Cooking Light Virtual Supper Club- Sweet Potato and Black Bean Empanadas

This month's Cooking Light Virtual Supper Club theme was chosen by Jerry. He wanted us to have a menu full of spooky foods, that were either orange or black.

He started us off with 'Dracula's Revenge' (Baked Penne with Sausage and Garlic),

Sandi added Devilish Eggs,

Jamie picked Devilishly Devine Peanut Butter Caramel Corn,

I went with Sweet Potato and Black Bean Empanadas,

Val chose Roasted Squash (Pumpkin) Soup with Turkey Croquettes (Ghosts),

and Roz finished the meal with Chocolate Spiderweb Cookies.

I first noticed these empanadas last year and eagerly tore the page from my issue of Cooking Light. I haven't ever really been a big fan of sweet potatoes, but this savory take really made me think that it could be the turning point. Somehow, I never made them, but when the orange and black food theme came around this month, I knew they would be perfect. Orange because of the sweet potatoes and the black beans for the black part. I figured my kids would be scared to eat them, so that could count for the spooky part.

The dough for the empanadas is really easy to mix together, but it does need to chill for an hour, so make sure to add that time to your prep. The filling is fairly easy to make, if you already have your sweet potato cooked, mashed and/or pureed. I had pureed a bunch of sweet potatoes that I baked in the oven a few weeks ago and frozen the puree in little ziploc bags, so all I had to do was defrost it and I was ready to go. I made a change to the filling, just because I wanted my kids to be able to handle the heat factor- I reduced the amount of chili powder by about half.

The dough was really easy to roll out and I decided to use a fork to seal my empanadas instead of using an egg white. When I tasted one of these, I was really surprised by how good they were. The combination of spices, cilantro, black beans, etc. really took away the sweetness that usually bothers me with sweet potatoes and added a nice spice/warmth. I really, really liked these. One of my daughters also surprised me by absolutely loving them. She liked them so much that she asked me to pack a couple for her lunch the next day. My other 2 children were not big fans, but they ate them anyway. I thought they were good warm or cold. I had a few leftover and ate one cold the next day for lunch. It was fabulous. So, I am happy to report that this recipe has really changed my outlook on sweet potatoes. I hope you check out the rest of our fabulously spooky menu!

Cooking Light Virtual Supper Club- Fig Swirl Coffee Cake

I'm late! I'm late! Better late than never though, so I present to you the Fig Swirl Coffee Cake that I made for this month's Cooking Light Virtual Supper Club.
Jamie was our host this month and she chose the theme Breakfast for Dinner. We were able to choose any breakfast food from Cooking Light and here is what everyone came up with.

Jerry started us off with Fig and Nut Breakfast Cookies,
Roz added a wonderful Hash Brown Casserole with Bacon, Onions, and Cheese,
Sandi brought Grits Souffle,

Jamie made Ham and Swiss Egg Sandwiches, and

Val decided on Blueberry and Maple-Pecan Granola Parfaits.

I have had my eye on this Fig-Swirl Coffeecake for quite some time and decided that this was the perfect opportunity to make this beautiful creation. A yeast dough is filled with a fig/orange juice combination and then it is rolled up and cut and carefully placed in a beautiful shape. It is a delightful combination. Because it is a yeast dough, it does have to rest and rise a couple of times, so be sure to plan that time in if you want to serve this for breakfast.

Make sure you check out all the delicious recipes that were made for this Breakfast for Dinner!

Here is the recipe for Fig Swirl Coffee Cake

Cooking Light Virtual Supper Club- Lemonade Layer Cake

It's time for the Cooking Light Virtual Supper Club's Beachcomber Picnic! Val chose this month's theme and I would give anything to actually sit on the beach and eat this delicious menu today. It sure beats thinking about back to school shopping and the start of the school year that is right around the corner for us.

