Yummy Hummus

Throughout the ages teens have turned to hummus to sate their after-school hunger and provide them with a yummy and quick snack that will hold them 'til dinner. Long before toga-wearing teens returned home from school at the lyceum, ground-up chick peas were a staple on many family menus. Today they're easy to find, cheap to buy, and pack a punch in the protein department. Together with a few ingredients they whip up into hummus in a snap. Before 4000 B.C. in Palestine and on tables in ancient Rome, teens tossed tahini, or sesame paste, into to the mix. But if you don't have any tahini around that's OK. We think this hummus stands on its own just fine. Yummy Hummus A Cookin' Teens Original © Rising Moon Media, 2009Ingredients 2 large garlic cloves 1 can (15 ounces or so) garbanzo beans (a.k.a. chick peas, a.k.a. cece beans), rinsed and drained 1 lemon, cut in half 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil 1/4 cup plain (NOT vanilla) yogurt 1/2 teaspoon salt Optional 1/4 cup tahini (Note: if you're using the tahini, reduce the olive oil to one tablespoon and reduce the yogurt to 2 tablespoons) 2 tablespoons crumbled feta 1 tablespoon roasted red peppers, drained a couple of leaves of fresh mint or basil, or the leaves from a sprig of parsley or rosemaryTo Prepare With the back of a fork or a mortar and pestle mash up the garlic cloves with the salt. Toss this paste into a food processor. Then add the beans, the oil and the yogurt (and any and all of the optional ingredients, if using). Then squeeze into the mix the juice from one half of the lemon. Process for about a minute, then taste the hummus. If it's not lemony enough for your tastes, squeeze in the juice from the other half and process for another minute. If it's plenty lemony then skip the added juice and process for another minute anyway to make it nice and creamy. That's all there is to it! This hummus makes a great dip for cut up veggies such as carrots, cukes and pepper strips, it holds up well to whole-grain crackers or pretzel sticks and it's yummy as a sandwich spread with chicken or provolone. Or scoop it up with flatbread and fresh salsa, or with roasted vegetables such as tomatoes and eggplant. Enjoy!

2009-02-06T16:34:23-06:00

2009-02-06T16:33:00-06:00

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103

A great recipe for quick and delicious hummus.

quick and yummy hummus recipe

quick-and-yummy-hummus-recipe

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false Yummy Hummus

2009-05-26T14:05:32-05:00

You get home from school, famished as usual, and scrounge around for something to eat. But the cupboards are bare, save for a few pantry staples, and the few bananas in the bowl have definitely seen better days. Not to worry, for you probably have the makings of a killer banana bread. Banana bread is a “quick bread,” in other words, no rising or kneading time is needed. What makes this banana bread rise is baking soda, which you probably have around somewhere. It takes only a couple of minutes to mix up the whole bread, then you just toss it in the oven to bake. OK, you do have to find something to do for an hour while it’s baking. But we think the sweet/moist/yummy/crunchy/wholesome and satisfying product is worth the effort. If a bread isn't your thing, this recipe makes a perfect dozen banana muffins. That takes a bit less time to bake, about 40 minutes or so. Banana Bread A Cookin' Teens Original © Rising Moon Media, 2009Ingredients 3 very ripe bananas, mashed 2 cups white flour 2 eggs, beaten 1/3 cup PLAIN yogurt (not vanilla) or 1/3 cup sour cream 1 tablespoon vanilla extract 1 teaspoon baking soda 3/4 cup brown sugar (or white, if you don’t have brown) 1/2 cup butter, softened 1/2 teaspoon salt Optional (but definitely worth it, if you have the items in the fridge) 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips 1 handful chopped walnuts or pecans To Prepare Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a loaf pan (or muffin tin) with cooking spray, or grease it with butter. In a large bowl, thoroughly combine the butter and the sugar. Into the butter and sugar combination, add the beaten eggs, sour cream, vanilla and mashed bananas and mix well. Toss in the chocolate chips and nuts, if using, and stir. In another bowl, combine the flour, baking soda and salt, and then add it to the bowl with the wet banana mixture. Combine the ingredients, but don’t over mix.Pour the batter into the greased loaf pan. Bake for about an hour, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the bread comes out clean. Enjoy! To get a whole bunch of great and easy quick bread recipes in one book, click on the link below for Beatrice Ojakangas' book "Quick Breads. <iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=cookintcom-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=0816642281&md=10FE9736YVPPT7A0FBG2&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="width: 120px; height: 240px; float: right" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe>

