The Yuca Diaries

I started the gym again and after the pain I put myself through on that elliptical, I didn’t want to just blow it on something super fattening.  I was in the mood for a nice satisfying dinner that was also healthy.  I saw this recipe on foodgawker,  last year and added it to my favorites.  I have been meaning to make it for some time now, and was glad I thought of it last night.   The recipe was easy to make, high in protein, low in carbs and full of fresh veggies.  I think this is going to make a comeback again real soon in my kitchen.

Recipe Adapted from Iowa Girl Eats, serves 6

For the burger:

2.5 lbs. lean ground turkey

1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

1 tbsp. dried basil

1 tsp. dried oregano

2 garlic cloves, grated

1/2 red onion, grated

1 tsp. olive oil

6 tbsp. shredded mozzarella cheese

salt and pepper to taste

Begin by placing the ground turkey into a mixing bowl.  Add the Parmesan cheese, the basil, oregano, salt, and pepper to the bowl.  Next add in the grated garlic, onion and olive oil and combine well.   Form a thin patty and then place one tbsp. of the mozzarella cheese on top of the patty leaving a rim around the edge with no cheese.  Place some more of the burger mixture on top of the patty, covering the cheese and pinching the edges to lock in the cheese.  Place a non-stick skillet (one with a lid) on medium high heat and let the pan get hot.  Place the burgers in the pan and brown well.  Flip the burgers over and allow them to brown on the other side.  These burgers are sort of thick, but you’ll have to cook them all the way through since you’re using poultry.  An easy way to do this is to place the lid on the pan and bring the heat down to low.  Allow the burgers to cook undisturbed for 10 minutes.

For the brushetta topping:

8 Roma tomatoes, diced

1/2 cup diced red onion

2 garlic cloves, grated

2 tbsp. freshly chopped basil

1 tbsp. freshly chopped flat-leaf parsley

1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil

salt and pepper to taste ( I used lots of freshly grated pepper for this)

While the burgers cook, begin making the topping and balsamic glaze (recipe to follow).  Begin by dicing the tomatoes and adding them to a mixing bowl.  Finely dice the onions and add them to the bowl, along with the grated garlic clove.  Chop the parsley and basil and toss into the bowl.  Next add the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper and combine everything well.

For the Balsamic Glaze:

1  1/2 cup aged balsamic vinegar

1 tsp. olive oil

1 tbsp. dark brown sugar

1/2 of a  small garlic clove, grated

1 tsp. freshly ground pepper

Add all of the ingredients to a small saucepan and let it simmer on medium heat until it reduces to the consistency of maple syrup.  Assemble the burgers by placing the brushetta topping on top of each burger and then drizzling with the balsamic glaze.  I served this with a garlicky pea puree.

Spring is just around the corner, but winter seems to be lingering still.  I thought I’d bid the cold weather farewell with a hearty comforting soup.  This is reminiscent of a Pasta e Fagiole soup, but I created a white version using white beans, chicken sausage and herbs.  It was topped with a little shredded Parmesan cheese and a garlicky- parsley aioli. Serve with a crusty baguette and a crisp green salad and you’ve got a great and satisfying meal.

Ingredients for the Chicken Sausage:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (or 1.5 lbs. ground chicken)

2 eggs

3 cloves garlic

1 1/2 tbsp. ground sage

1 tsp. ground marjoram

1 tsp. herbs de Provence

3 tbsp. grated Parmesan cheese

zest of one lemon

2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. fresh ground pepper.

If you’re using the chicken breasts, grind them up in a food processor until you have a ground consistency.  Dump the ground chicken into a bowl and crack in the eggs and blend.  Grate the garlic and add it to the bowl.  If you’re using the boneless, skinless chicken breasts add in one tbsp. of olive oil to avoid having dry sausage. Next add in the herbs, Parmesan cheese and salt and pepper.  Blend everything well and begin browning the sausage in a non-stick pan with a little olive oil.

Ingredients for the soup:

1 package dry white beans  ( I used navy beans but Cannelini or great northern would work well too. I’d use any except Garbanzo beans.)

