Bok-Choy Salad and Egg Drop soup

     This is a quick and light meal that really hits the spot.  The salad was especially popular.  Note:  I'm still intimidated by bok choy every time I look at it in the store so I substituted romaine lettuce since I wasn't sure how to attack bok choy.  Romaine worked marvelously, so feel free to substitute like I did! 

INGREDIENTS (salad)

• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup white vinegar
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 bunches baby bok choy, cleaned and sliced (or a bunch of romaine lettuce)
• 1 bunch green onions, chopped
• 1/8 cup slivered almonds, toasted
• 1/2 (6 ounce) package chow mein noodles

DIRECTIONS

1. In a glass jar with a lid (or use a nifty salad dressing mixer that I love!), mix together olive oil, white vinegar, sugar, and soy sauce. Close the lid, and shake until well mixed.
2. Combine the bok choy (or romaine!), green onions, almonds, and chow mein noodles in a salad bowl. Toss with dressing, and serve

INGREDIENTS (Soup)

• 2 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 2 egg, lightly beaten
• 4 tablespoons chopped green onion

DIRECTIONS

1. In a medium stock pot, mix cold chicken broth with cornstarch. Slowly heat over medium heat, stirring frequently.
2. Pour beaten egg into soup, and stir once around stock pot very gently, in order to break up egg. Remove soup from heat immediately, divide into four portions and garnish with green onions.

As you can see from the picture, I served up the soup and salad with frozen egg rolls that I baked in the oven, in order to add something a little more filling to the meal.  I think everyone went back for thirds and fourths on the salad! 

Beef Stir Fry

     This is a quick one that is always satisfying.  I LOVE stir fry.  When I lived in Ecuador, my roommate and I made stir fry 1-2 times a week, except we made it vegetarian style because meat was so expensive.  This time, I had left over skirt steak from making fajitas that I used up.  It was a nice change to actually put steak in an asian dish since usually I am too cheap for that.  

INGREDIENTS 

Favorite stir-fry meat

1 Tbl. Red wine vinegar

1 tsp. Minced Garlic

1/8 tsp. ginger

1 tsp. brown sugar

1 Tbl. olive oil

Favorite bag of frozen stir fry veggies and sauce

White Rice

Soy Sauce/Teriyaki Sauce/Favorite stir-fry sauce

DIRECTIONS 

1.  Cook rice according to package directions.

2.  In a skillet over medium heat, combine red wine vinegar, garlic, ginger, brown sugar, and olive oil.  Cook for 1 minute then add meat.  Increase heat to medium-high and cook until done. 

3.  Remove meat, you can pour out some of the juices but reserve about 1/4 c. or all to stir-fry veggies in.  Dump your bag of frozen veggies into skillet or wok and cook until done, adding packaged seasoning sauce according to package directions.   

4.  Add meat back to vegetable mixture and cook for another 2-3 minutes. 

5.  Serve vegetable mixture over rice. 

[When I made this, I kind of made up the marinade for the meat, so the measurements are estimations.  Feel free to adjust according to taste.  Also, the sauce packet that came with the bag of stir fry was no nearly enough flavoring so we ended up adding soy sauce and/or teriyaki sauce to our bowls] 

Beef and Black Bean Tamale Pie

     Okay, don't be intimidated by the picture or think that this will take forever just because it has the word "pie" in it.  It comes together fast and makes an impressive presentation.  This is a delicious alternative to tacos but just as cheap to make.  So, pull out that 9-inch pie plate you haven't seen since Thanksgiving, rinse the dust off, and put this flavorful pie on the table for dinner. 

