Panko-Baked Veggie Quinoa Cakes

I promised you the recipe for my Veggie Quinoa Cakes, so here you go! These paired really nicely with the tilapia Amy cooked up for our dinner. They had great flavor; my only complaint was that they needed some kind of sauce. My bad. I should have prepared something to go along with the cakes; I think my Sweet Caramelized Onion Dip drizzled on top would have been perfect. I will definitely try that out next time I make these.

Panko-Baked Veggie Quinoa Cakes

2 tbsp coconut oil
1/4 onion, small, diced
1 red bell pepper, small, diced
1 cup frozen spinach, thawed and drained
1/2 cup wild mushrooms, chopped
1 tbsp garlic powder
2 tbsp Gourmet Garden basil (or chopped fresh basil)
2 tbsp Gourmet Garden chili pepper (or red pepper flakes)
2 egg yolks
1/2 cup cooked quinoa
all purpose flour for dredging
1 egg, beaten
panko breadcrumbs for coating

Heat oil in a medium sauté pan over high heat. Add onions and cook until translucent. Lower to medium heat and add peppers, spinach and mushrooms and cook for 5 minutes or until all veggies appear soft. Remove from heat and stir in the garlic powder, basil and chili pepper.

In a separate bowl, combine the egg yolks and cooked quinoa. Add the vegetable mixture and stir until well combined. Use a cookie or ice cream scoop to portion out your cakes and place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Place in the freezer for 1-2 hours or until cakes have hardened.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Make your assembly line: fill 3 shallow dishes with flour, beaten egg and panko breadcrumbs. Dredge the cakes one by one in flour, then coat with egg and finish by completely covering in panko. Place back on the baking sheet and bake for 25-30 minutes.

Disclosure: Gourmet Garden sent me free coupons for their products during my participation in Blogger Brunch Week. I was not compensated for this post and all opinions are my own.

 

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Oatmeal Ginger Sandwich Cookies with Cookie Butter Cream Filling

I can't believe I've lived in my apartment for a year already. Time flies by. I remember when I moved in last year, painting my bedroom with friends, and all the time I spent organizing and shopping for cute little decorative things to put throughout the place. Welp, while it has been a good year, but it is time to move on to another place. I've decided that living alone just ain't cutting it, so I'm moving in with my friend Amy. You remember Amy...my baking buddy at my old job! Actually, she's my ex-manager, but she has become one of my best friends and a big positive role model in my life. I am super excited to move into her house with her and her adorable daughter, Emma (who loves to bake, so there will be tons of goodies coming at you all the time once I'm all settled in over there).

Last weekend we painted my new bedroom. We obviously needed to store up energy for the night ahead of us, so we prepared dinner to enjoy together before we got started. Amy's boyfriend picked up some fresh bread from Publix, Amy made tilapia and I took care of making a salad and side dish. The salad was inspired by two salad recipes we have made at work: Spinach salad with toasted cashews, feta cheese, kiwi, mango, papaya, and figs in a shallot vinaigrette. For the side, I made Veggie Quinoa Cakes coated in Panko breadcrumbs. Come by tomorrow for the recipe for this easy side dish.

Oh, and I made these Oatmeal Ginger Sandwich Cookies with Cookie Butter Cream Filling for dessert, because what dinner is complete without dessert!

Oatmeal Ginger Sandwich Cookies with Cookie Butter Cream Filling
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup? vegetable oil
2 egg whites
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup non-fat Greek yogurt
2 tbsp Gourmet Garden ginger (alternatively, you could mince up some fresh ginger too!)
1 cup white whole wheat flour
2 1/2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
1 tbsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup Trader Joe's Speculoos Cookie Butter or Biscoff
1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
3-4 tbsp powdered sugar
1 tbsp Gourmet Garden ginger

For the cookie:
Preheat your oven at 350 degrees. In a medium bowl, beat the brown sugar, oil, egg whites and vanilla together. Add the Greek yogurt and ginger and continue to beat until smooth.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, oats, cinnamon, and baking soda. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the egg mixture. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry until the batter is well combined.

Use a cookie scoop to measure out your batter onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a baking mat (such as Silpat). Flatten the cookies with the back of a spoon (this is the part I forgot to do, so my cookies looked like big balls and I had to slice them in half horizontally so I could still make them into sandwiches!) Bake for 8-10 minutes.

For the filling:
In a small bowl with a hand mixer, beat together the cookie butter, almond milk, ginger and powdered sugar until it becomes a thick and creamy texture.

These cookies were insane. I wholeheartedly believe that the amazing flavor is all thanks to the Gourmet Garden ginger paste I used. That stuff is terrific. They have so many different herbs and spices. I want them all. I did also get the basil and chili pepper, both of which I used in my veggie quinoa cakes. Don't forget to come back tomorrow to get that recipe!

