Cooking With All Things Trader Joe's Update #3

Hi Everyone! I'm sorry I have been MIA the past two weeks. I took a very interesting Food Writing  course, which you will hear more about in upcoming blog posts and I spent a few days in CT without my computer so I  had a unintentional technology cleanse, lol. Anyways, now I'm back and have a lot of exciting stuff up the pipe line. Today, I'm sharing an update on the most recent recipes I have tested from the Cooking With All Things Trader Joe's Cookbook and then next weekend I'm going to DC so be sure to look out for my review of some DC restaurants and I'm hoping to create a flipagram from all my pictures so hopefully I will be able to incorporate a video component to the blog for the first time! Now let's get back to today's blog post and discuss my most recent cooking endeavors from the Cooking with all things Trader Joe's Cookbook.

1) Chicken Pot Pie

This recipe was simple and I was very excited to make cheesy drop biscuits using buttermilk pancake mix. I have never really had proper biscuits before so I was curious to try them. The recipe gives you the option of using a traditional pie crust or you can use cheesy drop biscuits and since I already had buttermilk pancake mix I went the drop biscuit route,  Everything was going fine making this until I went to put the chicken pot pie in the oven and the sauce started spilling everywhere. The recipe says to place the pie on a baking sheet to catch drippings so I did that, but I was not expecting the sauce to spill over as much as it did.  Maybe it was just a matter of me being too impatient and not letting the sauce thicken enough. Anyways, over all this dish turned out ok, but was definitely not one of my favorites. I was expecting the drop biscuits to be light and airy, but instead they ended up dense and I could taste the all-purpose flour. the sauce was very light and didn't provide enough flavor to the chicken and vegetables. I had the leftovers for lunch the next, which tasted a little better, but overall I think I just didn't quite master the recipe and if I had let the sauce simmer a little longer and mixed the biscuit dough a little longer the dish would have tasted better. Oh well, you live and you learn!

2) Italian Wedding Soup

This soup was very easy and the end result was delicious.  As you all know I love soup and now that winter is finally wrapping up I wanted to get in one last soup recipe. I loved all the colors in this dish and soup was extremely flavorful. The parmesan cheese and parsley garnish escalated the flavor to the next level. One of the main reasons I wanted to make this soup was because I was excited to finally try chard.  I don't think I had ever even tasted chard before this. The chicken broth and parmesan cheese I added at the end cut a lot of the bitterness from the chard and I enjoyed playing around with the leftovers and sautéing it with butter and olive oil and adding lemon juice and parmesan cheese for a filling side dish with spaghetti and meatballs and I also used the leftovers to make a variation of pasta primavera.


3) Peanutty Sesame Noodles

Cold peanut noodles has always been one of my favorite lunches. They are very easy to make and the flavor combination of the peanut butter, teriyaki sauce and toasted sesame oil is outstanding. This is the first time I had incorporated vegetables into the dish and I have to say the carrots and scallion added a nice crunch to the noodles. This is one of those recipes that taste better the next day so I was happy that I made this on a sunday and then was able to eat it for lunch during the week and I served with Trader Joe's Kung Pao Chicken later in the week. Usually, I like peanut noodles cold, but this recipe I actually preferred warmed up. This is a fun and easy way to make a favorite Chinese takeout dish in the comfort of your own home.

4) Macho Nacho

This recipe had stood out to me when I was looking through the Cooking With All Things Trader Joe's cookbook. I loved the picture, which showcased beautiful red tomatoes and green cilantro piled  on top of chili and tortilla chips.  This also gave me the perfect excuse to try Trader Joe's vegetarian chili, which is something I had been curious to try for while. Whenever I make nachos I usually make them in the microwave so I was curious to see how nachos would taste baked in the oven. This dish is described in the cookbook as a "casserole version of a nacho plate", which is a perfect description. The end result was crispy and the tortilla chips, vegetarian chili and cheese worked very well together.  I used a little creative license with the toppings and along with the traditional guacamole and sour cream I used green verde salsa instead of a tomato based salsa. I also tried to make this a little healthier by using quinoa tortilla chips instead of regular tortilla chips. I was very pleased with how this turned out, but I have to warn you that this does not reheat well if you are considering using the leftovers. A few days after making the nachos I thought I would get all fancy and use the leftovers with some shrimp and make nachos for lunch and was not happy with the results.

