Cauliflower Fettuccine Alfredo

Alex and I were in Miami last weekend for a wedding, and for the 30 minutes that we actually stayed in the hotel (the weather was awesome and we laid out by the pool the whole time), we turned on a cooking competition show which was featuring a Cauliflower Fettuccine Alfredo vs. a usual Fettuccine Alfredo.

When we got back on Monday, and I asked Alex if he wanted fish for dinner (our usual weekday meat) he requested the Cauliflower recipe we saw on TV. And, because he asked so nicely, I obliged (rarely happens.)

I was too tired to compare recipes like I usually do, so I found this one from a Pinch of Yum, and decided to "fix" it to make it a little healthier and a little more to our liking.

Changes made to the recipe:
I only used 4 cups of vegetable broth- the boxes of broth from Whole Foods come with 4 cups and I happened to have an unopened one in the fridge. I also omitted the heavy whipping cream (you'll see it in the picture because I originally pulled it out to use, and then decided it defeated the whole purpose of making a healthier version.) Same thing with the butter-  use Olive Oil instead. Everything else we had in the cupboard and fridge (another reason Alex lucked out of getting what he wanted.)

Ingredients

1 lb. uncooked fettuccine noodles
3 small heads cauliflower
6 (4) cups vegetable broth
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon salt
pinch of nutmeg
pinch of black pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
¼ cup heavy cream
1 cup starchy boiling water from pasta pot

Added:
1/2 cup of shredded Parmesan cheese
Roasted shredded Chicken




Directions {according to a Pinch of Yum and updated with my changes}
1. Chop the cauliflower leaving the stems.
2. Bring the vegetable broth to a boil over medium high heat and add cauliflower.
3. Cook until cauliflower is soft, about 20 minutes.

4. Add 1 tablespoon of Olive Oil to medium hot skillet. Add the minced garlic and saute for 4-5 minutes or until soft and fragrant.
5.  As the garlic and cauliflower are cooking, bring a large pot of water to boil and cook the fettuccine according to directions on package, reserving some of the starchy water to add to the sauce later.
6. Transfer cauliflower to a blender with about 2 cups of the broth. You may need to do this in batches depending on the size of your blender.
7. Add the sauteed garlic, salt, nutmeg, and black pepper and puree until very smooth, about 5 minutes.
8. Once the mixture is moving, stream the olive oil into the blender. Add more broth or water if the mixture is too thick to move through the blender. You want it to turn through the blender easily. When puree is very smooth, transfer back to the butter/garlic skillet.
Add the cream and cook over low heat. Add the starchy pasta water (or regular water if you’re not making pasta) and keep warm until ready to serve. 
9. Combine noodles and sauce in a large pot or skillet.
10. I bought a Roasted Chicken and shredded the meat and added it to this dish. It was delicious!

I found mine to be a little watery because we omitted the cream, so instead, I added in some nice shredded Parmesan to thicken it up. I also added in some parsley at the end to put a little green in the dish. Adding some peas or broccoli may be a good touch too.

Enjoy! XO

Baked Tomatoes with Parmesan

And here is another easy, delicious, healthy Mediterranean diet recipe for you.

Ingredients:
Plump Tomatoes
Olive Oil
Oregano
Parmesan Cheese
Salt
Pepper

Directions

• Heat oven to 400F.
• Slice Tomatoes (I cut mine into thick pieces). 
• Place on tin foil in deep dish pan. 
• Sprinkle with Salt & Pepper. 
• Sprinkle with dried Oregano (or use fresh if you want/have it)
• Sprinkle on Parmesan cheese (I grated a nice Parmesan on ours)
• Drizzle the Tomatoes with Olive Oil
• Place in oven for 10 minutes.
• After 10 minutes, broil for a minute or two to lightly brown the top of the cheese.

I served the tomatoes with a Parmesan crusted Tilapia I picked up from Whole Foods and Far East Garlic & Herb CousCous.

Enjoy! XO

DC Restaurant {DGS Delicatessen}

Last night we went to the newly opened Jewish deli "DGS Delicatessen" south of Dupont Circle. We were so excited to hear that DC finally got a good deli (Taylors you were our fave and then you opened multiple chains and it's just not the same anymore.)

Usually, when you think of a deli, you think of a small space where you walk up to the counter, order, and be on your merry way. DGS, however, has a full menu and bar with table service. When you first walk in, DGS incorporates the typical DC restaurant thing to do right now - showcase pickled veggies in jars. And I LOVE pickled veggies. You can either be seated at a table, or choose to sit in the back in the bar area.   We decided to skip the alcohol last night (how dare us!) and decided to stick to ordering sandwiches.

