Spur of the Moment Orange Chicken with Veggie Quinoa

This may be pretty dorky, but- don't you just LOVE when you can throw a bunch of random stuff together... that you've got hanging around the kitchen.... and make it in to a really really good meal?  Well, we are dorks because we certainly do, enjoy it- literally! 

Obviously you won't make this recipe having the exact same happenstance of ingredients on hand... unless you made fish tacos Sunday, Quinoa Cakes Saturday, and are planning to make Wild Rice with Pistachio and Oranges ( coming soon!).    The inspiration, other then what we had to use, came from a craving for Chinese Orange Chicken- but no desire for the unhappy belly afterwards.

We had a good 2.5 cups of cooked quinoa ready to go ( rather then rice- perfect!), lots of oranges to spare ( mmm juicy orange and zest), cilantro/ red cabbage/ corn/ red onion and some thawed chicken breasts just ready to either waste away sadly or be magically transformed into this super high protein, ingredient efficient, tasty AND healthy spin on a Chinese meal.  We even had leftovers to take for lunch today- yep, we are cool!  Without further adue- here's how we made this:

Ingredients::

4- 4 ounce chicken breasts, trimmed and sliced into 1" strips

Sauce+ Marinade Chicken

Juice and Zest from 2 oranges

scant* 1/4 cup Teryaki Sauce

1 small dash Toasted Sesame Oil

1 large dash Fish Sauce

1 teaspoon red pepper chili sauce

1/2 teaspoon Garlic Powder 

Quinoa

1 teaspoon Olive Oil

1/2 red onion, finely diced

1/2 cup corn

1/2 cup shredded purple cabbage

1/4 cup cilantro, chopped, plus more for garnish

1/2 cup white wine

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup reserved sauce/ marinade

1/2 orange, juiced

1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

2.5 cups cooked quinoa

salt and pepper to taste

Method::

In a medium bowl, whisk together all marinade ingredients, reserve about 1/4 cup, set aside. Season chicken lightly with salt and pepper and garlic powder, then place the chicken strips in to the bowl of marinade and let sit for 10-15 minutes. Meanwhile:


In a 10-12" pan, heat oil over medium heat till hot.  Add onion, cook for 3-4 minutes till translucent and fragrant.  Add in the corn, cabbage, cilantro, tomatoes and stir to combine, 2 minutes.  Add in 1/2 cup wine and reduce by half.  Add in the quinoa, toss well, adding in marinade, orange juices and water to coat the mixture.  If it's too dry, add more water.  Heat through, about 3 minutes longer.  Taste and adjust seasonings with salt and pepper.

To cook the chicken, heat another 8-10" pan over medium high heat with a small dash of oil.  When the pan is hot, add in all the marinade and chicken from your bowl.  Cook tossing often for about 7-8 minutes, till juices run clear and chicken is cooked through completely.  Serve on a bed of Quinoa and top with extra cilantro.

Slow Roasted Balsamic Tomatoes and Leeks

Jamie Oliver.  ( period) He is such a cool guy!  We have 2 of his cookbooks and often find ourselves overwhelmed with the simplicity of ingredients in recipes that bring this incredible complexity of flavor.  He cooks like we wish we could all the time, from his freshest garden at home, lots of herbs and lots of real food.  This recipe was so simple, but unique, and intriguing- the photos alone are just so pretty... we made served this as a warm tomato salad with french baguette slices for dinner and it is heavenly.  Something about roasted vegetables, of course they are warm, but the flavors all meld and become this rich fresh mixture that explodes flavors in your mouth.  The next day we sliced some of the leftover tomato into chicken paninis and also had some warmed and sliced with soft boiled eggs and toast for breakfast.  Give this one a try and you won't be disappointed!  Now, we couldn't find baby leeks, so we used the smallest we could find and used just 6, sliced and rinsed VERY well.  You'll want to slice them and put them in a big bowl, fill it with cold water and plunge the leeks a few times to loosen up the sand, then let sit for a few minutes before skimming the leeks out with a slotted spoon to a towel to dry.  The sand sinks to the bottom and you will be glad you took the time to rinse them after you see what's left over!  Also, we used dried bay leaves because we already had them, and they worked just as well.  We fit 8 plum tomatoes into a 8 x 8 glass dish, since we don't have a large enough dutch oven, if you go our route use less balsamic ( 1/2 cup)

