August 26, 2009

Being vegetarian, a tomato sandwich in the summertime is one of my staple meals.  Great whole grain bread with mayo, and locally grown tomatoes.  Plus a good dash of salt and Penzeys shallot pepper.  Avocado, pickles and lettuce are optional.  Ah, but there's another kind of tomato sandwich out there. Let me explain.

Take a nice thick slice of GOOD tomato…do NOT use the crummy pinkish faux tomatoes that the grocery stores try to pass off on us.

Add a thick schmear of goat cheese with a spoonful of pesto mixed in.

Top with another thick slice of tomato.

Roll in seasoned flour, then egg, then panko breadcrumbs and saute til golden brown.

Sprinkle with salt.

Gobble down.

Rinse and repeat.

Are you with me?

I heard about this idea from a tomato recipe contest the Washington Post conducted.  Last year's winner used this method, but included bacon (I don't eat Babe), Boursin cheese instead of the goat cheese and pesto, and Italian breadcrumbs instead of the panko.  Besides my pesto version, you could also use a dollop of the Hatch Green Chile and Garlic Goat Cheese that I did a couple of days ago.

Helllooo, my darling Sammie.

Fried Tomato Sandwiches with Pesto and Goat Cheese
(adapted from Mary Joe Sweeney's winning recipe)

1 large ripe tomato
1 nice thick chunk of goat cheese
1 Tblsp pesto
Flour, well seasoned with salt and pepper
1 egg, lightly beaten
Panko breadcrumbs
Olive oil or canola oil for sauteing

Core the tomato and slice it into 4 even slices.  Mix the pesto into the goat cheese.  Add half of it to one slice of tomato, and top with another to make a sandwich.  Repeat with the rest of the goat cheese and the 2 remaining tomato slices.  Dredge in the flour, then the egg, and then the breadcrumbs.  Saute in oil until golden brown, then carefully flip and lightly brown the other side. Remove from heat and immediately salt the sandwiches. Drain briefly on paper towels, and serve hot.  Makes 2 sandwiches.

Like LilSis' little baby quiches yesterday, this is a recipe that allows you to do whatever you want with it.  Use any soft cheese you like, but remember that if it's not soft and gooey, it won't get melty before the tomatoes get yukky.  Add in olives, herbs (chives would be good), garlic, scallions, anything you can think of.  A little shredded parmesan would be good mixed in with the breadcrumbs too.

Fried Tomato Sandwich with Pesto and Goat Cheese

~BigSis

August 25, 2009

Have you ever bought the little frozen mini quiches for a party when you're in a real pinch for an appetizer and don't have any time to make them from scratch? Actually, I've had to do that a couple of times, but I would much rather serve homemade appetizers. I guess I could compare myself to a baking from scratch snob that doesn't like cake mixes; I don't really like store bought appetizers.

If I think back to my childhood days, I may love appetizers as much as I do because SisMama and D always had cheese, crackers, and sardines or chips and dip out for us to snack on before dinner. I always loved that and still do! SirHoney's mother doesn't believe in appetizers before dinner because it could spoil your appetite. (Party Pooper!) You might even get your hand slapped if you try to steal an olive off of the relish tray before you sit down to dinner.

To this day, I prefer to go out and share a couple of appetizers for dinner versus ordering a full entree. And, I'd much rather host an Cocktail & Hors D'Oeuvres Party instead of a sit-down dinner party.

For some reason, I've never made mini quiches myself.  Yesterday, I was in the mood to do something a little different, plus I was hungry and didn't want to wait almost an hour for a full size quiche to bake, so I decided to make these. And, I always make my quiche crustless, so the mini cups were also crustless.

Since I wanted these quiche cups to be bite size, I used the mini muffin pan instead of the regular size muffin pan. I browsed the Internet a little bit to peek at some recipes, but I didn't find anything that ‘blew my socks off', so I ended up just throwing this together. I saw that a lot of the quiche cup recipes used muffin baking cups but I didn't see a reason to use those. I just wanted to pop them in my mouth right out of the tin instead of having to remove them from a baking cup.

And, since I was hungry, I got in too big of a hurry and forgot the Frank's Red Hot that I had intended on adding. (I even had it sitting out on the counter.) I was also going to add some cracked pepper and maybe some shallot pepper but I totally spaced and forgot that too.  🙁

You could vary these ingredients and add ham, bacon bits, spinach or broccoli instead of asparagus, onions, chives, basil, etc.  This is EXACTLY the kind of recipe that I LOVE! You can make it your own and use whatever you happen to be in the mood for that day without worrying that you'll screw it up! The quantities are not exact and luckily, it doesn't matter!

