Simply Love Food

Who doesn’t love a cheese stuffed deep fried jalapeno? I KNOW I DO.  As much as I love these spicy little guys I don’t love the fact they are drenched in grease and bread crumbs. I wanted to make these a bit healthier without sacrificing the cheesy goodness or any of the flavor that I love so much. Since it’s been nice out and not overwhelmingly hot, I figured I try a grilled version. Success!

I halved and cleaned the seeds out of fresh jalapenos, then stuffed them with a mixture of chopped applewood smooked bacon, whipped cream cheese,lime zest and shredded monterrey jack. To make it even better I whipped up a little dipping sauce that is creamy, tangy and a tad bit sweet to cut the heat of the peppers. I also included options to make these vegetarian AND vegan (as you know I’m a via my last article I am a newbie vegan) These were A.W.E.S.O.M.E!

Grilled Jalapeno Poppers with cilantro lime dipping sauce

(lightly adapted from yumsugar)

Yield 12 servings ( 2 halves per person)

Ingredients:

• 4 slices of applewood smoked bacon, cooked and roughly chopped (veg/vegan obviously non of this!)
• 8 ounces of whipped cream cheese (for vegans -I love the plain tofutti better than cream cheese)
• 1/2 cup shredded monterrey jack cheese (for vegans use daiya pepper jack shreds)
• A small bunch of fresh chives, finely chopped
• 1 lime, juice and zested
• 3 cloves garlic, finely minced
• Salt and fresh pepper to taste
• 12 fresh jalapeños, halved lengthwise, seeds and veins removed (wear gloves)

Directions:

1. Preheat the grill to medium-high heat.
2. In a bowl mix the cooked bacon, whipped cream cheese, monterrey jack cheese, chives, lime juice and zest, garlic, and salt and pepper making sure everything is well combined.
3. With a small spoon, evenly fill each jalapeno half until each jalapeno half is stuffed.
4. Oil a grill pan with a light coating of oil or nonstick cooking spray. Place the pepper halves in the grill pan and grill for about 10 minutes or until the peppers are nice and charred and cooked through and the cheese is brown and bubbly.
5. Remove from the heat and carefully place the peppers on a serving dish. (They will be very hot inside)
6. Drizzle with fresh cilantro lime sauce or use the sauce as a dip and serve.

 Fresh cilantro lime sauce recipe

Yield about 1/2  cup

Ingredients:

• 3 limes, juiced and zested
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 teaspoon of agave nectar
• 1 bunch cilantro, rinsed clean
• 1/2 cup of plain 0% greek yogurt (for vegan use soy or coconut milked based plain yogurt)
• Salt to taste

Directions:

1. In a food processor add the cilantro (try to get only the leaves leaving the steams out) the lime juice and zest, agave nectar, garlic cloves, greek yogurt and salt.
2. Turn on the food processor and let it run until everything has pureed leaving no whole pieces of the cilantro or garlic.
3. Add the sauce to a serving bowl and set a side.

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Sorry I’ve been MIA lately. So much going on in so many different directions lately, but all very good things I have been busy filling my head with new recipes, ideas and some site changes to help make Simply Love Food run even more smoothly for my followers. I met today with a group of very awesome people that going to help transform all of my daydreams into reality. I am really excited about the up coming changes and I hope when all is said and done you’ll be just as excited too!

In the meantime I have made (once again) a drastic change with my own lifestyle and have decded to go vegan. Yes folks V.E.G.A.N. That means-NO dairy, NO type of animal protein, NO eggs, NO cheese, no CHEESE did i mention NO CHEESE?!? Several months back I tried this whole vegan thing and I failed miserably. I have never eaten anything other than chicken, and I have never even liked milk but it was the cheese (sigh……) This time however it has been so much more easy for me (i’m not sure why) but I have had no problems eliminating cheese from my diet this time around. It has defiantly opened me up to a whole new world of food, recipes and eating styles/habbits. The first few days I felt like S***. That’s just the truth. I read that your body does go thru a detox process and once it’s over you really feel “alive” and I have to agree you DO!

