Baked Scallops au Gratin

Courtesy of Coastal Living

Buttery, lemony, delicious - all words to describe this dish. I kept coming across this recipe and finally got the chance to make it last night. YUM. This was a fairly easy dish to make and would be great served as appetizers or as part of a main dish. Enjoy :)

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound sea scallops 
• 1/3 cup Japanese breadcrumbs (panko) or fine, dry breadcrumbs
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted 
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice 
• 1 small garlic clove, finely minced
• 1/4 teaspoon salt 
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Place scallops in a lightly greased 1-quart baking dish. Combine breadcrumbs and remaining ingredients, and sprinkle over scallops. Bake at 425° for 15 minutes or until scallops are opaque and topping is golden.

Braised Green Beans & Summer Vegetables

Adapted from Eating Well
May/June 2009

Yes, I am aware it's not Summer. This recipe did look yummy though, so I decided to give it a shot with what I could find in the produce department. It turned out just fine! You could get creative with the vegetables you add to the green beans, but I just used a tomato and a yellow squash. This versatile side dish could go with many things. I got ahead of myself and snapped this photo before topping with the Parmesan, but you could go with either option!

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 small shallot, diced
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh oregano, or 1 teaspoon dried
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1 pound green beans, trimmed
• 1 medium summer squash, halved and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 cup chopped tomato
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
• 1/4 cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese (optional)

Directions

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and oregano and cook, stirring, until softened and beginning to brown, about 2 minutes. Add wine (or broth) and bring to a boil. Add green beans, reduce heat to a simmer, cover and cook for 10 minutes, stirring once or twice. Add summer squash (or zucchini) and tomatoes and continue cooking until the vegetables are tender, 8 to 10 minutes more. Season with salt and pepper. Serve sprinkled with Parmesan.

Cajun Catfish

Courtesy of Plated Perfection

I have a strange obsession with the Cajun catfish at Harris Teeter, and I always feel the need to buy it whenever I see it. However, for some reason, they're hard to come by. I finally decided to ask the "seafood guy" about them and he told me to just season them myself with this one magical ingredient. I took his advice and tried this last night on some fresh catfish. You could use this on a variety of fish, but I chose catfish. This recipe is super fast and super easy, and healthy which is an added bonus!

Ingredients

• 2 catfish filets, or fish of your choice
• Approximately 2 tsp. Chef Paul Prudhomme's Blackened Redfish Magic
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• Olive oil, for brushing
• Nonstick spray

Directions

Spray a baking dish with nonstick cooking spray and place the fish filets in the dish. Brush with just a little olive oil. Squeeze half of a lemon over the fish  and top with the seasoning. Bake at 425 for 15 minutes.

Tangy Slow Cooker Pork Roast

Courtesy of www.allrecipes.com

I made pork loin last week and it really made me want to try other recipes involving pork. I found a pretty pork rib loin at Teeter over the weekend, so I thought I'd give this recipe a shot. The other great thing is that you can cook it in the slow cooker, which makes life much easier. It also makes your place smell delightful :) My only alteration of this recipe was the cooking time. The original recipe said to cook on high for 3-4 hours, but I checked the pork loin about 2.5 hours in, and it was already well done. I would suggest checking the temperature about 2 hours in, just to see where you are. As usual, this is great for leftovers!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 large onion, sliced
• 2 1/2 pounds boneless pork loin roast
• 1 cup hot water
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon ketchup
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 dash hot pepper sauce, or to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. Arrange onion slices evenly over the bottom of the slow cooker, and then place the roast on top of the onion. In a bowl, mix together water, sugar, vinegar, soy sauce, ketchup, black pepper, salt, garlic powder, and hot sauce; pour over roast.
2. Cover, and cook on Low for 6 to 8 hours, or on High for 3 to 4 hours.

Super Bowl 3.0 - Pizza Bites

Adapted from For the Love of Cooking blog

There are variations of this recipe all over the Internet, but this is the one I used as a foundation. I did make some adjustments, so the recipe below is what I used. These were fun to make, especially with a friend and frozen Pina Coladas, yes, in February :) Don't judge. This made approximately 30 pizza bites. The other great thing about this recipe is that you can use whichever fillings you desire! Get creative!

INGREDIENTS

• 2 packages fresh, whole wheat pizza dough (I got mine from Harris Teeter)
• 1 package shredded Mozzarella cheese
• Turkey pepperoni slices, cut into quarter pieces
• Dried basil, to taste
• Dried oregano, to taste
• Dried garlic powder with parsley, to taste
• Sea salt and black pepper, to taste
• Parmesan cheese, to taste
• Olive oil, for brushing
• Pizza sauce for dipping

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Coat a pie dish with olive oil cooking spray. Let the dough rest on the counter for 20 minutes. Grab a walnut size piece of the dough, flatten it with your hand, and then place the desired ingredients in the middle of the dough. In this recipe, I placed about 1 tb mozzarella cheese and 3-4 quartered pieces of the pepperoni. Seal the dough around the fillings and place in the pie dish seam side down. Repeat, placing the balls into the pie dish until full.There does not need to be any space left in the pie dish. Brush the top of each ball with olive oil and sprinkle with basil, oregano, garlic powder with parsley, sea salt, black pepper, and Parmesan cheese, to taste. Bake approximately 15-18 minutes until the pizza bites are golden brown on top. Serve with warmed pizza sauce on the side.