Here is how the menu looks for today-

Val is starting us off with some Oven Fried Chicken,

Roz is adding a delicious salad -Panzannella Salad with Tomato, Bacon, and Basil,

Sandi is bringing along a great side - Orange Flavored Couscous,

Jamie is also added a wonderful side/salad - Spinach-Pasta Salad,

Jerry has got the appetizer covered with his- Grilled Pepper Poppers ,

and that leaves the dessert up to me, so I picked this Lemonade Layer Cake.

I first made this cake quite a few years ago, for a baby shower. I remember it being such a hit with the crowd that my younger sister asked me to please make it for her next birthday. It was put in my memory bank, but I love to cook and bake so much, that I haven't revisited it since then.

The cake and frosting both contain frozen lemonade concentrate (that is thawed before it is added in) and that really adds a great lemonade flavor that is very delicious and definitely noticeable. The cream cheese frosting is a perfect choice to top this cake. I decided to decorate it with fresh flowers since it is August and so many beautiful flowers are in bloom.

It's really great when you can enjoy a slice of cake and you don't have to sacrifice any of the deliciousness just because it is a light recipe. This one is wonderful and the perfect way to end any picnic, whether you get to enjoy the beach or not.

Here is the recipe for Lemonade Layer Cake

Sounds like Summer- Summer Lemon-Vegetable Risotto

This time around for the Cooking Light Virtual Supper Club, it was my turn to choose the theme. Since we are smack dab in the middle of summer here in Georgia, I decided on Sounds like Summer. The first thing that I really wanted to make was the Shrimp Cobb Salad that was featured on the cover of the June issue of CL. That was the plan until I saw this recipe in the July issue of Cooking Light. I have a love of risotto that is on-going. There just isn't any possible chance that I could pass up one that is chock full of vegetables. Summer veggies? Even better.

This risotto recipe turned out fabulously. I was going to fix the asparagus and sugar snap peas in a different way, but decided to stick to the recipe. I put my asparagus/sugar snap peas in a ice bath after they were done blanching, so they wouldn't lose their bright green color or crispness.

I just wanted to mention also that you really don't have to continuously stir risotto. Here are some of the things I did inbetween stirs- made a fresh corn & tomato salad, thawed shrimp in the sink, made peanut butter frosting, blanched some of the veggies, sauteed the zucchini & summer squash, put together whoopie pies, roasted shrimp, photographed all of the above mentioned food. And, my risotto turned out perfectly creamy and delicious. I also don't warm my broth and it still works perfectly. This risotto had nice hints of lemon and all the veggies made it fabulous.

Let's take a look a how the menu turned out this month. I brought the

Summer Lemon-Vegetable Risotto,

Val -Poached Salmon with Creamy Herb Sauce,

Roz - Chocolate-Amaretti Peaches,

Sandi - Peach Ice Cream,

Jamie - Summer Peach and Tomato Salad,

Jerry - grilled pizza with prosciutto, arugula, and lemon

Once again, I wish that this was not just a virtual supper club- I would really enjoying trying everything on the menu!

Here is the recipe for Summer Lemon-Vegetable Risotto from Cooking Light
* I used low sodium chicken broth instead of the wine & vegetable broth
* I didn't warm my broth- it was added at room temperature

Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

For this month's Cooking Light Virtual Supper Club, Sandi decided that we should get out of the kitchen and have a BBQ!

Sandi started us off with Scallops Grilled on Rosemary. Sounds like a pretty great way to get the menu going to me. We have a few appetizers to add to that- Roz picked Grilled Stuffed Portabello Mushrooms and Val decided on Barbeque Chicken Sliders with Pickled Onions.

We've got some great sides to round out the rest of the meal as well. Jerry prepared a Grilled Vegetable Salad with Creamy Blue Cheese Dressing and Jamie made Thyme Potatoes.

Once again, after looking at this menu, I am trying to decide which of these dishes I want to try next. They all look and sound amazing!

