February 1, 2013

Super -Dippin’- Bowl

i can’t believe the super bowl is this weekend!

besides football and awesome commercials, the food is a huge, HUGE part of a successful super bowl sunday.

have you ever been to a super bowl party where the food sucked? Yeah, it sounds like a lame party for sure. sooo, it’s time to run some defense against that offensive awful party tray.

here’s a light sour cream, greek yogurt and green onion dip recipe to spice up your party this sunday. it’s flavorful and really easy to make. talk about a touchdown!

and for the extra point, you probably have all the ingredients in your pantry and fridge.

you can also check my guacamole recipe by clicking here. this guacamole will leave people raving and wanting for more. you are going to be a super star if you make one or both of these dips.

enjoy!

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add light sour cream, non fat greek yogurt and light mayonnaise to a bowl.

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zest one lemon right in the bowl.

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juice half of a lemon or add two teaspoons of lemon juice.

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add sea salt and fresh ground black pepper.

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all the ingredients are coming together. and the lemon is so fragrant! mmm!

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cut the green onions finely.

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add green onions to the bowl. this is why this post is called “super -dipin’- bowl” … that’s all you need. just one bowl :)

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whisk all ingredients together.

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add minced garlic.

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the rest of the green onions.

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garnish with green onions and serve with celery, carrots, bell peppers, corn chips, pita chips, sun chips or potato chips.

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light sour cream, greek yogurt and green onion dip

ingredients:

1 16 oz container light sour cream
1/2 cup non fat greek yogurt
1 teaspoon light mayonnaise
5 green green onions, finely chopped
zest of one lemon
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon sea salt, more if needed
1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
celery and carrot sticks, corn chips, potato and/or pita chips for serving

serves 10 people

directions:

in a large bowl add sour cream, greek yogurt and mayonnaise. finely chop the green onions and reserve a few for topping once dip is ready to serve.

add green onions, lemon zest, lemon juice and minced garlic. season with salt and pepper.

whisk all ingredients until well combined. taste and see if more salt or pepper is needed. garnish with the rest of the green onions.

you can make the dip in advance and store in an air-tight container for up to two days in the refrigerator.

you can use this dip to top chili, tacos and more!

check out my guest post on mike’s blog – click1015.com/thebakingcup. mike is one of my funniest friends and he works at click 101.5, a radio station out of dayton, ohio. he asked me to blog 3 easy recipes for the super bowl. and voila.

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dips • 1 Comment
January 28, 2013

how to dress up brownies & valentine’s day

so i made brownies the other day and then had the idea of cutting out hearts. out of the brownies, of course {haha} … i thought it was a really cute idea, specially with valentine’s around the corner.

brownies are so versatile. you can dress them up with frosting or sprinkles, add walnuts, or just flat out plain. there’s no wrong way, and they are delicious in any way.

here’s a tutorial for you to see how to make brownie hearts! You can surprise your significant other and even kids with this cute idea on valentine’s day.

you can even make these heart shaped brownies for a birthday party, bridal shower, baby shower or a kid’s party!

materials/ingredients:

brownies, cooled {overnight if you can}
white chocolate, melted
piping/pastry bag
different color nonpareil sprinkles
circle cookie cutters {small & large}
pen
paper
scissors
sharp knife

directions:

draw your hearts on paper and then cut in different sizes.

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i chose three different size harts.

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set heart on top of brownie and proceed to cut with sharp knife following the shape of the heart.

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and here’s the first heart! continue to cut as many hearts as you’d like.

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here’s another heart in a different size.

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cut circles with a cookie cutter. i did one large {shown below} and a small one.

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when chocolate is melted, carefully add to a pastry bag or even a ziploc bag {cut a small hole in one of the corners to pipe chocolate onto the brownies}. wrap bag with a towel and start decorating the brownies right away. i did a zig zag pattern here. it’s okay if it’s not perfect. the sprinkles will cover those imperfections and make your brownie hearts pretty ;)

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put sprinkles on top.

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i filled the small heart and circle all the way with white chocolate and it looked/tasted great!

