Boredom

Has this ever happened to you? You just get so tired of the same lineup all the time...same recipes over and over. I have stacks full of recipes to try...yet usually by 5 pm, my kids are driving me crazy, I have done no preparation, and am in no mood to dirty 3 pots and pans and other dishes. So for the past few nights it has been take-out (albeit healthy) or packaged stuff from Trader Joe's...which I don't mind, but it gets old. It's not our every night food. I am in the mood for something new, something quick and easy and delicious and healthy and cheap...I just don't know what. So I'll leave with a promise to post tomorrow night with a new recipe--nothing like pressure to spur one on. Necessity is the mother of invention and all that crap. As it is, I have been hard at work on my other blog, Mediocre Chocolate...but my dinner-making has taken a backseat to bread this week. No fear...I will get back into the groove shortly, as tomorrow is my grocery-shopping day, which always leads to inspiration.

Ricotta Pesto with Roasted Garlic

Maybe I have mentioned this before...I love pesto. It's one of my favorite pasta sauces and flavors of all time. Of course traditional pesto is incredibly high in fat...but it's also very easy to lighten up.
I have adapted a recipe from Cook's Illustrated Best Light Recipe for my own version of this classic pasta dish. I served it tonight with some grilled chicken. The other bonus about pesto? I can pair it with spinach linguine (if I have some around) and call it Green Noodles--my boys will clean their plates every time!
This is another recipe-that's-not-a-recipe. Everything is estimated and open to personal preference.

Ricotta Pesto with Roasted Garlic Pasta
(c) copyright 2008 earthwatersunwind@yahoo.com

3/4 cup fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup fresh spinach leaves
1/4 -1/3 cup cup low-fat ricotta cheese
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
juice of one-half lemon, about 2 tbsp
4 - 5 cloves roasted garlic, or 1-2 fresh if you like a sharper flavor
salt and pepper, to taste
2tbsp-1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 pound whole wheat, multi-grain, or spinach pasta, any shape
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts, whole or chopped coarse

1. Bring water to boil.
Combine all ingredients but pasta and oil in food processor. Slowly drizzle in oil with motor running until creamy consistency is reached. Check for seasoning.
Cook pasta until al dente, reserving 1/2 cup cooking liquid. Drain well and place into large serving bowl. Mix pesto with a few tablespoons of pasta water, and toss pasta to coat. Sprinkle with reserved pine nuts, extra cheese and fresh basil. Sigh with happiness.

Turkey Burgers... with a secret

It will come as no surprise to those of you with children that my kids hate most vegetables. They like a select few...but for the most part, if they can identify a naturally grown object, they will refuse it. I keep offering...but occasionally I like to make sure they get some in whether they know it or not.
This is especially easy to do when working with turkey burgers, meatballs, any kind of ground-meat application. As long as they're chopped finely, I can toss in whatever I have lying around. As a bonus, they add moisture and flavor to the lower-fat turkey meat. It takes about 60 seconds if you have a food processor to turn a handful of crudite into an unrecognizable relish, and another 10-15 minutes to saute it--just long enough to fire up those coals. That's my big secret--here you thought that I was sneaking my kids vegetables --- nope! If you add veggies to a burger or meatball, you MUST saute it first! If you chop them up and add them raw, you will have crunchy veggie bits and a dry burger--think about it. You know what happens when you sweat onions or mushrooms--they soak up liquid. They do the same thing to your meat. So always cook them first--I like to start with tablespoon or two of olive oil, then add chicken stock if I need to as they cook. If cooking right away, you can mix them right in to your meat.
I'd also like you to notice the buns on my burger--handmade by me. These are Yeasted Cornmeal Buns, and they are an original recipe. They're soft, tender, with a great texture, and the barest hint of cornmeal. Quick to rise, too. I'm working out the kinks on the exact recipe, but hope to have it in a few days. It will be available on my baking blog, Life's Too Short For Mediocre Chocolate.
I'll leave you with a Quick Tip--if you grill with coals, you'll be left with some smoldering heat that shouldn't go to waste. I like to slice a head of garlic in two, drizzle it with a little oil, salt and pepper, and wrap it in foil. I usually place it in a cast-iron pan, too, just for insulation. If you place it over to the edge of the grill over dying coals and cover it up with the vents open, 45 minutes later you will have perfectly roasted garlic that you can use all week--look for some upcoming recipes featuring my favorite flavor!