Disclosure: Gourmet Garden sent me free coupons for their products during my participation in Blogger Brunch Week. I was not compensated for this post and all opinions are my own.

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Great Tex-Mex at JoJo's Tacos

One of my absolute favorite kinds of food is Mexican. Mostly because I really love guacamole, salsa and crispy baked tortilla chips...and margaritas. Mexican cheeses are also divine — Cojita and Manchego...yum! I almost always order the same type of meal though, whatever kind of veggie enchilada is on the menu or sometimes a good salad with tons of Mexican throw-ins. And sometimes I just fill up on the chips and various dips and can't even bare to order real food. Yeah, that happens... You know it does to you, too.

I rarely get tacos because I try to stay away from fried foods. Fish tacos, shrimp tacos, whatever you get...the seafood inside is usually coated in a thick, fried batter that takes away from all the flavor you get from the actual fresh ingredient when it's on its own. I also really dislike those crunchy, hard tacos. And the soft ones are sometimes super bland. I am very hard to please, I know. BUT...I have been introduced to a little restaurant in Lauderdale By The Sea that serves up pretty authentic Tex-Mex style cuisine and really impressed me with their tacos. JoJo's Tacos is an interesting place. The waiters and waitresses come to your table to explain the menu, tell you about the specials and deliver your meal, but they don't take your order. You have to order at the counter, get your own plates and silverware and *gasp* they don't have margaritas! Just beer, wine and homemade sangria. But despite these quirks, the food is insanely delicious. McKenzie originally wanted us to go there on Cinco de Mayo, but we ended up staying local. Ever since, I've been dying to go because he talks so highly about it. He totally wasn't exaggerating. We started with the guacamole because, well, duh. It was prepared just the way I like it with big chunks of guacamole and tomato generously portioned throughout the otherwise creamy dip. Guess what I ordered? Tacos! Not only do they have some of the most unique tacos I have ever heard of, but the soft corn tortillas are grilled until they have nice char marks and a good smokey taste. The tacos are $5 each, but believe me when I tell you, you really do not need more than 2. They are stuffed to the brim with fresh ingredients that will leave you feelingperfectly full and satisfied. I got the 'Shrooms and Asp' taco with crimini mushrooms, asparagus, corn, red onions, chipotle aioli, sprouts and Manchego cheese; and the 'Peachy Pollo' with peach-smoked chicken, corn and peach habanero aioli, romaine lettuce and Queso Blanco. That habanero aioli was SO good. I thought it might be too hot at first, but it was exactly the amount of heat I can handle before it gets uncomfortable. McKenzie got two of their new tacos on the Specials board: the ginger oxtail and blue cow. Obviously I didn't try either, but from the way he licked his plate clean, I have a feeling they were pretty good. The presentation of the tacos was right on par, too. Just look at this photo..beautiful!

I have to go back there. There was a Mahi stew on the Specials board that sounded awesome and of course I want to try their ceviche. I had been toying between the tacos and the chicken and shrooms tostado so I've gotta try that sometime, too.

I was a little upset that I didn't have a margarita to enjoy with my Mexican fare, but the food was good enough to overcome my disappointment by a long shot. At least there was sangria. :)

 

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My Favorite Local Happy Hours

It's so weird not working a 9-5 (well, 9:30-6) job anymore. There are days when I'm out of work as early as 3pm and I have no idea what to do with myself! Daylight! An entire evening ahead of me to do whatever I please. One of my favorite ways to spend this newfound time is checking out local happy hours. I couldn't really go out for happy hour too often when I working at my other job. By the time I'd get home and change, happy hour would be over. I put together a list of my most recent favorite spots.

Brule Bistro in Delray is probably my top favorite place to go. It's in Pineapple Grove. If you've never been, I highly recommend it. The chefs are extremely creative with their food and the specials are always top-notch. My boyfriend is the manager and head of promotions there (I swear I'm not biased — it really is good!), so I'm there pretty often. They just launched a brand new happy hour menu for both food and drink, with awesome daily drink specials: Sundays and Mondays are all night HH, and Saturday is all day. Tuesday is half off all glasses of wine, and Wednesday is half off all craft beers. They have a pretty extensive beer menu and a gorgeous wall of wine, so you're sure to find something you like — and probably discover new favorites. Thursday night you can get $5 mixed drinks and Friday is 25% off all bottles of wine. My favorite appetizer on the happy hour menu is the grilled avocado with roasted tomato salsa. I recently tried the Korean chicken wings and they're freaking awesome. I promise you'll enjoy yourself when you go, so make it a point to...soon. Normal happy hour is from 4-6:30pm daily with $4 select wine and spirits, $3.50 tap beers, and $5 or $7 appetizers.

