Japanese Falafel #FFFMysteryBox

You ever wondered what you would make if you were on chopped? Well we played a game of chopped and this was born. Japanese Falafel, all the things you love about falafel but with all Japanese flavors!

You ever watch that show Chopped on Food Network?? We we decided to do the same thing as a group of food bloggers. The premise is you get three ingredients (that could be completely unrelated) and you need to use them all in a dish. So we changed it a little bit. The three ingredients needs to be non perishable, since we needed to mail them.

Check out the bottom of this post for more FFF Mystery Box Recipes!

I was super thrilled to play along... Then I got my box! 

Easy Veggie Skillet Lasagna

You love lasagna, but you lack the time it take to make it. No problem, this lasagna comes together in minutes only messing up one skillet! Even better it's loaded with vegetables!

Lasagna, how I love these, but how I hate to build one! Yeah I am lazy sometimes and I have a FT job, so you think I will be making lasagna very often? Bitch please...

Yeah I am a realist when it comes to food and preperation.

So I have seen lots of these skillet lasagnas. But they like cut up the lasagna noodles and it all gets mixes together and it looks like a mess. So I set out to make my own that actually resembles lasagna but in a skillet.

I LOADED this up with veggies so you don't have to feel quite as guilty for ingesting so much cheese. Onions, Peppers, mushrooms and zucchini!

I kinda upped the cheese factor too with just a baby bit of burrata- the QUEEN of all fresh mozzarella! It makes my heart sing with joy and I kinda hum a happy song when I bite into a piece.

If you are not familiar, it's basically a little fresh mozzarella purse filled with cream and more fresh mozzarella scraps. It sounds weird, but it's amazeballs. I assure you!

This is EASY and sooo damn delish I know you will do yourself a happy little cheese dance!

Easy Skillet Veggie Lasagna

by Sophia @ NY Foodgasm

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes

Keywords: entree healthy vegetarian Italian

Ingredients (6 servings)

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 medium onions, sliced
• 1 orange bell pepper, sliced
• 1 zucchini, sliced lengthwise
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms
• 6 no bake lasagna noodles
• 1 jar tomato sauce (I used Trader Joe's 3-cheese)
• 8 oz. ricotta cheese
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella
• 4 oz. burrata

Instructions

1- preheat oven to 350º

2- In a skillet over medium heat, add olive oil.

3- Add the slices of zucchini and cook on both sides, about 2 mins a side.

4- Remove cooked zucchini slices, add in the rest of the veggies and cook until onions are slightly browned.

5- Remove vegetables and turn off heat.

6- Place down 3 no bake lasagna noodles, add sauce and vegetables.

7- Lay down the sliced zucchini and 3 more lasagna noodles and more sauce.

8- Add the cheese to the top ricotta, mozzarella and burrata.

9- Bake for 15 mins and then 5 minutes at 415º

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Pumpkin Pie Energy Bars & Bites (Lara Bar Clone)

There is a food in between healthy and indulgent, this is it. These Lara Bar clones will give you energy with all natural ingredients with the flavor of pumpkin pie.

So in the spirit of fall and pumpkins and all that I created this delicious decadent and nutritious recipe! I looked up a couple Lara Bar recipes I saw online and changed it a bit to make it more something I would like that would also fit into pumpkin madness.

Power Up: Quinoa and Lentil Salad

Power up your days with this vegetarian salad made with lentils and quinoa! It's may be low in fat but it's high in flavor!

This is seriously my first quinoa recipe, like for real. I know this is a healthy food blog, but even I was skeptical on quinoa for a while. I mean even the name quinoa, pronounced keeen-waaaah it just comes off as persnickety and pretentious.... right?! Oh I'm sorry it not quinoa, it's keeen-wah. Excuse me fancy pants!

Half the Fat Zucchini Bread

I took the highest rated zucchini bread recipe and reduced the fat by half and the sugar by a third! My zucchini bread keeps it healthy, but has the same great texture and taste!

You may be rolling your eyes at me, you're thinking "Ewwwww it's gonna taste like crap with half the fat, why did you do that?" Come on now... do I look like a chick that would eat crappy food?! I founded NY Foodgasm for the purpose of creating healthy recipes for those of us that reeeeallllly love food. Good food, not "diet food".

A NY Foodgasm Quickie: Roasted Garlic Eggplant

Take regular roasted eggplant to the next level with the magic of garlic. This eggplant can stand alone as a side, main part of the dish or can be used on a panini.

So here is something you should know about me, I leap without looking most of the time. Like I would be making shit up as I went along in the kitchen, while that is sometimes fun I realize I really don't know enough about technique to be free-ballin' in the kitchen. So I used to just figure out temperatures on gut instinct. Well now-a-days people actually make my recipes so I have figured out to google proper technique.

