CEiMB-Black Bean Mexican Style Pizza

The recipe for Craving Ellie in My Belly this week was Black Bean Mexican Style Pizza. This recipe was chosen by Joanne and you can find the recipe over at her blog- Apple Crumbles or by clicking on the link at the bottom of this post. Joanne amazes me every week because she cooks so many variations of each recipe to satisfy the people in her family. Make sure you check out her blog.
I was excited to try this recipe because the black bean dip that you use as the spread for this pizza sounded really tasty. I made these for dinner last night and luckily, Kayte made them for lunch, so she tweeted about how good they were, just the way the recipe was written. Since she raved about them as is, I didn't change anything about these when I made my first batch.

I even got out my little cookie cut and made tiny little tortilla circles and I think this would make a great appetizer or party dish. Very delicious.
I could not keep my fingers out of this black bean dip. It was good. Plus the whole thing took maybe 20 minutes to make- blending up the dip, throw the pizzas together, cook and clean-up. I can handle that.

For my hubby and kids, I added some shredded chicken before I put the cabbage (I used angel hair coleslaw from the bag, which is just cabbage, but already thinly sliced) on top and then melted a little cheese on top. No complaints from any of my family members. They actually really liked this dinner too.
I will be making the dip again and hope that maybe there will be some left to make another pizza. I am not making any promises about that. Go to the CEiMB Blogroll to see what everyone else thought about these Mexican Pizzas!

Recipe for Black Bean Mexican Style Pizza


One Year Ago-Lunchbox #3

Rocky Road Ice Cream

There always seems to be an overabundance of one part of the egg in my fridge or freezer.
I either have a bunch of yolks that are hanging out or I have tons of whites that I am not sure what to do with. At the moment I have 14 egg whites in my fridge, some of which I recently took out of the freezer- angel food cake is in my near future, but more about that later.
I don't really know for sure how I decided to make this Rocky Road Ice Cream, but I wanted to try David Lebovitz's chocolate ice cream and some how when I saw the option at the bottom of the page to mix in some mini marshmallows and roasted peanuts or almonds, it just sounded like a fun option.
Rocky Road just makes me feel like a kid.
I had the egg yolks ready, so I mixed up the custard.
This ice cream uses both cocoa powder and melted chocolate to give it a very rich chocolate flavor. I opted to use semi-sweet chocolate, because I didn't want the chocolate flavor to be too dark.

I knew this was going to taste better than store bought ice cream, but I wasn't prepared for how delicious this was. The chocolate flavor was amazing and the bites that had the slighty salty peanuts or the fluffy marshmallows were even better.

My kids went crazy over this one. They couldn't wait to try it and certainly didn't want to wait until it had firmed up in the freezer.

Definite winner here.

Rocky Road Ice Cream

from The Perfect Scoop by David Lebovitz

Yield: About 1 quart

Prep Time: 25 minutes | Chill Time: 8 hours | Churn Time: 15 minutes

2 cups heavy cream
3 tablespoons unsweetened Dutch-process cocoa powder
5 ounces bittersweet or semisweet chocolate, chopped
1 cup whole milk
¾ cup sugar
Pinch of salt
5 egg yolks
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups miniature marshmallows
1 cup roasted peanuts

1. Warm 1 cup of the cream with the cocoa powder in a medium saucepan, whisking to thoroughly blend the cocoa. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer at a very low boil for 30 seconds, whisking constantly. Remove from the heat and add the chopped chocolate, stirring until smooth. Then stir in the remaining 1 cup cream. Pour the mixture into a large bowl, scraping the saucepan as thoroughly as possible, and set a mesh strainer on top of the bowl.

2. Warm the milk, sugar, and salt in the same saucepan. In a separate medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Slowly pour the warm milk into the egg yolks, whisking constantly, then scrape the warmed egg yolks back into the saucepan.

3. Stir the mixture constantly over medium heat with a heatproof spatula, scraping the bottom as you stir, until the mixture thickens and coats the spatula (and reaches 170 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer). Pour the custard through the strainer and stir it into the chocolate mixture until smooth, then stir in the vanilla. Stir until cool over an ice bath.

