Stuck in a rut

Toward the end of one week, when the contents of my refrigerator were dwindling and the vegetables I still had were rapidly approaching their end of shelf-life, I found myself standing in the kitchen looking at a bag of shrimp, a pile of fresh basil, and a bundle of the largest asparagus I'd ever seen.

I can't be the only one who gets stuck in ruts with certain kinds of food. For example, I always either grill or roast asparagus with a little olive oil, some salt & pepper, and whatever other spices or herbs I feel like throwing on there. Don't get me wrong, I love eating asparagus that way, but on that particular night, I just didn't feel like it. I turned to Google, typed in, "shrimp, asparagus, and basil" and found Angel Hair Pasta with Shrimp, Asparagus & Basil.  

Well, why didn't I think of that? I skimmed the recipe and quickly realized it's an easy-to-make, mess-free dinner. And if it tasted as good as it sounded, it definitely had potential to join the ranks of go-to dinners for nights when I don't feel like cooking, but definitely feel like eating.

  

The recipe directs you to cook the asparagus stalks and tips separately as the stalks need a few more minutes to soften. However, I had monster asparagus and knew that those big wamma-jammas would need more cooking time all together. I cut off the asparagus tips and then cut the stalks into matchstick-sized chunks. Then, I halved the matchsticks. I added all of the asparagus to the skillet when I added the white wine, allowing it to cook for the duration of the time it took to prepare the dish. They were perfectly cooked in the end (go me).

 

 

 

 

You know it's a crowd pleaser when conversation from the peanut gallery (of one) ceases with the exception of lots of "mmm" and "yum." And just as the recipe's author promised, it was E-A-S-Y to make. From now on, this dish will most certainly be a regular at our dinner table. 

Perhaps I will try on a new asparagus rut for a while...

First I roasted a chicken and then I did this

Roasting a whole chicken is both an easy and economical way to go about cooking for your family. It's easy because basically all you have to do on night #1 is stuff it and throw it in the oven. It's economical because there is so much you can do with it once its roasted. From preparing multiple meals to making homemade chicken stock, one little chicken goes a long way! The other night, I used a recipe my mom sent me from Taste of the South Magazine for, well, easy roasted chicken.

I didn't have fresh sage or thyme, but I had a ton of fresh rosemary so I threw that in there instead. You can probably substitute just about any fresh herb for the herbs listed in the recipe. It all tastes good! Or an orange in place of lemon? I don't know, but I am sure I will be experimenting in the future because this dinner was such a piece of cake! 

Oh, and I accidentally cut up a bunch of onions that were actually supposed to be used in the accompanying sweet potato recipe. Since I wasn't planning on making sweet potatoes as a side dish, I just stuffed as many onion wedges as I could into the bird and placed the others around the chicken in the roasting dish. They ended up being very tasty.

I served the roasted chicken on the first night with roasted potato coins and a side salad. It was a home run!

The recipe for roasted potato coins is pretty simple, too. Wash whatever kind of potato you'd like to use. I love potato skin so I rarely ever peel potatoes (unless I'm using Russets in mashed), but this means I have to scrub them well.

Slice your potatoes into half-inch coins. You can soak the slices to reduce the starch content or you can just sprinkle them with a little salt and pat dry with paper towels. Lay the potatoes out on a baking sheet- trying not to overcrowd. Drizzle a small amount of olive oil over the potatoes (just a couple of tablespoons) and toss by hand until all potato coins are coated in oil. Spread them out in a single layer again and season with whatever you want. Another idea is to do this in a bag. Put your potato slices, olive oil, and seasoning in a bag and shake it up!

Bake in a 450-475 degree oven for around 30 minutes. Keep an eye on them though, because their cooking time depends on the thickness of the coins you cut. Flip them once and give them 5ish more minutes. They should get nice and crispy!

 
Naturally, we had quite a bit of chicken left over after dinner #1, which I love. Why do I love this? Well for starters, because of what I said earlier: a lot of recipes call for 1-2 cups rotisserie chicken. Having a bowl of leftover pulled-off-the-bone chicken opens up a world of possibilities for the rest of the week's dinners.

I also love it because it means I have to take some time out of my busy day to actually pick the meat off the bones (I hope no one reading this is squeamish- sounds quite grizzly). Why is this such great news? Well, because as far as I can tell, cleaning a chicken takes enough time to justify watching a movie in the afternoon. See how I did that? 

