Homemade Hummus!!

I've been cleaning out the pantry this week. Winter is coming and I want to make sure I don't have any old cans or food up in there!
A staple of  my pantry has always been cans of garbanzo beans, (chickpeas).
They're a fantastic addition to so many different dishes!  Salads, pastas, currys, casseroles!!
If you're feeling super adventurous, you could even whip up some falafel or chickpea patties.   If they really get you going, you could get chickpea flour for baking!  Gluten free!
Garbanzos are a massive source of fiber, and naturally have a lot of protein, folate, and zinc!
Anyway, enough of the chickpea praising.  
On to the Hummus!

You will need:
A food processor (mine is a mini)
1 can of garbanzo beans
1 tablespoon bean liquid
1 lemon (juiced)
3 cloves of garlic (peeled)
1 teaspoon of salt 
3 tablespoons tahini (sesame seed paste)
1 tablespoon sriracha (optional, or any hot sauce)

Drain the beans and be sure to preserve a few tablespoons of the liquid!!

Throw the garlic into the food processor, and pulse it until minced.  
After that, put in the remaining ingredients and blend until coarse.

Taste!  If you think it needs anything else, just throw it in and blend it again.
More salt? Add it!
More spicy? Add it!

When it's all blended to a smoothish consistency, transfer it to a sealable container, drizzle a little olive oil on top.  Maybe even sprinkle some chili powder!  Refrigerate or serve!
Enjoy!

You can chill it and it will keep for up to 2 weeks.
It's such a great base for so many things.  Add some fresh herbs!  Add some roasted red pepper. Add some roasted garlic!  So many options.  What kind of hummus would you make?

Beer Bacon Barley!!

Barley is a spectacular grain.  

It is rich and earthy.  When you cook it, it plumps beautifully and makes for a fantastic POP when you eat it!  The texture is chewy and satisfying.
This recipe is really basic but packs huge flavor.
You will need,

6 slices of bacon, chopped up
half an onion, minced
1 clove of garlic, minced
kosher salt
black pepper 1 cup pearled barley
1 can of light beer
2.5 cups chicken or beef stock

In a medium-sized dutch oven or saucepan, render the bacon over medium heat.  Remove the cooked swine bits and add the minced onion into the liquid bacon fat.  
Sauté until translucent, then add the garlic. 

After the garlic has been in for about 5 minutes, add in the barley.  Stir it around for a few minutes and get it all toasty.  It will smell heavenly.  

Pour in the beer and stock, add the swine bits, stir to combine, and cover.  Lower the heat to lowlow and simmer for 90 minutes.  

Yes.  Ninety minutos.

After a half-hour, you can stir it.  But only that one time.  

When the timer goes off, fluff it all up and enjoy!  The grains will get super plump, more than doubling in size.

Great as a side dish, but also a phenomenal topping for salads!

Tarragon Roasted Butternut Squash Pasta!!

Even though it's been in the 90s all week, I still felt the need to make something autumny, you know, since it's September and all.
(Hot weather in the fall?? = Hautumn.  High Fashion)
Well, what's more cozy than oven-roasted butternut squash drenched in goat cheese sauce?

OVEN-ROASTED SQUASH!!
To roast the squash, preheat the oven to 400.
In a bowl, dump your raw squash (cut into 1-inch chunks), and,
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons kosher salt
3 tablespoons fresh tarragon (2 tablespoons if you're using dried)
several skrunchies of the pepper mill 

Mix it all up until the squash is well coated, and then transfer to a foil-lined baking sheet or cast-iron skillet.

Roast for 25-30 minutes, giving it a stir or two partway through.  

While the squash is roasting, bring a pot of salted water to a boil.  
When the edges of the squash get toasty browny and it's soft, pull the pan out of the oven and drop the pasta into the boiling water.  Any pasta will do.  (Below is info on how to make zucchini sgetti, perfect for those who are gluten-free!!)
When it's al dente, strain it.  KEEP SOME OF THE PASTA WATER!!  

In a large bowl, combine the hot pasta and hot squash and then crumble 4-6 ounces of goat cheese on top and mix well.  Add some hot pasta water 1/4 cup at a time.  
The goat cheese will melt and create a gorgeous, creamy smooth sauce--completely coating all the noodles and squash bites!
ENJOY!!

