Greek "Tacos"

One of my favorite stand-by recipes for when we're trying to eat healthy.  Inspired by recipes from "Eat Clean Diet Cookbook" by Tosca Reno.  When I'm in a hurry I just buy the hummus from Trader Joe's when I'm there to buy my flatbread. SO GOOD!

Flank Steak:

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 tsp. dried oregano

¼ tsp. salt

1 pound flank steak

Rub flank steak with seasonings and allow to sit for at least an hour. Grill meat 5 minutes per side, or until desired doneness. Slice across the grain into thin strips.

Hummus:

4 cloves garlic

2 cups canned chickpeas (garbanzo beans), rinsed well and drained

1 teaspoon sea salt, or kosher salt

1/3 cup tahini

Juice of 2 fresh lemons

1 tablespoon fresh olive oil

Place all ingredients in a food processor or blender. Pulse a few minutes until well combined. Adjust seasonings. Transfer to serving bowl and serve or cover with plastic wrap.

Greek Salad:

4 large ripe tomatoes, chopped

1 English cucumber, cut into chunks

1 small purple onion, peeled and chopped

2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped fine

4 ounces low-fat feta cheese, crumbled

2 cloves garlic, passed through a garlic press

2 tablespoons dried oregano

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

2/3 cup pitted kalamata olives

Salt and pepper to taste

Combine first 6 ingredients in a bowl. Rub oregano between your hands and sprinkle over the vegetables. Drizzle lemon juice and olive oil over the salad. Add olives and toss gently.

You favorite flat bread or pita bread

Warm your favorite flatbread in damp paper towels in the microwave, or in a tortilla warmer. Spread the flatbread with some hummus, and top with the sliced flank steak and greek salad, and serve like soft tacos.

 

Enchilada Sauce

I messed around with different enchilada sauce recipes. Everything from soaking the dried chiles and straining, etc., to easy ones with chili powder.  This is my favorite recipe that I finally created after a lot of trial and error and adjusting to my family's taste.  My grandmother who is a self proclaimed "wet-burrito expert" loved it.  That's saying something.  By the way, this makes a LOT. I have a large family and still have leftovers. My husband loves to just dip chips in it, and he thinks it would be great as a basis for chili dog sauce with ground beef added.  Whatever you decide, the leftovers refrigerate and reheat beautifully.


Enchilada Sauce

1/4 cup vegetable oil
4 Tablespoons flour
1/2 cup chili powder
1 (15 ounce) can Mexican style stewed tomatoes, blended in a blender until smooth
1 can beef (or chicken) broth
1 cup water
1 teaspoon cumin
2 teaspoons minced garlic

Heat oil in saucepan. Add flour and cook flour for a couple minutes stirring often. Add chili powder. Slowly add blended tomatoes, broth, and water. Add cumin and garlic and simmer until thickened.

My Mom's Coconut Cake

Oh my. This cake is so good.  This is the cake I requested for my birthday and looked forward to for about 2 months.  It weighs a ton, but is moist and delicious.  One cake will serve about 20 people I'd say. It's very rich.

Ingredients for the cake                                                        

1 and ½ stick sweet butter ( 6 oz.) softened

2 cups sugar

6 egg whites

2 ¼ cups cake flour

2 tsps. baking powder

½ tsp. salt

1 tsp. coconut flavor

1 cup unsweetened coconut milk

1 cup flaked coconut

Ingredients for Icing

2 sticks butter

½ cup shortening

1 ½ lb. confectioners sugar

1 tsp. coconut flavoring

4-5 TBS. coconut milk

1 ½  cups flaked coconut

2 ½ -3 cups flaked coconut to cover cake

Method for the cake

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter liberally and flour 2 - 9” cake pans. In an electric mixer beat the butter with the sugar for about 3 minutes until light and fluffy. Slowly add the egg whites until incorporated. In a large bowl sift the cake flour, the baking powder and the salt. Add the flour mixture to the butter mixture until incorporated but don’t over mix. Add the coconut flavoring, and the coconut milk until combined . Add the 1 cup coconut. Place half of the batter equally in each pan.  Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes until lightly golden and firm to the touch. Let cool on wire racks then carefully unmold. When cakes are cool cut each cake horizontally in 2 equal layers.

To Make the Icing

Cream the butter, shortening and sugar in the mixer with the paddle until light and fluffy. Beat in the coconut flavoring and the coconut milk. In a separate bowl  combine 2 cups of the  whipped frosting and 1 and ½ cups of  flaked coconut. Set aside.

When ready to ice the cake place 1/3 of the frosting with the flake coconut between 3 layers evenly. Carefully place the cake layers on top of each frosted layer.

Frost the top and sides of cake with the smooth frosting. Finish the top and sides of the cake by gently pressing the remaining coconut on the frosted cake.

