Black Pepper-Molasses Pulled Chicken

Look at me, I've gone all Sandra Lee on you! And I dislike Sandra Lee very much (even more than Rachel Ray). She's my least favorite food TV personality. I disagree with her whole food philosophy: whatever is quickest, cheapest, and processed. That's not me- usually.

I didn't totally sell out. I did make those buns myself (several weeks ago though- they kept nicely in the freezer) and I didn't pull the chicken out of a can or vacuum packed plastic. I did go for the convenience of store-bought rotisserie chicken. Warm and enticing right off the spit.

Some nights I'm tired. I don't have the time or energy to roast a raw chicken or slow simmer our dinner. What makes this meal "semi-homemade" is the fact that I bought precooked chicken, shredded it, and reheated it in a super easy sauce. The black pepper-molasses barbecue sauce is a conglomeration of bottled ingredients: ketchup, molasses, mustard, vinegar, and a few spices. So fast. So simple. Sandra would be proud.

The original recipe from Cooking Light calls for chicken thighs stewed in the sauce on the stove top. I like using breasts for a healthier sandwich and using a rotisserie made the whole process 10 times quicker. If you want to cook the meat yourself, you can visit the link and follow the directions.

The result is not earth shattering. You won't proclaim this the best meal you've ever had. But for the effort, it's darn good and definitely filling. I served our pulled chicken sandwiches alongside Stuffed Sweet Potatoes, which I promise will change your life. (That recipe coming tomorrow!) I like having easy recipes to fall back on when life gets busy. Nothing wrong with taking shortcuts once and a while. And I did it with all natural, inexpensive ingredients!

INGREDIENTS
6 Tbsp. ketchup (1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp.)
2 Tbsp. cider vinegar
4 tsp. Dijon mustard
2 Tbsp. molasses
1 1/2 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
salt, to taste
1 rotisserie chicken, meat pulled off the bone and shredded
whole wheat sandwich rolls

DIRECTIONS
1. In a large saucepan, whisk together all of the sauce ingredients. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low, add chicken, and simmer for a few minutes until the chicken is heated through. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve on sandwich rolls.

Serves 4.

(Adapted from Cooking Light)

Chunky Apple Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Have you noticed how many dessert recipes I've been posting lately? I bet you can't stand it! I bet you're all thinking, "what happened to the healthy Jessie we knew?". ;-)

Well, first of all, the Holidays are here and I'm infected with the spirit of baking goodies. And more honestly, my cooking hasn't been as successful lately. I go through phases where my baked goods fall flat and my dinners are divine. And then sometimes I can bake a mean cake, but dinner doesn't wow. I'm stuck in the latter. It's not that I can't cook anymore, I'm just not consistently happy with the results. I've still got a few healthy and substantial meals to share with you, but I'm really on a roll with the treats! Just in time to indulge for the Holidays!

This recipe was another attempt to utilize the pounds of apples filling up my fridge. It comes from Southern Living and is a delicious apple cake. I was impressed by how many apples went into the batter (which is extremely thick- more of a "dough"). You almost have to knead them into the batter/dough and then push it into the pan. You'll be thinking, how is this going to bake into a cake? But the oven heat performs yet another miracle as the batter puffs up and engulfs all the apples.

And then you spread a thick layer of cream cheese frosting over top. You cut a slice (careful, not too big), and you take a bite of this decadent, moist, apple-dense, cinnamon-spiced cake.

INGREDIENTS
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour (I bet whole wheat would work well)
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
4 Granny Smith apples, peeled and sliced
1 cup walnuts, toasted and chopped (optional)

Cream Cheese Frosting:
1/4 cup butter, room temperature
8 oz. cream cheese, room temperature
pinch salt
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
2 cups powdered sugar

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease a 9x13 baking pan.

2. In a large bowl, combine butter, sugars, eggs, and vanilla. Stir until well incorporated. Add the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt to the butter mixture and stir until blended (batter will be very thick). Fold in the apples and 1/2 cup walnuts (optional). Spread into prepared 9x13 pan.

3. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack completely before frosting.

