Roasted Green Beans

I love to roast vegetables, whether its brussel sprouts, parsnip, zucchini, mushrooms, broccoli, pumpkin seeds, acorn squash or a medley of vegetables for pasta sauce. I love raw veggies, but these is just something about the amazing flavour roasting gives, as well as the different texture, that just makes for a great side dish.

This week I saw these super vibrant and crunchy green beans at the vegetable market and I just knew that I had to roast them.

When you roast green beans, they almost have the same texture as french fries - crispy on the outside, soft on the inside.

I served it alongside Greek flavoured chicken (the same kind I used in the Greek Chicken Omelette), as well as simple mushrooms sauteed in butter (a personal childhood favorite)

What you'll need:
Green Beans
Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Wash the green beans and snap the ends off. If I'm doing a big batch, I like to sit down with the bowl and snap the ends off while watching tv. Multi-tasking :)

Toss the green beans lightly in olive oil and then lay on a foil-lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake for 30 minutes, flipping once halfway through.

I loved these so much that I could made them every night this week.

Simple. Easy. Delicious.

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Greek Chicken Omelette

A few weeks ago I went out for brunch with friends and ended up ordering a delicious omelette, that had all the wonderful flavours of Greek food. I just couldn't get it out of my mind, so I decided to try and recreate it.

What I ended up making was even better than what I had before. I love it when things work out like that because usually they don't. Usually my attempts to recreate something end up burnt/undercooked/soggy/dry....you get the picture.

I made one big omelette and cut it in half to share with the boyfriend. Even still, this was a very filling meal - perfect for a weekend brunch!

Into the mix went diced onion, Greek marinated grilled chicken (leftovers from dinner), strips of red pepper, zucchini cut into matchsticks.

And of course the cheese - there is always cheese. For this, I used some nice and crumbly feta.

Heat a large skillet to medium heat and add a tablespoon of olive oil. Saute the chicken, onion, peppers and zucchini until the onions are almost translucent and everything is heated through. Remove to a plate and cover. Return the skillet to the stove and reduce to med-low heat.

Mix up some whole eggs or egg whites (whichever) with some salt, pepper and dried oregano.

Heat a little more olive oil or butter in the skillet and pour egg mixture in. Using a spatula, lift up cooked edges to allow uncooked egg to get under and get cooked. Continue until almost all of the egg is cooked.

Sprinkle the feta cheese on half of the omelet and then add cooked filling on top.

Careful fold over, using the spatula.

Cut in half and serve up!

The boyfriend really loved this one because it was packed with so much protein. I liked it because it reminded me of all my favorite Greek flavours and gave a nice twist on a brunch favorite!

Zesty Orange Cornbread

I've been in a bit of vacation withdrawal now that I'm back in Canada. I loved the warm weather, beautiful beach and fresh produce that Florida had to offer.

This morning I decided that if I couldn't go back to the sunshine state right away, than I was going to have to bring it to me in the form of delicious, warm Orange Cornbread.

I forgot how much I enjoy cornbread, especially when it firsts comes out of the oven. I kept going back for more pieces until I finally was smart enough to wrap it up and put it out of sight. I have no self control around delicious warm baked goods!

What you'll need:
1 cup Cornmeal
1/2 cup White Flour
1/2 cup Whole Wheat Flour
1/3 cup Sugar
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
1 cup Milk
1/2 cup Egg Whites (or 2 Whole Eggs)
1/4 cup fresh Orange Juice
1 tbsp Orange Zest
2 tbsp Canola Oil

Preheat oven to 400°. Grease a 9-inch baking pan and set aside.

Zest the orange. I love to use my microplane for this. Its the little things in life that keep me going.

Cut the orange in half and juice it. I unfortunately don't have a juicer, so I just squeezed it with all my might until I got 1/4 cup of juice.

In a medium bowl, combine cornmeal, flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt.

In a large bowl, combine milk, egg whites, orange juice and oil.

Stir dry ingredients into wet mixture until just combined. 

Pour batter into a greased 9-inch square baking pan.

Bake at 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

Now cut a piece and spread some butter on it. Or go crazy and sprinkle a little sugar on top of that.

Warm, delicious cornbread. How do I forget these things? I'm going to make this more often!

Makes 9 servings.

