Cinnamon-Lime Sweet Rolls

It's hard to write about delicious food when your stomach is like a maelstrom. However, I shall persevere, since I know it's been a while.

This recipe had been nagging at me since I spied in on the last page of Cooking Light some months ago. I'm not much of a baker, I'll admit, but I've always wanted to try my hand at cinnamon buns (or get Mr. Heart to, since his father's are notoriously delicious). So when I was hosting brunch for a friend, I jumped at the opportunity. But, being the person I am, I of course forgot an important ingredient (sour cream) and so had to get up especially early to both hike over and buy said ingredient and prepare the buns for our 11:30 Sunday brunch. Also, the original recipe calls for cardamom. This was not to be found in my local market. It was also later reported to me by Sister Heart that in another grocery store, cardamom was going for $11.99 an ounce.

I also love cinnamon. So there.

Also be careful that your melted butter is cooled when you are assembling the dough. Because then you must add a beaten egg. And hot butter + beaten egg = scrambled eggs in your dough. Ew. Gross. Not that I know from experience...

These came out really well. The lime in the icing was quite intense, so I might cut back a little and use some water instead (or if you dislike lime, you could forego it all together). I loved the fact that these were miniature. Much less guilt in eating, er, four in a sitting.

Cinnamon-Lime Sweet Rolls
from Cooking Light: Cardamom-Lime Sweet Rolls, but, you know, with cinnamon

Dough
1 package dry yeast (about 2 1/4 teaspoons)
1/4 cup warm water (100° to 110°)
1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 tsp salt
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour (about 10 1/2 ounces), divided
Cooking spray

Filling
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 TBS grated lime rind
3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp butter, melted, divided

Glaze
1 cup powdered sugar
3 TBS fresh lime juice (or 2 TBS lime juice, 1 TBS water

1) To prepare dough, dissolve yeast in warm water in a small bowl; let stand 5 minutes.
2) Combine sour cream and next 5 ingredients (through egg) in a large bowl, stirring until well blended. Gradually stir yeast mixture into sour cream mixture. Lightly spoon 2 1/3 cups flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Add 2 cups flour to sour cream mixture, stirring to form a soft dough.
3) Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic (about 8 minutes); add enough of remaining flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, to prevent dough from sticking to hands (dough will feel slightly tacky).
Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray, turning to coat top. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85°), free from drafts, 1 hour or until doubled in size. (Gently press two fingers into dough. If indentation remains, dough has risen enough.)
4) To prepare filling, combine brown sugar, rind, and cardamom.
5) Divide dough into two equal portions. Working with 1 portion at a time, roll dough into a 12 x 10–inch rectangle; brush with 1 tablespoon butter. Sprinkle half of filling over dough. Beginning with a long side, roll up jelly-roll fashion; pinch seam to seal (do not seal ends of roll). Repeat procedure with remaining dough, 1 tablespoon butter, and filling. Cut each roll into 12 (1-inch) slices. Place slices, cut sides up, in a 13 x 9–inch baking pan coated with cooking spray. 6) Cover and let rise 30 minutes or until doubled in size. Preheat oven to 350°.
7) Uncover dough. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool in pan 5 minutes on a wire rack.
8) To prepare glaze, combine powdered sugar and juice, stirring until smooth. Drizzle glaze over warm rolls.

Thai Noodle Salad with Chicken

Another recipe out of Cooking Light! This salad looks so beautiful, fresh and delicious. The original recipe calls for tofu rather than chicken, but we have yet to acquire a taste for tofu. The chicken came out wonderful with the marinade nevertheless. Unfortunately, the noodles came out undercooked. I might actually boil the noodles for a couple of minutes rather than just letting them soak in boiling water. Soaking them is great for stir-frying (see this fantastic Pad Thai recipe) but they were almost unpleasantly crunchy here. Mr. Heart was not a huge fan of the dressing, which he found too strong (which is odd because I'm usually the one to complain about dressings), so for once we had a split vote. I enjoyed this, though it had potential to be better. I'm thinking for next time making a peanut-sauce type dressing.

