Unbelievable

To know me is to know that I love cheese. In fact, I love it so much that I don't keep it in the house unless absolutely necessary for recipes, with the exception of swiss slices (low sodium) and cheese sticks for the kids (low taste).

This unabashed, lifelong love of cheese was going to be fulfilled tonight when shredded Mexican was to serve as a topper to the main event. Except that I forgot to add it. And just realized it as I was sitting down to type this post.

Who forgets the cheese?

Luckily - I pretty much had nothing to say, so this omission served as the jump-start to tonight's post.

In addition to cheese, I love dark chocolate. Luckily I can manage to keep that in the house without shoveling it in by the fistful (thanks to those ingenious pre-packaged individual chocolate squares from Ghiradelli). I don't often bake with dark chocolate, but a few days ago I happened upon an amazingly easy fudge recipe that catered to my dark chocolate needs. So we'll start with that because honestly peeps, it is so so so easy to throw together that you must make it immediately. And bring me some.

Peanut Butter and Dark Chocolate Fudge
Source: Cooking Light (not sure of issue)

Ingredients:

• 1 (14oz) can of fat-free sweetened condensed milk
• 3/4 c. semisweet chocolate chips (used dark chocolate)
• 2 tbsp unsweetened dark cocoa powder (used regular unsweetened)
• 1/4 tsp instant coffee granules
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tbsp peanut butter
• 3/4 c. peanut butter chips
• 1/4 c. salted, dry-roasted peanuts, coarsely chopped

Directions:

• Line an 8-inch square dish with wax paper.
• Place 9 tbsp milk in a microwave safe bowl. Add chocolate chips, cocoa and coffee. Microwave at high for 1 min or until melted. Stir in 1/2 tsp vanilla. Spread into prepared pan.
• Combine the remaining milk, peanut butter chips and peanut butter in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave on high for 1 min or until melted. Stir in remaining vanilla. Spread evenly over chocolate layer and sprinkle with peanuts.
• Cover and chill 2 hours (I chilled overnight). Cut into 25 squares.

Yield: 25 servings (1 square)
Per serving: 123 cals; 4.7g fat (3.1g sat, 0.7g mono, 0.1g poly); 3.5g protein; 47mg sodium; 2mg chol

For tonight's (cheese-free) meal, we had:
Charred Corn Chop Salad with Chipotle Cream Dressing
Source: Clean Eating, August/September 2011

Ingredients:

• 2 c. fresh corn kernels (about 4 ears corn)
• 1 med. poblano pepper, seeded and cut into 1/4-inch pieces
• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1/4-inch pieces
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 lb ground turkey
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 15-oz can no-salt added black beans, rinsed
• 1/2 c. low-fat sour cream
• 1/2 c. low-fat buttermilk
• 1/2 tsp chipotle chile powder
• 1 bunch scallions, sliced, white and green parts separated
• lettuce of choice
• 1/2 c. low-fat cheddar cheese

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees. In a medium bowl, toss corn, poblano and potato with oil. Spread mixture onto a 9x13 baking sheet and roast for 30 mins, tossing every 10 mins.
• In a large pan cook turkey until browned. Add 1/4 c. water to pan and scrape browned bits from bottom. Add cumin and beans and stir to combine. Cover, reduce heat to low and keep warm until ready to serve.
• Make dressing: In a small bowl, whisk sour cream, buttermilk, chile powder and white scallions. Cover and chill until ready to use.
• Plate: Divide lettuce among plates and top with turkey, veggies, etc. Sprinkle with remaining scallions and cheese, and top with dressing.

Yield: 4 servings (2 c. lettuce; 1/2 c. turkey-bean mix; 1/2 c. veggies; 3 tbsp dressing)
Per serving: 470 cals; 11g total fat (3.5g sat; 3g mono; 1g poly): 61g carbs; 10g fiber; 31g protein; 220mg sodium; 40mg chol.

Reviews:
Fudge: My family went a little insane about the fudge (it was for a 4th of July gathering) - to the point that I had to fight them to bring some leftovers home for me us. I made the fudge on one of those super-hot nights, and it was so fast and easy, and the results so stellar that this is a must-do for pretty much everyone.

Salad: The kid requested a salad for dinner, so a salad he received. He did not appreciate the sweet potatoes, and the hubs made a nasty face when he saw the veggies sullying his turkey/bean combo. If it wasn't for the annoying chopping associated with this dish, it would be very easy to throw together. I liked it a lot - despite the lack of cheese - and we have enough leftover for lunches this week.

Rankings:
Fudge: Four Forks
Salad: Three Forks

Did you really think I'd use the "clean" version of this song?