Super Bowl 2.0 - Sausage Balls

Courtesy of my family <3

OK, so this probably isn't only made by my family, but it's something that I always grew up having around the holidays. It's a great finger food and it's just delicious. This recipe only calls for three ingredients - can't complain about that! YUM.

INGREDIENTS

1 pound ground Italian sausage (I used mild, but you can definitely use hot if desired)
3 cups Bisquick mix
2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (or whichever cheese you prefer)

DIRECTIONS

Mix together all ingredients. TIP: It's easier to mix if you incorporate the ingredients slowly to the ground sausage. Roll into balls (approximately 1 tb each) and place on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 400 degrees for approximately 10 minutes. Take out once a little golden brown on top.

Super Bowl 1.0 - Buffalo Chicken Dip

Courtesy of Mike Fuller (mikefuller.hubpages.com)

The Super Bowl usually means one thing to me - FOOD :) Well, there's also friends, adult beverages, and watching football, but since the Redskins never make it that far, I focus on the food. It's always my excuse to make some delish dips and snacks! I'll have multiple recipes posted to represent each food item, so stay tuned! This particular dip is simply amazing. It's super easy to make and everyone always devours it. You really just can't go wrong!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pound of boneless skinless chicken breast (I used the white meat from a plain rotisserie)
• 1 cup of ranch dressing ( Hidden Valley is the best)
1 cup of Frank's Original Red Hot (I wouldn't substitute Frank)
• 1 8 oz block of cream cheese
1 package of fancy shredded sharp cheddar cheese (2 cups)
• Green onions (optional) 
• Celery stalks, or my favorite, fresh baked Jalapeno Cheddar bread

DIRECTIONS

Pre heat your oven to 350 F. Cut the cold cream cheese into cubes and place them into an 11.5" x 8" x 2" Pyrex style baking dish lightly misted with buttered flavor Pam. Evenly sprinkle the fancy shredded cheese on top of the cream cheese cubes. Pour the 1 cup of ranch and the 1 cup of Franks Red Hot on top of the cheesy mixture and place the dish into the oven uncovered for 7 to 10 minutes. After the cheesy mixture is done baking and mixed together well you may now add the chicken, simply pour the chicken on top of the mixture, carefully stir the mixture well and cover with aluminum foil and bake an additional 20 to 30 minutes. Add more Ranch here if the dip is too spicy. Once baked you can carefully pour into your serving bowl, garnish with green onion and serve with your favorite dipping device. ENJOY!

Garlic Green Bean Salad

Adapted from Sunny Anderson

I saw this recipe being made on the Food Network this week. I love green beans and grew up eating them. My task growing up was always to snap the green beans...a tedious task, but fun because I got to do it with my great-grandmother, grandmother, and my Mom. It' just one of those great childhood memories. To this day, I still love green beans and am always looking for new ways to spice them up. The recipe below is my adapted version. This recipe is served room temperature and I am looking forward to having these as leftovers!

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound green beans (I used french green beans, with stems still on)
• 1/3 cup diced orange pepper
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup shallot, diced
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Cook green beans in a pot of boiling salted water until crisp tender, about 5 to 6 minutes. Remove to a bowl filled with ice water to stop the cooking. Drain and dry with paper towels then place in a serving bowl. Saute the diced shallot, garlic, and orange pepper with a touch of salt and pepper over medium heat, just to soften, about 3 minutes. Let cool. Toss with the green beans and vinegar. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Let sit at room temperature, at least 30 minutes.

Herb Roasted Pork Loin with Parsley Sauce

Adapted from Ellie Krieger

Words cannot describe how delicious this turned out. I took one bite and was in heaven...and that was before I topped it with the sauce! After I plated it together, I was just speechless. It was so tender, moist, tangy, and just full of flavor. You need to try this ASAP! Feel free to serve with any vegetable. I opted to serve the pork loin with another new recipe, garlic green bean salad. I had a lot of the sauce left over, which I think will go really well with white fish or chicken. OK, stop reading, go buy a pork loin, and MAKE THIS NOW! NOTE: For the pork loin, I left the minimal fat on and my pork loin was only 1.78 pounds - I still used all of the marinade/rub. I also flipped the pork loin halfway through, for about 10 minutes, and then flipped again.

Ingredients

• 2 garlic cloves, minced (1 tablespoon)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh sage leaves
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary leaves
• 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh thyme leaves
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 (2 1/2-pound) center cut boneless pork loin, trimmed of all visible fat 
• 1/2 cup Parsley Shallot Sauce, recipe follows

 

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Mash the garlic and salt together with a fork until it forms a coarse paste. Transfer to a small bowl and stir in the oil, fresh herbs and freshly ground pepper. Rub the garlic-herb paste all over the pork. Transfer the pork to a roasting pan and roast for 1 1/4 hours or until the internal temperature reaches 155 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer.NOTE: Since my pork loin was smaller, it was cooked perfectly after one hour. Transfer the roast to a carving board and let rest for 15 minutes. Carve the pork into slices and serve with the sauce.

Parsley Shallot Sauce:
1 1/2 cups lightly packed flat-leaf parsley leaves
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped shallot
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons water
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
Freshly ground black pepper

Combine all ingredients in a blender and puree.