Maryland Style Crab Cakes

It wouldn’t be a trip to Maryland without having something crab related! One night during my trip last week, my dad made crab cakes for us to have for dinner, and they were so incredibly easy to make (and delicious), I thought I’d share them with you!

Ingredients:

 2 slices of bread (your choice)

2 tbsp mayonnaise

2 tsp Old Bay seasoning

2 tsp parsley flakes

½ tsp yellow mustard

1 egg, beaten

1 lb crabmeat

 

Directions:

1. Break up the 2 slices of bread into small pieces into a mixing bowl.
2. Add your mayonnaise, Old Bay, parsley flakes, and mustard into mixing bowl with bread.
3. In a separate bowl, add your egg and whisk it until the yolk and whites are mixed together.
4. In your mixing bowl with all your other ingredients, add your 1 lb of crabmeat and beaten egg.
5. Fold the egg and crabmeat, and mixture of other ingredients together.
6. Using your hands, form patties with the mixture.
7. If you’re using a George Foreman grill, spray or butter your grill and then place down the patties and cook for 3 minutes, flipping, and then cooking for an additional 3 minutes. You can also cook these in a skillet over medium heat, also cooking for 3 minutes, flipping, and cooking for an additional 3 minutes.
8. Remove from heat, and enjoy! These can be eaten on buns as sandwiches, or alone with side options.

Let me know if you try out this recipe, and thanks for reading!  And thanks to my dad for sharing this recipe! 🙂

Bows and Arrows,

Lynda

The Easiest Rice Side Dish You’ll Ever Make

I make this side dish at lease once a week, because it pairs well with almost anything I cook. I just made it for dinner tonight, and I thought I’d share it with everyone. It takes very little time, only uses 4 ingredients, and is very flavorful! It’s also so easy to make, someone with absolutely no talent in the kitchen can get this right!

Ingredients:

2 cups cooked brown rice (I used Uncle Ben’s Instant Brown Rice)

1 ½ tsp dried rosemary

1 ½ tsp dried thyme

1 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

 Directions:

1. Cook your rice per package instructions and transfer to a mixing bowl while still hot.
2. Add in the other 3 ingredients, and mix well. Serve immediately.

See, wasn’t that easy?

Bows and Arrows,

Crispy Garlic Green Beans

Since the holidays are quickly upon us, I thought I’d share a quick-to-make side dish with everyone. If you’re not a fan of green bean casserole, or you just don’t want to eat all those calories, this could be the perfect green bean side dish substitute for you!

 

Ingredients:

½ lb Green Beans, rinsed

2 Garlic Cloves, chopped

1 ½ tsp Ground Ginger

¼ cup water

1 tbsp Vegetable Oil

2 tsp Sesame Seeds

Directions:

1. In a wok, or small skillet, heat vegetable oil on high heat. Once oil is heated, reduce heat to medium-high and add green beans, shifting them around so they are all coated in the oil. Add ¼ cup of water to wok.
2. Once water begins to boil, add chopped garlic cloves and cook green beans for 5-8 minutes until water is almost completed evaporated, moving them constantly in the wok.
3. Once water has evaporated, add ground ginger to the wok and stir in with green beans and garlic. Reduce heat to medium, and cook for an additional 2 minutes. Remember to keep shifting the green beans so they don’t begin to burn on the bottom of the wok.
4. Add 1 tsp of sesame seeds to the wok, and mix throughout the green beans, for an additional 30 seconds.
5. Remove from heat, and place on serving platter. Top with the other tsp of sesame seeds. Enjoy!

Servings:

My recipe only serves 2 because I made it for dinner one night, however, if you wanted to duplicate this for a larger group setting, just double or triple the ingredients needed. Your cooking time will be longer, but it’s totally worth it!

Time to make:

15 minutes

I used them as my side dish to the Asian-Inspired Lettuce Wraps I made.

Thanks for reading, and have a great week!

Bows and Arrows,

Lynda

Lynda’s Tabouli Recipe

I thought I’d start off the week with a healthy recipe that you can make this week for lunch or as a side dish at dinner. There are many tabouli recipes out there, but here’s mine!  It doesn’t take long to make at all; it’s mainly just chopping time. Not only is it healthy, but is also full of flavor, and my boyfriend loves it. Try it out sometime this week, and let me know what you think!

Side note: it’s vegetarian, vegan, can be made gluten-free if you substitute quinoa rather than using bulgur wheat, and it’s extremely healthy. Here are just a few tidbits (believe me, there are many more) about the ingredients.

• Bulgur wheat is high in fiber and protein, and low in calories.
• Parsley is a great source of vitamin A and C, iron, manganese, potassium, and calcium. Raw parsley is known to cleanse the blood as well.
• Mint aids in digestion.
• Cucumbers can help control blood pressure and can also aid in digestion.
• Lemon juice can help cleanse the liver and contains many nutrients such as vitamins B and C.

