Tag

snack

Appetizers Farmer's Market Foodie Parties Quick and Easy Snacks Vegetarian

Sweet and Savory Pinwheels

written by Ali

This post has been compensated by Collective Bias, INC. and the Coca-Cola company. All opinions are mine alone. #TailgateRefreshed #collectivebias

I count myself so lucky that I live in Oregon and have access to such great local produce to make these sweet and savory pinwheels. Plus, we live in a state where fall means great tailgating parties, so I’m thrilled to be posting a recipe today that goes great with football, and even better with COCA-COLA® ZERO SUGAR. The new COCA-COLA® ZERO SUGAR has more real Coca-Cola® flavor, still without any sugar, making it perfect for all your party needs this fall.

I used three great Oregon products for my sweet and savory pinwheels. First up is dried cranberries. Cranberries happen to be one of the Oregon coast’s major crops. When we go to our favorite beach town, Bandon, it’s so much fun to see all the cranberry bogs along the way. I used reduced sugar dried cranberries for this recipe, which is a counterpoint to the savory cheddar cheese. Next is hazelnuts. You might know this nut as a filbert, but if you are an Oregonian, you know it as a hazelnut. If you are from Oregon, you might also be familiar seeing the groves of hazelnut trees that line the I-5 corridor. I get my hazelnuts from a farm in the Umpqua Valley, storing them in their shells until I’m ready to use them in cooking. Last, but not least, is a good sharp cheddar cheese. All of us Oregonians know that we produce some of the best cheddar cheese right here in our state. I happened to use a smoked cheddar cheese in my sweet and savory pinwheels and everyone at my football party this weekend just kept coming back for more.

It’s easy enough to pick up these ingredients at a local farmer’s market. And then it’s not too much more of a shopping trip to swing by your local Safeway or Albertsons to pick up COKE ZERO SUGAR. And while you are at it, check out the Coca-Cola Football Consumer Sweepstakes.

And, oh, yeah, Oregon happens to have one of the best college football rivalries. So, whomever you are rooting for, be sure as you are getting ready to watch the games this season, stock up on COKE ZERO SUGAR, and up your cooking game with this great Oregon game-day snack: sweet and savory pinwheels.

Yum

Sweet and Savory Pinwheels

Ingredients

1/2 cup unsweetened or reduced sugar dried cranberries
1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts
1 cup smoked cheddar cheese
1 sheet puff pastry

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place the puff pastry sheet on the baking sheet. Combine the dried cranberries and hazelnuts and spread them evenly across the puff pastry sheet. Sprinkle the cheddar cheese evenly over the top.
Roll the puff pastry sheet into a tight roll, rolling from the longest side. Refrigerate for 30 minutes. Cut the puff pastry roll in 1 1/2 inch rolls. Place each, cut side up, on the parchment lined baking sheet.
Bake for 20 minutes or until the pinwheels are lightly browned.
Makes 12. Enjoy!

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September 18, 2017 2 comments

Appetizers Breakfast Farmer's Market Lunch Recipes Vegetarian

Avocado Green Curry Deviled Eggs

written by Ali

If you are looking for a tasty protein treat for your mornings, look no further than these avocado green curry deviled eggs. One of the bad habits I got into in when I lived in Vancouver was going to the bagel shop many, many mornings during the week. They made a mean Americano and I loved, loved, loved the everything bagel with either pesto cream cheese or veggie cream cheese. In terms of my overall health, though, this probably wasn’t the best for me. Fortunately, there is no easily accessible bagel place where I’m living now, so I’ve gone back to an old standard for breakfast: Greek yogurt with homemade granola and a hard-boiled egg. Super exciting, I know.

I decided this week I’d shake things up a bit with the hard-boiled egg and do a riff on a deviled egg, creating these avocado green curry deviled eggs. I had green curry paste from last week’s asparagus tofu green curry, so thought I might as well make use of it. This is a super easy recipe and positively great for a breakfast treat or an appetizer. The one challenging thing with this recipe for me is that it’s not a great idea to prep days-worth of deviled eggs all at once, so I’ve been making these one at a time, on an as needed basis. If you do this the night before, note that your avocado will oxidize. It tastes just fine – just looks a bit sad and brown. If I was making these avocado green curry deviled eggs for a party, I’d definitely make them right before serving.

