Brie Tomato Basil Grilled Cheese Sandwich and My Top 5 Tips for the Perfect Grilled Cheese

April 24, 20139 Comments

So remember when I finished the Paleo Challenge, I learned I needed to eat actual meals instead of snacks for dinner?

Well I’m trying to get better at that. I’ve been trying to incorporate more salads into my dinners, like the Roasted Beet Asparagus and Arugula salad in my last post. But today and yesterday were long days. I’ve been stressed and I’ve had a headache since I woke up today.

To remedy all that, I did two things:

1. Went to the Good Will

Thrift shops in Orange County aren’t as cheap in the song, nor are they as cheap as they were in Central NY. But I still managed a few good finds.

A tart pan for $2.50, a lovely oval shaped plate for $4.99 (over-priced in my opinion) and a cake plate for $2.50. I also managed to find a rotating cake stand that will be great for frosting cakes.

2. Grilled Cheese

Let’s be more specific. Brie Tomato Basil Grilled Cheese.

Now don’t get me wrong, traditional caprese with mozzarella is lovely, but seriously. This sandwich is out of this world.

Last week someone asked me for tips on a good grilled cheese. Obviously it’s all a questions of taste but here are…

My Top 5 Tips for Making the Perfect Grilled Cheese

1. Good Bread. If your bread sucks, your grilled cheese will too. Don’t you dare you sliced white bread. Invest in some good bread. I used Trader Joe’s Italian Bread. Tasty enough. Orange County is seriously lacking in good bread bakeries.

2. Make sure there’s cheese on both sides of the bread. If you’re putting something other than just cheese, you need to make sure the cheese is on both sides. The cheese is the binding agent. If you don’t have it on both sides, it’ll all fall apart.

3. Use Real Butter. If you’re going to make a grilled cheese, now’s not the time to be healthy by avoiding butter. No. You’re choosing to make grilled cheese. If you wanted a healthy meal, you’d make a salad. Use butter. It makes your bread golden, toasty and delicious. Don’t skimp.

4. Mustard. Unless you’re making a grilled cheese sandwich with some sort of jam, mustard almost always makes a grilled cheese taste better. Cheese and mustard just go together. I’m not talking about yellow mustard. I’m talking tasty dijon-style mustard or the kind with the wonderful mustard seeds in it. If you hate mustard, you can ignore this comment. But if you like mustard, trust me. Give it a try.

5. Low and slow. Don’t turn the flame on high! Heat your pan to medium/low. It might take a few minutes for it to get golden and for the cheese to melt, but that’s way better than a burnt piece of bread with hard cheese in the middle. Be patient. It’ll be tastier.

That’s pretty much there is to it. Oh and if you use sliced Kraft American Cheese or Velveeta… You’re dead to me

Brie Tomato Basil Grilled Cheese

2 slices of amazingly tasty bread of your choice
a big pat of butter
1-2 oz brie, sliced (keep the rind! it’s tasty!)
3-4 tomato slices
1-2 basil leaves, chopped

Spread each slice of bread with butter on one side. On the other side, layer cheese tomatoes and basil. I try not to use too much cheese because brie is pretty strong, so I put half the cheese on one side and the bread and the other half on the opposite half of the other piece (does that make any sense? See the pic below)

Heat pan to medium/low heat. Place sandwich, butter side down on pan. Cook about 3 minutes per side or until golden all around and cheese in the center has melted.

Serve with a bowl of soup and enjoy! I had it with a bowl of Trader Joe’s Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato soup. Tastiest soup from a box ever. I promise!

Added bonus: This month is National Grilled Cheese Month. I have no idea who decided that but I support, and so should you. Eat Grilled Cheese Today!

P.S. Dunking is encouraged.

Epic Banana Bundt Cake

April 16, 2013April 17, 201310 Comments

I’ve rewritten this post about three times, trying to come up with something as epic as the recipe to come. But I can’t. My brain is asking me for a rest.

Between work and blogging, my creative juices are dried up, in terms of writing that is. Because recipes… I’ve got sooooo many for you to look forward to. But first let’s talk about bananas.

I’m a banana fiend. I eat one daily. I learned it from my mother, she probably eats two daily. That’s ok.

Bananas are on the top of my list of things I think are out of this world, let’s talk about my other favorite thing on the planet: cake.

