whole wheat thin crust pizza on the grill

Nothing says summer like grilled pizza! I actually made this recipe for a friend in Indiana about two years ago, and he has “claimed” it as his own to his friends and family.

Ingredients

1 Boboli Whole Wheat Thin Crust shell
1 tbsp olive oil
1 jar pizza sauce
1 pkg (2 cups) shredded pizza cheese, such as mozzarella
your favorite pizza toppings

Directions

Heat gas grill to medium-low/medium heat. Brush both sides of Boboli crust with olive oil. Place on plate to prepare. Top with sauce, a light layer of cheese, one layer of topping, next layer of light cheese, additional toppings, remainder of cheese.

Carefully place pizza on prepared grill. Close lid to melt cheese. Grill for 8-10 minutes until cheese is melted and crust is crispy. Be sure to check after about 2-3 minutes to make sure grill isn’t too hot. Slice and enjoy!

FLAT OUT awesome

For those of us hoping to get more whole grains while minimizing carbs can sometimes feel like we have really limited choices. I mean, one slice of whole grain bread can often have 25+ grams of carbs (especially if it’s honey whole wheat). Since we women are only supposed to have about 3-4 carb servings per meal (which is about 45-60 grams of carbs), this is definitely not cool. Luckily, I found these great flat bread wraps called “Flat Out”, and they really hit the spot. Check out their webpage for more information.

The cool thing is that these are high in whole grains (so high in fiber) but low in carbs. In fact, one wrap is only about 100 calories and 9 net carbs. You seriously cannot beat these numbers if you are trying to watch your carb intake! I’ve used these to make chicken wraps, breakfast burritos, steak fajitas, and fish tacos. I highly recommend them and encourage you to try them out!

WGRS: Fish Tacos with Broccoli Slaw for Andrea and Eric

Congrats to one of my graduating students, Eric, and his bride to be, Andrea, on their upcoming wedding! Sadly, we won’t be able to raise glasses to them in person, but we’ll be there in sprit – that’s for sure.

Although we couldn’t put together a custom spice box for the happy couple, we were able to send them a “Spicy Wedding” gift box from Penzeys – and of course, and a link to this blog. Best wishes for a life full of love and laughter, you two!

In honor of their wedding next month, I will dedicate my recipe for Fish Tacos (which I first sampled at Texas Tubbs Taco Palace, which I hope they’ll visit sometime) to the bride and groom. So, without further ado…

A&E’s Fish Tacos

INGREDIENTS:

~1.5 lbs white fish fillets or nuggets (cod, tilapia, or catfish)
1 tsp Tony Chachere’s creole seasoning or Penzey’s Cajun seasoning
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 cup yellow cornmeal
~2-4 tbsp canola oil for pan frying, if needed

1 pkg whole wheat tortillas
1 pkg broccoli slaw
1/4 cup cole slaw dressing
shredded cheese

chips, salsa, and guacamole

DIRECTIONS:

1. Cut fish fillets into nuggets or strips if necessary. Sprinkle with creole/cajun seasoning and garlic powder, toss with hands. Pour cornmeal into separate bowl. Add fish pieces and toss to coat.

2a. If using a convection oven, line rack with foil, perforate, and spray with non-stick spray. Arrange fish in one layer. Bake at ~400 degrees for ~25 minutes (check after 20) until fish is cooked through and at the desired crispiness.

2b. If pan frying, heat oil over medium high heat. Add fish in batches, making sure pieces aren’t touching. Depending on thickness, cook for anywhere from 3-4 min per side. When done, move to paper towel to drain.

3. Toss broccoli slaw in cole slaw dressing. Serve a few pieces of fish with slaw and cheese in a tortilla. Pair with chips, salsa, and guacamole, and enjoy!

convection/turbo ovens

Last week, I felt like I was in a food rut. We didn’t have much food in the house and because of our busy schedules we were eating out too much. So, on Friday I decided that I would make some fish tacos. If any of you know Mike, you know that seafood isn’t really his favorite protein… so this was going to be a challenge!

After the meal, I have to say that Mike was hooked (no pun intended). I used the convection oven my mom had given me many years ago to bake the fish at a high temperature, which made it really crispy without the oil and grease. I served the fish in whole grain tortillas, broccoli slaw with a light dressing, and a little cheese. I also made the guacamole recipe I posted a while ago, and voila! It’s like we were in Cali. (I do actually have some good friends visiting Cali right now, so maybe I’ll ask them!) I’ll post the recipes later this week, but now, I just wanted to write a quick post recommending the convection oven as a great addition to the kitchen countertop.

If you’ve never seen a convection oven, you can do a quick search on Amazon or just click on this link. Though I haven’t thoroughly researched the health and energy benefits, I’ve heard that CO’s are healthier to use than microwave ovens, and that they use way less energy than conventional ovens (the one in your stove). I do know firsthand that it can cook proteins pretty quickly and produce excellent results. My mom has used one for many, many years, making great crispy fish and chicken with just a few simple seasonings.

In the downside, it’s a bit bulky to have on the countertop all the time, though, so I kept it in storage for most of the time we lived in WI. Now that I have a bit more storage space in the kitchen, I’ll probably keep mine easily accessible!

