for the pasta, and Italian breadcrumbs instead of Panko. Delish!

The squash is great - not only is it a healthy addition to the mac & cheese, but it provides a wonderful creamy texture and gorgeous color! I was apprehensive about this flavor combination, but everything melts together very well :)

Pizza, Chili and Chocolate Cupcakes!

I LOVE making pizza. Once you have a staple pizza crust recipe, making pizza inevitably becomes one of the easiest and most versatile dishes to whip up in very little time. I'm going to Spain and Portugal at the end of this week so I was on a mission to cook and bake with the intention of using up plenty of my fridge/freezer items. With an abundance of cheeses (ricotta, mascarpone, parmiggiano, mozzarella) and some leftover pesto, I made a simple and satisfying lunch. My favorite go-to recipe is definitely Katie's pizza crust!

Pizza con Pesto e Quattro Formaggi! I think naming it in Italian sounds so much better, don't you? ;) I was very happy to successfully use my new clay pizza stone too!

Made on 02/12/12.

Here it is, in all it's four cheese bubbly goodness.

Next up I decided to attempt chili from AmyBites which never lets me down with her awesome and healthy recipe recommendations!

Variations: I used ground beef instead of turkey, and made the dish on the stove instead of in the slow-cooker, letting it cook at low-heat for a total of 2 1/2 hours. I didn't add any chili powder or cayenne since the flavor from the stewed tomatoes (which already had spices) was delicious enough on it's own!

Chili!
Made on 02/12/12.

Top with a scoop of low-fat sour cream and shredded cheddar cheese.

Last but not least, double chocolate cupcakes with mascarpone and cream cheese frosting! These were made for a special friend of mine's birthday and since her birthday is also on Valentine's Day, I topped them with some little cinnamon candy hearts! :)

Chocolate and Mascarpone Cupcakes!

Made on 02/12/12.

Chocolatey deliciousness!

Thanks to Kirbie's Cravings!

What I have made thus far .... All Recipes Edition!

Spinach Quiche!
Made on 05/24/11.

Lemon Creme Cupcakes!
Made on 03/20/11.

Bacon Chocolate Cupcakes!
Made on 03/13/11.

Salmon Cakes!
Made on 06/09/11.

Champagne Cupcakes!
Made on 05/28/11.

Vanilla Ricotta Cupcakes!
Made on 11/12/11.

Cheddar Garlic Biscuits!
Made on 12/31/11.

Spinach Phyllo Cups!
Made on 12/31/11.

Thanks to All Recipes! :)