Do you have any healthy recipes to share?  I’d love to hear about them…  I’m glad this dinner (and tomorrow’s lunch, which is last night’s leftovers) are good for me, because today I made this for my brother’s birthday.  I served this with a wild/brown rice combo (from a bag folks, no magic here today) and some snap peas.

Ingredients:

• 2 Tbs white wine
• 2 Tbs lemon juice
• 1 tsp olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 2 Tbs chopped rosemary
• 1 clove garlic, crushed with press
• 1 lb medium/large shrimp, peeled
• 8 rosemary sprigs (the stalkiest you can find, about 6″ long)

So tonight I made Tofu and Red Peppers and I was thinking that, instead of having the normal teryaki noodles or whatever that we normally have, I’d have some steamed bok choy with some sauce.  And then I got to thinking, as healthy as that would be, I’d probably be hungry again in about 10 minutes.  So, I decided I’d make some rice.  And then I looked at the pile of dishes in the sink, and cried because we don’t have a dishwasher.  And then I decided I’d make rice with bok choy, and save myself one pan and one lid, because every little bit helps when you’re tired of doing dishes.

Anyway, I threw this together with a lot of the same ingredients as the tofu and red peppers, so there was less chopping.  I just grated the ginger and chopped the garlic at the same time, and divvied it up.

Ingredients:

• 4 Tbs soy sauce or tamari plus enough water to equal 1 1/2 cups
• 3/4 c. jasmine rice
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 Tbs grated ginger (or about 1/2 tsp dried)
• 1 Tbs Dijon mustard (just trust me here)
• 1 lb bok choy, stalky parts and that icky bottom thing removed, chopped into bite sized pieces

Saute the onion, garlic, and ginger together until onions are just soft, about 5 minutes.  Add rice, soy and water combination, and mustard.  Cover and let simmer about 12 minutes, until most (but not all) of the water has been absorbed by the rice, stirring occasionally.  Add bok choy and stir to distribute.  Continue cooking another 3-4 minutes, until bok choy is just starting to get tender.

]]> http://www.erinseasyeats.com/dinner/94/bok-choy-and-jasmine-rice/feed/ http://www.erinseasyeats.com/recipes/93/sausage-and-pepper-calzones/ http://www.erinseasyeats.com/recipes/93/sausage-and-pepper-calzones/#comments Tue, 05 Aug 2008 00:38:11 +0000 Erin http://www.erinseasyeats.com/?p=93 This is an adaptation of a Cooking Light recipe.  I’m attempting to eat well (meaning more healthy) and so I made some modifications that would make that possible, even with a Cooking Light recipe, there are always improvements to be made!

Dough:

• 1 c. white flour
• 2 1/2 c. wheat flour
• 2 1/4 tsp yeast
• 1 c. water
• dash sugar
• 1 Tbs olive oil

Put everything in your bread machine and set to dough.  Alternatively, put water yeast and sugar in a large bowl.  Let proof.  Gradually add flour, oil, and salt until soft dough forms.  Knead 8 minutes until elastic, adding up to 1/2 c. additional flour as needed.  Cover, and let rise until doubled (about an hour.)

Filling:

• 3/4 lb. sweet Italian sausage
• 1 red bell pepper and 1 green bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 1 c. chopped onion
• 2 garlic cloves, chopped
• 3/4 c. low fat mozzarella
• 1/3 c. low fat cottage cheese
• 1/2 marinara sauce
• 2 Tbs Parmesan cheese
• 2 Tbs fresh oregano, chopped

Cook sausage, pepper, garlic and onions over medium heat until sausage is cooked through.  Cool slightly.  Stir in remaining ingredients.

To assemble, divide dough into 8 equal portions.  Roll each portion into a 6″ circle.  Spoon 1/2 c. mixture into each circle, leaving 1/2″ border.  Fold dough over, and crimp edges to seal.  Place on large cookie sheet.  Pierce tops once with a fork.  Lightly coat with cooking spray.  Bake at 450 for 14 minutes, or until lightly browned.

