Tropical Pizza

I've worked at a pizza place for about 11 years so when it comes to pizza, I've become a bit bored with traditional ingredients.  As a result, I'm always looking for new flavor combinations to spice things up a bit.  Last year, my boyfriend and I had rented a house in Puerto Viejo, Costa Rica.  One of the restaurants in the town specialized in a "tropical" pizza and I remember the both of us raving like crazies about it.  By far one of the most unique pizzas I've ever had in my life.  I think I might have dreams about it.

Upon first glance, the ingredients seem a little bit wonky and off-putting.  Coconut on a pizza?  I know, I know, it's a little bizarre.  Trust me though - it's a little slice of tropical heaven.  The pineapple and coconut give a little bit of sweetness which is really nicely offset by the saltiness of the ham and the spicy jalapenos.  All wrapped up in cheesy doughy goodness.  Yumyumyum.

Ingredients (8 slices):

• 1 cup sliced fresh pineapple
• 2 tbs shredded coconut
• 1 fresh sliced jalapeno (no seeds!)
• 1/2 a medium sliced onion
• 1/2 a sliced red bell pepper
• about 7oz of cubed lean ham steak (or Canadian bacon)
• pizza dough
• 3 cups Cheddar Jack/Mozzarella blend shredded cheese
• 1/2 cup pizza sauce
• 1 clove of garlic, minced

Recipe:

1. Preheat the oven to 425*F (or whatever your specific pizza dough says)
2. Add olive oil to a small skillet over medium heat and once up to temperature, add the onions, peppers, and garlic.  Sautee until tender and then remove from heat.
3. Spread the pizza sauce evenly over the stretched dough.
4. Spread about 1 cup of the cheese blend over the sauce.
5. Add the ham, pineapple, onions, and peppers.  
6. Spread another 1 cup of the cheese blend over the toppings.
7. Lightly toast the coconut in a dry skillet over low heat until it just starts to turn a golden brown.  Make sure not to over cook it since you don't want it to burn in the oven once on the pizza.
8. Add the jalapeno and sprinkle the remaining 1 cup over the pizza. 
9. Sprinkle the toasted coconut over the whole thing.
10. Cook for about 15 minutes or until the crust turns golden brown and the cheese has evenly melted.

Approximate Nutritional Info per Slice:

• Calories: 310
• Fat: 14g
• Protein: 20g

Sweet Potato Corn Chowder

 

Yesterday I got back from a trip to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic which was absolutely amaaaazing to say the least.  Perfect weather, white sand, turquoise water, lots of snorkeling, and killer fresh fish and fruit.  I can't rave about this vacation enough. 

But alas, all good things must come to an end and unfortunately that meant suffering about a 70* temperature drop upon arriving back in the frozen wasteland of Boston.  My body has officially gone into freakout survival mode and I'm desperately avoiding the outdoors at all cost.  My way of handling this?  Make some good comfort food, curl up with a book and my dog (I missed my sidekick) and pretend I don't have about 18 hundred loads of sandy laundry to do. 

This corn chowder is a bit different because it mixes yams and butternut squash (one of my staples) with regular yukon gold potatoes.  It's a heavy soup but since its thickened by pureeing about half of the potatoes and squash instead of adding heavy cream, its considerably healthier than a lot of other chowders.  If you have picky kids that get bent out of shape when they see veggies in their food, just puree the whole thing instead of half and add the corn after.  Voila!  No more visible veggies!  Serve this with a nice chunk of crusty bread and you're good to go!


Ingredients (4 to 6 servings - makes about 3 quarts):

• 1 onion
• 1 bell pepper (preferably red)
• 1 clove garlic minced
• 1 sweet potato/yam
• 2 yukon gold potatoes
• about 5oz. butternut squash
• 7 or 8 baby carrots
• 17.5 oz corn (2 standard size cans)
• 2 cups chicken broth (or maybe vegetable broth if you're looking to go vegetarian)
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup half and half
• 1 tbs sugar
• salt, pepper, and cayenne to taste
• chopped scallions to garnish

Recipe:

1. Add a little olive oil to a large pot over medium heat and allow to heat up.
2. Add the onion and garlic and cook until the onions are somewhat browned and tender.
3. Add the peppers and carrots and sautee until the peppers are tender (~5 minutes).
4. Slowly stir in the chicken broth, water, potatoes, yams, and butternut squash and kick the heat up a bit.  Allow to simmer for about 15-20 minutes or until the potatoes are fork tender.
5. Lower the heat and remove about half (1.5 quarts) and puree in a blender until smooth.  Pour back into the pot and mix in the corn.
6. Add the half and half and the sugar and stir to equalize the temperature.
7. Taste test and add salt and pepper to your liking.

Approximate Nutritional Info per Serving (4):

• Calories: 270
• Fat: 7g
• Protein: 8g

Bearnaise Shrimp Pasta Salad

I am a huge fan of Bearnaise sauce.  If I could, I'd eat it with everything.  Or plain.  It's that good.  I'm crazy about it.  Sooo I decided to use it as the base for a cold shrimp pasta salad.  Now if you have the time/energy to sit down and make a homemade Bearnaise sauce from scratch, let me suggest a recipe here from Emeril Lagasse that's out of this world awesome.  If, on the other hand, you're feeling a bit lazy (no judgements here) - the Knorr flavor pack available at most grocery stores works juuuuuust fine.  It takes 2 seconds to make and today I used skim milk instead of whole milk and 3 tbs butter instead of 4 to lighten it up a bit.  I combined it with Greek yogurt which made it super creamy and gave it a bit of a tang while still maintaining the tarragon flavor.  Result = yum.  Bearnaise sauce 2.0.

