Tuesday, September 30, 2014

Zoodles Greek Salad

Okay, folks.  This is very exciting.  I have tried and fallen in love with zoodles.  Yes, zoodles.  In case you haven't been following the latest vegetable craze, zoodles are zucchini "noodles" made with something called a spiralizer.  You know me: it can't be surprising to hear that I registered for a spiralizer because I was dying to turn zucchini into noodles.  It's also not surprising that no one got it for me!  So don't worry: I returned 4 of my 5 coffee makers and got plenty of great stuff in return.  One thing I had to get: my $20 vegetable spiralizer.  It sort of looks like a male torture device, or two funnels put together with sharp blades inside.  If you put the zucchini in one end and twist, it makes spaghetti-like strips.  The other end makes fettucini-like strips.  I've only experienced with zucchini, but apparently lots of other vegetables can be spiralized too (I can see carrots being awesome!).  Once you get the zoodles, you can briefly cook them and eat them in place of pasta, or you can eat them raw, like we did in this salad.

I love Greek salad anyway - the feta, the lemon, the fresh oregano, the tomatoes, not to mention those beloved little kalamata olives.  But then serve it over zoodles, and you've really gotten me excited.  There's nothing not to like.  You feel like you're eating a cold pasta dish with Mediterranean flavors!  The zoodles really do make you think you are eating a slightly crunchy pasta, and the salad dressing is so bright and delicious .   And can we talk about how easy this is to make?  3 steps.  Maybe 10 minutes.  That's it.

I was pretty pumped when I tried this, and couldn't wait to make it for Maggie because she is gluten-free.  She loved it so much that a week or so later, she brought me zucchinis and lemons and begged me to make it for her again!  So my (many) gluten-free friends out there: try out some zoodles!  Or just come over and I'll try them out for you.  I definitely want to try a hot dish with zoodles; my mom says she saw people cook them on the Today show and no one could tell that it wasn't actually pasta.  Have you tried zoodles?  What's your favorite way to eat them?

Recipe:

zoodles Greek salad
from Cupcakes and Kale Chips
serves 4 - 6

Ingredients:
juice of 1 lemon (about 1/4 cup)
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon fresh oregano, finely chopped
kosher salt and pepper
2 medium zucchini, peeled if desired
1 cup grape of cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives, halved
2 ounces crumbled feta cheese

Instructions:

1) In a small bowl, whisk together the lemon juice, balsamic vinegar, olive oil, oregano, and salt and pepper to taste.  Set aside.

2) Using a vegetable spiral cutter, cut the zucchini into zucchini noodles.

3) In a large bowl, gently toss together the zucchini noodles, tomatoes, olives, feta, and dressing until combined and evenly coated.

Monday, September 29, 2014

Cinnamon Roll Cookies

In case you thought that I only baked dog treats for the Town Benefit, surprise!!!  I made some human food too.  And they are pretty darn delicious, too, if I may say so myself.

Behold: the cinnamon roll that is actually a cookie.  Yes, these are cinnamon roll cookies.  The "bread" part is really sugar cookie, filled and rolled around cinnamon and sugar.  The recipe calls for a glaze, but I thought these were sweet enough as it was.

 I was pretty excited to go see them at the benefit and see how they were selling, and they were selling like hotcakes.  And I don't just mean that my mom was buying them... which she was!  To be honest, they were pretty, and when it comes to a bake sale or something like that, looks are 90% of it!  Luckily I am sure that no one felt screwed over buying my $2 bags of cinnamon roll cookies, because the taste was great too!

Recipe:

cinnamon roll cookies
from Baked Perfection

Ingredients:
sugar cookie ingredients:
3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) softened butter
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 almond extract
2 eggs
filling and icing:
1 tablespoon melted butter
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
3/4 powdered sugar
1 tablespoon milk

Instructions:
1) Make the sugar cookie dough: mix together the flour, baking powder, and salt; set aside.  In a large bowl, beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  Beat in the eggs one at at imd, then stir in the vanilla.  Slowly beat in the flour mixture until fully absorbed.  Separate dough into two disks.  Wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for a minimum of 2 hours of overnight.

2) Divide the dough into 2 halves.  On a floured surface, roll each half of the dough to about 1/4-inch thickness.  Brush with melted butter.  In a small bowl, mix together sugar and cinnamon.  Sprinkle this mixture evenly over dough.  Begin to roll up dough, starting at the long side.  Wrap in plastic wrap and put dough in freezer for about 20 - 30 minutes (until firm but not hard).

3) Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Take dough out of freezer and begin cutting into 3/4 inch slices.  Place slices about 2 inches apart on cookie sheet.  Bake 10 - 12 minutes or until edges are lightly golden golden brown.

4) Cool for 2 minutes on the cookie sheet, them remove to cooling rack.  Cool completely.

5) In a small bowl, mix powdered sugar and milk until smooth.  Drizzle icing over cooled cookies, making sure you have paper underneath racks to catch excess icing.

Sunday, September 28, 2014

Ernie's Treats: Peanut Butter and Bacon Dog Treats

This is the third of three posts in the Ernie's Treats category.

Our last extravagant dog biscuit flavor was peanut butter and bacon.  These are two of every dog's favorite flavors, so we knew they would be a big hit.  They have oats and whole wheat flour, so your dog can tell herself that they're healthy :)  The recipe calls for chopped up bacon, but I confess to using more of the bacon bits.  After all, the apple cheddar bacon treats called for them and didn't use the whole bottle.  I am slightly offended every time I open my spice cabinet and see a bottle that says "Bacon Flavored Bits."  Who knows what those things are made out of?!  I am desperate to use them and not desperate to eat them myself.  Luckily, the hounds don't mind, and these peanut buttery, bacon-y treats were devoured instantly.

In other doggie news, I dog-sat for Delilah (and bird-sat for Walter) this weekend.  It was really nice to be with Lila again; I do miss that bad dog, and she didn't steal any food (that I know of) or pee upstairs to steal Daisy's territory (at least I haven't found it yet).  I slept terribly because she insisted on sleeping between me and Mark, and she did fall into the koi pond once, but it's just so hard to be mad at her.

