Love the ingredients, not the food.

Balsamic Herb Oven Fries

Written on March 18, 2013 by Wannabe Chef in Side Dish

When I think about the foods I eat most often, potatoes climb that list far too high. Potatoes are almost always my side dish of choice; there’s just so much you can do with them.

Personally I’m a fan of any potato that’s roasted. These aren’t quite your traditional french fries; they’re more accurately roasted potatoes in your classic french fry shape. The balsamic vinegar and herbs add a unique flavor that puts these a step ahead of any fries you can get at a restaurant.

You don’t need to go very heavy at all on the wet ingredients and they bake off fairly quickly in the oven. If you don’t have herbes de Provence, make a mix of your favorite savory herbs and use that instead.

Balsamic Herb Oven Fries

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 45 minutes

Ingredients(Makes about 4 servings):

1lb Russet potatoes, scrubbed and washed
2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 Tablespoon herbes de Provence
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Method:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Slice the potatoes into 1/2-inch thick fries lengthwise.
Toss the fries with the oil, vinegar, herbs and seasonings
Lay the fries out in a single layer on a non-stick baking tray
Roast the fries for 45 minutes to an hour until the ends brown.
Remove the fries from the oven and serve hot.

With some tangy ketchup of course.

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Gluten-Free Thin Mints & Other Girl Scout Cookies

Written on March 14, 2013 by Wannabe Chef in Dessert

Needless to say Girl Scout cookie season is a lot less exciting when you can’t have gluten. You feel a little bit guilty walking past the 10-year old girls trying to get you to overpay for charity while secretly wishing you could have some Thin Mints or Samoas.

Last year I made these gluten-free thin mints. After the page started being active again thanks to plenty of google searches for people looking for the same, I remembered to make them again this year. I’m not sure why it took me a whole year to make this recipe again because these are cookies I’d gladly eat any month or season.

The recipe(found here) is made with coconut flour and almond flour, so it’s grain-free as well as gluten-free. It’s not quite paleo as some commenters have pointed out because of the sugar content. But if that’s not your thing and you’re just looking for a sweet treat then this is easily for you.

Here are some other Gluten-Free Girl Scout cookie recipes from around the web I’ve been eyeing:

Grain-Free/Gluten-Free Samoas by Elana’s Pantry
Gluten-Free Tagalongs by Forks & Beans
Gluten-Free/Dairy-Free Do-Si-Dos by Angela’s Kitchen

Your move, Girl Scouts

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Cape Cod Trail Mix

Written on March 12, 2013 by Wannabe Chef in Snack

New England doesn’t have a standard cuisine but it certainly could. Between the apple cider doughnuts, glazed Dunkin Donut’s munchkins with jimmies and Boston cream pies there’s a lot to love(mostly carbs).

And then there’s this trail mix. You won’t find the typical gang of peanuts and raisins; instead we have cashews and almonds with dried cranberries. White chocolate instead of milk chocolate adds a sweetness to match the tartness of the berries. The flavors are simple but purely addictive, especially paired with some local apples and Vermont cheddar slices.

You could use raw almonds but I think roasted just have such a better flavor and texture. Similarly you could use raw cashews but I think you need something salted in the recipe to add a balance to the sweet.

Cape Cod Trail Mix

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients(Makes about 3 1/2 cups)

1 cup roasted, salted cashews
1 cup roasted almonds
3/4 cup craisins
1/2 cup white chocolate chunks

Method:

In a large bowl, combine and mix all of the ingredients together.
Keep in an air-tight container at room temperature when not eating.

All that’s missing is a bag of Cape Cod potato chips—never the baked or reduced salt kind.

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3 Favorite Dips

Written on March 10, 2013 by Wannabe Chef in Recipe Round-Up

The funny thing about being a food blogger is that you make recipes for 4 or 8 or 12 and sometimes end up eating them all by yourself. That’s not a problem when the recipe’s good at least.

All of these dips I can say I’ve eaten half to entire portions of(not in one sitting… usually) and yet I keep making them again and again. They tend to get a lot of hits from Pinterest or Facebook because of how quick and easy they are—two things I always look for in recipes, too—so I thought I’d share them again because you can never have too much of a good thing.

Fruity Peanut Butter Yogurt Dip—Is it yogurt? Is it a spread? It’s somewhere in between; it’s a dip and a tasty one at that. But my favorite thing about this recipe isn’t how easy it is. It’s how many different ways you can make it. I’ve had this with strawberry yogurt, vanilla yogurt, and plain yogurt with nutella and each time it comes out equally good. But as fun as it is as a dip it’s usually always better with a spoon so keep that in mind.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Dessert Hummus—Out of all the times I’ve put beans into a dessert, this is probably the weirdest but also the tastiest. The texture and flavor is a lot like raw cookie dough except without all of the flour, refined sugars, and raw eggs. I’ve been obsessed lately with using this in place of peanut butter in pb&j sandwiches; if you’ve never tried something like this you’d be surprised how much you’ll love it.

