Rotini with Spinach Sauce and Roasted Red Peppers

Yay for post #2 in November!  It's been a busy month... not that I haven't been cooking, but I've had no time to write up a post.  I don't really have time to write one tonight... but I don't want to work.  So procrastination wins. :)

Jeremy and I bought a bag of spinach at the grocery store this past weekend and I wanted to use some.  I don't like the texture of cooked spinach but didn't want a salad tonight - hence spinach sauce!  It had great flavor and was a lovely green color.  Made me think I was eating the Grinch or something... with the addition of the roasted red peppers, maybe I should call this Christmas pasta.  But since it's still November, I won't.

This took me only about half an hour to make.  It would have been even quicker if I'd made the pasta while making the sauce.  But since I had started dinner a bit before we wanted to eat, I had the sauce completely made before I put the pasta water on.  It would probably take only about 20 minutes if everything was started together.

This had a lot of veggies in it and was an overall healthy meal.  I will certainly be making it again.  I have one serving left in the pot so one of us will have some great leftovers tomorrow.  (And since I leave earlier, I'll probably get to them first.  Yay!)

When I first asked Jeremy how he felt about it he said, "I'm not sure."  After two minutes he said, "I like it."  I just looked over at him and I don't see any food in his bowl and he was licking his fork... I call that a success. :)

You could adapt this to your tastes - tomatoes in addition to or in place of the roasted red peppers, or other veggies altogether.  It would also probably be great with some grilled chicken.  Overall a very easy and tasty meal. And now that I don't really have any excuse not to work, back to the grind.

Recipe:
1 box (13.25 oz.) rotini
1 onion, diced
2 tsp. minced garlic
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flake
1 tsp. dried basil leaves
1 tbs. dried parsley flakes
5 oz. fresh spinach
1 jar (15.5 oz) roasted red peppers, drained and diced
1/4 c. chicken stock
1/2 c. milk (I used skim)
2 tbs. grated parmesan (plus more for serving)
1 tbs. olive oil
salt and pepper

1. Heat a large saute pan (w/ a lid) over medium heat.  Add olive oil.  Add crushed red pepper flakes and swirl to heat for 20 seconds.  Add onions and saute for 5-6 minutes until translucent.  Add garlic, basil, and parsley.  Cook for 1-2 minutes to heat through.  Add chicken stock and scrape the bottom of the pan to remove any bits.  Add spinach and mix.  Cover with lid to allow spinach to wilt.  When wilted turn off heat.
2. Place spinach mixture in a blender and add milk and parmesan cheese.  Blend until smooth.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Set aside until pasta is done.
3. Heat a large pot of water over high heat.  When boiling, add salt (to taste, you don't need to add it... I added about 1 tsp.)  Add rotini and cook until al dente, 9-10 minutes.  Drain and return to pan. (You could do this step while making the sauce if you wanted.)
5. Combine pasta, sauce, and roasted red peppers and heat over low heat until hot through.  Serve topped with extra parmesan cheese.

Lemon-Garlic Roast Pork with Sauteed Cabbage and Oven-Roasted Carrots

A couple weeks ago, pork was on sale at the grocery store, so I bought a roast even though I didn't have time to cook it then.  I froze it and thawed it out this weekend for tonight.  I decided to marinate it in garlic, thyme, and lemon and serve it with a lot of veggies.  It was awesome.  The lemon gave it a really fresh, bright flavor.

Since most of the time it took to make dinner tonight was roasting the pork, I got some work done while it sat in the oven.  The cabbage and carrots didn't take too long so it was a fairly easy meal.  I gave the pork roast about a 40 minute head-start before I started the sides. The sides were still done a little early but they stayed hot so it wasn't a problem.

The cabbage had a great (slightly sweet) flavor and the roasted carrots were almost succulent.  There's almost nothing I like better than roasted vegetables. The caramelized edges they get are delicious.  And they're so easy since you just stick them in the oven until they're tender.

The pork was tender yet crunchy on the outside. I used a probe thermometer to monitor the temp while it was cooking.  That has probably been one of the best investments I've made.  It only cost about $20 but it makes all the difference when roasting a large cut of meat or a whole bird.