Want to try these recipes for yourself? Buy "Cooking with all things Trader Joe's" on Amazon or Barnes&Noble.com  or check out the Cooking with Trader Joe's blog. 

Cooking With All Things Trader Joe's Update...

Two weeks ago I professed my love for the "Cooking with all things Trader Joe's" cookbook and said that I was going to share updates on my journey cooking through the book. Well, I'm proud to report I have made an additional four recipes from the cookbook! All the recipes have been extremely easy and for the most part everything has turned out very well with one exception, which I will discuss later in the post. The cookbook has been opening my eyes to so many great Trader Joe's products I had never noticed and has helped my culinary imagination run wild. Without further adieu here is my update:

1) Vegetable Tikka Masala 

I had a couple friends over  for a cooking night at my apartment and this is what we made. Chicken Tikka Masala is usually  my go to whenever I order Indian food so I was very curious to try out Trader Joe's Marsala simmer sauce  with some veggies and I'm happy to report it's delicious! We decided to use cauliflower florets, zucchini and garbanzo beans in our dish (we just didn't include carrots, which are mentioned in the recipe). This recipe could not have been easier and simply requires adding the marsala summer sauce to  your veggies (I used cauliflower, zucchini, garbanzo beans and frozen peas) and then simmering in a large saucepan for around 15 minutes until your veggies are soft. The recipe also calls for plain yogurt, but since I could only find vanilla yogurt i decided to skip that ingredient.  We served our vegetable tikka marsala with Trader Joe's garlic naan, which was outstanding and will definitely become one of my frequent Trader Joe's purchases. 

2) Casper-lovers Chicken and Eggplant

Above I mentioned all the recipes turned out well with one exception, well this recipe was that exception. This was definitely one of the easiest recipes from the book and only required 3 ingredients and then it was simply peeling and cutting eggplant and adding the eggplant and bruschetta sauce on top of the chicken and cooking in the oven at 350 degrees for  30-40 minutes. I made this on monday night since I had a day off for presidents day and had time to cook and put in the refrigerator to have later in the week when I was back at work and less time to cook. I ended up having this for dinner on wednesday. I thought that since I had some leftover frozen peas I would add some to my dinner to give the dish a pop of green. I first microwaved my mashed potatoes and then microwaved my chicken dish along with the frozen peas, which was a really bad idea. I should have microwaved the frozen peas separately because they took longer to cook and then by the time they were hot the chicken and eggplant was ruined.   My chicken was dry and overcooked and my eggplant didn't taste that good and i'm not sure if that's because it had been microwaved for too long or if storing in the refrigerator for two days had ruined the eggplant's flavor. Oh, well you live and you learn. I will definitely from now on think about what ingredientsI'm putting together in the microwave and will not try to save time by combining things that shouldn't be microwaved together.  The end result was edible but definitely was not one of my culinary masterpieces.  I will have to give this recipe another shot and try it straight from the oven to compare the results.

3) Asian Dumpling Soup

As I have clearly demonstrated through numerous posts on this blog I'm a big fan of Asian food. Thai, Chinese, Japanese I love it all! I'm a big fan of  Trader Joe's Thai Shrimp Gyoza so I really liked the idea of incorporating the gyoza into a soup. The recipe calls for chicken broth, toasted sesame oil, soy sauce, stir fry veggies, garlic and of course the shrimp gyoza. You first add the chicken broth, soy sauce and garlic to a big pot and heat for a few minutes. Then you add the veggies and gyoza bring to a boil and then simmer for another five minutes. The recipes calls for a  splash of toasted sesame oil at the very end. The soup turned out great. The chicken broth, soy sauce, garlic and toasted sesame oil provided the shrimp gyoza with a more enriched flavor and the stir fry veggies added nice color and made the soup more filling. 

