Spaghetti Squash Pad Thai

 

 

 

This recipe was amazing- I am SO relieved that all the selections from our Meal Plan have been so yummy.  Jenny Collier is wonderful!  It’s a little scary when you commit to a month of recipes that you’ve never made before.  I did take a moment to look through most- in order to plan which would take more time and therefore should be made on the weekend.  While this recipe was easy to make, it did take some prep time, I was wishing we’d planned it for a weekend instead.

I prepped it while watching Knox and Jason play in the living room, it’s rare that he’s home early with us- so I thought I would get dinner started….  but sorta wished I was over there with them instead!  It started innocently by turning the oven on to roast up the squash.  I told myself, after bath/ bed for the baby– then I could easily finish the recipe and we’d eat in no time, it’d be nice to have squash ready.  Then it sucked me in one ingredient at a time- I only needed to chop the onion and garlic and green onions… shred some carrots… mix the sauce in a bowl… then I would go play with them… then I saw the meat- “I could just get the shrimp peeled and deviened too…. then it would be so easy for later to cook everything”… and finally,  ” well I should also chop up the chicken while I’m at it”.  And then it was an hour gone and dinner was completely prepped, I had 20 good minutes before Knox was too tired to keep his head up, but we ate a great dinner.

I used a recipe as a base for this but altered everything for what I know and love about Pad Thai.  We made our own peanut sauce for dipping as well- it was amazing.  Finish with a bit of lime juice, and it’s perfection:

Spaghetti Squash Pad Thai

Makes 4 servings

30-45 minutes of prep for cooking squash and chopping ingredients

10-15 minutes of active cooking

Ingredients

2 medium-sized spaghetti squash

2 cloves garlic, crushed

1/2 red onion, chopped

4 carrots, shredded  ( reserve some for serving)

1 bunch of scallions, chopped ( reserve some for serving)

10 large shrimps, diced

2 chicken breasts, diced

canola oil, for cooking

1 lime,  ( for serving)

Sauce

1/4 cup Teriyaki Sauce

3 tbsp rice vinegar

1 tsp red pepper flakes

1 tsp ground garlic

1 tbsp peanut butter

 

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Cut spaghetti squash in half, scoop out the seeds, drizzle each flesh side with olive oil and season with salt and pepper.  Place squash cut side down on a parchment lined cookie sheet.  Roast in you preheated over for 45 minutes, until squash is fork tender, then set aside to cool before scooping out the squash “noodles” with a fork.

3. In a small bowl mix together sauce ingredients and set aside

4. In a large pan, heat 1 tbsp canola oil, and saute with your chopped garlic, red onion, carrots, and scallions (and any other veggies you like)

5. Once cooked down, add shrimp and chicken and cook for 5-8 minutes, until protein is cooked

6. Add in spaghetti squash (approx. 3 cups) and sauce mixture, mix well to combine

9. Taste and adjust spices to desired liking*

To serve: Top with extra scallions, shredded carrots and a squeeze of lime.  If you like it saucy add this Peanut Sauce as well:  in a small bowl mix 2 tbsp Teriyaki Sauce, 2 tbsp peanut butter and enough rice vinegar, to smooth to desired consistency, using a fork to mix.

Pickled Veggie Relish

Have you ever been to a really good Mexican restaurant where they bring you those amazing pickled carrots with jalapenos?  Yeah, they’re pretty amazing.  We’ve even posted on this before from our good friend and chef Alejandro!  We had a bunch of veggies that were getting pretty sad, so instead of being wasteful we re-purposed them in to this incredible relish.  We tossed this in to a fresh salad in lou of dressing, topped it on to some baked cod and added it like giardinera to a sandwich!  It’s very versatile and packed with flavor.  The recipe below is a loose version of what we did, use what you have on hand for vegetables- we used carrots, celery, onion, sweet mixed peppers and cilantro.

Recipe/ Directions

2-3 cups vegetables, carrots/ celery/ onion/ peppers

4-6 garlic cloves, rough chop or whole

1/2 cup chopped cilantro, optional

1/2 cup apple cider vinegar

1/2 cup rice wine vinegar

1-2 cups water

1 teaspoon coriander seeds

1/2 tsp salt and pepper, to taste

1.) Chop your vegetables to bite size or relish size pieces ( however you’d like to eat them!)

2.) Place all vegetables, garlic, cilantro, vinegars and coriander, salt and pepper in to a large saucepan, add enough water to cover everything.