Let me make it very clear, I am not the type of person that judges others by what they eat. I’m not the type of person that will smother you in info on WHY I THINK you should be a vegan, not eat animals or drink milk. This is simply a personal choice not just by me but for anyone that chooses this way of life. Food should look good, taste good, smell good and BE good no matter what it is you choose to eat. My goal is to provide many avenues for all types of lifestyles so that no person feels left out. As you know my oldest son Brad is a TRUE meat and potatoes kinda guy. We were both born in the south soooooo….Yeah you get where I’m going with that. And who on earth can forget my husband who is a strict vegetarian and a man that still to this day questions WHAT I’ve put into things (shaking my head) What I hope to accomplish is a blog that offers many different types of recipes so that no stomach shall be left hungry.Please feel free to contact me if there is something that interest you or that you would love to see on this blog. So now lets carry on. Shall We?

I haven’t posted any deliciousness lately so I better take care of that and quick! Here is a delicious roasted corn salad I made. Very light, very simple and very tasty!

Yummy Summer Corn Salad

Ingredients:

•  4 ears of summer corn, cleaned (husk and silk removed)
• 2 red bell peppers, sliced in half
• 1 large red onion
• 1 medium sized zucchini, sliced long ways
• 1 yellow summer squash, sliced long ways
• ½ cup of black beans, rinsed (optional)
• Fresh cilantro, jalapenos and lime wedges for garnish

Directions:

1. Preheat your grill to medium-high heat.
2. Lightly coat the vegetables (corn, bell peppers, onions zucchini and squash) with olive oil. An easy way to do this is just drizzle the oil over the tops of the vegetables and with your hands gently rub it onto the vegetables making sure they are all coated.
3. Place the vegetables on the grill and grill for about 10-15 minutes watching carefully so that they do not burn. (The corn does take longer than the other vegetables to cook) Once the vegetables are done grilling, remove them from the heat and set aside allowing them to cool.
4. Once cool, remove the corn kernels from the cob and add them to a large mixing bowl. Dice the onions, bell peppers, zucchini and squash adding to them to the bowl and mixing everything well.
5. .Toss the salad with the  lime dressing and allow the salad to chill for at least an hour. Before serving, mix the salad well and top with fresh slices of jalapeno, cilantro and lime wedges.

 lime vinaigrette

Ingredients:

•  4 limes juiced and zested
• 4 fresh cloves of garlic
• 3 tablespoons of agave nectar (more or less depending on your taste and how sweet you want it)
• 1 large handful of fresh cilantro
• 2 tablespoons of dijon mustard
• 1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. In a blender add all of the ingredients except the olive oil and puree until the mixture is smooth.
2. Add the olive oil and blend again until the dressing is thick or to desired consistency.
3. Remove from the blender and store for up to 1 week in the refrigerator.

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Hey All!

Just want to let you know I’ll be gone for a VERY SHORT while…..I’m in the process of making my blog bigger and better!…….Please feel free to continue to browse my recipes and I’ll make sure you know when I’m up and running again Thank you!

-Brandi

Simplylovefood@gmail.com

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Growing up I have MANY memories of my mom making my sisters and I deviled eggs.  They always manage to show up at picnics, BBQ’s or at gatherings in general and are commonly served as an appetizer or snack.

For this recipe I used organic cage free eggs and an olive oil based mayonnaise. For a healthier approach try substituting some of the mayo with greek yogurt to cut the fat/calories. For me however I prefer moms good old fashioned way.

Southern Style Deviled Eggs

Ingredients

• 8 large organic/cage free eggs, hard boiled and peeled
• 1/4 cup good quality mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons sweet pickle relish
• 1 teaspoon prepared mustard (any flavor works I used plain yellow mustard)
• Salt and pepper, for taste
• Paprika and chopped parsley for garnishing

Directions

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This is hands down one of my favorite  salads. EVER! I originally wrote this for one of my articles at SK food & recipes but just had to share it here as well. This salad loaded with plump juicy organic strawberries, crunchy pecans and creamy avocado. I top it off with crumbled gorgonzola cheese and  a homemade maple balsamic vinaigrette. It’s a perfect meal for the hot summer days, a picnic or just a lazy dinner.  We usually  serve it with grilled french  bread or with homemade croutons because you need something to help soak up all of that delicious dressing at the end.

