Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Zucchini and Tomato One Pot Wonder

My friend Kathi gave me this recipe saying, "It sounds really gross." So maybe I liked it so much because I had low expectations, but it was easy to make, loaded with vegetables, and like Kathi says you can feed five on a dollar.

1/2 package ground turkey
1 c finely shredded carrot
1/2 onion, chopped
Zucchini, finely shredded
3-4 tomatoes, chopped
Mozzarella cheese
Salt and pepper

Combine turkey and carrot. Brown meat with onions. On top of meat, layer zucchini, tomatoes, and cheese. Salt zucchini and tomato layers. Cover and simmer 10 minutes.

I served it over brown rice because it seemed like it needed to be over something. Mine turned out really watery (maybe too much zucchini), maybe next time I'll simmer uncovered.

Everyone tried some. Some opted for plain rice after that. I thought it was really good. The tomatoes were from the farmers market and were so flavorful, it was amazing. I enjoyed it, and look forward to more easy yummy recipes from Kathi.

Cilantro Noodle Bowl

I got this recipe from a real recipe blog, 101 Cookbooks. Her recipes always look good, but this might be the first one I've ever actually tried. They usually call for unique ingredients that I don't have on hand so it takes some planning ahead. You'll find this recipe at http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/cilantro-noodle-bowl-recipe.html

I made this last week, with broccoli instead of romanesco since I'd never heard of romanesco before. I'm not sure if I like soba noodles? They were a nice change, but I'm not sure if I could eat them all the time. But of course it is easy to substitute a different kind of noodle, even spaghetti would work here. My mother-in-law and sister-in-law were here and they both said they liked it, and even my husband liked it okay. The kids I didn't even expect them to try it, I just made them spaghetti (multigrain) and they had it with cheese on top.

I had trouble with my tofu. I got the extra firm kind, but it was not firm enough to hold up in my pan. I think browning it would have added some flavor, but the only brown parts got stuck to the bottom of my pan.

Guess what? I found romanesco at the farmers market on Saturday. So I'm going to make it again this week. Yum. I'll let you know how the romanesco is.

Friday, September 12, 2008

Chicken Verde

I just realized I have never posted one of my favorite easy recipes. I know we ate it sometime in the last few months, when I was forgetting to post anything. I got it from my friend Honor, and I made it shortly after giving birth to the 4YO. I picked it because it only had two ingredients. When I told Honor that I had chosen her recipe as the first post-partum dinner I made, she said, "I am honored, pun intended."

2-3 lbs. chicken (any kind, but if it has bones you'll have to debone it after it is cooked)
1 16 oz. jar salsa verde

Put chicken in a crockpot, pour salsa over. Cook on low 4-5 hours until chicken is cooked through. Shred, serve in tortillas with your favorite taco toppings. I also like to put a spoonful of rice in the tortilla with it.

To me, this tastes like chicken enchiladas, but without all the rolling and assembling.

Summertime Lime Chicken Tacos

My friend Lauren shared this recipe with me one day because she had made the chicken ahead of time but couldn't stop thinking about it before it was time for dinner! It is easy to make, the hardest part is remembering to put the chicken in the marinade at the right time.

1/3 c vegetable oil
1/4 c lime juice
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 T parsley, minced
1 t cumin
1 t oregano
1/2 t salt
1/4 t pepper
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (or more)

Add all the ingredients to a gallon ziploc bag and make sure the chicken is coated. Refrigerate for 8 hours, turning occasionally. Drain and discard marinade. Grill or broil chicken 5-7 minutes on each side. Cut into thin strips. Serve in warmed tortillas with your favorite taco toppings.

Microwave Popcorn

I've been limiting myself to dinners on this blog, just because it is so easy to collect so many fun recipes which don't help you get dinner on the table...because they are desserts, appetizers, or something. But this idea was so easy and healthy and cheap I had to share.

Put 1/3 cup popcorn kernals in a brown paper lunch bag. Fold over top of bag twice. Microwave for 4 minutes. Done.

