Tag Archives: garlic

Easy Shrimp & Green Bean Stir Fry

3 Feb

I rarely eat seafood, and I even more rarely cook it myself. But I was inspired the other night to try something new, so I stopped by Whole Foods and picked up some shrimp. And after reading the grossly-named but helpful book Gutbliss, I have been making efforts toward “clean eating.” According to the book, this means no dairy, gluten, sugar, artificial sweetener, soy, or alcohol. I did a 10-day cleanse and since then have been at least trying to consider clean food for a good portion of my meals. (It’s really hard for me to keep away from cheese and chocolate though!)

All this to say that in searching for a recipe for dinner, I wanted something that fit the bill for both clean eating and a quick weeknight meal. I’ve found that Asian-inspired stir fries are the best bet here.

stir fry 1

The BF and I both enjoyed this stir fry and agreed we should add it to our weeknight repertoire. It was not extremely flavorful, though I’m sure if you wanted it to be more so, you could easily add more garlic, ginger, and/or oyster/fish sauce. But I personally liked that there was enough of those flavors to be noticeable but not so much that you couldn’t still taste the natural flavor of the shrimp and vegetables.

Stir fries are the best because they’re so easily customizable, so if you’d rather have all broccoli and no green beans, or if you want to leave out the ginger, then just do your thing, you know?

FYI, this recipe made about 3 large portions for us — one dinner for the two of us and one leftover lunch portion for me.

IMG_3070

Easy Shrimp & Green Bean Stir Fry adapted from Food & Wine

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3 garlic cloves, minced
1″ piece of ginger, peeled and minced
1 green onion, chopped small
1/2 pound shrimp
1/2 pound green beans
1/2 head of broccoli, chopped
1/4 cup chicken or vegetable stock
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
Salt & pepper to taste

Chop vegetables and prepare all ingredients before you begin cooking.

Heat a saute pan until very hot. Add the vegetable oil, and heat until shimmering. Add the garlic and stir-fry for 10 seconds.

Add the shrimp and a pinch of salt. Stir-fry until the shrimp are just beginning to turn pink, about 30 seconds. Add the green beans and 2 tablespoons of the stock and stir-fry until the beans soften slightly, about 3 minutes.

Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of stock along with the oyster sauce and a generous pinch of pepper. Stir-fry until the shrimp are cooked through and the beans are crisp-tender, about 3 more minutes. Serve immediately.

IMG_3073

Linking Up With:

Funday Monday from Still Being Molly
Made by you Monday from Skip to my Lou
Inspiration Monday from Twelve O Eight
Time to Sparkle from Love Grows Wild
Wonderfully Creative Wednesday from All She Cooks
Create It Thursday from Lamberts Lately
Full Plate Thursday from Miz Helen’s Country Cottage
All Things Pretty from Sparkles and a Stove

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Silky Ginger PB Soup

6 Jan

A friend of mine made this tasty soup for an appetizer when we went to her house for dinner a couple months ago. I’ve been meaning to try it myself since then, and I finally got around to it. I’ll definitely be adding this to my regular recipe file.

If you use vegetable broth instead of chicken broth, this soup is totally vegan. It’s amazing how creamy and silky it is without any dairy. It makes for a smooth, rich, and filling lunch or dinner. The original called for just zucchini, but I decided to toss some carrots in there too. It came out a beautiful yellow color.

Silky Ginger Peanut Butter Soup

Overall, the flavors are strongly ginger-y and peanut butter-y, which is why I decided to go with that in the name. The original recipe didn’t use peanut butter at all, so I imagine the flavor profile changed quite dramatically. But the peanut butter is really tasty and adds more protein, which is especially helpful if you go with the veggie broth. The PB-ginger combo reminds me of Malay or Thai food. Delicious!

Try this out, and serve a big bowl as a main meal or a small cup as an appetizer for an Asian main course.

Silky Ginger Peanut Butter Soup

Silky Ginger PB Soup adapted from The Clothes Make the Girl

1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 medium onion, diced
4 large cloves garlic, minced
1 teaspoon salt
1 ounce fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 medium zucchini, chopped
2 medium carrots, chopped
4 cups vegetable or chicken broth
1/2 cup peanut butter

Heat oil in a large soup pot on medium heat, 2 minutes. Add onions and garlic. Stir often and cook until the onions and garlic are soft and golden, but not browned, about 7 minutes. Add ginger, salt, and black pepper; stir to combine.