Recipe:

peanut butter and bacon dog treats
from Sally's Baking Addiction 

Ingredients:
1 cup natural creamy peanut butter
3/4 cup nonfat milk
1 large egg
1 cups flour, whole wheat or all-purpose
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/3 cup oats
2 - 3 strips bacon, chopped

Instructions:

1) Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Line two baking sheets with parchment paper of silicone baking mats.  Set aside.

2) In a large bowl, gently mix the peanut butter, milk, and egg together with a large spoon or spatula. Switch to a whisk to make sure no lumps remain.  Add the flour and baking powder.  You may need to turn the dough out onto the counter and use your hands to work in the flour because the dough is extremely thick and heavy.  Mix in the oats and chopped bacon.

3) Using a rolling pin, roll the dough out to 1/4" thickness.  Cut into shapers using cookie cutters or a knife.  Arrange on the baking sheets.  Bake for 18 - 20 minutes, or until very lightly browned on the bottom.  Remove from the oven, and flip the treats to bake the other side for 10 - 12 more minutes,

4) Allow to cool completely before serving to your pup.  Store at room temperature or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.  Treats freeze well, up to 2 months.

Saturday, September 27, 2014

Ernie's Treats: Apple, Cheddar and Bacon Bits Dog Treats

This is the second of three posts in the Ernie's Treats category (we miss you, big dog!).  See the last post for more information.

This batch of homemade dog treats seemed to be the clear favorite among our pups - and why wouldn't it be?  Grated apples and cheddar cheese are great enough, but toss bacon bits in there?  You've got some happy hounds.  They're a little sweet, a little savory, with lots of texture and a great crunch.  Well, this is what I think Daisy told me as she devoured hers.  Either way, you should probably go bake up a batch of these for a dog that you love.

Recipe:

apple, cheddar and bacon bits dog treats
from The Cottage Market

Ingredients:
3 cups flour (all-purpose or whole whoa, or a mixture)
1 large egg
2 tablespoons softened butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
8 ounces grated cheddar
1 large apple, peeled and grated
2 tablespoons dried parsley
3 tablespoons bacon bits
1 cup milk

Instructions:

1) Place the egg, butter and olive oil into a mixer bowl and whip together.  Add the milk and mix.

2) Slowly add the flours, then add the grated apple, cheese, parsley, and bacon bits.  The dough should be smooth and pliable.  If it is too dry, add a little water or milk; if it is too sticky, add a bit more flour.

3) Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Sprinkle some flour on the counter so the dough doesn't stick; roll out half of the dough to 1/4 inch thick.  If you'd like, sprinkle a little bit more cheese, bacon bits and parsley on top and give it a few rolls so everything sticks.  Cut out your shapes.

4) Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.  Put treats on the tray and bake for 20 - 30 minutes or until golden and browned on the bottom.  Allow to cool.  Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.  You can also freeze them for up to 6 months.

Monday, September 22, 2014

Ernie's Treats: Mint and Parsley dog treats

About a month ago, my sweet, caring, biggest-hearted-human-on-earth cousin Maggie got terrible news about her beautiful golden retriever.  Before I get to the sad stuff, let met tell you first about Ernie.

Picture the biggest goofball of a dog you can imagine, and that was Ern.  Ernie: the dog who was diagnosed with canine ADHD, who was happy even when he was at the vet, who loved walks on the beach.  He would literally "smile" when you walked in to their house, and would frantically try to please you by bringing you a present.  These presents ranged from socks to mittens to sometimes mouthfuls of your own shirt.  All of this would occur while he squeaked with excitement.

This was a dog that loved life, loved everyone, and loved everything (maybe except for going outside; he was pretty content to relax inside).  This was a dog who was best friends with a tiny chihuahua; he would let her take naps on his tail.  He  never get annoyed with all the other crazy animals Maggie brought home for him to meet, whether it was a deer fawn, a goat, a sheep, or a rat.

Ernie was a love, and his family loved him very much.  This made it so much harder when they found out that even though Ernie was a young pup, they didn't have much longer with him.  I don't have to get into the details, because I was more interested in sharing the healthy Ernie with you.  I am also interested in sharing what Maggie and I decided to do with some of the precious time we had left with him: we decided to bake him some homemade dog treats.
Dog treat dough galore!

It sounds simple, but we made a day of it, and it was a beautiful day.  We decided to bake three different types of dog treats to feed our own dogs, but also to sell at our town benefit.  All four of our hounds -  Daisy, Delilah, Ernie and Ruby Sue - were going to be our taste testers, but Ernie was our mascot.   Maggie printed up tags with a gorgeous picture of Ernie on the front, and wrote "Ernie's Treats" on them.  We then baked up a storm here at my house for a whole afternoon, packaged them up, and had Mark take a basket of them to the Neighbors Helping Neighbors Town Benefit, which is an awesome little thing our town does to raise money that is used to help each other out in times of need.  Our dog treats were sold in the bake sale area, and were nearly sold out by the time I went to the fair to see how they were doing!  It made Maggie and I happy to know we were feeding lots of dogs some treats made with love, and that Ernie was living on in these happy hounds.

Ernie passed away a couple weeks ago.  It was hard and sad and awful.  His family will always miss him - even though their new pup Arlo definitely has a little Ernie in him, and has helped dull the pain a little bit.  I will be sharing the three Ernie's Treats recipes over the next three dog posts, starting with these easy mint and parsley treats (we called them Breath Savers!).  I hope you try some new dog treats out for a dog that you love.  Just think of Ernie when you make them <3

Recipe:

mint and parsley dog treats
from Live in Art

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 cup water
2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup oats
2 tablespoons fresh mint, chopped
1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped

Instructions:
1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2) Mix oil and water.  Slowly add flour, and then all other ingredients.

3) Roll dough out on a flat surface to desired thickness.  Cut out with cookie cutters.  Reroll extra dough and continue cutting cookies until dough is gone.

4) Place on cookie sheet; bake for 35 minutes.  Treats can be frozen, or can last for about 1 month in an airtight container.