4. Chill the mixture thoroughly in the refrigerator, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions. (If the cold mixture is too thick to pour into your machine, whisk it vigorously to thin it out.) Once the ice cream has finished churning, fold in the marshmallows and peanuts.

One Year Ago- Afghan Cooking-Chabli Kebab with Sallata and Baghlan Rice

MSC- Zucchini Spice Cupcakes

I knew I was going to have a giveaway involving Hello, Cupcake! and I also knew that I needed to make the Zucchini Spice Cupcakes for MSC (Martha Stewart's Cupcakes Club) so I decided to combine the two tasks.
Tracey chose this months selection, and I thought it was delicious. Head over to Tracey's blog, Tracey's Culinary Adventures, to see her beautiful pictures and make sure you take some time to look around- she always has delicious meals and treats to share.

I made half of the recipe for these cupcakes and since I was making sharks out of most of them, I decided not to make the cream cheese frosting and to just sprinkle them with powdered sugar instead. I didn't realize that I didn't have any lemon zest, until I was mixing up the batter, so I used lime and it actually worked really well. I also replaced half of the oil with unsweetened applesauce. I used pecans instead of walnuts because I like them better.

These cupcakes smelled fabulous while baking and the whole house was filled with a warm, spice smell. They were nice and moist and the flavors were wonderful. A great way to use up zucchini, if you have some to use or just a nice after school treat or anytime treat, really. Truly delicious.

Make your way over to the MSC Blogroll and I am sure you will see lots of tasty cupcakes with beautifully piped frosting!
And if you don't have a copy of Martha Stewart's Cupcakes, go get one!
Recipe for Zucchini Spice Cupcakes on Erin's Food Files

One Year Ago- His and Her's Nachos and Red Velvet Cupcakes-2 ways

Summer Squash, Carrots, Cauliflower, Broccoli, and Mushrooms in Light Green Curry

Time to announce the winners of the giveaway. I used my own personal random number generator- my 7-yr old son. I told him to pick 2 numbers between 1 and 77 and he chose-56 and 39.
So the winners are: # 39-Cat who said "What fabulous books! I would love to win the LunchBoxes and Snacks one, but mmmm.... cupcakes! :)"
and #56-Would love to win!!!
stutzman.cara@yahoo.com
Update: Cat- if you see this please email me, so I can send you your cookbook! my email address is on the right hand corner of my blog. Thanks!

I will be emailing both of you asap and getting your cookbooks out in the mail.
Thanks to everyone that entered!

Now, onto today's delicious food.
This is another recipe from a great cookbook called- The Vegetable Dishes I can't Live Without by Mollie Katzen.
I have posted about the Artichoke Heart and Spinach Gratin , the Eggplant, Green Bean, Pumpkin&Basil in Tomato- Coconut Curry and the Spaghetti Squash Pancakes with Tomato Basil Jam.

I have been wanting to try this recipe- Summer Squash, Carrots, Cauliflower, Broccoli and Mushrooms in Light Green Curry- for a long time. I served this with the Chicken Sate with Spicy Peanut Dipping Sauce we had a couple of weeks ago because I thought the 2 dishes together would make a great meal.

This one sounds long and complicated, but it isn't. It just has lots of veggies and it really delicious.
I think that green curry is pretty mild and my kids handle it well. I served this over rice. My kids and hubby weren't crazy about this one, but I was. They ate it without complaining, but I didn't really get any great compliments. But, it is full of veggies, so I wouldn't really expect someone who craves McDonalds (hubs) to get too excited. The fun thing is that I am in charge of the cooking, so I make it and everyone eats it.

If you like green curry or curries made with coconut milk, I think you will find that this is a delicious one. Enjoy!


