Carrot Apple Latkes

So I ran across this recipe on pinterest (gah, so hooked on it, it's like phonics!) and thought that it might make for an interesting change of pace.

Ingredients

1/2 medium sweet, crisp apple, unpeeled, cored, shredded
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
2 medium-large carrots, shredded
1 small onion, thinly sliced into half-moons
2 large cloves garlic, grated
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 pinch ground cinnamon
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
Oil, for shallow frying
Sour cream, for serving
Minced chives, for serving

Directions

1. Shred apple and immediately toss together with the lemon juice in a medium bowl. Stir in carrot, onion, garlic, salt, black pepper, ginger, and cinnamon, then stir in the egg. Stir in the flour just until incorporated, being careful not to over-mix.

2. Preheat a large skillet over medium-high heat; add enough oil to generously coat the bottom.

3. Once the oil is hot, use a 1 1/2 tbsp scoop to measure the batter into the oil, being careful not to overcrowd the skillet. Cook the latkes until golden on both sides, about 2-4 minutes per side, flipping once (You can adjust the heat down as necessary so the latkes don't cook too quickly).

4. Transfer the cooked latkes to a paper towel-lined plate to drain excess oil, and cook the rest of the batter the same way. Should result in 16-18 latkes. Serve hot with minced fresh chives sprinkled on top, along with sour cream.

Source: http://www.anediblemosaic.com/?p=10450&cpage=1

Comments

1. Using a whole onion (even though it was small) I think overpowered the carrot and apple tastes to the point where the recipe should have been called "Onion Carrot Apple Latkes." I think it would be better to use half onion and use more carrot and apple.

2. The carrot and apple give off water which collects in the bottom of the bowl. Except after completing the batter, it tends to mix with the egg, which is needed for the whole thing to stick together, so you have to dip into the watery-juicey-eggy stuff if you want any semblance of the thing sticking together. So while the original recipe says not to add more flour, I'm thinking that some might be necessary...

LAST MADE: Tonight.
RESULT: Meh. I'm not too crazy about them, but it was an interesting experiment.
INJURIES: Scratch on the back of my wrist from the spice cabinet. A mild ouch!
FOR NEXT TIME: Not sure if there'll be a next time, but definitely a bit more flour, and less onion. Possibly let the apple and drain dry out a little before attempting to cook with them.

Collection of Chicken Recipes

So I bought a whole bunch of chicken breasts yesterday and want to do something more with them than just throwing them in a pan to fry. Hence a collection of various, simple chicken recipes. I think I'm going to try to combine some of these and update with my completed recipe after I cook it and see how it is.

Chicken with Rosemary Sauce

Ingredients

1 tsp olive oil
4 (4 oz) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/2 c chopped green onions
1/4 c dry white wine
1 tsp minced fresh rosemary
1/2 c fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1/2 c half-and-half

Directions

Heat olive oil in large nonstick skillet. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. Add chicken to pan; cook 3 minutes on each side. Add green onions, wine, rosmary; cook 30 seconds. Stir in broth; cook 2 minutes. Add half-and-half; cook 2 minutes.

Source: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/chicken-with-rosemary-sauce-10000000491533/

Lemon Grilled Chicken

Ingredients

3 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
7 (6 oz) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 black pepper
Cooking spray

Directions

1. Prepare grill to medium-high heat.

2. Combine first 4 ingredients in a large zip top plastic bag; seal. Marinate in refrigerator 30 minutes, turning occasionally. Remove chicken from bag; discard marinade. Sprinkle chicken evenly with salt and pepper.

3. Place chicken on grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 6 minutes on each side or until done.

Source: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/lemon-grilled-chicken-breasts-10000001823354/

Chicken Strips with Blue Cheese Dressing

Ingredients

Chicken:
1/2 c low-fat buttermilk
1/2 tsp hot sauce
1/2 c all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp ground red pepper
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1 lb. chicken breast tenders
1 tbsp canola oil

Dressing:
1/2 c fat-free mayonnaise
1/4 c (1 oz) crumbled blue cheese
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tsp bottled minced garlic
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Directions

To prepare chicken, combine buttermilk and hot sauce in a shallow dish. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with knife. Combine flour and paprika, red pepper, black pepper, and salt in a shallow dish. Dip chicken in buttermilk mixture, and dredge chicken in flour mixture.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook 4 minutes on each side or until done. Remove from pan. Set aside, and keep warm.

While chicken cooks, prepare dressing. Combine all ingredients in a small bowl. Serve with chicken strips.

