Chocolate Chip Cookie Plum Sundae

The soft serve machine at the Ratty has gotten an intense workout lately. While we're at it, why not make a fancier dessert? Plums are in season, and apparently so are giant chocolate chip cookies. I don't know why the cocoa puffs are there. You can leave them out if you prefer no crunchy interferences with your creamy cool soft serve.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Plum Sundae

1 giant chocolate chip cookie

1 plum

1 split-second dispense of Cocoa Puffs

1 not-so-split-second dispense of vanilla soft serve

1. Cut the cookie into eighths, like a sliced pizza.

2. Cut the plum into eighths, like a...sliced plum.

3. Add the cocoa puffs.

4. Add the soft serve, attempting to create a pretty swirl. Evidently, we were not so successful.

Grilled Chicken Rice Pilaf

Colorful things are fun to eat. Like Lucky Charms. Wanna know why? It's because long long ago, when Geico Neaderthals roamed the earth, the ones whose brains were wired to be attracted to colorful fruits and veggies and rainbow squirrels reaped the nutritional benefits that these foods had, whereas their color-insensitive cousins missed out on the essential vitamins and died before they could reproduce. So, eat colorful things. Just make sure they are naturally colorful - artificial colors don't have nutrients.

Grilled Chicken Rice Pilaf

1 grilled chicken breast, torn into pieces

broccoli florets

yellow corn kernels

brown rice

garlic infused olive oil

black pepper

1. Mix everything together.

2. Cover with a plate and microwave for 1 minute.

3. Sprinkle with black pepper.

Harvest Veggie Pasta

So many pasta dishes you see at restaurants these days are 1% veggies and 99% starch. I'm not sure what the optimal ratio is, but I do like to see more color on my plate once in a while.

This one is 80% veggies, 20% pasta, and 100% delicious.

(...am I starting to sound like Sandra Lee?)

Harvest Veggie Pasta

1 spoonful whole wheat penne (1/2 cup cooked)

4-6 spoonfuls of meatless pasta sauce

2 Tbsp green peas

4-5 broccoli pieces (break up the big pieces)

2 Tbsp kidney beans

1/2 cup savory spinach

4-5 tomato wedges

2-3 pieces sliced roasted red peppers

2-3 mozzarella balls

1. Gather veggies, pasta, and cheese on a plate. Spoon sauce on top, and mix gently together.

2. Put a plate upside down on top and microwave for 2 minutes. Take it out carefully (use napkins if it is hot) and enjoy.

Vegan-ify!

To make vegan, leave out the cheese.

Lemon Honey Vinaigrette Salad

If you're tired of pre-made salad dressings, try making your own! This one is light, citrus-y, and perfect for cooling down on a humid day.

Lemon Honey Vinaigrette Salad

plateful of romaine lettuce

2 Tbsp sunflower seeds

2 Tbsp raisins

juice of 2 lemon wedges

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1/2 Tbsp honey

1 Tbsp raspberry vinaigrette

1. With a fork, whisk together last 4 ingredients in a small cup.

2. Drizzle mixture over plateful of lettuce.

3. Sprinkle raisins and sunflower seeds on top, garnish with a lemon wedge. Enjoy when the sun is out.

Banana Muffin with Strawberry Cream Cheese

You know those adorable couples that you just can't see breaking up, ever? Like Aladdin and Jasmine? How about strawberry and banana? It's just not right to separate the two. So when life gives you banana muffins, make strawberry cream cheese frosting.

Banana Muffin with Strawberry Cream Cheese
1 banana muffin
1 oz cream cheese
1 Tbsp strawberry jam
1/2 banana, sliced
1 waffle cone

1. Mix cream cheese with strawberry jam until very well blended.
2. Frost the top of the muffin with the strawberry cream cheese.
3. Garnish with a shard of waffle cone and banana slice.

Cheesy Broccoli Mushroom Wrap

Lately we've been obsessed with microwaved broccoli. It's subtly sweet, good for you, and awesomely green - and even better with melted cheese and mushrooms in a wrap.

Cheesy Broccoli Mushroom Wrap

1 spinach tortilla

5 broccoli florets

1/4 cup shredded cheese

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1/4 cup sliced raw mushrooms

3 lettuce leaves

4 tomato slices

1. Place broccoli, cheese, mushrooms, and oil on a plate. Cover with another plate and microwave until cooked through, about 1 minute.

2. Layer lettuce, tomatoes, and broccoli mixture on tortilla.

3. Fold up the sides, roll up, cut in half on a diagonal and eat.

Salmon with Potatoes

Salmon with Potatoes

1 piece of salmon with minted pea puree

1 baked potato

1 Tbsp sour cream

1/4 cup clear broth

1 Tbsp scallions

mixed greens and carrots for garnish

1. Mash the potato (without the skin) with sour cream, broth, and scallions.

2. Put a mound of potato mash on the plate.

3. Arrange salmon on top.

4. Garnish with leaves and dot the plate with minted pea puree.

Cheese Fondue

The Melting Pot may try to sell us expensive fondue, but who needs that when we have our good ol' friend, the Ratty? This microwave fondue recipe could not be easier. And really, it's very delicious! Highly recommended with veggies. Bread chunks would be fabulous too.

Cheese Fondue

1/4 cup shredded cheese

1/4 cup apple juice

2 slices cheddar cheese

1/4 tsp dry mustard powder

a pinch of garlic powder (optional)

Black pepper

Microwaved veggies for dipping

1. Microwave apple juice in a bowl just until it boils (45 seconds to 1 minute).

2. Stir in the cheeses and powders. Microwave on high at 30 second intervals, stirring after each interval just until everything is melted.

3. Add black pepper to taste, and enjoy with microwaved veggies and multigrain bread. (Broccoli, mushrooms, and red bell peppers work well).

Microwaved veggies

broccoli

mushrooms

red bell pepper

onion rings

Microwave in a bowl on high for 1 minute 30 seconds with 2 Tbsp of water.

Salmon and Sundried Tomato Salad

Gotta love the V-dub and their salmon stir fry! This salad looks like something from Andreas, but it's really embarrassingly easy.

Salmon and Sundried Tomato Salad

1 serving stir-fried salmon with sundried tomatoes, feta cheese, capers, and onions

romaine lettuce leaves

feta cheese

red onions

extra virgin olive oil

1. Top a bed of greens with salmon, cheese, red onions, and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Yogurt Pancake Stack

Perfect for Sunday Brunch! Don't be fooled by its demure beauty - this pancake tower is a dangerous sticky edible monster poised for attack. The minute you sink your fork into it, expect the pancakes to slide off of the yogurt and the honey will inevitably get on your fingers and you will be covered in a delicious mess. For serious eaters only.

Yogurt Pancake Stack

3 pancakes

strawberry yogurt

raspberry jam

sliced bananas

honey

1. Spray pancakes with cooking spray and grill both sides on the panini until toasted and crisp on the outside yet still soft and warm on the inside.

2. Put one pancake on the plate.

3. Top with yogurt and half of the sliced bananas.

4. Place another pancake on top.

5. Top with yogurt and jam.

6. Place the final pancake on top.

7. Garnish with sliced bananas and honey.