Bleu Cheese Potato Croquettes

We bought a whole rotisserie chicken from the store the other night, and made some mashed potatoes to go with the chicken. There were a lot of leftover potatoes, so I decided to make potato croquettes with them. Typically, croquettes are deep-fried, but since I 1) Don't have a deep fryer and 2) Would never want one, I just pan-fried these instead.

The potatoes weren't quite as thick as they needed to be to form patties, so I added some panko bread crumbs as well as some oat bran just to thicken them.

I formed them into patties, and then put a hunk of bleu cheese in the middle, then sealed it up. Maybe I should've called them bleu cheese surprise croquettes.

I coated each croquette in more panko to make them crisp on the outside.

Then I pan-fried them until golden brown! (I know they kinda look like scallops in this picture, but they are definitely not.)

Alongside the croquettes, I made some interesting salads.
Cookie Monster's was a little different than mine. It had:
Spinach
Carrots
Cucumbers
Shredded chicken
Bacon Bits
And popcorn! It functioned like a crouton
(My salad had a lot more vegetables--the ones Cookie Monster doesn't like--and no bacon bits.)

 

I also served myself some leftover roasted butternut squash (none for Cookie Monster--he hates squash. I don't know why. It's delicious.) to go with the croquettes.

They turned out pretty well! Although they were a bit dry. I added too much oat bran to keep them in patty form--I think I would add less next time. Also, deep frying is not friendly to my pants, but it does keep a lot of the moisture in. I think some of the dryness was unavoidable with the pan-fry method.

It was an interesting dinner!

And Now, for Your Viewing Pleasure...

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Warning: Do not consume any liquids whilst watching this video, lest you decorate your keyboard with said liquid.
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Yes, It Really Is THAT Good!

My lunch was pretty much the same today as it's been for the past few days, especially this day. But I start to salivate like Pavlov's best friend each time I think of it, so repeats are definitely in order. Mama Haydn, I owe you one for this recipe!

Here's my mis en place for the wrap today: thinly sliced vegetables, hummus, 1/2 a Trader Joe's lavash wrap and balsamic vinegar.

The vegetables/fillings are: red cabbage, radishes, zucchini, carrots and shredded chicken.

Pretty much the best hummus in the world. Good lord this is good! I think this really makes the wrap.

All assembled

And even the sides are the same! Roasted butternut squash and cottage cheese. Though it's low-fat this time. This lunch is so freakin' good!

Because He's the Best

Cookie Monster did a really nice thing the other day and I wanted to show my gratitude. Enter: Bananas Foster French Toast. And yes, it really is as good as it sounds.

Here's what I put in it:

*Milk

*1 egg

*1/2 a really ripe banana, mushed (and yes, that is the technical cooking term for how it's to be prepared)

*Cinnamon

*A sprinkle of ground flax

*Pumpkin pie spice

*Cinnamon/sugar blend

*Cardmom

I just whisked all the ingredients together in a bowl. Then I dipped in whole wheat slices of bread. The amounts I used turned out to be enough for 2 1/2 slices of French Toast. Perfect.

I melted about 1/2 a tablespoon butter in a pan, dipped the bread in the mixture and let it absorb. Then I cooked the toast until it was golden brown on each side.

While it was cooking away, I made the Bananas Foster topping:

*~1 tablespoon butter

*1 banana, sliced (I used a knife, not this completely useless piece of crap. We saw this in the store and it made us laugh out loud. Seriously?! A fucking banana slicer? How lazy are you?)

*Some more cinnamon

*A few handfuls brown sugar

I just sauteed the bananas in the butter until they began to soften, then added the spices and brown sugar. Cooked on low, it transformed into this gooey, sticky, wonderfully banana-y topping for the toast. I didn't have any rum, lest I would've made real Bananas Foster, complete with flambe.

After the toast was golden brown on each side, I poured the ooey, gooey topping over it and served it with half a grapefruit. And even though it seems decadent, the nutritional stats aren't particularly bad: whole grain bread, nonfat milk, fruit... I think the worst thing was the butter, but I didn't use very much.

Cookie Monster gave it two thumbs up!

Greek Salad

I made a tasty Greek salad for lunch the other day. Here's what I put in it:
A mix of butter lettuce + baby spinach

Phallic-shaped vegetable, aka cucumber

Pepperoncini

Kalamata olives

 

Lowfat feta cheese

1/4 cup chickpeas

And a dressing I made from Greek yogurt, dill, scallions, garlic, season salt and hot sauce.

(Some unpictured leftover roasted eggplant also went into the salad.)

 I served my salad with one side of a whole wheat English muffin, toasted, then topped with lowfat cream cheese, thinly sliced radishes and S&P.

All together now: A tasty lunch is served!

Vaccaro's Cannoli

Mama cannolo + baby cannolo = delicious dessert from Vaccaro's.

The filling is divine--it definitely has some spice added--we think it's cinnamon.

(And did you know? Cannoli is plural, and the singular word is cannolo. The same with panini. If you only want one sandwich, order a panino. This is a small pet peeve of mine after I studied some Italian in college.)