New York Strip Steak with Cardo y berza con garbanzos, Roasted Salsa, & Spinach Tortillas

Dinner was awwwweeeesome.  I have a pic to add later, so for now, just enjoy my drivel.

I was in a south o'the border mood already, so when this recipe came through my reader, originally called Espinacas con garbanzos (Spinach and Chickpeas); I knew it would  satisfy the craving and I could avoid  nachos or something equally blase.  Once I figured that much out, the rest pretty much fell into place.  Since my tortillas involved spinach, and I had a bunch of collard greens (berza) that were getting wilted and a fresh bunch of chard (cardo) come in my organic delivery, I decided to do some substituting, which at this point is less a decision and more a force of habit :)  From the original blog post, apparently this is a Spanish comfort food; I'd never heard of it (being about as whitey McWhite White as they come...) but I am so happy I it gave it a try!

Cardo y berza con garbanzos
6g coconut oil
1 medium red onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp of cumin
3/4 cup all natural tomato sauce
1 bunch collard greens, stems removed and chopped
1 bunch chard, any variety, stems removed and chopped
1 15 oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
juice of 1 lemon
few dashes of Tabasco, to taste
salt, pepper

In a large, deep, sauce pan with fitting lid, sautee onion and garlic in the coconut oil, until just translucent.  Add cumin and saute until fragrant. Add chard, collards, chickpeas, and  tomato sauce; cover and let greens wilt.  Add some water, and continue to saute, covered, checking frequently for doneness.  When greens are tender, saute uncovered until liquids have all but evaporated.  Season with salt, pepper, and lemon juice over the top before serving.

Yields 5 cups, 140 calories per cup

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I can't believe I made my own tortillas, but I did it! This is another great recipe from VeggieWiz, and I changed very little; I also tweaked the directions slightly to reflect my personal experience with the dish.

Spinach Tortillas
1/2 cup corn flour (NOT corn meal)
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
4 cup spinach, boiled and drained, reserve the liquids

Puree the boiled spinach in a blender; you will need about 3/4 cups puree.

Mix the corn flour, wheat flour, salt and baking soda together. Knead into a dough by slowly adding the spinach puree. Add the reserved liquids if needed. The dough should be soft but not sticky. Cover the dough with plastic wrap and set aside for 30 minutes.

Divide the dough into 6 balls and pat each ball into a thin roundish tortilla using the corn flour to help with sticking. Make as thin as you can.

Heat a griddle or skillet over high heat (do not use oil). Gently place a tortilla on the hot pan, and cook for 40-50 seconds on each side; longer if your tortillas are a little thick. You should see little bubbles forming, and it should get lightly toasted. Eat them fresh; for leftover5s, wrap in aluminum foil and refrigerate,

Yields 6 tortillas, 79 calories each.
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Salsa is a pretty simple affair, but I made a pretty good batch, so figured this would be a good time to report it.

Roasted Salsa
4 jalapenos
8 plum tomatoes
2 Anaheim chilies
1 large red onion, rough chopped
5 cloves garlic, peeled
1/4c. lime juice (about 4 small limes)
2 tsp. cumin
1 bunch cilantro, finely chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Place jalapenos, tomatoes and chilies on a cookie sheet. Roast in the oven under a high broil turning once until blackened and blistered on all sides. Allow to cool. Remove skins taking care with the jalapeno to avoid getting spice on your hands.

In a food processor, take turns chopping onion and garlic to a fine chop; chilies jalapenos and tomatoes to a chunky consistency. Add all remaining ingredients together and toss. Season to taste.

Yields 4.5 cups / 65 calories per cup
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I'll go ahead and assume you know how to grill a steak...

Eric's Dinner: Box of White Cheddar Shells Pasta-Roni

Beet Hummus

This recipe came courtesy of VeggieWiz, a great blog for fun vegetable recipes. Check it out :) I made only very small changes, mainly to slightly lower the calorie count, and upped the flavor somewhat (extra garlic and lemon).

Beet Hummus
1/2 c. tahin
1 16 oz can garbonzo beans
1.5 c. beets, peeled and chopped (2 medium)
1/2 c. fresh lemon juice - 1.5 small lemons
4 cloves garlic
1 tsp cumin
2 TBS EVOO
4 TBS water (if needed)
salt to taste

makes 721 grams = 1.9 calories per gram. I had about 3/4 c. serving at 289 calories


Roast beets in oven for 20-30 minutes at 350, or until softened. When beets are done and slightly cooled, add everything into your blender or Cuisinart. Add water as needed to loosen the mixture; this is a less oil version than the original and needs the moisture. Serve with fresh crunchy veggies or pita bread.