And combine the two… Banana Cake! Why not? In fact, this cake was so good it had to be made twice. It really was THAT good.

Ok I’ll be honest. I really made this twice, because the first time around I hated my pictures. It was a labor of love (or gluttony or vanity?) to make it again, but that just means I know the recipe is extra perfect for you.

I know everyone and their mother has a recipe for banana cake (and no, this is NOT banana bread).

Even if you think it looks similar, trust me. This is definitely banana cake. What’s the difference?

Texture. Banana bread is dense. This is lighter, and it has an icing. Icing goes on cake. True story.

Epic Banana Bundt Cake

2 cups + 2 tbsp all purpose flour
2 tbsp corn starch
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon plus pinch of salt
1 1/3 cup sugar
1 cup canola oil
2 eggs
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 bananas, very ripe and mashed
1/2 cup milk (I used almond milk)
1 package vanilla instant pudding (3.4 oz)

Icing/Glaze:

3 tbsp butter, melted
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
3 tbsp heavy cream (or milk)
1/2 tsp vanilla (optional)
1-2 tsp of water for thinning, if necessary

Pre-heat oven to 350F.

In a bowl, sift together flour, corn starch, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside. Grease and flour a bundt pan (or any other pan you choose to make this in, I’ve also made this in two 9 inch pans, baking times adjusted).

Using a mixer beat together sugar and oil. Beat in eggs, one at a time until fluffy (about 2 minutes). Beat in vanilla and bananas. Start adding some of the flour mixture, about 1/4 cup at a time, alternating adding milk. Once all the flour is in the batter, beat in the instant pudding. Once combined, pour batter into prepared bundt pan.

Bake 45 minutes. Then turn the oven down to 325F and continue to bake until golden and cooked through (usually another 15-20 minutes, but this will depend on your oven). Once fully baked, remove from oven and allow to cool completely.

Once cooled, make glaze by combining all ingredients. The pour glaze over cake.

I didn’t actually pour, I did the spoon/drizzle method, because I think it looks better than pouring.

Serve and enjoy!

This cake goes great with a cup of coffee and a good book. It’s also fantastic served to a friend with a little bit of gossip.

Truth be told, I’m not sure if I’m half monkey or something, but I want to keep making this cake, over and over and over. It’s a good idea, because I seriously think this might be my new favorite cake.

Stay tuned for lots of good new recipes and other fun things… like maybe some trip planning. How does that sound?

Cóctel de Camarón: Shrimp! Yes, Please!

April 11, 2013April 12, 20134 Comments

So today, was a crazy day. Ok it totally wasn’t crazy. I was just exhausted. I somehow had the bright idea of going to crossfit twice in a 12 hour time span… I hurt real bad right now. I don’t recommend it. Give yourself at least 24 hours between workouts. It’s a good idea.

But work outs aside, today was a bizarre day for me in terms of personal realizations. Way back when, I used to use SparkPeople to track calories, but I hadn’t logged in for almost a year. So this morning, I randomly did…

I saw my last log in was after I got back from Italy where I ate my weight (and then some) in Nutella, Pasta and Gelato for nearly 6 months. Since then, I’ve lost 18 pounds. That’s kind of a lot on someone who is only 5’3″

I guess getting back home, eating normal meals and exercising a few times a week served me well (even if Paleo didn’t…).

So in honor of the fact that my butt (among other things) shrank, let me tell you about an actual meal (as much as I love cake, it’s not a meal) that is more or less balanced, light and delicious too.

I would consider this to be moderately healthy. Depending on what you serve with it that is…

It involves shrimp, tomatoes, onions and a few splashes of (unhealthy) secret ingredients:

Cóctel de Camarón

3 cloves of garlic
1/2 onion, diced
1 lb Shrimp, peel on
2 cups clamato
1-2 tbsp ketchup
2 tbsp orange soda
2-3 limes
2 tomatoes, diced
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
Salt
1 Avocado, sliced
Tostadas, for serving

In a blender (I used my magic bullet), blend together 1/4 of an onion (reserve remaining diced onion) and 3 garlic cloves with some water. Once it’s smooth, add to a sauce pan. Fill with water until about 2-3 inches from the top. Add some salt (or a pinch of bouillon) and bring to a boil. In the meantime, rinse your shrimp and place in a metal mesh strainer.

