baked Southwestern egg rolls (aka tiny burritos)
I’d had this recipe bookmarked for a while, so when I was planning the menu for our engagement party a while back, I immediately knew I wanted to make these.
They have almost all of my favorite things – black beans, corn, spinach, black pepper – and of course I added lime and cilantro, so there are two more of my favorite things. When I told my mom about these “egg rolls,” she said “Are those egg rolls? Or are they burritos?” I don’t know. They’re “I-don’t-care-’cause-they’re-delicious-os”
While Annie over at Annie’s Eats (one of our favorite blogs) suggested in replying to comments that these might not reheat well, I disagree. They reheat beautifully and even froze well – the frozen ones I’ve been reheating periodically by using my microwave’s quick defrost setting.
The best part is that they’re pretty darn healthy. Only 117 calories per egg roll* – and much more satisfying than one of those 100 calorie packs of crackers. And they have vegetables – but vegetables hidden in an egg roll wrapper, so the beloved carnivore could have been fooled into eating lots of vegetables. If he hadn’t seen me put it together first and been my sous chef.
Yes, we’ve gone theme here at emandam. All cauliflower, all the time. Ok, it’s not all cauliflower all the time, it’s just two cauliflower recipes within a week’s time, but whatever. Let’s act like fifteen year olds writing an American lit paper and pretend that two of anything constitutes a theme.
I made this cauliflower au gratin for the beloved carnivore on our second date, alongside steak roquefort and a spinach, avocado, and grapefruit salad. And while he ate only about half of his salad, to be polite (I later found out he dislikes avocado, hates grapefruit, and has mixed feelings about spinach), I think he might have even gone back for seconds of the cauliflower. The cauliflower. I got the man to eat cauliflower.
Of course, to do so, I had to cover the cauliflower with a delicious Mornay sauce. But I still consider it a victory.
Now this is one of my favorite dishes, not only because it is one tasty dish, but also because it makes me think of our second date – our second date, which might not have happened (at the time it happened, anyway) but for a fortunate flight cancellation. You see, our first date was on a Friday in mid-December, two days before I was going to go home for six weeks to spend the holidays with my family and take my January exams at home. And while our first date was wonderful, we both knew it’d be six weeks before we’d see each other again and get a chance to have a second date. But then, the following day, I found out that my Sunday morning flight was canceled. It was the only Sunday flight canceled – even though it was a weather-related cancellation – coughcough it was destiny coughcough. So, anyway, I took the flight-cancellation lemons and I made second-date lemonade.
And after the second date, I think we both had the lovebug really bad, and so we talked and e-mailed and texted all during those next six weeks. And then he picked me up at the airport, with a cold Diet Dr. Pepper in hand (I love that man!), and the rest is history.
oh-so-creamy polenta with mushroom ragout
I still remember the first time I experienced polenta. It was during my senior year of college when my favorite professor would have me over on Wednesday nights. I’d help her daughter with her chemistry homework and Frau Dr. would whip up a healthy, organic, from-scratch vegetarian meal for us to enjoy together afterwards. I can’t tell you what an incredible respite from Texan dorm food that was for me! The conversation and homeyness, as well, were a great change of pace and times that I treasure.
Lucky for me, Frau Dr. was a whiz in the kitchen. It was in her house that I learned tofu could taste like something other than a wet sponge and that vegetables could be simply prepared and still taste great.* I’m pretty confident that I’d never even heard of polenta before she whipped some up for us one night. It was delicious and I was immediately sold on the dish.
balsamic roasted cauliflower
I’ve been dying to tell you about this cauliflower for a while now. Yes, cauliflower. I can see you all closing your window now. Don’t go away! I promise, you won’t regret making this if you give the cauliflower a chance. And if you’ve been making all the baked goods we’ve been posting, you could probably stand to eat some veggies.
I can’t decide if cauliflower is great because it’s cauliflower, or because it’s a blank palette to which anything can be applied. After making this balsamic-glazed cauliflower, I whipped another head into a fantastic curry dish. As long as you get the cauliflower all roasted and browned on the edges, and then supply just a little dash of flavor, I could eat it for days. It’s broccoli without the oh-so-obnoxious “look at me! I’m a green healthy thing” taste. Broccoli’s the super-vitamin show-off with its extra Vitamin A and E, while cauliflower just wants to humbly make you a tiny bit healthier with its slightly lower amounts of folate and vitamin K.
salt-crusted chicken
This past weekend, I was visiting the beloved carnivore. It was such a lovely visit until that whole thing Friday night where my computer almost got a virus. I say almost because something definitely tried to infect my computer, but I shut it down quickly enough to stop it. Unfortunately, I quickly tried to save my huge paper that I’m working on this semester – you know, the one that stupid ol’ me hadn’t backed up. Somehow, in this whole process, that file – and only that file – was completely deleted from my computer.
