My Chef's Hat - Pizza Chicken

Pizza is one of my favorite foods.  I've always preferred thicker crust over the thin crust.  To me, thin crust is often over-cooked, so it ends up tasting like cardboard.  For a long time I bought the mini Boboli pizza crusts, and made pizza for lunch.  It was convenient and easy, but obviously that crust wasn't really too healthy, as it needed lots of preservatives to keep for that long.  And I know that they sell a whole wheat dough, but I could never find it. 

A couple months ago I was in Whole Foods in the fresh foods area.  I could spend an hour just in that section, checking out all the different cheeses and prepared foods.  I came across fresh whole wheat pizza dough in a 16-ounce prepared ball.  I knew I had hit the jackpot, especially since it was pretty inexpensive.  I took it home, cut it into fourths, and instantly had 4 lunches.

I love making the pizza with that dough.  I use fresh mozzarella, Bertolli pizza sauce (tons better than Ragu), and fresh herbs and you can taste a huge difference.  Even though I'm on the low carb thing right now I still make pizza once a week.  And when I came across the recipe for Pizza Chicken, I knew I had to try it out.  It allows me to use a lot of what I make with a regular pizza, but without the carbs.

Here is the official recipe picture:

And here's my version:

The flavor was delicious, and the only thing "missing" was the dough...but the chicken more than made up for it.  I grilled the chicken first before adding the toppings and putting it in the oven, and I was afraid that would make the chicken too dry. But the sauce, cheese and other toppings helped keep it moist. 

When I normally make my pizza I add artichoke hearts and spinach, but I didn't think I had space for that so I left it out. But I did use red onion, red pepper, sundried tomato, and mushrooms.  I should have added some fresh basil, but thought about it too late. 

Will I make this again? Definitely!!  Will it replace my fresh whole wheat dough?  Not a chance.  The dish was really good, so maybe I'll alternate chicken with dough. 


Recipe found on Just a Pinch

My Chef's Hat - Tuna Cakes with Fresh Tomato Salsa

So just a couple posts ago I was talking about how I'm trying to eat more tuna.  My favorite canned tuna is the white albacore.  I've read about how eating large amounts of albacore can cause mercury poisoning.  But since I only eat it once a week I figure I'm safe.  I've tried the regular canned tuna, but it doesn't taste as good. 

I really like my recipe for the skinny tuna melt, but didn't want to eat that same thing every week.  On Monday I found a recipe for Tuna Cakes with Fresh Tomato Salsa, and thought it looked and sounded really good.

Here is the official recipe picture:

And here is my version:

What a great recipe!  The cakes are light, but are very flavorful.  I used panko bread crumbs, egg whites, and siraccha sauce instead of the rye crackers, whole egg and jalapeno tabasco.  I'm not sure if that made them a little lighter, but I'm going to convince myself that it did.  Even so, the recipe itself isn't bad.  The worst thing is sauteeing the cakes in olive oil, but I used as little oil as I possibly could. 

The fresh tomato salsa was fantastic.  I only let it sit for about 10 minutes because I was short on time.  But next time I'll make the salsa before I leave for work in the morning, so it can sit for 4 hours before I eat it.   I think that would make it even more intense.

Will I make this again?  No question!  It's a great, light lunch and a good rotation for my tuna recipes.


Recipe found on The Novice Chef

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Wake Up Wednesday

Repeats with a Twist - Fuzzy's Taco Shop, Stillwater OK

I was SO happy when I heard a Fuzzy's Taco Shop was coming to Stillwater!  And even happier when I found out that one of my students is working there :)  She dropped off an invite for their private opening today, so of course I had to check it out!  Free food...I'm all over it!  I'm sure lots of restaurants do  something like this, but this was the first time I'd been to one.  What a great idea...free food for friends/family, and the chance to give your staff on-the-job training at the same time.

It's located on the Strip, and open  until 2:30AM on weekends, which will be perfect for the bar crowd. 

I got there about 1pm, and there was a good-sized line, but that's okay because it gave me the chance to check out the menu.  Me and big menus don't do well together, so I was happy for the time to figure out what I wanted.  I had only been one other time, in the spring when I was in Dallas.  The menu is pretty big, and they serve breakfast tacos and burritos in addition to their lunch/dinner menu items. 