4) Shredded Pork Enchiladas Verde

These were amazing!!! my cooking confidence was a little shaken after making the Casper-lovers chicken and eggplant so I needed a kitchen miracle to redeem myself and this recipe did the trick. The recipe calls for Trader Joe's original carnitas, which were kind of tricky to find in the refrigerated section of Trader Joe's, but now that i know where the carnitas is stored I will definitely be buying frequently! Along with the carnitas this recipe also calls for: corn tortillas, Trader Joe's salsa verde, sour cream, grated Pecorino Romano, salad, frozen roasted corn and cilantro. I made an abridged version of this recipe and didn't use frozen corn and replaced Pecorino Romano with parmesan cheese and instead of fresh cilantro I used some of the leftover cilantro salad dressing. The recipe first says to heat  the corn tortillas. This proved to be a difficult step. Whenever I would transfer the heated tortillas to a plate the tortillas would rip. I then added the shredded carnitas to the tortillas  and topped with the sour cream, salsa verde and cilantro mixture and then I added the parmesan cheese. Then the recipe says to roll the tortillas and place in a baking dish  seam side down.  Once the enchiladas are assembled they are baked at 350 degrees for 10 minutes. I actually ended up making this two nights in a row because I had leftover meat and the first time I made this I had forgotten to take a picture. The second time i made these I didn't have much of the sour cream mixture leftover and I added some roasted broccoli and brussels sprouts to the filling mixture. Both times this recipe turned out phenomenally well. The parmesan cheese and the carnitas work really well together and the salsa verde is the icing on the cake and gives this dish a lot of flavor. The roasted brussels sprouts and broccoli was a random addition, but ended up working really well with the dish. Overall, this was success and I can't wait to buy the traditional carnitas again and make salads and rice bowls (yes, two things I reference a lot on this blog). 

Want to try these recipes for yourself? Buy "Cooking with all things Trader Joe's" on Amazon or Barnes&Noble.com  or check out the Cooking with Trader Joe's blog. 

Book Review: Cooking with all things Trader Joe's

Photo Courtesy of: barnesandnoble.com

Attention all Trader Joe's fanatics! today's blog post is for you. As you know from my previous blog posts I'm obsessed with Trader Joe's.  It's the perfect store for people like me who enjoy making gourmet meals, but don't want to pay a ton of money on ingredients. I'm always looking for new and innovative ways to use Trader Joe's products so I was super excited when I discovered the cookbook "Cooking with all things Trader Joe's" by Deane Gunn and Wona Miniati. I'm absolutely loving this cookbook and I especially enjoy that all the recipes are extremely easy to make and a majority of the recipes make 2-4 servings, which is perfect for my lifestyle.  I have decided I want to attack this cookbook a la Julie & Julia and make all the recipes from the book and blog about my experience making the recipes. I'm going to be making a few recipes from the cookbook each week and twice a month I'll share an update on the recipes I have made from the cookbook.

1) Fish Tacos

I know, I know you are probably sick of hearing me talk about tacos. I can't help it, they are my fav. This past Tuesday my roommate and I had a "taco tuesday" night and had fish tacos. All I bought was the Trader Joe's Oven Ready Breaded Cod fillets, cilantro salad dressing and tortillas.  There isn't much of a recipe all these fish tacos require is baking the cod fillets based on the directions on the packaging and heating up some tortillas. I put some of the cilantro salad dressing in each tortilla and put some additional toppings into bowls, I had sour cream, shredded mexican cheese and refried black beans in my fridge, so that's what I used as topping choices. The end result was delicious and easy fish tacos.

2) Black Bean and Ricotta-Stuffed Portabellas

These were very yummy and I liked that this was a vegetarian option because I'm trying to eat one vegetarian entree for dinner once a week. This recipe called for: portabella mushroom caps, ricotta cheese, black beans, Trader Joe's fresh bruschetta sauce and shredded mozzarella cheese.  This recipe was extremely easy and simply required cutting the steams from the mushrooms adding the cheese and black bean filling to the mushrooms, topping with some bruschetta sauce and then cooking at 400 degrees for 12-14 minutes. I served along with some taquitos, which worked very well together. I absolutely loved the fresh bruschetta sauce and was eating it with tortilla chips for days. The bruschetta sauce is very versatile and not only good on a baguette for a traditional brushcetta appetizer, but many other ways as well. I really like the ricotta and bruschetta combination so I got creative and  made some nachos with the burschetta sauce and ricotta cheese.  You could also make some  breakfast options as well.  The bruschetta sauce along with eggs,  ricotta cheese, black beans and avocado would  make a yummy omelette or you could serve with a tortilla for a delicious breakfast burrito. 

