Cauliflower "Rice"

Found this recipe recently at Fast Paleo.  Last night was the first time I've tried making cauliflower "rice".  My household isn't big on cauliflower so we don't have it often.  We live in Japan so sticky rice is everywhere and I'm feeling a bit deprived never getting to eat my rice with my meals like everyone else.  That's one thing I miss since starting Paleo is my sticky rice.  So last night I made cauliflower "rice".  It really was pretty good.  It took me a few bites to get over the fact that it wasn't really rice but I ate it with some spicy coconut curry and really liked it.  I think it is something I will probably be making again in the near future.

Cauliflower "rice"

1 head of cauliflower
1 small onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tbsp. coconut oil

Remove most of the stalk of the cauliflower and leave them in florets.  Place them into a food processor and pulse until course and rice like.  Add coconut oil to a saute and add in garlic cloves and diced onion and saute until tender.  Dump in "rice" like cauliflower and saute for about 6-10 minutes or until just tender.  Add salt to taste and serve.  

Coconut Curry Chicken

I've never tried any version of coconut curry chicken before but have been trying to find new healthy meals for my family and I don't want to get in the habit of making the same dinner night after night.  So tonight I made this.  I'm not a big fan on Indian food but I really liked this.  I left the spice out of the kids but gave mine and my husband's some real heat that had me sweating by the time I was finished.  It was delicious and I definetly will be making this again.  It was a really quick and easy dinner to throw together too which is always nice.  I found this recipe at Fast Paleo though I did modify it a bit.  My family ate theirs over rice but I ate mine just as is.  Next time I'm going to try to make some cauliflower rice and see how that tastes. 

Coconut Curry Chicken 

1 lb. chicken breasts or chicken tenders, cubed
1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
5 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2teaspoon red pepper flakes
2 tablespoons Curry Powder
1 tbsp. Turmeric
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 Tablespoon olive oil
2 tbsp. coconut flour
1 cup baby spinach, rough chopped 
Salt to taste

In a saucepan over medium high heat add the olive oil and chicken and sear chicken until golden brown.  Add in the onions and garlic and turn the temperature down to a medium heat.  Allow to cook for a few minutes.  Add in the curry powder, turmeric, cayenne pepper and salt and stir to coat everything.  Now add in the coconut milk and chicken broth and allow to simmer covered for about 15 minutes.  Remove lid and allow to simmer another 5 minutes so the sauce can thicken.  Sprinkle in about 2 tbsp. of coconut flour to help thicken the sauce if needed.  Toss in chopped (or torn) spinach leaves and give a stir for about a minute to allow them to wilt.  Serve. 

Garlic Roasted Chicken Thighs

I love, love, love garlic.  I love so much garlic in a dish that it seeps out of my pores.  This dish is so ridiculously easy to throw together that I make it once a week and my family adores it.  I like to take the left over roasted garlic from the pan and smear it on top of my chicken like a spread.  Yum!

Garlic Roasted Chicken

4-5 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
8-10 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 tbsp. olive oil
Salt & Pepper

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a skillet (I use cast-iron) get your pan on a medium heat.  Throw in the oil and the rough chopped garlic cloves (no need to mince since it'll be cooking in the oven for a long time).  Allow the garlic to cook a few minutes in the oil just to give the oil a nice garlic flavor.  Then with a slotted spoon remove the garlic and set aside but leave the oil.  Salt and pepper your chicken top and bottom generously.  Turn the pan to a medium-high heat and place chicken skin side down in the skillet rotating as necessary to get a nice golden brown on the skin.  Once the skin is nicely browned flipped all chicken over and sprinkle garlic around the pan.  I like to lift up the chicken and make sure the garlic is under, over and around all the chicken.  Place into the oven for about 40-45 minutes or until cooked through.  

Herbed Pork Tenderloin - Paleo

So I was going to make chicken for dinner.  I ran to the store to grab some and they were out.  I wasn't in the mood for red meat so I grabbed a pork tenderloin and had no thoughts on what I was going to do with it.  It was 4:00 and I was standing in the kitchen trying to figure out what to do with this meat since I had so little time to make something.  I whipped this up, let it rest for 30 minutes and cooked it.  It was AMAZING!  My entire family loved it, and asked that I make it again for them.  It was super simple and really pretty quick and best part was it fit my new diet guidelines.

Herbed Pork Tenderloin

1 3lb. pork tenderloin, sliced thinly

Marinade-
2 tbsp. red wine vinegar
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. lemon peel (dried)
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. rosemary
1 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. celery salt
1 tsp. parsley
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. thyme 

Combine all ingredients in a bowl, it'll be a bit thicker than a paste but not as runny as most marinades. Pour over pork in a ziplock bag and massage into meat until all is covered.  Set aside for about 30 minutes.  

