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Veggie Chips

25 Oct

My mom and I are into snacks… yes, we admit it.  And lately these are our favorite snacks. 

We love these potato chips made with spinach and tomato mixed in. We buy them in large bags like this one and also in smaller individual ones.   We took the small individual ones to our last trip in India.  These were our official snacks for “lunch time”.  You can find them in straws that look like French fried or in discs that look like potato chips.

You can find them in any health food store such as Freshmart, but you can find them at Costco too.  Hope you enjoy them too.

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Manchego Cheese with Membrillo/Quince Paste

11 Jul

I truly do not know if this is typical Spanish combination, but it definitely reminds me of my last trip to Spain…

Walter and I visited Bilbao during our last trip to Spain, and even though the Guggenheim Museum was on top of our list of places to see and visit, walking thru the city and eating well ranked a really closed second. 

Guggenheim Bilbao Museum

We decided Bilbao was not as big and we would walk it out and during our walk we found the Plaza or the city market and we had to go in.  There were the most awesome variety of Spanish produce and some gorgeous stained window treatments.

 

     

As a snack we wanted something we could carry around, would not spoil easily and that it was typical Spanish…  Walter decided out of all the cheeses available he wanted manchego.  Why?? I still do not know because you can get manchego super easily here in Puerto Rico, but he wanted manchego, so we bought manchego.  So I decided to accompany that with something a bit more local and that is not readily available where we live – Membrillo paste.

Photo Courtesy of nami-nami.blogspot.com

Membrillo is known as quince in English…  a sweet fruit that looks like a cross between a pear and a guava.  Membrillo is not commonly eaten in Puerto Rico, so for the purposes of our Spanish-inspired dinner we had to make do with guava paste.  Very delicious too, but not quite the same.  I guess this would be the Spanish equivalent to the Cuban – guava paste and cream cheese I grew up eating.

 

MANCHEGO AND MEMBRILLO PASTE

Manchego Cheese – in slices or cubes
Membrillo Paste – in slices or cubes

 

  1. Just assemble them in a pretty way together and enjoy them in all one bite together…

 

It’s delicious as a snack or as a light dessert…  YUM.

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Simpler Popeye Pizza

21 Jun

This Popeye Pizza has become a real pizza staple flavor in my house… even for my friend Annie Mariel, this is our go-to pizza flavor we prepare at home now.  It’s the perfect midnight snack… 😉

But I have never made this pizza recipe for anyone at the yoga center, so I thought it would be a perfect flavor to enter into the Pizza Contest we were having a few weekends ago.  I would just have to simplify it that same way we had simplified it for our midnight snack raids – because at 2AM, I am no fan of taking out 3 different cheeses and grate by hand  to make pizza.  Here is my simplified version with no compromising on taste…

SIMPLER POPEYE PIZZA

1 flatbread
A handful of Italian Cheese blend of shredded cheeses
Parmesan Cheese, grated – hey ,I buy it pre-grated and sometimes I use the green can too…
A super mound of baby spinach, about 2-3 handfuls
Salt and Pepper to taste
A drizzle of Extra Virgin Olive Oil

 

  1. Pre-heat your toaster oven to 450F.
  2. Place the flatbread on a cookie sheet…  I use the small cookie sheet from my toaster oven.
  3. And top with the topping in this order – first place the Italian cheese blend, enough to cover the bottom of the flatbread. Then sprinkle the parmesan cheese.  Top with the mounds of fresh baby spinach.  Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper and finish with a small drizzle of olive oil.   
  4. Place in oven for about 5-10 minutes, until most of the spinach wilts and the cheese on the borders gets some golden brown flecks.
  5. Slice it and enjoy. 

