Roasted Cauliflower

Hey everybody! I hope you all had a great holiday - with fabulous food, of course. I had the honor of hosting my family's Christmas dinner this year, which just made the day even better for me. I love getting to cook for my favorite people!

That said, Christmas is always a whirlwind - and now that we have a little one, the holidays are even more hectic than they've ever been! So, while I wanted my Christmas menu to boast some delicious dishes, I also wanted them to be simple and easy to make. Easier said than done? Not necessarily!

Take today's recipe, for example. Literally FOUR ingredients and just a few steps and you've got a super yummy, beautiful side dish! It doesn't get much easier - or more delicious - than this. Yum, yum, yum.

Roasted Cauliflower
Adapted from Cooking Light Dec 2014

1 head cauliflower, trimmed to florets

2 tbs olive oil

Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place cauliflower on ungreased baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Toss to coat, sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. 

Bake in oven for 15 minutes. Stir cauliflower and bake for an additional 10 minutes.

Yep, it's that easy. See?!

Until next time...

Cheers!

Pulled Pork with Sriracha BBQ Sauce

Today I'm posting a recipe with no picture - hope that's okay! It's not like my pictures are super duper anyway, as you all know. Hopefully I'll get the camera that's on my Christmas wish list and that will change very soon!

Anywho...

Pulled pork? Yum. Sriracha? YUM. Pulled pork with Sriracha BBQ sauce...in the SLOW COOKER?? Double, triple, oh my goodness I want it now YUUMMMMMM.

This recipe just gives me another reason to LOVE my Cooking Light subscription.

Here you go...you're welcome!

Pulled Pork with Sriracha BBQ Sauce
Adapted from Cooking Light, December 2014

3 tbs brown sugar

1 tbs ground coriander

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp chili powder

3/4 tsp salt

1 3.5lb pork butt, trimmed and cut into 4 pieces

1/2 cup ketchup

1/3 cup rice vinegar

2/3 cup water

3 tbs Sriracha

1 tsp ground ginger

Hamburger buns

Combine first 5 ingredients in a bowl. Rub pork with mixture.

Combine ketchup, vinegar, 2/3 cup water, 2 tbs Sriracha and ginger in your slow cooker, stirring to combine. Add pork and toss to coat.

Cook on low 8 hours. Remove pork from slow cooker and shred. Stir in remaining 1 tbs Sriracha to slow cooker and return pork to slow cooker. Serve shredded pork on hamburger buns.

Spinach and Pancetta Stuffed Potatoes

Ever since I fell in love with the White BBQ Chicken Potatoes that I shared on this blog quite some time ago, I'm always intrigued by "stuffed potato" recipes. They're usually pretty simple and make great weeknight dinners due to their minimal effort and easy clean-up. Today's recipe is no exception. If you don't own a microwave, you can cook the potatoes in a 450 degree oven for 50 minutes and then follow the remaining instructions as written below.

 Spinach & Pancetta Stuffed Potatoes

Adapted from Cooking Light, September 2014

 

4 baking potatoes

2 tbs water

1 5oz bag baby spinach

3 tbs plain, fat-free Greek yogurt

1/4 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

2 oz diced pancetta (such as Boar's Head)

1/2 cup cheddar cheese

1/4 cup chopped green onions

 

Pierce potatoes with a fork. Microwave at 14 minutes on high. Remove from microwave and cool for 10 minutes.

 

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, bring 2 tbs water to a simmer over medium-high heat. Add spinach to pan and cook for two minutes, stirring often until spinach wilts. Cool for 5 minutes, then squeeze out excess water by placing spinach in paper towel. Chop spinach.

 

Preheat broiler. Cut the top-third off of each potato (length-wise). Remove pulp from potato, leaving a small "shell" inside the skin. Combine the potato pulp, yogurt, salt, pepper, pancetta, cheese and spinach in a large bowl and stir well to combine. Evenly fill potatoes with mixture. Place potatoes on a baking sheet and broil in the oven for 1 minute. Top with green onions and serve.

 

Until next time...

 

Cheers!

Root Beer Sloppy Joes

When I first saw today's recipe in the September 2014 edition of Cooking Light, I immediately knew I had to try it. For one, I'm a huge fan of root beer. People are typically shocked when they learn this little tidbit about me - I don't like to eat sweets, yet my favorite soda is, well, pretty darn sugary. I'm not sure why I can do sweet drinks but not sweet food, but that's no matter. On top of loving root beer, I also love sloppy joes. Yes, they're typically considered a "kid's" food, aren't exactly something you'd find on a gourmet restaurant's menu and are really quite messy (hence the name), but there's just something comforting and nostalgic about them. Come on, admit it: you like them, too. And I can assure you, you'll LOVE this recipe. It's super easy, done in less than 20 minutes and YUMMY. Can't beat that! I paired it with some store-bought sweet potato chips (I purchased SimpleTruth brand). Fabulous.

"Root Beer" Sloppy Joes

Cooking Light, September 2014

2 tsp canola oil

3/4 cup chopped onion

1 lb 90% lean ground sirloin

1/2 cup tomato sauce

1/4 cup bottled chili sauce (like Heinz)

1/4 cup root beer (I used Barq's)

1 tbs Worcestershire sauce

2 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp dry mustard

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp tomato paste

4 hamburger buns, toasted

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add oil and swirl to coat. Add chopped onion and cook for 3 minutes before adding beef. Cook beef approximately 5 minutes, or until browned. Stir in tomato sauce, chili sauce, root beer, Worcestershire sauce, minced garlic, dry mustard, chili powder and tomato paste. Bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes or until mixture thickens slightly, stirring occasionally. Divide sloppy joe mix evenly among 4 hamburger buns and serve with sweet potato chips or whatever side you prefer.