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1 (1.25 ounce) package taco seasoning mix
• 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, rinsed, drained
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 (8.75 ounce) can whole kernel corn, very well drained
• 3/4 cup sour cream
• 3/4 cup shredded Co-Jack or Cheddar cheese
• 1/3 cup thinly sliced green onions
•  
• Crust:
• 1 (8.5 ounce) package corn muffin mix
• 3/4 cup shredded Co-Jack or Cheddar cheese
• 3/4 cup light dairy sour cream
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Heat large skillet over medium heat until hot. Add ground beef; brown 5 to 7 minutes, stirring occasionally. Pour off drippings. Stir in seasoning mix, beans and water. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Simmer 5 minutes, stirring occasionally; set aside.
2. Meanwhile in medium bowl, combine crust ingredients, mixing just until dry ingredients are moistened. (Batter will be stiff.) Using spoon dipped in water, spread slightly more than 1/2 the batter onto bottom and up side of 9-inch pie pan.

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1. 3. Arrange corn over batter; top with beef mixture. 

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1. 4. Spoon remaining batter over beef, along outer edge of pie. Carefully spread batter toward center, leaving a 3-inch circle uncovered.  [Don't worry, this probably won't look the prettiest, but it looks better as it bakes and comes out just fine, like the picture at the beginning of this post!]

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1. 5. Bake in 400 degrees F oven 23 to 25 minutes or until top is golden brown.

1. 6. To serve, dollop 3/4 cup sour cream over top; sprinkle with 3/4 cup cheese and 1/3 cup green onions. Cut into wedges.

  

Sweet Potato, Carrot, Apple, and Lentil Soup

     I know, it's a mouthful of a title, but at least it's a tasty mouthful!  This soup may sound a bit strange, but trust me- it's DELICIOUS!!  My meat-loving husband went back over and over and over again for more.  Besides tasting great, with a fantastic variety of flavors, it's also extremely nutritious!  Just google nutrition facts on lentils and sweet potatoes if you don't believe me.  So, before Spring comes, take advantage of one of those wretched cold days and serve this up to lighten your family's hearts! 

INGREDIENTS

1/4 c. butter

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped

3 large carrots, peeled and chopped

1 apple, peeled, cored and chopped (I left the skins on mine)

1 onion, chopped

1/2 c. lentils

1/4 tsp. ginger powder

1/2 tsp. black pepper

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. cumin

1/2 tsp. chili powder

1/2 tsp. paprika

4 c. vegetable broth

DIRECTIONS

     

1. Melt the butter in a large pot over medium-high heat. Place the chopped sweet potatoes, carrots, apple, and onion in the pot. [HINT:  To peel the sweet potatoes, boil them for 15 minutes then immerse in ice water for 15-20 seconds.  At this point you should be able to just use your fingers to skin it, as the potatoes will slip right out of their skins] Stir and cook the apples and vegetables until the onions are translucent, about 10 minutes.
2. Stir the lentils, ginger, ground black pepper, salt, cumin, chili powder, paprika, and vegetable broth into the pot with the apple and vegetable mixture [The store was out of vegetable broth, so I just used chicken broth]. Bring the soup to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the lentils and vegetables are soft, about 30 minutes. 

So easy to cook.  You can cut and peel everything ahead of time if you want and then just pour it all in the pot to cook in the evening.  It is so so so good.  Get ready to wow your family with this one! 

Rudy's Creamed Corn

     For those of you not from Central Texas, Rudy's is a famous BBQ restaurant that serves amazing brisket and incredible creamed corn, among other things.  Their BBQ sauce is also mouth watering good.  Anyway, a friend of mine let me know that Rudy's had a special charity sale where 1/4 lb. of brisket was $.32.  That's right, 32 CENTS.  So, I of course stopped by and bought some, thinking that would be a quick dinner after a long busy day.  I figured I could fix my own sides and knew that my mother-in-law had given me the recipe for their creamed corn and I had been wanting to try it out.  So try it I did, and it turned out FABULOUS!  I love this corn.  So, here ya go!  Try it for yourself! 

