Blueberries with Lemon Cream

I found this recipe by mistake while purusing the EatingWell website for easy recipes to use up some Neufchatel cheese before it went bad.  Of course I used stuff we already had on hand for the rest using Greek Yogurt but you could use vanilla yogurt and omit the extract!  We're trying this same recipe this week with sliced pears and almond extract... it's so smooth, creamy, refreshing and indulgent tasting without any guilt! 

Ingredients for 2 parfaits:

3 ounces reduced-fat cream cheese, (Neufchatel)

1/2 cup fat free Greek yogurt

1 tablespoon honey

1 teaspoon vanilla

Freshly grated zest and juice from 1 large lemon

1 cup fresh blueberries


In a bowl or stand mixer add the cheese, yogurt, honey, vanilla, and lemon juice/ zest.  Using an electric mixer, beat at high speed until light and creamy.
Layer the lemon cream and blueberries in dessert dishes or wineglasses. If not serving immediately, cover and refrigerate for up to 8 hours.

Strawberry Pancake Bake

Strawberry Oven Pancake

An oven pancake could be made with any number of fruits – try sauteing sturdier fruits such as apples or pears first in canola oil, then pouring the batter overtop and baking. Adapted from CanolaInfo.

1 Tbsp canola oil

3 Tbsp packed light brown sugar, divided

1/2 cup 2% milk

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

3 large eggs

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups strawberries, hulled and halved

Powdered sugar or maple syrup

1. Position rack in middle of oven and preheat to 400 °F. 


2. In an ovenproof 10-inch skillet, warm oil over medium-high heat. Tilt pan to coat bottom and sides with oil, then add 1 cup of the strawberries. Sauté about 30 seconds, until fruit is glistening, then stir in 2 Tbsp of the brown sugar and sauté until sugar melts and fruit looks glossy, about 1 minute. Turn off heat under pan.

3. In blender, whirl milk, flour, eggs, remaining 1 Tbsp of brown sugar, baking powder and vanilla until blended.

4. Immediately pour egg mixture over fruit. Scatter berries on top of batter and place pan in oven. Bake until puffed and golden, 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven and cut into wedges. Dust with powdered sugar or drizzle with maple syrup. 


Yield: 6 servings.

Chicken with Mango BBQ Sauce and Asparagus

Nothing is better, or easier, than a quick chicken recipe on a Tuesday night.  We picked this out on the weekend and planned ahead Monday night to start it, which is key for this recipe to be "quick" when you are hungry.  Make the sauce/ marinade tonight, seal it up with your chicken, and toss in the fridge to cook tomorrow.  We paired this with some fresh roasted asparagus (which cooked in the oven while we used the lower broiler for the chicken) and some fresh bread to round off the meal.  The sauce has a nice smokey aroma, but the flavor is a great balance of sweet, savory and tangy all at once, plus our idea to marinate it over night lended itself to very tender moist chicken.  It wasn't spicy which is deceiving with all the peppers in there.  Cooking it in the broiler on foil meant easy clean up and super fast cooking time.  This recipe serves 8, but we froze half the sauce and placed it in the freezer for next time, using 2 large chicken breasts split or butterflied in half again to make (4) 4 ounce chicken breasts.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 onion, diced (about 1 cup)

1 red pepper, diced (about 1 cup)

3 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped

1 teaspoon salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1/2 teaspoon ground allspice

1/3 cup red wine vinegar

3 tablespoons molasses

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons lime juice

1/4 cup low-sodium tomato sauce

1 mango, diced (about 1 1/2 cups)

2 to 3 jalapenos, minced

2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, pounded to 1/2"thickness

Directions

Heat the oil in a medium-sized skillet over medium-high. Add the onions and cook until translucent, about 2 minutes. Add the red peppers, garlic, salt and pepper, and allspice and cook for 2 minutes more. Stir in the vinegar, molasses, Worcestershire sauce, lime juice and tomato sauce and cook for 1 minute more. Transfer the mixture into a bender and add the mango and jalapeno. Blend until smooth.

Put 1 cup of the barbecue sauce into a sealable plastic bag with the chicken and marinate over night or for at least 1 hour.

Preheat the broiler. Put the chicken on a broiler pan and discard the marinade. Broil the chicken on high for about 12 minutes, turning once. Let the meat rest for 10 minutes before slicing. Spoon about 1/2 cup of barbecue sauce over the meat slices and serve.

