Stay Cool

After a long weekend of burgers and hot dogs, it’s time for a little detox this week.  The temperature is hot,  so it’s not long before I need to get out of the kitchen and into the AC.  Here’s a meal that took me less than 3o minutes to make but was healthy and delicious. 

Asian Chicken and Carrot

• 1 lb thin cut chicken breast
• 4 large carrots, shredded
• 5 large celery stalks, sliced about a 1/2 inch thick
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1/2 – 1 T olive oil
• 1 inch piece ginger, freshly grated
• 2 cloves garlic
• salt, pepper
• about 1/4 c or less low-sodium soy sauce
• 1 T hoisin sauce
• dash of onion and garlic powder
• toasted sesame seed, optional garnish

If you have a toaster oven, set it to bake for 20 minutes at 350.  If not, preheat your oven to 350.  Season chicken with salt, pepper, onion and garlic powder.  Cook until a cut through the middle shows no pink, about 15-20 minutes depending on the thickness of the cut. 

While the chicken is cooking, shred the carrot, slice the celery and chop up the onion.  Heat a heavy bottomed pan at medium heat and add the olive oil.  First, drop in  the onion, season with salt and cook for about 2 minutes and add the celery and stir well.  Cook for an additional 5 minutes on medium-low, until the onion is softened. 

At this point, a thinly cut chicken should be finished.  Check that it is done and allow to rest for a couple of minutes.  Chop chicken into bite sized pieces and add both chicken and the juices that developed as it cooked to the pan.  Add carrot, soy and hoisin sauce and turn up heat to medium, stir to combine.  Allow to cook for about a minute then stir in grated ginger and garlic.  Cook until fragrant, then cover and turn off heat.  Allow the flavors to come together for 5 minutes.  Serve while hot and garnish with sesame seeds. 

 

 

Lighten Up With A Smile

I’ve found that after an exhausting and rainy day, what you really need is a coffee and a trusty crockpot. Once I conquered the battle home today against traffic, massive puddles and a few flights of stairs, I really wasn’t sure if I would make it through the doorway.  Well I did,  but my groceries actually didn’t.  The rain had soaked the paper bags so much that the food broke through the bottom, spilling goodies everywhere.  Shaking my head and with my hands on my hips, I just stood there for a moment wondering, “really?”. This is the part in a romantic-comedy when the charming boyfriend sweeps in out of nowhere and the two characters lock eyes while simultaneously picking up a stray apple.  With no boyfriend in sight, I picked up the apples myself and moved on. 

At this point I can’t express how thankful I was to open the door to the aroma and warmth of slow-cooked chili.  What made this even better was that I could enjoy this comfort food sans guilt because it was made with turkey and no additional oil. I can’t imagine feeling the same relief if I had walked in the door to an awaiting salad.

I got the chili ready last night with little effort.  I cut up peppers and onions, mixed some spices and added a big can of  whole tomatoes to these ingredients.  I also browned up the lean turkey in a little chicken broth rather than oil.  All this gets thrown in the crockpot insert which can sit in the fridge overnight.  The next morning, it gets cooked on low for hours so that when you get home, regardless of the day, dinner is done and it smells fantastic! Check the comments section for the recipe soon.

Blood, Sweat and Tears-Minus the Blood and Sweat

 This gorgeous spring weather has really lifted my mood, so why am I crying? Might have something to do with the intense burning sensation in my eyes from slicing bunches of onions. I tried some tricks I’ve been told before like slicing  near running water and wearing glasses instead of contacts, but nothing seems to work! Any successful tips out there? Anyway, this french onion soup, which is the product of this endless slicing and the reason for these bleary eyes, is phenomenal. Definitely worth the tears, or I would not put up with the pain.  It only gets better the next day, which I love in a leftover meal.  It tastes rich and has many layers of flavor, although there’s not a lot of fat added at all.  It’s also very simple to make if you can get past the whole eye burning part!  My recipe will be in the comments, please leave a tip there if you have any ideas that help you keep away the burn when slicing onions!

Flawless Fish

For me, cooking fish used to be a gamble.  I had the toughest time telling if it was finished or not. If it was done, it was most likely all dried out and I could be found cursing while sifting through takeout menus.  Thankfully, I found the answer a couple of years ago.  For those of us who are not experts , there are some great recipes out there that allow for a little wiggle room in this area.  I picked some dishes which call for making a topping to cover the fish, and this keeps it from drying out. This one is one of my faves. It adds a lot of great flavor so I don’t feel like I’m eating fish just to be healthy but because it tastes good too.  If you have some tricks of your own feel free to share! The recipe will be up shortly in the comments section.

