Knead to Cook

Food & fitness obsessed girl.

Archives for March 2012

Cilantro lime jalapeño hummus.

by Filed Under: Condiments, Dips, No bake/cooking required!, Vegetarian 16 Comments

If you love hummus with a kick… this is a must try!  Best made ahead of time & refrigerated.  Serve this with pita chips or veggies.  Packed with flavor, this is sure to be a favorite!

Ingredients:

5 cloves garlic, peeled
2 – 15 oz cans of garbanzo beans, I used low sodium version — drained and rinsed.
4 tbl of fresh lime juice
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c or so of good olive oil
1 c of fresh cilantro leaves
1 jalapeño, stem removed

Directions:

In your food processor, place the cloves of garlic and pulse until finely chopped.  Then add the beans, lime juice and salt.  Puree for about 1-2 minutes.  It will look like a chunky oatmeal texture.  Then through the spout, finely pour a stream of the olive oil.  This will blend with the bean mixture and make a smoother, hummus type texture.  Then add the jalapeño & cilantro and pulse again until incorporated.

You can serve right away or refrigerate for 1-6 hours and then remove before serving, allowing enough time for it to return to room temperature for optimum flavor.

— Knead to Cook

Mango balsamic salsa.

by Filed Under: No bake/cooking required!, Salsas & Guacamole, Vegetarian Leave a Comment

 

 

I could eat this by the spoon!  So fresh, so delicious with just a hint of kick from the jalapeño.   This recipe screams spring and summer to me!  I love this over grilled chicken or fish.  Or you can simply serve it with tortilla chips as an appetizer.  So versatile.  So delish!

Ingredients:
3 mangoes, ripe and pitted, sliced into small chunks
1 smaller red pepper, diced (or yellow/orange peppers)  Whatever you have on hand 🙂
1 green onion, chopped
1 jalapeño, finely diced
2 tbl of chopped cilantro, fresh
2 tbl of aged balsamic vinegar

Directions:

Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl and then cover and refrigerate for 2-6 hours.

 

 

 

— Knead to Cook

Blackened Spice Rub.

by Filed Under: Vegetarian Leave a Comment

We love spicy things in my family.  So when my youngest asked for taco night… I wanted to spice things up and use some chicken instead of the usual ground turkey or beef.  I made the blackened spice mix first and then dry-rubbed it on the chicken and then refrigerated it all afternoon. Grilled the chicken and sliced it up for my taco bar.  It was met with rave reviews 🙂

Ingredients in the rub:

2 tbl of smoked paprika
1 tbl of dried ground Greek oregano
1 tbl of dried thyme
1 tsp of garlic powder
1 tsp of onion powder
1 tsp of ground cumin
1 tsp of ground pepper
1 pinch of salt

Add this to a tupperware container or baggie.  Close up and shake until combined.  Use this on fish, beef, chicken etc.

— Knead to Cook

Chobani Cho-ventive winner announced!!!

by Filed Under: Pasta 1 Comment

Okay the winner of the Chobani giveaway is….

Skylar Loy

Chobani will be sending you the following right to your door!

1 – 32 oz container of 0% fat Plain
 1- 32 oz container of 2% plain
 1 -32 oz container of 0% Vanilla

That’s a whole lotta cooking & baking creativity that can happen!  Now all you have to do is email me at robin@kneadtocook.com with your mailing address within 48 hours so that I can forward it to Chobani.  Thanks and congrats!!!!!!!!!!  If I don’t hear from Skylar, another winner will be chosen on Saturday, 24th of March.

— Knead to Cook

Apple sage stuffed pork over Chobani apple cinnamon mashed sweet potatoes.

by Filed Under: Grilling, Pork, Potatoes, Side dish 2 Comments


Apples & pork are truly one of my favorite food combinations.  I paired the pork up with mashed sweet potatoes (that I purchased from the farmer’s market on Tuesday).  And thanks to Chobani sending me a ton of wonderful yogurt today, I thought I would try adding  the apple cinnamon to the mashed potatoes and so glad I did.  It added another layer of that wonderful apple flavor to the dish.

Pork:

5 boneless pork filets (you can use 4-6 for this recipe), created a pocket with my filet knife being careful not to go all the way through the meat to the other side.
1/4 c of chopped onion
2 tsp of butter or substitute butter product (I used I can’t believe it’s not butter)
1 c of chopped apples
1/2 c of Panko bread crumbs (or regular if that’s all you have in your pantry)
1 tsp of dried sage

Over a medium flame, heat your butter till melted. Add the onion and cook until translucent.  Then add the Panko.  Mix until the butter and onion is absorbed and toasted.  It should look like this:

Then sprinkle with sage.  Once cooled down a bit, stuff your pork (pocket you created with your filet knife) and then close and seal with a toothpick or two.  Repeat until done.  Set aside.  Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.  In a skillet over medium flame, drizzle some olive oil or a pat of butter.  Once hot, add the pork and brown on each side.  This should take 1-2 minutes.  Then remove and place on a cookie sheet.  Bake at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes or until no longer pink.