4. To make the frosting, combine butter, cream cheese, vanilla, and salt in a medium bowl. With an electric mixer, beat on medium until smooth. Gradually add the powdered sugar and beat on high until light and creamy. Keep in the refrigerator until ready to use. Once the cake has cooled, spread the frosting in an even layer over the top. Sprinkle with remaining toasted walnuts (optional) and serve.

Makes a 9x13 cake.

(Adapted from Southern Living)

Fudgy Brownies

I had no intention of making this recipe (most of the time I make a list, I plan). But Dustin wanted, no he needed, chocolate. The boy has a serious sweet tooth. Quite a contradiction for a future dentist. He knows it. I was born without the chocolate-craving gene, and for that I am thankful. I like chocolate, sometimes love it, I just don't ever have to have it. Bread, now that's another story.

But back to Dustin. We had a mini crisis on our hands. In his moment of chocolate weakness, we were plum out of cookies and his Halloween candy stash had vanished much quicker than expected. So I set about to make some chocolate chip cookies. But oh, no! All the butter was frozen. Fluffy light perfect chocolate chip cookies require room temperature butter. (And a microwave won't get you there. Put a frozen stick of butter in the microwave and it'll melt the outside while the middle stays solid.) He couldn't wait several hours for that butter to warm up.

So I turned to the trusty All Recipes web site and found this recipe. It uses melted butter. That I could do. So I made brownies, and you know what- this random recipe was really good! I'd know because the next day I started sneaking pieces- and couldn't stop! Dustin loves classic box-mix brownies. These reminded us both of just that. So if rich chocolaty fudgy brownies are your thing- this recipe is for you.

INGREDIENTS
1 cup butter, melted
3 cups sugar (you can use half white and half brown sugar if you want)
1 Tbsp. pure vanilla extract
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (I used half dark cocoa and half regular)
1 tsp. salt
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.

2. Combine the butter, sugar, and vanilla in a large bowl and beat until incorporated. Beat in the eggs, one at a time, until thoroughly blended.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk or sift together the flour, cocoa powder, and salt. Gradually stir the flour mixture into the wet ingredients until blended. Fold in the chocolate chips. Spread the batter evenly in to the prepared baking dish.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 30-35 minutes, until the top is set and/or it passes the toothpick test. Remove from the oven to a wire rack and let cool before cutting.

Makes an 9x13 pan of brownies (halve recipe to fit an 8x8 dish).

(Adapted from All Recipes)

Pumpkin Walnut Cranberry Muffins

Pumpkin mmmhh...! This is a Jessie recipe. Not because I invented it (I wish!), but because it uses all whole wheat, very little fat (oil), a natural sweetener (HONEY, of course!) and loads of pumpkin! These muffins are packed with the flavors of Fall- cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, walnuts, cranberries, and again, pumpkin! They have a subtle sweetness- you might want to add an extra 1/4 cup honey for a sweeter muffin. They're hearty (just look at the size) and healthful. What a muffin should be (not a dessert).

This recipe could really yield twice as many muffins if you make them normal size. But the fact that they are overflowing/reaching sky-high makes them so much better. Keep your puny muffins to yourselves- I like 'em huge! Just to clarify, you'll use a regular sized muffin tin. And you'll use all the batter and fill them heaping high. They'll hold their shape under the heat and come out beautiful. Just wait. These muffins had the best texture of any muffin I've ever made- soft, fluffy, fantastic!

INGREDIENTS
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 1/2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
1 cup pumpkin puree
2 Tbsp. canola oil
3/4 cup honey (1 cup for a sweeter muffin)
2 eggs
2/3 cup buttermilk
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 cup sweetened dried cranberries
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped (toasted for more flavor)

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 375 F. Lightly grease a 12 cup muffin tin (or use liners).

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pumpkin pie spice. Set aside. In a second bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, oil, honey, eggs, buttermilk, and vanilla. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir until just combined (no dry clumps remain). Fold in the cranberries and walnuts.

3. Evenly divide the batter between the 12 muffin cups (they will be extremely full). Bake in preheated oven for about 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Remove from the oven to cool on a wire rack. Best enjoyed warm. Freeze leftovers and reheat later.

Makes 12 tall muffins.