Vegetarian Buffalo Chicken Dip—Finally something savory. I made this dip for Superbowl Sunday and have wanted to make it every weekend since. It’s creamy, spicy, and a little tangy all at once. If you’re a new vegetarian or still love eating meat you won’t know the chicken is gone at all. The next day put the leftovers into some warm tortillas and you’ll have a whole new meal.

Enjoy! I hope you’ll find one you like.

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Smitten Kitchen’s Chana Masala

Written on March 8, 2013 by Wannabe Chef in Entree

I try to cook things that don’t involve chocolate; they aren’t my favorite but I do. But most of the time I just go out to eat instead. Chipotle and Indian food are favorites of mine. If I could cook as well as either of those then I’d have enough material for a whole other blog.

Since I’ve gotten tired of paying for rice and beans I’ve started to look for recipes online to teach me how to replicate my favorite over-priced takeout food. Chana masala is my go-to Indian entree and the Smitten Kitchen recipe seemed easy enough to tackle for a beginner in Indian food like me.

In short it was delicious. Despite the fact that I cut about every corner, using ginger powder, garlic powder and onion powder instead of the fresh varieties and leaving out the few ingredients I didn’t have, somehow this was still flavorful and aromatic. There are certainly more authentic recipes for Indian food on the internet but it can always be helpful to choose something within your comfort zone when you’re trying something new.

I added some diced and boiled potatoes to the mix and I would recommend to anyone to do the same because what’s Indian food without potatoes? I would have made more of the sauce since I had quite a few chickpeas to use up; you can always save the leftover sauce and pour it over vegetables or drink it on its own.

Do you have a favorite Indian dish?

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Gluten-Free Chobani Pancakes

Written on March 6, 2013 by Wannabe Chef in Breakfast

Gluten-Free Chobani Pancakes

Pancakes are always a good breakfast choice. I’ve never found a recipe though where the first one or two comes out as good as the last; mine are always misshapen and burnt. But by the 3rd pancake the pan is seasoned and magic starts happening and they come out the perfect color and texture every time. Maybe that’s just a feature of pancake recipes in general.

This recipe uses almond flour, which gives it a slightly nutty flavor. I prefer using almond flour here to most other gluten-free flours because it doesn’t have a strange flavor when you taste the raw batter(and somehow that always ends up happening). Besides that there’s just Greek yogurt and eggs; it couldn’t be much simpler.

Chobani sent me their newest flavors to taste and play around with in the kitchen: banana, pear, raspberry chocolate chunk and pineapple with caramel bits. I really couldn’t pick one that I preferred over the others; they were all amazing. I made this recipe with the raspberry chocolate chunk and it had a hint of those flavors. I could imagine that any of these would be good in the pancakes. It all depends what you’re in the mood for!

Gluten-Free Chobani Pancakes

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 5 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 1 serving):

1/2 cup almond flour
4oz flavored Chobani greek style yogurt
1 egg
1/4 teaspoon baking soda

Method:

Heat a frying pan over low-medium heat with a little oil or non-stick cooking spray.
In a medium-sized bowl, beat together all of the ingredients until mixed.
Pour 1/4 cup of batter into the center of the pan. Cook for about 30 seconds until the bottom is set and bubbles come through the center.
Flip the pancake and cook the other side until it’s cooked through. Remove from the pan.
Continue cooking until all of the batter is used up.
Serve hot with butter and maple syrup.

I would definitely recommend doubling or tripling the recipe for a crowd. You can substitute any nut flour for almond flour in a pinch but not coconut flour since that’s something different entirely.

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Strawberry Chocolate Chip Smoothies

Written on March 4, 2013 by Wannabe Chef in Drink

Winter is sadly not a great time for fresh fruit and vegetables in New England. When I go to the store I usually pick up all different kinds of frozen produce. Frozen fruit will unfortunately never taste as good as fresh when thawed and eaten but thankfully makes a delicious smoothie.

This is good to have in the morning if you’re in a rush to get out the door or even at night after dinner for something healthy and delicious. If you use a Greek style yogurt you can really pump up the protein in this drink.

If you use a flavored yogurt instead of plain you can skip the added sweetener altogether. Try using white chocolate chips for a different flavor.

Strawberry Chocolate Chip Smoothies

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 0 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 2 servings):

1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 cup frozen strawberries
1 cup milk
1 Tablespoon agave nectar
2 Tablespoons chocolate chips

Method:

Combine the yogurt, strawberries, milk and agave nectar in a blender and blend until smooth.
Add in the chocolate chips and pulse a few times until they’re broken into smaller pieces.
Pour and serve immediately.

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Healthy Chocolate Walnut Bread

Written on March 1, 2013 by Wannabe Chef in Breakfast, Snack

If February is the month of chocolate, March is probably the month of dessert detox. I could never give up chocolate cold-turkey, though; I would never want to. There are always ways to lighten up chocolate treats to make them better for your every day.

