Beef Stroganoff

You may have noticed that I do not cook any proteins other than chicken and fish. I grew up eating beef more than any other meat, but in college mostly stopped eating beef, and other than the occasional hamburger, I haven't returned to the Land of Beef. However, this recipe in Clean Eating for beef stroganoff reminded me of some things I used to like about it, so I decided to give it a shot.

1.5 cups whole wheat egg noodles
4.5 tsp evoo (divided)
2 Tlbs whole wheat flour
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1/3 cup Greek yogurt at room temp
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp low-sodium Tamari soy sauce
1/8 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 tsp parsley
4 oz filet mignon, cut into chunks
1 shallot, chopped

I prepped everything ahead of time for this recipe because it comes together really fast. Cook noodles according to directions. While they are cooking, prepare the rest of the dish. In a pan, heat 3 tsp of oil over medium heat. When it is warm, stir in the flour, whisking constantly. After a minute or so, slowly pour in the broth, while continuing to whisk. Bring the broth/flour mixture to a simmer, then turn it down to low, still whisking until it thickens. Remove it from the heat, and stir in the Greek yogurt, mustard, soy sauce, salt, pepper, and parsley. Then cover it and set it aside. In a non-stick skillet, heat the remaining 1.5 tsp of oilve oil over medium heat. When it is hot, toss in the shallot,  and let it saute for a couple of minutes. Then toss in the beef and let it cook. When the beef is done, put it in the sauce, then pour it over the noodles.

The sauce is completely amazing. I love the sauce. However, the beef was extremely tough. I totally failed on that front. I did notice when I read the recipe again that I was supposed to cut it into strips instead of chunks, so maybe that would help. Also, I have no idea how to pick out beef, so that could have been the problem as well. Or possibly it would have helped to cook it low and slow. I honestly don't know. I will try this again because the sauce is delightful.

Other changes - the original recipe called for beef broth but they didn't have low-sodium beef broth at the grocery store so I used chicken instead. I also didn't include the mushrooms because I hate them, and I cut the salt in half.

Rating: 4/5
Why? The AMAZING sauce mostly made up for the tough beef, and I only have myself to blame for the beef, so I gave it a higher score. It is good enough to try again.

Asian Pasta Vegetable Salad

Alternative title: In Which I Learn My Lesson About Tight-Fitting Lids.

I love crunchy food, or food with lots of texture. I also love Asian food, bell peppers, and pasta, so basically this is the perfect recipe. I used this recipe from allrecipes.com as a place to start, but did make several changes based on the comments attached to the recipe. This is an excellent recipe to make and leave in the fridge for a super easy lunch.

Dressing:
1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup low-sodium tamari soy sauce
1/3 cup rice vinegar
1 tsp black sesame oil
3 Tlbs sugar
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 cup sesame seeds

Salad:
4 cups of whole wheat spirals
1-2 cooked and shredded chicken breasts
1 small red bell pepper, cut into 1/2" cubes
1 small green bell pepper, cut into 1/2" cubes
1 small carrot, julienned
3/4 cup green peas
2 Tlbs sliced green onions
1/4 cup cilantro

Mix all the salad ingredients together in a bowl with a TIGHT-FITTING LID. This is important. Very important. Then mix all the salad dressing ingredients together in a jar or something else with a tight-fitting lid. Again, quite important. Shake the salad dressing thoroughly until it is all mixed together very well, then pour the dressing over the salad. Seal the bowl and shake it well to coat the salad thorougly and mix all the ingredients. You can eat it warm, but it is pretty awesome cold.

In case you haven't gathered, it is very important to have a container with a tight-fitting lid. I know this, since mine was not, and when I shook the bowl, I decorated my kitchen with a large collection of spots. The oil-base of the dressing will get everywhere if you aren't careful. Other changes...the original recipe recommended using pasta bows, but I couldn't find a whole-wheat pasta version of this so I used spirals instead. You do need a pasta that will hold the dressing. One reviewer recommended adding water chestnuts, and I meant to do that, but forgot, so I would like to try that next time. Also, I seasoned the chicken slightly with paprika, garlic powder, salt and pepper before I baked and shredded it.

Rating 4.5/5
Why? It is a little oily, I want to cut down on the dressing-pasta ratio next time. Also there are a LOT of sesame seeds in this. But it is super easy to make and quite delicious as a left-over.

Potato Pancakes

My cousin's wife and I have a standing date for Sunday night when Worst Cooks in America is on the Food Network. She lives in Portland and I live in Seattle, but we send about 50 texts throughout the show commenting on everything from shoes to contestant idiocy. Last week the contestants had to make potato pancakes and I immediately knew I was going to try and make them this weekend.