A real harvest, and my new toy

This is as close as I've come to having gardening be worth my time this year! Something has been eating my strawberries...all of them. My plants are doing beautifully, but just when they turn red...bam. I finally covered them both with plastic bags, and it seems to have worked, because I just harvested almost a handful! Local wildlife...0. Gardener, 1.
I have some cherry tomatoes about to ripen as well--Sun Gold or Gold Nuggets, I'll have to check my notes to remember which. Usually the cherries don't get bothered too badly by animals, but I'll have to be vigilant.
I'll also show you my new toy I got at the gourmet kitchen store today. I have been wanting one of these for awhile, just perfect for hand-grinding seeds, nuts, spices, and anything else. It's made of marble and only cost $10--a great find.
I also wanted to say really quickly that tomorrow's dinner will be a healthy and yummy burger recipe on some homemade buns--so come back tomorrow for that one!

Grilled Chicken Sausage with Asparagus and Whole Wheat Penne

Pretty easy stuff tonight. I took a precooked, packaged (but high-quality) sausage--Aidell's Chicken with Apple--and grilled it over the gas grill til it got some beautiful color. Then I tossed on some asparagus--I must admit I'm always sad when the thick asparagus starts arriving in the store. I don't have the space to grow it myself, so I'm at the mercy of the grocer--and I just adore the pencil-thin ones we get around January and February and into early Spring. I could eat them every night, roasted, grilled or sauteed. (NEVER boiled. Ever. Ever. That's the meanest thing you can do to asparagus.)
Anyway, I added this to some pasta I'd cooked up inside, and tossed it around with a little reserved pasta water and a few tablespoons of leftover red sauce I had in the fridge. Voila, dinner all three of my boys would eat with no complaints.
But...I'm not a big sausage fan. I'm just not crazy about it, even the chicken kind. So I improvised for myself--I just started a 6-month long fitness plan of increasingly harder workouts, and it emphasizes a higher-protein diet than I'm used to. (Look to the Amazon widget to get the book. It's wonderful.) I had some leftover salad from going out to Applebee's last night--I highly recommend the green apple and candied walnut chicken salad. All I did was added some freshly cut strawberries and my favorite pear dressing from Trader Joe's, and I had a brand-new dinner. It's not an ideal situation, making two separate meals, but sometimes it just works out that way. My husband is such a carnivore, and I really don't care much for red meat, so we'll do this sometimes. It seems to make everyone happy--even if I do have a sinkful of dishes with my name on it!
I also wanted to add to this post that it's starting to warm up here, and my plants are beginning to bear fruit...which means that the bugs and birds and whatever stray rodent happens by are getting a free buffet. My strawberries are being consistently eaten, I actually had to cover them completely with a trash bag today...and my cherry tomatoes are starting to ripen and are already under siege! What kind of bug eats the entire center out of a tomato?! I'm going to research this a bit...I refuse to do down without a fight !

Easy Quinoa and Veggie Dinner

I was home alone tonight...the husband took the boys out of town to visit the in-laws. I didn't go, having class on Friday night and just too many projects lined up. I can always get so much more done without the pitter-patter-crash of little feet...but I still have to eat. Dinner tonight was--as usual when it's just me--meatless. I wasn't in the mood for a big production really, as I was planning on finally watching Juno and making bread later that evening. What started out as one simple dish became one very delicious one.
I had picked up a new organic veggie blend at the store today--spinach, edamame, broccoli, asparagus, and green beans, all chopped up and frozen. Fabulously convenient. I cooked up some quinoa pilaf with a little bit of chicken stock and dehydrated onion, and while that was going, I sauteed my frozen veggies. A wee bit of shallot and olive oil went into the pan for a minute, then added my frozen veggie blend, along with an herb & garlic seasoning I like, halved cherry tomatoes and salt & pepper. A pinch of freshly grated nutmeg, a must when cooking with spinach. After the veggies had absorbed the oil, I poured a few tablespoons of chicken stock in, and let it reduce a few minutes more. Then I served myself up some quinoa, topped it with my veggies and some fresh basil from the garden, and of course a bit of parmesan. Couldn't be more delicious--or more healthy.