I ordered:  "Eggplant Reuben with Gruyere, Sauerkraut and Russian, Double Baked Rye" which came with a pickle - OMG - this sandwich is amazing. The sauce was pouring out, Sauerkraut in heaping amounts - if you go to DGS I highly recommend this sandwich. You can also order this with corned beef instead of eggplant, but I am a sucker for eggplant.

Alex ordered the "DGS Corned Beef Creekstone Farms Brisket, House Made Mustard, Double Baked Rye"

Excuse the picture of the sandwich with a bite in it - he was very excited. This sandwich was also tasty, however, I found that the Reuben was more to my liking - maybe because it was nice and warm on a cold night?

We also ordered a side of the "Potato Latkes with  Creme Fraiche & DGS Apple Preserves" - this side comes with 2 Potato Latkes which was enough for the two of us + our sandwiches. I ended up taking home half my Reuben because the sandwich is so big.

If you were like us, and frustrated that there weren't any GREAT delis, in DC, times are a changin'!
DGS also offers a lunch menu and a dessert menu (we skipped out on dessert but I did see Hungarian doughnuts on there with toated almonds - I will most definitely have to go back and try those.)

Enjoy! XO

{Healthier} Homemade Chicken Nuggets

I haven't made chicken in awhile - mostly because I found that fish is healthier and takes about half the time to make. (Lazy? Sometimes.)

When I do make chicken, I usually make a breaded chicken with some sort of vegetable side. Sticking to this recipe, I changed things up just a bit so I made chicken nuggets and paired it with asparagus. It was delicious! This is great alternative, (and healthier) option than buying frozen chicken nuggets (And hello, I'm not 8) -  And a great recipe to make on the weekends for football parties!

Chicken Nuggets

Ingredients
Chicken Breast, cut into nugget sizes pieces (obviously)

Italian Bread Crumbs

Egg Whites

Parmesan Cheese

Olive Oil

Dipping Sauces
I bought Stubbs BBQ sauce from Whole Foods

and also had Dijon mustard

Directions

Heat oven to 350-375F

In deep dish pan, pour 2 tbsp of olive oil - you will bake the chicken after it's been on the skillet for a few minutes.

In one small bowl, put about a cup of egg whites. In another bowl, put a mixture of Parmesan cheese & Italian bread crumbs (you can also put in panko if you want.) 

In large skillet, pour 2 tbsp of olive oil over medium heat

Dip chicken breast pieces into egg whites, then dip in the bread crumb mixture. 

I then put the chicken on the skillet for a few minutes, browning the outsides.  

You could continue cooking the chicken all the way through on the skillet, but I prefer to bake them.

Bake the chicken for about 15 minutes, flipping them over at least once. If you need to, you can sprinkle on more of the bread crumb mixture.

I paired the nuggets with Stubbs BBQ sauce and Dijon mustard - but you could even go for a healthier dip and make a balsamic vinegar/olive oil dip.

Asparagus with Lemon Cream Sauce

Ingredients
1 lb Asparagus

1 tablespoon Olive Oil

1 teaspooon Sea Salt

Asparagus Prep:

Clean off your asparagus (who knows what bugs have been on it)

Break off the ends of the asparagus wherever it feels most natural. 

In deep dish pan, lay out tin foil.

Pour 1 tbsp of olive oil on foil.

Place asparagus on oil and rub around to cover the asparagus

Sprinkle on Sea Salt (or skip the salt if you want)

Bake in Oven on 375 for about 7 minutes
**I recommend putting this in the oven while you are preparing your chicken nuggets

Lemon Cream Sauce

This was a total bitch to make. Excuse my language, but there is no better word for this process. 

1 lemon

1/2 C light cream

3 tablespoons of butter (use "I can't believe its not butter" to make it seem healthier)

1/4 C egg whites

1/2 tsp Nutmeg

1/2 tsp Sea Salt 

In a skillet, add in the light cream, butter and salt. Bring to a boil stirring frequently so it won't stick to the pan. Once it starts to boil, bring the heat down to low.

Now this is where shit hit the fan - literally - if I had a fan on my ceiling. My sauce kept curdling no matter how low I put the heat. And you don't want it to curdle -  A) it ruins it and B) it looks gross.
And mine started to curdle so I grabbed a wooden spoon really quick to mix it and part of the cream flung to the ceiling. True story. 

I ended up pulling the skillet up from the stove to make sure it cooled down a little bit. Then, in a small bowl, take 2 tablespoons of your cream mixture out of the skillet, and mix it with the egg whites. (Some people use the egg yolk - but that has a lot of cholesterol in it so I went with egg whites - but what do I know?) Slowly put the egg whites and cream mixture back into the skillet, stirring frequently (again, don't want it curdle.) 