Anyhoo, on to dinner #2 from the one little chicken: BBQ Chicken Quinoa Salad.  I love me some quinoa salads because quinoa salad = protein rich salad = filling and satisfying salad. Also, they are lettuce-less salads, and sometimes my salads need a break from lettuce...

I took my off-the-bone chicken, mixed it with some BBQ sauce, put it in a casserole dish and baked it in the oven on 350 degrees while I prepared the rest of the dish. You could also prepare chicken for this recipe in the crock pot days ahead of time. I think grilled BBQ chicken would have been pretty yummy, too!

The recipe didn't call for black beans, but they were in my fridge so in they went!

I cubed my cheese- didn't feel up to shredding...

 
And there you have it! Two great dinners form one little chicken! Thank you, little chicken.

Twist on the ol' taco

On this particular night, I didn't document anything about my process. As a result, the only picture I have to share is one of the plated meal. I chose not to take any process pictures for two reasons.

The first, laziness. Unlike many of my food blogging heroes (who seem to love photography as much as they love cooking), on my best days I love the cooking parts and kind of like taking the pictures. Don't get me wrong, in general, I love taking pictures. My problem is that I am a novice chef and taking the appropriate "time out" to snap a photograph can, at times, be overwhelming. Especially if it means that in the meantime, my garlic burns or something boils over. Perhaps my food blogging idols do a lot more staging and a lot less real time picture taking of the cooking process...perhaps I shall never know!

The second, I was experimenting with an idea in my own head. I was not following a recipe and my brain can only be used for so many tasks at one time.

This turned out to be a delicious, easy and quick meal to make! You should try it some night. Some night when you're hungry, your husband (or wife) is hungry, your kids are hungry and time is not on your side.

 
Here's what you need:

1 fresh Poblano pepper, diced
2 fresh green chilies, diced
1/2 large onion, sliced
1 pound lean, ground turkey
1 pack taco seasoning
or the combination of spices below; measurements will vary depending on personal preference & freshness of spices
-ground cumin
-chili powder
-Cayenne pepper powder
-dried oregano
-salt 
1/4 cup reduced sodium chicken broth
1 large flour tortilla
1/2 16 oz can refried beans
1 cup shredded Mexican blend cheese
1 jalapeno, sliced 
1 avocado, sliced  
some dollops of Daisy
a large handful of lettuce

Here's what you do: 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 

Dice 1/2 a large onion, 1 Poblano pepper, and two green chilies. You can remove some of the seeds and pith (white stuff) to reduce the heat in the peppers if you want. I, obviously, left most of it in tact. Set cut vegetables aside.

Brown ground turkey in medium hot skillet. Once the meat is browned, add the diced onion, Poplano pepper, and green chilies. Cook for a few minutes, until the peppers have softened. Add one pack of taco seasoning or make your own, which is what I always do by combining the above ingredients to taste. Because the meat is so lean, it tends to start looking a little dry. Add chicken broth to skillet and allow meat mixture to simmer until the liquid is gone. Set meat mixture aside.

Place large flour tortilla on baking pan/pizza pan. The pan does not need to be greased or sprayed with cooking spray. Spoon refried beans onto tortilla, spreading a thing layer on the tortilla like tomato sauce on a pizza. Add meat mixture on top of beans like toppings on a pizza. Sprinkle cheese blend on top of meat. 

Pop the whole thing into the oven for 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted. 

Cut and serve topped with sliced, fresh jalapenos, sliced avocado, a few dollops of Daisy, and a heaping pile of lettuce. 

You're probably going to need a knife and fork for this one. 

A neighborly nudge

Altus has issues. Water issues. About a year ago, we received notice in the mail informing us that long-term consumption of Altusian water can be dangerous to one's health. When we received that notice, we took steps to investigate our options for accessing clean drinking water. The absolute best choice is the instillation of a reverse-osmosis water system, which we are not interested in doing at this point. We opted to install a Brita water filter on our sink. Since that time, we've been informed that the filter really only reduces the strong smell of chlorine, but that the dangerous byproducts are still very much present in our drinking water. Back to the drawing board we went... 

I recently realized that there is a reverse-osmosis water system on base where I can refill plastic bottles. Since that time, I've been making weekly trips to fill gallons of water from the watering hole on base and haul it home. This simple (albeit tedious when you grow up taking drinking water for granted) task reminds me of days past or of days present depending on your country of residence/socioeconomic status. 