Add the zucchini and carrots into the pot. Stir well, then cook ’til beginning to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the broth, bring to a boil, cover, and reduce heat to simmer. Cook 45 -60 minutes until all the veggies are very soft.

Stir in the peanut butter. Puree with an immersion blender or by blending in batches in a blender or food processor. Serve hot.

Linking Up With:

Funday Monday from Still Being Molly
Block Party from Sumo’s Sweet Stuff
Made by you Monday from Skip to my Lou
Inspiration Monday from Twelve O Eight
Time to Sparkle from Love Grows Wild
Wonderfully Creative Wednesday from All She Cooks
Create It Thursday from Lamberts Lately
Full Plate Thursday from Miz Helen’s Country Cottage
All Things Pretty from Sparkles and a Stove

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Cheesy Spinach Tomato Pie + A Giveaway!

2 Dec

I won’t lie, I occasionally listen to Christmas music throughout the year. So it would be incorrect to say that now that Thanksgiving has past, I’m finally getting to listen to my fave holiday jams. What would be more correct is to say that I am finally getting to listen to my fave holiday jams without hiding it. I can put on my Happy Christmas! playlist in the car, and the BF will (somewhat reluctantly) allow it. It’s a very exciting time of year for me.

My dear friend Eleanor gave me my Christmas present already: this beautiful pie pan. She knew I would be baking for Thanksgiving, so she gave it to me early!

Pie PanI’ve already used it for my Secret Recipe Apple Pie and this oh-so-amazing, super delicious, completely to-die-for tomato pie. I’m not kidding: this is one of the best meals I’ve ever made. Our dinner conversation primarily revolved around how delicious it was and how this will definitely be a dish to serve for casual dinner party guests. The BF and I each had thirds, which is amazing for us light eaters. And I may or may not have had some for breakfast the next day.

Here are the star players: Ingredients

It’s really not complicated, though maybe a little time consuming, but totally worth it. After the crust is ready, just add your layers… sliced tomato, fresh basil and sauteed spinach, and then cheese!

Layers

I edited a more classic recipe a bit to include spinach (I figured I needed something healthy to counter all that cheese) and to substitute Greek yogurt for mayonnaise (I’m not a fan of mayo, so we never have any in the house). I tried to squeeze extra water from both the tomatoes and spinach, and it still came out a bit soupy, so maybe I’ll use my cheesecloth next time and try a bit harder. But not to worry — even a little runny, it didn’t stop us from enjoying our third helpings!

Cheesy Spinach Tomato Pie

And in the spirit of Christmas and delicious cheesy tomato pies, here’s my first-ever Giveaway! Enter to win this cute little Clinique gift set.

Clinique Gift Set

Gift set includes:

  • 7-Day Scrub Cream Rinse-Off Formula
  • Dramatically Different Moisturizing Lotion
  • Clinique Eye & Cheek Colour Compact: Colour Surge Eye Shadow Duo in Pink Slate, Soft-Pressed Powder Blusher in New Clover, and True Bronze Pressed Powder Bronzer in Sunkissed
  • Long Last Lipstick in Bamboo Pink
  • Brush Set
  • Matching large and mini cosmetics bag

* Does not include mascara shown in picture

There are a few ways to enter – the more ways you enter, the better the chance you have at winning – so make sure you comment once for each of the following things you do:

  • Favorite the new Wine & Plum Etsy shop! Favorite 1 item in the Wine & Plum Etsy shop, and comment below to share which item you would like to give or receive for Christmas!
  • Bonus: Follow Wine & Plum on Pinterest! Pin your favorite Wine & Plum recipe or Etsy shop item to one of your Pinterest boards, and share the link to your pin in a comment below.
  • Bonus: Follow Wine & Plum on Instagram and tag 3 friends on my Instagram giveaway post.
  • Bonus: Follow Wine & Plum on Twitter, and tweet about this giveaway: Excited about this delicious Cheesy Tomato Pie #recipe plus an awesome #Clinique #giveaway from @wineandplum! http://bit.ly/1fYGSw8
  • Bonus: Like Wine & Plum on Facebook, and share any post from the W&P Facebook page.

