Menu Plan Monday- April 18, 2011

Last week:

I tried two new recipes.

The Sweet Potato & Caramelized Onion Quesadillas were really really good. I didn't think they were going to be gross but I wasn't expecting to enjoy them as much as I did!! Definitely a keeper.

The Almond Crusted Salmon was also good. It calls for honey mustard but I think it would be yummy to try other varieties instead and see what other flavor combinations you could come up with.

This Week:

Spicy Bean Burritos and Cilantro Lime Rice

Thai Salmon with Cucumber and Dipping Sauce

Potato, Green Bean, & Tuna Salad

Spinach, Ground Beef & Eggs

Gluten Free Carrot Pineapple Cake

With my abundance of carrots, I've been experimenting a little bit and trying some new things. I started with Nigella's Venitian Carrot Cake recipe and took some creative liberties with it. It uses almond flour instead of wheat flour so it's a more dense "cake" than what you'd normally think of when you think carrot cake. This also means it's gluten free!

For the cake:

1/2 cup olive oil (not extra-virgin)
2 cups grated carrots
1/2 cup golden rasins
1 cup chopped fresh pineapple (I don't know why canned wouldn't work but I used fresh)
1/4 cup pineapple juice
1/2 cup sugar or sweetner of your choice
1 tsp vanilla
3 eggs
2 1/2 cups almond flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
Zest and juice of 1 lemon

You'll also need a 9" springform pan.

Mix the raisins with the pineapple and pineapple juice and let them soak while you work on other things.

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Line the base of your springform with parchment paper or grease it really well.

Pat the carrots dry with a towel to blot up excess moisture.

Whisk the sugar and olive oil together. Whisk in the vanilla and eggs. Fold in the ground almonds, carrots, raisin pineapple mix, cinnamon, nutmeg, and the lemon zest and juice.

Pour the batter into the springform pan and smooth the top the best you can. It will be rather thin, probably only an inch or so high in the pan.

Bake for 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick in the middle comes out mostly clean. It was done in my oven at about 34 minutes, so just keep your eye on it.

Let cool for about 15 minutes on a rack before you pop the sides off the springform.

For the topping:
250 grams (about 1 cup) Mascarpone
1 tbsp powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla

Mix together well and spread over the top of the cake.

*****

Be sure to swing by and visit Balancing Beauty and Bedlam for more Tasty Tuesday recipes!

Menu Plan Monday- April 11, 2011

Last week:

Okay, so I made burritos with black beans and sweet potatoes and I didn't use a recipe. Maybe that was my downfall... they weren't bad but there was something off about them and I didn't enjoy them nearly as much as I hoped I would. Oh well, it was worth a try!

The Polenta "Pizza" with Spinach and Bacon got four thumbs up but we both thought you could probably decrease the amount of polenta for a slightly thinner less dense "crust." It was really really good though. I highly recommend it!

The Stroganoff Skillet Dinner was tasty too, and pretty quick to put together.

This Week:

Sweet Potato & Caramelized Onion Quesdadillas - Meatless meal for this week... I know sweet potatoes have got to be good for more than just sweet potato fries and eating plain with sugar and butter and cinnamon!

Chopped Salad with Fried Garbanzo Beans- I liked this last time I made it but I think I might roast the chickpeas in the oven this time instead of frying them.

Almond Crusted Salmon- Salmony goodness, what more needs to be said?

Smoked Salmon BLT- Once I got having salmon into my head I had to make these too.

Somewhere in all of this I'm going to be making MORE with carrots. I have a wild abundance of them... I'm still open to recipe ideas.

What yummy things are you eating this week?

Carrot Salad with a Kick

Since the last slaw recipe I made was such a hit at the North American Women's Club meeting, I decided to try out another one this month. The fact that I have a giant box full of carrots also influenced the decision. I really like the sweet chili sauce in this. It gives it an extra spicy kick without it being burn your face off hot!

Ingredients:

4 carrots, grated or julienned
1 small head (or half of a larger head) of cabbage, shredded
15 grams fresh cilantro, stemmed and chopped
Handful of peanuts, chopped and toasted

Dressing
2 limes, zest of 1 and juice of both
1 inch fresh ginger, grated finely
2 tbsp sweet chili sauce
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
1-2 tbsp sugar or sweetner (mix everything together first and add until it's sweet enough for your tastes)

Mix together the carrots, cabbage, and cilantro. Whisk together the dressing ingredients and pour over the carrot mix. Sprinkle the peanuts on before serving.

Enjoy!

*****

Be sure to swing by and visit Balancing Beauty and Bedlam for more Tasty Tuesday recipes!

Menu Plan Monday- April 4, 2011

Last Week:

The Chicken Chimichangas were alright. I might keep looking for a REALLY good recipe.

The plan was to have Martijn make the Greek Lamb Kofta with Lemony Rice but he got held up at work so I did most of the prep work for him. I didn't mind though cause they were GOOOOOOOOOOOD!

I also made Pop-Up Pizza Pie but I wasn't wildly excited about it. I think if I want pizza I'll just have pizza!

This week:

Black Bean Sweet Potato uh... Somethings- I've seen several recipes around for black bean and sweet potato burritos. So I'm putting my spin on them and making tortilla bowls to put the fillings in. I hope they're good!

Polenta "Pizza" With Spinach & Bacon- More experiments with polenta! This time with slightly less bacon grease than in the previous attempts.

Beef Stroganoff Hamburger Dinner in a Skillet- Sometimes I wonder if Food Network chefs get paid by the number of words they can cram into a recipe's title.

Melt Sandwiches and Carrot Soup


My mother in law bought 20 kilos of carrots (that's 44 POUNDS) and shared some of her bounty with me so most side dishes and meals are going to have carrots somehow incorporated into them even if they're not listed in the ingredients of the recipe! Do you have a favorite carrot recipe? Please share!