Vegetable Stir Fry

 A stir fry makes such a good side.  It has flavor, variety and texture.  I used this with sweet potatoes and turkey.  The beauty of it is that you can change the vegetables and have a completely different dish.  You can also serve it with almost any main dish.

 Vegetable Stir-Fry - adapted from Delish.com

 The recipe is not time-consuming.

Serves: 4   Cook Time: 10 min

 

Ingredients:

The Sauce:

• 1 cup organic vegetable broth
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 2 teaspoon cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon  sesame oil
• 1 teaspoon sugar

The Aromatics:

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon minced, peeled fresh ginger
• 1 medium onion, halved and thickly sliced

The Vegetables:

• 3 cup(s) small broccoli florets
• 2  bell peppers (red, yellow, or green), cut into strips
• 1 cup(s) frozen corn kernels

Method:

1. Make the sauce: In a small bowl, whisk together broth, soy sauce, cornstarch, sesame oil, sugar, and salt; set aside.
2. Start with the Aromatics: In wok or 12-inch skillet, heat vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Add ginger; stir-fry 30 seconds. Add onion and stir-fry 1 minute.
3. Add the Vegetables: Start with the hard vegetables first. Add vegetable oil and broccoli, and stir-fry 3 minutes. Add the bell peppers and stir-fry 2 minutes. Add the corn and stir-fry 1 minute. The vegetables should be crisp-tender.
4. Whisk the Sauce to recombine. Pour into wok or skillet and cook one minute until sauce is slightly thickened and vegetables are coated.

Whisk the sauce.

I love a stir fry but do attempt to keep the vegetables crispy.  I failed at this try.  They were delicious but not crisp.              

  

  

   Linked to the Big Red Pot, a great blog.

Cherry Almond Chocolate Clusters Ellie and CSN

CSN always brings a smile to my face.  Over the time that many of us, have worked with different representatives, we have come across a tremendous variety of products.  With 200 stores or more, to shop from, one can usually find what she is looking for.

On a personal note, I have purchased items from them and have been pleased, each and every time.  The representatives are always patient and understanding.  This time, I am lucky enough, to work with Cameron, for the second time.

I have the opportunity to review another product and as usual the dilemma is do I review a briefcase or a bar stool?   What would you reviiew?  Take a look and enjoy that many items you could choose from.

Cherry Almond Chocolate Cluster

Ingredients:

1 cup(s) nuts, almonds, toasted in a dry skillet over a medium-high flame until fragrant, stirring frequently, 3 to 5 minutes and coarsely chopped

1/2 cup(s) cherries, dried tart, coarsely chopped

6 ounce(s) dark chocolate, 72% cacao, finely chopped

* I did not coarsely chop any of the above.  I did not think, that the dried cherries whole, were a problem.  The nuts already were cut into slivers and only had to be roasted.  I broke the chocolate into pieces, rather than anything smaller.

Method:

In a medium bowl, toss together the almonds and cherries. Line a baking sheet with waxed paper.

Melt half the chocolate in the top of a double boiler over 1 inch of barely simmering water, over the lowest possible heat, stirring frequently. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the rest of the chocolate. Remove the top pan with the chocolate in it, gently wipe the bottom, and set it aside for a moment. Replace the simmering water in the bottom pan with warm tap water. Put the pan of melted chocolate on top of the warm water. This will keep the chocolate at the right temperature while you make the clusters.

Stir the fruit/nut mixture into the chocolate. Spoon out heaping tablespoon-sized clusters of the chocolate mixture onto the baking sheet about 1 inch apart. Put them in the refrigerator to set for 15 minutes. Store and serve at room temperature.

As far as I am concerned, you can mix and match, with this recipe.  I would like dried apricots with pecans or dried blueberries with walnuts.  What about dried apples and any of the nuts.  Or, we could mix the fruit in one recipe.   Some dried mango with blueberries and apples.  It is all up to taste.

Linked to Make ………..Mondays

Menu Plan Monday – Cat Cora

I found this which includes 7 breakfasts,  lunches and dinners by Cat Cora.  I thought, it would be fun, to make some of them, this week.  I haven’t looked at the specific recipes yet so I don’t know exactly which ones, I will be working with.  Here is the entire list.  We will see what happens, as the week goes on.

I am off to print up some of the recipes so I can plan ahead.  I am going to star those that interest me.

Chef Cat Cora’s Complete 7-Day Menu

Menu created by Cat Cora
Oprah.com |  March 11, 2009

Iron Chef ‘s Cat Cora shares a week’s worth of breakfast, lunch and dinner recipes.