3) Go Go Mango Chicken

This recipe was extremely easy. The recipe called for skinless, boneless chicken breasts, a can of pineapple salsa and some frozen mango chucks. Then I put the  chicken in the oven set at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes. The end result was good, but this definitely was not my favorite recipe from the cookbook. 

4) Eggplant Tostada

This recipe was great! A very unique way to use tortillas and I absolutely loved the eggplant and garlic spread combined with feta cheese. This recipe calls for covering a tortilla with eggplant and garlic spread then topping with chopped tomatoes and feta cheese. Then the tostada goes into the oven set at 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes. I served this along with Trader Joe's Palak Panner.  The combination of the eggplant and garlic spread, chopped  tomatoes and feta would also go very well with shrimp or chicken. 

5) Chipotle Chili

I made this for the SuperBowl last weekend and it was delicious. I had leftovers for the next two days for lunch and it was even better the next day. I  topped my chili with sour cream and shredded Mexican cheese and served along with cornbread muffins and some chicken wings, which was the perfect SuperBowl feast. 

If you want these amazing recipes you can buy Cooking with all things Trader Joe's on Amazon  or Barnes & Noble. You can also check out recipes on Cooking with Trader Joe's blog. 

Semi-Homemade Trader Joe's Meals

I'm obsessed with Trader Joe's. Not only are Trader Joe's prices extremely competitive, but the selection and quality of the frozen food is outstanding as well. I personally have been having fun using the frozen food and adding a few ingredients to make a delicious gourmet meal. today I thought I was share some of my favorite "semi-homemade" recipes.

Top-Pulled pork nachos, Bottom Left-Chicken Francese, Bottom Right- Eggplant Parmesan

1) Pulled pork nachos- I was first introduced to pulled pork nachos during a trip to Boston.  I  never had been a big fan of nachos before, but I absolutely loved the pulled pork nachos and knew I would have to figure out an easy way to recreate that delicious combination of pulled pork, cheese and tortilla chips. I make my pulled pork nachos by first microwaving the pulled pork according to the directions on the packaging. I then create the nachos by putting a layer of tortilla chips on a plate. Next, I cover the tortilla chips with the pulled pork, lite mexican cheese blend and black beans. I microwave the nachos for one minute in order to get the cheese to melt. I then top the plate with a generous helping of guacamole. 

2) Chicken Francese-  Trader Joe's breaded chicken is great on it's own, but I decided to take those breaded chicken breasts and kick them up a notch by adding a francese sauce. I followed the directions from With a Grateful Prayer and a Thankful Heart, which entailed bringing some chicken broth and lemon juice to a boil. I then added a teaspoon of flour and 3 tablespoons of butter and let simmer until the sauce was reduced to a half. I added a little parsley to the sauce at the end. I  heated the breaded chicken in the microwave according to the directions on the packaging and served along with some sautéed zucchini, broccoli and mashed potatoes. I then poured the francese sauce over the chicken and added a few slices of lemon to garnish.  This Chicken Francese is perfect when you are in need of some comfort food and is also an easy weeknight dinner. 

3) Eggplant Parmesan- Eggplant parmesan is one of my favorite italian dishes. Using Trader Joe's breaded eggplant cutlets it's super easy to make your own homemade version of eggplant parmesan. This can be made in the oven or you can use a microwave. If you use a oven, first pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Then you simply put the breaded eggplant cutlets in a oven proof pan,  add tomato sauce on top of the eggplant cutlets and then finally add shredded mozzarella on the very top. Bake for 20-25 minutes. You can tell the eggplant parmesan is cooked when the cheese is melted. If you use a microwave you add some tomato sauce and mozzarella on top of the eggplant cutlets and then microwave according to the directions on the eggplant cutlet box. 

Stay tuned for future posts because I will be including more great tips for different ways to use Trader Joe's frozen products.