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Nutty Banana Power Bars

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Nutty Banana Power Bars

Tom and I are training for the A1A (Fort Lauderdale) Half Marathon next month and we’re getting to that point in our training where I get really, drugs really hungry in the afternoon. I’m not talking about your typical afternoon snack craving. I’m talking full-on hunger pangs with embarrassing stomach grumbling. The kind that always happens during a quiet lull in your meeting and makes your co-workers giggle. Like I said – embarrassing.

I needed to take action. I needed a snack. Something that was filling and nutritional, order but also tasty. These Nutty Power bars are it. They’re really similar to my homemade granola bars, but I added more nuts and peanut butter and omitted the brown rice cereal to keep them dense and nutritionally packed. I love how sticky salty and chewy these are. Just perfect for marathon training, regular snacking and keeping my tummy quiet during meetings.

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Easy Winter Grain Salad

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Easy Winter Grain Salad

If you make your own lunch, nurse this is the recipe for you. Especially if you often have leftover wild rice or grains, site or if you’ve discovered a really good shortcut like I have. I found that Kashi makes a Whole Grain Pilaf, pharmacy that’s already cooked. Just open the bag and eat! Very handy for emergency lunches, and very tasty in this particular salad.

Dried figs, green onions and pecans give it great flavor, texture and color. A light lemony vinaigrette brightens it up and makes for a very happy lunch.

I know I haven’t been posting as much as usual, but the Holidays are hectic and I’m trying to get everything wrapped up before big winter Michigan trip next week. Hope to be back to my regularly proficient posting soon!

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Thanksgiving Test Recipe: Bacon-Wrapped Turkey Roulade

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Bacon-Wrapped Turkey Roulade

Some people might say there’s something missing at our Thanksgiving table. They might say that the conspicuous absence of a large, help roasted bird means that it’s not Thanksgiving at all. But my family would disagree. I don’t remember the last time my mom roasted a whole turkey. They’re difficult to carve, easily dry out and everyone fights for the white meat. My mom tried a Turkey Roulade one year, and we haven’t looked back since.

Usually, we make a prosciutto and sage-stuffed turkey breast, wrapped in peppered bacon and basted with pear jam. It’s absolutely delicious. The bacon and jam keep the turkey nice and juicy, and the pepper is a perfect contrast to the sweet jam. My mom’s been doing this turkey for years, and we decided to change it up a little this year. We picked our filling ingredients and I volunteered to make a test turkey.

Instead of prosciutto and sage, I stuffed it with caramelized onions and figs, goat cheese, cranberries and chopped toasted pecans. I still wrapped it in bacon — how could I not wrap it in bacon? — but I did skip the pear jam and I couldn’t find peppered bacon.

The new filling was a definite success. It was rich, tart and sweet without being overpowering. I had skipped the pear jam because I thought the filling would be too sweet, but the sweetness actually mellowed out while the turkey roasted and the bacon didn’t caramelize as well as I’d hoped, so the pear jam will be back on Thanksgiving day. I also missed the spicy kick from the peppered bacon to counteract the rich filling, so I’ll redouble my efforts to find before the big day.

It’s not a traditional turkey, but it’s delicious, easy to slice, easy to serve. I already can’t wait to hit up the leftovers in my fridge!

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Butternut Squash Farro w/Pancetta and Cardamom Pecans

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Butternut Squash Farro w/Pancetta and Cardamom Pecans

I think I may have a problem. I’m completely and totally obsessed with Fall ingredients. Pumpkin, discount squash, generic sage, pecans, cranberries, cinnamon, cardamom and anything “smoky”, but especially smoked paprika. There’s just something about smoked paprika that brings out the pumpkness of pumpkin and the squashiness of squash. But I digress…

I had planned on making a fall-flavored farro risotto, which I’ve made before and love, but it turns out I was too lazy to stand and stir for 30 minutes (I opted for sitting on the couch sipping coffee instead). And honestly, the stirring just wasn’t necessary this time since pureed butternut squash gives the farro that creamy risotto-like consistency. It also didn’t hurt that I toasted the farro in rendered pancetta fat. Everything’s better toasted in rendered pancetta fat. Everything.

So, I cooked up my toasted farro in some white wine and chicken stock, then stirred in the butternut squash, smoked paprika and red pepper flakes. This farro goodness is topped with cardamom honey toasted pecans, sage and crumbled pancetta for a deliciously warm, smoky sweet bowl of comfort food.