This dressing combined with crunchy fresh veggies, macaroni, and shrimp is absolutely delicious BUT its also open to lots of variation based on what works for you.  I used onions, bell peppers, carrots but that can obviously be swapped out for whatever veggies you want.  My advice is to use the parsley sparingly - add a little at a time and test taste because sometimes the flavor can be a bit overwhelming.

Best of all, this took me MAYBE 15 minutes total to make.  I had leftover macaroni from my Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese and I thawed frozen cooked and deveined shrimp.  This was meant to be a side but is filling enough to work as an entree if you'd like too.

Ingredients (for 4 servings):

•  1/4lb. (about 12 lg) cooked shrimp, tails cut off (save yourself some time and thaw frozen cooked shrimp)
• 2 1/2 cup macaroni (or pasta of your choice)
• 1 1/3 cup Bearnaise cooled to room temperature (for quickness I used the Knorr pack - with skim milk and 3 tbs butter - but if you have the time, Emeril Lagasse has a reeeeeally good recipe here)
• 3 tbs fat free plain Greek yogurt (ex. Chobani)
• 1/4 of a bell pepper chopped small
• 2 baby carrots chopped fine
• 1/4 of an onion chopped fine
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
• a quick sprinkle of chili pepper flakes, salt, pepper, Old Bay seasoning to taste

Recipe: 

1.  Boil the pasta, drain, set aside until room temperature.
2. Combine Bearnaise sauce and Greek yogurt and mix well.
3. Add the chopped bell peppers, onions, carrots, and parsley and mix well.
4. Add the spices to taste.
5. Add the shrimp and mix well.
6. Cover and refrigerate for a half hour for flavors to combine. 

Approximate Nutritional Info per Serving:

• Calories: 331
• Fat: 9.5g
• Protein: 15.5g 

Butternut Squash Macaroni and Cheese

Ugh.  It's just been one of those days.  Despite me having an insane amount of work to get done by upcoming deadlines, the lab building was locked and apparently I'm the only one who didn't get the memo.  We're hitting a serious cold front up here, and I'm surrounded by sick people.  I put a hole in my brand new shirt after I just took out the tags, the package I'm expecting got lost in the mysterious realms of USPS, and I ran out of my favorite bubble bath.

Where can someone turn in clearly dire situations like this?  The obvious answer: a classic comfort food like macaroni and cheese.  For well over a year I have tried countless mac and cheese recipes looking for the perfect one.  Unfortunately, the Kraft blue box (don't judge!) remained the undisputed champion.

Until today.

Inspiration came from a Rachel Ray recipe I saw awhile back for Pumpkin Cheddar Mac and Cheese.  I'm not crazy about pumpkin (I prefer butternut squash) and the recipe seemed a little heavy for my tastes so I set about trying to reinvent mac and cheese in a slightly healthier form while still maintaining all those things that make it so damn good.

I think this recipe was pretty close to success.  It's significantly lighter than a majority of mac and cheeses yet still WAY creamier than any healthier versions that I've tried.  This was the first time I tried something like this though so if you try this and can think of ways to improve it, help a girl out and let me know!

Butternut squashy cheesy goodness

Ingredients (for 4 servings):

• 1 tbs butter
• 1 clove of garlic (I used minced)
• 1/4 tsp of red chili flakes (this definitely gives a kick - use less or more to your liking)
• 1/2 tsp of dry mustard
• 3 or 4 fresh sage leaves roughly chopped
• 1/2 of a small onion roughly chopped
• 2 red bell peppers chopped small
• 10oz (~1.5 cups) butternut squash cut into smallish pieces (I used the pre diced)
• 1/2 tbs flour
• 1 1/8 cups skim milk (I used skim but I bet whole would take this to a whole new level)
• 1 cup shredded fat free cheddar cheese (substitute full fat if you'd like)
• 1/2 cup fat free ricotta (substitute as above)
• 1/2 cup of reduced fat blue cheese crumbles (substitute, substitute, substitute)
• 2 cups macaroni
• a scallion or 2 for garnish

Recipe:

1. Boil the macaroni until they are tender but still somewhat firm, drain, and place to the side.  The idea is that you want them cooked, but strong enough to hold their shape when mixed around in the sauce.
2. Set your oven to 375.
3. In a pot melt the butter and add the onions and just one of the bell peppers.  Sautee until the onions start to brown a bit and the peppers are tender.  
4. Next add the garlic, sage, dry mustard, and chili flakes making sure to keep mixing for a couple of minutes.
5. Add the flour and mix so everything is evenly coated.  Keep mixing until the flour starts to brown.
6. Lower the heat and SLOWLY add the milk, mixing all the while.  Bring to a simmer.
7. Add the butternut squash to the pot and simmer until the squash is fork tender.
8. Scoop the entire mix into a regular blender and puree.  
9. Scoop the mix back into its original pot over low heat.  Slowly mix in the ricotta, cheddar, and blue cheese taking care to properly melt the cheeses.
10. Before you mix in the pasta, taste test the sauce!  See if you need more cheese, salt, whatever.  Some people are iffy about blue cheese so add a little at a time until you find what works for you.
11. Combine the macaroni, sauce, and the remainder of RAW bell pepper pieces and move the whole deal into some sort of casserole dish.
12. Bake for 10-12 minutes.
13. Slice up a couple of scallions and sprinkle on top for garnish.

Approximate Nutritional Info per Serving:

• Calories:  290
• Fat: 4g
• Protein: 22g