Eggs Baked in an Avocado with Fresh Herbs & Sriracha Sauce

Eggs baked in an avocado. Eggs baked in an avocado. Eggs baked in an avocado. Go make it! Cut an avocado in half, take out the pit, squeeze in some lime juice, crack in the eggs, bake, and top! I cannot believe I waited so long to try out this meal. I had told myself over and over again that I was going to try it, but I never did up until a few weeks ago. Now eggs baked in an avocado is my go to meal for breakfast, lunch (on the weekends), and sometimes dinner. Eggs and avocado are both considered brain food, and I need all the brain food I can get these days. The first time I tried it out, I liked it, but I wasn't head over heels in love with it. I think I liked the idea of eating it because it is so healthy, and since it is super healthy, I kept making it for myself. Now I am completely passionate about eggs baked inside of avocados. It is easy to make, low carb, high protein, filled with Omega 3s, gluten-free, well, you get the idea. So stop dragging your feet, and go make yourself some eggs baked in an avocado! You will thank me one day for telling you to try it. Enjoy.

Recipe for Eggs Baked In Avocado with Fresh Herbs & Sriracha Sauce

INGREDIENTS
1 Hass avocado (any size, I've been using smallish ones lately), cut into half lengthwise with pit removed
Juice of 1/2 lime

Salt and Pepper
2 eggs
Extra-virgin olive oil
Crushed red pepper flakes
Sriracha sauce
Fresh Herbs (thyme, dill, parsley, whatever you want)

DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil.
Scoop out some of the avocado from each half so that there is enough room for the egg in each. Squeeze desired amount of lime juice over each avocado half. Sprinkle each  with salt and pepper. Crack one egg into one half of the avocado. Don't worry if some of the white runs out, you just want to make sure the yolk is in the avocado. Crack another egg into the other half of the avocado. Place in oven and bake for 12 - 14 minutes, depending on how runny you like your yolks. Make sure the egg whites are set and not runny, though! Remove from oven and drizzle with olive oil and sriracha sauce. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, crushed red pepper flakes, and fresh herbs.
Grab a fork or spoon and dig in (make sure you only eat the fruit of the avocado and the eggs - discard the peel)!

Recipe Adapted from: Serious Eats

BRAIN FOOD
Brain benefits of Avocado: Cognitive functioning and mood.
Brian benefits of Eggs: Cognitive functioning, focus, and mood.
Brain benefits of Olive Oil: Cognitive functioning and memory.
Brain benefits of Lime: Cognitive functioning, memory, and mood.
Information from: The Healthy Mind Cookbook

5-Ingredient Pumpkin Black Bean Soup

Have you tried the apple and mozzarella quesadillas yet? If not, I urge you to try them out. Those quesadillas, served along with this pumpkin black bean soup, is seriously our favorite meal these days. This soup is super awesome because you make barely any mess making it, the prep time is less than 1 minute, and the cooking time is just a little over 5 minutes. Oh, and it also is pretty darn tasty AND healthy. It's loaded with Vitamin A, protein, and fiber. You can make it with more kick based on the type of salsa you use in the recipe. The first few times I made it I used a Hatch Chile salsa, and it was nice and spicy. The past couple times I have used Newman's Own Farmer's Garden salsa, which is a little sweet and mild. You can serve this with the apple quesadillas or serve it on its own with some tortilla chips. Yesterday I made it for lunch and served it with oven-baked tortilla chips drizzled with white truffle oil and sea salt . This soup is rich and creamy, and is definitely a comfort-type food, but it has the bonus of being good for you. Make it with the leftover canned pumpkin you might have after making pumpkin pies for Thanksgiving! Enjoy.

Recipe for 5-Ingredient Pumpkin Black Bean Soup

INGREDIENTS:
1 can of black beans (15.5 ounces), drained and rinsed
1/2 cup of water
1/3 cup of canned pumpkin puree
1/3 cup of salsa (we like it with Newman's own Farmer's Garden - you can use hot or mild salsa)
1/2 tsp. of cumin powder
Salt and pepper, to taste
1/3 cup of full-fat Greek yogurt (I like Fage)

DIRECTIONS
Dump the black beans, water, pumpkin puree, and salsa into a medium sized pot. Sprinkle in the cumin powder, salt, and pepper. Use a spoon to mix well. Set the pot over medium heat on the stove top and cook for 4 - 5 minutes, or until hot. Then adjust the heat to low and stir in the Greek yogurt until smooth. Cook for an additional 45 seconds to 1 minute (don't cook too long, because the yogurt will curdle a bit and slightly effects the texture of soup). Remove from heat and ladle into bowls. Sprinkle with white cheddar cheese, if desired.

