Corn and Bacon Chowder

Another Cooking Light recipe! I wouldn't call it corn and bacon chowder considering the bacon is just a garnish, but it's good stuff! The corn is nice and sweet--it smelled like cornbread while it was cooking. Perfect for a cold day!

Corn and Bacon Chowda

from Cooking Light

2 turkey bacon slices

1/2 cup chopped celery, onion, and bell pepper mix

32 oz frozen baby gold and white corn, thawed and divided

2 cups milk, divided (used skim)

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

3/4 cup reduced fat shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese

Cook bacon until crisp, remove from pan, crumble, and set aside. Saute veggies and 16 oz corn in bacon drippings for five minutes or until tender.

Blend 16 oz corn and 1 cup milk in blender until smooth. Add pureed corn to vegetables in pan. Stir in remaining milk, salt, pepper, and cheese. Cook over medium heat without boiling, stirring constantly, until cheese melts. Serve with bacon crumbles on top.

Heart-Glazed Cornmeal Cookies

I know, it's a little early for Valentine's Day. Actually, we're not really in to VDay around here anyway, and I didn't feel like waiting to try this recipe! In fact, we're so not in to VDay that I scheduled a dr. appointment for that day after work. How romantic is that?? :)


Ever since a friend posted about eating a corn cookie from Milk bar in New York, I have been wanting one myself! The site says it has corn powder and corn flour. I have been on the lookout, but it seems everyone else is just looking too, since Google always turns up other people searching for the recipe, but nobody ever actually posting it. I was flipping through a magazine I get for school-- Martha Stewart's Food--and found a cornmeal cookie that I knew I had to try. I really liked these, and so did Norris. The corn is not a strong flavor--the sweet corn flavor reminds me of my favorite Golden Sweet cornbread. I really really liked these (will definitely make them again--like a sugar cookie but SO much faster of a process), but I'm still on the lookout for the moist corn cookie from Milk bar if you happen to come across it!! :)

Heart-Glazed Cornmeal Cookies

from Martha Stewart
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1/2 tsp coarse salt
1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 drops red or pink food coloring
Preheat oven to 400 F. Whisk together flour, cornmeal, and salt.
Cream butter and 1/2 cup granulated sugar until creamy, about 3 minutes.
Add in egg and 1 tsp vanilla and beat until combined.
With mixer running, add in flour mixture.
Place 1/4 cup granulated sugar in a small bowl. Roll dough into 1 inch balls and roll in sugar. Place on lined baking sheet and flatten balls with the bottom of a glass. Press a cookie cutter into the cookie, but don't cut all the way through. Bake until they have golden edges, rotating pans halfway through. They will bake around 12 minutes, but check at 10.
Let cookies cool on wire rack.
Whisk together powdered sugar, 1/4 tsp vanilla, and 1 3/4 tsp cold water. Whisk in food coloring. Glaze cookies and let cool.
Martha says they make 40, but I got 24 and they weren't huge. She must have made quarter sized cookies!!

Spicy Poblano and Corn Soup

I wouldn't actually name this "spicy" if I were doing the naming, but you could make it spicy in many ways: add hotter peppers, garnish with spicy garnishes such as jalapenos or hot sauce, or add in chipotles in adobo to the pureed mixture. I added in a tiny bit of leftover taco spiced chicken just because I had it, and it added a little extra protein and bulk, not to mention flavor! You can play with this recipe however you'd like, but the original is great as is!
This is also from that great Cooking Light cookbook my coworker is letting me borrow for school. Based on the number of recipes I've already planned from it, I have a feeling this book may be making its way to my house soon! The recipes are also available online, so I may just stick to that. I made this soup for my lunches for the week--I'd say the original recipe (which says four servings) makes closer to six bowls, though. Enjoy!

Spicy Poblano and Corn Soup

from Cooking Light


16 oz frozen baby gold and white corn, thawed and divided

2 cups fat free milk, divided

4 poblano chiles, seeded and chopped (about 1 lb)

1 cup chopped onion

1 tbsp water

3/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup reduced fat shredded sharp cheddar cheese




Bring 1 1/2 cups milk and 1 cup corn to a boil over medium heat in a dutch oven.
Combine chile, onion, and water in a microwave safe bowl and microwave on high for four minutes.
Place 2 cups corn and 1/2 cup milk in a blender and process until smooth. Add pureed mixture to heated corn mixture in dutch oven. Stir in chile mixture and salt. Cook six minutes over medium heat.
Serve with cheddar cheese. (I just stirred in the cheddar cheese since I'd be taking it for lunches and don't bring a separate garnish for school lunch!)

Cooking Light Pan Roasted Mushroom and Wild Rice Soup

Norris, the mushroom lover, gives this soup a thumbs up:)

The picture, however, does not get a thumbs up. Boo for it being dark at 5:30!