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and here they are! cute arrangement for a sweets table, wedding dessert table or any other party table!

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brownies • white chocolate • 2 Comments
January 22, 2013

green lentil soup

winter is in full blast and it seems like it’s going to stay for a little while. to compensate the cold weather, i work out a lot, drink hot chocolate with delicious vanilla marshmallows on top {wedding gift}, bake and make healthy soups in the crock pot.

growing up, i had to eat a lot of beans, and beans soups. lentils {red and green}, black beans, dark kidney beans, etc. black beans are actually part of our typical dish “pabellon” … plaintains, rice, shredded beef and black beans.

even though it was always warm, we ate soups. weird, right?

the lentil soup i made this past week is easy and nutritious.

the pictures don’t look appealing at all, but i promise it tastes really, really good.

here’s the how-to and final result. enjoy!

after cooking vegetables for a while, put them in a food processor or blender.

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scoop out 1 cup of lentils and add to food processor.

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puree until smooth.

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add mixture back in the crock pot and mix well.

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garnish with cubed avocados, cilantro and cayenne pepper.

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green lentil soup

ingredients:

1 lb bag green lentils {i use la preferida}
6 cups lukewarm water
1/2 medium onion, cut in big chunks
3 whole cloves garlic, peeled
1 green onion, barely chopped
1/2 orange or red bell pepper
1/2 tsp sea salt, more or less if needed
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1/2 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, more or less {it depends how much of a kick you like in your food}
avocados, cilantro and cayenne pepper to garnish {optional}

serves 6 people.

directions:

rinse lentils in a large strainer in the kitchen sink for a minute or so until clean. i rinse them in batches because it’s a bit easier to handle.

put lentils in a slow cooker with the water. add curry powder, paprika, pepper, onions, garlic and green onion. cook in the slow setting for 6 hours. or about 4 hours over high. if you don’t have a crock pot, you can use the oven at 350F for 3 hours or so.

once the lentils are done, turn the crock pot off.

next, dig for all the vegetable chunks {pepper, onions, garlic and green onion}. take out as many as you can and set aside in a bowl or plate. trust me, it’s worth the time digging for it!

set a food processor or blender up. add vegetable chunks to food processor. also scoop out 1 cup of the lentils from the crock pot and add to processor or blender.

make sure to get some liquid when you scoop out the lentils. if you didn’t, go back to crock pot and scoop out about 1/4 cup of liquid in addition to the 1 cup of lentils you already have.

blend until consistency is smooth. it will look like baby food, but it’s good! add mixture to lentils in crock pot and mix well.

serve with avocados, fresh cilantro and a dash of cayenne pepper.

avocados • beans • exotic flavors • soups • 3 Comments
January 18, 2013

crazy good turkey stir fry

ground turkey is one of my favorite meats to cook with. it’s affordable, lean, good source of protein and really versatile. turkey absorbs any flavor in minutes and i’m a big fan of that!

the thing is, i love it when you cook a dish and it’s really flavorful without using a pound of butter or a tablespoon of salt.

so, when i saw the ingredients seating in my fridge and pantry, staring at me, i thought to myself i could make something that is good-for-you, sweet and sour, easy-to-make, and with an added bonus: this stir fry is so light that you can eat it anytime of the day :)

oh, and if you have leftovers, this stir fry is one of those dishes that tastes better the next day or the next few days after being in the fridge.

here are a few of the ingredients i used for the stir fry.

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sprinkle sugar over the green beans.

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do the same with the oil and toss well.

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ready to go into the broiler.

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add red bell pepper to skillet.

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brown ground turkey in same skillet. i left the peppers but you can take them out.

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here’s why you don’t need any salt. garlic chili paste. so good.

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after you mix well, this is what it looks like.

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add chicken broth.

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followed by the soy sauce mixture.

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once the green beans are done, go ahead and add to the skillet.

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sprinkle red pepper flakes. if you don’t like it spicy, opt this out!

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add the rest of the sugar. you can also mix it in with the soy sauce mixture.