1 tbsp. olive oil 
1 cup chicken stock
3 cloves minced garlic
Salt

Add remaining 1 tbsp. olive oil to a medium-high heat pan.  Toss in the pork and get all pieces nice and brown.  Once cooked just about all the way through turn heat down to a medium temperature and toss all the minced garlic into the pan with the pork and allow to sautee until just golden.  Salt your pork to taste. Remove  pork from pan with a slitted spoon allowing most of the garlic to remain in the pan to be a part of the sauce but you don't need to actually brush it off the pork.  Set pork aside.  Add in the 1 cup of chicken stock to the pan.  Allow to cook with the garlic a minute and it also will get all the herbed marinade spices left in the pan into the sauce.   Serve sauce like gravy for the pork.

*Note - Because of my current diet I have eliminated all grains from my diet and so I am not thickening my sauce with butter or flour.  You are welcome to use flour to make a proper gravy if you wish.    

Paleo Pizza Crust

I'm really not overly sure how many times I've attempt to do the Paleo diet and failed but yet again my husband and I have decided to try.  It is such a restrictive diet from the American "normal" diet that it is a bit difficult to adjust to.  BUT I've already given up dairy this year and I eat almost no bread or grains anymore with the exception of oats so I feel I'm better prepared to try this again.  It is how I would like to eat.  Lots of protein, vegetables, nuts, seeds and fruit.  You cannot have grains, so no flour, no corn, no oats.  No beans.  Nothing processed.  No sugar.  Sounds super healthy and I need to strive to eat better.  My kids LOVE pizza!!

This to me was like eating a pizza on top of a unsweetened, garlic flavored pancake.  I need it to be a bit thinner and more crisp for me to really get on board with it but it definitely has potential.  I just need to work with it a bit more to make it something more fitting for me.  My kids both loved it.  My ridiculously picky daughter ate 3 mini pizzas.  They ate it without any complaint.  We made homemade Paleo sausage to top our super veggie pizza which was amazing.  Granted after I made this I realized I think bell peppers are a nightshade vegetable and I've got to read up on that a bit but I don't think I'm suppose to be eating those, oops. 

Just to make things easier I opted to cook these on a griddle first (like pancakes) for easier flipping and so everyone could have there own mini pizzas then we topped them and baked them in the oven. 

Found the original recipe here - Caveman Strong.  We changed a few things from the original recipe.


Paleo Pizza Crust
 
3 eggs
1/2 cup of coconut flour
1 cup of unsweetened almond milk
1 tsp. of garlic powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. dried basil
1 crushed/minced garlic clove
 
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees. Prep cookie sheet or pizza pan by covering it with parchment paper to fit the bottom of the pan.  Brush with coconut oil or olive oil to prevent sticking.

Add all ingredients into a bowl and mix until combined.  Start pouring on your griddle immediately as the batter will thicken as time goes on. This will be more like a batter….not so much dough.  After 2-3 minutes flip the pancake sized mini pizza crusts and place finished ones on the baking sheet.  Bake an additional 6-10 minutes until toppings are heated through.  

You can pour the entire batter into any shape or size you want and bake for 20 minutes then flip in the oven (use parchment paper to prevent sticking) if you prefer to use that method iinstead of the griddle.  

Katsudon

I made Katsudon last night for my first time ever.  It is one of my absolutely favorite dishes I get quite often here in Japan.  It was simply to make and so good. The fried pork cutlet on top is called Tonkatsu.  Then you have sticky rice and a slightly sweet sauce with onions and egg over the rice.  We use Japanese eggs because here in Japan they eat raw eggs quite often so they have much higher standards for their eggs.  We can cook them less or not at all if we prefer but using American eggs I'd cook it through.  You'd be surprised at how quickly you can get use to eating raw egg.  A year ago I would have said "no way", but now I do it often and enjoy it and actually sometimes prefer it that way in certain dishes.  This makes 1 bowl of Katsudon.  Just double or triple how you see fit to make as much or as little as you need.  I usually make it for two and use two separate skillets so the egg cooks for just that one bowl in that one skillet but you don't have to do it that way. 

The egg you are pouring into the liquid at the end needs to be just barely beaten.  You want it mixed but not like you do scrambled eggs.  Just enough to pop the yolk and give it maybe 4-5 mixes then you are good to go.  For sticky rice use a good sushi rice in a rice cooker on sushi setting.  You can usually find hon-dashi in the Asian section of supermarkets.  Instead of making a batch of dashi stock fresh this is the granulated way to do it.  Similar to how you use chicken bouillon for chicken stock if you don't have chicken stock or don't want to make it from scratch for just a small amount.   

Tonkatsu:

Pork Chop (Boneless)
1/2 c. Panko
1 beaten egg
1/2 c. All-Purpose Flour 

Sauce:

1 tbsp. mirin
1 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. sugar
1/5 tsp. hon-dashi
1/8 c. water
1/2 onion thinly sliced

1 egg, very lightly beaten

Start your sticky rice.  Preheat your oil to 375 degrees.  Dredge the pork chop into flour, egg then panko and drop it hot oil and cook until golden brown and cooked all the way through.  It takes about 3 minutes a side roughly.  Place on paper towels and allow to cool while making the sauce.  Mix all sauce ingredients in a small skillet that has a lid.  Allow to come to a boil and turn down to a simmer for 5 minutes with lid on.  Cut the tonkatsu into slice and place into the simmer liquid.  Pour the beaten egg over the top and around the edges of the tonkatsu into the sauce and cover with the lid again.  Allow to cook for 45 seconds.  Remove lid and pour entire skillet of sauce, egg and tonkatsu over your sticky rice.  Enjoy!      

