Monthly Archives: June 2015

Appetizers, Casseroles, Holidays, Main Dishes, Pasta, Side dishes, Sneaky Healthy

Chicken Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad

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With the Fourth of July weekend coming up, I’m sure many readers will be hosting or attending picnics, barbeques, and other backyard get-togethers.  A huge fan of casual parties myself, I am always on the lookout for fast, easy to put together side dishes that aren’t too expensive to feed a crowd. A good example is my prior post on BBQ Baked Beans.

Enter the pasta salad.

Pasta salads are insanely versatile. They adapt well to just about any type of veggie, meat, or cheese, with tons of creative dressing/sauce options as well. You could try a Greek mix of feta, banana peppers, onions, and kalamata olives, or a club mix of ham chunks, cheddar cheese, and crumbled bacon, or how about an Italian combo with salami, pepperoni, pepperocini, and swiss.

For this recipe, I had a pre-mix box ranch & bacon pasta salad, and decided to jazz it up a bit with some canned chunk chicken and fresh diced veggies. You can also use a pound of any type of pasta (the small shapes work best here, like shells, elbows, or penne), spices you like, and some crumbled bacon.

Ingredients:

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Step 1: Dice your zucchini and tomatoes, and drain the chicken. Get the water boiling for the pasta, and boil 8-10 minutes.

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Step 2: In a pan, cook the zucchini for 5-7 minutes, until beginning to brown. Add the tomato and chicken, and cook until heated through.

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Step 3: Drain the pasta, and mix in the veggies. Add the toppings included (or spices & cooked crumbled bacon) and the Ranch dressing. Stir well. Add more or less as needed.

This cooks up a nice big batch, and can feed a hungry crowd. The Ranch flavor works great with the bacon, pasta, and chicken. You can also use dried Ranch seasonings and milk or sour cream to achieve a similar yet different taste. As a bonus, you’ve snuck in a serving of veggies per cup!

Happy partying & God bless the USA!

 

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Comfort food, Healthy, Side dishes

BBQ Bacon Baked Beans

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The quintessential summer side dish, barbeque baked beans are a staple of picnics and backyard BBQs. They are delicious on their own, and perfectly complement burgers, hot dogs, and ribs. Along with coleslaw and fresh corn on the cob, my summer memories are packed with these little tangy red jewels.

For a while in my life, I hated baked beans, for exactly the reason stated above: I had too much of a good thing. And I also had some bad experiences, wherein the beans were pure mush and tasted awful. It wasn’t until I began cooking in earnest, and made my own sauce, that I decided to give them another shot. And boy am I glad I did!

Homemade sauce, bacon, and beans elevates this humble side dish to a truly gastronomic experience. Try it yourself and you will see.

Ingredients:

  • 2 cans red beans, drained
  • (Or 1 cup dried, boiled for 2-3 hours)
  • 4 slices thick-cut bacon
  • 1/2 – 2/3 cups BBQ Sauce
  • 1-2 tsp liquid smoke
  • Seasoning salt to taste

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Step 1: Open the beans and drain them. Rinse to remove excess sodium. Alternatively, use 1-2 cups dried, and boil them for 2-3 hours, until soft.

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Step 2: Cook your bacon over med-low heat, until beginning to brown. You don’t want it too crispy. Lay on a stack of paper towels to drain.

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Step 3: Place beans in a pot, and add BBQ sauce and flavorings. Cut or chop the bacon into bite-sized pieces. Simmer it all together for 20-30 minutes to let flavors meld.

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Then serve! Enjoy alongside whatever summer dishes you like, or in the dead of winter to remember these warm sunny days.

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The best part is that as long as you make the sauce yourself (can control the amount of salt, sugar, and fat added), and the beans too (how much sugar or salt or bacon is involved), this dish is healthier than you may think.

Typical store-bought baked beans come loaded with nitrates, stabilizers, preservatives, salt, sugar, and fat. This is to allow it to store on the shelf longer, and to taste addictively good.