Sunday, September 21, 2014

Corn Dog Muffins

Because I am married, I have now realized that any time I neglect to drink alcohol or take a day off from work, everyone will think I am pregnant.  The problem is, I never really drink, and I did actually get sick last week and miss a day of work.  It's crazy how quickly people have been asking me when they can expect babies.  The truth is, they're going to have to wait a while.  I just went back to school and would prefer to finish that up first.  In addition, Mark and I just moved out of our parents' houses!  We are newlyweds who are also, in a way, new adults.  I think we have to master this part of our lives before we add anyone else's lives to the mix.  It'll happen, but it won't happen any time too soon!

With that said, I have been thinking a lot about our future (hyperactive) children.  I have been reading way too many blogs on how to get your kids to be good eaters.  It is so important to me that my children aren't your average macaroni and cheese, chicken fingers, and hot dogs every night kind of kids.  I myself was a picky eater (nothing pickier than a 2-year old vegetarian who didn't like vegetables), and I don't want that for my kids.  I want them to want to eat quinoa, and arugula, and curries.  I don't want them to hate spicy food or fish or even meat, for that matter.  Some of the blogs I follow have young children with more adventurous palates than I do!  I really hope I can stick to my guns and force my little Ajemians to enjoy leeks and polenta and farro!

However, in case one night my sweet darlings throw a hissy fit about millet casserole, here's a good backup plan: mini corn dog muffins.  Now, I made a different version of these before, and Kenzie and I thought they looked a bit obscene.  This time around, I tried a different corn muffin recipe, and I cut the hot dogs into smaller pieces.  That way, they completely sunk into the muffin and didn't poke out, looking downright inappropriate.

I actually made this batch for some kids - Laura's and Cathleen's.  One night they all came over to do some heavy duty work gossip, and I whipped these up for the three little ones.  However, I think Kenzie and Nick liked them just as much if not more than the littles.  And to be honest, I made a few that I left the hot dogs out of, and I enjoyed eating those!  There's something nostalgic and comforting about corn dogs, I tell you.  I'm still dreaming of the vegetarian corn dog I got at a festival 2 years ago.  Maybe next time, I need to try these with my soy dogs! :)

my hungry corn dog muffin eaters, checking out the pond!
One side note, perhaps slightly off topic: I cut way too many little pieces of hot dog for these muffins, but I found a great use for them.  Dog owners, rejoice: it was the perfect way to get Daisy to take her pills!  I just pushed a pill into each hot dog slice, and she devoured it so quickly, she didn't bother trying to spit out the pill (which she does with every single other way I've come up with to get her to take her pills!)  So if you have a strangely mouth-dexterous dog, little hot dog slices may be your new best friend.

Recipe:

corn dog muffins
from the Pioneer Woman
makes 6 servings

Ingredients:
1/4 cup shortening, melted, slightly cooled
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup milk
1 whole egg
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
6 whole hot dogs

Instructions:

1) Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Combine corn meal, flour, and salt in a mixing bowl.  In a separate bowl, combine buttermilk, milk, and egg.  Add baking powder and baking soda to the wet ingredients.  Stir into the dry ingredients.  Add 1/4 cup melted shortening,  stirring constantly.

2) Grease muffin tins and fill them a little more than half full with batter.  Cut a hot dog into pieces.

3) Bake until cornbread is done, about 10 - 12 minutes.  Remove from the pan and serve with ketchup and mustard.


Saturday, September 20, 2014

Baklava

Let me set the scene: it was the Tuesday of the week of my wedding.  I would be going to my rehearsal dinner in two short days, on Thursday, and the wedding was Friday.  I had lived in my new house for about a month; I wasn't totally moved in yet.  Basically, I was in full pre-wedding craziness mode.  What do you think I was doing on this particular Tuesday?

If your guess was, making homemade baklava and hosting a huge house party, you guessed correctly!  I know, most people probably wouldn't have guessed that.  But here's the thing: I had to have a party because my Irish family needed to learn the Armenian wedding dancing that we would all be doing at the wedding!  We had tried to have this Armenian dance party for months, and people were busy and life was too insane.  Then we kind of ran out of time, so Mark's mother and I decided that the party simply had to be that Tuesday.  My house is bigger and could fit more people, so we decided to have it here.  And I simply couldn't host a party without making something, even though everyone volunteered to bring snacks, desserts and other awesome things (no one makes homemade salsa like Andrea, let me tell you).  I figured that this was the perfect opportunity to try making my own baklava; Mark's Armenian family would be experts and could tell me how I did, and my family could get into the Armenian spirit with a dessert!

Now, this was not the most labor-intensive dessert I ever made, but it was also probably not one to make the busiest week of my life.  Perhaps some simple brownies would have sufficed.  To be honest, though, this was a pretty fun recipe to make, and not unlike spanakopita. You melt butter.... lots of butter... and brush it onto a few sheets of phyllo dough.  In between buttered dough layers, you add chopped nuts and cinnamon.  Then more dough, more nuts, etcetera, and bake it all.  Then the magic really happens: honey, water, sugar and vanilla are boiled together into a thick syrup that gets poured over the whole baked dish.  This part was a little scary, because I was afraid I was adding too much and that it would be too squishy.  In the end, I actually didn't pour on enough, and it didn't have that super sticky baklava texture; the phyllo was a bit too dry, and thus flaky.

However, this baklava was absolutely delicious, and people were raving about it, even if it wasn't perfect.  The crunchy spiced nuts mixed beautifully with the super sweet syrup, and it just tasted like a fun summer night.  Plus I decided to put each piece in a muffin cup, which definitely helped the presentation!   I think that people were mostly impressed that the bride-to-be was making homemade baklava three days before the wedding :)  I have a distinct memory of Christy looking at the array of foods on our table and saying, "what bride puts on this spread the Tuesday of her wedding week!?"  It made me pretty proud that I am that bride.  If you had told me a few years ago that this would be the case, I would have thought you were insane.
My work station!

And as for the Armenian dancing?  Mark's family were great teachers.  We got the easy dance down pretty quickly.  The more complicated ones?  Well, we'll leave those to the real Armenians.  I may not be able to emulate their dances, but I can make a mean baklava.

