Simple Salad

Small tomatoes and edamame Salad

• 1 pint quartered Cherry rainbow tomatoes
• a cup and a half of edamame 
• dressing: one sliced green onion, a pinch or two of garlic powder, lemon zest, juice of half a lemon, salt, pepper, extra virgin olive oil, and a pinch or two of parsley

Acorn Squash and Goat Cheese Quiche

Roasted acorn squash and goat cheese quiche with parsley

Chicken and Eggplant Soup

1 eggplant
Salt & pepper
Paper towels
Extra virgin olive oil

Prepare oven to about 425°
Cut the eggplant into cubes and sprinkle on salt while on paper towels. After about 15 minutes, use more paper towels to dab on the top to remove moisture from the eggplant. On baking sheet, add pepper and EVOO and toss gently for all to be evenly coated. Roast in the oven for about 15 minutes. Let cool, turn off oven.

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One pound of chicken breast strips
Salt & pepper
Italian seasonings
Extra virgin olive oil

Heat saute pan medium high heat, cook the seasoned chicken until cooked through, flipping mid-way with golden brown crust. Remove from heat and let rest. Chopped the chicken to very little sizes (or shred with fork).

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About 2 stalks of celery, halved and sliced
About 2 sticks of carrots, halved and sliced
One onion, chopped
3-4 cloves of garlic, chopped
About 1/2 of pound of little potatoes, quater
Italian seasonings
Salt and pepper
Extra virgin olive oil

In a steep pan or pot on medium high heat, EVOO until hot. Add onion and garlic for 3 minutes before adding celery, carrots, potatoes, seasonings. Cover and stir occasionally.

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Take cooled roasted eggplant in the blender with chicken broth (about 6-8 cups) and blend until you see no more eggplant chunks. Using a large bowl with a strainer, pour the eggplant chicken broth in and stir around the strainer to help the liquid go through while catching any seeds from the eggplant.
Pour the eggplant chicken broth into the vegetables and let cook covered and  for occasionally stir 15 to 20 minutes until the potatoes are cooked through. Add in the chopped shredded chicken and stir until heated through. Serve.

Some Combinations

Sandwiches

*Apricot jam/jelly and Sunflower Butter

*Grilled Pepper Jack cheese and Apricot jam/jelly 

Cookies

*Almond Butter and dried cherries

*Cashew Butter and dried apricots with apricot jelly center

Toast toppings

*Apricot jelly\jam and strawberries

Salads

*Dragon fruit, avocado, grapes with EVOO, S&P, and lemon juice

*Beets, peaches, arugula, toasted pine nuts, goat cheese, coconut oil, agave nectar, S&P, and champagne vinegar

Don't Knock It Until You Try It

Gruyere cheese, bacon, and shaved brussel sprouts (cook in microwave with little bacon fat, salt, and pepper) grilled cheese sandwich

Corn Risotto

Recipe coming soon

Sausage & Quinoa Dish

Quinoa- use its package cooking instructions. I used chicken broth

Saute Sausage to fully cooked, before taking it out on a plate. Save about 2 tablespoons of the extra virgin oil and rendered fat from the sausage while discarding (or saving) the rest. Saute sliced onion until it starts to caramelized and add chopped garlic, salt and pepper. Add cannellini beans until lightly browned and add washed/chopped kale. Seasoning salt, pepper, and a little bit of nutmeg. Once the kale wilted, add about a cup of chicken broth and let it reduce to vaporization, bring back the sausage and add the cooked quinoa, mixing well before serving. Perfect for lunch and dinner.

Green Chicken Chili

Part 1 Ingredients
2 green peppers
2 green tomatoes
2 jalapenos
2 poblano peppers
2 green cubanelle peppers
1 small can of chicken stock or broth

Method
Pre-heat oven to 425°

Cut all ingredients in half, scrape out all the seeds and ribs out. Season with salt, pepper, and extra virgin olive oil and place on cookie sheet (use two so it won't overcrowd).

Roast the peppers and tomatoes for 40 minutes, flipping them over half way through time (20 minutes).

When out of the oven, reserve half (equal) of the peppers and tomatoes. Slightly chop and put in the blender to puree with the small can of chicken broth/stock.

Chop and slice the other half of the mixture to put in with the ground chicken.

