Eggplant and Bacon Burritos

This is a follow up post to the Chorizo Eggplant Tacos recipe posted earlier this month. Similar to the tacos, these burritos use fresh, organic eggplant to create a super simple, healthy dinner.

The spongy eggplant texture offers an almost mild, mushroom essence that compliments the bacon and tomatoes.

Fat and Happy burritos that are nutritious and delicious!

Lemon Walnut Salad with Basil Cream Cheese Stuffed Roasted Tomato

Simplicity reigns in the summer. There is really no reason to over-complicate recipes when you have fresh, garden vegetables at your discretion. And we all have them available to- some people will be able to walk out their back door and pick them while the rest of us will pay a pretty little penny for them!

At any point throughout tomato season you will find a tomato bread salad in my refrigerator; I love the way the crunchy croutons give depth to this classic tomato and cucumber salad. However, there is a time for change and since I'm out of cucumbers, balsamic vinegar and croutons, now is that time.

Roasting the tomatoes and stuffing with a little cream cheese and basil worked great for a tasty little appetizer but it felt lonely. Serving them on a bed of lettuce drizzled with fresh lemon, olive oil and toasted walnuts turned this into a lovely summer starter.

My tomatoes were about two to threes times the size of a typical cherry tomato, but any size will do the trick. In this one case, size doesn't matter; it's the Fat and Happy fresh summer flavor that will be remembered.

Eggplant and Chorizo Tacos

I've been talking a lot about my weekly CSA delivery and rightfully so. Fresh, organic produce delivered to my doorstep direct from the farm is brilliant!

However, a couple of weeks in a row of eggplants and I was running out of ideas. Then it hit me to turn them into a taco or burrito filling. Eggplant has a mild flavor and will take on the essence of its surroundings. I played with both chorizo and bacon- look for the bacon burrito posting in the next week or so.

The ingredients are completely simple and without complication. Think of this as a rendition of a street taco. A simple, organic, healthy, Fat and Happy street taco.

Basil, Parmesan Cheese and Tomato Appetizer

Summer brings the best flavors. Flavors that don't need to be sauteed, simmered or deep fried, just served fresh.

A stunning, farm-grown tomato stuffed with fresh basil and touch of Parmesan cheese topped off with a high quality olive oil and balsamic vinegar. It looks stunning and it satisfies the taste buds like nothing else.

It's the Fat and Happy version of a Caprese Salad - perfect for appetizers, side dishes or a snack with a glass of wine.


Fat and Happy Food Blog Tips and Techniques:  You must use the best tomatoes and high quality olive oil and balsamic vinegar for the greatest result!

Basil, Parmesan Cheese and Tomato Appetizer with Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar

Ripe, tasty tomatoes

Fresh basil

Parmesan cheese

Olive oil

Balsamic

For the smaller, cherry-size tomatoes- cut a little small slit in the shape of an 'X' in the top of the tomato, place a small basil leaf and a small hunk of Parmesan cheese in the slits. Add a few drop of olive oil and balsamic vinegar on top.

For a slightly larger tomato, add two angled slices on the top of the tomato. Stuff each slice with a basil leaf and a little hunk or slice of Parmesan cheese. Drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar.

Orange Tequila French Toast with Spicy Orange Syrup

Cravings are a funny thing - you don't know when they're going to hit or what they're going to be for. Normal cravings tend to run the gamut of chocolate to pickles and even beer; not too may people have French Toast cravings.

I do and did, however, and the craving lasted weeks. There was no escaping it, French Toast was going to get made and it needed to be good. Since I like to incorporate a little alcohol into everything baked and cooked or fried, this recipe ended up with a tequila edge.

The french toast itself does not make this dish, it's the combination of the french toast, the syrup and the cream that melds together and gives this breakfast treat it's amazing allure. It's sweet and savory with a little tiny spice finish.

Pair it with a classic mimosa or an orange margarita to keep the orange flavor going. And just because you're not craving it doesn't mean you shouldn't make it! Let the Fat and Happy brunch begin.

Fat and Happy Food Blog Tip and Techniques: This isn't the time to pull out your expensive tequila, use a mid -range and save the good stuff for sipping.

