My whole family loves mushrooms! They add such great depth of flavor to any dish.
Shiitakes are a favorite around here. I used a combination of Shiitake and baby bella (small portabello) mushrooms for this dish, white button mushrooms would work too although they have a less intense flavor. This made a great side dish for our turkey and spinach with white beans entree. This is a fun way to jazz up your rice, Enjoy!
Recipe: (serves 4)
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon butter
8 ounces shiitake mushrooms, wiped clean with a damp paper towel, sliced
1/2 cup baby bella mushrooms, wiped clean with a damp paper towel, sliced
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1 1/2 cups white rice (I used jasmine) *You can also use brown rice for added fiber, just lengthen the cooking time to 30-35 minutes and add another 1/2 cup of broth
3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
salt & pepper
Directions:
1. Over medium high heat melt the butter in a medium saucepan that has a tight fitting lid. Add the mushrooms to the melted butter and saute until wilted and tender, about 5 minutes.
2. Add the garlic and saute about 1 minute. Add the rice and stir frequently until it's slightly toasted, 3-5 minutes.
3. Add the chicken broth and bring to a gentle boil. Reduce heat to low and cover for 15-20 minutes until liquid is absorbed. Check it for doneness at 15 minutes to avoid burning. Remove from heat and serve hot.
...click here for the recipe!
After some friends were talking Crock Pot recipes yesterday I was inspired to dust off my slow cooker, that normally only sees the light of day in the cold winter months, and try my hand at some salsa Verde chicken. This is a very simple recipe with just 5 ingredients! I used Salsa Verde from Trader Joe's, which had great flavor without being too spicy or overly salty. It turned out great and the whole fam loved it! Go ahead and throw this together in less than five minutes and let your slow cooker make dinner tonight. Enjoy!
Recipe: (serves 4-6)
Ingredients:
1 (12oz) jar of Trader "Jose's" Salsa Verde or your favorite Verde sauce
1 cup Low sodium chicken broth
3 large carrots, cut into 1 inch pieces
4-5 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, frozen works too
2 cups long grain brown rice cooked per package instructions
Directions:
1. Place roughly chopped carrots in the bottom of the Crock. You want to keep the carrot pieces big because they are going to cook for a long time. I think it would also be tasty to throw in a small onion cut into wedges. Also, to create a one pot wonder, try adding potatoes and forego the rice.
2. Place chicken breasts on top of vegetables, it's okay if they overlap slightly. Pour chicken broth and salsa over chicken. Cover and cook on high for 6 hours.
3. Partially shred the chicken with two forks, leaving some big chunks. Ladle chicken and carrots over some hearty brown rice.
...click here for the recipe!
My awesome hubby came up with this recipe that's perfect for a summer dinner! It's a faster version of my other
lettuce wrap recipe but equally delicious. He added a bunch of fresh vegetables we had on hand and cut everything about the same size. Then just get some crunchy organic lettuce and stuff it with the tasty filling and enjoy!
Here's his Recipe: (serves 4+)
Ingredients:
4 medium carrots, chopped
2 grilled chicken breasts, cubed (lightly seasoned with salt and pepper)
1 medium zucchini, sliced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 teaspoon fresh minced ginger root
1 tsp sesame oil (toasted)
3 tbsp olive oil
2-3 Tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
2-3 Tablespoons honey
salt to taste
2 tbsp chopped cilantro
lettuce leaves (butter lettuce or romaine work well).
Directions:
1. In a large saute pan over medium-high heat add olive oil and diced carrots. Saute for 5 minutes. Add minced garlic, minced ginger, sesame oil, and zucchini and saute for another 5 minutes. Add soy sauce and honey and chunked chicken and combine and let cook for a few more minutes. Remove from heat and mix in cilantro. Salt to taste. *I'm not exactly sure how much honey and soy sauce I put in so modify and taste as you go.
...click here for the recipe!
Summer is here and it's hot this week! I really don't feel like cooking at all in the heat but especially not anything heavy, hot or that requires me to heat up the kitchen by using the oven. This was my solution and the family enjoyed the crunchy texture and bright lemony dressing. You can make the quinoa ahead of time and allow it to chill in the fridge or do like my last minute self and spread the steaming cooked quinoa on a rimmed baking sheet and pop it in the freezer for 5-10 minutes. I wish I could pop myself in the freezer on hot days like today. This salad makes a great side dish for some barbequed chicken or works great as a meatless entree too since the quinoa is packed with protein. Enjoy!