Don’t forget to leave a comment for those bonus submissions!

Now, here’s the recipe for the Tomato Pie! If you make it, come back and let us know how you liked it!

Mmm... cheesy

Cheesy Spinach Tomato Pie adapted from Simply Recipes

Crust:

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold, cut into 1/4″ cubes
3 tablespoons cold water

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Mix well with your hands, kind of like kneading, until all ingredients are incorporated. Shape dough into a ball.

Flour your working surface and turn out dough with a floured rolling pin, making a large circle. Transfer crust to a pie pan and press evenly into the dish.

Bake the pie crust for about 8-10 minutes.

Pie:

1 tablespoon olive oil
2 garlic cloves, chopped
3-4 tomatoes, sliced
2 large handfuls spinach
1/4 cup sliced basil (about 7-8 leaves)
2 cups grated cheese (Any combination of your favorite cheese; I suggest mozzarella and cheddar. In ours, we ran out of mozz so substituted havarti, which was delicious)
3/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
Salt and pepper

Place the tomato slices in a colander and sprinkle some salt over them; allow to drain while preparing the rest of your ingredients.

In a large bowl, mix together the cheeses and yogurt; set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add the spinach and stir well, coating leaves with olive oil. Cook until spinach is wilted, only 3-4 minutes. Set aside.

Once the pie crust has baked for about 8-10 minutes, remove from oven and assemble pie. Pressing each slice between paper towels to remove excess liquid before placing, arrange tomato slices in a circle in the bottom of the pie pan. Sprinkle the basil on top of the tomatoes. Squeeze spinach in paper towels or cheesecloth to remove excess liquid and then arrange evenly in the pan. Last, spread the cheese mixture evenly over top of the entire pie.

Bake until the top of the pie is golden brown, anywhere from 25-45 minutes.

Linking Up With:

Funday Monday from Still Being Molly
Block Party from Sumo’s Sweet Stuff
Made by you Monday from Skip to my Lou
Inspiration Monday from Twelve O Eight
Time to Sparkle from Love Grows Wild
Wonderful Food Wednesday from All She Cooks
Create It Thursday from Lamberts Lately
Full Plate Thursday from Miz Helen’s Country Cottage
All Things Pretty from Sparkles and a Stove
Foodie Friday from Simple Living & Eating

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Garlic Mashed Rutabagas

25 Feb

We got rutabagas in our CSA this week. Having never seen one before, I had to do a bit of research. Here’s what I found:

Rutabaga!

  • It’s a cross between a turnip and a cabbage. In English-speaking countries outside of North America, it’s more commonly referred to as a “Swedish turnip.”
  • It’s in the brassica family, so it’s related to turnips, cabbage, kale, cauliflower, broccoli, brussel sprouts, etc. Rutabagas have loads of nutritional value.
  • You can eat any part of the rutabaga! Some ideas: The root/bulb and stems can be sliced and diced and added to a stir fry. The bulb can be mashed like mashed potatoes. The leaves can be cooked like any greens, sauteed and added to pastas or soups, or used raw in green smoothies.
  • Pretty much anything you’d do to a potato or sweet potato, you can do to the rutabaga bulb. It’s like a healthier, more nutrient-rich, less-starchy, delicious version of potato.

For dinner, we decided to try garlic mashed rutabagas. The BF and I spent a considerable amount of time shouting “rutabaga!” while cooking. It just is a necessary part of cooking a veggie with such a weird name.

Mash 'em up

I thought it was delicious. It tastes so much like the butter and garlic I added, I really didn’t think it was all that different from mashed potatoes. Give this a try! Even if you still include the unhealthy dairy mixed into it, rutabagas are still way healthier than potatoes. They have about 36 calories and 8 grams of carbs, compared 77 calories and 18 grams of carbs in a white potato. I added some plain Greek yogurt to make it a little creamier. That allowed me to reduce the amount of milk and butter.

Smashed

They’re a little more yellow than potatoes. I like ’em smashed, not mashed. Or shmashed. Whichever. We had garlic mashed rutabagas with barbecue pork chops and a green salad. Yum-o! (And just for the record, I did eat more salad than what’s pictured here. Gotta get your veggies!)