Recipe:

baklava
from the Pioneer Woman
makes 16 servings

Ingredients:
1 package phyllo dough
4 cups chopped walnuts or pecans
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 sticks butter, melted
2 cups honey
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup sugar
3 teaspoons vanilla extract

Instructions:

1) Remove phyllo dough package from freezer and place in fridge for 24 hours to thaw.  Remove from fridge 1 hour before using.  When working with phyllo, remember to only remove the sheets you immediately need, keeping the other sheets covered in plastic wrap, then a damp cloth.

2) Toss together the chopped nuts and cinnamon.  Set aside.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Thoroughly butter a rectangular baking pan.  Make sure the sheets of phyllo will generally fit the pan.  If they're a little bigger, that's okay; if they are much bigger, just trim them with a sharp knife.

3) Butter the top sheet of phyllo with melted butter, then grab it and the unbuttered sheet below it.  Set the two sheets in the pan, buttered sheet face down.  Press lightly into the pan.  Repeat this twice more, so that you have six sheets of phyllo into the pan, three of the sheets buttered.

4) Sprinkle on enough nuts to make a single layer.  Butter two sheets of phyllo and place them on top of the walnuts.  Add more nuts, then two more buttered phyllo sheets.  Repeat this a couple more times, or until you're out of nuts.  Top with 4 more buttered phyllo sheets, ending with a buttered top.  Cut a diagonal diamond patter in the baklava using a very sharp knife.

5) Bake for 45 minutes or until the baklava is very golden brown.  While baklava is baking, combine 1 stick of the butter, honey, water, sugar, and vanilla in a saucepan.  Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low.

6) When you remove the baklava from the oven, drizzle half the saucepan evenly all over the top.  Allow it to sit and absorb for a minute, then drizzle on a little more until you think it is thoroughly moistened.  You'll likely have some of the honey mixture left over.

7) Allow the baklava to cool, uncovered, for several hours.  Once cool and sticky, carefully remove them from the pan and serve.






Friday, September 19, 2014

Philly Cheesesteaks

Yes, I am a vegetarian, but I can still make meat for my sweet husband every now and then.  In fact, this has been a goal of mine since we got married.  Mark is a great eater; he is almost always willing to try whatever strange things I have tried (for example, pulled cauliflower, and anything with quinoa; not for example anything with fake meat like my no chicken vegan pad thai).  He is a pretty easy-going guy, after all.  But when we first moved in together and he had eaten many nights of farro and falafel salad, one night he mentioned that he would appreciate it if he could have meat maybe one night a week.  So, it's kind of my goal as his new little wifey.  Therefore, don't be surprised when you see lots of meat recipes coming up.  No, I haven't tried any of them, but they have been husband-tested and approved.  And, whenever I do make meat, I invite my family over as well, since Mark isn't big on leftovers and I won't eat them anyway.  Thus, we have these Philly cheesesteaks, which were completely devoured and adored by Mark, Kenzie and Nick.

I was intrigued by this recipe; it is definitely not a "traditional" Philly cheesesteak, and in fact the Pioneer Woman basically got hate mail for posting this recipe (people from Philadelphia are kind of insane about their sandwiches, apparently).  But I thought it was a nice shortcut: you buy shaved roast beef from the deli as your meat!  Heat it up in a pan with some onions and peppers, and you're halfway there.  Then there's the cheese sauce, where you have another shortcut: Velveeta!  Simply melt it with milk and black and cayenne pepper, and viola: what Kenzie called the best cheese sauce she ever had.  Butter some rolls, toast them up, and you're done!  For a sandwich that was such a hit, this is a fast and pretty great recipe.  Meat eaters, rejoice!  Dinner is on the table in 30 minutes, and it will be gone in 10 :)

Recipe:

Philly cheesesteaks
from the Pioneer Woman
serves 6

Ingredients:
8 ounces White Velveeta (I used orange, it was fine!)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 cup milk
6 tablespoons butter
6 whole deli rolls
1 1/2 pounds thinly shaved good quality deli roast beef
1 whole yellow onion, peeled and sliced thick
1 whole green bell pepper, seeded and sliced thick
1 whole yellow bell pepper, seeded and sliced thick
1 whole red bell pepper, seeded and sliced thick
spicy mustard, horseradish, worcestershire sauce, hot sauce (optional toppings; we found they weren't needed!)

Instructions:

1) First make the cheese sauce by combining the Velveeta, black pepper, cayenne, and milk in a small pan.  Heat over low heat, stirring occasionally until it's melted and hot.  Keep warm.

2) Melt 2 tablespoons butter on a griddle over medium heat, then place the deli roll halves on the griddle until golden brown.  Set aside.

3) Heat 2 more tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Throw in the roast beef and move it around with a spatula, breaking it up a bit as you go.  Cook/warm for about a minute or so, then remove it to a plate and set aside.

4) Add the remaining tablespoons butter to the same skillet and throw in the onions and peppers.  Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook the veggies until dark golden and soft, about 8 to 10 minutes.

5) To build the sandwiches, place a pile of beef on the bottom half of each roll.  Spoon cheese sauce over the beef.  Top with peppers and onions, then top with more cheese sauce.  Place the top half of the roll on top and serve immediately.

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Meatless Golumpki, or Stuffed Cabbage

Well, it's happened: just under one month back at work, and the germy kids have already gotten me sick.  I told myself all day yesterday that it was just allergies, but by night, I was a total mess.  Mark begged me to call out when, at 4 AM, I was still feverishly tossing and turning and snorting and "snarfling" (that's a word we use for the sounds Daisy makes; it pretty much sounds like a snarfle...).  I never call out, so this shows you how miserable I feel.  I slept all morning and now, fully drugged with ibuprofen and Benadryl, I feel good enough to sit up and tell you about these stuffed cabbage rolls.  Maybe reminiscing about these lovely little packages of deliciousness will make me feel all better!

This was one of the last meals I made right before the wedding, in what I call wedding crunch time.  Soon, all my time would be spent calling bus companies, tweaking seating charts, and doing all the crazy pre-wedding things.  Luckily, these stuffed cabbage rolls were pretty involved, so it helped to tide me over until life calmed down enough for me to get in the kitchen again!

