sage & butternut squash gnocchi

People, this recipe is amazing! I've made five or six different variations of this dish, and it never gets old. It's sweet, savory, smoky, and tangy all at the same time. I love making it with gnocchi just because it cooks so fast and makes it a little bit heavier, but you could make this with any type of pasta. If you are a goat cheese or butternut squash lover (like I am), then I promise you will love this!

Sage & Butternut Squash Gnocchi
serves: 4

Ingredients:

1 package gnocchi
1/2 large butternut squash, diced
3 smoked bratwurst ( or sausage, or whatever else you like)
1 tsp sage, chopped
1 sml package of goat cheese (or however much you feel appropriate)
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

1. Cook the butternut squash in a large saute pan in olive oil until browned and soft - about 10-15 min on med high heat.
2. Add in the bratwurst until browned.
3. Add the sage and cook for a few minutes.
4. Cook the gnocchi in boiling water according to instructions. I find that once a few start to float to the top, they are done. Drain.
5. Stir the goat cheese into the gnocchi until it is melted. You might need to add a little of the pasta water or some milk to make it thinner.
6. Stir in the squash mixture carefully, so as to not make it too mushy.
7. Garnish with some more sage and enjoy!

Wild Rice Orzo Salad

Once upon a time, I had lunch at a restaurant called Brio. I ordered the Eggplant Pomodoro Panini which came with a side of "wild rice salad". I was skeptical of the wild rice salad and kindly asked the waitress if it was tasty or if I should order a side salad instead. She convinced me to order the rice salad and I fell in love. I didn't even finish the panini that I was desperately craving because I wanted to make sure my stomach had enough room to fit the deliciousness that my taste buds were experiencing. Before I finished, I picked through the salad and took note of all of the ingredients so that I wouldn't forget.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find a copycat recipe anywhere on Google so I had to make my own and I have to admit, it is pretty spot on. I think I will make a huge batch of this each week because it is so delicious and healthy Next time I will probably add some chicken and/or feta cheese would go really nice in it as well!

Wild Rice Orzo Salad
Servings: Four


Ingredients


For the salad:
1 cup cooked orzo
I cup cooked wild rice (make sure not to buy "wild rice blend")
1/2 cup diced red pepper
1/2 cup diced yellow pepper
2/3 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup toasted sliced almonds
1/4 cup chopped green onion
2/3 cup chopped cilantro


For the dressing:
1/2 cup olive oil
3 tblsp lemon juice
1 tblsp minced shallot
2 tsp dijon mustard
1 tsp sugar
zest of one lemon


Directions:
Note: All of the amounts are approximate. I didn't really measure when I made the salad so add more or less as you please.
1. Get a random weirdly dressed Swedish girl to chop all of the ingredients (so that you don't have to).

You might want to use a bigger chopping board..

2. Combine all of the salad ingredients and mix with the dressing.
3. Let it sit for at least an hour so that the flavors mix. Enjoy!

Persian Spaghetti with Tadig

When I think of boring dishes, spaghetti is usually one of the first thing that pops in my mind. Like most people, I've had it far too many times in my life. Probably because it's easy, cheap and everyone knows how to make it. There is one exception, though. My step-mom makes the best spaghetti I've ever tried. I could eat bowls of it for a week straight and not get tired of it. It's so awesome, words cannot describe! She makes it the "Persian" way, which is, of course, the best way ;). You can cook it with or without the Tadig, which is basically a crispy crust made at the bottom of the pan with either bread, potatoes or lettuce.

P.S. Sorry for the crappy pictures!

Persian Spaghetti with Tadig

Serves: 3-4

Ingredients:

1 med onion, sliced

1/4 lb lean ground beef

6 oz. tomato paste

1 tsp turmeric

12 oz spaghetti

1 small potato, sliced (or bread/lettuce if you prefer)

1 tsp salt

2/3 cup water

Oil

Directions

1. Cook spaghetti according to box instructions, strain and set aside

2. Put 1 tblsp oil in a saute pan on high heat. When it gets hot, turn the stove down to med-high and add onions. Cook for 3-4 minutes until golden brown.

