Pesto Artichoke Pizza- #Tuesday Tip

I’ve had a rollercoaster of weight loss and gain my whole life. The last few years I dropped up to 40 pounds by eliminating carbs, but then put it back on the moment I had any carbs. I love carbs so sticking to that kind of lifestyle was impossible so this time I sought moderation. I’d have carbs, but only occasionally and so far it’s worked. It’s taken longer to lose the weight, but it hasn’t been a hardship and I feel like this is a lifestyle I can maintain.

With that disclaimer, we made pizzas over the weekend and since so many of you asked after seeing them on Facebook, here’s my recipe for a delicious Pesto Artichoke Pizza!

Ingredients

For the Pesto Sauce

1/2 cup Extra Virgin Olive oil
1 cup basil leaves
2/3 cup pistachios (shelled)(you can also use the traditional pine nuts or walnuts)
2 cloves of garlic cut in half

For the Pizza

1 lb pizza dough (makes two 8-9″ individual pies or one big pie)(Bridgeford dough works or check your local supermarket. Most carry fresh dough now)
1 1/2 cups chopped artichoke hearts (I used bottled marinated ones and drained off the oil)
2/3 cup chopped roasted red peppers
2/3 cup caramelized onions
3 sliced cloves of garlic (You can cook these with the onions)
8 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese sliced
6 slices crisply cooked bacon
Parmesan cheese to taste

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350. Lightly oil your pizza pan and spread out the dough to the edge. Create a little lip to form the edge of the crust.

Once the oven is hot, cook the dough for about 10 minutes until it has a slight crust. While the dough is baking, prepare your pesto sauce.

Place oil, garlic, and basil in blender or food processor and blend on low until it basil is chopped. Add nuts and blend again. If the mixture is too tight/thick, add oil little by little until you can easily spread. Don’t overdo oil though since we do want to keep this a little healthy.

Remove dough from oven after ten minutes and begin to top the pie.

Spread out your pesto sauce all around up until the lip of the crust. Spread out the caramelized onions and garlic. Spread the chopped artichokes next. Then add the roasted peppers. Break the bacon into big chunks and layout all over the other ingredients. Layout the mozzarella cheese. Feel free to break the slices apart to create an artisan look to the pizza. Top with Parmesan cheese.

Bake in oven for approximately 30 minutes or until the crust is a golden brown along the edges and on the bottom.

Let sit for a few minutes and then slice and serve!

Hope you enjoyed this recipe! Of course, you can vary it yourself. Try sausage instead of pizza. Add capers. Use goat cheese instead of mozzarella. Spice it up with some jalapeÃ±os or make up your own combo. That’s the fun of making your own pizza at home!
Pesto_artichoke-pizza

June 29, 2018November 7, 2018

#FitnessFriday #FoodieFriday – Cashew & Date Caramels

Is there something perverse about working out while watching the Food Network? Seriously? Yep, I do it. Ironic much, but I get lots of ideas for new recipes and ways to make what I’m eating tastier and healthier. I’ve lost 25 pounds so far and it’s been with a balance of sound nutrition and exercise. The thing is, if you feel deprived all the time, you won’t maintain your new lifestyle. I’ve been at it for 6 months with this new regimen and I can honestly say I don’t feel deprived. Anyway, one of the things I came across was vegan caramels. VEGAN! you say. Well, I have tried vegan food recently and found it quite tasty, not that I’m giving up the meat. But variety is nice. Plus, caramels are so fattening but these recipes use mostly three ingredients: dates, cashews, and chocolate. Three tasty things. So take a moment to check out these recipes!

https://www.paleorunningmomma.com/paleo-vegan-cashew-caramel-clusters/

https://nadialim.com/recipe/healthy-date-cashew-caramel-chocolate-slice/

https://www.veganosity.com/3-ingredient-date-caramel-vegan-and-gluten-free/

Fitness Friday Foodie Friday

April 3, 2018

Stuffed Zucchini Squash – #TuesdayTip

The other day I posted a before and after photo of the stuffed squash I made to take to my sister’s house for Easter. Since a number of you wanted a recipe, here goes!

Stuffed Squash

Ingredients:

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.