Summer Squash, Carrots, Cauliflower, Broccoli, and Mushrooms in Light Green Curry
by Mollie Katzen adapted from The Vegetable Dishes I can't Live Without

2 tsp green curry paste
1 14-oz can light coconut milk- abt 1 3/4 cups
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth (you can use chicken broth too)
2 tsp grated lemon zest
2-3 Tbls Thai fish sauce or soy sauce
1 small yellow squash, cut into 1/2-inch thick half-rounds
1 small zucchini, cut into 1/2-inch thick half-rounds
2 cups small cauliflower florets
2 cups small broccoli florets
1 medium carrot, in 1/4-inch diagonal slices (I used baby carrots)
1/2 pd small mushrooms, sliced
1/3 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
1/2 cup toasted cashews

1- Combine the curry paste, coconut milk and broth in a medium-large saucepan and whisk until smooth.
2- Add the lemon zest. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 15 minutes.
3- Stir in the fish sauce or soy sauce. Add the squash, zucchini, cauliflower, broccoli, carrot, and mushrooms, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, partially covered, for about 10 minutes, or until the vegetables are just tender. Add the cilantro at the very last minute, then serve hot- plain in a bowl, or over rice, topped with cashews if desired.

One Year Ago-Chocolate Chip Cookies 2 ways- Oatmeal Date and Dorie's fave

Breakfast Banana Split

I don't remember where I saw this idea, but I did see it in a cookbook somewhere and I thought it was too cute to pass up.
I am always looking for new ways to make breakfast healthier and more exciting.

This breakfast takes the idea of a banana split and makes it breakfast worthy (although I am not against eating ice cream for breakfast :-)

I found these cute little banana split dishes at Publix and thought they really just added another element of fun to this whole idea. This is also a versatile breakfast idea- you can change up the fruits and toppings with whatever you like best.

Breakfast Banana Split
1 banana, split in half lengthwise
assorted melon balls- I used canteloupe and honeydew
yogurt
granola
berries- I used blueberries and raspberries

Place your sliced banana in a dish. Top with melon balls and yogurt. Sprinkle granola and berries on top. Eat
Ta-da!
Wasn't that easy?

P.S. if you look closely at the spoon, you can see my reflection- kinda made me laugh

and you still have time to enter my giveaway!

One Year Ago- Grandma Ruthardt's Sloppy Joes on Prudy's Whole Wheat Hamburger Buns

Asparagus and Shrimp Stir-Fry on Noodle Pillows

Maybe my kids are a little strange, but they absolutely love shrimp. Any way you prepare it. Hot, cold, battered and fried, naked, spiced, sauced-whatever you want, they love it. (Sorry, I realize I was getting a little Bubba-esque there about the shrimp).

They also are really fond of asparagus. If my 4-yr old sees it when we go to the grocery store, she begs for it. She complains about celery, but not asparagus.
I thought that was kinda strange because I just as an adult learned to love asparagus a few years ago, but I am not complaining.

I saw this cute stir-fry recipe and knew my whole family would love it. No bribing would be involved and that basically sold me on trying it.

You boil your pasta noodles and toss them with a little sesame oil and then form them into little nests and bake them in the oven until the outer edges and brown and crispy. Yum! The original recipe called for Asian wheat noodles, but I just used whole wheat vermicelli instead since I had some in my pantry.

The stir-fry is really basic- ginger, soy sauce, and garlic. I used canola oil to stir-fry my asparagus and shrimp.

My husband loves shrimp too, so this dinner was quickly gobbled down, with everyone asking for more shrimp. I love it when that happens.

p.s. You can still enter my giveaway, if you haven't already- just leave a comment HERE

Recipe for Asparagus and Shrimp Stir-Fry on Noodle Pillows



One Year Ago-Grown Up Mac and Cheese with Turkey Bacon and Broccoli

CEiMB-Pulled BBQ Chicken Sandwiches

This week's CEiMB recipe- Pulled BBQ Chicken Sandwiches, was chosen by Pam, whose blog- Cookies with Boys, is a really great one- she always has great healthy recipes and delicious treats. She just seems like the kind of person that you would really want to have living next door. She has 2 adorable little boys and I am sure if she was your neighbor she would probably bring you a plate of cookies or invite you over for a lunchdate.
You can find the recipe on her blog or by clicking on the link at the bottom of this post.

