Sous vide chicken breast, roasted butternut squash, sautéed broccoli
John set the temperature for 159F and the immersion circulator did the rest of the work. Once the water is at temperature we cook the meat for at least 1.5 hours. Then when I have the vegetables ready the chicken comes out. I love not having to try to time the vegetables to when the meat is done. So much easier and the chicken is never overcooked.
I roasted the butternut squash in the oven at 425F for 45 minutes. The squash is seasoned with salt and nutmeg. When the flesh is tender I scrape it out and throw out the skin and the aluminum foil it cooked in. (No dishes!) It practically mashes itself. Broccoli is a quick steam/sauté.
Slight change in plans for dinner tonight. We were supposed to be having classic chicken but when we went in the freezer there was no chicken. So we made Friday’s dinner instead. You never have to twist my arm to eat pasta!
While John got the water boiling and cooked the pasta I was able to easily make the rest of the dinner. I took a recipe and lightened it up so there is very little oil but lots of flavor.
LIGHT SHRIMP SCAMPI for 2
4 oz. whole grain spaghetti or linguine
2 tsp. olive oil
1 shallot, thinly sliced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper
12 large shrimp (21-25 count)
1/4 tsp. salt (or to taste)
1/4 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 T lemon juice
2 T capers (or chopped olives such as Kalamata)
3 T chopped parsley
1/2 T lemon zest
Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Reserve 1/2 cup cooking liquid.
While the pasta is cooking heat up the oil in a nonstick pan over medium heat. Cook until the shallot (or onion) until it is soft and translucent. Add the shrimp and the salt and cook on medium high heat turning over after a minute or so. At that point stir in the broth, wine, lemon juice, and capers. Bring to a boil for one minute then turn heat to medium and add the pasta, the parsley and the lemon zest. Stir. Add some pasta water if it does not seem saucy enough. Top dress with more chopped parsley and a drizzle of good olive oil.
This dish is the Indian winner dish of the week, it is also my favorite. I am including the recipe we use. The dish is split chickpeas (Chana dal that you can get in your local WalMart) that I have cooked in the Instant Pot with spicy tomatoes and spices and then served over rice and raw greens. Sometimes I use kale or other times spinach. Really it is whatever greens you like.
Chana Dal
1 cup Split Chickpeas
2 cups Water for soaking
2 tsp. Oil
1 tsp Cumin seeds
3/4 cup Onion diced
1/2 tbsp Ginger minced
3 cloves Garlic minced
1 can petite diced tomatoes with jalapeños (or plain)
1.5 cups Water for cooking
1 tbsp Lime juice
Optional greens
Spices
1 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Ground Turmeric (Haldi powder)
1/2 tsp Red Chili powder (Mirchi powder)
1 tsp Coriander powder (Dhaniya powder)
Cilantro
Instructions
Soak split chickpeas in the water for soaking for 30 minutes.
Start the instant pot in sauté mode and heat oil in it. Add cumin seeds.
Once the cumin seeds start to change color, add the onions, garlic, ginger and saute for 2 minutes.
Add tomatoes and spices and stir them well. Drain split chickpeas and add along with water for cooking. Stir it all up. Set to pressure cook for 15 minutes and close the lid with vent in sealing position.
After the instant pot beeps, let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes and then release the pressure. Add lime juice and give a good stir. If you are using greens that you would prefer wilted (spinach, kale, etc,) stir them in now, cover the pot, and wait 5 minutes before serving. Otherwise put them raw into your serving dish.
Today I prepared my BFD (Breakfast For Dinner) to seem more like a dinner and less like breakfast. First I made kind of an egg pancake and took that out of the pan, rolled it up and cut it into pieces. Then I took every vegetable that I thought would go reasonably well in my dish and sauteed them together. These were mushrooms, onions, carrots, celery, cabbage, broccoli, and kale. I seasoned this mixture with salt, garlic powder, coriander, and rogan josh. Next I added some leftover rice from our Chinese food blowout from earlier in the week. Finally in went the egg. I seasoned the dish again this time with soy sauce. I really enjoyed my two bowls full of wonderful textures, colors, and tastes.
This week includes 4 Vegan/Vegetarian meals, 1 chicken meal, and 2 seafood meals. India has been the country with the most views these past couple of weeks so we are making Chana dal, a favorite of ours. We will make enough to have it on Monday and then again as Saturday’s Leftovers For Dinner (LFD).
