Recipe: Gwenyth's Dip

Do you guys read Matchbook Magazine?
It's quickly become a new favorite, because they have a little bit everything, and everything in it is cute. I really enjoy flipping through the (digital) pages and looking at all of the beautiful pictures.

One thing that caught my eye in this most recent June issue is the piece on Gwenyth Paltrow's new cookbook, where she shares recipes that her dad used to make. This dip is one of them. I love Gwenyth, I love dips, and I was able to get all of the ingredients at the local supermarket. It was really a nobrainer to put together.

I used to not-so-secretly attempt to mimic the style of Margot Tenenbaum. It didn't work out so well- I could never get my hair to look like that and I didn't have a floor length fur coat and I didn't smoke cigarettes (still don't, FYI). Mostly I just wore a lot of eyeliner. Making this dip is the closest I will ever be to becoming the next Gwenyth Paltrow.

If you click on the picture of the avocados it will take you to the recipe, but here it is if you're lazy:

1 cup vegenaise
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
2 tablespoons fresh chopped parsley
1/4 teaspoon celery seeds
2 finely chopped scallions
pinch of coarse salt
few grinds of coarse black pepper
1 garlic clove minced or put through a press
1 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped capers

stir it all together. eat with carrots, crackers, on a sandwich, however you want!

Breakfast Rice Pudding

I love rice pudding, and I love breakfast.

So why not have rice pudding for breakfast?

How is this rice pudding different from any other rice pudding, you ask?
Well, it's more filling, its healthier, and its sweetness margin is significantly lower.
Meaning, don't expect it to taste like dessert rice pudding.
The flavors are subtle, yet delicious.

These are the things you need:

1 cup arborio rice
1 cup milk (skim or soy is preferable)
cinnamon (as much or as little as you want)
brown sugar (1-2 tablespoons)
vanilla extract(1-2 tablespoons)
1/2 cup almond granola (or any granola you'd like. I used homemade.)
Dried fruit ( I used golden raisins, but dried cranberries could be good.)

Truthfully, you could add anything you want to this pudding to customize for your own enjoyment. You could also play with proportions here. If you want a sweeter rice pudding, then add more sugar, or honey, or maple syrup... you get the idea.

The steps:
Prepare arborio rice as directed (mine said 3 cups water for 1 cup rice).
Once the water has been absorbed into the rice, allow it to sit and cool in the pan for 15-20 minutes.

Then, you add the ingredients listed above and stir it in.

Lastly, put it in a container and let it cool in the refrigerator overnight. The next morning, you have delicious rice pudding for breakfast!

The great thing about the arborio rice (this is the rice they use for risotto) is that it is creamy all on its own. There's no need to add any extra cream or anything to get the smooth texture. The one cup of milk will suffice, and if you want to add a little more sweetness, you can always use vanilla soy milk. I just didn't have it on hand.

I can't take credit for this ingenious idea. I recently ordered a copy of Tina Haupert's new book, based on her blog CarrotsN'Cake. It's one of my favorite blogs, and her book has some great recipes!

Peanutty Soba Noodles

I love Asian food of all varieties, particularly noodles (you may find evidence here). On Saturday I picked up some soba noodles at a local health food store and decided I would find a good use for them. I decided to make delicious peanutty noodles! It was so easy. Here's what you do:

Prepare soba noodles as specified on the label.

While the soba is cooking, combine 4 tablespoons of peanut butter, 1/4 teaspoon of garlic powder, and 2 tablespoons each of the following: sesame oil, honey, rice vinegar, sriracha, and soy sauce in a small saucepan on low heat.

Stir. Once the ingredients have combined, pour the sauce into a large bowl.

When soba noodles are done cooking, strain them and run cold water over them. Then let the noodles finish draining before adding them to the bowl with the sauce. Toss ingredients together and let it rest for 20-30 minutes. I would put it in the refrigerator because they taste better cold.

Add sesame seeds as garnish, and then eat! Feel free to include vegetables in this scenario. I just wasn't in the mood to go through the effort. A little crunch would actually make this even better- maybe some carrots or baby corn? Snow peas? Yum!

Check me out, two posts in one day!

Life is a Cookie... A Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Cookie.

Chocolate Chip Cream Cheese Cookies

Yes. This recipe combines the two most wonderful things, chocolate chip cookies and CHEESE. Of course, it's cream cheese so they don't taste like cheese or anything. But the fluffiness of the cream cheese adds some fluffiness and cakeiness to what would usually be the traditional chocolate chip cookie, which is already delicious on its own.

Is this recipe worth a try? YES. Especially if you are a fan of dipping cookies in a nice glass of milk like I am. These cookies are maybe the best milk-soaking up cookies I have ever encountered.
For the original recipe, take a gander at How Sweet It Is, a blog I stumbled upon when in search of an interesting twist on chocolate chip cookies. I pretty much followed her recipe verbatim, except I noticed the cookies needed about 12 minutes of cooking, not 8-10. Blame these high New Jersey altitudes:

Cream Cheese Chocolate Cookies

1 cup butter

3 oz of cream cheese

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups flour

1 tsp salt

1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350.

Cream butter, sugar, eggs, and cream cheese together. Add vanilla and mix. Stir in flour and salt, just until blended. Fold in chocolate chips.

Bake for 8-10 (12!) minutes or until edges are golden brown. The cookies will remain light in color.