 

Eric's dinner : Sponge Bob Square Pants mac'n'cheese.

Dog Food

Yes, we cook for our dogs.  Twice a month we make large batches of fresh food following the best we could find as as far as nutritionally appropriate foods for our pups, which are the only children we have any interest in.

The ratio of meat to vegetable and starch for a dog food is 40-30-30.  We generally add organ meats (liver, gizzard and hearts) every other time, and since taking this picture a few months ago have switched their starch to a pasta and oatmeal mixture. 

And then to top it all off, we add about a tsp of olive oil to their bowls at each meal (they get 1/2 cup of food, twice a day).  The result is that 1) we have peace of mind (we KNOW what they are eating - and if you did a moments searching into what is actually in commercial, cheap dog food, you would vomit), 2) we have no fear of dog food recalls 3) our dogs are super healthy 4) they smell terrific, even when wet; they simply don't have that "dog" smell or the yucky wet dog smell at all 5) their fur is soft as a bunny, and they don't shed nearly as much and 6) they don't poop copious amounts.

I have had discussions with people about using the RAW diet, but for us that is not an option;  the dogs sleep in our bed (and Fuji sleeps on my pillow, at my head) and there is the danger of bacteria and other nasties leaving the body when you feed uncooked meats. 

Chard & Tomato Egg White Omelet

I didn't think to take pictures of this, but I assure you it was pretty, what with the whiteness of the egg and the pinkness of the chard and tomato juice :)

Chard & Tomato Egg White Omelet
1/2 red onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, diced
1 head red chard, rough chopped
1 TBS capers
1 c.  tomato, diced (I used campari's)
juice of 1/2 lemon
7 grams coconut oil (reserve half for egg pan)
3 egg whites
4 grams coconut oil
S&P to taste

freshly shaved Parmesan, to taste

In a saucepan, heat oil; add garlic and onion and saute until carmelized.  You may need to add a tablespoon of water or broth. Add chard and lemon juice; saute until wilted. Remove from heat, add capers and tomatoes; toss and set aside.  In a separate skillet, add remaining oil and egg whites.  Season with salt and pepper; allow to cook through.  Add your chard mixture to half of the egg layer, slide that half onto plate, and flip the empty half over the top, forming your omelet.  Lightly shave Parmesan over the top.

1 serving, 257 calories

Eric's Dinner : can of chicken noodle soup, and half a grilled cheese sandwich.

Greek Inspired Pasta Sauce over Cabbage & Roasted Brussels Sprouts

I saw a really intriguing post on /r/cooking for eggplant "noodles" last week.  I am in the process of trying to give up pasta and white flour products in general (why did a lone bugle playing Taps start playing softly in my head...) and figured this would be a terrific substrate replacement for a hefty sauce.  When thinking of eggplant I think of Chinese and Greek food, so I set out to find a dense pasta topper with one of the two cuisines in mind. I landed at allrecipes.com and a Greek pasta sauce.  I had to make very minimal changes to get this where I wanted it to be flavor- and calorie-wise so below is my version.

The sauce came out fanfrakingtastic... really an exceptional find.  Full of flavor, great texture, and very filling.  You could eat this in a bowl as a stew if you so desire.  That is the good news.

The bad news, however, is that the eggplant pasta SUCKED.   I am about to post over in the Cookit thread and share the information that I used a lot of salt - as in, at an epic scale equal to an amount more suited to the process of creating funazushi.  And while I am tongue in cheek about it this morning (and in retrospect feel like a complete noob), last night I was seriously frustrated.  No amount of rinsing, or soaking and rinsing, was getting the salt level down to an edible level.  So I scrubbed it.   Why yes, that is, in fact, giant kosher sea salt crystals that my eggplant is drowning in.

Luckily I had a head of unclaimed cabbage in the fridge (I plan my meals 3-5 days in advance and had just gone shopping for the entire week) leftover from last week.  I sliced about half the head into thin strips, and popped the pile in the microwave for a minute and a half.  The cabbage came out perfectly al dente and about half-steamed.  I am happy to report that it was the perfect accompaniment to the sauce.  I actually think the cabbage ended up being a better match than the eggplant would have been, or that real pasta could have lived up to (Shush. Let a girl dream).

