Inspiration: I’ve been trying to perfect a really great lower carb/no sugar meatloaf for over a year now. One of the things that I love about cooking is that there is so much room for experimentation, so if you don’t quite like something the first time around (or the second or third times), there’s always another meal somewhere down the road in which you can work on perfecting your recipe. After trying out many different recipes and doing quite a bit of fine-tuning, we’ve finally come up with a meatloaf that we really love and can call a standard recipe.

What We Loved: There are so many great components to this recipe. The outside of the meatloaf is crusted in a smoky sweet tomato glaze that is just fantastic; there’s a lot of complexity of flavor and richness within the meatloaf due to the use of three different meats; the recipe is packed with colorful and nutritious vegetables, which is always an awesome thing; and the inside of the meatloaf is nice and moist, which in my opinion is one of the basic necessities to a great meatloaf. I truly love every single thing about this dish.

Tips: Extra tomato sauce for dipping would definitely not be a bad thing. It’s amazingly delicious. Next time, I might mix up a double batch. Also, I highly recommend serving this with buttered and salted sweet potatoes. I absolutely adore the combo and might list this dinner exactly as it is as one of my very favorite winter meals.

Beef, Pork, and Bacon Meatloaf
Source: Adapted from Raspberry & Coconut

Butter
1 medium onion, very finely diced
1/2 red bell pepper, very finely diced
2 carrots, peeled and grated
2 cloves garlic, minced
Kosher salt and black pepper
1/2 lb ground beef
1/2 lb ground pork
4 slices bacon, very finely diced
1 extra large egg, beaten
1/8 cup coconut flour
3 oz tomato paste
1 tablespoon water
Scant 1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon sriracha

1. Melt a pat of butter in a saute pan. Add the onions, bell pepper, and carrot. Season with salt and pepper, and cook until softened. Add the garlic, and cook for 30 seconds more.

2. In a large mixing bowl, add the onion mixture, beef, pork, bacon, egg, and coconut flour.

3. In a separate small bowl, mix together the tomato paste, water, salt, pepper, cumin, nutmeg, paprika, Worcestershire, and sriracha.

4. Add half of the tomato mixture to the beef mixture.

5. Using your hands, mix the beef mixture until well-combined. Place the mixture into a bread loaf pan, forming it with your hands into a loaf. Spread the rest of the tomato mixture on top of the meatloaf.

6. Bake at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes. Increase the temperature to 400 degrees F, and bake for 35 minutes more.

7. Remove the meatloaf from the pan, placing it on a cutting board. Let sit for 10-15 minutes before slicing.

Inspiration: I made this dish with Brandon in mind. He still talks about a smoked salmon spread that we had a few years ago as an appetizer one time at a fancy restaurant, so I thought I’d try to recreate something similar at home. It sure took me long enough, but I guess that’s what happens when I have more recipes on my to-try list than I’ll ever have the time to make. There is just too much good food in the world, isn’t there?

What We Loved: I’ll admit that I’m not the biggest fan of salmon spreads (something about pureed fish just doesn’t do it for me), so I wasn’t entirely looking forward to this recipe. I knew that I’d think it was all right, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that I really enjoyed this spread a lot. It’s creamy and cheesy, yet it has a nice, fresh salmon flavor that’s certainly the main component of the recipe (though not overpowering in the slightest). I rarely use dill because I don’t enjoy the flavor very much, but I do always find that it pairs so excellently with salmon. The fresh herbal bite really adds a nice pop of flavor in this recipe. We enjoyed this spread with cucumber slices alongside some fantastic steamed crab legs (another of Brandon’s favorite foods) for a lovely and light seafood supper.

Tips: Make sure to bring your cream cheese to room temperature before trying to puree everything in your food processor. Cold cream cheese really doesn’t allow for pureeing.

Smoked Salmon Mousse
Source: The Way the Cookie Crumbles

4 oz smoked salmon
4 oz cream cheese, brought to room temperature
1 teaspoon dried dill
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Freshly cracked black pepper, to taste

1. Combine all of the ingredients in a food processor, and process until smooth.

2. Serve with cucumber slices.

Inspiration: One can never have too many easy weeknight suppers, right? The bonus with this one (and really with many dishes that have pan sauces) is that it looks so nice and elegant, too. I really need to cook with pan sauces more – in almost every case, they’re simple; they’re beautiful; and  they taste great.

