Vietnamese Lamb Lollipops

       Every once in a while when I'm feeling rich and in the mood to treat myself, I'll buy a rack of lamb. In this particular case however, I was actually feeling extremely broke and dreading the upcoming finals so it was more of a coping mechanism than anything else. Cooking a good meal can do wonders on the mood, I can promise you that!

       Usually when I make lamb, I fall back on one of my all time favorite recipes. It also happens to be my first blog post ever, nearly two years ago. (Click here for Lamb Chops with Rosemary and Balsamic Reduction) I figured this time would be a good opportunity to blog about something new, and I found the perfect recipe!

       I'll be honest I'm not sure exactly what makes these Vietnamese, but that's what the original recipe was called so I'm sticking with it. Tender lamb lollipops marinated and cooked in soy sauce with sweet honey and chili powder.... They were absolutely delicious!


 

        They were extremely easy too. I always pan sear my lamb so I was a little uneasy about baking them, especially when the cut is so thin, but they came out super tender and perfectly cooked. In my opinion it's totally worth spending the extra money to get such a delicious cut.

        I served them with roasted carrots with a greek yogurt sauce (I'm blogging about those next because they were sooooo good) and some garlic mashed potatoes. It was a delicious, hearty meal with a great balance of flavors.


     So treat yourself during finals week, or celebrate the holidays!

    (PS- Stay tuned for the carrot recipe! I highly recommend serving them with this lamb. An addition of greens would be good as well.)






Vietnamese Lamb Lollipops

Ingredients:
12 3oz lamb rib chops
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp chili powder
1 tbsp sugar
Salt and pepper
1 tbsp lime juice
1 1/2 tbsp reduce sodium soy sauce/tamari
2 tbsp olive oil

Directions:
Season chops with garlic, chili powder, sugar and salt and pepper.
Place in a roasting pan.
Mix together lime juice, soy sauce and olive oil and pour over lamb. Marinate at least three hours, or overnight.
Remove lamb from fridge and allow to reach room temperature while you Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Roast in preheated oven for about 18-20 minutes (for medium to medium rare) or desired doneness.

Serve with the carrot recipe coming up next!







Recipe altered from allrecipes.com

Happy Holidays and My Excuse for Lack of Posts

     Ahhh it's that time of year again! I'm scraping ice off my car every morning and drowning in papers and study guides for finals, and yet still I find myself abnormally happy despite spending all my money on gifts and shivering to death from it being cold as #$&*^% in Orono. The Christmas decorations are up, festive music is playing, and there is a light at the end of the tunnel that involves wonderful food, loving family, my adorable dog and most importantly wonderful food (did I already mention that?)

    So you can imagine I have good reasons why I haven't posted much on the blog recently. Things such as online shopping (sooo much online shopping), craft making, Harry Potter watching and some half-assed homework doing have occupied most of my time, leaving me to cook some fairly basic meals that haven't quite made it to the blog yet. But don't worry, things are coming!

    I also drove from California to Maine over Thanksgiving break, which gives me a legitimate excuse for not posting a delicious casserole or dessert for the Holiday. You don't really have much time to cook and take pictures when you're pushing 600 miles a day. (On multiple occasions a bag of chips was to suffice for a meal). Needless to say I missed my family on Thanksgiving, but it was worth the adventure!

Some pictures of our favorite stops:

Coastal California

Santa Barbara with Ali, my travel buddy. 75 and sunny! 

The Grand Canyon

Purple Mountains in the South West

Square dancing in Nashville

Skyping with my family on Thanksgiving

Ali and some duck in a indoor food market at our last stop in Philly

    It was quite the adventure, but I'm looking forward to spending the upcoming Christmas holiday with my family! Now that I've shared some excuses for recently neglecting the blog, you can expect some good posts coming up to make up for it! 

  I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving and has a wonderful Christmas, too! 

Chicken Wings 3 Ways

     As I said in my last wing recipe post (Click here for Honey Soy Srircha Wings), chicken wings are the best game day snack. With football season in full swing, I figured I needed to add to my wing recipe repertoire so by the time the Superbowl comes around I'll be a pro.

     Again I was impressed with how delicious and crispy the wings come out when they are baked. Just remember to pat them dry and brush them with oil to allow the skin to mimic that deep fried texture.

