Sushi!

Think sushi is something you can only enjoy on a special night out, prepared by a highly-trained sushi chef? Think again! You can make some simple rolls on your own at home for a sushi fix any night of the week!

Now is it authentic? I doubt it. Will you get crazier, more elaborate sushi at a fancy shmancy restaurant? Definitely. But this make-your-own sushi is simple, delicious, oh so easy to make, and sure to impress. All you need to do is pick up a few special ingredients and you're ready to go! 

First thing you need is nori sheets, which are the seaweed wrappers. I got mine at Fresh Market but I've seen them at Wegmans and other regular groceries stores as well. If you don't have any luck, an Asian specialty market is sure to have them. The next thing you need is the sticky rice. I got mine at Wegmans and a friend of mine found it at the local health food store. It's important, though, to get sticky rice or rice marked specifically for sushi; if you use regular rice, you'll have a tough time getting your rolls to stay together. Beyond that, you just need whatever you choose to put in your sushi. If you know of a store that sells sushi-grade raw fish, by all means go for it. If not, or if raw fish just isn't your thing, you can use cured salmon, often called lox. In addition, I also used cream cheese, avocado, cucumber, asparagus, and zucchini. Of course don't forget the soy sauce! And wasabi if that's your thing; I'm personally not a fan.

Actually making the sushi is simple. My nori package said to swipe the sheet over a hot burner several times until it turns bright green (be careful not to burn yourself!). This makes it pliable so you can roll your sushi without breaking the sheet. Then spread out your cooked sticky rice lengthwise in a line on the nori sheet (my sticky rice came precooked but if yours isn't, just follow the instructions on the package). Right alongside your rice, add the ingredients of your choosing in whatever combination you'd like. I chose to do avocado and cucumber, salmon and cream cheese, zucchini and asparagus (precooked), and salmon and avocado.

Now roll it all up and use a few drops of water to seal. Carefully use a sharp knife to slice the roll into pieces. I found that a serrated knife worked best for getting through the roll with all ingredients intact. And there you have it -- sushi at home! 

Make-Your-Own Sushi

No recipe for this one... Just get creative! 

Spinach and Garbanzo Bean Tapas

¡Delicioso! ¡Sabroso! ¡Mmm! Google translate tells me that's Spanish for Delicious! Tasty! Yum! All words that describe this Spanish dish, not to mention hearty and healthy. What more could you ask for?

Well, it's quite versatile as well. The original Smitten Kitchen recipe suggests serving it as a tapas with toasted bread (pita bread or chips would work too!). I have quite the affinity for tapas so that is certainly not a bad option! But you could also use it as a side dish, laying the foundation for a protein of your choice. Or serve it on top of a bed of spinach with some feta cheese for a light lunch. 

I followed the recipe fairly closely with this one, and I will warn you, it is a somewhat time consuming recipe. But plan to make extras so that you'll have some leftovers and it'll definitely be worth your effort, I promise. So grab your maracas and pour yourself (and me!) a glass of sangria because we're ready to party!

On a different note, I wanted to explain why my posts have slowed down just a bit lately... for those of you who don't already know, I'm going on a mission trip to Thailand in just over 6 weeks! (For more info, check out my site.) Fundraising, researching, planning, and preparing for this trip has taken over a good chunk of my free time. But I'm still committed to posting regularly so stick with me! Plus, one of the things I'm considering doing while over there is taking a cooking class, so I'll definitely have at least one amazing Thai food recipe for you at the end of all this. So get excited -- I know I am!! 

Spinach and Garbanzo Bean Tapas

(very mimimally adapted from Smitten Kitchen)

2 15oz cans of chickpeas, drained

4-5 tbsp olive oil

Large bag (11oz) of spinach

1 large slice of hearty bread, cubed

1/2 cup tomato sauce

3 cloves of garlic, minced

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 1/2 tbsp red wine vinegar

Salt, pepper, red pepper flakes to taste

Lemon juice, to taste

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pan. Add spinach and a pinch of salt and stir. Cook until tender and then set aside. 