3.) Bring the pan to a boil, then reduce heat and cook for about 5 more minutes.

4.) Once cooled slightly, put in to Ball jars to store in the refrigerator, And they’ll keep for about 3 months.

Fettuccine with Braised Short Rib Tomato Sauce

Let’s talk pasta.  Versatile, filling, satisfying- pasta.  But this is not your ordinary pasta dish, this is something special.  It’s so special that I really hope you will make because it’s almost impossible to describe it’s amazingness in this post.  It’s the best meat sauce we have ever had- Bolognese- step aside- a new sauce is in town.  This recipe does take time to cook, but it is so simple to make so do not be intimidated.  Coming from the gal who loves a good marinara with fresh basil and mozzarella, I would trade up for this short rib sauce any day.  Jason’s been on a short rib kick, it’s been great, we’ve made this recipe, and then he ordered a Braised Short Rib Sugo dish at Homestead during restaurant week, and he was so blown away that we decided to try to re-create it at home.  We’re nerds like that.  So happens that Jason found the perfect recipe, from none other than Giada herself.  A few tweaks from our kitchen to make it even easier and we had perfection.  The chocolate shavings on top to finish the dish are imperative, weirdly necessary and so perfect paired with this meal in a bowl or on a plate.  Please make this recipe and be blown away like we were.  Short ribs are super affordable cuts of meat, and when cooked correctly like in this, they are transformed.  Let’s hope this broth based, veggie filled, meat sauce is the trick to kicking this cold I got to enjoy all weekend… I’ll let you know how that goes, in the meantime you go and Enjoy, cook, create, eat and Enjoy!!

Adapted from Giada’s Short Ribs with Tagliatelle

Prep Time: 20 minutes

Cook Time 3 hours and 30 minutes

Yields 4-6 servings

Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 ounces chopped bacon
2 1/2 pounds short ribs
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 medium onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1/2 cup fresh parsley stems and leaves
3 cloves garlic
1 (14-ounce) can diced tomatoes
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
2 1/2 cups beef  stock, reduced sodium
3/4 cup red wine
1 pound fettuccine pasta
4 to 6 teaspoons shaved bittersweet chocolate

Directions
Place the olive oil in a large heavy soup pot over medium heat. Cook the bacon until golden and crisp, about 4 minutes. Meanwhile, season the short ribs with salt and pepper, and dredge in the flour. Using a slotted spoon, remove the bacon from the pan to a paper towel lined plate and set aside. Add the short ribs to the pan and brown on all sides, about 7 minutes total.

Meanwhile, combine the onion, carrot, parsley and garlic in a food processor and blend until finely minced. Then add the tomatoes and tomato paste and pulse.

Once the short ribs are browned, carefully add the mixture from the food processor to the pot. Return the bacon to the pot and stir. Add the rosemary, thyme, oregano, beef broth, and wine. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 1 hour and 45 minutes. Remove the lid and simmer for another 1 hour and 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove the meat and bones from the pot. Discard the bones. Shred the meat and return it to the pot. Season with 3/4 teaspoon salt and 3/4 teaspoon pepper, or to taste.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook until tender but still firm to the bite, stirring occasionally, about 8 to 10 minutes. Drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of the cooking liquid. Add the pasta to the pot and stir to combine. Add the reserved pasta liquid 1/4 cup at a time, if needed, to moisten the pasta. Transfer to serving bowls, top each bowl with 1 teaspoon of chocolate shavings. Serve immediately.

Braised Short Ribs with Bok Choy

Winter, snow, holidays, more snow, it’s already half way through December and Christmas is only 8 days away!  This recipe is a great dish to make on a cold Sunday night, but we forgot the ginger at the store, so ended up making this on a Monday night, after work, and ate dinner around 8:25pm.  I’ve added in the general cooking time and prep time below so you don’t make the same mistake; we didn’t read enough forward to see the additional cooking time was 2 hours, but if you like late dinner, go for it, it wasn’t so bad!  Anyhow, this is a great pot roast substitute since the meat is in small chunks it has it’s very own tenderizing flavor infusing bone.  The carrots and baby bok choy added beautiful brightness, freshness and color to the dish.  Even though the ingredients suggest an Asian flavor, this really tasted very all American.  The long cooking time really melts down the fat, so we recommend trimming the short ribs of most of it so you don’t end up with an inch of fat floating at the top of your bowl.  We served this with bread but brown rice would be a great side as well.  Enjoy!