 

I love this pizza, Annie Mariel loves it, Jonathan loves it, my mom loves it…  I am telling you it’s a real hit.  And after a night of partying 😉   – it really hits the spot…

 

 

Do you think I could have won with this Popeye Pizza at the Pizza Contest??    I wouldn’t doubt it…

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Pizza Rosa – my take on a classic from Pizzeria Bianco

16 Jun

I am a pizza fan and I love to find new interesting flavors for my pizzas…  When I was watching an episode of The Best Thing I Ever Ate on Pizzas, I learned about the Pizza Rosa from Pizzeria Bianco.  It sounded strange and delicious too…

I have heard of Bianco before – on TV, from Martha Stewart… but Pizzeria Bianco is in Phoenix, Arizona and I have no plans to visit Phoenix anytime soon.  So the only way to try the flavors of this pizza is making it myself.  And the ingredients were not so foreign to me – red onions, parmeggiano reggiano cheese, rosemary and PISTACHIOS?!?!?!  Yep, Arizona pistachios to be exact.  Well, my pistachios would have to be from Walgreens, but I was intrigued nonetheless on how this would turn out.

My take on PIZZA ROSA from Pizzeria Bianco

1 flat bread or store-bought pizza dough round
Red onions, thinly sliced using a mandoline in the thinnest setting
Pistachios, shelled and ground in a food processor
Pecorino romano cheese, grated
Italian Cheese blend of shredded cheeses
Fresh Rosemary needles, chopped finely

 

  1. Pre-heat your toaster oven to 450F.
  2. Place the flatbread on a cookie sheet…  I use the small cookie sheet from my toaster oven.
  3. And top with the topping in this order – first place a small amount of the Italian cheese blend (about a small handful), then spread the onions, then the pistachios, then a light shower of the freshly grated pecorino romano cheese and finish off with a sprinkling of rosemary.  My fresh rosemary has dried in the fridge so I just crumbled it with my fingers.
  5. Place in oven for about 5-10 minutes, until the cheese on top gets some golden brown flecks.
  6. Take out and wait about 1 minute for the cheese to set, slice it and enjoy. 

You will make this pizza time and time again.  The pistachios are an unexpected ingredient, but they work with the onions and cheese.  Now I know why it was on the Best Thing I Ever Ate list…

Do you think I could have won the pizza contest with this Pizza Rosa???  I think so…

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Mushroom and Goat Cheese Pastelillo

18 Jan

I have an “obsession” with puffed pastry…  I admit it.  It’s super versatile and easy to use, particularly when you’re cooking for company.  Just add your favorite filling and you have a nice dish.

This time around I decided to mix together the ingredients of my favorite appetizer of the Xmas season and make it into a meal… balsamic mushrooms and goat cheese.  Envelope everything inside squares of puffed pastry, add a great green salad and you have a complete meal for a girl’s night together.  Here’s how I did it…

 

MUSHROOM AND GOAT CHEESE PASTELILLO

1 sheet of puffed pastry, thawed in the refrigerator since the night before
½ recipe for Balsamic Mushrooms
4 oz package of goat cheese
2 tbs butter, melted
A bit of flour or cornstarch to roll out the puffed pastry
  1. I’ll be honest… I do not measure a lot.  So I do not know how large I roll out the puffed pastry, but just enough to make 4 medium sized squares to make into these pastelillos.  Each pastelillo serves one not so big eater.  
  2. So before you start rolling out, dust your surface and rolling pin with some whole wheat flour or cornstarch so the pastry does not stick to either one.  Cut the pastry into 4 squares as even as possible.
  3. Lay one of your squares in a diagonal with one corner facing you directly.  Add about 1 ounce of the cream cheese and about ¼ of you mushroom mixture in the half of the square closest to you, leaving about ¼ inch clearance around the edges.   Now, overlap the free side of the square on top of the mixture and pinch all the open sides with a fork to close tightly. Repeat with the 3 remaining squares.
  4. Lay them flat on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and place in the fridge for a few minutes, while the oven preheats to 350F.  I do this because the climate in PR is too hot and usually my pastry tends to give me a bit of trouble by the time I get to the last few squares.  This way the pastry kind of cools off and we make sure it will turn our flaky in the end product.
  5. Brush them with a bit of melted butter on top to help them brown nicely.  Bake the pastries in the oven for about 20-25 minutes, or until the pastry is golden brown.  The smell will tell you when they’re done.

 

Enjoy them with a great salad on the side for a light lunch or a light dinner. 

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