Breaded mahi mahi, sheet pan butternut squash, and steamed broccoli. 1/22/22

Posted on January 23, 2022 by Beebamom
Breaded mahi mahi with mustardy tartar sauce, sheet pan butternut squash, and steamed broccoli

John decided to make fresh breadcrumbs since the amount of bread that goes into fresh breadcrumbs is way less than the dried type. He stuck the crumbs on with a mixture of mustard and light mayo. I took the remnants of his “ glue” and made a mustardy tartar sauce spiced with some sriracha. John cooked the fish in a pan with a little olive oil and some spray.

I bought some more of the already peeled and chopped butternut squash pieces from Trader Joe’s. I tossed the pieces in olive oil, salt, and pepper and put them on a sheet pan in a 400F oven for 30 minutes. They came out a little crispy and so sweet! Yum!

For a green veg I simply steamed some broccoli. It tasted good with the tartar sauce as well.

Posted in American, Easy, Fish, Healthy tips, Methods, pescatarian, Sheet pan, Vegetables | Tagged | Leave a comment

Lentil/turkey sausage stew with carrots. 121/22

Posted on January 22, 2022 by Beebamom
Lentil stew with turkey sausage, carrots, celery, and mushrooms over kale

I seem to be putting a lot of stuff over kale this week. Certainly many of the things I eat could be put over rice or noodles but kale is good for me. So kale it is. It really bulks up a dish with a minimum of calories and fat.

Basically I chopped all the components and put them in the large Le Creuset pot we call Potapotamus to cook with a couple of teaspoons of olive oil and some spray. Mushrooms first with a few pieces of turkey sausage for additional oil. Then, onions, carrots, celery, garlic, chicken stock, the rest of the turkey sausage, a couple of sprigs of thyme, and the lentils. Cook until the lentils are tender, around 20 minutes. The kale underneath is wilted by the heat from the stew. John uses a bit of finishing oil but I do not.

Posted in American, Easy, Healthy tips, Legumes, Methods, Poultry, stew, Vegetables | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Chilean sea bass, new potatoes, broc/cauli mix. 1/20/22

Posted on January 21, 2022 by Beebamom
Chilean sea bass, new potatoes, broccoli/cauliflower mix

Fancy dinner night for no reason! We buy frozen Chilean sea bass in a bag from Costco and it is an excellent product! John roasts the fish for 15 minutes in a 400F oven. Cooking time depends on the thickness of the fish and he always checks it with a temperature probe at around 12 minutes. He is looking for around 125F but this fish can stand higher temperatures due to its consistency.

I steamed some small new potatoes and was going to cook snow peas when I tasted one of the pods and it had a weird off-putting flavor. John concurred and we pitched them. I had a little cauliflower and broccoli still left in the produce drawer of the refrigerator that I was planning on putting in some soup. I sautéed it up instead in a little butter for tonight’s dinner. It was a tasty substitution.

Chilean sea bass is too pricy to eat every week but having it every two to three weeks makes everyone in the family happy. It is truly a delicious fish.

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Fusilli arrabbiata with kale. 1/19/22

Posted on January 20, 2022 by Beebamom
Fusilli arrabbiata with kale

Probably my favorite dinner of the week, Pasta Wednesday has gotten even better since I started making Al Dente’s Carba Nada pasta. Since it is lower in calories and carbs I can have my three ounce portion with less guilt and less scrimping on my other meals of the day.

This Wednesday’s sauce is super simple. Arrabbiata is supposed to be “angry” sauce and the idea is to make it really spicy with red pepper flakes or chiles. There are very few ingredients. You sauté some onions, garlic, and pepper flakes in a little oil, pour in a 28oz. can of crushed tomatoes, let that simmer for 20 minutes, and finish off heat with some fresh basil and parsley.

I started with a teaspoon of pepper flakes but you can add what level of heat you like. The sauce had a back of the throat burn at that point so we added some shakes of Tabasco and sriracha to add a front of the mouth spiciness as well. Enough sauce is made for four servings or 1 lb. of pasta. I served my pasta over shredded kale to add some color and volume. Omit grated cheese for a vegan dish.

Posted in Easy, Healthy tips, Italian, Kitchen tips, Mediterranean, Pasta, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian | Tagged | Leave a comment

Curried butternut squash and chickpeas over kale with yogurt dressing. 1/18/22

Posted on January 19, 2022 by Beebamom
Curried butternut squash and chickpeas over kale and farro with a yogurt dressing and a side of cauliflower

We tried a new recipe tonight and it was a winner! This vegetarian (or vegan is you use non-dairy yogurt) entree is so delicious and filling that I could not finish my bowlful.

