Beef and Broccoli

We are finally bringing red meat back into our diet. Mainly, because we had leftover tenderloin that needed to be eaten!

I found this recipe in my Women's Health Magazine a few years ago while reading poolside in Napa. Ahhh...those were the days! Most times I do that, I end up losing the recipe or throwing it out because lets face it, I am probably not going to make it. But this time, the recipe made it back in my suitcase unscathed. I'm so glad it did!

This is truly a great take on the beef and broccoli you would get at a great chinese restaurant...but way better. The best part, it literally takes 10 minutes (minus the wait time for the brown rice--thats 50 minutes). You could always make the rice ahead of time OR Trader Joe sells brown rice that takes 5 minutes I think? Anyway...its easy and I am all about an easy dinner these days. Trying to make dinner with an infant strapped to your ankle can be a bit tough!

A few notes: Black bean paste is in the asian isle (not mexican isle). It's actually NOT black beans, but soy beans. I found something that was similar (I wasn't able to find what the recipe called for which is made by Ming Dynasty) but it seems to work well. I use water not broth, and a smidge of red vermouth. I used ground ginger tonight because I ran out of my ginger stub I normally keep in the freezer...AND I left out the onions since my husband is allergic. It's good to know that leaving MOST of the ingredients out, the recipe still turns out!

Black Bean Sauce I used

This is the measurements and ingredients I used:

1- 8 oz beef tenderloin

1/2 cup water

2 T red vermouth

2 T balsamic vinegar

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

2 T black bean sauce w garlic

3 garlic cloves

1 large bunch broccolini

short grain brown rice

For the original recipe and directions, click here.

Turkey and Mushroom Meatloaf with Mushroom Gravy

In New Year's resolution true fashion--my husband and I are working on a cleaner diet i.e. no junk food, no sugar....and for now, no red meat.

Normally this isn't an issue for us. We are both red meat lovers, however, we know our limits and for the most part limit it to once a week.

The holidays were red meat overload. 10 days straight....from filet, to tenderloin, prime rib, lamb chops, leg of lamb, and tenderloin again. I finally couldn't take it anymore.

While I love meatloaf (I know...how 1950's of me) I knew I had to stick to the plan....no red meat. So I replaced it with Turkey. You know what? I think I like this more!

Most recipes I looked at asked for both light and dark meat. I actually used light because I forgot to get the dark meat while at the store. But I will say....I've done this both ways and both taste equally as good. There are so many other flavors going on here, it really won't matter. I promise.

I paired this with mushroom gravy and this is by far the best meatloaf to ever hit my table!

Turkey Meatloaf

Recipe by: Courtney Monigold

Ingredients:

1 lb Ground Turkey (white meat or a mix of both dark and white meat)

1 cup wheat bread crumbs

1/3-1/2 cup milk

2 eggs

1 T dried thyme

1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped

1 1/2 T worcestershire

2 T ketchup (plus more for drizzling on top)

1 garlic clove

3/4 lb white mushrooms or baby bella mushrooms, chopped

1/2 lb shiitake mushrooms, chopped

1 carrot, finely chopped

1/2 t onion powder

salt/pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray bread pan with Pam.
2. In a medium to large skillet over medium heat, add a few tablespoons of olive oil. Add carrots, cook for about 5 minutes. Add mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper. Cook for about 8 minutes. Add garlic and cook for about 30 seconds. Remove from burner. Add onion powder, worcestershire, 2 T ketchup. Set aside and let cool. (Cooks tip: Reserve the dirty skillet for the mushroom gravy....it will add extra flavor).
3. In a small bowl, mix bread crumbs and milk. Set aside.
4. In a large bowl, add ground turkey, eggs, thyme, parsley, mushroom mixture, and bread crumb mixture. Mix together until combined. Press firmly into bread pan. (Mixture will be wet) Drizzle with ketchup. Cook 50-55 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 170 degrees. Garnish with parsley and serve.

Mushroom Gravy

Recipe by: Courtney Monigold (adapted from Group Recipes)

Ingredients:

2 1/2 tablespoons butter, divided

1 cup minced mushrooms

1/4 cup red vermouth

1 1/2 tablespoons flour

2 cups beef broth (you can use chicken broth or vegetable broth also)

1/4 teaspoon poultry seasoning

1/8 cup milk

1 dash salt & pepper

(Cooks tip: you can add a teaspoon of worcestershire sauce for additional flavor)

Directions:

1. In a medium skillet over medium-high heat, melt 1 tablespoon of the butter and 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Stir in mushrooms. Sauté 5 minutes. Add vermouth. Cook until liquid has evaporated. Remove mushroom mixture from pan; set aside.

