This weeks review covers a bit of Thanksgiving weekend, which found us digging out from nearly 2' (yes, that's two feet) of snow. Storm hit hard and fast and I admit, we were a bit unprepared. Especially when our plow guy had to beg off to do his commercial plowing. Thanks to awesome neighbors with snowblowers on tractors and co-workers willing to lend us their snow blower, as of this post, we're dug out and cleaned up. And waiting for our new snowblower to arrive...
Meal Plan from 12/2/2019:
Sat (L) Salmon Cakes (S) leftovers
Sun (L) Salmon Cakes (S) Squash soup
Mon (yoga) Squash soup
Tues - Squash soup
Wed- Chicken hoagies
Thurs (yoga) Chicken hoagies
Fri - Chicken hoagies
Lunches - sandwiches (Husband); chickpea and potato curry (me) with fruit
Chicken Cacciatore Hoagies (Eating Well, Dec 2019)
These were easy, tasty, and the leftovers were perfect for busy weeknights. My one modification was I used a combination of leftover turkey and supplemented with a couple of frozen chicken thighs I had in the freezer to make 1 1/4 lbs of meat. Other than that, no changes. I obviously didn't toast the hoagie buns all at once, but popped into the oven while re-heating part of the mixture. Like I said, easy, tasty and perfect for a busy weeknight. I would make these again.
Serves 6 (three meals for two of us)
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| photo from EatingLightcom |
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground pepper, divided
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium yellow bell pepper, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons chopped fresh oregano, plus more for garnish (I used 1 tsp dried)
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper
⅓ cup dry red wine
1 (15 ounce) can no-salt-added diced tomatoes
6 whole-wheat hoagie rolls, split and toasted
¾ cup shredded Romano cheese
Season chicken with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook, turning once or twice, until browned on both sides, about 8 minutes. Transfer to a plate.
Add bell pepper and onion to the pan; cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic, oregano and crushed red pepper; cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add wine and cook, scraping up any browned bits, until most of the wine is reduced, about 1 minute. Add tomatoes and the chicken. Reduce heat to maintain a simmer, cover and cook until the chicken is tender and cooked through, about 15 minutes.
Remove from heat. Using two forks, shred the chicken into large pieces. Divide the chicken mixture among hoagie rolls and top with cheese and more oregano, if desired.
Chickpea and Potato Curry (Eating Well, Nov 2019) vegetarian/vegan
This was my lunch for the week - I made it ahead, measured it into my lunch containers and it was grab and go in the morning. I really liked this dish, the perfect blend of seasonings and veggies. I did have some leftover basmati rice from dinner at our local Indian restaurant and I would highly recommended making some on the side for this. Yum!
A couple of noteable changes: I didn't peel the potatoes (a waste of time and potato); I didn't puree the onion/tomato mixture (futzy); I DID add 1 tbsp tomato paste at the same time as the garlic, curry powder, salt and cayenne for an added flavor boost. With those handful of modfications, my curry came out chunky rather than saucy, but I was entirely happy with the results. So happy in fact, I made it a second time for lunches in the coming week. Recommended
Serves 4 (made four lunches)
1 pound Yukon Gold potatoes,
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| photo from EatingWell.com |
1 large onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons curry powder
¾ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 (14 ounce) can no-salt-added diced tomatoes
¾ cup water, divided
1 (15 ounce) can low-sodium chickpeas, rinsed
1 cup frozen peas
½ teaspoon garam masala (see Tip)
Bring 1 inch of water to a boil in a large pot fitted with a steamer basket. Add potatoes, cover and steam until tender, 6 to 8 minutes. Set the potatoes aside. Dry the pot.
Heat oil in the pot over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook, stirring often, until soft and translucent, 3 to 5 minutes. Add garlic, curry powder, salt and cayenne; cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Stir in tomatoes and their juice; cook for 2 minutes.
Return the puree to the pot. Pulse the remaining ¼ cup water in the blender or food processor to rinse the sauce residue. Add to the pot along with the reserved potatoes, chickpeas, peas and garam masala. Cook, stirring often, until hot, about 5 minutes.
Easy Spicy Salmon Cakes (Eating Well, Nov 2019)
This used some of the Maple-Miso Salmon I reviewed in the week previous week. This also required me to be a bit creative as I didn't have all the exact ingredients needed, and I really didn't want to buy more condiments. I subbed red curry paste for the chili-garlic sauce, and I used a combination of spices I had in the cupboard for the five-spice powder. I really enjoyed these - I thought the flavor was nice and bright with a touch of zing!, they cooked up absolutely perfectly and the leftovers reheated very nicely. I served these over spring greens with some of the Cranberry Relish from last weeks spicy salmon (because I had it in the fridge). You can top with whatever flavors you enjoy. Recommended!
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| recipe from eatingwell.com |
2 eggs, lightly beaten
¼ cup finely chopped red onion
¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 tablespoon chile-garlic sauce (I used red curry paste)
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
1 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder (had to improvise and make my own version)
1 cup panko breadcrumbs
¼ cup canola oil
Combine salmon, eggs, onion, cilantro, chile-garlic sauce, soy sauce and five-spice powder in a large bowl. Fold in breadcrumbs. Form into four 3-inch-wide patties.
Heat oil in a medium nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the salmon cakes and cook, turning once, until browned on both sides, 4 to 6 minutes total.
Easy Scallion-Salmon Dip (Eating Well, Nov 2019)
This used up the salmon from the Maple-Miso Salmon recipe. I had enough salmon to make this twice in fact - once for Thanksgiving, and again for just us. Mm Mm so good! So good in fact, I'll probably bring this to a long-standing New Years Eve potluck we attend. Recommended!
Serves 6-10ish.
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| photo from eatingwell.com |
¼ cup mayonnaise
¼ cup sliced scallions
1 tablespoon lemon juice
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground pepper
¾ cup flaked cooked salmon (see Maple-Miso Salmon recipe from week previous)
Whisk cream cheese, mayonnaise, scallions, lemon juice, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Fold in salmon.
To make ahead: Refrigerate for up to 1 day.
And a couple of mentions from waaaay back in November when blogging got away from me:
New Mexican Red Pork Chili (America's Test Kitchen Slow Cook Revolution)
For this recipe I'm going to have to point you in the direction of the cook book and your library. Recipe is a bit long to type out at this point in time. But don't let that put you off! This is SO easy and minimalist, with great flavor and super versatile - serve it over grits/polenta, rice, baked potato or even on it's own with some cornbread or fritos on the side. And this makes a lot.
Essence of the recipe is boneless pork butt is slow cooked in a mixture of sauted onions, chili powder, garlic, tomato paste, oregano, chicken broth, a half cup of coffee, with a minced adobo chili and a bit of brown sugar to balance everything out.
One change I did make was I did not add the recommended half cup of raisins but swapped those out with a can of hominy instead.
Recommended! Made 6 meals for two of us - half of those meals were plain with fritos, half were over polenta.
Jambalaya (Kevin Belton's New Orleans Kitchen)
Another one I'll have to direct you toward the library. One would think after spending a week in Louisiana and New Orleans area that I would be tired of southern cajun/creole food. If it were fried, then yes, whole heartedly tired of it. But this is not fried and I think jambalaya is probably one of my favorite comfort foods. The only thing I can't seem to replicate is the "fluffy" rice, mine seems to be consistently more like risotto - creamy. I wonder if I shouldn't be rinsing my rice before making? Dunno. Might have to try that next go around.
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