Cook shrimp in the broth by dipping the strainer into the broth, like this…

Once the shrimp is cooked (pink all over, be careful to not overcook), place in a bowl over some ice. You might have to do this in batches.

Next take about 2 cups of the cooking broth and place in a large bowl.

Add about 2 cups of clamato, ketchup, lime juice and orange soda. Be careful, it’s a science. Taste it along the way to see how it is.

Stir it all together and set aside. Next peel your shrimp (alternatively you could peel your shrimp before cooking then put the skins in the broth to help give it more flavor). Now you’re ready to assemble.

Start by putting a good amount of diced tomato (1/2 cup?), onions, cilantro and Serrano chili in your bowl. Then add the shrimp and avocado. Last pour the broth/clamato mixture over your shrimp. You want a good amount in there because it gives it great flavor.

From there, you’re pretty much ready to go. But don’t forget one important thing…

A beer. Because life is all about balance and a cold beer tastes great with this dish.

Serve with tostadas, extra lime, salt and hot sauce (optional). This will serve 2-3 people.

Whoever said that the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach as probably right, but they forgot that the way to a woman’s heart is the same direction. I wish I could take credit for this, but I can’t. It was made entirely by an awesome boyfriend who makes ridiculously tasty things.

He makes me generally healthy meals, while I make him cookies and pies.

Clearly, a little bit of both is necessary. Eat some shrimp and vegetables, as well as some cookies and wine.

What was the last healthy meal you had?

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

April 8, 2013April 10, 201312 Comments

Until about 5 days ago, I thought “brown butter” was a crock of shit.

I hate to be crass, but let’s be honest, food bloggers are some of the best bullshitters I know. Don’t worry, I’m include myself in that sweeping comment.

I mean really, we love to make basic things and give them a fancy name that hipsters will repin like crazy and drive traffic to our sites.

Examples:

Chocolate Pudding with Peanut Butter Mousse and Maple Candied Bacon = Chocolate Pudding with stuff sprinkled on it

Spinach-Quinoa-Peach Salad with Honey-Sage Vinaigrette= a salad with fruit and grains

You’re welcome.

I’m just calling it like it is. And you know what hipsters love?

Butter. Especially brown butter.

So for a long time, I avoided anything with brown butter, because it just sounded sort of silly, but then on Friday I was bored and I needed to make dessert for the next day. So I thought to myself, why not give it a shot?

At worst it, it’s still just a damn cookie. At best, it’s an amazing cookie.

I won’t lie. It’s a pretty amazing cookie.

Brown Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies

adapted from Food and Wine

1 stick of butter
1 cup + 2 tbsp all purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup dark chocolate chips

In a pan, melt butter over medium heat. Allow to brown, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat, transfer to large bowl and allow to cool to room temperature. In the meantime, combine flour, salt, and baking soda in a bowl and set aside.

Once the butter has cooled, cream together butter and sugar until fluffy. Add 1 egg at a time, then vanilla and continue to be beat for about a minute. Add in flour mixture. Mix until almost combined. Fold in chocolate chips until dough is just combined.

Place dough in the freezer while oven preheats to 350F.

Once oven has pre-heated, form dough into walnut sized balls. Place on parchment paper-lined pan and bake for 8-10 minutes, or until golden around the edges.

Remove from oven, leave on pan for a few minutes then transfer to a cooling rack until cool. Then serve! This recipe makes about 20-24 small ish cookies. If you want larger cookies, bake longer and you’ll probably get about 10.

So I’m going to go ahead and tell you that these are great.

I’m going to swallow my pride and admit I was wrong. Brown butter is pretty tasty. They weren’t lying when they said it gives it a nice nutty flavor.

Ok now be a hipster and…

Caldo de Pollo (Guatemalan Chicken Stew)

March 21, 20133 Comments

If you asked me what my favorite food is, I would spend forever trying to decide and ask you a million follow up question… is it my favorite food to eat all the time? or for a special occasion? Savory or sweet? Appetizer? Main dish?

If you were my boyfriend you’d probably just say, “answer the question.”

To which I would respond “Caldo de Pollo, if we’re talking about what I like to eat on a normal day.”

I have a habit of not answering questions, or if I do, qualifying that response with a million follow up excuses as to why I can’t really answer the question.

I’m very indecisive. So here it is. If I had to choose a favorite food to eat all the time, it would be this: Caldo de Pollo.

