Jambalaya

Trying to get back on a healthy track, I recently pulled out one of my healthy eating cookbooks.  Rocco DiSpirito's "Now Eat This!" tauts "150 of America's Favorite Comfort Foods, All Under 350 Calories."  Now I usually find some way to make a healthy recipe unhealthy, but this book at least helps me get a good start. 

I have always been a shrimp lover. The family joke goes that on Christmas Day each year they used to buy two shrimp trays -- one for the family, and one for me.  This recipe for Jambalaya, adapted from Rocco's book, pairs my love for shrimp with my desire to make a healthy meal.

Here's what you'll need:

1/2 onion, chopped
2-3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon paprika
3/4 cup long-grain brown rice
Salt
2 sweet Italian sausage links, cut up (Rocco's recipe obviously calls for andouille, but I had Italian and it worked just fine!)
14.5 oz can diced fire-roasted tomatoes
1/2 pound peeled and deveined shrimp

Here's how to make it:

Chop onion, green pepper and garlic.  Heat a Dutch oven over medium heat.  Spray with cooking spray.  Add onion, green pepper and garlic.  Sauté about 5 minutes or until tender.

Add chicken broth, paprika and rice.  Season with a few shakes of salt.  Cover and heat on medium heat for a few minutes, then switch to low.  Cook on low for 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, brown the sausage.  You don't have to cook it all the way through, since it will be cooking in the pot for awhile in the next step.

Stir in sausage and tomatoes.  Continue to cook on low about 30 minutes more.  This really lets the rice and meat soak up the flavor.

Bring small pot of water to a boil.  Add shrimp and boil until they are a light pink color.

Season shrimp with salt and stir into rice mixture.  Cook covered 10 more minutes or until liquid is absorbed.

Classic Goulash

As winter bears on (that groundhog clearly didn’t know what he was talking about), I was in the mood for a cold weather meal.  OK, maybe not sticking to our healthy eating plan for the moment, but sometimes you just need to indulge.  (Spring is just around the corner, right?)

This recipe for Classic Goulash, adapted from Allrecipes, really warms the heart.  I love this mixture of flavors and textures, the classic “American” way to make this Hungarian dish.  Next time, I’m going to try Smitten Kitchen’s version -- there seem to be lots of variations on goulash. 

The key I’ve learned (with lots of dishes) is to experiment with seasonings and find what you like. Below I’ve listed the ingredients and amounts that I use, but feel free to make it your own way and find the flavor that works for you. 

Here’s what you’ll need: 

1 pound ground beef

½ chopped onion

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 ½ cups water

1 15 oz. can tomato sauce

1 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes

1 ½ tablespoons  soy sauce

1 tablespoon dried Italian herb seasoning

Few dashes dried basil leaves

Dash of seasoned salt

Couple good shakes of dried oregano leaves

1 cup uncooked elbow macaroni 

Here’s how to make it: 

In a large Dutch oven, brown the ground beef.  While it’s browning, chop the onion and “zoom” the garlic.  When beef is almost browned, add in the onion and garlic.  Cook 10 minutes more, until onion and garlic are fragrant and look delicious. 

Stir in water, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, soy sauce, and whatever seasonings you like.  Bring to a boil, and then cover and simmer on low heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Stir in macaroni.  Cover and simmer on low heat again, for another 25 minutes.  Continue to stir occasionally.  Remove from heat and serve.

Makes plenty, and tastes even better warmed up the next day.  Save it to get you through the rest of this never-ending winter!

 

Stir-Fried Beef with Broccoli and Bell Peppers

Here’s another healthy recipe I found in the pages of Cooking Light magazine.  I have realized that we eat a lot of the same types of foods in our house – this recipe contains broccoli and peppers, two things that I know I have blogged about before.  But they’re healthy and delicious, so I guess there’s nothing wrong with that!  However, I just might have to change it up a little bit soon.  Nothing too crazy, or Greg won’t eat it!  This recipe combines meat, veggies, and grains, making it an easy one-dish meal.