I was pretty excited to see a vegetarian stuffed cabbage recipe on Pinterest.  I know my whole family loves the traditional kind, stuffed with meat, of course.  I also know that, while this recipe is called golumpki and is thus Polish, you can order it at Armenian restaurants, where they call it dolma.  As a soon-to-be-Armenian-housewife, I thought it would be a good recipe to try out!  Instead of meat, this recipe is full of vegetables, like tomatoes, celery, and roasted peppers.  The "meaty" texture is recreated by using both white and brown rices, as well as chopped walnuts.  Add to the party garlic, mint and basil, plus a homemade tomato sauce (they call it a tomato barbecue sauce, but I left out the liquid smoke!) to bake them all in... let's just say that this meal was a hit.  No one missed the meat, and everyone raved over how flavorful they were.  There are so many flavors, and so much salty, sweet, crunchy, soft action going on in there!

They weren't the quickest meals to make; you have to cook the cabbage and pull off each leaf, one at a time, rinse it off in cool water and set it on an upside down bowl to sit.  Then you make the filling, then the sauce, and then you roll the golumpkis and bake them.  But hey, this was July: I had time to do fun stuff like this back then!

I texted pictures of these little babies to Kaz, our own Polish expert.  He said they looked amazing and begged me to make them for him when he comes back to Massachusetts.  I'd say that's definitely a possibility :)

Please don't let the length of this recipe scare you.  They're worth it.

Recipe:

meatless golumpki, or stuffed cabbage
from Sharon's Meatless Mondays
makes 14 cabbage rolls

Ingredients:
1 extra large cabbage, outer leaves removed and cored

for rice:
3 cups water
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup brown rice, uncooked
1 cup long grain white rice, uncooked
1 tablespoon light brown sugar

for filling:
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup diced celery
1 cup diced green pepper
1 cup diced onion
freshly ground pepper
1 cup diced sweet roasted red pepper
10 sun-dried tomatoes, diced (I used fresh tomatoes)
1 cup diced cooked cabbage (from the core you cut out of the cabbage)
1 cup walnut halves, crushed in bag till pulverized
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried mint
1 teaspoon dried basil
2 teaspoons salt, divided
1 cup water, divided

for tomato sauce:
2 tablespoons butter
8 ounce can tomato sauce
1/3 cup ketchup
1/4 cup mustard
1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons liquid smoke (I left this out)
1/4 cup white sugar
2 tablespoons brown sugar
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon red cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
freshly grond black pepper

Instructions:

1)  Cook the rice first: combine water and salt in a medium saucepan and bring to boil.  Add both rices.  Stir, return to boil, stir again, then cover tightly, reduce heat to low, and cook 40 - 50 minutes or till brown rice is tender.  Transfer to a large bowl, add 1 tablespoon brown sugar; stir to evenly distribute and fluff with spoon to aerate rice.

2) Cook the cabbage: Place cored cabbage in a large pot of water.  Don't salt.  Bring to boil, checking often to see when first leaf starts to pull away/loosen from the head.  Remove each leaf as it begins to separate.  Place each leaf in colander and rinse under cold water.  Take a small bowl and invert it into a larger bowl.  Place each leaf over the inside bowl like a crown.  Continue with rest of leaves.  Set aside till ready for use.  When you're done, you'll have a small ball of inner cabbage, not big enough for stuffed cabbage.  Remove from pot, drain, and dice 1 cup of 1/2 inch squares for this recipe.  Set aside.

3) Make filling: in a large skillet over medium heat, melt olive oil.  Add celery and green pepper, and sauté until partially wilted.  Add onion and roasted pepper, a little salt and pepper, and sauté until onion begins to soften.  Add sun-dried tomatoes, diced cabbage, walnuts, garlic powder, mint, basil, 1 teaspoon salt, and water.  Stir well and cook till all veggies are soft.

4) Add veggie sauté to the rice mixture.  Mix well.  Add the additional 1 teaspoon salt, and mix well again.  Add additional 1/2 cup water, and mix well.

5) Make sauce: combine all sauce ingredients in a small skillet/saucepan.  Stir well, com over low heat for a few minutes, then turn heat off.

6) Preheat oven to 375 degrees, and then roll the golumpki: spoon about 1/2 cup of the sauce evenly onto the bottom of a 9 x 13-inch baking dish.  Place a cabbage leaf on cutting board.  Place 1/3 cup or so or rice mixture onto middle of leaf.  Starting from the core end of the leaf, which should be closest to you, bring it up and over the rice, drawing it towards you, compacting it in the leaf, while tucking the lead under the rice as you draw it firmly towards you.  Begin to roll it forward, then bring up both sides of the leaf, not over the top, but in front of the cabbage bump like you're wrapping a package, then continue to roll forward until you're done.

7) Place in baking dish.  Do the same till the baking dish is full.  Spoon remaining sauce over cabbage rolls.  Cover tightly with aluminum foil.  Bake in oven for 30 - 40 minutes or until bubbly.  remove foil and bake 10 minutes longer.    Serve immediately.


Friday, September 12, 2014

Heath Bar Cookies

I'm not sure if I mentioned the amazing housewarming gift I got from Susie and Maggie, but if I didn't, now is the time.  They got us a hamper (which we needed) and filled it with baking supplies!  Flour and sugar and baking powder, the usuals, sure, but also muffin cups and condensed milk and molasses and even kitchen towels.  Plus tons of sprinkles.  It was sweet and exciting and thoughtful, because I was so excited to bake in my new kitchen but also a bit too overwhelmed with life to even think about grocery shopping.  I used a lot of those baking ingredients early on in the summer!

One thing they bought me was a bag of Heath bar pieces.  I was pretty pumped about that, because for some crazy reason, I never buy those.  This is strange, because I have a weird love for Heath Bars.  In fact, maybe I shouldn't admit this, but when I worked at Video Plus (the Plus must have stood for the ice cream stand), I didn't like ice cream at all, but I still loved toppings.  I ate more than my fair share of Gummy Bears and cherries, as well as lots of Heath Bar pieces (I still ate less toppings than Kenzie, who basically drank peanut butter sauce).  And maybe - just maybe - every now and then, I would dip a spoon into the Coffee Heath Bar Crunch frozen yogurt and dig out an extra large piece of Heath Bar.  So as you can see, Heath Bars and I go way back.

