Creamy Miso Dip

I've been working like a crazy person lately. Cooking, doing dishes, taking photographs, editing recipes...and yet I make it to 2pm without having eaten a single bite of food. It goes something like this: work, work, work, work, forget to eat, work, work, CRASH.

Yes, that's about right.

In order to avoid this afternoon down-slide, I've been trying to put out healthy things to munch on. This creamy miso dip has been perfection. Shiro (white) miso, the mildest miso paste, is mixed with Kewpie mayonnaise. If you've never tried Kewpie mayonnaise you should probably get on that. Now. Go ahead and run to the nearest Asian grocery store. I'll wait.

Ready to continue? Good.

Kewpie mayonnaise is popular in Japan. The flavor is different from the mayonnaise we buy here thanks to ingredients famous for adding umami to dishes. In Japan it is used on anything from yakisoba to pizza. Here, I've used it in a more familiar way that I learned from a Japanese friend. She made this dip for my baby shower and I absolutely fell in love with it.

You don't have to make much of this dip because it is so full of wonderful flavor. The only tip my friend gave me when I asked her for the recipe was that you have to experiment with the amount of Kewpie and miso to determine the balance of flavors you prefer. I like to add a touch of light soy sauce to my dip as well, but you can add anything from chopped scallions to sesame oil or toasted sesame seeds. It's a great blank canvas.

Creamy Miso Dip

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons shiro miso
• 1/3 cup Kewpie mayo
• 1 teaspoon light soy sauce

Instructions

1. Combine all ingredients in a small bowl and stir vigorously until smooth. Serve with fresh vegetables like carrots, sugar snap peas, celery and radishes.

Notes

If you don't have access to Kewpie mayonnaise, take 1/3 cup regular mayonnaise and add 1/2 teaspoon rice vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon soy sauce, and a pinch of garlic powder. Stir to combine and use as directed in the recipe creamy miso dip.

Slow-Cooker Shredded Chicken Tacos

When I was in college many of my friends went to 'Taco Tuesday' night at a local establishment. The building was clearly run down and the inside, if memory serves correctly from my one and only time walking through the doors, was dark with that strange misty look in the dim lights from stale cigarette smoke. Taco Tuesdays meant cheap food, cheap pitchers, and probably a lot of fun that my goodie-two-shoes missed out on.

In order to add some variety to our weeknight meals, I've decided to reinstate Taco Tuesdays. Obviously without the stale cigarette smoke, dimly lit bar and pitchers of beer. What we will have- must have- are delicious tacos. The first round will feature these slow-cooker shredded chicken tacos topped with fresh, green cilantro, creamy guacamole, and crumbled queso fresco. The chicken simmers with some IPA and...wait for it...ENCHILADA SAUCE...in the crock-pot until tender and infused with flavor. And who knows where we will go from there. The possibilities for Taco Tuesdays are endless!

Why enchilada sauce, you ask? Because I almost always have a stash of the stuff in my pantry. Because it is delicious. Because it saves me on busy nights when I just can't fathom finding the energy to put any more effort into dinner.

I have to say that this was one of the more delicious meals we've had in a while. The past couple weeks have been so jam-packed with craziness that we've been living on left-overs, eggs, and rice. It's not all bad. Not at all. But sometimes you need a real meal. Right? Right.

I recommend Frontera enchilada sauce for this recipe. It has a readable list of ingredients and the depth of flavor is really nice. For the beer, any light brew will do. I used IPA but you can use whatever you have on hand as long as it isn't dark like a stout.

Slow-Cooker Shredded Chicken Tacos

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs
• 1 cup red enchilada sauce
• 6 oz IPA beer
• 6-8 small corn or flour tortillas
• fresh cilantro
• queso fresco
• guacamole
• lime wedges

Instructions

1. Put the chicken thighs in a slow cooker and top with the enchilada sauce and the beer.
2. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.
3. Half an hour before the chicken is done cooking, use two forks to shred the meat. Cover and finish cooking in the slow cooker.
4. Wrap the tortillas well in foil and place in a 350 degree oven. Heat until warmed through, about 10 minutes.
5. Serve with the garnishes in bowls on the table.
6. To assemble, place some chicken in a tortilla, top with guacamole, queso fresco, and cilantro. Drizzle with lime juice.