Heat 2 more tablespoons of oil and toast the cubed bread until golden brown on all sides. Add cumin, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, and garlic. If needed, add another tablespoon of oil. Cook for another minute.

In a food processor, blend toasted bread with vinegar until it forms a paste. Return to the pan and mix in chickpeas and tomato sauce. Stir until warmed through and season with salt and pepper to taste. Add in spinach and stir again. If the consistency is too thick, slowly add a little bit of water. 

Top with smoked paprika and serve as you please! 

Double Chocolate Doughnuts

Ever since Faschnaut Day (Mardi Gras or Fat Tuesday for all you non-German folk) I have had a serious hankering for doughnuts! A faschnaut is a doughnut that is eaten on the day before Ash Wednesday. The tradition began because folks needed a way to rid their pantry of sweets in preparation for Lent so they decided to make and consume the faschnaut. Readily available in my Pennsylvania-Dutch hometown, faschnauts have not caught on yet in DC... 

Doughnuts, however, are apparently next "cupcake." In other words, they're the latest trend in the foodie world. News of doughnut shops soon to be popping up all over DC dominates my blog roll... But the key word there is "soon." Many of these places don't actually have a brick and mortar store yet. So photo after photo of delicious-looking doughnuts tantalize me like one of those dollar bills on a string.

Therefore, I was left with three options: 

Option 1) Skip out of work to metro downtown to one of the "pop up previews" where the doughnuts were being given away at other establishments to create buzz. My craving was intense, but not worth losing my job over so option one was a no go.

Option 2) Order them online. Online orders generally began at two dozen. Being that I don't have a family of five to feed, this did not seem practical so scratch that off the list as well. 

Option 3) Make some myself to hold me over. Option three it is!

Luckily, I purchased a doughnut pan on after-Christmas clearance at Target so I was prepared to fight this craving head on! I found a recipe for baked chocolate donuts with chocolate glaze that was perfect for this chocoloholic. And with whole wheat flour and applesauce in the recipe, these aren't half bad for you! Are they as amazing as the fried glazed fluffy bites of heaven you can get from a doughnut bakery? No. But they definitely are tasty, cute, and crave-worthy.

A few notes, I found these keep best when stored in a Tupperware container in the fridge. Even still, after a couple days the glaze got a little weird. All the more reason to eat these a few at a time!

Also, I realize not everyone has a doughnut pan. Unfortunately, I think the batter is too liquidy to make doughnuts or even doughnut holes without something to contain it. Some thoughts on alternatives - you could try baking this in ramekins. Or if you have metal cookie cutters, place them on a baking sheet, pour the batter into the shape and bake directly in the cookie cutter. Please understand, though, that I haven't actually tried either of these methods so if you end up with just a blob that barely resembles a doughnut, I apologize. If you're like me and enjoy a good doughnut with glass of milk (or for you weirdos out there that actually like it, with your coffee... yuck!) you may just consider purchasing a pan. Mine was under ten dollars, and trust me - when fall rolls around and you're busting out apple cider or pumpkin spice doughnuts, you'll thank me. 

Lastly, do not, I repeat, DO NOT forget the sprinkles. Look at how darn cute these little buggers are!

Double Chocolate Doughnuts 

Doughnuts: 

1 c. whole wheat flour

1/4 c. cocoa powder

1/4 c. sugar

1 tbsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 egg

1/2 c. almond milk (regular milk should work fine as well)

1 tsp vanilla

1 tbsp canola oil

3 tbsp unsweetened applesauce

Glaze: 

1/2 c. semisweet chocolate chips

1 tsp canola oil

1 tbsp corn syrup 

1/4 tsp vanilla

Sprinkles!

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Spray doughnut pan with cooking spray. Mix flour, cocoa powder, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Add egg, milk, oil, and applesauce and mix until well combined. 