(Adapted from Pinch My Salt)

Roasted Tomato Salsa, Revisited

I wanted to make a corn and black bean salsa, and I did so by utilizing this basic recipe. Instead of chipotles (dried smoked jalapenos), I used fresh jalapenos, and after roasting, I stirred in some canned corn and black beans. Fresh corn slowly roasted with the other vegetables would be out of this world! This recipe is really flexible. Want more heat? Use more chilies. The cilantro, salt and pepper, garlic, lime, corn, black beans- pretty much everything can be adjusted to taste. If you want a super smooth salsa you could puree the entire mixture, but I like to keep it chunky and so I chop the majority of the veggies.

5/22/09: Everyone needs a good tomato salsa in their life. But not all salsas are created equal, and I've had a hard time finding my match. I've been shopping around, sampling different brands of naturally fresh and bottled salsas, hoping to fall in love. Some are too sweet, some too salty. While I can't handle too much heat, there needs to be a little kick for excitement. Salsa without chilis of some sort would be very out of character.

I was starting to worry my salsa soul mate didn't exist. I'd had a few memorable encounters at restaurants, but rarely would I get to taste those salsas again. I'm not the type of girl who is satisfied by one night stands, so I decided to take measures into my own hands. Wearily, I turned to the options available online. And then one day, browsing at 101 Cookbooks, I found it.

And now, I'd like to introduce you to my new salsa. This is a roasted salsa. The tomatoes, onions, and garlic are exposed to a short bout of high heat which magnifies their inherent flavors. In addition, spicy chipotle peppers impart a rustic smokey flavor. Because this salsa is cooked, it keeps longer in the refrigerator than a homemade pico de gallo. It's smart, it fresh, it's here to stay. Unless, of course, another more appealing salsa comes along. But that won't happen. Because we are meant to be together. Give it a try and you'll see why I'm so enamored.

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2-2 lbs. Roma tomatoes, halved lengthwise

1 medium white onion, cut into six wedges

4 large garlic cloves, halved

a couple pinches of finely ground sea salt
pepper, to taste

extra-virgin olive oil

1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce (more or less to adjust heat) OR 2-3 jalapenos, seeded and deveined
1/2 cup cilantro, roughly chopped

splash of lime juice (optional)
3/4 cup black beans (optional)
1/2 cup corn (optional)

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 400 F.

2. Gently tossed the tomatoes, onions, garlic, jalapenos (optional) and salt with olive oil in a large bowl. After they are nicely coated arrange in a single layer, tomatoes cut-side facing up, across a foil-lined baking sheet. Roast in the oven for 30-40 minutes or until the tomatoes start to collapse and the onions begin to caramelize a bit. Remove from the oven.

NOTE: If you have fresh corn, you can cut the kernels off the cob and roast them with everything else for a roasted corn and black bean salsa.

3. Puree the chipotles/jalapenos with the roasted garlic and two roasted tomato halves. Chop the remaining tomatoes by hand (once they've cooled a bit). Chop and add the onions as well. Season with salt and pepper and stir in the cilantro. Stir in the corn and black beans and/or hit it with a splash of lime for freshness (if using). Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Makes about 2 1/2 cups.

(Adapted from 101 Cookbooks)

Apple-Cinnamon Cream Cheese Cake

Yay for apples! I still have an entire refrigerator shelf full of apples, so the recipes are gonna keep on coming! I whipped up this delightful cake last Sunday and am still smiling when I think about how it was dusted with cinnamon and sugar, studded with apples, and soft with cream cheese. The cream cheese is what it's all about. It had the consistency of a slightly dense coffee cake. According to the recipe's source, this is a traditional Jewish Hanukkah recipe. Well, it's not the Holidays yet but that doesn't mean I can't have my cake, and love it!

The original recipe called for 6 ounces of cream cheese. Six? Well I was being my usual flighty self and threw in the whole block without thinking twice. After the batter was mixed and in the pan I realized my mistake. Oops-too late! But I liked the result so much that I decided to change the recipe- it seems silly to waste 1/4 block of cream cheese anyway! The cake could probably handle more apples as well. Two (large) apples was almost underwhelming- you could easily up it to three!

INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup stick butter, softened
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
3 cups apple, peeled and chopped (I used a Granny Smith and a Fuji)
3 Tbsp. sugar
1 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Lightly grease a springform pan with cooking spray.
2. Beat 1 1/2 cups sugar, butter, vanilla, and cream cheese at medium speed of a mixer until well-blended (about 4 minutes). Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Add flour mixture to creamed mixture, beating at low speed until blended.
3. Combine 3 Tbsp. sugar and cinnamon. Combine 2 tablespoons cinnamon mixture and apple in a bowl, and stir apple mixture into batter. Pour batter into springform pan and sprinkle with remaining cinnamon mixture.
4. Bake at 350 F for about 1 hour or until the cake pulls away from the sides of the pan. Cool on a wire rack, and cut using a serrated knife. Yummy served with vanilla ice cream.
Makes 1 round cake.

(Adapted from Cooking Light)

Red Lentil Soup

My mom has shelves stacked with food goodies (mostly raw products- beans, flour, sugar, and so on) in our basement. I'm like a kid at the candy store when I go down there and imagine the possibilities. Often, she'll let me take stuff- for free! I've been eyeing the jars of red lentils for some time now, thinking "those are sure pretty! What creative way can I use them?" Well, here's my answer. A red lentil soup inspired by Giada's recipe. I pretty much followed it to the T. And it turned out very good!

The secret is you don't have to use red lentils- you can use any type. But then you'll have to drop the first name in the title, because your soup won't be red anymore. (I'm sure it will still taste good though!) Red lentils are thinner than brown and so they are going to cook a little faster. Account for that if you swap them out. Another another change I made to the original recipe was to add some basil. I think it added a lot!

INGREDIENTS
2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper, to taste
1 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes (I pureed mine)
1 lb. red lentils (about 1 1/4 cups)
8 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1/2 tsp. dried basil (or use fresh)
1/2 tsp. dried thyme (or 4 sprigs fresh)
2/3 cup whole wheat elbow pasta
Parmigiano Reggiano, shredded

DIRECTIONS
1. Heat the oil in a heavy large pot over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, and celery. Add the garlic, salt, and pepper and saute until all the vegetables are tender, about 5 to 8 minutes. Add the tomatoes with their juices (I pureed mine before this step). Simmer until the juices evaporate a little and the tomatoes break down, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes . Add the lentils and mix to coat. Add the broth and stir. Add the thyme (fresh or dried) and basil (if you are using fresh basil I would add it at the end). Bring to a boil over high heat. Cover and simmer over low heat until the lentils are almost tender, about 30 minutes.

2. Stir in the pasta. Simmer until the pasta is tender but still firm to the bite, about 8 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

3. Ladle the soup into bowls. Sprinkle with the Parmesan, drizzle with olive oil (optional), and serve.

Serves 6.

(Adapted from Food Network)

Blue Corn Muffins

Blue cornmeal excites me! It's out of the ordinary and I like it! I've always been a cornbread fan. Done right, it's comfort cooking at its best. I like my cornbread sweet (I know I'm not a true Southerner) and this recipe is just that. It's honey-full, colorful, and corny. The blue cornmeal really makes those kernels pop! This one has been husband and brother approved- scrumptious served with a bowl of steaming chili. I'm not sure how this recipe would do in loaf form- why not go ahead and find out!

INGREDIENTS
1 cup blue cornmeal (yellow can be substituted, but blue is more fun!)
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
2 Tbsp. butter, melted
1/4 cup honey
1 cup buttermilk (regular milk will work)
1 egg, whisked
1/2 cup yellow corn kernels (canned or frozen)

DIRECTIONS
1. Preheat oven to 425 F. Place liners in or lightly grease a muffin tin.

2. In a large bowl whisk together cornmeal, flour, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together butter, honey, buttermilk, and egg. Pour wet ingredients into the dry, and stir just until combined (no dry lumps remain). Gently fold in corn kernels, making sure not to overmix. Evenly distribute batter among muffin liners.

3. Bake in preheated oven for about 10 minutes (for regular sized muffins), until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven to cool on a wire rack. Serve warm (with honey-butter).

Makes 12 regular sized muffins or 6 jumbo muffins.

(Adapted from Arrowhead Mills)