Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies with Chocolate Chips

I may have said this before but chocolate chip cookies are my favorite food. My weakness. I can't say no. One of my best friends, Alanna and I always say "you can't pass up on a chocolate chip cookie, because you don't know when the next opportunity will be when you get to eat one again." I like eating healthfully, contrary to my last two posts, but I like to think these are healthier versions of the classic because they're full of protein, coconut oil and fiber.

I've been on a baking bender recently. I had to scratch the cooking itch after our Friday night chef-inspo at a Feastly dinner party. The idea behind Feastly is that chefs can book one of their venues, sell tickets to a themed dinner and strangers can come together to share a meal and a few bottles of BOYWine. 

Our dinner was Persian themed. I can't say I've ever had Persian food - and knew it - before this. Dinner was fantastic - feta with herbs and freshly cracked walnuts to start. The main course was a tender meat broth soup with sesame flat bread and pickled vegetables. Dessert of rice noodles in icy rose water with fresh lemon juice.  

I love the Feastly concept. But I digress...

Original recipe inspired by Beaming Baker's vegan and gluten free cookies, which I made gluten-forward and non-vegan by sake of what was in the pantry. 

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies with Chocolate Chips

1 cup old fashioned rolled oats

¾ cup flour

¾ cup unsweetened, shredded coconut

¾ teaspoon baking soda

¾ teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon of salt

1 cup natural, unsalted peanut butter 

¼ cup melted coconut oil

½ cup sugar

¼ cup pure maple syrup

2 eggs

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

¾ cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or greased foil. 

In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: oats, oat flour, coconut, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. In a large bowl, whisk together all the wet ingredients: peanut butter, coconut oil, coconut sugar, maple syrup, eggs and vanilla.

Add the dry mixture to wet mixture. Using a rubber spatula or wooden spoon, stir and fold until you get a cohesive dough. Fold in chocolate chips.

Scoop 2 tablespoon-sized cookie dough balls onto the cookie sheet, spaced evenly apart. Flatten to desired shape--these cookies won't spread too much. Bake for 8-10 minutes.

Using a spatula, carefully lift the cookies off the baking sheet and place onto a cooling rack. 

Lemon & Blueberry Muffins

I'm moving again! After one year in this pricey marina studio, I'm packing it up and heading to Duboce Triangle to live in a three bedroom with a couple other Tar Heel girls. While it is definitely the financially responsible thing to do, the place is also pretty great. The amenities alone are bringing me back into the 21st century. Like the good southern girl that I try to be, I whipped up a small batch of blueberry muffins for my second visit to the apartment.

There are healthy muffin recipes out there. This isn't one of them (though I did substitute in Greek yogurt for sour cream). 

Man, I'm going to miss those blue counters...False. I will not. 

The recipe I used came from Yammie's Noshery but I added lemon zest and plopped in a couple blackberries. 

Lemon & Blueberry Muffins
2/3 cup white sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
zest from 1/2 lemon
1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup Greek yogurt
1 cup fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 375ºF. Place eight muffin liners in the pan. Combine the sugar, egg, oil, milk, lemon zest and vanilla in a bowl and stir until well combined.

Add the flour, baking powder and salt. I stir the baking powder and salt into the flour right on top of the wet ingredients so I don't have to get out another bowl. Once the baking powder and salt are pretty well distributed in the flour, stir them into the wet ingredients until combined. Don't over-mix, but stir until it's no longer lumpy.

Stir in the yogurt just until well distributed. Fold in the blueberries (I left about half for the top so some would be visible on the crown of the muffin).

Evenly distribute the batter in the muffin tin. If you are making 8 high crowned muffins, you will be filling them all the way to the top. If you want to make shorter muffins you could probably fill 12. If you saved some berries for the top, sprinkle them on and press them in lightly. Sprinkle the tops with the 1 tablespoon of sugar for added crunch.

Bake muffins for about 25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Fig, Prosciutto & Goat Cheese Grilled Pizza

Bruce and I have been wanting to grill a pizza ever since we heard that people can grill pizza. The Sunday finally came where we had enough time in the kitchen this afternoon to make caramelized onions AND homemade pizza dough. Not a small time commitment. But the labor of love was worth it for these onions...

We stumbled upon some farmers market figs while waiting to get lunch this afternoon. A perk to living in San Francisco is that you're never that far away from a farmers market. Fig season is brief, so carpe diem. 

The key to grilling pizza is having everything ready to go. Once pizza hits grill, it's fast and furious. Also, maybe make it a little smaller than I did. It got a little unruly. 

The idea behind grilling pizzas is that a grill can get a lot hotter than a regular oven, so the crust can get nice and crunchy. Grill yourself a pizza.