The night that I made these for dinner my husband walked into the kitchen, looked at the pan I was cooking in and asked, "What is that?"
I said "BBQ for sandwiches."
He replied, " Well, I know what it is, but you don't ever cook stuff like that."

So, I guess that was his reaction when he saw me cooking something "normal". I thought it was pretty funny.

I don't really know that much about BBQ. I don't have a certain taste that I am looking for in the sauce or anything like that. I can't tell the difference between vinegar-based or whatever. In fact, the word BBQ meant to me growing up, that we were going to have a BBQ in the backyard, cooking something on the grill.
When I moved to the south, I soon realized that BBQ is actually a food. The confusion with words and phrases didn't stop there, but I won't go into that.

So, anyway- I made this sauce as is, because I wouldn't really know how to change it and I am not that particular about this stuff anyway. I left out the liquid smoke because I don't have any and this dinner was enjoyed by all. If I did make it again, I might mess around with the sauce and add something to give it a little heat and I would probably cook my own chicken to shred because the rotisserie chicken I found was quite pricey.

I had some of the BBQ leftover and I ate it the next day over some salad greens. It made a pretty tasty salad.

Check out the other CEiMB members by going to the Blogroll!
And if you haven't already entered my giveaway, go and comment for your chance to win a cookbook!
Recipe for Pulled BBQ Chicken Sandwiches


One Year Ago- Lunchbox #2

Back to School Giveaway! 2 Cookbooks- Hello, Cupcake! and LunchBoxes and Snacks

It's Back to School time and that means it is time for a giveaway! I will be giving away 1 copy of each of these cookbooks- Hello, Cupcake! by Karen Tack and Alan Richardson and Lunch Boxes and Snacks by Annabel Karmel.

To enter, just leave a comment on this post- if you don't have a blog leave your email address, so if you win, I can contact you!
This giveaway will close on Sunday 9/13 at 12:00 midnight. The winners will be announced on Monday.
The first cookbook is Hello, Cupcake! It came out in 2008 and has tons of super cute and easy ideas for decorating cupcakes. You don't need any special decorating tools or supplies, it can all be done with plastic baggies and other things you already have at home.

This is a great book to have and so many of these designs would be great for school parties or snacks. There is also a webpage for this book and a blog!
I decided to let my 7 year old son pick out a cupcake design for us to try at home. Of course, he had to pick one of the scariest ones that was in the book- Shark Attack!

I scaled it back, because there are only 5 of us here and made 3 sharks, 3 life preservers and 1 cupcake with gummy fish. I had a few problems with my sharks, but that is just because of the way I put them together. As you can see in the last picture, my shark was starting to fall apart, but that was my fault, not because of the directions.
I have to say that these were fairly easy. It is nice that you can do most of the decorating with a knife and a plastic baggie. Success! My kids thought these were awesome.
We also made the Garden Party Cupcakes from this book last year for Father's Day. The great thing about this book is that the designs are easy to adapt and make your own. We really like this book.

The second book, Lunch Boxes and Snacks, is a great resource for packing lunches for school and also for providing good wholesome snacks. This book is geared towards children, but I have made many recipes from it with success for my entire family and other adults as well.

I decided to make the Caesar Salad Lettuce Cups for a summer dinner and we really loved them. I added shredded carrots, cherry tomatoes, chopped cucumbers, and made my own croutons with a whole wheat baguette. Yum!

I have also made the Finger-Picking Chicken Balls,
Pita Pockets stuffed with Tuna, Egg and Corn,
Chicken Chunks on a Stick, Couscous Confetti Salad,
and many other things that I haven't blogged about, like her no bake chocolate squares. She also has a webpage- which has recipes and all sorts of other helpful information.