 

Adapted from: William Sonoma’s the Best of Taste, serves 4

Cook Time 2 hours and 30 minutes

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

8 beef short ribs (about 4lbs), trimmed of excess fat

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 large yellow onion halved and thinly sliced

1 tablespoon of finely chopped garlic

1 tablespoon of finely chopped ginger

1/4 cup reduced sodium soy sauce

3 tablespoons ketchup

3 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1 teaspoon fresh cracked pepper

4 heads baby bok choy, leafy tops and hearts quartered and sliced lengthwise

2 carrots peeled and sliced

Directions:

Heat oven to 450 degrees. Place ribs in a Dutch oven and sprinkle with salt. Top with onion slices. Cover and bake for 30 minutes.

In a bowl, mix garlic, ginger, soy sauce, ketchup, vinegar, pepper and red pepper flakes . Remove pot from oven and pour sauce over ribs. Add 1.5 cups of water and stir. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees. Cover pot and cook until beef is fork tender about 1.5-2 hours.

Add diced bok choy and carrots and cook for another 10-15 minutes. Serve with crusty bread or over brown rice.

Dark Broth Braised Sweet Potato Soup

Step One:  Rough chop your normal stock veggies like carrots, onion, garlic and celery and add to a heated stock pot with EVOO .  Add peppercorns, 2-3 bay leaves, some fresh sage and a few pinches of salt and let simmer for 8-10 min.   Deglaze the pan with about 1 cup of red wine and let it reduce by half.  This method of deglazing your stock veggies creates a really rich flavor and adds a nice dark color to the broth.

Step 2:  Add your left over chicken carcass and cover with about 8 cups of water. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to a low simmer.  Let the stock cook uncovered for 1-3 hours (the longer the better).

Step 3:  After a bit of cooling, place a strainer in your dutch oven and pour the contents of the stock pot though the strainer to separate out your homemade broth.  Give 8 medium sized sweet potatoes a rough chop and add to your broth in the dutch oven.  Feel free to add a handful or two of chopped fresh carrots and celery as well.  Place the dutch oven into your 400 degree oven for 45 minutes or until the sweet potatoes are fork soft.

Step 4:  Remove from oven and puree with an immersion blender.  Salt and pepper to taste and serve!  Nice and easy, healthy and warm.  Mmmmmm!

Food for thought… and Autumn Vegetable Curry

This morning was one of those amazing fall days in Chicago, the kind we all reflect back to when the snow and slush and icy winds start to bring us down.  After an admittedly challenging couple of weeks, there is so much change in the air, not only the seasons.  In times like these it’s important to remember that our lives are only as good as the choices we make, whether they are good choices, hard choices, wrong choices; they all shape who we are, who we will become and the life we will have.

Inspired by two friends today, I took a long break to get outside and bike+ run, not just to work out but to slow down, think, walk, and soak in the great day.  Everyone I passed was smiling, the sun was shining, the lake rippled in the wind and colorful leaves rustled along my path, the skyline gleamed in the contrast of the blue skies, it was as if everywhere I looked, a gorgeous photo presented itself.  It got me thinking about how charmed our lives are, if we can just take a moment to step back and enjoy it.  If the choices we make define who we are, we should make each one count; they should enrich our life, they should inspire us, they should make us happy- it’s our choice, right?  In lou of all the changes a new season brings, our family is faced with all kinds of challenges and choices, our near future of where we will end up is hovering within reach and it’s overwhelming.  It’s helpful to reflect, jot stuff down and just take a moment to put things in perspective.  This is life, it is glorious, we have the ability to make choices and that is pretty great.

Now, to the food!  After all that thought, I bet you are ready to make a choice on what’s for dinner this fine fall evening.  We’ve been loving all the in season produce- fennel, pears, squash and sweet potatoes.  This recipe is another Ellie Krieger gem; we can’t go on enough about how much we love her.  It’s warm and hearty and full of big flavors and so many veggies, you would never guess it’s simplicity could be so good.  This recipe makes a big batch so you can enjoy leftovers over and over!  Enjoy,