Fig, Prosciutto & Goat Cheese Grilled Pizza

1/2 prepared pizza dough, recipe here

1 caramelized onion, recipe here

3 ounces goat cheese, crumbled

4 figs, thinly sliced

sprig rosemary, finely chopped

5-7 pieces of prosciutto 

handful of arugula

squeeze of lemon juice

olive oil

Heat grill to at least 525. Meanwhile, get all toppings arranged on one platter for easy access. Pull prepared dough out into a large circle. Spread one side of dough with olive oil. Place olive oil side directly onto grill and let cook for about 3 minutes. Flip dough over and spread onions across the bottom. Follow with prosciutto, goat cheese, figs, and rosemary. Only cook for 2-3 minutes, until bottom lifts off easily. Remove from the gill, and top with arugula that has been lightly coated with olive oil and lemon juice.   Slice, and serve!

Beet Quinoa with Nectarine, Feta & Sweet Corn

The coolest piece of junk mail was waiting for me in my mailbox this afternoon. It was a promotional card for a company called "Imperfect Produce" that ships ugly fruits and veggies to your door that would otherwise be thrown away by grocery stores. The produce is 30-50% cheaper than grocery stores! I'll be their mail-marketing success story. Just signed up for my first free box.

But isn't my grocery store produce pretty? 

Tonya came over for dinner, wine and furniture kvetching. Luckily she came over late after her 6pm meeting (woof), because these beets took a solid hour+ to cook though. Dense little buggers. 

Regardless of the time commitment, I will definitely be making this again. Both of us kept eating out of the bowl, and not because we were hungry. And it's pink, so that's a plus. 

Beet Quinoa with Nectarine, Feta & Sweet Corn

2 large beets

1 cup white quinoa

½ lemon, juiced

olive oil

1 nectarine, cubed

2 ounces feta, crumbled

1 sweet corn cob, cut off

1 avocado, cubed

¼ cup walnuts, roughly chopped

salt and pepper

red pepper flakes

3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, reduced

sriracha

arugula

Preheat oven to 375. Scrub grit off of beets, then rub with olive oil. Roast beets for 45-60 minutes until very tender. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before cutting into 2” cube. Blend beets in food processor with olive oil and lemon juice until finely chopped. Scrape mixture into a large mixing bowl.

In a medium pot, add quinoa with 2 cups water. Bring to a boil then reduce and cover for 15 minutes, or until all liquid is absorbed. Combine cooked quinoa with beet mixture. Stir in remaining ingredients. Serve with drizzle of reduced balsamic vinegar, handful of arugula and sriracha. 

Shredded Pesto Chicken, Spinach & Mushroom Crepes with Fontina Cheese

A couple weeks ago, while on my life changing yoga retreat (I'm so that girl), we made buckwheat crepes as one of our DIY dinners. It reminded me how much I used to like making and eating crepes. After searching back on this blog, I see that the last time I made crepes was in February, 2012! So tonight I invited one of my best friends and long lost roommate over for dinner to try my hand at crepe making again.

The original plan was to make buckwheat crepes with shredded chicken in a pesto sauce. The buckwheat nor the pesto was executed (TJ's didn't have any buckwheat flour, and my existing jar of pesto had gone moldy), but the crepes turned out pretty crepe-like! One of my favorite parts about cooking is that you can reinvent a dinner menu on the spot if necessary and no one really has to know the difference. Unless you feel like telling everyone on your blog.

We both liked the final product, but I'm going to put the recipe I intended on making because I think it would have been pretty darn good. Also, these were done is an everyday, starter-kitchen skillet - no crepe pans here. It worked out just fine. 

Shredded Pesto Chicken, Spinach & Mushroom Crepes with Fontina Cheese
(3-4 servings)
1 pound chicken thighs or breasts
olive oil
2 tablespoons basil pesto (or more to taste)
2 cloves garlic
2 cups chopped mushrooms
2 cups packed spinach

1 cup all purpose flour (or buckwheat flour)
2 eggs
1/2 cup almond milk
1/2 cup water
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup Fontina cheese, grated
2 cups arugula
lemon juice
olive oil

Preheat the oven to 400. If using chicken thighs, coat with olive oil, salt and pepper in a baking dish and bake for 20 minutes. Allow to cool before shredding with fork and knife. Move chicken into a mixing bowl and stir in pesto and 1-2 teaspoons olive oil until chicken is well coated.

In a large skillet over medium heat, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Add garlic and let cook for about 60 seconds until aromatic. Add in mushrooms and stir until they begin to release liquid. Add spinach and cook briefly until spinach starts to wilt. Remove from heat and add to bowl of shredded chicken.