Squeeze your lemon into the mixture. Taste it and if it's a little off, add salt and nutmeg to your liking. 

Drizzle cream sauce over your asparagus and serve. Even though it was a pain to make, it ended up being really good - I'll have to practice this sauce again.

Enjoy! XO

DC Restaurant {Founding Farmers}

A favorite "farm to table" restaurant in DC, Founding Farmers offers an array of fresh items on its menu - and the ambiance is perfect for group conversations. And let's be honest - any restaurant in DC that offers mac n' cheese catches my eye...and stomach.

I've gone for both their dinner and brunch - and I have to admit, I don't like their brunch very much (I ordered their waffles and literally got one big waffle on a plate and that was it) but their dinner is wonderful. Each dish gives you a heaping amount and I feel like I have to get rolled out of there every time (Makes you wonder why they skimp on their brunch?)

Last week my mom was in town from Florida so we decided to hold a small Thanksgiving dinner together since I couldn't make it home. Every dish we ordered was delicious - and we had enough leftovers for 2 more dinners.

We started off with their bacon wrapped figs and blue cheese. You MUST order these if you go. It is one of my favorites.

Then we ordered their corn bread which comes out in a medium sized iron skillet and served with butter & honey--OMG. To die for.

For our meals, we ordered:
-side salad of iceburg lettuce, tomatoes & blue cheese (this "side" salad is a meal in itself)

We also ordered their mac n' cheese with ham - this is a heavy dish and we ordered this to share with the table. Unfortunately, I got too hungry and forgot to snap a picture but it came out in a heaping plate - I would be amazed if one person could finish this dish on their own!

I ordered the meatloaf with redskin mashed potatoes and a side of the Brussels sprouts.

Their homemade lemonade is also a favorite of mine - and if you aren't lactose intolerant like me - then try one of their milkshakes!

I definitely recommend Founding Farmers for a group dinner - and because they offer so much food for one dish, it's a great way to share and make it your own family-style dinner. 

Mom and I @ Founding Farmers- and pickled veggies behind us!

Enjoy! XO

Thanksgiving Side Dishes & Occasions Caterers infamous Corn Souffle

Thanksgiving is a day of being full, fat, happy...and thankful.  This year again I will join my boyfriend's family in Baltimore. I usually bring a few side dishes and I have to share a secret with you---it's ordered from a caterer. No, I'm not lazy...the dishes are just so darn good. But, this year,  I will make 2 of my own.

Last year, I ordered Pumpkin Soup, Corn Souffle and Brussels Sprouts from Occasions Caterers. And it was delicious! OMG - their corn souffle... - according to Occasions Account Exec., Kate Brannack, "Occasions this holiday season will produce over 5,000 demitasse cups, 800 timbales and 750 oval gratins of corn souffle." --- And, unlike the recent study that says Americans will waste 200 million pounds of Turkey (seriously, what is wrong with people) - this is one dish you and your family will definitely finish! Unfortunately, it's near impossible to get your hands on this recipe, so for now, we can just order from Occasions.

Occasions Caterers Corn Souffle

I also will order the Brussels Sprouts Salad with Pancetta-Balsamic Vinaigrette again. *The nice thing about this Brussels Sprouts dish is that it's served at room temp. so you don't have to fight over oven time with the turkey.











I will be making two items: the Butternut Squash/Apple/Soup that I previously posted in October and my family's Double-Stuffed Apple Pie recipe. I'll post the Apple Pie recipe later---this is one dish we don't have written down anywhere so I need to converse with my mother first :)


Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving! xoxo

Lemon Pepper Fish with Avocado and Tomato Salad

This is by far my FAVORITE dinner dish to make. Not only is it healthy and absolutely delicious - but it takes me less than 20 minutes to make and I spend less than $15.00 at Whole Foods for the main ingredients!

Recipe

Lemon Pepper Fish
lemon pepper spice
1 tbsp of Dijon mustard
tilapia (or whatever fish you would like to use)
olive oil

Heat oven to 375F.

Lay out aluminium foil on a deep dish pan. Drizzle a little olive oil on the foil. Place fish on top and spread a little Dijon mustard on the top side - this adds a little more taste and the spice sticks better to the fish. Sprinkle the lemon pepper spice on the mustard. Flip the fish and repeat spreading the mustard and sprinkling on the lemon pepper. Close the tin foil up so the fish is enclosed - bake for 12 minutes or until the middle of the fish can flake off with a fork.

