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| (C) scifiwithpaprika 2019 |
Jackson Glacier, Glacier National Park, 2019
The Meal Plan
Sat (L) leftover fish tacos (S) leftover chili
Sun (S) sandwiches (S) blood sausage, spatzel and red cabbage
Mon (yoga)
Tues - Ragu with red peppers over pasta
Wed - Antipasta smother Chicken
Thurs (yoga) - ragu with pasta
Fri - leftover chicken
Lunches - slow cooked Spicy butternut squash with homemade bread
Slow Cooked Ragu with Red Peppers (ATK Slow Cooker Revolution Vol 1)
Long live the Slow Cooker! And Holy Spaghetti Sauce, Batman! this makes a lot! Recipe noted 12 cups but I think it was more than that. Some of this will go into the freezer for later dates.
Easy to assemble. Tastes fabulous. Perfect amount of "zing". Makes a lot so perfect for a big crowd or saving for future meal planning. Recommended!
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
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| photo from americastestkitchen.com |
2 onions, chopped fine
6 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
2 tablespoons minced fresh oregano or 2 teaspoons dried
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 cup dry red wine
1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained
1 (28-ounce) can tomato puree
2 red bell peppers, stemmed, seeded, and cut into ½-inch pieces
Salt and pepper
sugar
chopped fresh parsley
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Brown sausage, breaking up meat with wooden spoon, about 5 minutes. Using slotted spoon, transfer sausage to slow cooker.
Add onions, garlic, tomato paste, oregano, and pepper flakes to fat left in skillet and cook over medium heat until onions are softened and lightly browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in wine, scraping up any browned bits, and simmer until thickened, about 5 minutes; transfer to slow cooker. Stir in crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, and tomato puree. Cover and cook until sauce is deeply flavored, 8 to 10 hours on low or 5 to 7 hours on high.
Using large spoon, skim fat from surface of sauce. Microwave bell peppers with remaining 1 tablespoon oil in bowl, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 5 minutes. Stir bell peppers into sauce and season with salt, pepper, and sugar to taste. Before serving, stir in 2 tablespoons parsley for every 6 cups sauce.
Antipasto Baked Smothered Chicken (Eating Well Jan/Feb 2020)
First observation, it's not really a "baked" dish, if all you're doing is browning the cheese under the broiler when everything else is cooked on the stove.
This comes together fairly quickly. Assemble the "antipasto", set aside. Prep the chicken (I recommend butterflying for more even and consistent cooking). Here is where I deviated from the recipe a bit - I cooked the chicken completely, set aside and covered, then added the antipasto mix to warm through, returned chicken to the pan, and popped under the broiler to melt the cheese.
Delicious! Loved the flavors - bright artichokes, zing from the pepperoncini (banana peppers), salty salami with creamy cheese. I loved how fast this came together - maybe 30-40 minutes from pulling stuff out of the fridge to sitting down to eat and I had time to do some clean-up. Recommended!
Serves 4
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| photo from eatingwell.com |
⅓ cup chopped marinated artichoke hearts
(I used a 14.5 can of artichoke hearts, drained)
⅓ cup chopped salami
¼ cup chopped pepperoncini
2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar
1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano, plus more for garnish (I used 1 tsp dried oregano)
1 pound chicken cutlets
½ teaspoon ground pepper
2 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese, thinly sliced
Preheat broiler to high.
Mix 2 tablespoons oil, artichoke hearts, salami, pepperoncini, vinegar and oregano in a medium bowl.
Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon oil in a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle chicken with pepper and add to the pan. Cook until starting to brown, about 3 minutes. Turn the chicken over and top each piece with the artichoke mixture and cheese. Transfer the pan to the oven and broil the chicken until the cheese is browned and an instant-read thermometer inserted in the thickest part of the chicken registers 165 degrees F, 3 to 4 minutes more. Serve the chicken with any pan drippings and oregano, if desired.