Grilled Chicken with Chunky Pesto Gremolata

Dinner tonight was very fresh and summery--in my part of the world, I'm already harvesting zucchini and basil, and the boys are wearing shorts and sandals. I'm trying to enjoy the mild weather while it lasts, before the heat really comes on
I BBQ'd tonight, the charcoal grill. I really prefer it for flavor, although I am still a novice at controlling the temperature. You'll never learn unless you do it often...so I grill quite a bit over the summer.
Preparation was very simple. I just marinated some chicken breasts in lemon juice and olive oil with salt and pepper, then grilled them up. I topped them with a sort of deconstructed pesto-basil gremolata. I took fresh basil, minced garlic, toasted pine nuts, and olive oil, and chopped them all up together. It has all the flavors of pesto, with much less calories. It's sort of a chunky relish-style thing, and I loved the contrast with the crunchy pine nuts. (The husband wasn't home--he hates crunchy things and nuts. Good thing!) I decided to leave it rather rustic because my sophisticated palate wouldn't have it any other way....just kidding. I didn't want to have to wash my food processor...although you could certainly take it for a spin if you wanted a smoother texture!
There are so many beautiful colors in this dish...it made me hungry just looking at the ingredients! Then when the garlic and lemon hit the hot chicken, it made the most amazing aroma...mmmm. I added some chopped grape tomatoes, which really brightened it up, and added some moisture without adding extra olive oil. Plus it's another way to get some veggies into my kids without a fight.
Next time I think less lemon zest is in order. I put half of one whole lemon's worth of zest in, and I think the lemon overpowered the basil, as lemon will do. This is reflected in the recipe below, although you could certainly tailor this to your tastes.
I think next time I might chop things up just a little more, and I will certainly make more of it--I topped some toasted no-knead bread with a little bit of it and it was heavenly.

Chunky Pesto Gremolata
(c) copyright 2008 earthwatersunwind@yahoo.com
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
1 cup fresh basil, shredded
2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1/4 tsp lemon zest
3 tbsp olive oil
handful grape tomatoes, halved
salt and pepper to taste

Chop nuts, basil, garlic, and zest together on cutting board, working with knife to create a chunky but well-blended texture--chop as fine as you like. Transfer to small bowl, mix in olive oil, salt and pepper and tomatoes. Makes a wonderful topper for hot grilled chicken or fish or toasted bread. Or tossed into hot pasta...the possibilities are endless with this one.

BBQ Pulled Chicken

One of my favorite mock recipes is for slow-cooked BBQ. This mimics pulled pork, only it's much easer, much less fattening, and pretty darn easy. It's not really even a recipe--like so many of my recipes!
Take any amount of bone-in chicken thighs. Season them up with salt and pepper, or a BBQ seasoning if you like. Brown them in a skillet on both sides. Transfer to a Crock-Pot set on High. Deglaze pan with some apple cider vinegar, about half a cup of BBQ sauce, and enough chicken stock to cover the meat halfway. Bring to boil, pour over the chicken, and throw on the lid. In a few hours, you'll be able to pull them out, shred them up, and mix it with your favorite BBQ sauce (My personal favorite is NOH Hawaiian, if you can find it) for some really yummy sandwiches--no heating up the kitchen. It doesn't compare, of course, to a true slow-roasted BBQ...but it's a good knock-off, and it's cheap, and everyone likes it. Great served with some salad and baked beans.

Pizza Bread!