Greek Inspired Pasta Sauce over Cabbage 
1 small yellow onion, diced
6 large cloves of garlic, minced
2 TBS water or vegetable broth
1 28oz can diced tomatoes
1 8oz can tomato sauce (no added sugar)
2 TBS capers
15 Kalamata olives, pitted and sliced
3 TBS Balsamic vinegar
2-4 tsp crushed red pepper (to taste)
S&P to taste
1 oz per serving of crumbled light feta cheese

Spray a large skillet with cooking spray, add onion and water/broth. Cook until it starts to turn translucent.  Add garlic and cook an additional minute.  Add the rest of the ingredients, except feta.  Let simmer for a minimum of 30 mins.  Meanwhile, slice the cabbage into thin strips and microwave for 1.5 mins with a small amount of water.  Ladle a hearty amount of sauce over cabbage, and top with 1oz of light feta per serving.

Makes about 4 c of sauce, 119 kcals per cup.  Light feta adds 35 kcal per oz.  Cabbage is about 13 kcal per cup.


Roasted Brussels Sprouts
1 lb Brussels Sprouts
1/2 lemon
s& p to taste

Toss everything to coat.  Add to a casserole dish that has been treated with cooking spray.  Bake for 30 mins until the sprouts start to brown.  Don't do what I did and leave them in the oven after turning it off or else they dry out and look yucky but still taste awesome.

Eric's Dinner : half a pound of breaded chicken strips from the Safeway deli

Salmon-Veggie Bake & Beet and Blood Orange Salad

The salmon bake is the easiest, fastest, and most flexible way I have found to cook fish that turns out delicious almost without fail.  You can use pretty much any fish (although oily seems to be better) and any veggie / herb combination you can dream up.  You don't even need to watch proportions; as long as your foil will close, you are set.

I said "almost without fail" above as I came really close to failure last night.  I didn't plan ahead for this meal, and  was just using what I had on hand for the veggies: leeks, scallions, lemon, and fresh thyme.  Sounds amazing, right?  Not so much.  For whatever reason (am I supposed to pan fry leeks first??) the leeks were bitter as all get out - just simply inedible.  And sadly, as you can see from the image below, I had my leeks right on top of the salmon flesh.  Luckily, a little scraping and the meat was fine.  But let that be a lesson to you from me. 

Salmon-Veggie Bake
1 salmon steak, skin on (or any other fish you fancy)
1-2 cups chopped and sliced veggies
fresh herbs
salt, pepper, other seasonings to your taste

Preheat oven to 350.  Tear off a rectangle of foil, making sure it is big enough to wrap all your ingredients with some wiggle room.  Spray foil with a bit of cooking spray.  Lay your fish in skin side down (I like to put a couple slices of citrus down under the fish).  Season the fish with salt, pepper, garlic salt, Mrs. Dash, whatever, just be sure to season it. Lay your cut veg on top and on the sides.  Finish the pile with fresh herbs.  Bring up the two long sides of the foil and fold over twice  to make airtight-ish, leaving a bit of space on the top. Roll and fold the remaining sides to make a packet.  Place the packet on a cookie sheet, and pop the whole thing in the oven 20-30 minutes, depending on the thickness of the cut of fish.

calories depend on the size of fish and what veg you use

Beet and Blood Orange Salad
4 small blood oranges, peeled and segmented
2 bunches of beets, greens removed (save em for later, or you can use them as the base of a salad)
for the dressing:
juice from 1 navel orange (1/2 cup)
1 tsp mace
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp mustard

Boil your beets for 20-30 minutes until a knife slips in easily.  Allow to cool, then cut into segments about the size of your orange slices.  Mix your dressing and simply pour it over your beets and oranges.  Enjoy the pretty colors :)

makes 5 cups.  70 kcals per cup.

Eric's Dinner: nothing.  He ate lunch at 2:00 and apparently that means he doesn't need food at 8pm...

Roasted Roots 'n' Wheat Berries

I had a version of this recipe come through my reader courtesy of David Lebovitz's blog.  This is my take on his basic recipe.

