Chocolate-Chocolate Chip Cookies (Small Batch)

I know I already have a chocolate-chocolate chip cookie recipe on this website, but that recipe and this one are for different occasions, in my opinion.  The Thick and Chewy Triple Chocolate Cookies are rich with chocolate flavor and very delicious.  However, they can be a bit expensive and time-consuming to make by the time you chop and melt a pound of chocolate and let the dough sit before baking. 

So while I will keep that recipe around for special occasions or events, this chocolate cookie recipe is perfect for more everyday appearances.  It only makes about 10-12 cookies, and the small amount of ingredients can be mixed up by hand without pulling out an electric mixer (and then having to wash it).  You could be all proper and mix up the dry ingredients separately, but I go the lazy route and just mix it all in one bowl. 

While I have nothing against baking big batches of cookies, sometimes if it's after dinner on a weekend evening and we want a sweet treat, it's nice to just mix up a small batch of dough and bake up one sheet of cookies.

Chocolate-Chocolate Chip Cookies (Small Batch)
Yield: 10-12 cookies
Ingredients:
4 tablespoons butter, softened
Scant 1/4 cup sugar (50 g)
1/4 cup brown sugar (50 g)
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup cocoa powder (33 grams)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch salt
1/2 cup flour (64 g)
1/2 cup chocolate chips, plus more to press on top

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone liner. 

2. Cream together butter, sugar and brown sugar (this can be done without an electric mixer, just using a spoon).  Add the egg and vanilla; mix well.  Add the cocoa powder, baking soda and salt.  Mix until combined.  Add the flour and begin mixing.  When flour is almost incorporated add 1/2 cup chocolate chips and mix until the flour is incorporated.

3. Drop onto lined cookie sheet and press a few additional chocolate chips on top of each cookie.  Bake for 10-12 minutes.  Allow to cool on cookie sheet.

Source: adapted from www.sallysbakingaddiction.com

Orange and Asparagus Spinach Salad

I've just recently realized how easy it is to make a variety of tasty, healthy salads.  This salad came about one afternoon when I had some leftover steamed asparagus in my fridge and some oranges on the counter.  I love the sweetness and unique flavor oranges add to a green salad.  Sometimes asparagus can be a bit pricey, and I think diced avocado would be a great substitute in this salad.

Orange and Asparagus Spinach Salad
Yield: 2 large salads or 4 side salads
Ingredients:
5-6 oz. baby spinach/baby kale mix
1-2 Cara Cara oranges
12-14 asparagus stalks
1/3 cup almonds, toasted and chopped
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
Dressing of your choice (Poppyseed is pictured above, but I think balsamic vinaigrette pairs even better)

Directions:
1. Peel and break orange into segments.  Slice each segment in half lengthwise to create thinner orange sections. 

2. Steam asparagus until just tender, then transfer to a bowl of ice water.  Cool and drain.  Chop into 2-inch pieces.

3. Toss all ingredients (except the dressing) together, or arrange on plates.  Drizzle on dressing.

Source: Inspired by Cara Cara and Asparagus Salad in Home Cooking the Costco Way

Banana Oat Muffins (with optional mix-ins)

When brown bananas sit on the countertop begging to be baked into something yummy, a lot of people think "banana bread!"  But for some reason I tend to gravitate to muffins.  This muffin recipe is adapted from one of my favorite muffins of all time--Pumpkin Oat Muffins.  I cut down on the spices and also took the sugar down a bit because bananas naturally add so much sweetness.  I also decided to use melted butter instead of oil.

You can add whatever mix-ins you like.  These are delicious with walnuts in them, and this week I went crazy and added blueberries and walnuts.  And my kids love it when I add chocolate chips.  I prefer to use mini chocolate chips because it doesn't take very many to have little bits of chocolate dispersed in the batter.  I treated my kids on a snow day this week to chocolate chips in their muffins and they were quite excited.  I didn't tell them the muffins they were excited to eat were whole grain with minimal butter and sugar. 

