chocolate chip cookies

I had a great weekend in Hilton Head celebrating 4th of July. Besides sitting on the beach all day, I got a chance to eat at Robert Irvine's (star of the Food Network show, Dinner Impossible) restaurant, eat! Considering he is a Food Network chef, the restaurant is very reasonably priced and the food was worth another trip.  My favorite dishes from eat! were the lightly seared tuna with a ginger granita appetizer and the dessert (of course), a sweet potato bread pudding with tabasco ice cream. The tabasco ice cream didn't have a hot sauce pepper spice flavor, it had an intense cinnamon spice flavor that worked perfectly with the sweet potato bread pudding. Mmm mmm I need to get an ice cream maker and come up with my own creations. 

To make the transition back to work easier after the 3-day holiday weekend, I decided some good old- fashioned chocolate chip cookies were necessary. I also used these cookies to try to teach my boyfriend how to use an electric mixer. He did pretty well but it's still a work in progress. Lessons aside, these cookies melt in your mouth (thank you Crisco) with the chewy, soft center and slightly crispy edges. The mixture of both milk chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate chips makes these cookies a must-try. The key to these cookies is to slightly under bake them so they stay soft and chewy days after baking.

Chocolate Chip Cookies 

makes 18 large cookies

2 1/3 c. all-purpose flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

1 c. (1 stick) butter flavored Crisco

3/4 c. granulated sugar

3/4 c. dark brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs, room temp

3/4 c. milk chocolate chips

3/4 c. semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350°F. 


In a small bowl, mix together flour, salt and baking soda. In a larger bowl, beat together Crisco, sugars and vanilla until smooth. Add in one egg at a time and blend until mixed well. Slowly add in flour mixture and mix until combined. Stir in chocolate chips. Bake large cookies for 12-15 minutes or until cookie edges are lightly golden. Do not let top of cookies brown. Let cookies stand on cookie sheet for 2 minutes and then move to a cooling rack. 

garlic shrimp

I could eat this shrimp every day for a week. It's healthy, easy, fresh and flavorful. The name of this recipe doesn't do it justice. It really should be called the best shrimp recipe ever but I'll leave that for you to decide. While this shrimp is broiled, you could easily throw this shrimp on the grill. This is a perfect recipe for 4th of July weekend because it takes so little prep, leaving you more time to sit on the beach or make another round of margaritas. I am headed to Hilton Head this weekend for the 4th and couldn't be more excited to relax on the beach with a drink in hand. Hopefully, I can get through a book or two but more importantly I need a tan!

Garlic Shrimp

1 lb. medium shrimp, deveined and washed
1/4 c. olive oil
1/4 c. chopped parsley
1 1/2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/4 c. dry breadcrumbs + 2 tbsp for sprinkling
lemon wedges

In a bowl, combine oil, parsley, garlic and breadcrumbs. Add dry shrimp to the mixture and mix until well coated. Let mixture sit for 1 hour. Remove shrimp from marinade and put on skewers and sprinkle shrimp with additional breadcrumbs. Broil 2 minutes or until golden. Turn skewers over and broil on the other side until golden. Squeeze some fresh lemon on these before serving.

quinoa, black bean & citrus salad

I have been wanting to try quinoa (keen-wah) for a while now after hearing and reading about how healthy it is for you. It is a seed that contains all 8 essential amino acids, 220 calories, 8 grams of protein, 5 grams of fiber and 3 grams of fat per 1 cup. It doesn't have much flavor by itself but is the perfect addition as a 'healthy filler' for salads and soups. For me, the corn is the highlight of this salad because it's not cooked and has that raw, crunchy, sweet flavor I love about fresh corn. I wait every year for the peaches and cream corn (white and yellow kernels) to arrive at the farmer's market and this recipe was the perfect way to use it. I will be making this salad over and over again this summer because it combines some of my favorite summer foods into one delicious bowl. 

Quinoa, Black Bean & Citrus Salad

recipe adapted from: Eat Live Run

for the salad:

1 15 oz. can of black beans, drained and rinsed

1/2 red onion, minced

2 grapefruits, divided into segments and chopped

2 ears of corn

1 red pepper, diced

1/2 c. quinoa

1 large avocado

1 bunch of cilantro, chopped

for the dressing:

juice of 2 limes

1 tsp cumin

1 1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Bring quinoa to a boil with 1 1/4 c. of water. Then reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes until quinoa is light and fluffy. Remove from stove and let cool while prepping the rest of the ingredients. Stir together black beans, red onion, grapefruits, red pepper, avocado and cilantro. For the dressing, wisk together the lime juice, cumin, and olive oil. Add quinoa to the salad and then pour dressing on top before serving. 

cinnatoast twists

A perfect Saturday morning breakfast! Actually, these are easy enough to make on any day of the week but breakfast always tastes better on the weekends. These are fake-out cinnamon rolls made with wheat toast (healthy, right?) and a buttery, cinnamon sugar coating. Once you bake these they have a slightly crispy outside and a soft inside just like a cinnamon roll. Drizzle these twists with a little cream cheese frosting right before serving and you have a quick, easy breakfast in less than 30 minutes. 

