Roast Chicken & Vegetables

Last night I cooked for a dinner party for one of my friend's birthdays. We were debating what the perfect menu would be knowing that we had a few gluten-free guests as well as a blizzard going on that makes comfort food seem like a must!

As we explored Whole Foods (which is possibly my favorite activity!) we thought it would be fun to make some roast chickens with seasonal vegetables. I had wanted to make roast chickens for awhile now as the presentation is so pretty and great for a dinner party. This is actually very simple to do and yet is a definite crowd pleaser.

Here's the steps I went through... it's not really a recipe, but rather a pretty easy, quick and delicious way for a great meal.

Ingredients:
Roast Chicken:
1. Chickens for roasting (you can find these at the meat counter)
-- I bought two as we had 8 guests for dinner and that allowed for leftovers
2. Fresh herbs to stuff the chicken
-- I used the Osage Gardens Poultry Blend that you can find by the fresh herbs in the produce
section at Whole Foods
3. Two-four lemons depending on the size and how many chickens you are roasting. If you are roasting one you probably only need 1-2 lemons, sliced into wedges to stuff the chicken
4. Chicken broth for de-glazing and basting to keep the chicken moist while cooking
5. Salt, pepper and olive oil for seasoning

Roast Vegetables:
You can use any variation for these. I wanted to use seasonal vegetables, but really whatever you have will work great.
1. Six small zucchinis, chopped
2. Three medium squash, chopped
3. Two yellow onions, chopped
4. Two sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
5. Olive oil and seasonings of your choice


Directions:

Preheat the oven to 475 degrees. To prep the chicken, remove the giblets and clean (as you would for a turkey). Place chicken/s in roasting pan (breast side up) and massage with olive oil, salt and pepper to keep skin moist. Stuff the chicken/s with the lemon wedges and fresh herbs. If you want to go ahead and tie or pin the legs to keep this all together. Roast the chicken/s for about an hour and a half until golden brown and an internal temperature of 165 degrees (at the deepest part of the meet).


Chickens prepped

For this dinner party we put some of the vegetables in the roasting pan with the chickens (after seasoning the veggies with olive oil, salt and pepper).

The remaining vegetables we mixed with olive oil and a Moroccan spice seasoning blend and placed on a pan to roast. For roast vegetables you can add any spices you like, herbes de provence, curry, etc. Play around with whatever you have on your spice rack! The veggies can roast along with the chicken for about the last 45 minutes to an hour until they are tender to your liking.

This is not only a comforting, but also healthy meal that is great for family and friends. Better yet you can use the leftovers for soup stock!





Enjoy :)

Outfit Idea: Day to Night Look #1

If you're like me you have those mornings when you are literally staring at your closet before work in a sleepy daze of what the perfect outfit for the day would be. Many times I'm looking for the an outfit that can work for both the work day and after work fun of a happy hour, dinner date, etc. Maybe you'll need to add a few accessories and refresh your make-up, but overall if the basic outfit can work for both parts of your day it just makes life easier. I'm going to start doing a series of posts around the "day to night" look that will hopefully give you some good ideas to make your mornings easier.

Look #1 below is super simple and functional, yet fun. I'm lucky in my job that I get to wear jeans to work, but if that's not the case for you you could simply swap in a pair of dressy skinny pants (I like Gap's skinny black pant option) or change into a pair of skinny jeans after work.

For this look you will need the following:
-Skinny jeans or other type of dark, dressy jeans. (I'm wearing J Crew's matchstick jeans)
-Dressy cami or tank (this is a key piece of the night look)
-Blazer (I used one that is part of a suit but any blazer would work... this is perfect to keep a professional look for work)
-Booties or fun pumps (I just got these booties on sale at DSW and LOVE them)
-Long, decorative necklace (Forever 21 is your best friend for this)





This looks is great because you can easily mix it up with different tanks, jewelry and shoes for a variety of outfits!

