Thick & Chunky Marinara Sauce

Happy Thursday everyone! Hope every is having a fantastic week.  Today's recipe is one that I recently made on a whim to go along with some home made cheese sticks and let me just say, it ended up being a hit - yeay! This recipe is great with cheese bread, pizza, pasta, cheese sticks, and the list goes on and on.  Do try it at home and I hope it is enjoyed at your home as much as it is at mine.

Ingredients:
3-4 TBSP EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
1 stalk celery
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
1 TBSP dried basil (or 2 TBSP fresh basil)
2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 (6 oz) can of tomato paste
1 (28 oz) can whole roma tomatoes, undrained
2 tsp sugar (optional)
1 tsp salt (or more depending on taste)
fresh ground pepper

Directions:
1.  In a heavy-bottomed stockpot or Dutch oven, heat EVOO over medium to low heat.
2.  Add celery, dried basil, dried oregano, red pepper flakes.  Tip: when working with dried herbs, be sure to rub them in the palm of your hands before adding them to anything as it releases the flavors.
3.  Add in tomato paste and stir for about 3 minutes.
4.  Add in the roma tomatoes with the juice; and using an emerson blender, push down on tomatoes so that they are broken in chunks but not completely smooth.  If you don't have an emerson blender, you can use a fork to break up the tomatoes into big chunks.
5.  Add balsamic vinegar and simmer the sauce uncovered over low heat for 1-2 hours.
6.  Season with salt, pepper, and add sugar.
7.  Enjoy!

This sauce is best made a day ahead of time so that the flavors have a chance to really meld.

Mango Milkshake

Hope everyone had a great weekend! It's been really hot here in Texas, and one of my favorite drinks on a hot day is a mango milkshake! I used fresh mangos and blended them, which adds a ton of fiber! You can use the canned mango pulp, but it usually has a lot of extra sugar so fresh is always better! The shake keeps you full and is definitely satisfying in this heat, try it out and let us know what you think!

Ingredients
- 2-3 fresh mangos peeled and cut into cubes
- 1 cup milk
- 2 cups ice
- 4 scoops vanilla ice-cream

Directions
- Blend mango pieces on high until a smooth puree forms, (if the mango is very fibrous, you can run it through a sieve if you want).
- Add milk, ice and ice cream until smooth and thick.
- Pour into glasses and serve immediately

Indian Style Bean Soup

Hello and Happy Sunday friends! I hope everyone had a fabulous weekend and is looking forward to the week ahead.  My apologies for not posting last week but I was out of town and had one heck of a week after I got back.  However, I will be posting this week and next to make up for it. :)  Today's recipe is a staple in my house because it is so delicious and oh so good for you.  It doesn't take long but requires just a bit a prep work - and by a bit I mean soaking beans for a couple of hours and that's it.  It's so easy that I am sure it will become a staple in your house too.  Enjoy!  

Ingredients:
1 cup dry moog beans
2 cups water
1 TBSP EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
1-2 tsp grated/crushed ginger root
1-2 tsp crushed serrano peppers
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 TBSP sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp turmeric
1-1.2 TBSP cumin & coriander powder
1 tsp red chili powder
3-4 curry leaves
1 roma tomato, diced (optional)
Colored bell peppers (optional)
Cilantro to garnish
Fresh yogurt (optional)

Directions:
1.  Soak the moog beans in 2 cups of warm water for a couple of hours prior to cooking.
2.  In a pressure cooker, heat EVOO on medium to low heat, add cumin seeds, and wait for the seeds to start roasting (you will smell it and the seeds will turn a darker shade of brown).
3.  Remove from heat and add curry leaves, ginger, serrano, tomato, & bell pepper and sauté for a couple of minutes.
4.  Add the soaked moog beans with the water and the remaining ingredients.
5.  Cook for roughly 20 -30 minutes in a pressure cooker (3-4 whistles if you're using an Indian style pressure cooker).
6.  Garnish with cilantro and serve warm with rice, tortillas, or enjoy it by itself.

Italian Stuffed Shells

My sister was home for about a month from law school, so it's been so great having her around and getting her to help me with wedding planning! So for her birthday I made one of her favorite dishes- Italian stuffed shells. Usually these shells are stuffed with different cheeses (mainly ricotta) and spinach but that usually gets way too heavy so my secret ingredient is tofu. I add some in for extra protein, and you can not tell the difference! I also load it up with loads of veggies- mushrooms, peppers, spinach, olives, tomatoes and zucchini. You can use your favorite pasta sauce and top with your favorite blend of cheeses, this is a great dish to make ahead of time and pop in the oven 30-45 minutes before dinner. Hope you will enjoy it as much as my family did!

Ingredients
- 1 box jumbo shells
- 8 oz Part skim ricotta cheese
- 12oz firm tofu crumbled
- 1 frozen box chopped spinach thawed
- 1/2 cup red bell pepper diced
- 1 cup sliced mushrooms sautéed
- 1/2 cup zucchini diced and sautéed
- 1/4 cup olives
- 1/2 cup diced tomato
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
- 1 TSP oregano
- 1 TSP crushed red pepper
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 3 cups of your favorite pasta sauce
- 2 cups shredded cheese

Directions
- Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil and add the jumbo shells with a large pinch of salt, shells with cook in 9-11 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water and set aside.
- In a medium bowl combine ricotta and crumbled tofu and mix thoroughly until everything is well combined. Add basil, oregano, crushed red pepper, salt and pepper to taste, mushrooms, thawed spinach, bell pepper, olives, tomatoes and zucchini and mix together.
- Preheat oven to 350.
- Take cooked shells and stuff them with a heaping TBSP of ricotta mixture (do not over stuff).
- In a large lasagna pan pour 1/2 cup pasta sauce at the bottom, add shells and pour remaining pasta sauce over shells (pour less if you like it a little dry). Sprinkle shredded cheese on top and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until cheese is light golden and bubbly.
- Serve immediately!

