Soft Pretzel and Hummus

An easy but delicious and satisfying combo.  The hummus pictured above happens to be a very pungent and tasty garlic hummus.  


A short list of other good things to dip into hummus:
Pita
Warm Garlic Naan
Tortillas
Tortilla chips
French Fries
Crudité (especially carrots)
Crackers
Warm Bread 
String Cheese
Fingers


Ingredients
Fresh or frozen soft pretzel
Hummus


Directions
Warm up pretzel in microwave or toaster oven.  If you're using a frozen variety, follow the directions on the box.*  Serve on a plate, with a big heaping spoonful of your favorite hummus, plain or flavored.  If you have more then one type of hummus in the fridge, you should put some of each on your plate -- variety stimulates the mind and the taste buds.  In fact, I would encourage adding a mustard or two to the plate as well if the mood strikes you.


Dip and eat with your hands.  


*once, when i was a young child, i came home from school and attempted to heat up a frozen pretzel in the microwave.  going off of memory, i failed to look at the directions on the box and nuked the pretzel for 2 minutes rather then 20 seconds.  when it finished cooking, it was completely hard.  i had baked my giant soft pretzel into a giant hard pretzel.  unfortunately it was too hard to really eat and enjoy, so it ended up in the trash.  i was very sad because it was the last pretzel.  learn from my mistakes, don't be a sad pretzel-less fool.   

Better than Ramen: Thai Noodles with Spinach and Quorn Chicken

I love going to the Big Lots closeout store.  Especially the one about 20 minutes outside of town in the "boonies" where several of my friends share a house.  I almost always find tons of organic and natural non-perishable food items out there for CHEAP...untouched by the traditional country shopper.  Thai Kitchen's Instant Rice Noodle Soup varieties are already cheap (about 70-90 cents/pack), but I recently found every variety marked at $.50 and so I stocked up on about $10 worth for the winter.

I was visiting with my friends after my shopping trip, enjoying the unseasonably beautiful November weather with great company, good beer and a little smoke.  Before long I had to put something in my belly and my little soup packet came to the rescue!!  They make great quick meals (take about 5-7 minutes to cook).  Sometimes I'll drop and egg in at the end of cooking the soup to make and Egg Drop Noodle soup, but on this particular day I added a few nuggets of Quorn "Chicken" and some cooked spinach that my friend was making in another pot.  These little guys travel well and taste great on their own, but it's always fun to try adding different varieties of veggies and protein. 

Ingredients

1 packet Thai Kitchen Roasted Garlic and Vegetable Noodle Soup

1/2 cup of water

1/2 cup cooked spinach

5-8 nuggets of Quorn "chicken" (or real chicken)

Hot sauce

Directions

Follow directions on package of Thai Kitchen soup.   Add Chicken when you add the noodles into the soup.  Add cooked spinach (I usually use frozen spinach, but you can steam some fresh spinach).  Pour into a bowl and let it sit for a few minutes before eating...it will be HOT!!!  Then dig in and slurp some noodles.

Black-Eyed Pea and Hummus Quesadilla

Fish Burrito night is our day-off, super colortastic tasty indulgence night that we enjoy 1-2 times a month.  The best part is that there are always leftovers and extra tortillas so that we eat burritos and quesadillas the few days after.  I made this quesadilla one fateful night when our leftovers where on their last legs.  All we had was tortillas, cheese and sour cream.  Raw onions and garlic are a staple in my kitchen, and I just happened to have a beautiful poblano pepper that I picked from my garden.  The night before, my boyfriend had eaten all of the black beans we cooked up in a quesadilla epiphany of his own.  He told me about his successful experiment of adding a smear of spicy hummus  on the inside of his quesadilla and stated that it was delicious.   I searched the cupboards for another can of black or pinto beans, but only found a can of black-eyed peas.  Haha!  Two new flavor possibility and lots of protein!

Blacked-Eyed Pea and Hummus Quesadilla

Ingredients
1 tortilla
1-2 tbsp hummus (I would recommend spicy, jalapeno, roasted red pepper or garlic flavored)
1/2 cup shredded queso
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup  onions, sliced
1/4 cup poblano peppers, sliced
1/2 cup black-eyed peas
1/2 tbsp butter
1/2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cajun seasoning
1/4 tsp coriander
Salt and Pepper

Heat olive oil in pan on med-high heat.  Saute onions and poblano peppers for 5 minutes.  Add garlic and saute for another 5 minutes.  While sauteing, smear hummus on half of the tortilla and sprinkle cheese on the other half.  Take the beans and mix in a bowl with the cajun seasoning, coriander,  chili powder, salt and pepper.  Spread the beans out on the hummus side of the tortilla.   Remove the peppers, onions and garlic from the pan and place on top of the cheese.  Add butter to the skillet and turn down to medium heat.  Place tortilla in skillet once butter has melted.   Cook open-face for 5-10 minutes until cheese is melted.  Fold tortilla and cook on each side for another 5 minutes.  Remove from pan and slice into triangles.  Serve with sour cream and hot sauce.

I will post the Fish Burrito recipe and pictures the next time we make it!  

Exploded Macaroni Omelet

I told you there would be more Mac n' Cheese recipes.  If you haven't noticed, I tend to sneak veggies like broccoli into my Mac n' Cheeses.  I usually keep frozen spinach, broccoli and a bag of mixed  veggies in the freezer as backup/emergency recipe additives.  Broccoli tastes yummy with cheese and pasta, so it's a natural to throw in with any mac n' cheese.  My favorite is Annie's White Cheddar & Elbows.  The white cheddar is sharp and actually tastes like real cheese.  Plus it actually is real cheese.  If you don't have boxy white cheddar mac lying around, I recommend adding some shredded/pulverized parmesan to any other boxy cheesy mac you have to give it an extra strong cheesy flavor.

Oh, and the egg.  What you see pictured above is actually my breakfast from yesterday morning. I wanted an omelet, but didn't have any cheese.  

White Cheddar Macaroni & Cheese with Fried Egg + Broccoli

Ingredients

1 box of Annie's White Cheddar Macaroni & Cheese

1 egg

1 tsp minced garlic

2 1/2  tbsp butter

1/4 cup milk or milk alternative

1/2 cup broccoli florets (fresh or frozen)

salt and pepper

Directions

Cover pasta in a a pot or saucepan with water (about 6 cups).  Bring to a boil and cook at Medium heat.

After about 4 minutes add in broccoli (fresh or frozen).

Cook for another 5 minutes or until done.

Drain pasta.  

Heat 2 tbsp of butter in the pasta pot on low heat.

Place 1/2 tbsp of butter and garlic in a small skillet or frying pan set to Medium-High heat. Crack an egg in the frying pan when the butter melts.  Bust the yolk open if you want to.  I do.

Add 1/4 cup milk and powdered cheese to pasta pot.

Mix cheese, butter and milk together until smooth and creamy.

Add pasta and broccoli back in and mix well.

After about 2 minutes, pile as much pasta as you want in a a bowl.

Salt egg in the frying pan.  Remove egg from frying pan with spatula and place on top of Mac n' Cheese.

Pepper to taste.  Eat with fork and knife. Or just fork.  That's what I did, but it was hard.