8 cups water or chicken stock (if using stock make sure to adjust salt to account for the salt already in the stock)

1.5 lbs  chicken sausage (recipe listed above)

1 large onion

6 garlic cloves

2 tbsp. olive oil

1 (1lb.) box of short pasta like tubetti, elbow or shells.  ( I used shells)

1 lemon (juice)

1 Parmesan rind- optional (I save the rinds of cheese blocks for soups like this, but you can omit this and it won’t make that big a difference, it just adds a little depth)

1/4 cup fresh chopped Italian flat leaf parsley, plus one tbsp. for garnish

2 tbsp shredded Parmesan cheese for garnish

First add your dry beans to a pressure cooker with the water or stock.  If you don’t have a pressure cooker or are running low on time, go ahead and use the canned variety.  Just add in 2 cans of  the beans with their liquid into a stock pot,  plus another 3 cups of water or stock.   While the beans cook, begin dicing your onion and grating 4 of the garlic cloves.  Add the olive oil to a non-stick pan and turn the heat up to medium high.  Add in the onions and garlic and cook until they become tender, about 5 minutes.  Next add in the sausage and blend with the onions and garlic.  Once the beans are cooked, add in the sausage, Parmesan rind, garlic and onions to the stock pot.  If the liquid had reduced too much, add more to have more of a soupy consistency, bearing in mind that the liquid will thicken at the end of cooking a bit. Taste for salt and pepper and season to your liking.  Squeeze in the lemon juice, and add in the pasta shells.  Allow the pasta to cook until it’s al dente. Grate the last two garlic cloves and give the soup a good stir.  Lastly add in the parsley and top with the garlic and parsley aioli.

For the Aioli:

4 tbsp. light mayo

2 tbsp. water

1 garlic clove grated

1 tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice

3 tbsp. finely chopped parsley

Add the mayo and water into a bowl and whisk well.  Next grate in the garlic clove and add the lemon juice.  Add in the parsley and whisk everything well, making sure to remove any lumps.

You know what I love about this dish? The texture of the super ultra thin zucchini and onions and the tang of the lemon juice.  I love how simple this dish is too. Not too much going on and the vegetable is the star of the show here.  The next time you want to make an elegant appetizer that is also healthy, this is an excellent option.

Ingredients:

1 large zucchini

1/4  of a small onion

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 tbsp. capers

juice of about half a lemon

lots of fresh cracked pepper and a little sea salt

Wash the zucchini well and dry it.  Using a mandolin, begin thinly slicing the zucchini.  Assemble the zucchini on a platter gently laying one slice over the other, overlapping the zucchini in a pretty pattern.  Slice the onion into really really thin slices and sprinkle over the zucchini.  Next sprinkle the capers over the platter.  Drizzle with a little extra virgin olive oil, squeeze a little lemon juice over the top and season everything with some fresh cracked pepper and sea salt. Voila… there you have a beautifully appetizing dish that took about 10 minutes to make.

Also, I noticed when I was looking at the shots, that in the picture below, it looks like there is a sad zucchini face. LOL

As you may have seen in my previous post, I tried making fresh pasta the other day.  I wanted to make something classic that I hadn’t already made so I decided on spaghetti Carbonara.  If you don’t have fresh pasta, you can certainly use the boxed kind.

Ingredients:

