Infamous Logo Breakfast Casserole

Breakfast! My favorite meal of the day. It's hilarious and slightly off-putting to think that I HATED eggs when I was younger. The thought of eating a scrambled egg right after waking up made me feel sick.

Thank goodness I grew out of that crazy stage of my life and can say eggs are one of my favorite foods and an absolute essential in cooking healthy, cheap and delicious. Pretty much every Thursday I take my veggies from the week that I haven't used and throw them in an omelette for dinner - so good.

When I feel like getting a little fancier, or need to have a transportable breakfast for a group (tailgate for a noon football game perhaps?) I break out the breakfast casserole. This recipe originated at a Gamecocks tailgate when my good friend, Britt's parents (The Logothetis family, hence "Logo" in the title) served this up to a bunch of us, without warning us what an impact it would make on our lives! I have made a few tweaks to the recipe over the years including substituting turkey sausage for pork and using wheat bread instead of white but trust me it is still 100% just as mouth-watering.

The most recent time I made the casserole I, as I have been known to do, sneakily threw in some veggies. To be specific, broccoli florets. I am so glad it turned out because it makes me feel that much better about consuming it and keeps me fuller throughout the morning. Here's the recipe : )


P.S. I need to do better with taking pictures during the cooking process - I just get so wrapped up!





















Ingredients:
- 4 slices of whole wheat bread cut into cubes
- 10 eggs
- 1/2 cup skim milk
- 1 tube of turkey sausage
- 1 cup broccoli florets
- 1/4 cup of cheddar cheese
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 tbsp Italian seasoning
- 1/4 tsp chili powder (optional - if you want it to have a little kick!)

Directions:
Best done the night before and baked in the morning
- Brown turkey sausage, crumble into bits and season with Italian spices & chili powder
- Spray the bottom and sides of a 9x13 casserole or baking dish with olive oil or cooking spray
- Layer your cubes of bread in a single layer on the bottom of the baking dish
- Layer turkey sausage crumbles on bread
- Layer broccoli florets over turkey sausage crumbles - I chopped mine up a little so it wasn't such huge chunks of broccoli
- Whisk together the eggs, milk, salt & pepper
- Pour egg mixture over entire casserole - it's okay if ingredients start floating around and moving at this point, that's good!
- Top with cheddar cheese
- Bake uncovered for 45 min - 1 hour at 350

ENJOY!

'Tis The Season For Pumpkin

Fall is, in my opinion, the best time of the year.  Mostly because of a. halloween and b. pumpkin goodies.  I loooooooove pumpkin everything!  If you've never eaten a toasted pumpkin seed, you need to do that, like...today.

I made my first pumpkin concoction this weekend for the UVa v. LA tech tailgate.  Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies!  I used to think that pumpkin and chocolate - two of my favorite foods - needed to be loved separately, I just didn't think the flavors would mesh well.  But they do...makes my life (and sweet consumption) a lot easier.

Anyways, so these cookies are amazing if you like pumpkin and chocolate, and even if you don't.  Seriously.  They also are super puffy and round, if you are tired of making cookies that spread and flatten a lot. 

Here's what they look like fresh out of the oven:

They're almost like muffin tops, they're so puffy!  The good thing is, they keep their shape, so you don't have to worry about putting them so far apart on the tray and having them STILL run together (this happens to me literally every time I make regular CCC's.)

Here's how to make these festive treats!

You'll need:

2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
pinch of ground ginger
1 stick of butter
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 egg
About 15 oz. of canned pure pumpkin
1 tsp. vanilla extract
2 cups chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees (I did 350 on convection bake)

Combine flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon and ginger in a small bowl and set aside.

Let butter come to room temperature and mix in bowl with brown and white sugar.  Once this is well combined, add in the pumpkin, the vanilla and the egg.  Beat until it's all incorporated.

Slowly beat in the dry ingredients, mixing well after each addition.

Stir in the chocolate chips.

Use a cookie or ice cream scoop and place in rounded spoonfuls on baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Like I said before, you can put them closer together than you think because they barely spread.  Bake for 12-15 minutes.  Let them cool about 2 minutes then transfer to wire rack to let them cool completely.  And the parchment paper = no clumsy sheet tray cleaning!

I hope yall enjoy these as much as I did.  And don't worry - I got a 29 oz. can of pumpkin so I'll be back to share what I made with the rest of the can!

Salmon and Squash Risotto

One of my favorite things about cooking is the smell of onion and garlic sautee-ing in olive oil.  I wish I could bottle that smell and drink it.  I love making risotto because - although it seems like a lengthy process - it is really easy and it's such a comfort food to me.

The farm box was back in full force this week and one of the things we got which I had been waiting and waiting for was arugula!  This was the most peppery arugula I have ever experienced - it was amazing!  All that flavor from a leaf.  I had made risotto and topped it with arugula and salmon before so I knew the combo was delicious.  Although the risotto I made that time was from a box : (.  We also got this massive zuccini in the box, so it was settled.  Zucchini risotto topped with arugula and salmon.  Not just your run-of-the-mill salmon either.....cedar plank salmon.  OH yeah.  Lots of experimenting going on.  I hadn't gotten a box in awhile so I think I was in the mood to really COOK.

Here is the finished product:

 

I mean come on, so pretty!

I will walk you through how I made the risotto, because it's such a versatile recipe and you can use the basic steps and then throw whatever veggies, meats or spices you want in it.

These are the ingredients I started with:

 

 I told you that zucchini was massive!