Recipe: (serves 6)
Ingredients:
Salad:
2 cups quinoa
4 cups low sodium chicken broth
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium zucchini, cubed
2 medium carrots, cubed
1/2 english cucumber, cubed (~3/4 cup)
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1 medium vine ripe tomato, diced
handful of toasted sunflower seeds (~1/2 cup) or substitute your favorite nuts
Dressing:
Juice of 1/2 fresh lemon (~2 tablespoons)
1/4 cup olive oil
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
Garnish:
2 scallions, thinly sliced (greens and white parts)
1/4 cup fresh basil, julienned (sliced thinly)
Directions:
1. Prepare quinoa first, it's similar to cooking couscous or rice if you aren't familiar with it. Add chicken broth and quinoa to a pot over medium high heat until it comes to a gentle boil then immediatly reduce the heat to low to maintain a simmer. Simmer 10-15 minutes until the liquid is absorbed then fluff quinoa with a fork and chill.
You can either make the quinoa in the morning for dinner tonight and let it chill in the fridge or spread the quinoa thinly on a rimmed baking sheet and chill in the freezer quickly for 5-10 minutes. *You don't want to add the cool crunchy ingredients until the quinoa is chilled.
2. In a medium sauce pan over medium high heat, add olive oil, zucchini and carrots and saute until crisp-tender, about 5-7 minutes. Set aside.
3. In a bowl, prepare the dressing, whisk together the lemon juice, olive oil, garlic powder, salt and pepper.
4. Assemble your salad. In a large bowl combine the chilled quinoa, crisp-tender carrots and zucchini, cucumber, bell pepper, tomato and sunflower seeds. Next drizzle the dressing over and stir to combine. Garnish with scallions and fresh basil. Try substiting any veggies you like or have on hand.
...click here for the recipe!
We had a wonderful Saturday morning at our local farmer's market this weekend. I just love the variety and freshness of food you can find there. We picked up
Japanese eggplant, summer squash, Shiitake mushrooms, Beech mushrooms, green beans, corn, cilantro, tomatoes, lettuce and fresh local honey. Tonight I made this summer vegetable ragout with our finds and of course added some zucchini from our own garden since we have so much of it. The veggies were flavorful and fresh and so yummy on top of some Parmesan polenta. yum!
Vegetable Ragout Recipe: (serves 4)
Ingredients
1/2 small white onion, diced
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 large zucchini, chopped into 1 inch cubes
2 yellow summer squash, chopped
2 large carrots, sliced thickly at an angle
2 cups mushrooms of your choice, sliced in half
1 Japanese eggplant, peeled and cubed
1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves, chopped (or 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves)
Directions:
1. Add onions, garlic and olive oil to a skillet over medium-high heat, saute until translucent, ~1-2 minutes. Add carrot, zucchini, summer squash and a pinch of salt and pepper, stirring, cook about 3 minutes. Add mushrooms, eggplant and thyme leaves, reduce heat to medium let sauté about 10-15 minutes until cooked through but still crisp-tender.
Polenta Recipe (serves 4) *as published previously on Wholesome Dinner Tonight
Ingredients:
5 cups water
salt
extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup yellow polenta (cornmeal)
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1 tablespoon butter
Directions
1. Bring 5 cups of water to a boil, add a drizzle of olive oil and pinch of salt
2. To the boiling water, SLOWLY add the polenta, whisking constantly to avoid any lumps. Add Parmesan cheese and butter and lower the heat. Cook, stirring nearly constantly until the polenta gets thick and pulls away from the sides of the pan, usually about 20 minutes.** Don't go too far from the stove, you'll need to stir the polenta often to avoid sticking/burning.
3. Serve hot polenta in soup bowls topped with vegetable ragout.
**Note: a fun alternate way to prepare your polenta is to prepare it as through steps 1-2 above and pour hot polenta into a pie pan or casserole dish, cover and allow to cool (~1 hour). As it cools it will firm up.
1. Once it's cooled and firm, slice the polenta into triangles or use a cookie cutter or large ring for circles.
2. Place the firm polenta on a baking sheet in a 350'F oven and bake for ~15 minutes until heated through and crisp on the edges
3. or grill the firm polenta on a grill pan until heated through and golden brown. Great technique for a different texture of polenta.