Banana Oat Muffins
Yield: 12 muffins
Ingredients:
2 cups quick oats
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup mashed banana (about 2 large or 3 medium ripe bananas)
3/4 cup buttermilk (or sub half plain yogurt, half milk)
2 eggs
2 tablespoons butter, melted and slightly cooled
Optional mix-ins: chopped walnuts, blueberries, chocolate chips, etc. (1/2-3/4 cup mix-ins)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Coat muffin pan with cooking spray.

2. Whisk together the quick oats, flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  In a separate bowl, whisk together the mashed banana, buttermilk (or yogurt and milk), eggs and butter.  Add banana mixture all at once to oat mixture.  Stir just until moistened (do not overmix).  Stir in mix-ins as desired.

3. Spoon batter into muffin cups.  Bake regular-sized muffins for 15-18 minutes (10-12 minutes for mini muffins), or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out almost clean.  Cool in pan for five minutes, then remove muffins from pans and place on wire rack to cool.  

Source:  adapted from www.jennyruns.blogspot.com

White Beans with Rosemary

I'm always interested in trying tasty new ways to prepare beans .  They are pretty much the perfect food: healthy and inexpensive.  Our local Zoe's Kitchen restaurant serves Braised White Beans with fresh rosemary that are delicious.  I haven't had the beans at Zoe's for quite some time, so I can't say for sure how these compare to the original, but we enjoyed this homemade version. 

We had these white beans with focaccia bread and a kale, spinach and apple salad.  It felt great to serve a healthy meal that was quite tasty too.  I used canned beans this time, but I hope to try making this using dried beans at some point.  There is nothing particularly fancy about this dish, just beans flavored with some ordinary ingredients: onion, garlic, rosemary and chicken stock.  It is simplicity at its best!

White Beans with Rosemary
Yield: Serves 4-5
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried rosemary or 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary
2 cans cannellini beans (15.5 oz each), drained and rinsed
1-1 1/2 cups chicken broth
salt and pepper, to taste
Fresh rosemary for garnish, if desired

Directions:
1. In a small saucepan heat the olive oil over medium heat.  Add the onion and saute until soft and translucent.  Add the garlic and rosemary and saute about 30 seconds.

2. Add the beans and 1 cup chicken broth.  Simmer, stirring frequently, until slightly thickened, adding more chicken broth if desired.  (The mixture will continue to thicken off the heat.)  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Garnish with fresh rosemary, if desired.

Source: http://yeahimadeit.com

Berry Avocado Quinoa Salad

As I've mentioned before, one of my dreams is to have an abundance of raspberries growing in my yard.  If that ever happens, I imagine salads like this will make frequent appearances at our table.  This salad is delicious and healthy.  I love the combination of all the different flavors and textures--juicy berries, salty feta, crunchy almonds, little chewy bits of quinoa.  And just about everything is better with avocado, right?

The first time I made this I served it with store-bought poppyseed dressing.  If I end up trying a good homemade dressing I'll have to add an update.  I'd love to find a good oil-free dressing to put on this healthy salad.

Berry Avocado Quinoa  Salad
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups cooked quinoa
1 cup sliced almonds, toasted
9 oz. baby kale or baby spinach (or a mix of the two)
1 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
1 1/2 cups fresh raspberries
2 medium avocados, peeled, cored and diced
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled

Directions:
Toss all salad ingredients together in a large salad bowl (or divide ingredients and layer on individual plates).  Serve with poppyseed dressing. 

 Source: slightly adapted from www.cookingclassy.com

Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake Pie

One of my dreams in life is to have raspberry bushes.  Raspberries are a little pricey to buy at the grocery store, but they are so delicious.  I would love to have an ample supply growing just steps from my kitchen.  While I would hopefully enjoy most of them plain or in salads or other healthy applications, a raspberry dessert is sure something to look forward to on occasion.