That just means chicken stew, but this is how my family (and I think most Guatemalan families) makes it.

The vegetables are all in big chunks and there’s a bit of chicken in there.

It’s probably the easiest thing in the world to make. It’s also delicious and healthy. Whenever I go home, I want my mom to make two things: black beans and caldo de pollo. It’s just delicious.

Caldo de Pollo

1 lb chicken thighs, bone in (boneless is fine too)
1 bunch cilantro
1 tomato, whole
1 onion, ends cut off and peeled
1 chayote (güisquil), quartered
1 cabbage, cut into 6 wedges
3 carrots, peeled and cut in half
1-2 celery ribs
a few pieces of fresh or frozen corn*
2-3 small potatoes
1 small bag frozen yucca
salt
Avocado, Lime, Sour Cream (for serving)

Fill a medium saucepan half way with water, bring to a boil. Add frozen yucca.

Boil until tender, it should take about 30 minutes. This is crucial. If you put the yucca in the water before it boils, the yucca will stay tough. Make sure your yucca is tender and keep it in the freezer until the water is boiling, then add it to the water.

While the yucca cooks, start the rest of the soup. The beauty of this soup is that it’s fast and doesn’t involve a lot of chopping.

Big chunks of carrot and güisquil (güisquil in Guatemala, but chayote in Mexico so that’s what you’ll probably see it labeled as in US grocery stores) are appreciated. But the cabbage is my favorite part. Not familiar with guisquil/chayote? It looks sort of like a pear from the outside:

And sort of on the inside, just quarter it and cut out the seed in the middle

In a large post, add all of the ingredients. Add enough water to cover the ingredients. Bring to a boil and simmer for about 45 minutes or until cabbage and potatoes are cooked through. The take a fine mesh strainer, take out the tomato, peppers and cilantro. Pour some of the broth on it and using a spoon, mash the tomato, peppers and cilantro to get the most flavor out of it, then discard. Add yucca you cooked separate to the pot.

Serve with lime, sour cream and avocado. I usually just eat it with lime and avocado, but sour cream makes it super tasty, just mix it into your bowl just before eating.

*I don’t like corn, so I never use it, but most people (including my mother) add it.

I like to pack mine up into 6-7 containers (that’s how many meals a big pot makes), and take them for lunch for the week.

Healthy and delicious lunch that is totally Paleo friendly if you omit the potato and yucca. Even though yucca is a root, I think it’s too starchy for Paleo.

But seriously, what makes this delicious is the lime and avocado.

It takes a regular soup and makes it out of this world. Don’t skimp on that!

So what’s your favorite food? Something you could eat everyday and not get tired of.

30 Day Paleo Challenge: Day 11

March 15, 2013March 16, 20136 Comments

Two nights ago, I made a super tasty dinner. I’ll tell you about it because it was also day 11 lunch.

Seriously, it was ready in about 15 minutes from start to finish, and I thought it was pretty tasty.

Pork Loin and Sauteed Vegetables

Few slices of pork loinMixed vegetables of choice*
Garlic powder
Salt
Pepper
Olive Oil

That’s all you need. Season pork loin with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Heat some oil (about 1/4 a tbsp is good for 5 pieces) in a pan on medium/high heat. Add pork. Cook 2-3 minutes per side. Set aside.

Add vegetables to the same pan. Season with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Sautee until tender. Serve and enjoy!

*I used the asparagus stir fry mix from Trader Joe’s, but I won’t lie, while it’s convenient, the asparagus was really tough. A lot of it was the tough ends that I would cut off on asparagus. Half the time I felt like I was eating twigs and branches, so maybe steer clear of that?

Quick, easy and tasty. And I always make too much for one person, so there were plenty of leftovers.

Day 11 was an interesting day. Apparently, March is the month of Karla trying new things, because I went to Bikram Yoga for the first time. My co-worker talked me into going with her, since they offer new students 2 weeks of unlimited classes for $20. I figured why not?

So the studio is located in The Camp (if you’re an OC local), and it was interesting. I’ll start by saying, the place is stinky, which is totally expected given the heat and sweat and warm bodies. Definitively, not cute. I had been having anxiety all day about it. I thought for sure I would die. But good news, guys! I didn’t die!

In fact it was sort of fun. I’m not sure I love it, but I’ll definitely have to give it another try, especially since I’ve got two weeks of classes.