Best of luck to all who enter!
Caesar Salad Lettuce Cups from LunchBoxes and Snacks by Annabel Karmel
makes 2 portions

1 small skinless, boneless chicken breast
Marinade:
1 Tbls olive oil
1 tsp lemon juice
salt and freshly ground black pepper
Caesar Dressing:
3 Tbls mayonnaise (I used fat-free)
1 tsp lemon juice
2 tsps water
1 tsps freshly grated Parmesan cheese - plus extra to serve
2 or 3 drops Worcestershire sauce -to taste
salt and freshly ground pepper
Extras you can add:
grated carrot, diced cucumber, diced apple, chopped cherry tomatoes, sliced scallions

2 Boston lettuce leaves
croutons

Place the chicken breast between 2 layers of plastic wrap and flatten with a rolling pin to 1/4-inch thick. Mix together the marinade ingredients, add the chicken, and marinate for 30 minutes. Heat a griddle and brush with oil. Remove the chicken from the marinade and cook for 3-4 minutes on each side or until cooked through.

Whisk the dressing ingredients in a bowl. Dice the chicken and toss it in the dressing.
Add extras if you wish. Spoon onto the lettuce leaves, add a few croutons, and sprinkle with Parmesan.


One Year Ago- Chocolate Malted Whopper Drops

twd-Chocolate Souffle

I have never made chocolate souffle. Well, until the other night, I hadn't ever made chocolate souffle.
Susan of She's Becoming DoughMessTic chose Chocolate Souffle for this week's Tuesdays with Dorie recipe. You can find the recipe on her blog. If you haven't checked out her blog, take some time to check out the amazing cakes, cookies and other things that she has created! That girl has got talent!

I debated about making this one, but I don't know why. When Nancy shared her measurements with me for making 1/4 of the recipe, I decided to go ahead and whip it up.

I had a couple of friends coming over and I heard my friends husband in the background on the phone asking if I could make something (meaning dessert, of course). I decided this was my chance to make the souffle and have people to eat it.

I used skim milk and 2 egg whites, instead of measuring out my egg white and semi-sweet chocolate because that is all I had.

I knew I didn't have much time to get a photo before they fell and I got a couple of shots before that happened. I don't really know anything about souffles, so I don't know why mine cracked on top. I did watch them in the oven and they got nice and puffy, but I am sure if you look at the Tuesday's with Dorie Blogroll you will see plenty of souffles that look pretty and perfect.

I didn't get to taste this one. I made 2 individual souffles in 8-oz ramekins and my friend and her hubby each ate one. They really liked it and said it tasted like a brownie. The ramekins were empty, so I guess it was good!



One Year Ago-Weekend Brunch- Monkey Bread Minis, Canteloupe Peach Salad with Honey-Lime Drizzle, Scrambled Eggs with Fresh Thyme, and Berry Smoothie

Sesame-Chile Chicken with Gingered Watermelon Salsa

Today life changes as we know it at our house.
College Football started on Thursday and that is when the craziness slowly started to appear, but today is when it will take over full force.
The Georgia Bulldawgs play their first game today and I can pretty much guarantee that I won't see much of my husband until January. At least he is passionate about something, right? I am looking on the bright side here.
Ok, I might be exaggerating a little bit- but I learned the first couple years that we were married that GA football reigns supreme in the fall and I have just accepted it. There is nothing that is more important. But that also gives me lots of opportunities to make tasty food, so it is a good thing.
Here is to a great season! It is good to be back in the South!

Now, I have this thing for watermelon. I love it. A lot.
A couple of weeks ago I tried a fantastic tilapia dish with watermelon salsa- that was soo delicious!
I saw this recipe- Sesame Chile Chicken with Gingered Watermelon Salsa, on the cover of some sort of Cooking Light special magazine. The salsa ingredients for this one were slightly different, so I wanted to try it and compare the 2 watermelon salsas. This recipe also has great reviews on myrecipes.com, almost everyone who has reviewed it gave it 5 stars.

This chicken was really good and so was the salsa, but I liked the tilapia dish better. The watermelon salsas were fairly similar but had a few different ingredients- the one with the tilapia was spicier and I just like fruit salsas with fish better.
Don't get me wrong, if I had tried the chicken first and never had the tilapia, I would be raving about it even more. It was good.

I am soo excited for a 3 day weekend-football, hiking and time with family. Hope you have a great Labor Day weekend!