Ingredients

1 large onion, coarsely chopped

4 cloves garlic, peeled

1 1½ -inch long piece of fresh ginger, peeled and cut into chunks

1 ½ tablespoons curry powder

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper, plus more to taste

2 tablespoons canola oil

2 tablespoons tomato paste

2 cups low sodium vegetable broth

1 cup light coconut milk

1 cinnamon stick

¾ teaspoon salt plus more to taste

¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

½ head of cauliflower, broken into 11/2 inch wide florets (about 3 cups)

1 pound sweet potatoes (garnet yams), peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes

2 large carrots, peeled and cut into 1 inch rounds

2 tomatoes, cored and chopped

Zest of 1 lime

2 tablespoons lime juice

1 15-ounce can of garbanzo beans, preferably low-sodium, drained and rinsed

5 cups baby spinach leaves (5 ounces)

¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Method

Put the onion, garlic, ginger, curry powder and cayenne pepper into the bowl of a food and process until combined. Add the oil and process until a smooth puree. Cook the curry puree in a large pot over a medium heat, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste and continue cooking, stirring frequently, until the mixture begins to darken, about 5 minutes more.

Add the vegetable broth, coconut milk, cinnamon, salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the cauliflower, sweet potato, carrot, tomatoes, salt and pepper and return to a boil. Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover and simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 25 minutes. Remove the cinnamon stick. Stir in the lime zest and juice, the garbanzo beans and the spinach and cook for 5 minutes more, until the spinach is wilted. Season with additional salt to taste.

Serve garnished with cilantro, over rice if desired.

 

Makes about 10 cups Serves 4

 

Per Serving: Calories 420; Total Fat 12 g; (Sat Fat 3.5 g, Mono Fat 4.6 g, Poly Fat 2.3 g) ; Protein 13 g; Carb TK g; Fiber 16 g; Cholesterol 0 mg; Sodium 780 mg

 

Excellent source of: Copper, Fiber, Folate, Iron, Magnesium, Molybdenum, Manganese, Phosphorus, Potassium, Protein, Vitamin A, Vitamin B6, Vitamin C, Vitamin K Good source of: Calcium, Niacin, Riboflavin, Pantothenic Acid, Thiamin, Zinc

 

Copyright 2011 Ellie Krieger. All Rights Reserved.

New Year’s Crown Pork Roast with Cornbread Stuffing

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Welcome to 2012! We hosted a great diner party to ring in the new year and our menu was based on a few key components: easy, budget friendly, delicious, impressive.

Amazingly, this meal was all of those and more.  We had each couple bring a component to share: appetizer, salad, dessert and as the host we prepared the main entree.  This not only took a lot of pressure off us for all the little things that can add up in money and time, but it also allowed each guest to contribute something they love.  We chose crown roast pork for it’s beautiful presentation and it is very budget friendly at $5/ lb.  Our sides are all produce- whole foods with simple prep and ingredients which we mostly had on hand.  Our grocery list was very small- veggies, herbs, the roast, fresh bread, fresh flowers, wine/ champagne and our cheeses.

Our menu looked like this:

Appetizers:

Assorted Cheeses with Fresh Baguette Slices

Spinach Artichoke Dip

Sliced Tenderloin of Venison

Panko Crusted Shrimp

Shrimp Cocktail

Salad:

Wedge Salad with bacon, avocado, blue cheese, tomato and red onion

Main Course:

Crown Roast of Pork

Sides:

Cornbread Stuffing

Roasted Fingerling Potatoes and Carrots with Garlic, Lemon and Parsley

Parsnips in a Parsley Herb Butter Sauce

Sauces:

Homemade Butter with Honey

Homemade Chimi Churi

Dessert:

Ice Box Cake, ( Chocolate Cookies layered with Vanilla Ice Cream)

Chocolate Dipped Fruit

We had a wonderful time serving our guests and enjoying the party, everything timed perfectly.  We made sure to prep all our sides the day before and some the morning of.  The parsnips, potatoes and carrots were all tossed in their goodness the day before and in sealed bowls in the fridge, we seasoned and sealed the roast the night before, the Cornbread was baked off in the morning and then all assembled and in the fridge, we made the sauces/ butter day of, and 5 hours before serving time we took out the roast to come to room temperature.  Each of the sides were oven and stove top ready and just needed to be cooked off.  Doing a roast is the perfect way to have an easy dinner party- it needs to cook for a while so you have time to prep ( or nap if the prepping is done!) and then when it rests you can finish off all the cooking in the oven with the sides- while we enjoyed the salad with our guests.  Read below for all our recipes on how we made this easy, budget friendly, delicious, impressive meal:

