Un-Recipe Files – Avocado and Strawberry Toast with Feta and Honey

This spring I was lucky enough to go on a girl’s trip to Nashville to celebrate two very special birthdays with 11 other lovely ladies.  We. Had. A. Blast.   I had no idea Nashville was such a fun city!  Of course, this particular group of girls made Nashville extra fun that weekend.  We knew we were off to a good start when we walked into our hotel room and saw the incredible balcony.  It got a lot of use that weekend.

 

If there was a theme to the weekend it was probably something like, look ridiculous and be proud of it.  What started off as a denim only event quickly morphed into creating ridiculous outfits in general.

 

This one had a practical purpose as well.

 

 

You didn’t want to get caught walking alone in case someone thought that is actually how you dressed.  We were much better as an entire unit.

 

Nashville was hopping that weekend because of the Rock n’ Roll marathon and incredible weather.  The bars were all pretty much at capacity!

 

The weekend was in no way gourmet.  There was a lot of junk food consumed.  A lot.  Even though it was 99% bad, there was one meal that shined for me.  The first morning I walked to a nearby coffee shop with some girls to pick up breakfast and iced coffee.  The coffee shop specialized in healthy, local, organic ingredients.  I ordered avocado toast since that is one of my favorite things. They suggested adding strawberries, feta, and honey.  Why not?

 

Oh my goodness, I could not believe how delicious this combination was!  I was immediately obsessed.  It wasn’t long before I tried it at home.

 

There is no real recipe here.  Just mash up a ripe avocado with a pinch of salt, spread on some good quality toast, top with sliced strawberries, a drizzle of honey, and a sprinkle of feta.  Perfect for breakfast, a light lunch, or a snack.  It is crazy good.  Thank you Nashville for giving me this great idea and a ridiculously (emphasis on ridiculous) fun weekend.

 

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Un-Recipe Files – Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Pretzels

How could Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Pretzels be bad?  Answer:  Not possible.

A few years ago I participated in a cookie exchange and had the brilliant idea to make chocolate covered peanut butter and caramel pretzels.  Basically I spread a little peanut butter and melted caramel on pretzel twists and then dipped the whole thing in chocolate.  Holy mess.  They tasted great (how could they not?) but it was not worth the time and mess.

Fast forward a few years and I came up with this version.  The store bought peanut butter pretzel nuggets make this process so easy.  My mom and I made these over the Thanksgiving weekend to have for parties and gifts throughout the holiday season.  They keep really well in the freezer so they can be made well in advance.

I melted the chocolate in a double boiler (metal or glass bowl over simmering water).  I used chocolate almond bark and added about a teaspoon of shortening (1 tsp for every 6 oz of almond bark) to thin it out a little bit.  You could also use semi sweet chocolate chips or dark chocolate. 

Once the chocolate melted I threw in a handful of the pretzels and rolled them around until they were coated.  I fished them out with a fork and let them harden on waxed paper.  You can see in the first picture that I started out using a wire rack.  That really did not work out because they stuck to the rack.  Waxed paper is the way to go.

Wine is optional, but recommended. 

We used the great outdoors to finish the chilling/hardening process.  Make sure they are completely hardened before putting them in a bag or container. 

I think these are going to be a new holiday tradition.  They were so easy and delicious.  They are the perfect thing to add to a cute little basket or dish to give as a gift!

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Pickle Dip

Perfect Pairing:  Pretzels

Do you like dill pickles?  If the answer is yes, you will love this dip. 

It is so simple!  As a pickle lover, why didn’t I think of this?  Brilliant.  It is creamy, crunchy, salty, and fresh.  A great dip to put out at any party. 

The Perfect Pairing for this dip is pretzels.  I served it with pretzel thins and pumpernickel pretzel sticks.  I had a hard time deciding which I liked best.  You might as well go with both.  I think this dip would also be great as a spread on a sandwich or on a hamburger.

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Un-Recipe Files - Kale Chips

Kale is extremely popular right now.  I see it all over the food blog universe and on menus throughout Chicago. 

Kale is so extremely healthy and good for you.  According to WebMD, it is one of the healthiest vegetables on the planet!  It can provide significant health benefits like lowered cholesterol and cancer prevention.

I started eating kale a couple of years ago when I tried an 11-day detox diet that required a serving of it every day.  I was getting pretty creative around day 10 with the old kale.  I really wish I knew about these chips when I was doing that detox!

Even if the health benefits didn’t lure you in, try these chips for how great they taste.  Really!   It is honestly surprising how tasty they are, especially if you have a craving for something crunchy and salty. 

A cup of kale is just 35 calories, 0 grams of fat and has 5 grams of fiber.  Compare that against a bag of Doritos!

Here is how you make the chips….

·         Tear the leaves away from the woody stem (1 bunch of kale makes a small bowl of chips)

·         Spread the leaves in a single layer on a baking sheet

·         Spray with cooking spray until all of the leaves have a light coating

·         Sprinkle with your desired seasoning (any combination of salt, pepper, cayenne, garlic salt, seasoned salt, garlic powder, etc.)

·         Bake in a 350 degree oven for 10-15 minutes, or until they are crispy

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Un-Recipe Files – Spiced up Edamame and some Cinco de Mayo Recipes

Part two of the Un-Recipe files!  Get excited.

