Roasted cabbage with pears

Made this tonight to go along with leftovers that needed to be eaten up. I think this could stand alone as a main dish pretty well though. It's all that George ate for dinner. Mainly he ate the pear, but I made him take bites of cabbage each time before he got more pear. I thought the cabbage was just as good, a nice savory complement to the sweet pear.

Roasted cabbage with pears (adapted from Better Homes and Gardens, October 2012)

1 small head cabbage

3-4 pears

olive oil

salt and pepper

lemon juice

handful of walnuts, chopped and toasted

Preheat oven to 400F. Core cabbage and cut into wedges; core and quarter pears. Place on a baking sheet and toss with oil, salt and pepper. Roast in oven for 40 to 45 minutes, turning once halfway through cooking. Transfer to a serving platter. Top with a squeeze of lemon juice and a generous sprinkle of walnuts. 

Serves 4-6 as a side, probably 2 if main dish.

Honeydew, Blueberry, and Mango Salad

I made this fruit salad (photo and recipe from melskitchencafe.com) to go with our Thanksgiving meal. So delicious! The lime-ginger dressing takes a little bit of time to make, but it is so good! It does have a strong flavor, so I didn't add all of the dressing because I didn't want George and Allen's taste buds to be overwhelmed. I did use most of it, just maybe a tablespoon less. This is more expensive to make in the winter when things are not in season, but that makes it a great holiday treat.

1 tablespoon grated lime zest from 4 limes (zest limes before juicing)
1 cup fresh lime juice (from the 4 grated limes and an additional 3-4 limes as needed)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
Pinch table salt
1-inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and minced (about 1 tablespoon)
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
1/2 small honeydew melon, seeds and rinds removed, cut into 1-inch pieces (about 2 cups)
2 mangoes, peeled, pitted and cut into 1/2-inch pieces (about 2 cups)
1 pint fresh blueberries

DIRECTIONS:
In a small, heavy-bottomed non-reactive saucepan, simmer the lime juice, sugar, and salt medium-high heat until syrupy, honey-colored, and reduced to 1/4 cup, about 15 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and add the lime zest, ginger, and lemon juice. Let the mixture sit and steep for 5 minutes. Strain the syrup through a fine mesh strainer. Combine the honeydew, mangoes and blueberries in a medium bowl; pour the warm dressing over and toss. Serve immediately at room temperature or cover with plastic wrap, refrigerate up to 4 hours, and serve chilled.

We love CURRY!

The spices in curry are a great immune boost against colds and such.  Its become one of my repeat meals and my family does not mind the repetition!  I just need to remember to put yogurt at the table for those that dont like it as spicy as I do :)

We had some friends over for dinner tonight and they asked for the recipe, so I decided to type up my notes of adjustments I've made.  I got this recipe from Celia.

 CURRY IN A HURRY—by Troy Flake (Sweet Coconut Curry) serves 8 or so

Ok, here is the deal; this isn't really a recipe, it is kind of a blank canvas.  One thing is to keep tasting it.  You can balance everything out to taste. 

Put a little oil in the bottom of the pot, turn it on medium and add:

1 can of coconut milk

1 quart of whipping cream (Or milk, or broth, or more coconut milk.  Increase cornstarch to 2 Tbs)

1 tablespoons of cornstarch

Chicken: (if desired)

In a separate pan, cook as much chicken as you want, cut it into strips or chunks, and put it in.

Now here is where the fun begins; just add all this stuff in as you go:

Curry powder: probably a tablespoon or maybe even a little more

If you like it spicy then keep adding it.  If you go too far, just add a little more cream (milk works too) and it will cool it right down.  You might need to add a little more cornstarch if you add more cream. (Celia’s note: I had to add WAY more than a Tbsp. to get to a curry taste that was strong enough for me.  The pastes are stronger than the powder.)

Vegetable suggestions:

chopped chard, beet greens, kale, bok choy or tatsoi, collards maybe?