Stir-Fried Beef with Broccoli and Bell Peppers adapted from this recipe in Cooking Light.

Here’s what you’ll need:

1 pound flank steak

4 tablespoons soy sauce

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 1/2 tablespoons water

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper

3/4 pound frozen cut broccoli

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 large red bell pepper, cut into 1-inch pieces

Hot cooked white rice 

Here’s how to make it:

Cut steak in half lengthwise, and then cut each half across the grain into 1/8 inch thick slices.  Combine meat with 2 tablespoons soy sauce, garlic, and black pepper.  Mix well.  Cover and let it marinate in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.  Sometimes I even leave it in there overnight.

 

Combine water, remaining soy sauce, and crushed red pepper in a small bowl. Set aside.

 

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add beef mixture to the skillet.  Cook until browned, stirring occasionally.  Once browned to your liking, remove from heat and set aside. 

Add broccoli to the skillet and allow it to cook until tender crisp.  Add the red bell pepper slices to the skillet.  Stir and cook for about a minute.  Add the beef mixture to the skillet.  Stir in the water/soy sauce/crushed red pepper mixture.  Cook until heated through.  Serve over the hot cooked rice.

 

 

Roast Chicken with Balsamic Bell Peppers

Greg is back in town and last night I made one of his favorite meals to warmly greet him home. (I know, I am such a good wife!)  This one is adapted from a recipe I found flipping through the pages of Cooking Light magazine.  I used to have a subscription, and I don’t know why I don’t anymore!  The cover of the November 2012 issue caught my eye in the grocery store line a few months back, and I couldn’t resist buying it!  (Those point-of-sale marketing tactics really work…)  It was their 25th anniversary issue, so there were quite a few good recipes in it, but this one quickly was added to our regular rotation. 

Roast Chicken with Balsamic Bell Peppers adapted from this recipe originally published in Cooking Light. 

Here’s what you’ll need:

salt 

fennel seeds

ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder 

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

skinless, boneless chicken breasts

olive oil

cooking spray

thinly sliced red bell pepper

thinly sliced yellow bell pepper

thinly sliced shallots

sprinkle of rosemary

1 cup chicken broth

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Here’s how to make it:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. 

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add some oil and swirl it around. 

Put together the spice rub – combine ½ teaspoon salt, ¾ teaspoon fennel seeds, ¼ teaspoon black pepper, garlic powder and oregano.

Gently pat a light layer of the spice rub over the chicken and place chicken in the pan.

While the chicken is browning, prepare the peppers and shallots.  The original recipe calls for two cups of sliced red pepper to one cup of sliced yellow pepper.  I just get one red and one yellow.  I like the contrast of the different flavors. 

 

Also, onions are a perfectly good substitute for the shallots, but I do think the shallots are a little more flavorful.

Once the chicken is browned, transfer to a shallow baking dish coated with cooking spray.  Bake for 10 minutes in the oven.

While the chicken is baking, add a bit more oil to the skillet.  Add peppers, shallots, and rosemary to the pan.  Sauté for about 3 minutes.  Then, stir in the broth and scrap up any remaining browned bits from the pan.  Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. 

Increase the heat to medium-high again and stir in the vinegar, a dash of salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper.  Cook for another 3 minutes, stirring to let the peppers and shallots mixture soak up the flavor.

Serve pepper mixture over chicken.  Serve with a side of mashed potatoes. Buon appetito!

Four Cheese Macaroni and Cheese

My other half was out of town this week, so I took the opportunity to try some recipes I’ve recently come across that I knew he wouldn’t touch with a 10-foot pole.   

 

I’ve had the Allrecipes app on my phone for some time now (love the DinnerSpinner!), but I recently signed up to receive newsletters for recipe ideas from Allrecipes.com.  This site is great because for each recipe, you can change the servings amount for how many you actually need, and the ingredients list automatically reflects the new serving size.  I still haven’t figured out what a ¼ of an egg is, but it gives me a better idea of how much I need of everything. 

 

Going for easy and delicious, I decided to try a 4-cheese Mac & Cheese, adapted from this recipe on Allrecipes.com.

