Slow Cooked: Spicy Sausage Dip

I made this dish over the weekend. We were supposed to all hang out and watch football. That did not happen and my husband and I were left with all this food to eat. What a shame!

Spicy Sausage Dip

2 16oz packs of spicy italian sausage
2 15oz cans diced tomatoes with chilies
4 8oz packs cream cheese
Zesty Onion, Chipotle or Citrus Habanero Olive Oil

Slit open the sausage casing and crumble the sausage into a large pan. If needed, add a little olive oil. Brown the meat, stirring frequently. Should be about 10 minutes. Drain out the fat and toss the meat in the crock pot.

Stir in the tomatoes with chilies and cube the cream cheese and add that too. Drizzle in some of the olive oil, 1-2 tbsp at first and stir to coat everything well.

Turn the crock pot to low and let cook for 1 hour. Stir occasionally to really mix in the cream cheese. Taste for spice and add a little more olive oil if desired.

Cook for 1 more hour and serve. Great with crackers, or veggies, dip away!

Pomegranate Turkey Legs

I didn't want to make a whole turkey just for the leftovers. I did consider it, but thought that would just be silly. So I made just a little bit. A few drumsticks just because we need a little turkey now and then.

Pomegranate Turkey Legs

2 turkey legs
2 tbsp Citrus Habanero Olive Oil
1/4 cup Pomegranate Balsamic
2 tbsp pomegranate juice
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp chopped parsley, plus more for garnish
pinch of ground sage
1/2 cup pomegranate arils, for garnish

Whisk together all the sauce ingredients and place in a large plastic bag. Add the turkey legs and zipper closed. Make sure they get a good coating of sauce and marinate in the refrigerator for 3 hours or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a smaller roasting pan, place the turkey and the sauce. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes.

Reduce the heat to 350 and take the foil off. Add in 1/4 cup pomegranate arils. Bake for another 15-20 minutes.

Serve with more pomegranate arils and some parsley.

Pumpkin Hummus

Oh pumpkin. I have so much love for pumpkin. If you don't, you may want to skip the next week or so of posts!

Pumpkin Hummus

2 cloves garlic

3 tbsp Meyer Lemon Olive Oil

1 can Garbanzo Beans

1/2 can Pure Pumpkin Puree

1/4 cup Roasted Pumpkin Seeds

1 tbsp Citrus Habanero Olive Oil

1 tbsp Greek Honey

1 tsp Cayenne Pepper, plus more for garnish

1 tsp Salt

2 tbsp Tahini

Put the garlic, salt, tahini and the beans into a food processor and blend until smooth. Add the pumpkin and cayenne pepper. Process slowly, adding in the olive oil by the tablespoon until you get to your desired consistency. Fold in the pumpkin seeds. Save a couple for the top.

Top with a little more pumpkin seeds a sprinkle of cayenne and the honey.

Eggs in Tomato Sauce

Welcome to Better Breakfast Month!

I know, it is already 4 days into the month, but that doesn't mean that we don't all still need to eat breakfast. This is a super easy 20 minute meal that makes a statement. It's super pretty, so you could make this for a weekend brunch with friends, or just a little fun eating for you.

This is based on a Mid Eastern dish called Shakshuka. Basically tomatoes, spices, greens and meat baked with eggs. I didn't add any meat to mine, I just didn't think it needed it. Play with the ingredients as you like, some recipes around the web call for cheese on this too. I kept this simple, with stuff I had around the fridge.

This makes eggs with yokes that are still a little runny, so if you don't like that, lightly scramble each egg before sliding it into the pan. If you don't, it does really look like it's looking at you.

Eggs in Tomato Sauce

2 eggs
3 cups fresh spinach
5 medium tomatoes
     or 1 14oz can diced tomatoes
1/4 onion
1/2 bell pepper, any color
pinch of paprika
pinch of cumin
Salt and Pepper
2 tbsp Garlic Olive Oil
1 tbsp Citrus Habanero Olive Oil

Preheat your oven to 400degrees. If you have a smallish, oven safe pan, use that for everything. If not, no worries.

Dice the onions and get them into a saute pan on medium high heat with the garlic olive oil and a pinch of salt. Stir occasionally, for around 3 minutes. Put in the spinach and stir around to wilt down. Season with the cumin and paprika.

Dice the tomatoes and bell pepper and put in your oven safe pan or small casserole dish. Stir in the onion and spinach mix. Make sure that everything is well distributed.

Make a couple small wells for the eggs and gently crack them into the mixture. Bake for 8-10 minutes. The egg whites should be set and the yokes still a bit runny. So no massive jiggling when you move the pan.

Drizzle with the Citrus Habanero Oil and a little pepper. Serve with some bread and enjoy!

Fireworks Chicken Salad

I grilled chicken with the Citrus Habanero Olive Oil a couple days ago. They were spicy and delicious, but  there were some leftover chicken breasts. I thought they would be eaten by now, but they are still around, so I made chicken salad!

I love each of these ingredients individually, but together they are just scrumptious! I'm taking this to a party tomorrow if I don't finish it all!