Thai Noodle Salad with Chicken
from Cooking Light with mods.
Serves 2

1 large chicken breast, cut into strips
2 TBS lime juice
1 TBS low-sodium soy sauce
1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp sugar
2 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 TBS canola or peanut oil

1/2 lb uncooked rice vermicelli

1 cup romaine lettuce torn into small pieces
1/2 cup shredded carrot
1/2 cup cucumber, sliced thinly
salt to taste

1/4 cup lime juice
2 TBS low-sodium soy sauce
2 TBS canola or peanut oil
1 TBS fish sauce
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp grated ginger
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp minced garlic

1) Combine first eight ingredients in a ziplock bag. Seal and marinate at room temperature for at least 30 minutes.
2) Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add a tablespoon of oil to the pan and swirl to coat. Heat for thirty seconds. Add chicken and sauté for 5 -7 minutes until crispy, golden brown, and cooked through.
3) Prepare rice noodles according to package directions (something like cook in boiling water for 2 -3 minutes or until just tender). Do not over cook! Drain and rinse in cold water. Set aside.
4) Combine last nine ingredients in a measuring cup and whisk to combine to create the dressing.
5) Toss together lettuce, carrots, cucumber, and rice noodles in a large bowl. Add dressing, to taste. Toss to combine. Top with chicken and serve!

Coming soon!
Step-by-step photos of Asparagus Risotto
Banana Bread
Chocolate Walnut-Date Balls
"Unceremonious" Balsamic Steak

Gnocchi with Asparagus and Pancetta

Homemade gnocchi and I have a history of failure (a story for another time). So when Cooking Light's trio of gnocchi recipes only required the store-bought variety, I jumped at the chance to have successful gnocchi in my home kitchen without the grief off boiled blobs of mashed potatoes.

We tried both the Gnocchi with Chicken Sausage, Bell Peppers, and Fennel as well as the Gnocchi with Asparagus and Pancetta. The former was okay, but was severely-lacking in flavor, despite it's myriad of interesting ingredients, probably do to it's lack of sauce (perhaps uping the liquid content would help), though the fennel was an interesting touch. It's a recipe worth revisiting and modifying. The latter was delicious, though we went a little overboard on the pancetta (a little goes a long way my friends).

Gnocchi with Asparagus and Pancetta
from Cooking Light, with slight mods.
Serves 2
8 oz. pre-packaged (or fresh) gnocchi
1 oz. pancetta, cut into thin strips, about 1/4 cup (I put in, like, 3 oz. which was overpowering)
1 thinly sliced shallots
1/2 pound asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
2 TBS grated Parmesan cheese

1) Cook gnocchi according to package directions. Drain, reserving 1/4 cup cooking liquid. Keep warm.

2) Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add pancetta and sauté 5 minutes or until crisp. Transfer to a paper towel–lined plate.

3) Add asparagus to pan; sauté 5 minutes or until tender. Add shallots and sauté until translucent, about 3 min. Stir in garlic; sauté 1 minute. Add gnocchi, pancetta, 2 TBS reserved cooking liquid, juice, salt, and pepper to pan and cook an additional minute or so until flavors are mingled and the dish is warmed through (add more reserved cooking liquid if pan gets too dry). Divide among boths and top with cheese.

Tilapia Recipes

I've been cooking up a storm, even if I haven't been posting about it! Keep your eyes peeled for upcoming posts on how easy it is to make your own fried rice (from leftovers no less!) and for some beautiful pictures of a recent bake-a-thon with my friend K, inspired by fellow food bloggers' recipes!

But first, I'd like to draw your attention to some recipes from Cooking Light that have inspired me recently. Mr. Heart and myself have resolved to eat more fish and by jove, learn to like it! We've started with tilapia, a mild fish to be sure, thus a good place to start. A soon as we made this resolution, Cooking Light had this great article with three delicious recipes. We tried all three of them. My favorite (which we had again tonight) was the smoked paprika, while the mister preferred the citrus vinaigrette. They were all easy to make. For the tomato and olives one, we used kalamata instead of green olives, which also worked well.

Three Quick and Easy Tilapia Recipes