Fathers Day Dinner

I see my dad very frequently. We typically go to lunch together almost every week. It's our time to hang out and talk. We've been doing these lunch dates ever since I started college and haven't stopped since (Even now, when I work in Conshohocken, he stays home from work to have lunch with me). I believe that my dad loves food almost as much as I do. We love to go out to new restaurants together and try new things. Food is definitely something that we connect on.

My dad embraces my passion for food. When I was younger, my dad and I would go to Wegmans and spend the whole entire afternoon perusing through the isles and looking at all of the products. My dad would patiently wait for me while I explored and got lost in all of the ingredients. I still love to go to Wegmans and walk around and explore (I'm the girl who takes hours at the grocery store). Also when I was younger, he would come home from work with special cheeses and olives from Di Bruno Brothers for me. It would always make me feel special. I know these things might sound strange to anyone but these are the special memories that I have with my father when I was growing up.

I never get the chance to cook for dad though. Typically when I see him, we go out to eat or my mom cooks, but he always asks me to cook for him. (He is also my editor for this blog and he always wants me to make the recipes that I blog about for him). Tonight since it is Father Day I told him I was going to make him a special dinner.

Since it's the summer, I decided to make a White Gazpacho as our starter. White Gazpacho is different from regular Gazpacho because it is made with grapes instead of tomatoes. My dad loves crabs so I decided to make him Crab Cakes as our entree. I paired the crab cakes with an Apple Slaw and placed it over a bed of whipped dijon and horseradish sweet potatoes.

Here is how I did it:

Crab Cakes with Dijon & Horseradish 

Whipped Sweet Potatoes and Apple Slaw

White Gazapacho: 
- 1 pounds of green grapes
- 1 large cucumber (Peel and discard the seeds)
- 1 bunch of cilantro
- 1/2 Marcona Almonds
- 3 tbs red wine vinegar
- 1 clove of garlic
- 3 tbs olive oil
- 1 lime
- 1/4 tsp hot pepper
- Salt and pepper to taste

Crab Cakes: 
- 1 pound jumbo lump crab meat
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 1/4 cup chopped red pepper
- 1 celery stalk chopped
- 1 tbs scallion
- 1 tbs chives
- 1 clove of garlic
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1/4 cup egg whites
- 1/8 tsp nutmeg
- 1/8 tsp lemon pepper
- 2 tbs dijon horseradish mustard
- 1/2 juice of a lemon
- 1 tsp salt
-1/2 tsp pepper
-1 cup panko bread crumbs

Dijon & Horseradish Whipped Sweet potatoes 

- 2 sweet potatoes

- 1/2 cup almond milk 

- 2 tbs dijon & horseradish mustard 

- Salt and pepper to taste 

Apple Slaw
- 1 small granny smith apple
- 3 cups chopped green cabbage
- 1 cup chopped red cabbage
- 3 tbs red wine vinegar
- 2 tbs dijon horseradish mustard
- 2 tbs honey
- Salt and pepper to taste

For the gazpacho, wash and take of the stems of the grapes. Peel and discard the seeds of your cucumber. Chop the cucumber in large pieces so you can easily blend in a blender. Place the grapes, cucumber, and the rest of the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. 

Serve chilled with a piece of toasted bread to dip in. 

For the crab cakes, place finely chopped onions, pepper, celery, scallion, chives and garlic in a bowl. Add the rest of the ingredients besides the panko bread crumbs and crab meat. Once the ingredients are mixed, fold in 1/2 cup of panko and the crab meat. I used jumbo lump crab meat from the store. 

Place the other 1/2 cup of panko bread crumbs in a shallow bowl to dip in once you have formed your crab cakes. You should be able to make 6 large crab cakes out of this mixture. Once you have formed the crab cakes and dipped them in the bread crumbs, place on a baking dish. Bake at 450 for 12-15 minutes until they are lightly brown. 