Dinner's ready!

Garlic Mashed Rutabagas, with inspiration from Paula Deen

My sincere apologies that this isn’t a real recipe. I didn’t measure anything! Here’s my recommendation: take your favorite mashed potato recipe, and follow that, subbing rutabagas for the white potatoes. It’s that simple.

2 rutabagas, peeled and cut into 1-2″ chunks
2 cloves garlic, minced
plain Greek yogurt
milk
butter
salt & pepper

Peel the rutabagas and cut them into small chunks. Place in a large pot and cover completely with water. Add a few dashes of salt. Bring to a rapid boil, and then simmer 35-40 minutes until tender.

Drain the rutabagas. While they’re draining, add the garlic and a little butter to the pot. Heat over medium or medium-low until you can smell the garlic, 3-4 minutes. Reduce heat to low.

Return rutabagas to the pot and smash with a fork or potato masher. Add a spoonful of plain Greek yogurt and a splash of milk. Mix well. Add butter to taste, and/or serve with a pat of butter on top.

Linking up with:

YOLO Mondays from Still Being Molly and Lipgloss and Crayons
Monday Meet Ups from Covered in Grace
Market Yourself Monday from Sumo’s Sweet Stuff
Your Great Idea Link Party from Or So She Says
Time for a Party from Fine Craft Guild
Make Something Monday from Sarahndipities
Made by you Monday from Skip to my Lou

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Eggplant “Meat”balls

10 Dec

I love eggplant, and I love meatballs, so this whole thing seemed like a great idea. And it was! My friend Emily suggested it after profiling it on her blog.

I generally have found cooking with eggplant to be somewhat difficult, so I was skeptical at first. And though this was a bit more work than I generally like to commit to dinner, it was worth it. Plus, the eggplant meatballs freeze really well, so this is an excellent recipe to make over the weekend and save for a busy weeknight.

Roasting some eggplant

We had our eggplant balls over spaghetti with jar sauce. (Honestly, after the hassle of scratch-made eggplant balls, I wasn’t in the mood to make my own tomato sauce.) For snack or for lunch, these are great on their own, maybe with some marinara dipping sauce and some garlic bread. I haven’t tried it, but I imagine it would also make a fantastic sub sandwich. Hmm… I might have to try that soon.

Eggplant "Meat"balls

Don’t wait! Go pick yourself up an eggplant and get crackin’ on this recipe.

Eggplant “Meat”balls (Polpette di Melanzane) adapted from Dinner Du Jour

2 large eggplants, cut in half
extra virgin olive oil
salt
black pepper
4 cloves minced garlic
2 cups breadcrumbs
1 1/4 cups freshly grated Parmesan cheese
2 egg yolks
1 tablespoon chopped basil
a pinch of nutmeg

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Rub the halved eggplants with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place them on a baking tray and roast for 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from the oven and leave to cool slightly. (If you want a slightly fancier way to roast your eggplant, try this recipe.)

Scoop out the flesh of the eggplants, place in a sieve, and press gently to squeeze out the excess liquid. In a mixing bowl, mash the garlic and eggplant together, then stir in the breadcrumbs, Parmesan, egg yolks, basil and nutmeg. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Shape the eggplant mixture into golf ball-sized ‘meatballs’. Place on a lightly greased cookie sheet and bake for 15-20 minutes.

Serve over spaghetti with tomato sauce.

Linking up for:

YOLO Mondays from Still Being Molly and Lipgloss and Crayons
Monday Meet Ups from Covered in Grace
Made by you Monday from Skip to my Lou
Linky Party with Fine Craft Guild
Make Something Monday from Sarahndipities

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Citrus-Fennel Quinoa with Chickpeas

15 May

I made the healthiest dinner last night, and with all the citrus in there, it must have been jam-packed with vitamin C. And good thing – the BF was sick 2 weeks ago, then I was sick, and now he’s sick again. We apparently could both use a vitamin boost. As with most of my dinners, I found this original recipe online from thekitchn.com, and then I edited based on my own tastes. And also based on what I had on hand and what was cheapest at the grocery store. Instead of the original couscous, I swapped quinoa, since I already had some of that. And instead of lemon and orange, I went with lemon and lime, because those were on sale at the store. I made a couple other small edits here and there.

