Baked Bloomin' Onion

When I think of a Bloomin' Onion I think about deep fried and smothered in calories. I don't even know what chain restaurants have these on their menu anymore but I know they do. I'm all too familiar with onion rings myself. When I was a kid it was one of my favorite things to order off the menu and it was the best dipping them in thick sauce. Oh the glory days! I saw a bloomin' onion on my Pinterest feed and thought I'd give a go yet make it in a "healthier" way. It's easy to see things and think we can't make them because they are unhealthy but there are always ways to alter recipes to make them suit our lifestyle. I love making lighter versions because it shows my family that things can still taste good without having to deep fry and smother things with salt!

Ingredients:

1 large Vidalia onions or 2 medium Vidalia onions
1/4 cup Panko bread crumbs
1/2 cup flour
1 tablespoon garlic salt
1/2 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 eggs

Directions:
pre-heat oven 400 degrees

1. Start off with cutting the top of the onion off, just about 1/4 inch off the top so that the layers of the onion are showing. Do not cut the "root" of the onion! Peel the onion and take of the outermost layer of the onion as well. Clean it well.

2. Cut onion like you would a pie, cutting deep enough to not cut through the root but deep enough so that the pieces fold outwards. If you find that you didn't cut deep enough you can use a smaller knife to help you. Place cut onions in a bowl full off cold water. Make sure they are immersed, not sure why but this tip helps with allowing the onion to "bloom" or open up. I let mine sit in the water for about half an hour.

3. Meanwhile, in a large bowl combine the panko, flour, garlic salt and paprika. In another bowl whisk together the eggs. Take the onions out of the water and let them air dry on a paper towel. Next, dip onion into egg. Utilize a brush to help coat the onion with egg! Then dip onion in the flour mixture. Coat it as well as you can.

4. Place onion on to a baking sheet and drizzle olive oil over top of the onion. Baked for 30 minutes. Or until the onion is golden brown.

Of course it's going to have a different look and effect to these onions since they aren't truly breaded or batter and deep fried but that doesn't mean they don't taste phenomenal! If not better! Although you can enjoy them on their own you can surly whip together a quick dipping sauce to go along with it. I make a simple Creamy Hickory Sauce. Just mix together some mayo and hickory BBQ sauce. Easy! Or if you're like me and want it to be a bit lighter use plain greek yogurt instead of mayo. Here you have it. Make a Baked Bloomin' Onion for dinner and surprise the family. They will be impressed. Mine were!

Smashed Parmesan Red Potatoes with Lemon Garlic Aioli

I feel like I don't post enough about the amazing side dishes I tend to make to go along with our dinners. They're important too! So to start my posting of more side dishes I had to share these super easy Smashed Parmesan Red Potatoes with Lemon Garlic Aioli. It's a great side to make when you want something tasty but quick. All you have to do is pop them in the oven, forget about them while you tend to other delicious things cooking.

Smashed Parmesan Red Potatoes

2 lbs mini red potatoes
salt
pepper
olive oil
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450. Meanwhile, fill a pot with water and add potatoes. Heat until water is boiled then reduce heat to a simmer and boil them until they are tender. Once they are done drain the water and place them on a non-stick baking sheet.

Take a potatoes masher or use the bottom of a mug and smash each potato. The fun part! Drizzle them with some olive oil and lightly salt and pepper the potatoes and place them in the oven. Bake them between 20-30 minutes depending on the size of the potatoes. Time will vary so watch them. I left mine in for a full 30 minutes because we wanted them to be crispy.

At the last ten minutes sprinkle Parmesan cheese onto each potato and place back into the oven to melt the cheese and allow it to brown.


Lemon Garlic Aioli 

1/3 cup mayo
1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

Simply mix all ingredients together. Drizzle or dip potatoes in aioli. And watch them go!

buffalo cauliflower bites

I had a head of cauliflower in my fridge just waiting for something to happen with it. I've wanted to make these brilliant Buffalo Cauliflower Bites for a long time and since I had no particular plans for the this said cauliflower I took the opportunity. It was super quick and easy and had my husband wanting more. The tangy buffalo coated cauliflower hot to the touch dipped in the cool creamy blue cheese dressing is mind blowing. Perfect little side to any dinner or just a great appetizer while you wait for dinner to finish cooking. 

Ingredients: 

1 head cauliflower 

1 cup milk 

3/4 cup whole wheat flour 

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 tablespoon unsalted butter

1/2 cup Franks Red Hot Sauce 

Blue cheese or your choice of dipping sauce

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 450

Combine flour and milk to create batter. Add garlic powder. Cut up head of cauliflower into bite size pieces. Dip each cauliflower into batter. Shake off as much excess batter and place on a greased baking sheet. Bake for about 15-20 minutes. Flip them over midway. 

