Category: Recipes

Beverages, Recipes

#HotSummerEats: Strawberry Ginger Smoothie

Sarah

A refreshing smoothie, perfect for breakfasts on a hot morning or for a snack after spending the afternoon at the pool. This smoothie is full of fruit and a hint of spicy ginger for a fun twist.
Strawberry Ginger Smoothie for #HotSummerEats on thepajamachef.com
Ben and I love smoothies so much that we buy frozen berries in giant 10 pound bags from Sam’s Club. Now that we have an extra freezer in the garage–thanks Mom and Dad!–we can buy multiple kinds of fruit at once! YAY! But up until now, our class combo was vanilla yogurt + frozen strawberries + a frozen banana + a splash of milk or oj. Easy and delicious. For an afternoon snack though, like you may want during hot summer days, the idea of dairy–milk or yogurt–isn’t very appealing. So I switched up my normal smoothie, leaving out the yogurt to create more of a slushie texture and adding some ginger for a ‘lil extra flavor. Feel free to try this smoothie in whatever variations you like–using another type of berry, blending in some greens, adding protein powder or chia seeds, etc. This is a great basic smoothie recipe, tried and true and sure to please! Enjoy!

P.S. Don’t forget to enter the #HotSummerEats giveaway for lots of great prizes, including the ginger I received from Gourmet Garden and used in this recipe.

two years ago: Pretzel Rolls

Strawberry Ginger Smoothie

  • Servings: 2
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Ingredients:

  • 2 cups frozen strawberries, thawed on the counter for 5 minutes
  • 2 sliced, frozen bananas, thawed on the counter for 5 minutes
  • 1/2 tablespoon Lightly Dried Ginger – or an equivalent of fresh grated ginger
  • 1/2 cup water, almond or coconut milk, juice, or other liquid, as desired/needed for blending
  • honey, optional

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a blender and pulse until liquefied. Taste and add more ginger if desired, or add some honey for additional sweetness if needed. Serve immediately.

For more #HotSummerEats recipes, click the link below:

Disclaimer: Thank you to Gourmet Garden for providing samples and product to use for#HotSummerEats recipes without additional compensation. I was not asked to provide positive feedback. All opinions are my own. Please check them out on Facebook, Twitter,Instagram, and Pinterest for more information on their products.

Appetizers, Main Dishes, Recipes, Salads

#HotSummerEats: Cherry Chipotle Chicken Salad with Cherry Lime Salsa

Sarah

Inspired by your favorite summer drink, this tangy sweet ‘n savory Cherry Lime Salsa is phenomenal with tortilla chips or atop a crunchy chicken salad. Salads in summer just taste better. Fresh ingredients, lots of textures, veggies, fruit… what’s not to love? This is a new favorite!

Cherry Chipotle Chicken Salad with Cherry Lime Salsa for #HotSummerEats | thepajamachef.com #salad #recipe #summer

Cherry Limeade is the quintessential summer drink, isn’t it? Whether you have a Sonic nearby or not, it just sounds like summer! Cherries, limes, sugar… mmm. This fantastic summer salad/salsa combo is inspired by the refreshing beverage and I’m sure you’re going to love it! Before I tell you all about it, can I let you in on a little secret? I don’t think I’ve ever had a whole Cherry Limeade of my own! Seriously. I think I just steal sips from Ben’s. 🙂 But that’s okay, this salsa MORE than makes up for it. The salsa is incredibly simple–only three ingredients. Cherries, a lime, and some Cherry Chipotle Not Ketchup. “No’chup” as Ben calls it is fantastic. I’ve been able to try a few flavors, and this one is amazing. It’s sweet and smoky with a hint of spice. Thanks, Erika, for your sponsorship! The salsa is sweet, smoky, and tangy all at once. I was sampling it with tortilla chips when I had a flashback to this BBQ chicken salad I made every other week last summer and decided to shake it up with some cherry chipotle flavors.