Breakfast

Frozen Yogurt Banana Pops

Lemon-Pecan Pancakes*

Egg Whites, Turkey Bacon and Low-Fat Cheddar Tortilla Wraps

Potato Frittata*

Garlic Mashed Potato Pancakes*

Berry Fruit Smoothies*

Rizogalo (Creamy Breakfast Brown Rice Pudding)

Lunch

Spicy Chicken and Mango Stir-Fry*

Fuji Apple, Walnut and Herb Salad with Roasted Chicken*

Veggie-Stuffed Twice-Baked Potato Boats*

Chickpea and Roasted Pepper Soup*

Three-Bean Salad with Mint and Chicken Strips*

Farfalle and Herb Salad with Peas

Curried Lentil Stew

Dinner

Greek Cinnamon Stewed Chicken with Blanched Greens

Lettuce “Gyros” with Tilapia and Yogurt Sauce

Quick Jerk-Rubbed Pork Chops with Oven-Baked Sweet Potato Fries

Creamy Pasta with Chicken, Kalamata Olives and Broccoli*

Pasta with Roasted Pepper and Tomato Sauce*

Southwestern Tuna Casserole*

Open-Faced “Tostada” Salads

I plan to serve Ellie’s tortellini soup on Wednesday night for CEiMB.

Roasted Tomato and Almond Pesto (Pasta) CEiMB

This week, at CEiMB, we got to choose from any of Ellie’s recipe and I decided to make a weekday meal.  I found this nice tomato pesto and decided to use it on pasta, in place of a more traditional sauce.  I kept it light because of the stronger taste of the roasted tomatoes.  It made a good combination and good meal.  Ellie always comes through.

Roasted Tomato and Almond Pesto Pasta – Ellie Krieger adapted

From EatingWell.com

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup(s) blanched sliced or slivered almonds
• 1 /4 bottle roasted tomatoes
• 3/4 cup(s) lightly packed fresh basil leaves (I used parsley since I was out of basil.)
• 1 tablespoon(s) red-wine vinegar
• 1 1/4 teaspoon(s) crushed red pepper, or to taste
• 3/4 cup(s) extra-virgin olive oil
• 3/4 cup(s) freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon(s) salt

---

Method:

Toast almonds in a large dry skillet over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until golden and fragrant, 3 to 5 minutes. Allow them to cool slightly.

Transfer the almonds to a food processor and process until finely ground. Add tomatoes, basil, vinegar, and crushed red pepper. As the processor is running, drizzle in oil in a steady stream, about 30 seconds. Stir in Parmesan and salt.

Fresh Tomato Variation: You can also make this pesto with fresh, in-season tomatoes. Start with 3 pounds fresh plum tomatoes, cut into quarters, and divide them between 2 large baking sheets. Roast at 400°F for 30 minutes. Use the roasted tomatoes in place of the diced tomatoes in Step 2.

Linked to Vegetarian Foodie Friday

Quick and Spicy Tomato Soup – Giada

I find that I am sticking to my meal plan for the week, but I don’t necessarily cook what I planned on the night, designated.  I printed up all my recipes and piled up the necessary cookbooks, on Sunday.  I select which meal, I am cooking, by ingredients on hand and food choices.

Last night, I was so tired, I needed the easiest recipe on the list.  I had planned to make the pesto but I felt like I was not even up to taking out my food processor.  That is tired.

Instead, I threw together Giada’s quick and easy tomato soup —-spicy too.  This turned out to be a surprise.  It was a real comfort food.  First, it could not have been easier to make.    Second, it took little time to make.  Other than the cooking of the onions and carrots (in the same pot as the rest of the ingredients – one pot meal), there was little to do.  It was a matter of putting all the ingredients in the pot and letting it cook up.

The recipe calls for a bottle of marinara sauce and this did not impress me.  Soup from marinara soup and veggie broth did not sound good.  Therefore, it was such a treat to find out this went together and turned out to be delicious.

I made the pasta separately.  I was afraid, it would be soggy, cooking in the soup.  Oops.  That made it a two pot meal but the recipe calls for the pasta to be made right in the soup.

This was so good that I crept out of my bed, in the middle of then night, for another bowl.  No, I don’t normally have soup, at midnight.

Quick and Spicy Tomato Soup adapted from Giada De Laurentiis

Serves:  4 to 6 serving

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 (26-ounce) jar marinara sauce
• 2 (14-ounce) cans vegetable broth
• 1 (15-ounce) can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1/2 cup pastina pasta (or any small pasta)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Method:

Warm the olive oil in a large soup pot over medium-high heat.

Add the carrots and onion. and saute until soft, about 2 minutes.

Add the jar of marinara sauce, chicken broth, cannellini beans, red pepper flakes, pasta, salt and pepper.