1 lb. spaghetti

2 tbsp. olive oil

1 package turkey bacon

5 garlic cloves, minced

1 whole onion

5 egg yolks

6 tbsp. cream

1 tsp. grated nutmeg

1 cup Parmesan Cheese, plus more for topping at the end

2 tsp. black pepper, freshly ground would be best

3 tbsp. fresh chopped parsley

1/4 cup of the starchy pasta water used to cook the spaghetti

salt to taste

First thing to do is add water to your pasta pot and bring it to a boil, making sure to season the water with some salt.   While the water boils, dice the onion, mince the garlic and cube the bacon and transfer everything to a skillet with one tbsp. of olive oil.  Stir around and cook until the bacon is really crispy, reserving a bit to garnish with at the end. Turn the heat off, but don’t remove from the stove because we will be putting the pasta together in this pot later.  In a large mixing bowl, combine the egg yolks, cream, nutmeg, Parmesan cheese, and a little salt and whisk well.  Set this mixture aside.   If you’re using fresh pasta, it will only take about 3 minutes to cook, and this dish has to be assembled really quickly, so make sure everything is done before cooking the pasta.  If you use the boxed kind, it will take about 8 minutes or so which leaves a little more prep time.  Chop the parsley and set aside for now.   Remember the pan with your bacon and onion and garlic? Now we’re going to turn the heat of that pan to medium.  Drain the pasta, reserving about half a cup of the starchy pasta water to thin out the Carbonara sauce later.   OK, now we have to work fast.   Turn off the heat of the bacon pan, we just turned it back on for a minute to get the pan hot again.  Transfer the pasta into this pan with another tbsp. of olive oil and coat everything around.  Making sure the bacon, onion and garlic are evenly distributed throughout the dish. Next take the egg mixture and add it into the pan with the pasta, whisking really well, but gently enough that you don’t break the pasta.  It’s important to have the heat turned off at this point because you don’t want the egg to scramble.  I found that mixing it with the cream helps to alleviate this problem.  Next add in the pasta water and continue to combine all of the ingredients gently.  I was a little freaked out about eating raw egg so adding in the boiling water of the pasta, along with the heat of the spaghetti noodles, and the heat of the pan, you should be fine.  Me personally, though, that’s not enough.  I know Carbonara purists will not agree on this point, but once everything was combined, I turned the heat back up to low and tossed everything around in the pan for about two minutes to make sure this dish was salmonella free.  It was probably fine before, but I didn’t want to take the chance.   Transfer the pasta to a serving bowl, top with a little some of the bacon you reserved, a little parsley, some freshly ground black pepper and a little Parmesan, and there you have it folks- Spaghetti alla Carbonara.

Here are a few action shots of how this dish came together…

As I mentioned in my previous post, the weather has bee absolutely horrific. To the point that my job was closed as of  Tuesday of last week.   By Thursday morning I was feeling a little stir crazy since I hadn’t stepped foot outside since Monday evening. I decided to brave the weather and drive to the shopping center that has a Marshall’s, Ross and Target right by my house.  Half way through my little excursion I realized that maybe this hadn’t been such a good idea since there was ice all over the place.  But when I got to Ross, I changed my mind.  It was one of those days where you find a million things you want or need. And with these kinds of stores it’s hit or miss.  Sometimes they have tons of stuff and other times they have nothing.  To my surprise they had a pasta machine on clearance for 19 bucks.  How could I pass up the opportunity to try my hand at fresh pasta?  Here is the recipe and pictures of my first attempt, which I must say was a huge success.  I’ll post the Spaghetti Carbonara recipe I made using the fresh pasta next time.

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 cups semolina flour

1 tsp. salt

6 eggs

2 tablespoons canola oil

Combine the semolina flour, the regular flour and the salt in a bowl.  Using a whisk or fork, blend everything really well.  I totally cheated and used my bread machine to do the kneading for me.  If you have a bread machine just add all of the dry ingredients to the bowl and create a well with your finger or spatula to drop the eggs and oil into.  Use the “dough” setting and allow the machine to do all of the work while you sip on a glass of wine or something.  You could also use a food processor or a stand mixer with the dough attachment too.  If you don’t have any of these what you’d do is  mix the flour and dump it onto a work surface. Then you’d create a well in the center and add in the eggs.  Combine all of the ingredients well and knead until the dough comes together nicely.

It doesn’t matter how to get there, but whatever method you choose, you’ll want to follow with these next steps.  Create a ball of dough, wrap in plastic wrap and then refrigerate for 30 minutes before rolling it out.