Overall a very successful meal. And one that was fairly healthy with all the veggies.  I know we'll enjoy eating up all the leftovers. :)

Pork:
zest and juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp. minced garlic
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. dried thyme
1.5-2 lb. pork roast (mine was 1.76 lbs.)

1. Mix lemon zest and juice, salt, pepper, and thyme together in a large ziploc bag, add pork roast and zip closed.  Massage the marinade into the meat.  Refrigerate overnight (or a few hours if that isn't possible).
2. Preheat oven to 325.  Place pork roast on a rack over a roasting pan.  Roast for 1-1 1/4 hours until the temperature inside is 160 degrees.
3. Remove from oven and cover loosely with foil.  Allow the meat to rest for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

Cabbage:
1 medium onion, diced
1 lb. (about 1/2 head) cabbage, sliced thinly
1 tbs. olive oil
1 tbs. margarine
1 tbs. cider vinegar
1 tsp. chipotle tobasco (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat a large frying pan over medium high heat.  Add 1 tbs. olive oil.
2. Add onion and saute until mostly carmelized, 10-12 minutes. Remove from pan.
3. Add 1 tbs. margarine, cabbage, and salt and pepper to taste.  Saute until cabbage is to desired tenderness, approximately 10 minutes. (I like mine slightly firm so if you want it softer, keep cooking.)
4. Add the onions back to the pan.  Add cider vinegar.  Mix to combine and cook for 1-2 more minutes until liquid is gone. Add chipotle tobasco if using (if you don't want it spicy, leave it out... but it's delicious) and mix to combine.
5. Serve.

Carrots: (I had them mixed and then cranked the heat on the oven up as soon as the pork came out. The carrots were done just about when I finished slicing the pork.)
4 medium carrots, quartered and then cut into 2" sticks
1 tbs. olive oil
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Mix everything together on a baking sheet.
2. Bake for approximately 10-15 minutes (turn/stir the carrots once halfway through) until tender and slightly browned on the edges.
3. Serve.

Whole Wheat Buttermilk Pancakes

I've been trying to make whole wheat buttermilk pancakes for a while now. This recipe finally turned out how I wanted it - nice and fluffy. :) The recipes I'd been following were either too runny or without enough flavor.

Jeremy ate these as is.  I added maple syrup to mine. :) These were really easy to make (just a few more steps than a boxed mix...) and they're healthier since they're made with white whole wheat flour. 

You could use actual buttermilk rather than the powder and water.  You might need to decrease the flour slightly depending on how thick your buttermilk is.  Buttermilk thickens as it sits so the longer it's been in the fridge, the thicker it will be.  Just eyeball the batter and see if it looks to thick.   

And now back to work... 

Recipe:

1 c. plus 2 tbs. white whole wheat flour

1 egg

1/4 c. buttermilk powder

1 c. water

2 tbs. margarine, melted

1 tbs. sugar

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1. Crack egg into a medium bowl.  Beat lightly.  Add the rest of the ingredients and beat until just mixed (don't over-mix. lumps are ok.)

2. Heat a griddle over medium heat.  Use a 1/4 c. measuring cup to portion out the batter. (I got 8 pancakes out of it.) Flip the pancakes when bubbles form and the edges start to appear dry. 

3. Serve. :)

Chicken "Shepherd's" Pie

Ok. I know true shepherd's pie is made with lamb... but I had leftover chicken to use and topping my pie with mashed potatoes sounded awesome.  But in this recipe I even used *gasp* instant mashed potatoes.  I didn't have any potatoes and since it was snowing I didn't want to go out.  I had the instant mashed potatoes around because a lot of the bread recipes Jeremy and I have been making in our bread machine call for them.

I made this using 5" pie dishes so that each of us got our own pie.  :)  You could certainly double this recipe and make it in a normal size pie dish to make it for 4 people.  I made sure to put the pie dishes on top of a sheet tray when baking to keep the oven clean in case of any spillovers.