Fill each cavity of the doughnut pan halfway with batter. Bake approximately 7 minutes until fully cooked. 

While doughnuts are cooling, slowly melt the chocolate chips by microwaving for approximately 20 seconds at a time at a low power level. Be sure to do this carefully to avoid burning the chocolate. Once the chocolate is melted enough that you can stir it, add in the corn syrup and oil and microwave on low for another few seconds at a time until you reach a glaze consistency. Add in vanilla and stir. 

Dunk the cooled doughnuts in the glaze (I found twisting them worked best) and top with sprinkles. Allow the glaze to set before storing. 

Parmesan Rosemary Crackers

Who would have thought crackers were so dang easy to make!? These literally took about 15 minutes to prepare and under 15 minutes to bake (and those are accurate times; my pet peeve is when recipes say it takes 20 minutes and 50 minutes later I'm still slaving over a hot oven starving...). They're really tasty -- rich and a bit thicker in texture rather than thin and crispy, but they still have a crunch to them. 

Just imagine showing up to a party with cheese and crackers platter and being able to say, "Yea, I made the crackers... no big deal." What could be more impressive? 

All you need to do is mix grated parmesan cheese, flour, butter, and salt in a food processor and pulse until mixed. Then add in milk (I used 2%) and run the processor until a dough forms. Roll out the dough on a floured surface; it should be no thicker than 1/4". Sprinkle the top with rosemary and sea salt (or if you prefer other spices, go to town!). Use a pizza cutter to cut the dough into equal square pieces, approximately 1" x 1". Place the crackers on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and use a fork to score each cracker. Put into a 400 degree preheated oven and bake until they start to turn golden brown, approximately 10-12 minutes. 

They're great the day you make them and were still tasty the day after (I stored them in a ziploc bag with air removed). Unfortunately, I can't speak to how long they stay fresh after that because they didn't make it past the two day mark in my apartment... yum yum! 

Parmesan Rosemary Crackers

1/2 c. grated parmesan cheese

1 c. flour

1/2 tsp. salt

4 tbsp. unsalted butter

1/4 c. 2% milk

Dried rosemary, to taste

Sea salt, to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix grated parmesan cheese, flour, butter, and salt in a food processor and pulse until combined. Add in milk and run processor until a ball of dough forms. Roll out the dough on a floured surface to an even thickness, no more than 1/4". Sprinkle the top with rosemary and sea salt. Use a pizza cutter to cut the dough into 1" squares. Place the crackers on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and use a fork to score each cracker. Put into oven and bake until golden brown, approximately 10-12 minutes. 

Baked Plantain Chips with Guacamole

Every time I buy bananas at the grocery store, I see the plantains sitting there and I'm intrigued. They're so often passed by, ignored in favor their smaller but far more popular cousin. Well just like in high school, popularity doesn't always equal greatness. Perhaps the plantain has more to bring to the (cafeteria) table than we all assume. Maybe like they'd add a new dimension to our palate just like the slightly-off emo musician who went on to be the 'star of his record label' hottie that the new crop of high school girls swoon over...

Ok I think I've officially beaten that metaphor to death. So anyway, I bought a plantain. And I had to decide what the heck to do with it. I had thought about making this recipe (which I still intend to try out one day.. do I smell a future blog post?) but when I found myself with a ripe avocado, I decided to go in a different direction - baked plantain chips and guacamole. 

I've had fried plantain before at restaurants but lacking a deep fryer (and fearing getting burnt by splattering oil), I decided to bake them, which results in a crunchy chip rather than the tender inside you'd find with a fried plantain. Equally delicious if you ask me. 

