Five Recipes I Have On Repeat

Cara Cara Frozen Margarita

Do you guys have any favorite recipes, be it food or cocktails, that you’ve never actually never measured out or written down? This is my recipe for a cara cara margarita. So many friends have asked for the recipe and I’ve never actually written it down until now.

What You’ll Need:

(this makes approximately 2 cocktails)

1 cara cara orange, peeled
juice of 2-3 limes, depending on size
juice of half a small lemon (optional)
ice
tequila, as much or as little as you like

The How To:

1. Peel the cara cara orange and place fruit into the blender.
2. Add lime & lemon juice & tequila.
3. Finally, add the ice & blend.
4. Pour into class with a salted rim.
5. Garnish with zest from orange & lime.
6. Enjoy!

My Mom’s Banana Bread

Would it really be 2020 if we weren’t all making banana bread?

What You’ll Need:

2 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
3 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cup mashed bananas
3 tablespoons oil
1/3 (to 1/2) cup milk
1 egg
chocolate chips and/or walnuts (optional)

The How to:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix sugars, oil, egg, and bananas together.
3. Add flour, baking powder and salt into existing mixture.
4. Add 1/3 cup of milk and mix, add up to 1/2 cup if needed.
5. Fill a greased bread pan with batter.
6. I like to add the chocolate chips (or walnuts) at this point, once the batter is in the pan & mix around before placing into the oven to bake for approximately one hour.
7. Enjoy!

Chickpea Tuna Salad

This recipe is really a product of quarantine & my resolution to waste less food this year. I keep my cupboard stocked with chickpeas at all time. I like, really, love them. At my first job out of grad school, my coworkers stacked cans of chickpeas on my desk for my birthday because they saw me eat so many of them. A few weeks ago I assembled the below ingredients in a hurry for lunch and ended up really loving the result.

What You’ll Need:

can of tuna, drained
can of chickpeas, drained
celery, 1-2 stalks, diced
shallot, or some form of onion
mayo
salt & pepper

The How To:

1. Dice shallot & celery. I base all proportion of this recipe off taste so depending on how much you love onions, let that be your guide.
2. Combine chickpeas & tuna in a bowl.
3. Add diced shallot & celery to the tuna & chickpeas.
4. Add approximately 1 tablespoon of mayo (I’ve tried all different kinds but recently I used Miracle Whip for a little extra zip.
5. Mix all ingredients together and add pepper to taste.
6. Enjoy!

Note: I love to serve this with warm pita or naan.

Chicken Lettuce Wraps

image via Eat Yourself Skinny

What You’ll Need:

1¼ lb. fat-free lean ground chicken (or turkey)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 clove garlic, minced
⅛ teaspoon ground ginger
4 green onions, thinly sliced
1 (8 oz) can sliced water chestnuts, drained and coarsely chopped
3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
2 tablespoons lower-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 teaspoons roasted red chili paste
pinch of salt
12 Boston lettuce leaves

The How To:

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add turkey, garlic and ginger to the pan and cook for about 6 minutes or until turkey is browned. Stir to crumble.
2. Combine turkey mixture, onions and chopped water chestnuts in a large bowl, stirring well, and set aside.
3. Meanwhile in a small bowl, whisk together hoisin, soy sauce, rice vinegar and roasted red chili paste and drizzle over the turkey mixture. Toss to coat completely.
4. Add about ¼ cup turkey mixture to each lettuce leaf & serve!
5. Enjoy!

Notes: Original recipe by Eat Yourself Skinny, she used turkey but I subbed in chicken. Also, if your lettuce isn’t firm enough to hold the chicken, I like to make jasmine rice, put the chicken over it then cut up the lettuce and place on top. Still very yummy. 

Orecchiette with Italian Sausage and Broccoli Rabe

forgive my terrible kitchen lighting, but this dish is SO delish, I had to share!

What You’ll Need:

2 bunches broccoli rabe, stems trimmed (I substituted for broccolini- pretty much the same)
1 pound orecchiette pasta
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound Italian-style sausage (I used sweet but you could definitely use spicy, too), casings removed
3 garlic cloves, minced
pinch dried crushed red pepper flakes (really as much as you want but make bsure to taste along the way! you can always add more, but hard to remove spice)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan

Notes: Original recipe by Giada. Her recipe also calls for a simple tomato sauce, I usually skip it because this dish has a great flavor without additional sauce!

 

Cheers,