Cauliflower Poppers 3 Ways: Buffalo, Honey BBQ, & Cheesy Jalapeño

Ah, the super bowl. The best snack-eating, commercial-watching, couch-potato-ing day of the year! Oh yeah, and the football too. I'm not a huge sports fan, if you couldn't tell, but I mean no disrespect. There absolutely is something electric about game day that draws even the non sports-watchers in. For me, there is a certain level of excitement and camaraderie about it that I miss from watching games with my dad growing up. If nothing else, it's fun to hang out with good friends, eat yummy snacks, and pretend to be part of the sports community for a day. This year I'll be eating these delicious cauliflower poppers and rooting for whichever team my dad is rooting for - it's my little nod to him - love you, dad! I hope you'll give these a try and let me know what you think!

Pesto and Red Pepper Hummus

Yummmm!!! I am such a sucker for a good hummus recipe. I made this to go with my last post: Roasted Tomato Crostini with Pesto and Red Pepper Hummus. It turned out so good, and we had lots of leftovers for snacking the next day. Check out the recipe below!

Roasted Tomato Crostini with Pesto and Red Pepper Hummus

I'm so excited to share this recipe with you after such a long break. I've had a lot of changes in the last couple of years, including a new job and a brand new baby boy, the light of my life, who will turn 4 months old in just a couple of weeks. I've been busy, very busy, and exhausted, but finally see the dust beginning to settle a little. For the first time in ages, I actually feel inspired to make new recipes and share them. Cooking has always been a big creative outlet for me, and with the demands of being a new mom, I find it gives me a little piece of ME back...a no-makeup, spit-up covered me, but me nonetheless.

This recipe combines some of my most favorite things: bread (I could and often do just live on bread), hummus, and roasted tomatoes. I've been on a roasted veggie kick since right before having the baby. I wanted a way to keep up on eating healthy without spending a ton of time, and have taken to roasting a bunch of different veggies on the weekend and then reheating throughout the week. Roasted tomatoes are one of my favorites and are a great way to add flavor and freshness to pasta, burritos, rice, what-have-you, so when I came across THIS recipe on Recipe Runner via Pinterest I got really excited. I like to make my own hummus, and roasted my tomatoes a little differently, so here's my take on it.

Thai Spicy Hummus

Another spicy hummus recipe. Are you surprised? I know you're not! I did things a little differently this time to keep it interesting, though, using Thai inspired ingredients instead of the same old same. Thai food is one of my absolute favorites, and I don't get to have it nearly as often as I would like. This is a great way to bring all those great flavors together in an easy to make dip for chips, veggies, pitas, sandwiches, or whatever your heart desires.

You'll notice in this recipe strong coconut and peanut favors with a nice spicy kick from the cayenne, jalapeno, and sriracha; complimented well by the lime, cilantro, and cumin. There are really so many ways you could take a recipe like this, depending on your tastes, so don't be afraid to experiment. In the future I'm hoping to try variations using lemongrass, Thai basil, and curry. I'd love to hear what you come up with!

Peppers Stuffed with Couscous & Veggie Sausage

Lately it seems like I’ve had zero energy when I get home. I feel all kinds of motivated on my drive home, thinking about all the cleaning, cooking, and general productiveness I’m going to accomplish; but the second I kick off my shoes and put on my comfy clothes, all of that is pretty much out the lounge-loving, internet-surfing window. But today I found the solution…caffeine! Ha ha

I’ve been excited to make these peppers for a while now, so I took advantage of my sudden burst of energy and decided to finally give it a try. I used flavored couscous and Italian veggie sausages to make it easy, and even used baking time to do the dishes AND a load of laundry. That means I don’t have to be productive for the rest of the week, right?

By the way, I apologize for the bad pictures – I was hungry and impatient!

Vietnamese Tofu Lettuce Cups

Recently I came across a recipe in one of my cookbooks for Vietnamese Pork and Lettuce Cups that looked incredible. As per usual, the first thing I did was think about how I could turn this scrumptious looking dish into something vegetarian friendly. The usual ideas popped into my head, i.e. using mushrooms or eggplant in place of the meat, but I’ve been wanting to try tofu for a while now and decided that this would be the perfect opportunity.

Although I’ve had tofu plenty of times, I’ve never actually cooked with it myself. To be honest, I was a little unsure about how it would turn out and, specifically, whether or not it would mimic the crumbly texture of ground pork, but a quick internet search regarding how to cook tofu gave me the extra boost I needed to give it a shot.

The end result was surprisingly good, and although the texture of the cooked tofu did not quite match what I saw in the original recipe, it was nevertheless tasty. Fresh bell peppers, carrots, and peanuts added a punch of color, gave the dish the crunch it needed, and also served to keep everything together in the lettuce cups. The peanuts and bell peppers were not in the original recipe, but paired well with the ginger and garlic and gave the dish a little oomph! I will definitely be trying this one again soon.

Magically Disappearing Guacamole

If there’s one thing I love about get-togethers, it’s all the yummy appetizers I don’t normally take the time to make at home. One of my favorites is guacamole.

Now let me make this clear, I’m referring to the real stuff here, not the pre-packaged, store bought “guacamole,” which I regrettably bought several months ago. I put it in quotes because, unbeknownst to me, it wasn’t actually guacamole. In fact, I don’t think it even contained avocados in any form. 

After pulling back the lid and seeing the weird, goo-like consistency glaring back at me (it was almost frightening…almost), I realized the container actually read “guacamole flavored dip,” which could mean any number of things in the tricky marketing world. Even worse than the consistency were the ingredients listed on the back, half of which I could not pronounce, and all of which were not very tasty.

So long story short, I decided to find a recipe and make my own, and I’ve never looked back…I’m afraid to; that goo was the stuff of food-lovers’ nightmares!

Easy Avocado Jalapeno Spread

One of my all-time favorite snacks has to be toasted bread with avocado mashed up on top, and maybe a sprinkle of coarse salt and pepper. The crunch of warm, toasted bread with creamy, smooth avocado is delightful in its simplicity. Its rustic nature appeals to me, and I also take a certain amount of pleasure from smashing the avocado into all the nooks and crannies (that's not strange, right?). 

Of course, I’m an avocado lover to begin with, often sneaking it straight out of its shell before my fellow avocado-loving husband realizes he’s not getting his fair share, so maybe it’s just me. Either way, I recently tried adding in bits of chopped jalapeno, so I thought I would let you in on my little secret – it turned out delish!

Tzatziki Sauce

A few weeks ago my sister made the suggestion that I try making homemade tzatziki sauce for the blog. For those unfamiliar, it’s a Greek appetizer made with yogurt and cucumber, and works great as a dip or spread. I wanted to make Vegetarian Gyros last night, which would not be complete without the cool and creamy taste of tzatziki, so I decided to finally take her advice and give it a try! I found a recipe that I liked on tammysrecipes.com, and the instructions seemed simple enough, so I got started.

Tomato Basil Bruschetta with Whole Grain Bread

Ever have one of those appetizers that make you wish you hadn’t ordered your main dish? It tastes so good; you just can’t stop eating it. I’m sure you’re familiar with the type…do I have to mention chips and salsa…bread baskets…Cheddar Bay Biscuits (why do you torture me, Red Lobster?)…or really any kind of bread and dip combo? Bruschetta is one of those appetizers, and this is especially true during the summer when tomatoes are ripe, vibrant, and full of flavor. Last night was no exception. Since we had so much bread left over from our shopping trip a few days ago, I decided to whip up these scrumptious toasted treats to go with dinner. Needless to say, we had a lot of leftovers today from the main course!