Pasta with Spinach and Beans

Pasta has always been a staple in my pantry. It makes an easy quick dinner and is very economical. In this pasta dish, I add some chick peas as a source of protein. Fire roasted tomatoes and spinach add nutrition, color and flavor.

I also tried out a tomato pasta. Feel free to use plain penne or even try out another veggie variety. It is the perfect comfort dish on a cool fall night.

I miss my summer bounty of fresh Jersey tomatoes. When the cooler weather comes, I like to stock up with cans of fire roasted tomatoes. When added to a pasta dish, they have an extra special sweetness that regular canned tomatoes just don't have.

Of course, you can roast and can your own, which I do every summer, but eventually my supply runs out. So I purchase plenty of cans of fire roasted tomatoes as the next best thing.

I like to slather my dish of pasta with some good Italian Parmesan cheese and crushed red pepper. However, I always serve the cheese on the side, especially if there is a vegan at my table. I make plenty of vegetarian dishes but when I need a vegan meal, I can struggle with coming up with something.

If you leave off the cheese, this is the perfect vegan meal.

You can serve this dish with a fancy salad such as a Roasted Beet and Avocado Salad or a Grilled Pear Salad, if you want to make dinner extra special. Or you can serve a light dessert, such as a winter fruit salad to complete your meal.

If you are looking for a vegan or vegetarian meal, give this one a try. It's quick and easy to make but also delicious. Everyone will be giving big compliments to the chef! 

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Pasta with Spinach and Beans Recipe

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Ingredients

• 12 ounces penne
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 cloves crushed garlic
• 1 14.5 ounce can fire roasted tomatoes
• 5 ounces chopped frozen spinach
• 1 15-ounce can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 teaspoons dried basil
• salt and red pepper, to taste
• parmesan cheese, for serving

Directions

1. In a large pot of salted water, cook pasta ala dente per package directions.
2. Drain and keep warm. Reserve a half cup of pasta water.
3. While pasta is cooking, heat olive oil on medium heat in a large frying pan. Add garlic, tomatoes and spinach.
4. Cook for about 10 minutes or until the sauce is simmering.
5. Add beans and basil. Cook for another 5 minutes on low heat.
6. Add pasta and reserved half cup of pasta water. Stir well and cook until bubbly.
7. Season pasta to taste with salt and red pepper.
8. Serve in a large bowl with plenty of Parmesan cheese on the side.

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Rhubarb and Custard

Rhubarb took England by storm in the 1800's. The plant had been around a while, but it was the crowning of Queen Victoria that thrust it into the limelight. It is somewhat of an acquired taste, but mostly used in sweet applications because of its tart nature, like pies, tarts, jams, jellies and puddings.

If you're not familiar with rhubarb, it is tempting to try the rhubarb raw (because it looks like celery). This I do not recommend, as I know first hand trying it as a child, and I've never done it since. Being a member of the buckwheat family, interestingly the leaves are said to be poisonous.

Makes you wonder how it ever became a food, but prepared with sugar and spices it is delicious.

Rhubarb is a seasonal plant and it is difficult to obtain in cooler climates, but do very well when grown in greenhouses, which is how we grew them in England - usually in mid- to late spring in the Northern Hemisphere, autumn in the Southern Hemisphere.

Rhubarb and custard is not only classic English dessert, but there was also a classic British cartoon short in the 1970's named Roobarb and Custard. Funny rivalry between Roobarb the green dog and Custard the pink cat who lived next door, it was one of my favorites.

The English custard part of this dessert is my favorite. It was, and still is the ultimate comfort dessert that can be served with literally any dessert. Depending on the recipe, I make the custard in two consistencies. Runny, like in this rhubarb and custard, or thicker for tarts.

I've used this custard in a few of my desserts like sticky toffee pudding berry custard tart as well as being enjoyed warm or cold. I even eat it on its own. A nice bowl of piping hot custard in the cooler months to warm me up.