Makes approximately 2 - 3 servings. 
Original Recipe

Per Serving (with a serving being 1/3 of the recipe): 155 calories, 2 grams fat, 29 grams carbohydrates, 12 grams protein, 8 grams fiber, 50% RDA Vitamin A, 15% RDA Iron,

Quesadillas with Mozzarella and Buttery Cinnamon Maple Apples

Apples, in a quesadilla? Yes! You will not believe how amazing these quesadillas are. Greg thinks that these quesadillas are the perfect meal for dinner, but that they could also be a good breakfast food because they kind of taste like crepes. Although we have only been eating them for dinner, I agree that these sweet and savory quesadillas would make an outstanding breakfast. You could even sprinkle a little powdered sugar on them if you prefer the breakfast option, and leave off the white truffle oil and use butter instead. We have seriously had these quesadillas for dinner at least 7 times in the past 2 weeks, due to Greg's continued requests. I don't mind since they are so easy to make (especially if you have a batch of the apples in the fridge) and they require very little time in the kitchen. I have been serving them with a super easy pumpkin black bean soup that only has five ingredients, and I'll share that recipe very soon. Fall is the perfect season for enjoying delicious apples, and you can enjoy them in so many ways!

Recipe for Quesadillas with Mozzarella and Buttery Cinnamon Maple Apples

INGREDIENTS:

Baked cinnamon and maple apples

Butter, for coating the baking pan 

4 White corn tortillas (6-inch)

8 ounces of Mozzarella cheese, sliced into 1 ounce slices (don't use fresh, because it has too much moisture)

White truffle oil (optional, you can use butter instead) for brushing the sides of the tortillas

Sea salt (optional), for sprinkling the sides of the tortillas

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.

Lightly grease a baking pan with butter.

Wrap the tortillas in a paper towel and zap in the microwave for about 25 seconds. Blot out any of the excess moisture from the tortillas, then lay them onto the prepared baking sheet. Put one and a half slices of mozzarella cheese in the center of each tortilla (you will have 4 half pieces of cheese leftover that you will use to top the apples with). Place in the oven and cook for about 4 - 5 minutes, or until the cheese has just begun to melt. Meanwhile, if using apples that have been stored in the fridge, place desired amount of apples into a bowl and microwave for about 15 - 20 seconds. Once the cheese has begun to melt, remove the pan from the oven and adjust oven temperature to 375 degrees. Spoon desired amount of apples onto one half of the tortilla (I used about 2 tsp. of apples per quesadilla). Top the apples with the remaining half pieces of mozzarella cheese. Fold the tortillas in half. Lightly brush each side of the tortillas with white truffle oil or butter. I used about 1/8 tsp. of white truffle oil per side. Then sprinkle each side with a little bit of sea salt. Place back into the oven and cook for about 2 - 3 minutes, then carefully flip tortillas and cook for another 2 - 3 minutes. Remove from oven and serve immediately.

Original Recipe

Grilled Shrimp Fajitas (cooked in a foil packet)

Recipe for Grilled Shrimp Fajitas (cooked in a foil packet)

Please visit my new website, Make It and Bake It with Beth, for the grilled shrimp fajitas recipe. 

Easy Shrimp Scampi with Pasta

I had a goal to post more recipes this month than last month. But it's almost the end of May, and this is only my second posting for the month (and my first one wasn't even a recipe, it was a recipe round-up). I ended up having a lot going on in the beginning of the month. I had to finish all of my student teaching assignments and complete an online portfolio with artifacts that demonstrate my knowledge on certain teaching standards, with reflections. Then I had to prepare for an exit conference with my supervisor, mentor teacher, and the director of the education program I am enrolled in. Sounds intimidating, right? Well, I was super worried and stressed about it, but it went very smoothly. I am so happy to have it over with, and I'm also really happy that my summer vacation is just around the corner. Greg and I were talking the other day about comfort foods. He said that there are so many comfort foods we eat during the cooler weather, like hearty soups, but not many foods that are good for the soul in the spring and summer. I told him maybe shrimp scampi was a warmer weather comfort food, and he asked me to make some. I realized I had actually never made shrimp scampi before, and I was excited to find out that all the recipes looked super easy (so it is kind of funny that I call this easy shrimp scampi, because I'm not sure there are any tricky shrimp scampi recipes out there). This meal was made in less than 15 minutes and tasted great. I loved it because I have been really cutting the carbs out of my diet recently, so I just had the shrimp with a sprinkle of Panko bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese, and Greg enjoyed the shrimp and pasta. It was a nice change from all the grilled chicken I have been eating lately. If you are looking for an easy meal that is refreshing and satisfying, try this easy shrimp scampi over pasta! Enjoy.