 

So here's what you need to make zucchini risotto:

 

- 4 c. chicken stock

- 1 large or 2-3 small zucchini/squashes

- 1 onion (I used half an onion and 2 green onions I had left over)

- 3 cloves of garlic

- 3 tbsp. olive oil

- 2 tbsp. butter

- 1/2 c. dry white wine

- 1 1/2 c. arborio rice

- 1/2 c. parmesan cheese

 

So you can get creative with this, like I said.  I have made risotto with mushrooms, chicken, spinach you name it, it will probably be good!  But also with the aromatics.  As you can see I had half a white onion and a few green onions just left over, so I decided to use those up.  This is not a science!  I am all about using up what you already have.  If you have a shallot - use that!  If you just hate hate hate onion flavor, leave it out!  I don't even think the original risotto recipe called for garlic!!  I mean REALLY?!  Not ok.

 

So here's how you do it:

 

Start by simmering all 4 cups of chicken broth on the stove in a small pot.  Just let that warm up while you're doing everything else and stir it every once in awhile to make sure it's warming evenly.

 

Put 2 tbsp. of olive oil in a large pot and let it get hot (med-high heat).  Add in bite-sized zucchini pieces and sautee until browned.  Set cooked zucchini aside.

 

Here is what mine looked like:

 

Put 1 more tbsp. of olive oil and 2 tbsp. of butter into same pot you just used for zucchini.  Once the butter is melted add in onion and garlic and let it get soft, about 3 minutes (this is where THE SMELL starts happening).  Add in the arborio rice, stir it in with the oil, butter, onion and garlic and let it cook for about 2 minutes.  Turn the heat up to high and add in the white wine, cook 2 more mintues.

Heaven:

Turn the heat down to low-med and over the next 18 minutes add in your warmed chicken broth one ladle at a time.  Wait until the liquid is pretty much absorbed before adding in another ladle.  I like to stir a LOT during this time, because I get paranoid that the rice will start sticking to the bottom (ew) and it's easier to tell how thick it's getting when you have a spoon in it.  The rice will start absorbing all the broth and getting super puffy!

 



Also, here is what was going on outside while I was inside doing my thing with the risotto:

 

Look at that!!!  By the way, the cedar plank from the grocery store had a recipe and instructions on it that we used, that's why I'm not giving you the recipe here.

 

So now you've used up all the chicken broth and your risotto is thick, puffy and creamy.  Add the zucchini back in along with 1/2 cup parmesan cheese and a small amount of lemon zest if you wish.  And you're done!

 

It should look like this:

I highly recommend eating it with some kind of fish as well as arugula.  It's crazy how the combination of those three things just bring out the best in each other.

 

So there you go!  I hope I've inspired someone to make risotto because it's getting a little cooler out there and this is the perfect cozy, fall dish!

 

P.S. another one of the best smells in the world : ) ...

A Post about Toast

Brunch is easily my favorite meal.  Eggs mixed with endless combinations of delicious add-ins, bacon, AND you can eat pancakes and french toast (i.e. dessert) at 11 a.m. and no one will judge you!  Love it.  I have a pretty routine list of restaurants where I know I'll enjoy a delicious brunch when I come to Charlotte.  But today, I went to Toast in Dilworth for the first time thanks to a recommendation from a girlfriend.  And it was AWESOME!  They have stuffed french toast.  STUFFED french toast!  Here is a pic courtesy of foursquare:

 

Soooo I pretty much went there thinking the stuffed french toast was an auto-order.  I actually ended up getting an egg white scramble with spinach, mushrooms, gruyere and roasted turkey.  Plus a mountain of chunky hashbrowns (usually not my fave shape of hashbrown but amazing nonetheless).  It was flavorful, fluffy and filled me up without making me feel like I just ate a small child.  Rob got crabcakes with poached eggs on top (!!!) Just incase your mouth isn't already watering:

 

 

There it is.  Toast will obviously be receiving my business again. and again. and again.  YUM!

Fresh is Best

A couple weeks ago we bought a groupon to get a box of local produce delivered to our house every week.  (It's called the Farm Table for those of you in and around VA).  The first box arrived last Thursday and has caused me to get pretty creative trying to incorporate the ingredients into recipes.  The food is different every week and this week included strawberries, spinach, swiss chard, elephant garlic (?), cilantro, collards and radishes.  YUM!  I've already discovered that swiss chard is one of my new fave veggies.

Last night I made probably the best meal ever: Orzo, edamame and shrimp saute!  And I used up a ton of the stuff from the box.  I got the recipe from the newspaper and I will share it with you at the end of this.

It made a TON of food as you can see, so I will be eating this for the rest of the week.  This was one of the best recipes I have experimented with and I'm sure will be one to stay in my repertoire.  Here is the recipe, I highly recommend you try!

2 cups orzo
4 tbsp sesame oil
1 lb shelled and deveined medium shrimp
4 green onions, finely chopped (I used spring onions from the box and it tasted good)
10 ounces (2 cups) frozen shelled edamame
1 cup loosely packed chopped cilantro
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 - 4 tsp freshly grated, peeled ginger root

Cook orzo as directed on the box, drain and set aside.
Heat sesame oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add shrimp and onions and toss until shrimp turn pink (about 2 minutes).  Add edamame, cooked orzo and cilantro and toss until edamame are warmed through.  Add soy sauce.  Remove pan from heat, add ginger and mix well.  Orzo should be creamy.

I had a huge bag of frozen edamame in the shells already, so I just cooked those as directed and then added them and didn't have to toss as long since they were already cooked.  But the de-shelling process took forever so I recommend you buy them out of the shell if you have the choice.

Hopefully this will be the first of many good recipe experiments, and I will keep y'all posted on the veggie box!