Then one day I saw this recipe for Heath Bar cookies, and I knew that's what I needed to do with my bag of Heath pieces.  I made them one night, and I'm so glad that I did.  These cookies were great, and everyone who tried one fell in love.  They were gone, quickly.  They're buttery and chewy, and every now and then, you get a Heath Bar piece, but what's great is that a lot of the smaller pieces (crumbs, if you will) just melted into the cookies.  You get this nutty, toffee-y flavor.  Mmmmmmm!  You just can't go wrong with Heath Bars, though.  Thanks again, Susie and Maggie!

Recipe:

Heath Bar cookies
from Mel's Kitchen Cafe
yields 4 - 5 dozen

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup (2 sticks) buttered, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups chopped Heath Bar pieces (1 8-ounce package of bits, or 8 1.4-ounce bars)

Instructions:

1) In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt and baking soda.  Set aside.  In a mixer, beat together the butter and sugars.  Beat in the eggs and vanilla and mix until the mixture is very light in color and creamy.

2) Add the flour mixtures and stir to combine.  Once it is about halfway combined, add the Heath bits and mix until all the ingredients are mixed together.  Chill the cookie dough for 30 minutes to an hour.

3) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  On cookie sheets lined with parchment paper or a Silpat liner, scoop the cookie dough into about 1-inch balls.  Place the dough about 2 inches apart on the cookie sheets (these cookies spread!).  Bake for 10 - 12 minutes, until the edges are just starting to brown.  Remove from oven and let cookies cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet  Transfer the cookies to a wire rack to cool completely.

Thursday, September 11, 2014

Lightened Up Broccoli Cheese and Farro Casserole

It's time to talk about farro.  Not pharaoh, farro.  Although it was eaten in ancient Rome and Egypt, so pharaoh might be okay too.

Farro is a whole grain that looks a bit like pearl barley, or maybe a slightly pudgier version of rice!  If you want fiber, iron and protein, not to mention a nutty flavor and a chewy texture, it's time for you to try farro.  It cooks pretty much just like rice, but is far healthier (and more flavorful).

So when I saw this recipe - a healthy version of broccoli cheese and rice casserole - I was pumped.  The rice is replaced by farro, and the cream-of-processed-chemicals soup is replaced by a sauce made with milk, vegetable broth and a little flour.  Plus there are leeks, carrots, mushrooms, and tons of broccoli in there.  Yes, there are mushrooms, but shhhhhh don't tell Mark, who isn't a huge hater but isn't a fan either, so I prefer to sneak them in there cut up nice and small.  He didn't suspect a thing.  And even better, he loved this meal.  I did too, but I watched him eat seconds, and then thirds.  By the next day, it was gone.

Oh, and also? Monterey jack cheese.  Enough said.

We really loved this, and if you are feeling like, "there goes Bridget again, cooking weird foods..." I beg you to give this a try.  Farro isn't weird.  It's just delicious.  Try it, okay?

Recipe:

lightened up broccoli cheese and farro casserole
from Craving Something Healthy
yield 10 side dish servings (but we had it for dinner!)

Ingredients
2 cups cooked farro (about 3/4 cup uncooked)
1 tablespoon butter
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 medium leek, light green part cut into thin slices
1 medium carrot, chopped
1 cup chopped crimini mushrooms (about 3 - 4)
1 large garlic clove, minced
1 1/2 cups broccoli florets (1-inch pieces)
1/4 cup flour
1 1/2 cups low fat milk
3/4 cup low sodium chicken or vegetable broth
pinch of nutmeg
4 ounces shredded monterey jack cheese
salt and pepper

Instructions:

1) Prepare farro according to package directions.  Drain any excess water that has not absorbed.  Set aside.

2) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

3) Heat butter and oil in a sauté pan on medium high heat. Add leeks, carrot and mushrooms and sauté about 5 minutes, until leeks start to turn golden. Add garlic and sauté for another minute.
4) Add flour and stir to combine with vegetables. Cook for 1 minute. Add broth and milk, and bring mixture to a boil to thicken. Add pinch of nutmeg.
5) Add broccoli and reduce heat to low. Simmer for about 2 minutes or until broccoli just starts to soften.
6) Add farro and stir to combine. Add cheese and stir to combine.  Add salt and pepper to taste
7) Pour entire pan into a casserole dish, or if your pan is oven safe, place it in the oven.
8) Cook for about 20 minutes, or until casserole is golden and bubbly and heated through.


Sunday, September 7, 2014

Mix and Match Bread Salad

You know me: if I am going to tell you that I like a salad, chances are it's more than just lettuce and tomatoes.  I am really not a fan of regular salads (I think because I am not the biggest fan of lettuce itself).  However, this recipe, which was in my July/August edition of Food Network Magazine, intrigued me.  First of all, it has bread in it.  That immediately makes anything better in my book.


Second, it wasn't a recipe so much as a Choose Your Own Adventure story.  Remember those books? They left the character's choices up to you, and you'd flip to a certain page in the book once you made your choice?  Those were fun.  This is similarly fun.  There are only 5 steps, but 3 out of the 5 are options for you to choose what you like!  You get to choose the type of bread, your mix-ins, and your protein.  The only standards are the base and the dressing.  So basically every time you make this salad, it could be totally different.

I made it one day that we were having Mark's parents over for dinner.  Everyone liked it, but Mark really did.  In fact, I am pretty sure he finished it for breakfast one morning, which is very weird but whatever, at least he liked it!  Similar to yesterday's salad, I think this one is best eaten right away when the bread cubes are still crunchy, but hey, Mark would vouch for it for breakfast the next day :)

In case you're curious our choices were ciabatta for the bread, and our mix-ins were olives, artichoke hearts and arugula.  Our protein was white beans :)  What choices are you going to try for this mix and match salad?