Anyway, I digress. I tell you that so I can tell you this story:

The other day as I filled my car with my empty water receptacles (I cant bring myself to write "jugs") in preparation for my weekly watering hole adventure, my neighbor across the street hollered, 

"I knocked on your door, you didn't answer, I thought you were asleep! Come over here, I have something for you."

"For me? Golly, this is an exciting turn of events," I thought to myself as I crossed the street. I walked into her kitchen and was immediately taken aback by a delightful scene.

An entire sushi factory neatly sprawled across her counter top.  Sushi ingredients and rolls at various stages of production. I felt like I'd stumbled upon heaven.

"Do you like it?" She asked me. 

"Do I like it?! I love it! We love it! Oh my gosh, this is so exciting." I replied.

She placed two rolls on a plate, sliced them into pieces and sent me on my way.

"Have a great day!" she exclaimed as I walked back across the street. She had no idea how great our day had just gotten. Have I mentioned we love sushi? 

Eric and I devoured a delicious lunch.

And because my momma taught me never to return an empty plate, I spent this morning baking!

Originally, I had planned on making a recipe for Butterfinger cookies that I'd come across on Pinterest. However, upon realizing I'd forgotten my shopping list when I got to Walmart, I turned to an oldie but goodie. You can always count on Nestle Toll House.

Shout out to another lovely neighbor who saved the day when I realized I didn't have vanilla extract!

 
Even though this entry is primarily about things other than sushi, it was my desire to celebrate sushi that inspired me to write. Thanks to our lovely neighbor for a delicious lunch, which also gave me the push I needed to get back in the blogging saddle.

More to come! Just because I haven't been writing doesn't mean I haven't been cooking!

Oh, Kale Yeah!

On a whim, I bought a bunch of kale at the grocery store. It had been a long time since I'd eaten kale and I had no idea what to do with it. The only thing I know about kale is that for a period of a few months as a kid, we ate kale with just about every meal. This was because a family friend of ours had it growing rampant in their garden. They couldn't keep up with their harvest so they decided to gift about half of it to us.

My mom, never wanting anything to go to waste (I come by it naturally), tried to figure out ways to incorporate it into, well,  everything.

So, I saw the kale in the store, thought to myself, "I think I'm ready to try this again," and threw it in the cart. I spent an hour or so doing some recipe research that afternoon and came across a lovely recipe for Lemony Kale Pasta. After skimming the ingredient list, I was relieved to find I had all the necessary ingredients, with the exception of the preferred variety of kale. We do not have variety of veggies. We have what we have and whatever kind of kale I had, called simply, "kale," was going to have to do the trick. Then I read the direction to remove the stems.

Now, I didn't know if this meant, cut below the part where the leaves start growing or cut the leaves completely away from the stem all the way up the stem. I decided to call the only person I could think of as a kale expert, mom.

She said she felt it meant to cut below the point at which the leaves grew. She then said, "think of kale like collards, they will cook for a while and soften up so the stem shouldn't be a problem higher up on the leaves."

I referenced my recipe. 

"You eat the kale raw in this recipe," I said. 
"Raw?" she said.

I could tell by the tone of her voice that raw was a form of kale she never tried.

"Hmm...well," she said, "why don't you just chew on a bit of the stem higher up on the leaf and see how firm it is?"
"Yeah, I guess I'll just see how it goes," I said. And we hung up.

Heeding her advice, I went to taste a bit of the raw kale. The stems looked too hard to eat raw so I opted just to taste the leaf. Wow, so bitter! I started to have doubts about my recipe and started expressing them aloud. Maybe the variety of kale did matter after all? After a few minutes of listening to my second guessing and rambling, I heard Eric say, "just give it a try, will you?" 

Smush garlic into pulp with fork.

And so I did. I am still not sure what "stems removed" meant, but after looking at the stems, I interpreted it as the full removal of the stem all the way up the leaf. It worked out well because the leaves retained a rather course texture, anyway. Almost how you'd imagine fallen leaves in autumn feeling in your mouth. 

Okay, maybe a little less crunchy...

But the acidity of the dressing really counteracted the bitterness of the kale and the end result was really quite tasty. I was very pleasantly surprised! I'm sure the meal was also packed full of nutrients and vitamins and all that good stuff that makes kale so fantastic. 

I made some fish to eat with the pasta. I topped cod fillets and with a little butter, lemon juice, some dressing from the pasta recipe, and capers then broiled them for a few minutes. We ended up eating the fish on the pasta much like you would eat grilled chicken on a Caesar salad. It was really yummy, but the best part was discovering that capers are a beautiful addition to the Lemony Kale Pasta.