Awesomely, you can create an even-better-tasting addictively good dish yourself with just a few minutes of active work, and a few minutes of unattended simmering. Whip this up for your next picnic or party and watch it disappear.

Dips and Sauces

Perfect Sweet & Tangy Barbeque Sauce

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Barbeque sauce, how America loves you, let me count the ways.

Put simply, barbecue sauce (or BBQ) is a flavoring used as a marinade, basting, or topping/dipping for meats and other grilled foods. While the ingredients vary as widely as the cooks creating it, most begin with a tomato and vinegar base. Other common additions include chilies, garlic, ginger, molasses or brown sugar, liquid smoke, coffee, and other spices.

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For a nice history lesson and some ancient sauce recipes, check out TIME and/or amazingribs.com. Every cook has their favorite ‘secret’ recipe, perhaps passed down from grandmothers or grandfathers, or containing an unusual ingredient they will never disclose, even on pain of death.

I’ve written before about BBQ sauces, and this recipe expands upon my simpler one. Most ingredients are staples I always have around the kitchen, while things like sriracha and liquid smoke you may have to make a special purchase. You can even choose to omit those ingredients you do not have, and likely it will still be delicious. Experiment with recipes until you find one you love, then it can become your “signature” BBQ sauce.

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Ingredients:

  • 1 1/2 cups ketchup
  • 2 tbsp mustard
  • 2 tbsp sriracha
  • 2 tbsp worchestershire sauce
  • Dash liquid smoke (1-2 tsp)
  • 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
  • 1/4 cup plain cola
  • 2-4 tbsp maple syrup, depending on how sweet you like it
  • Sprinkle paprika, salt & black pepper to taste

Step 1: Combine all ingredients in a giant bowl, and whisk away!

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This makes a substantial amount of sauce, so be prepared to throw a huge backyard bash with tons of sauce on meats, or store what you don’t use in the refrigerator for about 2 months. The more salt or acid you add, the longer it can last in the fridge.

 

 

Beverage, Healthy, Vegan, Vegetarian

Bok Choi – Ginger Juice

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For those who are unfamiliar, bok choi or pak choi is a type of Chinese cabbage. It is about the size of a fist, and has tight, dark green leaves forming a cluster similar to celery. They contain a good amount of vitamin A and C, as well as glucosinolates, substances believed to protect against cancer in small doses.

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Bok choi is delicious lightly steamed or stir-fried, with some lemon juice & salt alongside a filet of fish or rice. However, I had a large amount from a recent trip to my favorite Asian grocery, and wanted to use its delightful vitamin content and phytochemicals to make a green juice in lieu of spinach.

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Ingredients:

  • 2 1/2 cups bok choi
  • 2 medium apples
  • 1 cup sprouts
  • 1/4 green cabbage
  • 2 large carrots
  • 2-3 inch piece fresh ginger

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Rinse and chop all vegetables, and run them through your juicer. Alternate the soft greens and harder carrots/apples. If you need it sweetened up even further, you can mix in some store bought apple juice, or add another cup of fruits to the mix.

This juice is full of awesome vitamins and nutrients, enzymes, phytochemicals and chrlorophyll. It is lightly sweet, and has a nice tang from the ginger.

But why is it ‘foamy’ on top?

Good question, I wondered that myself. When you juice, the juicer produces some amount of foam by inserting air bubbles into the juice. The type of juicer makes a difference; slower “masticating” juicers will cause less foaming than high-speed “centrifugal” juicers. Also higher-fiber produce makes it bubblier than low-fiber produce.

You can scoop or skim off the foam before consuming without losing nutrients. It is mostly air bubbles and oxidized fiber. You can also strain your juice prior to enjoying. I usually just stir it well a few times to mix as thoroughly as possible, and if the foam is still thick I’ll skim off a tablespoon or so before drinking it down.

Appetizers, Breads, Healthy, Side dishes, Vegan, Vegetarian

Tomato Zucchini Panzanella

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As summer hits full speed, most people with gardens find themselves overwhelmed with tomatoes and/or zucchini. Prolific producers, these two are classic markers of the height of summer. This is also when tomatoes and zucchini are on sale at the grocery, and can be bought at the lowest price at farmer’s markets.