Yum

Avocado Green Curry Deviled Eggs

Ingredients

6 hard boiled eggs
1 ripe avocado
2 teaspoons green curry paste
salt to taste

Instructions

Split each hard boiled egg into two and scoop out the yolk. Combine the yolk, avocado, and green curry paste in a small bowl. Salt to taste. Add a scoop of the yolk and avocado mixture to each egg.
Enjoy!

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May 22, 2017 0 comment

Beverages Farmer's Market Lunch Recipes Quick and Easy

Chocolate Berry Smoothie

written by Ali

This chocolate berry smoothie is all about the berries, which are just starting to pop up at markets around the United States. I’ve been on a smoothie binge here of late, largely because I figured out how to make smoothies with just my immersion blender. I used to make smoothies in our large blender, but when the carafe broke, I didn’t bother replacing it and the base has been languishing away in our garage. Since we are likely moving soon, I’m doing my best not to buy more things for the kitchen. My quandary, of course, was how to make smoothies. Especially in the spring, I really love the combination of fruit and almond milk or fruit and juice. I also use a super easy technique of putting my smoothies into ½ pint jars and freezing them, which means they are ready to drink right around lunch time (I put them in the fridge the night before to start thawing). Enter the immersion blender. I really think this is the handiest tool I have. It doesn’t take up much space and it quickly blends fruit and liquids into perfect smoothie creaminess. I had very berry smoothies made up in no time at all this weekend.

Speaking of food prep and freezing, I’ve been doing a lot of writing here of late for Fix Me a Little Lunch about preserving. My main focus has been on canning, which, at least for me, most often comes to mind when I think about food storage. But freezing is also another great way to store fruits and veggies when they are in season. One of my favorite things to freeze is berries. We are lucky to live in a region where blueberries, in particular, are abundant. Blueberries freeze so well and are perfect to have on hand in fall and winter to make smoothies (like this very berry smoothie!) but also muffins, bread, pancakes, and so on. My kitchen hack for freezing berries is this: layout parchment paper on a baking sheet and, after washing the berries and inspecting for any bad berries, lay the berries out in a single layer and freeze them. Once they are frozen, they can be stored in freezer bags or containers. This way, they berries don’t freeze in one impossible to separate clump.

For this chocolate berry smoothie recipe, you can, of course, use fresh berries (or frozen berries from the store). I threw in just a scant teaspoon of cocoa powder in my chocolate berry smoothie this week to give it a bit of chocolate flavor.

Yum

Chocolate Berry Smoothie

Ingredients

1 bag of frozen mixed berries (or 3 cups of fresh berries)
2 cups vanilla flavored almond milk or soy milk
1 teaspoon cocoa powder

Instructions

Blend all ingredients until smooth using a blender or immersion blender. If freezing, distribute between four ½ pint jars and freeze. Enjoy! Makes 4 eight ounce servings.

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March 29, 2017 0 comment

Baked Goods Breakfast Snacks

Matcha White Chocolate Mini Muffins

written by Ali

I’ve been having a lot of fun lately creating recipes like these Matcha White Chocolate Mini Muffins that make use of my mini-muffin tin. Mini muffins are such a perfect work snack. I love having a couple of muffins with coffee first thing in the morning while I figure out what my day is going to look like and prioritize my to-do list.

Plus, we are getting close to St. Patrick’s Day, and I feel like I’d be remiss as a food blogger if I didn’t eke out at least one sort-of-green recipe. Matcha White Chocolate Mini Muffins aren’t intensely green, but definitely have the light spring green hue of matcha going on. I love the intense green tea flavor that matcha brings to these, as well as the soft sweetness of the mini white chocolate chips. As yummy as these are with my morning espresso, they are also great as a treat served with more green tea. My two favorite green teas (outside of matcha, of course) are Moroccan Mint Green Tea and Genmaicha, which is a green tea combined with toasted rice. Trust me, it’s delicious. These are even better when served alongside matcha white chocolate mini muffins.