Roasted Roots 'n'  Wheat Berries Salad
1 1/2 c. wheat berries (also called farro)
1 bay leaf
2 c. (.5 lb) sunchoke, scrubbed and cubed
2 1/4 c. (1 lb) parsnips, peeled and cubed
2 1/2 c. (1 lb) rutabaga, peeled and cubed
2 1/2 c. (1 large) red onion , diced
2 TBS fresh thyme, destemmed
1 c. (2 medium) carrots, grated
1 c. (1 large) red bell pepper, diced
1 c (1/2 bunch) parsley, choped
2 lemons. squeezed for juice
S&P

Preheat oven to 425.  Heavily salt a 2 quart pot of water, bring to a boil and add wheat berries and bay leaf.  Allow 40 minutes to an hour for cooking, checking for desired consistency.  Remove from water and allow to cool.  Meanwhile, cube the root vegetables and onion, about 1/4 - 1/2 inch cubes.  Toss root veggies, onion, thyme, salt and pepper (to taste) in a bowl to distribute spices; transfer to a baking sheet that has been treated with cooking spray.  Allow 20-40 minutes for vegetables to cook thoroughly and start to brown.  Allow to cool.  Toss wheat berries, roasted root mixture, and the remaining ingredients.  Season to your taste and enjoy. 

makes 12 1-cup servings. 129kcal per cup

Erics Dinner: the other half of my chicken breast with some cheese for a sandwich.

Creamy TurkeyBacon-Lentil Soup

Another recipe I pilfered from myrecipes.com that I built better than what it was before. Bigger, stronger, faster.  Ok maybe not that bionic, but definitely half the calories and as far as I can tell through various tastings along the way, a hell of a lot yummier.

Creamy TurkeyBacon-Lentil Soup
6 cups fat-free vegetable broth
8 slices lean turkey bacon (about 8 oz), thinly sliced
1/2 lb dried lentils, rinsed
1 c. chopped onion
1 c. chopped red bell pepper
1 c. chopped celery
2 gloves garlic, chopped
1 Serrano chili, minced
2 tsp fresh oregano, chopped
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 TBS Spike (or any other all-purpose seasoning you fancy)
juice of 1 lime
2 oz fat free plain greek style yogurt (like Fage)

Toss everything except  the lime and yogurt in  your crock pot.  Let it cook on low while you are at work, or goofing off for 8 hours while the rest of us hate on you.  Add your lime juice, and stir well before serving.  Add a dollop of yogurt (2 oz) to each 2 c. serving just before eating. So good!  A dash or two of Tobasco is great in it, too.

Yields 9.5 cups.  80 calories per cup.

Eric's dinner: nothing as nothing sounded good to him that we had in the house.

Dijon Peppercorn Pork Loin Roast & Garlicky TurkeyBacon Brussel Sprouts

I never really do roasts.  I think this is only the 3rd or 4th roast I have ever attempted, and the first time with pork.  I didn't really know what to expect when I purchased the sealed package of meat, but when I got home, it was 2 thinnish lengths of roast, totaling 2.1 lbs.  I ended up freezing one of them because, seriously, that's a shiton of food.  As it stands, I ate a portion last night, a portion is for today's lunch, and I am sending Cynthia home with two more portions for her dinner.

As far as the sprouts - Merlin's beard are they good!  I am going to make these every night, I swear.  Roasting brings out the sweetness.   I am not sharing these with Cynthia, except for maybe a taste.

The base for both of these recipes came from myrecipes.com .  As usual, I changed them to suit my taste, reduced the number of servings, and I cut corners on the calories as much as possible.

Dijon Peppercorn Pork Loin Roast

1 lean, boneless pork loin roast, trimmed of fat (about 1lb)
3 TBS Dijon mustard
1 TBS lowfat buttermilk
2 cups breadcrumbs (I used 2 slices Sarah Lee 45cal per slice bread)
2 tsp fresh thyme, chopped
1 tablespoon cracked black pepper
1 teaspoon peppercorns, crushed
1/4 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 325. Combine mustard and buttermilk, and slather on your roast.  Combine remaining ingredients, and press mixture onto roast, thoroughly covering.  Cook until internal temperature of thickest part of meat reaches 160° (my thin roast only needed 40 minutes, original recipe with a 2lb roast called for 2 hours of cook time)

Makes 4 servings, about 3oz each.  213 calories.

Garlicky TurkeyBacon Brussels Sprouts
1 pound Brussels sprouts, cleaned, trimmed, and halved
2 slices turkey bacon, thinnly chopped (about 1 oz per slice)
1/2 lemon, juiced
1/2 tsp salt
3 gloves garlic, thinly sliced

Pre-heat oven to 375. Spray a baking dish with cooking spray.  Add all ingredients, and toss to coat. Cook for 30 minutes until sprouts have started to wilt/brown and become tender.