Since the food was free, I decided to get a few different things and check them all out.  I got chips & guacamole, a side of the warm fire-roasted salsa, and one each of the shrimp, veggie, and spicy shredded pork soft tacos.

I think the chips had Old Bay on them, which was a nice surprise.  But it definitely added a kick.  And the chips were warm too, which was a huge plus.  The fire-roasted salsa is good, but pretty spicy.  But I absolutely love that it's served warm.   The guacamole is awesome...I couldn't stop eating it.  And it was a lot of guac too.  I was very pleasantly surprised.  Finally I had to throw away the chips and put away the guac and salsa, so I wouldn't gorge on them.  I'll definitely be having the guac with my dinner tonight. 

I'm not usually a fan of corn tortillas, but these ones tasted fresh, so I was good.  Trying to be good, I only ate 1, and the others just ate the filling.  All of their tacos come with feta, as well as shredded cheese, which was an interesting twist I wasn't expecting.  The veggie tacos were basically only black beans & carrots with a little onion. Again, not what I was expecting, but they were actually pretty tasty.  The shrimp was good, but I would say the spicy shredded pork was my favorite. All of their tacos also come with garlic sauce, which is quite spicy and really good.

The only down side is that I couldn't get a margarita because they don't serve liquor on Sundays in Stillwater.  The margarita I had back in the spring was really good, and strong, and huge for the price.  I'm hoping it's the same here in town.

Will I go back?  Definitely!  The food is good and fresh, and comes out quickly.  I got mine to go, and they gave me 2 containers of the garlic sauce.  I would suggest they only give you one, and if you want another you can ask. 

My Chef's Hat - Blackened Chicken with Cilantro Lime Quinoa

Yes, I realize in my last post I talked about how I'm not a huge fan of chicken breast.  But, I am trying to branch out and cook with it at least once a week.  Like I said before, it's usually really dry. But I figure if I can find recipes that have enough flavor and stuff to keep it moist, I'll be in business.

We had Mexican for lunch today, which of course meant chips & salsa.  So I didn't want to do any carbs for dinner.  I had one recipe in mind, but when I opened up Pinterest to find it, I saw a recipe for blackened chicken with cilantro lime quinoa and decided to give it a shot.

Until a few months ago I'd never even heard of quinoa.  And then once I did, it seemed that from everything I heard and read, people either loved it or hated it.  My friends Jack & Betty said they use one that's a blend with rice, and they really liked it.  So a few weeks ago I was at Whole Foods, and decided to buy a small amount of it from the bulk food section.  I figured if I didn't like it, I wouldn't have spent too much.

For some reason, my brain was telling me that quinoa was very low carb.  I'm really not sure why, because it is a grain and grains are mainly carbs.  And when I looked up the nutrition, as I was eating it, I realized that it's almost as high as pasta.  But it's healthier than pasta, and a complex carb, so I feel a little better about myself.

Here's the official recipe picture:

And here's my version:

I was very pleasantly surprised with the quinoa!  I'm pretty sure that if you just make it plain it will taste like cardboard.  But I loved the flavor from the lime and cilantro.  The chicken definitely had a lot of kick from the spice. But it was really good.  I forgot to add the avocado cream sauce before I took the picture.  It was good, but the only yogurt I had was vanilla Greek yogurt and the vanilla was a little overpowering, and it was kind of thick...more like guacamole than sauce.  But it was still really tasty. 

I'm definitely going to add quinoa to the "pass" list.  I've found some recipes on Pinterest that looked good, but I always hesitated.  But now that I know it won't test my gag reflexes, I'm going to try them out.

Will I make this recipe again?  Definitely!