Source: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/chicken-strips-with-blue-cheese-dressing-10000001054899/

Chicken Shawarma

Ingredients

Chicken:
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp curry powder
2 tsp olive oil
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cumin
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 lb. skinless chicken breast, cut into 16 (3 inch) strips

Sauce:
1/2 c plain 2% reduced-fat Greek yogurt
2 tbsp tahini
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp salt
1 garlic clove, minced

Other:
Cooking spray
4 (6 inch) pitas
1 c chopped romaine lettuce
8 (1/4-inch-thick) tomato slices

Directions

1. Prepare grill to medium-heat heat.

2. To prepare chicken, combine first 6 ingredients in a medium bowl. Add chicken to bowl; toss well to coat. Let stand at room temperature for 20 minutes.

3. To prepare sauce, combine yogurt and next 4 ingredients, stirring with a whisk.

4. Thread 2 chicken strips onto each of 8 (12-inch) skewers. Place kebabs on a grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 4 minutes on each side or until done.

5. Place pitas on grill rack; grill 1 minute on each side or until lightly toasted. Place 1 pita on each of 4 plates; top each serving with 1/4 c lettuce and 2 tomato slices. Top each serving with 4 chicken pieces; drizzle each serving with 2 tbs sauce.

Source: http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/chicken-shawarma-10000001816368/

Apple-Cinnamon Pull-Apart Bread

Or: How I attempted to make a healthy dessert and sort of failed.

But, I have to say, this recipe is surprisingly good. It's not too sweet, and it does have some actual fruit in it (I cut it up and everything!), so we can pretend it's healthy. Onwards to the recipe!

Ingredients

For bread:
1 package Pillsbury Grands Southern Style Biscuits (8 biscuits)
4 tsp granulated sugar
1 1/2 - 2 tbsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp orange peel
1 1/2 medium apples, cored and thinly sliced

For bread sauce:
4 tbsp packed brown sugar
4 tbsp orange juice
2 tbsp butter

For icing:
4 oz reduced-fat cream cheese (Neufchatel), softened
4 tsp orange juice
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp granulated sugar

Directions

1. Coat two 8x4x2-inch loaf pans with cooking spray; set aside. Cut biscuits in half crosswise. In a small bowl combine sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and orange peel. Roll biscuits in mixture to coat. Alternatively arrange biscuit halves and apple slices in prepared loaf pans. Note: 6 halves fit in each pan (so there will be 2 whole biscuits left over), at least the way I did it. The pattern goes: BaBaBaBaBaB, where B = biscuit and a = several apple slices. I think that a more "braided" arrangement in the pan would be more aesthetically pleasing. Perhaps cutting the biscuits into quarters might help with getting a better arrangement.

2. Preheat oven to 350F. While that heats, in a small saucepan combine brown sugar, orange juice, and butter for the bread sauce. Cook and stir over medium-high heat until boiling. Pour mixture over biscuits.Obviously half goes in each pan.

3. Bake about 25 minutes or until edges are golden and biscuits near center are done. The two biscuits not used in the bread can be cooked as well, but they only need 13-17 minutes, so take them out early, or put them in later. My bread took an additional two minutes to bake and I used a toothpick to check if they were still doughy.

4. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 5 minutes. While this is cooling, make the icing. In a small bowl, whisk together the melted cream cheese, orange juice, vanilla, and sugar. And by whisk, I mean use a spoon to stir it together. But make sure to add the liquid to the cream cheese carefully, as cream cheese can be temperamental (especially if you don't melt it enough. So melt the bitch! Melt the crap out of it!). Drizzle on the bread. Again, obviously half goes on each loaf. Drizzling the icing is difficult, as it isn't really a liquid consistency. I ended up just spooning globs onto the top and spreading it around so it evenly coated the whole top of the bread.

5. Eat!

Comments

Since making and assembling this didn't turn out to be that hard, I'm thinking that it could be made healthier by actually making the biscuit dough (I'm sure there's a healthy biscuit recipe out there somewhere).

LAST MADE: Tonight.
INJURIES: None. Unless you count slight hot hands from washing the pans after I was done using them...
RESULT: Delight!
FOR NEXT TIME: Try the braiding or some sort of layering method to get it more together. And make the biscuits my damn self!

Btw, I adapted the recipe from the one found here: http://www.bhg.com/recipe/apple-cinnamon-pull-apart-bread/

EDIT 

I was actually able to use this handy-dandy program and it figured out some of the nutrition for me! Go internets! It's not actually too terribly bad for you. Mind, this recipe makes 12 servings. 1 serving nutrition is as follows:

Calories: 169

Carbs: 23

Fat: 8

Protein: 2

Sodium: 332

Sugar: 11