Makes about 4 cups, 69 cals per cup.  I dare you to try to eat just one.

Eric's Dinner: box of Safeway white cheddar shells pasta

Frenched Rack of Lamb over Mushrooms and Artichokes

I found this recipe on epicurean.com and lowered the calories without sacrificing any taste.  The original recipe also called for 3 pounds of lamb and made 4 servings.  Mine is a single serving of meat with extra veg.  I purchased my lamb from Planet Organics.  I have not been let down yet; I am so lucky to have that sort of service near me.

Rack of Lamb over Mushrooms and Artichokes

1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp thyme
3/4 tsp rosemary
6 oz roast rack of lamb, frenched (2 chops) - fat trimmed
1 cup crimini mushrooms, halved
1 14oz can artichoke hearts in water, quartered
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 TBS flour
1.5 c. beef brother, 99% fat free


Preheat the oven to 450. Combine the salt, pepper, thyme and rosemary for a rub and apply to both sides of the lamb. Brown both sides of the lamb in a cooking spray treated skillet under high heat.  Place lamb on a cooking rack* and put in the oven 8 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 140 (thicker slabs of meat will require longer cooking time).  Remove from oven when done and let rest 15 minutes.  Meanwhile, brown the mushrooms in the skillet used for browning.  Reduce heat, add artichokes and garlic and saute another 3 minutes.  Sprinkle flours over the top and mix well, until flour is incorporated and no white is left. Add beef broth and allow to simmer over low heat for 10 minutes.  Sauce will thicken.  Serve lamb over the vegetable mixture, spooning sauce over the top.

Single serving if you want lots of veggies, 455 calories

Eric's dinner: box of Safeway brand beef stroganoff

*I was very clever (if I don't say so myself) with the "oven rack".  I didn't want to dirty my HUGE oven rack for 2 tiny chops, so I used a vegetable steamer in a casserole dish.  Worked perfect:

Pan-Asian Pan-Seared Ahi and Sweet & Savory Kale

It was an error to have these two dishes together.  Both were completely delicious, but the fish was much to delicately flavored to be paired with the punch-in-the-mouth flavor bomb that the kale is.  When I make this again, I think that I would try to pair the fish with a citrus-and-beet salad,  or a frisse salad with wasabi dressing, and the kale would go better with lamb or red meat.

Pan-Asian Pan-Seared Ahi Tuna Steaks

2 6-8oz Ahi Tuna steaks about 3/4 of an inch thick, 2+ Sushi grade (very important as the center of the steaks should remain raw)
for the marinade:
1 tsp sesame oil
2 TBS soy sauce
1 TBS freshly grated ginger
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 green onions, sliced thin
1/2 of a lemon, juiced

Mix your marinade ingredients together, add to your steaks, and let marinade for at least an hour.  Heat a non-stick skillet on the stove and let it get super hot.  Drain off marinade from steaks, and place them in the pan.  Let them cook, untouched, for 2 minutes.  Flip and allow 2 more minutes.  Remove from heat immediately.

serves 2, 201 - 261 calories per serving, depending on size of steak.

Sweet & Savory Kale
1 small red onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 TBS Dijon mustard
2 packets Sweetener*
4 TBS red wine vinegar
1 14oz can Chicken stock, fat-free
2 small bunches kale, de-stemmed, and chopped (about 4 cups)
1/3 c. dried cranberries
S&P to taste

Spray a large skillet with non-stick spray and brown the garlic and onion.  Add mustard, vinegar, sweetener, broth.  Stir well, and bring to a boil.  Add kale, lower heat to medium, and cover for 5 minutes.  Add cranberries, reduce heat to medium low, cover and cook for another 10-15 minutes until kale reaches desired doneness and cranberries have plumped.

*the cranberries made this dish overly sweet for my tastes but then I never eat refined sugar, and I couldn't find cranberries that didn't have sugar as an additive.  You may want to adjust how much, if any, sweetener you need to add. 

makes 2 large servings, 200 calories each

Eric's dinner - nothing but he ate the hell out of a bagel this morning.

Tea-Spiced Oatmeal

This has been my favorite breakfast for the last 3 weeks.  I can't get enough!  I believe I came up with the idea at home when I was pondering what to have for breakfast on a rainy Sunday morning.  I can't type hard enough to express how good it is!

Also, this barely counts as a recipe, but screw it - it's tasty and was a good idea.