Recipe found on Sarcastic Cooking

My Chef's Hat - Spicy Honey Chicken with Baked Crispy Zucchini Parmesan Fries

So if you haven't noticed, I love chicken.  I could really probably eat it every day, at both lunch and dinner.  And I'm a huge fan of dark meat.  I've never been a fan of chicken breast, because it's always too dry.  I've cooked with breast a little more recently, but unless it's absolutelly necessary, I'm sticking with the dark meat.  I know it has more calories and fat, but to me, that's flavor, and therefore well worth it!  My mom never let me eat the skin on the fried chicken when I was little, even though that's where all the best flavor is.  So now, whenever I go home, I get Popeye's one time and make sure to eat it in front of her...just because.  Other than fried chicken--which I very seldom ever eat--I don't ever eat the skin. 

I found a great recipe for spicy honey chicken.  I also needed a veggie, and was bored with the recipes I already had, so decided to find something new...baked crispy zucchini parmesan fries came to the rescue. 

Here's the official recipe pictures for both:

And here's my version together:

Okay, first the chicken...YUMMY!!!  The honey and the spices are awesome together.  I could have eaten another 5 pieces.  Dark meat stays much moister than chicken breast already...and after I let the honey glaze soak into the chicken for about 5 minutes, it was a lot of heaven.

And now the zucchini...it was okay.  I don't like mushy veggies...to me, that texture is horrible.  And I think I cut the zucchini too big, so as it was baking it got too soft.  I had some thinner pieces and those were better, but I already had the bad taste in my mouth from the thicker pieces so the whole thing was a downer.  The panko bread crumbs also didn't get dark enough, but I think that's because the pieces were too big. 

Will I make these again?  The chicken, no question!!  I'm willing to give the zucchini another shot.  But I'll definitely cut them much thinner, and probably turn the oven up higher and shorten the cooking time by a few minutes.


Spicy honey chicken recipe found on The Girl Who Ate Everything

Crispy zucchini parmesan fries found on The Lean Green Bean

My Chef's Hat - Skinny Tuna Melt

I go through phases with tuna.  Sometimes I'll eat it regularly, other times I'll just walk right past it in the store.  It's also one of those foods that, barring a few exceptions, needs "help" to make it fun to eat.  One of those exceptions is of course the super-fresh tuna steaks.  I've never been a huge fan of those, because most people eat them almost raw, and that's not me.  I will do that if it's in sushi, but if it's a thick tuna steak, no thank you. 

I've decided to give tuna a try again.  It's easy to prepare, light and healthy...as long as you don't drench it in mayo.  My previous tuna staple was to do a tuna & pasta salad, but that doesn't jive with low-carb.

Pinterest to the rescue, as I found a great recipe for a skinny tuna melt.  I liked the recipe because it allows me to sneak in some extra veggies, but yet maintains the healthy side of things.

Here is the official recipe picture:

And here's my version, with a side salad:

It's really delicious!!  My mom gets this awesome whole grain bread from Costco, and had brought some for me when they visited last month, so I used that.  She also had bought some fake cheese slices, so I used that too, and honestly can't tell the difference between the fake and real when it's all finished.  I probably go a little crazy with the celery and carrots, but I love the crunch and texture they add.  I also use low-fat mayo with olive oil instead of the regular mayo.  The recipe calls to toast the bread and melt the cheese by using a skillet.  But I think it will probably work better in the toaster oven, so I'll do that next time.  The cheese didn't really melt, but I don't know if that's because it's fake or not.

Will I make it again?  Of course!  It's light and healthy, but really filling at the same time. 


Recipe found on Skinny Taste

My Chef's Hat - Pan Seared Honey Glazed Salmon

Looking back through my posts, you would think I've been eating salmon all my life.  But for a long time when I was a kid, I refused to eat it.  I don't know why.  Maybe it was the color, maybe I just thought it would have a funny smell or taste.  Whatever the reason, I wouldn't budge on it.  But years ago, at the beach with my friend Denise, she made a very simply grilled salmon using only McCormick steak seasoning.  I fell in love, and for a long time only ate it like that.  Then a few years ago I started buying frozen blackened salmon at Sam's, and again, that was the only way I ate it.  But after a while I got bored and wanted to try some new things. 

A few weeks ago I found several different salmon recipes.  I went online yesterday and was going to do one that was a citrus grilled.  But then this afternoon, I changed my mind when I saw the Pan Seared Honey Glazed Salmon on the list.  The recipe calls for the salmon to be topped with a browned butter lime sauce.  Between that and the honey, I was sold. 