3 medium sized potatoes (I used russets)
1 egg
1/2 Tlbs Greek yogurt
salt and pepper
1/2 cup flour

Topping
crumbled turkey bacon
1/4 cup Greek yogurt
1/2 tsp basil
1/4 tsp garlic powder

Peel and chunk the potatoes and put them in a food processor. Pulse them just until roughly chopped. Add the egg and Greek yogurt, then pulse again until smoother, but there will still be small chunks of potatoes. It is really important not to puree the potatoes into mush. Add the flour, and pulse just until blended. The consistency should be similar to oatmeal. On a well-oiled hot griddle (I used a heated, oiled cast iron frying pan heated on medium because that's what I had but it would definitely work better on a griddle), drop small spoonfuls of potato blend. Mine were about 2 inches across. When they appear slightly dry on the edge, carefully flip them over. Mine were slightly inclined to stick, so I had to make sure they were completely loosened before trying to flip. When both sides are done, let them drain on a paper towel to get rid of some of the oil.

While you are making the pancakes, mix the Greek yogurt, basil and garlic powder in a bowl. Top the pancakes with a thin layer of the yogurt, then top with the crumbled bacon before eating.

These were quite exceedingly delicious. I forgot to put the salt and pepper in, so mine were just a touch bland, but the topping added some zest so I managed to eat more than my fair share. I also put too much oil in the pan so the first couple were a little greasy, but nonetheless, still delicious. I have some left over so I am going to try and freeze them, and I will be interested to see how these come out. In the Worst Cooks episode, they used these as a basis for hors d'oeuvres, so that is why I chose to top them with something salty rather than sweet, but they would also be good with a sweet topping.

Rating: 4.5/5
Why? Relatively easy to make, other than having to peel the potatoes.

Chinese Chicken Salad

I have been rather remiss and very lazy in the cooking arena lately, but I recently got my ducks in a row and figured out how to meal plan in a way that works for me, so hopefully the blogging will be less sporadic. One of the recipes I tried this week was this salad. I love loaded salads, but you have to be careful about the toppings. This salad has a lot of toppings, but they are all good for me, which is the best way to go! I based this off an allrecipes.com recipe but did change it a bit.

Dressing:

1.5 Tlbs hoisin sauce
1 Tlbs peanut butter

1 tsp loose brown sugar

1/2 tso hot chili paste

1/2 tsp ginger

1.5 Tlbs rice wine vinegar

1/2 Tlbs sesame oil

Salad:

1/4 cup shredded chicken

2 wonton wrappers

2 cups shredded romaine

1/8 cup grated carrot

1/8 cup chopped green onion

1/4 cup black beans, rinsed and drained

1/3 cup chopped red bell peppers

2 Tlbs chopped cilantro

Heat the oven to 350 and spray a pan with olive oil. Lay the wonton wrappers on the sheet and use a pizza cutter or knife to cut them into narrow strips. Bake for 3-4 minutes, checking often to prevent burning. Take them out and let them cool. While they are baking, whisk together the dressing ingredients. On a plate, layer the salad to your liking, add the dressing, and toss the baked wonton wrappers on top. Alternatively (and this is what I do when I bring a salad to school), put all the ingredients except the wonton wrappers into a plastic ziploc bag or bowl with a tight fitting lid and toss to coat everything evenly.

Rating: 5/5
Why? Like I said, I love loaded salads and this one has lots to love. The dressing has a kick to it and is one of the first dressings I have made myself that I really like.

Quinoa Tomato Mix

I have to confess that I really don't know what to call this. It was one of those nights when I made dinner by throwing a bunch of stuff in the crockpot and crossing my fingers. It's not really a stew, but it's not a casserole either, so I am just going to call it a mix. I generally follow a recipe but tonight I just made this completely by smell - as in I took things out of the fridge, smelled them, and if it smelled like what I wanted dinner to taste like, I threw it in. This, as close as I can remember, is what I put together

By the way, this is a particularly bad picture, but on the other hand, while it tasted really good, I think that red quinoa never LOOKS that good and my camera resents photographing red things.

3/4 cup red quinoa

1/4 cup white quinoa

1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, sliced into thin strips

3 cups water

1/4 cup hoisin sauce

1/4 cup mirin (rice cooking wine)

1 chicken breast, cut into thin strips

1/4 sweet onion, minced

1/4-1/2 tsp garlic powder

a pinch of oregano

a pinch of thyme (I think)

Throw everything into a slow-cooker and cook until it is the consistency that you want. I put mine on high for an hour, then turned it down to low for about 3-4 hours. I am not totally sure about the spices, I added them after the first hour when I tasted it and decided that it needed something.