And it's easy-peasy:

2 cups hot tea
1/2 dry oatmeal
1 c. fresh fruit, in a flavor that compliments your tea

Prepare a cup or two of STRONG tea in your choice of flavor (I use Good Earth Original - very strong cinnamon, anise, ginger flavors).  Let it steep for extra long, and use double the amount of tea leaves / bags that you would for just a cuppa. Add 1/2 c. dry oatmeal (I use Quaker 1-Minute).  Add in a cup of chopped fruit.  Microwave for a minute or 2 to heat your fruit through.  Bon appetite!

Some flavor ideas: Mint tea & blueberries; Raszzberry Zinger & raspberries; Green tea & mango; Mandarin Orange Spice tea & raisins.  You get the idea...

bonus: caffeinated breakfast ftw!

215 calories w/ 1 apple.  Check the calorie content of your fruit.  Oatmeal is 150 calories per 1/2 c. dry

Hot and Sour Soup

Seriously, when nothing else seems good, hot and sour soup is perfect!  I used to order out just to get this soup twice a week, and then I discovered how ridiculously easy it is to make from scratch.  This is my typical hot & sour soup that I lightened up (less oil, no egg, fat free stock, chicken instead of pork).  Also, I didn't actually measure my soy sauce or vinegar... or my white pepper.  I like it very sour, and very spicy.  I think I had more along the lines of 1/2 c. vinegar, 1/4 c. soy, and 1 TBS of white pepper.  You can also add carrot, use pork, try out lily bulbs, or use any assortment of other mushrooms besides plain ol' button.



Hot and Sour Soup

• 1 large chicken breast, cut into 1/4-inch-thick strips (280)
  
• 3 teaspoons soy sauce (9)
  
• 1/2 package presliced  mushrooms (20)
  
• 1 4oz can bamboo shoots (90)
  
• 4 tablespoons red-wine vinegar
• 32 oz non-fat chicken broth (40)
  
• 1 teaspoons Asian spicy sesame oil (45)
  
• 1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground white pepper
• 4 scallions, sliced (20)
  
• 2 TBS cornstarch, mixed with about a cup of water (60)
  

Add everything in a pot except cornstarch.  Bring to a boil and let cook a good 10 minutes (make sure that chicken is cooked thoroughly) .  Add your cornstarch slurry at the end.

makes about 7 cups / about 80.6 calories per cup

Eric's dinner: left over pizza

Veggie Adobo

I did adobo again last night, but this time I made it without meat to see how it would turn out.  I'll let you look at the prior adobo post for the basic recipe.  Instead of chicken, I used 1 whole eggplant, which I cubed and browned in the same pan after removing the garlic.  I also added 2 cubes of chicken bullion, a suggestion from one of the ladies at work.  All in all, pretty good

Calories:  the entire dish, including a full medium sized squash, is 654.  Divide it up how want for a serving .  nomnom.

Eric's Dinner: Domino's delivery alfredo bread bowl

Spicy Curry Coleslaw

One of the items in my PO box this week was a small head of cabbage.  I found a couple of really cool looking recipes, but landed on one similar to what I ended up making. I made some minor tweeks to make it almost fat-free and change the sauce proportions to be more to my taste.  The end result is fabulous!  I could also see tossing some raisins in to this which would be incredibly good.  I ate my slaw along with my chili.

Spicy Curry Coleslaw
1 small head of green cabbage. finely sliced
1 carrot, grated
1 large red jalapeno, minced
 for the dressing:
3 TBS curry powder [update 4/24/10 - substitute 1 tbs curry, 1 tbs cinnamon, and 1 tbs cumin]
2 tsp olive oil
1/2 lemon, squeezed
4 TBS red wine vinegar
2 TBS Dijon mustard
2 packets equal

Place your cut veggies in a large bowl and set aside. Fry the curry powder with the olive oil under high heat until just fragrant. Add it to the rest of the dressing ingredients and whisk until combined.  Add to your chopped veggies and toss well.

makes about 8-10 cups / about 30 calories per cup

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Eric's dinner: Pasta Roni, alfredo

Crock Pot Veggie-Turkey Chili

I threw this together the night before and stored it in the fridge until the morning.  Before leaving for work, I turned on the crock pot.  There is nothing like coming home on a Friday night to the smell of fresh chili and knowing you don't need to cook (other than throwing together the nightly salad).  Feel free to add or subtract veggies and bean types!