For the whipped sweet potatoes, Peel and boil your potatoes in salted water until they are tender. Drain and place in a bowl. Add the other ingredients and whip with a beater or mash with a fork. Add salt and pepper to taste. Place under the crab cakes. 

For the slaw, peel and dice your apple lengthwise and add them to the 4 cups of chopped cabbage. Mix the vinegar, mustard and honey in a separate bowl and pour over the slaw. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve over the crab cakes.   

My dad loved everything I made for him tonight. The gazpacho was probably one of the tastiest soups I have ever made and it was so refreshing to eat on a summer night. The crab cakes were light and delicious and was the perfect dish to serve as our entree. 

By the way, like the new dishes that I got from IKEA?? They are from the new Stockholm collection, they'll be in stores in August! I'm in love with them! 

Anne 

This post is dedicated to my Father. Thank you dad for everything that you've done for me. Words can't describe how appreciative and thankful I am to have you in my life. You have always been there to support me in all of aspirations and are always the person I go to for advice. I love you daddy.

Summer Grilling

Last night after a long day of work, I went to my friend Taylor's house to lay by the pool and do some grilling. Taylor has the perfect house to grill and entertain. Last year during the summer, she hosted a pool party with all of our friends and we spent all afternoon swimming, grilling and hanging out. We even made a gigantic slip and slide and acted like 5 year olds. We covered ourselves in soap and slipped all the way down her lawn. It was one of my favorite memories from last summer.

Yesterday was just a casual night. Taylor is leaving for Europe to study abroad at the end of the month and her brother Steve just celebrated a birthday so we all wanted to get together to grill and hang out. It was such a fun and relaxing night and we all cooked!!

Grilling is the best on a summer night when your with a bunch of people. It makes cooking fun and carefree. When I talk about grilling, I'm not talking about grilling burgers and hot dogs. I'm talking about making fresh and healthy meals on the grill. Last night we started off with a fresh brown tomato and mozzarella salad with a simple garlic and balsamic vinaigrette. I spotted the brown tomatoes at Trader Joe's and was curious to see what they tasted like. I'm glad I tried them because they were probably one of the best tomatoes that I've ever had before. They were perfectly sweet and delicious.

Our main course was not something that normally comes to mind when your thinking of grilling. Pizza. Grilled pizza is 10X better than making pizza in a oven. Of course if you have a pizza oven then you clearly have the advantage but for people with only a regular oven, I would recommend ditching the oven and grilling your pizza from now on! It is so easy.

We grilled a variety of vegetables that are in season for our pizza toppings. We grilled eggplant, zucchini, peppers and fennel. We also grilled whole tomatoes and whole cloves of garlic wrapped in foil to make homemade pizza sauce.

For the vegetables, before you place them on the grill, marinate in olive oil, salt, pepper, oregano and chili flakes. Place the tomatoes like you see in the picture above so that you don't burn them. Grill all of your vegetables and place on a dish when each piece is done. 

For the tomato sauce, take the grilled tomatoes and grilled garlic cloves and place in a bowl. To extract the garlic, unwrap the foil and squeeze out the garlic from its shell. Add salt, pepper and oregano and add a few tbs of tomato pasta. Blend until smooth. Keep tasting your sauce to see if you need more seasoning or more tomato paste. 

Once your tomato sauce and vegetables are done, roll out your pizza dough. You can either make or buy your pizza dough. We bought our dough from Trader Joe's to save time. 

Roll out the dough and place it on a pizza dish to prevent the dough from burning on the grill. Before you place it on the grill, drizzle olive oil over the dough. Grill for 5 minutes without any toppings and then add the sauce, goat cheese and vegetables. Grill for another 5-10 minutes until your crust is perfectly crispy and your sauce is bubbling. Take it off the grill and garnish with chopped basil and olive oil. 

This meal is the perfect meal to make on a summer night. It is easy and perfect for sharing. We ended our night with Taylor's delicious berries and rhubarb crumble. It was fantastic! 