I am not kidding when I say that I smelled ingredients to see what I wanted to add. It's what works for me. Either the mirin (which I have never used before) or the hoisin sauce gave this just a slight hint of sweetness that I liked but did cut down just a smidge with the spices. I used the mix of quinoa because I wanted to finish up the red quinoa and I used water instead of broth because I didn't have any broth. I used the sun-dried tomatoes because I had them and wanted to use them up. I know that quinoa has a lot of protein on its own, so I didn't need to add the chicken, but I just like this kind of thing better when it has some kind of meat in it, so I added it. I also wanted to see what would happen if I added raw meat instead of cooked and I think it worked well with the water. I think it would have been too salty for my taste had I used the broth instead.

Rating: 4/5

Why? There is something about these sun-dried tomatoes that I didn't particularly care for, I'm not sure why. I did like this dish overall, it was quite filling, and the perfect thing to eat after my first zumba class in over 2 months. In addition, it is quite easy, and I am a BIG fan of that.

Pizza Pita

I have a pretty serious weakness for pizza. I love everything about it - the crispiness, the saltiness, the cheese - everything. But frozen or restaurant pizza generally is really greasy, has slimy vegetables, too much cheese, and it is almost impossible to find one with a whole-wheat crust. I have posted a pizza recipe on here before, but it requires some forethought to make the dough. This one is made on a whole-wheat pita and it was so easy I will definitely be making it again.

2 whole wheat pitas
grated cheddar cheese
grated mozzarella cheese
1 red pepper, sliced thinly
1/3 cup black beans, rinsed and drained
1/3 cup corn
1/8 cup pizza sauce

Preheat the oven to 400. Put the two pitas on a baking sheet. Spread the pizza sauce on the pitas as thick or thin as you like. Layer the red pepper, black beans, and corn, then split the cheddar and mozzarella between the two pitas. Bake on 400 for 11 minutes, or more if you prefer it to be more crispy.

This took me 15 minutes from start to finish, including slicing the red peppers. I love how fast this comes together! I just threw on some ingredients I had in the fridge so it would be very easy to modify.

Rating - 4.5/5
Why? I wish I had baked it another minute or so (I adjusted the recipe above) as the center could have been a little crispier. I love that I didn't have to make the dough.

Szechuan Chicken Stirfry

I love stirfry, and the more vegetables there are, the better I like it. I have discovered that I like spicy Asian food better than sweet, and this is pretty spicy. Even better, it's fast. From prep to plate, I spent half an hour making this dish.

1 chicken breast, cubed or sliced thinly
1 tsp black sesame oil
3 green onions, thinly sliced
1 cup small broccoli florets
1 small red pepper, cut into thin strips
2 medium cloves of minced garlic
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/8 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp low-sodium tamari soy sauce
2 tsp water
1/2 cup cooked brown rice
2 tsp sesame seeds
chopped fresh cilantro

Cook the chicken in a non-stick pan just until cooked through. Set it aside. Heat the oil in a wok over medium heat. Add the garlic, broccoli, red pepper, and green onions and cook for 2-3 minutes, until the broccoli turns bright green. Add the chicken, red pepper and ginger and let it cook for another minute, then add the tamari soy sauce and the water and let it cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring frequently, until vegetables are crisp-tender. Add water 1 tsp at a time if necessary. Serve over brown rice and top with sesame seeds and cilantro.

This recipe originally called for mushrooms (which I hate), regular sesame oil (which I didn't have), black sesame seeds (which I couldn't find) and soba noodles (which I didn't feel like stopping to get tonight) instead of rice. It also called for szechuan pepper, but suggested substituting lemon pepper instead. I meant to do this but totally forgot, so I will definitely add that in next time. Without it, I think this is really good stirfry, but with it, I think it would have that little something awesome.

This recipe was quick and easy, which I like. I try to do as much prep work as possible when I get home from the grocery store - chopping carrots and broccoli, washing all the fruit, etc - as I have found I am MUCH more likely to use it when it is already prepared and very unlikely to use it at all if I don't do it immediately after getting home from the store. Having all the broccoli and green onions chopped cut down on the prep time, but it still went quickly.

Rating: 4/5
Why? I really wish I would have remembered to put in the lemon pepper. This was decent stirfry, but I think it was missing something that would have really made this awesome. I love that this recipe was quite spicy and it would be easier to make it more spicy by adding more dried red pepper.