Recipe for Sesame-Chile Chicken with Gingered Watermelon Salsa

One Year Ago-Smoky Black-eyed Pea and Rice Cakes with Spinach Garnish on Cornbread

Farmland Vegetable Pie with Phyllo Crust

Are you tired of hearing about my twitter recipe ideas? Well, I hope not. Because here is another one.

This recipe was also an idea that was "tweeted" to me when I posed the problem of the bag of fresh okra.
Nancy told me about a vegetable pie that she made last year that contained okra, alongside a bunch of other fresh veggies. She tweeted me a link to her post about the pie and that was really all it took.
I decided it would be our meal before church on Sunday (we go to church at 1 pm). That gave me Sunday morning to put it together.
The original recipe calls for summer squash, yellow tomatoes, okra, and corn. Nancy added green beans. I decided to use zucchini along with the summer squash, eggplant instead of the tomatoes (my hubby hates them) and a red bell pepper instead of the corn.

I also decided that I would top my pies with a light phyllo crust instead of making the pie-like crust originally called for. I did this to reduce the prep and cook time and also to save some calories.
The pie also contains hard boiled eggs and cheese. Here is a shot of my sauteed veggies with the chopped eggs.
For my crust, I thawed out my phyllo dough and layered 4 sheets, spraying heavily with cooking spray between each layer. I then cut the pieces to fit over my individual pies. (I halved the recipe). It only took about 15 minutes for the phyllo crust to be brown and crispy.

I absolutely loved this! My hubby and kids had to be bribed a little bit (they like veggies, but this was asking a little much), so I also made some mini meatballs to round out this meal, which were super delicious, that I will share at another time.

The veggies still had a little bit of crispness, thanks to the short saute and small amount of time that they spent in the oven. The cheese and eggs added nice texture and flavor.
I am so glad I have found a few other ways to eat okra!
I also wanted to share this trick for getting your hard boiled eggs perfect. I am sure you know that if the yolk has a greenish tint around it, that means they are overboiled. If the yolk is mushy and dark yellow, then they are underboiled.
I found this method from Martha Stewart a couple of years ago when I first made Open "Face" Egg Sandwiches.
I actually boiled extra eggs so we could make those sandwiches later on in the week- it is one of my son's absolute favorite dinners- you can check out my post about it HERE
Hard Boiled Eggs from Martha Stewart
In a medium saucepan, cover 7 eggs (in a single layer) with water, 1 inch above eggs. Bring to a boil; cook, uncovered, 2 minutes. Cover and remove from heat; let stand 10 minutes. Place eggs in bowl under cold running water until cool. Peel eggs.
Recipe for Farmland Vegetable Pie

Nancy's post about Farmland Vegetable Pie

One Year Ago-Baked Fish with Roasted Mixed Vegetables

Roasted Peach Ice Cream with Cardamom

A couple of weeks ago, I saw some tweets going around about ice cream making.
Tracey chose the flavor-Roasted Banana Ice Cream from David Lebovitz's The Perfect Scoop, , and a couple of us joined in- Kayte , Margaret and me.
Except, I didn't have any bananas, so I made Roasted Peach Ice Cream instead.
It is pretty fun to bake/cook/ice cream make along with other people who are on twitter. You can share pics (like the delicious one Tracey took of her bananas getting ready to roast, covered in brown sugar) and talk about how the process is coming along.
This recipe was fairly simple. You roast the peaches or bananas with brown sugar in the oven, blend the fruit with whole milk, lemon juice, vanilla, and a pinch of salt. Then you let the mixture chill in the fridge and then you churn. I added a dash of cardamom because I love it and also because I had just made Dorie's Dimply Peach Cake which combines peaches and cardamom and they go great together.
I took the pics before the ice cream had firmed up all the way, so the scoop is looking pretty messy. oh well- this was delicious ice cream!
The roasted banana flavor got mixed reviews- mainly that it was really banana-y. Needed some kind of topping, like peanut butter or something. I might just have to make the banana version-sounds like a pretty good excuse to make peanut butter ice cream topping!