3. Add ground beef and saute all together while breaking the meat into very small pieces. Add the turmeric and cook for 2 minutes or until meat is brown.

4. Add tomato paste and stir for 1-2 minutes. When you notice the color of the paste changing (brownish color), it is done.

5. Add water and turn the temperature to high heat. When it starts to boil, turn the heat to low and add salt.

6. Let cook for 15 minutes and stir 2-3 times. When the water is evaporated turn off the heat. 

7.(To make the tadig; you can skip this part if you want): In a sauce pan (big enough to fit pasta/sauce), add 3 tblsp oil and heat on stove for 45 seconds on high heat.

8. Remove pan from heat and add 1 layer of sliced potatoes (enough to cover the bottom of the pan).

9. Add a bit of pasta on top and then a layer of the meat sauce. Keep layering until you've used all of the pasta/sauce. 

10. Drizzle 2-3 tblsp oil on top of the spaghetti and cover.

11. Place back on the stove on high heat for 45 seconds (if you are making the tadig) and then decrease heat to low and cook for 45 minutes.

12. After 45 minutes, stir the spaghetti and serve! If you made the Tadig, scrape the potatoes from the bottom of the pan and serve on the side. Don't eat the hard spaghetti at the bottom, unless you're into that.

13. Enjoy!

Butter Chicken

 Today's blog post was inspired by my BFF, Aman. He's from India but he doesn't know how to cook Indian food. Actually, I'm not sure if he knows how to cook any kind of food. He also doesn't eat vegetables and he sleeps in until 2pm everyday. And he's single. Ladies? ;)

On a more serious note, he is the one who introduced me to butter chicken (or "murgh makhani"). It has now become my favorite Indian dish and it's also really easy to make. I got the recipe from Closet Cooking (amazing blog, by the way!) but I couldn't find fenugreek leaves or almond butter so I had to leave them out. It still tasted really good without them so if you don't have those ingredients or can't find them in the store, don't panic like I did.

Butter Chicken
Serves: 4-5

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 2 cloves
• 1 teaspoon cumin, toasted and ground
• 1 teaspoon coriander, toasted and ground
• 2 cups tomato (fresh or canned), pureed
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper or to taste
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• • 1 teaspoon garam masala
  • Salt
  • cilantro, chopped
  • 
    
  • For the chicken:
  • 1 pound chicken
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1 tsp garam masala
  • 1tsp coriander
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
  • olive oil
  
  

  Directions

  1. Marinate the chicken with the cream, coriander, garam masala, cumin, garlic and cayenne pepper for at least one hour. 
  2. Grill or saute chicken with olive oil over medium-high heat until cooked.
  3. Dice cooked chicken and set aside
  4. Melt  butter in a pan over medium heat.
  5. Add the cinnamon, cloves, cumin and coriander and cook until fragrant, about a minute.
  6. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste and cayenne, reduce the heat to medium low and simmer until the sauce starts to thicken, about 10-15 minutes.
  
  7. Add the chicken, honey, and cream and simmer for another 10-15 minutes.
  8. Add the garam masala and salt and remove from heat.
  9. Serve over basmati rice with butter and cilantro.

10. Enjoy!

Smoked Salmon Baked Eggs

The other day I was weirdly craving eggs and, to no surprise, salmon. I wanted to make the eggs a bit healthier (since I'm in a diet and all), so I baked them in small ramekins. They were so yummy and decadent with the smoked salmon and made for a delicious dinner. They would  be perfect to make for brunch or even breakfast in bed! Did I mention they look really pretty?