So I had to begin again. And that was depressing. Luckily I had the beloved carnivore to help me through it. And doubly luckily, he had some Reee’s peanut butter cup ice cream in his freezer. That really helped me through it.
I was determined to have some culinary success to make me feel better about my computer mishap – and also so that I could take a much-needed break from my efforts to rewrite the paper. Luckily, this salt-crusted chicken delivered that success in spades.
It was a bit frustrating in spots, though, so I’ve tweaked the recipe. And I’ll also be honest about the fact that you’ll be a lot less frustrated if you have either cooking twine to tie up the chicken or a beloved carnivore of your own to hold the chicken in place while you wrap it in the salty crust.
There’s a chicken in there. I swear.
spaghetti cacio e pepe
When I was in college, I studied abroad in Rome. It was the best time of my life. Excluding, of course, the time that I’ve spent with the beloved carnivore – but we’re in a long-distance relationship, so probably that adds up to less face-to-face time than the time I spent in Rome (kidding, darling . . .)
Rome was magical. It helped that the academic portion of my time there was, while illuminating, hardly as rigorous as my normal college courseload. I can’t remember who, but someone told us that there were four courses in which we were officially enrolled over the course of the quarter but that there was a fifth, quarter-long course – Rome herself. I aced that course. I spent hours wandering around Rome by myself, visiting the baths of Caracalla, going to the Pantheon dozens and dozens of times just because I could, and writing in my journal while I sat in the Circus Maximus watching Italians play Frisbee with their dogs. Turns out that’s a universal thing.
The Ponte Sisto – my favorite
And then there was the food. I must have gained twenty pounds but I didn’t care – I figured I was 20 and could lose the weight later, but Rome was right there with a ton of delicious food waiting to be eaten. Two months back eating dorm food and I could fit in my jeans again. I made the right choice.
It’s hard to recreate Italian food, because so much of Italian eating is ambience. Sitting in a piazza enjoying a three hour meal and a bottiglia di vino – there’s nothing quite like it here in the States. But it’s always worth a try.
There was one dish that I ordered at least twice a week – spaghetti cacio e pepe. I had no idea what was in it, but it was delicious. Then, after my time in Rome was over, I spent two weeks in Paris with my college roommate (she of the lemon bars) who was doing a year-long program there. As beautiful as Paris is, I already missed Rome and was determined to recreate my favorite dish. I scoured the internet and it wasn’t long before I discovered that my favorite dish was also absolutely the easiest Italian pasta dish to make. It has all of four ingredients – pasta (spaghetti or really anything you want), Romano cheese, black pepper, and olive oil.
The hard part was finding Romano cheese. Thank heavens my roomie speaks fluent French, which made it a lot easier to go to half-a-dozen cheese stores on our quest for Romano cheese. Apparently, the French aren’t really all that concerned with stocking Italian cheese.
Now, this is one of my go-to easy weeknight meals. It goes beautifully with some oven-baked chicken. Lately I’ve been having it with a bun-less hamburger, mostly because that’s what I had lying around. Whatever you eat it with, really, it’s delicious.
It’s Girl Scout cookie season. I’m stuck here in New England, clear across the country from my sister, who is still a Girl Scout and sells those delicious cookies. And I have no car, which means I can’t search grocery stores on a Saturday afternoon for Girl Scout cookie booths. Although now I hear there’s an app for that.
Anyway, last year, I did order cookies from my sister – whereas this year, I’m waiting till I go home for spring break and I can shop among her troop’s leftovers. The beloved carnivore and I had only just started dating – I know, time flies – and upon request, I ordered a box of Tagalongs for him. Despite many years as a Girl Scout, I myself had never eaten a Tagalong before then, at least not that I recall. I am strictly a Samoas, Thin Mints, and Trefoils person – and in that order. I tried one of his, and I wasn’t in love with it, I gotta say. Mostly because it was not a Samoa.
For Valentine’s Day, I thought I’d make the beloved carnivore some homemade cookies that resemble Tagalongs, since they’re his favorite and I’d seen some “fake Tagalong” recipes around the interwebs. But I wanted to make a white chocolate version, because he loves white chocolate and peanut butter. His grandmother makes these yummy things for him that are Ritz crackers with peanut butter in the middle and dipped in white chocolate.