1 lb boneless chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces

• 2 medium onions, finely chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 small can tomato paste
• 1 Tbs allspice (at least, I think it’s about a tablespoon)
• 2 bay leaves

Cook chicken, garlic and HALF of the onions in a large, nonstick skillet until chicken is no longer pink on the outside.  Add remaining ingredients, and 1 c. water (maybe a little more, but don’t make it too soupy) and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat, cover, and simmer 30-40 minutes.  Serve over pasta (we used boring old spaghetti this evening.)

• 3 Tbs lemon juice
• 1 Tbs olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed with press
• 2 tomatoes, thinly sliced
• 1 cucumber, halved and seeded, thinly sliced
• 1/2 red onion (guess what?) thinly sliced
• 2 pitas
• 2 ribs celery, halved and sliced
• handful of mint and parsley (about 1/2 c. together)
• 2 chicken breasts
• a little bit of oregano (I used fresh because I have so much) and some steak seasoning

Thinly slice chicken into tenderloins (but not into chunks just yet.)  Sprinkle with steak seasoning, and oregano, and cook over medium high heat until cooked through (about 5 minutes per side.)  Set aside.

Split pitas and place into a dry, really hot nonstick pan.  (Please do not spray with cooking spray because it will turn black and make the pitas mushy.  Don’t ask how I know this.)  Cook about 2 minutes on each side, until crisp.  Rip into bite sized pieces.

Combine lemon juice, olive oil, and garlic in the bottom of a large bowl.  Whisk to combine.  Add veggies, herbs, pita pieces, and toss.  Cut cooked chicken into bite sized pieces.  Toss again.  Adjust salt/pepper, add more oil if you think it needs it.  Tada!

Wow, my plates look really blue.

BBQ sauce:

• 1 c. ketchup
• 4 Tbs cider vinegar
• onion and garlic powder to taste (you could use fresh too, but I’m lazy when it’s hot in the kitchen)
• 4 Tbs soy sauce
• 2 chipotle peppers in adobo, chopped in the food processor
• pepper (you’ll have enough salt from the soy sauce)
• 3 Tbs dark brown sugar

Combine all ingredients, and let sit a few hours to let the flavors mingle.  Adjust as necessary - I certainly didn’t measure so everything was done to taste.

Quinoa, Black Bean, and Corn Salad

• 1 c. quinoa, cooked
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 c. corn (frozen, canned, or fresh)
• 1 red bell pepper, chopped
• 3 scallions, white and light green parts, chopped finely
• 1/4 c. fresh cilantro, chopped
• a little olive oil to make it all stick
• juice of one lime (or a healthy squeeze on your squeezy lime from the fridge)
• 2 tsp cumin

Mix all that together and let it sit in the fridge while you cook your chicken on the grill.  Tada!

• 6 oz semisweet chocolate chips
• 4 eggs, separated
• 2 Tbs light cream (can be omitted if you don’t have it around…)
• 1 Tbs light rum (or dark, I imagine)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Melt chocolate chips either over double boiler or in the microwave (microwave in 20 second intervals, stirring between each, being careful not to overheat.)  Add egg yolks, rum, vanilla, and cream.  Stir together (I had to use my mixer because my chocolate got a little hot and things were coagulating.)  In a separate bowl, whip egg whites to soft peaks.  Fold egg whites into chocolate mixture.  Pour into cups/rammekins, and bake at 300 for 20 minutes.  If you want a slightly runnier pudding texture, bake for 5-10 minutes less.

Anyway.  I’d never even had quinoa before tonight. And I like it, a lot.  It’s like nutty couscous, with a little bite to it, like perfectly cooked rice.  I will discover more things to make with it soon.  Anyway, here it replaces couscous or bulgar in a rather traditional tabbouleh, and is accompanied by “cucumber soup” (which was looked down upon as “green mush” before I actually made it, and then made and enjoyed, at least, i think it was.)  The cucumber soup is more like a very finely pureed raita, with the mint and the yogurt and such.  I think next time, I’ll back off a little on the yogurt, because there was too much of it and our “soup” was very watery indeed.  The tabbouleh, on the other hand, was wonderful and flavorful and I used two cucumbers from my very own garden!