Sweet Potatoes:

6 medium sized yams, washed and cut into larger size pieces
1 6 oz cup of Chobani Apple Cinnamon yogurt
2 tbl of Cinnamon butter spread (you can use regular butter)
1 tbl of light brown sugar

Directions:
Bring a large Dutch oven with about 4 qts of water to a boil.  Add the potatoes and cook until fork tender.  Before draining, remove about 1 c of the water that the potatoes were cooked in and set aside.  Then drain the potatoes and add them to your stand mixer with the paddle attachment on.  Then add the butter and brown sugar.  Mix until creamy.  Add the Chobani yogurt and continue to blend.  Taste test and adjust the seasonings as needed.  Spoon into a serving bowl and cover until ready to serve.

For plating…
Add the sweet mashed potatoes as a bed and the pork on top.  Sprinkle with parsley and freshly ground pepper.  Enjoy!

 

— Knead to Cook

Low fat Chobani Raspberry Brownies.

by Filed Under: Desserts, Fruit, Valentine's Day, Vegetarian 3 Comments

I admit, I’ve never been a brownie fan but these may convert me!  I wanted to create a moist, lower fat brownie using my favorite ingredient, Chobani & add a bit of freshness to it by tossing in some gorgeous organic raspberries I purchased this morning.  The result is quite surprising.  The chocolate has a deep, rich flavor, almost like a decadent hot chocolate and the tart/sweet blend of the raspberries just makes these totally scrumptious!
Ingredients:

2/3 c of granulated sugar
1/3 c of I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter (at room temperature)
1 tsp of vanilla extract
1 egg, room temperature
1/3 c of all purpose flour (unbleached)
1/3 c + 1 tsp of Dutch processed cocoa powder (I used my local favorite – Wilbur)
1 tsp of baking powder
1 tsp of ground cinnamon
1/4 c of non fat Chobani yogurt
1/4 c of fresh, washed and very dry raspberries

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350.  Preheat for at least 30 minutes.  Spray your glass 8×8 pan with non stick flour baking spray.

In your stand mixer with the paddle attached, blend the sugar and I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter until light and fluffy.  Add the extract and the egg.  Blend well.  In a separate bowl, whisk flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and cinnamon.  Add to the mixer bowl.  Mix until blended.  Then fold in the Chobani yogurt by hand.  Mix well.


Pour half of your brownie mixture into the bottom of the pan.  Add the raspberries on top.  Then add the remaining batter.  Bake for about 35-45 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out with only a tiny bit of batter on it and the center of the brownies is more firm (versus giggly).

Remove from the oven and let cool for 40-50 minutes then slice.  Dust with confectioners’ sugar and top with additional berries.  Enjoy!

— Knead to Cook

Shish Kabobs.

by Filed Under: Grilling, Pork, Vegetarian 1 Comment

Who doesn’t love a good shish kabob?  Seriously, everything is cooked on the stick… it’s the perfect meal, right?!  Ha.  Well today is the first day of spring and I couldn’t wait to fire up the grill.  Hubby is attending some dinner tonight so I thought it would be a fun dinner for the kids.  Plus, today is Farmer’s Market day so I stocked up on lots of fresh, delicious veggies and from my favorite Mennonite farmers – I got fresh hot Italian turkey sausage.  This meal is not only economical, but so good!

If you’ve never made shish kabobs, this post is for you!  First you need your metal or wood skewers.  Wood skewers can be found at your local grocery store!  Metal and wood are also available at your local kitchen specialty stores like Williams Sonoma, Crate and Barrel or Sur la Table.

If you opt for wood, like I do, make sure you soak your sticks in water (completely submersed) for about 2 hours.  This will prevent the wood from burning on the grill.  Then you want to cut up your veggies of choice and meat to approximately the same size so that it all cooks in the same amount of time.  Skewer alternating veggie/meat etc.  This time I used zucchini, red and orange peppers, onions and turkey sausage.  You can also prepare these ahead of time and soak in a marinade for 4-24 hours.   Vegetarian option… just stack your favorite veggies.  Cherry tomatoes work great too!

Grill and flip as necessary to achieve even cooking.  I served on a bed of organic quinoa.  Yum!

