Curry Flavored Roasted Almonds

Almonds are a great source of fiber, protein, and vitamins. These are oil roasted almonds which makes them slightly less healthy than raw almonds, but this is my meal plan and I need some flavor. Whether eating raw or roasted almonds, serving size is key; only ¼ cup is about 170 calories, mostly from fat. If you're roasting your own almonds, the sky's the limit on flavors, so feel free use this recipe as a base or jumping off point to your own combinations.

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp sesame oil

1 lb raw almonds

½ tsp salt
1 tsp curry powder
½ tsp ground ginger
½ tsp garlic powder

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350
In a non-stick skillet pour in the olive and sesame oil and heat until shimmering. Add the almonds and cook, stirring frequently, for about 5 minutes or until lightly toasted.

Pour your almonds into a large mixing bowl and sprinkle on the salt, curry powder, ginger, and garlic. Stir to thoroughly coat the almonds. Lay your almonds out on a baking sheet, making sure they are in a single layer.

Bake the almonds for 10 minutes, until toasted. Put the pan on a cooling rack and let them cool for 30 minutes before moving into air-tight containment. Enjoy my first Healthy Living recipe in moderation!

Chocolate Covered Peppermint Popcorn

Chocolate covered popcorn is a great host or hostess gift for all the holiday parties going on this time of year. The only problem is that it is outrageously expensive to buy in store. Luckily for us, it is incredibly simple and easy to make, and really quick too. My second time making it took me just 20 minutes from walking through the door to a tray of delicious popcorn.

The directions I include are for making stove-top popcorn. If you have a popcorn popper, or another method you like better, please do whatever is most comfortable for you, this is just the method I like best since I don't have to store a unitasker and can just use the pots and pans I own.

Ingredients:

2 T oil

⅓ C popcorn kernels

Salt

1 C dark candy making chocolate

¼ C peppermints, crushed

Directions:

Popping the popcorn:

In your widest pan with a lid, pour in the oil and add a couple kernels of popcorn. When those kernels pop, add the rest of the popcorn and place on the lid, making sure to keep it slightly ajar so the steam doesn't make the popcorn soggy. Shake the pan gently to make sure all of the kernels get coated with oil. Once the popcorn starts popping, make sure to shake the pan occasionally so that the unpopped kernels get even heat.

When the popping slows to 2 or 3 seconds between pops, remove the pan from the heat, but don't take the lid off until the popping stops entirely or you will be picking up a shower of popcorn from the kitchen floor. Once the popping has stopped, pour the popcorn onto a baking sheet lined with wax paper, parchment paper, or my favorite, a silicone baking mat. Make sure to get the popcorn into 1 layer. Lightly salt the popcorn and then let it cool while you melt the chocolate.

Chocolate and peppermint:

Put the chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and microwave on high for 15 second intervals, stirring very thoroughly each time, until nice and liquid, about 90 degrees. With a spoon, drizzle the chocolate over the popcorn, making sure to get a bit on every piece. Before the chocolate cools, sprinkle on the crushed peppermints. Let the chocolate cool (I stick mine in the freezer to speed this up) and then break the popcorn pieces apart and store in airtight containment, or just eat it right away!

Roasted Tomato Salsa

I've put quite a few salsa varieties on here and it looks like I'm not slowing down anytime soon. This one is really quite easy. Since you are blending the ingredients together you don't have to worry about getting carefull, bite sized pieces, you can use larger chunks which makes this a quicker, simpler salas to prep for.

You might notice there doesn't seem to be much salsa in the bowl in my picture. Well, my wife and I didn't have very good self control and started eating it before I had taken any pictures of the finished product. Don't worry, the recipe makes plenty, and if you have a larger skillet, it can be easily doubled.

Ingredients:
5 roma tomatoes
1 jalapeno, sliced*

½ red onion, sliced
2 cloves of garlic, crushed
Salt and pepper

½ t of cumin
2 T of olive oil

Directions:
Turn your broiler on high and move an oven rack to the 2nd highest position.

Cut the tomatoes in half, and place in a 10 inch cast iron skillet, add the jalapeno, onion, crushed garlic, and then stir in salt, pepper, and the cumin. Toss with the olive oil to coat.

Place under the broiler and roast, stirring every 3 minutes, until a light level of char builds on the edges of the tomatoes. Remove it from the oven and let it cool to room temp before blending to a desired consistency.

Serve and enjoy or refrigerate to enjoy later.

*Don't worry about seeding the jalapenos, the high heat that they will be subjected to will dull the fire.