I will say I came home with a pretty bad headache that lasted pretty much all night and an overwhelming desire to take a shower. I don’t think I’ve ever been that sweaty in my life. As a self-proclaimed “yoga hater,” I’ll say I definitely enjoyed it more than I disliked it.

After a much needed shower, I surprisingly wasn’t hungry! Can you believe it? So I decided to make a dinner that takes a while and it included sweet potato fries!

Apparently I’m late to the game, but if you cook your sweet potato fries on a cooling rack (over a baking sheet that is) you get crispy, evenly baked fries! Who knew?

So along with my tasty, crispy fries, I had cauliflower puree (because I’m OBSESSED) and some rotisserie chicken left over from Sunday. Delicious. Simple. I swear the cauliflower puree was the tastiest thing on the plate!

On nights like this, when I’m not starving and I have a tasty dinner, I might even like Paleo… That’s probably because it just feels like I’m eating normal food I like, not making myself eat one thing when I really want another.

Have you ever tried Bikram Yoga? Love it? Hate it?

30 Day Paleo Challenge: Days 9 & 10

March 13, 2013March 13, 20134 Comments

So after my Monday freak out, I was ready to quit this challenge. Thanks everyone for your supportive comments. They were very encouraging and I truly appreciate it!

I decided to tough it out a little longer. During the week, Paleo isn’t that hard. I’m used to making my own lunch and bringing it to work, so that’s not anything new. I used to bring salad, soups and beans a lot. Now I’ve just replaced the beans with meat (which I’m not a huge fan of).

I think the challenge will remain the weekends.

On the hunger front, things have also been better. This is potentially for 2 reasons:

1. I’m busy at work so I don’t think about food as much as I would on the weekends.

2. I’ve started packing enormous lunches that are guaranteed to keep me full.

Day 9 Lunch:

It looks small, but there is literally half of a spaghetti squash in that container, with spinach, marinara and two pieces of chicken. Ordinarily I would consider that to be two meals, but now I eat it at once. I’ve had this two days in a row and it has kept me pretty satisfied.

Later that night, I had dinner at my sister’s house.

We had salad, sweet potatoes and tilapia. I had a bit of non-paleo mayo (with the sweet potato). Not the worst slip up on Earth. I’ll survive.

Day 10:

I decided to switch it up. Everyday I had been eating a Paleo Pancake with a green smoothie. Today I had this:

Bacon Avocado Egg Scramble

1 slice of bacon
1/4 avocado, dice
2 eggs

Cook bacon in a skillet until crispy. Remove bacon from pan (once cooled, chop) and wipe off some of the bacon fat with a paper towel. I think a lot of people would have kept the bacon fat but it just looked like too much to me. In a bowl, beat 2 eggs. Add eggs to pan with remaining bacon fat, add bacon and scramble. Just before the eggs are done, add avocado and mix around. Serve with coffee for a super breakfast or a great dinner.

This one is pretty easy to scale up. You can add salt and pepper too. I didn’t, but I won’t stop you from doing so.

This was pretty tasty. It was a great manly breakfast after my manly feeling crossfit workout (clean & jerk, 15-12-9!). I won’t lie my black coffee was a little less enjoyable without my paleo pancake.

For lunch, I packed a mighty salad of lettuce, spinach, mini bell peppers, pickles, and avocado, along with a chicken breast.

Again, I was full for a long time. I’m glad the hunger levels are going down. That makes it all a little more manageable.

Unfortunately, I am still pretty much always up for a cookie.

I’m starting to think that won’t ever change…

30 Day Paleo Challenge: Days 3 & 4… Epic Paleo Dinner

March 7, 2013March 7, 20139 Comments

Cauliflower is totally having a moment.

I’m obsessed. A few years ago, Kale was all the rage. Now it seems like Cauliflower is all over the world (and by the world I clearly mean the big world of food blogs and Pinterest). Since I’ve been eating the same things for breakfast and lunch that past few days (Day 1 and Day 2), I decided I needed to make something awesome for dinner and cauliflower would be included, because all the cool kids are doing it.

Jesse and I have dinner together pretty much every Wednesday night, so this seemed like a good opportunity to show off my paleo cooking skills.