In another mixing bowl, whisk together flour and eggs. Slowly whisk in milk and water until a runny consistency. Stir in oil and salt. Clean the large skillet (or crepe pan if you're fancy) and return to heat. Coat the pan with oil or butter. Scoop about 1/3-1/2 cup crepe batter into the pan and spread around with spatula. Allow to cook for a couple minutes until the sides start coming up from the pan. Flip over and cook another minute or so. Repeat with batter until you have desired quantity of crepes. Stuff with chicken mixture and shredded cheese.

Serve with a little Fontina cheese on top and simple side salad of arugula tossed in lemon juice and olive oil. Give it all a few grinds of salt and pepper.

Jalapeno & Lime Salmon

After a weekend of frozen rum drinks, vodka jello stuffed watermelon and birthday cake (it was Bruce's friend's 21st 30th birthday), this Sunday night dinner demanded a healthy meal. And after 5ish hours in the car on the way home from Tahoe, it would have been so easy to click into that Sprig app and have dinner meet us at the door. But Bruce and I battled the Sunday night Whole Foods crowd for supplies. Salmon has become our go-to protein. So we didn't try to reinvent the wheel tonight, but the super flavorful dressing made this recipe a keeper.

After some discussion / collaboration, we came up with grilled jalapeno, cilantro, lime yogurt sauce as a dip for some sweet potato fries... though it ended up getting dumped on top of everything on my plate. It's delish.

After dinner, with the help of a little wine, a lot of ranting to himself, and no instructions, Bruce successfully built a bar cart!

Success! (I'll sneak some peonies and striped straws onto it at some point)

Jalapeno & Lime Salmon

1 pound salmon

1 jalapeno, seeds removed and minced

1 lime, zested

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons olive oil

salt and pepper

While gas grill is heating up to medium-high (or oven is pre-heating), combine jalapeno, lime, garlic and olive oil in a small bowl. Add about 3 dashes of salt and pepper to the bowl and stir (you can always add more to the final product). Spread sauce on top of the salmon and cook skin side down. If grilling, cook for 7-8 minutes on first side then flip over to finish cooking for 3-4 minutes. 

 Grilled Jalapeno, Lime & Cilantro Yogurt Sauce

1 jalapeno

1 cup 4% Siggi's Plain Greek yogurt

2 teaspoons lime juice

2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped

salt and pepper

Stir all ingredients together in a bowl and chill until serving. Make an hour or two ahead of time to let flavor intensify. Put it on anything and everything. 

6 Month Digression

So, 6 months ago from Thursday was when I wrote my last post. I could blame the fact that I met my wonderful boyfriend exactly 6 months ago today, but I don't think that's entirely fair. Besides date nights and hanging with friends, there has been a whole lot of work that has consumed basically all of my physical and mental energy. Namely, a certain 26 floor tower I'm filling with furniture (only 10 more floors to go..!). I've thought about my blog a lot, not sure how to dive back in. While I've been cooking all along the way, the thought of getting back in front of a computer screen at the end of the day isn't super appealing. Plus, maybe there's a new Silicon Valley that needs watching? There's nothing wrong with routine - I crush routines - but when you're letting a less-than-soul-satisfying job get in the way of doing the things you love, you've gotta reevaluate your priorities. More on next steps soon. For now, I'm checking back in on my little blog.

Below is a snapshot of my Tuesday through food, which is probably the most interesting lens I could've used.

I'm obsessed with overnight oats. You can put literally anything into them. They have a sturdier shelf life than yogurt, which is important when I walk 4 miles to work in summer heat fog. This morning's batch was made up of 1/2 a banana, handful of client's seed/raisin/nut mix and organic blueberries all mixed together with oats and almond milk. Meanwhile, across the street, a monster tower goes up reminding me that this furniture life just keeps going. And going.

There are some perks to working from a tech company's office. Fresh produce is top of that list. A yellow nectarine tided me over until a 1pm client lunch at Wayfare Tavern. 

I ordered the Sonoma chicken salad tartine. The monster sandwich was topped with peaches, radishes and squiggly greens. I opted for a side salad instead of fries, but they were sweet enough to still give me ketchup. Just in case?

I was #blessed enough to be able to work from home for the rest of the day. Working from home can either be head-down, crank out work time or schizophrenic, multi-tasking mayhem. Today was the latter. Laundry + emails + on the phone with my mom + food blog on second screen + drinking a beer (it was at least 5:04 by that point). I probably did a really good job at all of those things...

Dinner is my happy place. While I love cooking for other people, I usually give myself permission to experiment throwing weird things together on a plate when I'm only feeding myself. You might not think of roasted sweet potato, tuna, blue cheese and avocado as an obvious combination, but it was delicious, briny and pretty darn healthy. The vinaigrette made it: olive oil, quince vinegar, honey, whole grain mustard.

My dessert was unearthing my blog and writing this post! And chocolate, obviously.