Berry Crumble

Crumbles may be my all time favorite dessert. I love that you can make them all year round with different types of fruits depending on the season...berry crumbles in the summer, apple crumbles in the fall, etc.

I started using Ina Garten's (aka the Barefoot Contessa) crumble recipe a few years ago and while I've tried a few others this is still my favorite. I modify it a bit depending on what ingredients I have handy and really just what I feel like throwing in the mix :).

The one I am showing below I made using frozen berries. If I see these on sale I usually try to stock up to use in crumbles or smoothies.

Recipe
(Adapted from Barefoot Contessa's Plum Raspberry Crumble)

Ingredients
3 160z bags of frozen berries (I used 2 bags of frozen mixed berries and 1 bag of frozen strawberries)
2/3 cup granulated sugar, divided
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
2 tablespoons orange juice (you can use a little more if you want more citrus flavor)
1/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, diced
1/2 cup quick-cooking oats
1/2 cup sliced almonds, plus extra for sprinkling


Directions Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the frozen berries, 1/3 cup of the granulated sugar, 1/4 cup of the flour, and the orange juice and toss well. Pour into a 9 by 12 by 2-inch baking dish.

For the topping, place the remaining 1 cup of flour, the remaining 1/3 cup of granulated sugar, the brown sugar, and the salt in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade (you can also use a hand mixer) and pulse a few times to combine. Add the butter and pulse until the butter is the size of peas. Pour the mixture into a bowl, add the oats, and work it with your hands until it's in large crumbles. Add 1/2 cup of the almonds and mix well. Spread the topping evenly over the plums, making sure the fruit is covered. Sprinkle with some extra almonds.




Bake for 40 minutes, or until the fruit is tender and bubbly and the topping is golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Provencal Fish Stew

Today we celebrated my Mom's birthday and I knew I wanted to cook up something special for the occasion. I have been wanting to try making a decadent seafood stew for some time now and with the combination of the snowstorm today and the fact that my Mom love's seafood I knew this was the perfect occasion.

The recipe I choose is from a new cookbook that I just bought (and am so excited about), The Foster's Market Cookbook, by Sara Foster. This is definitely a larger undertaking as far as making a meal goes, but when you have an afternoon to cook up a storm it's definitely worth it! One other aspect I love is that I was able to cook with some fun, rare ingredients like saffron, fennel and leeks (I was able to find all of the below ingredients at Whole Foods).

Fennel



Leeks


I took pictures step by step to help show you the process. This meal was a huge hit with my family and I can't wait to use it for a dinner party.

Below is the recipe and directions with pictures

Provencal Fish Stew
(Adapted from The Foster's Market Cookbook)

Olive oil
1 red onion, chopped
2 leeks, trimmed and split lengthwise
1 fennel bulb, halved and thinly sliced
3 ribs celery, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
6 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
One 28 oz can of whole tomatoes
8 cups fish broth
1 cup dry white wine
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon dried marjoram
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Grated zest and juice of two oranges
2lbs of white firm fish (the originally recipe called for red snapper or grouper, I used an Australian fish barramundi)
1 lb mussels, scrubbed and debearded
12 small littleneck clams, cleaned
1 lb large shrimp
2 teaspoons saffron threads (this spice is pretty expensive, I think the stew would still be good without it, it just makes it extra special!)

1. Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large sauce pan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until translucent (about 10 minutes).

2. Soak the leaks in a large bowl filled with cold water for about 10 minutes; rinse, drain and slice into 1/4 inch half rounds. Add the leeks to the onion and cook for 5 minutes until the leeks have softened.

3. Add the fennel, celery, and carrots stir all of the ingredients together and cook for 10 more minutes. Next, add the garlic and cook for 2 more minutes.



4. Add the tomatoes, fish broth, wine, salt, pepper, marjoram, and red pepper flakes. Reduce heat to low and let simmer (uncovered) for an hour.