Recipe:

mix and match bread salad
from July/August edition of Food Network Magazine, 2014

1) Choose a bread:

  • sourdough
  • Italian
  • ciabatta
  • baguette
  • focaccia
  • olive bread
  • pocketless pita
Cut your choice of bread into 1-inch cubes to make 8 cups.  Stale bread works best; if yours is fresh, spread the cubes on baking sheets and toast in a 400-degree oven, 8 to 10 minutes.  Transfer to a large bowl.

2) Make the base.
Cut 2 pounds tomatoes into 1-inch pieces (about 4 cups).  Toss with the bread.  Add up to 1 cup chopped fresh herbs (parsley, basil, mint, and/or chives).

3) Add your mix-ins:
Prepare 1 cup each; choose up to 3.  Add to the bowl.

  • bell peppers, diced
  • oil-packed sundried tomatoes, drained and chopped (up to 1/2 cup)
  • frozen artichoke hearts, thawed and halved
  • olives, pitted (up to 1/2 cup)
  • celery, sliced
  • baby greens (spinach, arugula, or kale)
  • hearts of palm, drained and sliced
  • cucumbers, sliced
  • roasted red peppers, drained and chopped (up to 1/2 cup)
  • vidalia or red onion, thinly sliced
4) Pick a protein:
Add up to 1 cup total (optional):
  • canned tuna, drained and flaked
  • salami, cut into strips
  • steak, cooked and thinly sliced
  • rotisserie chicken, chopped
  • hard-cooked eggs, chopped
  • bacon or pancetta, cooked and crumbled
  • cheese (feta, goat, cheddar or mozzarella), crumbled or diced
  • deli meat (ham, roast beef, or smoked turkey), chopped
  • canned chickpeas or white beans, rinsed
5) Dress the salad.
Whisk 1/4 cup red or white vinegar and 1 teaspoon dijon mustard in a bowl.  Slowly whisk in 3/4 cup olive oil and 1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest.  Drizzle over the salad and toss.  The salad can be made up to 4 hours ahead.

Saturday, September 6, 2014

BLT Pizza

What?!  Two posts in a day!?  Yeah, I am still trying to play catch-up on all the summer's recipes.  It was the busiest summer ever, but that didn't stop me from cooking - just posting, apparently.  I have some great excuses... for example....  this picture:
Thanks, Erica Ewing Photography!

Yeah, we just got our wedding pictures and I am obsessed :)  Okay okay, I'll stay on topic.  Let's talk about pizza.  Let's talk about BLTs.  Let's put the two together.  You heard me.

I saw this idea on one of the blogs I follow and thought it was amazing.  It's basically a BLT on top of a pizza.  Now to be honesty, I have never even eaten a BLT, being a non-meat-eater, but even I think the idea of it is pretty good.  So imagine this: homemade pizza dough, topped with tomatoes that were roasted with bacon, and a sauce made from olive oil, scallions, parsley and garlic - not to mention mozzarella cheese.  Then when it gets out of the oven, the pizza is sprinkled with arugula.  Okay so I guess it's more of a BAT than a BLT, but warm lettuce on a pizza isn't the most appetizing thing, so Bacon Arugula Tomato works just fine.  If arugula isn't your style, any leafy green will work fine.

Mark and I had a pizza party one night this summer at our new house.  I spent the day making doughs to make lots of "regular" pizzas but also knew this was one I'd be trying out as well.  Mark remains my go-to guy when it comes to rolling out the doughs into perfect circles and accurately transferring them into the oven, but I was in charge of the toppings for this pizza.  

The recipe calls for the sauce to also have mayonnaise in it, which grossed us out (we both hate mayo), so we used canola oil instead and found that it was awesome without it.  I will still add it to the ingredients list, but I recommend that you leave it out, because, yuck. 

This pizza was a big hit at our pizza party, and every slice was devoured within seconds of taking it out of the oven.  If you need to spice up your pizza toppings a bit, this is a recipe to try out.

Recipe:
BLT pizza
serves 4
Ingredients:
1 pound cherry or grape tomatoes, halved or quartered if large
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon freshly cracked pepper
kosher salt
3 slices bacon
1/4 cup canola or reduced fat mayonnaise
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, plus more for brushing the dough
1 tablespoon minced fresh scallions
1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
2 cloves garlic, minced or grated
1 pound fresh pizza dough
1 tablespoon cornmeal
2 ounces part-skim mozzarella cheese, shredded (about 1/2 cup)
1 cup greens of your choice (such as spinach or arugula)

Instructions:

1) Preheat the oven 400 degrees.  Arrange the tomatoes in a single layer on a  foil-lined baking sheet, and sprinkle with the oregano and pepper.  Scoot the tomatoes towards the center of the baking sheet and fit the bacon around the edges.  Bake for 20 minutes, stirring the tomatoes hallways through.  Drain the bacon on a paper towel-lined plate, then break into bite sized pieces.

2) Place a pizza stone in the oven and increase the temperature to 500 degrees.

3) Meanwhile, whisk together mayonnaise/canola, scallions, parsley, olive oil, and garlic in a small bowl.

4) Sprinkle the cornmeal over a large square of parchment paper, then roll and stretch the pizza dough into a 12-inch circle.  Spread the sauce mixture over the dough, leaving a 1-inch border, then brush the border lightly with olive oil.

5) Scatter the tomatoes and bacon over the sauce, then sprinkle with the cheese.  Transfer to the pizza stone in the oven and bake 10 minutes, or until the crust is browned and the cheese is melted and bubbly.  Allow to cool 10 minutes.  Top with greens, cut into 8 slices, and serve.

Crunchy Asian Ramen Noodle Salad

Okay guys, listen up.  This is arguably one of the best recipes I have made.  There are plenty of times I gush about a recipe, but then I never ever make it again.  Maybe it's because it wasn't that great, or because it was pretty good but I find repeating recipes boring sometimes.  But this salad? ( And it's a salad!  I hate salads!)  It is not only delicious and wildly popular with everyone who has tried it, but I love it so much that I have made it four times.  That never happens, trust me.  The Four Time Recipe Repeat Club is limited to fluffernutter cookies, spinach and ricotta stuffed shells,  apple cider caramels, bagels, baked Alaska, chocolate crinkle cookies, and roasted vegetable chickpea salad.  It's a very elite club; the recipe just has to be fabulous.  And right now I have all the ingredients to make this salad in my fridge.  Enough to make it twice.  So: let's get to this salad.

