salmon dip

I love salmon, just not as much when I'm pregnant.  Knowing that it's good for me and still wanting to eat it, I created this dish which makes salmon a little more "pregnant friendly"... by adding cheese and eating it with carbs! 

The banana peppers are a little bit of a unique ingredient, but add a nice tangy contrast to the salmon and cheese.  When I made this we ate it warm out of the oven with crackers, but I found out the leftovers are good cold as well.

salmon cheese dip

Ingredients

6 oz. can of salmon (the higher the quality the better.. aka, wild Alaskan or sockeye salmon)

2 oz. softened cream cheese

1/2 c. plain greek yogurt

1/4 c. mayo

1/4 c. chopped banana peppers

2-3 T. finely chopped red onion

1 clove minced garlic

juice from 1/2 a lemon (~ 2 T.)

1/4 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp garlic salt

1/4 tsp dried dill (optional)

pepper to taste

Instructions
Combine the cream cheese, yogurt, and mayo.  Stir until combined and smooth (if the cream cheese is a little chunky it's fine since it will be baked).  Add the remaining ingredients and mix together.
Spread dip in a 8x8 pan, or other small baking dish, and bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes, or until the edges are brown and the dip is heated through.

Enjoy with crackers, toasted bread, or on a sandwich or wrap.

Serves 6-8.

spicy mushroom bruschetta

We were having our Aunt and Uncle over for our son's birthday party, and I needed a fun appetizer.  Nothing too heavy, something on bread sounded good.  Cooking Light is one of the websites I frequently use when needing a tasty recipe that's going to be on the light side.  And it didn't disappoint. I found a recipe for spicy mushroom bruschetta that was delicious.

I made a few substitutions based on ingredients I had/didn't have:

• 1/2 tsp ground cumin instead of cumin seeds
• no fenugreek leaves (which I read could be substituted with maple syrup but I didn't use anything because I didn't want a sweet flavor)
• a sprinkle of crushed red pepper flakes instead of a red chile
• no garam masala

Since it had jalapeno and crushed red pepper flakes in it, it was pretty spicy overall.  Not make your nose water spicy, but too spicy to give a little kid, in my opinion...

spicy mushroom bruschetta

... find the recipe here

cilantro lime carrots

While mulling over what to do with the rest of the huge bag of carrots I had boughten from Costco, I came across this recipe that I had pinned to Pinterest and forgotten all about (something that happens to me far too often).

I'm a little picky with how I like my carrots cooked... not one that likes those cheesy carrots coated in bread crumbs, hardly able to still be called a vegetable.  These seemed like quite the opposite - light and tangy from the lime and cilantro.

I pretty much followed the recipe to a tee - just used cilantro instead of mint and green onion, as I didn't have either of those.  But I liked how the cilantro went with the lime and cumin better than I would have liked mint, so it turned out to be a good switch.  Overall they were very tasty and would definitely make them again.

cilantro lime roasted carrots

Ingredients
6 large carrots, peeled and cut into strips
1 T olive oil
juice and zest from 1 lime
1 tsp honey or agave
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp coriander
1/4 tsp paprika
1/4 c. chopped cilantro
salt & pepper to taste

Instructions
Combine carrot strips with remaining ingredients and stir until combined (I used just 1/2 of the lime before they cooked and 1/2 after).  Spread on a baking sheet and bake at 400 for 15-20 minutes, or until  tender crisp.
Squeeze other 1/2 of lime over carrots and drizzle with a little more olive oil if needed (mine were a little dry after coming out of the oven).  Garnish with a fresh cilantro if desired.

Serves 3-4.