White Bean Israeli Couscous Salad with Roasted Radicchio and Asparagus

This was a super simple and delicious meal. Wash and cut a bunch of asparagus and a half head of radicchio. If you don't like the bitterness of radicchio you can soak it in water for a bit after you cut it. Lay the vegetables on a baking sheet and drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle with grated Parmesan and salt and pepper. Roast for 15 to 20 minutes at about 400 until somewhat browned. Meanwhile cook 2-3 servings of Israeli couscous according to package directions. Combine the vegetables with the couscous and a drained and rinsed can of white beans. Sprinkle some lemon juice, Parmesan and salt and pepper as desired on top. Enjoy!

TWD: Irish Soda Bread

This week our project was Irish soda bread. It was perfect timing for St. Patrick's Day! We had ours with our broccoli, potato and bacon hash for dinner that day. The leftovers we enjoyed with some delicious meyer lemon curd.

I didn't have buttermilk, and I didn't feel like running to the store. So, I used soured whole milk instead. I figured the extra fat would help it stay moist longer, and it did! I'm really glad I added the optional raisins because otherwise the bread would have been a little plain. I was thinking about making them half whole wheat and I wish I did because I think that would have added more texture and flavor. Overall, it's a good basic quick bread recipe that I'll probably use again when I need some last minute bread for dinner.

You can find the recipe on one of these awesome blogs.

Reduced Fat Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Raisin Cookies

These were actually pretty good. The texture was more chewy than normal oatmeal cookies, but I liked it. We followed this recipe from America's Test Kitchen, but substituted chocolate chips for the 1/2 cup whole raisins. The recipe has you make a raisin paste to use less butter and also toast the oats with the butter you do use to get more flavor. I was surprised a lower fat cookie could taste so good! These will definitely be on my rotation when I'm craving sweets, but don't want to feel too guilty.

No Knead Bread, Pita and Naan!

I love these recipes from Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day and Artisan Pizza and Flatbread in Five Minutes a Day.  Bread could not get any easier. Basically you mix flour, water, salt and yeast, let rise and you're done!  Here's the recipe and technique for the normal bread at artisan bread in 5. 

The flatbread recipe can be found on king arthur flour. It's simple too and only adds olive oil.

With that you can make fun things like pita:

And naan:

I love having a bucket of dough in the fridge to quickly pull some out and have bread so easily!

Slow Cooker Braised Fennel and Artichoke

This slow cooker recipe was so easy and delicious! I love meals I can come home to that are already done! Fennel, artichokes, onions, garlic and herbs make a delicious combination. Be warned, this is kind of rich with how much olive oil is in it. We ate it on bread and it was the perfect balance. If you want it on its own, be sure to decrease the oil. The recipe is from California Olive Ranch.

Sweet Potato and Sausage Hash

We made this recipe a long time ago with my family- Christmas break. As you can tell I'm very backed up. This was so delicious though! It was originally supposed to be a brunch recipe with egg on top, but we skipped that and had it for dinner. Sweet potatoes, Italian sausage and rosemary were a wonderful combination. I think we'll make it again soon! The recipe is on the kitchn. 

Thai Chicken Pizza

This was pretty good. We didn't have any fresh basil, so we used dried. I think next time I may be less healthy and use a half whole wheat crust instead of completely whole wheat. It was a fun different flavor combination than our usual tomato based pizza. It has chicken, zucchini, sweet chili sauce and peanuts! You can find the recipe on tasty kitchen.

TWD: Rugelach

This week the recipe we made for Tuesdays with Dorrie from Baking with Julia was rugelach. I've never had them before, so I don't really have much to compare them to. They're basically a filled cream cheese pastry dough. I filled mine with homemade prune levkar, sugar, cinnamon, dried cherries and apricots, and toasted walnuts, almonds and pecans. They're then rolled, brushed with egg white and dipped in a cinnamon sugar and nut mixture. 

This recipe made a ton! I think I'd quarter it next time. Since we have so many, they're going to be breakfast for the next week! Don't judge.

I'm really not sure if I'd make these again. Even though they tasted pretty good, they're a ton of work. 

I'm glad I at least made them once though. My favorite part was the flaky cream cheese pastry, so if I did make them again, I'd leave that but fill them with something different. Perhaps raspberry, nuts and chocolate like Zoe on Zoe Bakes? 

You can find the recipe on the host blogs at The Urban Hiker or My Baking Heart.

Quinoa, Fennel, and Pomegranate Salad

This salad was pretty good, but it was a lot more work than I was expecting. If I make it again I'd cook the fennel a little more and probably serve it as a side instead of a main. It had a lot of fun different textures and flavors. As we were putting it together I was sure it wouldn't work out, but everything actually melded well together. I might make it again, but I'd probably save it for when we had someone over for dinner since it makes a lot more than two of us could eat.  If you want to try it out you can find the recipe here!