Garlicky Shrimp and Spinach Bake

Baked rice, spinach and shrimp.

This is one of those way too easy recipes I'll share with you anyway- just because. Just because you might find yourself (as a certain individual did, last night) cranky and hungry- with nothing planned for dinner- poking around the numbing depths of a freezer rooting for sustenance. And there you find it. Inspiration. Shrimp. And spinach.

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Pasta Smothered with Roasted Vegetables

A pan of glorious vegetables and garlic ready for roasting

It's the time of year for roasting. And this sweater-clad goddess couldn't be happier. Roasted vegetables are my favorite comfort food. I love my roasted veggies with unabashed passion. Balsamic vinegar, fruity olive oil and sea salt make for simple, fabulous roasting, complementing the caramelized sweetness of the vegetables with a perfect touch of salty-tart [and darling, who doesn't appreciate a little salty tart?].

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Sweet Potato Cornbread- A Gluten-Free Favorite

Scrumptious sweet potato cornbread- and it's gluten-free.

It's all about taste. Good taste and bad taste. You want the good first? This recipe for sweet potato cornbread. It rocks. Seriously. The bad? Yesterday we decided to go to the movies with Joey and Will (those two totally fab rockin' guacamole styling hunks). We chose The Departed, Scorsese's new flick (it's been garnering rave reviews); and met at the theater.

Well, Babycakes, in all gut wrenching honesty (I won’t speak for the three men who apparently liked it more than I did) I could barely sit through it. I felt as if I was being beat up. Run over by a Zamboni. I mean how much misogyny and homophobia and execution-style murders can a tenderhearted sensory sensitive girl like me take? 

Not this much it turns out.

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A Menu, A Meme

Which menu would you serve blogging friends for a welcome dinner upon their first visit to your home? I’ve been tagged for a meme by Garrett of Vanilla Garlic fame. This one could be fun. The premise? To come up with a fantasy menu, of “signature” dishes that you might toss together for an evening entertaining food bloggers. Now there’s a nightmare, er, I mean, dream come true. [Kiss, kiss, Garrett.] Can you tell, already, that I am faint with anxiety? Sweating profusely? Weak kneed? I’m no chef. And there are those among us who can rustle up a flaky tart or crackle a Crème Brule in their sleep. There are those among us who make their own ricotta [Seriously!]. And there are those who entertain with aplomb and have the wit and composure to capture it as a slide show. I’m not one of them.

I’m a home-cooking rustic kinda gal. You know, more peasant food than haute cuisine. More make a dish from dreamy ideas in your head and how about a little of this than ever following a recipe. Or, I’ve got that in the fridge and it’s wilting so I better use it. And then there’s the sometimes harrowing, sometimes happy accident recipe stemming from, I wonder would happen if…

That said, Dear Reader, I’ve decided to embrace what I flat out love. If I have to go down in flames, I’ll go down with my taste buds happy. My menu will be New Mexican. So if you visit, prepare to get hot and bothered.

Karina’s Family Style Menu
for Blogging Conviviality



Bebidas::
Frosty Pitchers of Margaritas

Con::
Homemade Tortilla-Cheese Crisps and Blue Corn Chips
Fire Roasted Tomato & Tomatillo Salsa
Guacamole with Lime & Garlic
Baked Goat Cheese with Salsa Verde

Sopa::
Mexican Pumpkin Soup with Chipotle

Comidas::
Chicken Mole
Brown Rice Baked with Mild Green Chiles and Pine Nuts

New Mexican Green Chile Smothered Sour Cream Chicken Enchiladas
Sweet Potato & Black Bean Enchiladas [vegetarian]

Los Otros::
Calabasitas
Fresh Fruit Salad in Season Drizzled with Vanilla Yogurt Sauce

Dulces::
Coffee Flan
Coconut-Almond Cookie Bars with Mexican Chocolate Sauce

And [if you haven't been tagged yet], I'm tagging::

Brendon of Something in Season
Cookiecrumb of I'm Mad and I Eat
Stephen of Stephen Cooks
Kalyn of Kalyn's Kitchen
Susan of Fatfree Vegan

The meme is open to all, so, Dear Hungry Reader, so if you haven't been tagged yet, and would like to participate, drop on over to The Flying Apple.

