Raspberry Lime Smoothie

My zester has gotten quite the work-out lately. What can I say I have a zest for life. Ok, onward from the corny-ness and straight to the smoothie. Who doesn’t need some Monday morning detoxing. (excuse the blender cup, I’m being real, not fancy)

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Ingredients:

raspberry yogurt
1 cup frozen raspberries
lime juice from 1 lime
lime zest
1 cup milk/juice/lemonade (liquid of your choosing)

Directions:

Combine ingredients in a blender.
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Blend & enjoy!
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I used some crystal light raspberry lemonade. I don’t like any extra calories in my smoothie (and I usually don’t like want it milky). I liked this one for a change of pace. The lime in there wakes you up and gets you going. It’s a nice flavor without being the fruit. The contrast is great and the flavors scream summer. I have a few more fun smoothies coming along soon. Stay tuned!

This reminded me of raspberry lime rickys that were super popular at the restaurant I worked at in high school. I believe raspberry lime rickys are a New England thing. What do you folks think? Are these drinks a New England thing?

What I Ate: Creamsicle Cocktail

‘What I Ate’ is a series of posts for so-easy-this-doesn’t-need-a-recipe but I’m sharing with ya for the idea or inspiration.

This cocktail is too easy for a recipe (and I didn’t measure), but it was delicious and unplanned and did I say delicious? I just had to share. I was whipping up something for dinner and my eyes fell on the orange soda in the fridge. I don’t buy many every-day drink options so we normally only have water & milk to offer. I rarely make cocktails but maybe I need to do that more often! An after work cocktail definitely makes any random weeknight feel special. I also thought this was perfectly summery.

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‘Fancy’ orange soda + orange zest + whipped cream flavored vodka = creamsicle!

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This tastes even better than it looks. This cocktail took instagram by storm, well, not really but I was cocktail-happy so any likes made me smile.

non-alcoholic creamsicle found here as a smoothie (one of my favorite smoothies ever).

This whipped cream vodka goes with anything for an instant cocktail. I love it in hot chocolate once winter hits but now I want to attempt some sort of frozen-blended fudgsicle cocktail with this too! Any ideas/suggestions for that one?

Falafel Burgers & Basil White Bean Spread

I’ve been all about the meatless meals lately. Summer seems like such a perfect time for that. I saw Jess Fuel make a white bean and basil spread and I thought it would be really good as a hummus alternative. I make baked falafel regularly so this was a perfect time to make a spread. It would be a good dip as well, but I used mine on a falafel “burger” as a condiment.

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Ingredients:

1 can white beans
2 cups basil
1 tbs garlic, chopped
½ tsp garlic powder
2 tbs olive oil
salt & pepper

Directions:

In a blender or food processor, add all the ingredients.
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Blend well, taste, and season with added salt and pepper accordingly.
Enjoy!
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This is so simple. The beans make it thick and hearty and the basil adds the freshness. I don’t know that it would be my go-to dip or anything, but I liked the flavors and love how easy it was. It was a great way to use fresh basil since it only has a few days of shelf life. It would be easy to customize with roasted red peppers, sundried tomatoes, lemon + mint, or adding cuke chunks and feta. I have to remember this when needing to make something cheap or easy.

For the falafel, I baked them like usual, but I made us each a big patty rather than a bunch of small falafel balls. I served them like a burger but with the bean spread, lettuce, and cucumber slices. These were good, but probably won’t be my go-to for falafel night. I think I still like them in a pita or wrap with feta and hummus. They make great little sliders for an appetizer too!
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Have more basil? Use it for Strawberry Basil Sangria or Grilled Bruschetta Pizza or on a made-at-home sub!

What I Ate: Chicken ‘n Waffles

‘What I Ate’ is a series of posts for so-easy-this-doesn’t-need-a-recipe but I’m sharing with ya for the idea or inspiration.

The south has some pretty good food ideas. I mean biscuits/beignets/fried pickles/bbq are just so good. The list goes on. I like dinner to be varied so after my fun experiment with cinnamon roll waffles on the waffle iron I was thinking about more waffles that could be dinner.

