I've told you before about my family's undying devotion to the taco, and also about how we sometimes get a little bored with the traditional and like to spice it up a little. Well, how about an Asian taco? This fabulous recipe combines all my favorite Asian flavors in handy taco form. The spicy kick of the meat is tempered by the fresh, fruity salsa on top, and the lettuce as a taco shell makes this just a little bit healthier than the traditional taco wrapped in a tortilla and slathered with sour cream and cheese. Pretty much the only downfall to these wraps is how messy they are! I left the table with sauce oozing down every digit, but licking it off was half the fun. Don't be intimidated by some of the more exotic ingredients in this dish. Hoisin sauce, Thai chili sauce, and sesame oil are crucial to achieving that authentic Asian flavor and you can find them in pretty much any grocery store in the Asian section. Once you have them in your pantry you'll find yourself reaching for them time and again.
Hoisin Pork Lettuce Wraps
Prep time:10 min Cook time:15 min
Serves 5
1/3 cup hoisin sauce
2 Tbs lime juice
2 Tbs Thai chili sauce
1 Tbs soy sauce
2 Tbs honey
1 Tbs sesame oil
1/4 tsp ground ginger(or 1 tsp fresh)
1 Tbs oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 Tbs minced red onion
1 lb ground pork (or pork sausage)
For the Salsa:
1 mango, cubed
1/2 cucumber, cubed
2 Tbs diced red onion
1/2 jalapeno, seeded and minced
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 Tbs lime juice
Large lettuce leaves
In a small bowl whisk together the hoisin, lime juice, chili sauce, soy sauce, honey, sesame oil, and ginger. Set aside.
In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat until shimmering. Add the garlic and onion; saute until soft, about 3-4 minutes.
Add the ground pork, breaking it up with your spatula as it cooks, 8-10 minutes. Once the pork is fully cooked, drain any fat from the skillet, then return to the stove over medium-low heat. Add the sauce mixture to the ground pork, toss to fully coat. Cover and simmer for about five minutes.
Meanwhile make the salsa. In a medium bowl, add the mango, cucumber, red onion, jalapeno, salt, and pepper. Toss everything together with the lime juice and set aside.
To assemble, spoon pork mixture into lettuce leaves, top with salsa and enjoy!
359 calories per serving. Click here for more nutritional info and shopping list!
It is no secret that we Americans love our french fries. Just look at pretty much every restaurant menu and you'll find those crispy little sticks of deliciousness. What's surprising, though, is how rarely you'll find a sweet potato fry on the menu. I do not understand this at all because sweet potato fries are awesome!
They have all the great features of regular fries: soft and fluffy interior, crispy flavorful exterior, and the convenience of finger food portability. Even better, they are rich in nutrients you won't find in your typical potato. Now, I'm not trying to say these are health food, they are deep-fried and slathered in sauce, but at least they have some antioxidants to help fight off all the bad mojo! Plus, their flavor is much richer and more interesting than plain old potatoes.
Now, recently I've noticed that you can buy them in the freezer section of most grocery stores, but they are so easy to make yourself, and so much more economical, I can't imagine why you would ever bother to buy them in a bag. Of course, you can always fry and serve these plain, but the simple spice mix and flavorful dipping sauce really make these amazing.
Spiced Sweet Potato Fries
Prep time: 5 min Cook time: 5 min
Serves 6
1 cup flour
1 Tbs cumin
1 Tbs coriander
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp salt
2 large egg whites, beaten
3 large sweet potatoes, cut into fries
1/2 cup Dijon mustard
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup mayonnaise
Preheat deep fryer or large pot of oil to 360.
Combine flour and spices in a large container. Dredge sweet potato fries in egg whites then in flour mixture. Shake off extra coating.
Deep fry for 3-5 minutes or till fries are crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.
Combine mustard, sugar and mayo until smooth and serve with fries.
(Like all fries, these don't taste so great the next day, so eat 'em while they're hot. I'm pretty sure this won't be a problem!)
310 calories per serving. Click here for more nutritional info and shopping list!
Happy Good Friday everyone! I was thrilled to have the day off today, but of course, my to-do list ended up being longer than my day. No worries, though, because I had some super easy and awesome recipes up my sleeve to make dinner and dessert extra special for my company.