This time I chose a dessert. Ice Cream is something that I associate with summer and grilling out. I have many memories of having special homemade ice cream to go along with something that my dad would fix on the grill. I decided to finish off our meal this month with Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream. Blueberries are in season and really, who doesn't want something as decadent as ice cream and cheesecake combined into a lighter dessert?

This ice cream has a few steps that require the stove top, but they only take a few minutes. They you can churn your beautiful purple custard into creamy, dreamy ice cream.

A few thoughts about this ice cream. I didn't really think that it had a strong cheesecake flavor, so if you don't like cheesecake, don't let that scare you off.
I also felt like it was just a little bit too sweet- next time I would reduce the amount of sugar that goes into the cream cheese/sugar/egg yolk mixture. I think you could take out about 1/2 cup and probably still be ok. Other tasters thought it was perfect, as is. But my preference would be to make it a little less sweet. It was still mighty delicious. The perfect afternoon treat to cool us down after day at the pool.

Make sure you check out what the other members of the Cooking Light Virtual Supper Club prepared for this month's BBQ and get inspired to step out of the kitchen!



Here is the recipe for Blueberry Cheesecake Ice Cream from Cooking Light

Cooking Light Virtual Supper Club- Mixed Greens with Blueberry Vinaigrette with homemade Blueberry Vinegar

Jerry picked our theme- 100 Miles of Flavor-for this month's Cooking Light Virtual Supper Club.
We were each to choose a recipe that showcased a local ingredient, something that could be found within 100 miles of where we live.
Here is how the menu turned out- the local ingredients are in parentheses.

Jerry - Beef Tenderloin with Mushroom-Red Wine Sauce- (local beef and wine)

Sandi - Peas and Orzo with Pesto - (peas, basil and Southern pecans )

Mary Ann - Mixed Greens with Blueberry Vinaigrette (Blueberry Vinegar) (local blueberries and honey)

Jamie - Grilled Ginger-Lime Shrimp (Gulf of Mexico Seafood)

Roz - Risotto with Porcini Mushrooms and Marscapone Cheese-(local rice)

Val - Fallen Chocolate Cake with Cherry Red Wine Sauce - (local cherries and wine)

For my local ingredients I decided to use blueberries and honey. I found this great recipe for blueberry vinegar that is used in a fabulous vinaigrette and it was the perfect fit.

I decided to use blueberries that I picked from my husband's grandmother bush last summer, that I had frozen to make the blueberry vinegar. (She lives about 7 minutes from us, so that is pretty local). I read the reviews on the recipe and someone else had mentioned that they used frozen blueberries to make the vinegar and it worked out fine.

Making the blueberry vinegar was really easy. I just combined a couple of ingredients on the stovetop and let the mixture sit, and then strained the vinegar. I let the vinegar sit overnight and then made the salad and vinaigrette the next day.

The salad is very simple. Baby arugula-I also threw in some spinach, red onion, blueberries and then a quick vinaigrette, which contains the blueberry vinegar, a little honey, dijon mustard, and olive oil. So simple and so delicious.
I had leftover blueberry vinegar and we have been drizzling it on all sorts of things. The other night we had salmon, quinoa, broccoli and cauliflower and I thought we could drizzle the vinegar over the salmon. My daughter liked it so much that she drizzled blueberry vinegar over everything on her plate. The rest of the family followed suit.

This was a great salad and it was really fun to learn how easy it is to make flavored vinegar.
Check out the rest of this great local menu above.


Here is the recipe for Blueberry Vinegar

Here is the recipe for Mixed Greens with Blueberry Vinaigrette
* I added baby spinach to the salad
*I omitted the frisee because I couldn't find it anywhere

Cooking Light Virtual Supper Club- Notes of Citrus, Lime-Spiked Black Bean Dip

This month's Cooking Light Virtual Supper Club's theme was Notes of Citrus, which was chosen by Jamie.

