Mustard Cole Slaw

I hate cabbage with an all-consuming passion, but I actually really liked this recipe. This was made to accompany the fish sticks from the other night.

Ingredients:
1/4 of a head of cabbage
1 large carrot, peeled and grated
1 medium granny smith apple, peeled
1.5 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp ground mustard
1 Tlbs oil

Slice the cabbage into thin strips, then core and slice the granny smith apple into matchsticks. Toss the cabbage, carrot, and apple together. Whisk the vinegar, ground mustard and oil together in a small bowl, then toss it with the cabbage mixture. I do this by putting it all in a bowl with a tight-fitting lid, then shaking the bowl upside down until it is thoroughly coated. Put the slaw in the fridge for at least thirty minutes before serving.

This was pretty good. Like I said earlier, I don't actually like cabbage, so it is always nice to discover a recipe that makes it palatable. The bite of it went perfectly with the fish sticks, too. The original recipe also called for radishes, but I really don't like those so I left them out. Other than that I followed the recipe exactly as printed. I also think this could easily be made into a main dish by adding shrimp.

Rating: 5/5
Why? Easy to make and nice and crunchy.

Tartar Sauce

I love fish sticks, but I feel they need tartar sauce. But I hate mayonnaise, so I never have any in the house, and I don't like pre-made tartar sauce. But while I was waiting for the fish sticks to cook the other night, I whipped up this super easy tartar-esque sauce that tastes quite delicious.

Ingredients
1/3 cup plain, nonfat Greek yogurt
1/2 tsp dried dill
1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper

Whip the ingredients together with a small whisk, then put on the side when you serve your fish.

The original inspiration for this came from Clean Eating, but their process involved cottage cheese, lemon juice, capers and minced celery, none of which I had on hand, so I substituted. I like mine better, actually, and it didn't involve digging the food processer out of the depths of the cupboard (stupid small apartment kitchen). The picture isn't great, but it tasted really pretty awesome. Nice and dilly.

Rating: 5/5
Why? Because it's super easy and strongly flavored. I made this in about 90 seconds.

Fish Sticks

Don't worry, I haven't completely fallen off the Clean Eating wagon. This is a recipe from Clean Eating that I changed up a bit to make it less pre-chewed and more awesome, and it worked pretty well. The whole meal was new for me so I will post the other two recipes over the next couple of days.

Ingredients:
1 fillet of cod
3/4 cup whole wheat crumbs
1 egg
evoo spray

Spray a large non-stick skillet with evoo, and then heat it over medium heat. Cut the cod into strips 4" long or so and about an inch wide. Crack the egg into a small bowl and whisk for a minute or two. Put some of the bread crumbs on a plate. Dip one of the cod strips into the egg, then roll in crumbs. Continue doing this until the cod strips are coated, then drop them into the skillet. Cover the skillet, and cook for 2-3 minutes. Gently turn the strips over, then recover for another 2-3 minutes. Continue to do this until all sides are browned.

This was pretty good! I love fish, but don't eat it often because I always forget to stop at the store on the way home and I don't love frozen fish. The original recipe said to mince the fish, mix in bread crumbs, then form into fish sticks before dipping and frying, but I prefer the texture of actual fish that hasn't been premangled, so I skipped that step. The original recipe also said to use tilapia, but I really dislike farmed fish, so I used wild-caught cod instead. Also, as you can see from the picture, I didn't do so well at the frying, but that will improve with time.

Rating - 4.5/5
Why? I really like how easy this is. It took maybe 10 minutes from start to finish, but it is a little picky about the heat and time in the pan so it requires close attention to what you are doing.

Sauteed Chicken and Tomato Linguine

I think basil might be my favorite flavor. I generally put 3-4 times as much as the recipe calls for and just love it. I originally saw this recipe on pinterest (or internet crack, as I like to call it), and followed the original pretty closely. I think I might try smashing the tomatoes next time, but other than that it was pretty good as-is.

Ingredients;

3 ounces whole wheat linguine
1 chicken breast, cubed
dried oregano
dried basil
pepper
1.5 cups grape tomatoes, halved*
3 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
10-15 leaves of basil, chopped
grated parmesan

Cook the linguine, then set it aside. Meanwhile, season the chicken with the oregano, basil, and pepper, then saute it in a pan on medium high heat. When it is done, set it aside, then saute the garlic over medium heat for 2-3 minutes, then turn the heat to medium low, add the tomatoes and saute for 3-4 minutes more. When they are done, turn off the burner, add the chicken, fresh basil, and linguine, and toss it together. Top with grated parmesan and serve.

I really liked this. It is (of course) strongly flavored with basil, and I really like the simplicity of the sauceless linguine. In the original recipe, she added a little bit of salt, and I did too, but I think I will leave it off next time (which is why it isn't listed above). In addition, she used spaghetti, which I didn't have, but I like linguine better anyway, so that's ok. Also, she cut the tomatoes in half, and I think I might try smashing them next time, there's something about the texture that I like.

Rating 4.5/5
Why? It's easy to make but I wish there was a way to avoid cooking everything separately.

Turkey and Black Bean Chili

While I technically got this recipe from Pinterest (original link here), I did notice it is similar to a previous recipe that I have posted here. But I am posting this other version anyway, because you can never have too many good chili recipes.

