Breakfast break!

I'm doing blitz of dinners we ate this week but meanwhile, here's a picture of one of my breakfasts this week.

Poached egg over sautéed spinach with shallots, garlic, and Aidell's chicken apple sausage.

 

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Paleo Orange Chicken

I have a friend at work who is very fit and follows a mostly paleo diet. We talk about nutrition and exercise, and shes a good person to go out to lunch with because I'm less tempted to eat something I womt enjoy long-term. She also has a blog, and after hunting through her archives I decided to make a recipe I found there. I tweaked it a little, so here is my version:

Paleo Spicy Orange Chicken

Serves 4

• 1lb chicken thighs
• 1 bunch of green onions cut up
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 Tangelos (or oranges or tangerines) (zest one, juice them both)
• 2tsp fresh ground/zested ginger
• 1tsp siracha
• 1tp Worchestor Sauce (or if you don’t have a soy allergy like me, Gluten Free Soy Sauce)
• 2 tbs coconut oil
• Dash of red pepper (optional)
• Spinach

Cut up raw chicken thighs into bite size pieces. Heat Coconut Oil in a pan and add garlic, green onions, and chicken thighs (if you like spicy things add the red pepper).

Add zest from Tangelo, juice from Tangelo, Ground Ginger, Siracha and Worchester sauce to a separate pan. Put on low simmer, stirring occasionally.

Once chicken has cooked add it to the orange sauce. Cook a bit longer for about two minutes. Then pour chicken and sauce onto a bed of spinach.

 

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Steakhouse Sunday

Mmmmm meat! That's what my husband said when he saw this on the menu. The plate looks a little spare but this was a seriously filling meal.

Grilled Flank Steak

• 1 tsp. black peppercorns
• 1 tsp. cumin seed
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 Tbsp. lime juice
• 1 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
• 1 Tbsp. rosemary
• 1-2 lbs. flank steak

Grind peppercorns and cumin seeds. Combine remaining ingredients (except steak) in a blender, blend well, and pour over flank steak in ziplock bag. allow to marinate at least 3 hours (preferably overnight).

 

Preheat grill to medium-high heat. Oil the grate and grill meat about 5 min. per side or until done to your liking.

 

Coconut Creamed Spinach

• 1 lb. frozen spinach
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp. coconut flour
• 2 tsp. olive oil
• 1 shallot, minced
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• Salt and pepper, to taste

Thaw spinach completely and squeeze out liquid.

 

Heat a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the coconut milk and 2 tsp. of the garlic. Whisk in the coconut flour until slightly simmering and remove from heat.

 

Meanwhile, heat olive oil in skillet over medium heat and add shallot, remaining garlic, and paprika. Cook until shallots are just translucent. Add spinach and cream sauce, simmering until cooked through. Serve immediately.

 

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Kitchen Renovation Cooking Extravaganza!

It is SUCH a relief to be able to use all of our house after having kitchen renovations done.  That very essential room was cut off for three or four days, and I for one missed being able to work in it.

My very fancy tofu in a very fancy bowl.

But now... now it's much, much nicer.  The first day of full operations was Saturday, and to celebrate the occasion, I made a variation of the Seared Tofu with Sugar Snap Peas that appeared in the NYT.

I didn't have fish sauce or sesame oil, so I filled in those amounts with soy and peanut oil, and omitted the sesame seeds (same reason).  Otherwise, pretty much the same thing.

Last night's dinner was a variation of that variation, which turned out to be Orange Chicken (recipe follows).  Tonight was the very easy + tasty Fresh Pasta Sauce with a little sauteed chicken and sausage added, and WOW was that good over egg fettuccine.

Living in a household with someone who is dieting to lose weight (to increase the success chances of surgery) is challenging in a lot of ways.  I have a very long history of not really feeding myself unless I'm feeding others, and I spend most of my day (ergo eating time) out of the house.  With dinners being generally low-calorie (and I've never eaten much dinner anyway), I've been having to really take my personal nutritional needs into account, to make sure that I'm not starving myself.

So besides cooking AWESOME food at home, I've also been schlepping granola, yogurt, fresh fruit, and other tasty nibbles with me to work, to make sure I eat enough.  I'm doing a bang-up job, if I do say so.

But!  Here's the recipe I promised.  Enjoy!

Orange Chicken with Stir Fry Vegetables

My very fancy stir fry in the same very fancy bowl! The kitchen may be usable,
but we have certainly not unpacked all the stuff that used to live in it!