This was incredibly comforting and delicious.  The herbs I used in the filling were reminiscent of a great thanksgiving meal (mostly due to the sage...).  The mashed potatoes were fine (a little like potato grits if you ask me...) but would probably have been better if I'd made them from fresh potatoes -- I'd recommend doing that and if I have them around in the future I probably will.  But this was a good substitution in the meantime -- and they were easier.

You could also substitute other types of meat.  Like I said above, real shepherd's pie is lamb, cottage pie is beef.  But you could also use turkey or pork and it would be delicious.  This would also probably make a great veggie pie if more veggies (and veggie stock) was used.

This was a great way to use up a lot of veggies and chicken that wouldn't have lasted too much longer.  And since it was in the oven for a while, I got some work done while it was cooking.  Overall a great success.

The filling

Recipe:
1 1/2 c. shredded, cooked chicken
2 carrots, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
1 medium onion, diced
1 tsp. minced garlic
1/2 c. frozen corn kernels
3/4 c. chicken stock
1/4 c. skim milk
1 1/3 c. garlic mashed potatoes (I put 1 tsp. of minced garlic into my instant mashed... just follow the directions or make your own.)
1/2 tsp. minced sage (I had fresh that needed to be used)
1/2 tsp. dried thyme leaves
1 1/2 tsp. dried parsley leaves
1/2 tsp. dried rosemary (I crush this in my hands before putting it in the filling)
2 tbs. margarine
1 tbs. olive oil
2 tbs. AP flour
salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add olive oil.  Add carrots, onions, and celery.  Saute for 3-4 minutes until they begin to soften.  Add garlic, sage, thyme, parsley, and rosemary, saute for 1-2 min.  Add margarine and allow to melt.  Add flour and mix well to combine.  Add chicken stock and milk and stir to combine.  Bring the liquid to a boil to thicken.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Add chicken and corn and mix well to combine.  (It should be a fairly thick mixture. If it's too thin, boil longer or add a little flour.)
2. Spoon the filling into two individual pie dishes or oven-proof bowls.  Top with mashed potatoes.  Smooth the mashed potatoes evenly to cover the filling.  Place the pie dishes on top of a sheet tray.
3. Bake for 30-40 minutes until golden brown on top.

Chicken and Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

I had some tomatoes that I needed to use.  Given that Jeremy doesn't like the taste of raw tomato, I decided to cook them down and use them in a stuffed pepper filling.  I've been trying to find more uses for quinoa and since I also had some leftover chicken (from the whole bird I roasted about a week ago) I came up with this recipe to combine them all.

This turned out really well.  Jeremy thoroughly enjoyed it and it was quite filling. One pepper each (with a little extra filling on the side) was a great dinner.  This didn't make any leftovers for us but since I've made quite a few meals recently with leftovers it's not a bad thing that I don't have to find any more room in the fridge. :)  This recipe could certainly be scaled up to feed more people though.

Because I had chicken already cooked, I just stirred that in at the end.  You could easily use rotisserie chicken or cook some while the rest of the filling was cooking.  This could also be made vegetarian by substituting other veggies, cheese, or tofu/tempeh for the chicken (and replacing the chicken stock with vegetable stock or water).

If you don't have quinoa on hand, you could certainly substitute rice or barley or any other grain.  The amount of liquid and the cooking time may need to be adjusted.  I've only recently started using quinoa but I love its chewy texture.

Overall this was a very healthy meal that was really easy to prepare.  While it took a bit of time, most of that didn't require attention since it was just sitting in the oven for nearly an hour.  Definitely a meal I'd make again. :)

Recipe:
3 tomatoes (I had two tomatoes on the vine and 1 roma)
1 small onion
2 green bell peppers
2 tsp. minced garlic
1/3 c. quinoa (uncooked)
1 1/3 c. chicken stock, divided
2 tbs. tomato paste
1 c. shredded chicken (I used all white meat)
1/8 tsp. crushed red pepper
1/8 tsp. black pepper
1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. dried parsley flakes

