Sweet and Spicy Peanut Butter Stew

Sometimes I look at a recipe and I'm skeptical. Skeptical that something without meat could be flavorful. Skeptical that the ingredients would work together. Skeptical that something deemed as healthy would taste good. This was put to the test as part of my post-birthday week excess detox, where I decided to cook some vegetarian and low-carbohydrate dishes to counteract all of the heavy meat and breads I enjoyed for my birthday. This recipe was one my successes. The failure will be posted later this week.

I initially only made a half batch of this because I was so uncertain it would be good. Two days later I made the second half of the batch. Because this soup rocks.

Sweet and Spicy Peanut Butter Stew (serves 6)

Ingredients:

• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 1 green pepper, chopped
• 1/2 lb sweet potatoes, peeled and cut in 1/2 inch cubes
• 2 medium uncooked carrots, peeled and thinly sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 TB ginger
• 1/2 tsp cloves
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 4 cups reduced sodium vegetable broth
• 6 TB creamy, all-natural peanut butter
• 8 cups spinach, chopped
• cooking spray

Directions:

Coat a large saucepan with cooking spray and set over medium heat. Add onion and bell pepper; cook, stirring often, until softened, about 3 minutes.

Stir in the sweet potato, carrots and garlic; cook for 1 minute, stirring often. Add the ginger, cloves, salt and cayenne; cook for 30 seconds.

Pour in the vegetable broth and bring to a simmer, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Stir in the peanut butter until smooth.

Cover, reduce the heat to low, and simmer slowly, stirring once in a while, until the sweet potatoes are tender, about 30 minutes.

Add the spinach; cook, stirring occasionally, for 10 minutes. Serves approximately 6 people.

Food Porn: Central by Michel Richard

This week I celebrated my birthday. And no birthday week would be complete without an awesome meal, good friends, a bit of birthday cake.

My first birthday also included cake. And I really dug in. As my parents explained it to me, they weren't sure what to do for a 1-year-old's birthday so they gave me some chocolate cake and put a hat on me. I'm clearly quite content.

My tastes have become a bit more refined over the years and my table manners have vastly improved. But I still can appreciate a good piece of cake.

During my birthday week, I was treated to a great meal at Central by two fellow foodie co-workers. This place is known for their burgers, so it was only right for me to get one of their signature dishes. This dry-aged beef burger was awesome. It included carmelized onions, and potato crisps on top. So tasty. I paired it with a warm spinach salad with bacon vinaigrette because as we all know, I don't turn down a good bacon dish. But the lunch food didn't end there, despite my full stomach and objections.  Because you can't have a birthday celebration without something sweet.

This something sweet came in the form of a chocolate lava cake with the creamiest ice cream I've had in a long time. I have no idea what they did to make it so tasty, but it just was. And they even put a candle on it and added an edible little birthday sign. For someone who doesn't like desserts...I did like this. It hit the spot and contributed to the sugar high and the subsequent crash mid-afternoon when I just wanted to curl up in the fetal position under my desk and take a nap.

But you're supposed to indulge on your birthday. And indulge I did, even if I didn't smash my hands in it. A 33-year-old really shouldn't do such things. In public. :)

Turkey Chili

This past weekend, I went to a chili cook-off hosted by a true Texan chili maker. She put 20 pounds of beef (in 5 different cuts) into the chili and with the addition of smoked paprika, it was a smoky, meaty bowl of goodness. Between all the awesome food and party favors, this was a party that Willie Nelson would be impressed with. Whoa Nelly!

I digress. This post is not about the super-secret Texas award-winning chili recipe. This is about a chili I made the week before. Its a fairly basic chili recipe that can use any type of ground beef. I made it with ground turkey. And it included some beer. But I'm told not nearly as much beer as my friend's awesome chili. Or perhaps there was another secret ingredient. But Willie ain't talkin'.

Without further adieu, here is a basic turkey chili recipe.

 

Turkey Chili (serves 8)

Ingredients:

• 1/4 Cup olive oil
• 2 lbs ground turkey 
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper 
• Pinch of all-purpose flour
• 1 large red onion, diced
• 5 cloves garlic, crushed
• 4 TB chili powder 
• 1 TB ground cumin 
• 1 bottle dark beer
• 2 cups water 
• 1 (28-ounce) can stewed, crushed tomatoes
• 4 chipotle peppers, diced
• 1 TB honey  
• 2 cups cooked black beans   
• 1 lime, juice only  
• 1 TB cumin 

Directions:

Heat up oil over high heat in a large pan with a lid. Lightly dust meat with flour. Once your oil is hot, brown the meat for a few minutes. The goal here isn’t to cook the meat, it’s just to brown it a bit and get some flavors going in the pan.

After a few minutes, remove all meat and set it aside.

Add 4 Tablespoons of oil to the pan. Add red onions and start to cook them down. After a few minutes add garlic. After another minute or so add all chili powder, salt, pepper and cumin. Then add the beer.

Stirring pretty steadily, let the beer cook down in your onions and chili for about 10 minutes. It should reduce by about half.

Add your meat back to the mix and then add all your other ingredients except the beans. Give it a good stir and bring it to a simmer.

Let this cook down on low heat, covered, for about 45 minutes. Give it a stir every 15 minutes or so.

Once chili has cooked for about 45 minutes, uncover it and add beans and continue to cook it for another 15 minutes or so until it is nice and thick.

Serve with your favorite toppings, I kept it simple with green onions and cheese, but I'm sure sour cream and guacamole would have been equally as tasty.