Set up your pasta machine.  Flour a work surface close to the machine so you’ll have a place to lay the pasta and dust it with flour to prevent sticking.  Now to begin rolling it.  First, press down on the ball of dough to create a disk.  Don’t worry about getting it too flat.  Using a serrated knife, cut a slice of dough and roll it out using a rolling pin.  Adjust the dial of the pasta machine to your desired thickness and place the slab of dough over the top of the rollers.  Turn the crank on the machine to create smooth, thin sheets of pasta.  Run the sheet of pasta through one of cutting attachments.  I used the spaghetti cutter since I was making Carbonara.  If you were making lasagna you’d just use the flat sheet you had before cutting.  You’d also use this to make shapes like ravioli or tortellini.  Dust with a little flour to prevent sticking.  When cooking, it’s important to keep in mind that you’ll only need to boil the pasta for 2-3 minutes.

Here are a few action shots:

Ingredients:

2 tbsp. butter

1/4 cup flour

2 cups roughly chopped spinach

1 cup shredded carrots (I used a julienne tool, but a box grate would work too)

1 cup broccoli florets cut into small pieces

4 garlic cloves

1/2 tsp. grated nutmeg

1 tbsp. dry white wine like sherry

1/3 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1/2 cup chicken or vegetable stock

1/3 cup half & half

The first thing to do is to wash your veggies and cut them up as directed in the ingredient list and set aside.  Begin to melt the butter in a non-stick pan and add the flour once it’s melted to make a roux.  Next add the chicken stock and half and half, and wine and blend well, making sure to dissolve the flour into the liquid.  Grate the garlic and add it into the sauce along with the nutmeg and salt, making sure to combine well.  Add in the cheeses and allow them to melt.  Using a spatula, stir this mixture to make sure the cheese is well incorporated before tossing in the veggies.  Coat all the veggies with the sauce and allow them to cook until they’re tender but still retain a bit of their bite.  Transfer to a serving dish and serve with crusty garlic bread or crudites.

This tart is really quite simply to make and will wow your guests.  The only stipulation is that you have to use good juicy and ripe tomatoes… mealy tasteless tomatoes won’t work at all.

Ingredients for the crust:

2 cup unbleached all purpose flour

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp salt

8 tbs butter, chopped into small squares

1/3  cup ice water (plus more if needed)

1/2 cup  grated Parmesan cheese

Process the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor until combined. Cut the butter into squares and add to the food processor along with the Parmesan cheese and pulse until you have coarse crumbles. Add 4 Tbs of ice water and pulse the mixture until the dough begins to come together, adding more water as needed. It’s okay if you have visible pieces of butter throughout the dough, this will yield a flaky crust.

Press the dough into the bottom of a tart pan with a removable bottom. Press the dough up the sides about two-thirds of the way up.  Even out the dough well,  smoothing over any uneven pieces.  Cover with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge for about 45 minutes or until it is firm.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Remove the plastic wrap and place the tart pan over a cookie sheet.  Cover the crust with foil and place pie weights or dry beans on top of the foil to keep the crust from rising.  Bake for 30 minutes and remove from the oven.

For the filling:

1 cup part skim ricotta cheese

1 garlic clove, grated

zest of 1 lemon

1 tbsp. fresh chopped oregano

1 tsbp. fresh chopped parsley

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tsp. dried oregano

1/3 cup shredded Parmesan

Add the ricotta cheese to  the food processor and blend on high speed until you have a much smoother consistency- about 2 minutes.  Next grate the garlic clove  and add to the food processor along with the lemon juice.  Transfer the mixture to a mixing bowl and add the herbs, Parmesan cheese, salt and lemon zest. Once the mixture is blended well, spread this mixture evenly over the tart crust.

For the toppings:

3 large ripe tomatoes

1 onion

1 tsp. dried oregano

1/4 cup mozzarella cheese

Raise the oven temperature to 425 degrees. Slice the tomatoes into rounds and arrange on top of the ricotta mixture.  Slice the onion and arrange on top and in between the tomato slices.  Sprinkle the top of the tart with mozzarella cheese and the dried oregano.   Transfer to the oven and bake for about 15 minutes.  Gently remove the bottom of the pan and transfer the tart to a serving platter.