I made Pizza Bread today, and I must say it was delicious. Deep sun-dried tomato flavor, full of herbs with salty parmesan and Asiago cheeses...tender, moist dough...very yummy indeed. To read the recipe, visit my baking blog Mediocre Chocolate.
I also wanted to report on the first harvest of my new zucchini plant, Gadzukes. It's only April and I've already begun to yield beautiful, healthy organic zukes from this guy--and they are so cute! When you slice them, they are shaped like little starbursts. My theory was--despite the fact that I love interesting and unusual veggies--that I could tell my kids they were alien zucchini, and they would at least try them. (The 4 year old did.) I roasted some up tonight with a little salt, pepper and olive oil--I skipped salting them because of the way they were sliced--and tossed it into some leftover pasta with a bit of parmesan. The boys all had chicken quesadillas, so I needed a fast and fresh solution for myself. Normally I prefer a whole-wheat noodle, but I gave in and ate the bowties, being too hungry to wait for water to boil. It's very yummy squash, very sweet, and I'm pleased it's taking up 4 feet of my garden!

Holy Stroganoff

Oh, dinner tonight was amazing. One of my all-time favorites, I must say. And the beauty of it is that the basic recipe works with either chicken or beef, and can be cooked in under 20 minutes on a stovetop or all day in a Crockpot, with some minor adjustments.
It's one of those this-n-that recipes, where the amounts that you put it will change depending on how much food you need, but you can estimate ingredients and still not screw it up.
I found the original beef Stroganoff recipe in an issue of Cook's Illustrated--surprise, right? They are by far my favorite magazine--top three, along with Eating Well and Fine Cooking. It's not so unusual, just one secret ingredient that really makes the dish.
You can do this dish as I did tonight with chicken tenders or breasts, you can use ground turkey or beef, even meatballs...it just doesn't matter!

Chicken Stroganoff
2 lbs chicken tenders
3 tbsp lite olive oil
salt and pepper
1 tbsp sweet paprika
1/2 cup onion, diced fine
1/2 cup grated carrot
2 tbsp worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp tomato paste
1-2 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 cup sauvignon blanc or white wine
1 cup -1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken stock
2 tbsp flour
1/4 cup lite sour cream

Season chicken with salt, pepper, and paprika. Heat oil to shimmering in large stainless steel pan, and cook chicken til almost done and well-browned, about 3 minutes per side. Remove, turn heat to medium.
Add carrots and onions, paste, and white wine--stir to deglaze pan, scraping up any bits with wooden spoon. Cook 5 minutes, til softened. Add stock, worcestershire, and sugar. Stir, bring to simmer, and add chicken back to pan along with any juices. Cook a few minutes, til chicken is cooked through and sauce has reduced a bit.
Remove chicken, chop up, and set aside.
Mix together sour cream and flour in a small bowl til no lumps remain. Whisk by tablespoon into gravy, bringing back up to a boil, until desired thickness is reached (you may not need it all, depending on how much your sauce reduced.) Check for seasoning, and serve over noodles, cous-cous, rice, or anything really--it would make a dirty sock taste good, it's that delicious.

To convert to a slow-cooker recipe, follow all steps except sour cream and flour. Use chicken thighs or lean stew meat, and use enough stock to cover halfway in Crockpot. Cook on Hi 3 hours or Low for 6, always leaving on Hi for the first hour for safety. When ready to eat, remove meat, and thicken sauce as above, separating fat first if desired. Serve with extra sour cream.
(c) copyright 2008 earthwatersunwind@yahoo.com