It's incredibly simple (as many of my recipes have been lately, perhaps a reflection of the fact that it's not the dead of winter anymore and there's more incentive to actually leave my apartment rather than stay in and cook all day...). Slice an unripe plantain into thin, equal slices. Place the slices onto a sprayed baking sheet, spray with olive oil, and season with salt, pepper, and chili powder. Put into a 375 degree preheated oven. After 15 minutes, flip the plantains. After an additional 5 minutes, test one of the chips. If it's sufficiently crunchy, remove. If not, pop it back in for just a few more minutes. 

While the chips cool, mix up your guacamole. Now everyone has their own preferences when it comes to guacamole, but I use ripe avocado, chopped red pepper, tomato, onion, jalapeno, and cilantro. I also mix in a squirt of lime juice and season with red pepper flakes, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. And it's delicious. So delicious that I forgot to take a picture before digging in, hence the somewhat pathetic photography in this blog post. But there you have it: now you're ready to dig in!

Baked Plantain Chips with Guacamole

Plantain Chips:

Unripe plantain

Olive oil

Salt 

Pepper

Chili Powder

Slice plantain into equal pieces, approximately 1/4" thick. Spray with olive oil and season with spices. Bake 15 minutes. Flip. Bake another 5-10 minutes until desired crunchiness. 

Guacamole: 

Ripe avocado

Red pepper, diced

Tomato, diced

Onion, diced

Jalapeno, seeds and membrane removed (if desired) and finely diced

Lime juice

Red pepper flakes

Onion powder

Garlic powder

Salt

Pepper

Cut avocado in half and remove pit. Scoop out avocado into bowl. Mix in all other ingredients and mash with fork until desired texture. 

Wonton Hor D'Oureves: Taco Bites and Apple Cheesecakes

In need of a good hor d'oeuvre? Wonton wrappers to the rescue! I have done so many fun things with won ton wrappers -- from crab ragonnes to baked mozzarella sticks to sweet potato raviolis to your traditional chicken dumpling -- and I've never been disappointed. But wrapping up all those teeny tiny wontons can be time consuming and quite frankly, bit annoying. Solution? Wonton cups!

Simply insert the wonton into a mini muffin tin and bake to create a cup which  you can fill with any number of different options to make a cute little hor d'oeuvre. Or you can use a regular sized muffin tin and two wonton wrappers to create a larger cup for an appetizer or light meal - sized portion. I'm telling you -- people are really impressed by things that look fancy! Your dish may be incredibly tasty but its often the presentation that wins people over at potlucks. 

So what can you fill these cups with? I choose to do one savory -- taco dip -- and one sweet -- cinnamon cream cheese mixed with yogurt and topped with apples and walnuts. But the possibilities are virtually endless: spinach and artichoke dip; shrimp salad; strawberries and chocolate sauce with fresh mint; brie and jam; tomatoes, fresh mozzarella and basil; shredded steak with sautéed onions and peppers topped with provolone; pumpkin pie filling and a dollop of whipped cream... Have another idea? Share it in the comments!

If you choose to do one with cheese, I'd recommend popping the filled cups back into the oven under the broiler for a bit to melt the cheese as I did with my taco dip ones. Check out the recipes below for details.

And one last thing for today -- Happy Birthday Dad! (There's gotta be some benefits to having your own blog... getting to give personal shout outs is one of them!) 

Wonton Hor D'Oureves: Taco Bites and Apple Cheesecakes

Preheat oven to 375. Spray mini muffin tin. Press wrappers into muffin cavities. Bake for 5 minutes. Re-press wrappers into cups to make sure they are all "cup-shaped." Bake for another 3-4 minutes until hardened and light golden brown. 

Taco Bites: 

Put a small dollop of cream cheese into the bottom of the cup. Top with salsa and shredded cheddar. Bake until cheese is melted. 

Apple Cheesecakes: 

Before baking the cups, sprinkle with cinnamon and a bit of sugar. 

For each dozen cups, mix two triangles of Laughing Cow cinnamon cream cheese with 1/3 c of plain greek yogurt. Put small dollop into the bottom of the cup. Top with finely diced apple (granny smith works well) and chopped walnuts.