Just in case you don’t know who the Barefoot Bloggers are…

We’re an [extra]ordinary group of cookers and bakers with a love of all things Ina. We’ll be testing (and retesting) Ina Garten’s (The Barefoot Contessa) recipes as a group and blogging about them on the 2nd and 4th Thursday of every month.

This pasta salad was wonderful. It had all of my favorite flavors in it…capers, tomatoes, basil, olives…I just knew I would love it as soon as I read the recipe. I substituted whole wheat pasta and added some chopped red onion and additional capers to the pasta for some extra crunch. I was so excited to use basil and tomatoes from my garden…a delicious combination of cherry and San Marzano tomatoes. This is definitely a salad perfect for summer get togethers, or for a nice easy dinner served alongside some Italian Herb Grilled Chicken…stayed tuned for that recipe!

This recipe can be found in the Barefoot Contessa Family Style cookbook or here on Food Network.

Check out Cat and the rest of the Barefoot Bloggers to see their delicious creations!

Lucky for me, this week’s Barefoot Blogger recipe, chosen by Ellyn of Recipe Collector and Tester, was an easy one. I’m not kidding when I say easy. That’s what I love so much about couscous, it’s ridiculously simple to make and I love flavoring it up by adding veggies, nuts and currants to it…just like Ina did in this recipe.

I made a few adjustments and additions to the original recipe like adding chopped yellow bell pepper and substituting whole wheat couscous. I also decided to leave out the red onion…and as I’m writing this post am realizing that I apparently left out the sliced almonds…oops.

I loved the curry yogurt dressing called for in this recipe…though, next time I will probably double it and use a little extra to keep it from becoming too dry as it sits out. This dish is served at room temperature and would be a great side dish for any barbecue or summer get together.

The “barbeque” part of this sauce seems almost a bit misleading…it was not what I expected at all at first. The sauce is based on a puree of sauteed red pepper, onion, spices and tomato sauce as well as mangos and jalapenos. It’s not lacking in flavor that’s for sure. I thought the sauce was wonderful, and would be great with seafood too. It had a nice kick to it from the jalapenos and a nice fresh sweetness from the red peppers and mangos.

I served the chicken sliced over a large tossed salad with romaine, grape tomatoes, red onion and red pepper. The salad was tossed in a smoky vinaigrette I put together and then topped with the grilled chicken and additional Mango Barbeque Sauce. I have quite a bit of sauce left over and am going to throw it in the freezer to save for another time. Another great Ellie recipe!

Check out the Craving Ellie in my Belly blogroll
to see how everyone else cooked up their recipe!

Next up is Barefoot Contessa’s Tomato and Goat Cheese Tart, chosen by the sweet Anne Strawberry. I can not get enough of these types of dishes…I absolutely love tomatoes and goat cheese, throw in some caramelized onions and its just perfection in my book. Good stuff.

I don’t normally cook with puff pastry, I love eating it, but cooking with it just makes me nervous. It’s just so delicate, and I just don’t do well with delicate. I decided to make my own version of these tarts using a whole wheat pizza dough that I found on Two Peas in Their Pod. I’ve been wanting to start making my own pizza dough, and I’ll tell ya, I’m glad I did. These were great served as personal pizzas…add a small salad to it and you’ve got yourself a great meal.

Thank you Anne for picking this fabulous recipe…I will try it again using the puff pastry, I promise. I will tell you though, I was excited to find some nice basil in my garden…I call this basil “miracle basil” because it somehow survived our winter freezes this year…I recently trimmed it back and it has sprung back beautifully! I can’t wait to start making homemade pesto again…

I just recently discovered a brand of peanut butter that I have totally fallen in love with…Peanut Butter & Co. They have the most amazing flavors…ones I’ve tried are Dark Chocolate Dreams, Cinnamon Raisin Swirl and White Chocolate Wonderful. I like adding a heaping teaspoon of these delicious flavors into a bowl of plain lowfat yogurt for dessert…mmmm. So good.

When I decided to make these bars today I had all the ingredients in the pantry…as far as peanut butter though, all I had was the White Chocolate Wonderful. This peanut butter isn’t the most inexpensive peanut butter so I cringed a little using up the whole jar for the recipe (actually 2 oz. less than the recipe called for), but I figured it would make the bars that much better.