There are a couple of great places in Mizner Park in Boca. Truluck's has a reputation of being pretty expensive, but their happy hour is legit. I wrote about it once before, as I was very impressed. But that was a while ago, and I finally got around to going back. It just so happened that I went on a Wednesday — Wine Wednesday, to be exact. I had no idea that I had just stepped into the best night there. Half off every single bottle of wine in the place. If that isn't enough to tempt you to go, happy hour is Monday through Saturday from 4:30-7 and all night on Sundays with half price appetizers, cocktails and wine. If you go, definitely get the Baja Ceviche. The super crispy chips served along with it are probably the best part. I've never dined inside, but if the happy hour menu is any indicator of the food served for dinner, it's gotta be good.

Also in Mizner Park is Yardhouse. I first went to this restaurant in Hallandale about a year and a half ago. The menu is insane. They have every kind of food imaginable — Asian inspired, American classics, pasta dishes, vegetarian and vegan friendly dishes, etc...The beer list is even bigger. When you sit at the bar, it's like being introduced to 100 new beers. I love looking at all the cool taps for each one. What I like about Yardhouse is that aside from having a regular happy hour during the week from 3-6pm, they also have a late night one that starts at 10pm on Sunday-Wednesday. Late night happy hours are hard to come by around here, so when you find one you have to hope it's good! Select dishes are half price — a pretty decent amount are listed on the happy hour menu so you have a lot to choose from. There are drink specials for the various beers, $6 house martinis and $2 off all specialty drinks and glasses of wine. One of the best things I've had is the chicken garlic noodles. It's listed as an appetizer, but you could definitely order it as dinner.

Venture a little further west in Boca and you'll find one of my Bubby’s and my favorite places: City Fish Market. When we go, we like to hang at the bar to indulge in their happy hour specials for a bit before sitting down to dinner. The happy hour there is really good, but we really love having dinner here. If you haven't been, you must go. Happy hour is Sunday through Friday from 4-7pm and includes specials on draft beer and select wines by the glass. There is a nice list of martinis and cocktails, plus their special infused martini of the day and homemade sangria. You can get delicious appetizers for anywhere from $4-9. Oysters Rockefeller, Bluepoint Oysters, mussels, Top Neck clams, calamari, crab cake, ceviche, shrimp and crab cocktail — all the great seafood dishes you know and love. There's usually live music in the bar area too, which makes for a pretty nice ambiance.

A nice thing about going for happy hour is you aren't out too late and can get to bed at a decent time. For me, that's a huge plus because I like to wake up pretty early to get in my morning workout. OR, there's the fact that everything is cheaper. Yeah, that's a pretty good plus, too.

 

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Publix Aprons: What I Learned This Week

I've started to accumulate quite the collection of recipes over the past year, but I'm racking up tons more since starting at Publix Aprons. For every class we teach or demonstration we put on, there is a packet of recipes given to everyone who attends. There is always at least one recipe within the packets that I want to try at home. It's pretty cool for our customers to be able to leave with all the recipes for everything they get to make or try while they are here. That way, if there's something you particularly like, there's nothing stopping you from trying it out yourself at home. Aside from the insane amount I have saved on Pinterest and Ziplist, I have so many recipes that I've cut out of magazines and now from Aprons. I've been wanting to put them into some kind of recipe box or book and finally found the perfect thing at Barnes and Noble last week. It's a scrapbook with the cutest silverware design on the cover and filled with dividers with sticker labels of different categories of food and see-through pockets to hold the recipes. I love giving myself little projects like that and am very excited to say I finished it this past week. It looks awesome and I'm so excited that all my recipes are finally organized. Yay!

This was another fun-filled week full of new things for me to write about on my "What I Learned" post. For starters, I learned how to make my own cake flour. You take 1 cup of all purpose flour, remove 2 tablespoons and replace it with corn starch. Perfect for those times you randomly feel like baking something a little last minute and see that the recipe calls for cake flour and oops — all you've got is all purpose. I also learned about tomatillos. Though they look like little green tomatoes, they don't really taste like them. They are really more like a cross between a red tomato and a green apple. We made a vinaigrette with tomatillos, jalapeño, a little garlic, hot sauce and apple cider vinegar to go with a skirt steak salad. Obviously I didn't have the steak, but that vinaigrette was really good! That same class also included a recipe for onion focaccia bread. OH. MY. GOD. Honestly, that was one of the best things I've had since starting this job. We've made some delicious things, but this bread was it for me. I could have eaten the entire freaking loaf of it. The dough was full of onions, garlic, rosemary and thyme and then we topped it with caramelized onions that had been cooked with a little Madeira wine. YUM. Baking your own bread is much more satisfying than going out to a store and buying it. I have to tackle this recipe at home, and I have a feeling if I master it, I won't ever have store-bought focaccia again.

