Tag Archives: food

Chocolate-Chocolate Chip Muffins

I’ve been getting into bad breakfast habits again.  I find myself getting a calorie-loaded egg and cheese bagel more often than usual or I’ll end up skipping breakfast altogether and be so starving by 10am that I’ll eat handfuls of miniature Reese’s peanut butter cups out of the candy bowl in the office next door.  It’s terrible.  I decided it was time to make some muffins that I could keep stored away for a quick grab-and-go each morning.  Rather than deprive myself of that morning chocolate I’ve been getting used to, I thought these Chocolate-Chocolate Chip Muffins would be a perfect transition back into normal breakfast eating.

A simple muffin batter is jazzed up with a splash of red wine vinegar and chocolate chips, which are also used to top of these puffy cocoa gems.  I used regular chocolate chips in place of mini-chocolate chips because I had them on hand but I can only imagine how rich and chocolatey these muffins would be with little bits of melted chocolate in every bite.  These muffins satisfy any chocolate urge you get and are perfectly light enough to eat with your morning coffee.  Now I can actually feel a little less guilty about eating chocolate for breakfast.

Also, I want to take a moment to wish my cousin-more-like-a-little-brother Ben a very, very Happy Birthday today!  Check out his novel, Harvitz, As To War, here.

The ingredients:

Combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk.  Make a well in center of mixture.

Combine water, red wine vinegar, canola oil, vanilla and egg in a separate bowl, stirring well.  Stir in half of the chocolate chips and add mixture to the well in the flour mixture.  Stir just until moist.

Coat 12 muffin liners with cooking spray and divide batter evenly among muffin cups.  Top remaining chocolate chips evenly over batter.  

Bake in a 400°F oven for 15 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.  Cool for 5 minutes in pan on a wire rack.

 

Additions:  None

Omissions:  None

Substitutions:

  • Whole-wheat flour for 3/4 cup white flour
  • Regular chocolate chips for minichips

Overall Rating:  Love It

Source:  Cooking Light Magazine

Peach and Brie Quesadillas with Lime-Honey Dipping Sauce

I took the day off yesterday and after going to the dentist in the morning, I spent the rest of the day reading and lounging around (a mental health day).  It felt wonderful.  The problem with me having time to myself is I come up with all of these crazy ideas of things to do that I spend a lot of time thinking about but never actually end up doing.  Like writing a novel or traveling across the country – both things that I plan to do one day, even if I’m old and gray when I do it.  In all of my reading and daydreaming, I paused to make myself a delightfully light summer lunch: Peach and Brie Quesadillas with Lime-Honey Dipping Sauce.

Thin slices of peaches are tossed with a touch of brown sugar and chopped chives before being folded into a tortilla with soft Brie cheese and toasted.  The buttery, nuttiness of the Brie complements the natural sweetness in the peaches making them a perfect pair and the slight onion flavor of the chives gives this quesadilla an overall savory bite.  I like the idea of using these ingredients in a panini or grilled cheese so go crazy and make this however you want.  The dipping sauce is a simple mixture of lime zest, lime juice and honey tops off each bite with a bright, sweet ending.  All of these flavors are terrific together.

The ingredients:

Combine peach slices, chives and brown sugar in a bowl, tossing gently to coat.

Spread Brie over half of one tortilla and top with peach mixture.  Fold in half and repeat with other tortillas.

Spray a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray, heated over medium-high heat.  Place folded quesadillas in the pan and cook 2 minutes on each side or until tortillas are lightly browned and crisp.

In a small bowl, combine honey, lime zest and lime juice with a whisk and set aside.

Cut each quesadilla into wedges and serve with sauce. 

Additions:  None

Omissions:  None

Substitutions:

  • Low-carb whole-wheat tortilla

Overall Rating:  Love It

Source:  Cooking Light Magazine

Rum-Marinated Chicken Breasts with Pineapple Relish

I hope everyone had a great weekend!  I spent the weekend laying low, only going to dinner and a movie on Friday night with friends and spending the rest of my time engrossed in a new novel while watching either Food Network or reruns of various Bourne movies.  That’s pretty much how I roll.  Oh, and I made food.  Like usual.  Again, that’s how I roll.  I usually scan the grocery store circulars to see what’s on sale before I decide what to make but this week, I decided to make what I was in the mood for.  I sucked up the fact that chicken is ridiculously expensive in order to make Rum-Marinated Chicken Breasts with Pineapple Relish, a light chicken dish filled with vibrant tropical flavors.

Chicken breasts are marinated in a mixture of dark rum, barbecue sauce, Caribbean hot sauce and lime juice before being grilled to perfection and topped off with a golden relish of fresh pineapple and red pepper.  Never had Caribbean hot sauce?  I’m no stranger to Pickapeppa Sauce (a condiment made of tomatoes, mangoes, raisins and peppers, among other things) which was introduced to me by my old roommate who would pour half a bottle over cream cheese and smear it over Triscuits.  True story.  There was never a shortage of Pickapeppa in my apartment.  But I digress.  The rum marinade perfectly tenderizes the chicken and is then boiled to create a rich, silky sauce.  The golden relish is tangy, slightly sweet, tart and a tasty complement to the chicken.  Not a fan of pineapple’s acidity?  Consider substituting any summer fruit, like mango, peach or nectarine.  This is a chicken dish that I could eat, in any variation, nearly every day.  

The ingredients (disregard the honey, my bad):

Combine dark rum, barbecue sauce, Pickapeppa sauce, lime juice, salt and vegetable oil in large zip-top plastic bag.  Add chicken to the bag and seal, allowing chicken to marinate in the refrigerator for 2 hours, turning bag occasionally.

To prepare relish, place pineapple on grill rack coated with cooking spray and grill 3 minutes on each side or until soft and browned around the edge.  Allow to cool slightly and chop. 

Combine pineapple, bell pepper, lime rind, lime juice, dark rum, Pickapeppa sauce and salt in a bowl and set aside.

Remove the chicken from the bag and set aside.  Reserve marinade, discarding any chicken bits remaining and let stand at room temperature for 10 minutes.  Set aside.  Place chicken on grill rack coated with cooking spray and grill until chicken is cooked to 165ºF.  (Remove and discard skin if using bone-in chicken.)

Bring reserved marinade to a boil in a small saucepan and cook 1 minute.  Drizzle cooked marinade over chicken.

Serve chicken with relish and lime wedges.

Additions:  None

Omissions:  None

Substitutions:

  • Boneless chicken breasts

Overall Rating:  Love It

Source:  Cooking Light Magazine

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