These got the ‘thumbs up' from BigT and HayHay, who both happened to be standing by waiting for them to come out of the oven! You could actually pop the whole little cup in your mouth, but if you happened to bite it in half, here's what you would find!

Mini Asparagus Tomato Quiche Cups

3 eggs, beaten
3/4 c. grated cheddar cheese
1 small tomato, peeled, seeded, and chopped
12 stalks grilled asparagus (tips cut off and the stalks chopped)
1/4 c. or so of chopped leftover sauteed mushrooms
Pam Cooking Spray

Spray the muffin tin with Pam. Beat the eggs in a small bowl and add the cheese, tomato, chopped asparagus and mushrooms. Stir until blended well. Ladle the quiche into the muffin tins. (I used an ice cream scoop to prevent a mess.) This quantity perfectly filled up the 12 mini cups. Place an asparagus tip on top of each filled cup. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

It doesn't get much easier than that, does it?

~LilSis

August 24, 2009

The Hatch Green Chile Festival is in full swing! If you haven't gone “Hatch Crazy” before, now is the time! What's the big deal about the Hatch Green Chiles? They are green chiles that are only grown in Hatch, New Mexico. They are delicious, and they're only available for a short time each year. Here in Texas, we're already hot and spicy so when Hatch time rolls around, we go nuts!

You can do a million things with these flavorful peppers. I wandered through Central Market the other night amidst the Hatch Green Chile frenzy, and they were sampling these things in the store:

• Hatch Green Chile Monterrey Jack Cheese grilled in sourdough bread (unbelievably scrumptious)

• Hatch Green Chile Pesto wrapped up in a tortilla with mild sliced roasted peppers

• Hatch Green Chile Cheese Bread

They also had these items all made with Hatch Green Chiles: tortillas, tortilla chips, sausages, hamburger patties, hamburger and hot dog buns, chili con queso, popcorn, twice-baked potatoes, and meatloaf!  So apparently there isn't anything that a Hatch Chile can't do!

I decided to use some of my roasted pepper stash in a goat cheese spread. I've been buying a Hatch Green Chile Goat Cheese from a little local goat farm for the last couple of years, but sadly they recently went out of business so I made my own easy version.  I used the mild variety of the peppers, so please check the heat level of your peppers and adjust the quantity you use in this recipe if yours are hot.  Trust me!  The hot ones are hotter than heck, and if you use a whole 1/4 cup of them in this recipe, your hair will absolutely be on fire!  Not to mention other parts of your body!

Hatch Green Chile and Garlic Goat Cheese

Hatch Green Chile and Garlic Goat Cheese

4 garlic cloves, crushed (I used 6 cloves cause that's how I roll)
1/4 cup roasted and chopped mild Hatch Green Chiles
Olive oil for sauteing
8 ounces goat cheese
Dash of Frank's Red Hot Sauce
Pepper to taste

Saute the crushed garlic in the olive oil over low heat for a minute or two, but do not brown.  Add the chopped chiles and saute for another 30 seconds.  Add to the goat cheese, and mix to blend well.  Add the Frank's Red Hot and pepper to taste.  Serve with crackers or crudite.

Hatch Green Chile and Garlic Goat Cheese with Tomato Dippers

Whatever your pepper pleasure is, make sure to take advantage of these peppers while they're in season!

~BigSis

August 22, 2009

Tomato Salad with Feta, Basil and Balsamic Reduction

One of the bummers of summer coming to an end is that excellent tomatoes vanish.  The days of collecting big bags of succulent locally-grown tomatoes from the farmer's market will be long gone.  Boo.  Before that happens and I go into withdrawal and deep depression, I'm making all of the yummy summer tomato recipes that I can.  Here's a recipe for a delicious fresh tomato salad that couldn't be easier.

Don't let the fancy title fool you.  It's way simple, and you can use whatever quantities and whatever ingredients you like. You could add roasted red pepper, mint, olives, capers, pine nuts…anything your little heart desires!  As my old boss would say, you're only limited by your imagination!  He would also say that it's easier to ask forgiveness rather than permission, but the company folded so I'm thinking that maybe that wasn't such a good philosophy.  🙂  This salad is good though!

Tomato Salad with Feta, Basil and Balsamic Reduction

1 large tomato
2 small or 1 medium tomato, chopped
2 fresh basil leaves, chiffonade
Squeeze of fresh lemon juice
Drizzle of extra virgin olive oil
Dash of lemon pepper
2 tablespoons or more feta (I like more!)
Lettuce for serving
Balsamic Reduction (cook 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar over low heat until it thickens slightly.  Cool before using.)