This crumble had all the elements of a flawless dessert. The sweet berries contrasted so well with the tart rhubarb and the crumble topping added that extra crunch. But we couldn't forget the most important part, ice cream. French Vanilla ice cream to be exact :) Perfect end to a perfect meal! 

I didn't provide an exact recipe for this menu because it is really up to you with what you want to grill and put on your pizza. The sky's the limit!! 

Anne 

City Food Tour: Ethnic Eats

Yesterday the Marketing department at IKEA went on its annual department outing. For our outing, we got to choose from a variety of different options such as going on a scavenger hunt to doing a food tour around Philly. Of course I chose the food tour and so did the majority of my other coworkers because the food tour won.

To start, we all had to meet on Washington Ave at this Vietnamese shopping mall. I hadn't heard of any of the locations before so I didn't know what to expect. The first location where we met was a Vietnamese specialty food store and restaurant called Pho Cafe: Viet Huong. When you first walk in, you are immediately surrounded by prepared specialty foods such as Vietnamese desserts, dried meats, dried chilies, bubble tea.. The list goes on and on. In the back, there is a full restaurant where you can get authentic Vietnamese food. This is where our food tour began.

After our introduction to our food guides (the most entertaining people I've met in a while) we took our order for our first meal. Since it was a tour, we already knew what we were getting to eat but we could moderate our order depending if we had food allergies or didn't eat some of the ingredients in the dishes. For our first stop we had roasted pork Banh Mi and a crispy spring roll. We had the option to replace the pork with tofu if we wanted. I don't eat pork very often but I told myself that I was going to get the Banh Mi the way it's supposed to be made. I made the right decision. 

Banh Mi is a Vietnamese term for bread and is typically made with baguette. When you think of Vietnamese food and baguette, your probably are like "that isn't authentic Vietnamese food, that's French food". Well the baguette was actually introduced to the Vietnamese by the French during its Colonial period and they adopted it in their cuisine. They do however use rice flour in the baguette to make it lighter and crispier than the French baguette. 

Our Banh Mi was filled with roasted pork and typical Vietnamese ingredients like cilantro, pickled carrots, cucumber and chili pepper. It was absolutely amazing! The ingredients were so fresh and crisp and the bread was perfectly light and airy. It had the perfect amount of heat and I felt like I was eating something healthy because all of the ingredients were fresh. 

For our second stop, we went to a Thai restaurant. I love Thai food. There are plenty of vegetarian options with a ton of heat and flavor. They also use coconut milk in a lot of their dishes which I am a huge fan of. For our meal, we got to try three authentic Thai appetizers. 

The first appetizer we tried was Tom Som which is a Thai Green Papaya salad. The salad is made with shredded unripe papaya with lime, chili, fish sauce, palm oil and peanuts. When you think of Papaya, you typically think it's sweet but since the papaya is unripe in this dish, it tastes more like a vegetable and it so delicious! I could eat this salad every day. 

The other two appetizers were fried tofu with a peanut satay sauce and corn fritters. I didn't know that the Thai used corn in their cuisine because I have never seen it in any dish before. The corn fritters were delicious though and I definitely am going to copy the recipe and make it for myself in the future. 

After eating all of this food, we got to take a little break and go to an Asian supermarket. I literally almost started hyperventilating when I walked into the supermarket because of how excited I was. All of the foods that I love were right in front of me and everything was so cheap!!!!!! They had all sorts of fruits and vegetables that I haven't even heard of before and rice and noodles to last a life time! I already know that I am going back there to go grocery shopping. I could literally spend an entire afternoon in that supermarket exploring. 

Our final stop for our food tour was a Mexican Restaurant. I like Mexican food but I don't eat it that often because it is typically heavy and I don't crave foods like rice, beans and a lot of meat that often. I do love salsa and guacamole though but not the main meat dishes that much. We got to try the Tacos at this restaurant. I don't eat red meat so I got the vegetarian option which had rice, beans and some queso fresco which is a Mexican cheese. The taco was made with a corn tortilla. I really enjoyed the tacos, the corn tortilla was my favorite part, they were so soft and sweet and definitely tasted like they were made on the spot. 