Ingredients:
2 cans of black beans
1/2 chopped red onion
1 can tomato sauce
1/2 package frozen corn
3-4 chopped Roma tomatoes
1 Tlbs cumin
1 Tlbs chili powder
1.5 cups frozen dark turkey meat*
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp paprika
1 tsp black pepper
1 Tlbs grated sharp cheddar
1 Tlbs Greek yogurt
chopped cilantro

Throw everything except the cheese, yogurt, and cilantro in the crockpot and put it on low for 8-9 hours, stirring occasionally if you are home. Top with cheese, yogurt, and cilantro and serve.

*At Thanksgiving, I generally serve the white meat and freeze the dark meat to use in stews and so on, since no one in my family really likes the dark meat plain.

In the original recipe, she used a can of red beans instead of one of the black beans, used a package of taco seasoning instead of the spices (taco seasoning recipe here), and added chopped chili peppers, which I forgot to buy. She also used 2 uncooked chicken breasts instead of the turkey. If you do that, place the chicken on top of the chili while it is cooking, then take it out and shred it about an hour before serving.

Rating: 4/5
Why? This was all right but I think there was too much cumin and chili powder in it and I would probably cut those down if I make this again.

Tomato Basil Pizza

I had never had pizza other than pepperoni and olive (my mom's favorite) or Canadian bacon and pineapple (my dad's favorite) until I went to college. One of my roommates introduced me to tomato-basil pizza, or as it is sometimes called, margherita pizza.I have attempted to make this pizza in the past, but it has never really tasted right, so I haven't tried in a while. Then in one of the recent issues of  Clean Eating, there was a recipe, so I decided to give it another shot. And I am very glad I did.

Ingredients:
1/2 recipe whole wheat pizza dough
4-5 Roma tomatoes
2 small cloves of garlic
1 tsp red wine vinegar
6-7 basil leaves
tiny pinch of sea salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1 cup mozzarella
15-20 basil leaves

Directions:
Roughly chop the tomatoes into 1/4" chunks. Mince the garlic, then roll the 6-7 basil leaves into a roll together lengthwise, and slice them into narrow strips crosswise. Toss the tomatoes, garlic, vinegar, basil, salt, and black pepper into a saucepan, then heat over medium-low heat. Let the sauce simmer for 30 minutes or so, until the tomatoes are broken down and smell great. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 450, and roll out the pizza dough to the size you want (mine was about 14" across). Put it on the pan or pizza stone (hint, hint...I would love one of those for Christmas....). Spread the sauce onto the dough as thick as you would like. Sprinkle half the cheese on top, then tear the remaining basil leaves in half, spread them on top of the cheese, then sprinkle the other half of the cheese on top of the basil. Bake at 450 for 10 minutes or so until the cheese is slightly browned.

This isn't exactly like the pizza my college roommate had, she prefers white (non-tomato sauce) pizza and I prefer it this way, with a chunky tomato sauce instead of tomato slices.  In the original recipe, it called for a 12 oz can of strained tomatoes, but I didn't know what those were so I went with my own gut on this and used fresh tomatoes instead. I also love basil, so I doubled the basil in both the sauce and the pizza.

This was really good and very easy, it took me about 40 minutes to put together, including the 30 minutes to simmer the sauce.

Rating? 5/5
Why? This was really easy to make and tastes great, as well as being pretty healthy. I like that there are limited ingredients and that it is heavy on the basil

Southwest Meatballs and Salsa Bowl

I have not been feeling well for a week or so, and this recipe was surprisingly easy.

Ingredients:
1/2 pkg of ground turkey (about 1/2 lb)
1 egg white
1/4 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
pinch of sea salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
EVOO
1.5 cups frozen corn
1 can of black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped finely
3-4 chopped Roma tomatoes
1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1 Tlbs fresh lime juice
1 tsp ground cumin
1/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro
sliced green onions
sliced olives
low-fat Greek yogurt

In a large bowl, combine the turkey, egg white, bread crumbs, salt and pepper in a bowl and mix well using your hands. Shape into small balls about the size of ping-pong balls. Spray a non-stick pan with EVOO, and heat it up over medium to medium-high heat. When the pan is hot, drop the meatballs in. Cook 3-5 minutes, turning frequently to brown all sides. Adjust heat to medium, then add corn, black beans, tomatoes, chicken broth, red pepper, lime juice, and cumin. Mix well, then partially cover and cook another 5-6 minutes, until meatballs are cooked through. Stir in cilantro. Serve, then top with green onions, olives, and Greek yogurt.

This was really good and easy to make. I have never really made meatballs before, and wasn't sure if it would work or not, but it was pretty easy. It would be really helpful to have tongs to easily turn the meatballs, I had to use a spoon and it didn't work incredibly well. I liked that this was almost all vegetables, except the meatballs and would be easy to do as a vegetarian dish with seared tofu instead. In the original recipe, there were no red peppers, olives, green onions, or Greek yogurt, but I had them sitting in my fridge and wanted to use them up, and I like those flavors combined. In addition, they used a full pound of turkey and had larger meatballs, but I was concerned they wouldn't cook all the way through and I like smaller meatballs, so I changed it.

Rating? 5/5

Why? Seriously, this was really savory. I love these flavors together and I liked that it was packed with vegetables but still tasted like a protein dish.