Cook farro according to package instructions. I used 1 cup of farro, 2 cups water, and some salt and set the mix to boil. Once boiling, I lowered the heat to have a very low boil. It took roughly 20 minutes for the farro to be cooked. Farro is a great ancient grain similar to barley. It’s slightly more al dente than rice and holds up well in a recipe like this where you are going to cook it again. I would actually leave it more al dente so it doesn’t get mushy. Cool the farro.

Saute the mushrooms, bell pepper, carrots, celery and onions in olive oil. I start with the mushrooms at high heat until they are half-done and then add the bell pepper and cook some more. Finally the carrots and celery for a minute or two before adding the onions. Mushrooms have a lot of water and doing them first at high heat helps avoid you steaming the rest of the veggies. Cook until all the vegetables are starting to brown.

Add vegetables to farro. Then add the ricotta, 1/4 cup of the mozzarella, 1/4 cup of the provolone, and the basil. Mix well.

Cut off the ends of the squash. Slice your squash in half the long way. With a teaspoon, scoop out the center to make a little canoe (leave some meat on the ends to keep the filling from spilling out).

With a teaspoon, spoon about 3 to 4 teaspoons of the farro mixture into the scooped out squash canoes and place in an oiled 9 x 13 pan. Top the filled canoes with the rest of the mozzarella and provolone. Dust with the grated parmesan. Add about 1/4 cup water to the bottom of each pan to prevent burning and provide some steam for the initial cooking.

Cover the pans with aluminum foil and bake covered for 20 minutes. Then remove the covers and bake for another twenty minutes uncovered. If the cheese has not toasted at the end of 40 minutes, give it a quick 2 or 3 minutes under the broiler!

And that’s it! Hope you enjoy today’s Tuesday Tip!
stuffed zucchini

January 23, 2018

Scrambled Eggs #TuesdayTip

I was walking past one of the local restaurants on the way to work and noticed a morning wrap that seemed appealing. It had scrambled eggs, pastrami, hash browns and of course, the wrap. I started thinking and got rid of the wrap and hash browns since I’m watching my carbs. Come to think of it, I’m not really a fan of pastrami so that went as well leaving me with . . . SCRAMBLED EGGS! Eggs are a fav of mine and they are so good for you! I usually like mine once over medium, but of course that requires bread for dunking or grits for mixing, so scrambled is my next choice for a protein packed breakfast.

But how do you make the PERFECT scrambled egg? Since mine are invariably too hard and on the hard side, I searched the web for you and came up with these possible recipe suggestions. Enjoy!

https://www.incredibleegg.org/recipe/basic-scrambled-eggs/
http://armagazine.com/2n5aTTL
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/perfect-scrambled-eggs-recipe-2107541
https://www.bonappetit.com/recipe/bas-best-soft-scrambled-eggs

scrambled eggs

P.S. – I bet sexy caterer Carlo from the At the Shore series knows how to make perfect scrambled eggs. Will definitely have to have him make some from Emma when he finally convinces her to spend the night.

December 12, 2017

Stuffed Mushrooms – #Tuesday Tip

I think I mentioned that you’ll get to see more of Carlo, Emma’s caterer and Prince Charming, in What Happens in Summer. A Sea Kiss Christmas (tentative title) is Emma and Carlo’s story.

So you may be wondering, why make Carlo a caterer? Well, I love to cook and eat and food is sensual. I can picture some sexiness with Emma as Carlo feeds her something fabulous.

Today I’m sharing with you a recipe I made for Thanksgiving and which was a big hit! It’s also very versatile as you can change up the ingredients for lots of fun variations.

Stuffed Mushrooms

Directions

Preheat oven to 350.

Wash mushrooms and remove stems. Chop stems into small pieces. Cook diced mushroom stems in olive oil at high heat until almost golden. Add carrots, celery, onions and cook until onions are translucent. Remove skins from Italian sausage and add to onion/mushroom mix. Break up the sausage until it is in very small pieces. Drain off grease and cooking juices and cool.

In large bowl, mix cooked rice, 1 cup gruyere, 1/4 cup parmesan, ricotta, onion/mushroom/sausage until well-blended.

Grease 9×13 pan. Lay mushroom tops in pan. With a spoon, place about 1/4 cup of mixture on each mushroom. Make a nice little mound with the mix. When you are finished filling all the mushrooms, drizzle a little olive oil over each one, then some parmesan and finally the gruyere.