You can get the recipe here. https://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/curry-roasted-butternut-squash-and-chickpeas I did not make any alterations to the recipe except to cut the number of servings down. As a kitchen tip I would suggest buying a bag of already cut up butternut squash. The most time consuming job is to peel and cut up the squash. When roasting the chickpeas and butternut squash I added some cauliflower because I was afraid it would not be filling enough. I was wrong. It was very filling.

I served the roasted vegetables over some leftover farro and shredded kale and dressed the whole thing in a yogurt/lemon cilantro sauce. No oil or mayo involved.

I am looking forward to leftovers for lunch today!

Posted in Easy, Healthy tips, Kitchen tips, Legumes, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian | Tagged | Leave a comment

Scrambled eggs, veg patty, salad, toast. 1/16/22

Posted on January 17, 2022 by Beebamom
Soft scrambled eggs, veggie patty, arugula and spinach salad, rye toast

Sunday is our day off from cooking. John makes an omelet and I make some sort of egg dish, sometimes with a vegetable stir fry, or with some beans in a tortilla, but today just simply scrambled. It’s a no-thinking, easy dinner, kind of a reward for cooking all week.

Posted in American, Easy, Eggs, Vegetables, Vegetarian | Tagged | 1 Comment

Weekly Menu. January 17-23, 2022

Posted on January 16, 2022 by Beebamom
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Hearty salmon Niçoise with mustard sauce. 1/15/22

Posted on January 16, 2022 by Beebamom
Salmon Niçoise with new potatoes, hard boiled eggs, olives, and green beans with a mustard sauce over arugula and spinach

Usually a Niçoise salad is made with canned tuna but we had some salmon to use so we decided that changing the seafood would be okay. I read afterwards that there is a lot of culinary controversy about making substitutions, this being a French dish, but it turned out to be a delicious dinner with salmon.

I started out by making perfect hard boiled eggs which release from the shell easily. The technique for doing this comes from Kenji Lopez-Alt over at Serious Eats. https://www.seriouseats.com/perfect-boiled-eggs-recipe. I have only had one sticky egg since I started using his technique.

After I lifted the eggs out of the water into their ice bath, I used the still boiling water to cook the potatoes, and then the green beans. I was very happy about my efficient and water-saving way of cooking.

The dressing is a combination of Skinny Girl Buttermilk Dressing, and Maille whole grain and Dijon mustards. The mustard sauce went great with everything on the plate! I am very pleased to have another new dish to add to our repertoire.

Posted in Easy, Fish, French, Kitchen tips, Salad, Vegetables | Tagged | 1 Comment

Shrimp tacos, mango salsa, spicy black beans 1/14/22

Posted on January 15, 2022 by Beebamom
Shrimp tacos with mango salsa and black beans

It seems like we are ending the week with a Southwestern/Mexican vibe, enchiladas on Thursday and tacos on Friday. Shrimp tacos are a quick to make and tasty dinner plus well within my healthy eating plan.

John sauteed the shrimp in a little olive oil and spray and toasted the tortillas over the open flame of the stove. I added chopped up mango to some fresh salsa and cooked the beans with a can of Rotel original and added some cumin and chipotle powder for more zing. It probably took about 15 minutes to make this satisfying dinner.

Posted in American, Easy, Legumes, Mexican, pescatarian, Shellfish, Southwest U.S., Uncategorized, Vegetables | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Chicken enchiladas and salsa slaw. 1/13/22

Posted on January 14, 2022 by Beebamom
Chicken enchiladas with salsa slaw

For Thursday night’s dinner I shredded some rotisserie chicken and rolled it in a corn tortilla along with chopped onion, some shredded cheese, cilantro, and jarred salsa verde. I put 12 of these in a 9×13 dish with some salsa verde on the bottom and over the top. The dish went into the oven for 35 minutes at 350F.

For the slaw I took a package of pre-shredded cabbage slaw and mixed it with a dressing of light mayo, salsa, cumin, chipotle powder, and cumin seeds.

Easy to make dinner and a crowd-pleaser!

Posted in American, Easy, Kitchen tips, Mexican, Poultry, Southwest U.S., Vegetables | Tagged , | 1 Comment