We go meatless on Friday's during Lent, so finding great meals is always a challenge, but everybody likes Alfredo! Rachel's bestie was visiting this weekend, and I was amazed to learn she had never tried it before. She can be kind of picky, but after one taste she was ready to guzzle the whole bowl.
If you've never made homemade Alfredo before, you'll be thrilled at how easy this is and how much better it tastes than that nasty stuff in a can! Of course, you could always add some cooked chicken to this, but it really doesn't need it. All it needs is a salad on the side, to offset the calories in this creamy wonder!
Fettuccine Alfredo
Total time: 15 min
Serves 8
1 (16 oz) pkg fettuccine
1 stick of butter
1 clove minced garlic
1 pint of heavy cream
1 cup fresh Parmesan cheese, grated
2 Tbs cream cheese
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp white pepper
Cook pasta in boiling, salted water till tender; drain.
Meanwhile, melt butter in a large sauce pan over medium heat. Add garlic and cook for two minutes, then add in cream cheese and stir till melted.
Slowly whisk in heavy cream and cook until hot, but do not boil. Add in Parmesan cheese and whisk until the cheese melts. Sprinkle in salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately over hot pasta.
579 calories per serving. Click here for more nutritional info and shopping list!
The calendar says spring has arrived, and I've been collecting strawberry recipes all winter, just waiting for spring to change those tasteless white-bellied berries to plump, red and juicy. Unfortunately, that hasn't quite happened yet, what with the freaky winter weather we've had this year, but I just couldn't wait any longer! Fortunately, this recipe can camouflage even the most sour winter berries with its sweet strawberry glaze, and the sugar cookie crust just takes it over the top. Best of all, like all my favorite recipes, this is quick and easy and everybody loves it.
Strawberries and Cream Cookie Bars
Bake time: 10 min Total time: 20 min
Serves 20
1 (16.5 oz) roll sugar cookie dough
1 (8 oz) block cream cheese, softened
1/2 lb powdered sugar
1 (12.75 oz) tub strawberry glaze
1/2 pint strawberries, sliced
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13 inch pan with cooking spray and spread cookie dough evenly on bottom of pan. Bake for 10 minutes or till slightly browned. Let cool completely. Whip softened cream cheese till smooth; blend in powdered sugar. Spread cream cheese mixture onto cooled cookie dough. Combine strawberries with glaze and pour evenly on top. Keep refrigerated.
266 calories per serving. Click here for more nutritional info and shopping list!
God bless my husband, Allen; he is such a good man. He is kind and gentle, patient to a fault, and super handy around the house. He puts up with me and almost never complains about anything, which is a lot more than I can say about myself! He will also eat just about anything I serve him, like it or not, and rarely asks for anything special. When he does make a request I try my best to honor it, even if it's something I don't like myself, just because he deserves it.
The other day, out of the blue, he suggested potstickers for dinner. I don't know why because he's never mentioned them before or even ordered them at a restaurant, but he sent me a link to an Alton Brown recipe and everything, so I knew he really meant it. I was a little bummed, because the one and only time I ever had potstickers, I was unimpressed; they were gummy and flavorless. But I love my husband, so pot stickers went on the menu and I spent a good hour assembling and cooking them tonight. I am so glad I did! These pot stickers were chewy and delicious, with loads of flavor in each little pocket. They did take a long time to make, but luckily I had my sous chef helping me. Unfortunately, she ended up disliking them, but Allen and I thought they were fabulous and had a hard time stopping ourselves from eating "just one more!"
Pork Potstickers
Prep time: 30 min Cook time: 30 min
Makes 40 potstickers
1/2 lb pork sausage
1/4 cup finely chopped scallions
2 Tbs finely chopped red bell pepper
1 egg, lightly beaten
2 tsp ketchup
1 tsp yellow mustard
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
40 small wonton wrappers
Preheat oven to 200 degrees F. Combine all ingredients except wrappers in a medium-size mixing bowl.