The batter for these muffins is silky and lovely. After mixing the ingredients, it takes just a scant tablespoon to fill up each muffin cup.

The muffins bake for about 20 minutes (or until a skewer poked in the middle comes out clean). They definitely need to cool, as the matcha seeps a bit while the muffins are still warm. Once they’ve cooled though, they are heavenly.

Enjoy these Matcha White Chocolate Mini Muffins with a cup of green tea, while gazing out the window and looking at the daffodils blooming. Trust me, it will be worth it.

Yum

Matcha White Chocolate Mini Muffins

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter, softened
1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoons Matcha tea powder
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup mini white chocolate chips

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cream the butter and sugar in a medium sized bowl. Add the eggs, vanilla, matcha powder, and Greek yogurt and mix.
In a separate bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients a bit at a time until all the dry ingredients are combined.
Add the mini white chocolate chips. Stir to combine.
Butter or line each cup of a mini-muffin pan. Spoon a tablespoon of the muffin batter into each cup.
Bake for 15 minutes or until a knife or toothpick entered into the center of a muffin comes out clean.
Enjoy!
Makes 24 mini-muffins

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Check out these items similar to those I’ve used in my post:

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March 1, 2017 0 comment

Baked Goods Breakfast Quick and Easy

Santa Fe Chocolate Chip Cookie Baked Oatmeal

written by Ali

Disclosure: This post contains sponsored content brought to you by Flavahan’s. I received free products to use in this promotion, but all opinions expressed in this post are 100% my own.

I’m partnering with Flahavan’s for this Santa Fe chocolate chip cookie baked oatmeal recipe. Flahavan’s is an Irish company that’s been milling oats for over 200 years. I always think it is kind of wonderful when a company has been around since the late 1700s and has been family run throughout multiple generations. Both of these are true for Flahavan’s. They also are a company that values environmental sustainability and sources from local farmers. In addition to being available via Amazon, Flahavan’s products are also available at Whole Foods here in the PNW. Happy day – when I run out of the box they sent me, I can go buy more! I was really delighted with how flaky and easy to cook the oats were. Best yet, they produce an instant steel cut oatmeal that can be microwaved. My favorite go-to breakfast when I’m traveling is oatmeal, as it can be easily packed and made (if necessary) using a hotel room’s coffee maker to heat up water, so the instant steel cut oat packets were perfect for my quick business road-trip this week.

Back to the Santa Fe chocolate chip cookie baked oatmeal. I’ve been looking for an oatmeal recipe that both Clay (my husband) and I can enjoy. I love oatmeal – the texture doesn’t bother me a bit. But Clay is not a fan, at all. At the same time, we both know that oats are incredibly healthy to eat and we probably don’t get enough whole grains in our diet. I had Clay try the Santa Fe chocolate chip cookie baked oatmeal when it came out of the oven and his response was enthusiastic – he really likes the texture of the baked oatmeal. We have a winner and a new recipe to add to our weekend breakfast repertoire.

I opted to add in pine nuts on this one because the combination of chocolate chips and pine nuts always transports me back to New Mexico. While I’m a perfectly happy PNW transplant (yay for rainy weather this week!), I have a special place in my heart for Northern New Mexico. Some of my best vacations were spent with Clay in Santa Fe and at Ojo Caliente (which is a hot springs resort close to Taos, New Mexico). Pine nuts are a frequent ingredient in New Mexican cooking and I’ll always remember my first taste of a chocolate chip cookie with pine nuts. The flavor evokes the smell of a burning pinion in a fire in a kiva, the smell of creosote after the rain, and the smell of warm pine in summer.

Baked oatmeal is so incredibly easy to make. It took me about 5 minutes to gather all the ingredients and mix them up and then it went into the oven for 40 minutes and came out a perfectly moist, slightly chocolatey-gooey, wonderful breakfast. The leftovers held up just fine in the fridge and I’ve been taking a serving with me each day to heat up at work in the afternoon for a coffee break snack.

