Brownie Cookie Bars

Experimenting with some new stuff in the kitchen by request. This time we are mixing brownies and cookies into a brownie cookie. My guy requested this dessert and I decided to give it a try.

Looks pretty tasty huh?

Apparently they were...

Do not leave these bars unattended. I went to the gym for 30 minutes and they were demolished.

Kitchen Recreations: Beef Larb

If you live in Atlanta, then I'm sure you've experienced one of our city's best Thai restaurants, Top Spice. If you haven't, unfollow my blog RAT now (I'm kidding). Top Spice is by far one of my favorite restaurants and my goal is to try at least every item on the menu. One of my favorite items it the Beef Larb (for my more health-conscious folks you can get it with chicken too). The recipe is very simple: minced sirloin beef, green onions, shallots, lime juice, fish sauce, rice powder, ginger and cilantro. It's served with a head of cold, green cabbage to cut the heat. OMG you will love this dish. I attempted to recreate it the other night and it came out pretty darn good. 

Salmon Cakes with Veggies

If you're looking for a low fat but flavorful meal, you should try my salmon cakes with veggies. I normally cook this meal when I have nothing else in the kitchen to cook. It doesn't take long to do either.

For my veggies, I sauteed some corn, squash, zucchini, and onions in olive oil. Yum yum!

Finely dice up a yellow, green, orange and red bell pepper. I  also diced up a red onion instead of a white onion.

If you have fresh salmon, you can grind it up but I prefer the can salmon.

Whip up an egg.

After sorting through your salmon for bones and skin, throw it all into a bowl with the eggs. Season to your liking.

Add your peppers and onions

Mix it all up

Pour in a cup - cup and half of bread crumbs. If you want your cakes crispier, use panko crumbs.

Add some olive oil to the skillet, shape your cakes and brown on each side.

Oh yea, they are going to smell good!

Serve with veggies and enjoy.

Red Beans and Rice

*WARNING*

This meal is in no way a healthy one but it damn sure is good!

Sort a package of kidney beans. Pull out all bad or damaged beans. No soaking required.

Finely dice green peppers, onion, and celery. You want them small so that you aren't eating chunks in your beans.

After rinsing the beans, brown some sausage and throw them in the crock pot with the beans. Add a hamhock for extra flavor and meat.

Brown your veggies in a little butter. Just a little.

Add the veggies into the crockpot and top it off with water. Put the lid on and cook on high for 6 hours.

Because you have the hamhock in there, you don't really need any salt. Trust me, it will salt the food perfectly. As for other seasonings, I used some crush red pepper and hot sauce to give it a kick. It was too good!

Simple Beef Stiryfry

Sauteed some fresh mixed veggies with corn, squash and zucchini with a little olive oil. You don't want to cook them all the way or else they get too soft.

Once the veggies are done, brown some stir fry meat. To go leaner, use thin sliced steak. Season lightly with sea salt and pepper. Pour a little stir-fry sauce on top while it's hot and let it rest.

I liked this sauce but it tasted a little bland. I prefer the original flavor when it's all said and done.

Toss the meat and veggies together and pour in some sauce. Mix well and let cook/simmer for 10 mins. Serve or rice and enjoy!

To tips to make it healthier:

1. Use thin, lean beef. I like the protein that you get from beef but you can do this with shrimp or chicken too. 

2. Adding corn gives it a great texture and a hint of sweetness. Of course I used fresh corn so it tasted even better.

3. The teriyaki sauce was good but it's higher in calories than the original (which was 10 calories). Plus the original flavor tasted better. 

4. Serve over brown rice instead of white.

5. Mix the rice in so that your portions are smaller.

6. Mix sure you don't overcook the veggies. Once you add the sauce it can turn soupy so make sure you cook it with the cover off.

Thin Pork Chops and Yellow Rice

I had some thin pork chops in the fridge and decided to get creative with them. I'm convinced I have some Cuban or Hispanic roots because everything I cook must be colorful and require fresh ingredients. 

I think these pork chops are called scallopini because they are so think but they were just regular ol' porkchops in my eyes. I chopped up some orange, yellow, red and green peppers along with some onions. I lightly seasoned each chop and sauteed in little butter (just a little). 

Diced peppers and onions

Cooking the chops

Once they were almost done, I tossed the peppers and onions in to soften them up

Looks good, huh? Smelled good too.

To give it a little more flavor, I added a little white wine. Excuse the blue tape in the back. I'm painting my kitchen.

Just a little wine to loosen things up.

I used these two to season the chops and peppers. yum!

And here it is when it's all said and done. Yum!

I cooked some wild rice to go with it and plated it up.

When your male companion for the evening walks away from Madden to come in the kitchen and ask what is that that smells so good, you know you've got a winner. :)  I love meals that can be cooked in one pot so this was right up my alley. It was pretty good, just make sure you season those chops really good. I think I should have marinated them overnight before cooking for a much bolder flavor but they were great nonetheless. 

By the time I finished cooking, I didn't even want it any more. Weird right? I ended up making a quick meal with some sausage and leftover penne pasta in the fridge.

Penne pasta, heavy cream, Rogerwood sausage, spinach, bell peppers and a little crushed red pepper. No salt required. :)

And to top it all off, I made a smoothie to accompany my meal. 

Some frozen fruit I had in the freezer and an overly ripe banana

My liquid for the blender

A handful of each fruit, a handful of ice and  a splash of juice

Bacon-Crab Dip

To continue my bacon theme, here's another recipe I got the Food Network Magazine. I was a little skeptical at first because I love crab dip with other seafood in it as well. Nonetheless, I worked with what I had. 

Mix 8 ounces each cream cheese and crabmeat, 1 cup crumbled cooked bacon, 1/2 cup mayonnaise, 3 chopped scallions and the juice of 1 lemon. Spread in a baking dish; top with breadcrumbs. Bake at 350 degrees until bubbly, 30 minutes.

Crab meat, mayo, cream cheese, diced bacon, a handful of breadcrumbs, green onions, a little pepper, old bay seasoning and few shakes of hot sauce

Top with more breadcrumbs and bake at 400 for 30 minutes or until golden brown top. Serve with toasted bread or crackers.

I let my mom taste this and she loved it. It's really creamy and rich so I would suggest cutting the mayo and cream cheese used in half. If you want to make it really tasty, add some cheese to the mixture before baking. Also, add some diced shrimp, tiny scallops and lobster or crawfish meat to give it a little kick. You'll love it!