The culinary adventures of a 20-something woman navigating the wonderful world of food!

The culinary adventures of a 20-something year old woman navigating the wonderful world of food!

Sunday, October 23, 2011

Chewy Oatmeal Cookies


  •        Everyone has an opinion on the 'best' type of cookie - crunchy vs. chewy, undercooked or overdone, etc. I like ALL cookies - I don't discriminate! However, I had a friend who specifically requested 'chewy' oatmeal cookies, so here they are! THere are two tricks: 1) slightly undercook (they will look not done when you take out of oven, thats ok!) and 2) don't completely 'flatten' the cookies on the baking pan - leave them a bit 'higher'.
        If you need a CHEWY oatmeal cookie recipe, this is it! I've already been asked to make them again for an upcoming potluck. I added some chocolate chips to half the batter for some variety and it was excellent too! I'm not sure I would add raisins, or else you'd also have to add more cinnamon & some nutmeg (and you can already find an oatmeal-raisin cookie on this blog). Enjoy!

Please excuse the horrendous photo, I took it with my blackberry - the cookies were getting eaten too fast for a good photo!!!

  • Ingredients:
  • 1 cup butter, softened
  • 1 cup white sugar
  • 1 cup packed brown sugar
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla 
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 3 cups quick cooking oats

  • Directions
  1. In a medium bowl, cream together butter, white sugar, and brown sugar. Beat in eggs one at a time, then stir in vanilla. Combine flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; stir into the creamed mixture. Mix in oats. Cover, and chill dough for at least one hour.
  2. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease cookie sheets. Roll the dough into balls about the size of a small lime, and place 2 inches apart on cookie sheets. Lightly flatten each cookie with a fork.
  3. Bake for 7 to 9 minutes in preheated oven. Allow cookies to cool on baking sheet for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Note: For half the batter, I added 3/4 cup chocolate chips and they were also delicious! I also substituted 1 cup of rice flour for 1 cup of the white flour and it also worked out well - I have a friend who has an intolerance to gluten (she can have small amounts) so I wanted to make these as gluten-friendly as possible. However, if I had taken out ALL the white flour I would have had to make several additional modifications and I didn't want to do that!

Source: Adapted from "Soft Oatmeal Cookies" from AllRecipes.

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Lunchtime Lentil Salad

I few months ago, I hired a personal trainer to help me get back on track with eating right and working out. You have probably noticed a decline in blog posts as a result - I tend to be eating pretty simple - a lot of fruits, vegetables, beans, lentils, and leaner meats. Most of what I have been eating doesn't really need a blog post (unless of course, you'd like to know that I eat boiled eggs & sliced tomato for breakfast.....)
One of my new lunchtime staples actually does need a recipe, although its quite simple. This lentil & rice salad is gluten-free and dairy-free for those with meal restrictions or allergies. It is refreshing, delicious, and most importantly, nutritious.


Ingredients:
2/3 C brown rice
2/3 C dried green lentils
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 C diced red or white onion
1 C diced celery
1 C diced carrots
1/2 C diced sweet red pepper
1/4 C fresh lemon juice
2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 C chopped fresh parsley
pepper to taste


Directions:
1. Cook rice and lentils until tender, but not mushy; drain and rinse under cold water (I cook them separately - the rice takes about 30 mins, the lentils 20 mins)
2. In skillet, heat 1 tsbp of oil then add onions and saute 3 minutes. Add celery and carrots and saute 2-3 minutes, then add red pepper and saute everything another 2-3 minutes (10 minutes total)
3. Combine veggies/rice/lentils in a large bowl.
4. Add seasonings, lemon juice and 1 tbsp of olive oil, toss and enjoy!


Keeps up to 5 days in fridge.


Source: Adapted from Anne Lindsay's "Lighthearted Everyday Cookbook"