Tuesday, July 29, 2014
California Breakfast: Acai Bowl with Granola
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil.
Wednesday, July 23, 2014
It's Another Meatball Thing - An Easy Appetizer
I don't know why the girls like meatballs so much - but they do! And I do too, although I always try to skip the extra carbs in pasta. However, one thing I have a hard time turning down is a toasted meatball sub. There is nothing like biting into warm crusty bread and then into a meatball covered in a great tomato sauce and melted cheese. What a reward for saving leftover meatballs for lunch instead of on their own in a midnight snack! The appetizer featured here is a variation of a sub; I took the idea from the small plates menu of a restaurant that called them "Meatball Sliders". Because of our family's love for meatballs, we don't have just one recipe we like but several. Click Here for a link to a post with traditional, Spanish, or Mediterranean varieties or Click Here to link up to a summer time recipe where the sauce is made from fresh tomatoes and, if desired, the meatballs can be grilled. Whatever type of meatball made, the recipe posted here is yummy for the left overs. Or - just buy pre-made frozen ones and a jar of sauce for instant appetizers.
Here's What You Need For a Dozen Meatball Appetizers
1 dozen leftover meatballs with sauce
1 baguette
4 ounces goat cheese
1 clove garlic, peeled
6 "sandwich" sized slices of mozzarella cheese, each cut into fourths
3 tablespoons fresh basil leaves, chopped
Directions for Assembling the Meatball Appetizers
Cut the bread into 12 slices, each about 1 inch thick. Lightly brush one side of each slice with olive oil. Place on a foil lined baking sheet.
Bake in a 350 degree oven for about 12 minutes or until the bread the bread is just starting to brown. Take it out of the oven and gently rub the top of each piece with the peeled garlic glove.
Now spread about a teaspoon of goat cheese on each toasted and garlic rubbed bread slice.
Top each bread slice with a meatball and some sauce.
Cut each "sandwich sized" cheese slice into four equal squares and place two squares on top of each slice.
Place the cheese covered slices back into the 350 degree oven and bake for about 10 minutes or until the mozerella cheese is nice and melted and the edges of the bread look golden brown. Yum!
Tuesday, July 15, 2014
Meatballs for the Summertime
The other day, even though it was hot and muggy, I found myself craving meatballs. I usually think of meatballs as a cold weather comfort type food, so I changed one of my favorite recipes up a bit to make it leaner, lighter, and more of a warm weather dish. I used the Spanish style meatballs from an earlier blog post, grilled them, and served sauce and all on top of spaghetti squash instead of pasta. No wheat involved since the meatball mix doesn't contain bread crumbs but is held together with an egg and some Parmesan cheese. I packed up the meatballs, sauce, and spaghetti squash and took it down to Allison's. She is still teaching exercise classes for the university over the summer, and after being a participant in two of her classes - she and I were ready for those meatballs! They really hit the spot, her roommates loved them as well, and I didn't feel like I had undone all my workout efforts by consuming a ton of calories. Click here for three more meatball recipes, and go ahead and serve them with pasta if the weather turns ugly!
Ingredients for 16 Walnut Sized Meatballs and Fresh Tomato Sauce
Meatballs:
1 pound lean ground beef or ground turkey
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
3 green onions, little roots cut off and thinly sliced
1 egg
2 teaspoons dried thyme leaves
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
16 green pimento stuffed olives
Sauce:
3 to 4 large tomatoes
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped or 1 teaspoon dried
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons red wine
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 good sized spaghetti squash
A little extra fresh rosemary to garnish
A little extra fresh rosemary to garnish
Directions:
Since the squash takes 45 minutes to bake, start to prepare it first. Cut one large spaghetti squash lengthwise in half. Scoop out the sides and the darker stringy stuff. Put a couple of inches of water into a baking dish and place the squash halves skin side up into the dish. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Remove from oven. With a fork, remove the strands of squash from the skin by running the fork from top to bottom of the squash.
While the squash is baking, dice the tomatoes. Heat the olive oil up in a pan over medium heat. Place the tomatoes, rosemary, wine, salt and pepper in the pan. Turn the heat up and bring it up to a boil. Turn the heat down to low and allow the mixture to simmer while you assemble and cook the meatballs - at least 15 minutes.
Now whisk the egg up in a large bowl. Add the meat, cheese, green onion, garlic powder, and thyme. As you are forming the meat mixture into walnut sized balls, tuck an olive into the center of each one.
Either bake in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes, or grill on medium low heat about 5 minutes per side. I use a nice little grill sheet that is meant for small foods so that the meatballs don't fall between the slats of the grill.
Assemble by dividing up the spaghetti squash among four plates. Put four meatballs on each plate. Evenly portion out the sauce and spoon it over the meatballs on each serving. Garnish with a bit of rosemary.
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