2. Melt remaining butter in pan; stir in flour. Cook and stir over medium heat for about 2 minutes. Whisk in broth. Simmer and whisk 3-4 minutes or until thickened.

Whisk in poultry seasoning and milk, continuing to cook until heated through. Stir in reserved mushroom mixture; season with salt and pepper and worcestershire sauce, if desired.

Grilled Chicken with Grilled Peaches and Chipotle Peach Sauce

It's amazing what 2 hours on the beach, ALONE, can do for you. For me, I was able to catch up on my Bon Appetit magazines. I don't think I've focused on a single thing for more than 10 minutes since I became a mom. So I made up for lost time....and salivated over every single thing I wanted to make. I was sure to make a mental note of everything I wanted to try.

This was one that caught my eye. Since my husband has been giving chicken the 'stink eye' lately, I was sure this would get the thumbs up.

I didn't really make any changes except for pair it with jasmine rice, and grilled zucchini (I halved my chicken breasts because they were large). Don't be discouraged if it looks too fancy. Fancy does not mean difficult. The dressing took about 5 minutes hands on time. I made it ahead of time so dinner prep was really simple. Start to finish, the meal took about 30 minutes.

For the recipe, click here!

Halibut Fish Tacos with Peach Avocado Salsa

When I became pregnant last year, I had sworn off fish for months. Not by my choosing but of by choice of my woozy stomach. Unfortunately that lasted well past 'fish season' so I missed out on nearly the entire thing. Fortunately though, my normal tastes and appetite have reappeared (probably times 100 these days because I'm nursing). But because of this, the choices I make are so much more important.

While wandering the market near my house, I decided I would make fish tacos. My first choice in the past would have been to make these with mahi mahi, but since I was told it was previously frozen (something that just don't do with fish), I settled on what was delivered and cut that day, halibut. I was skeptical because halibut, while meaty, is very flaky. I worried that it wouldn't really stand up in a fish taco.

I was proved wrong, very wrong. Not only was this the perfect choice, halibut was the perfect accompaniment to the peach and avocado salsa! It gave these fish tacos a very delicate bite!

You've got to try these things! Fish tacos are one of my all time favorite summer meals. It's fresh, it's fast, and it's healthy!

Halibut Fish Tacos with Peach Avocado Salsa

Recipe by: Cafe Coco

Ingredients:

1 lb halibut filet

1/2 avocado, diced

1/2 peach, diced

1 jalapeno, diced

1/2 lime juiced

1 tablespoon cilantro

2 oz. feta cheese

white corn tortillas

salt/pepper

canola oil

olive oil

lime wedges

Greek Yogurt (I use fat free)

To prepare the halibut: pre heat cast iron skillet on grill. Add a few tablespoons of canola oil. Season fish with sea salt or kosher salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil. Cook skin side up for 4 minutes. Flip and cook another 4 minutes or until cooked to desired doneness. Cover with foil for a few minutes. Then flake off the meat for the tacos.

To prepare the salsa:

Add avocado, peach, jalapeno, lime juice, and cilantro to a medium bowl. Toss lightly. Season with salt and pepper.

To assemble tacos:

Warm tortillas (I just put mine in the microwave for 10 seconds in a damp paper towel.) Top with halibut, salsa, and feta. Garnish with Greek yogurt and lime wedge.

My husband and I are part of a co-op. Pre-baby I kept my own garden, but after last years poor yeild, we made the decusion that it would be best to let the experts handle growing while I focused my new role on motherhood, instead.

So far it's been great. All I have to do is put the baby in the stroller and walk a few blocks to pick up our share. For anyone not able to plant their own garden, for whatever reason, this certainly is a great alternative. Plus, you support your local farmers.

One of our shares had fresh Michigan strawberries. Whenever I have an abudance of strawberries I try to find creative ways to use them. I love putting berries in a salad because it's a great way to get your greens and your fruit, not to mention it gives the salad a sweet kick.

This strawberry poppyseed salad goes great with any summer main course. I think I served steak, but you could certainly serve it with fish or chicken or whatever you would like!!