First, make the receptacle for the salad.  Turn the large tomato upside down,with the stem side down.  Make 4 cuts, like you're making an asterisk, but don't cut all the way through; only a little more than 3/4 of the way down.  You want to be able to spread the “petals” of the tomato to make room for the salad to sit.  Place the tomato on a bed of torn lettuce.

Mix the chopped tomato with the basil, lemon juice, olive oil, lemon pepper and feta. Toss lightly together, and spoon into the center of the prepared tomato.  Drizzle with the reduced balsamic.  Voila!  Vive la Summer!

~BigSis

August 12, 2009

I think that if you looked at my genetic makeup under a microscope or DNA viewer or whatever the heck you would use for such a purpose, you would see that I'm 1/8 Choctaw and 7/8 Chickpea!  I eat SO many chickpeas, I'm sure I'm close to turning into one!  I honestly eat a chickpea in some form or another at least 4 times a week.  If it's not hummus, then it's one of these other two go-to lazy vegetarian girl dishes:

• Marinated Chickpeas – Ok, pay close attention because this is super-duper complicated.  Take a can or two of chickpeas.  I actually wouldn't even bother with just one can because I'm such a chickpea piggie.  Dump the chickpeas into a colander.  Rinse them with cool water to get rid of all the slimy gross liquid they've been swimming around in since they were canned.  Drain them well and pour into a bowl.  Add fresh lemon or lime juice, extra virgin olive oil or your favorite delicious healthy oil (could be macadamia or walnut or whatever), sea salt, fresh pepper, and voila!  You're done!  If you want to get fancy, add other seasonings, like Frank's Red Hot Sauce, lemon pepper (Penzey's is my choice), fresh herbs, or even parmigiano reggiano shreds.  Eat it up asap or let it sit for a while.  I'm addicted to this as much as I am to hummus.  You can crush the peas a little bit if you want, or leave them whole.  I like this at room temperature.

• Not-Tuna Chickpea Salad – Here's another high-difficulty gourmet recipe.  Rinse and drain the chickpeas, and then whir them around in a little food processor or chopper til they're crushed up some but still have some texture.  I don't like them completely pureed.   You may need a little olive oil or lemon juice if the mixture is too dry, but usually they mush up fine.  Then, basically make your usual  tuna salad recipe with whatever you like, substituting the chickpeas for the tuna, of course.  I like a dab of mustard, some mayo (dairy-free would be fine), dill pickle relish, a little lemon juice, Frank's Red Hot, lemon pepper, and sea salt.  Pile it onto whole grain bread or crackers, fill a pita, or just gobble it up with a spoon.  It would also be good wrapped up in some lettuce leaves or piled into a hollowed out tomato for lunch.  You may say “weird” right now, but try it and you'll say “hmmm, BigSis was right.  This is yummy!”

That's it guys and girls…two of my easy, healthy, vegetarian staple chickpea dishes.  Certainly not on the menu at LilSis' house, but at Casa BigSis, it's a scrumptious meal!  You know, I like to eat healthy but I don't usually have much time for cooking in the evening so I need fast food that isn't junk food.  I'll have more easy meatless recipes for you later.  Have a tasty day!

~BigSis

August 11, 2009

Hay Hay was a little disappointed that we didn't make time to get him some White Castle Burgers on our recent trip to Chicago. I'm not sure what the fascination is with those little burgers, but it may be because you can eat so many of them at one sitting. I couldn't tell you from experience because I've never actually eaten one.

I've never even wanted to make sliders because I thought you had to make each little hamburger patty individually and it seemed like too much work for teeny, weeny burgers. I never even thought about cooking the beef all together in one pan and then cutting them into small patties.

When I first saw this recipe for Sliders on Noble Pig, I knew that my guys would like them, but I had no idea that they would absolutely go crazy over them! I decided to surprise HayHay with this treat since he missed out on the White Castles.

I barely got to grab one to take a few quick photos before the carnivores swooped in with their plates. I obviously wasn't successful in trying to take a photo of the entire platter of sliders. Actually, the photo of the one alone looks a little sad, too, but these were so good! Be sure to visit Noble Pig to check out her recipe and awesome photos of these sliders.

Between HayHay, one of his buddies, and SirHoney, all sixteen little sliders disappeared within minutes. Wow! You'd think that I never fed them. (Luckily, I did manage to eat one myself.)