ZUCCHINI SGETTI!!
Fill a saucepan halfway with water, set on high heat and add a tablespoon of kosher salt.
Take 3 zucchini, slice off the ends, and peel them.  
With a mandolin set to small julienne, slice up the zucchini lengthwise.  Careful of your fingers!
If you don't have a mandolin, you can use a julienning veggie peeler.
When the water reaches a boil, drop in a handful of the zucchini.  Count to 30 and take it out!  You can use tongs or a spider.
No need to add anymore salt, the boiling water seasoned it for you!
Wait a few moments for the water to boil again, and then cook the rest of the zucchini. 
Done!  Easy peasy!  You want to be careful not to overcook it.  No one wants mushies.  You want to keep a slight bite to the strings.
Combine with your favorite sauce and mix-ins and enjoy! You can twirl it and slurp it just like regular spaghetti!

Lo-Carb Lunch!!

Today's lunch was leftovers from earlier in the week.  
I had cooked up a roll of Jimmy-Dean Italian sausage and I had also made some Pomodoro Sauce for some spaghetti squash.  I figured, why not mix the two for a mega-delish lunch!
Bringing your own lunch to work is great!  It keeps your spending down and you have total control over what you eat! A win-win. 
So I mixed the two together and added 1/2 a cup of frozen spinach.  I ended up with an amazingly tasty meal that was high in protein with a lot of veggies.  Give it a try!
Cheers!  

Avocado Vinagrette!!

Ohhh Avocado!  I've waxed poetic on the subject before.  
Well, I wanted to have a salad last night, and I wanted avocado in it.  But one of the things that kind of annoys me, is that if you cut it up, you'll only get some avo every few bites.  I wanted ALL avo ALL the time.  So I made it into a dressing for a a BLT salad!  The creaminess of the avocado really compliments the saltiness of the bacon and astringency of the greens. 

In a bowl I combined
1/2 and avocado
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon balsamic
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 teaspoon greek yogurt or sour cream
A few chopped up basil leaves
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
kosher salt, black pepper
A squeeze of citrus (totes optional)

I then cooked and crumbled 3 strips of bacon (saving the drippings of course!!)

I mashed up the ripened avocado with a fork and mixed in all the other ingredients.  I let it sit for about 10 minutes to let the flavors blend, and then mixed it up again.  It was a pale green and uber creamy dressing!!

I took a bag of greens and chopped it all up with my kitchen shears.  (It's incredible, an entire bag of spring mix can be reduced to half its size with a little snipping)  I tossed in a few chopped cherry tomatoes, the crumbled bacon, a small handfull of shredded cheese and mixed it all together with some of the dressing!  It was a delicious salad that completely hit the spot!  Avocado in every bite!!  I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
Cheers!! xo

Rice Pudding, South American Style!!

I'm a sucker for rice pudding.  No, I'm not talking about the stuff that comes in plastic tubs at the grocery store.  I'm talking about the kind that takes you back in time, the one that gives you cozy feelings like you used to have when you were a little kid eating grandma's pudding at christmas.    

This is a classic recipe.  It takes a decent about of time to make and it needs some lovin', but trust me when I say it's totally worth it.  

You will need, 
1/2 c rasins
1/2 c pisco or dark rum
1 cup rice
2 1/2 c whole milk
1 c water
2 cinnamon sticks
5 whole cloves
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3/4 c sugar
1 small can condensed milk
1 teaspoon vanilla

The night before, combine the raisins and booze in an airtight container.  Let sit at room temp until the next day.  
To make the pudding, combine the rice, milk, water, cinnamon, salt, and cloves in a heavy sauce pot.  Bring to a boil and let cook over medium heat until the rice is done (15-20 min).  Stir enough to keep the milk from scalding.
Remove the cloves and cinnamon sticks.  Add the sugar and condensed milk.  Cook for another 25 minutes, stirring regularly, until it thickens.  Drain the raisins and add them to the rice.  Let cook another 5 minutes or so.  Remove from heat, add the vanilla, and let cool.  Serve with a sprinkle of cinnamon and enjoy at hot, cold, or room temp!  
Cheers!

*I saved the raisiny rum for french toast the next day!!

Melting My Heart Update!!

Walker is an uhmazing pup.  He has some weird quirks, no lie.  But he's also heart-meltingly adorable.  
He HATES suitcases.  He hates them with unrivaled passion.  If he sees someone rolling one down the street, he gets rabid with intensity known only to a shark sniffing blood.  So when it comes a time for me to pack for a trip, he gets pretty worked up.  
But after the ferocity cools down, he gets incredibly sad.  He knows I'm packing to go away, and he tries everything to keep that from happening.  
The other day I had half-packed my suitcase.  I come back in from the other room to see that he had pulled everything out and had packed himself!

I tried to get him to get out, I even closed the top!  No go.  

So as you can tell, he's insanely cute and I always have the hardest time saying bye-bye for a weekend.