Anyway, hope you’re having a great start to the week, and think about getting a convection oven if you love crispy food without all of the fat involved with frying it!

spinach strawberry walnut salad

Adapted from the salad my friend Deb made at Easter, we’ve made this salad at least twice since then with great results. It’s especially tasty now that strawberries are in season!

Spinach Strawberry Walnut Salad

1 bag baby spinach
3/4 of a 16 oz container or so of fresh, ripe strawberries, washed and sliced
3/4 cup walnuts, chopped
1/2 pkg goat cheese or feta crumbles

Keep all ingredients separate and chilled until ready to serve. Toss everything together, bring it to the table, and enjoy! You really don’t need dressing with this salad, which makes it even better.

a good audio book: comfort food by kate jacobs

Hi everyone,

I often swing by a Crackerbarrel restaurant when I’m on a long, solo road trip to pick up an audio book or two through their audiobook rental program. This time when I was headed to South Bend, I chose a book called “Comfort Food” by Kate Jacobs (who apparently also wrote The Friday Night Knitting Club, another title I want to check out). The story was pretty fun to listen to and I’d recommend it for a light summer read!

Hope you’re all doing well. Look for more recipe posting soon!

blogging hiatus

Hi everyone,

I’ll be on the road for work and family stuff for about two weeks starting Friday, so there will be some blog silence during that time. Thanks for visiting and I’m sure we’ll be posting again soon!

review: trader joe’s red curry sauce

Yum. That’s all I can say. I sauteed some onions, zucchini, and chunks of chicken for about 10 minutes until mostly cooked through, added the sauce, and simmered for another 10 minutes and served over rice. Not quite as good as the squash curry with chicken at Lao Laan-Xang in Madison, but comparable to Sa Bai Thong’s Pa-Naeng. For a Thai/Laotian fan – but novice cook – like me, this will definitely be a new staple in the kitchen!

review: trader joe’s pav bhaji

Mike and I were out on the east side of the metro shopping this weekend and I stopped into one of my favorite stores, Trader Joe’s, to have a look around. I picked up several new items to try, and I’ll review them here as I try them.

Today for lunch I had the heat-and-eat Pav Bhaji, a vegetarian Indian dish that is apparently quite commonly sold on the streets of Mumbai. I am totally an Indian food novice, having only had one (very good) experience when I was in grad school at a lunch buffet. I don’t know any of the names of the dishes I tried, but I recall wishing I had more time to try each dish separately and in a less harried setting. As I was walking around the aisles of TJ’s, I saw these boxed and prepared foods, and for $2.19 a pop, it was a steal!

I’d definitely recommend this boxed good for those wanting to dip one’s toe into the Indian cuisine waters. It was spicy, but not overwhelming in the least. I ate it with a piece of TJ’s whole wheat naan bread, which was really good but pretty high in calories (240 for one slice!). Overall, a great lunch option – can’t wait to go back to TJ’s and get more, and/or try to make some myself!

updated chocolate cake recipe

Last night we had dinner with some new friends here in MN, Krisitin and John. Many thanks to them for hosting us – we had such a good time! We were on tap for dessert, so I asked Mike what he thought would be good. After a few seconds we decided on chocolate cake – yum! I did make some changes to the previous recipe, so I’ll post those here, renamed in honor of our esteemed hosts. Hope you’re all doing well!

KJ’s Chocolate Cake

Ingredients:

* 2 cups sugar
* 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
* 3/4 cup HERSHEY’S SPECIAL DARK Cocoa powder
* 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
* 1 heaping teaspoon instant coffee
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 2 eggs
* 1 cup milk
* 1/2 cup vegetable oil
* 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
* 1 cup boiling water
* George and Louis’ Dark Chocolate Frosting (recipe follows)

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350 F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.

2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, instant coffee, and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.

3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.

George and Louis’ Dark Chocolate Frosting

Ingredients:

1 stick butter or margarine, softened and at room temperature
3 cups powdered sugar, divided into 1 cup portions
3/4 c HERSHEY’S Special Dark Cocoa Powder, divided into 1/4 cup portions
1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons grand marnier liqueur

Directions:

Beat butter in medium bowl until smooth. Add 1 c powdered sugar and 1/4 c cocoa with a splash of milk. Beat until smooth. Add another 1 cup portion of powdered sugar and 1/4 c portion of cocoa, a bit more milk, and 2 tsp vanilla. Beat again until smooth. Add remaining sugar, cocoa, milk, and 2 tsp grand marnier. Scrape sides of bowl and beat to spreading consistency. About 2.5 cups frosting, which is a good amount to frost the two-layer cake.

TO ASSEMBLE CAKE:

Place one round cake on large plate. Add two to three dollops of frosting on top, spread around to cover. Place second round cake on top. Add most of the rest of the frosting on top in dollops, then spread around and over the sides. To frost sides, spin cake plate around while holding spatula against side of cake. Use remaining frosting to even out cake or finishing covering the sides. You can let it sit uncovered for a while to have the frosting “set up” a bit. Otherwise, place toothpicks on top (to prevent the frosting from sticking) and cover all with plastic wrap.

And happy Cinco de Mayo!