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Rhubarb and Custard Recipe

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Ingredients

For the Rhubarb:

• 1 pound rhubarb, rinsed, dried and cut into bite-size pieces
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• grated nutmeg

For the Custard:

• 2 1/2 cups whole milk
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.
2. Add the rhubarb to a shallow baking dish and toss with the sugar and nutmeg to coat. Arrange in a single layer.
3. Cover with foil and bake for 15 minutes.
4. While the rhubarb is cooking, in a medium saucepan, stir together the milk and sugar over medium heat and bring to a simmer.
5. While the milk is coming to a simmer, add the eggs to a mixing bowl and whisk in the cornstarch until smooth.
6. Slowly whisk 1/3 cup of the hot milk into the egg mixture until smooth. This will temper the eggs and stop them from curdling or cooking.
7. Pour the egg and milk mix back into the pan with the milk and whisk over low heat until thickened.
8. Once the custard has thickened, remove from the heat.
9. Stir in the vanilla and mix until well incorporated.
10. Divide the rhubarb between 4 shallow bowls. Pour over the custard and serve immediately.

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Tex-Mex Pizza

Hey y'all! Do you enjoy a good quick and easy dinner? It's soccer season for us, which means, quick and easy dinners are about all I can handle.

With three kids in soccer we have practice pretty much every night of the week and games all through the weekends. This Tex-Mex pizza has been gracing our dinner table quite often recently. 

To make this pizza super easy you can start with this no yeast pizza dough, it seriously only takes minutes to toss it together and you can bake your pizza in about 15 minutes. No joke. Or you can always get a store-bought to even save those few precious minutes if needed.

One of my favorite things about pizza is how changing up the toppings creates a completely different meal. It keeps things from getting boring. This Tex-Mex pizza is loaded up with pretty much all of my favorite things.

Cheese, bacon, jalapeños, red peppers, fresh corn, and I made my own chipotle dressing to use as the sauce, this really unites all the flavors and creates a delicious pizza! I got the idea for this as the sauce while I was roaming the salad dressing aisle at the market looking for a ranch dressing that would work well with all the Tex-Mex flavors on this pizza.

So again, to shave off a couple of minutes from this meal feel free to buy a pre-made dressing from the market if needed. There is no shame in taking a few shortcuts in the kitchen when needed. But if you have the time, I highly recommend making the sauce in the recipe below!

Not only is it perfect on the pizza, it's also delicious to use the extra as a dip for the pizza. 

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Tex-Mex Pizza Recipe

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Ingredients

Pizza:

• 1 pizza dough
• 8 ounces shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 5 slices cooked bacon
• 2 ears sweet corn, kernals cut off
• 1 jalapeño, sliced
• 1/2 red onion, sliced
• 1 red bell pepper, sliced

Chipotle Dressing:

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1/4 teaspoon onion powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon cumin
• 1 tablespoon adobo sauce, from canned chiles in adobo sauce

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450°F.

2. Prepare Pizza Dough, roll out onto large baking pan or pizza stone.

3. In a small bowl add the ingredients for the Chipotle Dressing. Stir until smooth and combined. Spread the sauce over the pizza dough.

4. Top with most of the cheese, set aside about 1/4 of the cheese to add later.

5. Add toppings and sprinkle with remaining cheese.

6. Bake for about 15 minutes until the dough is thoroughly cooked, place under the broiler for a few mins if desired to make the crust crispier.

7. Serve and enjoy! 

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Peanut Butter Shortbread

These peanut butter shortbread diamonds are a really elegant cookie. They are pretty, and elegant, and not over-the-top. They also happen to be delightfully delicious.

I was so tempted to take these over-the-top and scatter them with Reese's pieces or chocolate chips, but I refrained. It was difficult, but I was able to reign myself in. My temptation is to always take things to the very utmost level, but in a rare moment of restraint, I decided that not EVERYTHING always has to be excessive.

Instead, I gave them a simple drizzle of semi-sweet chocolate, and stopped myself there. The semi-sweet chocolate is a nice addition to a peanut butter shortbread cookie because it ramps up the indulgence of the cookie, but without making it tooooo crazy.