Paleo Chocolate-Almond Cookies

Happy Valentine's Day friends! How is your day going so far? Any super romantical things happening out there? Tell me all your stories! I'm still in my PJ's, 2 cups of coffee into the day, and trying to wrap my head around getting outside to enjoy what seems to be a warm, sunshiney day out there. But first, I wanted to share this cookie recipe with you. There are some things about this recipe that are not often seen in my kitchen. First off, they have ZERO added sugar. There is a touch of honey but that is all. Second, these are Paleo AND gluten free! WHAT.

I was a little nervous when I first made these because the combination of ingredients did not equate cookie success. Without butter, sugar, and flour I thought they would for sure be a failure. But, because I was intensely determined, I went ahead and tossed everything in a bowl and gave it my all! I'm happy to report that they make the house smell delicious, just as any other cookie might.

A couple things to note before I send you off to make these for your GF, Paleo diet sweetheart:

• The dough will seem VERY dry when you roll it out. Placing it between two pieces of parchment after pressing it together with your hands will help.

• Depending on the consistency of your nut butter (I used almond but you could also use peanut) you may want to zap it in the microwave for about 10 seconds to loosen it up a bit so it is easier to stir with the honey.
• Do NOT- I repeat, do NOT- roll the dough out too thin. The cookies will absolutely crumble to pieces if they are to thin. Somewhere around 1/4inch and 1/3 inch is just about perfect.

The last tip I have for you is this: these cookies are best made with a tiny human who stole your heart the moment he entered this world...

Or with your bestie. Or while jamming out to your very favorite music. Whatever you do, make sure you have a happy heart and remember love in all it's forms. It's pretty great.

Paleo Chocolate-Almond Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 cup almond flour
• 2 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 2/3 cup almond butter or peanut butter (Natural, unsweetened)
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 tablespoon almond milk
•  

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. In a small bowl, whisk the almond flour with the cocoa powder.
3. In another medium bowl, stir the almond butter, honey and almond milk together until smooth. If the nut butter seems to stiff, microwave it for 10 seconds to loosen it up and make it easier to stir.
4. Add the almond flour mixture to the nut butter and stir until combined.
5. Transfer the dough to a piece of parchment laid out on a work surface. Press the dough together with your hands and flatten it into a disc.
6. Cover the dough with another piece of parchment paper and roll the dough to about 1/3 of an inch but no thinner than 1/4 inch.
7. Transfer the dough to a baking sheet and refrigerate for about 30 minutes.
8. Remove the dough from the fridge and cut it into shapes with a cookie cutter.
9. Carefully transfer the cut cookies to a parchment lined baking sheet.
10. Bake 8-10 minutes or until just beginning to turn golden brown.
11. Cool completely on the baking sheet then transfer to the refrigerator again for another 30 minutes before eating.

Chipotle Shrimp over Creamy Polenta

There is chocolate all over the inter-webs. All. Over. Chocolate, heart-shaped stuffs are here there and everywhere and I've decided to detour. I love chocolate just as much as the next gal but I wanted to contribute something a little different and off the beaten path. Chipotle shrimp with creamy polenta is simple to make (gentlemen, I'm talking to you!) and it has spice (a known aphrodisiac) and luxurious polenta that has been combined with tangy sour cream.

As I made this dish the other day, I was reminded of the first Valentine's Day Brad and I spent together. I wanted to impress him with something delicious, exotic, and like nothing he'd ever eaten before. I settled on red curry coconut soup with shrimp. It was beautiful. I somehow found huge, lovely shrimp in the middle of the Iowa corn fields (I don't care to think about how that was made possible) and the little kitchen in his on-campus house smelled divine. We sat down with a couple glasses of wine, dim lights, and bowls full of what I was sure would be a triumphant success of a meal.

Bless his heart, Brad took two bites before he said what we both were thinking. It was blazing hot and our mouths were almost certainly on fire. We ditched the wine and opted instead for splitting a gallon of milk to rid our tongues of the miserable sting of too much red curry.

On the one hand, I was heart-broken that I had ruined our first Valentine's Day meal. On the other hand, I was comforted that Brad cared enough so early in our relationship to endure a few bites of something completely inedible just to spare my feelings.

