Mango Clafoutis

It was Bastille Day last Sunday so I made a French dessert - a clafoutis!  You can eat clafoutis for dessert or even breakfast.  I decided on a Mango Clafoutis since I had mangoes on hand.  A clafoutis is a baked French dessert that is custard and flan-like.  I love all custard based desserts by the way!  A traditional clafoutis is made with black cherries but you can use almost any fruit.  So while I was researching clafoutis, I found out that a clafoutis made with other fruit should be called a "Flaugnarde."  Hmm...well I think clafoutis sounds better and is more well known so I'll stick with that for now.   Also be sure to let the clafoutis rest for about 10 minutes after removing from the oven, you will notice that it puffs up while baking and then deflates as it cools.  This Mango Clafoutis turned out beautiful and was delicious for breakfast during the week.  Enjoy!

Mango Clafoutis

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

2 mangoes, peeled and sliced thinly

3 eggs

½ cup sugar

½ cup butter, melted

1 cup flour (all purpose)

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. 

Arrange sliced mangos in a buttered pie dish.  

In a bowl, beat eggs and sugar with a whisk.  Slowly add in melted butter.  

Next, add the flour and whisk to combine.

Next, whisk in vanilla and milk.

Batter should be smooth and shiny, similar to pancake batter.

Pour batter over mangos.

Bake for 45 minutes or until slightly browned and almost completely set in the middle.

Serve warm, at room temperature or cold.

Optional:  top with powdered sugar or serve with fresh whipped cream.

Panko Crusted Baked Cod

Light, lemony and healthy is how I would describe this Panko Crusted Baked Cod.  The flavor is wonderful and the fish is tender and flaky.  I served the fish over garlic couscous and it was delicious.

I used the frozen Alaskan Cod from Trader Joe's and I thawed from frozen in package in the refrigerator for 24 hours.  It is a great deal to buy the frozen fish at Trader Joe's and the Alaskan Cod was under $4 for about 1 pound.  This was a quick and easy dish that I will definitely be making again.

Panko Crusted Baked Cod

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

1 pound cod fish fillet, cut into pieces

¼ cup butter, melted

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 ½ to 2 cups panko (Japanese bread crumbs)

salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Coat baking sheet with non-stick spray.

Rinse fish if needed and pat dry with paper towel.  Season fish with salt and pepper.

In a bowl, melt butter and mix in lemon juice.

In another bowl, add in panko.  (Additional salt and pepper may be added.)

Dip fish into butter lemon mixture.

Next, coat fish with panko.

Place fish on a baking sheet.

Bake uncovered for 25 to 30 minutes.

Serves 2 to 4. 

Kale Chips

I am trying to be more healthy so instead of potato chips, I'm trying kale chips.  I am so surprised that I actually liked these kale chips.   They taste almost like thin potato chips and are salty and crisp.  What is even better is how easy it was to make them.  I bought the kale from the farmers' market at $2.00 for a large bunch.  I actually only needed to use half the bunch from the market for these chips.  You might not miss the potato chips too much once you try these kale chips!   

Kale Chips

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

1 bunch of kale

2 tablespoons olive oil

salt and pepper

Directions

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

Remove leaves from ribs and stems of kale.

Cut or tear into 2 inch pieces.  Lay on a baking sheet.

Drizzle olive oil, salt and pepper.  Toss kale while on baking sheet.

Bake for about 20 minutes.  Turn leaves halfway through.

Season with additional salt if desired.

Easy Baked Penne with Turkey

I am trying to make room in my freezer since I have so many frozen foods to use up.  I had defrosted some ground turkey and a slice of peanut butter pie that I must have stored in the freezer last time I had leftovers.  How lucky was I to find that?!  I actually ate the peanut butter pie for breakfast today at work ;)  I will need to post the recipe for the peanut butter pie next time I make it because it is so good!  So back to the ground turkey...I decided a baked pasta sounded good.  I had some leftover tomato sauce already in my fridge.  Sometimes baking a pasta dish takes up to 30 to 45 minutes, but I made it easy by just broiling the cheese on top of the cooked pasta and that only took 5 minutes in the toaster oven.  So if you are short on time, here is an easy baked penne with turkey for you.

 

Ingredients

½  pound dry penne pasta (I used a whole grain penne, you can choose whatever pasta you like.)

½ pound ground turkey

2 cups crushed tomato sauce

½ teaspoon garlic powder

½ teaspoon italian seasoning

½ teaspoon parsley

¼ teaspoon red chili flakes

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

¼ cup parmesan cheese, grated

½ cup shredded mozzarella/provolone cheese

1 tablespoon olive oil

Directions

For the pasta:

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Add the pasta and cook until al dente, about 9 minutes. Drain pasta.

For the ground turkey and sauce:

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet/pan on medium high heat.  Add in ground turkey and stir to break up and brown meat.  Add in salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  Stir in tomato sauce.   Add italian seasoning and parsley.  Simmer on medium low heat for about 5 to 10 minutes. 

 

In the same pan, add in the drained pasta.  Stir in parmesan cheese and ¼ cup shredded cheese. 

 

Turn on toaster (oven) broiler.  I used my toaster oven since it was faster!

 

Place pasta in a baking dish.  I used 2 mini baking dishes but an 8x8 square baking dish would also work.   Top with remaining ¼ cup of shredded cheese.  Bake in broiler for about 5 minutes or until cheese is slightly browned and melted.

I served this with a side of green beans.  

Serves 2-4.  Enjoy!