White Bean & Kale Soup

It's soup season folks! This White Bean and Kale soup is such an incredibly simple, yet flavorful, hearty soup. With just a few incredients, you'll have this soup ready in no time. 

Here's what you'll need:

White Bean Kale Soup (serves 2)

• 2 Tablespoons of Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 12 oz can of Great Northern Beans drained and rinsed (or any kind of white bean you have)
• 2 cups chopped up kale (ribs removed)
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1 small onion
• Salt
• Pepper 
• Parmesan Cheese (optional)

Finely chop up your onion and garlic. Heat a medium sized pot on medium-high heat and add the olive oil. Once the oil is hot, add in your onion. Cook the onion until it's slightly translucent. Then add in your garlic. Once the garlic is fragrant ( you don't want to burn it) add in your kale and a pinch of salt and pepper. Stir the greens until slightly wilted. Once wilted, add in your beans and chicken stock. Season again with salt and pepper to taste). 

Let the soup simmer for at least 15 minutes to let all of the flavors fuse together.

Serve this delicious soup with parmesan cheese sprinkled over the top and, of course, with a nice piece of hot crispy bread 

Enjoy!

xo

Em

Almond Joy Coconut Macaroons

I wasn't always a huge fan of coconut. As a kid, the only thing I could remember mildly enjoying were those giant snowball cakes you got from the local deli, but they were never my 1st choice of a snack and i usually scrapped off the coconut anyway. It wasn't until my cousin, Kerry, turned me on to the Roasted Coconut Chips from Trader Joe's that changed my attitude towards coconut.

I like to call those Coconut Chips my coconut gateway drug because now I can't get enough! I started eating Mounds and Almond Joy and started cooking with it more. I even make a decadent hot chocolate milk with coconut milk (it's so rich and creamy).

I was inspired to make some macaroons, but also had some sliced almonds and chocolate chips on hand, so i decided to just mix them all together for a super delicious Coconut "almond Joy" treat! The best part... THEY ARE SO EASY! Just mix everything in a big bowl, roll them up and bake 'em!

Here's what you'll need:

Almond Joy Coconut Macaroons

• 4 egg whites 
• 1 cup of sugar
• 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon of salt
• 5 cups of shredded coconut (or 1 14oz bag)
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup sliced almonds

Preheat the oven to 350°. In a large bowl, whisk up the egg whites. Once they're nice and smooth, add in the sugar, vanilla extract and salt. Mix that up really good. Now add in your coconut and fold it all together. Then pour in your chocolate chips and almonds, fold those in to the mixture and now you're ready to bake!

On a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, scoop the mixture up and squeeze it into a ball (squeezing it helps hold it together). Place the balls in rows on the baking sheet. 

Pop them into the pre-heated oven and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the are nice and golden. 

Let them cool for about 5 minutes (if you can wait that long...i couldn't) so they solidify a little bit. Otherwise they may be a bit crumbly. 

Serve with a nice cup or coffee or tea and Enjoy!

xo

Em

It's Time For Pie

Berry Apple Pie

These past few days, the weather has been nice and cool in the mornings and evenings. This weather always makes me feel instantly cozy and I want to snuggle up with a nice big cup of tea and big slab of pie. Pie (any kind) is my #1favorite dessert.  

Since we are in PEAK berry season, I, of course, had picked up way to many cartons of strawberries. I also had a few too many apples on hand. So with this combo of cool weather, hot tea cravings and extra fruit, naturally I decided to make me some Berry Apple Pie.

Here goes:

The first step is to prep your dough. Now, you can be a slacker and get frozen pie crust, but where is the love in that!? The best part about making pie is that it takes a little elbow grease and a lot of love. That's why it's so damn good. 

My Aunt Janine makes the most INCREDIBLE pie crust. It's flakey, buttery and totally bad for you but that's not why you're here right now. I just hope I do her justice. For the dough, you will need the following (in my mom's handwriting):

Pointers:

• You can use Crisco (their are two flavors regular and butter. Butter flavor is WAY BETTER) OR you can use a stick of regular butter. As long as it measures a cup. Either way, make sure you don't take it out of the fridge until it's time to cube it.
• Take a measuring cup of water and add some ice to it and let it sit on the side (measure more than 1/2 a cup and then add the ice). 