Simmer for 10 minutes.

Ladle into bowls and serve.

Eat and enjoy!

Linked to Tasty Tuesday and Gluten Free Wednesdays and Delicious Dishes.  I also sent this in to Presto Pasta Night, being hosted this week , by Oh Taste N See.  I found many delicious recipes there although, I have to find out what some of the ingredients of India are.  I love Indian cooking.

Check out Lisa’s Kitchen and  Susan of the Well Seasoned Cook.

Spiced Butternut Muffins

The Three Squash Meal

Locating three different squash, in my refrigerator, drove me to make dinner with three sides of squash.  We had these muffins, spaghetti squash fritters and stuffed acorn squash.  What a delightful way to make a meal.

I am not sure about these muffins.  I found it difficult to figure out how much squash I had.  I bake in cups, not pounds.  I think mine were a little too heavy.  The flavor is there and I think, made a bit lighter, these would be better. The beauty of these is that there is one tablespoon of  margarine in them, nothing more in terms of fats.  That makes it worth a lot but that also might be why, these are heavier than I would have liked.

Spiced Butternut Squash Muffins

Servings: 10

Ingredients:

1/2 pound peeled, seeded and cubed butternut squash

 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 cup white sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

3/4 cup milk 1 egg, beaten

1 tablespoon margarine, melted

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Lightly grease a 12 cup muffin pan.

2. In a medium saucepan with enough water to cover, boil squash 20 minutes, or until tender. Remove from heat, drain, and puree in a food processor.

3. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, white sugar, salt and pumpkin pie spice.

4. In a medium bowl, thoroughly mix together milk, egg and margarine. Stir in squash. Fold the squash mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. 

5. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin pan, filling cups about 1/2 full. Bake 20 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Remove from muffin pan and cool on a wire rack.

Linked to Simply Sugar and Gluten Free

Cooking Fun – Squash

Welcome to Cooking Fun-featuring Squash, a versatile food.    My thanks to you who joined in previously.  Let’s have fun and share our squash recipes. 

Thanks,

Chaya              Linked to Monday Mania,  Homemaker Mondays    Tasty Tuesday at Beauty and Bedlam

                   

Applesauce Spice Bars – Baking With Dorie BWD

It is exciting when we get to choose the recipe, we are baking.  This is my choice.  It is difficult, though, to make the selection.  There are so many of Dorie’s recipes, I want to make.  I have had such success with her book, Baking From My Home to Yours, that it inspires me to bake more and more, from it.  I admire Dorie and how she has put together recipes that appeal are doable.  So many baking books, miss the mark,  on this.

After deliberation and putting aside many recipes that were calling my name, I selected Applesauce Spice Bars because it is one, both hubby and I would love and love it, we did.   

By now, you probably are aware that my hubby does not like any glaze, frosting, icing or sprinkles on his cake.  He was in the kitchen, as hand in pot, I was taking the glaze out to put it on the cake.  His question was simply, “Do you have to do that?”  Well, in this case, yes, I did.  I would have been happy to clean out that pot, all by myself.  This glaze is out of this world. 

The big moment – Lights, Camera, Action – Hubby takes a bite…….. Silence.  Good.  (His father used to say, “not bad.”  We have come a long way. )

What do you mean good?  You hate glaze.  Hubby looks at me and looks at the pot, where I kept some of the glaze, for me.  “Put the rest on it,” he said. 

This really confused me.  I go on to explain how there is plenty on the cake and it does not need any more to get the response to put it on.  He was a bit nicer about it.  So, all the glaze went on the cake and hubby’s hand took a second piece.  I think, he discovered, glaze is not all that bad.

Hats off to Dorie who got my hubby to eat cake with glaze.

Applesauce Spice Bars – Dorie Greenspan’s    Pages 117-118, Baking: From My Home to Yours

Ingredients

Bars

1-1/4 cups gluten-free flour mix

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground allspice

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 stick (8 tablespoons) unsalted butter

1 cup (packed) light brown sugar

2 large eggs

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 tablespoon applejack, brandy or dark rum (optional)

1 baking apple, such as Rome or Cortland, peeled, cored and finely diced or chopped

1/2 cup plump, moist raisins (dark or golden)

1/2 cup chopped pecans

For the Glaze
2-1/2 tablespoons heavy cream

1/3 cup (packed) light brown sugar

2-1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 teaspoon light corn syrup

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

GETTING READY: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9-x-13 inch baking pan, line the bottom with parchment paper, butter the paper and dust the inside of the pan with flour. Tap out the excess flour and put the pan on a baking sheet.

THE BARS: Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices and salt.In a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Add the brown sugar and stir with a whisk until it is melted and the mixture is smooth, about 1 minute. Remove the pan from the heat.