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i made whole grain brown rice to complement the flavors of the stir fry. very simple rice, which absorbs all the juices from the stir fry.

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eat immediately!

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crazy good ground turkey stir fry

ingredients:

1 pound lean ground turkey
1 cup homemade or store-bought chicken broth
1 red bell pepper, cut in juliannes
1 bag green beans or 1 pound
1 1/2 tbsps brown sugar, divided {light or dark}
2 tbsps olive oil, divided
1 1/2 tbsps asian chili garlic paste
2 tbsps low sodium soy sauce
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tsp red pepper flakes

serves 4-6 people.

directions:

preheat oven to broil setting.

put green beans in a bowl, coat with 1 tbsp of olive oil and 1 tbsp of brown sugar. toss until combined and add to a cooking sheet. broil for 14 min. or until golden brown.

in the meantime, sauté red peppers with 1 tbsp of olive oil on medium-high heat until golden {about a minute}. set aside.

brown turkey in the same skillet. once it’s cooked all the way through, add chili paste and peppers to skillet. stir well.

while the turkey is browning, in a bowl, mix soy sauce, rice vinegar, 1/2 tbsp brown sugar and half cup of chicken broth. add mixture to ground turkey and bring to a boil. add the rest of chicken broth and red pepper flakes. stir well.

add green beans to skillet and let the liquid thicken over medium heat for 5 to 7 minutes. you want to have some liquid left.

make brown rice following directions on the box. serve with stir fry and you’ll see why you wanted some liquid!

you can add broccoli or cauliflower florets or snap peas or carrot sticks – the list goes on. see, it’s versatile :)

asian flavors • exotic flavors • turkey • Leave a Comment
January 11, 2013

simply easy guacamole

i’ve been making guacamole for more than 5 years now … the same recipe, over and over again, and we just can’t get enough. is that good!

this is one of those recipes that is so easy and simple to make that you think to yourself, “is that it?” and, “are these all the ingredients?” and, “why didn’t i think of this before?”

yes, this is that type of recipe. easy, easy, easy.

my husband wants me to make guacamole every week. i try to live up to that and wish we had an avocado farm because he will be the happiest person on earth. for now, let’s stay with the grocery store or costco.

our family knows we love guacamole so much that got us this awesome, funny and quirky bowl… it’s not guacamole, it’s holy guacamole, because it’s like a religion. haha. {just took this photos with my phone, hence the quality.}

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here’s the how-to and a few other photos we took while making it. leave me a comment sharing what is that easy recipe you always count on and never disappoints!

set up your fresh ingredients and wash cilantro thoroughly.

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be careful when cutting the avocados. i’ve cut myself a few times.

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gorgeous, right?

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i slice the avocado beforehand so it’s easy to scoop out and mash.

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i find the red onion to work best with the rest of the flavors.

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i do the majority of my prepping in the food processor. thanks mike for the awesome wedding gift!

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start building your guacamole in a bowl.

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we love spicy. so we leave the seeds and add a lot of it.

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lime or “limon” like we say in spanish, adds the perfect finishing touch to this awesome appetizer.

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jalapeño going in.

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we absolutely love cilantro and add as much as possible. we cut it roughly but you can finely chop it which works perfectly fine, too.

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add sea salt and mash with a masher or fork. you want all the ingredients to be well combined.

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aerial view.

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taste to see if it needs more lime and/or salt.

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enjoy by itself, with anything, or with nachos and other mexican dishes.

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simply easy guacamole

ingredients:

4 ripe haas avocados, cubed
juice of 2 limes {more if needed}
1 jalapeño, finely chopped {more or less, it depends how spicy you like it}
1/2 small red onion or 1 tbsp, finely chopped
1 bunch fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
sea salt to taste

serves 4-6 people. but with my husband, this recipe only serves 3, haha.

directions:

combine all ingredients and mash until well combined. taste guacamole to see if you need more salt, lime or jalapeño. serve and eat right away before starts browning! enjoy!!

avocados • gucamole • lime • 4 Comments