Asian Stuffed Peppers

I've been wanting to do stuffed peppers for a while now but everyone in my house starts complaining as soon as I mention it.  Tonight is my birthday and I can make whatever I want and no one can say a word so I decided to make these peppers.  I'm totally in love with ground turkey with Asian flavors and could eat it all day long so I decided to stuff it with my favorite.  I used baby red bell peppers so I only needed to bake them about 20 minutes until the peppers were really soft and tender.  I imagine using full sized peppers might take a bit longer.  I also opted to not mix my rice into my mixture as I originally planned to do for no reason other than my rice cooker was taking way to long cooking the rice and I didn't feel like waiting on it.  So I served it over brown rice instead.  This was a huge hit with my kids.  My husband of course doesn't care for ground turkey, peppers, onions or brown rice so I didn't expect him to jump up and down over it.  My 2 year old absolutely loved it and ate his entire pepper too before asking for more. 

Filling:
1lb. ground turkey
8 small red bell peppers
1/2 red onion
1/4 c. hoisin sauce
1/3 c. low sodium soy sauce
1/4 c. chili sauce (or any spicy Asian sauce)
1 tsp. olive oil 


Preheat oven to 375.  Chop the onion and 2 of the small bell peppers and add a bit of olive oil to a skillet and saute until just tender. Meanwhile slice the remaining peppers length wise and scoop out inside seeds and flesh to give the meat a place to rest.  Now, add ground turkey to pan with the onions and peppers and cook until not longer pink.  Add in the soy sauce, hoisin sauce and chili sauce and allow to cook a few more minutes.  Now taste to determine if you need salt as I don't add extra because the soy sauce is salty enough.  Place peppers on a non-stick baking sheet (or simply spray baking sheet with pam).  Fill peppers to the top and bake 20 minutes or until tender.  Serve over brown rice.  

Ants in a Tree

This is my take on a Chinese dish, ants in a tree.  Normally it is made with ground pork and mung bean noodles.  I thought the mung bean noodles tasted awful so I prefer to serve mine over rice and I substituted ground turkey just because it is a healthier lower calorie option.  This is such a quick easy dinner that my family loves.

Ants in a Tree 

1 lb. ground turkey
1/4 c. low sodium soy sauce
1 tbsp. rice vinegar
1 tbsp. sambal chili paste
1 tsp. cornstarch
1 tbsp. canola oil
1/2 c. chicken broth 

Combine the soy sauce, rice vinegar, and chili paste in a medium bowl and whisk until smooth. Add the cornstarch and whisk until combined. Add the ground turkey and mix until thoroughly integrated. Set aside for 30 minutes.

Place a 12-inch saute pan over high heat for 1 minute. Add the oil and swirl to coat the bottom and sides of the pan. Once the oil shimmers, add the meat mixture. Stir constantly for 2 minutes, breaking the meat up into very small pieces. Continue cooking and stirring until the meat is well browned and in very small pieces, approximately 2 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-high and add the broth. Cook until reduced, approximately 3 minutes.  Serve over rice.

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION:  210 Calories * 12.5 g. Fat *  499 mg. Sodium * 21 g. Protein  This recipe serves 6 about 1/2 c. per serving, rice not included in calorie count.

Chicken & Vegetable Quinoa Casserole

I've been hearing so much about quinoa lately and am a bit embarrassed to say I've never tried it before until this week.  I've been using quinoa pasta lately and love it and decided to finally use my box of quinoa in my pantry this week.  I was not disappointed.  I found a casserole recipe on Nelly's Pantry and was rather pleased to find that it was dairy-free.  It isn't often you find a dairy-free casserole since most of them are loaded with cream of chicken soup, cream of broccoli soup and mayonnaise.  I love that this one makes a chicken gravy and uses that instead.  Plus, casseroles are so versatile.  You can throw and vegetable you like into it.  You can throw one or many.  I added in broccoli, corn and carrots into mine.  Of course if you don't have a dairy allergy this recipe would be awesome with cheese.  I know my husband was probably thinking that the entire time he was eating it but he's wonderful enough to forgo his cheese in front of me and the kids since we can't eat it.

Mix all ingredients together.