You could always buy a poppyseed dressing but after reading the labels I figured it would be easier (not to mention cheaper) to just make it myself. Be careful, read the labels. Some claim to be 'all natural'....only to contain high fructose corn syrup. How is that 'natural' again?

Strawberry Poppyseed Salad with Chevre and Candied Pecans

8 oz. leafy greens or butter lettuce

1/2 cup- 1 cup strawberries, cut up

4 oz chevre cheese

1/2 cup candied pecans, for the recipe, click here.

Poppy seed dressing

1/4 cup white wine vinegar

1/3 cup canola oil

1/4 teaspoon dry mustard or 1/2 teaspoon dijon mustard

2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons poppy seeds

salt/pepper

Directions:

Whisk together vinegar, mustard, and sugar. Slowly drizzle in the oil while whisking. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Add poppy seeds and whisk again. You can also put in a small blender- just add all the ingredients together reserving the poppy seeds for after blending.

Healthy Meal Alert: Spinach Granola Salad with Raspberry Yogurt Vinaigrette

Isn’t this salad beautiful? I just love the colors.

What’s more than just the colorful hue of the salad, is the flavor. In the summer months, I really like to pump up the volume on my salad intake. I eat salad year round…but when summer rolls around I typically have a lot more in good quality produce choices.

I actually saw the idea for this salad in Cuisine at Home Magazine. I had never even heard of it until I was staying at my sister’s in Chicago and her husband showed it to me. It’s a fabulous magazine and great for those who are starting out cooking. It has great step by step photos and explains everything….but has fabulous inventive recipes, too! (And no…they aren’t paying me for this free PR)

I made this salad with my homemade granola. I ALWAYS have it in the house because my husband takes it to work to eat with fruit and yogurt daily. If you want the chunks in the granola, just don’t stir the granola when it comes out of the oven. Let it cool, and then you can break up the chunks into desired pieces. I hear laying a cookie sheet on top while it cools works great too, but I’ve had good luck with the former instructions without dirtying another cookie sheet.

What I love about this salad that it’s FULL of good for you ingredients. If you look at a nutrition guide…all of these items will be listed. It’s full of omega 3’s, calcium, anti-oxidants, and folic acid. You won’t even know while eating it….it’s that amazing. Use a good olive oil, the flavor really makes a difference. Don’t fret too much about the fat in the olive oil, it’s got more of the ‘good for you’ fats, plus you need a bit of fat in the food to actually absorb these vitamins anyway.

Enjoy!




Spinach Granola Salad with Raspberry Yogurt Vinaigrette
Recipe derived from: Cuisine at Home Magazine, June 2009

1 bag spinach
½ -2/3 cup granola chunks (see my homemade granola recipe)
½ cup fresh raspberries
½ sliced peach or mango
½ cup shelled edamame, steamed

Raspberry Yogurt Vinaigrette
½ cup olive oil (I used Storm Ranch)
2 tablespoons raspberry vinegar (Alessi makes a decent one that’s easy to find at most grocers)
1 teaspoon non-fat vanilla yogurt (you can use plain if you would like and any ‘fat’ content you wish is up to you)
Freshly ground black pepper and kosher salt to taste

Directions: Assemble the salad ingredients into the bowl. In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, raspberry vinegar and yogurt. Season with salt and pepper. Pour the desired amount of dressing on the salad and toss. Serve immediately.

Tip: If you plan on serving this later in the day, just save the dressing until you are about to serve it. The dressing should be stored in the refrigerator, but bring it down to room temp to mix back together.

Rosemary Chicken Burgers

I’ve been looking for some ‘healthier’ recipes for the summer season so when I saw Giada on the Food Network make these chicken rosemary burgers I was all over it like jam on toast.

I will say I ran into a bit of a problem-these are meant to be sticky—really sticky. But, when I halved the recipe, I failed to half the olive oil. Oops! So these were a sloppy mess and they didn’t quite stay together on the grill pan. Regardless, they were absolutely phenomenal and I will make these again. So if you are trying to cut out beef (did I really just say that??) these are the perfect alternative. I also used Smart Balance mayonnaise to cut back on some of the fat.

I paired these up with homemade buns (recipe from King Arthur). I make the dough in my breadmaker, then I pulled it out to shape the rolls, let I them rise, and then in the oven they go. From start to finish about 2 ½ -3 hours with about 10 minutes hands on time. Who knew making homemade rolls would be so amazing? Seriously…try these. You will never buy rolls again from the store!I added sliced peaches to the tops of the burgers for some added taste—amazing!!!