I always have edamame in my freezer.  Edamame, for those who are not familiar, are soybean pods.  It is an awesome, low-fat, snack that is full of antioxidants, isoflavones, and protein.  I am not just saying that because I am the daughter of a soybean farmer.  It is unfortunate that he is not growing the snacking variety.  I feel like the per-bushel price would be pretty high.

On a recent trip to the grocery store I was looking for a bag of edamame to take to a get-together at my brother’s house.  They were out of stock!  Blast!  Wait… what is that hiding in the back of the freezer case??  The last box of edamame.  I grabbed it and ran out of the store.  Well, I paid… then I ran, or walked.  You know what I mean. 

It wasn’t until later that I realized I had purchased a box of individual snack-sized bags of edamame.  It turned out to be a great mistake.  I absolutely love having these on hand for a quick protein-filled snack.  You just toss the single serve bag in the microwave and in two minutes you have perfectly steamed edamame.  The brand I buy is Seapoint Farms.  Note… the bag says to cook it for longer than two minutes but that turns them all rubbery, so I reduce the cooking time a bit.

The soybeans are great with just kosher salt but I like to sprinkle a little Chinese five spice powder on them as well.  Five spice powder can be found at most grocery stores.  It is a combination of cinnamon, star anise, cloves, pepper, and ground fennel.   What an incredible snack for 90 calories, 2.5 grams of fat, 8 grams of protein, and 3 grams of fiber!

*I am not getting any perks for endorsing a product.  I am just telling you out of the goodness of my heart!

In honor of the Cinco De Mayo holiday this weekend, here are some Perfect Pairings!

Spicy Avocado and Shrimp Dip – This dip is fantastic!!  It is without a doubt, one of my all-time favorites.

Caribbean Bean Puree – So maybe this is more Caribbean… but it has a decidedly tropical feel and would be great served with Mexican-themed food.

Chili Spiced Soup with Stoplight Peppers and Avocado Relish – A healthy and delicious soup topped off with queso fresco, cilantro, lime, and avocado. 

Overnight Cornbread Strata – A great breakfast option that can be made on the Cuatro de Mayo.  Top it off with green onions, cilantro, salsa, and avocado.

Fajita Potatoes – All the goodness of a fajita on a baked potato!

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Un-Recipe Files - Cheese Plate

It is hard to believe, but this is my 100th post on Perfecting the Pairing!  To celebrate, I am launching a new section called the Un-Recipe Files.  Even though I love cooking and finding new recipes, sometimes you just don’t want to deal with the time commitment and the mess. 

The Un-Recipe files will include quick ideas and favorite food finds.  The pictures will most likely be taken on my phone and there will be no rhyme or reason to the subject matter.  I am not getting any perks for endorsing a product.  I am just telling you out of the goodness of my heart!  Enjoy!

 

The first Un-Recipe for the files is a quick “cheese plate”.  I love me a cheese plate.  My un-recipe cheese plate is perfect for one person in need of a snack.  I use one wedge of Blue Cheese Laughing Cow, a drizzle of honey, and a few cracks of black pepper, served with some crackers.  I love the Special K Multi-Grain crackers.

It is filling, tasty, and pretty light.  The entire plate, consisting of 1 wedge of cheese, 2 teaspoons of honey, pepper, and 12 crackers is only 140 calories and 3 grams of fat.

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Sweet and Salty Munch

Perfect Pairing: Games and gatherings

 

This Sweet and Salty Munch has evolved from a recipe my mom received from a friend two decades ago.  It is the perfect combination of salty, sweet, savory and crunchy.  It makes a huge batch, travels easily and is a crowd favorite.  You can adapt it to include a variety of ingredients.

The basic idea is to combine about 30 to 40 cups of dry ingredients from the cereal and snack aisles.  We like a combination of Wheat Chex, pretzels, Fritos, dry roasted peanuts, almonds, Honey Nut Cheerios, Honey Nut Chex, and popcorn.  The key is to use the honey nut versions of Cheerios and Chex.  That was not part of the original recipe but the sweetness is a great combination with the salty items.  We have also learned that self-popped popcorn does not hold up well, you want to use the pre-popped variety.  It is in a bag in the chip aisle.

It is a simple process to make the munch.  You combine all the dry ingredients into two roasting pans.  You can use the cheap foil pans from the grocery store if you don’t have an official roasting pan.  Combine the melted butter and seasonings and divide evenly over the pans.  The recipe calls for salt but we found that you do not need to add any salt if using pretzels, they make it salty enough.  Then you just bake it in a low oven, stir it a couple of times and you are all done!

 

The Perfect Pairings for this recipe are games and gatherings.  My family is a big game-playing group.  We love card games, some of us more than others.  I think our number one favorite game is Catch Phrase, the electronic version.  This game is the best because everyone can relax on the couch, there are no extra pieces and we ALWAYS laugh…. A lot.  We usually play guys against girls which results in a lot of trash talk.  We bring it on vacation since it does not take up much space.  Word of advice if you do this, remove the batteries.  The beeping can cause some awkward questions at airport security.

I think this recipe would be a hit at your next gathering.  I would love to hear how you make it your own!

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