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Dice the tomatoes and the onion. Cut the tops off the peppers and dice the pepper tops (leaving the rest intact -- set aside for later).
2. Place a sauce pan over medium heat.  Add 2 tbs. olive oil. Add the tomatoes, onion, diced peppers, and garlic.  Mix to combine.  Add crushed red pepper, black pepper, salt, oregano, and parsley.  Saute for approximately 5 minutes until the veggies begin to get tender and most of the liquid from the tomatoes has evaporated.
3. Stir in the tomato paste. Cook for 1-2 minutes until it disappears and cooks out a bit.
4. Add quinoa and 2/3 c. chicken stock. Cover the pan and reduce the heat to maintain a simmer for approximately 15 minutes until the quinoa gets tender and white strings appear from the quinoa.
5. Stir in the shredded chicken.
6. Spoon the filling into the peppers and place in a deep casserole dish. Spread any remaining filling around the peppers and pour over the remaining 2/3 c. chicken stock.
7. Cover the casserole dish with a lid or foil and bake for 50-60 minutes until the peppers are tender, removing the lid for the last 10-15 minutes.
8. Serve and enjoy.

Sesame-Crusted Scallops with Veggie Noodle Stir-Fry

This morning/early afternoon, Jeremy and I went to the gym and did some quick grocery shopping. We wanted to get some seafood (of some type) for dinner. When we looked at what BJ's had (because we didn't want to make multiple stops), the scallops looked the best. So we brought a little under a pound home. :)

As I contemplated how I was going to cook them, I kept thinking about a meal I had at the Ginger Man Restaurant - sesame crusted divers scallops with vegetable nori rolls. I had those the first time we went there (for our anniversary a few years ago) and they're still on my mind now. Delicious. I decided to try to recreate them here. These were also great.

This was a very quick recipe. It took me less than a half an hour total (and it didn't take long for the food to disappear either!). We have a serving of stir-fry leftover but all the scallops are gone (which is good since they wouldn't reheat well anyway). It had a great salty flavor and the scallops were still sweet and tender.

Be careful when you cook the scallops so you don't overcook them. They can get tough and rubbery if overcooked. You want a nice sear on both sides and close to raw in the middle. This is accomplished by having a super-hot pan that cooks them very quickly on each side. When you're preparing the scallops, remember to remove the adductor muscles. Sometimes they have already been removed when they were taken out of the shell... but if not it has to be removed because it's tough. The adductor muscle looks like a strip of scallop that sticks off of the rest of it - it will look out of place on the otherwise nice circle/oval. Just rip them off and throw them away. I usually don't even need to use a knife to remove them.

The stir fry was nice and simple. You could substitute any veggies you had on hand. Tamari is an aged soy sauce. If you don't have that you can certainly substitute soy sauce. And if you don't want it spicy, eliminate or reduce the amount of sriracha or crushed red pepper flake. This wasn't overly spicy but since I eat a lot of spicy food my tastebuds probably don't notice or mind spicy foods as much as others. I made the stir-fry completely before I even started the scallops since they cook so quickly.

Overall this was a great success - Jeremy just wishes there were more scallops in the kitchen. Even though scallops are more expensive than most things I make, just think what it would have cost if Jeremy and I had gone out to a restaurant for this meal! Definitely worth it to make this at home and enjoy some tasty scallops while watching football. :)

Recipe:
Scallops:
~ 1 lb. sea scallops, adductor muscles removed (if they aren't already) (I had 12 scallops)
3 tbs. toasted sesame seeds
1 tbs. vegetable oil
1 tbs. margarine
1 tbs. reduced sodium tamari
1 tbs. rice wine vinegar

Stir Fry:
1/4 of a head of cauliflower (about 2 cups), cut into bite-sized pieces
1 small onion, diced small
1/2 carrot, sliced into matchsticks
1/2 c. frozen shelled edamame
1 tsp. minced garlic
1/4 lb. whole wheat spaghetti
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flake
1 tbs. reduced sodium tamari
1 tsp. sriracha sauce
1/4 tsp. toasted sesame oil
1 tbs. vegetable oil

