Asparagus and Soy Chicken

It has been a few years and another child since I’ve updated this blog. In this time, our lives have gotten busier. My son has started and finished Montessori and is starting Kindergarten at a public school this fall. My daughter is a week away from being 2 years old and I am one of those people who has settled into a lock-down routine and is thoroughly enjoying my summer evenings. There is no need to rush off to swimming and ice skating classes. That said, I have never relied on fast cooking meals as much as I have lately, so here is an Asparagus Soy Chicken dinner. This recipe is a variation on the Asian style soy chicken you might find at a restaurant. My husband and kids ate it over noodles but I ate it with quinoa and I really enjoyed it that way. 

Asian chicken with Asparagus

1 lb chicken breast, cut into large cubes

1 bunch asparagus, cleaned and cut into 2” pieces.

1 yellow pepper, cut into large pieces

1 onion, cut into large pieces

1tbsp soy sauce

2 tbsp hoisin sauce

1 tbsp sesame oil

1 tbsp vegetable oil

For the sauce

1 tbsp cornstarch

1/2 cup water

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1 tsp pepper

1 tsp chopped garlic

1 tsp ginger paste

Clean and cut the chicken and marinate with the 1 tbsp soy sauce and hoisin sauce. Set aside. Mix the sauce ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

Cut the onion and peppers. In a wok, or a deep frying pan, heat 1/2 tbsp sesame oil and 1/2 tbsp vegetable oil. Once hot, add in the onions and peppers and cook, stirring frequently, till the onion is translucent. Remove the onions and peppers, in the same wok add the remaining oil, add in the chicken and cook on high heat so that it browns on all sides. Toss in the asparagus and cook for 2-3 minutes. Turn the stove down to medium low, then add back the onions and peppers and the sauce and mix well. Cook, stirring frequently, until the sauce thickens and coats the chicken. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve over hot rice or noodles.

Last Week's Menus - October 12th - 16th

This last week has been pretty hectic. My husband has been working on German time, so he's been up by 3am and on conference calls all morning and afternoon. On the plus side, he's been coming home from work early and we've been getting to bed pretty early. We've also moved up our son's dinner time by an hour to 6-6:30 PM, to help him try to go to bed a little earlier (which hasn't really worked yet - but one can hope).

In addition to making dinner, I've been getting ready to can some apple sauce all week. We went apple picking last Sunday and I've been prepping everything in stages. First, I washed all the apples and let them dry, then a couple of days later, cored and cooked them, the next day, they got blended and the next they got reheated and canned. So all in all, a full week long process. This does, however, mean that we now have enough apple sauce for the coming year. Yippeee...

Monday - Fenugreek, Green Peas, and Cottage Cheese

Tuesday - BBQ  Roast Chicken, Brussels Sprouts, and a ready salad

Wednesday - Spicy Khichdi with Vegetables

Thursday - Turkey lettuce wraps

Friday - Scrambled Eggs and Polish Kielbasa

Turkey Lettuce Wraps

These are the easiest thing to make in a pinch; especially if you have leftover turkey breast sitting in your fridge.

1 cooked turkey breast, chopped into small cubes
1 stick celery, cut into small cubes
2-3 radish, cut into small cubes
1 medium sweet pepper, cut into small cubes
1/4 cup shredded cheddar
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 tbsp dijon mustard
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1-2 tbsp milk
10-12 whole leaves romaine lettuce, washed and dried

In a small bowl, mix together the mayonnaise, mustard, salt, pepper, and milk. Put in milk, a little at a time till you get it to the desired consistency.

In a separate bowl, mix together the turkey, celery, peppers, and radish, then fold in the cheese. Stir in the mayonnaise mixture and stir until evenly coated. Add more salt and pepper to taste.

Spoon the turkey mixture into the leaves of lettuce allowing space to fold the tops of the lettuce over. Serve immediately with chips or fries.

NOTES-
*If you don't have a ready turkey breast in the fridge use turkey (or any other meat) luncheon meat.

Last Week's Dinner Menus

Butternut Squash and Apple Soup

Since my son was born last year, this house has been a permanent disaster where I have been struggling to get organized and get things done. I'm sure you've heard this before from other people, but I've found that making some sort of meal plan helps me get something other than a frozen pizza on the table at dinner time. And now that our son is eating the same food as us, and is sitting at the table with us, I've been trying to make our meals a little more healthy. To add to it, in an attempt to lose some weight I have been on a low-carb diet, which means no carbs for dinner. So, everything we make has to have the option of rice or bread on the side.

Making these meal plans on a Saturday or Sunday also means I get the groceries for the week all at one time, and don't have to keep running to the store for 1 or 2 things. I am going to try and post our meal plan every week, along with the links to some recipes I may have already put up here. I have got to tell you, that despite these meal plans, we end up eating a bag of steamed vegetables and some Tyson's chicken, or meatballs once a week.

