30-Minute Chicken Curry

I love curry, but I always thought it was impossible to make. I resigned my curry obsession to once-a-month Thai takeout, but I recently learned that it’s not as difficult as it might seem. The geniuses over at Minimalist Baker came up with an amazing 30-minute curry.

It’s quick, easy, and most importantly, delicious. I switched up some of the veggies and added in chicken, but all in all, a great recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 small onion, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• 1/2 cup green bell pepper, chopped
• 1/2 cup diced carrots
• 1/3 cup zucchini, chopped
• 1 chicken breast, cubed
• 1 Tbsp curry powder
• Pinch red pepper flakes
• 2 cans light coconut milk
• 1 cup chicken stock
• Sea salt and black pepper

There you have it! A satisfying curry dish that won’t have you running for takeout. Hop over to Minimalist Baker for the full recipe.

Lemon Blueberry Crumb Cake

Stop everything! I found the greatest cake recipe of all time. It’s sweet, fruity, and perfect for the beginnings of spring. What is this magical cake, you ask? Lemon blueberry crumb cake.

I found the recipe on Barbara Bakes, and I’ve gotta say, Barbara knows what’s up.

Are you ready to crumble?

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1/2 cup of softened, unsalted butter
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup whole milk
• 1 tablespoon lemon zest
• 2 cups frozen or fresh blueberries

Crumb topping

• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 tablespoons melted butter

Icing

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1-2 tablespoons lemon juice

The cake is moist, buttery, and bright. The perfect summer dish, and even passable as an almost-healthy breakfast. I mean there are blueberries in it, so it has to be healthy. Right?

For the full recipe, hope on over to Barbara Bakes!

Mini Stuffed Peppers

I bought ground beef in an effort to up my iron intake, only then to realize that I have no idea what to do with ground beef. I didn’t have buns to make a burger and was afraid of attempting a meatloaf, so what’s a girl to do? My best piece of advice here is to ask your mom. Without fail, she’ll have the prefect ground beef recipe just ready and waiting for you use. My mom’s idea? Stuffed peppers.

Here’s the recipe she gave me and my first attempt at this classic dish.

Mini stuffed peppers

Ingredients: (Serves 2)

• 4 mini green stuffed peppers (tops cut off and de-seeded)
• ½ pound ground beef
• 1 cup of cooked rice
• ½ jar of tomato sauce
• ½ yellow onion (chopped)
• 2 cloves of garlic (minced)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
  
• Pinch of red pepper flakes
• ½ teaspoon dried basil
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Shredded mozzarella cheese

Garden Zucchini Linguine

I finally fell victim to the zucchini noodle trend. I’ve been seeing it flying around Pinterest and initially wrote if off because, you know, Pinterest lies. But after hearing a couple rave reviews, I tried it out. To my surprise, it was actually really tasty and not too difficult.

There are a bunch of recipes out there, but here’s what I did.

Zucchini Linguine with Heirloom Tomato Sauce

Ingredients: Serves 2

• 1 large zucchini — the one I used was the size of a caveman club
• 2 large heirloom tomatoes (cubed)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cloves of garlic (diced)
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 6 leave fresh basil (chopped)
• Salt and pepper

To prepare the zucchini:

Step 1: Shave the zucchini lengthwise with a carrot peeler to create long, even strips. Stop shaving once you reach the seeds. Use all four sides of the zucchini.

Seared scallops with an herb butter sauce

I volunteered to make my mom dinner for Mother’s Day, and what says I love you more than seared scallops with an herb butter sauce? Here’s the recipe:

Scallop ingredients (serves 4)

• 1 1/2 pounds of dry-packed sea scallops
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 2 tablespoons canola oil

Herb butter sauce ingredients (serves 4)

• 2 tablespoons chopped parsley
• 2 tablespoons chopped chives
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• 1/3 cup dry white wine
• 1 tablespoon chopped shallots
• 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
• 3 tablespoons chilled butter (cubed)
•  1 pinch of salt
• 1 pinch of pepper

100-calorie trail mix recipes

Whenever 10 a.m. rolls around at work, I reach into my bag and scarf down a sickeningly sweet granola bar. I don’t particularity like granola bars, but in my constant rush to get out the door every morning, they’re all I have time to grab as a mid-morning snack.