To end our meal at the Mexican Restaurant, we had Flan. I am used to eating crème caramel which is French flan. Mexican flan is different than crème caramel; it is much thicker and is made almost entirely out of caramelized condensed milk where as crème caramel is made with whole milk, heavy cream and eggs. I really enjoyed the Mexican flan. I actually prefer the texture of Mexican flan over French flan. 

By the end of the food tour I was pleasantly full and excited about all of the places that I had been. City Food Tour has other tours besides Ethnic food. They have beer and cheese, beer and chocolate, taste of Philly and much more. Its a perfect activity to do as a date or as a gift. I definitely want to do more of the tours! Here is a link to their website: City Food Tours. 

Anne 

Spinach and Turkey Meatballs with Chunky Tomato Sauce

This recipe is inspired by one of my best friends Jenna. Jenna is my twin. We work out together, we cook together and most importantly, we eat together. Jenna is alway the one to show me a new work out routine or a new diet trend and she always keeps me motivated to work out harder and improve myself. I can always count on her for advice and the honest truth.

Whenever I want to make a meal, I always call Jenna to come over and eat with me and try my recipes. We typically like to work out together and then stuff our face with delicious home cooked meals (good/bad). She also loves to cook. A lot of the recipes that I make are inspired by her own recipes. It is so great to have a friend that accepts the passion that I have for food and actually "gets it". 

Last week I went over to Jenna's house to have dinner with her and her mom and she made the most amazing greek turkey burgers with homemade tzazki sauce and sweet potato fries (right up my alley). I couldn't keep my fork down because it was so delicious and flavorful. I kept on telling her that I was going to copy the recipe and blog about it. 

Tonight I had a family dinner with my roommates and decided that I was going to make a version of her turkey burgers. Instead of making burgers though, I made meatballs and changed the recipe to make it more of my style. The meatballs were so flavorful and moist and everyone cleared their plates (Always a good sign). It was a success! 

Here is how I did it:

Spinach and Turkey Meatballs with Chunky Tomato Sauce 

Spinach and Turkey Meatballs:
- 1 package of frozen spinach (defrosted)
- 1/2 large onion (grated)
- 1.5 pound lean ground turkey
- 1 cup panko bread crumbs
- 2 tbs almond milk
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1 tsp parsley
- 1/2 tsp chili flakes
- 4 tbs olive oil

Chunky Tomato Sauce:
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 1 tbs chopped garlic
- 1 1/2 cans of diced tomato
- 1 1/2 tbs tomato paste
-1/4 tsp chili flakes
- 1 tsp oregano
- 2 tbs almond milk
- 2 tbs olive oil
- 1/4 cup coarsely chopped black olives

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a bowl, combine defrosted spinach (drain the excess water out with a paper towel), grated onion, turkey, and the rest of the ingredients besides the olive oil. Once your ingredients are mixed, spoon the meatball mixture into 2 inch balls and place on a baking sheet.

When your meatballs are made, heat a large skillet up with 2 tbs of olive oil and sear half of your meatballs. Make sure you sear the meatballs on each side so you get color on each side. Use the rest of the olive oil to sear the other half of your meatballs.

Place your seared meatballs on a baking dish and bake for 10 minutes until the center is fully cooked. Let them rest while you make your sauce.

For the sauce, chop up onion and garlic and sauté in 2 tbs of olive oil. Add the diced tomato, tomato paste, chili flakes, salt, pepper and oregano. Cook for 5-7 minutes until your sauce has reduced a little. Take it off the heat and add almond milk and black olives.

Bring a large pot of water to a boil with salt and olive oil and cook whatever type of pasta you would like. I made whole wheat pasta but you can use regular angel hair pasta or gluten free pasta. If you don't want pasta, make spaghetti squash.