...click here for the recipe!
Our little backyard vegetable garden is starting to produce and like every other year the zucchini is thriving! Time to get creative with more ways to cook it. Tonight I marinated it along with some red bell pepper wedges in a zesty lemon-garlic and fresh thyme sauce. The lemon paired so well with the mild zucchini it was delicious! We had ours along side some chicken sausages and quinoa, which I flavored with garlic and thyme as well. Enjoy!
Recipe: (Serves 4-6)
Ingredients:
5-6 large zucchini squash (or one the size of your forearm like we used), thickly sliced in rounds or strips (~1/4 inch thick)
1 red bell pepper, cut into 5 large wedges
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced
juice of 1 lemon (~2 tablespoons)
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves, chopped
3-4 tablespoons olive oil
Directions:
1. Whisk vinegar, garlic, lemon juice, thyme and olive oil in the bottom of a large glass baking dish with sides.
2. Add the sliced zucchini and peppers and toss to coat in the marinade using tongs.
3. Place marinaded veggies on a hot grill or grill pan (dredge each one again in the marinade before placing on the grill). Grill approximately 7-9 minutes, flipping once 1/2 way through or until crisp tender. Every grill is different so watch your veggies. Once they have nice grill marks they are ready to flip.
4. Serve hot along side your favorite summer entree. We served ours with some garlic thyme quinoa. Simply prepare quinoa using low-sodium chicken broth as a substitute for the water and add 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme and 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder. Cook per package instructions, fluff with a fork and serve hot.
...click here for the recipe!
We got some
white turnips in our
box this week and had fun cooking with them. My hubby came up with this soup recipe which also used some
black-eyed peas we were wanting to try. If you decide to use dried beans you'll want to make them the day before or overnight. The soup turned out to be very tasty. The turnips were mild and really tasted similar to a potato and the broth was delicious! On one of these oddly cool summer evenings why not make some tasty soup!
Recipe: Serves 4-6
Ingredients:
3 pieces of uncured bacon, diced
1 tbsp butter (or olive oil)
1 medium onion, diced
5 celery stalks, chopped
5 carrots, chopped
5 turnips, chopped
3 cups of black-eyed peas (cooked)
4 cups of vegetable broth
2 cups of water
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 bay leaf
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
Directions:
1. If you have pre-cooked black-eyed peas then skip this step. I started with dried peas so I cooked them per the instructions on the bag which was boil for a couple minutes and let soak for 4 hrs. Then drain and rinse with water to wash off the peas. At this point I noticed that the peas weren't fully cooked so I put them back in the water for another couple hours with the heat on low. They still were a little al dente but I decided to finish them off in the soup.
2. In a large soup pot over medium high heat brown the diced bacon ~3min. Add the butter (or olive oil) and the diced onions. Cook until onions are slightly caramelized 3-5min.
3. Add the celery, carrots, and turnips and sauté for about 5 min. Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a medium boil. Simmer for 20-30 min or until beans and other veggies are fully cooked and fork tender. Remove bay leaf.
Serve hot with corn bread.
...click here for the recipe!
Well you may have noticed that I have neglected this little food blog of ours over the past two months. We are thrilled to be pregnant with our third child and with that has come some pretty severe morning sickness (more like all day sickness). Anyway, I will blog when I can and hopefully be back up soon.
My sweet hubby made these cookies after I mentioned that they sounded good. What a man, and so so helpful while I've been sick! They were delicious. Enjoy!
Recipe: (Makes 12 cookies)
Ingredients:
2 egg whites
2 tablespoons honey
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
2-1/2 cups (loosely packed) shredded, sweetened coconut*
2 tablespoons Pamela's Gluten Free baking mix (or 2 tablespoons of All Purpose flour)
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 300'F. Mix the egg whites, honey and vanilla together in a bowl with a fork.
2. To the wet mixture, add the coconut and GF baking mix (or AP flour if you're using that), stir to combine.
3. Using a small cookie scoop (or two spoons) place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.
4. Bake at 300'F for 20-25 min. Cookies should be well browned on the bottom and tops but still be a little soft to the touch.
*Edited to add: be sure to use sweetened, shredded coconut that is intended for baking, such as Baker's brand
...click here for the recipe!
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