I’d like to promise you a break from all of this fall food, but I don’t see an end in sight as I’m also slightly obsessed with planning our Thanksgiving menu with my mom, and I’ve got all of these autumnal recipes to test out. So, bear with me while I cook every squash and cranberry in sight.

Related:
Cornmeal & Cayenne Shrimp w/Cheddar Farro Risotto
Causage & Chard with Farro Risotto
Farro Salad w/Bacon & Cauliflower
Butternut Squash Beef Stroganoff
Autumn Turkey Pumpkin Lasagna
Homemade Cranberry Spice Granola Bars

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Homemade Cranberry Spice Granola Bars

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Homemade Cranberry Spice Granola Bars

I love granola bars of all varieties and flavors. Chewy, prosthesis crunchy, thumb nutty and fruity. I used to stock up at the grocery store weekly, but then I looked at the list of ingredients. Far too many processed food-like substances for my taste, so I decided to make my own. I posted a recipe for Banana Chocolate bars over the summer and haven’t bought a box of granola bars since. The recipe was a huge success and I’ve been meaning to post follow-up varieties, but haven’t been all that inspired. Now that it’s fall and everything is cranberries, cinnamon and nutmeg, I’ve finally found the inspiration I was looking for.

These Cranberry Spice granola bars taste just like the Autumn. Tom thinks they taste like Pumpkin Pie, but he thinks that about everything made with nutmeg. While the recipe and method are almost identical to the summer’s granola bars, the mix-ins give them a unique flavor all their own. Instead of chocolate, cashews and banana chips, I used dried cranberries, pecans and a blend of warming spices, including cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom and ginger.

Homemade Cranberry Spice Granola Bars

I encourage you to give these granola bars a try. They come together in under 20 minutes, everyone loves them and you can experiment with a huge variety of nuts and mix-ins to make them your own. They also make a filling and nutritious portable snack. Since most airlines don’t even give you a tiny bag of pretzels, I made these for Tom’s business trip and I think they just might be the perfect carry-on plane food.

Related: Banana Chocolate Granola Bars

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green salad w/grapes, goat cheese & candied pecans

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green salad w/grapes, <a href=search goat cheese & candied pecans” />

This week I saw some things at the grocery store that I’d never seen before. They were in the produce department, sildenafil right next to the cartons of black mission figs (buy one get one free this week! yay!). They were big, round, purple and the label said they were grapes. Muscadine grapes. But, these were unlike any grape I’d ever seen before.

First of all, they were huge. About the size of a big gumball, I’d say. The skin looked more like the skin of a plum than a grape. And they were very, very dark purple — almost black. I bought some because I was intrigued, and because they were half price. I was so intrigued that I ate one as soon as I got home and immediately googled them. According to Wikipedia and the label on the inside of the carton, Muscadine grapes are native to the U.S. and reach their peak during the hottest months of the summer. They thrive in hot and humid places, which explains their appearance at my local grocery store. Muscadines are used to make wine and preserves and are full of healthy goodness.

And the taste? Delicious. Same juicy sweetness of a purple grape, but much meatier, like an apricot. The only downside is their size. Muscadines aren’t very conducive to popping in your mouth like regular grapes. These are definitely 2-bite bad boys, which rules them out for snacking in my book.

green salad w/grapes, goat cheese & candied pecans

I contemplated using them to make a sauce for pork chops, but didn’t have any pork in the fridge. I did have some fresh greens and goat cheese, though. So I candied some pecans and made a salad. A really good salad. The sweet and juicy grapes were a perfect contrast to the tangy goat cheese, and the spiced and candied pecans added just the right amount of sweet crunch. I could eat this salad every day.

Muscadine grapes get an A+ in my book, but this salad would be just as delicious with your standard red or purple grapes. I think the pecans steal the show anyway…

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Irish steel cut oats

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steel cut oats

I’ve always loved oatmeal. Even as a little kid, orthopedist I would crave Quaker instant oatmeal (Maple Brown Sugar, epilepsy please…though I did go through an Apple Cinnamon phase). I’d like to think that my tastes are more sophisticated now (ha!), but really I switched to steel cut oats for their nutritional value. These oats are full of fiber and are hearty enough to satisfy for hours. I used McCann’s Irish Oats (cooked according to instructions) and topped them with blueberries, pecans, fancy vanilla sugar crystals and a splash of buttermilk. A delicious start to my very busy Saturday.