 

What you’ll need to get going (based on the original recipe, for 9 servings):  

1/2 (8 ounce) package elbow macaroni

1 cup shredded sharp Cheddar cheese

1 cup shredded provolone cheese

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1 cup shredded Colby-Monterey Jack cheese

1 egg, beaten

1 cup milk 

For the record, there are like eleven billionty different kinds of cheese out there – not just type, but shredded, sliced, reduced fat, low-fat, etc. – and that's just the pre-packaged section!  But I must have missed the shredded provolone, because that's the one cheese I did not come across.  Alas, I got slices of provolone instead and it was a fun excuse to try my new Microplane® Paddle Grater, which I forgot I registered for and received almost a year ago!

I realize I probably could have bought a block of provolone, but I figured I wasn't going to need that much since I was cooking for one.  The grater still worked perfectly on the slices, shredding into delicious looking morsels that I wanted to just eat immediately.  (I refrained.)

How to make it:

Bring a medium saucepot full of water to a boil. Add salt for a bit of seasoning. Greg actually taught me that trick. Ha! He’s a part of this recipe even though he’s not going to eat it!

 

Anyway, add macaroni and cook for 8-10 minutes or your preference. Drain. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a shallow baking dish. Add cheddar cheese, then a layer of macaroni, add provolone cheese, then another layer of macaroni, add mozzarella cheese, then the last layer of macaroni.  Add the Colby/Jack cheese. 

Beat egg and spread it over the top, then pour the milk over that. Don't add too much milk or it will end up runny. 

Bake for 20 minutes or until “bubbly and golden brown.” (Or longer if you added too much milk.)

 

Cavatelli with Sausage & Broccoli

When I first moved out, my mom gave me a very simple cookbook to get me started.  To this day, I still make meals found in Campbell's Classic Recipes cookbook. This cookbook contains recipes for basic dinners, sides, appetizers and more, using Campbell's brands and products.

Cavatelli with Sausage & Broccoli is a favorite in our home. This recipe is adapted from Campbell's Kitchen.  You'll need the following:

1 package frozen cavatelli pasta

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pound sweet Italian pork sausage
1 tablespoon butter
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 bag (16 ounces) frozen broccoli florets
1 3/4 cups Swanson® Chicken Broth
2 tablespoons grated Romano cheese
Crushed red pepper

So simple! 

Start by getting some water boiling in a medium sauce pot.

Heat oil in a large skillet and start breaking up the sausage and adding it to the pan.  I prefer bulk sausage, but links work, too. You just have remove the casing before breaking it up.

While sausage is browning, add pasta to boiling water, carefully so you don't splash hot water on yourself. Ouch!  Once pasta is cooked to your liking, you can drain and set aside.

Now it's time to prepare the garlic. One of my favorite kitchen gadgets is my Martha Stewart Garlic Zoom.  After years of sharp knives, messy garlic presses, and the lingering smell of garlic on my fingers, I'm so happy I finally found this product.

Simply remove the skin of each clove by gently pressing on the side of the clove with the dull side of a knife. That should make it start cracking off enough that you can peel it away. Then simply slip the cloves into the Garlic Zoom, secure the latch, and then run it up and down your counter a few times.

Voila! Freshly minced garlic without having to lift a finger!

Remove browned sausage with slotted spoon, leaving excess oil behind. Put a dollop of butter in the skillet along with the garlic. Stir garlic around for a couple of minutes until browned.  

Add broccoli to skillet. Cook, stirring, until tender crisp.

Add chicken broth and bring to a boil. Once boiling, add in the sausage and pasta. (If you like cheese, here is where you would also add in the grated cheese.)  Since I live with a non-cheese eater (gasp! I know...), I add in crushed red pepper flakes now, and then I add in cheese just to my portion once served.

Cook, stirring occasionally over medium heat for 10 minutes, or until most of the liquid soaks up.  

Serve with additional red pepper, if desired.

 

 

 

 

Notes:

• Since I'm only cooking for 2, I generally make a half recipe.
• It takes me about 40 minutes, start to finish.