Healthy Cream of Asparagus Soup

Cream of Asparagus Soup

3 cups (1/2-inch) sliced asparagus (about 1 pound)
2 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
3/4 teaspoon fresh thyme, divided
1 bay leaf
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 cups 1% low-fat milk
Dash of ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons butter
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon grated lemon rind

Combine asparagus, broth, 1/2 teaspoon thyme, bay leaf, and garlic in a large saucepan over medium-high heat; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 10 minutes. Discard bay leaf. Place asparagus mixture in a blender; process until smooth.

Place flour in pan. Gradually add the milk, stirring with a whisk until blended. Add puréed asparagus and ground nutmeg; stir to combine. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat, and stir in 1/4 teaspoon thyme, butter, salt, and lemon rind.

-Cooking Light magazine

My Favorite Cheesecake

I'm kind of known for my cheesecake, and many of my friends and family already have the recipe since I've given it to anyone who's asked over the years, but I thought I'd share it here.  It is a really good cheesecake if I do say so myself.  I spent a long time trying many different cheesecake recipes until I came up with a recipe that I think is perfect.  It's pretty close to a recipe from allrecipes.com, but I've changed the recipe just a little as well as the cooking technique.  The cheesecake pictured is topped with a can of raspberry pie filling, which would be beautiful for Valentine's day, but obviously strawberry would be perfect as well.

 

 Favorite Cheesecake

1 1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs

1/2 cup white sugar

1/4 cup butter, melted

5 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened

5 eggs

2 egg yolks

1 3/4 cups white sugar 

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1/8 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup heavy whipping cream

Place a large roasting pan filled up with about an inch of water in the bottom rack of the oven.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

Mix the graham cracker crumbs, 1/2 cup of the white sugar, and the melted butter together. Press mixture into the bottom of one 9 or 10 inch springform pan.

In a large bowl, combine cream cheese, eggs and egg yolks; mix until smooth. Add the remaining 1 3/4 cups white sugar, the vanilla,  the flour and the heavy cream. Blend until smooth. Pour batter into prepared pan.

Place cheesecake in preheated oven on center rack above the rack with the pan of water.

Bake at 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) for 10 minutes, then turn oven temperature down to 250 degrees F (100 degrees C) and continue baking for 1 hour, or until filling is set. Cheesecake will still jiggle slightly in the center and be lightly browned around the edges when it is done. Do not over-bake. Let cheesecake cool, then refrigerate. This cheesecake is excellent served plain or with your choice of canned (or homemade) pie filling.  It's also a nice addition to grate some lemon zest into the batter.  You can also add mini chocolate chips before baking and drizzle with caramel. Let me know if you come up with any other great variations!

 

Beef Broccoli Lo Mein

So, after all the sweet things I posted, I thought I'd post something healthy!  I originally got this recipe from Cooking Light and I've been making it for years now! The whole family loves it and it's super fast to make.  I used frozen broccoli florets and just made sure not to overcook them.  In fact, after cooking the onions and broccoli, I removed them to a plate, cooked the meat in a little of the sauce (I mixed the last 4 ingredients together in a cup), then added the broccoli and onions back in.  I hope that made sense. If not, just follow the recipe as written! Oh! Also, I prefer it when I cut the meat super thin. Much thinner than in my picture.:) 

Beef Broccoli Lo-Mein

4 cups hot cooked spaghetti (about 8 ounces uncooked pasta)
1 teaspoon dark sesame oil
1 tablespoon peanut oil
1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
4 garlic cloves, minced
3 cups chopped broccoli
1 1/2 cups vertically sliced onion
1 (1-pound) flank steak, trimmed and cut across the grain into long, thin strips
3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 tablespoon chile paste with garlic

Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat; drain. Combine pasta and sesame oil, tossing well to coat.
While pasta cooks, heat peanut oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the ginger and garlic; sauté 30 seconds. Add broccoli and onion; sauté 3 minutes. Add steak, and sauté 5 minutes or until done. Add pasta mixture, soy sauce, and remaining ingredients; cook 1 minute or until lo mein is thoroughly heated, stirring constantly.

Chocolate Waffles

I know I just posted a chocolate cupcake recipe, but with Valentine's Day fast approaching, you can't have too much chocolate! How about chocolate for breakfast? I have several waffle irons, one of which makes flower shaped waffles that are fun.  I also had a heart shaped iron for a while, but a regular waffle iron will do too! It would be really good with strawberries and whipped cream as well!

 

Chocolate Waffles

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup white sugar

¼ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 cup milk

2 eggs

4 tablespoons butter, melted

½ cup mini chocolate chips, optional

Preheat waffle iron. In a large mixing bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, salt, sugar and cocoa. Stir in milk, eggs and butter until mixture is smooth. Stir in chocolate chips if desired.

Cook per your waffle iron specifications.