Yum

Santa Fe Chocolate Chip Baked Oatmeal

Ingredients

3 cups rolled oats
1 teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
½ cup pine nuts
¼ cup chocolate chips or chunks
1 cup milk
1/3 cup maple syrup
¼ cup coconut oil
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Butter an 8 inch by 8 inch baking pan.
In a small bowl, combine the oats, baking powder, salt, pine nuts, and chocolate chips. In a larger bowl, combine the milk, maple syrup, coconut oil, egg, and vanilla extract. Stir to combine.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet and stir until the mixture is thoroughly incorporated.
Pour the mix into the prepared baking pan. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until the oats are soft and the top looks lightly browned. Enjoy!
Serves 4 – 6

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February 22, 2017 0 comment

Holiday Recipes Lunch Recipes Snacks

Spooky Halloween Onigiri

written by Ali

Halloween is almost here! This year, I’m feeling particularly inspired - I think it started with our neighbors decorating their yard with tombstones and skeletons, and I realized I’ve been sad that I haven’t done anything Halloween-y for the past two years (lots of reasons - but mostly around a work life that just ate all my enthusiasm). It helped, too, that the movie for Food ‘n Flix for October was Beetlejuice hosted by Deb at Kahakai Kitchen. Beetlejuice is one of my favorite Halloween movies. First, it’s a Tim Burton film and I love the Burton universe with its over-the-top weird. Second, it’s not a scary, slasher film - I’m not a fan of those. I also discovered, as I was writing this post, that there is another Burton related challenge this month (Fandom Foodies) hosted on Witchy Kitchen. It’s #Burtoween!

So in honor of all things beautiful and strange and Burton-esque, I made Spooky Halloween Onigiri for my Beetlejuice inspired post. I love onigiri - they are such a simple lunch snack to make, consisting of sushi rice, filling and nori. I did a Fubonn run after work on Friday (Fubonn is the spectacular Asian grocery store on 82nd and Division in SE Portland) and bought umeboshi, which are very tart, salty and sweet plums that are used as a filling for onigiri. I used both umeboshi and tomolives (pickled green tomatoes - more about these later this week) as my fillings. The Spooky Halloween Onigiri get their shape from some Wilton Halloween molds from Amazon. These onigiri make such a good lunch. They are perfect as part of a bento box and would be great served with some roasted squash or a small salad. Wrapped tightly in plastic wrap, they survive fairly well for a day or two in the refrigerator, though if you are planning to store, I recommend keeping the nori separate until you are about to eat (it can get soggy).

I can completely see dancing sushi rice in the Burton universe, as well as onigiri decorated as spooks, bats, and Jack-O-Lanterns. Nori is a perfect decorating tool for these onigiri. I also realized belatedly that onigiri could so easily be decorated as Jack Skelington - I can just see it and probably ought to go make it. I love having fancy onigiri in my lunchbox - it makes me smile in the middle of the day.

These are the molds I used for the onigiri.

That bottom thing is a bat - probably not the best mold for this purpose

Spooky Halloween Onigiri
Serves 2

3/4 cup sushi rice (be sure to use sushi rice - any other rice will not stick together as well)
1 cup water
1 sheet nori
Filling - umeboshi, tomolives, smoked fish, olives, etc. (the best fillings for onigiri are salty or tart - or both)

Combine the sushi rice and water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Cover and turn heat to low. Simmer for 20 minutes. Turn off the heat and let the rice sit for 10 minutes.

Cut the nori into various shapes to decorate the onigiri. If you are using molds, the nori can be used to make eyes, mouths, etc. or can be used in one long strip to ring the onigiri. Set the nori aside.

When the rice is slightly cool (but still warm to the touch), moisten your hands to keep the rice from sticking to them and shape the rice into the desired shape. Create an indent in the middle of the rice and fill with your chosen fillings. Cover the fillings with more rice or shape the rice around the filling. Decorate with nori and enjoy!