Once you have had your fill of eating tomatoes plain or with salt (the very best way, in my opinion), zucchini diced up in stir fry and as zoodles, and tomatoes on your salad, you may ask yourself, what else can I do with the twenty pounds I still have?

A good answer is: make this healthy, refreshing panzanella!

Panzanella, pronounced pan-za-nay-ya, is a Tuscan dish traditionally based on onions and stale bread. Some time in the 20th century tomatoes came into the picture and took center stage. Now most panzanella recipes are based on stale bread moistened with olive oil and vinegar, and tomatoes, with other ingredients like onion, basil, and garlic commonly added.

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This salad is a fantastic side dish or snack, and can even be a light main meal in the summer heat. It can take advantage of old bread which might otherwise be thrown away, or you can toast fresh bread to get the same texture.

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Ingredients:

  • 3-4 ripe tomatoes
  • 1 small zucchini
  • 4 slices bread, toasted
  •  3-4 cloves fresh garlic
  • 3 tbsp lemon juice
  • 3 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
  • Salt & pepper

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Step 1: Toast your bread, or use a few days’ old bread. I smeared a bit of butter and Italian seasonings on mine. You can use whatever type of bread you like.

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Step 2: Slice or shred your zucchini. I used my mandoline to make thin ribbons so they would take the marinade easier. Dice your tomatoes into cubes and chop the garlic. Mix in a bowl with the lemon juice, oil & vinegar.

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Step 3: Cut the bread into cubes, and mix everything together. You can leave this in the refrigerator for an hour or two to mix and meld the flavors, but don’t leave it too much longer than 1-2 hours or the bread goes from crisp but moist, to soggy.

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Add salt & pepper to taste, and enjoy!

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[amd-zlrecipe-recipe:28]

 

 

Administrative, Beverage, Informative, Less than 5

Mango Cherry Hurricanes

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As a souvenir from my first visit to N’awlins, I had to bring home some hurricane mix. A little bit ironic now… anyways, this double-rum juice-heavy cocktail is a crowd pleaser and a sure party starter. It is the recognized ‘signature’ drink of the Big Easy. However, there are those that protest today’s Bourbon Street foot-long pitchers of syrupy sweet mixtures.

But as always, to heck with expectations. I had some hurricane mix waiting to be enjoyed, some spiced rum, a can of mango and a sunny day calling my name.

Try your own version at home with whatever type of juice you enjoy. Pineapple, mango, guava, lemon, orange, cherry, or passion fruit (the true original) are all delightful choices. You can even mix and match multiple. As long as there’s rum! Preferably 1:1 light and dark, but dark is all I had, so I just doubled up 😉

Ingredients:

  • 1 can mango + juice
  • 1 package hurricane mix
  •  1 cup spiced rum
  • Optional: cherries or other fruit for garnish

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Step 1: Mix the hurricane mix & water in a large container. Depending on how many you are making, adjust recipe. This is for four drinks’ worth.

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Step 2: In a blender, blend the mango in its own juice until smooth.

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Step 3: In a large glass, add crushed ice 2/3 way full. Pour in 1/2 cup mix, 2-3 shots of rum (depending how strong you want it), and top with mango.

To make a large pitcher full, you won’t get the pretty layers, but simply mix 1 cup rum, 2 cups mix, and 1 cup mango. Adjust up to whatever volume you want. Then pour at will.

Healthy, Informative, Less than 5, Main Dishes

Garlic Roasted Goat Shoulder

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For those of you who have never had goat products, I highly encourage you to try them! Everything from goat milk, to goat cheese, to goat meat, is delicious and pretty darn good for you. Goat cheese lasagna is absolutely fabulous, sharper and earthier than any ricotta ever will be, and it makes a great spread for toast or bruschetta. Pairs nicely with roasted sweet potato, beets, and on fresh green salads.