Cherry Chipotle Chicken Salad with Cherry Lime Salsa for #HotSummerEats | thepajamachef.com #salad #recipe #summer

The combination of crisp romaine, crunchy corn, and sweet tomatoes is awesome on its own. But add in that Cherry Lime Salsa and some chicken tossed in more of the Cherry Chipotle Not Ketchup and you have a masterpiece! Admittedly, this salad is simple but it is very tasty and looks fancy to impress your friends and family. You can purchase Not Ketchup online or in select stores in CA, MI, and a few other states, but in a pinch I think you could get some of the same flavors with cherry jam and chipotle peppers. [Not Ketchup is awesome and I’d purchase it on my own for sure but I always like to give people options, ya know?!] This salad is full of all things delicious and I’m excited to eat the leftovers for lunch today!

Cherry Chipotle Chicken Salad with Cherry Lime Salsa for #HotSummerEats | thepajamachef.com #salad #recipe #summer

By the way, making this salsa was made a zillion times easier with the help of a cherry pitter. I received one as part of #HotSummerEats from Casabella and it’s quite easy to use. I highly recommend it and can’t wait to use it to make my first cherry pie later this summer. Thanks for the gift! 🙂 You can win one and some great other prizes as part of #HotSummerEats this week. Go here for the giveaway! Good luck!

one year ago: Dark Chocolate Double Coconut Macaroons
two years ago: Blueberry Burgers

Cherry Chipotle Chicken Salad with Cherry Lime Salsa

  • Servings: 4
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Ingredients:

for salsa

  • 1/2 pound cherries [approximately 1 1/2 cups]
  • 1 lime, zested and juiced
  • 3-4 tablespoons Cherry Chipotle Not Ketchup

for salad

  • 2 cups cooked, shredded chicken
  • 3/4 cup Cherry Chipotle Not Ketchup
  • 1 medium head romaine lettuce, torn
  • 1 cup corn [frozen or sliced off the cob]
  • 1 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced
  • crushed tortilla chips, for topping

Directions:

Wash and pit cherries, then slice into quarters and place in a bowl. Stir in zest and juice from 1  lime, then add 3 tablespoons Cherry Chipotle Not Ketchup. Taste and add another tablespoon or so if desired. Set aside while preparing salad.

In a small bowl, stir together cooked, shredded chicken and Cherry Chipotle Not Ketchup. Heat on the stove or in the microwave until warm. Divide lettuce, corn, and tomatoes between four plates or large bowls. Top with chicken, cherry lime salsa, and crushed tortilla chips. Enjoy!

For more delicious #HotSummerEats recipes, check out the link below!

Disclaimer: Thank you to Not Ketchup and Casabella for providing samples and product to use for#HotSummerEats recipes without additional compensation. I was not asked to provide positive feedback. All opinions are my own. Please check Not Ketchup out on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+, and Pinterest for more information on their products. You can also find Casabella on Twitter and Facebook to learn more.

 

Main Dishes, Pasta, Recipes

#HotSummerEats: Southwestern Cilantro Mac and Cheese

Sarah

An easy, creamy baked macaroni and cheese with corn and tomatoes… and a kick of Southwestern flair!

Southwest Cilantro Mac and Cheese for #HotSummerEats on thepajamachef.com

Welcome to day 1 of #HotSummerEats! Don’t forget to read all about the event and check out the giveaway here. There are lots of great items up for grabs and I’d love for my readers to win. 🙂 </end plug> When I first started thinking about the concept of hot summer eats, barbecue foods were the first to come to mind. And thanks to the sweet lady who served as our cook in my sorority house in college [shout out to RV!], when I hear barbecue, I also think “mac and cheese.” She’d always serve BBQ chicken with mac and cheese, and that combo is fabulous!

Southwest Cilantro Mac and Cheese for #HotSummerEats on thepajamachef.com

There are several mac and cheese recipes that I love–a stovetop version and a baked version–but both can be kind of fussy and time consuming. In the summer, especially when preparing food for a party or barbecue, speed is imperative. So when I found a recipe for a baked mac and cheese dish that used sour cream and shredded cheese for the sauce, I was pumped! That is SO easy and sounded fabulous. I also stirred in some of my kitchen staples–canned tomatoes and frozen corn–to kick up this dish a notch.

