Dark Chocolate Chunk-Zucchini Bread

break bread...

For my final post in this series I've made a usual subject as far as zucchini goes - zucchini bread. But, to pass it off as a dessert, I've added dark chocolate chunks into the mix. This bread is still perfect for breakfast, but it's also enough to satisfy my sweet-tooth after dinner. Break bread any time of the day!

This recipe is a little different than those for traditional breakfast bread. It uses oil and yogurt instead of butter, which helps keep the bread moist. It has both granulated and light brown sugar, which gives the crust a nice crunch. And finally, it primarily contains allspice, instead of the usual cinnamon. The next time you need to make a dessert, consider trying this twist on a classic. Here's how...

Ingredients - Makes 1 Loaf
Cooking Spray
1 C Shredded Zucchini, squeezed dry
1/2 C Vegetable Oil
1/2 C Plain Greek Yogurt (low-fat okay)
2 Eggs
1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
1 1/2 C All Purpose Flour
1/2 C Granulated Sugar
1/2 C Light Brown Sugar, packed
1 tsp. Baking Powder
1 tsp. Allspice
1/2 tsp. Salt
1/4 tsp. Baking Soda
1/4 tsp. Nutmeg
1 C Dark Chocolate Chunks

Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a 9x5 loaf pan with parchment paper, leaving an overhang on two sides. Coat with cooking spray. Set aside.

Combine the wet ingredients: In a medium bowl combine the shredded zucchini, oil, yogurt, eggs, and vanilla extract. Mix together well and set aside.

Combine the dry ingredients: In a large bowl combine the flour, sugars, baking powder, allspice, salt, baking soda, and nutmeg. Whisk well and then stir in the dark chocolate chunks.

Bake the bread: Fold the wet ingredients into the dry, just until everything is incorporated. Pour into the prepared loaf pan. Bake for 60-65 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Cool and serve: Allow the bread to cool for an hour in the pan. Then remove to a rack to cool completely. Slice to serve. To store: wrap in plastic wrap and then foil. Store at room temperature for up to one week. Enjoy!

Curry Chickpea Tikka w/ Cool Cucumber Dipping Sauce

golden as the setting sun...

For this next series of posts I'm focusing on curry powder. There are many varieties of curry powder, but ironically, they don't exist in or come from India. Instead, curry powder is thought to have been invented by the English to help recreate dishes had while in India. Thus, we have many varieties of what we call "curry powder" here in America.

So, I've created my own version of curry powder and will then incorporate it into each recipe for this series. Traditionally whole spices would be used. They would be toasted in a dry skillet and then ground with a spice grinder. I'm taking a few short cuts and using all ground spices. I hope that makes it more feasible for you to make this at home. Once the golden curry powder has been made, it can be stored for months in a cool dry place (with other spices). First, let's make the curry powder...

Ingredients - Makes ~1/2 C
2 T Ground Cumin
2 T Ground Cardamom
2 T Ground Coriander
1/4 C Ground Turmeric
1/2 T Ground Cloves
1 tsp. Ground Red Pepper (Cayenne)
1 tsp. Ground Black Pepper

Directions
In a small bowl combine all of the spices. Whisk together. Store in an airtight container for up to 6 months.

Next, lets make the appetizer...

I've created this appetizer by fusing my Indian curry powder with a Middle Eastern favorite - falafel. These delicate "tikka" or chickpea balls are made in a food processor, rolled in panko, and originally were to be fried. However, I found that the tikka were too delicate to be fried. So, to avoid disaster, I put them into a well oiled mini muffin tin to bake. This recipe is quite delicious, but it was definitely trial and error on my part. I've therefore adjusted this recipe and I believe it will work just fine for you! Let me know if it doesn't. Here's how to make it...