What We Loved: This is a lovely dish with simple flavors. The pan sauce is a touch earthy and just a touch sweet, and it has a great, slightly thick consistency from all of the tomato juices that mix with the rest of the ingredients. We loved the herbal flavor of the oregano, and of course we really enjoyed the rich tomato flavor that dominated the sauce.  With some buttered green beans on the side, it really can’t get much simpler and prettier than this.

Tips: I thought that I noticed that the paprika in this dish tasted a little bitter, which would have come from the fact that it was mixed into the butter and sauteed for so long in the pan. By no means did it ruin the dish (Brandon said that he didn’t even notice it), but I might suggest mixing only the oregano, salt, and pepper in with the butter that you cook the chicken in, and then adding the paprika into the second batch of butter that gets added into the sauce near the end. That way, the paprika won’t have a chance to char at all on the bottom of the pan, producing that slightly bitter flavor. Also, I’m thinking that a splash of balsamic vinegar might go really well in this dish, adding just a touch more sweetness and some added complexity.

Chicken with Tomato Herb Pan Sauce
Source: Adapted from Annie’s Eats, originally from Bon Appetit July 2011

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, butterflied and cut in half
Kosher salt and black pepper
2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon sweet paprika
1 pint grape tomatoes
1/3 cup chicken stock

1. Combine the butter, garlic, oregano, and paprika in a small bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

2. Melt half of the butter mixture in a saute pan over medium heat. Season the chicken with salt and pepper, and saute in the herb butter for about 4 minutes per side, until cooked through. Remove to a plate and tent with foil to keep warm.

3. Add the tomatoes to the pan, and stir occasionally until they begin to brown and burst, about five minutes. Add the rest of the herb butter to the pan, and crush the tomatoes slightly with the back of your spoon until they release their juices and begin to combine with the butter.

4. Add the broth to the pan, and continue cooking until everything is well-blended and a nice pan sauce forms.

5. Serve the chicken topped with the sauce.

Inspiration: This recipe came to us via Dayna, one of our blog readers (thanks again, Dayna!). As soon as I read the ingredient list and saw that the soup included cream cheese, I was completely sold. I already love butternut squash – especially in the form of butternut squash soup – so once cream cheese was thrown into the mix, there was no way that I wasn’t whipping this up. What a fantastic and interesting combination of ingredients.

What We Loved: This soup instantly became one of our favorites. The best thing about it for me was the texture, which was amazingly, velvety smooth. It really was the creamiest soup that I’ve ever had. We loved how you could really taste the rich cream cheese in every bite (what’s not to love about that?), and of course the backbone flavor of the butternut squash was hearty and delicious. To finish it all off, the roasted squash seeds on top added salty and crunchy bursts of flavor. I really couldn’t wait to eat the leftovers of this soup for lunches, and I already can’t wait to make it again.

Tips: I had quite a bit of trouble peeling the skin from the squash after baking it, since the squash was so tender and took a while to cool. Next time, I’ll probably use a vegetable peeler and peel the squash before putting it into the oven.

Butternut Squash and Cream Cheese Soup
Source: Dayna and Brian

2 medium sized butternut squash
Raw butternut squash seeds
Olive oil
Kosher salt and black pepper
4 tablespoons butter
6 tablespoons chopped onion
3 cups chicken stock (use vegetable to keep the recipe vegetarian)
1 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1 8 oz package cream cheese

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Cut the squash in half lengthwise and remove the seeds, placing the seeds into a sieve. Clean the seeds and spread them onto a baking sheet. Drizzle them with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Set aside.

2. Place the squash on another baking sheet. Drizzle the flesh with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake for about 45 minutes, until the squash is tender. Remove from the oven and let cool.

3. After you remove the squash from the oven, bake the seeds for about 15 minutes until nice and browned, stirring occasionally.

4. When the squash is cooled, remove the skin.

5. Melt the butter in a soup pot. Add the onion, and cook until softened. Add the stock, squash, marjoram, black pepper, and cayenne pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes.

6. Add the cream cheese, and cook for an additional 5 minutes, until melted.

7. Puree the soup using an immersion blender or food processor.

8. Season to taste with Kosher salt.

9. Serve topped with the roasted squash seeds.

Inspiration: This recipe has been on our table in one form or another for years, and over the last few months, I’ve finally perfected a lower-carb version that we really, really love. This is typically something that we’d eat a lot of in the summer time, but every once in a while in the winter time, a light and bright fish supper is just what we need.