5. Increase heat to medium-high and add orange zest & juice, fish, mussels, clams, shrimp and saffron (stir everything together). Cook, stirring occasionally, 6-7 minutes, until all the clams and mussels have opened and the fish begins to flake. Remove from the heat to serve discarding any clams or mussels that didn't open.



Serve with fresh bread (I choose sourdough) and enjoy!

Workout DVDs

I have become quite the fan of fitness DVDs in the past year or so. I have found them to be the perfect motivation for those days that are too cold to go outside or you're just not feeling like leaving the house to head to the gym or yoga studio. They are a great way to get diversified, quick workouts in from cardio to yoga to sculpt or dance.

I have tried to gather a variety of DVDs and figured as I work out to them this year I'll try to give you a quick review on my thoughts in case you are looking to add to your workout routine.

The first set that I bought was the Elle Magazine Make Better fitness DVDs. This set includes three different DVDs with two 25 minute workouts each. The three DVDs include cardio, sculpt and yoga. So total you have six different workout routines that you can mix and match as you please. I love doing 25 minutes of a cardio workout paired with 25 minutes of sculpt.

The series includes three different fitness trainers along with model Brooklyn Decker to go through each of the workouts. The only equipment you will need are hand weights and a yoga mat for the yoga DVD.

Today I did the full cardio DVD (50 minutes) and got a great workout on a snowy afternoon where I wasn't super motivated. The great thing about this cardio workout is that they make sure to move your heart rate up and down helping burn calories and tighten up.

If you want more info on these the website is: http://www.ellemakebetter.com. I would definitely recommend them as a great, versatile (and affordable) set of workouts that give you a worthwhile workout at home.

Happy 2011!

Just wanted to send a quick thanks for reading my blog and trying out the recipes :). I love getting feedback from you and if there are any stories, recipes, etc. you would like to see please let me know!

I'm excited for 2011 and hope to continue to cook up a storm, work on my yoga skills and have lots of fun times!

I'll get to posting more recipes ASAP and Happy New Year :)

Homemade Granola

Granola is a great staple to have around for breakfast with fruit and yogurt, as a snack on a hike, etc. The only tough part is that not only is it usually fairly pricey for a cereal, it also can be tough to find a healthy version. I was on a mission awhile back to find a granola recipe that was quick and easy to make at home as well as healthier (I always enjoy knowing the ingredients that are in my food.).

Cooking Light never lets me down on healthy, light recipes and I constantly am looking at their website and magazine for ideas. I have been using their Power Granola recipe as my go-to base granola recipe for awhile now and really enjoy it. The great thing about granola is that once you find a base mixture you like you can add in any variations of fruit, nuts, etc. that you like.

Below is the recipe and just to note on my latest batch that is pictured I added in fresh cranberries that I had leftover from Thanksgiving. I ran about 2 cups through the food processor to give them a rough grate and then threw them in with the granola mixture right before baking. The gorgeous red of the cranberries adds a bit of a festive feel for this time of year! In addition I doubled the recipe... believe me it will go fast!

Recipe
(Adapted from Cooking Light)

4 cups regular oats
2/3 cup ground flaxseed
1 cup chopped almonds
4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2/3 cup orange juice
2/3 cup agave nectar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
4 teaspoons canola oil
2 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cooking spray
2 cups fresh cranberries (grated in a food processor)


Directions

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.

Combine first four ingredients in a medium bowl.

Next, Combine orange juice, agave nectar, and brown sugar in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat just until sugar dissolves, stirring frequently. Remove from heat; stir in oil and vanilla. Pour honey mixture over oat mixture, stirring to coat. Spread mixture in a thin layer onto a baking sheet or jelly roll pan coated with cooking spray.

Bake at 300° for 30-40 minutes minutes making sure that you stir the mixture every 10 minutes or so and until golden brown (bake longer to make it more crunchy).




Note: Store completely cooled granola in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.