Here is the official recipe picture:

And here is my version:

I am officially in love!  The honey adds amazing flavor to the salmon.  The only down side is my own fault, because I over-cooked the salmon a little, but that's a simple fix. I seared the salmon in Pam instead of olive oil. 

The butter sauce has a lot of garlic, so don't make this recipe if it's for a date or if you're going on a date afterwards! As always, I used Smart Balance light instead of real butter or margarine. The recipe called for quite a bit of butter. I don't know if it's cause I used the fake stuff, but it cooked down to less than half its original amount, but that's okay. The recipe says to use raw garlic...I cooked the garlic in the butter for a few minutes and that still didn't get rid of all the garlic bite. I poured a little of the sauce over my green bean/asparagus/mushroom sautee, and that was really delicious as well.

I made this the other day again for Christmas dinner since my parents were here and they are vegetarian. I did the recipe more as written. I used canola oil to sear the salmon, and made the sauce with butter (but still used a lot less than called for). 

I liked this version even better than my first attempt. I will say it was quite a bit oilier though, so I need to scale back some on the butter sauce. But that was absolutely the only negative.

Will I make this again? Absolutely. I think adding a little white wine into the butter sauce would add great flavor. And maybe mince the garlic a little more so it doesn't have quite the bite.


Recipe found on Cooking Classy

My Chef's Hat - Spicy Shrimp with Avocado Lettuce Cups

I'm pretty sure the only places I've ever had lettuce cups is PF Chang's and sushi restaurants.  I don't really know why I've never tried them at home before. I've found recipes online, but just never made them.  Well, with this new low-carb kick, and the awesome recipe I found on Pinterest for Spicy Shrimp & Avocado Lettuce Cups, I knew I had to give it a try.  I also wondered why I never just bought bib lettuce before, but once I found it in the grocery story and saw how expensive it was, that was my easy answer.  But I figure if I could get 3-4 meals out of it, it would be worth it.

Here is the official recipe picture:

And here is my version:

I learned one thing really quickly...using one piece of lettuce per "cup" is not very effective, for 2 reasons.  Each piece is pretty limp, and therefore hard to hold in all the goodness.  And second, almost every piece has a hole in it, so the food tries to escape!

This was really delicious!!  And she wasn't kidding when she said it was spicy.  Roasting the jalapenos helped to mellow that heat, but I forgot and didn't remove any of the seeds.  And trust me...even when roasted, jalapeno seeds still pack a huge punch.  The recipe wasn't fully clear on the red peppers so I went ahead and roasted those and some red onion at the same time for additional flavor.  The avocado and the lettuce provided some much-needed relief from the heat.  And you know, I might try this with romaine lettuce next time, just to see.  If it works just as well, I'll definitely do that.  Because if I have to double the butter lettuce each time, it won't go very far.

I don't have a mortar and pestle, and didn't want to buy it and only use it every few weeks.  So instead I bought a coffee grinder and figure I'll get more use out of that.  We shall see.  Using the grinder I needed a little more olive oil than the recipe called for, but that wasn't the end of the world. 

Will I make this again?  Of course!  My mouth was on fire for about an hour after dinner, but it was well worth it, and that can be fixed pretty easily.  It's light, healthy, and really good.


Recipe found on Aggie's Kitchen

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Motivation Monday 

My Chef's Hat - Blackened Salmon with Corn Salsa

At the beginning of September I decided to try the low-carb thing for about 2 months. I'm not cutting them out completely, because I love pasta & potatoes too much, and I would go on a carb-eating binge as soon as it was over. The carbs I'm cutting back on are rice, potatoes, pasta and bread. I'm 2 weeks in and it hasn't been as hard as I originally thought, probably because I didn't cut them completely out.

One of the first recipes I made for this blog was blackened salmon tacos. My first attempt was okay, but I couldn't get the blackening part to work at all. But the recipe itself was great, so I've made it a bunch since then.

When I made the dish last week I knew I couldn't do the tortillas, so I decided to add more tomatoes and avocado to the salsa, used a little larger piece of salmon, and eliminated the cilantro lime ranch dressing.