Southwest Cilantro Mac and Cheese for #HotSummerEats on thepajamachef.com

For flavors, I used some Gourmet Garden stir-in pastes: cilantro and chili pepper. I’ve used these so much in the past and am so glad to say that they’re a sponsor of #HotSummerEats! They’re so easy and convenient to use, and add a ton of flavor in one easy package! The result? This mac and cheese was super cheesy, super flavorful, and super delicious! The easy sauce was just as tasty as some of its more fussy counterparts, though you do have to give it a good stir after baking to evenly distribute to cheese. Small problems though, when this dish is so good! I hope you love it as much as we do. 🙂

one year ago: Black Bean and Rice Soup
four years ago: Lemony Kale Pasta

Southwestern Cilantro Mac and Cheese

  • Servings: 8
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adapted from Good Cheap Eats

Ingredients:

  • 1 pound cavatappi pasta
  • 8 ounces Jalapeno Light Cheddar Cheese, cut into chunks [I used Cabot; a pepperjack would also work]
  • 4 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded – divided
  • 1 cup sour cream
  • 1 – 10 ounce can diced tomato and green chiles, drained
  • 1/2 cup corn, from an ear of cooked corn or frozen works too
  • 1/4 cup Cilantro Paste – from Gourmet Garden [or about 1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro]
  • 2 tablespoons Chili Pepper Paste – from Gourmet Garden  [or other spice like red pepper flakes or hot sauce, to taste]
  • Lightly Dried Cilantro – from Gourmet Garden, for topping [or chopped fresh cilantro]

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees while a large pot of water comes to a boil. Grease a 9×13 baking dish with cooking spray.

Cook pasta until just under al dente, since it will cook further in the oven. In a large bowl, stir together Jalapeno cheese, half of the shredded cheddar cheese, tomatoes, corn, cilantro, and chili pepper paste.

When pasta is done, drain and add pasta to the sauce in the bowl. Stir together to combine, then transfer to the baking dish. Note: there will not be tons of extra sauce, just enough to coat the noodles. Place in preheated oven and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown.

Stir pasta and sauce together in baking dish to recombine and then serve with additional cilantro.

For more #HotSummerEats recipes, click the link below:

Disclaimer: Thank you to Gourmet Garden for providing samples and product to use for#HotSummerEats recipes without additional compensation. I was not asked to provide positive feedback. All opinions are my own. Please check them out on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest for more information on their products.

 

Pumpkin Banana Muffins | thepajamachef.com
Breakfast, Muffins, Recipes

Pumpkin Banana Muffins

Sarah

Add some pumpkin to your normal banana muffins for a fun twist on a classic recipe. 🙂

Pumpkin Banana Muffins | thepajamachef.comWhen you move, you often have a lot of food to use up so you don’t have to haul it across town. Or is that just me? Soooo I hope you can bear with me as I talk about pumpkin in May. I love it year round, and hope a lot of you do too! Ha!

Pumpkin Banana Muffins | thepajamachef.comAs you know if you’ve ever read my blog, I love muffins. SO much. I almost always have them wrapped in sandwich bags to add to our work lunches–it’s so handy. And since I try to make most of my muffins on the healthier side, it’s a fun good-for-you pseudo-dessert to enjoy during the work day. I’m sure some nutritionists/dieticians might disagree with me on this… but heyyy I like my muffins and I’m not ashamed of it. 🙂 Muffins aren’t ever filling enough for a normal breakfast, but they are a great lunchbox addition or snack. I know these muffins don’t look like much, but they taste great. Like their name implies, they’re a cross between banana and pumpkin muffins. Neither flavor overwhelms, and both flavors go great with pumpkin pie spice. I love making muffins with lots of fruit and/or spice so you don’t have to have tons ‘o sugar to get tons ‘o flavor. I know this is a recipe I’ll turn to again and again since I always have brown bananas on hand, and come fall, will have half empty cans of pumpkin to use up. If you want to spice these up a bit, feel free to stir in some sliced almonds or mini chocolate chips. Mmm! Enjoy!

two years ago: Apple Cream Chicken
three years ago: Pork Chops with Balsamic Blackberry Salad + Orzo

Pumpkin Banana Muffins

  • Servings: 12-16
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adapted from Simmworks Family Blog

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups all purpose or white whole wheat flour
  • 1/3 cup brown sugar, packed
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2-3 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
  • 2 medium bananas, mashed
  • 1 cup pumpkin puree
  • 1/4 cup canola oil
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray muffin tins with cooking spray or line with paper liners. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and pumpkin pie spice.