Caitlin had a party for Josh's birthday back in June and one of her friends brought a salad with Ramen noodles crumbled into it.  I ate so much of it, it was embarrassing.  Then I immediately hit up Google when I got home to try to find a recipe to recreate it.  I found this one, which was slightly different than Caitlin's friend's salad, but had the addition of chopped avocado and toasted sliced almonds, so I knew it had to be good.

One of the great parts of the salad is how easy it is to put it together.  You briefly toast Ramen noodles and the sliced almonds in the oven while you whip up the most delicious dressing of oil, honey, rice wine vinegar soy sauce, and sesame oil.  Then throw into a bowl a bag of cole slaw mix, the avocado, and some edamame and scallions, and you're done.  The recipe calls for a sliced mango, but I thought that might be taking things to a place that is too weird for my family, and I'm glad I left it out.  This salad is absolutely perfect without it.

PS my countertops are beautiful!
The dressing is sweet and salty, and the textures of the salad are awesome: the soft avocado, the crunch bites of noodle and almond... oh man.  The first time I made this, I happened to have a lot of people over, and everyone was skeptical of my Ramen noodle salad.  But, one by one they all tried it, and one whole bowl (8 servings) disappeared immediately.  I had made it two more times by the end of the week, and it has now become my go-to salad to bring to parties.  Just trust me and make this thing.  One note - it really is best the day you make it; the noodles get a little soft and lose the awesome crunch that makes this salad so fabulous.  Just make it ASAP and you won't regret it.

Recipe:

crunchy Asian Ramen noodle salad
from Gimme Some Oven
serves 8

Ingredients:

1 16-ounce bag coleslaw mix
2 3-ounce packages of Ramen noodles, crumbled (you will not use the seasoning packet)
1 cup shelled and cooked (or frozen and thawed) edamame
1 avocado, peeled, pitted and diced
1 mango, peeled, pitted and diced (optional)
1/2 cup thinly-sliced almonds
1/2 cup thinly-sliced scallions
for Asian honey vinaigrette:
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup honey
1/3 cup rice wine vinegar
2 teaspoons soy sauce
1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
pinch of salt and black pepper

Instructions:

1) Heat oven to 425 degrees.  Spread the crumbles Ramen noodles and sliced almonds out on a baking sheet and stir a bit to combine.  Bake for about 5 minutes, or until the almonds and noodles are slightly toasted and golden.  Remove baking sheet, and give the mixture a good stir to toss.  Then return it to the oven and toast for an additional 3 minutes.  Keep a very close eye on the mixture so that it doesn't burn.  Remove and set aside.

2)  Make the vinaigrette: whisk together all ingredients until combined.

3) Add ingredients (including the vinaigrette) together in a large bowl and toss until combined.  Serve immediately, or cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days.

Monday, September 1, 2014

Tomato, Mozzarella and Chickpea Bake

I absolutely love having 3-day weekends.  Why can't every weekend be extra long?  It gives you time to relax, catch up on sleep, and make delicious recipes to tide you over for the week!

Anyway, back to this savory bread pudding... I know, that doesn't sound so great.  When I made this, I was home alone and invited my mom over for lunch.  She took absolutely forever getting here!  When she finally came, she said she had stopped to visit my aunt Betsy on her walk over.  I served her some of this tomato, mozzarella and chickpea bake.  She ate it, told me it was good, and then grabbed her cell phone before she was even done.  I am constantly yelling at Mark for using his phone during meals, so when I went to scold my mom, she said, "hold on!  I am texting Betsy that this meal was actually good.  We had been making fun of it together because it sounded so gross!"  Ha!

So I guess savory bread pudding doesn't sound great, but how about this: soft chunks of ciabatta, baked with roasted tomatoes, lightly crushed chickpeas, ricotta, parmesan, garlic, kalamata olives, fresh mozzarella, capers, parsley, and basil!  Eggs hold it all together, so in a way, it is like a bread pudding, but I won't call it that anymore since apparently it makes people ridicule me and my recipes!  But in the end, Mom and I thought this was pretty good.  Mark wouldn't go near it due to his weird aversion to eggs, of course!  For me, anything that involves the Middle Eastern staples of chickpeas and kalamata olives is A-okay with me!

Recipe:

tomato, mozzarella and chickpea bake
from Fast Fresh Vegetarian by Metro Books
serves 6

Ingredients:

1/2 loaf ciabatta, crusts removed, torn into 3/4-inch pieces
12 1/2 ounces grape tomatoes, halved lengthwise
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
12 1/2 ounces canned chickpeas, drained, rinsed
3 ounces fresh ricotta
10 eggs
2 cloves garlic, crushed
3/4 cup finely grated parmesan
1 tablespoon drained baby capers
2/3 cup pitted kalamata olives, halved
1 ball buffalo mozzarella, torn
2 tablespoons fresh basil leaves, torn

Instructions:

1) Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

2) Place bread on parchment paper-lines oven tray.  Squeeze seeds and juices from tomatoes over bread; place tomatoes on tray.  Drizzle with half the olive oil and season to taste.  Roast 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until bread is golden and tomatoes soft.

3) Meanwhile, using a potato masher, lightly crush chickpeas in a large bowl; season.  Whisk in ricotta, eggs, garlic, parsley, and three quarters of the parmesan until combined.  Stir in capers, olives and half the tomato mixture.  Season.

4) Heat remaining oil in an ovenproof 10 1/2-inch heavy-based frying pan over medium heat until very hot.  Immediately add egg mixture; top with remaining tomato mixture and parmesan.  Cook 8 minutes or until browned around the edge and half set.

5) Cover loosely with parchment paper; bake in the oven 15 minutes or until set.  Stand bake 5 minutes.  Invert onto a large plate; flip onto a second large plate right-way up.  Serve topped with mozzarella and basil.  Drizzle with a little extra olive oil if you like.