appetizer | Eat.Live.Blog.

Three different types of homemade salsa

Posted on May 9, 2013 by Renee {Eat.Live.Blog.}

It’s salsa season people! It’s that time of the year where you can throw anything from the garden in the blender with some cilantro and lime and dip a tortilla chip in it and taste the season! Luckily this year I am growing tomatoes and jalapenos, so that will work out just fine!

Being that I am so excited for salsa season, I knew exactly what I was going to do when Palmolive Soft Touch challenged me to create 3 dishes to match their new springy colored dish soaps, I knew this would be a salsa challenge for me! The challenge was to figure out what type of salsa I could make to match the Vitamin E scented pink, aloe scented green, and coconut butter scented orangish-creamy colored soaps.

The pink was easy. My traditional salsa comes out with a beautiful pink hue. One down. At the grocery store, I was excited to see that corn on the cob is starting to come into season. The only thing more exciting than salsa season is corn on the cob season! So the orangish-creamy color would be a citrus corn salsa. For the green dish, it had to be tomatillos! But to make it a little different, I wanted this one to be a roasted salsa, and naturally that led me to including poblanos as well.

Each salsa turned out with its own distinct, delicious flavor. And the fun part…mixing and matching the salsas to create different flavors. A little tomatillo into the traditional to cool the heat a little. A little corn in the tomatillo for texture. And lets not talk about what these three will do for taco night! The corn salsa specially would be a great topping for a taco, or even on a grilled steak!

Naturally, when I was done cooking, I then got to have some dish scrubbing ”fun” with the lovely smelling Palmolives. And yes, my hands thanked me!

Disclaimer: I was compensated for incorporating Palmolive Soft Touch in a blog post creating recipes to match their new colors and scents. As always, all opinions expressed are my own. I actually am a faithful user of Palmolive Dish & Sponge Fresh, and am always happy to work with brands I enjoy.

Traditional Salsa Recipe

Ingredients

1 lb tomatoes (I used campari, but use your favorite type)
1 jalapeno (deseeded, or include some seeds if you like heat. If you don’t like heat at all, sub a poblano pepper.)
1 small vidalia onion (peeled and quartered
3 cloves of garlic (peeled)
1/2 cup fresh cilantro
Juice of 2 large limes
Salt to taste

Directions

Place all ingredients, except the lime juice and salt, in a blender or food processor
Blend to your desired consistency. If you like a chunky salsa, just pulse it a couple of times untill it gets to your liking.
Place the salsa in a mixing bowl and add you lime and salt to taste. Do not over salt, as the salsa marinades, the flavors will become stronger, including the salt.
Cool in the refrigerator for at least an hour.
Salsa will be good in the refrigerator for about 1 week

Roasted Tomatillo & Poblano Salsa

Ingredients

.75 lb (3 quarter lb) tomatillo (peeled, washed and halved)
1 large poblano (stem removed)
3 garlic cloves (do NOT peel)
1 small vidallia onion
1/2 cup fresh cilantro
1/8 tsp salt

Directions

Turn your oven onto broil
Place the tomatillo (cut side down), poblano (whole) and garlic (in the peel) on a cookie sheet and place on the top rack under the broiler.
Keep an eye on the veggies so they don’t burn to a crisp.
When the poblano begins to blister, flip it over.
When the 2nd side of the poblano begins to blister, remove it from the oven. Remove the garlic at this time as well.
When the tomatillo begins to blister, remove it from the oven as well.
Peel the skin off of the poblano. Remove the peel from the garlic.
Place all of your roasted veggies in a blender or food processor.
Add the onion and cilantro to the blender.
Blend the mixture to the desired consistency.
Stir in salt.
Refrigerate and eat when cold.
Salsa will be good in the refrigerator for about 1 week

Citrus Corn Salsa

Ingredients

2 cups corn kernels (about 2 cobs if you are using fresh)
1/2 large granny smith apple (peeled and chopped to corn kernel size)
Juice of 1 orange (1/4 cup)
Juice of 1 lime
1 tsp grated lime zest
1/2 tsp sugar
Pinch of cayenne pepper (optional)
Salt to taste

Directions

Mix corn and apple in a bowl
In a separate bowl, mix orange juice, lime juice, lime zest, sugar and cayenne pepper
Pour liquid over the corn mixture
Salt to taste
Allow to marinade for at least an hour before serving

Filed under: Recipes | Tagged: appetizer, dip, potluck, recipe, salsa | 1 Comment »

Super Bowl Stove Top Wings

Posted on February 1, 2013 by Renee {Eat.Live.Blog.}

I love making wings. Even if it is just for the fact I know what is going into them. First came my good ‘ole, finger licking, traditional wing recipe. Then I ventured into Asian Inspired Wings. And out of necessity this week, I bring you stove top wings. The oven was off limits, and it was WAY to cold to grill, so I had to come up with a way to do without, and still have my game time favorite food.