    I like a good balance of sweet and spicy wings, with of course some ranch on the side for dipping! For the game against the Colts, I made traditional buffalo wings along with a spicy honey mustard sauce, and tangy caramelized wings. We divided up wings into the three sauces and it was such a great variety.

    Keep in mind when making buffalo wings, if you prefer a milder wing you can add a little melted butter to your buffalo sauce and it will reduce the heat. Also know that bottled hot sauce is different than buffalo wing sauce. I recommend adding butter to the sauce if you are using regular hot sauce. It will taste much more similar to the buffalo wings you are used to.



    Alter the sauce ingredients to your liking to make each recipe your own. Enjoy the game!




Traditional Buffalo Wings

Ingredients:
2 lbs chicken wings
1-2 tbsp oil
salt, pepper and garlic powder
1/2 cup Frank's Redhot Buffalo Wing sauce (or your preferred kind)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Pat wings dry, season with salt, pepper and garlic powder, then brush all sides with oil.
Bake in foil lined rimmed baking sheet for 35 minutes or until skin is nice and crispy, turning once halfway through.
Remove from pan and toss in bowl with buffalo sauce to coat.





Caramelized Tangy Wings

Ingredients:
2 lbs chicken wings
1-2 tbsp oil
salt and pepper
1/2 cup Catalina salad dressing
1/2 cup apricot preserves
1 tbsp onion soup mix
Hot sauce to taste if desired

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Pat wings dry, season with salt and pepper and brush all sides with oil.
Place on foil lined rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 25 minutes, and meanwhile mix dressing, preserves and onion soup mix together.
Remove wings from oven and cover with sauce. Place back in oven and bake for 20-25 minutes more.






Spicy Honey Mustard Wings

Ingredients:
2 lbs chicken wings
1-2 tbsp oil
Salt, pepper and garlic powder
2 tbsp dijon mustard
1 1/2 tbsp yellow mustard
3 tbsp honey (more if you want them a little sweeter)
2 tsp cider vinegar
1 tsp hot sauce to taste

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Pat wings dry, season with salt, pepper and garlic powder and brush all sides with oil.
Bake on foil lined rimmed baking sheet for 35 minutes or until skin is nice and crispy, turning over halfway through.
While baking, mix together mustards, honey, vinegar and hot sauce. Adjust to taste.
Toss wings in sauce to coat. Plate wings and pour remaining sauce in bowl on top of them.






Click Here for my Honey Soy Sriracha Wing Recipe!

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies

      This is about the most simple peanut butter cookie recipe in existence, and you can assume from the time that has passed since my last post that simplicity is about all I have time for.

       All you need is peanut butter, sugar and an egg! It's that easy! They are super peanut buttery and dense, which is just how I like them. Beware though that because they are flourless, they are tender when coming out of the oven, so it's best to let them cool a couple minutes before indulging ;) The whole batch comes together in less than 15 minutes!

      In no time at all you'll have an effortlessly gluten free treat! We used sunflower seed butter for one batch and they were super good, so feel free to experiment. Chocolate chips are next on the list :)

 Best served with a tall glass of milk!






Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies
Ingredients:
1 cup natural peanut butter (or other nut butter)
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Mix all ingredients to combine. Scoop rounded tablespoons onto ungreased cookie shit.
Press down in criss cross pattern with fork. Top with sprinkle of coarse sea salt if desired.
Bake in preheated oven for 9-10 minutes

Turkey Dinner Stuffed Acorn Squash

      Not many things make me happier than a turkey dinner. A great feast of potatoes, gravy, cranberry sauce, vegetables galore and of course the beautifully roasted bird, leaving you in the most wonderful kind of food coma there is.
       Recently my mom sent me back up to school after fall break with a nice 15 lb turkey to cook up a roommate family dinner. Everyone contributed a side dish, and we had ourselves a wonderful meal!

      As all Thanksgiving lovers can attest, the left over meals after the big day are just as enjoyable. You can imagine that 6 girls can only do so much damage on such a big bird, so I had quite a bit remaining and decided to do something a little creative with the leftovers to get my boyfriend in on the feast. 

      Last year I made a Chipotle Chicken Stuffed Acorn Squash and I was absolutely in love with it. I decided that using a squash fresh from a farm in Maine and stuffing it with all the leftover fixings of a turkey dinner was the absolute greatest option I had. 

Topping them with melted cheese and leftover gravy wasn't half bad either.....