There's a lot to love about this cheesecake pie--chocolate cookie crumb crust, cheesecake filling, the chocolate/raspberry flavor combination, and if you're feeling like making something pretty you can pipe on some whipped cream and decorate the top with raspberries.  While this dessert is pretty and fancier than, say, chocolate chip cookies or brownies, there's nothing particularly difficult about making it.

While frozen raspberries would not work very well for the garnish, either fresh or frozen work fine in the cheesecake layer.  (I think the fresh hold their shape a little better, however.)  I wanted a more substantial chocolate layer on top, so I tripled what the original recipe called for.  I think doubling it and just using 4 oz. of chocolate and 1/2 cup whipping cream would have been enough of a chocolate layer though.

Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake Pie
Ingredients:
For the crust:
1 3/4 cups crushed chocolate cookies (I used about 24 Oreos with the cream scraped out)
1 tablespoon sugar
5 tablespoons butter, melted

For the cheesecake layer:
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
14 oz. sweetened condensed milk
1 egg
3 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup raspberries, fresh or frozen

For the chocolate ganache:
6 oz. semisweet chocolate squares, chopped or 1 cup chocolate chips
3/4 cup whipping cream
(For a slightly thinner chocolate layer use 4 oz. chocolate, 1/2 cup whipping cream)

For garnish:
Sweetened whipped cream, if desired
Fresh raspberries, if desired

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  In a medium bowl stir together the cookie crumbs and sugar.  Mix in the melted butter until combined.  Press into the sides and bottom of a 9-inch pie plate.  Bake for 5 minutes.  Remove from oven and set aside to cool.

2.  Beat cream cheese until fluffy.  Add sweetened condensed milk and beat until smooth.  Add egg, lemon juice, and vanilla; mix well.  Arrange 1 cup raspberries evenly on the bottom of the cookie crumb crust.  Slowly pour cream cheese mixture over the raspberries.  Bake for 30-35 minutes or until the center is almost set.  Cool completely.

3. To make the chocolate ganache, heat the cream until just simmering (either in the microwave or on the stove) and add the chocolate.  Stir until the chocolate is melted and the mixture is very smooth.  Remove from heat and allow to slightly cool.  Pour on top of the cheesecake and place in the refrigerator to let the ganache cool completely and set.  If desired, garnish the whole pie or individual slices with sweetened whipped cream and fresh raspberries.

Source: cheesecake and ganache recipes slightly adapted from my friend, Wendy; chocolate cookie crumb crust from www.melskitchencafe.com

Mango Lassi

While I usually don't order drinks at restaurants, there are a couple drinks that are hard for me to resist.  Mango lassi is definitely on that list.  I've tried making my own a few times over the years but was never happy with the result.  After some investigating, including talking to one of my neighbors from India, I found out that you do not have to use fresh mango to make mango lassi.  There is canned mango pulp that works great in this drink.  I love the idea of using fresh mangoes, but they just weren't making mango lassi like I've had in restaurants.  I got canned mango pulp from a local Indian grocer, but I also saw some on Amazon.  I got the Deep brand, and I thought it was good.

Some searching online uncovered a few different flavors some people like to add (rose water, cardamom, etc.), but I like mine plain and simple with just mango pulp, yogurt, and milk.  Some recipes call for thinning the drink with water instead of milk (as does my neighbor), but I like to use most if not all milk so it does not start to taste watered-down at all.

Mango Lassi
Serves 4-6
Ingredients:
30 oz canned mango pulp (about 3 cups)
3 cups plain yogurt (I used nonfat Greek yogurt)
1 1/2 cups milk
Additional milk or water to thin to desired consistency

Directions:
Blend mango pulp, yogurt and 1 1/2 cups milk in a blender.  Blend in additional milk or water, if desired, until it reaches desired consistency.

Source: adapted from www.vegrecipesofindia.com, with help from my neighbor and a kind worker at my local indian grocery store