Southwestern Quinoa Stew with Squash, Black Beans, and Corn

A coworker brought in this soup one day and I had to get the recipe, it was so delicious!
This is from the cookbook "Whole Grains for Busy People" by Lorna Sass.  This version includes some small changes I made.

I only had 1/2 cup of quinoa, so I pretty much halved the recipe and it was almost too spicy for me because I used the whole can of chipotle in adobo without reading that she calls for 1 tablespoon!!  .Haha.  It is still really good, I just have to mix in a  little sour cream to cool it down.  It's fine for Chris, though!

Ingredients:
olive or vegetable oil
1/2 minced onion
2 small or 1 large clove garlic, minced
1 quart chicken or vegetable broth
1 cup quinoa (found in the health food aisle)
1 tbsp chipotle in adobo (Goya)
1 bag (10 oz) frozen diced butternut squash (recipe called for mashed winter squash but we preferred diced)
1 can drained & rinsed baked beans
1 can corn or 1 bag frozen corn
1/2 cup diced bell pepper
dried cilantro to taste (fresh would be better, but I didn't have any)

In large pot, heat a bit of oil.  Stir in onion and garlic and cook for a few seconds.

Add broth and ~2 cups of water.  Bring to a boil uncovered and add the quinoa.  Simmer for ~10 minutes.

Stir in the chipotle in adobo (this is where I added the whole can instead of 1 tbsp!!)  The recipe said to mash the chipotles, but I left them whole for cooking and removed them when we were ready to eat the soup (too scared to eat them!).  Add the squash.  Simmer for 3-4 minutes.

Stir in the beans and reduce heat to medium.

Continue cooking until there is no solid white dot of starch at the center of the quinoa.

Stir in the corn, pepper, cilantro, and salt and pepper to taste.

Simmer a few more minutes, and serve.

Chili

We love chili.  I made it this morning and put it in the crockpot for consumption while watching football later in the day :)  This recipe is for a double  batch.

Ingredients:
2 lbs ground grassfed beef
2 cans kidney beans
2 large cans/boxes diced tomatoes
2 diced bell peppers
1 chopped onion
  Seasoning:
4 teaspoons chili powder
1 tablespoon crushed red pepper
1 tablespoon dried minced onion
1 tablespoon dried, minced garlic
2 teaspoons white sugar
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons dried parsley
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

Brown the beef.

Combine the seasonings

Put all ingredients in the crockpot and add some water as needed.  Set crockpot for 6-8 hours on low (or 3-4 on high).  Enjoy!

I recommend serving with these tostadas- so delish!  You can find them in the mexican food aisle:

Wasabi and Panko-Crusted Pork with Gingered Soy Sauce

We get our pork chops & eggs from a farmer right down the road from us. Bone-in pork chops are one of Chris' favorite foods, so I'm always searching for a new way to make them to break away from the ol' shake n bake! We also love asian foods, and I found this recipe on Cooking Light that looked like an interesting one to try!

You will need:

Panko breadcrumbs
1 egg white, lightly beaten
2 bone-in pork chops (about 1/2 inch thick)
Peanut oil
Salt (I always use Kosher salt)
Ground fresh or dried ginger -The recipe called for fresh but I used dried and it was fine.
1 cup chicken broth - The recipe called for 1/3 cup but we always like extra sauce!
~1/3 c tablespoons dry sherry (I don't measure, just pour!)
~2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
2 teaspoons sugar
2 teaspoons wasabi paste - I would use more next time; it wasn't that spicy.
1/3 cup thinly sliced scallions

Place panko in a shallow dish. Whip egg white in a small bowl. Sprinkle salt and pepper on pork, then dip pork in egg white and cover in panko. Start your rice if you are serving rice w/this.

Heat peanut oil in a large nonstick skillet coated with over medium heat; add pork. Cook for approximately 5-7 minutes on each side or until done. Remove pork from pan. Start your vegetable.

Whisk the broth, sherry, soy sauce, and wasabi in a small bowl, stirring well. (I used 2 tbsp of wasabi this time, it was not very spicy at all. I would use 3 next time...so be generous w/the wasabi if you like!) Add broth mixture to pan, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Add ginger to the mixture; simmer a few minutes, stirring constantly. Stir in green onions. Spoon sauce over pork.

I suggest serving with sugar snap peas and white rice-

Greek Soup

**GUEST CHEF**

Last week my husband made his mom's famous Greek Soup (Avgolmono soup).  It is a very simple but hearty soup consisting of chicken, rice, lemon, and egg.  It's delicious!  And of course I love when he cooks :)

Greek Soup

• One whole free range chicken (~ 4 lbs)
• 3/4 cup white rice
• the juice of one lemon
• 3 eggs
• s & p

Rinse chicken and put in large pot with enough water to completely cover it.  He leaves the giblets in and I pretend I don't see them, but they do add a lot to the flavor.  Boil chicken until the meat is falling off the bone; approximately 2 hours.