I garnished the dish with some parmesan cheese and fresh basil. I believe that it is important to make your dish as bright and colorful as possible. It makes the meal a little bit more special.

Here is a picture of Jenna and me at the Philadelphia Marathon Expo this past November. I ran the full and she ran the half (both our first times). This dish would have been the perfect meal to make the night before the race! CARBO LOAD! 

Anne 

Mussels with Fennel and White Wine with Garlic Rye Bread

I went on a field trip today.... to Whole Foods!!! I love Whole Foods so much, I feel like a kid in a candy store when I'm there. The food is gorgeous, the people are nice, and there is a hot food bar.. What more can you ask for? Today I went with a few of my friends and I literally spent two hours there (kind of excessive). While I was perusing the isles, I walked by the seafood market and was immediately drawn to the mussels.

I have a sick obsession with mussels. When I go to France to see my family, we have mussels at least one night of the week. They are the perfect meal for a summer night and you can make them in so many different ways. Plus, they are the easiest thing to make. Typically in France, we have mussels with french fries (moules frites). The french fries soak up the broth from the mussels and it is absolutely mouth watering.

I decided to make mussels with fennel and white wine because it is refreshing and light. I was pressured not to make French Fries because I was surrounded by all the Whole Foods health nuts so I purchased Rye bread to go along side the mussels.

This dish is perfect for any night of the week. If you want something light you can just have the mussels or if you want something heartier you can have it over pasta. It's up to you!

Here is how I did it:

Mussels with Fennel and White Wine

 with Garlic Rye Bread 

Ingredients:
-3 Pounds of Mussels
-3/4 cup white wine
-2 small fennel bulbs
- 1/2 onion
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 4 tbs olive oil
- 1/2 tsp chili flakes
- Salt and pepper
- 3 Pieces of rye bread
- 5 tbs chopped cilantro

Place a large pot on the stove. Add 3 1/2 tbs of olive oil. Chop onion and sauté in the olive oil. Chop up your garlic and add it to the onions. Season with salt and pepper and chili flakes. For the fennel, cut the bulb of the fennel in half and then slice thinly lengthwise. Add to the onions and cook until the fennel is tender.

For the mussels, make sure that you either buy the mussels already washed and de-bearded or you do it yourself. I bought mine already prepped and just made sure to rewash them when I got home and check for any open ones. Once they are washed, add them to the fennel and add your white wine. Cover your mussels and cook for around 3-5 minutes or until your mussels are open.

While your mussels are cooking, turn the oven on to broil. Place three pieces of rye bread on a baking dish, sprinkle with the remaining olive oil and salt. Broil for 2 minute until the bread is toasted. Cut a piece of garlic and rub it on your bread once you have taken it out of the oven.

When your mussels are open, sprinkle chopped cilantro and serve!

Anne 

Sweet Potato and Chickpea Patties with Tahini Slaw

One thing that confuses me about vegetarians is that they refuse to eat meat but will eat soy products that taste like beef, chicken and other meats. I am always so confused when I go to the grocery store and I see tofurky, vegan chicken, or seitan that resembles steak. I eat chicken, turkey and fish but typically don't eat any other meat because of taste preferences and for health purposes.

I stopped eating red meat in high school because I didn't like the taste anymore. Literally one day after swim practice my mom made me a steak and I physically couldn't bring myself to eat it.  Ever since then I stopped eating red meat and haven't missed it at all. This is why when I see vegetarian and vegan products that mock actual meat, it doesn't make sense to me why vegetarians and vegans would crave that taste.

Maybe it's just me but when I want to eat a veggie burger, I want actual vegetables in it and it should taste like vegetables. Not some fake beef tasting "veggie burger". I decided to make a veggie patty that is filling like a regular burger, but doesn't taste like a burger at all.