I love citrus and the beautiful flavor it can give to any dish, savory or sweet.
I chose to make a dip this time around, which was very quick and easy to throw together. My life has been so extremely busy the past couple of weeks, so this was the perfect thing for a superfast, after-school snack.
Now, unfortunately for me, I didn' t realize the picture was so bad until I started editing photos late last night. SO, I apologize for how this dip looks. Keep in mind that it is pureed black beans and go over to Cooking Light to see a better picture of this dip. It has to be the angle.

Oh well, moving on- the dip was delicious and only contained a few ingredients.
I went ahead and pureed the cilantro, garlic and green onions in with the black beans, which made this even easier. I found some organic blue corn tortilla chips that we dipped in it, but cucumber slices, and carrot sticks were also really tasty. This would also be a really great spread for a sandwich or wrap.

Check out what the other members of the Supper Club chose to contribute below and go see how the other citrus-y parts of this menu turned out!

Jamie - -Mixed Lettuce, Pear and Goat Cheese Salad with Citrus Dressing

Val - - Blood Orange Sangria

Sandi - Lemon Sage Chicken

Mary Ann (me) - Lime-Spiked Black Bean Dip

Jerry -Braised Fennel with Orange

Roz- Nathan's Lemon Cake

Lime-Spiked Black Bean Dip from Cooking Light
2 (15-ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup grated carrot
1/2 cup fresh lime juice (about 2 limes)
1/4 cup finely chopped green onions
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper

Place beans in a food processor, and pulse until almost smooth. Combine the beans, carrot, and the remaining ingredients in a medium bowl, stirring until well blended. Let stand 30 minutes. Serve with baked tortilla chips.

Cooking Light Virtual Supper Club- Have a Heart/ Red Food Granny Smith, Radish, and Radicchio Salad

This month's theme for our Cooking Light Virtual Supper Club is Have a Heart/ Red Food. Quite a clever theme for the month that gives us Valentines Day, which is a celebration of red and hearts.

The theme was chosen by Val and she has some great information on her blog about why eating red foods is a great way to add valuable nutrition to your diet.
Here is how the menu turned out this month-
Val - More Than Burnt Toast - Bourbon and Brown Sugar Flank Steak w/Garlic-Chive Mashed Potatoes
Jamie - Mom's Cooking Club - Brushetta with Warm Tomatoes

Sandi - Whistlestop Cafe Cooking - Spanish Salad of Oranges, Fennel, Red Onion and Mint with Dressing

Mary Ann (me) - Meet Me in the Kitchen - Granny Smith, Radish and Radicchio Salad

Jerry - Jerry's Thoughts, Musings and Rants - Roasted Sweet and Sour Beets, Carrots and Parsnips

Roz - La Bella Vita - Almond Jelly Roll with Raspberry Filling

I chose to make this Granny Smith, Radish and Radicchio Salad with Orange-Walnut Vinaigrette which caught my eye a couple of months ago in Cooking Light Magazine. I loved the colors in the salad and the combination of these flavors makes a salad that is spicy, crunchy, tart and delicious. The vinaigrette brings it all together, along with the chopped walnuts on top.
The radicchio and radishes were my red foods.

Check out the rest of the menu above- we have two new members joining our Virtual Supper Club this month, Welcome Jerry and Roz!


Recipe for Granny Smith, Radish, and Radicchio Salad

Cooking Light Virtual Supper Club- New Year, New Food

For this month's Cooking Light Virtual Supper Club, I was given the opportunity to pick the theme. I love trying new foods, so I thought that a great theme for the beginning of a new year would be- New Year, New Food.

Each member of our Supper Club chose a CL recipe that included an ingredient/food that they had never tried before. I was thinking about what food I wanted to try and noticed that there were fresh chestnuts available at my grocery store. I have absolutely no idea what chestnuts are used for and I had never tried them. My only reference for this food was the line "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire", from The Christmas Song.