Goats milk is naturally homogenized, which means it doesn’t separate into the “cream” and skim milk, as natural cow’s milk does. The cow milk you buy in the store is one homogenous mixture because of the homogenization process; essentially putting such high pressure on the milk to shoot it through tiny tubes that fat globules break up into itty-bitty uniform pieces that no longer clump together and float to the surface.

Fun fact: baby goats are called kids. So when a goat has a baby, it’s just kidding!

Lame jokes aside, goats are delicious, and also good for the environment. They naturally think some of our worst plant enemies, like poison ivy & thistles, are delicious treats. They can even be used as a carbon-neutral landscaping option! (No seriously, you can rent goats to trim your lawn and get rid of unwanted greenery). As a final bonus, goat manure is odorless, can be directly applied to soil without composting, does not contain seeds, and is richer in nitrogen than that of cows or horses.

Ok, so goats are good at eating bad vegetation. How do they compare to cows and other meat producers? A similarly sized serving of goat meat has a third fewer calories than beef, a quarter fewer calories than chicken and much less fat, and up to two-thirds less than a similar sized portion of pork or lamb (source). They are browsers, not grazers, and a field can handle nearly ten times more goats than cows.

If the “gamey” taste and smell of what you think goat meat is turns you off, you may have had a bad experience. Some cultures prize older, tougher bucks, which are known to have that ‘barnyard’ smell about them. Give a local supplier a chance to show you what a younger cut is like, and you may completely change your mind.

So these little guys are totally adorable, extremely useful, and then completely delicious while also quite healthy for you. What are you waiting for?? Check out a local farmers market, or halal butcher, and find some goat near you.

I found Blue Slope Farm at the farmer’s market in CT. The proprietor, Matt, was there and he was very kind and helpful. He runs a working farm with cows, goats, and a maple syrup distillery. Their products are all local, they hand-raise their herd of over 200 cows each year to produce tender grass-fed veal and are branching out into goat meat. If you’re in New England check them out, they are top notch.

Ingredients:

  • 2 cuts goat shoulder chops
  • 5-10 garlic cloves
  • 4 tbsp spice mix of choice
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/3 cup red wine

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Step 1: Drizzle the olive oil in the pan, and sprinkle spices onto chops. Place in the pan and sprinkle spices on the other side too.

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Step 2: Pour in the red wine, and cover. Cook low and slow for 10-15 minutes, until browned.

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Step 3: Using a sharp knife, cut holes in the meat. Press garlic cloves into the holes. Flip chops, cut holes into the other side, and fill with garlic. Cover and cook another 10-15 minutes on low.

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Step 4: Remove cover, turn heat to medium-high. Let wine evaporate, and sear the meat. Once lightly charred, flip and sear the other side. Be careful not to burn badly.

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Serve your delicious, sustainable, healthy chops with some fresh seasonal veggies and enjoy!

Comfort food, Main Dishes

Ham & Bacon Melt with Sriracha Mayo

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Sandwiches are always amazing. But you know what makes them even better? When they are hot. With melty cheese. And something spicy. Kind of like this one.

Ingredients:

  • 1 large roll
  • 4 slices bacon
  • 1/4-1/2 lb ham
  • 2 tbsp mayonnaise
  • 1 tbsp sriracha
  • 2 slices white American cheese

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Step 1: Fry the bacon 5-7 minutes, until crisp, and place on a paper towel to drain. Wipe or pour most of the grease out, leaving a thin layer. Place the roll in the pan cut-side down to toast. Or, you could use a toaster. Or not toast the bread at all, your call.

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Step 2: In a small bowl, or right on top of the bread, mix the sriracha and mayonnaise, and spread it around. Add cooked bacon on top. On the other slice of bread, layer on the ham and cheese.

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Step 3: Smush the whole thing together, and toast in the frying pan another minute or two, until the cheese gets melty.

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This sandwich would also work great with turkey or chicken, and you could use whatever type of cheese you prefer. I think softer breads are better for use here, because they have a chewy interior that contrasts so well with the crunchy toasted exterior while the white American cheese is creamy enough to tame the spicy sriracha.

