An Inspired Kitchen

Barbequed Baby Back Ribs

This recipe has a few steps, but you can make the barbeque sauce and rub in advance and it is simple to put together.  I like the big batch this recipe makes of both the sauce and the spice rub, and I freeze the remaining sauce to have at a moment’s notice.  The ribs are tender fall off the bone delicious, and the barbeque sauce has a wonderful smoky flavor from the bacon.  The barbeque rub is also great on grilled steaks and hamburgers and I just put it in a shaker.  There are so many schools of thought on how to grill ribs, but I have found the fool proof way to have tender, fall off the bone ribs, is to braise them in the oven.  I just put them on a baking tray, add a beer or chicken stock, cover them with foil and slowly cook them at 325 for 2 hours.  Then I grill them, brush the barbeque sauce on them and continue barbequing until they are nicely glazed and crispy  – about 10 minutes total and serve with extra sauce on the side.  Click here for the recipe….

Grilled Figs and Prosciutto

I love figs and I love prosciutto and when the two are grilled together it’s heaven!  The sweetness of summer figs paired with the salty prosciutto make this the perfect summer appetizer.  This is a really quick appetizer and can be made ahead of time.  Cut the stem off the figs and cut in half.  Take the strips of prosciutto and cut them in half lengthwise.  Wrap the prosciutto around the figs and spray lightly with olive oil and place on the grill or broil until the prosciutto is lightly browned on both sides – about 3 minutes each side and serve.  You can also put a little goat cheese or blue cheese in the fig and wrap it with prosciutto.  The figs are wonderful placed on top of a summer salad of mixed baby greens, toasted hazelnuts, and a blue cheese dressing or roughly chop them and serve alongside a grilled pork chop.  Click here for the recipe….

Orzo with Indian Spices, Almonds and Raisins

This orzo dish turns out to be like a creamy risotto and is a wonderful side dish.  I cook it in chicken broth or water and add the spices and then when it’s almost cooked, add the toasted almonds and raisins.  Add more liquid throughout the cooking process to keep it creamy because the liquid evaporates and is incorporated into the pasta as it cooks.  I use a heat proof spatula to make sure I scrape the bottom of the pan as it cooks so it doesn’t stick.  Orzo is a rice shaped pasta and cooks in 10-12 minutes and is also great as a base for pasta salad and served cold. Click here for the recipe….

Heirloom Tomato and Fresh Basil Crostini

It’s the height of summer tomatoes and I bought some wonderful heirloom tomatoes at Joe’s garden to make the simple but delicious tomato and fresh basil crostini appetizer.  I like to de-seed the tomatoes and dice them, and just add salt, pepper, olive oil, garlic, and then gently mix in fresh chopped basil.  I thinly slice a baguette and use a pastry brush to lightly brush olive oil on one side, sprinkle some salt over and bake on a baking tray at 350 for 8-10 minutes or until lightly browned.  Then I take a garlic clove and rub it over each crostini.  You can make them the day before, but the tomatoes are best made several hours before you serve.  If you have leftover, you can toss it with some hot pasta and crumble the crostini over the top for a quick dinner.  Click here for the recipe….

Mini Nutella Cookie Cups

I can’t think of too many things that are better than Nutella with its rich chocolate- hazelnut creamy texture, and then when you add it to a cookie cup it takes it over the top.  You make a chocolate chip cookie base dough and with a 1 1/2-inch cookie scoop, make balls and drop them in a greased mini muffin pan.  Then gently pat them down and bake them.  Let them cool for 5 minutes and then tamp the centers of each cookie with a handy wooden dough press to make a little indent.  You could also use a small shot glass or spoon.  I used an entire 13 oz. jar of Nutella and put it in a piping bag with a large star tip and piped the Nutella into each of the cookies. The 13 oz. jar just barely topped the 3 dozen cookies I made, but close enough.  You could melt chocolate chips in the remaining cookies.  Click here for the recipe….

Grilled Teriyaki Chicken Stir Fry

I’m having fun coming up with new ideas for my grill basket.  When I am not in the mood to cook, I have a good quality teriyaki sauce in the fridge that I  put over chicken and serve with Japanese sticky rice.  I always end up grating some fresh ginger (I always keep some in the freezer) and garlic to jazz it up and wake the flavors up.  I decided to chop some squash, zucchini, onion, red pepper, mushrooms and chicken breast all the same size so it all cooks evenly and marinate it with some of the sauce. I got the grill basket hot and tumbled the ingredients onto the grill basket, holding the sauce back.  I let the chicken and veggies cook for 5 minutes and carefully drizzled the remaining sauce over and continued cooking for another 5-6 minutes or until the chicken is cooked through.  I put a cup of the teriyaki sauce in a bowl and heated it in the microwave and poured that over the cooked chicken and veggies, tossed it and served it over rice.  7 WW points without the rice.  Click here for the recipe….

Grilled Chicken with Lemon and Fresh Herb Vinaigrette

This is my go-to chicken in the summer and I serve it for parties all the time.  My friends are probably tired of it but I love it!  You can use any combination of herbs and you can use dried herbs if that is all you have on hand.  I always have pots of herbs on the patio that I pick all summer long.  I use my mini food processor and put some garlic, lemon zest, lemon juice, honey mustard and honey and whiz is down and then drizzle in olive oil to make an emulsion.  Then I add the herbs and whiz it down for a second and that’s it.  I used rosemary, thyme, basil and oregano.  You can make it earlier in the day and it keeps well.  I grill the chicken with just salt, pepper and olive oil and when it’s cooked, put them on the serving platter and drizzle the vinaigrette over and serve.  The vinaigrette is also good over salmon. 6 WW points.   Click here for the recipe….

Pecan Buttermilk Waffles

Sometimes breakfast just calls out for a little more sugar and preparation than I normally do for breakfast on a weekday, so I made pecan buttermilk waffles.  I like to have powdered buttermilk (you can find it in the baking section) on hand so I always have it available to make biscuits or pancakes.  You can add anything to these waffles – pecans, walnuts, hazelnuts, blueberries, raspberries, chocolate chips ~ whatever you like!  I often double the recipe and make the entire batch and freeze the individual waffles so you can just put them in the toaster to reheat. Click here for the recipe….