Daily Archives: November 16, 2012

Healthy

Thai chicken peanut curry

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I had been dying to try out my new Thai cookbook since moving to Colorado, and had a craving for it all week. I looked through it yesterday, and found a recipe for Peanut Chicken Curry for which I had all the ingredients but a few. So I went to the store on the way home from class to pick up those things and whipped up a surprisingly easy and oh-so-tasty dinner!
Ingredients:
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, diced
1/2 red onion, diced
1 can coconut milk
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 tbsp oil
1 tbsp diced garlic
2 tbsp curry paste
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup crushed peanuts
1/2 small cucumber, peeled and seeded
3 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp brown sugar
RICE
2 tbsp lime juice
1/4 cup green onion
1 cup rice
1 cup chicken stock
Cilantro, if you can find it. King Soopers didn’t have any. 🙁
 
Step 1: Dice the onion small, cook in a frying pan with 1 tbsp oil for 1-2 minutes. Add coconut milk and chicken stock. Simmer 2 minutes.

 Step 2: Dice up the chicken.

 Add diced chicken, garlic and curry paste. Bring to a boil and simmer about 10 minutes.

 Step 3: Cut up pineapple, cucumber and crush peanuts. Meanwhile, boil or microwave the cup of rice in chicken stock.

 Step 4: Once chicken is cooked through, add pineapple, cucumber, lime juice, soy sauce, sugar and peanuts. Simmer 1-2 minutes and serve immediately.

 Step 5: To cooked rice, add lime juice and onions (or cilantro) and fluff.

Cilantro would definitely kick the rice up a notch, but no complaints here! Sure cucumber, chicken and pineapple seems like a weird combo, but it really is delicious! Sweet but complex, the flavor is fantastic! The original recipe calls for fish sauce, lemongrass and lime leaves too, but I don’t think the taste suffers at all by omitting them. Prep took about 15 minutes, cooking took less than 30. Totally worth it!

Breakfast, Eggs

Hearty Mexi-Breakfast Burrito

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One day I planned on walking to class in the morning. It was really cold, and I woke up a little later than I planned. But I was starving, and wanted a good breakfast, so I spent the 10 minutes to whip up this filling delight, wrapped it in foil and took it on the road! It was creamy, hot, tangy, and amazing in every way. Totally worth the short amount of time it takes to make.

Ingredients:
1 flour tortilla
1/4 cup black beans
1/2 avocado
3 tbsp salsa
2 tbsp green onion
2 eggs
1/4 cup cheddar cheese

Step 1: Scramble 2 eggs and cook until done. While cooking, heat the beans & tortilla in the microwave for 15 seconds.

 Step 2: Put the egg on the tortilla with the beans, add chopped avocado, onion, salsa and cheddar.Fold up one end, wrap one side and then the other. Make sure it’s nice & tight. Then wrap the burrito in foil and you have a hot breakfast to go!

Breakfast, Eggs, Healthy, Vegetarian

Tomato & green onion omelet

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I had recently made meringues and had the yolks left over. So the next morning I made myself an omelet. Easy and delicious, and keeps me from wasting perfectly good eggs. 
Ingredients: 
1 roma tomato, diced
~2 tsp diced green onion
2 egg yolks
1 whole egg
sprinkle cheddar cheese
Step 1: Dice up the tomato & green onion.
Step 2: Whip the eggs, add an ounce of milk if you like.
Step 3: Spray a small frying pan with oil, heat over medium and add the eggs. Season with salt & pepper or seasonings of choice. 

Step 4: As the eggs begin to cook, use a spoon or spatula to push the sides down and mix the middle a little. This helps to move the cooked egg and cook the rest.
Step 5: Once most of the egg has set, add tomato & onion. Once you can shake the pan and the egg isn’t very runny at all, flip the omelet. Cook the other side for a minute or 2, until cooked all the way through.
Step 6: Put onto a plate and sprinkle with cheese if desired. Enjoy!

Dessert

Minty vanilla meringues

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I have been thinking about making meringues for a long time, but thought it took a lot of eggs. One day I just started looking up recipes, and found out it takes as few as 2 egg whites! So I decided to give it a whirl. Turns out meringues are ridiculously easy to make, the hardest part is whipping them for 20 minutes… Then you just leave them alone for a long time. They come out airy and crunchy and just delicious! The best part is, they’re only 20 calories each!
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Ingredients:
2 egg whites
1/4 tsp lemon juice
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 peppermint candy
 Step 1: Separate the egg whites from the yolks. I saved the yolks for breakfast the next day. 
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Step 2: In a small bowl, beat the egg whites just a minute. Add the lemon juice and slowly add the sugar while beating. Then add the vanilla and salt, and beat for a long long time, until the whites form stiff peaks.

Step 3: Once the whites are well beaten, drop by teaspoons onto a foil-covered pan. If you want minty ones, crush a peppermint candy & sprinkle it on top of the meringues.

Step 4: Bake at 220 for 2 1/2 hours. Don’t peek or open the oven, just trust that they are ok.

Let them totally cool, then remove from the pan. Enjoy!

Nutritional Info
  • Servings Per Recipe: 24
  • Amount Per Serving
  • Calories: 20.0
  • Total Fat: 0.0 g
  • Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
  • Sodium: 31.4 mg
  • Total Carbs: 4.8 g
  • Dietary Fiber: 0.0 g
  • Protein: 0.4 g
Comfort food, Less than 5, Main Dishes, Vegetarian

Easy Mashed Potato Pirogi

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As a Hungarian-Slovak-Polish American, pirogi are a critical part of many holidays. And any day of the week really. I had never attempted making them, but since we had recently made FIVE POUNDS of mashed potatoes, I decided to give it a try with the leftovers.

Since the potatoes are not my recipe, I can’t put the mashed potatoes on here, but they were great! I know it involves sour cream, cream cheese, cheddar cheese and butter…. Anyways, start with any mashed potatoes as the filling. And the dough is super-easy to make!

Ingredients:

  • 1 16 oz tub of sour cream
  • 3 cups of flour
  • Mashed potatoes (~1 cup)
  • 1/2 stick butter
  • 1/2 onion, diced

Seriously, it’s that easy!

 Step 1: Mix the flour and sour cream well until it forms a dough. Roll it out on a floured surface.

 Step 2: Using a small cup or other cutter, cut out ~3inch circles of dough. You can re-roll the pieces about 4 times.

mashed potato pierogi

 Step 3: Place ~1 tsp of mashed potatoes in the middle of the circle of dough. Press the sides together to make a half-moon shape. Crimp the edges with a fork.

 Step 4: Drop into boiling water and simmer for about 5 minutes to cook the dough. Drain.

 Step 5: Melt a half stick of butter (or as much as your arteries can handle!) and cook the onions until translucent and slightly browned.

Step 6: Fry the pirogi in the butter & onions about 3 minutes, until yellow-brown on both sides. Enjoy!

They weren’t quite as good as my grandma’s or mom’s, but pretty darn good for a first attempt! And I have the rest of forever to perfect my techniques.