I wasn't sure if they were really an actual nut, or just happened to have "nut" at the end of their name. (turns out they are an actual nut)
Then I was browsing around the Trader Joe's that just opened recently in my area and saw a package of chestnuts that were already peeled and cooked. The recipe I picked- Farro Minestrone with Brussels Sprouts, Butternut Squash and Chestnuts called for bottled chestnuts and I figured this find at TJ's was as close as I was going to get to the product I needed.
I also have never tried Farro, but I couldn't find it anywhere, so I used barley instead.

This minestrone was absolutely amazing. The chestnuts were a great addition to this soup. They have a really interesting flavor and texture that blended in with the other flavors magically.
I know the ingredients sounds kind of strange, but I was blown away by how well all the different ingredients went together. I think the pancetta really added a great deal of flavor to the base of the soup. (Thank you Trader Joe's for carrying chopped pancetta, that is ready to use!).

I didn't want the tomatoes to be cooked, so I just stirred them into our individual bowls, leaving them out of certain family member's, who think that tomatoes are deadly.

I was really impressed with this soup. It was so flavorful, so healthy and so delicious.

Here are the new foods that the other members of our Supper Club tried for the first time this month. Jamie tried a recipe using fontina cheese, Sandi picked a roesti casserole (I've had my eye on that dish for awhile now), Val chose quinoa, and Helene wanted to make a flan for the first time- she was unable to participate this month, but we am still including the link to the recipe she was going to try.

Here is how the menu turned out-

Mary Ann -Farro Minestrone with Brussels Sprouts, Butternut Squash, and Chestnuts

Jamie - Onion and Fontina Beer Batter Bread

Sandi - Roesti Casserole with Baked Eggs

Val - Quinoa with Roasted Garlic, Tomatoes, and Spinach

Helene - Vanilla Caramel Flan

I hope this has inspired you to try some new ingredients or foods this year. I certainly will be!

Recipe for Farro Minestrone with Brussels Sprouts, Butternut Squash and Chestnuts
* I used quick cooking barley instead of farro
* I subbed chicken broth for the wine
* I stirred the cherry tomatoes in at the end, after the minestrone was off the heat

Cooking Light Virtual Supper Club Celebrates Corn

I have joined the Cooking Light Virtual Supper Club and couldn't be more excited about it.
Every month the five members of this club-
Jamie - Mom's Cooking Club,
Val- More than Burnt Toast,
Sandi-Whistlestop Cafe Cooking,
Helene- La cuisine d'Helene, and
Mary Ann- Meet Me in the Kitchen- pick a theme and build a menu around that theme, using Cooking Light recipes. I love Cooking Light and use their recipes all the time, so I knew this would be a lot of fun for me.

Sandi picked this month's theme - A Celebration of Corn.
Here is the full menu-
Sandi chose Curried Corn-Crab Cakes as the main dish,
Jamie picked Double Corn Bread to go on the side,
Val chose Creamed Corn with Bacon and Leeks as a vegetable side,
I decided on Greens with Roasted Corn and Pepper Salad as a salad, and
Helene rounded out the meal with Lemon-Cornmeal Cookies for dessert.
Please go check out each of their blogs to see the delicious item they prepared for this month's feast!

I wanted to make a salad that featured corn and I was lucky enough to be able to use some fresh local corn-in place of the frozen corn the recipe called for, thanks to the long growing season here in Georgia.

This salad was really easy, with just a few steps and very good. First, you roast the corn until it is slightly browned and then, you mix the corn with roasted red peppers, and a few other ingredients. You let that mixture chill for an hour or so, and then use it as the topper for a pile of beautiful mixed greens. The finishing touch is toasted pine nuts, scattered on top.
This was a great dish and we enjoyed it. I used nonfat greek yogurt instead of the sour cream, but I do that all the time in recipes, so I don't think it change the taste of this salad.

Thanks for checking out this month's CL Virtual Supper Club- I hope you enjoyed it!


Recipe for Greens with Roasted Corn and Pepper Salad
* I used greek yogurt instead of sour cream
* I used fresh corn instead of frozen