Simple & Delicious Panzanella Salad

After spending the last few months dealing with recovering for two broken wrists, I'm finally starting to cook again. I love my husband, but I can only take so many chicken patty sandwiches and frozen pizza nights. You may think it's nice to have a break from cooking, cleaning, and taking care of the house (not to mention working full time and attending grad school -- oh and the puppy is always a handful too), but I really missed cooking after a while. In fact, after about 3 weeks, I was trying to figure out how to clean this house again too. Being a type A sort is tough with two broken arms.

The colors of this dish are also pleasing for the eye

So, getting back into the swing of things meant making something simple but delicious. How do garlicky chunks of bread, fresh tomatoes & basil, tangy onion, and a simple balsamic vinaigrette dressing sound? Yeah, amazing. I thought so too. Panzanella salad is a classic Italian dish, usually enjoyed in the summer. While it's not quite summer yet, a girl can be optimistic.The simple ingredient list and fresh taste make it a light side that pairs well with almost anything. Make it as a dish for you and a date, a cookout, a potluck, a picnic - it's very versatile and not to mention quick and easy to make. I would pair it with a light Pinot Grigio, which perfectly suits the summer-iness of this meal.

Slow-Cooked Pulled Pork BBQ

I love making my own sauces, but the problem is when I make a sauce, I'm very much a "little bit of this, little bit of that, little bit more of this" type person. I taste and taste and taste and adjust and by the end of it, I can only guess what my ingredient ratios are. So, my disclaimer is this is my best guess-timate of my delicious pulled pork BBQ recipe. Everybody's tastes are different, so you may need to adjust according to your tastes regardless. Enjoy this comfort food dish!

When I was first reading about the best way to make pulled pork, there was much debate on whether pork butt roast or pork tenderloin should be used. Well, I have tried both and I must say the pork tenderloin was much better, much leaner, much tastier.

Southwest Tuna Burgers with Chipotle Mayo

I've made tuna cakes before, and many times have thought about making them into a sandwich. This recipe differs from tuna cakes, as it makes the patties a bit sturdier (my tuna cakes are always on the brink of falling apart). Next time I might try adding some shredded cheese to the tuna mix and seeing how that enhances the flavor (and the calories...). These patties need a lot of seasoning to prevent them from tasting just like any old tuna fish sandwich, and I was very liberal with applying the chipotle mayo to do the same. Otherwise, you'll find yourself with a very quick and easy dinner that requires no thawing or handling of raw meat - and moreover, tuna is so low in fat that any other ground meat can't even compare (2 g in a cup of canned tuna vs. 19 g in a cup of extra lean ground beef). You'll also get more protein, less calories.

I enjoyed my Southwest Tuna Burger with a glass of semi-dry riesling and found the sweet & tart flavors of this popular wine balance out the spicy flavors of the chipotle. The specific bottle I opened was from Belhurst Winery in the Finger Lakes region of NY state, where riesling is a specialty.

Southwest Mac & Cheese

Everyone loves mac & cheese, right? I wanted to make a meal out of this well-loved classic and make it a little more grown-up. This recipe is spicy, flavorful, and packs a lot of protein by adding chicken breast and black beans. If you'd rather go vegetarian, you can leave out the chicken and still get plenty of protein from the black beans and cheese. I would leave out the hot sauce if you're serving to kids and save it on the side for adults to add, if desired. I debated adding chopped spinach to the mix at well, but I didn't want to add so many things that it stopped looking like mac & cheese.

As far as wine pairing for the adults, my go-to wine for spicy dishes is a nice Riesling or Gewürztraminer, which are both sweet German wines that work well to balance out the heat of this dish.

Easy Apple Cobbler

Using short cuts such as boxed baking mix and a short list of ingredients makes this recipe quick and easy, and not to mention delicious. Apples can be macintosh, gala, honeycrisp; whatever you have on hand. Pair this recipe with a a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a hot cup of coffee!

