Crunchy Granola Bars

I have no idea why I've had a major itch to make granola bars. I don't even eat granola regularly in any form on a regular basis! I probably saw it on Tastespotting or Foodgawker recently. It could also be because I've been eating yogurt and berries for breakfast a LOT lately, and adding granola would make it a cute lil parfait. Or it could be that I just saw granola on Down Home with the Neely's on Food Network the other day. Whatever the reason, I've had granola bars on my mind for the last couple weeks, and I finally made it correctly tonight.

Notice how I said correctly, haha. My first attempt was last week and I added dried apricot and figs to half a batch, but it didn't really stick together, so I crumbled it and turned it into the loose granola. The other half of that batch... flavor was great, but I forgot to grease the bottom of the pan and used wax paper and that got very stuck to the granola, so I ended up crumbling that one trying to pull it off the paper. Oops.

(Parchment paper this time, and I remembered to butter it!)

I specifically wanted crunchy granola bars because my Favorite Convenience Granola Bar (FCGB) are those great honey and oat ones that come in green packaging. They're so simple, not overly sweet, and that was my goal. Well, the goal was crunchy, not too sweet, and healthier. After reading through a few dozen recipes, I decided to add to the oats: almonds, sunflower seeds, flax seeds, and puffed kamut. (I had never even heard of that last one until looking at granola recipes. It tastes like unsweetened honey smacks, and is a good low cal source of fiber and protein, so perfect addition!) And to legitimately call these "healthier" than my FCGB, and because I wanted to procrastinate going to the gym tonight (yup, I detect the irony), I looked up the nutritional info for all the ingredients and did some basic math (thanks, Excel). While this homemade granola bar has twice as many calories, it has 3x the fiber and almost 3x the protein. They've got crunch, but don't fall apart the minute you bite into it. It's a great grab and go breakfast or snack.

Crunchy Granola Bars
adapted from Brown Eyed Baker and Alton Brown

2 C old fashioned rolled oats
1/4 C raw sunflower seeds
3 Tbsp flax seeds
1/4 C honey
1/4 C agave nectar
1/4 C brown sugar
3 Tbsp butter + 1 Tbsp
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp salt
2 C puffed kamut
1/2 C blanched almonds
4 tbsp flax seed meal

Preheat oven to 350. Line a 9"x13" pan with parchment paper, then butter it with the 1 Tbsp butter.

Combine oats, sunflower seeds, and flax seeds. Toast in oven for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. While the oats are toasting, combine the honey, agave, brown sugar, butter, vanilla, and salt in a small sauce pan over medium heat. Stir until brown sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat.

Take the oats out of the oven, then drop the temperature to 300. Transfer oats to a large bowl. Add the kamut and almonds to the oat mixture and stir until combined. Add the wet ingredients and stir until evenly combined. Turn mixture out into the prepared pan, spread until it's an even layer, and press down. Bake for 20 minutes.

Remove from oven. Allow to cool completely. Take out of pan and cut into 16 bars or squares.

Wrap in parchment paper cut to size and keep in an airtight container up to a week.

Ceviche a la Cabo

It's. So. Hot. NoVA (and the DC metro area in general) has some brutally hot summers. It's not necessarily the temps, it's the humidity that makes it stifling. And sometimes when it's really hot, you want something cool to eat that's not a dessert. Ceviche would be one of my favorite cold foods.

The first time I had ceviche, I was in Lima and my gracious hosts ordered like 3 plates of multicolored marinated seafood. Not going to lie, I wasn't too much a fan of it. I was slightly weirded out by how it was "cooked"... and why was it different colors? I partially blame ignorance for that poor first impression. Flash forward 3 years and I was in Cabo, and the ceviche was one of the first things we ordered. It was AWESOME. The tart was tempered by sweet mango and cooling avocado. It was bright and balanced, and I knew it would not be the last time I'd eat it. Fortunately for me, I wasn't the one who figured out how to make it, haha. My girl and travel buddy, Danielle, attempted to make it one night, said it was great, and sent me the recipe. I've made it a couple times since, and it still brings back the memories every time.

Since this is a recipe that takes a considerable amount of wait/marinating time, and because this is how Danielle gave it to me, I'm writing it in steps.

Cabo Ceviche
thanks Danielle!

Combine the following and marinate for a 2-3 hours, tossing/mixing 2 or 3 times:
   1-2 lbs red snapper, skinned, cut into bite size pieces
   2-3 limes, juiced
   1 lemon, juiced

Add the following to the marinating fish, and marinate for another 2 hours.
   1 small red onion, diced small
   1 jalapeno, diced small
   1 tomato, seeded and diced
   1 mango, diced
   1/4 C cilantro (or more/less to your taste)

Mix this in just before serving:
   1  avocado, diced

Serve with tortilla chips.

chimichurri sauce over grilled steak

Well isn't this a pretty sight! Bright green chimichurri sauce over a chimichurri marinated grilled steak. I had it for the first time in years just a few weeks ago (hi Joyce and co!) and had been thinking about it ever since. And thus, last night's delicious dinner!