Slow Roasted Tomatoes and Leeks

( adapted from Jamie Oliver's recipe)

Ingredients:

• 8 plum tomatoes

• 4 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely sliced

• 1 handful of fresh basil, leaves picked and torn up

• 8 fresh bay leaves

• 6 leeks, trimmed, sliced in 1/2" rounds and washed

• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

• 4oz cheap balsamic vinegar

• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

 

Method:

 

325°F

Score the tops of the tomatoes with a cross. Take an 8" x 8" dish that the tomatoes will fit snugly into, and sprinkle the garlic and basil all over the bottom of it. Stand the tomatoes next to each other in the pan, on top of the garlic and basil, then push the bay leaves well into the scores in the tomatoes and season well. Lay the leeks on a board and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper. Using a rolling pin, press down on top of the leeks to really squeeze the seasoning into them. This will also loosen their texture. Weave the leeks in and around the tomatoes. Pour over the balsamic vinegar, drizzle over the olive oil, and bake in the preheated oven for an hour. Before serving, remove the bay leaves.

Shakshuka

What is it?  Shakshuka, an Israeli dish with eggs poached in a flavorful tomato sauce.  This recipe has a small ingredient list or cheap grocery staples- packs a huge punch of flavor, and it is SO simple to make. Win Win Win!  The one tip is to use the BEST quality canned tomatoes, we used a store brand and there was a slight so so taste the tomatoes, which are the star in this recipe.

Shakshuka [Eggs Poached in Spicy Tomato Sauce]

Adapted from Saveur
Serves 4
1/4 cup olive oil
5 Anaheim chiles or 3 jalapeños, stemmed, seeded, and finely chopped
1 small yellow onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, crushed then sliced
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 tablespoon paprika
1 28-ounce can whole peeled tomatoes, undrained
Kosher salt, to taste
4 eggs
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley
Warm pitas, for serving

Heat oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat. Add chiles and onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and golden brown, about 6 minutes. Add garlic, cumin, and paprika, and cook, stirring frequently, until garlic is soft, about 2 more minutes.

Put tomatoes and their liquid into a medium bowl and crush with your hands. Add crushed tomatoes and their liquid to skillet along with 1/2 cup water, reduce heat to medium, and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened slightly, about 15 minutes. Season sauce with salt.

Crack eggs over sauce so that eggs are evenly distributed across sauce’s surface. Cover skillet and cook until yolks are just set, about 5 minutes. Using a spoon, baste the whites of the eggs with tomato mixture, being careful not to disturb the yolk. Sprinkle shakshuka with feta and parsley and serve with pitas, for dipping.

Summer Vegetable Risotto

Risotto often raises a red alert flag in many fellow cooks because we all think it's too difficult to make. This really isn't true, and I think where the confusion lies is the fact that you have to slowly add liquid in and stir frequently- aka, be present while cooking. Stirring loosens the starchy molecules from the rice and into your liquid, creating a smooth rich creamy sauce. So adding in hot liquid and letting it absorb into the rice slowly and create the sauce. If you'd like to make this recipe more healthy you can use turkey or chicken sausage, or no sausage at all, and add in half the Parmesan and butter, or replace the butter with 1 T olive oil. This was a great way to use all the summer vegetables coming out of the garden right now. If you have the time and want to use fresh tomato go for it- but we had a lot of fresh corn, basil, zucchini! And let me tell you, this was SO fresh, so creamy and rich and delicious- I can't wait to eat leftovers for lunch and make this again as the seasons change with different veggies.