What We Loved: This is one of those dishes that is just so delicious in its simplicity. The recipe is nothing but a nice filet of tender, flaky fish with a crispy crust and juicy lemon, but those simple ingredients really make for an excellent flavor combination and a truly enjoyable meal. We particularly loved the bright, fresh lemon juice, which added even more moistness to the already tender fish. Plus, every once in a while, there’s just nothing like a great crispy crust on a piece of fish or chicken, right? This really is a great light option for a satisfying supper.

Tips: I think that the crust on this fish would work very well for chicken Parmesan. I’ll be trying that out soon! Also, don’t skip the lemon with this one – that fresh lemon juice is one of the best parts of the dish.

Parmesan Almond Tilapia with Lemon
Source: Original Recipe

2 tilapia filets
Kosher salt and fresh black pepper
1/4 cup coconut flour
1 egg
About 1/4 – 1/3 cup almond meal
About 1/4 – 1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated and then blended to a powder in a food processor
Butter
Italian seasoning
Lemon wedges

1. Place the coconut flour onto a plate, beat the egg in a shallow bowl, and mix the almond meal and Parmesan cheese together on another plate.

2. Season the filets with salt and pepper. Dredge the filets in the coconut flour to coat.

3. Dip the filets in the egg, and then dip them into the Parmesan/almond mixture. Use your hands to pat the mixture firmly onto the filets.

4. Heat some butter in a saute pan over medium heat, enough to generously coat the bottom of the pan. Add the filets, and cook for about 4-5 minutes per side, flipping only once. Cook until the fish flakes easily with a fork.

5. Plate the fish, and season with Italian seasoning. Serve with lemon wedges.

Inspiration: This is one of those recipes that I’ve been making for years (I think we’ve made it as part of Brandon’s family’s Christmas Eve supper for the past three years now), yet it’s somehow never made it onto the blog. I’ve made a lot of stuffed mushrooms ever since I fell in love with mushrooms several years back, and in our opinion, nothing can hold a candle to these. They’re by far our favorite stuffed mushrooms (and I think that my brother-in-law, Brian, just might agree). With football playoffs in full swing, I thought that now would be a great time to finally post this recipe. We always love to do a fun appetizer spread for Superbowl Sunday in particular, and after looking at these pictures, I have a feeling that these will be making an appearance on our table that day for sure.

What We Loved: These mushrooms are rich, cheesy, and decadent. They’re defined by a wonderful bacon flavor that melds with the light, succulent flavor of fresh shrimp; the  rich, browned flavor of sauteed onions; and a combination of velvety cream cheese and nutty, crispy Parmesan. The result is really just a perfect, intensely rich and flavorful combination. I feel like stuffed mushrooms are one of those dishes that just call for decadence, and these mushrooms definitely deliver.

Tips: I’ve made these using several different kinds of mushrooms (white stuffing mushrooms, baby cremini mushrooms, and large portabella mushrooms), and every kind that we’ve tried so far works wonderfully. I’ve found that smaller, appetizer-sized mushrooms are our favorite, but large, dinner-sized portabellas work just fine, too. Basically, this recipe will work as whatever you’re looking for, depending on which mushrooms you use – an appetizer, a side dish, or even a main course.

Shrimp and Bacon Stuffed Mushrooms
Source: Adapted from The Girl Who Ate Everything

About 24 ounces mushrooms (whichever kind you prefer – we like to use smaller white stuffing mushrooms or baby bellas – about 18 mushrooms total)
4 slices bacon, diced
½ Vidalia onion, finely diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
Kosher salt and black pepper
About 10 large shrimp, finely diced
6 ounces cream cheese
¾ cups fresh Parmesan cheese, finely grated

1. Rinse and clean the mushrooms, and cut out all of the stems. Finely chop the stems and set aside.

2. Cook the bacon in a saute pan until it renders some fat and is about halfway crisped.

3. Add the onion and the mushroom stem pieces to the pan. Season well with salt and pepper, and continue to cook until the water released from the mushrooms evaporates and the vegetables are softened and beginning to get nice and browned.

4. Add the garlic to the pan, and stir to combine. Remove the pan from the heat, and stir in the shrimp.

5. Mix in the cream cheese and Parmesan cheese.

6. Spoon the mixture into the mushrooms, and place them into a baking dish.

7. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes, until the filling cooks through and the mushrooms have released their moisture. If desired, turn the broiler on for a minute or two before the end of cooking to brown the top of the mushrooms.

