You say tomato, I say delicious!

One of my favorite parts of summer is the abundance of fresh, sweet tomatoes.

To my suprise, I have discovered that my neighborhood fish market, Black Salt, is my source for the sweetest locally grown tomatoes I have ever tasted.  Two weeks ago, along with the fish I purchased, I picked up a couple red tomatoes to go along with dinner and I couldn't believe it when I took a bite of the tomatoes!  Sweet beyond belief.  Almost like eating candy!

Tonight I remembered what a chef at one of my cooking classes taught me.  She used to say that the best dishes are not those with the most ingredients but rather a dish concocted with the freshest, best ingredients you can find.  For example, her theory was that a dessert made with the best eggs and a quality vanilla bean would be better than an overly complicated dessert made with processed ingredients any day.

This brings me to the side dish I prepared for dinner tonight.

I stopped at Black Salt to pick up scallops for dinner and told the chef of the restaurant (who happened to be in the market) about the amazing tomatoes I had purchased two weeks ago.  He suggested I try orange sunburst tomatoes he had in the market.  The tomatoes were the size of a cherry tomato but sweeter than any tomato I have ever tasted.  The chef said the tomatoes were particularly sweet given the hot weather this area experienced in August.

Once at home, I cut the tomatoes in half and cubed some fresh mozzarella cheese.  After depositing the tomatoes and cheese in a bowl, I added a pinch of sea salt and a few dashes of good balsamic vinegar.  

The result was delicious and frankly, almost like eating dessert for dinner.  What could be better?

And, since it is the middle of the week and my husband and I work full-time, being able to prepare a tasty and healthy dish in under five minutes makes this dish even better.

So remember as the final days of summer are upon us, take advantage of the farmer's market in your area to buy fresh, quality ingredients and keep it simple for a guaranteed delicious dish!

Sunburst Tomato Salad

Ingredients

1 small container orange sunburst tomatoes

1/3 cup fresh mozzarella cheese, diced

Balsamic Vinegar

Sea Salt

Details

*Cut tomatoes in half and deposit in a bowl along with the diced mozzarella cheese.

*Toss tomatoes and cheese.

*Add a pinch of sea salt and 2-3 dashes of balsamic vinegar.  Toss and serve.

Giving in to the Cupcake Craze with Bite-size Goodness!

Has anyone else noticed that cupcake mania has consumed our country? No longer are cupcake consumers relegated to the sad looking cupcakes in the plastic containers at the grocery store topped with inedible wannabe buttercream frosting and sprinkles or tacky seasonal decorations. Instead, cupcakes of every imaginable flavor are accessible topped with real-deal buttercream or cream cheese frosting.

I should preface this by saying that I got burned out on cupcakes by the end of middle school. It seemed like for every birthday of a student in the classroom, we were “treated” to cupcakes. Yellow cake cupcakes with bad chocolate frosting or dry chocolate cupcakes with boring and sad buttercream frosting.

So it took a lot for me to try a cupcake again and I was very skeptical.

Clearly, the cupcake has been due for an extreme makeover for quite a while.

Or at least it needed one before I could look at a cupcake again.

And I have to admit, I got swept up in the craze a couple years ago. As you may know, Washington, DC is home to the now famous-because-of-a-reality-tv-show, Georgetown Cupcake. I am a frequent consumer of their vanilla cupcake with the most glorious cream cheese frosting you could ever imagine.

A recent visit to Georgetown Cupcake prompted me to try to make my own cupcakes. After waiting in the car with our son while my husband braved a one hour wait in a neverending line for the goodness that is a Georgetown Cupcake, I decided it was time to take matters into my own hands. The Georgetown Cupcakes were absolutely delectable but sitting in the car for an hour with a little boy who is ready to go to bed and desperately wants his nighttime bottle and pajamas is not pretty and not fair to the Little Man! Before Davis, it wouldn't have been the end of the world to wait in line that long but life with a one-year-old changes these little luxuries.

I mean, what were we thinking? One hour for four cupcakes? Really? Were they that good?

Sadly, the answer is yes, they are that good.  However, the waiting game is definitely not practical most days in our life.

I finally decided to take matters into my own hands.  This is how I found myself making mini-vanilla mascarpone cupcakes with a strawberry glaze on a recent Saturday afternoon.  In fact, I served them as an extra dessert at Davis' birthday party as they are so good.

The recipe is very simple and the mascarpone cheese is definitely the secret weapon to keep the mini-cupcakes moist.  Plus, the addition of the strawberry glaze which tops the cupcake doesn't overwhelm the cake portion but adds a little tinge of sweetness.  The end result is 48 bites of cupcake goodness.  Yes, you can really eat the mini-cupcake in one bite, too.