Blueberry and Almond French Toast Bake

This breakfast was delicious, and So Easy from her cookbook Ellie Krieger says it perfectly, "The hardest thing about this dish is waiting for it to come out of the oven because as it is baking it fills your kitchen with the most enticing, heartwarming, vanilla-cinnamon aroma. Its looks and taste hold up their end of the bargain too. Inside it is egg-y, perfectly sweetened, and studded with bursting warm blueberries. Outside it is crisp and crowned with sugared toasted almonds."  Put this together the day before and cover in the fridge over night.  Waking up and putting it in the oven is really a treat- no need to make batter and more dishes in the morning, just enjoy your coffee and wait for the timer to go off! We halved the recipe to serve just 4 and below is our version, enjoy:

Ingredients

• Cooking spray
• 4 ounces French baguette, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 4 large eggs
• 4 large egg whites
• 1 cups fat free milk
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
• 2 cups fresh blueberries
• 1/8 cup sliced almonds
• 1 tablespoons dark brown sugar

Spray a 8 by 8-inch baking pan with cooking spray. Arrange the bread in a single layer in the baking pan. Whisk together the eggs, egg whites, milk, vanilla, cinnamon and maple syrup. Pour the egg mixture over the bread in the pan, spreading it around so the liquid saturates the bread. Scatter the blueberries evenly on top and sprinkle with the almonds and brown sugar. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Uncover the baking pan and bake for 40 to 50 minutes. Serve warm, cold or at room temperature.

Mother's day Strawberry Rhubarb Pies

Recipes that are passed through the family down generations are always a treat to have for special occasions.  This time we were able to learn the recipe and create the very same pies that our family has made for many many holidays which makes it that much more special.  Strawberries and rhubarb are abundant in the spring time- so making these pies with the freshest ingredients was easy to do!  Here we are sharing a special pie crust recipe and the gooey strawberry rhubarb filling, enjoy with your family year after year-

Grandma Crisco's Pie Crust

(makes 2- 9" pie crusts)

1 1/3 cup shortening

4 cups flour

Start with 6-7 tsp ice water

Cut shortening and flour in a large bowl with a fork.  Add water in till the dough starts to form, then divide the ball in 4 even sized balls, roll out 2 balls individually into 1/4" thickness and press in to pie plates, trim pastry edge around pie plate.  Roll out the remaining balls into 1/8" thickness and use cookie cutters in desired shapes to place on top of pie after filling.

For the filling:

3 cups sugar

6 Tablespoons quick cooking tapioca

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

6 cups rhubarb, cut in to 1/2 inch pieces ( 2 pounds)

4 cups sliced strawberries

2 Tablespoons butter

In a large mixing bowl stir together sugar, tapioca, salt and nutmeg.  Add rhubarb and strawberries; toss to coat fruit.  Let mixture stand for 15 minutes.

Pour fruit mixture in to lined pie plate, dot with butter, cover the pies with a layer of cut shapes, sprinkle with raw sugar.  To prevent burning, cover the edges of the pies with foil.  Bake in a 375 degree oven for 25 minutes; remove foil and continue to bake for 20-25 minutes more or till crust is golden.  Cook pies on a rack before serving!

Roasted Pork Chops, Carrots and Beets

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds carrots, mixed colors if available, peeled
• 1 1/2 pounds beets, different sizes and colors if available
• Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 bulb garlic, broken apart, 1/2 the cloves smashed, 1/2 left whole
• Extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 orange, juiced
• A few sprigs fresh thyme, leaves picked
• A few sprigs fresh rosemary, leaves picked
• 5 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 4 thick organic pork loin chops
• 8 fresh sage leaves
• 1 lemon

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Put the carrots into a large pot and the beets into another, and add enough water to cover them. Season with salt and bring to a boil. Cook for 15 to 20 minutes until just tender, then drain and place in separate bowls. Peel the beets, and cut any larger carrots and beets in half or into quarters. Smaller ones can stay whole.  Add the flavorings while the vegetables are still hot. Toss the carrots with half the smashed garlic and a drizzle of olive oil, then lightly season. Add the orange juice and the thyme leaves and toss again. Mix the beets with the rest of the garlic, the rosemary, balsamic vinegar and salt and pepper. You can now put the vegetables together on a large roasting pan with the carrots in 1 half of the pan and the beets in the other ( view photo above). Place in the middle of the preheated oven and roast for around 1/2 hour or until golden.

While the carrots and beets are cooking, lay the chops on a board, firmly press a sage leaf onto the eye meat on both sides of each chop. Season with salt and pepper.

When the vegetables start to color, heat a large ovenproof frying pan on the burner, add a good glug of olive oil and put in the chops. As soon as you've got nice color on 1 side, turn the chops over and place the pan in the oven for 10 minutes, or until the chops are crisp on the outside and just cooked through and juicy in the middle. Remove the chops to a warmed plate. Pour most of the fat out of the pan and add a squeeze of lemon juice to it. Stir and scrape the lovely sticky bits off the bottom and drizzle all over the chops. Remove the carrots and beets from the oven - they should be nice and sticky by now.