When I was a kid, my parents had pretty big get-togethers on a very frequent basis. Since we lived in Florida, and had a smaller house, these events normally took place in the backyard around the grill, and my dad was FAMOUS for his wings. Unfortunately I don’t have his exact recipe (and last time I asked him he didn’t remember), but what I did remember was the secret was to boil the wings in a delicious base to cook them before throwing them on the grill as a way to crisp them up.

Stove Wings 3

Armed with these memories, I set off to duplicate my dad’s wings…sans grill. It started out as mimicry, but took a left turn after the wings were boiled and I needed to figure out what to do with them then. I am happy to report that the result was a tender, juicy yet crispy, flavorful wing that will become my #1 wing recipe…for now….

Stove Wings

Stove Top Wings

Ingredients

2 lbs raw chicken wings
4 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup barbecue sauce
1/4 cup hot sauce (optional)
4 dashes of Worcestershire sauce
1 dried pasilla pepper
2 tablespoons of all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon mesquite seasoning (optional)
4 tablespoons vegetable oil (more if needed)

Directions

In a large stock pot, over medium-high heat, add ingredients 1-6.
Bring pot to a low boil, allow to boil for 10 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, mix together ingredients 7-12.
Once chicken is cooked, pour oil into a heavy pan and heat over medium-high.
In batches that will fit in your pan, remove chicken from the liquid and sprinkle the flour mixture on each side of each wing.
When oil is hot enough that it sizzles when a wing hits it, add your first batch of wings.
Allow to cook for about 1 minute, or until the side down browns nicely.
Flip and cook for another minute or until nicely brown.
Remove wing to a paper towel lined plate.
Repeat for remaining batches of wings.
Serve as is, or with your favorite dipping sauce.

Filed under: Recipes | Tagged: appetizer, chicken, chicken wings, dinner, game day, recipe, snack, superbowl, wings | 2 Comments »

Game Day Snack Recipe…and Plastics Makes it Possible Giveaway!

Posted on January 13, 2013 by Renee {Eat.Live.Blog.}

I am giving away some great plastic kitchen goodies! Read to the bottom of this post for details!

Plastic gets a bad wrap (pun intended). Because of decades of plastic being used as simple “throw away” and easy clean-up items, the stigma of plastics being disposable and not “fit for company” has somewhat stuck. But have you seen what plastic has been up to lately?

From reduced material plastic peanut containers, to Preserve Plastic products, plastics are making huge strides in sustainability.

Plastic has not only become an attractive alternative to glassware in the kitchen, the plastic industry is also leading efforts to protect our planet. Plus, when you have friends over for game day, and everyone gets excited over a great interception, things tend to go flying…and if they are on plastic platters you don’t have to worry about breakage!

This plastic platter is beautiful. You have to touch it to even know it’s not glass!

For this week’s game, I wanted to do a play on the jalapeno popper. I also wanted to use the super fun grater that I received. Naturally (?) I decided to make pepperoni pizza poppers!

This grater is amazing! It measures as you grate, AND has a no-slip bottom!

The poppers were tangy and multi-dimensional. They were a perfect one bite treat to get everyone ready for the game. They also got my brain working. You could stuff a pepper with pretty much anything! Chicken parm poppers, buffalo chicken poppers, and greek poppers are all on my list to try for the upcoming weekends.

What would you like to see in your poppers?