Cinnatoast Twists

for the twists:

loaf of soft, fresh white or wheat bread 

melted butter 

mixture of cinnamon & sugar (I used equal parts brown sugar and white sugar)

for the frosting:

4 oz cream cheese, room temperature

3 tbsp butter, room temperature

1 1/2 c. confectioner sugar

1/2 tbsp vanilla

1/4 juice of lemon

1-2 tbsp of milk 

Preheat the oven to 375°F. 

Cut all edges off the bread. Roll out each slice of bread as thin as possible (without breaking the bread). Brush butter on to each side of slice. Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture on each side of the bread. Fold in two sides of the bread to meet in the middle of the slice and then roll up. I baked these in a mini muffin pan for 20 minutes. 

For the frosting, blend cream cheese and butter together until smooth. Slowly add in 10x sugar and once combined add in vanilla and lemon juice. Blend together and add milk to reach desired consistency. This frosting will stay good in the freezer for months so if you double the frosting recipe you will have enough to make these cinnatwists over and over again. 

key lime blueberry tarts

These key lime blueberry tarts are surprisingly light and a great summer dessert since it is officially blueberry season! I used the store bought tart shells but also provided the tart shell recipe for all the homemade tart lovers. To be honest these store bought tarts have a great buttery, flaky texture without all the work. While the store bought tarts might not be quite as good as homemade, these tarts make this a very quick recipe to assemble and really the lime filling is what this dessert is all about. 

Key Lime Blueberry Tarts

makes 34 tarts

for the filling:

4 eggs

2/3 c. fresh key lime juice

3/4 c. sugar

6 tbsp unsalted butter

2 tsp of grated key lime rind

Whisk together first 4 ingredients in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Whisk constantly for 12 minutes or until mixture has thickened. Stir in lime rind. Pour mixture through a wire mesh strainer into a bowl. Cover mixture and refrigerate 4 to 6 hours. 

for the blueberry topping:

2 c. fresh or frozen blueberries

1/8 c. orange juice 

1/2-3/4 c. sugar (depending on sweetness of berries)

Combine all of the ingredients and cook over medium-low heat until mixture thickens. 

for the homemade tarts:

1 1/4 c. all-purpose flour

3/4 c. cake flour

1 1/2 tbsp sugar

3/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking powder

1 c. butter, cut up

1/4 c. shortening 

6 tbsp cold water

In a food processor, pulse flours, sugar, salt and baking powder. Add butter and shortening and pulse until crumbly. Add cold water, 1 tablespoon at a time, pulsing after each addition. Remove dough and wrap in plastic wrap. Chill at least 2 hours. Once 2 hours have passed, make 1- inch balls of dough and press dough balls into miniature tart pans. Prick tarts with a fork. Bake at 375°F for 13 minutes or until golden. Once tarts are cool, spoon lime mixture into tarts and top with cooled blueberry mixture and serve. 

juicy turkey burgers

I wasn't always a fan of turkey burgers because they can be dry and unflavorful. However, this recipe is the exact opposite. I was a little iffy about using 99% fat free turkey meat for these burgers but I decided to go for it and am so glad I did because these burgers are healthy and flavorful without the added fat. I made slammer-sized burgers (aka mini-burgers) and used lightly grilled, wheat dinner rolls as the buns. I love grilling because it is takes minimal effort and results in so much flavor. These turkey burgers are made with parmesan cheese, scallions, hot sauce and worcestershire...that's it! I decided to throw some caramelized onions onto my burgers (totally optional) with lettuce and tomato. I cooked the onions in a skillet on the grill and also grilled some corn on the cob. It was the perfect summer dinner.

Turkey Burgers

adapted from Martha Stewart 

1 package of ground turkey meat

1/2 c. shredded parmesan cheese

1/4 c. diced scallions (green onions)

2 tsp hot sauce (I like grace's hot pepper sauce)

1 1/2 tsp worcestershire 

salt

pepper

for caramelized onions:

pour 1 tbsp of oil per onion in skillet and add in diced onions (2-4 whole onions). I used a yellow onion because I think they are sweetest but any kind of onion would work.