Still working in the saucepan, whisk in the eggs one at a time, mixing until they are well blended. Add the applesauce, vanilla and applejack, if you’re using it, and whisk until the ingredients are incorporated and the mixture is once again smooth. Switch to a rubber spatula and gently stir in the dry ingredients, mixing only until they disappear, then mix in the apple, raisins and nuts. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a rubber spatula.
Bake for 23 to 25 minutes, or until the cake just starts to pull away from the sides of the pan and a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer the baking pan to a rack and let the cake cool while you make the glaze.

THE GLAZE: In a small saucepan, whisk together the cream, sugar, butter and corn syrup. Put the pan over medium heat and bring the mixture to the boil, whisking frequently. Adjust the heat so that the glaze simmers, and cook, whisking frequently, for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vanilla.
Turn the bars out onto a rack, remove the paper and invert the bars onto another rack, so they are right side up. Slide the parchment paper under the rack to serve as a drip catcher, grab a long metal icing spatula and pour the hot glaze over the bars, using the spatula to spread it evenly over the cake. Let cool to room temperature before cutting.
Cut into 32 rectangles, each about 2-1/4 x 1-1/2 inches.

Storing: In a covered container, the bars will keep for about 3 days at room temperature. Because of the glaze, they cannot be frozen.

 

       Check out Grapefruit of Needful Things     for a list of bakers and check out the other applesauce spice bars.  If you would like to join us, let grapefruit know.  We would love to have you.                        

Linked to Tailgating Time,  Sister Sister

Fill ‘Er Up Acorn Squash

I love to make acorn squash, not only for the taste factor, but also for the the ”play” factor.  There are so many varieties you can fill this squash with, and still have it work as a delicious side.  I tend to end up with apples, which I did again, but it is open to the likes and dislikes of the cook.  I used apples and dried apples with this one, which should be unusual but gave it a real shot of apple flavor.

Fill -Er Up Acorn Squash  (makes for two or for four, depending on how much you eat)

Ingredients:

1 small acorn squash (about 1-1/4 pounds)

1 medium apple, peeled and chopped

1/4 cup chopped celery

2 tablespoons dried apple

1 tablespoon almonds, chopped

1 tablespoon butterscotch chips

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

2 tablespoons shredded coconut

Method:

Cut acorn squash in half lengthwise; remove and discard seeds and membranes. Place squash cut side down in a greased 11-in. x 7-in. microwave-safe dish. Microwave, uncovered, on high for 4-6 minutes or until almost tender.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the apple, celery, dried apple, almonds, butterscotch chips, coconut, brown sugar and pumpkin pie spice.   Fill the centers of the turned over squash with apple mixture. Cover and microwave 3-4 minutes longer or until squash and apple filling are tender. 

Eat and enjoy!

  

  

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cooked Filling

 

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

 

  Linked to    Vegetarian Foodie Friday   Friday Potluck   Midnight Maniac Meatless Mondays  Sundays at One

Potato, Spinach and Sausage Soup

 My husband has been asking for soup and I have kept saying, “yes” and then not doing anything about it.  This week, I changed the situation and by the end of the week, I will have made four soups.  Out of the four, two of them are potato soups, one dairy and the other with sausage.  My husband likes the sausage soup better.  I like the cheesy creamy soup better.  We had the latter tonight so it is fresh, in my mind, and I can be relatively accurate.

Actually, I had it planned out to make a butternut squash soup with sausage since I did not have a recipe to make for CEiMB.  (This is the first time, I came across a recipe, I could not make kosher without changing the character of the dish, completely. -( CEiMB)  When, I went to get the butternut squash, I was sure, I saw this morning, I found an acorn squash and 2 yellow squash and 2 zucchini.  No butternut squash.  Moving on……keep the sausage and make a potato soup. 

Spinach Sausage and Potato Soup

Servings: 6 

 Ingredients:

1 tablespoon margarine

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium onion, chopped

 2 stalks celery, chopped

2 large potatoes, chopped

4 turkey sausage, cut in small pieces 

bag of spinach 

 4 cups vegetarian broth

2 cups chopped spinach

1/2 cup fresh parsley

Method:

 Sauté first four ingredients.

When translucent, add potato and sausage; continue sautéing for about 10 minutes.

Add broth and simmer for 20 minutes.

Add spinach and simmer till spinach is just cooked.

You can blend this with a hand blender or in a blender or serve it as is.  I didn’t blend it.  I love creamy soups but in this case, there was something, that did not sit right, about blending the sausage.  I could have removed it and blended the rest but that seemed unnecessary.

Linked to Fight Back Fridays