I loved the idea of mini-cupcakes because as I found, I didn't feel as bad popping five mini-cupcakes in my mouth as I did eating two regular-size cupcakes.  In addition, if you serve these for a party, tea or even as a light dessert at a late morning/early afternoon brunch, they are easy to eat without creating a mess when you are trying to chat with folks.

The best part is these will take you approximately 30 minutes from start to your mouth.  As I found, preparing the mini-cupcakes in the comfort of my own home in less time and for less money than it costs to buy four Georgetown Cupcakes is a win-win situation.

Vanilla Mascarpone Strawberry Mini-Cupcakes
Makes 48 mini-cupcakes

For the mini-cupcakes:
8 oz mascarpone cheese, softened
2 egg whites
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 box white cake mix
1 cup water

For the glaze:
1/3 cup frozen strawberries, unfrozen and strained
2 1/2 cups powdered sugar

Details:
*Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
*Spray mini-muffin pan with cooking spray
*Combine mascarpone cheese, egg whites and vegetable oil in bowl of a standing mixer.
*Once blended, add in white cake mix and water.  Mix until smooth.
*Using a small cookie scoop, scoop the dough into the muffin pan.
*Bake for 18-30 mins.
*While cupcakes cook, puree strawberries in a food processor.
*Mix strawberry puree with the powdered sugar and refrigerate for 20 minutes.
*Once cupcakes are cool, dip the tops in the strawberry glaze.
 
Recipe courtesy of Giada de Laurentiis

Plain Jane Granola

When it comes to certain foods, I have always been somewhat of a Plain Jane.

Hamburger?

Plain, please. Maaaybe with cheese if I am feeling crazy.

Pancakes?

You can keep the butter but I’ll take the syrup. But just a little bit.

Ice cream sundae?

I'll pass on the whipped cream, cherry and nuts. Just the ice cream and the hot fudge, please.

This brings me to my recent quest for the perfect granola. I really like the idea of granola.  However, the granola I find at the store either tastes like the plastic bag it is sold in or else has an untenable amount of nuts and raisins to suit my taste. Because I now have a bit longer commute to work and am always trying to find ways to save money, I am trying to eat a healthy breakfast at home prior to leaving for work each morning. And, because I want to spend as much time as I can with my son before I leave home for work, I want something that is easy and doesn’t require cooking each morning.

Finally I decided, why not make my own granola? Significantly modifying a recipe I found online, I omitted most of the nuts and a few other ingredients to create a delicious and stripped down granola. For me, the rolled oats and what they are coated in makes or breaks granola for me. During summer, there is a variety of fresh fruit in season that nicely compliments granola so I was even more eager to go sans the copious nuts and raisins in my granola.

All you need to make this hearty granola is rolled oats, maple syrup, butter, pecans (or any nuts you want to add) and cinnamon.

I melted the stick of butter (you can use less than a stick if you prefer) and added the melted butter and maple syrup to the oats and mixed thoroughly. Next, I added in cinnamon and stirred the mixture one last time. Then I spread the oats on a baking sheet and baked for 30 minutes at 325 degrees. I turned the oats with a spatula half-way through the baking process.

I would also highly recommend using a silpat mat when baking the granola. It makes clean-up so easy and nothing sticks to the pan nor do you have to worry about greasing the pan.

Over the weekend I layered granola between layers of organic, low-fat vanilla yogurt and topped it with fresh raspberries. My Plain Jane Granola was crunchy and a little sweet. The chopped pecans were about the same size as the oats and therefore blended together perfectly so that each bite of granola was a perfect harmony of oats and nuts and one ingredient did not overpower the other.

As I mentioned, you can personalize your granola. Adding dried fruit like unsweetened cranberries, different kinds of chopped nuts or fresh fruit to top your own granola parfait are all great options. This is delicious for breakfast layered between yogurt or even as a snack on the run. My husband said he will take the Plain Jane Granola with him for a healthy snack on the golf course and I caught myself grabbing a handful here and there while I worked around the house this weekend.

Plain Jane Granola
Ingredients
4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
1 stick unsalted butter
1/3 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 teaspoon cinnamon (you can use more if you prefer)
 
Details
*Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
*Pour four cups old-fashioned rolled oats into medium bowl.
*Melt butter and add to oats along with the maple syrup and cinnamon. Stir well with a spatula.
*Spread mixture evenly on a baking sheet using a silpat mat if you have one.
*Bake for 30 minutes and turn the oats with the spatula half-way through baking.
*Add dried fruit if you'd like or serve with yogurt and top with fresh fruit.