Pepperoni Pizza Poppers

Ingredients

1/4 cup grated mozzarella
1/4 cup grated parmesan
1/4 cup cream cheese (I used low-fat)
1/8 tsp basil
1/8 tsp oregano
Pepper to taste
Crushed red pepper to taste (optional)
1/4 cup chopped pepperoni
12 whole peppadew peppers (may substitute your favorite pickled or fresh peppers - seeded)
1/2 cup spaghetti sauce (homemade or store-bought)
Additional 1/4 cup of mixed, grated parmesan and mozzarella

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees
In a bowl, mix together ingredients 1 – 7
Once ingredients are combined, add pepperoni and stir until it is equally distributed
Stuff each of the peppers with as much of the cheese mixture as possible.
Place stuffed peppers in a deep baking dish
Pour sauce over top of peppers
Sprinkle with remaining cheese
Bake for 10 minutes, or until hot throughout

And now the giveaway!!

I will be giving away a prize pack of some great plastic kitchen goodies! All you have to do is:

Leave a comment here telling me how you use plastic in your kitchen.
For a bonus entry, tweet ”#PlasticsintheKitchen make #GameDay perfect thanks to @renh77 & @plasticpossible http://wp.me/pVsto-Nf“. Make sure to come back her and leave another comment letting me know you tweeted.
Winners will be chosen using random.org on Wednesday, January 16, 2013 at 10:00 p.m.
Winner must live within the continental U.S.
Winner must respond to notification email within 48 hours or the prize will be forfeited

Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by Ogilvy PR and the American Chemistry Council’s Plastics Make it Possible campaign. I received a package of plastic kitchen goods in exchange for writing this post. As always, all opinions are my own, and I stand fully behind them.

Filed under: Recipes | Tagged: appetizer, football, game day, plastic, plastics make it possible, recipe, snack | 18 Comments »

Super Easy Holiday Appetizer

Posted on December 22, 2012 by Renee {Eat.Live.Blog.}

Every year Ryan’s family has a potluck Christmas Eve. It is one of my favorite holiday traditions. However, this year is a little different for me. While I am completely in the holiday “spirit”, I just don’t have the energy to go all out on the cooking. Blame the flu, blame working more than last year, blame me for being lazy. Whatever.

But here’s the thing. Just because you want to take it easy over the holidays, it doesn’t mean you have to be a slacker. There are easy recipes out there. I even found a way to make my greek salad a little easier (throw all the dressing ingredients in the blender and blend for 30 seconds)!

A couple of weeks ago I headed over to my friend Lara’s house for her son’s first birthday. Amongst the yummy spread was a bright and delicious bean dip. I found out that not only was the dip easy, it is super easy to make. The additional beauty of this is that you can customize the seasonings to make it different every time.

Holiday White Bean Dip

Ingredients:

1 – 14.5 oz can of white kidney beans
1 – Heaping tablespoon of plain yogurt
1 – garlic clove (peeled)
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp chili powder

Directions:

Put all ingredients in blender or food processor. Blend until you get the desired consistency
Adjust seasoning to taste
If the dip is too thick, add a teaspoon of yogurt at a time and blend to desired thickness.
Serve with tortilla chips, Pretzel Crisps, or veggies

Filed under: Recipes | Tagged: appetizer, dip, holiday recipe, recipe, vegetarian, white bean dip | 1 Comment »

Smokey Spiced Summer Bruschetta

Posted on July 18, 2012 by Renee {Eat.Live.Blog.}

Smoked serrano pepper. Learn it, live it, love it. This thing is amazing. It is the perfect amount of spice (for me, at least…which may be spicy to some), and a seriously lovely smokey flavor that shines through, even when I only used one pepper.

As a recap, I am participating in a Chilly Chile contest through Marx Foods, hence the plethora of pepper recipes. My favorite summer potluck dish of all time is a bruschetta recipe I have adapted over the years from the Junior League of Clearwater – Dunedin’s cookbook, From Grouper to Grits. The second I was told I needed to develop a cold recipe, I knew I needed to make yet another adaptation to this old favorite recipe.

I was planning on using the pequin pepper again, but when I took a sniff of the smoked serrano, I knew that would be the perfect pepper to punctuate this plate. Man, was I right (insert pat on back)! The smokiness of this pepper cannot be explained through a blog post. You have to try it. And mixed with the summery sweetness and tang of the bruschetta, it was a perfect palate pleaser!

Just a little warning though, you want to let your diners know that this is a spicy dish. It packs quite a bit of a bite!