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Nutritional Information

Sugar Babies Molasses Cookies

Recently I stopped in to visit my sister while I was in Kingston and I knew that I wanted to take a special treat to her. With the weather still being on the chilly side, I wanted to make her a chewy, spicy cookie that would be sure to warm her up on her last few weeks of university. These chewy molasses cookies were perfect because of one little ingredient that made them so much better...

Sugar Babies!

I love these candies and often pick up a box while I'm in the United States. I found this recipe on the Sugar Babies website and it turned out really good. They were a little more crunchy than chewy, so when I make these again, I'm going to lower the baking time.

What you'll need:
3 cups Flour
1 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
1 1/2 tsp Ground Cinnamon
1 tsp Ground Ginger
1/2 tsp Ground Cloves
1/2 tsp Ground Nutmeg
1/2 tsp Ground Allspice
1 stick (4 oz) Butter, room temperature
3/4 cup Brown Sugar
1/4 cup Sugar
1 Egg
1/2 cup Molasses
1 tbsp Corn Syrup
5 bags of Sugar Babies (1.7 oz bags)
1/2 cup Sugar for garnish

Preheat oven to 375° and spray a cookie sheet with nonstick spray.

In a small bowl combine flour, baking soda and spices. Set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter, sugar and brown sugar. Beat in egg, molasses and corn syrup until smooth.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ones and mix thoroughly.

Fold in the Sugar Babies.

Roll 1-inch balls of cookie dough in hands and place on the prepared cookie sheet, setting them 2 inches apart.

Place 1/2 cup of sugar in a small dish. Wet the bottom of a drinking glass. Dip the bottom of the glass into the sugar.

Use the sugar coated glass to flatten the cookies. Dip the glass in the sugar again after flattening each cookie. Cookies should be about 1/2 inch thick.

Bake for 10-12 minutes. Don't be surprised if your Sugar Babies melt like mine did on the pan. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from cookie sheet. Next time I might line the baking sheet with parchment to make the clean up easier afterwards.

The best bites are the ones that have the chewy Sugar Babies in them. Yum!

This recipe makes about 24 large cookies.

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Shamrock Spinach Pizza

With St. Patrick's Day coming up tomorrow, it seemed like a great time to make this Shamrock Spinach Pizza for a little festive spirit! I got the idea from Kristen, cutting the shamrock shapes, much like you can cut pepperoni into heart shapes for Valentine's Day.

I love adding spinach to pizza and this is a fun way to do it!

I used baby spinach that I already had in the fridge.

Using kitchen shears, I cut the leaves into shamrock shapes.

I had one of my favorite Dr. Oetker frozen pizzas in the freezer and it worked out perfectly with the little spinach leaves.

A pizza fit for a leprechaun!

This is a great way to add some healthy veggies to a pizza and get kids eating them. Just think of the possibilities :)

Baileys Marbled Cheesecake

For sixteen years this recipe has been sitting in my mother's binder of magazine clippings, just waiting to be mixed, baked and enjoyed. With St. Patricks Day coming up this week, it seemed like the perfect time to bake with a little bit of the ol' Baileys Irish Cream. 

This is a rich, decadent dessert, that you won't regret making. Serving this for friends this week and it will be gone in a flash.

What you'll need:

Crust:

1/2 cup Butter, melted

1/4 cup Sugar

1/4 cup Cocoa Powder

2 cups Graham Cracker Crumbs

Filling:

2 (250g) packages of Cream Cheese, softened

2/3 cup Sugar

3 Eggs

1/2 cup Baileys Irish Cream

2 squares Semi-sweet Chocolate, melted

Combine butter, sugar and cocoa powder.

Stir in crumbs.

Press evenly over bottom and 1 inch up sides of 9 inch spring form pan.

Beat cream cheese until smooth. Gradually beat in sugar.

Beat in eggs one at a time at low speed of mixer.

Blend in Baileys. Steal a nip from the bottle for yourself ;)

Pour about 1/3 mixture into bowl and stir in melted chocolate until well blended.

Pour half of plain mixture into prepared crust.

Drizzle with half of the chocolate mixture. Repeat layers.

Make a marbled design by gently swirling batter with a small knife

Bake at 325° for 50-55 minutes or until set. Loosen cake from rim of pan. Cool on rack; chill.

If you're a fan of cheesecake, I think you'll really enjoy this. It was just the right amount of chocolate and a lovely hint of Baileys Irish Cream.

I definitely went back for seconds :)

Makes about 10 servings.


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