It's funny how BigSis was just talking about being a vegetarian. (It wasn't planned for me to talk about beef the day after she talks about not eating any critters. It just worked out that way.) I think I could probably do without meat if I lived alone, but the guys in my house would never stand for it. They are ‘meat eatin' maniacs!

~LilSis

August 9, 2009

Just a quick little reminder: Don't forget to check out the August roundup of nutty pies and tarts on You want pies with that? For those who entered, the voting ends Monday at 10:00 a.m. and the winner will be announced soon after.

Thanks to Jacque at Daisy Lane Cakes for choosing the ‘Nut' theme for this month's event. I can't wait to see the announcement for next month's theme.

~LilSis

August 7, 2009

There are only a few weeks of Summer left, so I find myself daydreaming about a nice trip to Paradise before it's time to get ready for back-to-school.  If someone were to ask me to describe my idea of Paradise, I'd probably say something like this:

“I'm on an island far, far away where the sand is so soft and so white that it reminds me of powdered sugar, and the beach is surrounded by the most gorgeous, clear turquoise blue water that you've ever seen. There is not a cloud in the sky and the sun's rays feel perfect on my skin that is slathered in my favorite Hawaiian Tropic. There are no cell phones, computers or televisions on the island and I am able to leisurely read a book while laying on the beach, totally uninterrupted, except for the occasional delivery of food and cold beverages”.

Unfortunately, it's highly unlikely that I'll be experiencing anything like that any time in the near future so I'll have to compromise.

(Yes, this sign really is in my backyard; but, no, it's not always Happy Hour.) 🙂

Since it's Friday and the guys are golfing today, I thought I might be able to experience a little Paradise right here in my own backyard. I'm going to try and take a couple hours off this afternoon to read by the pool while I have the house to myself. I may have a couple of friends stop by later so I wanted to make some sort of refreshing, tropical dessert.

While browsing the Internet looking for some ideas for a freezer pie, I stumbled upon this recipe for Paradise Pie on texascooking.com. I knew right away that I wanted to make this pie and I was thrilled that it was so fast and easy to put together!

The combination of the pineapple, coconut, and pecans was so tropical that I almost felt like I if I closed my eyes, I could pretend that I was in Paradise!

Paradise Pie poolside, anyone?

Paradise Pie

• 1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk
• 1/3 cup lemon juice
• 1 can (8 oz.) crushed pineapple, well drained
• 1/2 cup coconut
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 carton (8 oz.) frozen whipped topping, thawed (use 4 oz.)
• 1 9-inch graham cracker crust

Combine the milk and lemon juice in a bowl. Stir well. Add the drained pineapple, coconut and pecans, mixing well. Gently fold in the whipped topping. Pour into the crust. Freeze until firm, at least 4 hours. Remove from the freezer about 15 minutes before serving. Cover any leftover pie loosely with foil or place inside a large freezer storage bag and return to the freezer.

I'm submitting this recipe to this month's You want pies with that event. Be sure to check the site on August 8th for the full roundup!

~LilSis

July 15, 2009

Thanks for all the great healthy snack ideas yesterday, LilSis.  You know I love snacks as much as you do…salty and savory ones rather than sweet ones usually.  I also agree with eating small meals during the day.  For my second breakfast or my after-workout snack, I sometimes have a granola or protein bar.  Not a big meal replacement bar, but a nice tasty snack-size one that doesn't have too many calories, fat grams or sugar grams.  I was excited to try these new Granola Nut Clusters from Nature Valley that MyBlogSpark sent us to investigate.

We got four flavors: Nut Lovers, Honey Roasted Peanut, Roasted Cashew and Roasted Almond.  I tried some on my own and took some to work for an informal taste test. LilSis tried them, and also got the expert opinion from my favorite surfer dude and her 15-year-old eating machine, HayHay.

Nut Lovers

(7 clusters: 160 cal, 10 g fat, 14g carbs, 7 g sugar, 4 g protein)

Please note there has been a limited recall of this variety.  Check the Nature Valley web site for the impacted “use by dates”.

• BigSis: Tastes stale! I expected this to be delicious with all the nuts, but you didn't get much granola, and the nuts were just blah and soggy-ish.  Not worth the calories and fat for sure!

• BigSis' Co-workers: Texture is a little soft, tastes of honey, needs more almonds, nothing stood out, no one liked it.

• LilSis: I thought these would be my favorite of the bunch but they were a strange texture. They seemed almost stale. Too soft. I didn't like the cashews in the combo.

• HayHay: They're alright. They almost all taste the same to me.