Chicken & Vegetable Quinoa Casserole

1 1/2 c. uncooked quinoa
6 c. chicken stock
1/3 c. all-purpose flour
3 tbsp. dairy-free butter or oil
2 bone in chicken breasts
1 c. broccoli
1/2 c. corn
1/2 c. sliced carrots
2 cloves minced garlic
1/3 c. panko breadcrumbs
Salt & Pepper to taste

Spread breadcrumbs evenly over top.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.  On a baking sheet place your chicken breasts skin side up and season with a spray of cooking spray, salt and pepper and bake for 45 minutes.  Meanwhile cook your quinoa.  I think cooking it in chicken stock gives it better flavor but you can use water if you rather.  Add quinoa to a saucepan with 3 cups of chicken stock and bring to a boil.  Cover and simmer for about 10-15 minutes or until all liquid has evaporated.  Set aside to cool in a large mixing bowl.  Steam all your vegetables for about 5 minutes to cook them just a bit and pour over the top of the quinoa.  Once chicken has baked set aside until cool enough to handle and remove breast from bone and chop.  Add chicken to the quinoa and vegetable mixture.  Now to make your sauce.  Add 3 tbsp. butter or oil to a saucepan over medium heat.  Add garlic and cook for a minute or two until nice and fragrant.  All in your flour and whisk until combined to make your roux.  Slowly add in your chicken stock (3 cups) while whisking to prevent lumps and bring to a boil until thick.  It should coat the back of a spoon quite well at this point.  If you rather you could cook your vegetables in the gravy instead of steam them but that's up to you.  Now pour the gravy over the quinoa, chicken and vegetable mixture and stir (gently) until combined.  Pour in a greased baking dish.  Add the panko to the top of the casserole and lightly spray with cooking spray.  Bake at 400 for 30 minutes or until golden brown.  I turned my broiler on high for the last 3-5 minutes to make the top extra golden.  

Baked to golden delicious perfection!

I entered all of the ingredients into this recipe calorie calculator found here - Recipe Calorie Counter   and determined that this recipe is roughly 205 calories for a 1/2 c. serving.  This is only an estimate.  I calorie count my meals these days so you will see many more of these nutrition facts on my site in the future.  
 

Nutrition Facts User Entered Recipe
12 Servings
Amount Per Serving
Calories		204.5
Total Fat		7.1 g
	Saturated Fat	3.5 g
	Polyunsaturated Fat	0.6 g
	Monounsaturated Fat	2.1 g
Cholesterol		38.3 mg
Sodium		516.9 mg
Potassium		381.7 mg
Total Carbohydrate		22.0 g
	Dietary Fiber	2.2 g
	Sugars	2.5 g
Protein		13.6 g

Asian Turkey Burger

I sit here day after day watching recipes, pictures and my posts pile up and can't seem to find the time to get around to posting them these days.  We're still going the healthy route in our house and my husband seems to even complain a bit less about it.  I made these turkey burgers recently and they were awesome.  I don't think my husband would ever admit that he enjoyed a turkey burger as much as a full fat red meat burger but he really enjoyed these and so did the kids.  My daughter actually asked me if I'd make them again for her a few days later.   I think these might be my new go to burger recipe for a while. 

 Asian Turkey Burgers

1 pk. ground turkey
1/4 c. tbsp. hoisin sauce
2 tbsp. soy sauce
3 tbsp. sweet chili sauce (or a chili garlic paste)
Salt & Pepper
4 whole wheat buns

A few hours before you are going to make the burgers add the ground turkey, hoisin, soy, and chili sauce to a bowl and combine thoroughly but try not to over mix the meat.  Allow to rest in the fridge for at least 1 hour prior to cooking.  I usually allow mine to sit about 4 hours.  Form into patties roughly 4 oz. each and season generously with salt and pepper.  Place into a hot pre-heated pan or onto the grill. The patties may need to be babied a bit to keep them from falling apart initially but once you allow the first side to cook they'll come together nicely.  Mine took roughly 5 minutes a side.  Allow to rest about 10 minutes before serving to keep them juicy.  Serve on whole wheat buns and garnish with your favorite burger toppings. 

Grilled Honey-Lime Pork Tenderloin

So not the most flattering picture but that is what happens when my husband carves meat and takes a picture of it.  He was less than impressed when I told him I needed pictures before we ate dinner.   This is an Alton Brown recipe and it was really tasty.  I love the honey in this it really shines through.  I'm a huge fan of adding honey into marinades for meats and this really was a winner.  I got the recipe from Food Network.

Grilled Honey-Lime Pork Tenderloin

1 whole pork tenderloin, approximately 1 pound
1 lime, zest finely grated
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
1/4 cup honey
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 chipotle chile pepper in adobo sauce  (*optional)
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Trim the pork tenderloin of any excess fat and silver skin.  Place the lime zest, lime juice, honey, salt, and garlic powder in a small, lidded jar and shake to combine. Pour half of the marinade mixture into a 1-gallon resealable bag, add the chipotle pepper, and move around to combine. Add the pork tenderloin to the bag and seal, removing as much air as possible and place in a container to catch any leaks. Marinate in the refrigerator for 6 to 24 hours, rotating the bag halfway through the time. Place the remaining marinade in a covered container and refrigerate until ready to use.  Remove the tenderloin from the bag and allow to sit at room temperature while preparing the grill. Remove the reserved marinade from the refrigerator.  Fill a large chimney starter with natural lump charcoal and light. Once the charcoal is ashy and white, approximately 30 minutes, dump the hot charcoal onto the lowest grate of the grill and spread into an even layer using extra-long tongs. Place the cooking grate back on the grill and cover with the lid; heat the grate to medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes.  Brush the grill with vegetable oil. Remove the tenderloin from the bag and place in the center of grate. Discard bag with marinade. Cover and cook for 12 to 15 minutes, turning every 1 1/2 to 2 minutes, until the tenderloin reaches an internal temperature of 140 degrees F.  Remove the tenderloin from the grill and place on a large piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil folded at the edges to create a basket, and pour on the reserved marinade. Wrap tightly and rest for 10 minutes. Remove to a cutting board and slice. Garnish with cilantro and serve.