Of course, I got too busy around Valentine’s Day, so instead I made them for our engagement party. That meant he had to share, which is generally not something he enjoys doing when it comes to cookies (though in many other ways, he is generous, so generous)
Special Note: This recipe is meant for people who want to make white chocolate Tagalong-type cookies, which are unavailable from Girl Scouts, or for people who are completely deprived of Girl Scout cookies and want to follow the alternative directions for the standard, semisweet chocolate version. If your neighbor is a Girl Scout, or your coworker’s daughter is a Girl Scout, or you pass Girl Scouts at a grocery store, buy cookies from them, please. As a former Girl Scout, I can say that the organization does a whole lot of good for young girls. And I’m not getting paid to say that.
you’re his cheeseburger, his yummy cheeseburger (cheeseburger dip)
This weekend, the beloved carnivore was in town. We had a ton of premarital counseling stuff to do – you know, so the Catholic Church will put its stamp of approval on our marriage and I can still call the Pope “Il Papa.”
As our reward for spending all of Sunday doing that stuff – a lot of which was genuinely helpful, but some of which was sort of simplistic and probably helpful for the couples who hadn’t so thoroughly covered all that material before getting engaged (i.e., lesser couples) – we had a small engagement party.
A lot of the invitees were vegetarian, including Emily, so most of the dishes were vegetarian. However, I couldn’t have only vegetarian options at a party to celebrate my engagement to the beloved carnivore, even if I did make homemade tagalongs for him (recipe to come soon). So I scrounged around and found this article on Serious Eats about cheeseburger dip.
Double Marshmallow Salted Brown Butter Rice Krispies Treats
Whew, that title’s a mouthful! But it’s a tasty mouthful, trust me.
The beloved carnivore was out of town for Valentine’s Day, and frankly, I don’t like the holiday anyway. He and I both feel this way, which means we’ll both get away with goofy little gifts for the rest of our lives, instead of feeling pressured to be all romantic. This year, I sent him cookies, and he sent me these:
That’s right, wedding-themed rubber duckies. They’re so much fun. See how that one groomsman is totally checking out that one bridesmaid in the middle of the ceremony? So rude.
Those of you who love the holiday – more power to you. But at least for me it seems like it’s always been about whether or not people have a Valentine – rather than whether or not people are happy with their love lives, be they in a couple or single. And it makes having first dates any time in late January so awkward – people are always wondering if it’ll work out well enough to be “serious” enough for a real Valentine’s date. The resulting over-analyzing of dates makes January conversations less fun. And I don’t like the taste of those conversation hearts.
You know what I like better than conversation hearts? Delicious meals. A few weeks ago, one of my favorite area restaurants sent out an e-mail about their Valentine’s Day specials and all of it looked delicious. So Emily and I decided that we’d go on a foodie Valentine’s Day date. Scrumptious Italian food and the opportunity to scandalize the old couples around us? Win-win.
I decided to make these rice krispie treats as a Valentine’s Day present for Emily – and beloved carnivore, if these look better to you than the sugar cookies I sent you for Valentine’s Day, well, I’ll make another batch next week when I visit.
I knew that Emily loved Deb’s salted brown butter Rice Krispies treats, but I’d also been itching to try a recipe I’d found for double-marshmallow Rice Krispies treats. So I combined the two recipes and tweaked them a bit.
I’m a huge fan of these – the nuttiness of the brown butter and the salt make them the perfect snack. If you can’t decide between sweet and salty, put down the candy and put down the potato chips – this treat is the perfect solution. However, if you’re longing for the traditional taste of Rice Krispies treats, don’t make these. Or don’t brown the butter and don’t add the salt. But when your craving for traditional Rice Krispies treats goes away, make these. They’re delicious. Look at all the marshmallows . . . .
Heart swap (white and dark chocolate brownies)
Mid-February is packed with things Amanda and I are celebrating. Of course there was Amanda’s dad’s birthday last week. Sunday marks my mom’s birthday, which I’m probably more excited about than she is. And before we hit that date, we hit February 17th – the end of my brother’s 6-month stint as a vegan. I can finally stop buying disgusting fake butter and make him care packages without thinking about substitutions! Additionally, this week marks the first week Connecticut is predicted to hit the 50s. Birthdays be damned, this is the best news of the week. (Sorry, Mom!)
There was also yesterday of course – Valentine’s day. I’m generally not for or against Valentine’s day, but I do try to do a little something each year. Last year I handed out awesome hologram Hannah Montana valentines to confuse my friends, but this year I think I’ve done much, much better. I promise Amanda and I don’t run entirely on baked goods, but when I saw this recipe Friday, I knew I had to make it immediately and I knew I would change not a thing about it. It’s whimsical, it’s clever and it’s fudge-filled goodness.
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