Category: Snacks

Best Damn Meyer Lemon Cake

Recipe here.

OK, so there are  very few recipes that would actually live up to a promise like that, but this is one of them.  This was moist and light and VERY flavorful.  Quite tasty.  The Meyer lemons are a fun novelty, if you can find them, but this would also be fantastic if you made it with plain old regular lemons.

I have a long, narrow loaf pan that I bought from The Baker’s Catalogue that I used for this and it made lovely little dainty-sized slices.  It’s ceramic, rather than the metal recommended in the recipe, but it still worked fine.

FYI – Meyer Lemons are a little darker in color and sweeter in flavor than regular lemons.

Smoky Black Bean Quesadillas

Recipe, from Deborah Madison’s fabulous Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone book, here.

These were VERY messy, but quite delicious.  I think 1/3 cup of the bean mixture is a bit much for one quesadilla, as it does run out quite a bit as you cook them.  I would recommend either using wheat tortillas, because they’re a little larger, or using less of the bean dip, if you’re sticking with the corn tortillas.

Also, I used the juice of 3 limes (the recipes states 2 or 3,) but the dip was pretty tangy, so I’ll use 2 next time.  It could also benefit from a tiny bit more cumin and maybe just a tiny bit of oregano.

With those slight modifications, we will definitely be making this quick and easy dip again.  It would be great inside a veggie wrap, too.

Ranch Dip for Veggies

Recipe here.

Another tray that I made for Girl’s birthday party.  This is great as a salad dressing or a dip and is vastly better, despite what The Pioneer Woman says, than the stuff in the green and white package.  Sorry I don’t have a better photo of the dip, itself, but I was taking these photos as 11 hungry girls were standing by, eager to dig in.

I’ve added the gluten free tag to this post, but, be sure that your ingredients (sour cream, mayo, etc.) don’t have any starch wheat-based additives or thickeners.  If you make this with all-natural (sour cream is supposed to be just dairy, and mayo is supposed to be just eggs and oil, maybe a little lemon juice) ingredients, it will be gluten-free.

Cream Cheese Fruit Dip

Recipe here.

This dip is really tasty and extremely kid-friendly.  It’s basically just cream cheese frosting, made with brown sugar, so it’s quite sweet and a little bit goes a long way, but whenever I’ve made this for Boy or Girl’s friends, or to take in to school for a class party, it has been INHALED.  Just make sure that folks know what it is, because I made the version pictured above with half dark brown sugar and it turned out so much darker than usual that some of the girls at Girl’s birthday party last night thought that it was peanut butter.

Veggie Sandwich

Vegetarian Girl LOVES the “Veggie Delite” sandwich from Thundercloud Subs (a fairly famous Austin chain,) so I thought that I would try to create an “at home” version for her.

I used:

a whole wheat hamburger bun

hummus

thinly sliced cucumber

thinly sliced tomato

caramelized onions

sauteed mushrooms

She liked the sandwich, but said that it was a little bland and that she’d like to add some lettuce, pickle slices and chopped olives next time.  So, not bad for a first stab, but we’ll know how to fix it next time.

Some other great possible additions or substitutions would be:

baby spinach leaves or your favorite kind of sprouts

avocado slices or a smear of mashed avocado (or even guacamole – yum!)

a spread of cream cheese or a slice of your favorite cheese (instead of the hummus)

grated carrot

Dorie Greenspan’s Lemony Sour Cream Muffins

Recipe here.

These muffins were absolutely fantastic.  The melted butter gives a rich flavor and helps develop a delicious, crusty muffin top.  These will be a definite repeat.  Yum.

The recipe doesn’t specify, but this makes 12 muffins.

We served the muffins with a strawberry-banana-black grape fruit salad and some scrambled (mostly) egg whites.  When I make a recipe (such as custard or spinach-ricotta tortelli) that uses a lot of egg yolks, I’ll save the whites and either make meringues or macarons or just use them for scrambled eggs the next morning, for a slightly lower-cholesterol option.   I’ll usually add one or two whole eggs, also, for better flavor.   A good blend, to ensure palatability, is about 5 egg whites and 2 whole eggs (with some McCormick low sodium Montreal Steak seasoning – YUM!) to serve my family of 4.

Homemade Cheddar Crackers

Recipe here.