Pasta Puttanesca

This is the first time I've ever made this recipe or ever had pasta puttanesca.  I'm not sure why because it was fantastic.  My husband doesn't like olives, onions, capers or anchovies.  That is probably why I've never even considered making this before.  This is Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond's recipe that can be found on her site The Pioneer Woman.  I didn't mash the olives but instead sliced them so my husband could pick them out of his pasta.  I had to omit the onion all together.  One secret that he still doesn't know and I hope he doesn't read this and find out.  I did add the anchovies into the dish.  He loved the dish and if I told him he'd never eat it again.  So why ruin a delicious dish by telling him what was in it?  He hates all seafood.  I made sure to mash the anchovies up really good and let them dissolve in the oil when starting the sauce.  I made a bit too much and am excited that we'll be eating this again tomorrow as leftovers! 

Pasta Puttanesca

 8 ounces, weight Bucatini Or Spaghetti
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
1/2 whole Red Onion, Sliced
1-1/2 cup Grape Tomatoes, Halved
3/4 cups White Wine
2 cloves Garlic
4 whole Anchovy Filets
1/2 cup (heaping) Assorted Pitted Olives
12 whole Basil Leaves
4 ounces, weight Good Parmesan Cheese

Cook pasta until al dente.  Mash (in this order) garlic, anchovies, and olives using a mortar and pestle, or just chop them finely together. Set aside.  Using a fork, crumble the Parmesan cheese.  Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add sliced red onions and cook until slightly caramelized. Add halved tomatoes and cook for a couple of minutes. Pour in wine and cook for another two minutes, then pour in garlic/anchovy/olive mixture. Stir and continue cooking for several minutes, or until sauce is nice and reduced and wonderful. Add salt and pepper to taste.  Drain pasta and add to the skillet. Add the crumbled Parmesan and toss to coat pasta in the sauce.  Tear basil leaves and sprinkle over the top. Serve right out of the skillet.

Baked Sweet & Sour Chicken

Trying to lighten up one of my husband's favorites I came across this baked sweet and sour chicken on Life as a Lofthouse recently.   Of course, it isn't the same as the amazingly delicious deep fried version but for a lighter version it was good.  I normally don't like the sweet and sour sauce made with ketchup but because this sauce cooks in the oven for an hour it was pretty good.  I would say definitely use tinfoil to make your clean-up easier otherwise the sauce will probably never come off your pan!   

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

Salt & Pepper

1 cup cornstarch

2 eggs, beaten

1/4 cup canola oil

Sweet and Sour Sauce:

3/4 cup sugar

4 tbsp. ketchup

1/2 cup vinegar

1 tbsp. soy sauce

1 tsp. garlic salt

Start by preheating your oven to 325 degrees. Rinse your chicken breasts in water and then cut into cubes. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Dip chicken into the cornstarch to coat then dip into the eggs.  Heat your 1/4 cup oil in a large skillet and cook your chicken until browned but not cooked through. Place the chicken in a 9x13 greased baking dish. Mix all of your sweet and sour sauce ingredients in a bowl with a whisk and then pour evenly over the chicken. Bake for one hour and during the baking process you will need to turn the chicken every 15 minutes.  

Black Bean Burgers

I saw these recently on Food Network and wanted to give them a try.  I can't get my daughter to even try beans so I like to hide them when I can.  This was a really good burger.  I did some of the burgers with the mustard brushed on the outside and some without.  I found the burgers I didn't brush with the mustard fell apart and were more difficult to handle but the mustard brushed ones held together really well and it gave it a great crispy crust on the outside.  As an extra treat for us all I did make homemade hamburger buns and oven fries to go with it.  So good!   


Black Bean Burgers

1/4 cup cooked black beans
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 pound ground beef
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
8 mini-hamburger buns

Preheat the grill. In a medium bowl, mash the black beans, 1 tablespoon olive oil, and garlic powder with a potato masher or fork until very creamy. Gently mix the black bean mixture with the ground beef. Season the mixture liberally with salt and pepper. Divide the mixture into 8 equally portioned thin patties. Using a pastry brush, lightly coat the outside of the patties with mustard. Lightly brush the grill with the oil and place the burgers on the hot grill. Cook the burgers until a golden crust is formed, about 1 to 2 minutes per side. Slice the mini buns in half and brush with the remaining oil. Place the buns on the grill until nicely toasted with grill marks. Serve the sliders on the toasted hamburger buns.