 While the fish is in the oven, you can start making the salad.

Avocado & Tomato Salad
1 Avocado, diced
12 Grape Tomatoes, diced
Feta Cheese (optional)
Balsamic Vinegar
Pinch of Salt

In a bowl, carefully put in your diced avocado and tomatoes. If you want, you can add in feta cheese - although cheese is my favorite food, I actually don't care for it too much in this salad, but others I have served this to love the feta in it. Drizzle balsamic vinegar and a dash of salt. Be careful - the balsamic vinegar can be strong so start with less and add more if you need to.

Carefully mix the salad so the balsamic vinegar and salt are evenly mixed in.

And that's it! Pair the fish and salad with a nice piece of fresh bread - I mix up a little olive oil and a flavored balsamic vinegar. I recently purchased flavored vinegars from Sapore in Capitol Hill, DC.  (Try their Dark Chocolate Balsamic Vinegar - its to die for!) Enjoy!

Sapore - White Balsamic Vinegar

Eggplant & Tomato Pizza

I told you, I have been craving veggies lately - and especially eggplant. In lieu of calling up Domino's again (I have their app on my iPhone), I decided to head to Whole Foods so I could make my own (healthy) pizza.

Recipe:
1 Pizza Crust (I bought the pre-made wheat crust from Whole Foods)
1 Eggplant, Sliced
Minced Garlic
Basil
Mozzarella Cheese
Feta Cheese
2 Tomatoes, Sliced
Olive Oil

Preheat Oven to 375.

I first roasted the eggplant over medium heat on a skillet. - To do this, put olive oil on a pan, add in minced garlic stirring for 2 minutes; then add the sliced eggplant. Roast until the white part of the eggplant is a light brown.

Lay out pizza crust and drizzle olive oil all over. Sprinkle Feta and  Mozz. Cheese (add as much as you like). Then spread on the roasted eggplant.  Place sliced tomatoes on top of eggplant. I then added more feta cheese (cheese is it's own food group in my book). Add basil.

Bake until the bottom of the crust is a little brown and the feta cheese is melted (about 12 minutes).

Enjoy!

Salmon with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Feta Cheese

One of my favorite fish dishes - Salmon with Sun-Dried Tomatoes and Feta Cheese. If you love Mediterranean food like I do then you'll love this.

How cute is the fish dish!?

1 lb Salmon
Few pinches of Dill weed
Lemon Pepper
Feta Cheese
1/2 jar of Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Pre-heat oven to 400 F.

Lay out tin foil on a deep baking dish allowing about 4 inches of extra tin foil on the sides (to wrap fish after you sprinkle the ingredients).

Place salmon, skin down on foil. Sprinkle lemon pepper all over the fish. Then sprinkle a small amount of dill weed  Carefully place sun-dried tomatoes on fish - some people prefer to have their sun-dried tomatoes diced - whatever floats your boat. Then sprinkle feta cheese all over.

Take extra foil from the sides and gather together so the fish is completely wrapped in tin foil and keeping all the toppings on the fish.

Salmon over Brown Rice

Bake for 25 minutes or until the middle of the fish is fully cooked (take fork and scrape the middle - if it easily scrapes off, your fish is done).

I eat mine over a bed of  brown rice - enjoy!

Roasted Vegetable Quesadillas

Lately I have been craving vegetables - crazy but definitely not a bad thing!  This week I was contemplating putting together vegetable enchiladas but I wanted something quicker to make - so quesadillas it was. These would be great to serve as a snack during a football game!

Vegetables used:
Eggplant
Red Pepper
Orange Pepper
Yellow Pepper
Grape Tomatoes
Minced Garlic
Basil

Slice the Eggplant, Red Pepper, Orange Pepper, Yellow Pepper and Tomatoes into thins slices. Fold aluminum foil on a baking sheet then add the vegetables. Drizzle olive oil over all the vegetables; sprinkle garlic and basil on top and bake at 400F for 30 minutes.



At this point, once the vegetables are done, you really could eat them by themselves, add them to a spinach or arugula salad or even add them to pita bread. I chose to make quesadillas so I could also add in my favorite food group - cheese and sour cream. Yes, in my life, they are their own food group.

I placed a wheat tortilla on the skillet; then added shredded white cheddar cheese; then the roasted vegetables until the tortilla seemed crisp. I then added the top tortilla, and flipped it until both sides were nice and crispy.


For the sour cream, I squeezed in some lime juice to give it a little kick.

Enjoy!

Pumpkin Overload: Soup, Muffins & Fluff

Once DC got its first crisp Fall day, all I kept thinking about was all the wonderful Fall recipes I have been dying to make. Whole Foods has on display their beautiful pumpkins so my theme last week was ---Pumpkins!  I made 3 recipes last week (overload).