This dish looks a little harder than it really is.  I made this on a weeknight thinking it was going to be a long night in the kitchen, but surprisingly, I finished in about half an hour (at least the prep work).  The cannelloni I’ve always had has ricotta cheese in it, but I just wasn’t in the mood for that, so I changed it up, and to our surprise, it worked really well.

Ingredients:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1 onion

3 cloves of garlic

1 lemon- juiced, seeds removed

1 tbsp. olive oil

2 tbsp. butter

1/3 cup flour

1 cup chicken stock

1 cup  milk

1 cup fresh chopped parsley (reserving about 1/4 cup for the garnish)

2 cups fresh chopped baby spinach

1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese (not the grated kind, the kind that comes in a bag in the refrigerated section of the grocery store)

1 tsp.  grated nutmeg

2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. pepper

1 box flat sheet pasta (I bought the flat sheet lasagna that is in the shape of a rectangle)

Water for boiling the pasta

Salt for seasoning the water

First trim the chicken of all the excess fat and skin and cut it into bite size pieces and season with salt and pepper.  Finely chop the onion and garlic and set aside.  Add the olive oil to  a pan and let it melt.  Next add the onions and garlic to the pan and set it to medium heat, letting the onions and garlic cook for about 5 minutes.  Stir occasionally.   Bring the heat up to high and add the chicken.  Allow it to cook through and brown  evenly, adding a little more olive oil if necessary.  Once the chicken, onions and garlic are cooked, transfer them  to a separate plate for the time being.  In the same pan, add the butter and let it melt.  Once melted, add the flour and combine to create a roux.  Once you’ve created the paste, add the chicken stock and milk and whisk vigorously to incorporate well.   The sauce should be a little on the thick side, but once the rest of the ingredients are added, they will balance out.  Next add the chicken and all of its juices, along with the onions and garlic to the sauce.  Stirring well.  Add the lemon juice, the nutmeg, pepper, the parsley and the chopped spinach and combine well.   Let everything simmer on med-low heat for about 10 minutes. Lastly, add the cheese to the mixture and stir well.  This is the filling which you’ll set aside for now.  Add water to a pot and boil the cannelloni sheets.  Making sure to leave them slightly more firm than al dente, but still pliable enough to roll.   Scoop a the mixture onto a sheet of pasta and roll.  Have an oven pan handy.  Ladle some pasta sauce on the bottom of the pan. Then begin assembling the cannelloni throughout the pan.  Ladle some more sauce over the top of the cannelloni and bake for about 30 minutes in the oven at 350 degrees.  You can use store bought sauce if you’re in a hurry.  Below is my quick recipe to the pasta sauce I used. To serve, top with shredded Parmesan cheese and garnish with fresh parsley.

For the Sauce:

2 cans crushed tomatoes

1 can whole tomatoes, drained

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 onion, grated or minced

1 tsp. cayenne pepper

1/4 cup water

2 tbsp. olive oil

1 tsp. dried oregano

1 tsp. sugar

Saute the garlic and onion in the olive oil in a deep pan or pot.  Next add the crush tomatoes.  Remove the whole tomatoes from the can and chop them roughly and add to the pan.  Next add the oregano, cayenne, water, sugar, and salt and allow it to simmer for 15 minutes on med low heat.  At the very end, drizzle with a little bit of extra virgin olive oil and stir gently.

I’d like to start by saying that I love Chicken Parmesan.  But I hate frying food.  I also hate feeling guilty after I eat a meal.  I modified the traditional recipe by baking the chicken instead of frying. Also, instead of covering the chicken with a ton of cheese, I simply put a small slice of buffalo mozzarella over each piece.  Lastly, I made the sauce too instead of buying the bottled variety. Granted, I am not terribly opposed to bottled sauces(if they’re of a good quality), but they’re really overpriced sometimes, and making your own is simple- not to mention, delicious and YOU control what’s going into them.

