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.  

Fennel Green Peas

I make it a point to always have some vegetables in our dinner, and despite my husband's best efforts, potatoes to do not count. So I'm constantly trying to add a quick vege side dish to our table. This was a snappy creation in which I threw in the aniseed just to change up the same boring flavor that I always seem to give my vegetables. It turned out pretty well and was done in 15 minutes.

Fennel Green Peas
1 tsp heaped Fennel seeds
1 bag frozen peas

1/2 tsp chili powder 

1 tsp coriander powder

1 tsp cumin powder

Salt to taste
Garnish: 1/2 bunch cilantro, chopped

Spray the pan with a little oil and heat. put in the fennel seeds and roast until they start to pop; immediately add the peas and mix well. Next add the powders and salt and a little water. Turn down to a simmer, cover, and stir occasionally, adding a little water at a time. Do not boil the peas, add only enough water to keep them wet. Once the peas are cooked, take the lid off and dry up the water in the pan. Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve. 

Bacon and Mushroom Brown Rice Risotto

Bacon and Mushroom
 Brown Rice ‘Mock’ Risotto

Nothing says comfort food quite like a risotto on a cold, rainy day. But Risotto isn’t a quick and snappy recipe for the weekday. It can be a tedious process but the results are always worth it. I’ve made this kind of brown rice ‘mock’ risotto only twice. The idea is to use a healthy brown rice instead of the Arborio rice that is traditionally used. Also, it allows me to use my brown rice in a slightly different way, than the usual plain boiled rice.

Now there are two things you should know: Firstly, I have never actually cooked a risotto before, this recipe is my take on one. I know the gist of it is to keeping adding a little water at a time and hence it's a risotto to me.

Secondly, this is a very easy but time consuming recipe. There is nothing complicated about standing over a pan and adding a little water and stirring, but expect to be doing so for a full hour to two. This creamy, flavorful dish will be worth it.

Bacon and Mushroom Brown Rice Risotto

5 strips bacon, chopped

12 oz mushrooms, sliced
1 medium yellow pepper, chopped fine
1 small onion, chopped fine
2 cups brown rice
6-8 cups chicken stock
½ cup white wine (I used a Sauvignon Blanc)
2 tsp Italian seasoning
Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
¼ cup shredded mild cheddar
Parsley for garnish

In a large skillet, fry bacon till almost crisp. Set aside on a paper towel, and remove most of the bacon fat into a small bowl. In the same skillet, sauté the mushrooms in a little salt and pepper. Once soft, remove to bowl.

Cover Rice With Just Enough Stock

While the bacon is cooking, place all the stock in a saucepan and warm. Constantly adding cold stock to your rice will prolong the already long cooking time. Adding hot stock to the rice will not bring the overall temperature in the skillet down during cooking, and will allow the rice to cook more evenly.

Place the reserved bacon fat back into the skillet, heat on medium high, and add the onions and pepper. Cook till the peppers are soft and the onion is translucent. Add salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, and the wine. Allow the wine to evaporate, then add the rice, mix it well, and then add 1 to 1 ½ cups of stock. Until the rice is covered in liquid, but not swimming in it. Allow it to come to a slow boil, then turn the flame down to a low simmer. Stir every 5 minutes or so, and add 1 to 1 ½ cups of stock every time it starts to dry. Continue this process until the rice is fully cooked. Once cooked, allow the rice to dry out; the bottom will start to stick, so stir frequently.

Switch off the flame, add in the bacon, mushrooms, and cheese and mix well. Garnish with chopped parsley.

NOTES:

*I used 3 cups of stock and then used water after that. 

* I didn't have any parsley in the house, so I used cilantro as garnish instead and it was surprisingly good. 

Lemon Dill Sauce

If you're out of ideas for dinner tonight, here is something easy to whip up. This sauce goes great as an accompaniment for seafood or steak. We've even had it once with grilled pork chops. However, it is my favorite with Oven Fried Batter Fish and grilled shrimp. 