Cook for about 30 minutes and remove pan and add water/red wine to the bottom of the pan to deglaze juices that are already there. Cook for another 15-20 minutes. If gruyere on top is not yet brown, broil for about 2 minutes.

Remove mushrooms to serving dish. Take water/red wine/mushroom drippings from pan and place in a small saucepan. Reduce by half and then stop mushrooms with this sauce. If you want to make it decadent, finish the sauce with a tablespoon of butter.

Variations

Substitute hot Italian sausage or chorizo for some kick.
Replace rice with 3 cups stuffing. My fav is Stove Top Corn Bread Stuffing
Try goat cheese instead of ricotta for a sharper taste.
Use crab or chopped shrimp instead of the sausage. This is a little trickier since the crab and shrimp can dry out.
Of course if you’re not a fan of gruyere, try any good melting cheese, like asiago or fontina.

May 2, 2017

#TastyTuesday Chicken & Rice #AttheShore

Just finished #2 in the At the Shore Contemporary Romance Series and I think it’s a story you will really love! It’s sexy, but tender and packed with emotion as the hero and heroine, Connie Reyes and Jonathan Pierce, learn to let go of the past so that they can build a future together.

In one of the scenes, Connie turns to her friend Emma (the heroine of #3) for some time away from Jonathan. As she stays with Emma at her friend’s Sea Kiss cottage, Connie decides to make Emma some Chicken and Rice as a way to say “Thanks.”

So here is my recipe for Chicken and Rice, a must have in any Latin kitchen. I’ve found that the easiest way to make it is in the oven, although you start it on the stove. If you have Corningware, Le Crueset or some other stove to oven cookware, even better. Who wants to spend time cleaning pots!

Chicken and Rice Recipe

Ingredients

One fryer chicken, cut into pieces
Olive oil
2 small cans tomato sauce
1 cup chopped red & green peppers
1 cup chopped onions
2 cloves garlic minced
2 cups white rice
2 cups water
1 cup white wine
1 tsp BIJOL (this is a coloring agent you can find in the Latin cooking section of your market)
1 chorizo (also in the Latin section)
2 bay leaves
1 tsp oregano
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 350.

In your pot, put in a little olive oil and brown the chicken. Remove and set to the side.

In the same pot, add the red and green peppers and saute for about 5 minutes. Then add the chorizo and the onions. Saute for another 5 and add the garlic for just a minute. Then add the tomato sauce, bay leaves, oregano and wine.

Simmer for about 15 minutes to get rid of the raw tomato taste. Add salt and pepper to taste. Then add the 2 cups water and also, the Bijol. Give it a stir and add the rice. Stir again to mix and then add the chicken pieces. Arrange the chicken pieces so they are spread throughout the pot.

If you don’t have stove to oven cookware, make it in a regular pan and then move it a large enough rectangular aluminum foil pan.

Place the mixture in the oven and cover tightly. Cook for about 30 to 45 minutes until all the water is absorbed.

To serve, fluff the rice and also add canned peas and some sliced roasted red peppers.

If you can’t imagine eating peas straight out of the can, you can add frozen peas to the mixture in the oven during the last ten minutes of cooking.

Hope you enjoy this recipe!

April 11, 2017

Corn on the Cob with Chile Lime Butter #TuesdayTip

The warm weather has me already dreaming of BBQs on the Jersey Shore. What goes better than BBQ than corn on the cob, but making perfect corn can be tough. Overcook it and it’s too mushy. Timing is everything, but here’s a cooking tip for you and a delicious butter for you to try!

“Boiling” the Corn

The secret to boiling the corn is not to boil it! Yep, you read that right. Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil for up to 6 ears of corn. DO NOT ADD SALT! Once the water has come to a boil, shut off the heat, add 4 to 6 year of corn, cover, and let sit. For 4 ears, let sit for 10 minutes. For 6 years, let sit for 15 minutes. After that the corn is done and will keep for up to 30 minutes without being overdone.

Chile Lime Butter

Melt one stick of unsalted butter. Add 2 tsp chile powder and 1 tsp salt. Heat the mixture for about 2 minutes to release the flavors from the chile powder. Add the juice of one lime and about 1 tsp lime zest. You can also add black pepper (I do not like black pepper hence why I omit it!). For a spicier version, add a little hot sauce or cayenne pepper to the mix!

Serve over the corn when you are ready to eat.

Corn on the Cob with Chile Lime Butter