I thought the bars turned out good…crumbly and buttery, but they held their shape well. My only complaint was that I thought there should have been more jam than what the recipe asked for. Next time I will just eye ball it and make sure to spread a nice thick layer of jam on them. Also, I think my pan might have been too small…my bars came out kind of thick, but that’s not really a bad thing.

If you are a PB&J lover, bake up a batch of these bars and grab a glass of milk…

(I’m loving my new Martha Stewart Collection plates from Macy’s…)

White Chocolate Peanut Butter and Jelly Bars

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound (2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
• 2 cups (18 ounces) creamy peanut butter (I used Peanut Butter & Co. White Chocolate Wonderful)
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 1/2 cups (18 ounces) raspberry jam or other jam (I used strawberry)
• 2/3 cups salted peanuts, coarsely chopped (I totally forgot to add these!)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Grease a 9 by 13 by 2-inch cake pan. Line it with parchment paper, then grease and flour the pan.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and sugar on medium speed until light yellow, about 2 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, add the vanilla, eggs, and peanut butter and mix until all ingredients are combined.
4. In a small bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the flour mixture to the peanut butter mixture. Mix just until combined.
5. Spread 2/3 of the dough into the prepared cake pan and spread over the bottom with a knife or offset spatula. Spread the jam evenly over the dough. Drop small globs of the remaining dough evenly over the jam. Don't worry if all the jam isn't covered; it will spread in the oven. Sprinkle with chopped peanuts and bake for 45 minutes, until golden brown. Cool and cut into squares.

Recipe by Ina Garten, Barefoot Contessa at Home

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Happy Birthday Mom!!
xoxo

Yesterday afternoon, my husband came back from his 5 day trip to Arizona and we greeted him with a Welcome Home Daddy “fiesta”. Honestly, I was so desperate for a little excitement (other than the new Olivia show coming to Nick Jr., cute I know…) that this homecoming celebration was more for me than anyone else!

I decided to whip up my favorite adult beverage to go along with our chips and salsa…margaritas!! These aren’t your typical bar margaritas, these are the real deal. They are made from fresh squeezed limes and orange juice…none of that sugary sour mix that always seems to give me a headache (or maybe it’s the tequila…??). The lime juice may be too much for some, but adding the orange juice sweetens it up naturally and makes them even more delicious.

Dinner was easy, thanks to the deli at my grocery store. I picked up a rotisserie chicken from Publix and shredded the white meat to use for these burritos. I’m a little bummed, because after looking at my pictures, I realized I forgot to add the black beans!! I guess that happens when you are drinking margaritas while cooking dinner!

These were great…easy and delicious. They are a perfect weeknight dinner. I used a nonstick grill pan and loved seeing the grill marks on the crispy tortillas. The dipping sauce was good too…I think it was lacking a little seasoning though. A little garlic salt and fresh ground pepper might be just what it was missing.

I tweaked a few things in the recipe like subbing whole wheat flour and adding some healthy flax meal and crunchy almonds. These were such a treat for me…I grew up on Bisquick so making pancakes from scratch is something I just recently did for the first time when making these Whole Wheat Pumpkin Pancakes. Sorry Bisquick, but I think your days on my pantry shelf are over.

Whole Wheat Banana-Nut Sour Cream Pancakes

Ingredients:

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/2 cup light sour cream
• 3/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon non fat milk
• 2 extra-large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon grated orange zest
• 2-3 tablespoons flax meal
• Non stick spray
• 2 ripe bananas, diced, plus extra for serving
• 1/4 cup sliced almonds, crushed
• Pure maple syrup

Directions:

1. Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the sour cream, milk, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon and orange zest. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ones, mixing only until combined. In a separate bowl, add diced bananas and crushed almonds and gently toss together.
2. Spray large skillet with non stick spray and heat over medium-low heat. Ladle the pancake batter into the pan to make 3 or 4 pancakes. Distribute a rounded tablespoon of banana-almond mixture on each pancake. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, until bubbles appear on top and the underside is nicely browned. Flip the pancakes and then cook for another minute until browned. Wipe out the pan with a paper towel, add more non stick spray to the pan, and continue cooking pancakes until all the batter is used. Serve with sliced bananas and maple syrup.

Recipe adapted from Barefoot Contessa Family Style Cookbook

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Tonight is a big night in my little part of the world…

Good Luck FLORIDA GATORS in the
National Championship Game!

Well, that’s how I feel about these potatoes. I know, I’m weird when it comes to food…maybe a bit obsessive to a non-foodie, but please tell me someone out there understands what I mean?

GO GATORS!!