Tabbouleh

• 1/2 c. uncooked quinoa, cooked with 1 c. water (cook like rice, about 12 minutes)
• 1 tomato, diced
• 1/4 cucumber, peeled and diced
• 2 green onions, finely chopped
• 3 Tbs finely chopped mint
• 2 Tbs olive oil
• 3 Tbs lemon juice
• Salt (more than you think) and pepper to taste

Combine all of that stuff in a bowl and stir it up.  Let it sit around until it is cold.

Cucumber Soup

• 1 1/2 cucumbers, peeled and cut into big chunks
• 3/4 c. plain yogurt
• 2 Tbs mint (a few leaves)
• Salt (again, more than you think you’ll need)

Now, in order to make my cucumbers not be ridiculously water logged, I do a little trick that involves chopping them up into big cubes, and putting them in salted ice water for a few hours.  I’m not sure it does anything, but… whatever.  That’s what I do anyway.  Then, you rinse them off and put all that stuff into a food processor and let ‘er rip.

To make the fancy circle in the middle of the soup, I put a cookie cutter in the bowl, filled it with the tabbouleh, and smashed it down with a spoon.  Then, I sort of smushed it down as I lifted it (the first attempt was not so pretty, and I realized I needed to smash a little more) and then ladled the soup around it, and added some extra tomatoes as garnish.

Note:  I made this dish for 2, although normally meals on here serve 4 (and sometimes more.)

• 2 sausage links (I used spicy, sweet would have been just as good)
• 1 onion, thinly sliced
• 1 green bell pepper, again thinly sliced
• 1 c. cooked orzo (about 1/2 c. uncooked, just follow the directions on the package)
• Roughly 3 Tbs balsamic vinegar

Remove sausage from casings, crumble, and brown.  When sausage is no longer pink, turn heat down and add pepper and onions, letting cook about 7 minutes or until just soft.  Add balsamic vinegar, cook until reduced slightly.  Add 1/4 c. of pasta water (it’s starchy and therefore better than “regular” water) and orzo.  Stir to combine.

The rice smelled fantastic while it was cooking (jasmine rice will do that) but didn’t have enough flavor at the end, and I needed some soy sauce to perk it up.  If I make it again, I’ll halve the water and rice, effectively doubling the amount of flavorings/seasonings within the rice, to make it more interesting.  Fresh lemongrass was certainly an experience, though!  The first time I made the fish rolls, I was worried they’d fall apart, so I skewered them with toothpicks to hold them together, and then they fell apart as I pulled out the toothpicks.  This time, I couldn’t find the toothpicks, so I just placed them seam side down in the baking dish and they held together perfectly.

For the fish:

• 8 2-4oz. thin fish fillets, such as sole or flounder
• 1/4 c. fresh lime juice (3 limes)
• 2 Tbs soy sauce
• 4 garlic cloves, pressed
• 1/4 c. chopped basil
• 1 tsp freshly grated ginger
• 3 Tbs chopped cilantro
• 1/2 tsp. freshly grated lime peel
• panko bread crumbs

Mix together all ingredients except for fish.  Lay fillets on a cutting board or counter and spoon 1/8 of the filling onto each piece.  Roll up and place seam side down in a baking dish.  Spray lightly with cooking spray and dust with panko crumbs.  Cover lightly and bake a 375 for 20-25 minutes.

For the rice:

• 2 c. jasmine rice
• 2 Tbs mined lemongrass or 2 tsp freshly grated lemon peel
• 4 garlic cloves, pressed or minced
• 1 small green chile, seeded and minced
• 1 c. undrained crushed pineapple
• 2 Tbs chopped fresh basil
• 2 1/2 c. boiling water

Place rice in colander or sieve, and rinse with cool water.  Set aside.

In a large nonstick saucepan, heat a little oil over medium (about a teaspoon, really) and add lemongrass or peel, garlic, chile, and a little salt.  Cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently.  Add pineapple with its juice, basil, rice, and boiling water.  Cover and bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 15 minutes.  Let sit 5 minutes before serving.