My plans are only for the weekdays, because we usually go out for dinner on Saturdays and eat all the weeks leftovers on Sundays. I make large quantities for dinner so that my husband can take leftovers for lunch the next day too; while D and I eat sandwiches, yogurt, or mac n cheese.

Monday - Easy Prep Turkey Moussaka and a ready bag of salad
Tuesday - Lentils with carrots and Kachumbar
Wednesday - Curried Butternut Squash and Apple Soup, Ready-to-bake Honeysuckle White Turkey breast
Thursday - Moroccan Chicken Stew with garlic bread
Friday - Gorton's Beer Batter Fish and Steamed Vegetables with herbs

NOTES - For Tuesday's dinner,  I added a handful of baby carrots to the lentils before putting the lid on the pressure cooker, so that we would have some vegetable in our lentils.

Butternut Squash and Apple Soup

A friend of mine had forwarded me this recipe by Food Network's Ina Garten several years ago, and I finally got around to trying it. At first I made the soup exactly like the recipe states, but I found that there was too much cider, and that it had become too sweet and too sour, so to mellow those flavors i added a little more curry powder and a little chili powder, for the most part the recipe is exactly the same.

Butternut Squash and Apple Soup

2 tbsp olive oil
3 large yellow onions, chopped
4 tablespoons mild curry powder
1/2 tsp chili powder

2 large butternut squash
4 sweet apples, such as McIntosh
Salt to taste
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cups water
2 cups good apple cider or juice

Peel the squash, cut in half, remove the seeds and cut into chunks. Peel, quarter, and core the apples. Cut into chunks.

In a large stockpot warm the olive oil, add onions, chili powder, and curry powder; cook over low heat for 15 to 20 minutes, until the onions are tender. Stir occasionally, scraping the bottom of the pot.

Add the squash, apples, salt, pepper, and 2 cups of water to the pot. Bring to a boil, cover, and cook over low heat for 30 to 40 minutes, until the squash and apples are very soft. Puree the soup coarsely in a food processor or use an immersion blender.

Pour the soup back into the pot. Add the apple cider or juice and enough water to make the soup the consistency you like; it should be slightly sweet and quite thick. Check the salt and pepper and serve hot.

Baked Oatmeal

Baked Oatmeal

I'd printed this recipe several years ago, and it's been lying in my folder untouched and forgotten.Well, it's time to thin this folder and discover something new to eat, so I tried this
Baked Oatmeal and it was delicious. The first time I made it, I did exactly what the recipe said, the second time around, I mixed in some raisins and almonds, but left the rest of the recipe exactly the same and that made it even better. It's delicious to have warmed up and drowned in cold milk for breakfast, but my husband and I also had it as dessert a couple of times with some vanilla ice cream, drizzled with honey. So give it a try, it's worth it.

Baked Oatmeal

3 cups quick-cooking oats
1 cup packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup butter, melted

Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, combine oats, brown sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. In another bowl, whisk eggs, milk and butter. Stir into oat mixture until blended.
Spoon into a greased 9-in. square baking pan. Bake 40-45 minutes or until set. Serve warm with cold milk.

Fenugreek Green Peas and Cottage Cheese

Fried Paneer

Methi Matar Paneer is a flavorful dish that has fenugreek leaves (Methi), green peas (Matar) and Indian cottage cheese (Paneer). It's traditionally cooked in North India, but has become so popular that one can find variations of it all over India and in most Indian restaurants around the world. This dish is heavily spiced, and has a real medley of sapidity. The spices are cooked to mellow it's spiciness but it still leaves a sharp twang on ones tongue. It isn't a very quick recipe, but it's still something easy that can be done on a weekday. Give it a try and let me know what you think.

Methi Matar Paneer

Methi Matar Paneer

1 bag frozen peas, thawed

400 gms cottage cheese, cubed

1/2 can tomato sauce

1/2 bunch fenugreek leaves
1 large onion, chopped
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp turmeric powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp heaped ginger paste
1 tsp heaped garlic paste
Salt to taste
1 bunch cilantro, large stems removed and chopped

Fenugreek Leaves, Green Peas, and Cottage Cheese

Fry the cottage cheese in a little hot oil, in a pot. Brown on all sides and then remove and set aside. Add a little more oil if necessary, heat and then put in the onion. Cook till it the edges start to brown. Stir in the ginger and garlic pastes, and cook till no longer pungent. Mix in the tomato paste and cook for a minute or so. Next add in all the powdered spices and salt. Put in the fenugreek leaves, and stir.
Once the leaves have wilted, add in the green peas. Cover and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the peas are cooked. Remove cover and allow the dish to dry out, stirring frequently to stop it from burning. Put in the fried cottage cheese for the last 4 to 5 minutes of cooking, and then garnish heavily with the cilantro.