Asparagus Brie Wonton Tartlets

These things are pretty amazing and the sherry vinegar with chicken broth gives great flavor to the chopped shallots.

Ingredients:

24 - Wonton wrappers

2 - Tbsp butter, divided

24 - Asparagus spears, cut into 1 inch lengths

1 - Shallot, chopped

1/4 - Cup chicken broth (or white wine)

1 - Tbsp sherry vinegar

4 - oz Brie, sliced

Salt and pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375. Brush wonton wrappers with 1 1/2 tbsp melted butter and press 2 wrappers into each mould of a muffin pan (I only did one and they turned out okay but two might be a little better)

In a sauce pan, melt the remaining butter on medium heat and asparagus for 2 minutes (photo not shown) Then move to a bowl.



 in the same sauce pan cook shallots for 2 minutes

Deglaze with broth and reduce by half

Add Sherry vinegar and reduce once again

Season with salt and pepper then pour over asparagus

Cut brie in to slices

Divide asparagus and brie among the muffin moulds lined with wonton wrappers

Bake on bottom oven rack for 15 minutes or until wonton wrappers are golden brown

Plate and serve

Mini lamb (turkey) meatballs with Feta

I was intrigued with this recipe because it's similar to how I make hamburgers but adds cheese to the mix. I was supposed to use lamb as the meat but I couldn't easily get any on the Sunday afternoon that I made these so I decided to use ground turkey and they turned out really good! I'll post an update once I actually try them with lamb.



Ingredients:

1 - lb ground lamb (turkey)
3 - oz Feta crumbled
2 - Cloves garlic, chopped
1/3 - Cup breadcrumbs
1 - egg
1 - Tbsp green onion, chopped
pepper
36 - Cherry tomatoes
1 - Tbsp melted butter
4 - Springs of thyme
1 - Bay leaf



Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 then chop up some garlic.

(I like chopping up garlic!) 

In a bowl, crack the egg and beat. Add the breadcrumbs, green onion, garlic, feta and pepper. Mix together, then add the ground lamb (turkey) and mix again. To be honest, I forgot to add the egg and everything turned out just fine without it.

mix, mix, mix and form into a giant ball

pull off little pieces and form into 1 inch balls. Place onto a baking sheet

Cook meatballs in oven for 20 - 25 minutes.

While the meatballs are in, it's time to start on the tomatoes. Place Cherry tomatoes in an oven safe bowl, coat with butter, thyme and the bay leaf.

Cook in oven for 10 minutes

Serve meatballs with roasted cherry tomatoes

I also ended up using a Diana's BBQ sauce for a dipping sauce.

Samosas

Home-made Vegetable Samosas. They aren't the traditional pyramid shape Samosas but they are still really good. It looks like a lot of ingredients but they are pretty easy to make.



Ingredients:
1 - Package of Wanton Wrappers
2 - Cups Diced Peeled Potatoes
1 - Tsp Fennel Seeds
1 - Tsp Cumin
1 - Tsp Mustard Seeds
1/2 - Tsp Ground Turmeric
1/2 - Tsp Coriander
1/2 - Tsp Fenugreek Seeds
1/8 - Tsp Cayenne Pepper
1/8 - Tsp Ginger
1/2 - Tsp Salt
1 - Small Onion Chopped
3 - Cloves Garlic, Minced
3 - Tbsp Vegetable Oil
1/2 - Cup Frozen Peas/Carrots
2 - Tbsp Lemon Juice
1 - Egg to use as an Egg Wash
Vegetable Oil for Frying



Directions:
Boil potatoes in salted water until tender (10 - 12 minutes)

Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat and fry fennel, cumin, mustard seeds, turmeric, coriander, fenugreek seeds, cayenne, and ginger for a minute or two



Chop up the onion and mince the garlic



Add garlic, onion, salt and fry until softened



Add boiled Potatoes



Add frozen peas and carrots



Mix together



Pour in the lemon juice



And stir again



Take the mixture off the heat and let cool. At the same time put a wak on the stove, add some oil and set to medium-high heat. Lightly beat the egg in a bowl and set out the wanton wappers



Brush the egg wash onto the edges of the wanton wrappers



Scoop the mixture up and put in to the center of the wanton wrapper

Then cover with another wanton wrapper, pressing the sides together. Carefully slide the Samosa into the wak and cook for a minute or two on each side
 

Set out some paper towels on a tray

Put the cooked Samosas on the paper towels

Plate and Serve with some Tamarind sauce!

