Eggs Benedict & Eggs Florentine

So This One is not really that Healthy, but sometime you just have to give in and live a little!  I have tried several different ways to make Hollandaise sauce and I wont lie, I don't really have a set recipe i kind of throw it together every time, so I apologize if it is a little strange you just have to experiment until you like the consistency, if you like it thicker, add more egg yolk, if you like it richer add more butter, etc.  

This is enough for two people

Each person gets one English muffin but you put one egg on half so you end up woth two halves per person.

Eggs Benedict:

Two whole wheat English muffins

Two slices of Canadian Bacon

4 Eggs

For the sauce:

2 egg yolks

½ stick butter or butter alternative

Salt & pepper

Lemon juice

Toast the English muffins.  Heat the Canadian bacon in a skillet and place on top of the English muffin.  Poach the eggs and place on top of the Canadian bacon.  To make the sauce, in a double boiler, quickly whisk the egg yolks and lemon juice and slowly pour in melted butter careful that the eggs don’t get too hot or the will cook!  Add  a bit of salt and pepper, pour over the eggs on the English muffins and serve!

Eggs Florentine:

Two whole wheat English muffins

1 cup cooked spinach

½ tsp minced garlic

2-3 Tbsp  cream cheese

Onion powder (optional)

4 Eggs

For the sauce:

2 egg yolks

½ stick butter or butter alternative

Salt & pepper

Lemon juice

In a small sauce pan add garlic the spinach the cream cheese and the onion powder if using.  Sautee until fragrant and cheese is melted.  Toast the English muffins.  Place creamed spinach on top of the English muffin.  Poach the eggs and place on top of the Canadian bacon.  To make the sauce, in a double boiler, quickly whisk the egg yolks and lemon juice and slowly pour in melted butter careful that the eggs don’t get too hot or the will cook!  Add  a bit of salt and pepper, pour over the eggs on the English muffins and serve!

Kale Asparagus Tart with Herb Crust

Kale Asparagus Tart with Herb Crust

I know for some people it can be intimidating to make their own crust, but tart crust is really the easiest thing to make once you get it down.  I hope my instructions are easy to follow!  Now for the next few days ill be posting a lot of egg recipes because there was a little mix up with the grocery list and my boyfriend and i both went shopping and we ended up with about 30 eggs in our fridge.  So i hope you all like eggs!!  This is a very tasty dish, i love Quiche and think it is even better with the tart crust!  i have a few pic, i know im getting better at the picture thing!  

For the Crust:

1 Bunch Basil

1 Stock Rosemary

3-6 leaves Sage

1 Clove Garlic

2 Cups Flour

¼ stick cold butter cut into cubes

1/8 – ¼ Cup Cold Water

For the Filling:

1 Cup Greek Yogurt

3 Eggs

1 Cup Shredded Swiss cheese

1 Yellow Onion

1 Stock Green Onion Chopped

1-2 leaves Kale, chopped

Salt & Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 F.  In a food processor add in the herbs and Garlic pulse a few times.  Add in flour and pulse more to combine.  Turn processor on and slowly add in butter one cube at a time, stop and feel to see if it holds together when pinched.  If not add a little more butter, if it does, while running, add slowly in the water.  Press into the bottom and up the sides of a nonstick tart pan with a removable bottom.  Poke holes in the bottom of the crust to create vent holes and bake for about 10-15 mins.  Remove and cool on wire rack until ready to fill. 

Cut the Asparagus into about 1 inch strips and place in a bowl with a chopped yellow onion.  Heat a table spoon of olive oil in a pan and cook vegetables until soft.  Remove from pan and place kale in pan and cook until it wilts.  Place wilted kale on bottom of tart crust. Meanwhile chop up the green onion and place it in a medium bowl. 
Add three eggs and whisk them with the onion.  Add in the asparagus and onion and add Greek yogurt.  Add salt and pepper to taste and add in ½ cup Swiss cheese.  Mix to combine.  Pour into tart crust and spread around evenly.

  (I added some cherry tomatoes on the top of mine here) and top with remaining Swiss cheese.  Bake covered for about 20 mins.  Remove cover and bake another 20 mins.  Enjoy!

Butternut Squash Wild Rice Stuffed Peppers

I Love Fall!! Esp for the food and the flavors, my favorite are all the things you can do with squash!  I apologize i forgot to take a picture until i was eating the last one for lunch the next day so if my pic doesnt look that great i apologize, but i promise they taste amazing!

Butternut Squash Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients:

3 Red Peppers

1 Cup Wild Rice

½ Cup Crumbled Feta

1 Cup Cooked Spinach

2 Cup Butternut Squash, chopped into small ½ inch cubes

1 Summer Squash chopped

1 Can Diced Tomatoes

1 Bunch Basil

1/3 Tsp Minced Garlic

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Note:

It is best to use left over rice for this but if you do not have any you can make it fresh before starting anything else!

Place squash on baking sheet spaced out and spray with olive oil.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Bake only to make slightly tender about 20 minutes.  Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Cut peppers in half, length wise and de-seed.  Place sitting upright in baking dish. 