Take a big bowl, add your flour and salt and give it a good mix. Set it to the side. 

Now, take your crisco (or butter) and grab a cutting board. Cut the stick down the middle, turn it on the side, cut it down the middle again. It should give you a cross in the middle of the stick if you're looking at the square end. Then slice up the stick long ways. This should give you a bunch of cubes. 

Gently take the cubes and drop them into the flour salt mixture separating them as best you can. With your hands (yes- you're gettin in there) take a handful of the cubes and flour and start to kneed it with your thumbs  against your other fingers; like so:

The goal is to create a corn meal or crumbly mixture. 

 DO NOT OVER MIX OR USE TOO MUCH PRESSURE 

this will cause you to loose serious flakey factor in the final product. 

Be gentle. 

Now that you have that all mixed up, take your ice water and pour it into a 1/2 cup measuring cup. Then slowly add the water to your flour/crisco mixture. It's going to cause the dough to get all sticky and doughy. This is good! Fold it over with your hands until you can roll it into a ball. AGAIN- NO OVER MIXING. The heat from over mixing will pre-melt the butter which will ruin all the flakiness. 

Once it's balled up, take the dough, wrap it in some cling wrap and pop it in the fridge. 

While the dough chills, you can start making your filling. I used 4 apples and 1 carton of strawberries. 

( Here is my hubs posing in the background- ha!)

Take the strawberries, cut the top off and cut them into bite size pieces. Then take the apples, peel them, core them and cut them into bite size pieces. 

Throw all the pieces into a big bowl. Then add the following:

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup light brown sugar

A pinch of ground ginger (if you have it)

1 Tbs of Lemon Juice

2 heapingTbs of Flour

Mix it all together and put it to the side and pre-heat the oven to 400°.

Your dough should be totally chilled now.  Get your pie pan out and place it to the side. Take some flour and put it on to the counter top to prevent the dough from sticking while you roll it out. divide the ball of dough in half (one half for the bottom and one for the top). 

Take your rolling pin and roll it into a circle about 9 inches wide. 

Take the rolled out sheet of dough and transfer it onto your pie pan.

Now, you can simply roll out the other ball of dough and place it on top of the other half of the pie. Just be sure to cut a few slices in the top to let the steam out. 

I felt like jazzing it up and doing a weave design on top. 

You simply cut the dough into strips once it has been rolled out. 

Weave them in and out to create a basket looking design like this:

(I had some extra dough so I made some little leaves to put on top because you should never waste dough!)

Bake the pie for about an hour  at 400° or until you stick a knife into the fruit and the apples are cooked through (soft). 

Let the pie cool for a bit and serve with some delicious ice cream!

Enjoy!

xo

Em

Grilled Greek Turkey Burgers

This past weekend I was in Long Island visiting some family. After a long weekend of eating pizza, bagels and Chinese food, I wanted something hearty, healthy and fresh. I had some feta and some ground turkey, so I decided to make some Greek style turkey burgers with a fresh greek yogurt, feta, and cucumber salad.

These burgers hit the spot and are super healthy. I mixed the ground turkey with spinach, feta, shallots, dill, lemon zest and seasoning. 

Here's what you'll need for the burgers:

• 1 lb. Ground turkey (or chicken)
• 1/4 Cup Frozen spinach (completely cooked and drained of any liquid)
• 1/2 Cup Feta
• 1 Shallot (or red onion)
• 1/2 tsp Lemon zest 
• 1 tsp Fresh Dill chopped up
• 1 tsp Garlic Powder
• Black Pepper 
• 1 tsp Oregano
• Drizzle of Olive Oil

Chop up your shallot, make sure your spinach is cooked. If you don't have a zester, don't worry. You can lightly peel the lemon and mince it up.zzle some olive oil over the top. Put it all in a a bowl,  drizzle some olive oil over the topnd use your hands to mix it all up together. 