Wild Rice Salad with Dried Blueberries & Apples

This recipe comes from www.runningroom.com recipe of the month. As always, I kind of follow the recipe but I like to change it a little bit. This time I had two changes. First, the original recipe called for green onions but unfortunately when I was at Freshco, they were out of green onion. Apparently they just received a shipment but the stock boy was too busy stocking stuff to go check for me... The Second change was adding in Fried Paneer. Paneer isn't the best tasting cheese on it's own but when it's fried in butter and garlic salt it's amazing! I normally use a goat cheese paneer but Freshco only had cow's milk paneer. It's still pretty good not quite the same. Here's a picture with what the Salad looked like at the end.



What does the salad taste like? The base salad has kind of a licorice flavor flavor so make sure you like licorice before making this salad (The licorice flavor comes from the tarragon). The Fried Paneer adds a bit of Saltiness to it.

Ingredients (Dressing):
2 - Tbsp Orange Juice
2 - Tsp Balsamic Vinegar
1 - Tsp Dijon Mustard
1 - Tsp Maple Syrup
1/2 - Tsp Paprika
2 - Cloves Minced Fresh Garlic

Ingredients (Salad):
1 - Cup Wild Rice Blend
1/2 - Cup Dried Blueberries
1/2 - Cup Roasted Pumpkin Seeds (unsalted)
1/2 - Cup Roughly Chopped Parsley
1/4 - Cup Roughly Chopped Tarragon
2 - Tbsp Chopped Mint
1 - Apple, Cored and Diced
Salt and Pepper
Missing: 1/4 - Cup Green Onion

(Regular Mustard Shown Here instead of Dijon - I found the Dijon after I started cooking)

Directions:
Whisk together Orange Juice, Balsamic Vinegar, Dijon Mustard, Maple Syrup, Paprika and Garlic

Cook rice according to package direction and then let cool. Because of the timing of the recipe, I ended up putting the rice in the freezer to cool it faster.

Pour the Dried Blueberries into the bowl

Pour in the Pumpkin Seeds

Pour in the Parsley

Pour in the Tarragon

Pour in the Mint

Core and Chop the Apple into bite size pieces

Add in Salt and Pepper

Mix everything in the bowl together

Here's a picture of the Salad and Dressing, now add the Rice and Dressing to the Salad

This is what it looks like all mixed together



Put into bowls



Cut the Paneer up into slices

Fry the Paneer with Butter and Garlic Salt. It only takes a couple minutes a side, then chop into pieces and throw it on top of the Salad

Enjoy!

Banana-Berry-Spinach-Avocado Smoothie

Lately I've been seeing all these posts of different blended Smoothie type drinks and I've made some in the past but nothing recently. I saw this post on the Anytime Fitness Blog site for a "3-Minute Banana-Berry Green Smoothie" and when I looked at the picture, I thought to myself "that looks like a jar of Pesto". I had all the ingredients so I decided to give it a try. I doubled the Anytime Fitness recipe to make 2 and a bit glasses.

Ingredients:
2 - Frozen Bananas
2 - Cups Berries (I have a mixture of frozen berries and fresh strawberries)
2 - Cups Almond Milk
1 - Avocado
1 - Handful of Baby Spinach



Directions:
Put everything in a blender and blend. Once blended, pour into a glass

How did it taste? The Avocado gave it a creaminess but I have no idea why mine turned out Purple instead of green? Maybe too many Blueberries or not enough spinach? Oh well, it was worth a shot.