Fireworks Chicken Salad

2-3 grilled chicken breasts
1 can black beans
1/4 cup Piquillo Pepper Tapenade
1/2 cup frozen shelled edamame, thawed
1 yellow or orange pepper, diced
1 tsp Greek Sea Salt or Himalayan Pink Mineral Salt
Extra Citrus Habanero Olive Oil for drizzling

Chop or shred your chicken. Place in a large bowl. Rinse and drain the black beans and add them. Stir in the edamame and the bell pepper. If it needs a little extra spice, drizzle with a little bit more of the Citrus Habanero Olive Oil. Stir in the Piquillo Pepper Tapenade and sprinkle with the salt.

Serve!

Stuffed Portobello Caps

I had some of my friends over this past weekend. One of them is vegan, so I picked up some things to make stuffed mushroom caps for her. While I was at the store, I picked up some crackers and things for appetizers too, but I kept circling back to the vegan 'meats'. 

I found vegan chorizo crumbles. And I figured, what the heck? Lets try that.

This was awesome! You can always unvegan it. But either way, it can feed all your friends and you won't be sad if there are leftovers. And you can size this recipe however you like it. This is set up for 4 people.

Stuffed Portobello Caps

serves 4

4 portobello caps

1/2 cups cooked rice

1/2 cup 'Cheddar Cheese' shreds

1/2 lb 'Chorizo' crumbles

3 tbsp Citrus Habanero Olive Oil

1 onion, finely sliced

Preheat your oven to 400degrees. Clean your mushrooms and chop the stems. Brush them with some of the olive oil and set aside on a baking tray.

Heat the olive oil to medium high heat in a large pan. Add the onion slices and the mushroom stems and saute for 3-5 minutes. Add in the 'chorizo' and stir to combine. Most of the vegan 'meats' are precooked, check your packaging on this. I just browned mine for about 3 minutes, but if yours needs to cook longer, please follow your package directions.

Turn the heat to low and stir in the rice and 'cheese'. Scoop about 1/2 cup of the mixture onto each mushroom cap. Bake for about 10 minutes. The mushrooms should be tender and everything should be nice and brown.

Drizzle with Traditional Balsamic before serving.

African Groundnut Stew

While this hearty stew is traditionally made with peanuts, I love to use cashews with it. Sorry I couldn't get this up yesterday. This is one of my favorite winter foods. And I got to use our newest oil!

It is also very easy to make this vegetarian. Use more sweet potatoes, throw in some carrots and use a veggie broth instead of chicken broth and it's still the best comfort food around!

African Groundnut Stew
Inspired by Simply Recipes

2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
4 Chicken Thighs
2 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into medium pieces
2 tbsp Zesty Onion Olive Oil *
2 tbsp Citrus Habanero Olive Oil
1 28oz can tomatoes
2 small onions, diced
1 cup cashew butter
1 cup roasted cashews
1 3inch piece of ginger, peeled and minced
6-8 cloves garlic, rough chopped
1 tbsp ground coriander
1 tsp cayenne pepper, at least
Salt and Black Pepper
1/2 cup chopped cilantro, for serving

In a large soup pot, heat the Citrus Habanero Olive Oil to medium high heat. Rinse the chicken and sprinkle with salt. Add to the pan, skin side down and cook about 10 minutes, flipping once to brown all sides. Pull them from the pan and set aside for later.

Add the rest of the oil to the pan and saute the onions for 2-4 minutes. Add in the garlic and the ginger and cook for another 3-4 minutes. Stir often to make sure nothing is sticking. Add in the sweet potatoes and stir to coat everything well.

Add in the chicken, broth, tomatoes, cashew butter and coriander. Bring to a simmer, stirring occasionally. Taste for salt. Simmer about 45 minutes. Add in the cashews. Simmer another 30-45 minutes. The chicken should be falling apart.

Remove the chicken to another bowl and shred the meat. Discard the bones and skin. Add the meat back into the stew along with the cayenne and a few tablespoons of black pepper.

This stew should be spicy and thick, warming from the inside out. The best kind of food for winter.

* Our new Zesty Onion Olive Oil isn't on our website yet. Available in store or by phone only right now!

Dad's Elena's Pasta

My dad makes this dish for my mom at least once a week. She loves the Habanero Oil, but he tones it down with a bit of the Meyer Lemon. Makes it almost mild enough for me to eat! Thanks for the picture Dad!

Elena's Egg angel hair Pasta

1 28 oz can Diced tomatoes with basil and oregano.

I sautéed the shrimp in Olive-n-Grape Meyer Lemon Olive oil and Habanero Olive oil.

The Chicken was sautéed in our Greek Olive oil with garlic and Basil.

Mom and her Habanero

Now the Citrus Habanero Olive Oil is one oil you won't find used much on this blog. I'll share recipes I find, but I don't use it. I love things slightly spicy, but that one is waaaay too much for me.

But my mom thinks its awesome. She says she it has a great flavor. I'll just have to take her word for it.

Mom's Citrus Habanero Roasted Veggies

You need about 5 cups of chopped vegetables. Carrots, broccoli, squashes, mushrooms, peppers. Even potatoes. Just grab whatever is in season and go with it.

Preheat your oven to 400degrees.

Add veggies to a large casserole dish. Toss with about 1/4 cup Citrus Habanero Olive Oil and spread them out in a single layer.

Season with a little Himalayan Sea Salt and black pepper. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the vegetables are tender and starting to turn a golden brown.

My mom eats this by the bowlful. Enjoy!