Part 2 Ingredients
1 lb ground chicken
1 white onion, chopped
2 or 3 cloves of garlic, mince
1 cup of frozen edamame beans
A small palmful of cumin
Cilantro, chopped

Method
On medium high heat in either a soup/spaghetti pot or a deep saute pan, heat up some EVOO (about twice around the pan), saute onion and garlic until translucent and slightly golden to add the ground chicken and cumin. Stir frequently until chicken is cooked. Add in the chopped roasted peppers and tomatoes and the edamame beans. Saute for about 5 minutes before adding the roasted peppers and tomatoes puree. Let simmer for about 10 minutes, stir on occasion. Add cilantro.

Serve with the usual classic chili toppings (cheese- fontina, provolone, and mozzarella works best), sour cream, avocado, etc.

Polenta Pizzas

A household favorite.

Polenta (6 cups of water, 1 and 3/4 cups of polenta, salt and pepper, butter) lay it on a sheet pan and even it out. Refrigerate for 3 hours. Use a water glass to cut out discs, oil them to grill or saute.

Sauce is simple cherry tomatoes, garlic and basil cook until tomatoes start to blister and mash them. Top that and mozzarella on the polenta (after you flip the polenta like a hamburger)

Really Red Chili

I posted my chili recipe yet I decided vamp it up a bit. Instead of sautéing the onions-beef and then put that and vegetables and seasonings in the crock-pot, I decided to do the classic one-pot meal using my dutch oven for about an hour on medium heat and the final half hour to low heat. I also omitted some veggies and kept it less by simply peppers and beans along with the sauce

I thought it would be cool to use red everything: 

-red onion

-8 red jalapeño peppers, seeded and ribs taken out

-2 red bell peppers, seeded and ribs taken out

-1 medium can of red beans, drained

-tomato paste

-1 medium can of tomato sauce (add water if it gets too thick)

The only things that weren't red was the garlic, butter, EVOO, dried Italian herbs and fresh cilantro (stirred in at the end).

Like my original chili recipe, I used McCormick's chili seasoning as well as my own with chili powder, cumin, and cinnamon (yes, you read that right- cinnamon. But a small palm full)

First Time Ever: Chicken Pot Pies

Believe it or not, until today, I never made chicken pot pies. I've eaten them but they were made by someone else. The closest thing of a chicken pot pie I made was this Rachael Ray recipe. Finally I decided to go for it after doing some Internet research and trying to figure out what to do with the remaining puff pastry dough. I decided to make them mini so that my household could have their own cups with the crust and veggies.

My filling was chicken, onion, potato, carrots, celery, corn, peas, dried tarragon, chicken broth, milk, flour, dijon mustard, and butter

Black Bean Cheeseburgers

Ingredients:
2 cans of black beans, drained and washed
1 large onion, chopped
2-4 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 cup of bread crumbs
handful of cilantro, chopped
1 egg
pinch of salt & pepper
a small palm full of cumin (eyeball)
a small palm full of paprika (eyeball)
a quick dash of Worchester sauce (eyeball)
a couple of slices of cheddar cheese (or any other kind of cheese you like)
1 small onion, sliced
1 red pepper, sliced
vegetable oil

Method:
-In a hot saute pan with vegetable oil in medium-high heat, cook the large chopped onion and let cook for a couple of minutes until translucent and getting brown at the edges. Add garlic and let cook for a few minutes before adding the beans (try not to let the garlic burn) so they could heat through- about 5-7 minutes- stirring often. Add cumin, paprika, salt and pepper along the way
-Put the hot bean and onion mixture in the Cuisinart to puree; add the cilantro and puree until well mixed. Wipe the hot saute clean to reuse to cook the bean burgers. Put the bean/onion puree in a mixing bowl and let cool (so it won't cook the egg) with the bread crumbs, Worchester sauce, and egg to mix. Divide the bean mixture to 4 and shape them into burger patties. Heat vegetable oil in the saute pan before adding in the bean burgers. Let cook on both sides for about 5-7 minutes. After you flip, add the cheese.

-Meanwhile, while the bean/onion mixture is cooking, heat another saute pan in medium-high heat with butter (about 2 tablespoons) and vegetable oil. Add in the sliced small onion and cook for about 3 minutes before adding in the sliced red pepper. Saute until the veggies are starting to get roasted-looking. Add to the bean burgers once the cheese is melting.

