Monday, April 30, 2012

Baked Goat Cheese Dip



Fat Girl Trapped in a Skinny Body is one of my favorite blogs.  I love the author's humor and often lol when reading her post.  Her food looks great and is very different from my style of cooking.  I think one reason I like her blog so much is because I get ideas for foods that I wouldn't normally cook. For example, I have noticed that she often shares recipes that include goat cheese.  She even has a recipe for Goat Cheese Stuffed Cookies.  I had never tried goat cheese before and was really curious. I saw this recipe for Baked Goat Cheese Dip in Southern Living Magazine I thought I would give it a try.

Goat cheese has a very distinct flavor and reminds me a lot of feta cheese, which I love.  If you like feta, I think you will really enjoy this easy appetizer recipe.


 

Baked Goat Cheese Dip

Southern Living

DECEMBER 2010

Yield: 12 servings

Ingredients 

1 small onion, diced
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper
Pinch of sugar
1 (14.5-oz.) can petite-diced tomatoes
1/4 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes in oil
1/4 cup torn basil leaves
Salt and pepper to taste
2 (4-oz.) goat cheese logs, softened
1 (8-oz.) package cream cheese, softened
Assorted cut vegetables and bread cubes

Preparation

    1. Preheat oven to 350°. Sauté onion in hot oil in a 3-qt. saucepan over medium-high heat 5 minutes or until tender. Stir in garlic and next 3 ingredients, and cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute. Stir in diced and sun-dried tomatoes. Reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer, stirring occasionally, 10 minutes or until very thick. Remove from heat, and stir in basil and salt and pepper to taste.
    2. Stir together goat cheese and cream cheese until well blended. Spread into a lightly greased 9-inch shallow ovenproof dish. Top with tomato mixture.
    3. Bake at 350° for 15 to 18 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Serve with assorted vegetables and bread cubes.
    Make ahead: Prepare recipe as directed through Step 2. Cover and freeze up to 1 month. Thaw in refrigerator overnight. Let stand at room temperature 30 minutes. Bake as directed.

Monday, April 2, 2012

Coconutty Orange Salad



Last week I baked some delicious $100,000 Cinnamon Rolls. The recipe calls for orange zest which left me with four zested oranges. I hate to waste food and try to either eat as leftovers, freeze, or use in another dish. I started thinking about what I could do with those oranges. In Sicily, they have an amazing orange salad that consists of blood oranges, green onion, and olive oil. I know it might not sound too appealing, but I can assure you it is wonderful. These simple ingredients go perfectly together. I didn't have any green onions but the thought of the Sicilian blood orange salad gave me inspiration to create a different type of orange salad.

Having just made the cinnamon rolls, I had some leftover pecans. I found some shredded coconut and golden raisins in the pantry and added them to the oranges. I drizzled some honey on top and sprinkled with cinnamon then stirred well. I was very pleased with the results and really enjoyed the light, tropical flavor the coconut added. My hubby really enjoyed it too, which is always a good sign. Topped with whipped cream or light cool whip this Coconutty Orange Salad would make a nice figure friendly dessert.




Coconutty Orange Salad
yield: 4 servings

4 medium oranges
1/4 cup golden raisins (or regular)
1/4 cup shredded coconut
2 shakes of cinnamon
1/2 tablespoon of honey

Mix ingredients together. It can be eaten immediately or allowed to chill then eaten.



Buon Appetito!