Back at it... Comfort Food

I can't believe it's been over a year since my last post. I haven't stopped cooking, but I guess the blog fell off my radar. I made a quick and easy dinner tonight with some ingredients I planned to use for soup but didn't have the patience for it this evening. Also, mashed potatoes were calling my name. 

I made a lot of soup last week (the sausage, white bean, and greens as well as the salsa soup) and I needed something else to fill my belly. I decided to just wing it and see what I came up with if I didn't think too hard (I have been watching a lot of Chopped lately, so maybe that was part of it!) I ended up making mashed potatoes with a hot turkey sausage, rainbow chard gravy. It was warm, comforting, filling, easy, and so tasty. 

I totally guessed my proportions for making the potatoes and I was just cooking for myself, so if you have a good mashed potato recipe that you love, use it! Basically, I had baby yukon gold potatoes and I covered the bottom of a medium sized sauce pan with them and then added cold, salted water. Bring them to a boil and then cover and let them roll for about 15-20 minutes. I didn't peel them because I read somewhere that it helps retain the nutrients. Also, I'm lazy!  

While your potatoes are boiling, get your sausage going. I had three hot turkey sausages left over from making soup last week and I think that would have stretched to two people, but use as much as you like! I took it out of the casing and browned it up with a little olive oil. Once it's cooked through, I added chopped rainbow chard stems (the red is so pretty) and let those all sauté for a few minutes. Once they soften take them out of the pan and set them aside. 

I didn't have any chicken stock so I used veggie stock. I think either would be fine! Use your sausage pan (don't wipe it) and melt about 2 Tbsps of butter and then whisk in two Tbsps of flour (you are making a roux). Once the flour cooks and it's thick, whisk in the stock of your choice until it's a consistency you like. I would say I used about a cup. Then I added in a bunch of rough chopped rainbow chard to the gravy. Salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes got added to taste. Let it wilt a bit and then add the stems and sausage back in to the pan on low till your potatoes are done. 

When your potatoes are fork tender, drain them and let a Tbsp and half a cup of cream or milk warm in the potato pan. I used my food mill to break down the potatoes and then added them to the cream and butter and added salt and pepper to taste. Stir it all together and serve with potatoes on the bottom, sausage gravy with chard on top, and a sprinkle of chopped parsley. 

I often add the ingredients here separately, but because I didn't really pay attention when I was cooking I feel hesitant to be so specific. Just give it a go! It won't disappoint!

noodle bowl

Hi world!  I know I've been absent for a long time, but that doesn't mean I've forgotten about the Hungry Monster.  

The other night I was chatting with a friend about things we have been cooking, and she told me she's been making "upgraded ramen" dishes a lot lately.  I had given pad thai the other day, but it was kind of a bust...  so today for lunch I thought I'd give the noodle bowl a whirl.  I just used what I had in the fridge- this was a spontaneous dish, not carefully planned out, so keep that in mind. You can use whatever you have around, too!

I used:

a serving of rice noodles

1 link of chorizo-sliced

1/3 of a bell pepper, sliced thin

a handful each of peas and snap peas(mine were fresh from my garden, but use what you have)

1 jalapeno diced

a handful of salted peanuts

chopped parsley and basil to taste

chicken broth- about a cup

a splash of fish sauce

a few dashes of soy sauce

sesame oil

salt and pepper

I had left over broth, veggies, and sausage, enough for lunch tomorrow, so if you doubled the noodles, this would be good for two!

Cook the rice noodles according to the package, scoop the noodles out and into the bowl when you finish. While they are cooking, saute the chorizo in a little sesame oil and heat up the broth with the fish sauce and soy sauce.  When the broth is heated through and simmering, pour some over your noodles and add as much meet and veggies as you would like.  

Enjoy!  

Simple Summer Supper

Confession, this dinner was born because of the hungry monster.  I had a yummy salad for lunch, but after a busy day of cleaning and tutoring, I was starving.  It had become a hot and humid evening and I had no desire to cook....  But, I had bought some perfect sea scallops and since I am thinking about going to the beach tomorrow, I knew I had to eat them up!  So, I started doing a mental scan of my kitchen, quickly counting out the spaghetti squash I had originally planned to eat with them because it was too much of a time commitment, and remembered I had frozen quinoa with veggies that I had never tried. I also had some yummy asparagus and a lemon, and then a meal was born.