What's chimichurri, you ask? In a word, awesome.  In a few more descriptive words, it's a parsley-based Argentinian condiment that's a lot like a pesto sauce... herby, fragrant (garlicy awesomeness), fresh. This is a bit different from a traditional pesto because it's also tangy and quite spicy. It's an excellent topping for pretty much anything, and most commonly it tops grilled steak.

Oh and gee did I mention I got a new grill this year? Because I did! I got a Weber, and it's the first charcoal grill I've ever used. I invited my Cabo girls over for a grilling potluck as an opportunity to practice. I grew up with gas grills, so charcoal is a whole different ball game for me. A smoky, delicious ball game! The steaks came out perfectly and we supplemented with shrimp, corn, potato and pasta salads, and topped off with grilled peaches for dessert. I served my strawberry lemon-limeade, also. It was a delightful Sunday evening!

Chimicurri Sauce
adapted from chef blade

1 bunch flat leaf parsley
6-8 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tbsp diced onion or shallot
1/3 C red wine vinegar
2/3 C olive oil
1/2 lemon - zest and juice
1 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp salt
freshly ground black pepper
pinch or freshly ground red pepper flakes

Pulse parsley in a food processor to chop. Add remaining ingredients and blend. (Or you can chop it all up and blend by hand.) Divide into 2 equal parts - half for marinade, half for topping. Allow to sit for at least 2 hours for flavors to marry. You can refrigerate it, but make sure to bring it to room temp before serving.

Marinate steak 2 hours up to overnight. Grill to desired tenderness. (For a guide to steak doneness, see here.) Allow steak to rest for at least 10 min for juices to redistribute. Slice on the diagonal for pretty presentation, and top with the chimichurri.

Red Velvet Cookies

Happy 4th of July!

I love holidays - Give me a reason to make or bake up something theme-y, and I'm thrilled. One of these days when I have a family of my own, I'm so going to be That Mom who makes the tastiest little treats for back yard BBQs and t-ball games. I'll be That Mom who sends delectable home made goodies to school for birthdays (and to suck up to the teachers). One of these days...

Til then, I'll experiment here and there with fun themed things, like these red velvet cookies with a cream cheese icing and red and blue sprinkles. Patriotic, yay - just right to bring to a rooftop gathering to watch the DC fireworks tonight. You can use 2 of the cookies and sandwich the icing to make whoopie pies, but right now the individual cookies will do just fine. I doubled the original recipe, so this will make about 48 cookies or 24 sandwiches.

Red Velvet Cookies
adapted from Paula Deen

Cookies:
2 2/3 C flour
3 Tbsp cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 stick butter
1 3/4 C sugar
4 eggs
4 tbsp buttermilk
1 tbsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp red food coloring

Preheat oven to 375.

Mix together the dry ingredients - from the flour to the salt. Set aside.

Cream the butter and sugar together until thoroughly combined and fluffy. Beat in eggs, 1 at a time. Using a silicone spatula so nothing gets stained, mix in the buttermilk, vanilla, and food coloring until well combined. Mix in dry ingredients until combined.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Use a medium cookie scoop (to scoop batter onto sheet, leaving at least 2" between each. Bake for 7-8 minutes or until top springs back when touched. Allow to cool on pan.

Cream Cheese Frosting
2 bars cream cheese
1 stick butter
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 to 2 C powdered sugar

Beat the cream cheese and butter together. Mix in the vanilla. Mix in powdered sugar -- taste along the way to get your desired sweetness.

This was submitted for the Sweets for a Saturday post over at Sweet as Sugar Cookies.

Blueberry Zucchini Bread

Can I tell you a secret? Before this week, I don't recall ever eating zucchini in my life. The squash family in general isn't one that often makes an appearance at my table, but I'm trying to expand my horizons. And oh look at that, zucchini bread is on my Hit List this year.

I had no idea what to expect when I added zucchini bread to the Hit List. Would it be sweet? Would it be plain tasting? Would it be zucchini-y? Oh, right, I didn't know what zucchini tasted like. Lol turns out that it's a lot like pumpkin bread (oh right, they're related!) in regards to the zucchini adding moisture and healthy goodness, and generally doesn't add much of its own flavor. So I guess the trick is in what you put into it. I had blueberries in the fridge, found an a recipe using both, and it's viola! Sweet, juicy berries bursting inside a nicely spiced bread. Great use of summer produce.  

Blueberry Zucchini Bread

adapted from Allrecipes.com

3 C flour

1 tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tbsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

3 eggs

1/2 C canola oil

1/2 C applesauce

1/2 C white sugar
1/2 C brown sugar

1 Tbsp vanilla

2 1/2 C zucchini, shredded (about 2 7" zucchini)

1 pint blueberries 

Preheat oven to 350. Spray muffin tins or small loaf pans with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg. In a small bowl, toss the blueberries with about 1 tbsp of the dry ingredients. Set both aside.

In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, oil, applesauce, vanilla, and sugars until well combined. Fold in the zucchini. Mix in the dry ingredients until mostly combined. Gently fold in the blueberries. 

Fill loaf pans 3/4 of the way and/or muffin tins almost to the top. If using an 8"x4" loaf pan, bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes. If using jumbo muffin pans, bake for 45 minutes. If using a regular muffin pan, bake for 30 minutes.