Chicken Ropa Vieja

I found this recipe at Skinny Taste.  I was looking for some new Mexican recipes that were relatively low in fat.  I made this recipe the day I found the recipe and oh boy was it a good one!  The shredded chicken can be eaten by itself, in a flour tortilla or in a regular store bought taco shell.  This is another one of those dishes I know I will be making again for my family and soon.  This might have to replace the ground beef we usually have on taco night.  You can actually get all the nutrition information from the Skinny Taste site linked above as well as Weight Watchers points if you are dieting.  I really liked having that information with a recipe when I'm trying to eat better.  Both my kids loved this recipe too, so a winner anytime I can get them to eat a new recipe.  



Chicken Ropa Vieja

3 (22.5 oz) chicken breast halves
1 small onion, quartered
1 tomato, quartered
1 carrot, peeled and chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 tbsp olive oil
1 small onion, thinly sliced
1 small green bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
1 small red bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
1/4 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1 c. reserved broth
1 tsp cumin, or more to taste
2 garlic cloves
salt and pepper to taste

Place chicken, 1 onion, 1 tomato, 1 carrot, and 2 cloves of garlic into saucepan on stovetop.  Add water to cover, and cook on medium-low until the chicken is tender, about 45 minutes.  Place the chicken into a bowl and shred it into strips using a fork; set aside.  Make sure to reserve the liquid.

In a large deep skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat.  Add the remaining 2 garlic cloves, 1 onion, 1 red bell pepper, and 1 orange bell pepper.  Cook about 3 to 4 minutes.  Stir in chicken, tomato sauce, white wine, and about 3/4 cup of the reserved broth to create a nice sauce.  Season with cumin, salt, and pepper.  Cover and summer on low for about 10 minutes more adding more broth and seasoning if needed.  Makes about 4 cups.

Machaca Burritos

This is the first time I've made this meat and man I tell you it will definitely not be the last.  This meat was amazing!  I got this recipe from Never Enough Thyme and decided to give it a try.  We love Mexican food but since we are in Japan the choices for Mexican are severely limited.  My best option is to learn how to make some Mexican dishes myself that can hold us over until we go back to the states.  I made homemade tortillas with this and homemade salsa but you can always use store bought too.   I can't wait to make this again and was so sad there were no leftovers.     




Machaca Burritos 

2-3 pound skirt steak, trimmed and cut into 3” pieces
3 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 large white onion, roughly chopped
1 medium red bell pepper, roughly chopped
1 medium orange bell pepper, roughly chopped
2 serrano chiles, chopped, seeds and ribs removed (optional)
1 cup beef broth
1 can diced tomatoes with juice
1/2 tsp. dried Mexican oregano
1/2 tsp. cumin
Salt & Pepper

 For serving:
12 6-inch flour tortillas
Sour cream (optional)
Salsa (optional)
Cilantro (optional)
Lime wedges (optional)
Guacamole (optional)

 Marinade:

1/4 c. vegetable oil
1 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp. water
1/4 c. fresh lime juice
3 garlic cloves, finely minced
1 serrano chili, finely minced, seeds and ribs removed
Salt & Pepper

To start, cut the skirt steak into about 3″ pieces. Combine all the marinade ingredients in a large zip top plastic bag. Close the bag and shake well to combine. Add the skirt steak and toss to make sure each piece is well coated with the marinade. Place the plastic bag with steak and marinade in the refrigerator for at least 8 hours, preferably overnight.

Allow the meat to come to room temperature before cooking. Remove from the marinade and pat dry with paper towels. Discard marinade. Cut the onions and peppers into rough chunks and set aside.  In a large, heavy pan, heat the oil over medium-high heat. Sear the meat on all sides, a few pieces at a time. Transfer the meat to a plate or platter and set aside.  Without cleaning the pan, add the onions, peppers, garlic and chilies (if using). Saute for approximately 5 minutes. The vegetables will pick up a lot of the browned bits left from the meat, which is what you want to happen.

Add the beef broth, tomatoes, oregano, cumin, salt and pepper. Mix well. Return the meat and any collected juices to the pan. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and cover. Simmer slowly until the meat is very tender, about 2 hours.  Remove the meat to a cutting board and allow it to rest until cool enough to handle – about 15 minutes. Continue cooking the onion and pepper mixture until most of the liquid has evaporated, uncovered.  Using your fingers or two forks, shred the meat. Return the shredded meat to the pot, stir to combine and cook until the meat is very hot.  Spoon meat and onion filling onto tortilla and add your desired toppings.

Turkey Brine

When it comes to Thanksgiving people either usually brine or butter.  I like to do both.  A few years ago I heard about brining and decided to try it.  I've been doing it every year since.  It makes a huge difference in the juiciness of your turkey.  I like to play around with my brine recipes year to year and see how they turn out.  This one is the one I did this year.   I'm not sure why it has taken me so long to get this up here either.  I gave this one out to friends and family this year too and had no complaints.  This is an Anne Burrell recipe from Food Network.  