I think that looks 100% better than my first attempt this summer...

Practice obviously makes perfect. I don't think I was using enough of the spice early on, and once I started following the recipe instructions and seared it in a skillet with Pam instead of grilling, the blackening worked!

Recipe found on Cooking Classy

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Wake Up Wednesday

#28 - S&B Burger Joint, Oklahoma City, OK

My flight from Chicago landed at about 5pm, and I knew I wasn't going to drive all the way home and then cook. So I met Jack and Betty at S&B Burger Joint for dinner.  If you don't know where to find it, you could very easily just blow right by.  It's on the first floor of an office building, and really doesn't have much signage at all. 

The menu is a lot bigger than I expected, which is not a good sign for me.  I like menus with just a few options, to help make my deicision easier.  But I knew a couple things up front...I wasn't getting The Fatty, because to me it was pretty boring with just cheese, onions & pickles.  And I wasn't getting The Veggie, because I'm not real sure about those veggie patties.  And as if just the burger was enough in the decision department, you can pick your fries one of about a million different ways. 

I went with the black & blue burger, and did the full-size instead of the slider.

Blackened, with bacon, lettuce, tomato, red onion, avocado & blue cheese.

It was excellent!  The bun was toasted, the blue cheese was cool and creamy, and the bacon was cooked perfectly.  I'm glad I got the full-size, because the slider was just that--one slider.  And that wasn't going to be enough.

I also went the Fire Fries

Crispy fries with diced green chilies, sharp Cheddar, fried onions & chipotle Ranch sauce

The fries were delicious!  However, as I continued to eat, they got really soggy...and after a while it was just too much "stuff" with the cheese and ranch.  Now don't get me wrong--I love cheese fries, especially the ones at Joe's.  But it wasn't the same.  Just the chiles and the fried onions would have been perfect, with the ranch on the side. 

Jack got the P&B Fries with his burger

Sweet potato fries with peanut butter & bacon

Jack really liked them.  I thought the peanut butter made it a little too heavy. But the sweet potato fries themselves were great!

Will I go back?  Of course!  There's a million other items on the menu--plus you could also build your own burger. 

#27 - Bar Umbriago, Chicago, IL

On my last day in Chicago, Cristin and I needed some Sunday brunch.  We had an awesome time hanging out with our Purdue friends the night before, and I became a huge fan of cucumber vodka. 

We had seen Bar Umbriago both of the previous nights, and Cristin had never eaten there before, so we decided to give it a shot.  It's right on the corner, it had a cute little outdoor patio, and looked like a fun place.  We were seated at a window table, and with the beautiful weather they had all the windows open.  I love their pub-height tables, and really need to find one of those for my dining room.

One of the highlights is the make-your-own bloody mary bar and bottomless mimosas.  I'm not a fan of bloody mary's.  I just can't bring myself to drink tomato juice. And both of us had more than enough beverages the night before.  So we decided to stick to the food menu.

I decided to try the veggie benedict.  I'd never had that before, and it looked very tasty. 

I'm not usually a poached egg person, but it was good.  The hollaindaise sauce was really good, and the tomato added a unique flavor that I liked a lot.  The potatoes were absolutely delicious but I had to force myself not to eat them all.  The skin was crispy and the inside was soft and perfectly cooked. 

The server was pushing the pork belly hash, so I went with that as well, figuring it would just be a small side dish.

It was definitely a lot more food than I was expecting.  I loved that it was served in a cast-iron pot!  It was okay, but I probably wouldn't order it again.  The pork belly just didn't do it for me.  And to think I passed up a side of thick-cut bacon for it... 

Neither of us could resist, so we ordered the nutella pancakes to share.  I mean seriously...who can pass up nutella?  I could eat it straight out of the bottle.

OMG these were fantastic!!  We both agreed that we should have skipped the other stuff and just had the pancakes.  The pancakes were a lot lighter than I expected, which was great.  I thought there would be more nutella in them, but then I guess that would totally counteract the lightness of the pancakes.

Would I go back?  Definitely!  There were some other dishes that looked really good, and I think I need to try out the bottomless mimosas.