1. Heat a large pot of water to a boil. Add spaghetti and cook according to package directions. 3-4 minutes before the spaghetti is done, add the cauliflower and cook until slightly tender. Drain.
2. When the cauliflower is added, heat a wok over high heat. Add 1 tbs. vegetable oil. Add crushed red pepper flake and garlic and swirl to combine the flavors. When the garlic is fragrant, add the onion and cook 1-2 minutes until it starts to get tender. Add carrots and edamame and stir fry for 2-3 minutes. Add the spaghetti and cauliflower and mix to combine. Add the tamari, sriracha, and sesame oil and mix to combine. Turn off heat and cover.
3. Spread sesame seeds in a shallow casserole dish. Place the scallops on a paper towel and pat dry on both sides. Press into the sesame seeds, coating one flat side of each scallop.
4. Heat a large frying pan over high heat. Add 1 tbs. vegetable oil and 1 tbs. margarine. When the pan is hot and the margarine is melted, add the scallops, sesame seed side down. Cook for 2 minutes, turn the scallops over and cook for 1-2 more minutes until nicely seared on the second side.
5. While the scallops are cooking, plate the stir fry. When the scallops are done, place on top of the stir fry.
6. Turn the heat on the scallop pan down to low. Add the tamari and rice wine vinegar to deglaze the pan. Stir to pick up any browned bits. Turn off the heat and pour the sauce over the scallops and stir fry. Enjoy!

Chicken and Veggie Noodle Soup

Since today was a little cooler, I decided to make a soup for dinner. I had some parsnips that I wanted to use so I put them in along with typical soup veggies. They added a delicious gingery flavor to the soup. I never ate parsnips growing up but I've discovered I love them.

This had lots of veggies in it. Everything was nice and tender by the time the soup was finished. I love veggies so most of my dishes are pretty veggie heavy. This was no exception. My cutting board was overflowing with veggies when I started the soup and the combination of them in this soup had a spicy, sweet flavor. Definitely delicious. :)

I roasted a whole chicken a couple nights ago so I had a lot of leftover chicken meat in the fridge. I tore the meat into smaller pieces and dropped it in the soup. I used a mix of white and dark meat since that's what I had. This could easily be made with meat from a rotisserie chicken or by poaching some chicken in the soup and then chopping it. Either would be fantastic.

I also cooked my own dried beans for this. If you wanted to substitute canned beans, it would be about 2 cans worth of beans. Using dried beans helps me control the sodium in the soup since I don't add salt to the beans while they cook. Some of the canned beans can be quite high.

Speaking of sodium, I also used an unsalted chicken stock. This was the first time I bought Kitchen Basics stock and it was delicious! It was much darker in color than most boxed broths and stocks and it had a much richer flavor. If you don't use unsalted stock, go easy on the salt and pepper in the recipe until you see how it tastes.

This was a delicious soup that I'll certainly make again (ok... probably with some variation... I rarely make the same thing exactly the same way twice). It made a nice large pot of soup that will feed us for several more meals. Nothing beats a hot bowl of soup on a cool day. Yum!

Recipe:
3 stalks celery
3 carrots
2 medium onions
1 lb. parsnips
2 tsp. minced garlic
2 bay leaves
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. dried rosemary (crushed)
1/2 tsp. thyme leaves
1 1/2 tsp. parsley flakes
6 c. chicken stock
1 c. dried beans, cooked according to package
1 1/2 c. shredded chicken
6 oz. whole wheat egg noodles
salt and pepper to taste

1. Chop the celery, carrots, parsnips, and onions into bite sized pieces.
2. Heat a large soup pan over medium heat. Add 2 tbs. olive oil. Add veggies, 1 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp. pepper. Saute for 5-7 minutes until they begin to get a little tender.
3. Add chicken stock, garlic, bay leaves, rosemary, thyme, and parsley. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Add beans and chicken. Continue simmering for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. Right after adding the beans and chicken, in a separate pot, bring 6-8 cups of water to a boil to cook the egg noodles. Boil the noodles until tender. Drain and add to the soup. Mix well to combine. Allow to simmer together for 3-5 minutes.
6. Taste soup and adjust seasoning as needed. Ladle into bowls and enjoy!