Crock-Pot Veggie-Turkey Chili
1.5 lb ground turkey - the lower fat the better
1 28oz  can whole peeled tomatoes with juice
1 15 oz can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
3 small zucchini, slices
1 onion, chopped
2 carrots, sliced
2 stalks celery, sliced
2 large jalapeno, de-seeded and minced
2 TBS chili powder
1 8oz can chopped green chili peppers
1 TBS dried oregano
2 tsp ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt

Spray a pan with nonstick spray, then brown the turkey.  Place the cooked turkey along with the rest of the ingredients in the crock pot and give it a good stir.  Cover and cook on low heat 6-8 hours, or on high for 3-4.

Makes 10 cups of chili, 180.4 cal per cup

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Eric's dinner - cheese quesadilla

Chicken-Mushroom Adobo over Butternut Squash

I have a feeling that Filipino grandmothers everywhere are going to be shaking their head and making fun of me in Tagalog over my dinner (who am I kidding, Filpino's don't read my blog. Except Cyncha).

I looooooooooooooove adobo.  There is a woman at my office who brings in her mother's adobo on special occasions and my little heart flutters in joy at the thought.  I have had pork adobo, chicken adobo, beef adobo, pork belly adobo, various mixtures of the aforementioned and all of it has been mana from heaven.  So, when I set out to make my own adobe, my hopes were not high as I knew what master adobo is supposed to taste like.

I didn't enter this endeavor without research.  I had 2 recipes printed off, watched 3 vid blogs on youtube, and then went to another lady who works here for tips on how any "secrets" she wished to spill the beans on.

I final note before getting to the actual recipe.  I don't do rice, so I had to be creative with the accompaniment.  I decided that the butternut squash I got from Plant Organics this week would do, but it would be a stretch and I was pretty nervous about the final result.  I also only had 1 chicken breast in the freezer and thought I had more to work with, so the addition of mushrooms (also a PO delivery item) was a last minute decision - I figured once I had entered the sacrilege of my sans rice adobo, I might as well take the plunge and really screw everything up.  The result is astounding.  The sweetness of the the squash really adds a terrific counterpoint to the tangy adobo sauce, and the mushrooms soaked up broth like mad and became little flavor explosives.  Because this is a fat-free rendition of adobo, the chicken breast is a little dry; I will have to work on that. 

Chicken-Mushroom Adobo over Butternut Squash
1 small butternut squash
6-10 cloves of garlic, crushed and rough chopped
2 small chicken breasts (about 8 oz total), skin and fat removed
10-12 criminy mushrooms, quartered
1 tsp whole peppercorns, crushed
2 bay leaves
1/2 c. white distilled vinegar
1/4 c. soy sauce
1/2 c. water


Preheat oven to 350. Slice your squash lengthwise and deseed.  Place cut side up in a glass baking dish with about 1 inch of water.  Bake for 30 or so minutes.  You may find that the squash isn't quite done by the time the adobo is done, depending on the thickness.  If this is the case, microwave the squash at the end for 5 minutes, one side at a time, in a dish with some water.

Spray a saucepan big enough the rest of ingredients with non-stick spray.  Add garlic and brown.  Remove.  Cut your chicken breast into 3 inch strips, or cubes.  Over high heat, add to the pot and brown all sides.  Add garlic back into the pot, along with the rest of the ingredients.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to med-low, cover, and let simmer for 30 minutes.

Spoon adobo over the squash, make sure to drizzle some extra sauce!


serves 2 / 284 cals per serving

--
Eric's dinner: 2 cheese quesadilla's, plain

Mango-Jalapeno Trout and Cilantro-Tomato Corn Salad

Both of these turned out so good! I will definitely be making both again.  Also, they work well together in a meal as each uses 1/2 a bunch of cilantro, and 1/2 a lime.  Keep that in mind if you make both together.


Mango-Jalapeno Trout
2 whole trout, cleaned, and pat dry
1 large jalapeno, seeded and finely diced
4 green onions, sliced thin
1/2 bunch of cilantro, chopped
1/2 c. ripe mango, peeled and diced
1 TBS olive oil
1/2 lime, squeezed for juice
garlic salt, to taste
pepper, to taste
This can be done on the grill over medium heat, or in the oven, at 350; either way, preheat.  In a bowl, mix together everything but the fish.  Lay out squares of foil, and spray with non-stick cooking spray.  Lay your fish in diagonally, then stuff each with 1/2 of the mixture.  If it all does not fit, you can put the remainder on the outside of the fish if you wish.  Bring together opposite corners of the foil to form a packet, making sure it is fully sealed.  For oven cooking, place the packets on a cookie sheet, and cook for 30 minutes. For grill cooking, place the foil pack directly on the grill, turning once, for a total of 20 minutes. 