Ingredients - Makes ~20
Curry Chickpea Tikka
2 Cans Low-Sodium Chickpeas, rinsed & drained
2 Cloves Garlic, roughly chopped
1 Inch Ginger, peeled & roughly chopped
2-3 Green Onions, roughly chopped
1/2 C Cilantro
1/2 Lemon, juiced
1 T Curry Powder (recipe above)
1 T Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1-1 1/2 C Panko Bread Crumbs
Cooking Spray

Cool Cucumber Dipping Sauce
1 C Low-Fat Greek Yogurt
1/2 Cucumber, shredded & squeezed dry
1/2 Lemon, juiced
Kosher Salt
Black Pepper

Directions
Make the curry powder following the directions above. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Combine the chickpeas, garlic, ginger, green onions, cilantro, lemon juice, and curry powder in a food processor. Pulse 10-15 times to finely chop everything. Then, with the motor running, drizzle in the olive oil and continue to process until a thick paste forms. Don't add too much oil. This will cause the paste to become too soft and you won't be able to make the balls.

Next, make the tikka by rolling ~2 T chickpea mixture into a ball. Roll the ball in the panko, pressing a bit to help it adhere. Continue making the tikka until all of the chickpea mixture has been used up. Then, liberally spray a mini muffin pan with cooking spray. Put the tikka into the mini muffin cups and then liberally spray each with the cooking spray. Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes. Cool and serve.

While the tikka cook, make the dip. Combine the yogurt, shredded cucumber, lemon juice, and a pinch each salt and pepper in a bowl. Stir to combine. Taste and adjust seasoning as desired. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Place the room temperature Curry Chickpea Tikka on a platter and serve with the Cool Cucumber Dipping Sauce. Enjoy!

Wedge Salad with Creamy Shallot Dressing & Crispy Shallot Topping

veggie wedge salad

A traditional wedge salad is served with lots of bacon. Obviously, for me this isn't an option. But, I love everything else about a wedge, so for this post I've made a vegetarian friendly version. The star of my salad is arguably the crispy fried shallots, but the dressing is quite good too. If you haven't guessed, I'm focusing on shallots for this series of recipes.

With spring comes lots of different types of onions - green, chives, ramps, etc. Shallots are one of many, but they are the only ones that are purple! Of course, they don't uncover their beautiful light purple color until the skin is peeled away. This recipe calls not only for shallots, but also for a little red onion and chives. All other traditional wedge ingredients like iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, and blue cheese are included. Make this veggie wedge salad even if you aren't a vegetarian, it's quite tasty. Here's how...

Ingredients - Serves 4
Wedge Salad
1 Head Iceberg Lettuce, core & cut into quarters
1 C Cherry Tomatoes, halved
1/4 Small Red Onion, thinly sliced
4 oz. Crumbled Blue Cheese

Creamy Shallot Dressing
1 Shallot, finely chopped
1/2 C Plain Greek Yogurt
1/4 C Sour Cream
1/2 C Butter Milk
1 T Chives, chopped
1 T White Wine Vinegar
Kosher Salt
Black Pepper

Crispy Shallot Topping
Canola Oil, for frying
4 Shallots
2 T All-Purpose Flour
Smoked Salt (or Kosher)

Directions
Begin by heating a large skillet (suggest cast iron) filled halfway with oil to 350 degrees.

Make the dressing: Combine the shallot, yogurt, sour cream, butter milk, chives, and vinegar in a medium bowl. Whisk together and season to taste with salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Make the crispy shallots: Slice the shallots into thin rings. Separate the rings and put them in a bowl with the flour. Gently toss to coat. Shake off any excess flour and put half of the shallots into the preheated oil. Fry the shallots until they are golden brown, about 5 minutes. Don't over cook, they will become bitter. Remove the crispy shallots to a paper towel lined plate and sprinkle with the smoked salt. Repeat until all of the shallots have been fried.

Build the salad: Put one iceberg wedge on a plate cut-side up. Top with some of the dressing. Then, add the tomatoes, red onion, and blue cheese. Finally top with the crispy shallots and more black pepper. Serve with extra dressing. Enjoy!

Eggplant Fries w/ Super Hot Sauce

restaurant remake...

This recipe was inspired by a dish I had at Zula Restaurant & Wine Bar in downtown Cincy. My husband, our friend James, and I all went to Zula last year for restaurant week. It's one of the newer restaurants in town and worth going to for a special occasion. On the menu were eggplant fries. But not just plain breaded eggplant, we are talking dusted with powdered sugar and served with hot sauce. We were intrigued to say the least, and after trying them, we were totally sold.