These peanut butter shortbread diamonds are lovely. They are sweet and buttery, and they are crumbly and flaky, like the best shortbread, but they are not cloyingly sweet.

They are so nice with tea or coffee. These peanut butter shortbread diamonds were an especially big hit with my S.O. He tends to like things more understated, and doesn't necessarily want every single dessert to be over-the-top, oozing with chocolate or caramel, or loaded up with sky-high frosting.

I know you're wondering why I'm with him at all. Right??? I mean, he doesn't even really like cupcakes. Isn't that strange? He's into over-the-top desserts on occasion, but only sometimes. I'm into them pretty much always. But whatever.

One of his favorite things is a cookie that he can dunk into coffee. He likes cookies with his coffee, and especially one that's dunkable. This fit the bill perfectly. Shortbread is a sturdy and crunchy enough that you can dunk it into coffee and it doesn't fall apart, but is porous enough to absorb a little bit.

The dough is a breeze to whip up, and this recipe makes a large batch. Start your coffee pot – stat!

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Peanut Butter Shortbread Recipe

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Ingredients

• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips, melted

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. In a large mixing bowl, beat butter, peanut butter, and sugar until creamy.
3. Beat in vanilla.
4. Gradually add flour, beating until combined.
5. Press dough evenly into a lightly greased 15x10-inch baking sheet.
6. Bake for 14-16 minutes, or until the edges are golden brown, and the center appears set.
7. Remove to a wire rack to cool completely.
8. Cut into diamonds.
9. Drizzle with melted chocolate.
10. Allow chocolate to set. Enjoy!

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10 Cookie Dough Recipes to Die Over

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Fried Avocado Tacos

I'm back on the taco kick! Big surprise, I know. This time instead of making guacamole to douse all the tacos in, I thought it was about time for avocado to make the star appearance in a taco.

When I went to Charleston to visit my close friend from high school and her family, her sister took me to this taco place right off the beach. They had these AMAZING fried avocado tacos that I honestly haven't been able to get out of my head. I knew the moment I had them that I would absolutely have to recreate the deliciousness at home.

Some people don't love fried avocado, but I honestly think those individuals are missing out. Fried avocado has everything you want in a bite — crunchy outside, creamy inside, and oh-so swoon-worthy.

I might be a couple of months late on this goal, but what matters is that it has finally happened!

These tacos are all about the freshness, the crispiness, and the bold flavors. I paired salsa verde and a chili lime dressing with these fried pieces of avocado. The salsa verde goes so well with the avocado and the crunchy creamy fried avocado slices come to life with the addition of a creamy dressing.

All that's left is to top it off with some crunchy, colorful purple cabbage and a squeeze of fresh lime juice. Then, my friends, you are in taco heaven… All that's missing is a giant margarita, and preferably a beach just outside your door.

One day… Hey a girl can dream, can't she?!

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Fried Avocado Tacos Recipe

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Ingredients

• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 cup panko breadcrumbs
• 2 large hass avocados, cut into 8 wedges each
• vegetable oil, for frying
• salt, to taste
• 2 cups shredded red cabbage
• 1 cup shredded monterey jack cheese
• salsa verde
• 8 corn tortillas
• lime wedges

For the Chili Lime Dressing:

• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup sour cream
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions

1. Add the flour, eggs, and panko breadcrumbs to three separate bowls. Dredge the avocado wedges in flour, shaking off the excess. Coat with egg and then panko, pressing to make sure it sticks.
2. In a deep, heavy-bottomed skillet, add 1 1/2 to 2 inches of vegetable oil. Heat over medium-high heat to 350°F. Working in batches, fry avocado until golden brown, approximately 1 to 2 minutes per side. Remove to a paper towel-line plate to drain. Season with salt.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together lime juice, mayonnaise, sour cream, chili powder, and cayenne pepper for the chili lime dressing.
4. To assemble tacos, divide avocado wedges evenly between the corn tortillas. Top with red cabbage, Monterey Jack cheese, and salsa verde. Drizzle with chili lime dressing and serve with lime wedges.

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