Summer Strawberry Salad with Maple Balsamic Dressing

Yield/ 2 large main dish salads or 4 smaller side salads

Ingreidents:

• 6 cups of organic baby spinach
• 1/4 cup of thinly sliced red onion
• 1/2 cup of crumbled gorganzola cheese
• 1/2 cup of ripe organic strawberries, sliced
• 1 ripe avocado, sliced
• 1/4 cup of pecans
• croutons (optional)
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 3 tablespoons of pure maple syrup
• 1-2 teaspoons of Dijon mustard
• 1/2 cup and 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Place the balsamic vinegar, maple syrup, Dijon mustard, salt, and pepper into a blender and pulse to combine. With the blender running add the olive oil in a steady stream until the dressing is mixed well. Taste the dressing to make sure it doesn’t need to be seasoned further then and set the dressing aside.
2. In a large bowl add the baby spinach and a few tablespoons of the dressing tossing well.
3. Plate the spinach and top with the strawberries, gorganzola cheese, red onions, pecans, avocado and crutons.
4. Serve extra dressing on the side. Any leftover dressing can be stored in the refridgeorator and used within three or four days.

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Well to be honest, I wasn’t going to even post this recipe because this dinner was a “spur of the moment thing”…. I had this recipe  on my to try list for a while and tonight was the night to give it a shot. The original recipe called for chicken breast or thighs but I decided to make kabobs.  I have to say these were DELICIOUS!!!! They were pretty spicy with a bit of sweetness (right up my alley) If you don’t like spicy food or anything with a bite then I would recommend NOT using the chipotle peppers. I changed the original recipe just a bit and I’ll include the original and the changes I made. You must, must, must try it!

Chipotle, honey and lime grilled chicken (adapted from mama’s kitchen @food.com)

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So some may know I am  writing for Sheknows.com and if you haven’t checked them out you REALLY should. They have lots of different areas for all types of interests. Great site.  While I was working on one of my upcoming articles I kept finding myself wanting to “sample” this recipe  out….Before I realized it me and my son had polished off quite a few of the “props” for the photograhs which ended in me having to make a second batch…..Bummer.

A smoothie + a popsicle ends in a smoothiesicle which in my opinion is the best of BOTH worlds…..Agreed? Besides the endless list possible flavor combinations  when making a smoothie, not only are they super healthy, you can control WHAT goes into them! I have to say this is a great recipe for parents looking to sneak more fruit into your child’s diet (shhhhhhhhhh it’s our seceret). So go a head and make a batch (or five) and never feel guilty about giving your kids or yourself a popsicle.

Tropcial Smoothie popsicles

yield 4-6 depending on what type of popsicle mold you are using

Ingredients:

• 1 ripe mango, peeled and chopped
• 1/2 cup of ripe pineapple, peeled and chopped
• 1 ripe banana
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
• 1/2 cup skim milk
• 1/4 cup nonfat yogurt any flavor ( I used vanilla)
• 1 tablespoon of good quality honey
• 1 set of popsicle molds (they are normally sold in one set of 6 molds)

Directions:

1. In a blender, combine the mango, pineapple, banana, orange juice, milk, yogurt, and honey. Blend until smooth.
2. Pour the mixture into each of the popsicle molds covering with their tops once all are filled.
3. Place the molds into the freezer until frozen (time varies,but should be completely frozen within a couple of hours)

Remember the flavor combos are ENDLESS! Here are some other ideas:

Sunshine Pops: Layered with fruit syrups (cantaloupe, cranberry-orange juice, cranberry) in molds then frozen. From Martha Stewart

Blueberries & Cream

Strawberry & Banana

Peach & Coconut

Blackberry and Lime

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