To form the dumplings, remove several wonton wrappers from the package, covering the others with a damp cloth. Brush 2 of the edges of each wrapper lightly with water. Place 1/2 rounded teaspoon of the pork mixture in the center of the wrapper. Fold over, seal edges, and shape as desired. Set on a sheet pan and cover with a damp cloth. Repeat procedure until all of the filling is gone.
Heat a 12-inch saute pan over medium heat. Brush with vegetable oil once hot. Add 8 to 10 pot-stickers at a time to the pan and cook for 2 minutes, without touching. Once the 2 minutes are up, gently add 1/3 cup chicken stock to the pan, turn the heat down to low, cover, and cook for another 2 minutes. Remove wontons to a heatproof platter and place in the warm oven. Clean the pan in between batches by pouring in water and allowing the pan to deglaze. Repeat until all the wontons are cooked. Serve immediately.
Approximately 40 calories per potsticker.
If dessert isn't a food group, it should be because I eat multiple servings of it every day! I love desserts of all kinds, but cake is probably my very favorite. Okay, so it's the frosting more than the cake itself, but cake makes a great platform for transporting the frosting to my face! Sure you can make a pretty good cake from a box mix, but homemade is really not hard at all and only takes a few extra minutes. This recipe has a unique cherry almond flavor that can't be found in a box of Betty Crocker and sshhh, don't tell anyone, but it's actually really good even without the frosting!
Cherry Almond Cupcakes
Prep time: 45 min Bake time: 20 min
Makes 24 cupcakes
1/2 cup butter
4 egg whites
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
3/4 cup buttermilk*
1/3 cup maraschino cherry juice
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 tsp almond extract
12 maraschino cherries, chopped
24 maraschino cherries with stems (optional)
For Frosting:
1/2 cup butter, softened
4 cups powdered sugar
3 Tbs maraschino cherry juice
1/2 tsp almond extract
Allow butter and egg whites to stand at room temperature for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, line twenty-four 2-1/2-inch muffin cups with paper bake cups. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. In a 2-cup glass measuring cup combine buttermilk and cherry juice; set aside. In a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium to high speed for 30 seconds. Add sugar, vanilla, and almond extract; beat until combined. Add egg whites, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Alternately add flour mixture and buttermilk mixture to beaten mixture, beating on low speed after each addition just until combined. Do not overbeat. Stir in chopped cherries.
Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, filling each about two-thirds full. Bake for 18 to 25 minutes or until tops spring back when lightly touched. Cool cupcakes in muffin cups on wire racks for 5 minutes. Remove cupcakes from muffin cups. Cool completely on wire racks.
To make frosting, in a large mixing bowl beat butter with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth. Gradually add 1 cup of the powdered sugar, beating well. Beat in maraschino cherry juice and almond extract. Gradually beat in additional powdered sugar. If necessary, beat in additional cherry juice or milk, 1 teaspoon at a time, until frosting reaches spreading consistency. Using a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip, pipe frosting over tops of cupcakes. If desired, garnish with cherries.
262 calories per serving.
*Don't know what to do with the rest of the carton of buttermilk? Freeze it in ice cube trays and you'll have buttermilk on hand anytime you need it!
Spring has finally sprung around here and I couldn't be happier! I moved 700 miles south to get away from cold weather and this winter has reminded me way too much of home. Warm temps make me crave cold dishes that come together quick and easy so I can spend more time outside enjoying the weather. This salad is a perfect side to any meal and it's a star at a potluck. It's not exactly a "healthy" salad with all the cheese and mayo, but at least it makes me crave vegetables, which is definitely a step in the right direction for me!
Broccoli Salad
Prep time: 10 min
Serves 8
1 head broccoli
6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
1/2 cup red onion, diced
1/2 cup raisins
8 oz sharp cheddar, diced
1 cup mayonnaise
2 Tbs white vinegar
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
Salt and pepper, to taste
Cut broccoli into small florets and place in a large bowl. Add the crumbled bacon, onion, raisins, and cheese. In a small bowl, combine the remaining ingredients, stirring well. Add to broccoli mixture and toss gently. Season with salt and pepper.
476 calories per serving. Click here for more nutritional info and shopping list!
Hoisin Pork Lettuce Wraps