One was healthy (soup); one was fattening (fluff); and one was quick (muffins).

I found a delicious recipe on the Washingtonian for a Butternut Squash and Apple soup. However, I felt like it needed to be sweeter so I added in half a can of pumpkin filling + sprinkled cinnamon on top. And it was delicious! I definitely cut time off by buying pre-cut butternut squash.

For dessert, I made Pumpkin Fluff (some may refer to it as Pumpkin fat)

• 16 ounces of cool whip
• 1 can of pumpkin filling
• 2 tsps of pumpkin pie spice
• 1 small box of vanilla instant pudding

Directions: Add all the above ingredients then chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Notes: I only used 8 ounces of cool whip. You can add more we just wanted more of the pumpkin taste than cool whip. I made this while the soup was boiling and then chilled in the fridge for 2 hours, although you could most certainly start eating it right away.


Lastly, on Saturday morning, I made Pumpkin Muffins...and get this, I only used 2 ingredients!

• 1 box of Yellow Cake Mix
• 1 can of Pumpkin Filling

Mix the two, then fill in muffin pan. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Notes: I totally messed up and wasn't thinking, and put the mixture into a bread pan. I do not recommend this ---it took 2 hours to cook all the way through. Again, I wasn't thinking. But the end result was still delicious. I also added a little of the fluff from the night before as an icing to the muffins (ok, I know, not healthy).

U St & 12th, NW

Ben's Chili Bowl...a DC staple
http://www.benschilibowl.com/

We finally went to Ben's Chili Bowl for the FIRST time last week. We've walked by it more times than I can count and never went in...mainly because there is always a long line, but this time the line was atleast inside the restaurant and not pouring out onto the street so we waited and boy are these dogs worth the wait! Since this was an afternoon snack for us, we decide on

Ben's Famous All Meat Chili Dog & the Cheese Fries! Both so good! The dog comes with mustard, onions and Ben's signature chili sauce.  This is a must eat when you're in DC!

V St & 10th, NW

American Ice Company

Located a block away from the hustle and bustle on U St., the American Ice Company is a popular beer and bbq spot. The spot is set-up in a old warehouse and the casual environment is a perfect spot to bring your friends.  Beer is served in mason jars and the food is simple and delicious.

The pickled veggies were delicious and the brisket sandwich had the right amount of fat to meat as you would like. Another favorite were the "Swachos"...nachos with swine and nacho cheese..absolutely delish! (But forgot a pic...)

Thankful for Turkey

It's Almost time! I will be spending Thanksgiving with Alex's family in Baltimore.

Alex will be in charge of the turkey again this year! Last year was his first time and he did an amazing job!

I will be baking (I believe the recipe is Uncle Rob's? or Margarets..or some family members) double stuffed Apple Pie! Thanks to Grandma and Mom I will have my own apple pie dish and fall cut-outs to use this year.
I made it last year and it was fantastic! I used a little more butter than what they recipe called for and a little more cinnamon...and added a few granny smith apples to sweeten it up.

Pie from last year

And I will be making..ok! ok!  I will be bringing Pumpkin Soup scented with Mulling Spices garnished with cinnamon; Shredded Brussels Sprouts tossed with toasted Pine Nuts, crisp Pancetta Lardons and shredded Carrots dressed with warm Bacon-White Balsamic Vinaigrette; and a delicious Corn Souffle. I decided to order from Occasions Caterers...why should I have to spend the day cooking in the kitchen when I can just order it ;) And it helps with oven take-over.

What's everyone else making (or ordering) for Thanksgiving this year?? xoxo

Fall Food Staple: Taco Chili

By far- my favorite Fall recipe. (And it incorporates cheese & sour cream - my faves!)

1 lb of 99% fat free ground turkey
1 can of chick peas
1 can of gorgonzola beans (white kidney beans)
1 can of tomato sauce
1 can of diced tomatoes (or if you like to spend time in the kitchen, chop a fresh tomato)
sprinkle of cumin
sprinkle of cayenne
dash of hot sauce
onions (optional---i dont like onions so I don't add them)

Brown the turkey. Pour everything else together in a big pot. Bring to a boil then simmer for 15 minutes. I usually wait 25 minutes. Scoop your chili in a bowl, mix in shredded cheddar cheese (better if you mix it in your chili then just leaving it on the top) and a dollop of sour cream - voila!

This makes a pretty good amount so put on your flannel pajamas, turn on some football, and enjoy a nice bowl of chili.

Enjoy!