When we had leftovers for lunch the next day, we dumped some capers into the pasta and mixed it up. If you are looking to chew on some tasty ruffage, I absolutely suggest giving this recipe a try.  

Add capers!

A "must try" for homemade pizza lovers

Eric and I made our version of Supreme Pizza for dinner. If you love homemade pizza as much as we do, which I am not sure is possible, you've got to try this.

Sauceless Supreme Pizza
your choice of pizza crust
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 Campari tomatoes, sliced (but any tomato would do, you just wouldn't need three)
1/4 cup roasted red peppers, torn or chopped into smaller pieces
a couple hand fulls of mozzarella cheese, shredded 
2 slices bacon (we used Applewood smoked), baked & crumbled 
1 slice Prosciutto, sliced
1 jalapeno, sliced
1/4 large red onion, sliced
6-8 whole mushrooms, sliced
2 slices Provolone cheese, torn into squares
a very small amount of Pecorino Romano, grated
fresh rosemary
fresh basil
fresh oregano

We decided to make pizza before assessing our ingredient situation. We pre-baked our semi-homemade crust, prepared all of our ingredients and got ready to build the pizza. We intended to use marinara sauce as our base, but realized that we did not have any. Eric came to the rescue with an (I think brilliant) idea. He suggested we, 

brush crust with one tablespoon olive oil
place sliced tomatoes on crust
place roasted red peppers on crust

We ended up going this route by accident, but I think it was the secret to making an incredibly delicious homemade Sauceless Supreme Pizza.

Cover the roasted red peppers and sliced tomatoes by sprinkling shredded mozzarella cheese on top. 

Evenly distribute crumbled bacon and sliced Prosciutto over cheese. 

 
Pile on sliced jalapenos and onions.

Load on the sliced mushrooms.

Cover with squares of Provolone cheese and grate Pecorino Romano on top.

Bake pie in oven at 350 degrees until toppings look cooked and cheese has melted. If you turn on the broiler to get the Provolone cheese brown and bubbly, the crust will look like this...oops!

 
That being said, if you don't love your crust extra crispy (like we do), proceed with caution. Remove pizza from oven and top with fresh rosemary, basil, and oregano.

Slice and enjoy, preferably with a cold beer.

Grilled Cajun Chicken Burgers

While scratching my head trying to come up with an idea for dinner one night, I thought of the leftover Sriracha Mayo Dip I used in this recipe that was still sitting in my refrigerator. It occurred to me that it would be excellent on a sandwich, a chicken sandwich. I didn't have any chicken breasts, but I did have ground chicken. I starting mulling over the idea of chicken patties or chicken burgers. I turned to my trusty friend, Pinterest, for some inspiration. I found this and this, which gave me some ideas. Then, I just made up my own recipe. Let us call them,

Grilled Cajun Chicken Burgers
 1 pound ground chicken (or grind your own) 
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup green onion, diced
1 teaspoon garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon Cajun seasoning
1/4 teaspoon of dried parsley (but fresh would be better) 
juice of 1/2 a lemon
a hand full of Panko breadcrumbs 

Heat olive oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add green onions and garlic to oil and saute for five minutes or until onions have softened.
 

Place ground chicken in a large mixing bowl. Season with salt, pepper, Cajun seasoning, parsley, and juice of 1/2 a lemon. Add Panko breadcrumbs to bowl. Add sauteed green onion, garlic, & olive oil mixture to chicken.
 

Mix by hand until all ingredients are incorporated into the chicken. Form chicken into four patties. Cook chicken burgers on hot grill (about 5-7 minutes per side) or until the center of the burger is firm to the touch.

Adding sauteed onions & garlic was a trick I learned from Cooking Light Magazine a few months ago. It was described  as a remedy for the dry turkey burger. I figured it would also do the trick for ground chicken and it did!

Serve the burgers on multi-grain Ciabatta rolls with Sriracha Maynoaise, pickle, and lettuce. We did not add cheese the first night, but ate them as leftovers a few days later with the addition of a slice of Swiss cheese. Very yummy!  

The grilled chicken patties from my inspiration recipes looked a bit more appetizing, but had been pan-fried. I thought I'd try grilling in an attempt to make them a little healthier. They tasted really good, but I am still tempted to try pan-frying to brown followed by baking to cook.