Cabbage

Eggplant

Onions

Peppers (I dont prefer them in this dish)

Potatoes: skin them, cut them up in little chunks, and boil them.  When you are done you've got to strain them and rinse them off really well or else the curry will have a potato-ish taste. (Celia’s note: I love the potatoes…red potatoes work nicely and you don’t have to peel them.  I put in a lot)

Fruit suggestions: 

Apples pieces, Pineapple chunks, Golden raisins (or regular ones)

Spices and seasoning:  Add these to your liking

A little salt and a lot of pepper

Yellow mustard—about a Tablespoon

Cayenne pepper (This helps off-set the sweet and makes it delicious)

Coriander seed, ground

Cumin

Turmeric (gives the nice curry color and is a good health boost too!)

Anything else in the cupboard that you think would work well

Just keep stirring it over low heat until the apples and the onions get soft and you can't taste the cornstarch. 

I usually let it cool down for a while and then make sure it tastes good and has a good consistency, then heat it up again just before I serve it.  The longer you do it in advance, the better it usually tastes.  Leaving it over night REALLY makes the flavor set, but either way it's good. Serve over rice.

We've learned that soaking brown rice up to a day ahead of time helps it be more digestable.  We love sweet brown rice from asian food stores.

VINDALOO CURRY PASTE—makes ½ cup

Ingredients

2 T grated fresh ginger

4 chopped cloves garlic

4 chopped fresh red chilies

1 T each of ground coriander and cumin seeds

2 tsp each of ground turmeric and ground cardamom

1 tsp ground cinnamon

4 whole cloves

6 peppercorns

½ c cider vinegar (I actually omit this - dont like the vinegar taste in the curry)

Directions

Put in a food processor and process for 20 sec. or until well combined and smooth.  Makes ½ C.

Sesame snacks

I found this idea online. Make a muppet on a plate out of fruits and vegetables. Our most recent one was Elmo (red head [cherry tomatoes, strawberries], orange nose [carrot], dark mouth [red grapes], white eyes [yogurt or ranch dressing], dark pupils [blueberries]). We've also made Oscar the grouch out of broccoli and green pepper and Cookie Monster out of blueberries. You can let your creativity flow and make other favorite cartoon characters. Sometimes George gets excited about carrots and ranch dressing, but he always gets excited about making a Sesame snack!

Pizza Bites

We found this recipe in a magazine, I think it was Parents', like the July issue maybe? We made it for a snack a few weeks ago, and today George asked for pizza bites. I couldn't figure out what he was asking for, but then he mentioned it was from a magazine. So we had this for lunch today (I made bigger pizza bites for me, on whole wheat bread).

Ingredients:
Triscuit crackers
tomato sauce
mozzarella
assorted veggies (broccoli, red pepper, we also did green pepper and pepperoni today)

Top the crackers with the toppings, put them in the toaster oven or under your oven broiler for 2 to 3 minutes and enjoy!

"Let's start at the very beginning, a very good place to start..."

So I shall post about what we eat at the beginning of the day, BREAKFAST.

We have this every day and never grow tired of it even in the summer. Love it! I make a double batch of this for Brian and me and serve with almond milk.

Banana Berry Oatmeal

1 cup of water

1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

1 Tbsp. ground flaxseed

A dash of cinnamon

1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

1 banana, sliced

Boil water, add oats, flaxseed and cinnamon. Once cooked, add blueberries and banana. 

Clara likes to make pancakes. Her favorite are the Sweet Potato Pancakes. We make a full batch and freeze the leftovers to be microwaved on future mornings.

Quick Mix

(equivalent to Bisquick)

5 cups flour

3 ½ cups whole wheat flour (I do half whole wheat and half white flour)

1 tsp. baking soda

1 Tbs. baking powder

1 ½ cups instant nonfat dry milk

1 Tbs. salt

2 tsp. cream of tartar

Mix together ingredients.

Put in airtight container. Label.

Store in a cool, dry place and

use within 10 to 12 weeks.