8. Let sit for a few minutes before serving.

Inspiration: My parents have this favorite cozy little Mexican restaurant called El Salto that they often take us to that has the most amazing Mexican food. We’ve been there countless times, and we all always say that there’s nothing on the menu that’s not good. Isn’t that just the best kind of restaurant? (especially considering that it’s Mexican food…..our favorite). Anyway, one of us will sometimes get their spicy shrimp dish (I think that they call it camarones al diablo), and it’s a fabulously spicy, spicy dish. It’s the kind of dish where you have to make sure that you have a full glass of water (or margarita) in front of you while you’re eating. I was browsing through one of Rick Bayless’ books recently when I saw something that looked pretty similar – his chipotle shrimp dish – and I knew that I had to give it a try. There’s just something so fun about trying to recreate restaurant meals at home, isn’t there? Plus, we always say the same thing about Rick Bayless as we do about the restaurant – there’s nothing in his cookbooks that’s not gold.

What We Loved: This dish ended up tasting quite a bit different than our restaurant favorite, but it sure was tasty just the same. The sauce has just the perfect amount of spice and heat (with a nice, smoky kick from the adobo sauce), and the shrimp are so tender and succulent, as shrimp should always be. We loved the fresh cilantro garnish and the lovely tart zip that came from squeezing fresh lime juice atop the meal as we ate. If you like spicy food, then this recipe is definitely a winner. We served it alongside some fresh homemade guacamole for a great Saturday night Mexican supper.

Tips: For the amount of shrimp that we cooked (one pound between two people), there was a lot of extra sauce in the pan. I’d recommend cooking anywhere between 1 1/2 to 2 pounds of shrimp to serve three or four with the amount of sauce called for in the recipe below. Or, I’d use less chicken stock so that the sauce is thicker and you have less leftover in the pan.

Chipotle Shrimp
Source: Slightly adapted from Rick Bayless, from Mexican Everyday

1 14.5 oz can fire-roasted diced tomatoes, drained
2 canned chipotles in adobo sauce
1 tablespoon adobo sauce
Butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 cup chicken stock
1 teaspoon salt
1 lb fresh, large shrimp
Cilantro, chopped
Lime wedges

1. Pour the drained tomatoes into a food processor. Add the chipotles and the adobo sauce, and process until smooth.

2. Heat a couple pats of butter in a saute pan. Add the garlic, and cook until fragrant, about a minute.

3. Pour in the tomato sauce, stir to combine, and cook for about five minutes, allowing the flavors to meld.

4. Add the chicken stock and about a teaspoon of salt (more or less to taste). Allow to simmer and reduce until the sauce is thickened.

5. Add the shrimp, and continue to cook until the shrimp are cooked through, about 4-5 minutes.

6. Serve the shrimp garnished with cilantro and lime wedges.

Inspiration

What We Loved: The base of this soup – the beef stock – is really what makes the soup. After cooking all day on the stovetop, the flavor profile of the stock is rich and hearty, with layer upon layer of comforting beef and vegetable goodness. Brandon and I both agreed that we had never tasted a better beef soup than this one, and it’s entirely due to the fact that the beef stock was so outstanding. And on top of how much we enjoyed the stock, the beef itself was just as good. When the stock is done cooking, the beef just falls right off of the soup bones and shreds apart, giving you tender, succulent meat to add back to your soup. I chose sweet potatoes, carrots, pearl onions, and green beans for the vegetables that I added in to the soup, and we both really loved what each of those vegetables added to the dish. The sweet potatoes added a lovely sweet bite, the beans and carrots added that familiar and characteristic vegetable flavor, and the pearl onions added nice pops of rich onion flavor. This is the kind of soup that is the definition of comfort in a bowl, and it’s perfect for the cold, snowy evenings that I know are headed our way.

Tips: As I use vegetables in my cooking on a day-to-day basis, I save all of the odds and ends that I wouldn’t otherwise use (onion tops, carrot ends, herb stalks, etc.) in a freezer bag in the freezer. I wait until I have a good amount (several cups worth) before making stock, so that I can add those vegetable bits to my stock rather than using fresh, new vegetables. I would really suggest doing the same – it’s a great way to avoid waste and to get use out of all of your vegetables. Secondly, this is an all-day project since it involves making your own beef stock, so make sure that you have enough time. I’d recommend making this recipe on a Sunday, because it really does provide for a wonderful and cozy Sunday evening supper. It’s just the kind of meal that Sundays were made for.