INGREDIENTS

1 lb. frozen corn

1/2 c. whipping cream 

3/4 c. milk

pinch of cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. - 1/4 tsp. ground black pepper (start w/ 1/8 and taste test)

3 Tbl sugar

2 Tbl cornstarch

1 Tbl butter, melted

DIRECTIONS

1.  Mix all but butter and cornstarch in a saucepan.  Cook over medium-high heat.  

2.  Blend butter with cornstarch until smooth.  (Mine was pretty pasty, so you may want to add about a tsp. of milk to help thin it out).  

3.  After the corn mixture comes to a boil, add cornstarch mixture to the saucepan.  Mix well.  Reduce heat to low and cook until thickened.  

Alright, so probably not the healthiest way to get your dose of corn, but it sure is a tasty way!  Here's a picture of our dinner for the evening: 

Tomato Curry Chicken

  
     I started out using a recipe from allrecipes (surprise, surprise) but I added lots of ingredients and ended up making it completely my own recipe.  Yay for inventing!  I love curry and I love feeling ethnically cultured while eating curry.  This recipe in particular is super healthy, chalked full of vegetables, so eat up!

INGREDIENTS 

2 c. couscous, uncooked

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, chopped into bite size pieces

1 can (10.75 oz) condensed tomato soup

3/4 c. chicken broth

1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes 

3 red potatoes, chopped

1 zucchini, sliced

6 to 8 mushrooms, sliced

1/2 green pepper, chopped

1 onion, chopped 

3 Tbl. curry powder

1/2 tsp. basil

1/4 tsp. paprika

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS

1.  Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. 

2.  In a large frying pan melt desired amount of butter OR heat olive oil (I used a combination of both). Combine potatoes, zucchini, mushrooms, green pepper, and onion in the frying pan and saute over medium-high heat for about 10 minutes.  Don't fry until they are all mushy, just soften them up a bit.  

3.  Add tomato soup, broth, diced tomatoes, curry powder, basil, paprika, garlic, salt, and pepper.  Mix and then simmer over low heat for about 5 minutes.  (As always, taste test and adjust spices to your liking.  And if by chance you added too much for your taste, you can always dilute with a bit of water).  

4.  While vegetable mixture simmers, chop the raw chicken and place in 9x13 baking dish.  Pour vegetable mixture over chicken.  Cover with tinfoil and bake for one hour in preheated oven. 

5.  During last 10 minutes of baking time, prepare couscous according to package directions.  You could use rice instead, but I recommend the couscous!  It's more adventurous and takes 1/4 of the time to prepare! 
** Feeds 4 adults

Buffalo Chicken Wings

     
     Please excuse my absence!  My computer was in the shop for a couple of days and then we went camping and then I forgot my camera at my parents' house and had to have it shipped to me... but have no fear, the cooking exploits have gone on, uninterrupted!  
      I was a bit intimidated by the idea of making hot wings, but this recipe is fantastic!  I found it on allrecipes and scaled it down because I found out it made 3 times as much as it said it did!  These wings have the perfect amount of kick to them (if you like them really spicy, kick up the cayenne pepper), and are easy and low-stress!  

INGREDIENTS

3 lbs. chicken wings

1/4 c. butter, melted

1/4 c. red pepper sauce (I used Frank's Hot Sauce)

1/4 c. and 2 Tbl. tomato sauce

2-1/4 tsp. chili powder

1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper

DIRECTIONS

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2.  Bake wings in preheated oven for 40 minutes, or until cooked through and crispy.

3.  Meanwhile, in a small bowl combine butter, red pepper sauce, tomato sauce, chili powder and cayenne pepper.  Mix together. 

4. When wings are baked, dip in sauce to coat well (tongs work great for this, don't burn yourself!), then shake off excess and return coated wings to baking sheet (if there's tons of chicken juices and grease on your baking sheet then wash it first or else get a new clean baking sheet out).  Bake for another 15 minutes to set sauce. 

These wings are better than any I've ever eaten at a restaurant and it's great that you can bake them and get them crispy without having to deep fry them!  Enjoy!