Next, take the mixture and roll them into big balls like a meatball. You'll flatten them out like a burger patty right before we grill it. Put the patties into the fridge and let them chill.

As the burger patties chill, it's time to make the cucumber salad. 

For the cucumber salad, you'll need the following:

• Cucumbers *
• 1 shallot
• Lemon juice
• Fresh Dill
• 1 1/2 cups of yogurt
• Drizzle of Olive Oil
• Salt & Pepper

*I love the crunchiness of English Cucumbers, but feel free to use what ever you have on hand.

Slice up your cucumbers and place them in a bowl. 

Now mix in all of the ingredients together. Throw the bowl into the fridge.

Now that the burger patties have chilled, and the cucumbers are in the fridge, it's time to start the grill. You can use the stove top to fry up the burgers, but since it's summer and the grill is the best way to cook meat (in my humble opinion), I'll be cooking outside. 

Take the chilled balls and squish them in to flat patties then throw them on the grill. Be sure to oil up the grill because the turkey meat will stick to the grates. 

Unlike beef, turkey meat needs to be cooked through and will need a longer cooking time. I let these puppies cook for about 5 minutes per side. You can test the doneness of the burger by pressing down on it. If it feels squishy (like the fatty part of the palm of your hand) then let it cook some more. You want it to be firm which will indicate that it's done.

Now, bring the burgers inside, plate them with some warmed pita bread and a generous scoop of the cucumber salad. 

YUUUMMMMMM!!!!!

Enjoy!

xo Em

New England Shrimp Rolls

It's Summer and me and the hubby have just recently moved to a lovely little coastal town in Connecticut from Long Island. When your in New England in the summer, there are two words that always come to mind: Lobsta Rolls! You can get them hot smothered in hot butter or refreshingly cold as a lobster salad. Yes, I know this post is titled New England Shrimp Rolls...but I'll get to that. Lobster Rolls are so delicious but they are also really pricy. So, when I'm having a craving for a lobster roll, I will turn to my tried and true Shrimp Rolls. My husband devours them and you can also lighten them up by using a lettuce wrap.

New England Shrimp Rolls

These rolls just have 5 ingredients and are SOOOO GOOD!

What you'll need:

• A pot of boiling water
• 1 1/4 (Half a bag of Frozen) deveined, EZ peel shrimp
• Bowl of Ice Water
• 1 Small/Medium Cucumber
• 1/4 cup Helmann's Mayonaise
• 1 Tsp Old Bay Spice

The first step is throw those frozen shrimp into the boiling water. Let them cook for about 2-3 minutes (or until you squeeze one and it feels firm). 

Then place them in to the ice water bath. This will stop them from cooking and prevent them from getting too firm/overcooked.

Let these cool completely in the ice bath. In the meantime you can set up your peeling station. Place down some paper towels and an empty bowl. Now that your shrimp are cool, take the shrimp, peel them completely (don't leave the tail on), leave the peal on the paper towel and toss the cleaned shrimp into the bowl. Continue this until all of your shrimp are unpeeled. 

Now we can get to chopping!

Take your shrimp and cut each one into 3-4 pieces.

Once all of them are done, take your cucumber, cut it in half and gut all the seeds out of it.

Then you can cut up your cucumber into pieces that are the same size as your shrimp.

Now that everything has been chopped up, throw it all in to the same bowl. 

You'll now take your Hellmann's mayonnaise (emphasis on the Hellmann's because it's the best tasting stuff out there) and your Old bay. Mix it all together in the bowl covered with saran wrap and then put it in the fridge to chill for at least 2 hours. If you taste it and the seasoning seems a little sharp, don't worry. During the chilling time your seasonings will soak into the shrimp and cucumber. Mmmmmmm.

TIME TO EAT!!!

Take those potato rolls or top open rolls (which ever you prefer or have) and put them under the broiler until they are nice and toasty. Smear some butter on them and then top them with the chilly shrimp and cucumber mixture.

Serve alone, or with some kettle cooked chips. 

We had some tots on hand, so i served those along side the rolls. Yum!

Enjoy!

xo Em