Smokey Spiced Bruschetta Recipe

Ingredients:

8 oz Yellow Grape Tomatoes chopped (or your favorite tomato variety)
1/8 tsp salt
1 – 2 large garlic cloves (crushed)
1/8 vidalia onion (finely chopped)
1 smoked serrano pepper (rehydrated and chopped finely)
2 Tbsp chopped fresh basil leaves
1/4 tsp sugar
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
Salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

Place chopped tomatoes in a strainer and sprinkle with salt
Let stand over the sink or a bowl for 2 hours to extract the excess water in the tomatoes
Place tomatoes, garlic, serrano, onion and basil in a bowl
Add sugar, oil and vinegar
Stir well
Salt and pepper to taste
Refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour, up to overnight
Traditional bruschetta is served over thin slices of french bread, brushed with olive oil and baked until crispy. However, it is also good on top of chicken, on salads, on pretzel crisps, or any way you can conjure up!

Disclaimer: I received the chiles for this recipe free of charge as a part of the Fire on Ice Chile Recipe Contest by Marx Foods.

Filed under: Recipes | Tagged: appetizer, bruschetta, marx foods, potluck, recipe, smokey, spicy, summer, tomato | 1 Comment »

Football Food: Absolutely the Best Chicken Wings w/ Chobani Ranch Raita

Posted on November 13, 2011 by Renee {Eat.Live.Blog.}

Its Sunday, and there is football on, therefore, wings are to be made! Every time I want to make wings, I get sad all over again that we don’t have a grill. But, thanks to the blog over at Dave Eats, I don’t need no stinking grill!

I like to think of these wings as a tab bit healthier than our favorite wings over at Orchard Park Grill, which I modeled my flavoring after. Once you taste these wings, I promise you will never miss the deep-fried version again!

The slow cooking process, and the beer that they cook in, makes this chicken extra tender and fall off the bone good. There is no tugging, or picking to get the meat off these wings, the chicken will almost literally melt in your mouth.

All of this deliciousness can cause a little problem, because it is easy to put back way too many of these and end up with a belly ache. Trust me on this one.

As with most of my recipes, there is plenty of room to customize this one. My version came out pretty spicy, and spot on to my taste buds. I balanced out the spice with a homemade “ranch raita”. I wanted ranch, but didn’t have all of the ingredients on hand. What I ended up with, however, was cool and refreshing, and will become a staple in my dressing, dip, sauce repertoire.

What is your go-to Football Food recipe?

The Best Homemade Chicken Wings

Adapted from a Recipe by Dave Eats

Ingredients:

2 lb chicken wings (flappers and drums separated)
2 tsp Dave Eats Rib Rub (or a little more than a half a teaspoon each: brown sugar, paprika, mustard powder)
2 tsp Seasoned Salt
Cayenne powder to taste (I used 1/2 tsp)
2 beers of your choice (I used Ryan’s home-brew)
1 cup BBQ sauce (I used Kraft Thick & Spicy)
1 cup Wing Sauce (I used Franks Red Hot)

Directions:

Rinse wings and lay them in a roaster pan in a single layer
In a bowl, mix together all your spices
Sprinkle half the seasoning over the wings, flip the wings and sprinkle the seasoning on the other side of the wings
Cover wings and refrigerate the wings for at least an hour, or overnight if you wish.
After the wings are done resting, preheat the oven to 350 degrees
Pour both beers over the wings
Place the pan on the middle rack of the oven
Cook for 30 minutes
Reduce the heat to 250 degrees and cook for another hour
While the wings are cooking, make your Chobani Dip and refrigerate
In a separate bowl, mix together the BBQ sauce and the wing sauce
Take the wings out of the oven and drain the remaining liquid
Place 1 Tbsp oil in large, non-stick skillet and heat over medium-high heat
Once the oil is hot, pick up a wing, using tongues, and dip it in the BBQ mixture to coat
Place the wing in the hot pan
Repeat until the pan is full, but not crowded (you may have to do several batches)
Cook on this side until the skin begins to brown (about 3 minutes)
Flip the wings and cook until the second side begins to brown as well (about 3 minutes)
Remove wings from pan, repeat until all wings are browned
Serve with your favorite dipping sauce

Yogurt Ranch Raita Dip

Ingredients:

6 oz plain Chobani Greek Yogurt
1/2 tbsp mayo (I use low-fat)
1 garlic clove (peeled and diced)
Pinch of kosher salt
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Juice of 1/2 a large lime
Salt to taste
1/4 tsp sugar
Red pepper flakes to taste

