Chocolate Chip Cookies

It took me quite a while to come up with the name for my blog. And I believe that I found The One. Life in Chocolate has both figurative and literal meaning for me. Figuratively it is being in a happy place: being grateful for what I have, being satisfied with who I am, being surrounded and feeling blessed to have an amazing and caring family. It doesn't mean that everything is perfect and I have nothing to work on or to wish for, but I believe that I have the foundation, the most important things, all the other stuff is achievable!
The literal meaning of my blog's name comes from the fact that my favorite food of all times is chocolate:) You can find chocolate in its different forms in my house at any given time. As a teenager I used to come home from school, call my mom's cellphone and say: "Mom, we don't have anything to eat". She would say: " No, we have soup, and there is pasta dish in the fridge." And I would answer: "But we don't have chocolate":) 
As I always have it ready to eat, I make chocolate desserts very rarely. But these cookies made their way into my cooking repertoire. One day we were going to my father-in-law and I felt like making something special for him. He is into chocolate like I am and I decided to go with these cookies. From that day he asks for them all the time. I have to routinely fight with my Man and other family members so they don't I eat all the cookies and I have at least something left for my father-in-law.
Through experimenting I found my perfect cooking time for these cookies - 11 minutes 30 seconds. But it can be different for your oven. I take them out and the top is still soft to touch and maybe a tiny bit undercooked, but they get there during 5 minutes of cool down. They turn out soft, chewy, and with a right amount of sweetness. No amount I make ever seems enough;)

 

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups plain flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 stick of butter, room temperature

1/2 cup golden brown sugar

6 tbsp white sugar

1 egg

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Sift together flour, baking soda and salt. In another bowl combine butter, brown sugar, white sugar, egg and vanilla using a mixer. Add the ingredients from the first bowl and mix thoroughly.

Add in the chocolate chips and mix with a wooden spoon until all the chips are evenly distributed and covered with the batter.

Preheat the oven to 350°F/ 180°C. Line the baking dish with parchment paper. Drop tablespoons of the dough 2 inches from each other and from the rims, because the cookies are going to expand. 

Baking time is 10-12 minutes depending on the oven. The cookies are ready once the edges are light brown and the top is light and soft to touch. Take the cookies out and let them sit for 5 minutes.

Makes 18 cookies

Enjoy!

Lentil Soup

With summer approaching I switch to lighter, water-based soups. Lentil zucchini soup is satisfying, colorful and healthy. As a bonus for us, ladies, who are getting ready for the swimsuit season, it is low in calories. It is a perfect lunch or have it for a light dinner in the evening.

Ingredients:

½ cup red lentils

1 tsp cooking oil

½ onion, finely chopped

1 zucchini, diced

2-2 ½ cups water

¼ tsp ground turmeric

salt

pepper

Heat the oil in a frying pan on a low setting. Place the onion in the pan and cover it. Cook the onion for 6-7 minutes until soft, stirring once. Put the heat setting on medium and add zucchini to the pan. Cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Wash lentils and place them in a pot. Add turmeric, water and the ingredients from the pan. Bring the liquid to the boil. Reduce the heat setting to low and cover the pot. Let the soup simmer for 15-20 minutes (until the lentils are soft and ready). Pass the soup through a sieve. Reserve approximately a cup of the body of the soup and place the rest in a blender. Blend until smooth. Return the liquid, the mix from the blender and the reserved cup to the pot, season with salt and pepper and mix thoroughly. 

Serve hot with crackers or toasts. 


Makes 3-4 servings 

Tips:

• For a richer flavor, use stock as a base for this soup
• Adding meat is another great way to enrich the dish

Enjoy!

Mediterranean Style Meatballs

Many of the dishes I make are in one way or another inspired by different places my Man and I go to. I got the inspiration for these meatballs from a hookah lounge we frequent at. They serve amazing Mediterranean dishes - different kinds of meat with veggies and warm soft pita bread and lots of mouth-watering sauces. At that place, for many people, smoking hookah comes first to eating, for me the food is the priority:)

To create these flavorful meatballs I added cauliflower to a mix of pork and beef. The flavors of carrot, parsley and garlic give them the Mediterranean twist that I crave.

These kinds of dishes are also a great way to incorporate vegetables like cauliflower or broccoli into the diets of people who otherwise don't like them. I think we all have at least one of those picky eaters in every family:) This way they still get all nutrients from the vegetable without even knowing it.

Ingredients:

½ lb ground beef

½ lb ground pork

a little less than a cup crumbled cauliflower (thoroughly blended until resembles breadcrumbs)

1 medium carrot, grated

2 cloves garlic, minced

parsley, finely chopped

cooking oil

salt

pepper

 

In a bowl combine beef, pork, cauliflower, carrot, garlic and parsley. Season with salt and pepper. Mix thoroughly with your hands. Add 1-2 tablespoons of water so the mixture is more pliable. Cover the bowl and put in the fridge for 30 minutes (or overnight if necessary). 

Form into 6-7 ovals.

Heat the oil in a frying pan on a medium setting and place the meatballs in the pan. Cook them turning frequently until light brown from all sides.

Preheat the oven to 375°F/ 190°C. Place the meatballs in a baking dish and cook them in the oven for 20-30 minutes. When the meatballs are ready, serve them with a side dish of your choice.

Mediterranean Style Meatballs served with couscous salad

Tips:

• Serve meatballs with yogurt-cucumber sauce (tzatziki) or tomato sauce

Enjoy!