Easy Quiche

This morning I think I think I threw the easiest party in my hostessing history. It was a birthday brunch for a friend of mine. I bought everything from costco, (including their dangerous ginormous chocolate cake), clipped a few blossoms from the tree out front, and called it good. 

The only thing I actually made was the quiche. This recipe was surprisingly simple and yummy. 

1 premade frozen pie shell

6 eggs

3/4 cup whole milk

Salt and pepper

1 onion (sautéed and caramelized) 

1/2 cup cubed cheddar cheese 

1 cup cubed ham 

1 tsp dried tyme 

Heat oven to 375. Cook your onions, mix all ingredients, pour in pie crust and bake for 45 minutes. The beauty of a quiche is that you can swap out any kinda cheese you want, omit the meat, add bacon, add veggies, it's a great dish to use whatever is left in your pantry. This was a hit at my party today and came together in a snap. 

Passover Popovers

happy Easter! Today after our egg hunt I realized I didn't have any plans for a good Easter breakfast. On a whim I remembered a recipe I pinned from the kitchn.com for popovers. I decided to try them as it seemed different enough to feel festive. They turned out great! Buttery, fluffy, crispy, and best of all I just used a regular old muffin tin! No fancy popover pan needed. See how pretty? 

My husband was utterly impressed and are half the pan! He declared pop overs a new Easter tradition. 

Use a large 6 muffin tin pan. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. 

Ingredients

1 cup whole milk

2 large eggs

1 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted 

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

In a blender, mix the ingredients listed above until frothy and bubbly. Let the popover batter rest while the oven heats. Put the empty muffin tin in the oven for 2 minutes to warm. Remove from the oven and melt an extra 2 tablespoons of butter then divide the butter between the cups. Pulse the batter in the blender one more time to froth and then fill each cup halfway.

Place the pan into the oven and bake for 15 minutes. Do not open the oven door during baking unless you want to unpop your popovers. Still without opening the oven, reduce the heat to 350°F and bake for another 15 minutes. Finished popovers will be golden-brown, feel dry to the touch, and sound hollow when tapped.

Eat and enjoy! I'm hungry just thinking about it! 

Falafel with tahini sauce

Tonight I made falafel with tahini sauce. It was surprisingly easy. It was pan fried but I might actually try baking it next time. 

For the falafel:
1 chopped white onion
3 garlic cloves
1 can chickpeas, drained
1/2 cup parsley leaves
1/2 cup cilantro leaves
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin powder 
1 teaspoons baking powder
½ cup all-purpose flour

Vegetable oil, for pan frying
Pita or naan bread, for serving

Lemon slices to squeeze over 

For the tahini sauce:

1 single serve cups plain Greek yogurt
¼ cup tahini 
Juice and zest of 1 lemon

Salt and pepper 

Pulse onion and garlic in food processor until minced, set aside. Pulse spices, herbs, beans until just chopped. Add back onions and baking soda and pulse till combined. Slowly add flour 1/4 cup at a time till firm enough to mold into patties. Put in fridge while you mix sauce together, preferably leave it In fridge for like an hour. Pan fry in hot oil for 3 minutes per side. Salt as soon as done, squeeze lemon over top and serve with sauce on naan bread. 

Costco Quinoa Salad

Last week my husband and I were sampling while shopping at Costco when a certain sample stopped us both in our tracks. It was a crunchy tart fresh quinoa veggie salad. The sample was so good that the costco employee admitted that we were eating the very last batch of it and that they were sold out. Bummer. We decided to try to recreate it. Here is our first attempt. I'm sure it will keep getting modified until we nail it perfectly.

1 1/2 cups cooked red quinoa

3/4 cup red lentils cooked

1 cucumber peeled and chopped into bite sized pieces 

2 Roma tomatoes chopped into bite sized pieces

1/2 cup scallion or red onion chopped

1 yellow bell pepper chopped 

2 tablespoons chopped parsley

2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

1/3 cup olive oil

Zest and juice of 1 small lemon 

3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar

Salt and pepper to taste 

Make sure your lentils and quinoa are cooled and mix all together and serve at room temperature. 

Thai Chicken Pasta Salad

This is a lovely savory half salad half pasta dish. I love when a pasta dish is full of veggies and I love when it has a dressing that makes it really satisfying. This salad is served cold and is very easy to whip up. 