Directions:

Mix yogurt and mayo together in a bowl
Place diced garlic on a chopping board, sprinkle with kosher salt
Use the back of a knife or fork to mash the garlic into a paste
Add the garlic paste to the yogurt mix
Add cilantro, lime and sugar and mix well
Add salt to taste
If you would like, add red pepper flakes to taste
Stir well and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes

Filed under: Recipes | Tagged: appetizer, BBQ, chicken wings, chobani, dip, football, Hot sauce, main course, raita, ranch, recipe | 11 Comments »

Healthy Snack Wednesday: Crispy Chickpeas and Dave Eats Giveaway!

Posted on April 20, 2011 by Renee {Eat.Live.Blog.}

The original goal of Healthy Snack Wednesdays was to create snacks that you could actually bring to work with you, or enjoy on the go. I don’t know about you, but around 10:30am and 2:30 pm, I always need a little something to revive me.

A few months back, recipes for baked chickpeas started flying all over the blogosphere, and I thought…wow, I should try that. But then I didn’t. A few weeks later I was searching for ways to make salt and vinegar potato chip seasoning, and came across salt and vinegar chickpeas. It was a sign from God. My time to bake some chickpeas had come!

Salt and vinegar chickpeas may have a white skin on some.

I wanted to try a regular batch before I dove into the likes of vinegar. So I pulled out my Dave Eats Hot Tabo Salt, some Habanero powder and my new favorite hot pepper sauce and got to mixing! The result was a perfect, crunchy, portable, slightly salty snack! I kept the jar on my desk for those emergency snack breaks, and it did the job for almost 2 weeks! Which not only makes it healthy, but very economical!

This snack has nutrition like you can’t believe! 1/2 cup of chickpeas packs 130 calories, 2 grams of fat, 6 grams of fiber and 8 grams of protein!! That’s what I call a power snack!

A few tips I learned along the way:

Make sure chickpeas cool ALL THE WAY before sealing them
Success is much more likely if you use dried chickpeas as opposed to canned chickpeas. Some times the canned beans are much thicker and have a chlorene-like taste
Experiment with seasoning! Curried chickpeas, sure! Cinnamon sugar chickpeas, why not? These can be great in any flavor you create!

With the hundreds of possible flavors you can create for the crispy chickpeas, I have to insist you try the one’s with Dave’s Tabo Salt. They were absolutely perfect! And I am going to help you do just that! Dave is sponsoring today’s HSW post with a little giveaway. One winner will be chosen at random to receive a sample pack of all Dave’s seasonings! You can thank me later…

To Enter:

Mandatory Entry: Head to DaveEats.com, peruse their products, and tell me which flavor seasoning you would most like to try by leaving a comment on this post!
Bonus Entry: Tweet about this contest – “I want to win @DaveEatsDotCom seasonings from @renh77 http://wp.me/pVsto-my“
Bonus Entry: Follow @DaveEatsDotCom, leave me a comment saying you did so
Bonus Entry: Become a fan of Eat.Live.Blog on Facebook and leave me a comment saying you did so

Fine Print: Only US residents with a US mailing address may enter. Winner will be chosen using Random.org on Monday, April 25, 2011. All entries must be in by the time of the drawing. Once the winner has been drawn, it is the responsibility of Dave Eats to mail the winner their prize. Prize has no cash value.

Crispy Chickpeas Recipe

Ingredients

1 lb dried chickpeas (soaked according to bag’s instructions)
Seasonings of your choice ( I used several dashes of hot sauce, Dave’s Hot Tabo Salt & Habanero powder)

Directions

Cover your pre-soaked chickpeas with water plus 2 inches (use distilled white vinegar if making salt & vinegar chickpeas) in a saucepan
Bring to boil, cover and reduce to a simmer
Simmer for 1.5 hours, until al dente (just a tad bit firm to the bite)
Preheat oven to 350 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper
Drain chickpeas
Place chickpeas in a mixing bowl
Coat with your seasonings (just salt if making salt & vinegar chickpeas)
Place beans on your baking sheet in a single layer (you will probably have to bake in 2 batches)
Place on middle rack of the oven
Bake for 20 minutes and then stir beans. Make sure they go back into a single layer
Bake for 20 more minutes and stir again.
Bake for 10 more minutes, checking them every 3 minutes or so.
Chickpeas are ready when they are crispy all the way through. Not all of them will get there at the same time. When most of them are crispy through, remove them from the oven and allow them to cool (they taste REALLY good hot, so start snacking!). Once they have cooled completely, place them in an air-tight container. The beans that were not all the way crispy will become crispy after a few days in the jar….if they make it that long!