Popcorn is a whole grain, so as long as you don't drown it in butter or caramel or whatever you prefer on your popcorn, this is a great snack. If you are in the mood for a sweet treat, here is my favorite popcorn recipe:

Honey Popcorn

10 cups popped popcorn
1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup honey
3 T margarine

Combine sugar, honey and margarine in a small saucepan over low heat. Cook until mixture bubbles around edges.

Pour over popped corn and mix well. Place on wax paper to cool and harden.

Potato Salad

One of my very first posts was my mom's recipe for potato salad, but I just recently found a different recipe that I think will take over from now on. It uses olive oil in the dressing instead of mayonnaise, and it just tastes lighter and fresher, but still the same tang and crunch of potato salad. But since it is oil, which congeals when it is cold, it has to be served warm or room temperature. So not good to make ahead.

2 lbs Yukon Gold potatoes (about 3 large), cut into uniform 1/2 to 1-inch pieces (I used red potatoes though)
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped red onion
1/3 cup chopped Kalamata olives
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup seasoned rice vinegar
1/4 cup olive oil

salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Put potatoes into a saucepan, cover with an inch of cold water. Salt the water (about a teaspoon and a half for 2 quarts of water). Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer. Cover. Simmer for 10 minutes or until the potatoes are tender when pierced with a fork. Drain well.


Put potatoes in a large serving bowl with the celery, red onion, olives, and parsley. Add the rice vinegar and oil while the potatoes are still warm, so they absorb the dressing. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Serve warm. Serves 4 to 6.

Ratings:
Okay, the truth is I didn't make this for my family. I volunteered to take it to church for a meeting where they served lunch. So I'm the only one who tasted it. And it was yummy.

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Quinoa and Black Beans

Well, I haven't posted in months. What have we been eating for all that time? I'm not really sure. When I'm not organized, mealtime suffers, and I think that is what happened. I'm happy to say that we don't resort to fast food very often (I think we did order out pizza once...) but since it is summer we did bbq quite a bit, and lets just say I'm glad my kids like pancakes.


The last six or seven weeks, I have gone to great effort to make a meal plan each week, which means I get things on the grocery list, which means there is a chance I have the right kind of food in the house when it comes time to make dinner. Several times I have even gotten the right food out of the freezer the night before and sometimes I've gotten the crockpot turned on in the morning. That sure helps life to be calmer when I am able to plan ahead like that.

In looking at my meals that I actually planned, almost every single one was a repeat of something I've already posted. 26 meals and I'm already at the end of my repertoire? I wouldn't be surprised if it is true. Pathetic.

I did try a new recipe last night. My brother was coming over for dinner so I needed to actually cook, but he is a pretty low maintenance brother so I decided to try out a new recipe that I found on www.allrecipes.com. I served it with cornbread and a salad.

1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, peeled and chopped
3/4 cup uncooked quinoa
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
salt and pepper to taste
1 cup frozen corn kernels (I used an ear of fresh, cut off the cob)
2 (15 ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained (I cooked up 2 c. of dried beans)
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the onion and garlic, and saute until lightly browned. Mix quinoa into the saucepan and cover with vegetable broth. Season with cumin, cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes. Stir frozen corn into the saucepan, and continue to simmer about 5 minutes until heated through. Mix in the black beans and cilantro.

Ratings:

The presentation was a little blah. It is just a pile of stuff on your plate. Do you serve it in a bowl with a spoon? Do you wrap it in a tortilla? Is it a casserole? Is it a side dish? The quinoa and beans definitely give it enough protein for it to be a main dish, but I probably wouldn't serve it to company (other than low maintenance brother) unless I could figure out a better presentation, maybe the tortilla idea. It turned out much tastier than I expected. The onions and garlic and corn really gave it a lot of flavor. The spices could have been stronger. And I thought the proportions were a little off, next time I'll use more quinoa to balance it with the beans.

6YO: Asked to try a little, and then asked for seconds.

4YO: Ate cornbread and picked out carrots from the salad.

1YO: He loves beans, so he picked out the beans. When he ate a spoonful with other things mixed in, he spit it out. Maybe a little tedious, but he ate lots of beans.