Power Foods – Asparagus

You might remember, last week, I learned how to handle an artichoke, a brand new vegetable, to me.  This week, I learned how to  hide asparagus, in a recipe so that my husband, who has refused to eat it, since he was a child, wouldn’t know it was there.  When, we married, there were three foods, he would not eat, tuna, chicken and yes, asparagus.  Twice, I tried to have him see the light and made asparagus, the first as a newlywed and the second. twenty years later.  Both times, he soundly rejected the asparagus with moans and groans and a matching facial expression.

I knew, this was going to be a challenge.  I made a stir-fry, hoping to camouflage the asparagus, in the midst of other delicious vegetables. 

Camouflage Stir Fry  – done in great trepidation

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 teaspoon sesame oil

2 thin asparagus spears, cut into small pieces (about an inch in length)

1 cup cauliflower florets

1 cup broccoli florets

1/2 cup carrot slices

1/4 cup sliced mini orange peppers

1/4 cup onion slices

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 teaspoon ground ginger (fresh is best)

2 tablespoons brown sugar or honey

Procedure:

Combine, in a small bowl, soy sauce, ginger and brown sugar or honey.

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat.  Add vegetables to skillet and cook for 4 minutes.  You can add the asparagus for just the last minute, if you would like it to retain a slight crispness.

Add soy sauce combination to skillet and mix in with the vegetables.  Cook, stirring for an additional two  minutes.

*** I didn’t tell my husband, there was asparagus in the stir-fry but I figured, he would recognize it.  He didn’t.  He cleaned his plate completely.  I have to add that the soy sauce did camouflage the asparagus taste so that he ate with relish.  Can you imagine?  He was not perturbed when I told him those green “sticks” are asparagus.  He just kept eating.  Does that mean, he will eat asparagus, in the future?  I doubt it.   It is deeply ingrained in him that he despises it.

You are entitled to a giggle.  I made him this, the following night and he ate it.  Recipe at a later date…

 

Please check the following blog to see what they did with the asparagus.

Second Course: Asparagus with Morels (Photo credit: ulterior epicure)

Alyce – MoreTimeAtTheTable.blogspot.com afmorgan53@yahoo.com

Ansh – SpiceRoots.com  ansh@spiceroots.com

Casey – bookcasefoodie.wordpress.com Bookcasefoodie@yahoo.com

Jeanette – JeanettesHealthyLiving.com Jeanette@Jeanetteshealthyliving.com

Jill – SaucyCooks 2girls@saucycooks.com

Martha – Simple-Nourished-Living.com MarthaMcKinnon@mac.com

Mireya – MyHealthyEatingHabits.com Mireya@MyHealthyEatingHabits.com

Sarah – Everythinginthekitchensink sarah.toskanoski@gmail.com

Herbed Spaghetti Squash – Emerill

I think that spaghetti squash is an illusion and the main reason, I make it is to see how close to spaghetti it looks.  You would think by now, I would be convinced as to its appearance.  I love to pull the shreds out although I hate getting the seeds from the squash shell.  Any tips on how to do this easily?

I don’t remember ever putting tomato sauce on spaghetti squash.  I can’t imagine it.  It doesn’t have the strength of real pasta and I think, it would be a wishy washy second to spaghetti.  Make it with some vegetables or in this case, herbs, and then it is magical.  I think of spaghetti squash dishes as subtle food.

Herbed Spaghetti Squash – adapted from Emerill

Ingredients

• 1 small spaghetti squash, about 2 1/4 pounds
• 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped mixed soft herbs, such as basil, chives, chervil, parsley and sage
• 1/8 teaspoon  ground black pepper
• 1/3 cup shredded carrot 
• 1 tablespoon of chopped scallions

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Using a sharp knife, cut the squash in half lengthwise and place, cut side down, in a baking dish.  Add enough water to come 1/2-inch up the sides of the baking dish and cover with aluminum foil. Bake for 45 minutes, until the squash is easily pierced with a paring knife.

Turn squash over and cover with foil again and continue to cook another 15 minutes, until the squash is very tender. Remove from the oven, uncover, and allow to cool slightly. Using a spoon, remove the seeds and discard. Using a fork, gently pull the strands of squash away from the peel and place the squash strands into a mixing bowl.

Heat a skillet. Add the olive oil, spaghetti squash, herbs and pepper and toss thoroughly but gently to heat and combine.