That humiliating experience has not gone far from my thoughts each and every time this holiday rolls around. This year, I think I've done it right. This dish is a perfect combination of slight heat balanced by the creamy sour cream spiked polenta.

And go ahead...follow it up with one of the many chocolate desserts. I know I will!

Chipotle Shrimp over Creamy Polenta

Serves 2

Ingredients

For the polenta:

For the shrimp:

• 1 cup stone ground (not instant) polenta
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• salt and pepper to taste
• Fresh baby spinach or other greens for garnish
• 8-10 large shrimp, shelled and deveined
• 2 teaspoons chipotle powder
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste
  

Instructions

1. Move an oven rack to the top position.
2. Preheat the broiler.
3. Bring 4 cups of water to a rolling boil in a medium saucepan.
4. Whisk the polenta into the water. Continue whisking until the polenta has thickened slightly and there are no lumps.
5. Reduce the heat to medium low and cook for an additional 20-30 minutes or until the polenta is tender.
6. Turn off the heat. Stir in the sour cream and season to taste with salt and pepper. Keep warm while you make the shrimp.
7. Toss the shrimp in a bowl with the olive oil, chipotle powder, salt and pepper and transfer it to a large, rimmed sheet pan. Make sure the shrimp are in a single layer with a little space between them.
8. Place the shrimp under the broil and cook until they are pink and just firm, about 3 minutes.
9. Ladle some of the polenta into 2 serving bowls. Top with handful of baby spinach and divide the shrimp evenly and arrange on top the spinach.
10. Serve immediately.
    

Cocktail Friday: Tamarind Bourbon Sidecar

Last week I was in my frigid homeland: Minnesota. Yes, the temperatures were cold enough to force anyone and everyone to run politely between cars and buildings in an attempt to minimize the amount of time spent in the dangerously cold air. This is a practice my husband says he had never seen before living in the Land of 10,000 Lakes. It never seemed strange to me for two reasons: 1) when it is below zero degrees you want to do anything to get from outside to inside as quickly as possible, and 2) it's like a little mini-workout that could potentially warm you up a bit more than a simple stroll...right? Yes, Minnesotans are a little strange (I'm allowed to say that because I am one) to live in such a cold place by choice, but we are not stupid. We have a survival mode of sorts.

For me, another necessary method of surviving winter is simply reminding myself that warmer weather will come. Mixing up a cocktail is a pretty great way to do just that. In this case, I've made a Tamarind Bourbon Sidecar. Tamarind is a fascinating ingredient that is used in familiar Southeast Asian dishes such as Pad Thai. It's flavor is sweet-sour, similar to citrus, but it is a little richer and more complex. It's the perfect addition to a warming bourbon sidecar because it gives just the right amount of brightness. Plus, since it is used in warm-weather countries like Thailand, it helps paint a mental picture of palm trees, oceans, sandy beaches...all the things many of us start to long for this time of year.

Just to be clear: I LOVE winter. This weather is my bread and butter. I'm not typically the type of person to long for an escape this time of year. That comes for me in the middle of summer when temperatures are stiflingly hot and I can't breathe. That is not my favorite. Still, a reminder of warmth and sun is good for the soul no matter what season you prefer.

Tamarind Bourbon Sidecar

Ingredients

For the cocktail:

For the tamarind syrup:

• 2 oz Bourbon
• 3/4 oz Tamarind Syrup
• splash of cointreau
• ice
• fine sugar
• 3/4 cup tamarind paste
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 cups water
• Lime wedge for garnish

Instructions

1. Using your (clean) finger, coat the edge of a cocktail glass with some of the tamarind syrup. Put the sugar on a plate. Gently put the rim of the glass in the sugar and rotate just slightly to coat. Set aside.
2. Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Add the bourbon, tamarind syrup, and cointreau. Cover and shake vigorously for 30 seconds. Pour through a strainer into your prepared cocktail glass. Garnish with a keffir lime leaf (or lime wedge) and serve.
3. Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan.
4. Using a wooden spoon, break up the tamarind paste and stir until the syrup is completely combined.
5. Bring the syrup to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes or until the liquid thickens slightly.
6. Pour the syrup through a fine mesh strainer into a heat proof jar.
7. Bring to room temperature before storing in the refrigerator.
8. Kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator, the syrup will stay fresh for two weeks.