In a smaller bowl or measuring cup, whisk together bananas, pumpkin, oil, eggs, and vanilla, until fully combined.

Add wet mixture to dry mixture, gently folding until combined. Divide batter between prepared muffin cups, then bake for 13-15 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cakes, Desserts, Recipes

Yellow Birthday Cake with Whipped Chocolate Frosting

Sarah

Perfectly fluffy and sweet yellow birthday cake, served up with an airy chocolate frosting. Perfection for your birthday celebration!

Yellow Birthday Cake with Whipped Chocolate Frosting | thepajamachef.comMy favorite cake to make is snack cake, for several reasons. A) It’s easy. B) It’s called a snack cake so I can eat it for a snack… or breakfast. 🙂 C) It’s pretty foolproof. Though I’ve been making layer cakes for years, they are still a wee bit intimidating because of all the what if’s. What if the cake doesn’t come cleanly out of the pan? What if a layer breaks when frosting it? What if, what if, what if? But the thing is… for birthdays, when you want to make people feel special, it’s the fancy cakes you want to make. And to me, fancy cake=layer cake. So every year for Ben’s birthday I try to make him a fancy layer cake. He’s always a yellow cake kind of guy, so for a recent* birthday he asked for his favorite… with some whipped chocolate frosting. Apparently buttercream or cream cheese frostings aren’t exactly his fave. Who knew?

Yellow Birthday Cake with Whipped Chocolate Frosting | thepajamachef.comThis was truly the cake [and frosting] of his dreams. The yellow cake was soft, moist, and fluffy… sweet, but not too sweet–the perfect pairing for a light and airy whipped chocolate frosting. Before this, I had only had whipped vanilla frosting. Whipped chocolate frosting is pretty darn good! It has the essence of chocolate, without the overwhelming richness that most chocolate frosting has. In a word, we thought it was incredible! And since it only contains two ingredients–heavy whipping cream and chocolate chips–it’s so easy to make, and even easier to spread. No complaints here. 🙂 Enjoy!

*when I say recent, I mean… ummm, well, 2014. Yikes. I am b-e-h-i-n-d. 🙂 Cake is still cake though, right?!

one year ago: Italian Tortilla Rollups & an epic bridal shower menu
two years ago: Granola Tips
three years ago: Tortellini Soup

Yellow Birthday Cake with Whipped Chocolate Frosting

  • Servings: 12
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cake from Cinnamon-Spice & Everything Nice; frosting from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe

Ingredients:

for cake

  • 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 cups sugar
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter, soft
  • 1 1/4 cups milk
  • 3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 3 large eggs

for frosting

  • 1 1/4 cups semisweet chocolate chips
  • 2 1/4 cups heavy whipping cream

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease and flour desired cake pans [I used 2 round 9″ cake pans but original recipe has other options- 3 round 8″ pans or a 9×13″ rectangular pan].

To make cake, combine all ingredients in a large bowl, then use an electric mixer to mix on low for 30 seconds. Scrape the sides of the bowl as you go, then increase speed to high and beat for 3 minutes, scraping the sides of the bowl occasionally. Divide batter between cake pans, then bake for about 25-30 minutes if using the 9″ pans [or 35-40 minutes for the 9×13 or 30-25 minutes for the 8″ pans]. Bake until the cake just pulls away from the sides of the pan and the top is golden brown. A toothpick inserted in the center should come out clean as well.

While cake is baking, prepare the frosting. Heat the heavy whipping cream in a small saucepan on low heat until it comes to a simmer. Place the chocolate chips in a medium bowl, then pour the hot whipping cream on top of then. Let rest for 5 minutes, then gently whisk until combined, smooth with a glossy texture. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap, then refrigerate for 2-3 hours until completely chilled and cold. An ice water bath can speed up the process. When cold, use an electric mixer to whip the frosting into soft peaks.

When cake is done, cool in pan for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely before frosting. Frost cake immediately and consider storing in the fridge to keep the frosting set until ready to serve.