Melissa's Cooking!

Ok…I’M SO SORRY it’s been forever for a post. I have no good excuse, except for laziness I’ve cooked an okay amount, but really haven’t felt that creative in the cooking of new things lately. We have the typical how we steam particular veggies, or sauté other veggies…or roast potatoes. So it really wouldn’t have been anything new new to post here. (Although, I’ve made a REALLY good chicken breast recipe a couple times within the past couple of months…we have more chicken breast from ‘the farm’ (read below), that I’ll have to post about when we make it again soon…YES, I’ve eaten chicken a couple of times, but only because it was a happy chicken and was fed well

Over the summer, we belonged to a C.S.A. (community supported agriculture). The positives were that every week, we got a loaf of bread, dozen eggs (protein and 8 fruits and veggies. Never lacked in the fruits and veggie department in our household. However, we should have found something closer to where we live, because every Thursday…from the time we would drive from work in town, clear out to the farm and back home, it was about 1-1/2 hours in the car   So that kind of made us dread going there as the summer went on. Who wants to drive that much after working an 8-hour day?  Sometimes the veggies or fruits, we just weren’t in the mood for, so we may not have eaten everything. A couple times we were out of town, and lost out on that prepaid food. But all in all…I felt great about supporting a local farm. Probably won’t do next year, although I highly recommend anyone trying it at least. It’s a good thing. We’ll just continue to support our local grocery store ‘Roots‘ as we always do.

Lentil and Quinoa Stew

OKAY….so I did make this REALLY GOOD stew yesterday. Very hearty (yet light and nutritious!) and perfect for the chilly Fall weather. It originally started out as a recipe for a “Pinto Bean and Barley Stew,” but I realized that the barley I had in a storage container was probably a little too dated too use, so I used quinoa. And I felt like using lentils instead of pinto beans (more protein!)  So…it became my own (But you can totally use pinto beans and/or barley instead of lentils or quinoa

Ingredients include:
(Try to use organic!)

• 1 TBS of EV olive oil
• 1 onion, diced
• 1 carrot, peeled and diced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 3/4 cup quinoa (I used Traditional, but you could totally use Red Quinoa)
• 7 cups vegetable low-sodium broth
• 1 can of lentil beans (about 1-1/2 to 2 cups)
• 1 cup salsa (I used mild Muir Glen, but you can use whatever you want, however spiciness you prefer)

Spices:

• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• ½ teaspoon ground cumin
• ½ teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoon celery salt

Method:

Sauté the onion in EV olive oil for a few minutes until the onion is a little translucent. Add the carrots and garlic and sauté for a few more minutes. Add the vegetable broth and quinoa, stirring in the bay leaf and the rest of the spices as well. Bring to a boil, turn down to simmer and cover for 15 minutes. Stir in the salsa and lentils. Cover and keep on simmering for as long as you would like. (The longer it stews, the longer the flavors can work into each other. So it’s especially good the next day.)

Once you’re ready to eat, serve with a dollop of sour cream, some Parmesan cheese and some yummy gourmet bread on the side.

There probably are about 8 servings. Perhaps less if you love this as much as we did ENJOY!!!!

This is a recipe that I came up with and it’s a one that we love. I’ll make this often cause it’s easy and good and nutritious! Quinoa, if you’ve never had it, is really good by itself, but adds a good texture to soups, stews and chili. Quinoa contains a balanced set of essential amino acids for humans, making it an unusually complete protein source, with it’s protein content being very high (12%–18%)…good for the vegetarians!

Ingredients I use:
• 1 cup of quinoa (I use Ancient Harvest Inca Red Quinoa)
• 2 cups of reduced sodium vegetable broth
• 1 jar of organic salsa (I use the black bean and corn salsa from Roots)
• 15oz (can) organic black beans
• 15oz (can) organic corn
• 32oz (can) organic diced tomatoes
• seasonings to include: cumin, cilantro, onion flakes, garlic powder, salt, pepper
• organic blue chips
• organic low-fat sour cream (optional)
• guacamole (I like to buy from whole foods, or you could make fresh) (optional)
• organic mix of mexican shredded cheese (optional)

First I get the quinoa cooking. I bring to a boil the veggie broth with the quinoa. Once boiling, simmer for 15 minutes, covered. (You know when the quinoa is done when the germ separates from the seed. The cooked germ looks like a tiny curl and should have a slight bite to it like al dente pasta.)

As the quinoa is cooking, start heating up in a larger pot, the salsa, black beans, corn and diced tomatoes. I sprinkle in the cumin, cilantro, onion flakes, garlic powder, salt, pepper…adding not too much, but just as much as I see fit. Stir together and let that heat up on medium-low heat.

Once the quinoa is done, (drain the little bit of liquid that may be leftover, and) add that to the pot of everything else. Stir together.

I serve it in a bowl with cheese on top to melt and with the blue chips on the side. Scooping the chili/cheese with the chips and dipping that all in with sour cream and/or guacamole…..YUMMMMMMMMY!!!!! I’ve made this for a family gathering before, and it was a complete hit….so easy to make and SO DELICIOUS!

If you are making this for just yourself and your significant other, you will have leftovers for the next day’s lunch and dinner…but I’m sure is plenty for a family of 4 or more

I apologize for skipping last week (week of Sept. 13).

On Sunday, I made a soup that just wasn’t that great – Bread Soup. It was ok, but I have made better. I’m sure there are better recipes out there for Bread Soup, so until I find it and make it, I think I will leave that recipe out for now.

HOWEVER, for the bread soup, I did make croutons from scratch, which was cool.
Croutons ingredients:
• yummy gourmet bread, sliced
• extra virgin olive oil
• 1-2 cloves of garlic, minced

Basically, you heat up your oil, with the garlic, in a pan large enough for a couple/few of your slices of bread…and similar to making grilled cheese (only without the 2nd slice of bread and cheese), you leave the bread on its first side for about 5 minutes until it browns. Flip it over and wait for the other side to brown. Take it out of the pan, let it cool. (I placed on paper towels to soak some of the grease off.) And you have croutons! (Something to keep in mind though, if you’re browning a lot of bread, be sure to keep the bottom of your pan moist with more olive so you don’t burn your pan or the bread.)

Another day last week, I also made a Mexican Burrito with Eggs.
Ingredients:
• Wraps (Organic/whole wheat are what I prefer to use)
• Organic eggs
• Salsa of your choice
• Organic black beans
• Organic Cheese – Mexican mix of shredded cheese

I heated up the salsa and black beans together. (Keep in mind, when you used canned beans of any sort, ALWAYS get rid of that extra liquid in there and rinse them off well, it will help decrease the farting later )
As that was heating up, I scrambled some eggs, flavoring with salt, pepper and basil. Grabbing from another recipe, here is how I made my scrambled eggs once again.

Heat up some butter or extra virgin olive oil in your stainless steel skillet. Crack open your eggs into your skillet (watch out for broken shells!), add your seasonings and mix. As they begin cooking, stir as needed to get them good and scrambled. I prefer my eggs really cooked, but you can keep them cooking as long as needed to get them to your liking.

Once your eggs are done, layer the salsa/bean mix, cheese and eggs in your wrap and wah-lah!  You can serve with organic blue chips on the side, with extra salsa, guacamole and/or sour cream also on the side. YUMMMMMMMM!!!!!

I made other stuff too (such as the Kale Salad again), but these couple were the things worth mentioning that may be of interest to you readers.