Cheddar Ale Spread

For book club last night I decided to make an easy dip. I'm trying to expand my appetizer list with minimal ingredients, quick no fuss recipes. This one definitely fits the bill.

Cheddar Ale Spread

8 oz. cream cheese, softened

2 t Dijon mustard

2 C extra sharp Cheddar cheese

1 T milk

1/4 C good beer

3 T fresh leaf parsley

pinch of kosher salt

Combine cream cheese, mustard, cheese, milk, salt and parsley in food processor. Pulse for 30 seconds. Add beer and continue processing until smooth. Place in refrigerator up to 4 days. Serve with sliced vegis and pretzels.

Source: Brown Eyed Baker

Lemon-Parsley Pesto

Do you get really nervous about wasting food? I do. We leave for a long weekend rafting trip in Utah tomorrow night after work and I needed to use quite a bit of food. We shopped on Saturday after doing a week of "scrounging" meals. So of course we bought more then we needed for 4 days. I think we did a pretty good job. I needed to use up two bunches of parsley and decided on a pesto. Not only is it a beautiful color but makes a great and simple pasta dish. We were able to get all of our gear together and sit down to a quick meal. Now all we have to do is fold the mountain of laundry on our bed!

Lemon-Parsley Pesto

2 bunches of flat leaf parsley

1/4 C Parmesan

3 T toasted pine nuts

1 lemon (zest + 2 t of juice)

2 garlic cloves

1/4 C evoo (about)

Cut parsley leaves from stems. Combine parsley, Parmesan, pine nuts, lemon juice and zest, and garlic in a food processor. Pulse until smooth. While motor is running add evoo until combined.

makes about 1 1/2 cups.

Oregon

We had an amazing trip to Oregon to visit with Pete for the week. We planned lots of adventures beginning in Portland, traveling through Corvalis to see where Pete is residing, heading to the coast for a few nights to surf and boogie board then off to Hood River to wind surf, go white water rafting, hike and see a few the fruit trees then back to Portland where we ate at a wonderful restuarant named Pok Pok, see the beautiful rose garden and walk through Washington Park, and drink fabulous coffee. Yes, we did A LOT!

Here's where we stayed at Otter Rock, just north of Newport

We had beautiful views and fabulous surf!

This neat house was purched on the rock overlooking the beach where we ran each morning and surfed with the locals.

After we left Otter Rock we headed north to Hood River, the wind surfing capital of the world. It was an amazing town right on the Columbia River, separating Washington from Oregon. We staying at this beautiful B&B called Seven Oaks.

Indian Chicken & Spinach

As I said in this post, it was a busy night. We whipped up this meal quite quickly and really enjoyed it. The first course of Eggplant Spread was really great. This was even better. I drew my inspiration from Big City Cooking. With some changes to the original recipe (added chicken since it was defrosted) we created a delicious meal. Letting this simmer for about an hour made gave it another depth of flavor. Dave ate the leftovers the next day for lunch and thought it tasted even better. So I would suggest making it at least a day before serving it for extra flavor.


Indian Chicken & Spinach

2 chicken breast, chopped
10 oz frozen spinach, thawed & drained
1 14 oz can diced tomatoes
1/4 C sour cream
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 t grated fresh ginger
1 T evoo
1/2 t Suracha sauce
t t curry powder (plus more for chicken)
1 t cumin
1/2 t garam masala
salt and pepper

Heat evoo in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic and ginger and cook 2-3 minutes. Dust chopped chicken with curry powder, salt and pepper. Add chicken to saucepan and cook until lightly browned. Add tomatoes and bring to a simmer. Stir in all remaining spices and hot sauce. Add spinach, turn the heat down very low and cover, 20 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in sour cream and serve.

Roasted Eggplant Dip

Yum! This was so good. I whipped up dinner so fast tonight! We were working after working at one of our side jobs and were not motivated for "working" in the kitchen after working until 7:30pm! I kept my eye on the task and created a nice little dinner. Dave sat at the kitchen table looking for flights to Mexico, Oregon and Massachusetts. (Yes we have some trips planned.) We wanted to go to Mexico but I think the other trips will take precedence. We have a new Nephew to meet, a Brother's wedding reception to attend and Christmas to celebrate. We may throw in a trip to North Carolina for a job interview in there as well. Yes, BUSY!

To keep Dave on task I made this eggplant dip after seeing it on this blog. We followed the appetizer with a nice Indian Chicken and Spinach also found on the same blog. This dip is very versitile. It makes more then you think with one eggplant. I mixed it with some fresh spinach and popped it in the microwave for a nice little lunch a few days later.