My recipe remake is a little different than what we had, but still tastes much like the dish at Zula. For starters, my eggplant fries are baked. By cooking the fries this way, I'm cutting down on the calories, but I promise, none of the flavor is lost. Another way my recipe differs is that I use a yogurt mixture and bread crumbs to coat my eggplant. It provides a different texture than the fries at Zula. Finally, my super hot sauce is a mixture of three condiments - I'm sure they make theirs from scratch at Zula - but, both are blistering hot. Try this restaurant remake and then go to Zula and compare. Here's how to make it...

Ingredients - Serves 6

Fries

2 Medium Eggplants (suggest graffiti)

2/3 C Nonfat Greek Yogurt

1/2 tsp. Garlic Powder

1/2 tsp. Onion Powder

1 tsp. Paprika

1 tsp. Kosher Salt

1/2 tsp. Black Pepper

4 T Lemon Juice

2-3 C Plain Breadcrumbs

2 T Powdered Sugar

Hot Sauce

4 T Sriracha

1-2 T Sambal Oelek

1 tsp. Tabasco Sauce

Directions

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Prepare two large baking sheets by placing a cooling rack on each of them. Set aside.

Cut the eggplants into fries: Cut the top and bottom off each eggplant. Then stand upright and slice the eggplant down the middle. Cut each of the halves length-wise once more, creating 4 planks. Next cut each plank into 4-5 long strips. Finally, cut the strips in half to create a fry shape. Each fry should be about 1/4 inch in thickness.

Setup your breading station: In a bowl combine the yogurt, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, salt, pepper, and lemon juice. Stir to combine all the ingredients well. Then pour the breadcrumbs onto a plate. Line up the cut eggplant, yogurt mixture, and bread crumbs next to each other. Place one of the prepared trays after the breadcrumbs.

Bread the eggplant: Dip a few eggplant pieces into the yogurt, shaking off the excess, then place them into the breadcrumbs. Sprinkle breadcrumbs all over the eggplant pieces, pressing lightly to help the breadcrumbs adhere. Shake off any excess and then place on the prepared tray. Repeat this process until all of your ingredients are used up.

Bake the fries: Put the trays into the preheated oven. Bake for about 14 minutes, rotating the trays halfway through the cook time. When the fries are cooked the eggplant will be tender and the breading will be crisp.

Make the super hot sauce: While the fries cook, combine the sriracha, sambal oelek, and Tabasco together in a small bowl. If you dare: taste to balance the mixture. The sriracha will add a bit of sweet heat, the sambal oelek a chili paste fermented style heat, and finally the Tabasco sauce will add fiery heat. Mix well and set aside.

Finish the fries: Put the powdered sugar into a fine-mesh sieve. Immediately after removing the fries from the oven, dust them with the powdered sugar. Remove the fries to a plate. Serve immediately with the super hot sauce. Enjoy this restaurant remake! Let me know what you think if you've had Zula's version and mine.

Creamy Dill Dip

spring means green

I returned home from vacation to a world of green. Our yard, shrubs, trees, etc. are all beautifully green right now. I heard that it has been quite rainy here. That has been the case for the past few days since I've been home. It only seems fitting with all this green that I'm celebrating a fresh spring herb - dill. This herb is lemony, grassy, and versatile. It's the perfect way to celebrate the end of spring.

My yogurt based Creamy Dill Dip is fresh and light with a tiny bite of heat at the end. Lemon juice helps to highlight the dill flavor and keep the dip bright. I serve this dip with assorted veggies and bagel chips. It's the perfect appetizer to any meal. Or, take it to a spring cookout. Here's how to make it...

Ingredients - Serves 8-10
1 C Greek Yogurt (suggest 0% fat)
1/2 C Sour Cream (suggest light)
1/2 C Mayo (suggest Canola Oil)
3 T Fresh Dill, minced
2 Green Onions, minced
1 T Lemon Juice
1 tsp. Seasoning Salt
1/2 tsp. Cayenne Pepper
Ground Black Pepper, to taste
To Serve: Assorted Veggies, Bagel Chips, Crackers, etc.