Comida buena, Chicas & Chicos!

menu for food bloggers meme

The Best Rockin' Guacamole with Tomatillos + Lime

Fabulous, party worthy gluten-free guacamole.

Joey's Kicked Up Rockin' Guacamole Recipe with Tomatillos + Lime

Apparently in some circles Joey's guac is famous. But lest I be considered indiscreet, we won't name names. Let's just say, this guac is rockin'. The best guacamole this side of the Mississippi. (Thanks to Will, for styling the limes.)

6-8 ripe avocados (depending upon the size)
3 tomatillos, chopped
2-3 ripe red tomatoes, seeded, chopped
1 small red or sweet onion, diced fine
6 cloves garlic, chopped
1-2 jalapeño peppers, seeded, diced fine
1 big bunch fresh cilantro, chopped
Sea salt, to taste
3-4 fresh juicy limes

Peel and pit the avocados; cut the fruit into chunks and toss into a large bowl. Add the chopped tomatillos, tomatoes, onion, garlic, jalapeños, and cilantro. Toss with your bare hands. Season with sea salt to taste. Squeeze fresh lime juice all over the guac and mix again. Taste test. Add more salt or lime, to taste. Taste test!

Put on Brazilian music.

Serve in a festive bowl topped with lime wedges. Break out the tortilla chips.

Notes:

This recipe was mucho fabulous- and we scarfed it down with New Mexican style blue and yellow corn tortilla chips. And si, some of Joey's also famous margaritas.

It was the perfect appetizer for my Roasted Corn Chowder. And it would be fab as a side dish with any of my Mexican recipes and vegetarian recipes.

For the texture aversive, mash the guac smooth and leave out the chunky veggies.

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Gluten-Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Squares

Easy, gluten-free yum. Chocolate chip cookie squares.

I needed a chocolate cookie bar recipe STAT. We were invited to coffee at neighbor Joey's this morning. And Babycakes, you don't go empty-handed to such a generous hunky guy's casa, now do you? So I got busy.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Squares Recipe

I'm always experimenting; these little temptations arose from a desire to have a chocolate chip cookie without having to stand there for an hour rolling balls of dough and babysitting batches of baking cookies. I happen to like coconut (and the way it moistens crumbly gluten-free dough) so there is flaked coconut in this recipe. I know. Not very traditional for a chocolate chip cookie dough recipe.

But do we care?

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F [if you live above 5,000 feet, set your oven temp to 375 degrees F]. Lightly oil or line with parchment a 10x13-inch baking pan.

In a mixing bowl, beat together:

3 large free-range organic eggs

1/2 cup safflower oil or Spectrum Organic Shortening

2 teaspoons bourbon vanilla extract

Add in and beat:

1 cup firmly packed organic light brown sugar

Add in and beat:

2 cups Pamela's Ultimate Baking & Pancake Mix* or other self-rising gluten-free baking mix

Stir in:

3/4 cup sweetened flaked coconut*

1 heaping cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, plus more for the top

Using a rubber or silicone spatula, spread the dough evenly in the baking pan. Add extra chips to the top and lightly press into the batter.

Bake on a center rack until the bars are set and golden brown - about 21 to 25 minutes, depending upon your oven and altitude - and do not over-bake - you want them a bit chewy.

Allow the bars to cool on a wire rack before cutting.

Makes 15 to 18 squares.

I wrap the squares in foil when cool, and freeze them in a large zip-lock freezer bag.

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Karina's Notes:

• Make these GF/CF with a dairy-free self-rising flour mix and dairy-free chips.

• If you do not have Pamela's try using another all-purpose leavened gluten-free baking and pancake mix; or substitute your own personal favorite g-free flour blend and add a teaspoon of baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon baking soda, and 1/4 teaspoon of xanthan gum or guar gum.

• If you don't want the chewy texture of flaked coconut but desire the extra moistness it imparts to gluten-free baking, try processing the coconut into a fine crumb.

Vegetarian Green Chile Recipe

Fresh roasted Hatch green chiles.

Steve brought home two more bags of fresh roasted green chiles, still warm. Hot and spicy Hatch chiles are my favorite. The fragrance is smoky, sweet and spicy all at once. I wish Blogger provided smell-a-vision. I got cookin' and whipped up a vegetarian version of my New Mexico green chile.

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