Roasted Eggplant Dip
1 medium eggplant
4 garlic cloves
1 small tomato
1/4 C onion, roughly chopped
2 t evoo
1 t suracha sauce
salt

Wash eggplant and make slits in it with a knife. Stick garlic cloves into the slits. Roast in a 400 degree oven for 20-30 minutes, turning once. When eggplant is soft, slit the charred skin lengthwise and scrape out the pulp with a spoon. Discard skin. And place eggplant, suracha sauce, salt and garlic in food processor. Meanwhile add 2 tsp oil to a pan over medium heat and cook the onion and tomato until onion is translucent. Then add to the eggplant mixture. Pulse till combined adding more salt to taste. Serve with warm naan or pita bread.

Our weekend adventure

We decided to go backpacking this weekend. It's getting to that time of the summer when we have to start making our list and packing it all in before the snow flies. This was one of the things that was on our list. Here are some picture from our hike on the Wheeler Lakes Trail across from Copper. This is the view from our tent. We had a great time relaxing by the fire and hiking around the area.

Here is a look at Copper Mt.

Here's an artistic picture of Saly!

Here's Hound Dog II all ready to go!

Grilled Chicken Tenders with Cilantro Pesto

No one ever told me that food photography and camera flashes don't mix. No one! I just found out this little tid bit of information on Friday. Hmm, maybe that's why I have no visitors to this site! My pictures make food look very unappetizing. Well things are changing around here! I will be taking much better pictures from here on out! This was a really great meal! As I was munching away, I even dared to say to myself that this was the best dish of the summer! I was different and fit our mood perfectly. I think I said this about the Chicken Gyros. Either way, it's definitely up for contention! I really try to find recipes that use ingredients that we always have on hand. In this case, we always have chicken in the freezer, soy sauce in the cubbard and fresh vegetables in the fridge. Add a few more ingredients and you have the making for this fabulous chicken. I love my EatingWell subscription. The magazine doesn't come every month so I subsidize my obsession for the healthy yet delicious recipes by going to their website. I found this recipe on their website and just increased some of the measurements. (Next time, I will double the Cilantro Pesto. It was that good!) I served this with a simple green salad tossed in evoo and balsamic and Quinoa with Latin Flavors (also found at EatingWell. Kate and Walid have been away and they gave us free range of their garden. We have been indulging in their lettuce and arugula for a week now!

Grilled Chicken Tender with Cilantro Dipping Sauce

1/4 C lime juice
1/4 C reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 T canola oil
1.5 t chili powder
2 Chicken breasts, sliced into tenders
1-2 bunches of Cilantro
2 scallions, chopped
2 T toasted sesame seeds

Whisk lime juice, soy sauce, oil and chili powder in a large bowl. Reserve 3 tablespoons of the marinade in a small bowl. Add chicken to the remaining marinade; toss to coat. Marinate in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Preheat grill to medium-high. Meanwhile, place cilantro, scallions, sesame seeds and the reserved marinade in a food processor and process until fairly smooth. Remove the chicken from the marinade (discard marinade) and grill until cooked through and no longer pink in the middle, about 2 minutes per side. Serve the chicken with the cilantro-sesame pesto.

BBQ Shrimp Po' Boys

I have been craving Shrimp Po Boys for a long while now! I'm not even sure I have ever had the real thing before but for some reason I knew we would love it! I have seen lots of renditions on a few different sites and finally added it to the weekly menu. I took my inspiration from this recipe Cooking Light. The shrimp marinade added great flavor. This is a simple dinner sandwich. Make sure you use a nice crusty baguette!

BBQ Shrimp Po' Boys

1 t garlic powder

1/2 t of the following

onion powder

dried thyme

dried oregano

paprika

salt

black pepper

1/4 t red pepper flakes

2 t onion, finely chopped

1 garlic clove, minced

2 T lime juice

2 t Worcestershire sauce

1 T butter, melted

1/4 C light mayo

10-20 medium shrimp, deveined

sliced tomato

sliced red onion

bib lettuce

baguette

Combine garlic powder through butter in a medium bowl. Take 3 T of garlic mixture and combine it with mayo in a small bowl and refrigerate. Add shrimp to garlic mixture and coat well. Let the shrimp marinate for about 30 minutes. Heat grill to high and barbecue shrimp for 2-3 minutes flipping half way though. (You can use skewers if you want.) Assemble sandwich: spread a thin layer of mayo on each side of cut baguette. Top with shrimp, lettuce, sliced tomato and onion.