Stonyfield Farm asked some of their Clean Plate Club bloggers to make a chocolate treat healthier using yogurt and Divine Chocolate. Chocolate quick-breads are always delicious but usually too sugary to eat for any meal except dessert; yogurt and less sugar is an easy fix to make this a lighter food.

This chocolate loaf looks decadent but has a lot to offer besides fat. It’s only a little sweet—perfect for a quick breakfast with a cup of coffee. The nuts on top offer some healthy fats while using yogurt in place of more oil cuts down the calories. Using a whole-grain flour like brown rice flour also adds nutrients to each slice.

The Divine Chocolate was incredible to work with. I used the milk chocolate bar to make this recipe but couldn’t stop eating the dark chocolate bar all on its own. It melted incredibly smoothly and evenly; that’s always the benefit of using actual baking chocolate instead of chocolate chips. Instead of plain yogurt you could always use sweetened vanilla yogurt or even one with more flavor to it.

Healthy Chocolate Walnut Bread

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 45 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 1 loaf):

1/2 cup coconut flour
1 cup brown rice flour
1/4 cup Divine cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3 eggs
6 Tablespoons maple syrup
6oz plain Stonyfield low-fat yogurt
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 5.3oz 38% Divine milk chocolate baking bar
1/2 cup crushed walnuts

Method:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl sift together the coconut flour, brown rice flour, cocoa powder, and baking soda.
Mix in the eggs, maple syrup, yogurt, water, and oil until the batter is wet and mixed.
Melt the milk chocolate baking bar in a microwave or over the stove top.
Slowly fold the melted chocolate into the batter until entirely mixed.
Grease a 9-inch loaf pan.
Pour the batter into the loaf pan. Add the crushed walnuts on top and press them in gently.
Bake for 40-45 minutes until the center of the loaf is cooked through. Let the bread cool before cutting.

You’ll never guess it’s any good for you.

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White Chocolate Peppermint Brownies

Written on February 27, 2013 by Wannabe Chef in Dessert

I don’t often try to mess with perfection when I think I’ve found it. For almost two years now I always return to this brownie recipe because I haven’t tried any that are better. But lately I’ve been on a white chocolate kick and needed a way to enjoy that along with my favorite brownies.

These are basically that same brownie recipe with some white chocolate thrown in. I also added peppermint because even though it’s almost March the temperatures have been below freezing and there’s snow on the ground so it feels a lot like December. Besides, white chocolate and peppermint just go together; I’m pretty sure there are about 10 Starbucks drinks that confirm that.

These grain-free brownies are made with almond flour to keep them moist and fudgy. They’re very rich and keep well refrigerated or frozen for an anytime treat.

White Chocolate Peppermint Brownies

Prep time:

Cook time:

Ingredients(Makes one pan):

3/4 cup almond flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon peppermint extract
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup white chocolate chips

Method:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
Mix together the almond flour, salt, cocoa powder, and baking soda and set aside.
In a separate bowl, melt together the 1/2 cup chocolate chips with the butter.
While the chocolate is melting, beat together the eggs, sugar, and peppermint extract.
Slowly pour the melted chocolate and butter into the egg/sugar mixture while whisking until fully incorporated. Don’t go too fast so that the raw eggs don’t cook upon contact.
Add the chocolate mixture in with the dry ingredients and mix completely.
Pour the batter in an 8 x 8 pan.
Sprinkle the top with the white chocolate chips and gently press them into the batter.
Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick poked into the center comes out clean. Let these cool completely before cutting in.

Perfection

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Homemade Granola Bites

Written on February 25, 2013 by Wannabe Chef in Snack

I don’t believe that things always taste better when they’re homemade; there are plenty of things that I’d rather just buy at the grocery store because it’s easier or tastier that way.

These thankfully are one of those things that taste better made yourself and the recipe couldn’t be easier. They’re slightly soft and chewy—a perfect snack in the afternoon or something to nibble on before a workout. And because you make them yourself you can adjust the flavor to be whatever you like. Personally I’m a fan of almond butter and chocolate chips.

To make these gluten-free make sure you’re using oats that are certified gluten-free. Make sure to mix the ingredients evenly and well to prevent them from falling apart in the oven.

Homemade Granola Bites

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 20 minutes

Ingredients(Makes about 14 bites):

1 1/2 cups oats
1/2 cup natural almond or peanut butter
3 Tablespoons honey or maple syrup
1/4 cup chocolate chips or raisins
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Method:

Preheat your oven to 250.
In a large bowl, mix together all of the ingredients until it starts to form a dough. If there isn’t enough moisture to hold the oats together, add almond butter by the tablespoon until there is.
Roll the dough into 1-inch balls and place them on a non-stick baking surface.
Bake for 20 minutes until the outsides have browned.
Let the granola bites cool and store them at room temperature for up to 2-3 days.

Homemade Granola Bite Baked

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