For the buns recipe, click here!

For the burger recipe, click here!

Shrimp and Hominy Soup

I’m back from my long hiatus! I spent the early part of this week visiting my sister and loving her 3 little kids. I love being an aunt ;).

On another note, it’s finally beginning to look like spring where I live and all I can think about is making something that screams fresh.

I’ve been living the life of comfort food for all of the 6 winter months (Winter is supposed to be 3 months, isn’t it? Michigan apparently didn’t get the memo.) It’s finally time for light meals and leisurely nights on my patio with a glass of Oberon or pinot noir in hand. What could be more fun than that?

This soup is light and so fresh tasting that my mom labeled it “The best soup she has ever eaten”. I can’t take all the credit though, my neighbor ‘A’ brought her leftovers for this soup over a few months ago and when I finally twisted her arm for the recipe—there is no stopping me now. I made a few changes; you can certainly do the same for your tastes.

This would also be a perfect match for your “Cinco de Mayo” party!!

Shrimp and Hominy Soup
Recipe derived from Bon Appetit November 2000

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 finely chopped carrot
2 finely chopped celery stalks
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
4 cups chicken stock
1 15-ounce can golden hominy, drained
1 can crushed tomatoes with juices
1 teaspoon chopped canned chipotle chilies, seeds removed
½ pound uncooked small shrimp, peeled, deveined
1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Lime wedges
Avocado
Greek Yogurt

Directions:
In a large soup pot or large cast iron pot, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add carrot, celery, and dried oregano and sauté for about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for an additional minute. Add broth, hominy, tomatoes and chipotle chilies. Bring to a light simmer, reduce heat to low and cover and simmer for 30 minutes. Add shrimp and cook until pink on the outside and opaque in the center, about 3 minutes. Add fresh cilantro. Serve with lime wedges, slices of avocado and low fat Greek yogurt.

Baked Shrimp Scampi

I am a very visual cook. If I see something that looks appetizing in a magazine or cookbook that is enough to certainly get my attention. So when I was watching the food network one afternoon, my brain went on sensory overload. I wanted to make everything I feasted my eyes on. So I quickly wrote down my list of what I wanted to make and headed to the grocery store. Since my husband loves shrimp and I rarely make it, I decided I would try this baked shrimp scampi I saw Ina Garten of the Barefoot Contessa make.

The recipe suggested deveining these yourself, but let me just tell you, have your fish monger do that for you. It’s a tedious job. Not one that interests me if you catch my drift. However, if you are up for the challenge, You Tube is so kind to provide some handy videos on how to do it.

I really liked this dish because it was fairly easy to put together but it was healthy since I heard today that shrimp is mainly water and is only about 10 calories! (Calorie count is an estimate and may vary on brand, and size). Crazy…I may have to start eating a lot more shrimp.

I halved the recipe since it was just the two of us and that was even way more than we could eat. I served this alongside the Mache Salad and the citrus combo was great.

I may just make this for my super bowl party! No canned crap and chips served at my party…no sireee!

Baked Shrimp Scampi
Recipe courtesy of Ina Garten from foodnetwork.com

Ingredients:
2 pounds (12 to 15 per pound) shrimp in the shell
3 tablespoons good olive oil
2 tablespoons dry white wine
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 teaspoons minced garlic (4 cloves)
1/4 cup minced shallots
3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley leaves
1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary leaves
1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 extra-large egg yolk
2/3 cup panko (Japanese dried bread flakes)
Lemon wedges, for serving

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Peel, devein, and butterfly the shrimp, leaving the tails on (Or have your fish monger do this for you…hint hint!).

Place the shrimp in a mixing bowl and toss gently with the olive oil, wine, 2 teaspoons salt, and 1 teaspoon pepper. Allow to sit at room temperature while you make the butter and garlic mixture.

In a small bowl, mash the softened butter with the garlic, shallots, parsley, rosemary, red pepper flakes, lemon zest, lemon juice, egg yolk, panko, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper until combined.

In a 14 inch baking dish, arrange the shrimp in a single later with the cut side down and the tails curling upward. Pour the remaining marinade over the shrimp, then place the butter mixture over the top.

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until hot and bubbly. You can place it under the broiler for a minute to brown the top. Serve with lemon wedges.