I started off with one lime and one lemon. I used a microplane to zest each of them and added that into a medium sauce pan. Then I juiced the lemon and one half of the lime into a large measuring cup. If you don’t have one, try this handy citrus press from Pampered Chef – it’s amazing. If you don’t have anything fancy to really get all the juice out, you may want to add another lime or lemon. I topped off the juices with enough water to make 1 1/2 cups liquid and added that to the sauce pan. I finished it with 1 tablespoon olive oil and about 1/2 teaspoon salt and cooked over high heat. Once it started boiling, I poured in 1 cup quinoa, covered the pan, and reduced the heat to a simmer. Keep an eye on it and make sure it doesn’t dry out.

I heated 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. I added 2 cloves minced garlic and 1 fennel bulb, cut into matchsticks (about 1 inch long, 1/4 inch thick). I cooked those about 10-15 minutes. Then I added 1 can (15 oz) drained chickpeas and the juice of half a lime. The original recipe calls for 1/2 teaspoon ground coriander, but I didn’t have any, so instead I added about 1/4 teaspoon “French herb blend” and 1/4 teaspoon lemon garlic blend. But just add whatever you have that sounds good. Last, I finished it off with a couple handfuls of baby spinach. As soon as the spinach cooks down, it’s ready!

What did the Garbanzo say to the waiter? "Chick, peas."

Similar to rice, the quinoa is ready when the water is absorbed. If you’re ready to serve and there’s too much water, let it cook for a few minutes with the lid off. I served the chickpea/fennel blend overtop the quinoa and it was subtly delicious. If you’re looking for a kick-in-the-mouth flavor, go somewhere else. But if you want to appreciate subtle flavors delicately balanced throughout your meal, this is it. Also, this is super healthy, unlike the block of cheddar cheese I’m currently snacking on.

Dinner time!

We enjoyed some tzatziki sauce and pita bread as a little side dish. As a side note, I figured out a super easy way to enjoy this Greek yogurt dip whenever I feel like it. I ordered tzatziki seasoning blend from Wildtree, a company that sells all-natural foods through a Pampered Chef-style set up. You only have to use a little at a time, so it lasts forever – well worth the price. Then I buy individual servings of plain Greek yogurt, like Oikos or Chobani, which is a perfect size for just two people. Before I start dinner, I cut up half a cucumber in tiny teeny pieces, mix it into the yogurt with a teaspoon or two of the seasoning blend, and then it’s ready. It’s delicious and it’s the perfect amount. A lot of the pre-made or store-bought versions are too big, and I usually don’t finish them before they go bad.

Gotta get some Vitamin C up in here

Anyway, the meal was great. I will probably add it to my list of stand-by meals. I thought it was pretty easy to whip up on a weeknight. Bon appetit!

Citrus-Fennel Quinoa with Chickpeas adapted from theKitchn

zest and juice of 2 limes, divided
zest and juice of 1 lemon
olive oil, divided
1 cup quinoa, rinsed well
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 fennel bulb, cut into matchsticks (~ 1″ long, 1/4″ thick)
1 can (15oz) chickpeas, drained
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
2 handfuls baby spinach

Add the lime zest, lemon zest, 1 tablespoon olive oil, and 1/2 teaspoon salt to a medium sauce pot. In a large measuring cup, combine the juice of 1 lemon and the juice of 1 lime. Add enough water to make 2 cups total liquid. Pour the liquid into the pot and cook over high heat. Once boiling, add 1 cup quinoa, cover, and reduce to a simmer. Cook about 20 minutes; fluff with a fork and set aside.

Meanwhile, heat 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and fennel; cook 10-15 minutes.

Add chickpeas, the juice of one lime, and coriander. Stir well. Add the spinach and cover, stirring occasionally. Cook 5-10 minutes, or until spinach is wilted.

Serve over quinoa.

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Blueberry Burgers with Nectarine Salsa

3 Jul

Sounds weird, huh? I thought so. And honestly, they’ve got blueberries in them — of course they taste a little weird. But weird isn’t always bad. Weird can be good. Like keytars. And blueberry burgers. These don’t taste like normal burgers, but they do taste good. I prepared them two ways, so you can take your pick. There’s 3 different recipes in this 1 post — get excited.