 

 

— Knead to Cook

Time to get Cho-ventive!

by Filed Under: Giveaway!!! 95 Comments

I’m so excited that Chobani contacted me earlier this week.  They are interested in sharing some of their INCREDIBLE products with friends of my Facebook page &/or KTC website.  I’m so excited to put this giveaway together with them 🙂

So here are the details:  

One super lucky winner will receive:

1 – 32 oz container of 0% fat Plain
1- 32 oz container of 2% plain
1 -32 oz container of 0% Vanilla

That’s a whole lotta cooking & baking creativity that can happen!  Plus each week I share my new Chobani creations with you in case you’re recipe challenged 🙂

Not so fine print:

To open this up to both fans of my website and FB page – Please comment on this post to be entered into the giveaway.  You only need to comment once.  Random.org will select a winner.  The winner will be announced on Wednesday, March 21, 2012 @ 9 pm EST.  The winner will need to email me at robin@kneadtocook.com with their mailing address within 48 hours.  I will forward that information directly to Chobani.  They will be sending the product directly to the winner.

Good luck!

— Knead to Cook

Taco pasta.

by Filed Under: Ground Turkey, Mexican, Pasta 2 Comments

Mexico meets Italy in this fun dish!  Great way to use up you taco or noodle leftovers.  My husband requested pasta and my sweet young daughter requested tacos.  I morphed the two requests into this dish to make everyone happy 🙂

Ingredients:

1 tbl olive oil
1 lb of lean ground turkey
1 tbl chili powder
2 tbl ground cumin
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp paprika
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
2 bell peppers, chopped
2 scallions, diced
1 can (14-15 oz) of low sodium black beans, drained and rinsed
Cilantro (for garnish- optional)
Jalapeño, sliced (for garnish- optional)
Cheese of your choice (optional)
In a large skillet over medium flame,  heat up the olive oil.  Add the meat and cook until no longer pink.  Add all of the spices and turn the heat to low.

In a separate stock pot, cook the pasta (I used orecchiette) according to package directions.  Drain and then toss with the meat mixture.  Stir to combine and then serve.

Top with cilantro leaves, cheese (I used a spicy jalapeño jack cheese), onions, olives etc.

— Knead to Cook

Meyer lemon curd & blueberry pie with homemade crust.

by Filed Under: Desserts, Pies, Vegetarian 1 Comment

In honor of National Pi Day – being the foodie that I’m am, I had to make a pie to celebrate! Having on hand Meyer lemons & blueberries… this recipe was born!

Crust recipe:

This is a pretty stander crust recipe.

1.5 c of all purpose flour (unbleached)
5 tbl of I can’t believe it’s not butter (freeze it first and cut into cubes)
4 tbl of Crisco shortening (again freeze it first)
1/2 tsp of salt
3 tbl of ice cold water

In your food processor, add the flour.  Then add the very cold butter and shortening to the flour.  Add the salt and pulse to blend.  Quick pulses, 4 times.

Then with the motor running, add the water – 1 tbl at a time.  The dough will be very crumbly.  This is exactly how you want it!  Stop the machine.  Lay one piece of plastic wrap on your counter and pour the dough onto it.  Wrap the plastic wrap around it and form it into a ball (using the plastic wrap over top).  Handle the dough as little as possible.  Then chill for 45 minutes in the fridge.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

When you’re ready, roll the dough onto a floured surface.  Make a 14 inch circle and then roll the dough around your rolling pin.  Then transfer the dough to your pie pan and roll it over top.  Push it down in the corners and cut off the excess around the edges.  Next, cut a piece of parchment paper to the size of the bottom of the pie pan.  Then fill the pie crust with pie weights or dried beans.  Bake for 25 minutes.  Then remove from the oven.  Carefully remove the beans and parchment paper.  With a fork prick the dough (bottom) all over.  Then return to the oven for 30 minutes or until golden brown.  When done cooking, let cool fully.

 

Fillilng:

6 eggs, room temperature
3/4c of sugar
1/2 c of I can’t believe its not butter or regular butter
1/3 c of Meyer lemon juice
3 c of blueberries
1/4 c of orange juice
1 tbl of cornstarch

In your saucepan over low/medium heat, add the eggs, sugar, butter and Meyer lemon juice.  Whisking often.  Cook this for about 16-20 minutes or until thickened.   Remove from heat and let cool.

Add the custard to the cooled pie crust (first layer).

In a sauce pan, add the blueberries and sugar and begin to cook over a medium flame.  In a separate bowl combine orange juice and the cornstarch then add to the blueberry mixture.  Stir gently.  Cook this for about 10 minutes.  Continuing to gently stir.  Then let the mixture cool for 15 minutes.  Once cooled, top the custard with this mixture.  Then refrigerate for 4-5 hours prior to serving.

— Knead to Cook