Recipe for Easy Shrimp Scampi with Pasta

INGREDIENTS:
8 ounces of uncooked linguine or spaghetti noodles (I used Dreamfields pasta)
3 Tbsp. of unsalted butter
1 pound of frozen medium shrimp, thawed, deveined, and peeled
1/2 - 3/4 tsp. of crushed red pepper flakes

1/4 cup of dry white wine or chicken stock
Zest of one lemon 
1/4 cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice (about one lemon)
A pinch or two of kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
2 Tbsp. of chopped fresh parsley leaves
1/2 cup of freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Panko bread crumbs, if desired

DIRECTIONS: 
Cook the pasta according to package directions. When it is finished cooking, drain in a colander.

While the pasta is cooking, prepare the shrimp scampi. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-heat. Once it is melted, add in the shrimp, garlic, and crushed red pepper flakes.  Cook, stirring frequently, until the shrimp is pink (about 3 minutes). Then add in the wine or chicken stock and the lemon juice. Sprinkle on the salt and pepper. Give it a stir, then adjust the heat to medium-low and bring to a simmer. Once it comes to a simmer, remove from heat. Carefully add in the drained pasta, lemon zest, and parsley and toss.

Serve immediately. Top each serving with Parmesan cheese and Panko bread crumbs, if desired.

Makes approximately 4 servings. 

Recipe Adapted from: Damn Delicious, originally from Closet Cooking

African Peanut Soup

Years ago, I worked at a teacher resource center in Howard County. It was the best job ever for many reasons. I had an amazing boss who is also a friend and I met a wonderful woman who volunteered there during the week, who also became a good friend. Not only was the job a place with lots of wonderful people, it was also a place where good food was had on a daily basis. The building I worked in was right across the street from a market called Produce Galore, which sadly went out of business the last year I worked at the resource center. Every day I would walk over to Produce Galore to get lunch. One of the things I especially loved there was the soup bar. There were exciting new soups to try every day and I don't think I was ever disappointed with anything that I had. One soup that I got a few times was a peanut soup. It was rich and creamy and like no other soup I had ever had before. I finally decided to try to make the soup (seven years later) and I'm so glad I did! I had no idea it would be so easy. When I searched online for recipes, I came across many different ones and the one I decided to go with turned out great. I served it over rice and added some Greek yogurt on top. This soup is vegetarian (vegan if you omit the cream), but if you want to add meat Greg and I think that chicken or shrimp would go well with it. Greg was pretty skeptical when I told him about the soup when I was making it but he ended up raving about it when he tried it! It makes a lot of leftovers too (we ate it for the fourth time today and are still looking forward to eating the last of it tomorrow night). The soup is rich because of the coconut milk and peanut butter, but if you serve with the rice you don't need much of it to fill you up. We did about 1/2 cup of cooked rice and 3/4 cup of soup per bowl. But you can eat as much as you want! Enjoy.

Recipe for African Peanut Soup

INGREDIENTS:
4 cups of vegetable broth
3 cups of coconut milk (I use the So Delicious culinary brand)
1 small yellow onion, diced
4 cloves of garlic, pressed
1/2 tsp. of crushed red pepper flakes
1 very large or 2 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed into 1-inch pieces
1 14.5 ounce can of fire-roasted diced tomatoes
1 1/2 tsp. of sea salt
1/4 tsp. of paprika
1/8 tsp. of smoked paprika
Several grinds of fresh black pepper
A pinch of cayenne pepper
A pinch or two of ground ginger
1 cup of creamy peanut butter
*2 Tbsp. of heavy cream
Fresh cilantro leaves, for garnish
Cooked rice, such as Jasmine rice, for serving
Greek yogurt, for garnish
Roasted peanuts, for garnish

*If desired, and if it doesn't matter to you if this meal is vegan, you can add in the heavy cream. I did!

DIRECTIONS:
Pour the broth into a large pot and set over high heat. Add in the coconut milk, fire-roasted tomatoes, diced onion, pressed garlic, crushed red pepper flakes, cubed sweet potato, sea salt, paprika, smoked paprika, black pepper, cayenne pepper, and ginger. Give it a stir and let it sit over high heat for 15 - 20 minutes, or until the potatoes are cooked through (you can check this by pricking the potatoes with a fork, if it goes all the way through they are done cooking). Then use a ladle to take out 1 1/2 cups of the liquid and throw out. Stir in the peanut butter and stir until smooth. Remove the soup from heat. Use an immersion blender to puree until the soup is smooth and there are no chunks of onion or potato. Stir in the cream, if using. Then return the pot to the stove and set over low heat for a couple minutes before serving.