Meatball Subs

Previously, I posted a recipe to spaghetti & meatballs which gave my recipe for home-made meatballs. Again, we're using this same recipe, but to make meatball subs, another great classic. I used whole wheat bolilo rolls from my local grocery store's bakery section, which fit about three 2-inch meatballs. This recipe makes about 18 recipes, so count on about 6 subs, and adjust accordingly for your needs. Enjoy this simple and delicious recipe and enjoy getting your hands messy!

Again, I will make the same wine recommendations I did for the spaghetti & meatballs: This meatball recipe could be matched with either a white, due to its herb-y nature, or red. Avoid Chardonnays, as they do not like to be paired with tomatoes, and match up with acidic red such as Malbec or Sangiovese.

Buffalo & Blue Cheese Stuffed Turkey Burger

Buffalo wings are one of my favorite foods, so I though why not figure out how to make a "buffalo wing" burger, emulating the flavors of a basket of buffalo with a cup of blue cheese dressing for dipping. Plus, bacon never hurts the flavor of any dish, especially a burger. Not only is ground turkey breast leaps and bounds healthier than ground chuck typically used for burgers, I think the poultry flavor lends itself to being more similar to buffalo wings. Using low fat blue cheese and low-sodium bacon, you can enjoy this burger guilt free.

Slow-cooked Sweet & Spicy Sloppy Joes

The sloppy joe has been a staple of the budget-conscious family for years, but if you're from a family that grew up with this in regular rotation at the dinner table - have you even thought of making sloppy joes since? It's time for Sloppy Joe to grow up, get a job, enhance his resume. It's time for an adult sloppy joe - a sloppy joe with sweet, savory, and spicy flavors that a sophisticated palate can appreciate. Do not be overwhelmed by the list of ingredients for the sauce, it will be well worth the flavors you'll get from this grown-up 'joe - and keep in mind it will give you a lot of HEAT hidden beneath it's sweet bbq sauce taste.

I love to hide veggies in recipes where they easily go undetected. I've snuck more than 3 cups of veggies into this recipe by using my mini food processor to make them the same size and texture as the ground beef. Covered in this recipe's sweet & spicy sauce, hungry eaters will be none the wiser.

I typically make a lot of sloppy joe and then freeze portions for nights I don't feel like cooking or nights I'm not home so Mr. B. has something to eat. This recipe makes a lot of sloppy joes. Please feel free to cut down this recipe to a half or a third, if you don't have room in the freezer and are only cooking for a few.

Can we just take a moment to remember this amazing sketch from SNL featuring Chris Farley and Adam Sandler? Sloppy, sloppy joes...

Sweet & Simple: Strawberry Ice Cream Cakes

Dessert is as simple as scooping out some vanilla ice cream and convincing your guests they're eating gourmet food. Strawberries, vanilla ice cream, and dessert shells make for an affordable, delicious, and light tasting dessert. This recipe would work well with almost any berry or a mix of berries.

The sponge cake dessert shells used in this recipe are usually found in your grocery store's produce section (check near the berries). Six dessert shells ran me about 2.29 (or about 38 cents a shell). If you make this recipe in the springtime, strawberries are usually on sale - I bought them for buy one get one free and ended up paying $4 for 2 lbs of strawberries (you only need 1 lb). Finally, vanilla ice cream will cost you roughly $4-$5 and you'll have plenty leftover for late night snacks. Overall, you're looking at $1.48 for each yummy serving.

Spaghetti & Meatballs and garlic toast

The other night, I revisited a classic: spaghetti & meatballs. Spaghetti & meatballs is actually one of my favorite comfort foods, there's nothing like a big fork-ful of pasta and a carmelized meatball. I try to make this a bit healthier with the use of lean ground turkey and whole wheat spaghetti. Many "light" recipes call for only using the egg white instead of the whole egg. If you want to watch your fat and cholesterol, you may, but I hate being wasteful (and I have nothing against the egg yolk). Rolling into about 2 inch meatballs, you will yield approximately 18 meatballs that will fit nicely into a 12 inch cast iron skillet. The whole meal should feed about 4 hungry people, or if you serve with a caesar salad (which I originally intended to but filled up a bit too much on spaghetti and garlic bread), you can stretch it to feed 6.

