Thursday, April 29, 2010

An Ellie Krieger Recipe Roundup!


I love my copy of Ellie Krieger's So Easy. Since I received the book four months ago, I have made at least fifteen of the recipes and they have all been a hit. There are so many reasons why I love this book. First of all, the recipes really are "so easy". Secondly, I love all the nutritional facts and tips she provides in each recipe. But most of all, I love how each recipe is so well tested and executed. The recipes measure out perfectly, with no waste, leading me to have complete confidence in Ellie's expertise. I know that when I commit to making one of her recipes, it is going to come together perfectly. Definitely a sign of well-tested recipes!

This book is just about attached to my hip these days. I have a lot of Ellie's recipes lined up in the coming weeks, but this post is a roundup of the six recipes I tried this week, all quick, easy and delicious.

My daughter and her friends went absolutely nuts for Ellie's Peanut Butter Crispy Rice Treats made with crispy brown rice cereal (shown below), natural peanut butter, honey and chocolate chips. I made a half batch, subbing the dried cherries for chocolate chips per Ellie's instruction, and the half batch made 12 generous sized bars. They were gone in a matter of minutes!

The kids loved them and I was happy to have fooled them into a healthier after school snack. I am a peanut butter fanatic and these really hit the spot. Hands down the best rice crispy treat ever. It was a good thing the kids ate them all or else I would have.

In an effort to use up some of the nuts in my pantry, I made Ellie's Cherry-Almond-Chocolate Clusters. This recipe is about as easy as it gets and I was really blown away with the results. A simple combination of toasted almonds, dried cherries and melted chocolate, these treats are addictive. It's like a homemade candy bar with crunch from the almonds, sweet chewiness from the dried cherries and lots of yummy chocolate. The clusters are a very generous size and really satisfy your sweet tooth.

With some leftover wontons, I made Ellie's Powdered Sugar Crisps. A couple of wonton wrappers, a tad bit of canola oil, a hot oven and a dusting of confectioners' sugar and we were happily crunching away! A fun crunchy treat that would be even better with maybe a sprinkling of cinnamon and some fruit salsa on the side. I would definitely make these again.

I love making smoothies and was very happy to try Ellie's Cherry-Vanilla Smoothie. A gorgeous purple hue, this was by far our favorite smoothie in the book. The recipe made a huge amount, so both me and my son had a glass and then we poured the remainder into popsicle molds. I'm anxious to see how the smoothie tastes as a popsicle. I'm crossing my fingers and will tell you all about the results on Monday's Popsicle of the Week post!!

For an indulgent breakfast treat, I made the Broccoli-Cheddar Breakfast Bake......all for myself! Can you believe that no one else in my house likes broccoli? They should all be committed! The breakfast bake is made the night before, sits in the fridge overnight, and is great to have in the morning because you can just throw it in the oven! I really enjoyed having such a nice breakfast and not having to do any of the work in the morning. The casserole was a combination of eggs, milk, whole wheat baguette, cheese, onion, and broccoli. I plan on sharing this with my Mom................. good thing she likes broccoli!
NOTE: There is one down side to this recipe, if you can call it that. It requires 8 whole eggs and also 8 additional egg whites. I'm not usually a fan of having 8 egg yolks leftover and I know that many of you feel the same way. All I can say is that this was one tasty casserole that I would be happy to make again. I think this recipe is worth having 8 egg yolks leftover.

The sauce on Ellie's Asian Chicken Wrap is genius and will take the blah's out of your normal everyday brown bag lunch. Ellie makes a delicious, spicy, slightly sweet, Asian-inspired sauce that really jazzes up any plain old sandwich. The sauce is a mixture of 3 tablespoons plain Greek-style nonfat yogurt, 2 tablespoons mayonnaise, 1 tablespoon brown sugar, 1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce, 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard, 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil, and 1/4 teaspoon Thai-style chili sauce (such as Sriracha).

That sauce is like liquid gold and I'm really lovin' it!! I was heavy-handed with the Sriracha because I wanted my sauce to really deliver in the heat department. This sauce was perfect in Ellie's Asian Chicken Wraps with grilled chicken, sliced red pepper, and napa cabbage. I happily ate two of these sandwiches for lunch this week and can't wait for my husband (The Sriracha King) to try it out. Best of all, these wraps can be made ahead and are even better the next day. I have a feeling this will be my husband's new favorite lunch box treat.

I am submitting this Asian Chicken Wrap to my friend Deb at Kahakai Kitchen for her Souper Sundays roundup.