Lemon Dill Sauce

2 tbsp fresh dill, chopped fine

1/2 tsp grated lemon zest

1/2 tsp lemon juice

1/2 cup mayonnaise 

1/2 cup sour cream

Salt to taste

1/2 tsp freshly cracked pepper

Mix all ingredients in a bowl, taste and add more dill or lemon as per your preference. Keep covered in the fridge until ready to serve or store in fridge for 1-2 days. 

Oven Fried Batter Fish

We all love the fried fish with that crisp, fluffy batter on it. But unless you're planning to go to a restaurant to eat it, it's quite a pain to make at home. Not to mention, it's deep-fried. So, here's a simple way to make a batch of fried fish at home, in the oven, with as little oil as possible.

4 fillets fish, I used tilapia

1 egg, beaten

1 cup flour

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp smoked paprika

1/2 tsp powdered sage

Beat the egg in a plate and set aside. Wash fish and pat dry with a paper towel. 

In a second plate, mix together the flour, salt, pepper, baking soda, paprika, and sage. 

Preheat the oven to 425 F. Coat the fish in the flour mixture on both sides, then dip into the egg, and place on a well greased oven-proof tray. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the fish starts to brown and is flaky when cut. 

Serve with Lemon Dill Sauce. 

Cauliflower Rice

 We took a three week vacation in December/ January to go visit our family in India, and like all good vacations, we ate and drank a lot and came back considerably more overweight than when we left. So in an effort to lose a little weight my husband decided to go onto a no-carbs-in-the-night diet. It’s pretty reasonable actually. We aren't cooking anything special for the diet. He eats controlled portions of everything and we try to regulate the amount of fat and oil but we certainly haven't cut it out completely. His diet basically means we can continue to eat curries, and baked dishes, and most other foods. The only stipulation, is that we don’t have carbs in the night. So, he’s swapped baby spinach for chapatti, and after browsing through that magical place called the internet, we found out that cauliflower is a very good substitute for rice. I know, I know, that sounds absolutely awful, but it definitely tastes better than it sounds. So without further ado, I introduce you to Cauliflower Rice. Here is the website I got the original recipe off.

Cauliflower Rice

Cauliflower Rice

Salt to taste
1 medium Cauliflower head

Cut the cauliflower into florets and wash thoroughly. Let it dry well as too much water can make it mushy. Place the florets into a food processor and pulse till it looks like broken rice. Put in a microwave safe bowl, sprinkle liberally with salt. Cover with a microwave lid (or a lid that fits well but allows the steam to escape) and microwave for 4 minutes, stirring once in between. Voila! Cauliflower Rice!!

NOTES
*Resist the urge to put water into the microwave with the cauliflower. It doesn't need it and it will make the cauliflower mushy.
*The microwave time depends on your microwave and the size of the cauliflower.

Turkey, Kale, and Bean Soup

A lot has happened in the last year or so to alter our lives and our routines. The biggest and most important, our now 7 month old son! Since, the doting grandparents, and aunts, and uncles have left and we've finally started to get some sort of routine back, I've started to try new recipes again. My parents and in-laws did a lot of cooking while they were here which sort of left me on auto-pilot. But the freezer meals they made are done and I’m dying to try some new stuff in the kitchen.

To stay awake during the late night feeding sessions, I’d browse the internet for anything I could think of. In one of those corners of the internet, I discovered a whole group of busy moms who make freezer to crock-pot meals. We've just started experimenting with some of them, and while we find a lot of them very bland for our Indian palate, they have opened my eyes to even easier cooking. I haven’t started to freeze them yet, I’m still making them fresh everyday but I do plan of freezing a couple.

This Turkey, Kale, and Bean Soup is one such recipe. Here is a link to the original recipe and below you’ll find my additions and tweaks.

Turkey, Kale, and Bean Soup

Turkey, Kale, and Bean Soup

1 small onion, diced
1 pound carrots, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces
1 box baby kale
1 can Great Northern Beans, washed and drained
3 tablespoons Italian seasonings
1 pound ground turkey
6 cups chicken broth or water (I had to use half of both because I didn’t have enough chicken broth
1-2 tsp crushed red pepper
Salt to taste

Put all the ingredients in the slow cooker. Make sure the turkey is broken up. Give it a good stir to mix in the herbs. Cook on low for 6 hours. Serve hot.