Filed under: Recipes | Tagged: appetizer, baked, chickpeas, Contest, crispy, crunchy, Dave Eats, garbanzos, healthy, recipe, snack, spicy snack, tabasco salt | 27 Comments »

Passover Recipe & Challenge

Posted on April 15, 2011 by Renee {Eat.Live.Blog.}

You have been reading a lot lately about blogger events and challenges issued. It is one of the best things about being a food blogger in Boston. A few week’s ago, Cara of www.carascravings.com, issued bloggers a challenge and an invite. The challenge, create a unique dish based on the elements of a sedar plate. The invite, come share all of your creations at a get together at Cara’s home!

Well, when you say sedar plate, I say charoset. Period. Which means I failed in the creativity portion of this challenge. BUT, I did so on purpose. My thought was that if I was going to meet with people who had possibly never been to a sedar, I was going to get traditional charoset in front of them darn it!

You can read a full recap of the event, food, and fabulous attendees here, but let me just tell you, it was nothing short of phenomenal. I will say that having seen the amazing dishes the other ladies brought, I did feel a little sad that I didn’t flex my creativity more, but I got over it after 5 helpings of charoset and everything else on the table!

In case you aren’t clicking through to read about the rest of the event, let me recap the other dishes. There were Deviled Eggs from Megan, Cauliflower Latkes from Melissa, Matzoh Crusted Asparagus w/ Hollandaise from Amanda, Massaged Kale Salad from Elina, Crunchy Apple Slaw from Jen, White Chocolate Wasabi Truffles from Shannon, and our host Cara provided Spiced Lamb and Eggplant Matzoh Crepes and Almond Chocolate Dipped Meringues. Are you jealous yet?

The day was so much fun, and I can’t wait for the next challenge and get together. I promise to be creative for the next one. I just feel a certain way about charoset….get it whenever you can!

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Mom’s Amazing Charoset

Ingredients

3 large granny smith apples (cored, peeled and quartered)
1/2 cup crushed almonds
1/2 cup crushed walnuts
Juice from 1 large lemon
1/4 cup Manischewitz
1 tsp cinnamon
1 Tbsp sugar

Directions

Place walnuts and almonds in food processor and pulse until well crushed
Put crushed nuts (hehe) in mixing bowl
Place apples in food processor and pulse until finely chopped
Put chopped apples in mixing bowl
Mix together
Add the remaining ingredients, feel free to adjust measurements to your taste.
Stir welll and refrigerate for at least an hour (best over night)
Serve on matzoh and topped with horseradish (if you wish…or just eat it straight out the bowl!)

Filed under: Recipes | Tagged: appetizer, charoset, matzoh, passover, recipe, sedar, side dish | 5 Comments »

Getting Ready for the Spring! Caribbean Fritter Recipe

Posted on March 29, 2011 by Renee {Eat.Live.Blog.}

Oh man. This winter is doing a number on me! When will it end? It is almost April, and the temperature read 28 degrees when I woke up this morning. Every one is sick of the cold, and everyone is sick of hearing about how everyone is sick of the cold. Its a vicious circle.

The weather has kicked me in the head with a severe case of writer’s/cooker’s block. Which is a really bad thing when you have a paper due for class, an article due for a friend’s magazine, and you are writing a “think piece” on the reality of what the movie Food, Inc. means to your diet! But then I received a press release for a fabulous contest that got my cooking mojo back in gear….and which is forcing me to try my hand at this writing thing again!

Thinking warm thoughts...

Hyatt Summerfield Suites is challenging people to the Caribbean Cuisine Challenge, a recipe contest designed for grill masters and at-home chefs alike. Participants are asked to submit their original recipe to www.HSSSummerGrilling.com for a chance to win an iPad®, a one night stay at any Hyatt Summerfield Suites hotel, and the opportunity to have their dish featured at the 2011 Hyatt Summerfield Suites Summer Grilling Socials, which will transport guests’ taste buds to the Caribbean. This year’s Hyatt Summerfield Suites Summer Grilling Social events will take place every other Wednesday evening, June through August, and will give guests and associates a chance to mingle and enjoy a taste of summer.