Tequila Orange French Toast

2 eggs

1/4 cup orange juice, fresh squeezed

1/3 cup tequila

pinch of allspice 

loaf of light French bread

1 Tbls butter

Orange Maple Syrup (recipe below)

Spiced Whipped Cream (recipe below)

The syrup takes the longest to make, begin that first and let it simmer while you are making the toast. In a shallow bowl, mix the eggs, orange juice, tequila and allspice together with  fork. Slice the bread on an angle about 2 inches thick. Heat a flat fry pan over medium high heat, use the butter to grease the pan. 

Lightly dip the bread into the egg mixture, don't let it soak too up too much mixture or become too wet. Cook on both sides until dark golden brown. While the french toast is cooking, whip up the spiced cream. 

Stack a few pieces of the french toast in the middle of a plate. Give a good drizzle of the Orange Maple Syrup and top with the Spiced Whipped Cream.

Spicy Orange Maple Syrup

1/2 c maple syrup

1/2 c orange juice, fresh squeezed

1 Tbls lemon juice

1 slice of jalapeno

Place all the ingredients into a small sauce pan, simmer until slightly reduced and thickened.  Remove the jalapeno slice before serving.

Spiced Whipped Cream

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

2 Tbls sugar

1/8 tsp allspice

1/2 tsp vanilla

Whip all of the ingredients until soft peaks form. Spoon a small dollop on top of the Tequila Orange French Toast.

Watermelon Salad with Mint and Queso Fresco

Watermelon might be the ultimate summer fruit. Every once in a while it's nice to up the ante just a little, to add a bit of panache to your fruit.

Super easy, tasty, fresh sides and salads for picnics, summer barbecues or anytime. The fact is there isn't much to say other than that. The honey adds just a touch of sweetness while the salty cheese makes the taste buds beg for more. The cooling fresh mint is just damn refreshing.

Just three little ingredients give this simple fruit elegance and happiness. And that resembles Fat and Happy more than anything else.

Recipe Swap: Ginger Molasses Frozen Cheesecake Nibs

What: August Recipe Swap
Original Recipe: Sorghum Molasses Cookies
Recreated Recipe: Frozen Ginger Molasses Cheesecake Nibs


This was nearly my first Recipe Swap fail. I was convinced that I needed to create a molasses beer cookie that had an oozing ginger center. I was so close to an amazing, porter based molasses cookie with a creamy ginger center that I could almost taste it. In fact, I did taste it ... a few times. It was so close, but I just couldn't quite get the recipe where it needed to be.


Imagine now that it's Sunday afternoon, just a few mere hours from when my recipe is supposed to be posted and I over tweaked my cookie recipe so much that these cookies now look like sad, flat little tortillas. So much for the puffy, gooey middle.

Vegetable Hash with Strawberry Vinaigrette

The one downfall of receiving my CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) delivery every week is that summertime is so jam-packed with activities that it's all too easy to let my kitchen become a fresh food graveyard.  Take this last week for example- between work, baseball outings, barbeque's, beach volleyball, trivia, dinner with friends, a street festival and a day long canoe trip, there wasn't time to play with the organic produce delivered to my door.

The zucchini, eggplant and potatoes were all looking a little worse for the wear. It was a use them now or loose them to to the freezer for stock moment. My mind churned for recipe ideas as I cleaned off the signs of neglect. Roasting the eggplant and zucchini with the potatoes for a vegetable hash brown side dish was a easy decision, but it felt dry and in need of a sauce.

The wind sent my strawberry plant peaking in the window corner as if looking longingly at the hash. Perhaps a very simply berry dressing could work, at least it was worth a shot.

Grapefruit Ice Cream

This post is the second part to the Almond Cake with Ginger Syrup post, which I blogged about previously. For whatever reason, I had it in my head that I wanted to marry ginger and grapefruit for my friends birthday cake. I did and it's a super fun mix.

The moist gingery almond cake gets a kick from the subtle yet punchy grapefruit ice cream. It's an unexpected flavor from this creamy pillow. I created this recipe slightly different than my typical ice creams by combining a custard with a typical 'fool' (whipped cream) option for a lighter end product.

Ice cream is always Fat and Happy, and now it's zippy too.