Roasted Beets with Enchive Salad

今天请朋友过来吃饭。 于是一个下午都在家折腾吃的。烤了一个玉米面饼子，有做了一个甜菜的色拉。 我家老妈打趣我说，“这那里是请客吃饭？！ 请客吃饭应该弄点好吃好喝的。 我的选择简直是强迫性的忆苦思甜。

对他们这些经历过困难时期的上辈人来说，吃甜菜啃窝窝头的日子算是过够了。

Beets are often considered as the vegetable of the cold weather. Especially, many years ago in China, when Chinese people did not have as many choices and supplies for food during the winter, beets were a very common choice for the everyday meal especially for the northern part of China. Nowadays, when people have more than enough choicies for food and everything, beets are not that commonly found on a dinner table any more. Guess people had enough in the old days.

Well, I still like the deep burgundy color of beets, and it seems to me a perfect salad choice for the winter.


It's quite easy to make. If you like something simple, colorful and yet delicious. This is a good choice.

1) Toss 2 medium beets with 2 tbs of olive oil on a sheet of baking foil. Fold the baking foil to cover the beets and place it one a baking pan. Roast with 350 degree for about 60 min till it's tender and can be easily poked through with a fork.
2) Let it cool. Peel the beets and slice them (not too thin)
3) Toss up some olive oil, black pepper, Dijon Mustard, and champaign vinegar
4) In a little bowl, mix up the dressing and the beets
5) Place each slice of beets on the plate.

Bacon-Wrapped Dates Stuffed with Creamy Goat Cheese

Home cooking can be elegant and gourmet!

Haven't made any serious dinner for a while at home, since mom has been my very dedicated personal chef recently. I feel like trying some new recipes. I also happen to have one of my friends coming over for dinner tonight, so might as well use him as a guinea pig. :)

This dish is actually quite easy to make, but does kick the home cooking a notch towards gourmet cooking. :) Compared to other gourmet dishes that usually demand a lot of time and efforts to prepare, this dish has a pretty high ROI.

And, it's delicious, just like anything that has bacon in it.

Ingredients

* a small regular goat cheese
* 12 pitted dates
* 6 slices bacon cut crosswise into twins
* Special equipment: 12 wooden tooth picks

Directions

1. Microwave the bacon between two paper towels for about 4-5 min till it's wrinkled and a lot of fat coming out
2. Stuff 1 piece of cheese into each date
3. Wrap one piece of bacon around each date and secure bacon with a toothpick if desired.
4. Arrange dates, bacon seam down on a frying pan.
5. Pay fry it for a few min till it's browned all over
6. Drain on a paper towel or parchment.
6. Serve immediately.

Tip: Most of the recipes out on the web do not require the microwaving part of the bacon. I like the microwaving part, because it makes easier to get rid of the excessive fat and to reduce the time required to pan fry the bacon-wrapped dates later on. So, a good calories and time saver over all.

Warm Turkey Chili Black Bean Dip with 3 Cheese Blend

看球赛吃的零食，没有比这个更好的选择了，好味道，好扮相，简单方便, 还很健康。

The usual snack choices for a football game, such as nachos, chicken wings, are tasty but not good to weight-management. I picked this one, delicious, pretty presentation, easy-to-make and healthy.

While I was trying to pulse the ingredients for this snack, Steeler's accidentally let the Raven's score a touchdown during the first 10 min of the play-off game.

Ingredients
1) 1 plum tomato, diced
2) 1/2 of a medium to large size diced red onion
3) 1 tbs cilantro, chopped
4) 1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed
5) 1 tbs ground cumin
6) 2 tbs hot sauce
7) Salt
8) A clove of garlic

Mix
1) Place all the above ingredients in a food processor and pulse until well chopped.
2) Add the black beans and pulse till the mixture is mostly smooth.
3) Adjust the salt, hot source to taste

Bake and Finish
1) Heat up a can of 98% fat-free turkey chili first and put it at the bottom
2) Pour the scrape on top
3) Layer three cheese bland to cover (I used the Light version)
4) Put in the oven at 375F for about 10 min till the cheese is melted
5) Garnish with cilantro sprigs and some green onin

Serve with tortilla chips.

Black Bean Dip Recipe Chili Black Bean Dip Recipe healthy snack recipe

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Potato Bites with Cheddar Cheese and Thyme

This is by no means a simple appetizer to make. However, if you would like to take a little time to impress your special guests, this is the one to wow them. I learned this recipe from Martha Stewart recipe collection for hors d'oeuvres.

First, you need to have two mini-muffin pans and preheat the oven to 400F degree.

1) Slice potato into paper thin slices. Use a small cookie cutter to shape the slides so that they fit perfectly in the mini-muffin pan. This is when having a food processor becomes handy.
2) Spray the mini-muffin pan with a light layer of olive oil spray. I used a type of olive oil with basil flavor, and it helped.
3) Put a tiny bit of thyme at the bottom of the pan. This is how you would create a little flower on each potato bite.
4) Now, you start the batch process to put a potato slice in each mini-muffin holder. Then add a bit of sharp cheddar cheese; you need to rotate the process and put about 15 layers of the potato slides and cheese in the muffin holder
5) Spray some olive oil on the last piece of the potato
6) Put another bit of thyme on top
7) Cover potatoes with a piece of parchment paper, and place another sheet pan on top. Weight the top baking pan with something heavy like an iron pan.
8) Bake for about 12 - 15 min, until potatoes are crisp and golden brown all over, about 12 minutes. Remove from oven, and serve.
9)Take the bites out; sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper and serve.

Potato Bits with Cheddar Cheese and Theme Recipe for hors d'oeuvres


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Strawberry Cream Cheese Lettus Crunch

It's quite easy to make the strawberry cream cheese. Just mix some strawberry jam and cream cheese, mix up fully in a blender. The next time for better presentation, I would use the tool to make the cake frosting to shape up the cream cheese better on the lettuce.

strawberry cream cheese recipe Recipe for hors d'oeuvres

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Shrimp Avocado Cocktail Exotique

2 navel oranges
1 1/2 pounds medium shrimp (32 total), shelled and deveined
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 teaspoon minced and mashed garlic

Put the salad on some garlic bread.

For sauce:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
3 tablespoons ketchup
1 1/2 tablespoons Cognac
2 teaspoons fresh lime juice, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon sugar
Pinch cayenne
2 firm-ripe California avocados
6 canned hearts of palm, drained, rinsed, patted dry, and cut crosswise into 1/2-inch pieces

1. Drain shrimp in a colander and transfer to a large bowl.
2. While shrimp are still warm add oil, garlic, and 1 tablespoon juice from orange sections, stirring to coat shrimp.
3. In a small bowl whisk together sauce ingredients until smooth. Sauce may be made 1 day ahead and chilled, covered.
4. Halve avocados lengthwise, remove pit.
5. Transfer orange sections with a slotted spoon to shrimp mixture and add hearts of palm, folding ingredients together gently.

recipe healthy rice dish Shrimp Avocado Cocktail

芝士烤菜 Sharp Cheddar Cheese Baked Veggies

Dinner for one person got to be simple, delicious and healthy.

1. Steam the veggie, whatever works for the night. I like spinich and bracoli
2. Add flour. Stir flour and meat/veggie together (do not burn) till cooked.
3. Add milk or soy milk little by little and mix till smooth. Do not boil milk or soy milk.
4. Put the veggie in a baking bowl
5. Season for taste
6. Sprinkle some sharp cheddar cheese on top
7. Bake in 375 F for 10 min

It tastes surprisingly good with the mixed flavor with the cheese and milk.

Tasty Baked Veggies

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