Red, Red Wine

It is gray and wet outside and I need something to lift my mood.  I decide I need some comfort food and since I didn’t hit the store, my options are limited.  Thankfully I’ve found some ground turkey meat and pasta..I’m thinking, turkey meatballs tonight! (These are things I get excited about) So I’m a huge fan of the food network. But I’ve noticed that many of the chefs are huge haters of ground turkey meat.  They complain that it gets too dry and that it is tasteless.  I couldn’t disagree more, so I am forging ahead with my turkey meatballs. 

So on another note, each weekend I do a big kitchen cleanup where I really get down and scrub like a maniac.  Funny how I choose to make turkey meatballs in red sauce the day after I cleanup.  I don’t know about other people but no one  is safe when I make a red sauce.  It gets all over me and all over the stove.  Should’ve taken a before and after picture of the kitchen because it really is that amazing how out of control my sauce gets.  Anyway, the meatballs came out juicy and very flavorful.  This is my recipe for chicken parmesan meatballs substituted with turkey. If you are a big fan of meatballs but are trying to cut back on calories, this is a great way to do it! You take care of your craving while cutting the fat and calories almost in half…I think that means you can enjoy a glass of wine with dinner tonight

Recipe will be up later in the comments section.

Where’s the Beef?

My Mom loved that 80′s commercial ”Where’s the Beef” where the little older lady is left disapointed by a tiny burger.  She still uses the line these days to ask me if I’m cooking with something other than chicken.  Chicken has been my go-to protein for years. I am comfortable with it, I understand it and yes I am aware that it sounds like I’m in some kind of weird relationship with chicken.   I guess it comes down to the fact that I am more prone to mess up a meal if it involves something like fish or beef.  One time I cooked salmon and ended up with fish hockey pucks. Chicken wouldn’t do that to me.  Something not so funny is cooking beef until it is past the point of overly chewy and it becomes a rubbery mess in your mouth.  Yeah I’ve done that before too.  Well for better or worse, beef stew chunks were the only thing in the fridge to work with tonight.  Here we go!

I thought I’d make a dish that I’ve watched my Mom make a bunch of times before.  Her food always consists of very clean, simple, yet absolutely delicious, flavors.  The dish I had in mind consists of diced onions that you let sweat out in a pan with the help of a little salt, adding the meat, cooking until browned and then adding in some minced ginger at the end.  It’s easy and yummy.  I must have ADD of the mouth or something, though, because I wanted something a little more excitable in the spice department.  I took this dish and added some white wine, balsamic vinegar, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms, garlic and chives.  I actually wasn’t sure what the combo of balsamic and ginger would be like…it’s fantastic! Good surprise there, and another highlight is that the meat came out tender and juicy.  If you ever give this one a try, let me know your thoughts!

Champagne Taste, Beer Budget

I practically sprinted home tonight.  I couldn’t wait to be greeted at the door by the aroma of a crock pot that has been working hard for me all day.  I have to say, I was a little intimidated by this kitchen gadget at first.  I was sure that I’d drive up to the apartment and see firetrucks lining the street and have an angry landlord in my face.  Well, no emergency rescue to date and it has been a couple of years. Should I be knocking on wood or something?

Anyway, as much as I love to cook, it is nice sometimes to walk in the door and know that, not only is dinner done, but it smells amazing.  Also, practically no cleanup! This is starting to sound like an infomercial but sadly, I’m not making any money from saying this. The great thing is, you don’t even need a fancy, expensive crock pot to make it happen.  I bought my crock pot 2 years ago at CVS for $25! It might not have a digital screen, but it is fabulous. Tonight I was welcomed in by the simple, but scrumptious, split pea soup.   All I did last night to get it ready was chop up the veggies, fill up the pot with water and throw in the seasoning.  This morning I threw in the bag of dried peas and turned the pot on low.  It says to cook for 6-8 hours, if you’re going to be away for longer than that..relax! I was gone for closer to 11 and still no fire trucks. The recipe below calls for a smoked turkey leg  and leeks, I didn’t have either and it’s still great. 

Food Network Magazine’s Slow Cooker Split Pea Soup

serves 6

1/2 c chopped parsley, plus 8-10 stems

4 sprigs thyme

1 lb green split peas, picked over and rinsed

1 large leek, white and light green part only..cut in 1/2 lengthwise and thinly sliced crosswise..I used a chopped onion

2 stalks celery, chopped

2 carrots, chopped

1 smoked turkey leg, 1-1.5 lbs

1/4 c nonfat plain yogurt (DON’T SKIP THIS IT’S AMAZING) use whatever, I used plain greek yogurt you could use sour cream

1/2 c frozen peas, thawed

Tie parsley stems and thyme together and place in slow cooker.  Add split peas, leek, celery, carrots, 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper, stir to combine.  Add turkey leg and 7 cups of water.  Cover and cook on low until peas and meat are tender, 6-8 hours.

Discard herb bundle, and the skin/bone from the meat. Shred meat and stir back into soup.  Stir in chopped parsley.

Ladle the soup into bowls.  Top with yogurt, turkey meat and thawed peas.  Serve with crusty bread.