Sausage Rolls

EDIT: Here is a better, updated version of this recipe! Check it out!
When I was traveling in the UK with my family, I noticed that in every convince store, instead of the usual fruit danishes, they had these sausage rolls in pastry instead. I missed those once we got back in the States, and I decided to make them myself. These ones are a very simple and easy recipe that can be easily augmented.

Ingredients:

17.3 oz package of pastry dough
1 lb of Italian style sausage links*
1 egg, beaten

Directions:

Defrost the pastry dough according to the package instructions and preheat your oven to 350.

Once the dough has been defrosted, roll it out so that the long side is the length of 2 sausage links, as pictured. When the dough is the proper size, place your sausage links together at the top and gently roll them up. Right before the dough is about to overlap, brush a bit of the egg wash on the two pieces that are about to touch. Overlap the dough a little and then cut off that roll. Brush the top of that roll with some egg wash to enhance browning.

Repeat with the remaining sausage links and sheets of pastry dough. if you get to the end of  a sheet and find that you don't have quite enough to overlap, just roll the dough a bit or stretch it out by hand, yes that will make the pastry a bit thinner, but it will still work.

Once your rolls have been assembled, cut them into 1 inch pieces and bake for 15-20 minutes or until the sausage is cooked through and the top is golden. Enjoy these warm with ketchup or mustard.

*When I make this I leave the sausage casings on because they don't bother me in the final product. They do, however, bother my wife, and if they would bother you, feel free to strip them out of there casings or use a 1 lb package of sausage meat and roll it into thumb size strips.

Black Bean Corn Salsa

One day, I was making nachos and I wanted to make a good topping out of the black beans I had in my pantry. I had some corn in my freezer, and I love corn salsa, so I decided to add that, a few spices, and bam! I had a new salsa that makes a great dip for tortilla chips and a great topping for nachos, tacos, and many other Mexican style dishes.

Ingredients:

1 T of olive oil
1 large jalapeno, seeded and diced
1 15.5 oz can of black beans, drained
1 C of frozen corn

½ t of ground cumin

¼ t of red pepper flake

¼ t of black pepper

Directions:

Heat the oil in a 10" non-stick skillet and lightly saute the jalapeno. Once the chili is lightly browned, add the can of beans. As the beans saute I like to lightly crush them, it makes the salsa a little creamer and helps it stay together on the chip. Make sure to not cook all the liquid away or the salsa will not stay together and it will be harder to scoop. Once the beans have been lightly sauted add the frozen corn and heat through. Add the spices, stir to combine, and serve. This salsa goes great alongside pico de gallo and guacamole!

Baked Tortilla Chips

Most tortilla chips you buy at your local friendly mega mart are fried and, in my opinion, too salty. Baked tortilla chips can be salted to your liking, are thicker for holding more substantial dips, can be flavored in a variety of ways, and, best of all, are cheaper than store bought.

I make my own tortillas, but I am a freak and my wife bought me a tortilla press. I don't expect you to go to such lengths, so I will use store bought tortillas in this recipe.

Ingredients:

1 lb of corn tortillas

Olive oil

Salt to taste

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350.

Use a basting brush to olive oil on both sides of each tortilla and then cut them all into quarters. One time I cut them into quarters before I oiled them, and that was a pain. Spread the wedges in a single layer on a pair of baking sheets and bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes or until they are nice and crispy. Be sure to rotate the baking sheets once during baking.

Remove your chips from the oven and salt lightly. I salt afterwards because I like less salt, but if you want more salt on your chips, feel free to salt them before baking.

Since you have now made your own chips, why limit your flavor additions to salt? You could toss your warm chips in a bit of lime juice and salt for a bit of kick. Why not sprinkle on some cayenne powder or cumin for a bit of spice? You could even toss them in cinnamon and sugar for a dessert chip. Since you're making your own, the flavors you use are only limited by your pantry.

Pico de Gallo

Pico de gallo is a traditional Mexican salsa that seems to have little to do with its name which literally translates to "roosters beak". Regardless, it is a very tasty dip that is pretty easy and has plenty of flavor. I like making it because it is a really tasty way to practice my knife skills since it requires breaking down a lot of produce.

Ingredients:

4 tomatoes diced
2 large jalapeños seeded and dice

Packed ¼ C of cilantro chopped fine

½ red onion diced fine

Juice of 1 lime

1 t of salt

Directions:

Gently stir all the ingredients together, cover and place in the chill chest for 10 to 15 minutes to give the flavors some time to combine. Make any flavor adjustment you'd like then serve with tortilla chips. (Told you that was easy!)

Pigs in a Blanket with a Ketchup Glaze

I love pigs in a blanket as hors d'oeuvres or party food, right up there with meatballs. (Don't worry, those are coming soon.) They are fun to make, easy to eat, and plenty tasty. They are a hit with kids of all ages. When I came up with this recipe, I wanted to make pigs in a blanket that wouldn't require you to carry a dipping sauce around all night and possibly make a mess. So, I researched how to make a ketchup glaze and went from there.