Here is how I did it:

Sweet Potato and Chickpea Patties with Tahini Slaw 

Sweet Potato and Chickpea Patties
- 1 medium sweet potato
- 1 tbs olive oil
- 1 medium onion finely chopped
- 1 tsp chopped garlic
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1/4 tsp chili flakes
- 1 can of chickpea (drained)
- 1/2 cup Panko bread crumbs
- 1/2 whole wheat flour plus 3 Tbs for dipping
- 1/4 cup egg white
- Salt and pepper

Tahini Slaw
- 1 1/2 cups cabbage
- 1/4 cup tahini paste
- 1 juice of a lemon
- 2 tbs chopped basil
- Salt and pepper

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Place your sweet potato, skin on in the oven and bake for 40 minutes. Let the sweet potato cool completely. Peel the skin off the sweet potato and set to the side.

Heat a skillet with olive oil. Sauté onions, garlic, cumin, paprika and chili flakes. Add salt and pepper to taste and set to the side.

In a blender or food processor, add sweet potato, chickpea and onion mixture. Pulse the mixture until slightly chunky but also smooth. Spoon the filling out into a bowl. Add Panko, whole wheat flour and egg white and mix until everything is incorporated. Place the mixture in the fridge and let it sit for 30 minutes. 

Spray a baking pan with non stick spay. Spoon out 1/2 cup of the sweet potato and chickpea mixture and form it into a patty. Dip the mixture in some whole wheat flour that you set aside to keep its form. Place the patties on a baking sheet and bake for 30-40 minutes at 350 degrees. Flip the patties half way through to get it crisp on both sides. 

For the slaw, mix cabbage with tahini paste, lemon juice, basil and salt and pepper. Let it set for 1-2 hours before serving. 

Once the patties are done and the slaw has set, put a patty on top of a bun or salad like I did and add the slaw on top. I sprinkled some toasted sesame seeds for some extra crunch and for presentation. 

These patties are great to serve as an alternative to your regular beef or turkey burger. If you don't like tahini you can always replace it with greek yogurt or if you prefer typical cole slaw, you can use mayonnaise (I can't stand mayo). I definitely recommend you add some type of slaw or salsa to pair with these patties to add an extra layer of flavor.

Enjoy!

Anne

Baked Coconut Shrimp with Mango Salsa

Since Cinco De Mayo is this weekend, I decided to make one of my favorite salsas. I love salsas because they are so simple to make and they are great to share. They are also super healthy for you which I love. I have been making this salsa for a couple of years now and it is definitely a crowd pleaser. As I mention a lot in my blog, I love the combination of sweet and salty. The mango pairs so perfectly in this dip because it adds the perfect texture and just enough sweetness. You can make this for dipping purposes or add it as a side to your main dish. I decided to make coconut shrimp to pair with this dish because mango and coconut go so well together. If you don't like shrimp, you can use chicken and if you are a vegetarian, you can make a killer coconut rice dish.

Here is how I did it:

Baked Coconut Shrimp with Mango Salsa

Baked Coconut Shrimp: 
- 1/2 unsweetened coconut flakes
- 1/3 cup panko bread crumbs
- 3 tbs whole wheat flour
- 2 egg whites
- 2 dashes of hot sauce
- 1 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined
- Salt and pepper

Mango Salsa: 
- 2 mangos peeled and diced
- 1 red pepper diced
- 1/2 cup diced red onion
- Juice of 1 lime
- 2 tbs cilantro
- 1 hot pepper (add more or less depending on how hot you want it)
- Salt and Pepper

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees. In a shallow bowl, combine coconut, panko and whole wheat flour. In a separate bowl, add the egg whites and hot sauce and beat until frothy. Season the shrimp with salt and pepper. Add the shrimp to the egg whites and then place in the coconut mixture. Once the shrimp are coated, place on a baking dish and bake for 8-10 minutes until shrimp or fully cooked and the coating is toasted.

For the salsa, dice the mango, red pepper and red onion into small pieces like you would see for regular salsa. Add the juice of 1 lime. Finely chop cilantro and hot pepper and add to the other ingredients. Season with salt and pepper.

The longer you let your salsa set, the more the flavors develop.

Anne