Pan Roasted Mushroom and Wild Rice Soup

from Cooking Light

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 (4-ounce) package fresh gourmet-blend mushrooms (bought loose fresh shrooms and sliced them)
1 cup refrigerated prechopped celery, onion, and bell pepper mix (Norris doesn't go for those veggies, so added in frozen corn instead)
1 (2.75-ounce) package quick-cooking wild rice (used regular wild rice which cooked for about 45 minutes)
1 (6-ounce) package light garlic-and-herb spreadable cheese wedges (Laughing Cow)
2 cups 1% low-fat milk (used skim)
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt (used a lot more than this! taste and adjust according to your own preferences)


Preparation
1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and celery mixture; cook 6 to 7 minutes or until vegetables are browned, stirring occasionally.
2. While mushroom mixture cooks, prepare rice according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Unwrap cheese; chop into bite-sized pieces.
3. Add milk, cheese, thyme, pepper, and salt to mushroom mixture, stirring well; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cook 3 minutes or until cheese melts and soup thickens. Stir in rice. Cook 1 minute or until heated.

Chopped Apple Salad with toasted walnuts, feta, and pomegranate vinaigrette

"It looks like Christmas!!" was the class reaction to this salad. The kids really liked the toppings, but preferred the dressing from the Pear and Pomegranate salad. I really liked the flavor combo, but the original recipe called for blue cheese, which I think would have stood out more. Good luck finding pomegranate molasses...I couldn't find them anywhere, so I had to make my own which first turned into hard candy, then to molasses. Be careful:)

Chopped Apple Salad with toasted walnuts, feta, and pomegranate vinaigrette
Pomegranate Vinaigrette:
1/4 cup pomegranate molasses
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 heaping tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon honey, or more to taste
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Salad:
4 apples (Granny Smith, Gala, Fuji) any or a combination of all, skin left on, core removed and cut into 1/2-inch dice
2 cups baby spinach
2 heads endive, thinly sliced
1 cup toasted coarsely chopped walnuts
3/4 pound blue cheese, crumbled (used feta)
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper



Whisk together the pomegranate molasses, vinegar, mustard, honey and salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Slowly whisk in the olive oil until emulsified.
For the salad:
Combine the apples, spinach, endive, walnuts and cheese in a large bowl. Add the vinaigrette and toss to coat, season with salt and pepper, to taste.

from Bobby Flay

Pear and Pomegranate Salad with Gorgonzola and Champagne Vinaigrette

Well, except the pomegranate. I spent two hours in the biggest market in our city, and they didn't have a single pomegranate! This would have been perfect (and really pretty) with pomegranate seeds on it!
This is one of our trial recipes for our ProStart competition. The kids have 60 minutes to make a starter, entree (beef, veg, and starch), and a dessert. They can only use two butane burners and nothing electric or battery powered. Quite a feat just to come up with some recipes to use! We always start with a ton of trial recipes and change them up as needed. The hardest part is not giving TOO much of my own input and letting it be "their" project. Especially because their taste buds like Pizza Hut, but the judges are restaurant owners and chefs that might also like the Hut, but are looking for more bold and interesting flavors. If you have an idea, please toss it my way!!
I think they decided that they like the dressing from this salad with the toppings from the Chopped Apple Salad. We'll see where that takes us, but I really enjoyed this salad (and even more with pom seeds!).

Pear and Pomegranate Salad with Gorgonzola and Champagne Vinaigrette

6 servings

8 cups baby spinach

1 ripe pear, cut in small slices

1/3 cup pomegranate seeds

2 oz Gorgonzola

fresh cracked pepper

1 tbsp honey

Champagne vinaigrette:

1/4 cup champagne vinegar

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1/2 tsp minced garlic

1 tbsp plus 1 1/2 tsp fresh squeezed lemon juice

1/4 tsp pepper

2 tbsp olive oil

Whisk together dressing ingredients.

Toss greens with dressing and top with pear and gorgonzola. Drizzle honey on top and top with pomegranate seeds. Serve immediately

from Guy Fieri

Cheesy Pesto Dip

I have no idea what to name this, but it was really, really good! Aunt Kris always brings good stuff from Costco to family things and I always wish I had one instead of Sam's here! She brought a torte that had cream cheese, sundried tomato, and pesto in it and I knew I had to make something similar. We hosted a party for New Years Eve, so I decided that would be the perfect opportunity for making it. I have some left over that I plan to put on pizza crust and am SOOO looking forward to it! I might put some roasted red peppers and spinach on top of the pizza..yumm!

Anyway, here's the simple recipe I put together based on that torte we had from Costco. I had goat cheese and wanted to add that it, and loved the addition. I used the pesto I had frozen from the end of the summer and made this recipe super simple! You can adjust the amount of pesto and sundried tomatoes depending on your taste preferences.

Cheesy Pesto Dip

8 oz cream cheese, softened

4 oz goat cheese

1/3 cup pesto

1/3 cup sundried tomatoes, drained and minced plus some for garnish

Combine cheeses until blended. Stir in pesto and tomatoes. Scoop onto plastic wrap and wrap the plastic around to shape the cheese into a brick shape. Chill until set up, about two hours. Garnish with more sundried tomatoes and serve with crackers.