These were really tasty, but a bit of trouble to roll out and don’t predictably bake to anything resembling a uniform size.  They puff and wobble as they bake, so some turn out thicker or smaller.  They taste good, but they’re just difficult to work with.  If I make these again, I will probably roll the dough into a log, freeze it, then slice into coins for baking.  The one thing that I really DO like about this form factor is that they are a perfect Goldfish-like “pop into your mouth” size.  Perfect in a little bowl to accompany a cocktail or, with some juice, for an after-school snack.  I would probably add a bit of cayenne and or paprika or pimenton the next time that I make these, just for a bit more kick.

Zucchini, Black Bean and Corn Tacos or Quesadillas

Quesadillas

Tacos

Zucchini-Corn-Black Bean Filling:

a few Tbsp of vegetable oil

3 cups frozen corn kernels, thawed and drained

3 large zucchini, diced

1 cup finely chopped onion (red or white, your choice)

3 cloves garlic, pressed or minced

2 cups roughly chopped fresh tomato (optional)

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

Other ingredients:

Wheat tortillas (I *LOVE* the whole-wheat ones from Central Market.)

Your choice of cheese:  queso fresco, Monterey Jack, cheddar, Colby-Jack, etc. , grated or crumbled

Your choice of other (optional) garnishes:  sour cream, chopped cilantro, fresh or canned jalapenos, guacamole, salsa, etc.

Pour about 1 Tbsp oil into the bottom of a large skillet and swirl the pan to lightly coat it.  Heat over high heat, then add the corn.  Cook the cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the corn is warmed through and has some slight charred marks on the edges.  Season with a tiny bit of salt.  Remove the corn from the pan and set aside.

Add a bit more oil to the pan and repeat this same process with the zucchini.  Remove from the pan and set aside.

Add a bit more oil to the pan and the add the onion.  Cook the onion, stirring, until is it totally softened and starting to caramelize, about 5 minutes.  Add the garlic and cook, stirring, for one more minute.  Add the tomatoes and cook for about 5 more minutes.  Return the corn and zucchini to the pan and stir.  Gently stir in the rinsed and drained beans and cook another minute or two, until filling is warmed through.

If you’re making tacos, spoon the warm filling into the tortillas.  Top with cheese and your choice of garnishes and serve.

If you’re making quesadillas, warm a very large, flat-bottomed pan or a griddle over medium-high heat and melt a little bit of butter onto it and spread it around to lightly coat the cooking surface.  Place one tortilla on the pan (or griddle) and sprinkle a bit of cheese over it, trying to keep the cheese on the tortilla, rather than into the pan (watch your fingers!).  Top the tortilla with a generous layer of the zucchini/black bean/corn mixture.  Top with another small layer of cheese and a second tortilla.  Cook, adjusting the heat as necessary to insure that the cheese melts and the filling stays warm, until the bottom tortilla is golden brown.  Quickly spread a very thin layer of softened butter on the top tortilla.  Carefully flip the quesadilla and repeat the cooking process until the tortilla that is now on the bottom is golden brown and starting to lightly crisp up.  Remove the quesadilla from the pan and cut into wedges.  Top with your choice of garnishes and serve immediately.

This was VERY yummy and fairly healthy.  A hit with the carnivores, but completely vegetarian.  The quesadillas can make a great healthy snack, if cut into wedges and shared, but are hearty enough to be a filling meal.

The quantities are very flexible, according to your taste.  Around here, omelets and quesadillas are a great way to use up any leftovers that we might have on hand.  Don’t like tomatoes?  Leave ’em out.  Have a bit of leftover spinach? Throw it in.  Want to add some chicken?  Do it.  Like it spicier?  Add some minced fresh jalapenos or serranos to the filling.  Cilantro?  Go for it.  You really can’t mess this up.

The only “MUST” is that you need to make sure that the corn is completely thawed before you cook it to be sure that it gets a tasty char on it.  You can nuke it and then drain it, if you need to, but just be sure that it’s thawed and not soaking a lot of liquid.

# of servings will vary, according to how much filling you put into your taco or quesadilla, but we used two tortillas per person (an adult “serving” is one quesadilla or two tacos) and had plenty of filling to feed four hungry people, with a bit left over for lunch the next day.  We used approximately 1/4 cup of cheese per person.  Your mileage may vary.