You can find the recipe for Roasted Banana Ice Cream on Tracey's blog

One Year Ago-Fresh Peach Ice Cream in Cinnamon Sugar WonTon Cups

Meditteranean Salad with Chickpea Fritters

If I see a recipe for falafel or some variation of that idea, I usually want to try it right away. This one was no exception. I always have chickpeas/garbanzo beans in my pantry and this recipe took minutes to prepare.

I didn't have tomatoes, red onion, or pita, but I really liked this salad with just the fritters, mixed greens, and the yogurt dressing. I made it for lunch for me and the girls and we ate the leftover fritters the next day just dipped in the yogurt sauce.

These fritters had good flavor-from the cumin and don't require alot of oil for cooking. Yay! for healthy lunches!

• Meditteranean Salad with Chickpea Fritters from Real Simple Magazine
  
• 1 15.5-ounce can chickpeas, rinsed
• 1/2 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley
• 1 clove garlic, chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• Kosher salt and black pepper
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons olive oil (I used 1 Tbls)
  
• 1/2 cup low-fat yogurt (preferably Greek)
• 3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 8 cups mixed greens
• 1 cup grape tomatoes
  
• 1/2 small red onion, thinly sliced
• Pita chips (optional)
• 
  

Directions

1. In a food processor, pulse the chickpeas, parsley, garlic, cumin, and 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper just until coarsely chopped and the mixture comes together when gently squeezed. Form into eight 1/2-inch-thick patties and coat with the flour, tapping off excess.

2. Heat the oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the patties, turning carefully, until golden brown, 2 to 3 minutes per side.

3. In a small bowl, whisk the yogurt, lemon juice, and 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper. Divide the greens, tomatoes, onion, and chickpea patties among plates. Drizzle with the dressing and serve with the pita chips, if using.

One Year Ago-Weekly Lunchbox #2-Rice Cube and Tofu Salad, Turkey-Ricotta Meatballs, Chocolate Chip Zucchini Cookies, Marinated Vegetables, and English Muffin Pizza

TWD-Oreo/White Chocolate Cheesecake Brownies

Looking for beautifully swirled cheesecake brownies? You won't find them here.
Looking for pretty pictures? also missing today.
Looking for a rave review? Check out the TWD Blogroll- I know multiple people enjoyed this much, much more than I did.
Melissa of Life in a Peanut Shell chose Espresso Cheesecake Brownies for today's TWD recipe.

I don't do espresso or coffee of any kind for that matter. I was going to skip this week because of that factor and also because brownies are one of my least favorite desserts. But, somehow I decided to give this a go.

At first I was thinking that I would swirl some raspberry puree and add fresh raspberries to the cheesecake layer. But I saw that Nancy (I think I have linked to her blog everyday now for about a week!- check her out) suggested adding chopped up oreos to the cheesecake and in a moment of weakness last week when my kids were begging for goodies at the checkout of the grocery store, I let them each get a plastic container of mini oreos. I, of course realized that there were 4 servings in one little plastic container, so I let them each have 9 mini oreos and then they had to hand over the leftover mini oreos to me (not to eat, just to get them away from little hands!). I put them in the pantry and they were forgotten about. I decided to chop them up and add them to the cheesecake.

I made two 8x8 pans of this recipe, which means I doubled both parts. I added mini chocolate chips to the brownie part because Nancy said it needed something. I also added 2 oz of melted white chocolate to one of the pans- in the cheesecake layer. I skipped the sour cream topping.

Luckily I took both pans of these to a potluck, where they were completely devoured and they received rave reviews from multiple people and a few requests for the recipe.

I tasted a bite and didn't like them at all. Same with my hubby. I took another bite and so did he, just to make sure and yes, it was confirmed- I didn't care for this dessert. I don't know what it was about it, I just didn't like it. But lots of people did, so I know that the recipe is good, just not good for me. If you want to try them to see what you think, go to Melissa's blog for the recipe or buy Baking:from my home to yours!



One Year Ago- Crunchy Sesame Cookies