Well, this is a welcome break in the weather! Like I said, my thermometer read 28 degrees this morning, so grilling is out of the question. In-door cooking it is….but what to make…..Mango, banana, black beans and coconut immediately jump into my head as ingredients that scream caribbean to me…AND mint! AND lime! AND (of course) rum! Think pina collada with protein, in a handy appetizer shape. And with that, I created Caribbean Fritters with Mint-Lime Sauce.

The fritter batter is amazing. In addition to the caribbean fritters, I battered and fried some bananas in it, and topped them with maple syrup and powdered suger. I could die.

Thank you to the Hyatt Summerfield Suites for my repreve from the never ending winter. I look forward to seeing the other recipes in hopes that they can help me capture some more sunshine in my meals!

Lime-Mint Sauce

Ingredients:

20 large mint leaves – chopped finely
1/2 cup sour cream (I used lowfat)
2 tbsp fresh squeezed lime juice
1.5 tsp sugar

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together
Cover and refrigerate for at least 1hour (best if over night)

Caribbean Fritters

Ingredients

1.5 cup flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
2 tbsp powdered sugar
1 egg
2/3 cup milk
1/4 cup rum
1/3 cup coconut
10 oz black beans (rinsed)
1 mango (diced)
1 large banana (diced)
1 lime
1/4 cup coconut
Canola oil

Directions

Sift dry ingredients together (except for coconut) in a large mixing bowl
Add egg and milk and mix well
Add rum and mix well
Add coconut and stir
This is your fritter batter. Set aside.
In a seperate bowl mix together beans, mango and banana
Squeeze lime juice over mixture, stir, and allow to sit for 30 minutes
Stir in coconut
Mix fritter batter together with the filling mixture
Heat a large frying pan over medium-high heat
When pan is hot, add 1 inch of oil
When oil is hot, drop a teaspoon size amount of fritter mix into the oil.
Fry as many at a time as you like, as long as the edges of each do not touch
Allow to cook for about 3 minutes, or until the bottom is golden brown
Flip fritter and cook this side for about 3 minutes, or until it is golden brown
When fritters are ready, remove them from the pan and place them on a papertowel
Plate with the mint-lime sauce

Filed under: Recipes | Tagged: appetizer, banana, black bean, Brunch, caribbean, Contest, fritter, hyatt, lime, mango, mint, recipe, sauce, side dish, vegetarian | 7 Comments »

Healthy Snack Wednesday: Recipe Feta Beet Dip & EatStrong Giveaway!

Posted on March 2, 2011 by Renee {Eat.Live.Blog.}

Make sure to read to the end of this post to enter to win a month’s supply of EatStrong snacks!

Healthy Snack Wednesday is nearing an end. If you remember, this little project was started at the beginning of January as part of the weight loss challenge at work. I have to say, doing something like this in the midst of one of the worst winters in history is very challenging. Waking up at 5 am to get a workout in, when it is 10 degrees and there is a fresh foot and a half of snow on the ground…yeah…not so easy! I actually did very poorly on that aspect of things. To tell the truth, I didn’t get my butt back into gear until last week! I am proud to say that I am back on my regular workout regime, and thanks to the Virtual Trainer I discovered on Shape.com, I have a renewed passion for getting back in tip-top shape! The final weigh in for the challenge is on Friday, so I will let you know how that went.

There are 2 main reasons I am thrilled to have done the Healthy Snack Wednesday series. The first is that I had to go outside of my comfort zone to create new recipes during the time of year when the obvious ingredients (fruits and veggies) are at their least bountiful. I have truly created some recipes that will definitely remain in my regular rotation, and that I am still pretty obsessed with! My top 3 Healthy Snack Wednesday recipes? Easy!

My very first recipe, white bean bruchetta dip,

metch (which I have made 4 times since), and Beet Chips, which my taste testers are requesting more of!

I used Golden Beets & Regular Beets

Maybe a top three isn’t so easy, let’s make it a top four. I cannot leave out the “healthier” bread pudding! I made it 3 times in one week alone!