Remove chicken from pot, add rice and cook.  Let chicken cool enough to handle, then cut it up into smaller chunks.

Break eggs and put whites in medium bowl, set yolks aside.  Whip egg whites until they are frothy.  Then mix yolks in and add the juice of one lemon.

Once rice is cooked, turn the stove off and let the broth cool.  Pour some of the broth slowly into the egg mixture while mixing (you don't want the eggs to scramble!).  Once the bowl is full, add the egg/broth mixture to the pot w/the rest of the broth.  Add chopped chicken to soup, reheat and eat!

(NJ) Cheesesteak Sandwiches

We purchased a box (45lbs) of local, grassfed beef from a local farmer via a friend about a month ago.  As we were making our way through our stash of ground beef, strip steaks, and roasts, we came upon packages of chipped beef on New Years Day and decided to make cheesesteaks.

The ingredients of this recipe are simple:  good quality meat, sliced super thin.  Onions, peppers, mushrooms...whatever you have and whatever you want.  We only had onions for this preparation but it would be great with peppers & mushies.

The directions are even simpler:  brown the meat on medium/low heat with a little s&p.  As it cooks, push it onto the thinly sliced onions, leaving 1/2 of your pan for red meat in need of cooking to go.  Once it is all cooked, spread around to make sure the onions are well browned & add cheese.  I use cheese sparingly because the meat tastes so good, and to avoid unnecessary calories!

Serve on large fresh roll, add ketchup!  Champagne optional ;)  Happy New Year!

Homemade bread! Traditional White Bread

My mom got me a wonderful present for Christmas - a breadmaker!  It's the Oster 2lb Expressbake Breadmaker.  Once I was able to get my butt to the store to pick up some yeast and bread flour, I got to work!

It is amazing how easy it really is.  You put in the wet ingredients, put in the dry ingredients, make a little hole in the flour for the yeast to sit in, and press start!  I chose to begin at the beginning with the traditional white loaf, recipe provided in the Oster Users Guide provided with the machine.

You will need:  
1 3/8 cups water
2 tbsp soft butter
4 cups bread flour
2 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp dry milk
1 3/4 tsp salt
2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast (one packet)

Measure and add liquid ingredients to the bread pan.

Measure and add dry ingredients (except yeast) to the bread pan.

Use your finger to form a well (hole) in the flour where you will pour the yeast. Yeast must NEVER come into contact with a liquid when you are adding ingredients. Measure the yeast and carefully pour it into the well.

Snap the baking pan into the breadmaker and close the lid.

Press "Select" button to choose the Basic setting.

Press the "Crust Color" button to choose light, medium or dark crust.  For this one I chose Medium.

Press the "Start/Stop" button.

Finished product:

 

M&M Biscotti

I love biscotti with my coffee in the morning (or afternoon...or after dinner...), so when I saw this Christmas-esque biscotti recipe on Lovestoeat's blog, I had to make it!  These could be made year-round with regular colored M&Ms.

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
3 eggs
2/3 cup finely crushed M&Ms (tip:  don't try the food processor.  It doesn't work!  Just put them in a ziploc and smash them)
14 ounces fine quality white chocolate, melted

**save some extra crushed M&Ms to sprinkle on top

Preheat oven to 350.

In a medium bowl, mix together flour, baking powder and salt.
In a large mixing bowl, beat together butter and sugar. 

Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each. Add dry ingredients and mix until combined – stir in crushed candy.

Evenly divide dough into 4 pieces on a lightly floured surface. Shape each piece into a round log shape.

Place logs 3 inches apart onto parchment-lined baking sheet.

Bake until tops are cracked and ends just start to turn light brown, about 18 to 20 minutes. 

Remove from oven and reduce temperature to 325. Cool logs 10 minutes on cookie sheet.

Cut each log diagonally into biscotti-size slices with sharp serrated knife. (The original recipe indicated to discard the ends if you want.  We saved the ends for ourselves and gave away the good ones on a Christmas Cookie platter). 

Arrange pieces standing up on the baking sheet.

Bake until cookies are light golden brown and crisp on both sides, about 12 to 15 minutes.  Place onto cool rack and cool completely.

Once cooled, dip half of each biscotti into melted chocolate – shake off excess.  Remember to melt chocolate slowly so it does not burn (Speaking from experience.  Had to make a last minute run out for more chocolate chips).  Immediately roll in additional crushed M&Ms and set on a plate until the chocolate has set. 


Enjoy!