Time to make: 20 minutes

Servings: 8

Ingredients:

½ cup water

½ cup bulgur wheat

1 bunch fresh parsley

6 sprigs fresh mint

2 Roma tomatoes

½ cucumber

1/3 yellow onion

2 tablespoons olive oil

3 tablespoons lemon juice

Directions:

1. Using a small saucepan, boil ½ cup water. Once boiling, remove from heat and stir in ½ cup bulgur wheat. Cover and set aside for 20 minutes.
2. While bulgur wheat is soaking, mince parsley and mint. If you’re ok with larger leafy spoonfuls like me, you can chop them into not so small pieces. (It definitely saves time.)
3. Chop tomatoes, cucumber, and onion into small cubes.
4. Combine all these ingredients in a large mixing bowl and mix well. Once mixed, add olive oil and lemon juice to mixture and stir. Chill immediately.
5. You can serve right away, or chill overnight. The lemon juice soaks into the vegetables, and I think it tastes even better the next day.
   

So sorry the picture quality isn’t its best. I was making steaks at the same time (so yummy!), so my multi-tasking skills were being tested.

Have a great week!

Bows and Arrows,

Lynda

Lynda’s Strawberry Cucumber Salad

Happy Sunday!  I was experimenting in the kitchen earlier today out of boredom, and came up with this delicious cucumber and strawberry salad, and thought I’d share!  My inspiration was the Cloister Honey I got at an event in Raleigh late last year.  I wanted to make something with it, and I was in an appetizer kinda mood.

 Ingredients:

2 tbsp Newman’s Own Balsamic Vinaigrette

2 tbsp Cloister Lemon Honey (or whichever honey you prefer)

Strawberries (I used half of a container)

½ a large cucumber

1 tsp crushed mint

 

For the dressing:

 

The honey that I used is actually a solid honey, but you can use whatever you have on hand.  I added my honey, crushed mint, and balsamic vinegar to a small bowl and mixed it until it was a smooth glaze consistency.

 For the salad:

I used a potato peeler to peel off alternating parts of the cucumber.  I then sliced the cucumber and strawberry into thin circular pieces.  I added the strawberry and cucumber slices into a circular bowl, alternating each layer.

 

Once all the strawberry and cucumber slices are in the bowl, drizzle all of the dressing on top, and enjoy!

If you try it, let me know what you think!

Have a great week,

Lynda

Thanksgiving-Inspired Side Dish

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, so I’ll be headed to my grandparent’s house to enjoy some quality family time and some delicious home-cooked food.  This year I decided I would contribute by preparing a side dish.  I decided to make a classic Thanksgiving side that also happens to be one of my all time favorites- green bean casserole.  As most of you know, green bean casserole usually consists of canned green beans, cream of mushroom soup, and French’s fried onions.  Although this method is simple and tasty I decided I would try to make a fresher, somewhat healthier version of this classic. I did some searching online and came across a recipe that was intriguing firstly because of its name, “Best Ever Green Bean Casserole” and secondly because it had a ton of reviews, most of them positive.  I like that this recipe uses fresh ingredients, but while reading through the comments on the recipe I realized that most people had difficulty getting the onion topping just right. So, in order to prevent a cooking melt-down that would inevitably lead to a ruined green bean casserole in the trash and a disappointed Ashley, I decided to forgo the onion topping and just use the French’s fried onions instead! I know, I’m bad. If you’re more brave than I am and want the full recipe, please visit the site. Here’s the part of the recipe I used:

Ingredients:

2 Tbs; 1 tsp salt

1 lb. fresh green beans

Ingredients minus a few I forgot to include

2 Tbs unsalted butter

12 oz. mushrooms, trimmed and cut (I only used 8 oz. and it was plenty)

1/2 tsp black pepper

2 cloves minced garlic

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

2 Tbs all-purpose flour

1 cup chicken broth

1 cup half-and-half

Directions:

Bring to a boil enough water for the beans with 2 tablespoons of salt added. Add the beans and blanch for 5 minutes. Drain in a colander and immediately plunge the beans into a large bowl of ice water to stop the cooking. Drain and set aside. 

Melt the butter in a 12-inch cast iron skillet (I do not have one, so I just used a regular frying pan) set over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms, 1 teaspoon salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms begin to give up some of their liquid, approximately 4 to 5 minutes. Add the garlic and nutmeg and continue to cook for another 1 to 2 minutes.

Sprinkle the flour over the mixture and stir to combine. Cook for 1 minute. Add the broth and simmer for 1 minute. Decrease the heat to medium-low and add the half-and-half. Cook until the mixture thickens, stirring occasionally, approximately 6 to 8 minutes.

Remove from the heat and stir in 1/4 of the onions and all of the green beans. I removed the mixture from the pan into a baking dish since I did not have a cast iron pan to cook it in.Top with the remaining onions.

Place into the oven and bake until bubbly, approximately 15 minutes. Remove and serve immediately.

Finished product minus a corner I devoured. NOM

This turned out better than I expected! The taste is rich and creamy and much better than the canned cream of mushroom version. It has just as much flavor, but without the added long list of “ingredients” found in cream of mushroom soup. Although, the French’s fried onions are not the healthiest option, overall this recipe is a better alternative to the typical one if you are wanting to eat more whole foods and use fewer processed food items. Anything made from scratch is always tastier anyway! I definitely think the few extra minutes it takes to prepare this is absolutely worth it. I hope you’ll give it a try!

Bows and Arrows,

Ashley