Smoked Salmon Baked Eggs
Serves: 1


Ingredients:
2 large eggs
Smoked salmon (a few slices)
1 tblsp heavy cream
1 tsp capers
1 tsp chopped chives
butter
Salt & Pepper
Bread, to serve

1. Preheat oven to 350 F
2. Separate egg yolks from egg whites and set aside.
3. Mix the egg whites with heavy cream
4. Lightly butter the ramekin, sprinkle a little but of salt at the bottom and edges and then add a small slice of smoked salmon
5. Pour the egg white mixture on top of salmon
6. Pour egg yolks on top of the egg whites, making sure not break them
7. Bake for 20 minutes
8. Top with more smoked salmon, capers, and fresh chives
9. Serve with warm bread and enjoy!

Healthy eating..

The other week was my friend John's birthday. His actual name is Gianmarco but John sounds so much cooler and its quicker to type so we'll just refer to him as that. In celebration of his birthday, we made him cook us pizza! I baked a cake which was an absolute disaster but it tasted pretty good. 

View from their condo - The most beautiful beach in the world ;)

Me and Tobes taking cool pictures of ourselves

Alex doing what he does best........absolutely nothing.

Orange-vanilla cream cheese filling for my cake

Homemade pizza sauce

Layering..

Greasy goodness

Prosciutto and arugula...my favorite!

The star of the night. It didn't exactly come out of the pan smoothly. 

Happy Birthday John!

Salmon with Dill Cream and Sauteed Spinach

....And the salmon obsession continues. I'm sorry for posting so many salmon recipes...but my taste buds just can't help it. They need salmon......and salmon needs them....................................................................................................

Umm...Just try this recipe. It's yummy!

Salmon with Dill Cream and Sauteed Spinach
Serves: 1


Ingredients:
1 salmon fillet
1/4 cup light sour cream
a few sprigs fresh dill, roughly chopped
1/2 fresh squeezed lemon juice
2 garlic cloves, sliced
4-5 cups spinach (or as much as you want)
Olive oil
Salt & Pepper


1. Heat olive oil in saute pan on medium heat; Season the salmon with salt and pepper

2. Cook the salmon, skin side down for 5 minutes
3. While the salmon is cooking, combine the sour cream, dill, lemon juice, salt, & pepper. Add as much dill as you like!
4. Flip salmon and cook on the other side for 4-5 minutes.
5. Heat 1 tblsp olive oil in another saute pan over medium heat and add the sliced garlic.

6. After garlic is heated, add a small amount of spinach, gradually adding more as the spinach welts. Add salt and pepper and cook until all of the spinach is welted.

7.Pour dill sauce over the salmon and serve with spinach.
8. Enjoy!

Salmon BLT's

Yesterday was the mark of one week on our diet competition. As the rules stated, the person who lost the least body weight percentage had to cook for the other person. Needless to say, Josefine lost. Or so I thought. We texted each other in the morning with our final weight and body percentage lost. I had won (woo!). It wasn't until we were eating the dinner that Josefine had already prepared that we decided to recalculate our percentage and realized that I actually had lost the competition the first week. Oops. Oh well, Josefine still cooked an amazzzzzzzing dinner. I'll probably be having dreams about it for the next week....or two. Thank god for Josefine losing the competition. Sort of.
Anyway, we saw this recipe at Publix a week ago and both have been drooling over it so here it is! I hope you get the chance to try this. It hit every spot.

Salmon BLT's
Serves: 2


Ingredients
1 medium tomato, sliced
a few sprigs fresh dill
1/2 tsp capers, finely chopped
4 slices whole wheat bread, toasted
2 tblsp light mayonnaise
2 salmon fillets (she used sockeye salmon)
4 slices bacon (she used turkey bacon)
1 cup fresh baby spinach
Salt & Pepper


1. Combine dill, capers, mayonnaise, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper; set aside.
2. Season fish with salt and remaining 1/4 teaspoon pepper.
3. Wrap two slices of turkey bacon around each salmon filet (wash hands).
4. Preheat large sauté pan on medium-high 2–3 minutes.
5. Place salmon in pan; cook 4–5 minutes on each side or until bacon is crisp and salmon is cooked.
6. Spread 2 teaspoons mayonnaise mixture on each bread slice; top with spinach and tomato.
7. Add salmon and assemble sandwiches

8. Serve and Enjoy!

Now onto week two! Making progress and feeling sooo much more healthy and energetic!