Honey Roasted Peanut

(7 clusters: 140 cal, 7 g fat, 15 g carbs, 8 g sugar, 5 g protein)

• BigSis: You can see lots of peanuts and there's a big peanut flavor, but I'm not a real fan of peanuts. So.

• BigSis' Co-workers: Very peanutty, flavor better and not as sticky as the Nut Lovers, favorite of two people.

• LilSis: These were good and more crunchy than the Nut Lovers. I could definitely eat a big bag of honey roasted peanuts back in the day, but I don't care that much for peanuts these days.

• HayHay: They're alright. They almost all taste the same to me.

• SirHoney: These are my favorite!! (You knew he'd have to get in on this taste test!)

Roasted Cashew

(7 clusters: 150 cal, 7 g fat, 18g carbs, 8 g sugar, 4 g protein)

• BigSis: These seem a bit more salty than other flavors with big pieces of cashew, flavor is fine but not great.

• BigSis' Co-workers: Extremely crispy, big bite of crunch for the size, not as much nut flavor as peanut, eeewww don't like it.

• LilSis: I don't care for the texture of the cashew combined with the granola.

• HayHay: Don't like them at all.

Roasted Almond

(7 clusters: 140 cal. 7 g fat, 15 g carbs, 7 g sugar, 4 g protein)

• BigSis: My favorite of all 4 varieties, big pieces of almond and great almond flavor mixing well with granola.

• BigSis' Co-workers: Very crispy and crunchy, lots of granola and nuts, so crunchy I almost want to make it into cereal and put milk on it, favorite of one person.

• LilSis: These are my favorite. They have a very similar texture as the honey roasted peanut, but I just like almonds more than peanuts. (As the taste testing progressed, these did prove to be quite addicting!)

• HayHay: Not a fan of almonds.

Overall, I think the clusters have way too many calories, fat and sugar for me to snack on them.  I do think the Roasted Almond flavor is delicious, and I wouldn't mind keeping a bag of it around to ease a sweet tooth urge at night.  One or two of these is a nice little sweet bite without any caffeine, so they would be perfect as an occasional evening treat…not as a daily snack for a forty-something woman!  None of my co-workers would buy them, as they are all chewy granola fans rather than crunchy fans, and these are uber-crunchy!

~BigSis

July 14, 2009

If you were reading a couple of days ago, I mentioned that I would share with you my some of my favorite healthy snacks. I've recently cut out a few that were too high in calories and/or fat and have narrowed down my favorites to these snacks that are all between 100 – 200 calories. Here's my Top Ten:

• Mott's Healthy Harvest Granny Smith Applesauce (mid-morning snack) (1 cup; 50 calories, 0 fat)

• Boiled or scrambled egg with Frank's Red Hot Sauce  (mid-morning snack) (1 large egg, 70 calories, 4.5 g. fat)

• Trader Joe's Multi-Grain Pretzel Nuggets with Sesame Seeds  (22 pretzel nuggets; 110 calories, 1 gram fat)

• The Laughing Cow Light Creamy Swiss Wedges or Cheese Bites  (1 wedge or 5 cheese bites; 35 calories, 2 grams fat)

• Weight Watchers Natural Light String Cheese (1 stick; 50 calories, 2.5 g. fat)

• Shelled Edamame (1/2 c. serving; 110 calories, 3.5 g. fat)

• Trader Joe's Everything Pretzel Slims (23 slims; 110 calories, 1/2 g. fat)

• The Laughing Cow Mini Babybel Light (1 piece; 50 calories, 3 g. fat)

• Trader Joe's Parmesan Garlic Pita Chips (1 oz.; 130 calories, 4 g. fat)

• Trader Joe's Roasted Garlic Hummus (2 T.; 50 calories, 3.5 g. fat)

I love to combine the pretzel nuggets with the cheese bites and the pita chips with the hummus, so I reduce the quantity of the pretzels and the pita chips in an effort to keep each snack around 150 calories.

You'll notice that several of my favorites are from Trader Joe's and I do know that not everyone has a Trader Joe's nearby, but you can definitely find similar products made by different companies. Rold Gold has some Harvest Wheat Pretzel Twists that are low in calories and fat and there are plenty of brands of pita chips and hummus. Or, when you have time, why not make your own pita chips and hummus?

And, you can also tell by my list that I don't crave sweets at all. But if I did, I'd be snacking on sugar free Jello snack packs, which only have 10 calories and zero fat per serving. You can't go wrong with that!

I would love to hear from you if you have a favorite low calorie, low fat snack! Come on…it's nice to share.

~LilSis