An Ode to Chocolate

Since I had an Ode to Mint, I thought I should have one to chocolate as well.

This is a very easy and absolutely delicious dessert. It is not guilt-free, but it was adapted from Cooking Light, so it can't be that bad. Right?

• 2 cups 1 % milk, divided
• 2 cups fat-free half-and-half
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips (or any sort of chocolate you want)
• 6 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 large eggs
• 2 large egg whites
• 1 1/2 tablespoon orange extract

1. Combine 1 cup of milk, all of half-and-half and sugar in a saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes or until it begins to simmer. Add chocolate chips and remove from heat. Let stand for 5 minutes to let the chocolate melt.

2. Place chocolate mixture over low heat, return to simmer, stirring frequently. In the meantime, combine remaining 1 cup of milk, cornstarch, eggs and egg whites in a medium bowl and stir with a whisk. Gradually add about a cup (or 1 1/2 cups) of chocolate mixture to the cornstarch mixture, stirring constantly with a whisk. Add this back to the remaining chocolate mixture in the saucepan and cook, stirring constantly, over low heat for about 10 minutes or until thickened (it won't be very thick, but it will thicken more when it is cooling).

3. Stir in orange extract. Cover and chill.

Grilled Steaks in Red Wine Marinade

This is definitely a special occasion type of meal (not because the prep but because you want to get a really good--meaning expensive--cut of meat for this). It was oh so worth the money though.

• 1 cup red wine, preferable Bordeaux
• 1 heaping tablespoon grain mustard
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
• 2 bay leaves
• 12 black peppercorns, crushed
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 4 to 6 6 0z. steaks

1. Combine wine, mustard, thyme, bay leaves, peppercorns and salt together in a large bowl. Mix well.

2. Add steak and toss to coat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and marinade for 8 hours or overnight.

3. Remove meat from fridge 1 hour before you are ready to grill. Drain marinade just before grilling.

4. Prepare grill. When the heat is medium-high, place steaks on grill. Sear 2 minutes on each side to seal in juices. Remove from grill until heat is medium, the put back on the grill and continue cooking 3 to 5 minutes longer on each side or until desired doneness.

Steak or Chicken Fajitas

The recipe calls for steak, but we used this with chicken. Yum! The marinade is absolutely great!

• 5 large cloves of garlic, crushed
• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon hot red pepper flakes (did not use them)
• 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1/2 chopped fresh cilantro
• 2 lbs. chicken (I used tenderloins) or skirt or flank steak
• fajita fixins: tortillas, lettuce, guacamole, salsa, sour cream, cheddar cheese, etc.

1. Combine the first eight ingredients (through cilantro) in a baking dish or tupperware. Blend thoroughly with a wire whisk. Add chicken or steak in one layer, toss to coat so that the meat is completely covered by marinade and refrigerate for 6 hours or overnight.

2. Discard the marinade. Grill chicken or steak until done. Remove to cutting board and let sit for 5-10 minutes. Slice thinly. Place in a warm tortilla and assemble with all other fixins, as desired.

Yield: 6-8 servings

Tilapia with Honey-Scallion Dressing

Super fast and very tasty. I imagine the sauce would go well with other types of fish, too. I think it would work best with rice or rice noodles, as the magazine recommends. All family enjoyed it, and it definitely got extra points from me because of the ease and speed of preparation.

Adapted from Cooking Light

Dressing:

• 2 1/2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons chopped green onions
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon bottled ground fresh ginger (such as Spice World)
• 1/4 teaspoon dark sesame oil

Fish:

• 1 tablespoon canola oil
• 4 (6-ounce) tilapia fillets
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon black pepper

1. To prepare dressing, combine first 6 ingredients in a bowl, stirring well with a whisk.

2. To prepare fish, heat canola oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle fish evenly with salt and pepper. Add fish to pan; cook 3 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork or until desired degree of doneness.

3. Drizzle each filet with 2 tablespoons of dressing.

4. As you eat it, figure out what you will do with all the time you now have since you didn’t spend all of it cooking.

Yield: 4 servings

Grilled Tofu Burgers

Since I love tofu, I loved this recipe. The Husband thought that the texture was a bit too mushy for him. I am guessing that we should have grilled those a bit longer, so I have incorporated that modification (and a few others) in the recipe below. I left one slice of tofu unmarinated (plain) and grilled it for the Child. He loved it, but he seems to also like to eat tofu raw. Yes, weird...

Adapted from Cooking Light

Burgers:

• 1/3 cup finely chopped fresh basil
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
• 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 pound firm or extrafirm tofu, drained WELL

Sauce:

• 1/3 cup finely chopped pitted kalamata olives
• 3 tablespoons reduced-fat sour cream
• 3 tablespoons light mayonnaise
• 1 garlic clove, minced

6 (1 1/2-ounce) hamburger buns

1. Combine all burger ingredients (minus tofu) in a large bowl/Tupperware with lid. Cut tofu crosswise into 6 slices. Pat each square dry with paper towels. Place tofu slices in the bowl and let marinade at least an hour (I mixed it all up in the morning and left marinade in the fridge during the day).

2. Reserve remaining juice mixture. Place tofu slices on grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill for 5 minutes on each side. Brush tofu with the reserved juice mixture.

3. Combine all sauce ingredients and stir well. Spread about 1 1/2 tablespoons mayonnaise mixture over bottom half of each hamburger bun; top each serving with 1 tofu slice, tomato and lettuce, if desired, and top half of bun.