 

Spicy Tomato and Chicken Pasta

I'll keep the word "spicy" as the title for this post, because perhaps it is in fact spicy for some people. But for me, I found this to be pretty mild. In fact, this might be a kid-friendly dish for families to try because it is pretty simple, doesn't require any exotic ingredients, and healthy. I don't eat a lot of pasta and when I want to go on a carb-binge, I also want it to include binge-worthy ingredients. Like meat. Sausage. And lots of cheese. Yes, this is on the lighter side and probably not something I'll make again. But if you're looking for something mild in flavor and easy to make, this is it!

Spicy Tomato and Chicken Pasta (serves 4)

Ingredients:

1 tsp ground fennel seed

1 tsp dried basil

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground coriander

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

1 lb chicken breast tenders, cut into (1-inch) pieces

1 TB olive oil

4 garlic cloves, minced

4 cups canned diced tomatoes, undrained

1 cup white wine

8 oz uncooked penne

1/4 cup (1 oz) freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese

1/4 cup chopped fresh basil

Directions:
Combine dry ingredients in a small bowl; rub over chicken.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook 4 minutes, turning once. Remove from heat; set aside.

Reduce heat to medium. Add garlic; sauté 30 seconds or until garlic is soft. Add tomatoes and wine, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes. Add chicken, and simmer 5 minutes.

Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain. Toss pasta with sauce in a large bowl. Sprinkle with cheese and basil.

Chicken wrap

When I first got back from Texas, it took me a few days until I managed to get to the grocery store and to cook again (but I made up for it this past weekend while I was home sick with a cold!)

Whenever I don't pack my lunch for work, I tend to get a wrap from the cafeteria at work. Don't get me wrong, the wrap is ok in a pinch, but a bit pricey for what you're getting. So I thought it would be a good idea to make some of my own wraps. For the record, it's hard to photograph a wrap to see its contents, so I shot it open-faced. It may not look like much, but I'm making these again this week.

Chicken Wrap (makes two wraps)

Ingredients:

• 6-8 oz chicken breast tenderloins
• olive oil
• lime juice
• cumin
• salt
• pepper
• chili powder
• bibb lettuce
• small avocado
• 2 wheat tortillas
• light ranch dressing

Directions:

You'll notice that I didn't give precise measurements for many of these ingredients. I kind of just winged it, but I think 1/2 tsp each of the dry ingredients would work. Combine the dry ingredients with the olive oil and lime juice. Marinate the chicken in this mixture for 30 minutes.

Cook the chicken on a grill pan until cooked through, 5-6 minutes depending on the thickness of the chicken. Slice into 1-inch pieces. Let cool slightly.

Place a small amount of light ranch dressing on the wrap. Lay bibb lettuce on top. slice avocado and put 1/2 of it on one wrap. Add chicken. Wrap up and serve. It can be tricky to keep an avocado in good condition after a few hours, so I wrapped the half with the seed in it tightly with plastic wrap and used the second half for another wrap the next day.

Food Porn: Texas Edition

Last weekend, I traveled to Texas with a few friends to visit two Southern sisters. Our friend had recently moved to Dallas and so we thought a long holiday weekend, filled with tourists for the inauguration, would be a good time to take a visit. I knew I would eat well and often on this trip. First off, we'd be in Texas where BBQ and big portions reigned. Secondly, we'd be visiting Drina...the consummate host and fabulous cook.

After receiving a tip from my friend Brianne, our first food stop was to her uncle's place--Louie's. She indicated that this place had been featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives (marking my second trip to one of these featured locations in two months!) and was known for their martini. A bit weary from travel, we didn't opt for the martini, but we did order a few of their pizzas. The crust was thin and crispy, just like I like it, and they didn't skimp on the toppings. We were all so hungry, we spent the time just eating away and noted that what little was left from our feast would taste awesome after a late night of country dancing. And it did.

It woudln't be a trip to Texas without some BBQ. While attending a rodeo, we did grab some BBQ at one of the local chains. The food was good, but not the best BBQ I've ever had. And I didn't get a great photo of it, so this is simply a mention that I had some brisket. Because a trip to Texas wouldn't be complete without it.

We also toured a new brewery while in Dallas and there were a few food trucks parked outside of the event to appease the cravings after all those beers. I can't recall the name of the food truck, but they had a variety of specialty hot dogs. I had a thai chicken sausage with a cabbage and jicama slaw, with peanuts and hot sauce. This flavor combo was phenomenal and I think I'll need to search out some Thai chicken sausage in the near future.

Carb and meat central over the weekend. Awesome trip, awesome friends, and awesome food!

Herb-Crusted Pork Tenderloin

When I went to make this last week, I double-checked to be sure I hadn't posted it on here before. I was very surprised that I hadn't because this is something I used to make all the time, especially when having someone over for dinner. It never disappoints and dinner guests always think it is a much more complex dish to make than it really is. Probably because it tastes so damn good. I don't really think you can screw up pork tenderloin, but if you're looking for a simple recipe that you'll likely have all the ingredients for in your pantry, this is it.  I served it with scalloped potatoes with spinach.

Herb-Crusted Pork Tenderloin (serves 4-6)

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 pounds pork tenderloin
• 1/2 cup fine breadcrumbs
• 1 TB dried basil
• 3 TB olive oil
• 1 TB fresh ground pepper
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp dried thyme

Directions:

Moisten tenderloins with water. Combine all ingredients and mix to blend. Press bread crumb/herb mixture over tenderloin and place on rack.

Bake in a pre-heated oven at 425 degrees for 30 or more minutes. Thicker ones may take 35-40 minutes. Don't overcook. I checked mine with a meat thermometer. 170 degrees for medium well done is what I cooked mine to.