Ingredients:

½ C of dark brown sugar
½ C of ketchup
1 14 oz package of mini sausages*
2 tubes of croissant dough

Directions:

Preheat the oven according to instructions on package of croissants.

Put the ketchup and brown sugar in a small saucepan and mix until smooth. Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat. Let it simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Once the sauce is thickened, add the package of mini sausages, bring the sauce back to a simmer and simmer for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. When you are satisfied with how thick the sauce is, take it off the heat and allow the sauce and sausage mixture to cool.

Now unroll one croissant (bottom left in picture) and cut it into two pieces (top two pieces in picture). Roll each sausage in a piece of dough and place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake according to the instructions on the croissant tube and serve. Any leftover glaze can be served as a dipping sauce if you desire.

*I prefer Hillshire Farm 14 oz Lit'l Smokies. If you can find the Cheddar Lit'l Smokies, even better.

Steve's Cheesy Buffalo Chicken Dip

We are getting to the start of the football season, let's make some good party food! My senior year of college, when I was living in an apartment on campus, one of my roommates used to make this all the time. We loved it. Steve was gracious enough to part with the recipe so I could share it with you. This is one of the only times you will get a recipe from me that has cream cheese in it.

Ingredients:

2 12.5 oz cans of chicken
5 oz of your favorite hot sauce
1 C of ranch dressing (this can be substituted with blue cheese if you would rather)
2 8 oz bricks of cream cheese, softened
2 C of shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

Drain the cans of chicken and shred them with a fork (this is the real benefit to the canned chicken, it shreds easily). Put the chicken and hot sauce in a medium pan over medium h
eat and stir until the hot sauce has been adsorbed, about 1-2 minutes. Add the ranch and stir thoroughly to combine. Once the ranch has been worked in, add the first block of cream cheese and mix in well, then add the second brick, make sure there are no lumps left.

Reduce the heat and fold in the cheese. When the cheese is full incorporated, make any flavor adjustments you like, more hot sauce for heat or dressing or creaminess. Serve with chips, bread, or, like we did one time and loved it, cheddar cheese combos.

Corn Muffins

When I made the batter for my corndog recipe, I liked it so much, I was inspired to try to make it into a muffin recipe. While I experienced some failure when trying to develop this recipe, I got some advice from the executive chef where I work and achieved success. The first time I made this recipe I simply made the batter recipe and baked it. It was very dry and just tasted like muffin shaped tortillas. After doing some looking around and talking to the executive chef, I added oil to the recipe and that was all it needed. Oil in recipes helps foods taste moist even though it adds no moisture. This recipe makes sweet, moist corn muffins with plenty of flavor.

Ingredients:

1 C of cornmeal

1 C of AP flour

¼ t of salt

¼ t of cayenne pepper

¼ C of sugar

4 t of baking powder

1 egg

1 C of milk
¼ C of canola oil

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 400 and grease your favorite muffin pan or line it with paper cups.

The directions here are pretty much the same as the corndog recipe. Start by mixing the cornmeal, flour, salt, cayenne pepper, sugar, and baking powder together in a bowl. Then mix the egg, milk, and oil together. When these have each been mixed, incorporate the wet team into the dry team. The reason you should mix the various teams up first before mixing together is it reduces how much stirring has to be done to bring the batter together in the end. The less stirring, the better the texture. So, once the teams are together stir as little as necessary to bring the whole thing together.

Distribute the batter evenly between the muffin cups, this recipe makes 12 muffins, and bake them in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until golden on top and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let them cool on the counter and then enjoy.

This recipe is very versatile and lots of extras can be added. I added bacon and cheese to one batch and it came out great. I took out the jalapeno in this recipe because I was making these for kids and I didn't want their moms to get mad at me, but feel free to put it back in.

Candied Sesame Walnuts

These are a delicious snack for out of hand eating and we will also be using these in a later recipe! Plus, making your own is a bit cheaper and these are pretty easy to make.

Ingredients:

1 C chopped walnuts
1 T butter

¼ C sugar

Sesame seeds

Directions:

Put all the ingredients in a non-stick skillet over medium heat and stir frequently. As the sugar starts to melt, stir constantly until all the walnuts are covered and all the sugar has melted. Transfer to a parchment covered sheet pan and, moving constantly, separate them on the paper. While the nuts are still warm, sprinkle sesame seeds over the top to taste.

Once the nuts are cooled and the coating has hardened, about 5 minutes, break apart any big clumps and store. Use on ice cream, salads, or for delicious snacking.