Better-than-ever Beef Enchiladas: Kraft Foods

Finally made this recipe. Yum.

Yep, that's all I've got tonight, folks.

peace of Christ to you,
Jessica

Penne and Veggies with Rosemary Garlic White Sauce

The Rosemary and Garlic White Sauce is taken from this Cooking Light recipe. (I made the Roasted Butternut Squash Lasagna, btw. It was very tasty, but had a uniformly squishy texture. The tastiness came primarily from the sauce, so I figured that the sauce was repeatable, but the whole casserole was not.)

Call this mac'n'cheese for grown-ups. Sans cheese. Unless you add Parmesan to everything, like I do. And with appeal to kids, 'cause my two gobbled it up. Okay, call it refined mac'n'cheese. Or just call it yummy. :D

peace of Christ to you,
Jessica

Oodles of Gingery Noodles: Vegetarian Times

Actually, I think this is misnamed: this recipe tastes a lot more of hoisin sauce than it does of ginger.

Not that that's a bad thing. Hoisin sauce isn't a bad taste. But it is a strong one, and it drowns out a lot of the other tastes in this dish. Except, surprisingly, the taste of tofu. That might sound dubious too, but as the recipe has you fry the tofu till it's golden-brown and toasty, the taste of tofu is much like the taste of nice, slightly soggy Chicken McNuggets.

Hmm. I haven't made this sound terribly appetizing yet, have I? Okay, one last try: if I got this at a corner Chinese restaurant, I wouldn't carry away any strong memory of it, but I wouldn't feel ripped off either. In fact, I'd probably think I'd gotten a remarkably non-greasy, passable and enjoyable dish, made with rather good pasta.

peaced of Christ to you,
Jessica

alterations:
-asparagus instead of watercress, because it was amazingly cheaper at the ranch market.
-fettucine instead of somen because Trader Joe's was inexplicably out of Asian noodles. How does that happen? Did they move them and just not tell me? And how could they, when there's nowhere else, that I know of, that carries green tea noodles?

Chicken and Potatoes over Sautéed Spinach

Tonight I made this recipe from Cooking Light.

I actually made it over spinach and kale 'cause I had a bunch of kale trying to go to seed in the garden. That meant that I had to steam the kale a bit, just because it takes longer to cook than spinach.

I also forgot to take a photograph of this one; but I really don't think it would have photographed well. It didn't look amazing.

And, initially, it didn't taste amazing. The first bite of chicken was a bit bland, as was the first of potato. But then, a taste of the broth, and the dish came alive. The broth had all the concentrated flavors of onion and ginger, of five-spice powder and sherry. Pretty soon my mouth was burning, in a really good way.

This taste very different than anything I've made before, probably a result of the five-spice powder. There was a bit of licorice to it (from the anise in the powder), which was really interesting. I'll make it again.

peace of Christ to you,
Jessica

alterations:
-I took the ends of the green onions and the skin of the ginger and boiled them from a couple of hours, then took the resulting veggie broth, salted it with boullion, and used that in place of the chicken broth. Yum.
-I used a bunch of green onions in the place of each leek, 'cause the ranch market was out of leeks.
-I didn't peel the potatoes. Why throw out all those good vitamins and all that good fiber?
-added kale, as mentioned above.

Menu Plan Monday

I'd like to point out that though the first meal sounds boring, it's actually the one I'm most excited about: it is, to quote the article I clipped it from, an example of "the Chinese technique of red cooking - braising meat in a flavorful combination of soy sauce, ginger, alcohol, and spices." Mmmmm. It's also to be my first chance ever to use Chinese five spice powder, and I've been curious about that for awhile. Aaah! Cooking is so exciting! (I'm such a nerd.)

Monday: Chicken and Potatoes over Sauteed Spinach
Tuesday: freezer meal
Wednesday: Oodles of Gingery Noodles
Thursday: Sausage and Pepper Calzones
Friday: dinner at folks'
Saturday: bagel melts

Yum, it's gonna be a good week! Check back here later in the week for pictures and reviews of how the recipes turned out! And check out Org Junkie for more yummy menus!

peace of Christ to you,
Jessica Snell

for Sharon

Here's the recipe for African Chickpea and Spinach Soup, as I made it (I altered it slightly from the original). I got it from Vegetarian Times, but look as I could, I could not find it on their website. So, here it is:

-2 tsp. olive oil
-1 onion, chopped
-2-3 cloves garlic, minced
-1/4 c. chunky peanut butter
-2 c. chicken broth
-1 tsp. paprika
-1 tsp. ground coriander
-1/4 tsp. chili powder
-1 can chickpeas, drained
-1 can diced tomatoes, undrained
-2.5 oz. frozen, chopped spinach, thawed

1) heat oil in large pot over med heat. Add onion, saute 5 minutes, till soft and golden. Add garlic, sautee 2 minutes, or till lightly browned.
2) Mix peanut butter and chicken broth, set aside. (This was easier for me because I used reconstituted boullion, so my broth was hot. By the by, the easiest way I've found to reconstitute boullion into broth is to put the boullion in a glass Pyrex 1-qt. measuring cup, then pour boiling water - heated in a tea kettle - over the boullion, and stir. Easy to see how much you ought to add when it's in a measuring cup.)
3) Add paprika, coriander and chili to onion mixture, and saute 1 min., or until fragrant (like you would with a curry, mmm!). Stir in peanut butter mixture, chickpeas and tomatoes. Simmer. Stir in spinach. Simmer on low with lid on till suppertime. In my case, about an hour.


Warning: for some reason, this dish smells funny, but tastes good.

Enjoy!
-Jessica Snell

Sausage, Apple, and Cheddar Bread Pudding: Cooking Light

It's not a casserole folks, it's a bread pudding. Doesn't that make you feel delightfully snobby? :D

So, last night I made this recipe from Cooking Light. I'd like to make a declaration of alteration: if it's a Cooking Light recipe, unless I say otherwise, I am always substituting real eggs for the egg substitute, I am using regular, full-fat cheddar cheese, and I'm using skim milk in place of whatever variety they needed to get their calorie count right. There.

Declaration done, on to the review! This is yummy. This is very yummy. This is also something you should make soon, as the ingredient list simply smacks of fall, and while you might get away with it in the cloudy early spring, this is definitely not a dish for the dog days of summer.

I know it looks like it doesn't use a lot of cheese, and it doesn't, but with all the other rich and taste-heavy ingredients (sausage, onion, green apple, egg), you really don't need to add extra. It's fine with the amount they suggest.

You could probably alter this recipe pretty easily - use different kinds of bread or cheese or meat or veggies, and get some really good original dishes. Taco Bread Pudding? Ham Mushroom Asparagus Bread Pudding? I can see a lot of possibilities.

Also? This doubles really easily.

-Jessica

alterations, those listed above plus:
-I used hot Italian sausage, and accidentally about doubled the amount. A happy accident, I'd say.
-I used a bit more sourdough bread than called for, just because of how big the loaves I bought were. It turned out fine. I think this recipe is fairly elastic.