Raspberry Glazed Salmon with Cucumber Salad

I've recently been on a salmon kick. I eat, sleep, and dream salmon. I can't get it out of my mind. Creepy, no? It's become one of my favorite foods to eat as well as cook. Salmon is so super easy to cook and it tastes good served with almost anything. Since I am also on a health kick right now, I made this super healthy super easy recipe and it turned out perfect! I think it might be one of my favorite meals to date. It's also fairly easy on the wallet and requires very few ingredients that you probably already have stored somewhere in the back of your fridge. Anyway, enough teasing.

Raspberry Glazed Salmon with Cucumber Salad

Serves: 4

Ingredients:

1 pound of salmon (or two large fillets cut in half)

1 cup raspberry jam

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

2 tblsp extra virgin olive oil

2 tblsp Dijon mustard

salt & pepper

For the cucumber salad:

Four small sized cucumbers,diced

1 large tomato,diced

A few springs of basil, chopped

1 tblsp extra virgin olive oil

3/4 cup balsamic vinegar

salt & pepper

Directions:

1. Season the salmon fillets with salt and pepper

2. Combine the raspberry jam, olive oil, balsamic vinegar and dijon mustard in a shallow dish or plastic bag and let salmon marinate for an hour.

3. Meanwhile, make the cucumber salad by combining all of the ingredients in a large bowl and mix. Add as much balsamic vinegar as you feel is necessary! I believe you can never have too much.
4. Once the salmon is marinated, grill or pan fry for about 3 minutes on each side, leaving the skin on.
5. Once it's cooked, spread some more of the marinade over the top and broil in the oven on high for 1-2 minutes until it because sticky and yummy!
6. Serve and enjoy!

How to make the most pointless lunch ever

My boyfriend often tells me that I don't eat enough. Well, here I am to prove him wrong. Sort of.


How to make the most pointless lunch ever
Servings: 1
Ingredients:
1 box of shells and cheese
1 bottle of Sriracha hot sauce
1 jar of pickled jalapeno peppers
1 bottle of Asian toasted sesame dressing

Step 1: Make a box of Shells and Cheese
Step 2: Pour the whole box onto your plate.
Step 3: Mix in some Sriracha hot sauce

Step 4: Mix in some picked jalapeno peppers
Step 5: Mix in some Asian toasted sesame dressing (which, by the way, is amazing.....on salads)
Step 6: Eat the whole plate.

Step 7: Puke it all out because that's way too much food and that sh*t was disgusting!
Step 8: Say to yourself, "What the hell is wrong with me?"
Step 9: Make a bowl of cheerios.


You're welcome. Enjoy!

Thanksgiving

Here are a few pictures from our Thanksgiving=]

P.S. Did you know that the average person consumes 4,500 calories on Thanksgiving? Holyyyyy  that's a lot of calories considering after we eat, we sit and laze around the rest of the day. Lucky for me, I've been drinking chocolate milk for meals the past few days because I can't keep anything down. Damn you Thanksgiving dinner, although, you were so, so worth it.

My Stuffing(before it went into the oven) Sourdough bread with butternut squash, cranberries, leeks,bacon, and pancetta

Macaroni and cheese, white and golden corn, & jellied and fresh cranberry sauce

Pancetta and Porcini mushroom Au gratin potatoes

Mango salad

Homemade green bean casserole, stuffing, and maple-glazed ham

Fresh cranberry sauce with cinnamon sugar pita chips. Couldn't keep my hands off!

Can't have Thanksgiving without Brie!

I couldn't even tell you everything that went on my plate!

Toby was stuffed with Turkey as well

One-eyed Jack