Recipes from this week's class I want to try:
-Onion Focaccia
-Farro Salad with Roasted Beets and Radiccio
-Eggplant Lasagna with homemade Marinara

 

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A Beautiful, Simple Jersey Wedding

My cousin Emily got married over the holiday weekend, and I was so happy to be able to go home and celebrate Emily’s and Mark's special day. Emily has a food blog of her own, Corchoran Street Kitchen, and always shares awesome (and easy to make) recipes. I knew her creative personality would totally shine through at the wedding and I was 100% right.

Let's start with the location... It was at a place called Croft Farm in Cherry Hill, NJ. It reminded me a little of the Hemingway House we visited in Key West, which is often used for weddings as well. This place seemed to be the same idea — an old house with lots of antique features and a beautifully landscaped outside area perfect for hosting a wedding ceremony and reception. The only thing that wasn't up to par was the weather — it was freezing during the ceremony. My mom saved the day with a blanket she had in her car. I would have gone completely numb without it. My feet, however, lost all feeling the second I stepped out of the car and I don't really think I felt them for the entireaffair. They were beyond being saved. We were all just very happy it didn't rain like it did the day before. Whew! Anyway, the ceremony was short and sweet. Emily's gown was gorgeous — very old Hollywood glamour. It finally started to warm up a little once the cocktail hour began, so that was good. I swapped the blanket for a scarf that matched my dress, so I at least looked like a normal human being...but still a very cold one.

The cocktail hour was SO creative. In fact, the entire wedding was. It was all so kitschy and original; I wouldn't expect anything less from Emily. There were homemade roasted nuts with rosemary, and a popcorn bar with all kinds of spices you could mix in with the popcorn: Old Bay seasoning, Thai chili, cheddar cheese, chili and lime, cinnamon sugar. It was really a cute idea. There was an open bar with select beer, wine and champagne (they had Riesling, so I was all set!) and a signature gin and tonic cocktail. The dinner menu was a BBQ theme with a whole roasted pig — and the actual pig was on the table. That was something new for me. Not my cup of tea, but hey, at least there was chicken too! Sides included potato salad, baked beans, tomato salad, corn on the cob and watermelon slices — exactly what you would find at your typical BBQ. Here's the kicker...there was no wedding cake! Instead, these amazingly yummy apple cider donuts, that are apparently Mark's favorite dessert, were served. I am not usually a donut fan. I'd rather spend the empty calories on soft, baked, chewy cookies, decadent, fudgy brownies or rich, creamy cheesecakes, but these were well worth it. Oh yeah, SO worth it.

I loved how simple and laid-back everything was. No fuss, no frills, just good times with good people. Scratch that — great times with great people. My dad's side of the family is so much fun. I don't see them often since they all live in NJ or PA, so whenever I do get to spend time with them it's always memorable.

Congratulations to the new Mr. and Mrs. DeWolf! :)

 

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Sweet Caramelized Onion Dip

Do you cry your eyes out every time you cut up onion? I used to. But not anymore. It's actually pretty easy to properly dice an onion without shedding a tear. This little secret is not so secret at all. I was watching Anne Burrell's show on Food Network and happened to notice how she was cutting her onions. I kind of squealed inside when I realized I now know how to cut my onions like Anne Burrell! It's hard to explain the process without actually showing you the steps, so I guess you'll just have to check out the Publix Aprons Cooking School calendar so you can come to a class and learn. ;-)

I have been buying vegetables to practice my knife skills at home and the onion was one of the ones I definitely needed some work on. I diced up my onion and was pretty happy with the outcome... Now I just needed to actually USE the onion that I had just cut up into a billion itty-bitty pieces. I'm on a dip-making kick lately so I continued with this and decided on a sweet caramelized onion dip. I sautéed the onions until they were the perfect brown color. Honey, apple cider vinegar and dijon mustard sweetened up this sweet caramelized onion dip and gave me another great appetizer to include in future get-togethers or dinner parties.

Sweet Caramelized Onion Dip

1 Spanish onion, diced
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons dijon mustard
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
cooking spray

Spray a medium sauté pan with cooking spray and let heat up on medium. Add onions and let cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion softens and browns. Remove from heat and let completely cool.

Once onions have cooled, place in a food processor along with honey, dijon mustard and apple cider vinegar and pulse until well combined. Let firm up in the refrigerator for about 1 hour.

 

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