This meal consisted of pan cooked sea scallops, garlic-lemon pan sauce, quinoa with veggies, and quick sauteed asparagus.  You will need:

4-5 scallops per person

olive oil

butter

juice from 1 lemon

1 garlic clove minced

salt and pepper

quinoa (I used Trader Joes Frozen with veggies, but you could totally cook your own)

asparagus (5ish stalks per person)

Ok, so start by mincing garlic and heating 2 tbsp each of the butter and oil over med-high heat in a pan, then add the garlic.  Let that cook for like, 30 seconds and try not to let your garlic burn (mine got a little browner than I wanted, but it still tasted good!)  Season your scallops with S and P, then add them to the pan.  Turn them ever minute or so until they are cooked through and brown on both sides.  They cook quickly, so watch them!  They only need between 2-4 minutes depending on their size. 

While that was cooking, I heated a few tablespoons of water in a pot and heated the quinoa through.  Then I removed it from the pot, put it on the plate as a bed for the scallops, and heated a little oil and butter for the asparagus. I snapped the bottom of the stalks off the asparagus because they are really tough, and then chopped them into thirds on the bias (cause it's pretty).  Then I added them to the hot butter and oil, and tossed them around with some salt and pepper.  Looking back, I may add some red pepper flakes for a little heat next time.  They just need a few minutes until they are tender, but still snap when you bite into them.  

Remove your scallops from the pan, and add the juice of a lemon to the pan and scrape the yummy bits that are stuck to the pan.  Be careful, it will spit when you add the juice!  Once you take the asparagus off and are ready to eat, spoon some of your sauce over the scallops, and then enjoy!  

 

This was such a tasty, flavorful, healthy, FAST meal.  Give it a try and let me know what you think!  Or invite yourself over and I'll cook it for you!

 

Salsa Soup and Cheese Quesadillas

I have to start this post by giving credit to Rachel Ray for coming up with the base for this recipe.  I only alter it a little, so I definitely can't take credit for it.  I do, however love how flavorful, healthy, easy, and quick it is to make!  

I started by chopping a large green bell pepper, and get a large pot heated over medium heat with a few trips around the bottom with olive oil.  Throw in your pepper, and then I used my mini food processor to chop two shallots, three cloves of garlic, two jalapeno peppers, and a small onion.  If you don't have a little food processor, by all means, chop away, but I hate crying through onions, and smelling like garlic, and I inevitably touch my eyes after peppers, so I am loving my newest kitchen toy!  Also, I usually leave my veggies pretty chunky in this, but I don't love biting into a big chunk of any of those, so I dice them pretty small, more for flavor than texture.  Throw those all in the pot and season them with salt and pepper.  

Let those cook for a few minutes and then add two cans of tomatoes, one crushed, and one stewed.  Top this off with some chicken stock to thin it out.  I use about a cup and a half, but thin it to the consistency you like, I prefer thicker soups.  Let this bubble away while you make your quesadillas. Before you serve the soup, stir in a handful of freshly chopped parsley. 

I use flour tortillas, but you could use whole wheat.  They were just what I had on hand.  I also had shredded sharp cheddar, and a block of pepper jack, or something spicy, I forget what exactly it was, but use your favorite melting cheese!  You can make them in oven, like 10 minutes on 300 degrees, but I like to make mine in a pan on the stove.  (You will find, if you follow my blog, that I rarely use the oven.  I think it goes back to some control issues, but who really knows!)  So, I spray a pan with non-stick spray, put a tortilla down, cover it with cheese, top it with the other one, and cook it over medium heat until it is golden brown and the cheese is melty, then flip and repeat.  

Ok, the last thing I added was a mix of half an avocado, two spoonfuls of sour cream, a little lemon juice, some fresh parsley, and a pinch of salt.  I spoon a dollop on my soup, and it adds a refreshing coolness to a more acidic, spicy soup.  Yum.  

    
Ingredients list:

olive oil
1 bell pepper
2 jalapenos
3 cloves garlic
2 shallots
1 small onion
1 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
1 28 oz can stewed tomatoes
1.5 cups chicken stock (ps. Use veggie stock to make it vegetarian)
chopped parsley
flour tortillas, 2 per person
2 cups shredded cheese
sour cream
.5 avocado
lemon juice
salt and pepper
 

Another quick one... Tofu and veggies with curry sauce and rice

Today was my first day of school, and if you have ever spent even just a few hours with a 5 year old, you can begin to imagine how exhausted I am after 8 hours with 20 of them.  We had an awesome day, but seriously, I'm beat.  More than anything, my feet hurt and I didn't think I could stand (haha, stand) to be on my feet much longer.  So I went to my new favorite easy go-to meal.