This meatball recipe could be matched with either a white, due to its herb-y nature, or red. Avoid Chardonnays, as they do not like to be paired with tomatoes, and match up with acidic red such as Malbec or Sangiovese.

Mexican Chipotle & Beef Stuffed Peppers

Stuffed peppers were one of my favorite meals as a kid. However, it is time to kick up the traditional stuffed peppers recipe a notch with a spicy tomato sauce using chipotle and adobo sauce. This recipe is super easy and super yummy. It can also easily be adjusted to be healthier, using ground turkey, brown rice, and less cheese (but I can't say no to cheese). This recipe would be great to have for a Cinco De Mayo dinner or party and would make a great alternative to tacos or another stand-by Mexican dish.

The bell peppers should be large and round, as they will be the container for beef, rice, and chipotle goodness. The average person will eat 1-2 pepper halves. This recipe makes 8 pepper halves. Enjoy the few ingredients this recipe requires and the money it will save you! We enjoyed this recipe with a bottle of corona and a lime wedge.

Asian Shrimp & Noodle Salad

Continuing with my salad theme, here's a great, healthy, Asian-inspired salad. This recipe is taken from Kraft and enhanced with changing up some ingredients and adding shrimp. I only had 1 lb of shrimp on hand, but using 2 lbs would provide even more of the yummy little morsels. Leave out the shrimp, and you have a great vegetarian dish. I've posted this recipe previously, but I didn't have pictures at this time so I'm giving it a revival.

Wine? Make it light and crisp. Riesling, Soave, or Sauvignon Blanc.

Broccoli Salad

You won't have any problem eating your fruit & vegetables when it comes to this broccoli salad. The ingredients will cost you less than $11, and if you opt for pre-packaged real crumbled bacon, you won't have to cook a thing! Plus, you'll have grapes left over to snack on for the next week. This recipe will make about 9 cups of broccoli salad, costing you barely over a dollar per serving. However, if you're my husband, this salad won't last more than 2 days in the house. So bring on the picnic, and prepare to love eating your broccoli.

White flatbread pizza

Naan bread, olive oil, ricotta, mozzarella, basil, garlic powder. Can you handle this 15 minute recipe? I think so. Forget waiting 45 minutes for a $15 dollar pizza when you can get a personal pizza at home in less than 15 minutes with simple ingredients you can get at any grocery store.

My idea for this recipe was originally from an issue of Wegman's magazine (Wegman's is an awesome Northeast grocery store) and ever since trying their naan pizza recipes, I've been hooked on my own version of white naan pizza. See more naan pizza recipes from Wegman's here.

Naan is a South Asian flatbread that is commonly seen in Indian and Pakistani restaurants in the US. And of course, it's complete natural for us (Americans) to take a century old recipe from ancient civilizations, cover it in cheese and salt and call it a pizza. Mmmmm, pizza.

You can find Naan bread at most grocery stores now, pre-packaged and ready to use in a number of recipes. I bought Tandoori Naan, and I particularly like the garlic flavor for this recipe (it also comes in original and whole grain). Find out if this is available at your local grocery store. The size of the naan is perfect for a personal pizza, so take this in consideration for serving sizes if you plan on making only this flatbread recipe with no sides.

This mild, garlicky, and herb-y white pizza will pair well with almost any white wine from Champagne to Sauvignon Blanc, so I won't even name grapes - just pick up a bottle of your favorite white. If you prefer red, I almost always opt for an Italian Sangiovese or Chianti when eating mozzarella and ricotta cheese.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup Cookies

I'm not even sure if this recipe needs a foreword. Let's just say, these cookies will not last long around the house, at work, or with whatever group of people you decide to grace with their deliciousness. Just make sure there's enough milk in the fridge.

(I'm in love, and you will be too.)