     You really could use whatever leftover turkey dinner ingredients you have. You could use leftover stuffing in the mixture, but if you need to keep it gluten free go with quinoa! It adds some great nutritional value and is fairly moist so it's a great binder. (Rice wouldn't be quite the same)

     This recipe is such a great way to create a leftover meal that is just as exciting as the first!





Turkey Dinner Stuffed Acorn Squash
Ingredients:
1 acorn squash, halved lengthwise and guts removed
1 tbsp melted butter or oil
2 tsp brown sugar
Salt and pepper
1 1/2 cups chopped leftover turkey
1 cup cooked quinoa
1/3 cup cranberry sauce
2 tbsp finely chopped onion
1 tsp thyme
1/4 cup cheddar cheese
Leftover gravy

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees
Brush acorn squash with butter or oil, sprinkle with brown sugar and season with salt and pepper.
Place squash cut side up on foil lined baking sheet. Roast in preheated oven for 35 minutes or until just fork tender.
While squash is in oven, mix together turkey, quinoa, cranberry sauce, onion and thyme.
When squash is done, stuff each with half of the mixture. Place back in oven for another 15 minutes.
Remove from oven and top with cheese.
Put back in oven for 5-10 more minutes or until cheese is completely melted and edges have started to brown.
Top with gravy to serve.

Sweet and Spicy Rainbow Carrots

     These carrots are absolutely beautiful. I had never seen them before making this recipe, and I fell in love with their vibrant colors. They basically taste just the same as your regular old orange carrots, but it's hard to say no to something this pretty!

Behold! (It's hard to believe, but I promise I'm not even using a filter!)

    While I was cooking them I couldn't get over how bright they were. Initially when they were heated up, the colors just enhanced and It didnt even look real! After they cooked down a while, they absorbed some of the delicious orange juice and brown sugar sauce which allowed them to lose some of the bright color, but they still stayed so pretty!

    It's a perfect side dish for a fall meal. The flavors are sweet, warm, and reminiscent of Thanksgiving. Plus the colors just scream Autumn!

   A forkful of these carrots, cranberry sauce, my mom's garlic roasted onions and fresh turkey is to die for.....

(I will have to write a post about the onions my mom makes because they're absolutely amazing!)

     This will definitely be a recipe I continue to make year round. It would be great with chicken or pork, as well!







Sweet and Spicy Rainbow Carrots
Ingredients:
2 lb bag rainbow carrots (regular works too)
3 tbsp butter
1/4 cup orange juice
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/8 tsp cayenne
1/8 tsp cinnamon
salt and pepper
garlic powder

Directions:
Peel and slice carrots fairly thin
In skillet over medium heat, melt butter.
Whisk together orange juice, brown sugar, cayenne and cinnamon, and mix into melted butter.
Increase heat to medium high.
Add in carrots and mix around to coat. Season with garlic powder, salt and pepper.
Cook, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes or until sauce has reduced to a glaze and carrots are tender and browned slightly on the edges.

Kale Salad with Chicken Sausage and Curried Squash

   I've been making some variation of this kale salad basically every day. It's so good and so flexible based on whatever vegetables you have. This particular one I had to blog about, because it's a perfect fall dish, from the flavors to the colors of the ingredients.

     The Al Fresco sausages really are great because they have a variety of flavors, and they're perfect for a quick weeknight meal because they're totally cooked so they heat up in just a couple minutes. Plus they're not nearly as bad for you as regular italian sausages, without sacrificing any flavor. The sweet apple sausages and the curried squash was such a delicious combination, and it's a pretty healthy meal. I promise, once you make a kale salad like this, you'll be addicted.

   You could of course use another type of sausage, but because apples are in season, it seemed only fitting to use the apple sausages. Using a regular sweet sausage and then topping the salad with some apple pieces would be delicious as well. Anything that celebrates this beautiful fall season!






Kale Salad w/ Chicken Sausage and Curried Squash
(For One)
Ingredients:
1 cup cubed butternut squash (1" pieces)
2 tsp oil
1/4 tsp curry powder
pinch cumin, salt and pepper
2 tsp oil
1/2 small onion, sliced
1 Al Fresco Apple Chicken Sausage, chopped
1/4 cup halved cherry tomatoes
2 big handfuls chopped kale (with no big veins)
2 tsp rice vinegar
Salt and pepper

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Toss squash pieces with oil and season with curry powder, cumin, salt and pepper
Spread evenly on cookie sheet and roast til squash it tender and lightly browned, about 20-25 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat oil in skillet over medium/medium low heat.
Add sliced onions and cook slowly until they're tender and just starting to brown.
Add in sliced tomatoes and sausage pieces, and stir around.
Raise heat to medium/ medium high.
Add in kale and use a spatula to mix around the ingredients and get the kale moistened.
Add in rice vinegar and immediately cover pan and let steam for 2 minutes or so.
Season with salt and pepper and serve when kale is tender, top with butternut squash.