Chicken Marinade:

1 tbs. Sesame seed oil

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup rice vinegar

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 Garlic clove

1 tbs grated ginger root

1 tbs lime juice

(Or if your feeling lazy, you can use any teriyaki marinade you have on hand. Just don't tell my mother-in-law.) 

Combine marinade ingredients. Marinate chicken for 1 hour then bake chicken till 180 degrees. Chop chicken into small pieces then chill. 

Salad Dressing:

1/2 cup vegetable oil

2 tbs soy sauce 

1 tbs sesame oil 

1/4 cup rice vinegar

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 clove garlic minced 

1 tbs grated ginger root

1 tbs peanut butter 

2 tsp lime juice

Make dressing, mix, chill.

Salad:

8 ounces vermicelli (or whatever pasta you choose. Tonight I used Asian corn noodle.)

1/2 bunch green onions chopped 

1 red bell pepper thinly sliced

1 1/2 cup shredded carrots

1/3 cup roasted peanuts 

Cook pasta, drain, run under cool water to chill. Combine all ingredients and mix and serve. Serves 6. 

Braised Cinnamon Pork with Prunes

Let me just put this out there - I am not a pork fan. It's usually dry, fatty, salty, just doesn't hit the spot. Tonight I finally tried this "pork and prune" dish of my mother-in-laws that my husband has been asking me to make. I wasn't very excited about making it. Pork? Bleh. Prunes? Gross. But being my mother-in-law's recipe, I should have known it would have been good. I ate my entire serving of pork, when usually I can only stomach a bite or two of the stuff. It was great. 

1 Loin Pork Roast, pulled and tied (2.5 lbs)
Salt and Pepper
2 Tbs Vegetable Oil
1 Tbs Butter
2 Medium Onions finely chopped
1 Cinnamon stick 2 inches long
1.5 cups chicken stock (about 1 can)
1 cup dried pitted prunes
2 Tbs mild honey
2 Tbs fresh lemon juice

Heat oil and butter in a heavy le creuset type dish
Pat your loin dry with paper towels
season all sides with salt and pepper
Brown on all sides in pan
Remove from pan, add onions and sauté (season onions with salt and pepper as well)
Return pork back to pan, add water and cinnamon. 
Bring to a boil, then reduce to low and simmer for 90 minutes (turning meat from time to time)
Add prunes to liquid, cover, and continue to simmer for 30 minutes
Stir honey into liquid, basting pork as you go for about 5 minutes
Transfer meat to plate, remove prunes to a bowl
Cook sauce until thickened, add lemon juice, add prunes back to sauce and season to taste
Arrange pork slices and spoon sauce over pork
Enjoy!

Orange Marmalade Chicken

The other day I was making orange rolls (that turned out terrible by the way) when I realized I have a whole jar of "orange marmalade" in my fridge. I made a mental note, then this week while going through my mother-in-laws cook book I found a recipe for "orange marmalade chicken". It actually seemed like an easy dish, with mostly pantry ingredients - which I love. My mother in law had noted that it was an impressive yet easy dish for company. I love it when I find a dish that is easy to make, but with complex flavors that don't taste like it's an "easy meal". I adjusted a few things in my rendition but this dish did not disappoint. I would make this for company anytime. It was so easy! 

3 Boneless skinless chicken breasts
3 Tablespoons butter
Salt, Pepper, Nutmeg (to taste)
2 Tablespoons orange marmalade
1 green onion sliced (I ydidn't have green onion, so i used a slice of a regular yellow onion and browned it in the butter before I cooked the chicken)
1/2 tsp dried french taragon
1/3 cup white wine
1/4 cup heavy cream (I didn't have cream so I used whole milk)

Sprinkle chicken with salt, pepper, and nutmeg. In large skillet melt butter (and brown onions if you are using yellow onions), brown chicken on both sides, add marmalade, onion if you haven't already, tarragon and wine. Cover and reduce heat, simmer for 15-20 minutes until chicken is cooked through. Remove chicken from skillet, add cream or milk until sauce is thickens. I added a tsp of flour to help mine thicken. Salt and pepper as needed. Cover chicken is sauce. Delish!