Summer Vegetable Risotto
Adapted from Martha Stewart Everyday Food
Serves 6
1 can (28 ounces) diced tomatoes in juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
3/4 pound mild Italian sausage, casings removed
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 large zucchini, about 3/4 pound, coarsely chopped in bite size pieces
Coarse salt and ground pepper
1 cup Arborio rice
1/4 cup cooking Sherry + 1/4 cup water
1 clove garlic, minced 
14 ounces baby spinach, chopped (about 7 cups)
2 ears of corn, boiled to cook and carved from cob
1/4 cup basil, chopped
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving (optional)
2 tablespoons butter

In a small saucepan, combine tomatoes (with their juice) and 3 cups water. Bring just to a simmer; keep warm over low heat.

In a medium saucepan, heat oil over medium. Add sausage, zucchini and onion; season with salt and pepper. Cook, breaking up sausage with a spoon, until sausage is opaque and onion has softened, 5 minutes. Add garlic to combine.

Add rice; cook, stirring until well coated, 1 to 2 minutes. Add sherry+ water; cook, stirring until absorbed, about 1 minute.

Add about 2 cups hot tomato mixture to rice; simmer over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until absorbed, 4 to 5 minutes. Set your timer for 25 minutes, and continue adding tomato mixture, 1 cup at a time, waiting for one cup to be absorbed before adding the next (every 5-6 minutes), stirring occasionally, until rice is creamy and just tender (you may not have to use all the liquid).

Remove pan from heat. Stir in spinach, corn, basil, Parmesan, and butter; season with salt and pepper. Serve immediately (risotto will thicken as it cools), and sprinkle with additional Parmesan, if desired.

Roasted Tomato Salsa

6 Plum Tomatoes
2 Garlic Cloves
1 bunch of Cilantro
2 Limes
1 Small Red Onion (or whatever onion you have)
2 Serrano Peppers
1 tbs EVOO
2tsp Kosher salt
a few cracks of fresh ground pepper

Place the tomatoes in an oven safe dish and place in the broiler.  Broil until blackened and soft.  Quarter when done.
Roughly chop the onion and the peppers, crush and peel the garlic.  Then add all three to a hot pan with the EVOO.  Saute just until soft and fragrant.
Add all of the ingredients together in a good blender or food processor and pulse until combined.  Add extra salt and lime to taste.

Panzanella with Turkey Sausage

This is a great recipe to use up a loaf of day old baguette... we had some stored in the freezer and decided to give this recipe a try.  Panzanella is a bread and tomato salad, which is super easy to throw together on a weeknight.  ( It is also similar to our previously posted Roasted Carrot and Arugula Salad ( so GOOD))  We paired the salad with some Italian style turkey sausage, to finish off the meal.  Make sure you have some ripe and red tomatoes, which luckily the store had this week.  Spring produce is in abundance- hooray!

Ingredients
6 medium ripe tomatoes, cut into wedges (about 1-1/2 pounds)
1 medium cucumber, cut into half moons
1/2 medium red onion, thinly sliced into half moons
2 cups arugula
2 cups baby spinach
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 small whole-grain baguette or other crusty bread (preferably day-old;
about 8 ounces), cut into 3/4-inch chunks and toasted in warm oven
1 16-ounce package Italian-style Turkey Sausage

In a large bowl, toss together the tomatoes, cucumber, onion, oil, vinegar, salt, and pepper. Add the bread chunks, arugula and spinach and toss well so all the bread is well moistened.

Preheat a pan over medium-high heat, add a little olive oil.

Add the sausage and cook, turning once or twice, until cooked through (160 degrees) 16 minutes. Serve the sausage, whole, alongside the panzanella salad.

Fried Green Tomatoes

Sunday at the Farmer's Market, all the good Red tomatoes were gone from our favorite vendor, BUT never fear- we found some really great looking heirloom Green tomatoes... so what else could you make with these tart juicy tomatoes? Well that's what we thought! Fried Green Tomatoes, very simple to make, and not so unhealthy for you if your oil is hot enough. Here's what we did,

The main Star:
1 extra large Green Tomato, evenly sliced 1/8" thick

The Egg Wash:
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/4 cup low fat buttermilk or fat free cream or Milk!
dash salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper

In a shallow pie pan or dish, beat all ingredients together, set aside

The Crust:
1/2 cup cornmeal or cornmeal flour
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon garlic
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
In another shallow pie pan or dish, mix all ingredients together, set aside

To Prepare:
In a frying pan with deep sides, add in 1/4 -1/2 cup canola oil (depending on the size of your frying pan, you want to have a thin layer of oil in the bottom 1/8" high) heat up the oil over high heat.