 

Healthy, Main Dishes, Vegan, Vegetarian

Vegan Banh Mi Bonanza

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If you love veggies or are looking for a way to get more into your diet, this is a perfect solution. Unlike a typical sandwich containing nitrate-laced and high-sodium sliced deli “meats”, this is a fabulously healthy way to satisfy the most hard-core sandwich craving while doing your body a favor!

Bánh mì is a Vietnamese word for ‘bread’, which was imported by the French during its colonial period. The banh mi is different from the traditional French baguette in that is it made with rice flour as well as wheat flour, typically has a thinner crust, and is ‘airier’ or ‘lighter’. Typically the fillings included meats of all kinds, like pork belly, sausage, pate, pork floss (what even is that?), grilled chicken, canned sardines, meatballs, head cheese, fried eggs, or tofu.

Accompanying vegetables typically include fresh cucumber slices, cilantro (leaves of the coriander plant) and pickled carrots and daikon in shredded form. Common condiments include spicy chili sauce, sliced chilis, mayonnaise, and cheese.

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This particular creation was made using the veggies I most enjoy, and had available. I encourage you to do the same, but also try some new things. If you’ve never had sprouts, give it a shot. Try making your own hummus, it’s super easy! Hummus is also a great way to add extra bulk and protein to vegan meals.

Ingredients:

  • 1 large soft hoagie bun
  • 1 small zucchini
  • 1 large beet
  • 1/4 cup sprouts
  • 1/2 avocado
  • 2 tbsp hummus (try black bean hummus!)
  • 1-2 romaine leaves and/or spinach
  • 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • salt & pepper to taste

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Step 1: In a frying pan, cook thin slices of zucchini until golden brown on both sides, about 3 minutes per side. (Grilling would also work. Other veggies you could use include: onions, mushrooms, bell peppers, hot peppers, eggplant, carrot).

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Step 2: On one piece of bread, spread your hummus. (Guacamole would also be delish here). On the other slice, drizzle the olive oil and vinegar, and sprinkle with salt & pepper.

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Step 3: Layer all the veggies onto the bread. I roasted my beet in the oven at 350 for 45 minutes then peeled it. You can do this ahead of time, or use canned & drained beets to save time.

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Here it is with the sprouts & sliced avocado. Then just try to mush the two halves together without losing most of the fillings.

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And there you have it! This gigantic, delicious beast tasted AMAZING and kept me full for hours. You would be surprised how easy to put together these are once you have whatever ingredients you want to use, and just how dang tasty they are. For more info and recipe ideas, check out VietWorldKitchen.

 

Appetizers, Healthy, Side dishes, Vegetarian

Creamy Chili Coleslaw

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Summertime always calls for easy to make-ahead side dishes and toppings that you can keep on hand in the refrigerator for an impromptu get-together or picnic. For this reason we have created a whole host of pasta salads, potato salads, and other easy tossed side dishes able to be served hot, cold, or room temperature. One of my current favorites is coleslaw.

Coleslaw is a great choice because cabbage is a nutritious, fibrous food that’s readily available and affordable nearly all the time, and there are so many ways to dress it up. You can add shredded broccoli or other veggies, make it sweet, creamy, tangy, or spicy. In this recipe there’s a little bit of it all for a complex but versatile flavor.

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 head cabbage, shredded
  • 1 celery stalk, diced
  • 2 large carrots, shredded
  • 1/3 cup mayonnaise
  • 2 tbsp cider vinegar
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tbsp mustard
  • 2 tsp cayenne pepper
  • Spices to taste
  • Optional: 2 tbsp raisins or dried cranberries, 2 tbsp sunflower seeds

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Step 1: Cut or shred your cabbage, carrots & celery.

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Step 2: In a bowl, combine all liquid ingredients & spices. Mix into the slaw.

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Step 3: For a sweet & crunchy taste, mix in raisins or dried cranberries & some sunflower seeds (or pumpkin seeds, crushed almonds, or pistachios).

Serve on top of your favorite burger, or on its own as a delicious refreshing summer side.