October 24, 2016 17 comments

Appetizers Farmer's Market Snacks Vegetarian

Easy Tomato Bruschetta

written by Ali

I’ve been on an easy snack food kick all weekend long, which isn’t unusual for me in the summertime. We are starting to see an abundance of tomatoes in the farmer’s market and in the grocery stores finally, and I even think some of our home-grown tomatoes are considering ripening. This tomato bruschetta takes advantage of that summer abundance – it’s a great way to use up both tomatoes and basil.

My inspiration for this recipe comes from the movie Juile and Julia, which I admit to watching during a hotel stay recently. I particularly love the scenes in the movie in which the only reader of Julie’s blog is her mother – I’ve had my own moments starting out with my food blog when I’ve wondered if I have any other readers out there beside my mom and a couple of loyal friends. But I digress – what really stayed with me was a scene in which Julie is making bruschetta by toasting slices of bread in a pan in a lot of butter. The golden browned bread is then laden with tomatoes and basil – and dinner is served. The key here is the butter. Don’t skimp – it’s not worth it to try to be healthy on this recipe. The tomatoes are plenty healthy, anyway.

Pair with a light, fruity white wine. I finished off a bottle of Semillon with this. It would pair well with a Vinho Verde or similar.

Tomato Bruschetta
Serves 2

8 slices of a baguette or similar
2-3 tablespoons butter
1 heirloom tomato
1 small bunch basil (about 8 – 10 leaves)
Olive oil
1 garlic clove, peeled and cut in half
Salt

Melt the butter in a non-stick or cast-iron pan over medium heat. When the butter is melted, add the bread and toast on each side until it is golden brown.

Meanwhile, chop the tomato into a small dice. Chop the basil finely and mix basil and tomato together. Drizzle with olive oil.

Rub the garlic clove half over each slice of toasted bread. Spoon the tomato and basil mixture on the bread, and sprinkle with a bit of salt. Enjoy!

July 26, 2016 1 comment

Appetizers Farmer's Market Lunch Recipes Snacks Vegetarian

Roasted Artichokes

written by Ali

This week has been all about the easiest route to fresh, good food. I believe in elaborate snacks at my lunch - the best way for me to get through the day is to have good food to look forward to. Given the time constraints this week, I didn’t have hours to prep this weekend. I had a few vegetables languishing in the vegetable tray and I wanted to make sure I used them before they became compost. One of those vegetables was a pair of sangria artichokes we’d picked up last week at Trader Joe’s. I love artichokes - whether they are designer or not. I’ll eat them, I’ll grow them and I’ll even let them go to full flower, because they are so lovely (in addition to being tasty).

But back to the sangria artichokes. In addition to being a beautiful deep purple hew, these are named after sangria - and since I also love sangria, I figured the artichokes must be good. I did a bit of research to find that these are a new kind of artichoke, coming exclusively out of California. I didn’t notice a particularly significant different taste, though they did roast up perfectly with all leaves being very tender. I think they are just pretty - and what’s the harm in enjoying a pretty, in addition to tasty, snack at work?

Roasted artichokes take about an hour, but the prep time itself is minimal. I didn’t do anything to these to eat them other than toss on a bit of salt. If you are going to eat these at work, be sure to have a spoon or knife with you to remove the fuzzy parts from the heart.

Roasted Artichokes
Serves 2

2 large artichokes, stem trimmed and leaves gently spread out
1/2 lemon
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt to taste

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place each artichoke in a large piece of aluminum foil (large enough to fully wrap the artichoke). Before you wrap it up, drizzle the artichokes with lemon juice and olive oil. Sprinkle with salt. Wrap up the artichokes in the foil and put in a pie pan or on a baking sheet. Bake for 75 minutes or until a knife can easily pierce the base of the artichoke. Serve as is or with melted butter with garlic salt.

April 28, 2016 0 comment

...and a little cocktail, too

snack

Sweet and Savory Pinwheels

Avocado Green Curry Deviled Eggs

Chocolate Berry Smoothie

Matcha White Chocolate Mini Muffins

Santa Fe Chocolate Chip Cookie Baked Oatmeal

Spooky Halloween Onigiri

Easy Tomato Bruschetta

Roasted Artichokes

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