the eggplant experiment

With a perfectly picked eggplant and a few hours to kill before work I decided to throw together something I've been wanting to make for a while now--eggplant burgers! Since these little gems contain no cheese, minimal amounts of oil, and plenty of everything else I love they turned out to be a delicious and nutritious meal that will be sure to last me a few days.

Besides the fact that they look absolutely fabulous they are also super easy to make, which is always a plus.  Prep and cook times total up at a little over an hour, but 45 minutes of that is spent patiently waiting for them to bake to perfection--I took this time to shower and do some laundry so the timing worked out quite nicely.

You're going to start by preheating your oven to 450° and lining a cookie sheet with aluminum foil. Slice the eggplant into quarter-inch rounds and brush each side with olive oil before sending them off to roast for 15 minutes- but be sure to flip them after 10.

While they're in the oven, dice one red onion and sauté over medium heat until soft.  

Add the onions into a large bowl with 1/4c chopped fresh parsley, 1/4c bell pepper (I used yellow since I love the sweetness), 1 T pine nuts,  1 clove of garlic (crushed), a 14 oz can of cannellini beans, 1 tsp ground cumin, sea salt, and your perfectly roasted eggplant rounds.

Give the mixture a stir to break up the eggplant before adding in 1/2c of hummus (I used garden veggie...the more, the merrier, right?) and transferring your burger base to a food processor. It should only take about 15 seconds for your veggies to smooth out--when this happens, transfer back to the bowl and work in 1c panko breadcrumbs to give it some body.  

With a fresh nonstick-spray-coated piece of foil on your cookie sheet, form 6 patties and throw them in a 400° oven for 45 minutes, flipping halfway through.  If you like them crispier don't be afraid to up the time a bit--they're still very moist and it seems as though it would take a lot to dry these bad boys out. 

While they were cooking I whipped together some tahini to top them off with.

1/3c sesame tahini, 1/3 c water, 1/4c lemon juice, salt, and 2 cloves of chopped garlic
go into a food processor until fully combined

Drizzle a bit over the top & enjoy!

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...& everything nice

Snickerdoodles are simple, familiar and an all around crowd-pleaser of a cookie.  The cinnamon sugar coating is something everyone can appreciate and the soft, chewy nature of it is enough to please even the toughest critic.

Start by creaming the butter and sugar together.  Beat in eggs and vanilla followed by a gradual addition of the combined dry ingredients.  Voila! Snickerdoodle dough!

I chose to chill mine in the fridge for about 15 minutes so it would firm up a bit. Afterwards I formed the dough into balls and rolled them into a cinnamon sugar mixture before using the heel of my hand to flatten them a bit. Bake between 375°- 400° (depending on your oven...be very careful not to overcook!) for 7-8 minutes.

The cookies will be just barely set, but don't worry, they'll harden slightly as they cool.

Eat up!

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cocoa loco

Let me preface this post by saying this is a cookie for everyone.  Not only because it's ridiculously good, laden with chocolate, and easy to make...but because it has Oreo's and Mounds in it...how could anyone in their right mind turn down a combination like that? Searching for a good recipe for anything usually leads me to google search "best (insert item here) recipe" and seeing what results peak my interest.  These gems were hiding amongst the crowd and boy am I glad I took the time to poke around.

Beat 3/4 c unsalted butter and 1/3 c butter-flavored shortening until creamy.  Gradually add 1 c granulated sugar  and 3/4 c dark brown sugar and mix until it's light and fluffy.  Beat in 2 eggs and 2 tsp vanilla.  After all those ingredients are well blended slowly add 2 c flour, 2/3 c unsweetened cocoa, 1 tsp baking soda and a pinch of salt until combined.

Stir in your coarsely chopped Oreo's and Mounds.  The Mounds cut much easier if they're chilled for a bit first, which I recommend doing.  Wrap the dough in wax paper and refrigerate for at least a half hour. After they've firmed up make approximately 1/4 c sized balls and place them about 2" apart. 

Bake at 350° on parchment paper for 10-12 minutes-the cookies will barely be set at this point.  Let them cool before transferring to a wire rack

The recipe calls for an additional cup of chocolate chips- I chose to leave these out since I wasn't looking to get punched in the face with chocolate...moreso a sweet caress.  Mission accomplished.  I think chopped walnuts (or any other nut) would be a nice addition to this sweet treat.  This recipe yields about 30 cookies.

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powerless over flourless

These flourless peanut butter chocolate chip cookies were probably one of the easiest baked goods I've ever made.  With 6 simple ingredients you have a rich, peanut-buttery cookie loaded with melty chocolate chips.  What's not to love?  I've made them twice already...they don't last long, believe me.

Combine peanut butter, sugar, egg, baking soda and salt.  Stir in chocolate chips.  Bake at 350° for 12-15 minutes on parchment paper.

& that's it.

Seriously.

You should get about 2 dozen out of one batch- they're relatively small cookies but once you taste how rich there are you'll understand why they don't need to be any bigger.  Make sure you let them cool for at least 15 minutes on the cookie sheet before transferring to a wire rack- some of mine crumbled (which of course I ate) when I tried to be ambitious and move them earlier. 

Enjoy!

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