Chicken and Sage Mushrooms over Cauliflower Puree

inspired sorta by Real Simple

1 head of Cauliflower, chopped
2 slices of bacon
3-4 boneless skinless chicken thighs*
10 oz sliced mushrooms (I used baby bellas)
1 tbsp fresh chopped sage
1 clove of garlic, chopped
1 tbsp chopped parsley
salt
Pepper
Garlic Powder

Put cauliflower in a pot with some water to boil. Boil about 20 minutes or until tender.

In the meantime, in a skillet, cook 2 pieces of bacon. Remove from pan and allow to cool once cripsy, chop then set aside. Season chicken with salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste. In the same skillet, cook the chicken until done (about 5-6 mins per side).

Remove chicken from pan and turn off heat. Reserve that pan to cook the mushrooms in, but make the cauliflower puree. Drain the cauliflower and put in the food processor with salt and garlic powder. How much? It depends on your palette. I use a good amount of both (maybe 1/2 tsp? start there then taste it add more if necessary). Puree until smooth.

Next make the mushrooms, turn the heat back on to medium and throw the mushrooms in the pan. Cook about 5 minutes or until almost cooked through. Add sage, garlic, salt and pepper and cook for another minute or two. Add in bacon, toss and turn off heat.

Next assemble the dish. Lay some cauliflower puree on a plate, top with a piece of chicken, some mushrooms, then sprinkle with parsley and serve! This will serve 2-3 people, depending how hungry they are

*I fit more pieces of chicken in the pan and made about 6 so that I had leftovers. You can do the same. This will make meals a lot easier for the rest of the week! But if you want to make this for 2, you can also just make 2 pieces of chicken and it all works out fine 🙂

I fed this to Jesse and his first question was: “This is Paleo?”

Yes. It is. And super tasty too. I felt totally gluttonous while eating this!

Paleo Challenge Update:

Day 3:

Day 3 was the hardest so far, but even then, it wasn’t so bad. I was just hungry and munchy (maybe a little stressed?). Luckily, I’ve been overpacking when it comes to food at work. I also took a bag of almonds to stash at my desk. I’m glad I had them yesterday, because it was Bagel Wednesday at work…

I ate my lunch with a stack of bagels in the background.

I stayed strong though! No bagels!

Day 4:

Better than Day 3. Breakfast and lunch were the same as above.

For dinner, I came home and had leftover cauliflower puree with some mushrooms, the remains of a week-old rotisserie chicken (I really hate throwing food away!), a banana with almond butter and some mango chunks to kill my craving for cake.

Now I need another epic dinner idea for tomorrow! Any suggestions?

30 Day Paleo Challenge: Day 1

March 4, 2013March 4, 20138 Comments

Today is Day 1 of the 30 Day Paleo Challenge!

I’m psyched. I’m sure my family, friends, co-workers, twitter followers, etc. are tired of hearing about it already, but I’m into it.

This morning I felt a little unprepared to begin the challenge. Not because I wanted a hamburger, but this morning after I made my green smoothie and paleo pancake for breakfast…

I realized I was out of vegetables. I put away an entire bag of Costco spinach by myself in less than a week.

Womp. But I made due with what I had.

Last night I cooked some ground turkey with onions and peppers. Today I mixed it with frozen peas and carrots then topped it with avocado (ended up eating 1/4). For a filling, paleo-friendly lunch. I also had a carrot and some strawberries. I packed some cuties in case I got hungry, but I only had 1 (wasn’t even hungry just wanted something sweet).

Looking at my lunch, it reminded me of when I was in grad school and I was too busy to cook and too cheap to buy lunch so I would pack a clif bar, a carrot and an apple and call it a day.

Today was slightly different. My lunch today was definitely more filling.

Around 6pm, I thought it’d be a good idea to get dinner started. If there’s one thing I’m realizing it’s that this paleo challenge is going to make me have an actual dinner. Ordinarily, I’m used to just sort of having snacks for dinner (i.e. tortillas with beans and cheese, or random bites of left overs with a handful of chocolate chips… not my finer moments).

So today I decided to keep up with the use-what-you-have trend. Over the weekend, since I baked a million pies (or 3), I had 5 egg whites that needed to get used. So dinner was themed around that…

Scrambled Egg Whites with Peppers and Onions and Spicy Sweet Potato “Home Fries”

Now these home fries aren’t really home fries. They’re just super quick sweet potatoes that I think are tasty.