 

Blueberry Quinoa Burgers

Quinoa (pronounced keen-wah) is actually a seed, but it’s used more like a grain. It’s also super duper healthy, so hipsters love the stuff. It’s a complete protein source, which is unusual for plants, so it’s a great staple in a vegetarian diet. It’s also high in fiber and amino acids. You cook is basically like rice, and it reminds me a lot of couscous.

I thought a veggie burger would be great with blueberries, and I decided to use quinoa to give it that extra protein that is sometimes lacking in vegetarian meals. I started the burgers by cooking the quinoa: I boiled 3/4 cup water and then added 1/2 cup quinoa. I cooked it until the water was absorbed, about 12-14 minutes, and set it aside.

Quinoa

I set up my food processor and added in the burger ingredients: 1 can great northern beans (drained and rinsed), 1/3 cup panko breadcrumbs (if you use regular breadcrumbs instead, use about 1/4 cup), 1 egg, 1/3 cup fresh blueberries, 1 T apple cider vinegar, 1 tsp dijon mustard, 1 tsp oyster sauce, 2 cloves minced garlic, a dash of salt, and a  dash of pepper. 

Quinoa Burger IngredientsI pulsed everything until it was combined but still a little chunky. I divided the mixture into four and formed four patties. They were a little soft and mushy, so I put them on a parchment-lined cookie sheet and refrigerated them until I was ready to cook them. (At this point, I prepared the other burgers, but I’ll continue with this recipe for the sake of clarity.)

Quinoa Patty

In a large skillet, I heated some olive oil over medium heat. I cooked the blueberry quinoa burgers until browned, about 8-10 minutes per side.

You can dress up your burger however you like, but I added spinach and mozarella to my burger and served it with a side of chips.

Blueberry Quinoa Burger

 

Blueberry Burger

I wiped out my food processor and started over with the meat burgers. I put two slices of bread in the food processor, processed it to crumbs, and set that aside.

Next, I put the ingredients in the food processor: 1/3 cup fresh blueberries, 1 T apple cider vinegar, 1 tsp Dijon mustard,  1 tsp oyster sauce, 2 cloves minced garlic, a dash of salt, and a dash of pepper. I processed it until it was pureed and then dumped it all into the bowl with the breadcrumbs. I added 1/2 pound ground meat (I used turkey, but you could use beef or whatever you prefer) and mixed everything together. I didn’t have a potato masher, so I used the mixing attachment from my hand mixer. 

Turkey Burger IngredientsOnce it was all mixed up, I divided it into 4 portions and shaped them into patties. I sent the BF out to the electric grill with them, and he grilled them over medium-low heat until done, about 7-8 minutes per side.

Meat Patty

Again, you can dress up your burgers however you like. I added a scoop of nectarine salsa on this one and served it with tortilla chips and more salsa.

Blueberry Burger with Nectarine Salsa

 

Nectarine Salsa

Honestly, this may have been the best part of the entire meal. I thought it was so good. If peaches are in better shape when you go to the store, by all means, use them instead. I went with nectarines because they were a little more ripe.

First I chopped everything up — not too finely since they go for a stint in the food processor, but just enough for the processor to find them manageable. I used 2 ripe (but firm) nectarines with the skin on, 1 shallot,  and 1 jalapeno (I threw out the stems, seeds, and ribs, which are the spiciest parts).

After I got those chopped up and put in the food processor, I added in the juice of half a lemon, 1 T grated ginger, 1 tsp sugar, a dash of salt, and a dash of pepper. I pulsed it just a couple times to get most of the pieces small, but not liquified. It’s salsa, not soup.

Nectarine Salsa

This was great on a blueberry burger — it really made the whole thing nice and sweet an fruity. It was also good with tortilla chips, both that night and the next day — it didn’t last any longer than that.