Lazy Girl

What's for dinner the past few nights has been pitifully mediocre. Boston Market takeout tonight, at my son's request...that's about the only "fast food" I'll do around here, but it's still not exactly a home-cooked meal.
So I bought a large family-size package of chicken tenders at Henry's the other day. We grilled some flank steak the other night, but since it was such a simple preparation (oil + steak seasoning + fire) I didn't bother to write about it. I will recommend the cut of meat, though--very cheap, flavorful, and if you cut it against the grain, very tender. Perfect for fajitas.
I have to ask myself, what have I been craving? After two nights of fending for myself...I am craving veggies. I am trying to train myself to look at dinner from a vegetable stand point, since it is sometimes forgotten. What vegetable should we have tonight? I can always whip up some chicken tenders for the boys if I don't have anything special planned..but I do like to include a veggie. My kids are strange, though. They actually love a lot of vegetables. They eat carrots and ranch dip from Trader Joe's, and their broccoli-carrot slaw mixed with salad dressing (I told them it was special crunchy noodles, hee hee.) My older one loves roasted asparagus with parmesan. They will eat a pound each of cherry tomatoes if you let them--which is why I am growing plenty. They love filet green beans, the little skinny ones (grew those last year), and here's the weirdest thing. They will eat frozen (or raw) peas and corn, straight out of the freezer. Strange but true! Sometimes if I am only steaming broccoli or something, I'll give them a little cup of the frozen veggies, and they're set.
I think dinner tomorrow should include some kind of bean. I made a Mexican skillet awhile back--sauteed onions, peppers, chicken, beans--like a mock Taco-Bell. But hmmm. Beans are a frontier still to be tamed. They won't eat anything creamy, so it's whole beans for sure....I just have to keep trying. If I can get my oldest to admit to liking broccoli like he did the other night...I can persevere with beans! I'm thinking for now...I'll post more tomorrow when I decide on the menu. In the meantime, I'll leave you with another promise--Pizza Bread is coming soon. I am in a bread phase, and have almost exhausted the sandwich bread trials...I am really anxious to re-try my Pizza Bread. More to come! Plus, Friday is Goodie Day for the Boys In Blue at the husband's work, so I'll be making my Penguin Bars again, trying to fine-tune it. Visit Mediocre Chocolate for more details....

Creamy Roasted Red Pepper Pasta

Made a recipe tonight I have been dying to try. It's from one of my favorite Food Network Chefs, Ellie Krieger (who has a NY Times Best seller at the moment.) She's all about balancing delicious food with good nutrition...and this one is a winner in both categories. You can find the recipe here, and I will tell you, it was an astounding success. Sweet, smoky, not spicy at all...very creamy and decadent for a low-fat pasta.
The only changes I made was cutting the feta half and half with reduced fat ricotta, a personal choice, and adding a bit of lemon juice. Oh, actually, I threw in some leftover steamed carrots, too--extra veggies never hurt. It would also have been amazing with some wilted spinach tossed in when I mixed it into the pasta...maybe next time. I sauteed some thin chicken cutlets real quick to go with it, and voila--delicious--truly delicious in under 20 minutes. Even my holdout 4 year old liked it! I highly recommend it, and it's open to many different variations.

The Well-Stocked Pantry (work-in-progress)

I wanted to give you an idea what a versatile pantry might have in it--what my pantry always has in it. Staples, long-storing items, things I keep refrigerated or frozen, and some cool ingredients it's always handy to keep around. These will help on those nights when you've just walked in, everyone's hungry, and you've made no plans..you know, every night!
Roasted Red Peppers--wonderful on sandwiches, pizza, in pasta
Dijon mustard
Worcestershire sauce and Montreal steak seasoning blend--a must for grilling steaks
Starches--long-grain white rice, arborio rice for risotto jasmine if you like a fluffy pilaf, pastas in all shapes and lengths (preferably a whole-grain blend or whole-wheat), at least one type of potato, quinoa (in fridge), instant rice bags (I have been guilty of using these from time to time)
White and red wines--recommended, Sauvignon Blanc and Cabernet Sauvignon, both drinkable
balsamic vinegar, red wine vinegar, champagne vinegar, sweet Marsala wine
Panko bread crumbs, regular bread crumbs
Canned tomatoes, tomato paste, canned or boxed broth or stock, canned light coconut milk, canned crushed or chunk pineapple in juice, canned beans of all kinds...jumping to the freezer...frozen peas and corn--my kids eat these as-is, which is amazing to me, but whatever works!--frozen microwaveable veggies--favorite--Green Giant Immunity boost--toss it with whole-grain pasta and parmesan and you have dinner. Frozen chicken tenders or other meats--I'm not too into frozen meats myself. Maybe meatballs, that's about it. I'll do frozen mini-pizzas for the kids, from trader Joe's. Nuts of all kinds are kept here--walnut, pine nut, almond...