2009-01-22T09:51:42-06:00

2009-01-22T09:50:00-06:00

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banana bread recipe

banana-bread-recipe

live

false Banana Bread

2009-10-02T10:11:25-05:00

A Cookin' Teens Original There'*s little as comforting as real hot chocolate when you come in from the cold after a long day at school. But when you'*re famished, a mug of the stuff just won'*t do; you want something you can sink your teeth into. Looking for a little inspiration, we took a page out of Giada de Laurentiis'* new cookbook and put an American, French and teen-friendly spin on one of her "*New Italian Favorites."* The result is a gooey, cheesy, hearty, absolutely fabulous snack that you can put together in a flash. © Rising Moon Media, 2008 Ingredients 1 loaf of whole wheat French bread or thin loaf of whole wheat Italian bread (non whole wheat will do in a pinch), about 12 inches long 4 ounces cream cheese 2 ounces good-quality, semi-sweet chocolate chips 1 apple (Golden Delicious is nice with this but any apple will do), washed and cut into six thin slices with the core removed Preparation Preheat broiler. Slice the loaf in half lengthwise. On one half, spread the cream cheese. On the other half, sprinkle the chocolate chips and cover them with the apple slices one next to the other. Put both halves crust-side down on a cookie sheet, and put the sheet on a rack under the broiler. Cook until the edges brown (just a couple of minutes) then take out and squish and press the two halves together so that the chocolate and the apple and the cheese form a tasty, oozy, sweet and crunchy concoction that tastes part panino and part pan au chocolate. Wait a couple of minutes so the flavors can blend (if you can stand it!), cut into sections and enjoy! Makes six 2-inch panini. Want to explore Giada's new book, "Giada's Kitchen"? Click on Giada in the box. <iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=cookintcom-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=0307346595&md=10FE9736YVPPT7A0FBG2&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="width: 120px; height: 240px; float: right" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe>

2008-12-02T13:13:52-06:00

2008-12-02T13:03:00-06:00

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chocolaty cheesy panini

chocolaty-cheesy-panini

live

false Chocolaty Cheesy Panini

2009-06-01T16:46:17-05:00

You get home from school – famished as usual – and rifle through the cabinets searching for something sweet. But then you come across something salty. And crispy. And that age-old debate begins: Sweet? Salty? Sweet? Salty? While you’re pondering, preheat the oven to 450 degrees. You can have your salt and sweet it too. This snack not only fulfills your cravings, it gives your body something substantial to work with while you’re doing your homework or getting ready for gymnastics practice. If you’re going to make one or two of these little bites for yourself, you might as well make a whole batch because once that bacon smell is in the house everybody will come looking for the source. Ingredients 10 slices of bacon, cut in half cross-wise to yield 20 pieces 20 cubes of pineapple, either fresh or from a can (If you use canned pineapple, make sure it’s unsweetened.) If you don't have pineapple, or you're in the mood for really sweet, substitute 20 dried dates for the pineapple. To Prepare Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Wrap a half slice of bacon around each cube of fruit, tucking the ends of the bacon underneath the fruit. Arrange the wrapped fruit bacon-ends-down on an aluminum-foil-covered baking sheet that has raised edges. Bake for about 7 minutes, then take out the sheet and turn over the little bacon bites and return to the oven. Cook about 7 minutes more or until the bacon is crispy. Enjoy!

2008-10-03T11:12:56-05:00

2008-10-03T11:11:00-05:00

true

Recipe for bacon-wrapped pineapple.

bacon wrapped pineapple

bacon-wrapped-pineapple

live

false Bakin' Bacon Bites

2009-06-16T20:47:52-05:00

Mmmm. Some days when you get home from school, nothing will do but a fresh-from-the-oven popover, a hot, crispy, buttery puff of ethereal deliciousness. Sadly, for us at CT, there had been more than a few at-home popover failures. (Or, as we like to call them, pop-unders.) Then we stumbled upon a killer recipe from our favorite Contessa, Ina Garten, and played around with it for a while to make it a little easier on the waistline and on the prep. Now squatty popovers are a thing of the past. Check it out – with only five ingredients (six if you count the cooking spray) and a hot, hot oven, you can magic-up popovers in about the time it takes to watch Family Guy. The trick to sky-high success is to have all ingredients at room temperature and to keep close tabs on the time. Sky High Popovers (adapted from Barefoot Contessa Parties) Ingredients 1 1/2 tablespoons butter, melted 1 1/2 cups flour 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt or whatever you have 3 extra-large eggs, at room temperature 1 1/2 cups whole milk, at room temperature To PreparePreheat the oven to 425 degrees Spritz popover pans or muffin tins with cooking spray. (You can use softened butter to grease the tin if you don't have any spray.) You'll need enough pans to make 12 popovers. Whisk together the flour, salt, eggs, milk and melted butter until smooth. The batter will be thin. Fill the popover pans about half full and bake for 26 minutes. Do not peek or they will flatten! Eat immediately. (If you eat them with sweet butter and jam, we won't stop you.) Or try to wait and bring them to the table to share. We said try. Want to buy the lovely Contessa's book? Click on the Contessa in the box. <iframe src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=cookintcom-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=0609606441&md=10FE9736YVPPT7A0FBG2&fc1=000000&IS2=1&lt1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr" style="width: 120px; height: 240px; float: right" scrolling="no" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" frameborder="0"></iframe>

2008-09-16T12:15:00-05:00

2008-09-16T12:09:00-05:00

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Sky High Popovers

sky-high-popovers

live

false Sky High Popovers

2009-03-11T10:51:54-05:00