Roasted Pepper Vinaigrette

Happy Tuesday everyone! I hope your week is off to a great start.  First off, I would like to apologize for posting so late...I actually was under the weather a bit and wasn't quite feeling like me all weekend.  None the less, that's should not be an excuse but I hope you understand.  Anyway, on to today's recipe...this is a great recipe that takes your salad to the next level; it's sweet & tangy and can be whipped up in a snap.  Now what could be better than that?!

Ingredients:
1 red bell pepper, roasted (directions to follow)

1/4 cup of EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) 

1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar

Roughly 1/4 tsp of salt

Roughly 1/4 tsp pepper 

2 TSP honey 

1 tsp of basil (or any fresh herb of your choice)

Directions:

1.  To roast bell pepper, place over an open flame and grill until it's charcoaled all the way around.

2.  Once the pepper is charcoaled all over, place in a ziplock bag, zip, & let stand for about 5 minutes.

3.  After 5 minutes, remove the pepper from the ziplock & place in a plate.  Using a cloth dish cloth or towel, gently scrub until skin comes off (the pepper will smell very sweet as you're doing this).  Cut in big strips and scoop out all the seeds & veins from the inside of the pepper.  

4.  In a blender or food processor, place chopped peppers, basil, EVOO, vinegar, & remaining ingredients and blend until smooth.

5.  Chill for at least an hour before serving but it is best made a day ahead of time so that the flavors really have a chance to meld.

6.  Enjoy with your favorite salad! 

  

 

Chocolate Raspberry Cake

I love baking! This is one of my favorite cake recipes to make, it looks really impressive but it's so easy to put together! What sets this cake apart from other chocolate cakes is the raspberry preserves in the cake batter and onto of the cake. It is so good! If you are not a huge raspberry fan, no worries you can substitute it with strawberry or any mixed berry preserves. I also made milk chocolate and white chocolate curls to garnish the cake at the end, but you can use mini chocolate chips instead. Hope you enjoy this cake as much as my family did!

Ingredients

- 1 box of Betty Crocker milk chocolate cake mix

- 1 container of vanilla greek yogurt

- 3 TBSP vegetable oil

- 3/4 cup water

- 2 TBSP + 3 TBSP raspberry preserves

- 2 cups cool whip or fresh whipped cream

- 1 pint of raspberries

- 2 oz of white chocolate

- 2 oz of milk chocolate

Directions

- Preheat oven to 350.

- In a medium bowl mix water, yogurt, vegetable oil and 2 TBSP raspberry preserves until well combined.

- in a large mixing bowl, empty contents of cake mix and add liquid mixture and mix.

- Pour batter in a round 9 inch cake pan and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool completely 

- Spread remaining 3 TBSP of preserves on top of the cake, then add cool whip and spread all over top of the cake. 

- Garnish with fresh raspberries.

- For chocolate curls make sure chocolate is at room temperature, peel curls of chocolate using a vegetable peeler (try not to touch the curls as they will melt!)

Savory SKM Lasagna

Happy Sunday! Hope y'all had as great of a weekend as I did.  My weekend was filled with some much needed R&R, followed watching the world cup, followed by some good food & hanging out with my family (and spoiled rotten dog).  Now I don't know about you, but I can't imagine a more perfect weekend than that.  I call today's recipe SKM because it's packed with Spinach,  Kale, & Mushrooms...3 of my all time favorite ingredients.  This recipe is pretty healthy (well as healthy as lasagna can be) and delicious.  I hope you try it at home and enjoy it with your family as much as I enjoyed it with mine!

Ingredients:
1/2 box of lasagna noodles, cooked
3-4 cups sauce (click here for a similar recipe)
1 cup spinach
1 cup kale
1 regular size package of baby bella mushrooms
1/2 red bell pepper, finely diced
1/2 green bell pepper, finely diced
1 tsp EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)
crushed red pepper flakes
black pepper
dash of Italian Seasoning
8 oz of fat free ricotta cheese
1.5 cups mozzarella cheese

Directions:
1.  Cook lasagna noodles according to the directions on the package.  Rinse with cold water and let them dry for a while (I actually left mine in a strainer and covered with a dish for about an hour).
2.  In the meantime, heat EVOO, add spinach, kale, pepper flakes, Italian seasoning & sauté for roughy 2 minutes or so unit it starts to wilt.  Remove from heat & mix in a bowl with ricotta cheese.
3.  In a separate pan, sauté mushrooms using just a bit of EVOO until they are thoroughly cooked and all the water has burned off.  Remove from heat and mix in a bowl with the diced bell peppers.
4.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Directions to ensemble the lasagna:
1.  In a baking dish, first place a spoon full of sauce and a drizzle of EVOO.
2.  Place a cooked noodle on top.
3.  Spread a good amount of the kale, spinach, and ricotta mixture on top.
4.  Place another cooked noodle on top.
5.  Place a spoonful of the mushroom and bell pepper mixture on top and spread it.
6.  Place another noodle on top & continue to layer following the steps above in order.
7.  On the very top layer, add sauce on top of the noodle, and sprinkle with mozzarella.
8.  Place foil on top and bake for roughly 20 minutes.
9.  Remove the foil after 20 minutes and cook for another 15.
10. Broil for  another 5 until the cheese is bubbling and golden brown on top.
11. Cut the lasagna once it has cooled & enjoy!!!