Nuts For Fruity Pasta Salad

Uncooked pasta (I used tri-colored rotini)
1/2 Granny Smith apple
1/2 Gala apple
1/2 Bartlett pear
1 cup walnuts (chopped, to your preference)
Feta cheese
Balsamic vinaigrette

Upon having one of my weekly dinners with my friend, Sarah, I opted to get a little creative with pasta salad. In my attempt to successfully mix sweet and savory, I think this recipe turned out to be a great success. Even Sarah, who was nervous to try the dish, loved it!

It's a super simple meal that can be prepared in about 10-15 minutes, and it fits a variety of occasions. All you have to do is cook the amount of pasta that you desire, and while it is cooking, chop up the amount of apple, pear, and walnuts that you wish to toss in the pasta salad. You can use more or less than I did, because it really all about personal preference for this dish. When the pasta is done cooking, drain it and run it under cold water until it has reached a cool temperature. Then, let it drain further, and add it to a serving bowl. Toss the pasta with the chopped fruit mix, and add the crumbled feta cheese. Drizzle with balsamic vinaigrette.

If you're trying to lessen your carb intake, this dish would also taste great as an apple, pear, walnut, feta salad.

Enjoy!

-Ianna

Granny Apple Quesadilla

Flour tortillas (whatever your preference)
1 Granny Smith apple
2 medium sweet yellow onions, chopped (These will be caramelized. They cook down a lot!)
baby spinach and arugula
crumbled goat cheese
sharp white cheddar cheese
chicken breast fillet
balsamic vinaigrette
rosemary (dried or fresh)
1 tsp white sugar
1 tsp salt
olive oil
*Makes 2-3 quesadillas

Apples can put an unexpected and unique twist on a variety of savory dishes. Quesadillas are one of my go-to options if I'm wanting something to eat fast, so I thought it would be a cool idea to throw some apple in the mix when making dinner with my friend, Zara.

For the most part, this meal can be prepared fairly quickly, however, caramelizing the onions does take time (20-30 min). So, I would begin with this step. Heat your olive oil on a medium-low heat in a large skillet, and add your onions, making sure that they are coated in the oil. Then sprinkle the salt on them, as it helps them caramelize a little faster. Also, don't worry, because your onions will cook down a lot, even if it looks like there are way too many onions in the pan for a couple of quesadillas. Stir the onions occasionally. If they slightly stick to the pan, this is ok. It is all part of the browning and caramelizing process. Just be sure there is enough oil in the pan that they are not burning. After about 20 minutes, you can add sugar to heighten sweetness and aid in the caramelizing process, and by about 25-30 minutes, your onions should be done!

While your onions are cooking, you can prepare the chicken. Chopping up the chicken breast first helps it to cook quickly, just be sure not too over-cook it! Simply saute the chicken in some olive oil, balsamic vinaigrette, and rosemary until thoroughly cooked.

Now that both the onions and chicken are done, you are ready to assemble the quesadilla. I spread a thin layer of margarine on the sides of the tortillas that would be on the pan so that they would get nice and crispy. Then, I layered the crumbled goat and cheddar cheeses, caramelized onions, chicken, thin apple slices, spinach and arugula between the tortillas, and cooked the quesadilla on a medium heat for a few minutes. The trickiest part, is flipping the layers of deliciousness!

This is one of the best quesadillas I have had. I hope you can say the same if you try it!

-Ianna

Homemade Apple Butter

Iiiiiiiiiitttts apple season! One of my favorite times of year. When apples are in season, I think I could honestly eat two a day. They are beautiful colors with anything from a sweet to sour flavor. This last week when my roommate and I both had a night to relax together and make something, we decided to make apple butter. The day before she had gone apple picking with her family and brought back a big bag of Gravenstein apples and some half pint mason jars.

Here's what you can do at home to get the same chunky spicy spread:

You Will Need:

At least 4-5 lbs fresh apples

2 C. water

2 C. apple cider vinegar

4 C. sugar

4 Tsp. cinnamon

1 Tsp. allspice

1/2 Tsp. ground cloves

Sterilized glass jars with lids

A friend to help you

PROCESS

-Wash and quarter apples

-Add to a large pot and bring to a boil, along water and apple cider vinegar

-Reduce heat and simmer for about 40-45 minutes

-Remove from heat and pass through a food mill or some sort of strainer to separate out the seeds and stems :)

-Add sugar and spices

-Simmer on low heat for about 2 hours, stirring constantly. You will want to have a friend around to help you for this part.

-In the mean time as you and your partner are taking turns stirring, prepare the jars for sterilization. There are two general methods, wet and dry sterilization. You can boil your jars to sterilize them, but I find this is too much hassle in my small kitchen. Instead, we washed our jars with soap and warm water and allowed them to dry. Then we put them in the oven on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, and allowed the jars to sterilize in the oven for about 30 minutes on 425F.

-As the apple butter mixture thickens, make sure to keep stirring and scraping the bottom of the pot so that nothing sticks and no layer of burned butter at the bottom forms. What you end up with is a very fragrant chunky syrup mix that can be ladled carefully into the jars. It will be mostly a matter of preference, but you will want to get a thick consistency. To test, spoon a small amount on a plate that has been sitting in your freezer. The apple butter should set up and not be too runny or think on a cold plate if it has cooked and reduced down enough.

-H.BOMB

Apple, Fig, Peach Cobbler

I have been known to procrastinate, so I suppose getting some apple recipes posted for our "Apple" Flavor of the Month is no exception to my bad habit. Many apologies! I'll make it up to you in baked goods. :)

How about a cobbler to start making amends? I promise that this apple, fig, and peach dessert will not disappoint!

After suffering a recent cat attack on my right hand, I even made the cobbler for you wonderful followers solely with my still functional left hand...which was a lot harder than I thought it would be. Luckily, I got by with a little help from my friend, Sarah.

Ingredients:
1 Granny Smith apple
1 Gala apple (Although, the apples you choose are really all up to you)
4-6 figs
1 peach
1 cup walnuts, chopped
1 cup oats
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tbs cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/3 cup butter (softened)
1 tbs honey
1 tsp vanilla
*Adding a small amount (~1 tbs) of flour to the fruit mix to thicken it is optional

*Makes 4-5 servings

Directions: 
Making this recipe is pretty simple, even if you only have one hand.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Begin by slicing up the fruit for the cobbler. I sliced the apples and peaches fairly thin so that they would soften easily. The figs should have no trouble softening, so there is no need to slice them too thin...in fact, I think slicing them too thin could result in fig soup! Once the fruit is sliced, toss it in a large bowl with the white sugar, cinnamon, and flour if you desire a thicker fruit filling. Transfer this tossed fruit mix into a small to medium glass baking dish prepped with non-stick spray. A metal pan will also suffice.

Now, to create the topping. Chop the walnuts to your desired thickness. I left mine pretty chunky out of personal preference. Mix the walnuts with the oats, butter, brown sugar, honey, nutmeg, and vanilla until it is a loose, doughy, crumble-like consistency. Once this is done, simply layer this on top of the fruit mix that is already in the baking dish. I sprinkled a little extra brown sugar and drizzled extra honey on top too. Bake for 30-40 minutes, and let it cool for about 20 minutes before serving. It goes great with ice cream!

I hope this recipe makes up for my lagging this month. But stay tuned...I have a quesadilla recipe coming soon. It is the best quesadilla I have ever made, and YES, it contains apples!

-Ianna