Eat this, it will give you X-Ray vision

Have you ever heard of Quinoa? In case you haven't, it's pronounced, "keen-wah." It's an ancient grain originally from South America, and is considered a "superfood".
The thing I really appreciate about it is the fact that it's a whole grain. It does as much good for your body as brown rice or any other grain--but takes only minutes to cook, and is much easier to digest. It cooks in the same style and timeframe as white rice--and has just as many delicious variations. Quinoa is also a complete protein by itself--no legume needed to complete it, and no meat or animal products necessary, which is really good for vegetarians. I'm still introducing it and hoping my kids will take to it, but new foods take time. I love it, it has a wonderful flavor--nutty, and a bit al dente as long as you don't overcook it.
Tonight I made a very basic Quinoa Pilaf that took no time at all.

Quinoa Pilaf
1 cup quinoa, rinsed and drained
1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken or vegetable stock
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup aromatic vegetables(chopped onion, diced red bell pepper, finely grated carrot, celery, garlic) of your choice
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper
parsley and/or parmesan cheese to taste
Sweat vegetables in oil with salt and pepper for 5-7 minutes, til soft. Add quinoa, stir to coat, cook one minute. Add liquid, bring to boil, reduce to bare simmer, cover and cook about 20 minutes, til liquid is evaporated and grains are tender and split. Garnish with fresh herbs and a sprinkling of parmesan if desired. Serves 6 generously.
Nutrition Info--Calories per serving: 148 Fat Grams 6.2 Protein 4 g Fiber 2g Carbs 19g

Fat Chicken and Noodles

I know, it's a funny name--and I wish I could remember where it came from. This recipe is older than me, and it's been around in my family as long as I can remember. I like to make it for my husband and kids once in awhile--more often now that I have a pasta roller. My great-grandmother never would have bothered--she used to roll out the stiff dough with just a rolling pin, and how she managed to do it up until she passed away at 90 I'll never know. The trick to this dish isn't so much in the noodle or stock recipe--it's the technique. First you make your noodles--I use a food processor and a roller--then you roll them up into logs and cut them with a knife, nice and thick. Then, instead of cooking them in water, you use a rich homemade stock--and use just enough of it to cover the noodles. Throw everything you know about pasta away for this one--it sounds unusual, but it's so delicious. Comfort food to the max. I hadn't had it in years, and honestly never loved it like my sister did, but I started craving it when I was pregnant last year. I've really come to enjoy it after a few small changes to her original recipe.

Basic Pasta Dough--Bon Appetit
2 cups flour--I use half AP, half white wheat
2 eggs mixed with 1/4 cup water
2 tsp kosher salt, a few grinds black pepper
3/4 tsp herbes de provence

Add dry ingredients to workbowl of food processor. With motor running, pour in eggs and water. Keep it running until the dough comes together in a big ball--if it won't, add a few more tablespoons of water, one at a time. Process a minute after it has become a ball, then turn onto a floured board. Knead a few minutes, adding flour to keep it from sticking, then wrap in plastic wrap and let rest 10-15 minutes.
Roll out dough on thickest setting of pasta machine 5-10 times, keeping dough well-floured. Adjust to second-thickest, and run through 5-10 times. Flour each side, and roll into logs. Cut into 1/2 inch thick noodles. (At this point you can let them dry or cook them right away.)
Boil 3-4 cups good chicken stock, preferably homemade--if using canned, start with more, and let it reduce for about 20 minutes with an onion, a carrot, and some fresh herbs and peppercorns in the pot. Drop noodles in, and stir them around as they cook, about 3-5 minutes. They will swell and soak up the stock, and the flour will make a thin gravy. With a pasta fork, remove noodles to bowl, and if you wish to thicken the stock, stir in a little buerre manie--room temperature butter that has been kneaded with flour--and bring back to boil til thickened. My grandma always used to serve these with mashed potatoes...a sea of beige food...but being more health-conscious these days, I prefer a salad and a side of steamed veggies! Also, if you have made your own stock from a rotisserie chicken, chop up the chicken meat and mix it in--it's wonderful that way.

PS--If you have a big family or big appetites, I'd double or triple the dough recipe and stock amounts. It doesn't make very much--me and my two toddlers can happily finish one batch, so I have another batch waiting for Officer Jones when he gets home later.