Brine:

7 quarts water
1 quart apple cider
3/4 cup kosher salt
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 large onion, diced
1 large or 2 small carrots, diced
3 ribs celery, diced
1 head garlic, cut in 1/2 equatorially
1/2 bunch fresh rosemary
1/2 bunch fresh sage
1/2 bunch of thyme
6 bay leaves
1 (12 to 14 pound) turkey

Herb crust:

1 bunch fresh rosemary, leaves finely chopped
1 bunch fresh sage, leaves finely chopped
1 bunch of thyme, finely chopped
3 sticks butter, room temperature
Kosher salt

To brine the turkey:  Combine 4 cups of water and salt and sugar in a saucepan and heat until all sugar and salt is completely dissolved.  The pour into your big brining bucket with all remaining ingredients and stir to combine.  Add the turkey and let it brine in the refrigerator for 48 hours.

To prepare the turkey for cooking: Remove the turkey from the brine about 6-10 hours before you are going to cook it.  I usually take it out first thing in the morning around 7am, but if you are going to cook it early you can do this the night before.  pat it thoroughly dry with paper towels. Combine the rosemary, sage, thyme and (room temperature) butter for the herb crust in a small bowl. Season, to taste, with kosher salt. Work the butter under the skin of the turkey and massage it into the breasts and the legs. Massage the butter on the outside of the skin as well. Tie the legs together over the breast so they will protect it during cooking and help keep it moist and juicy.

Arrange your turkey on top of the vegetables you plan on roasting with it and refrigerate overnight UNCOVERED! Yes, that's right, uncovered. This will help the skin dry out and become really brown and crispy. Make sure that there is no raw food near the turkey in the refrigerator. After refrigerating overnight, the turkey is ready to go in the oven.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.  Put 3 cups chicken stock in the bottom of the roasting pan. Roast the turkey in the preheated oven until the skin gets really nice and brown, about 40 minutes. Lower the oven heat to 350 degrees F for the remainder of the cooking time. Baste the turkey every 30 minutes or so and add more stock to the roasting pan, if needed. Cook about 17 minutes per pound. Once it gets to the proper color, tent the turkey with aluminum foil to prevent it from getting too dark.
Remove the turkey from the oven when an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the turkey registers 160 degrees F. Make sure that the thermometer is not touching a bone when doing the reading. When the turkey has reached the proper temperature, remove it from the roasting pan to a cutting board and let it rest for at least 30 minutes. Cover loosely with aluminum foil.

Strain all the veggies over a bowl to separate them from the stock/mixture. Discard the veggies. Skim off the fat and add it to the roasting pan. This is the fat for the roux. Put the roasting pan over 2 burners and over a low heat and whisk in the flour. Cook until the mixture looks like wet sand, about 4 to 5 minutes. Slowly whisk in the remaining 1 cup chicken stock (or white wine if preferred). Cook until the mixture has thickened and reached a gravy consistency. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Pour into a serving pitcher or bowl.

Chicken Alfredo Pizza

We absolutely LOVE this pizza!  This is a Neely recipe that like everything else I do, I saw on Food Network.  This pizza is awesome.  Normally I add spinach to the pizza too but the store didn't have any decent looking spinach so this night it was without.  But I'm leaving the recipe to include the spinach because it really is amazing with it.  My kids prefer regular old pepperoni pizza but this is definitely one of my husband's favorites.

 

Chicken Alfredo Pizza

1 (3/4 pound) boneless skinless chicken breast
Salt & Pepper
2 tablespoons butter
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
1 pizza dough, store-bought (or recipe below)
2 cups baby spinach, well washed and dried
1 cup grated mozzarella
Olive oil for brushing crust

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees F. Adjust racks to the middle of the oven. Put pizza stone in the oven to preheat while you begin the sauce.  Preheat a grill pan over medium heat.  Season the chicken with salt and pepper, to taste. Put the chicken on the grill pan and grill until cooked through. Remove to a cutting board and dice. Set aside.


Melt the butter in a medium-sized saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and red pepper flakes and cook until fragrant. Add the flour and cook until light blonde in color. Whisk in the cream, reduce the heat to low, and let simmer until thickened, about 2 minutes. Stir in Parmesan and season lightly with salt and pepper, to taste. 


Flour your work surface and roll the pizza dough into a large circle.  Place your dough on parchment paper so you can easily move it into and out of the oven. Ladle the sauce to cover the bottom of the pizza. Evenly top with the baby spinach, grilled chicken and the mozzarella. Brush the edge of the crust with olive oil and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Bake the pizza until crisp and golden, about 10-15 minutes. I use a pizza paddle to slide my pizza in and out of the oven easily. 

Basic Pizza Dough Recipe:

1 package active dry yeast (2 ¼ tsp.)

1 tsp. sugar

1 c. warm water

2 tsp. salt

2 tbsp. Extra-virgin olive oil

3 c. flour, plus more for dusting

Add yeast and sugar to warm water and let stand 5 minutes.  Add flour and salt to food processor. Add oil to yeast mixture, stir and then slowly pour into flour mixture in food processor.  Use plastic blade on food processor.  Once dough ball forms, knead a few times onto lightly floured surface.  Place in well oiled bowl and let rise 1 hour.   Divide in half and cover the half you aren't working with.  Place flour on your work surface and roll out the dough into a large circle.  I like to tuck my edges under to form the crust.  I then poke holes with a fork to prevent bubbles and I always bake on a preheated baking stone at 500 degrees.  (Makes 2 large pizzas)

Shepherd's Pie

I love Shepherd's pie.  My Mom and Dad have both been making this for as long as I can remember.  I remember it many different ways too.  My mom did just beef, corn and potatoes and we ate it with bread.  I remember my Dad wrapping it in tortillas and frying them a bit.  Mine is a bit different than what I ate as a child though but I love making it and love eating it.  I know Shepherd's pie normally is made with lamb but lamb is expensive and ground beef really isn't.  Plus, I can't get lamb here in Japan or at least I don't think I can.  This dish is awesome.  Creamy mashed potatoes with cheese.  A brown gravy sauce over sauteed ground beef and your favorite vegetables.  What's not to love!?