Serve

Turkey & Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients:
-For the quinoa, follow the instructions it comes with (I used chicken broth for more flavor)
-1 lb of ground turkey
-1 zucchini, peeled and grated
-2-3 cloves of garlic, chopped
-poultry seasoning
-cumin
-smoked paprika
-4 green peppers, top cut off with the insides of seeds and ribs scrapped out
-salt and pepper
-EVOO
-a small handful of cilantro, chopped

Method:
Preheat oven 400 degrees

While the quinoa is cooking, heat up a saute pan with EVOO on medium-high heat. Add grated zucchini to cook about 3 minutes before adding the garlic, season with salt and pepper. After about 5 minutes, pushed the zucchini-garlic mixture aside to add the ground turkey and start stirring it together. Season with salt and pepper, cumin, smoked paprika, poultry seasonings. After about 10 minutes, add in the chopped cilantro and let cook until the quinoa is finished (it usually take 10-15 minutes to cooked) with the heat reduced down to low.

While the turkey mixture and quinoa are cooking, in a greased up 9x13 baking pan, set the 4 green peppers and season them with salt, pepper and drizzle of EVOO. Add the cooked quinoa to the turkey mixture and mix together. Using a big spoon or a cup, scoop the mixture into the green pepper until to the top.

Put the stuffed green peppers in the oven and bake for 35 minutes. Let stand for about 5 minutes before serving

Grilled Chicken with Red Pepper Orzo

Grilled Chicken:
4 chicken cutlets
salt
pepper
EVOO
McCormick's Grill Mater's Roasted Garlic & Herb
mix together and marinade for about 30 minutes
heat up grill and cook the chicken for about 5-7 minutes on each side. Let rest for about 5 minutes off the heat before chopping up the chicken

Red Pepper Orzo:
about 2 tablespoons of butter
1 shallot chopped
1 red pepper chopped
1 cup of orzo
1 2/3 cups of chicken broth
salt
pepper
melt the butter in a small or medium sauce pan over medium-high heat. Add shallot and cook for about 5 minutes until translucent before adding in the red pepper for another 5 minutes or so. Add orzo to let toast for a few minutes before adding in the broth. Cover, come to a boil and then lower the heat to Low (as low as you can go) to let simmer for 20-25 minutes. Use fork to fluff up the pasta before putting it in the serving bowl

In a serving bowl, mix red pepper orzo and the chopped grilled chicken together, season with salt and pepper to taste and a little drizzle of EVOO before serving.
Optional: sprinkle chopped parsley as garnish

Homemade Macaroni Salad

This was my first time of making macaroni salad ever. Never really thought of it before until this week when I  was eyeing at the macaroni box that spoke to me "use me". I also had quite a lot of organic vegetables to use before they quickly go bad. The recipe is very simple.

Ingredients:
-celery stalk (with leaves included)- chopped
-carrot- shredded by food processor
-cucumber- shredded with food processor
-mayo- about 3-4 large spoonfuls (eyeball)
-mustard- 1 spoonful (eyeball)
-balsamic vinegar- a shot (eyeball)
-dill- a few springs chopped
-S&P
-red spring onion- sliced thinly with either madonlin or food processor using the slicer blade
-lemon juice- squirt (eyeball)
-macaroni- 2 cups and boiled

Method:
While cooking the macaroni in boiling water, prepare all the ingredients in a mixing bowl.
Allow the macaroni cool down in the strainer before adding to the mixing bowl
Cover and put in refrigerator to chill for about 30 minutes before serving.

Since I like to have my onions cooked (as I love the sweet taste rather than raw), I saute them in a small saute pan with a little EVOO, S&P till soften. Let cool before adding to the other ingredients.

Harri's Dream Sandwich

Recently I made a grilled cheese (using Gruyere and Monterey Jack) with bacon. Harri LOVES cheese and bacon; whenever I make something with those ingredients, I'm guaranteed that I'll have a four-legged visitor looking for scraps and samples of the meal.

Chicken Quesadillas

I like to use McCormick's spices of Garlic and Herb to marinate chicken breast (boneless; strips or breast. I mainly use strips as it's easier to dice up. If it gets flakey, don't panic, use it! It doesn't have to be perfect) with EVOO, S&P for 30 minutes or more until you are ready to cook. I cooked the chicken for about 7 minutes or so before I take it out to let it rest while I clean out the same pan to heat up the buttered-tortillas

I also used Sargento's 5 Mexican cheeses (or Cheddar/Montery Jack)

Also: either scallions, cilantro, or caramelized onions to go inside with the chicken and cheeses.

I used my grill-saute cooking pan to make those lovely grill marks.

Served with a couple of dollops or sour cream. Or Salsa.

If you are a vegetarian, just leave out the chicken.

The Heather Webber Special

Heather Webber is a character from soap opera 'General Hospital'; she always mention Ice tea and BLTs (Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato) so often that time to time I fix it myself! However, unlike my own ice teas and BLTs, Heather would more than likely poison you!