Directions

This is so easy!! In a medium sized bowl, combine the yogurt, sour cream, mayo, dill, green onions, lemon juice, seasoning salt, and cayenne pepper. Mix well.

Add the black pepper a little at a time, to taste. Adjust any other seasonings as desired. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve. Be sure to serve this dip chilled.


Serve with assorted veggies, bagel chips, crackers, anything you can dip. The dip will stay good refrigerated for 5-7 days in an airtight container. Enjoy the spring and all that's green!

Boozy Berry Brunch Parfaits

it's 5 o'clock somewhere...

It's berry season again and with that comes flavor and affordability. Because of these facts it's the only time of the year I buy fresh berries. Raspberries are especially good right now - firm, yet sweet - they provide the perfect flavor and texture for these brunch parfaits. Of course, you can substitute your favorite berry, just be sure to accompany it with complementary flavors of preserves and booze.

These raspberry-yogurt parfaits are sweet and tangy. Tangy because I use plain Greek yogurt. This adds protein as well, giving you energy to make it through the day. Macerating the raspberries in Chambord (raspberry liquor) isn't necessary, so leave it out if you must, but it persuades the raspberries to release their sweet juices and it's what makes these parfaits boozy. Who says the drinks get to have all the fun at brunch? I don't. Here's how to make these...

Ingredients - Makes 4 Parfaits
2 Pints Fresh Raspberries
1/4 C Raspberry Preserves
1/3 C Chambord (raspberry flavored liquor)
3 C Plain Greek Yogurt (suggest Chobani; any % fat)
2 C Granola or Corn Flakes
Optional: Fresh Mint Springs for serving

Directions
Wash and dry the raspberries thoroughly. Reserve 3 berries to top each of the 4 parfaits; 12 total.

Macerate the berries: In a bowl, mix the remaining raspberries, raspberry preserves, and Chambord. Stir together, then set aside for about 10 minutes. Stir again, mashing the fresh berries a bit.

Build the parfaits: Put 1/3 C of yogurt in the bottom of a tall glass. Top with 3 T of the boozy berry mixture. Top that with 1/4 C granola or cereal. Repeat this layering once more. End with a dollop of yogurt and top with 3 of the reserved raspberries and a sprig of mint, if desired. Repeat to build the remaining parfaits.

To serve: Either serve immediately or refrigerate up to 1 hour. Refrigerating much longer will result in squishy granola/cereal. Whatever time it is at your brunch table, rest assured, it is 5 o'clock somewhere. So, enjoy!

Farmer's Market Lassi

lassie, lassy, Lassie...no lassi

So many words sound the same (homophone) but have completely different meanings. The same can be said for food. There are many different types of fried potatoes - french fries, home fries, hash browns, Jo Jo's, etc. For this post I've made a lassi, which is like a cross between a smoothie and a shake, but different in a few distinct ways.

Yogurt and fruit are blended together with some unusual ingredients - coconut water & basil. These two ingredients make this drink different from your average smoothie, and fresher, I think. This drink is also different because it's not very sweet making this drink perfect for breakfast or dessert. Make this for our last few warm days left this year. Here's how...

Ingredients - Serves 4
1C Nonfat Greek Yogurt
1C Coconut Milk (lite okay)
1/2C Strawberries, sliced
1/2C Pineapple, cut into chunks
3 Leaves Fresh Basil
1C Frozen Purple Grapes
1C Ice Cubes
Garnish: Toasted Coconut & Fruit

Directions
Begin by making the toasted coconut: preheat the broiler to high. Move the oven rack 2 slots from the top. Spread shredded coconut into a single layer on a sheet tray and broil until brown and crunchy. Be sure to check the coconut often and turn it so that it doesn't burn. This will take about 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and cool completely.

Make the lassi: combine the yogurt, coconut milk (mix well), strawberries, pineapple, basil, frozen grapes, and ice in a blender. Process until smooth and pour into 4 serving glasses. Garnish with the toasted coconut and extra fruit. That's a good lookin' lassi! Enjoy!