When doing such research for roasting vegetables in the best way possible, I stumbled across a Mario Batali recipe for eggplant roasted with garlic. Of course I had a spark and NEEDED to try it STAT! Mario's recipe has a lot more oil, so I dialed it down a bit for you guys! I wanted all that magical garlic FLAVA without a bajillion grams of fat. At least in this case it is good fat from EVOO.

What you need

1 large eggplant, sliced vertically
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
salt and pepper

How to make it

1- Preheat oven to 450º
2- Mix together olive oil, garlic, oregano, salt and pepper.
3- Brush on both sides of eggplant.
4- Place on foil lined baking pan.
5- Roast for 10 minutes on each side.

Stone Fruit and Burrata Salad with Lemon Basil Dressing

Step up your salad game with some burrata! This salad is loaded with fresh summer fruits and has a lemon and fresh basil dressing. Serve to your guests and look super fancy for very little work!

I am always inspired by other blogs. Since I have a blog, I am sure you can imagine how many I read and comment on. I forget where I saw it... but I saw a stone fruit and burrata salad, so I thought I would do my own. I mean helllllo peaches and succulent and juicy with the magical creamy cheese called burrata?! NOOOOOO brainer!

Do you guys know what burrata is? Don't feel bad, I googled it when I saw it too. Seriously, google has made it possible to not sound stupid on social media. Soooo anyways burrata is like fresh mozzarella kicked up 10 notches... why you ask? Well it is just a pouch of fresh mozzarella- inside is the best part, cream and scraps of more fresh mozzarella. Good for you? No... but come one there is only 3 oz. in the whole recipe. Savor the hell outta it!

Can you imagine all these flavors mingling in your palette?? I could when I heard stone fruit and burrata. So much so I totally made this and I am totally allergic to peach skin. I had an itchy throat, but it was sooooo worth it. Kinda dumb? Sure! But I just had to and with the lemon basil dressing- it was TO DIE FOOOOOR! Or at least to itchy throat for, right?!

It is also simple and quick to put together! Can you beat that?! Pretty damn fabulous!

What you need

1 large ripe peach (I used a white peach)

2 mango nectarines (if you cannot find those you can use regular)

3 oz. burrata

Dressing

5 large basil leaves (more for garnish if desired)

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice

How to make it

1- Throw all fruit and pieces of burrata on a board.

2- In a food processor, combine all dressing ingredients.

3- Drizzle dressing on salad- DONE!

Nutritional Information

Yields 5 servings, under 200 calories each!

5 points plus on Weight Watchers

White Sangria Fruit Salad

This ain't your mama's fruit salad, it has been kicked up a notch with some white wine and honey dressing for a sangria spin.

You know I don't do boring... Like if someone asked me I make them fruit salad, it wouldn't be just some fruit in a bowl. Nope!!

So you know what also has fruit? Sangria! So why not fuse the two and make sangria fruits salad. Like regular sangria with the wine as more of a dressing...

I mean who doesn't like some alcohol in their fruit salad?! It's still healthy since there is just a little bit... just a little, it doesn't count right?

I looked up some traditional white sangria recipes and the fruit they used did not thrill me. Since this is a white sangria I wanted to keep the flavors sweet and use fruit with similar textures and flavors and lighter in color more in line with the taste of a white wine. I chose peaches, nectarines, pineapple and apricots.

I then went a little wild and added some fresh ginger to awaken the senses and I thought it would also pair nicely with the white wine and it totally did! Then to add some sweetness I added a little honey as well!

BAM! Not yo mama's fruit salad!

What you need

1 cup fresh pineapple
2 apricots, pitted and sliced
1 large ripe peach, pitted and sliced
1 large nectarine, pitted and sliced

Dressing

1 teaspoon grated ginger
2 teaspoons honey
1/3 cup Pino Grigio wine

How to make it

1- in a large bowl combine all the fruit
2- In a smaller bowl whisk together all dressing ingredients
3- Toss dressing into the fruit and mix it in.
4- Serve it all fancy and shit in a martini glass!

Nutritional Information

See still great nutritional stats, even with little bit of fun added ;)

Roasted Vegetable Polenta Lasagna

A creative vegetarian twist on lasagna with freshly roasted eggplant and a simple homemade marinara.

If you follow me on Facebook you will know I asked what you guys wanted for a recipe this week and this dish won! Roasted Vegetable Polenta Lasagna, yeah it is as awesome as it sounds. You got your basic food groups: grains, veggies and cheeeeeeese! What would lasagna be without cheese? Why can't I quit you cheese?

THIS is why I run! Cheese and beer!

A Vegan Foodgasm: Double IPA Braised Bean and Salsa Verde Bowl

This is one badass vegan and gluten free recipe that is sure to satisfy even the most carnivorous of friends kicked up with some California craft beer action!