I have a couple more recipes to share from So Easy. You can find the first three recipes listed on this post online at the Food Network, or by clicking on their link within this post. The last three recipes have not yet been posted, so there is no link. I did, however, include the recipe for the Asian-inspired sauce because everyone should try it. It is some good stuff!

In the meantime, I'm loving Ellie's recipes so much that I just ordered her first book, The Food You Crave(thegoodcook.com $8.99). I am anxiously awaiting it's arrival, checking my mail box everyday. There is nothing better than receiving a new cookbook in the mail. It makes me do a happy dance:D

26 comments:

  1. That sauce does sound like it would be good on a ton of things!

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  2. You're killing me with the Cherry Almond Chocolate Clusters! Actually, everything looks great.

    It's so nice to have a cookbook you can always depend on for accurate recipes. I've tried a few of Ellie Krieger's recipes from her Foodnetwork show and was more than pleased with them. Trying to cut back on buying more cookbooks, but with such an excited review as this I'm tempted ;)

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  3. Kim, I hope you do another roundup when you get her new cookbook. :o) It's funny, I have and love the exact same book but don't remember seeing the peanut butter crispy rice treats and I LOVE peanut butter. Thanks for making them and opening my eyes to what I was missing. Have a great day!

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  4. go Ellie so proud of her and she is a dietitian

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  5. I love getting packages! Especially when I know that they have cookbooks in them.

    I'm so glad you reviewed this book. I've always been slightly wary of Ellie's recipes since they don't get the best reviews on FN's website but I trust you more than I trust those crazys. I definitely will be trying that sauce!

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  6. I'm reading this again and taking notes. Fabulous post - I want to try it all - I am always suspect of "so easy."

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  7. I wish I was living in your house, I would have endulged in just about everything! And I hear you on the brocolli; it is my favorite vegetable and I am the only one in the house who loves it...so sad.

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  8. I love getting a new cookbook in the mail. I totally do a happy dance too. This is a really great post! Love the whole round up!

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  9. I'll go for those cookie clusters :D they look fab.
    Have a great weekend ahead!
    *kisses* HH

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  10. Everything you made looks great. I really need to drag my Ellie books out and cook from them. The sauce for the wraps looks amazing--thank for sending them to Souper Sundays. ;-)

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  11. I don't have Ellie's book, but I do have books like this that I adore and use the recipes over and over.
    Really should put her book on my Amazon wish list!

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  12. These all look delicious Kim. I loved watching Ellie's shows, but haven't made many of her recipes. Looked at her books too but haven't bought one, maybe I should look again ;-)

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  13. girl, if ever a review was going to sell me a book, this would be it! i love ellie too, and everything you made it making my mouth water. you should join craving ellie in my belly, you get to make her stuff once a week and it's always delicious!

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  14. So true - nothing better than a new cookbook arriving in the mail! I love all of these recipes, especially the broccoli breakfast bake. Great that you can set that up the night before and just pop it in the oven in the morning. Hope you enjoy your new Ellie cookbook too!

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  15. I'm loving those little sugar crisps...yum!

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  16. Great post and there's nothing better than a new cook book! I will have to check it out! Happy cooking!

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  17. She has so many great healthy snacks! I would love the rice krispie bars and the clusters. I always like what she makes on her show - I wish it were on more often. The cookbook sounds like a winner.

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  18. Wow! Wonderful dishes!!!Those bars look amazing!

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  19. What an excellent review Kim!! And such a wide variety of dishes you chose. Just wonderful! I loved the sound of that egg bake!

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  20. What a wonderful selection of "so easy" recipes! They all look and sound delicious. I can see why this cookbook is attached to your hip. I'll have to find it at the library next trip. Hope you have a good weekend!

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  21. Kim, I love Ellie Krieger's recipes too! She has great tasting healthy recipes that I love. This is a great round up. :)

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  22. I really want to get my hands on that cookbook! I love healthy/easy recipes--I'll have to go order it through the library! That broccoli bake looks heavenly, for any meal of the day!

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  23. You keep turning me on to new cookbooks! That is a nice array of dishes yu presented.

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  24. I'm all over that sauce for the wrap! Like you, I'm a sriracha freak. I can imagine how good this must be on a sandwich too. Going to find my jump drive so I can copy this.

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  25. Oh man, another cookbook I want now!!

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  26. It all sounds and looks good but I'm all over the egg bake. Great round up!

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