Tag: breakfast

Roasted Cinnamon Apples with Whipped Vanilla Honey Ricotta

Roasted Cinnamon Apples with Whipped Vanilla Honey Ricotta

by Stacy ♥ 0 Leave a Comment
roasted apples, whipped ricotta, vanilla ricotta, spiced apples

Do you have any illogical food preferences? I have entirely too many. Nuts (with the exception of walnuts) are delicious in chocolate candy, but they ruin any baked goods. I like lettuce and I like cucumbers, but I do not like them together and will pick cucumber slices out of my side salads. Eggs are delicious in the afternoon or evening, but they turn my stomach when I first wake, even though I am definitely a breakfast person.

So no eggs for breakfast. 

I generally want something sweet in the morning. It could be a smoothie bowl or a muffin. I’m often guilty of eating leftover dessert for breakfast and think pie tastes best in the morning. So foods that are sort of breakfast and sort of dessert are my favorites. If you combine that revelation with the fact that I am Slavic, it fully explains why I am shaped like a hamster in midwinter.

Whether you eat this for breakfast or serve it for dessert, it is delicious.

roasted apples
Roasted Cinnamon Apples with Whipped Vanilla Honey Ricotta



This calls for only 1 tablespoon of brown sugar, as this tends to be a breakfast food for me. If you are serving this as a dessert, you’ll probably want to use 2 to 3 tablespoons of brown sugar in your apples.



Ingredients
  • 4 cups apples, peeled and diced
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon cornstarch
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice
  • 16 oz ricotta
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla


Directions
  1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
  2. Place the butter in a baking dish. Bake for 2-3 minutes or until the butter is fully melted.
  3. Combine the diced apples in a large bowl with brown sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, and lemon juice. Add the apple mixture to the baking dish and mix until the spiced apples are coated in the melted butter.
  4. Bake for 30 minutes, then let cool for 10 minutes before serving.
  5. While the apples are cooling, combine ricotta, honey, and vanilla in a large bowl. Blend with an electric mixer on medium until light and fluffy.
  6. Optional garnishes: granola, nuts, caramel drizzle, etc.
Summer Breakfast Polenta Bowls with Strawberries, Basil, and Vanilla Whipped Ricotta

Summer Breakfast Polenta Bowls with Strawberries, Basil, and Vanilla Whipped Ricotta

by Stacy ♥ 0 Leave a Comment

Some of my favorite foods are meals I have improvised when I haven’t felt like eating whatever I meal prepped, leaving me to mix together leftovers in a haphazard fashion. There was one time that I made the absolute best salad out of leftovers. I declared myself a genius and felt very smug until I learned that what I had “invented” was a variation on the Nicoise salad and people have been eating them in France forever. I was just late to the game because I am decidedly not cosmopolitan. Nicoise is still my favorite salad, even if someone else was the real inventor.

This was a similar experience, and for all I know, people could eat this every day in Italy and have a name for it. It too was created from leftovers. My original version involved a blueberry sauce, and I made it in the dead of winter. This time, it was a deliberate creation in honor of in season berries, and I added some basil to complement the Italian ingredients of polenta and ricotta.

As written, this will feed a group of 4 to 6 people for breakfast, or it can be prepared as part of a weekly meal prep for 1 person, which is what I do. 

Ingredients:

1 cup corn grits (I used Bob’s Red Mill)

10 oz full-fat ricotta cheese

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 tablespoons maple syrup

2 cups strawberries chopped

¼ cup basil chiffonade (optional, but recommended)

1 tablespoon sugar

1. Prepare polenta according to package instructions. It should make approximately 4 cups when cooked.

2. In a large mixing bowl, add ricotta cheese, vanilla, and maple syrup. Beat with an electric mixer for 2 to 3 minutes.

3. Combine strawberries, basil, and sugar in a medium sized bowl.

4. This can be either served immediately, with all 3 components layered in bowls, or for meal prep, the polenta, cheese mixture, and berry mixture can be stored in the refrigerator in separate bowls.