Archives for February 2018

Five Spice Citrus Salad

February 25, 2018 by Sarah Baade Leave a Comment

It has been such a long and rainy winter here in San Antonio. I’m not used to needing a heavy coat for more than a day or two at a time, let alone weeks at a time. I find myself daydreaming about bright colors and warmer climates. I won’t be going on a tropical vacation any time soon so my next best bet is eating bright, flavorful fruit.

We are currently right in the middle of prime orange and grapefruit season. There are so many varieties of citrus available and I took full advantage of that for this recipe. I love the variety of colors as well as flavors from these fruits. Given the tartness that sometimes comes along with citrus, I wanted to contrast that with a little bit of sweet and a little bit of spice. The result is a perfect dish to serve with brunch or eat as a snack.

Tips:

Place some paper towels under the edges of your cutting board, this will help to catch any juice that runs off the edge as you’re cutting the fruit.
Feel free to mix and match your citrus fruits to your liking or based on what is available seasonally. The main idea is variety.

Five Spice Citrus Salad

Serves 6-8

3 grapefruit (I used one large and two small)

6 oranges (I used blood oranges, tangelos, sumo citrus)

¼ cup pomegranate seeds

¼ cup crumbled feta cheese

1 Tablespoon fresh mint leaves

4 Tablespoons honey

½ teaspoon Chinese five spice seasoning

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Cut citrus fruits into ¼ – ½ inch slices, removing seeds as they are found. Cut rinds off of slices then place slices on paper towels to absorb excess any juice. Move citrus slices to a serving platter and top with pomegranate, feta and mint. In a small bowl, mix together honey, Chinese five spice and vanilla. Drizzles honey mixture over citrus salad as desired.

Curried Chickpea Salad Sandwich

February 19, 2018 by Sarah Baade Leave a Comment

I’m generally good about eating dinner leftovers for lunches at work but lately we haven’t been making big meals for dinner. We’ve been keeping it light with smoothies or salads. Frankly, these don’t make good leftovers. So, I’ve been needing to come up with easy dishes to make on the fly for my lunches.

Since going vegetarian, chickpeas have become a staple in my pantry. I’ve added them to soups and salads, made hummus. I’ve tried a few chickpea salad sandwich recipes but found them to be a little bit bland. I want flavor! If you can’t find what you’re looking for create it yourself, right? I created my own sandwich and added curry to kick it up a notch. No more boring sandwiches in my brown bagged lunches!

Tips:

If you’re needing to take the gluten free option, use your favorite GF bread, turn it into a lettuce wrap or just skip the bread altogether. Frankly, this is just as delicious eaten by the fork-full.
I used a hot curry powder for a stronger flavor but feel free to use whatever curry powder you happen to have on hand and then reduce or add amount based on your desired flavor.

Curried Chickpea Salad Sandwich

Serves 4

½ cup plain Greek yogurt

2 ½ teaspoons hot madras curry powder

1 15oz can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

¼ cup finely chopped carrots

¼ cup finely chopped red bell pepper

salt and pepper to taste

8 slices whole grain bread

Optional garnishes: lettuce, onion

Directions:

In a small bowl, mix together yogurt and curry powder. In a medium mixing bowl, mash chickpeas with a fork until they are a bit crumbly, some chunks are okay. Add carrots, bell peppers and curried yogurt to chickpeas, stir until well combined. Add salt and pepper to taste. Scoop equal amounts of mixture onto 4 slices of bread. Add desired garnishes and then top with remaining slices of bread.

Boozy Truffles

February 7, 2018 by Sarah Baade Leave a Comment

Let’s talk Valentine’s Day. Whether you love it or hate it, this holiday is great for making and eating sweet treats! It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone but food is definitely my favorite way to celebrate a holiday. My typical go-to is cake or cookies but I wanted to change it up this year. One of the things I love about these truffles is that you can customize them just by changing up the flavor of liqueur. I know we just finished up Christmas and all of its peppermint glory but who says we can’t use that flavor all year round? I absolutely love peppermint with dark chocolate so I went for it! I also wanted to do something more unique for a white chocolate flavor which brought me to horchata. You could make these truffles as a gift for your valentine but you could also just treat yourself – you deserve it!

Tips:

If you aren’t much of a drinker, don’t invest in a full-size bottle of liqueur. Just skim the section of single serving bottles (you know, like the tiny bottles they have on airplanes or in hotel minibars).
The white chocolate filling is a bit sticky and challenging to work with. Do yourself a favor and leave them in the freezer right up until you are ready to dip them in the dark chocolate coating. You could even pull just a few out at a time as you go. Trust me, they are worth the extra effort though!

Boozy Truffles

Dark Chocolate Filling:

¾ cup dark chocolate chips

1/3 cup heavy cream

2 Tablespoons liqueur – I used a peppermint coffee flavor

White Chocolate Filling:

1 cup dark chocolate chips

1/3 cup heavy cream

2 Tablespoons liqueur – I used an horchata flavor

Dark Chocolate Coating:

1 ½ cups dark chocolate chips

1 ½ teaspoons vegetable oil

Decorative garnish – I used crushed peppermint pieces and gold colored sugar sprinkles

Directions:

For dark chocolate filling, place chocolate chips in a medium heat safe bowl. In a heavy saucepan, bring cream to a low boil. Pour cream over chocolate chips and let stand for 5 minutes. Whisk liqueur into cream and chocolate mixture until mixture is blended together and smooth. Cover bowl and refrigerate for 2 hours or up to 1 day. Repeat this process for the white chocolate filling.

Once fillings are chilled, shape into 1 inch balls then place on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Place in freezer for 1 hour.

For the dark chocolate coating, place chocolate chips and vegetable oil in a microwave safe bowl. Heat in the microwave, stirring every 30 seconds until completely melted.

One at a time, dip chilled ball of filling into coating mixture, making sure each one is completely coated. Place each truffle back onto the parchment paper lined cookie sheet and sprinkle with decorative garnish. Once all truffles are garnished, refrigerate until coating is set or you are ready to serve them.