Creole-Style Potato Wraps Filed under ( BSI challenge, panini, Potatoes, sausage, veggies, wraps )

For a few weeks now I have been watching the BSI challenge coming and going feeling a bit too shy/lazy/unequipped to jump in, but when Christo from Chezwhat? chose potatoes for the challenge, I felt like I would be doing my homestate (Idaho) wrong for not joining. Potatoes were a huge part of my diet growing up, and why wouldn't they be? We were surrounded by them, they are cheap, delicious and versatile. I love potatoes!

My food loving hubby and I had a lot of fun thinking this one up. I'm not entirely familiar with Cajun style food, but we do have a bottle of Creole seasoning, so we went with it. My biggest piece of advice for you when you make it, make sure you use the biggest and sturdiest flour tortillas you can get. I made the mistake of using small, lowfat ones, and ended up having to just stack another tortilla on top and making "wedges" instead of wraps. It tasted just as good, but I think it still would have been a bit easier to eat had it been pressed as a wrap. I loved the mildness of the potato with all the bold spicy flavors of the Cajun seasoning and andouille sausage, and the tomatoes and mushrooms added a nice cool balance. This was so much fun to create with my husband and definitely something that we will be making again!

Creole-Style Potato Wraps

Ingredients (for 1)

1/2-1 baked potato, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon creole seasoning
1 tomato, thinly sliced
1/4 cup ground andouille sausage, casing removed (Costco has a great chicken andouille sausage) 1 green onion, sliced
1/4 cup mushrooms sliced
1/4 cup sharp cheddar cheese, grated
1 large flour tortilla

Directions

Sprinkle each potato slice with creole seasoning, both sides. Heat large skillet with olive oil and saute potatoes until each side is browned. Set aside. In same skillet, saute sausage, green onion and mushrooms until mushrooms and soft and onions are slightly wilted. Lay tortilla on plate. Arrange potatoes down the center, then lay tomatoes on top.



The top with sausage mixture and cheese.
(Can you see the ridiculousness of my small tortillas? I ended up just spreading the ingredients out, adding more potatoes and tomatoes, and placing another tortilla on top. Luckily the cheese held it all together nicely.)

Fold the outside sides of tortilla into the center and lay gently onto panini press, or pressed into a skillet with a weight on top. Be sure both sides are pressed evenly until tortilla is nice and browned and the cheese is melted. I'm not exactly sure is sour cream is part of Cajun eating, but it would be a delicious way to top these bad boys all the same! Here you go Christo, thanks for choosing such a great ingredient!

Roast Beef Panini with Caramelized Onions and Butter Cheese Filed under ( beef, cheese, main dishes, panini, sandwiches )

My first panini post, it's about time! My sweet, amazing mom got me a panini press for Christmas after knowing that I was drooling over one for sometime. In all honesty I haven't used it near as much as I should just because I'm still getting acquainted with some good recipes, but it does make a killer grilled cheese for my kids!

This sandwich is very quick and easy and PACKED with flavor. I loved the sweetness of the caramelized onion, with the full flavored cheese and rich roast beef. The cheese that I got was found at Kettle Kitchen Village in Intercourse, PA (that's right Donna, Intercourse, PA, I thought you'd enjoy that!).

Kettle Kitchen is full of food prepared by the Amish community, and oh my gosh do those people know how to cook. The funnest was the cheeses and meats. I picked up some butter cheese at the strong recommendation of my cousin-in-law. It's very delicious and it kind of a cross between provolone and a very sharp cheddar. It's a strongly flavored cheese that is incredibly creamy and melts like a dream. Since I know butter cheese isn't very available though, you could sub with just about any cheese you'd like, Swiss, provolone, fontina, their all fantastic. In fact, the first time I made this, I used Gorgonzola, which was just as tasty.

I got my caramelized onion recipe from my Aunt's blog Sugarbliss...Cookies etc. It's a very easy and delicious way to caramelize your onions, and you can use them in so many ways.

Ingredients (per sandwich)

1 ciabatta roll, or kaiser roll
5-6 slices roast beef
3-4 slices favorite cheese, or 1/8 cup Gorgonzola
1/4 cup caramelized onion

Directions

Assemble sandwich, I like to put the cheese as the middle layer to adhere it all together. Place on heated panini grill and grill until bread is browned and cheese is melted.

Hot Artichoke Dip Filed under ( artichokes, Beans, cheese, Dips, light recipes, panini, party food, sandwiches, vegetarian, veggies )

You know, I'm just going to say it, trying to eat healthy just plain sucks sometimes. It's not that I don't like healthy food, it's that I really like the stuff that's not so healthy. And I'm not much of a sweets girl, I'm talking big bacon cheeseburgers, greasy cheesy pizza, and salty snack food, oh how I love it! But, I made a goal this year by golly, and even though it's February and I'm supposed to have forgotten about it, I really want to accomplish my goal of getting healthy. Come hell or a high mountain of potato chips!