This is linked to the Gallery of Favorites   Scrumptious Sunday Linky    Weekend Potluck    Mop it Up Mondays

Vegetarian Side Dishes and at Priya’s Easy N Tasty Recipes  

Tasty Tuesday           Real Food Wednesdays      It’s A Blog Party       Gluten Free Wednesdays     Whole Food Wednesdays

Patty’s Pasta

This recipe seems to fit my expectations of  Guy Fieri.  It has  an edge to it.  I think it is the horseradish.  Since, I can’t cook meat and dairy together, I had to make the decision whether to make this with the corned beef or cheese.  In truth, the corned beef had a lot more appeal, especially for a change of pace, but practically, I had cheese and did not have corned beef, so gushy cheese came out the winner or perhaps, we came out the winners.   I used about half of the cheese called for and it oozed cheese, anyway.

Patty’s Pasta  (adapted from Guy Fieri)

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons butter, unsalted

• 1 tablespoon canola oil

• 1/2 cup small diced carrots

• 1 1/2 cups diced cabbage

• 1 tablespoon minced shallots

• dash of  black pepper

• 1/4 cup white wine

• 1 cups heavy cream

• 1  cup  milk

• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

• 1 teaspoon whole-grain mustard

• 1 tablespoon prepared horseradish

• 2 cups grated  Cheddar 

• 3/4 cup fresh peas, or frozen

• 1 pound cooked spaghetti (I used brown rice pasta)

• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan

Directions

In a large saute pan over medium-high heat, add the butter and 1 tablespoon canola oil. Add the carrotsand cabbage and saute until they are just tender and the cabbage is starting to caramelize, about 20 minutes.

Stir in the shallots and saute 3 to 4 minutes longer. Add  black pepper.

 Deglaze the pan with the white wine. Add in the cream,milk, the mustards and the horseradish. Let simmer until the sauce has tightened up a bit, about 5 minutes. Stir in the shredded cheese and adjust seasonings, as needed.

Stir in the peas and the pasta, then transfer into a serving dish. Serve immediately garnished with the Parmesan.

This is linked to Tuesdays At The Table  

• Traditional Mac and Cheese for these Cold Rainy Days (kosherblogger.wordpress.com)
• Pasta and Salmon Salad (bookcasefoodie.wordpress.com)
• Butternut Squash Mac and Cheese with Sage and Gingersnap-Pecan Crust (thedailymeal.com)
• Easy Fettuccine Alfredo (bookcasefoodie.wordpress.com)
• Penne Rigate Macaroni and Cheeses (bookcasefoodie.wordpress.com)
• Carroty Mac and Cheese Recipe (thedailymeal.com)

   Gluten Free Wednesdays                       It’s A Keeper Thursdays                             Tasty Thursdays

Full Plate Thursdays                    The Gallery of Favorites

Veggie Burgers

I met a woman, online, a number of years ago and she shared a recipe for black bean burgers.  I thanked her and groaned because I could not imagine such an item, being good.  I never made it and I don’t have her recipe, today but wish I did.  I am going to check it out on the Foodie Sites because now, I do want to make it.

In the meanwhile,  I found in Susie Fishbein’s kosher cooking book, a recipe for the Ultimate Veggie Burgers and I made them.  What a pleasant surprise.  They are a nice change from beef burgers and a lot healthier.

What did my husband say? “They don’t taste like hamburgers,” followed by, “They taste good.”  I like them also.

Ultimate Veggie Burgers (adapted from Susie Fishbein)

Ingredients:

3/4 cup carrot, shredded (I used food processor to shred)

3/4 cup sweet potato, shredded (1/2 sweet potato shredded in food processor)

1/4 cup water

1` 1/2 cup cooked brown rice (I used the mix in the photo)

1/3 cup raw sunflower seeds

1/4 cup brown rice flour (or any flour )

zest of one lemon

1 teaspoon basil

1 teaspoon fresh oregano

1/2 cup white beans, rinsed and drained

2 eggs

1 teaspoon fine sea salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

3 tablespoons olive oil (I used safflower-wanted to use up the bottle)

Method:

Place carrot and sweet potato in a small bowl.  Add water and cover loosely for about four minutes.

Place rice,  sunflower seeds,  flour, lemon zest in to food processor bowl with metal blade.

Remove leaves from basil and oregano stems and add to the food processor bowl.

Pulse until everything is uniform but you can still see grains of rice.

In a medium bowl, mix together mushroom mix, carrots, sweet potato, white beans. eggs, salt and pepper.

Using my ice cream scoop, I made my patties, flattening them down in the pan and squaring off the edges, pushing sides up to give depth to patties.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.