Serves 2, 352.5 calories per serving (assumes 8.5oz fish pre-cooked, skin, head and tail not eaten)

Cilantro-Tomato Corn Salad
2 c. corn kernels (fresh is best, frozen if you must)
1 TBS olive oil
4 Campari tomatoes, chopped
1 jalapeno, de-seeded and finely chopped
1/2 small red onion, finely chopped
1-2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped
1/2 lime, juiced
S&P to taste

Mix everything together and call it a day.

Makes about 3 1-cup servings, 85 calories per serving.

Eric dinner: Pasta Roni, Alfredo

As an aside, I had a "moment" with my fish last night as I was prepping.  I guess this is sort of peculiar, and frankly I feel a little funny about putting it out there for everyone to read, but it was kind of a neat feeling.

I was washing and patting my trout dry when I noticed the rainbow sheen glinting off of his scales, and I thought that it looked really lovely.  Then I looked into his clear eyes (this fish was FRESH) and noticed tiny little teeth in his mouth. It occurred to me that it is so easy to forget that the food we eat, which is generally presented as heaping mounds of neatly shaped flesh on colorful plastic trays and wrapped in slick plastic, was once a creature that was alive going about his business.

Don't get me wrong, I am fully cognizant of the fact that humans are the top of the food-chain and we have evolved to find sustenance off of other animals.  I felt no guilt or sadness when pondering the fish.  This was just a moment where I sent my heartfelt thanks out into the cosmos for the life that was given in order to sustain mine.

Broiled Scallops and Eggplant w/ Ricotta & Tomato-Basil Relish

Yes, I could have wiped off the plate and made the presentation nicer for the purpose of this blog post, but I was freakin' hungry and could almost not be bothered to even take a photo. This was last night's noms.

Broiled Scallops
1 pound u-10 Sea Scallops
Garlic Salt - to taste
2 TBS butter, melted
fresh squeezed lemon

Rinse and pat scallops dry. Spray the bottom of a shallow baking dish with no-stick spray. Place scallops in the pan, sprinkle with garlic salt, squeeze half a lemon over the lot. Spoon a bit of melted butter over each scallop. Place under high broiler at about the middle rack. Remove once the scallops start browning, about 10 or so minutes. You can serve with some extra butter on the side, but I just squeezed more lemon. Serves 3, (3 scallops/5.3 oz per serving), 394 calories.


"Grilled" Aubergines w/ Fresh Ricotta & "Grilled" Tomato-Basil Relish
('aubergine' is the posh Brit way of saying eggplant.)
for the relish:
6-10 campari tomoatoes, halved
1 TBS olive oil
S&P to taste
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
2 TBS balsamic vinegar
1/4 c. fine chopped fresh basil

Toss tomatoes in a bowl with the olive oil and S&P. Heat a pan on the stove to high heat, and lay the tomatoes in. Reserve left over evoo in the bowl. Leave them alone until they start to brown, then turn them. Remove when the other side browns. You can also grill part or all of the onions at this step in the same pan as the tomatoes. Chop the cooled tomatoes and put back in the bowl you seasoned them in, adding onion, vinegar, and basil. Set aside.

Eggplant and assembly
1 medium eggplant, sliced into 1/2 inch thick rounds (6-8 slices)
1 TBS olive oil
S&P to taste
7 oz skim milk ricotta (1/2 a small tub)
1/4 c. finely chopped parsley

Using a brush, sparingly coat the eggplant slices with the olive oil and season with S&P. Place in a hot pan, and flip when they brown, about 4 minutes per side. Meanwhile, mix ricotta with the parsley and S&P.

To assemble, take 1 slice of eggplant, top with about 1.5 TBS of the ricotta mixture and spread it out, then a healthy dollop of tomato relish on top.

Makes 3 servings (2 slices per serving), 223 calories per serving

Plenty of leftovers for not only my lunch, but also for Cyncha!  Eric's Dinner: nothing, he wasn't feeling well.

It is a pity I haven't been updating. I have had some awesome dinners lately:
Lamb with pear and blackberry chutney
Poached eggs with roasted tomatoes and spinach over toast
Stir fry
Curry
Miso soup
Potlicker greens w/ smoked turkey

And now I rejoined planet organics so mystery veggies every week to figure out what the heck to do with. Good times!