iPhone Update: Dinner and a night cap

During the weekdays, dinner tends to be simple and easy at our house. And after all the baked treats I’ve been consuming as of late, I think it’s time to go back to the high protein diet, saving my carb consumption for just dinner time.

Well, Japanese style noodle dishes are somewhat of a staple for us, as they are both simple to prepare and generally healthy. This iteration is no different.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups of chicken broth
• 4 tablespoons of white miso
• 2 chicken thighs, roasted at 400 degrees F for 25 minutes, cooled, and pulled apart
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 eggs, hardboiled and halved
• 1/2 carrot, thinly sliced on a bias
• 1/2 cup thin sliced cabbage
• 1/3 cup frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed of liquid
• 1 package of fresh ramen or yakisoba noodles. If using dried noodles, pre cook them and discard seasoning packet
• 1 scallion, sliced thin

Directions:

1. whisk together broth, miso, and soy sauce and bring to a boil
2. Divide noodles in half and place in two large soup bowls.
3. Divide all ingredients in half and neatly arrange in bowls over noodles.
4. Ladle hot broth in each bowl. Garnish with scallion.

Later in the night? Hot cocoa! Now I have a use for the leftover marshmallow! Kind of defeats the point of a healthy dinner though 😉

Ingredients:

• 2 Tablespoons of unsweetened cocoa
• 4 Tablespoons of sugar
• 2 cups of milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Combine in a sauce pot, whisk together, and heat!

 

Would you like S’More?

Bad joke aside, it only takes three ingredients to warm the heart: Crunchy graham crackers, half melted milk chocolate, and gooey marshmallow. Indeed, the s’more is a simple pleasure, easy to make and even easier to devour.

Well, I always like to kick things up a notch. Or 10 notches. Laura and I were talking about s’mores not long ago, and it gave me inspiration to put together something stunning and a little more elegant. My wife’s recent  interpretation of the Hawaiian Host Caramac (wish I had pictures) further elicited images in my mind of what I was looking for in a s’more dessert.  I flipped through some of my old notebooks and texts to find what I might be looking for; a graham cracker crust that would put shame to the crumbly mess found on the bottom of most cheesecakes, a milk chocolate filling soft enough to melt my heart yet firm enough to strengthen my soul, and a homemade marshmallow that could enthrall even the pickiest of marshmallow enthusiasts!

This has the potential to be epic.