I was going for simplicity here, but also think they could be amped up a bit. I used chicken fingers and only tweaked basic waffle batter by adding cornmeal and a touch of hot sauce.
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Ingredients:

4 chicken fingers
2 pre-made waffles or waffle batter ingredients below:
1 egg
¾ cup flour
¾ cup cornmeal
¾ cup milk
¼ cup vegetable oil
2 tsp baking powder
1 tbs hot sauce (optional)
1 cup arugula (optional)
1 small tomato, sliced (optional)
maple syrup

Directions:

Preheat oven to chicken finger cooking instructions (some are fully cooked, some are raw and need to reach an internal temperature)
Preheat waffle iron.
Mix waffle ingredients until combined.
Generously spray waffle iron.
When chicken is almost ready, cook the waffles in batches according to your iron’s size.
Top waffles with arugula, tomatoes, and drizzle with syrup.

I thought this was a fun dinner and totally out of the ordinary. I loved the freshness of the veggies on here with the salty chicken fingers and corny waffles and sticky sweet syrup. I didn’t want my dinner to be only brown/yellow in color.
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Next time I might add some whole corn into the waffles. Spinach or arugula would also be fun additions to the waffle itself.

Zucchini Pasta with Burrata

Last year about this time I was working an event in Cali, and I wasn’t psyched to be “on-event” again. In the fall, I tend to travel to Cali 2-3 times in just a few weeks. But then, one staff dinner I was introduced to burrata cheese. I hadn’t ever had it before and it was amazing. It made me so happy and all was right with the world.

We went to Pitfire Pizza and were served family style. One of the pizzas was the Burrata Pie: tomato sauce, burrata cheese, wild arugula, caramelized onion, hazelnuts, and pesto drizzle. Thankfully a few of my colleagues thought it was a bit weird. All the more for me. I have no recollection as to what else was served.
Three Bite Rule - Zucchini Pasta with Ricotta

I couldn’t get enough of the burrata. It was mystical. It is too good to be sold at grocery stores. #truestory. We may have given thousands? hundreds? of bicycle riders the weekend of a lifetime. I mostly remember the burrata.

I happened upon some at the farmer’s market and didn’t have to think twice. I figured with such a decadent cheese I would do a somewhat lighter pasta. I made way too much pasta with such a large zucchini. Half the pasta unless you want to be eating/serving 6 servings like me.
Three Bite Rule - Zucchini Pasta with Ricotta

Ingredients:

1 lbs angel hair/linguine/other thin pasta
1 large zucchini
16 oz Pastene kitchen ready tomato
1 cup basil leaves
2 tbs garlic, chopped
salt & pepper
1 medium/large burrata

Directions:

Boil generously salted water in a large pot for the pasta.
Using a box grater or mandolin, cut zucchini the long direction.
Three Bite Rule - Zucchini Pasta with Ricotta
Drop pasta into the boiling water and cook according to the packaging.
Heat tomato sauce over medium heat in a very large skillet (big enough to fit the pasta once it cooks).
Add garlic, half the basil, and zucchini to the tomato sauce when the pasta is almost cooked (for the last 2 minutes of pasta cooking).
When pasta is cooked but still al dente, remove and put directly into the tomato sauce skillet (do not drain).
Cook while mixing for just a minute or two while gently tossing in the sauce.
Three Bite Rule - Zucchini Pasta with Ricotta
Serve the pasta with the remaining basil, and a touch of salt and pepper (I used some rosemary fleur de sel). Finally top with burrata.
Three Bite Rule - Zucchini Pasta with Ricotta
Cut the burrata when ready to eat.
Three Bite Rule - Zucchini Pasta with Ricotta

This was lovely. I was so happy when the pure tomato sauce became pink with burrata cream. The flavors were perfect. The zucchini adapted to its role as pasta easily.

If you haven’t had burrata then you have to try it. It is like mozzarella to the extreme. The center is filled with cream that just tastes like cheese. Burrata is delicious so it would be great on salad and hunks of good bread.