Hearty Beef and Vegetable Soup
Source: Original Recipe

About 3 lbs very meaty soup bones
Kosher salt
Black pepper
Any desired dried herbs
A few cups worth of vegetable odds and ends that you’ve saved in the freezer (i.e., carrot and zucchini ends, onion tops, stalks from herbs, Parmesan rinds, etc.)
1 large sweet potato, peeled and diced
2 large carrots, peeled and sliced
1 cup frozen pearl onions
1 1/2 cups green beans, cut into bite-sized pieces

1. Season the soup bones well with salt and pepper. Roast them on a baking sheet in a 350 degree oven for about an hour.

2. Pour the soup bones and any accumulated juices into a large stock pot (mine is 8 quarts). Fill the pot with water, leaving enough space to add your vegetables.

3. Pour your vegetables on top, and add a good bunch of salt, pepper, and any dried herbs that you prefer (I used some dried marjoram that I had on hand).

4. Bring the pot to a boil, and then immediately reduce to a very light simmer. Let cook for about 5 hours on the stovetop.

5. Remove the soup bones/meat and vegetables from the stock, reserving the soup bones and meat. Pour the stock through a  fine mesh sieve into another large pot.

6. Pull the meat from the bones with your hands (it should fall right apart). Shred the meat, removing any fat, and return all of the shredded meat to the pot with the stock.

7. Add the sweet potatoes, carrots, pearl onions, and green beans to the pot. Return the pot to the stove, bring to a boil, and reduce to a simmer. Cook for about 10 minutes, until all of the vegetables are softened.

8. Taste and add more salt and pepper if necessary (I add a lot of salt at this point).

9. Serve the soup topped with finely shredded Parmesan cheese, if desired (it’s good with or without).

Inspiration: The minute that I saw these on What’s Gaby Cooking, I knew that I’d be whipping up a batch for the Christmas get-together that my family has with all of my siblings each year (hope they look tasty to anyone who will be there!). These really have everything going for them, don’t they? They’re so simple and quick to make, which is a huge bonus during the busy holiday season; they’ll keep just fine probably for weeks, so they’re perfect for making ahead of time; and they include both chocolate and cashews. That pretty much covers all of my requirements for an awesome holiday treat.

What We Loved: Buttery cashews and rich chocolate are truly an indulgent, classic pairing, and they make for such a simple and delicious snack. And since I used roasted and salted cashews, there’s that nice combination of salty and sweet in there, too. One other thing that I like about these is that unlike cashews that are completely coated in chocolate, these give you that nice chocolate flavor without completely masking the great flavor of the cashews.

Tips: I made these for the dessert table, but they’d really be great for an appetizer or snack to have sitting out all evening, too. I debated using both dark and white chocolate, but I ended up just using dark because I got lazy. I think using both would look and taste great, though. Also – if you want your chocolate to look prettier and not have the lighter-colored, dull streaks like you can see in the glob in the left side of the bowl above, you can temper your chocolate. Heat it to 113 degrees F in the double boiler, then let it cool to 88 degrees F before drizzling. Again, though, this came down to laziness for me. Half the reason that I wanted to make this treat was because it was simple.

This will be my last post before stepping aside for Christmas, so I want to take a minute to wish everyone who celebrates Christmas a beautiful and relaxing holiday.

Chocolate-Drizzled Cashews
Source: What’s Gaby Cooking

Cashews (I used roasted and salted)
Chocolate of choice

1. Heat the chocolate in a double boiler until completely melted.
2. Spread the cashews on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Drizzle with the melted chocolate.
3. Pop the tray in the refrigerator for a few minutes to harden the chocolate.
4. Break the cashews apart. If you feel like the cashews need more chocolate after you mix them up, drizzle with additional chocolate and let harden again in the refrigerator.
5. Store in an air-tight container.

Many of the best memories over the course of my life involve sharing good food and drinks with the people that I love. And when it comes to the holidays, there’s just nothing quite as heartwarming as un-bundling from the cold and settling in with family over a great cheese tray and a bottle of nice red wine. We talk, we laugh, we tell jokes, and we make great memories together over appetizers and snacks. And so for me, holiday appetizer recipes might just be my favorite of all of the special foods that we cook over the holiday season. They’re the little treats that I associate with the fondest memories and with my favorite part of the holiday season – enjoying the company of my loved ones.

Today I’m so happy and excited to participate in Stephanie’s awesome Holiday Project over at Life Tastes Like Food. Stephanie has gathered bloggers and readers alike to join in the holiday spirit and share their stories and recipes. Please head on over to her site for the marinated cheese and olives recipe (here) and to check out all of the other amazing posts.