   

 

Cauliflower "Fried Rice"

     I wish I had come up with this on my own because this idea is pure genius! It is probably the first thing I've actually tried off of Pinterest and it's magical. I might be way overly excited about it, but I tend to do that about food. It tastes delicious, it's super healthy and it's really not that time consuming like other creative health conscious recipes tend to be. It makes me happy just looking at it!

       You can cook it just as you do traditional fried rice, and add even more veggies to the mix. I paired mine with my favorite coconut curry chicken thighs, (which I will post a recipe for sometime soon) and it was by far the most satisfying, feel-good meal I've eaten in a while.

       Cauliflower is a great vegetable to incorporate in your diet because it's loaded with Vitamin C (antioxidants) and K (anti inflammatory). And just look at it! You can't even tell that it's not rice! I'm talking to you, mothers with picky children. This would've been gold for me as a kid because I would hardly look at vegetables, let alone pick them up with a fork and eat them.

     
    You could add cooked an egg and pork, shrimp or chicken to the mix, too! The recipe below is very basic, so there's plenty of room for modification!



   

Cauliflower "Fried Rice" 
Ingredients:
1/2 large head cauliflower, chopped (for ease in food processor)
2 tbsp sesame oil
1 small onion, chopped
1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed
1 clove garlic, minced
2 tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce (or tamari)

Directions:
Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and peas and saute until tender.
Meanwhile, pule cauliflower in food processor, until rice sized chunks. Don't over process because you won't end up with "rice".
Add garlic to pan with onions and peas and stir, then add in cauliflower and raise heat to medium-high. Pour soy sauce on top and stir to combine.
Cover and cook for about 5 minutes. Cauliflower will be tender but not mushy- similar to rice!

Apple Crisp

    It's plain to see why New Englanders are obsessed with fall. It's such a beautiful season, and we've been fortunate to have wonderful weather so far, making it easy to enjoy some outdoor activities.

Exhibit A:   Acadia

Exhibit B:   In the woods somewhere

    Although the weather and foliage is first on the list of my favorite things about fall, the second is (you guessed it) the food. Fall comfort food is absolutely the best, and there's no way I would let winter come without first making a delicious apple crisp!

    There's nothing fancy about this recipe. It's traditional, basic, and absolutely perfect. With the warm cinnamon apples and sweet crunchy topping paired with ice cream, I honestly don't know what could be better for a fall dessert.

(Please ignore the poor photo quality - I use my iphone and the lighting in my kitchen is so terrible that I literally have to use one of my roommate's flashlight on their phone to even be able to see the dish. No professional blog photography here haha!)


      It is a perfect comfort food dessert, which happened to be a current necessity. My roommates and I ate half the pan in impressive timing, then dished the rest out to kids at a party we had, so I promise you it was thoroughly enjoyed.

      My roommates and I have a slight froyo obsession (I know, typical girl thing), so when I asked one of them to bring home ice cream to go with the crisp, it was no surprise she came home with a yogurt blend. Generally vanilla is great with crisp, but this caramel one was so good, especially with the little pecan crunchy bites in it! I think a maple walnut ice cream would be a great pairing as well :)


    It's a super simple recipe, and apple picking season is in full swing - so get to it!





Traditional Apple Crisp
Ingredients:
4-5 lb apples, peeled, cored and sliced (I used McIntosh)
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp flour - gluten free if necessary
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp water
1 1/2 cup oats - gluten free if necessary
1 cup flour - gluten free if necessary
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
1/2 cup softened butter

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Mix together the sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. Toss with apples to coat and pour into 9x13 baking dish. Top with lemon juice and water.
Mix together oats, flour, brown sugar, baking powder & soda and salt. Mix in butter, with your hands if necessary, until mixed and crumbly. Top the apples evenly with the mixture.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes, top will be browned and sides bubbling.
Serve warm with ice cream.






Recipe altered from allrecipes.com