While they bake, melt unsalted butter in a wide sauce pan. Add Frank's Hot Sauce and stir. Remove cauliflower from oven and throw them in the sauce pan. Toss them in the sauce to coat. Place them back on the baking sheet and back in the oven for about 10 minutes until they turn golden. Flip them again to get the underside. 

Remove and serve while hot with Blue Cheese (you won't be mad!) or your choice dipping sauce. Enjoy!

on crisp sweet potato fries...

I can eat these every day of my life! No joke. I am in love with sweet potato fries and making them at home as been a treat. I swear I've made them at least three times in the past two weeks. Now, I don't know about you but I love my sweet potato fries crisp on the outside and tender in the inside. Well, I have a great way of doing just that and it can be done in the comfort of your own kitchen. Hip hip HOORAY!

All you need: 

A few sweet potatoes (two of them was plenty for us!) 
1/4 cup corn starch 
1/2 cup of corn meal
salt & pepper 
zip lock bag
olive oil

Peel and slice your sweet potato. I like my cut long and on the thicker side however not anything like steak fries. Once you cut them to your desired length and width then soak them in cold water for about an hour. This is a little trick when making crispy fries. By allowing the potato to soak, some of the starches release from the potato. This is a great because starch in the potatoes doesn't allow for moisture to escape so alas get the starch out and the result will be happy fries! Once they soak make sure you rinse them off and pat them dry.

Secret ingredients! A little corn starch and some corn meal. Coating your sticks with this mixture and I'm certain that those fries will be delightfully crisp. Just place corn starch and corn meal into a zip lock bag and seal the bag with some air in it. Shake it up before you place your sticks into it.

Place all your stick inside and shake what your momma gave ya. Just kidding.

Place them on a baking sheet in a way that they are spread apart with space in between them. If they are all bunched together don't expect them to become crisp. You might need a couple baking sheet or you can just do fries in batches.
Last step is to brush on some olive oil and add some salt & pepper and they are set to be put into an oven that's at 400 degrees.  Bake them for about 15 minute and then flip them with a spatula. Another 15 minutes and they will be done!

How gorgeous are they? I mean just looking at them and you can see how crispy they are! Try them out as a quick and easy side for any meal. You are getting this crispy texture without having to deep fry. It's a win win. Enjoy!

xoxo.

on french potato salad...

I am in love with this French Potato Salad recipe. I've made it at least twice in the past two weeks, once at home and again on 4th of July. So yummy and a nice change from the usual mayo based salads.

Ingredients: 
2 1/2 pounds fingerling potatoes, quartered
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar 
1 shallot, minced
2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley 
salt & pepper

Cut and put potatoes in a large pot of salt water. Bring the water to a rapid boil and then turn heat down to a simmer. Cook potatoes until tender.

Meanwhile combine olive oil, Dijon mustard, shallot, parsley & apple cider vinegar together in the a big bowl. Once the potatoes are tender, drain and then dump with into the bowl.

Mix it up nice and good. Add some salt and pepper to taste. Let it cool and serve at room temperature. Delish. I think this is my new favorite potato salad. Love the tangy flavor. Enjoy!

on a pasta salad...

I thought I'd share my recent summer salad of choice. I made it for father's day and it went well with the usual barbecue. I recommend it for get-togetherswhere you want to bring or make something quick, easy and cool especially with these hot hot days. I know I've been trying to limit my use of the oven and so I jumped on this recipe like a monkey. Sorry that sounded better in my head. You get my gist.

First, you boil up your elbow pasta al dente. I always dip some olive oil into the water that you're boiling the noodles with so they don't stick. Not sure why but elbow pasta always stick if you're not stirring constantly. Once the pasta is on the verge of being all done plop the shrimp in the boiling water and cook until the shrimp is opaque throughout, about 30 minutes.

Drain pasta & shrimp in cold water and transfer into a large bowl.

Next, you take the roughly chopped dill and thinly sliced cucumber and toss it in with the pasta & shrimp. Like so..

In another bowl whisk together mayo, olive oil, lemon juice, Dijon mustard and salt + pepper to your taste. Add the mixture to the pasta, mix well and serve! Easy peasy :) And there you have a perfect little pasta salad on a hot summer day.

Also, I like to mix the mayo mixture in a separate dish and wait to add it to the pasta until right before you serve it. I made this the night before and served it last Sunday on Father's Day. So I put the mayo mixture in my lovely Pyrex bowl and then must added it right before I served it with dinner. It tastes, I think, fresher and this way the mayo doesn't soak into the pasta and make it mushy. 

Try it out at your next barbecue. 4th of July is coming up. Give it a go!

Ingredients:

3/4 pound elbow pasta or large shell pasta

1 pound large peeled shrimp

1 cucumber, sliced thinly

1/2 cup, roughly chopped

2 tablespoons Mayo

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

♥A.