So many of you may have gotten to the title of this blog entry and said, "Woa, tofu.  That's never gunna happen".  Well, I like it, and I could try and change your mind, but honestly, it's not worth the energy.  If you don't like it. Substitute chicken, or just eat the veggies!

 

 Alright, to get started, raid your fridge, freezer, and veggie bowl.  I found shredded carrots, parsley, frozen spinach, frozen peas, a pepper and a Roma tomato.  I've used many combinations of vegetables, just choose the ones you like, it's your dinner!

 I also grabbed my tofu, some box chicken stock, some frozen Trader Joes brown rice, and Trader Joes curry simmer sauce.  You may be starting to wonder if I'm working for TJs, but seriously, I'm not.  I just really like their prepared foods because they make my busy life easier.

Ok, get a medium skillet going over medium to medium high heat and add enough olive oil to go around the pan 2x.  While that is heating up, use a paper towel to absorb most of the water from the extra firm tofu brick,  then cube it into bite sized pieces.  Throw it in the oil and step back, the moisture may make it splatter. Season with salt and pepper, and if you like heat (I do) some red pepper flakes.  You can also microwave your rice now, three minutes and then it can just hang out and wait for the yummy goodness to join the party.

While the tofu cooks, chop any veggies that need chopping.  I did my pepper, tomato, and parsley.  Give your tofu a toss a few times every minute or so until it is golden brown in most sides.  Then add your vegetables.  Stir them around and give them a minute to warm up with their tofu friends.  Last, add half a jar of curry simmer sauce and about half a cup of stock to thin it out a bit.  I figured out today that if you are using the second half of the jar, add the chicken stock right in, fill it up, shake it and pour it into the pan.  Let it simmer until it reduces and gets thick.

While that's cooking, I love naan, so I take a piece and warm it in my toaster oven.  Most grocery stores have it packaged in the bakery section. 

Once the curry is nice and thick, but still saucy, stir in the parsley if you have some, and pour it over your rice.  (I added the picture of the rice because once you add all the good stuff, it's no longer visible, and I wanted to be sure that you knew it was under there!)  Add some naan and enjoy! 

This would feed two.  I thought I could eat it all, but barely ate half.  It's super filling and pretty healthy!  It's around 500 calories per serving, including the naan.

Stressed? Hungry? Dinner is easy tonight!

Tonight, I had no plans to blog.  I'm totally busy, stressed, and exhausted these days getting ready to go back to school.  But, then I thought, maybe people don't just want to see my well thought out, I went to the grocery store just for this ingredient kind of foods.  Maybe, just maybe my readers are busy too and would appreciate seeing a dish that I made up on my ride home, mentally scanning my fridge.  

This is my version of vegetable fried rice with shrimp.  It's quick, easy and tastes good.  A little bit sweet, a little bit salty, and very filling.  Good stuff, I'm telling you!  So, here's what you need.  All are things I have either in my freezer or fridge most of the time, except in the most desperate of times.  That's when I have corn flakes for dinner.  Judge away, it happens.

1 pouch of Trader Joes frozen brown rice (This is awesome, fast, and great for quick meals)

1 egg

olive oil

6ish shrimp, uncooked (I used my frozen Trader Joes ones from the last recipe)

Shredded carrots chopped or one carrot peeled and cubed (like 1/4-1/3c)

1/4-1/3c of frozen peas

1 small shallot diced

light or regular soy sauce

Trader Joes Sweet Chili Sauce (My FAVORITE sauce :)

pepper

Ok, first things first, get a medium saute pan over medium high heat and go around the pan twice with the olive oil, then slice the top of your rice pouch and pop it into the microwave for 3 minutes.  Once the skillet is hot, crack an egg and it should start cooking right away.  Start mixing it around and scrambling it up right away, I like to use a rubber spunula (as Rachel Ray calls it) but a wooden spoon would work too.  I usually add some pepper at this point, too.  No salt, because the soy sauce is salty!  Once it's cooked, go ahead and add the shrimp.  While they are cooking a little chop up your veggies, unless you already did that.  After about a minute or two, drop your veggies.  Toss them all together and when your shrimp curl up a bit and pink-up, you are ready for the next step.  It should look pretty much like the picture below.

  Then add a little more oil and the package of rice.  Mix it all together, and once it is all evenly distributed, add some soy sauce.  I think it's about 3 tbsps, but do it to taste, it's your dish!  Give it another minute, then serve and top with the sweet chili sauce, as much as you like.  I like a lot, so I add plenty.  Then curl up and enjoy!

Now I'm off to play ukelele
with my friends. Later!