That's why I'm always grateful for recipes like this. They make the whole healthy process suck just a bit less. I love artichoke dip, it's cheesy and has that fantastic sharp artichoke flavor. But, unlike a lot of dips, this one is not full of fat and calories. In fact, the bulk of this dip is white beans, which gives the dip the creamy illusion that you are indulging and being naughty. It's wonderful for parties, and tastes just as good cold or room temp as it does hot.

Hot Artichoke Dip
Cooking Light

Ingredients

1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream
1/3 cup reduced-fat mayonnaise
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 (14-ounce) cans artichoke hearts, rinsed and drained, divided
1 (15.5-ounce)can Great Northern beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup (4 ounces) grated fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, divided (I really like Pecorino Romano, I almost always sub it for Parm)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley, divided
3 garlic cloves, minced
Cooking spray

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400°.

2. Combine first 4 ingredients in a food processor; add 1 can of artichokes and beans. Process until smooth. Add remaining can of artichokes, 3/4 cup of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, 1 tablespoon parsley, and garlic. Pulse 20 times or until artichokes are coarsely chopped.

3. Spoon mixture into an 8-inch square baking dish coated with cooking spray; sprinkle top with remaining 1/4 cup of Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and remaining 1 tablespoon parsley. Bake at 400° for 25 minutes or until bubbly.


4. I think this is best served with tortilla chips, sliced baguette, carrots, celery or cauliflower.

Serves 12: Serving size is 1/3 cups

Per Serving: 98cal, 4g fat, 2g fiber, 5g prot, 488mg sod

Points per Serving: 2!!


With the leftover dip, I made an awesome roasted zucchini and mushroom panini (what else!) Roast whatever veggies you have (asparagus would have also been excellent), spread dip on one slice of bread, top with veggies and any cheese if desired and press. Delicious lunch!

So here's my question...what helps you when you're having a particularly hard day staying on that straight and narrow path to healthy eating?

HBi5: Loaf of Bread, Epi, and Crackers Filed under ( bacon, bread, cheese, HBi5, panini, sandwiches )

My first HBi5 post, and I think I'm sold with their concept. The whole way it works is you make a big batch of starter dough, which stays good in your fridge for up to two weeks. As the week goes by, you can cut pieces off of the starter as you please and make a large variety of fun breads. Plus, it's healthy!

This round was pretty simple. I started out with making a simple loaf of bread.

The bread was rich and delicious and had a wonderful nutty softness to it. We used it to make these paninis (what else!)


Inspired by Cooking Light, it is loaded with spinach, bacon, caramelized red onions and garlic, and a low-fat white cheddar. Talk about a rich and hearty sandwich, I was full for the rest of the night!

Later in the week I made an Epi shaped loaf of bread. It was fun and amazingly easier to make. It was also fun to tear off the individual "grains" and eat them as rolls. Again, wonderful wheaty flavor.



Coming in last, and probably my favorite were these great crackers. Rolled very thin and dusted with kosher salt and chili powder, they were crunchy on the outside, chewy on the inside and great with lowfat cheddar cheese or cottage cheese. My kids also loved them!


So far, I'm very excited about this book!
Be sure to come back Monday, I have a long overdue giveaway that I'm absolutely giddy about!

Mushroom and Havarti Panini Filed under ( bread, cheese, main dishes, mushrooms, onions, panini, sandwiches )

Whenever I visit my parents, I enter food heaven. My mom shares the same love for food as I do, and we have so much fun discovering new dishes together. This was something we came up with for lunch after looking through the fridge. My mom had a panini press that had yet to be taken out of the box, so it was high time to put it to good use.

I love paninis and each time I eat one, I probably say that it's my favorite, but seriously, this is my favorite panini! The baby bellas made it so meaty and rich, the caramelized onions added texture and sweetness, and the Havarti...well. Have you ever had Havarti? I hadn't until the day I ate this sandwich, and I've been slapping my face for missing out on twenty eight years of Havarti goodness. This cheese is amazing, it's has an ever so slightly pungent flavor, but is so soft and melts like a velvet dream. gaaaaaaaah. Go get some today and make this sandwich!

This sandwich is so simple that I'm not going to post an actual recipe, I'm just going to tell you how I made it, and you can adjust to taste and quantity.

Saute sliced baby bella mushrooms in olive oil. Once mushrooms are slighly browned and wilted, add kosher salt, pepper and dried thyme. Be sure that the mushrooms are flavored well, the second time I made them, I didn't add enough salt and the sandwiches weren't quite as good. At the same time you're sauteing your mushrooms, caramelize your onions. Place onions in a skillet with olive oil. Cook until onions are slightly soft. Add sugar until onions are sweet, then add soy sauce, all to desired taste. Onions should be a caramel color and very soft by the time you are finished cooking them. Assemble sandwich. I put down a layer of mushrooms, a slice of Havarti cheese and the onions. Putting the cheese in the middle will help glue the whole sandwich together. Get a napkin, your favorite beverage and devour!