Until next time...

Cheers!

Spicy Shrimp & Mango Stir Fry

Happy Saturday, friends! To be really honest, I'm not a huge fan of shrimp. My husband, on the other hand, loves it, so every now and again I'll make it at home. This recipe is from the April 2014 edition of Cooking Light (my favorite publication for great recipes!). I have to say, I loved all of the flavors in this dish - I even liked the shrimp! Don't leave out the basil in this one - it's a must.

Spicy Shrimp & Mango Stir Fry

5 ounces uncooked rice noodles

3 tbs water

4 tsp lime juice

2 tsp brown sugar

2 tsp fish sauce

1/2 tsp cornstarch

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper

1/4 tsp black pepper

10 ounces medium shrimp, peeled & deveined

1 tbs canola oil

1/2 cup sliced Vidalia onion

1 sliced red bell pepper

1 tbs ginger paste

1 cubed, peeled mango

1/4 cup torn basil leaves

 

Cook noodles according to package directions and drain. Set aside.

 

Combine water, lime juice, brown sugar, fish sauce and cornstarch and stir together. Set aside.

 

Combine crushed red pepper, black pepper and shrimp in a medium bowl and toss to mix. Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add 1 1/2 tsp oil to the pan, swirling to coat. Add shrimp and cook 3 minutes or until almost done, turning once while cooking. Remove from the pan.

 

Add remaining oil to the pan and add onion, bell pepper and ginger. Cook for 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add shrimp, juice mixture and mango to the pan. Cook 1 minute or until shrimp are done.

 

Sprinkle with basil leaves and serve over cooked rice noodles.

 

Until next time...

 

Cheers!

 



Chicken & Veggie Tostadas

Hello, friends. Spring has finally "sprung," and I couldn't be happier! Here's a light (but flavorful) meal that's perfect for this time of year. Enjoy!

Chicken & Veggie Tostadas

Adapted from Cooking Light, Nov. 2012

 

2 tsp canola oil

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1 cup shredded rotisserie chicken breast

1 cup fresh corn kernels

1 cup chopped zucchini

1/2 cup salsa verde (I use Frontera brand)

2 tbs chopped fresh cilantro

4 8-inch flour tortillas

1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

cooking spray

 

Preheat broiler.

 

Combine canola oil, ground cumin and kosher salt; mix well and add to large skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken, corn, zucchini to pan and sauté for 2 minutes. Add salsa verde and 1 tbs cilantro and cook another 2 minutes, stirring regularly.

 

Lightly spray tortillas with cooking spray and place on baking sheet; broil for 2 minutes or until lightly browned. Spoon equal amounts of chicken mixture into the center of each tortilla and sprinkle each with cheese. Place under the broiler for 2 minutes or until cheese is melted. Top with remaining chopped cilantro.

 

 



 

Until next time...

 

Cheers!

 

 

 



Pierogy Wonton Soup

Hi there, Cocktail Cutie readers. It's been a long, long time! In the past oh, 6 months or so, a few major things have happened in my life - the most important of those things being, of course, that I had a baby! My husband and I very happily welcomed our first daughter, Zoey, into the world on December 11, 2013. She's all that we imagined and more, and we love her to the moon and back! Becoming a parent really is an amazing experience. I've had 9 weeks of maternity leave so far (out of a total twelve) to enjoy with her, and I have to say that I'm very much NOT ready to go back to work and lose the time I have with her day in and day out while on leave - I'm going to be one sad momma the first day (and likely all of the subsequent days) I have to return to real life. That being said, I'm going to be rearranging some of my priorities so that I can maximize the time I spend with my family during my free time...and I've thought a lot about what those changes mean.

I didn't want to completely give up on this blog, because I really do enjoy sharing great recipes with my friends and family. I don't, however, really have time to continue to maintain it or even write in it as extensively as I might like. At this point, I feel like I really need to focus on one writing "project" at a time. In this case, that project is the urban fantasy trilogy that I've been working on for the past two years (you can read more about it here).

Like I said, though, I don't want to completely give up on Cocktail Cutie. Instead of taking a break, I've decided to simply change the "format," so to speak. I'll focus a lot more on just posting recipes rather than writing a blog post to accompany those recipes. I've already started a Pinterest board for the blog and will be utilizing that as a source of searchable recipes as well as a way to easily share my posts. Those who "like" the Cocktail Cutie Facebook page will still receive updates whenever I post a new recipe, but I'll no longer post the notifications on my personal page.

I'm hoping that this change will be better for both you and me, since only posting recipes takes a little bit of the pressure off of me but still gives you ideas for easy meals that you can make at home. This way, I should be able to share more of the great recipes that I hope you'll love!

Thanks for sticking with me. Here's your recipe for today!

 

Pierogy Wonton Soup



2 1/2 cups baby spinach

1 tsp minced garlic

1/2 tsp ground ginger

2 cans (15 oz) chicken broth

1 tsp soy sauce

1 package Mrs. T's Mini Pierogies (any flavor - I use 4 cheese)

1/2 cup sliced radishes

Toasted sesame seeds (optional)

 

Bring broth, soy sauce, garlic and ginger to a boil. Add pierogies and cook (at a boil) until heated through, 5-7 minutes. Stir in spinach and cook until spinach wilts. Add sliced radishes and remove from heat. Ladle into bowls and sprinkle with sesame seeds (if using). 

Until next time...

Cheers!