An Inspired Kitchen

Mexican Salsa Cheese Ball

Kind of cheesey (no pun intended!) for a fall appetizer but it was fun to make at Thanksgiving.  I mixed cream cheese, salsa, cumin, garlic, chili powder, green onion and shredded cheddar cheese and formed it in the shape of a pumpkin and then crushed some Doritos and put them all over the cheese ball.  Take the back of a knife and draw lines all around the pumpkin.  Then cut around the stem of a pepper and place it in the center and surround the cheese ball with Doritos or crackers.  The cheese ball can be made the day before and refrigerated, and just before serving put the crushed Doritos all around. Click here for the recipe….

 Roasted Carrots with Dukkah Spice

The simple roasted carrot is elevated to a new level by adding dukkah spice half way through roasting. The wonderful flavors of the caramelized carrots and toasted hazelnuts and spices is delicious.  Dukkah is an Egyptian spice mix consisting of toasted hazelnuts, sesame seeds, dried mint, coriander, cumin, fennel seeds, and black peppercorns and it’s delicious.  It’s easy to put together yourself or they now carry it at Trader Joe’s.  Keep any remaining dukkah in the refrigerator so the nuts don’t become rancid.  Since the nuts can easily cook too quickly, sprinkle them halfway through roasting. I love to use rainbow colored carrots for a beautiful presentation, but regular carrots are delicious as well!  Just toss some peeled and cut carrots with some olive oil and salt and pepper and spread them cut side down on a baking tray in a 425 oven on the lowest rack.  Roast for 10 minutes and sprinkle some dukkah seasoning over and toss well.  Continue roasting for another 5-10 minutes or until they are cooked through to your liking and are lightly browned. You could also drizzle some balsamic glaze just before serving. Click here for the recipe….

Cheesey Garlic-Herb Bread

This is a really decadent cheesey garlic-cheese bread.  You mix mozzarella, cheddar and Parmesan cheese together with some mayonnaise (and fresh herbs if you want). Mix some butter and fresh garlic in a bowl and spread it over each half of the french bread.  Then cook the buttered side of bread in a skillet over medium heat to melt the butter and cook the raw flavor out of the garlic.  Spread the cheese mixture over the toasted bread and put it in a very hot oven for 12 minutes and it comes out nice and golden cheesey with a great garlic kick.  Click here for the recipe….

Chicken Stuffed with Fontina and Sage and Wrapped in Prosciutto

This is a great dish to serve for company and I love anything you can make ahead of time and put in the oven to roast when your guests arrive.  Cut a pocket in the breast and fill it with caramelized onions, fontina cheese, and fresh sage leaves and then wrap it with prosciutto and roast it.  Deglaze the pan with white wine, lemon juice and chopped sage and pour it over the chicken.  You can make the chicken breasts several hours or the day before and keep in the refrigerator until you want to roast them.  I served an Israeli couscous pilaf with it and roasted some asparagus in the oven while I was roasting the chicken.  Click here for the recipe….

Caramel Corn, Coconut and White Chocolate Chip Cookies

This cookie is a hodge podge of ingredients which also includes oatmeal, but they are all really good together.  The almond extract brings an added flavor element instead of the usual vanilla extract and enhances the caramel corn and coconut.   You gently mix in the popcorn, coconut, white chocolate and oatmeal to the dough and  refrigerate for 30 minutes before you scoop them onto the baking tray.  If you like soft and chewy cookies, you should love these!   Click here for the recipe….

Roasted Cauliflower with Thyme

When I am roasting a pork tenderloin, beef or chicken, it’s easy to roast whatever vegetable I am making at the same time.  I carefully sliced a whole cauliflower into 1-inch pieces and sprinkled olive oil, salt, pepper and thyme and put it on a baking tray.  Roast on the bottom rack of a hot oven (425 degrees) for 5 minutes, turn and roast another 5-8 minutes until it is browned and cooked through to your liking.   When cauliflower is roasted it has a wonderful slightly nutty taste.  Easy ~ and you save electricity by not having to turn the stove on to cook the cauliflower.  I feel so green.  Click here for the recipe….

Creamy Chicken and Barley Soup

This is a hearty and healthy soup that has the same comfort properties of chicken noodle soup, but adds more fiber with the barley.  As barley cooks, it releases starches which make the soup really creamy without using cream.   I sautéed an onion until it was lightly caramelized, and added diced chicken and lightly browned it.  Then I added some carrots, celery, barley, thyme and chicken stock and cooked it for 45 minutes.  I added fresh chopped parsley right before I served it.  The barley really absorbs a lot of the liquid and it can get very thick, so add more chicken stock or water and taste for seasoning to get it to the consistency you want.  This is a great soup to take to someone who is under the weather to let them know you are thinking about them.  Click here for the recipe….

Moroccan Chickpea and Butternut Squash Stew

This is a wonderful and hearty vegetarian entrée or side dish made with chickpeas, butternut squash, carrots, crushed tomatoes and a spice mixture of cumin, ginger, turmeric, coriander and cinnamon.  I also added dried apricots and red lentils which really add a lot of texture and served it over couscous.  Since I was making this for 25 people, I decided to save some money and used dried chickpeas. Soak them overnight and then gently simmer for an hour before you start assembling the stew.  It cooked for over an hour and the chickpeas were nice and tender without being mushy.  You could easily add chicken, beef or lamb to this dish, but even non-vegetarians said they didn’t miss the meat.  Click here for the recipe….