In a medium bowl, add the rice and squash.  Over a small bowl squeeze the spinach to get out any extra water, especially if you are using thawed frozen spinach.  Place spinach in medium bowl with rice and squash.  Then open can of tomatoes and pour the tomato juice into the small bowl with the spinach water, add the tomatoes to the medium bowl.  Add half the feta and add the butternut squash and mix well to combine.  Add salt and Pepper to taste.

Stuff the peppers with the filling mixture and top with the extra feta.  Pour the tomato and spinach juice into the bottom of the pan to help steam and keep the peppers from drying out. 

Cover with Aluminum Foil and bake for about 40 mins.  Remove foil and bake for another 5-10 minutes, depending on how melted you like the cheese and how hot your oven gets.   Enjoy!

Turkey bacon wrapped sea scallops

This is an easy and quick appetizer to make and is delicious!  

Ingredients

Turkey bacon

Sea scallops

Lemon pepper

Salt

Garlic

Olive oil

Instructions 

Soak tooth picks in water.  Fold the turkey bacon in half length wise and  wrap around  the sea scallops.  In a small bowl combine olive oil garlic and a small amount of salt.  Pour over scallops and top with the pepper.  Broil on high with the pan towards the bottom of the oven. Leave in oven for about 5-7 mins based on the heat of your oven.  

Berry pie

Today I decided to bake a pie.  I bake all the time but I have only ever made one pie before and it was pecan pie so It was kind of different than most pies.  So I was craving strawberry rhubarb and I went to publix and they didn't have rhubarb... I guess it's not Abailable down here in the summer. So I thought I'd just make a mixed berry pie!  Here's what I did!

It would probably be better with home made crust but I was feeling kind of lazy ;-)

Ingredients

Pre made pie crust

Strawberry a (2boxes)

Raspberrys 1 box

Blueberries 1 box

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup flour 

Instructions:

Slice strawberries and mix in bowl w blueberries and raspberries add sugar and flour and mix well.  Unfold one of the pie crusts and place carefully into a greased pie pan.  Pour berries into pie crust.  Make lattice on wax paper then transfer on top of pie.  Brush with an egg and top with sprinkled sugar.  Bake 375 covered for 25 mins.  Remove foil cover and bake for about 40 mins more. 

Caprese Roasted Tomatoes

I was really in the mood for something refreshing but I was also kind of craving comfort food.  (my comfort food is tomato soup!)  So I decided to bake the tomatoes to give a little bit of both!  They are soo good.  You can serve them as a main dish with a salad, or as a side.  Either way, they are my new favorite dish! I apologize about the picture.  I keep forgetting to take pictures after i make a dish, so this one is just the last one the next day.  But it was still delicious! 

Caprese Baked Tomatoes

Makes 4

Ingredients

2 Large Tomatoes

½ C Fresh Mozzarella, finely chopped or shredded

1/3 C Fresh Basil, chopped

1/3 C Fresh Grated Parmesan

White Tarragon Vinegar

Olive Oil

Directions

Cut tomatoes in half width wise, so you have a top and bottom half.  Carefully cut out center of tomato leaving enough room for at least ½” of ‘shell’.  Dice up tomato parts that have been removed and put in bowl.  Add mozzarella and basil to bowl and mix around.  Drizzle in some vinegar salt and pepper, then stuff the tomato shells with the mixture.  Top with Parmesan, and drizzle olive oil over top.  Bake at 400 for about 20 mins, then increase temp to 450 and bake another 10 mins.  Make sure the cheese doesn't start to burn.  If it is getting too brown take out and top with tin foil. 

White Asparagus and Mushroom Tart

So i bought this new rectangular tart pan and I'm obsessed with it!  I've been making everything with it!  So i wanted to use it to make a quiche but i couldn't find any recipes for a non round pan.  So i decided to invent something my self!  I served it at my house last night while i was hosting girls' night and everyone loved it!  i hope you do too!  (i promise i'll add a pic soon...im having camera trouble!)

White Asparagus Mushroom Tart

Ingredients:
Crust:
1/3 a stick of butter cold
A hand full of Basil Leaves
1 Tbs Garlic
1 1/4 C Flour

Filling:
1 C Greek Yogurt
3 Eggs
8-10 Stalks White Asparagus, cut into bite size pieces
3 oz White Oyster Mushrooms, sliced

Topping:
1/3 C Monterrey Jack Cheese, shredded



For the Crust:
take a hand full of basil leaves and dump them into a food processor.  Then take about a tablespoon of garlic and throw it in. Pulse until well minced.  Then add flour and pulse to combine.  With the food processor running slowly drop in little squares of butter until small peas start to form, (about 1/3 of a stick).  make sure dough will stick together when pinched with fingers.  Grease a tart pan, and press dough onto bottom and up the sides.  Pierce several holes in bottom with a fork.  Bake in oven at 350 for about 10-15 mins.  remove crust and let cool on a wire rack.

For the Filling:
cut up asparagus and mushrooms into bite size pieces. Cook in frying pan for about 5 mins until vegetables are tender but not fully cooked.  In a bowl add fat free Greek yogurt and eggs, whisk together.  add in vegetables.  (if this does not look like enough add more yogurt to mixture).  Add salt and pepper then pour into crust.  Spread it out evenly with a spatula, the consistency is very thick so it will not spread on it's own.  top with shredded light Monterrey jack cheese.  Bake in oven for about 30-35 mins.  allow to settle, for about 1 hour a RT or in fridge over night.