Spicy Butternut Squash Soup (Eating Well - Soups) vegetarian
Photo is more attractive than what it actually turned out looking like. Mine was more of a muddy yellow-orange color. My squash may have been paler, or they used more chipolte, I don't know, but mine certainly wasn't dark orange.
Ah Ha! And I see I completely mis-read part of the instructions! I read chipolte chili and used chipolte in adobo sauce, which is quite a bit different from the dried chipolte chili they called for. Which also accounted for my soup definitely being "spicy". Meh, it all worked out, especially since I don't have dried chipolte chili on hand.
I will also note, I used 4 pounds of squash and about 5 cups of water. I like my squash soup with some "oomph", not runny, and with the veggie to liquid ratio on the recipe, it was runny. Overall, tasty, but not my favorite butnut squash soup.
This made about 6 servings.
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| photo from eatingwell.com |
1 teaspoon canola oil
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 small onion, diced
1 carrot, chopped
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4-1/2 teaspoon ground chipotle chile (see Tip)
⅛ teaspoon ground cloves
6 cups vegetable broth (
1 teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
½ cup nonfat plain yogurt
2 tablespoons snipped fresh chives or chopped parsley
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Cut squash in half and seed. Place the halves on a baking sheet, cut-side down (see Tip). Bake until tender when pierced with a knife, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Scoop out flesh when cool enough to handle.
Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add celery, onion and carrot and stir to coat. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low and cook, stirring frequently, until soft, 8 to 10 minutes. Stir in the squash flesh, cumin, chipotle to taste and cloves. Add broth and simmer, covered, until the vegetables are very tender, 20 to 25 minutes.
Puree the soup with an immersion blender or a regular blender (in batches) until smooth. (Use caution when pureeing hot liquids.) Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with a drizzle of yogurt and sprinkle of chives (or parsley).
Spaetzle (Eating Well online; Magazine Nov/Dec 2014) vegetarian
Yummy yummy yummy I have spaetzle in my tummy! I adore spaetzle, but making it has been a bit of a challenge. This was one of the better recipes that I have tried and this time, I used a gallon ziploc bag stead of squishing through a colander or pulling out my food mill. Let me tell you - easiest clean up yet. If I were to do this again (and I probably will), I would make the hole in the corner of the ziploc a tich bigger.
I didn't halve this, and I'm glad I didn't because I thought these tasted even better as leftovers. Future note: make ahead and reheat.
The addition of the mustard was new to me, and I think really helped elevate the overall flavors.
I cooked this in two batches, and I will note that my second batch wanted to stick to the bottom of the pot. Not sure if there is a way to prevent that?
Overall, tasty, easy and recommended!
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| photo from eatingwell.com |
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons low-fat milk
1 ½ tablespoons whole-grain mustard
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground pepper
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil plus 2 tablespoons, divided
Whisk eggs, milk, mustard, salt and pepper in a medium bowl. Add flour and stir with a wooden spoon until smooth; it will be thick.
Bring a large saucepan of water to a bare simmer. Fill a large bowl with ice water and set it near the stove. Pour the batter into a squeeze bottle with a 1/4-inch hole in the tip or into a pastry bag fitted with a 1/4-inch tip. (You can also use a colander with 1/8- to 1/4-inch holes or a spaetzle maker.)
If using a squeeze bottle or pastry bag, hold it directly over the surface of the simmering water and squeeze about one-fourth of the batter in short, 1/2-inch-long "squirts" into the water. If using a colander or spaetzle maker, pour about one-fourth of the batter into it and press through the holes with a rubber spatula.
Stir to release the spaetzle from the bottom of the pan and cook until they float to the surface, 1 to 2 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer them to the ice water to stop them from overcooking. Repeat with the remaining batter in three more batches. Once all the spaetzle has been cooked, drain well, transfer to a bowl and toss with 1 teaspoon oil.
When ready to serve, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the spaetzle and cook, stirring gently, until lightly browned, about 12 minutes.
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