The second reason I am thrilled to have done this series is that it challenged me to produce a quality blog post EVERY Wednesday. That is much more difficult than it sounds when you work full time, are getting your masters degree, do some consulting, and are trying to get a creative dinner on the table every night. So this was a great challenge, and I am glad I saw it through to the end. I don’t think this is the end of Healthy Snack Wednesday, maybe it is just the cutting back. I think the series will still pop up on the blog once in a while, for sure!

On this journey, I have been so lucky to receive the support of so many great products as well! A special thank you to Dave Eats!, Pepperidge Farm Deli Flats, Popchips, Veggie Patch, Chobani, Pretzel Crisps, and EatStrong (whose giveaway is at the end of this post!). It was really fun to be challenged to use these products in our healthy snacks! I know I have a few very happy readers thanks to these sponsors as well!

I couldn’t end this series without a recipe. There is a restaurant in Cambridge called Sofra. It is a small cafe style place…oh yeah, and it is an Ana Sortun adventure, so you know it is good! I discovered the eatery when my sister was in town, and now it is a regular stop whenever she is here. I also run into them at the Copley Farmers’ Market, and can usually be persuaded to purchase one of their delightful tarts, whether it is sweet or savory. But my favorite item from Sofra is a Meza Platter! They have so many delightful meza, that it is always a hard choice, however you can’t go wrong! My very favorite items of the meza? Beet Tzatziki and Whipped Feta with Sweet & Hot Peppers. For this Healthy Snack Wednesday, I decided to make a hybrid of these two dishes…

Feta Beet Dip

Ingredients

1 small beet
1/4 lb feta
1 tbsp light sour cream
salt to taste

Directions

Peel and quarter the beet
Place beet in a small pot and cover with water
Bring to a boil and boil until the beet is fork-tender (about 10 – 15 minutes)
Drain the beet and let cool
Add the feta, boiled beet and sour cream to a food processor or blender
Puree until the beet is mostly pureed
Refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour so that the dip will harden
Serve with your favorite veggies, pita chips, pretzels or crackers!

GIVEAWAY!!!

I was so happy to receive some delicious and ultra healthy samples from EatStrong. Up until I received the samples, I hadn’t even heard of the product, but now I am hooked.

Www.EatStrong.com is a great resource if you are looking for ways to live healthier, and who isn’t? EatStrong believes in real food. Made from all natural, rich and nourishing ingredients, we deliver satisfying healthy snacks to fuel your body. The combination of nuts, seeds and organic chocolate fortifies and revitalizes from toes to tastebuds.

EatStrong has even developed their own healthy snacks. How appropriate for Healthy Snack Wednesday! I am honored to offer the winner of my final Healthy Snack Wednesday contest a MONTH’S SUPPLY OF EATSTRONG SNACKS!! A month’s supply! How awesome is that?!

Here is what you need to do to enter:

You must live in the Continental U.S. You must also leave a way for me to get in touch with you if you win.
REQUIRED ENTRY- Comment on this blog post about what your favorite high energy snack is!

The remainder of ways to enter are optional, and you may do one, or all of them. You will get an entry for each that you do.

Bonus Entry- Follow EatStrong on Facebook or Twitter and leave a comment letting me know you did so.
Bonus Entry- Become a fan of Eat.Live.Blog on Facebook and leave me a comment letting me know you did so.
Bonus Entry- Tweet about this contest. Your tweet MUST contain @renh77 @eatstrong & http://wp.me/pVsto-j3. Leave me a comment letting me know you did so.
Bonus Entry- Write on EatStrong’s Facebook Wall “Eat.Live.Blog sent me! ” and leave me a comment letting me know you did so.

Blah, blah…

The winner must leave contact information for me to notify them
The winner will be asked to send me their mailing address
The prize will be mailed to you directly from EatStrong’s representative
Winner will be chosen using Random.org
Winner will be announced on Wednesday, March 9, 2011 by noon.
Contest will close to entries on Tuesday, March 8, 2011 at 9pm.

Disclosure: EatStrong did provide me with one sample of each snack and is solely responsible for the prize in this contest. As always, all opinions are my own, and I was under no obligation to review or giveaway these products.

Filed under: Recipes | Tagged: appetizer, beets, chips, Contest, dip, eatstrong, energy bar, feta, free, giveaway, granola bar, healthy, nuts, pot luck, recipe, side Dishes, snack, vegetarian | 28 Comments »

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