For the chicken

4 Boneless skinless chicken breasts

2 eggs

1 cup flour

2 cups panko bread crumbs

1 -2 tsp. salt

mister with neutral flavored oil (like canola) or butter flavor cooking spray

4  1/4″ slices fresh buffalo mozzarella

1 tbsp fresh chopped basil for garnish

For the sauce:

1 onion (very finely diced)

6 cloves garlic, minced

1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes

1 15 oz. can tomato sauce

4 tbsp. olive oil

1 tbsp. fresh basil (chopped)

1/4 tsp. dried oregano

1/4 tsp. dried nutmeg (I know it sounds weird but it works- trust me)

2 tbsp. ketchup

1 cup whole cherry tomatoes

The first thing to do is pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees.  For this particular recipe, I decided not to butterfly the chicken breasts because I thought they’d be too thin.  Instead, I placed the chicken breast on a cutting board (I use one of those thin overlays just for meat) and placed a piece of plastic wrap over the top. Gently pound out the breast until you have a pretty even piece.  Repeat until you’ve done this to the four pieces.  Season each piece of chicken with salt.  Now we’re ready to create the breading station.  In three separate pans, add the flour, bread crumbs, and beaten egg.  Before diving into the breading process, have your baking sheet ready to go.  For this particular dish, I lined my cookie sheet with a silicone mat- if you don’t have a silicone mat, then use parchment paper.  This step is important because, although most cookie sheets are non-stick, the breading tends to stick anyways.  Using parchment or a silicone mat will prevent this from happening this is also true since we’re not using a ton of oil or butter for the baking.  Begin breading the chicken by dredging the chicken into the flour, then the egg, then the panko bread crumbs.  I used to think the flour part was unnecessary until I tried it.  This step really helps the crumbs adhere to the chicken, creating a nice even crust.  Transfer the chicken to the baking sheet.  Now spray each chicken on both sides with the cooking spray or the oil mister.  Make sure you have a fair amount before putting the chicken in the oven.  Bake for about 8 minutes on each side.  Flipping the breasts, once to make sure all the sides are crunchy.

While the chicken cooks, let’s begin making the sauce.  Begin dicing your onion and garlic into the smallest pieces possible.  Add the olive oil to a pan and turn up the heat to medium high.  Add the onions and garlic and let them cook for about 5 minutes.  Next open the cans of crush tomatoes, and the tomato sauce and transfer to the pan. Add the ketchup next, stirring the sauce to blend everything well.  Now let’s start adding the seasonings: nutmeg, salt, oregano, and chopped up basil. Add the cherry tomatoes. Stir again and let the sauce simmer on low heat until the chicken is done.

Remove the chicken from the oven and ladle the sauce over each piece.  Top with the slice of buffalo mozzarella and bake for another five minutes.

Garnish with some freshly chopped basil.  I served this with grilled zucchini that was simply seasoned with sea salt and lots of freshly cracked pepper- grilled in a little olive oil.

P.S. – Just look at how beautiful those little cherry tomatoes look in the sauce… aren’t they cute?

This salad is delicious and so straightforward.  Just a few basic ingredients and you have the most stunning dish!

Ingredients:

2 ripe tomatoes

8 slices fresh buffalo mozzarella

8 large basil leaves (fresh)

2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp. balsamic vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

First you slice your tomatoes in slices about 1/4 inch.  One tomato should yield 4 nice slices.  Arrange 8 slices of tomatoes on the bottom of your platter and season with salt and pepper.  Next slice the mozzarella into 1/4″ thick slices and place one slice over the bottom layer of tomatoes.  Place one nice big piece of fresh basil over each piece of cheese.  Top the cheese and basil with the other slice of tomato.  Drizzle a little olive oil and the balsamic vinegar over the salad.  Lastly, season with fresh cracked pepper and salt.

Side note: You want to make sure that the tomatoes you pick for this salad are really ripe- they should be a deep red and really juicy.  The dish just won’t be the same with mealy tasteless tomatoes.  Even if it means paying a little more for a better looking variety- go for it.  Besides, buffalo mozzarella isn’t cheap so you need a flavorful juicy tomato to stand up it.