Use one and one half tablespoons of olive oil for each batch, you are going to fry.

Put patties in hot oil and sear for 3 – 4 minutes, per side.

Serve on pitas or buns with tomato slices, cucumber slices and thin slices of red onion.

Take a bite and delight.

Spinach Gefilte Fish Rounds

Gefilte fish is commonly served on the Sabbath in Jewish households.  With company, I want to spend time with, joining us, I wanted to do my cooking as early as possible.  One of the dishes, I made, is the gefilte  fish.  I have never made it this way, before.  I have all kinds of “exotic” recipes, using frozen gefilte fish.  As a foodie, I wanted to do something different.  I came across this recipe and I was in synch with it.

Making this is easy.  The most difficult part was squeezing the water out of the spinach.  That is not a job, I enjoy.  Otherwise, it is basically, mixing the ingredients in a bowl, transferring them to what you are baking them in and baking them.

Spinach Gefilte Fish Rounds  

Serves: 16

Ingredients

2 loaves frozen gefilte fish, thawed

1 carrot, shredded
2 10-ounce boxes frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1 tbsp. mayonnaise
Pepper

Method

Preheat oven to 350°.

Thaw fish and spinach thoroughly. Squeeze the spinach to remove as much of the water as you can. Really try to get it as dry as you are able.

Stir all ingredients together in a bowl until spinach is well-distributed and the mixture is even in color. Spray a loaf tin, 8″x8″ square or round cake pan with non-stick spray.  As you can see, I used these round and small tins.  They just make a  more interesting appearance.  A loaf pan or round one would do, just fine.

Pour mixture into the pan and spread evenly. Bake for about 1 hour or until a golden brown crust forms.

(I decided half way through, to spray the tops with olive oil to aid the brow

ning.)   This is linked to Friday Potluck
Family Friendly Fridays
Simply Sweet Home Friday’s Favorites 
Food on Fridays
Foodie Friday
Food Trip Friday
Fat Camp Friday 
Grocery Cart Challenge Recipe Swap 

 

 

 

 

Baked Potatoes Stuffed with BBQ Chicken

I had three cooked chicken cutlets in my refrigerator.  I don’t like keeping leftovers, especially these with so much potential to create a new dish.  I had seen an Eating Well recipe for BBQ Chicken Sandwiches, which definitely appealed.  I rarely use bread in our meals, other than such dishes as Grilled Cheese sandwiches, Sloppy Joes and French Toast.  I subbed in large baked potatoes and sort of mashed the potatoes and filled the potatoes with a mixture of potato, chicken, carrots and barbecue sauce from Ina, my source for this week.  Who needs bread?

My apologies.  I just went to get the photos for this dish and I discovered, I had not taken pictures of the finished product.  You will see a photo of potato with Ranch Dressing and another of the chicken-carrot filling.  I have none of the barbecue sauce.

Baked Potatoes Stuffed with BBQ Chicken   adapted Delish

Ingredients

1/2 cup(s) shredded cooked chicken

1/4 cup(s) shredded carrots

2 tablespoon(s) barbecue sauce   (Recipe Below)

2 teaspoon(s) light ranch dressing  (Bottled)

Ina Garten’s Barbecue Sauce (below)

Directions

Bake 3 large potatoes at 400 degrees for 1 hour.  Remove from oven and slice through the middle so that you have two separate halves.

Combine chicken, carrots and barbecue sauce in a bowl.Spread ranch dressing on the baked mashed potato. Top with the chicken mixture which is pushed down, pulling up some potato to mix gently.

Return to oven to heat for no more than five minutes.

Barbecue Sauce   -  Ina Garten    (I made approximately a third of this recipe.)

Makes 6 cups

1 1/2 cups chopped yellow onion (1 large onion)
1/2 cup olive oil
1 cup tomato paste (10 ounces)
1 cup cider vinegar (I ran out of cider vinegar so I subbed in red wine vinegar)
1 cup honey
1/2 cup Worcestershire sauce
1 cup Dijon mustard
1/2 cup soy sauce
1 cup hoisin sauce
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
leftover fried mushrooms and red peppers (1/2 cup)

In a large saucepan on low heat, saute the onions and garlic with the vegetable oil for 10 to 15 minutes, until the onions are translucent but not browned. Add the rest of the ingredients. Simmer uncovered on low heat for 30 minutes. Use immediately or store in the fridge.

    Linked to Melt in Your Mouth Monday