Pancakes

2 cups Quick Mix

2 cup water

2 eggs

Applesauce Pancakes

2 cups Quick Mix

1 cup sweetened applesauce

1 cup water

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 eggs

Sweet Potato Pancakes

2 cups Quick Mix

2 cups water

1 cup mashed cooked dark-orange sweet potatoes

2 large eggs

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 tablespoon brown sugar

Waffles

2 cups Quick Mix

1 1/3 cups water

1 egg

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Spicy Pumpkin Pancakes

2 1/3 cups Quick Mix

1/3 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie mix)

2 1/2 cups water

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

2 eggs

Thai Red Curry

Happy 4th of July! This recipe isn't exactly American like apple pie, but it's how I as an American make Thai food.

(I updated the photo, this was a few weeks ago when I made curry with eggplant that George picked out from the grocery store.)

Thai Red Curry

1 can (14 oz) coconut milk

1/4 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup peanut butter
2-3 Tbs Thai red curry paste (depending on how spicy you like it. You can get this and the coconut milk from an Asian market, although sometimes I can find coconut milk cheaper at Macey's)

juice of 1 lime (or a tablespoon or two of fish sauce, also available at Asian market)

1 chicken breast, chopped into 1 inch cubes and cooked (optional)

1 sweet potato (optional)

chopped cilantro (for garnish, optional)

Bring coconut milk to boil in medium saucepan (if you do use chicken in this, you can do like I do and boil the chicken in the coconut milk). Add remaining ingredients and stir until smooth. You can add cooked cubed chicken if you like, and I also like to add chunks of cooked sweet potato to the sauce as well. Serve curry sauce over rice and steamed or stir-fried veggies (I use typical stir fry veggies, but I especially like to add baby corn, water chestnuts, sometimes bamboo shoots). My kids don't really like the spice of the curry sauce, so they usually just eat the rice and veggies (and maybe some sweet potato and chicken that I reserved before putting them in the sauce).

Orange Walnut Green Salad

 

Orange, Walnut, Gorgonzola and Mixed Greens Salad with Fresh Citrus Vinaigrette

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe-Tools/Print/Recipe.aspx?RecipeID=72876&origin=detail&&Servings=6

I've only made this once, but I quite liked it, so I'm posting it so I remember to make it again.

Prep time: 15 min Cook time: 5 min Ready in: 20 minutes

Serves: 6

3/4 cup walnut halves

10 ounces mixed salad greens with arugula (I couldn't find any arugula when I made this)

2 large navel oranges, peeled and

sectioned

1/2 cup sliced red onion

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2/3 cup orange juice

1/4 cup white sugar (or agave)

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/4 cup crumbled Gorgonzola cheese (or feta or no cheese)

1. Place the walnuts in a skillet over medium heat. Cook 5 minutes, stirring constantly, until lightly browned.
2. In a large bowl, toss the toasted walnuts, salad greens, oranges, and red onion.
3. In a large jar with a lid, mix the olive oil, vegetable oil, orange juice, sugar, vinegar, mustard, oregano, and pepper. Seal jar, and shake to mix.
4. Divide the salad greens mixture into individual servings. To serve, sprinkle with Gorgonzola cheese, and drizzle with the dressing mixture.

Quinoa Chili

Quinoa Chili photo and recipe from here.

here's a photo of the chili I made, doesn't look quite as appetizing, but still yummy!

This recipe is part of our regular rotations now. It's one of the few meatless meals I've found that Carlos enjoys. I know I've taken a picture of it, but I can't find it, and this one looks better, anyway. Might not be too helpful for you Mom, since Dad can't have peppers and onions, but maybe you could try it without those and adapt it to be less spicy (although it's not that spicy to begin with).

2 cans black beans, rinsed & drained (or whatever beans you like)
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
2 teaspoon salt
1 green pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2/3 cup quinoa, rinsed in warm water & drained
1 cup frozen corn
2 cans tomato sauce, low salt (about 2 cups)
1 cup water

Heat oil in skillet over medium heat. Add onions, and sauté until tender. Add salt, garlic, pepper and spices; sauté for 5-10 minutes. Add rinsed quinoa and stir in. Add corn, tomato sauce, and water to onion/quinoa mixture. Simmer together 20 minutes. Add beans to the pot and simmer another 15 minutes. Serve with grated cheese, sour cream, sliced avocados or whatever else you like to put on chili. Makes 6-8 (1 Cup) Servings.