Chicken Piccata & Roasted Balsamic Asparagus

Chicken Piccata, a lemon-garlic Italian chicken specialty, is one of my favorite dishes. However, I don't get an opportunity to cook it often, as my husband particularly dislikes lemon-y chicken and even more so capers, so I waited until I was home alone and indulged. When I was in college, chicken piccata was one of the first things I learned how to cook for myself that wasn't from a box. I partnered this dish with asparagus, because it is in season and complements nicely with lemon flavors. So in this posting, you'll be getting 2 delicious recipes: Chicken Piccata and roasted balsamic asparagus. Enjoy!

Chicken Piccata is very agreeable and will pair well with most dry or semi-dry white wines. I love a buttery Chardonnay with the lemon and garlic flavors of this dish.

Black Bean & Jalapeño Quesadilla Salad with Cilantro-Lime Vinaigrette

This is my own version of a recipe from Cooking Light. My Tex-Mex/Southwest (whatever you want to call this Americanized cuisine) kick continues with another healthy option. We've already discussed how black beans are high in fiber and protein, so here's another recipe showcasing them in two ways: in the quesadillas and as a topping on the salad. As it is, this recipe is vegetarian, but a protein such as chicken or shrimp could easily top off this salad or go inside the quesadilla. Making your own dressing may seem a little intimidating when it doesn't call for a four seasons italian packet, but I promise this recipe is very easy with the use of a mini food processor. Serves about 4 hungry friends or family.

Like the turkey tacos, I really enjoyed Dry Riesling with this meal, such as Pacific Rim. However, if you're in the mood for red, I would elect for Merlot or Pinot Noir.

Now, are you ready? The three recipe breakdown is coming!

Turkey Tacos

Taco night seems like an American institution. Not only is it a cheap and easy way for mom to feed the kids, but lets be honest - who doesn't love tacos? Tacos can be done many ways, and there's plent of crafty gourmet recipes using new and fresh ingredients available that are a far cry from a pound of ground beef and a seasoning packet. Some nights, however, you get a craving for "bad" food, like a good old ground beef taco (which is not anything close to authentic Mexican, but we'll still categorize it so). Unfortunately, the beef is often greasy and fat & cholesterol laden, and the taco seasoning is full of sodium.

This recipe offers a healthy alternative that will be approved by the picky crowds. Ground turkey, because it is so lean, tends to be dry out and have an unfavorable texture. However, paired with these seasonings and plenty of yummy (and reduced fat) ingredients, it will easily go unnoticed. This recipe should serve about 4 hungry diners.

Wine pairing with ground meat tacos is a little ironic. Wine snobs might say, why pair a nice bottle of wine with "poor man's" food, but I say why not enhance your experience. Spicy foods poses one of those unique challenges. I would definitely pair this meal with a dry riesling. Pacific Rim makes a widely available (and very affordable!) dry riesling that I love, or try a dry riesling from the Finger Lakes region in New York, where riesling is the specialty - and they do it very well. Happy pairing!

Black Bean Dip & Taco Night

When I say this recipe is easy, I mean it requires ZERO effort and will taste homemade and gourmet, not to mention delicious. Moreover, it's guilt free - this dip has zero fat, and lots of fiber and protein.  I made this black bean dip as an accompaniment for taco night, and it didn't last more than a day (and that was just two of us eating it... and I only got a few bites in the end). I don't recommend storing for more than 3-4 days in the fridge, if it does last that long.

Red wines are the way to go with this dip. The peppery-ness of the black beans pairs well with a Zinfandel, Pinot Noir, or Merlot. Or, why not skip the wine tonight and opt for homemade Mojitos with muddled mint and lime?

Imagine a party spread with guacamole, salsa, and this black bean dip. It would be a treat for the eyes and the mouth!

Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

(Source: Recipe from Betty Crocker)
These cookies are a show stopper.  My favorite icecream flavor translated into a delicious cookie, and made simple with Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix. This recipe will make about 36 cookies, but trust me when I say they will not last long in any social circle. I was not able to find creme de menthe chips so I used 1 package of Andes Mints, coarsley chopped, and they worked perfectly. Enjoy!