Healthy Caesar Salad Dressing

Like my Snapware?  I keep it classy up in here...  For instance tonight me & E ate our salsa verde chicken enchiladas on paper plates.  We even used coated paper plates with gaudy flowers on the edges, which nearly requires we break out the stemware.  We're pretty impressive.  Really though... I actually do have nice serving bowls and platters, but those are reserved for when we have dinner guests.  Therefore, when I'm making myself Caesar salad for tomorrow's lunch it will be in Snapwear, and I will photograph it.  Hopefully one can look past the Snapwear to appreciate the deliciousness of Caesar and the fact that this dressing doesn't deliver fat content in the double-digits.  That way, if you like to eat some lettuce with your dressing, you don't need to feel guilty about it :)  

Lemon Chicken

The sir in my life is trying to eat healthier,  so we have been eating a lot of salad.  Today, in celebration of Thursday, we decided it was time to fry something.  (But it's totally justified because we ate it with like a gallon of steamed veggies...)  If you have more discipline than I do, feel free to sub in baked chicken.  My baked sweet & sour chicken (less the chinese five spice) would work great with this lemon sauce.

Five Minute Crusty White Bread

 I am not a baker.  I am a bad baker.  I mess up practically every baked good that involve more than adding water, oil, and eggs to a mix.  It's a sad fact I have come to accept.  This recipe, however, is virtually impossible to mess up.  It is fantastic.  And fast, and delicious.

Not only is it simple, but versatile too.  I make standard loafs, bread bowls, pizza crust, bread sticks, and so much more from this simple dough I keep in my fridge.

5 Cheese Pizza with Honey, Prosciutto, & Truffle Oil (Copy Cat Finch's Dordogne Pizza)

There are many things I love about Bloomington: the gorgeous landscape, the culture, the diverse (temperamental...) climate, the architecture, and most of all the food.  Bloomington boasts some absolutely delicious local restaurants; so knowing that my time here is waning, I've taken a greater interest in copying my favorite dishes.  Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, no? 
One of my absolute favorite menu items in town is from Finch's Brasserie, a restaurant that 'features local and organic products from area farms and cheese artisans'.  They have a really great seasonal menu, but I pretty much can't resist ordering my favorite pizza every time.  It's called The Dordogne, named after a region in France.  Their version has four cheeses, truffle honey, and prosciutto.  While my recipe isn't exactly the same (Anyone know where to find truffle honey in Bloomington?), the flavor is all there.

Turkey Enchiladas

 These enchiladas taste really good.  What makes'em better is that you can make them way ahead, and then refrigerate or freeze them, and just bake'm off right before you need to eat.  It's kind of like Stoufer's lasanga lasagna, only tastier, and easier to spell.

Strawberry Ginger Non-Dairy Soft Serve

After making the most delicious chewy chocolate chip cookies yesterday, and eating three of said cookie as I cooked dinner this evening... I couldn't justify a terribly decadent dessert.  I could however, justify a delicious serving of strawberry ginger 'soft serve'... or maybe two servings :)

Better than Nestle Toll House Chocolate Chip Cookies

Sometimes at 9:00 at night, you just really need a chocolate chip cookie.  And sometimes you have so many dishes in the sink and your kitchen is such a mess you can't actually bake cookies until your kitchen is clean, two hours late. By which point you're tired and hungry and eat far more than that singular chocolate chip cookie you intially desired.  Whoops.  It's okay though, these cookies are so satisfying they justify the calories (or so I tell myself), and so satisfying that you might want to eat 17.  But I won't tell if you do.

Vegetable Fried Rice

• 3 cups already cooked rice
• 1/2 Tbs vegetable oil
• 2 Tbs Soy sauce
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tsp roasted red chili paste
• 1 clove garlic
• 2 Eggs
• 1 1/2 cups diced veggies (I like carrots, bell peppers, green peas, and water chestnuts)

1. Heat 1 tsp vegetable oil in a large saute pan over medium heat.  Scramble egg, add to pan, and cook until no longer wet.  Set aside in a bowl.
2. Heat vegetable oil in the same pan over medium-high heat.
3. Add your choice of vegetables (minus frozen peas if you're using them) and saute until 3-4 minutes, until cooked but still crisp.
4. Add garlic, 1 Tbs soy sauce, and chili paste.  Stir until chili paste is incorporated
   
5. Add rice and additional soy sauce. Stir fry until rice become a shade of brown.
6. Add the cooked egg and green peas.

Notes:

• Meat or tofu can be added. I recommend using already cooked beef, shrimp, or chicken, or browning the tofu separate. Add the meat with the egg and peas.
• The amount of soy sauce is completely up to you. My soy sauce is aged to salty ridiculousness so I usually use less than 2 Tbs.  If you like it strong, use more than 2 Tbs.