I know I’m not alone in this act, therefore I attempted to develop some alternatives. What I ended up creating were three nutrient-rich and protein-packed trail mixes that used nothing more than what I had in my cabinets.

I portioned each out  to be about 100 calories and saved them in Ziplock bags to eat as 10 a.m. snacks throughout the week. Here’s what I came up with.

Tuscan Beans on Toast with a Poached Egg

I have a confession. I’ve never made a poached egg before. In reality, I’m sure the majority of 23-year-olds haven’t attempted cradling an egg in boiling water. Who’s got the time, and fried eggs are basically the same, right? Wrong.

Poached eggs are eggs in their most heavenly form. Over easy and sunny side up are great if you like runny yokes, but you always run into the issue of under cooking the whites or over cooking the yokes. Poached, on the other hand, offers a perfect consistency and make just about any dish better.

While yes, poaching eggs is a little more work than just plopping them in a frying pan, but it’s worth it. I promise. Plus, if I made a perfectly poached egg on my first try, you can too.

Tuscan Beans on Toast with a Poached Egg

Ingredients: (serves 1)

For beans on toast:

• 1 slice of toasted, crusty bread (I used two slices of a baguette because that’s what I had)
• 1/2 can white beans
• 2 tablespoons tomato sauce (I used whatever I had open in the fridge)
• 1 slice Canadian bacon or any other type of meat (chopped)
• 1 clove garlic (diced)
• 1 teaspoon chives or onion (diced)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 ounce Parmesan (I cut slices but shaved works too)

Easy Parisian Crepes

Nothing is better than Paris in the spring. Therefore, to celebrate the first few days of spring I decided to make crepes! Traditionally, crepes are a bit of a headache. With such a thin batter, crepes easily tear and often cook unevenly. Instead of going through the hassle, I found pre-made crepes in the supermarket.

Melissa’s crepes are all-natural, no-preservative pieces of heaven. They can be found in the fruit section of the supermarket and are incredibly easy to use.

Here’s my recipe for easy Nutella and strawberry crepes.

Ingredients: (Serves 10)

• 1 Package of Melissa’s pre-made crepes
• 1 Container of strawberries (sliced)
• 1 Jar of Nutella
• Powdered sugar

Traditional Irish Soda Bread for St. Patrick’s Day

Happy (almost) Saint Patrick’s Day! Last year, I discussed the health benefits of St. Patrick’s Day. This year, I’m celebrating by making a traditional Irish dish — soda bread. Irish soda bread is a quick, no-yeast bread that’s absolutely amazing. It taste similar to a British scone, slightly sweet and peppered with juicy raisins.

Want to get in the Irish spirit? Try my Irish Soda Bread recipe.

Irish Soda Bread recipe

Ingredients: (Yield 1 loaf)

• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 4 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 4 tablespoons or 1/2 stick cold, unsalted butter diced
• 1 large egg
• 1 3/4 cups buttermilk
• 1 teaspoon orange zest
• 1 cup yellow raisins

All-American Buffalo Chicken Dip

I honor of the Olympic closing ceremonies in Sochi, I decided to make the most American dish I know … buffalo chicken dip! It’s the epitome of everything American. It stares down the country’s most popular bar food and asks, “how do I make this better?” It doesn’t settle for just being great, it strives to reach excellence. And in this case, excellence is achieve with a block of cream cheese and pre-canned chicken.

Plus this dips is smooth yet packs a punch. I know, the American similarities are frightening.

If you want to bid farewell to the Olympics is style, why not grab a group of friend and chow down on some buffalo chicken dip.

All-American Buffalo Chicken Dip recipe