So proud, this is my very first attempt at a Vegan recipe and it is pretty badass at that! It also happens to be gluten free! Not just some normal meal with no animals harmed in any way... but it is filling and totally kick ass complete vegan meal busting at the seams from the flavor EXPLOSION! Did I also mention it is made with some BEER!

It is well known, there are two things I don't fuck around with, FOOD and BEER!

So yeah I went ALLLL the way over the top for this puppy! I have been talking to my friend The Beer Wench and she wanted to know if any good vegetarian recipes existed for beer, there is of course the obvious beer mac and cheese, maybe beer cheese soup. But I took this shit to a whole nother level and went straight to vegan.... did I mention I like a challenge?!

One Pot Wonder: Drunken Pasta with Baby Spinach, Dried Cranberries & Goat Cheese

This is a one pot recipe that is quick, easy and will make you look like a 5 star chef!

Reading other food blogs is a constant source of inspiration. I get to see trends, what people are loving and as I see these trends I immediately get a spark of what I can do with it. Reading Joanne Eats Well with Others, I saw a one pot pasta recipe and thought, wow- this actually works?! I had an immediate flash of inspiration when I saw it- I remembered something else I had heard of and wanted to try- drunken pasta! Pasta cooked in red wine, lending color and flavor to the pasta- how could this be bad?

Piña Colada Bread Pudding

An accidental Foodgasm for Mother's Day. Why? Well this happened the day before...

Roasted Vegetable Pizza

Vegetables remind you of Spring right?! Spring is looooong overdue here in NY and I needed some Spring inspiration mixed with a heartier cold weather food. So this pizza is just what I needed. I am sure I have told you about the magic of roasted vegetables- they are so so sweet. Some of you may be like a 2 year old and pouting with your arms crossed and your face all scrunched up saying, "Ewwwww." Well don't be a baby and put them arms down. Have I ever really steered you wrong? The magic of roasting vegetables is the flavor it adds! As the water inside the veggies evaporates out, the flavor and sugars get concentrated- similar to how caramelizing onions makes them sweeter.

So the reason this roasted vegetable pizza was born was necessity. My husband and I are trying to eat less meat. Not necessarily become vegetarian, but just cut down on animal proteins. We all have our own reasons and I don't wanna convince you this is what you must do. We all walk our own road. But since I have been blogging about food, I have learned more about all things food. Meat in this country is mass produced, has all sorts of hormones and antibiotics and I am sure you can imagine the animals are not treated too well. I was blissfully ignorant. Ignorance is not bad, I didn't wanna know. So I want to try my best to eat farm raised meat when I can and cut back in general. I just want to share with all of you since you all read this blog. This is something I am trying out and trying on for size.

Eggplant Parmesan "Meat"balls

So my gratuitous v-day post was last week, but I made this recipe around the same time and all I could say is "Damn these are good" every single time I ate one. I never posted my recipe for veggie infused meatballs, but this is a staple to me. The perfect transformation of a food I love so very much to something soooo much healthier. The secret is that I add lots of hidden veggies to my meatballs. Seriously, no one will know since they a chopped up in the food processor. So I though why the hell not add the meat at all.... and use eggplant!! Since you are going to cover it in marinara anyways later on, why not add a little fresh mozzarella cheese over top. So this magical concoction was born!

Why is this a Foodgasm?

This has EVERYTHING you love about Eggplant Parmesan, even the breading, in a crispy little ball dripping in marinara and melted mozzarella cheese. They are NOT fried, they're baked! So you are losing LOTS of calories and fat and keeping ALL the flavor. These are sooooo good, I am making them twice and I almost NEVER make the same thing twice! Even better: they are not nearly as time consuming as Eggplant Parmesan.

So I don't have kids yet. But you know, I think that kids would eat these guys up! If you have vegetarian friends coming over- you can make this and both eat meatless, healthier and be completely satisfied. Actually this is one dish that makes me think, maybe I can be vegetarian someday. It is that good. Another great thing is you can make this as an appetizer or serve these over pasta as an entree.

A nice Greek inspired side: Spinach orzo topped with feta

Why is this a Foodgasm?

There are some Greek classics that I just love. I'm not talking about literature or democracy...I'm talking Greek food. A staple in my home growing up was spanakopita aka spinach pie. Savory, salty crunchy and creamy: this was my favorite. Especially the way my grandmother made it, with some rice inside. It is basically phyllo dough filled with spinach, onions and garlic, sometimes with rice.

This is sort of a deconstructed take on the classic spinach pie. Some orzo topped with roasted garlic, onion and sautéed spinach and brightened up with some lemon juice all covered in some crumbled feta cheese. It's vegetarian, delicious and satisfying!

PS- I HATE looking in the ingredients when following a recipe's instructions, let me know if you like this new formatting and if it helps.