Shepherd's Pie

1 lb. ground beef
1 c. chopped carrots
1 c. frozen peas
4 slices of diced bacon
1 1/2- 2 c. beef stock
2 cloves minced garlic
4-6 yukon gold potatoes
1 stick butter
1/4 c. whole milk
1/4 c. sour cream
1 egg yolk
1/2 c. cheddar cheese
3 tbsp. flour
1 tbsp. Worcestershire 


Dice your potatoes and place them in a large pan with salted water.  Bring to a boil until fork tender.  Drain.  Add in 1/2 stick of butter, 1/4 c. sour cream & whole milk.  Mash and mix the potatoes with the butter and sour cream and slowly add the milk.  You can always add more milk to make your potatoes creamier but you can't undo it if you add to much.  You may need a bit more milk than the recipe calls for.  Add salt and pepper and then set potatoes aside.  Add bacon to a skillet and cook until fat is rendered and bacon is crispy.  Pull bacon out and set aside.  Add ground beef  to the pan with the bacon grease and cook until brown.  In a separate pan add a splash of oil and saute your carrots until almost tender (personal preference, you may like them more or less tender).   Once beef is brown add in your already cooked carrots and frozen peas.  Make sure to add salt and pepper to your beef and carrots.   Add in about a tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce.   Add in about 3 tbsp. of flour or until meat mixture is pasty when stirred.  Slowly add in your beef stock (you may need more or less than the recipe calls for) until a gravy is formed allowing to cook for about 5 minutes to get some of the raw flour taste out of the gravy.  The gravy should coat the back of a spoon nicely without being too runny.  Add the bacon back into the beef gravy mixture.  Preheat oven to 350.  Pour beef mixture into a casserole dish. Add 1 egg yolk to cooled potatoes and cheese.   The egg yolk will give your potatoes a really nice golden yellow color when baking.  Spoon and spread the potato mixture on top of the beef mixture.  Add more salt and pepper to the top of the potatoes.  Bake for about 20-25 minutes or until potatoes are golden.  You can also make this dish ahead and place in the refrigerator.  If you do that you will need to bake it for longer since it will be cold, about 40 minutes.  Enjoy!  

I'd like to mention that I didn't actually measure when making this recipe as I make it all the time and I just eyeball it really.  These are rough estimates but the recipe is very flexible so just go with what you think is right.  This is a great dinner recipe though and leaves plenty of leftovers for the week.

Taco Pizza

The other night was pizza night.  I find it very difficult to find good quality ingredients that I apparently took for granted back in the States.  You can't find a good fresh mozzarella cheese and Parmigiana Regiano doesn't seem to exist here, so I decided we just need to expand our pizza night into new kinds of pizzas.  I've made this once before but it was quite some time ago.  Everyone in my house loves tacos and loves pizza so the two together was certainly a hit!

Pizza Dough (recipe below)

1 lb. ground beef

1 package taco seasoning

Lettuce

Tomato

2 c. Mexican cheese

1 c. salsa

First start with your pizza dough.  Of course, you can save yourself a step and do a premade pizza dough if you wanted.  

Basic Pizza Dough:

1 package active dry yeast (2 ¼ tsp.)

1 tsp. sugar

1 c. warm water

2 tsp. salt

2 tbsp. Extra-virgin olive oil

3 c. flour, plus more for dusting

Add yeast and sugar to warm water and let stand 5 minutes.  Add flour and salt to food processor. Add oil to yeast mixture, stir and then slowly pour into flour mixture in food processor.  Use plastic blade on food processor.  Once dough ball forms, knead a few times onto lightly floured surface.  Place in well oiled bowl and let rise 1 hour.   Divide in half and cover the half you aren't working with.  Place flour on your work surface and roll out the dough into a large circle.  I like to tuck my edges under to form the crust.  I then poke holes with a fork to prevent bubbles and I always bake on a preheated baking stone at 500 degrees.  (Makes 2 large pizzas) 

 

While your dough is rising go ahead and brown your ground beef just like you do for tacos.  Add in your taco seasoning and water if the seasoning packet requires it.   After your roll out your dough, prick it with a fork spread your salsa over the dough just like you would a regular tomato sauce.  Use as much or as little as you like.  Then add your meat and cheese.  Bake 500 degrees for about 10-12 minutes or until edges are nice and golden brown.  Top with lettuce, tomato and any other taco topping you like such as guacamole or sour cream.  Enjoy!