Scoop desired amount of rice into a bowl. Top with the peanut soup. Add on some cilantro leaves and peanuts for garnish. If desired, top with a little bit of Greek yogurt (I did this, but Greg did not).

Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge. Recipe makes about 8 -10 servings (if you serve with rice).

Recipe Adapted from: Oh My Veggies, originally from The 30-Minute Vegan: Soup's On! More than 100 Quick and Easy Recipes for Every Season by Mark Renfield

Pasta with Red Grapes and Sausage

A few months back I was flipping through a magazine, trying to keep up with the latest fashion/beauty/health trends, when I came across some good-looking pasta recipes. I usually steer clear of recipes found in trend magazines, but a couple of them looked interesting enough to try out. As you might have guessed, one of the recipes I found was for the Pasta with Red Grapes and Sausage, or as Greg likes to call it, “Grapeful Pasta.” I had never had pasta that used grapes in the sauce, and it is incredible how flavorful the grapes make the dish. They burst and explode. and then the pasta is coated in their juices. The red grapes make a savory sweet sauce that pairs well with all of the other ingredients – a yummy combination of sweet, spicy, and salty.
Not only does this meal taste good, it also provides some nice health benefits. Red grapes are high in antioxidants that fight inflammation – nobody likes inflammation. I have made this dish many times, and I never get sick of eating it for dinner. This meal also saves really well for leftovers. I’m “grapeful” that I found this recipe while going through that magazine!

Pasta with Red Grapes & Sausage Recipe

INGREDIENTS:
 3 Aidells Chicken Sausage Links, cut in to 1/4 to 1/2-inch thick slices
2 Tbsp. of olive oil
1 small red onion, cut in to very thin and small slices
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. plus 1/4 tsp. of kosher salt, divided
2 cups of seedless red grapes
1 cup of chicken broth
1/4 - 1/2 tsp. of crushed red pepper flakes (totally based upon your heat-threshold preferences)
12-ounces of whole grain penne pasta
3 Tbsp. of grated fresh Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup of fresh parsley or 2 Tbsp. of dried parsley flakes
Freshly ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS: Put 1 tbsp. of olive oil in a very large saucepan set over medium heat. Add the sausage to the pan and cook, stirring frequently until sausage is browned (about 10 minutes). Once sausage is done cooking, remove it from the pan using a slotted spoon and put it on to a plate. Set aside. Add another 1 tbsp. of oil to the saucepan and return the heat to medium. Add the onions and the garlic to the pan with 1/4 tsp. of kosher salt and stir until the onions are soft, about 2 to 3 minutes. Add in the red grapes, broth, and red pepper flakes. Increase the heat to medium-high. Stir the mixture and cook for about 10 minutes, or until the grapes burst and the sauce thickens. While the grapes are cooking, bring a large pot of water to boil. Once grapes have burst and have cooked for at least 10 minutes, return the sausage to the saucepan with the grapes and stir. Turn off the stovetop.
When the water boils, add the 1 tbsp. of kosher salt to the pot. Add in the pasta and cook as directed on pasta package. When pasta is done, drain the pasta well and then add it to the saucepan. Turn the heat to high. Cook until the sausage is hot and the pasta is coated with the sauce, about one minute. Remove from heat and divide amongst serving dishes. Top each serving with parsley, Parmesan, and freshly ground pepper. Enjoy!
Adapted from: Self Magazine

NOTE:
When I first started to cook I would follow recipes and sometimes come across terms that I was not familiar with. One of the terms that stumped me a bit was the word “divided” when seen on an ingredients list. When you see the word “divided,” it simply means that the recipe will use the ingredient in more than just one step. In the pasta recipe, the word “divided” is used with the olive oil and kosher salt. Example: “1 Tbsp. plus 1/4 tsp. of kosher salt, divided” 1 Tbsp. of the kosher salt is used in the pot of boiling water, and the other 1/4 tsp. is used in the saucepan with the onion and garlic. Example: “2 Tbsp. of extra-virgin olive oil, divided” 1 Tbsp. of the olive oil is used in the saucepan to cook the sausage, and the other 1 Tbsp. is used to cook the garlic and onion.
Don’t fret when you see the word “divided” in a recipe, it doesn’t mean that you will have to solve any math problems! Just remember not to use the divided ingredient all at once – it’s simple division.