 

Notes:

  • If you make the salsa, I suggest doing that first so that the flavors have time to sit and meld while you make the rest of the meal.
  • Feel free to flavor your burgers however you like. You can always substitute other flavors and sauces to get the right burger consistency with a different flavor.
  • These would be so fun to serve with a toppings bar that guests can use to dress their burger themselves. Maybe a red, white, and blue summer cookout?
  • Both of these burgers made great leftovers. The next day, I had the turkey burger with more nectarine salsa, and the day after that, I had the quinoa burger with pita and Greek yogurt.

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Pork Chops with Mushroom Sauce

7 Mar

I have no idea why I’m posting so much pork on this blog. I really don’t eat much pork at all, and actually, I’ve been trying to cut down my overall meat consumption lately. Maybe that’s why these end up looking good enough to take pictures of. My favorite part of this dish is the mushroom sauce, so feel free to search for things other than pork to smother. This recipe originally came from Rachael Ray, who just loves to smother fat with fat, so it’s pretty easy, but no claims here about being healthy.

I preheated a large skillet with some extra virgin olive oil over medium-high heat. I added a dash of salt and pepper to each side of the pork chop and then added it to the pan. I cooked it for about 6-7 minutes, then flipped it to the other side and cooked it for another 6-7 minutes. I removed the pork chop to a temporary plate and tented some foil over it to keep the heat in. Back to the skillet: I turned the skillet down to medium-low and added 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, 1/2 pound sliced white mushrooms, 1 teaspoon minced garlic, and 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme. I let that saute for 3 or 4 minutes and then added a dash of salt and pepper. I also added about 1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour and then cooked for about a minute longer. Then I whisked in 1/3 cup dry white wine, 1 cup chicken broth, and 1/2 tablespoon dijon mustard. I let it simmer until most of the liquid was absorbed and it had a thick, creamy texture. I served it with a side of baked sweet potato and steamed green beans. As Rachael says, “Yum-o!”

How Sue Sees It:
– Seriously, this mushroom sauce is amazing. And it gives me something to do with all the leftover mushrooms I end up having after I buy some for salad.
– Be flexible. Don’t have mustard? Leave it out. I doubt you’ll notice.

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Herb-Crusted Pork Roast Dinner

3 Jan

I don’t often post dinner meals, frankly because I bake way more often than I actually cook dinner. Sad, I know. However, here’s a phenomenal one-dish meal that is super easy. Plus, this is technically baking, too. My brother makes this for us at family meals, and I stole the recipe from him to re-create a smaller version at home. But if you feel the need to impress a dinner party, feel free to use a huge cut of pork tenderloin, slice it up fancy, and wow the pants off your guests.

In a small bowl, combine 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh rosemary, 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh thyme, and 2 tablespoons of bread crumbs. Mix it all together, and add olive oil until it makes a paste-like consistency. Rub the mixture all over your pork roast and then place it in a shallow pan. (For just the BF and me, I use about a 1/2 pound cut of a pork tenderloin. Though I’m sure he would appreciate it if I made more than that.)

Pork in the Pan

Fill the rest of the pan with sliced carrots and diced potatoes. Crack open a bottle of white wine, and pour it right into the pan until it covers the bottom. (I prefer to cut my vegetables smaller and pour enough wine to cover them so they’re more tender.)

Cover with foil and bake at 350 F. My 1/2 pound cut usually bakes for 30-35 minutes. If you use a different size cut, check the packaging – it will often tell you how long to cook per pound. At any rate, the internal temperature of your meat should come to 160 F, and when you cut into it, there should be no pink at all, only white meat (like chicken).

Pork Dinner

How Sue Sees It:
– I’m lazy enough when I serve this at home for the two of us that I just cut it in half and plop it right on our plates. But if you make a larger roast for a dinner party, this looks amazing sliced up and served on a platter. Very impressive!
– If you don’t have any wine (or if you’re not old enough to buy any), water works just fine. I just prefer wine because even if it’s cheap wine, it adds a little more flavor. Plus a glass is nice while I’m waiting for the oven timer to ding.
– Real chefs would probably tell you to not ever substitute dried herbs for a dish like this that features them so prominently. But I won’t lie — I’ve done it. If you substitute dried for fresh herbs, cut back to one-third or one-half the amount. Also, at least make sure that your dried herbs are still good — check the expiration date, and only save dried herbs for about 6 months after you’ve opened them (even if the expiration date hasn’t come yet). They start losing their flavor after that.

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