Dip the slices of tomato in the Egg Wash, then coat them in the Crust mixture.

Gently place the tomatoes in to the hot oil, cook about 3 minutes per side. They should be golden and crispy.

Then transfer to a plate with paper towels on it and sprinkle with more salt/ pepper to taste. Serve with fresh parsley, ranch dressing or all alone. They're all good!

Tomato and Artichoke Orzo

We came across a great article on the web with some ideas for using the top super foods, Artichokes are one of them; this is some info from that article- followed by a recipe they shared and we adapted in to a meal!

"A study in the British Journal of Nutrition showed that artichokes had the highest antioxidant capacity of 40 vegetables and herbs tested. "Like broccoli, cabbage, and cauliflower, artichokes are rich in flavonoids, which help slow the growth of breast and other types of cancer cells in lab studies," says Dong Moon Shin, M.D., a professor and Frances Kelly Blomeyer chair in cancer research at the Emory Winship Cancer Institute in Atlanta. "

Ingredients:

4 fresh artichokes

2 celery stalks, chopped

1/2 white onion, chopped

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

1 cup red wine

28-ounce can of chopped tomatoes

4 cloves minced garlic

fresh grated parmesan cheese

2 cups cooked orzo pasta

salt and pepper to taste

Boil 4 artichokes for 30 minutes; drain. In the same pot, brown 2 chopped celery stalks, 1 chopped onion, and 1 teaspoon dried oregano in 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add 1 cup red wine, a 28-ounce can of chopped tomatoes, and 4 cloves minced garlic. Place artichokes in tomato mixture; spoon mixture over then. Cover and simmer for about 35 minutes or until artichokes are tender. Serve over a bed of orzo pasta topped with grated cheese. Enjoy knowing that you are eating SUPER food!

Fresh Tomato, Cucumber and Apple Salad

:

1 medium sized Cucumber

8 Compari tomatoes

1 Gala Apple

1 Lemon, juiced

1/2 tsp Kosher salt

Cracked black pepper to taste

Directions:

Cube the Cucumber and the Apple, and quarter the tomatoes, Combine in a mixing bowl followed by the juice of 1 whole lemon, 1/2 tsp kosher salt and cracked black pepper to taste. Toss ingredients together gently and serve chilled.

One of the best parts of summer is the freshness and availability of local fruits and vegetables. We love eating fresh salads with lots of flavor and this extremely simple, yet very tasty recipe is no exception.

Ingredients

Garden Herb Lentil Salad

Need ideas for an easy salad to take to work with you? This one travels and keeps well, it is also packed with great benefits like fiber, protein, and vitamins A & C. It's also a great way to use all those herbs taking over your garden- fresh mint, basil and parsley make this a refreshing and delicious meal (or side dish) serve warm or cold!

1 cup lentils
3 cups water
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1/4 cup red onion, finely diced
3 cups baby spinach
1 cup tomatoes (cherry of plum), halved of diced
1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1/8 cup fresh chocolate mint leaves, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
salt and pepper to taste

Cook the lentils by put the them in a pot with the water, bring to a boil, then reduce and simmer with the lid on an angle for about 20 minutes. You want them to be tender but keep there shape and no be exploding all over. Drain the extra water from the pot and set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet, medium/ high heat. Toss in the red onion, cook for 3 minutes. Turn off the flame and then add in the spinach, toss for about 2 minutes, then add the tomatoes and herbs. toss to combine. Then add in the lime juice, and season with salt and pepper.

We divided this up in to 4 servings in to-go containers to bring for lunches or use as a side later in the week. It keeps well for about 3-4 days.

photos coming soon