Cornbread Stuffed Crown Roast of Pork
adapted from Paula Dean
Pork Roast:
6 tablespoons olive oil
8 cloves garlic, chopped
4 tablespoons chopped fresh sage
2 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 teaspoons pepper
1 (10-pound) crown of pork, rib ends frenched
Stuffing:
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter
1 large green bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 medium white onion, diced
1 stalk celery, diced
1 clove garlic, minced
6 cups crumbled cornbread ( my recipe used is next)
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2 cups chicken broth
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
1 teaspoon hot sauce
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions
For the pork roast: In a blender, puree the oil, garlic, and sage until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Rub the mixture over the pork roast, making sure to cover the areas between the chops. Transfer the pork to a roasting pan and cover it with foil. Refrigerate it for at least 2 hours and up to 48 hours. Let stand at room temperature for 1 hour before roasting.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Turn the roast upside down (rib bones down) in the roasting pan. Roast for 20 minutes, and then reduce the heat to 350 degrees F and roast until an instant-read thermometer reads 155 degrees F when inserted 2 inches into the center of the meat, about 1 1/2 hours more.

For the stuffing: Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the green pepper, onion, celery, and garlic and cook until softened, stirring occasionally, for 7 to 10 minutes. In a large bowl, combine the vegetable mixture with the crumbled cornbread. Add the eggs, broth, rosemary, cilantro, hot sauce, salt, and pepper and stir to combine. Slowly stir in more broth, if needed, until the stuffing is moistened. Press the stuffing into a 2-quart casserole.

Thirty minutes before removing the roast, place the stuffing in the oven. Bake until golden, about 45 minutes.

When the roast is done, remove it from the oven, tent with foil, and let stand for at least 15 minutes. When the stuffing is done, mound half of it on a serving platter. Flip the roast upright on top of the stuffing. Fill the center of the roast with the remaining stuffing. Slice at the table

Gluten Free Buttermilk Cornbread Muffins
adapted from The Baking Beauties
Yields 12 muffins

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter or margarine
1/3 cup white sugar
2 eggs
1 cup low fat buttermilk
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup Pamela’s Baking mix
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 tsp salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease muffin pan and set aside.
In a microwave safe bowl, melt butter. Stir in sugar.
Add eggs and stir to combine, Stir in buttermilk.
Add dry ingredients, and stir until few lumps remain, scoop into prepared muffin tin.
Bake for 20 minutes in preheated oven, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Allow to cool in pan for 5 minutes before removing to cooling rack, crumble and use in the stuffing recipe above!

Roasted Fingerling Potatoes and Whole Carrots with Fresh Herbs and Garlic
adapted from Tyler Florence

Ingredients
3 lbs assorted fingerling potatoes
1 lb whole carrots, top leaves removed only
2 sprigs fresh rosemary
3 lemons, halved
6 cloves garlic, left unpeeled
2 cloves, peeled and chopped
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus for sheet pan
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper

Directions
Preheat oven to 500 degrees F and place a baking sheet inside to heat.

Add potatoes, rosemary, sage, thyme, and garlic to a medium bowl. Drizzle with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Remove sheet pan from oven, lightly coat with olive oil, and pour potatoes onto pan. Place potatoes in oven and reduce heat to 425 degrees F. Roast for 20 minutes, or until crispy on outside and tender on inside.

Herbed Butter Parsnips
adapted from Tyler Florence

Ingredients
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
2 pounds parsnips, peeled and sliced into circles
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Herb Butter:
1 stick ( 1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup mixed chopped parsley
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Directions
Put the olive oil and butter into a large pot over medium-high heat. Add the vegetables and toss to coat them well with the fat; season with salt and pepper. Add 1 cup water and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to a simmer, cover the pot, and cook until the vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the Herb Butter by combining the soft butter and herbs together; season with some salt and pepper.

Add the hot vegetables and Herb Butter.

Chimi Churi
adapted from Food.com

1 bunch flat leaf parsley
8 cloves garlic
3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 lemon (juice of)
2 tablespoons diced red onion
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:
Pulse parsley in processor to chop. Add remaining ingredients and blend.

Homemade Butter

1 pint heavy whipping cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon honey

In a stand mixer with whisk attachment, whip cream with salt and honey until it becomes solid and separates from the liquids, 6-8 minutes.  Drain excess liquid and scoop into serving dishes.

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