What You’ll Need to serve 1-3 people:

1 large sweet potato
1/4 onion
1 mini sweet pepper or 1/4 red/yellow bell pepper
Salt, Pepper, Cumin, Chili Powder, Paprika, Cayenne

Step 1: Microwave sweet potato until cooked (depending on size 5 mins ish? I think mine took 6 minutes)
Step 2: Chop some onions and peppers and add to a pan with a bit of oil.
Step 3: Chop the sweet potato into chunks and add to the pan with some salt, pepper, cumin, chili powder, paprika and cayenne (all to taste).
Step 4: Turn up the heat, once the sweet potatoes are browned and sort of crisp, serve with your scrambled egg whites!

Ta-da! Dinner! I ended up topping it with the 1/4 of the avocado that I didn’t eat earlier. Pretty tasty.

I won’t lie. I really wanted to add ketchup to this mix, but alas, not paleo friendly. Also this was a HUGE meal. 5 egg whites is a lot of egg. Just saying.

How about you? Did you make dinner tonight? What’d you make?

Little Banana Cake with Caramel Filling

February 25, 2013February 25, 20139 Comments

Sometimes you just don’t want a big commitment. Saturday, I went on a 16 mile hike up the highest peak in Orange County. That was a big commitment; there was snow at the top of the mountain.. in Orange County…

I was totally ok with that commitment.

But sometimes, dessert can be a big commitment, especially cakes.

Because of this, I think my 6 inch cake pans were a great investment, and I think this banana cake has been my greatest creation from them so far.

I actually made this twice, so I can tell you with confidence that it’s doubly tasty.

Little Banana Cake with Caramel Filling

adapted from Epicurious

For Cake:
1 cup + 1 tbsp flour
1 tbsp corn starch
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
Pinch of salt
1 1/2 sticks (3/4 cup) butter
1/2 cup sugar, heaping
1 egg
1 ripe banana, mashed
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp whole milk
1/2 tsp vinegar
1 tsp vanilla

Caramel filling:
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp butter
2 tbsp cream
1/2 tsp vanilla
pinch of salt

Icing:
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Pre-heat oven to 350F.

Sift together flour, corn starch, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

Cream together butter and sugar until fluffy (about 3 minutes). Add in egg, continue to beat for another minute or two. Beat in mashed banana, milk, vinegar and vanilla. Add in flour mixture until well combine.

Pour batter into 2 (6 inch round) cake pans (greased, floured and bottom lined with parchment paper). Bake 20-25 minutes or until golden and cooked through (mine took 25 mins, but yours might differ based on your oven so start checking after 20 mins). Allow to cool completely.

Make caramel filling. Melt sugar in a sauce pan over medium heat. Once sugar starts to melt turn flame to low. Work out any clumps by stirring. Once the sugar syrup is a deep amber color, remove from heat stir in butter (mixture will foam a lot but keep stirring), stream in cream as you stir, then stir in vanilla and salt. Set aside to cool a bit.

Level off each layer using a serrated knife. Place your bottom layer crumb side down on a plate (put some pieces of parchment paper around the edges to get a clean frost). Spread half the caramel in the middle of the cake. Put second layer on top and spread with remaining caramel. Caramel should still be warm to the touch but not pourable. You’ll have to spread it with the wooden spoon and it will smooth out on its own (if you let it cool too much you won’t get a smooth top. Alternatively if the caramel is too hot, it might flow over the edges, no biggie, you can cover that with icing).

Next make frosting. Beat half a cup of heavy cream, once it starts to form soft peaks add in sugar and vanilla. Continue to beat until it forms firm peaks. Frost the cake as desired. If you plan to frost the entire thing (including the top) and decorate, double the frosting. I only frosted the sides

then used a piping bag with a star tip to decorate the edges to leave the caramel exposed. Both are great, tasty options.

If you’re ready for a big commitment (aka a full size cake), double the recipe and bake in two 8 or 9 inch cake pans.

Either way, store this cake in the fridge until about 45 minutes before you’re ready to serve it. Don’t come complaining to me that your caramel is too hard if you take it out of the fridge and slice it immediately. Like all commitments, that part needs time too.

What’s your next commitment?

Please tell me it’s this little banana cake!

Foodologie

A Blog about Balancing Health with a Constant Desire to Eat Cake

Tag: Recipe

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