Using the sauce from Seared Tofu with Sugar Snap Peas as a base, I created an orange chicken recipe.  We usually have TONS of greens in our CSA, so this is a good use for that baby bok choy that is so often neglected at our house.


8 ounces boneless, skinless chicken breasts, about 2 single breasts
1/2 cup chopped onion
Canola oil cooking spray
1 Tbsp peanut oil, divided
3 heads baby bok choy
3 medium carrots, peeled and sliced with a vegetable parer
1 cup snow peas
2 Tbsp soy sauce
3 gloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp grated ginger
1/2 cup orange juice
2 tsp sugar (or to taste)
1-1/2 tsp sriracha
4 cups brown and wild rice
1/2 Tbsp butter (for cooking rice, optional)

Cook rice in rice cooker according to directions, adding butter if desired.
While you're waiting on the rice, chop bok choy and slice carrots lengthwise with vegetable parer, making long thin strips; set aside in a bowl.
In a separate bowl, combine 1 tsp peanut oil, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, sriracha, sugar and orange juice.  Cover and shake or mix until blended.
When rice is done, heat pan over very high heat, and spray with canola oil spray, adding 1 tsp peanut oil, if desired.  Add onion and chicken, and brown over high heat; when chicken is brown and mostly cooked, add bok choy and carrots.  Add additional 1 tsp peanut oil if the pan is dry.  Stir fry until bok choy begins to wilt, about 3 minutes.  Add sauce mixture and let simmer until sauce thickens slightly, about 5 minutes.  Add snow peas and stir, letting cook 1 or 2 minutes more.

Serve over brown and wild rice.  Makes 4 servings.

Bonus: Fresh Pasta Sauce

I could have sworn I'd posted this before.  Well!  Now I will!

This is a highly customizable sauce.  Saute onion and/or meat, throw in veggies, saute until sauce-like, throw over pasta.  You can season it however you like, but I like it best when the flavors of the vegetables are allowed to shine through - I do very little more than a sprinkle of salt on top after cooking, although I may throw in some oregano or basil if I have it handy.

1/2 cup chopped onion
Olive oil or butter, as desired
Garlic, minced or smashed (to taste)
Boneless skinless chicken (optional)
Italian sausage (optional)
1 cup chopped tomato or whole cherry or grape tomatoes
2 to 4 cups chopped fresh vegetables (chopped zucchini or yellow squash, bell peppers, hardy greens, julienned carrots, thinly sliced celery, sliced mushrooms, spinach - you name it!)
fresh or dried herbs (to taste)
salt and/or pepper (to taste)

Heat a pan over medium to medium-high heat, add oil or butter and onion.  Saute until tender, then add meat if desired.  Saute meat until browned (or continue sauteing onion until browned).  Add tomatoes and other vegetables and saute until veggies are tender and tomatoes (whole) split or (chopped) start to fall apart.  Season as desired, letting simmer for a few minutes to incorporate the flavors of any herbs you use.

Serve over the pasta of your choice, and dig in!  Makes about 4-6 servings of sauce.

Turkey spinach egg "muffins"

I've been looking for more portable breakfasts, so on Sunday morning I threw this plate together. Yum! The strawberries are just sliced for ease of eating, and the recipe for the muffins is here. The muffins also reheat pretty well, so I've been zapping them in the microwave all week either just before I leave the house or right when I get to work. I think I will try more variations on this theme soon!

 

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Summer berry balsamic salad

This is my favorite way to eat salad. You can tell because I forgot to take a picture until I'd eaten half of it! Plus it's super duper easy.

Summer berry balsamic salad

1 serving

Prep time: 5 min

• A big bowl of Baby spinach
• 4 Strawberries
• 6 Raspberries
• 2 T. Balsamic Vinaigrette
• 1 T. Toasted sliced almonds
• 1/2 rotisserie chicken breast

The beauty of this salad is that, other than toasting the almonds, I didn't have to cook anything. I could have made my own chicken but we went to Costco today and they have the most delicious rotisserie chickens for not much more than it would cost me to buy the raw meat. I also used per-made balsamic vinaigrette, though I usually make my own. I just tossed the spinach in the dressing, sliced the strawberries, sliced up one of the breasts on my rotisserie bird, and threw everything on top of the spinach. Lunch is ready!

 

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Five minute dinner

Scrambled eggs, wilted spinach with garlic, and leftover focaccia. Yum!

 

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