Pan-seared salmon, steamed new potatoes, broccoli with kale and carrots
Although Saturdays are usually LFD (Leftovers For Dinner), we did not have any leftovers since we just got back from our vacation. I chose a different route, with the exception of the fish, the vegetables are left over in the refrigerator from before we went away. So this is a dinner including mostly sad, tired veggies combined to make a lively and nutritious dish.
The broccoli perked up in some icy water and I cut away the dried out thick stems of the kale. The two carrot stubs were there mostly to mimic the color of the salmon. The veg, cooked in a little water and finished with some faux butter, also benefited from a squeeze of lemon. The (old) new potatoes needed plenty of salt and also improved with lemon.
John, as usual, did a great job cooking the salmon and salmon always looks great on the plate. This turned out to be a very appealing and healthy dinner.
John and I are back from our vacation in colorful southwest Utah. Although we did a lot of exercise, it just could not keep up with our vacation eating. We finished off the last two days with pizza and moo shu pork and Mongolian beef. I did not take pictures to chronicle my binge! But now it is back to sensible eating and new recipes. Since India has hung with me through the vacation they are the winners of the country with the most views and will be featured in a dinner next week. Look for a new menu tomorrow for the week starting on Monday.
I immediately started planning the rest of this week’s meals when we got home. Knowing what is on the menu is very helpful in keeping us on our healthy lifestyle eating program.
Friday – whole grain penne with kale, mushrooms, onions, and garlic
Saturday – pan-seared salmon with steamed new potatoes and broccoli
Sunday – BFD (breakfast for dinner) – some sort of eggs, vegetables, veggie patty, toast
Whole grain penne with mushrooms and kale
Mmmm, how delicious does that look?! Tonight while John boiled the water and cooked the pasta, I sautéed mushrooms, onions, garlic, and kale stems (don’t forget to use everything!) and added a little broth to help the stems cook through. When the pasta was about 5 minutes from being done I added the kale leaves. John drained the pasta and put it in with the vegetables while I stirred everything together and added a little pasta water to make it saucier. We finished our dinner bowls with a drizzle of good olive oil.
Pan seared rib-eye steak, tater tots, collard greens and corn
This is the penultimate dinner of our vacation and I know that when we get home there will be no more butter, steaks, tater tots, and wine. I have really enjoyed the respite from being super careful about what I eat but I know that this fantasy world cannot continue. I have tried to balance things out somewhat with lots of exercise but I won’t be surprised to see a temporary gain of about 3 lbs. I have no doubt that I can be back to my goal weight in a week. The problem with most of us, though, is once we go on an eating bender we don’t put on the brakes after the vacation is over.
Since we do not have a grill here our son cooked the steaks in a frying pan using a new technique we saw on America’s Test Kitchen. You start the steaks in a dry cold pan, turn the heat to high, and flip the steak every two minutes. The fat renders slowly. After the first couple of flips turn the heat to medium and keep flipping until the steak is medium rare or how ever you like it. You are supposed to do this in a non-stick pan but since we don’t have one here we did add a little butter, thyme, and garlic to the pan and basted the steak. They turned out really well.
As far as the rest of the dinner was concerned, I made the collard greens with some garlic, onion, stem pieces, chiffonade of the leaves, and corn just sautéed for a few minutes. The tater tots cooked in the oven. It was another great dinner!
Among his many admirable abilities, our son is also a good cook. Since we are on vacation together currently he offered to make a special dinner. The whole family used to enjoy going out to the now defunct Oak City Grill in Menlo Park. My favorite dish was seared scallops in a beurre blanc sauce with mashed potatoes, braised leeks, asparagus, and mushrooms. This was the dish he recreated for us.
Seared scallops in a beurre bland sauce with braised leeks, mashed potatoes, asparagus, and mushrooms
He made the dinner entirely with no help from us. It was super delicious. The scallops were just cooked through, the mashed potatoes were silky, the asparagus were just a little crisp, the leeks were meltingly good, and the beurre blanc was buttery and delicious. John offered to do the dishes so I spent my evening as a guest. Superb!
In 2016 we were all threatened, much to our glee, with a taco truck on every corner if we voted for the wrong candidate. Tacos like hamburgers, hot dogs, and pizza have become an American staple served weekly to our children, at sporting events, and at cookouts. I suppose there are people in the very oldest generation who have not ever eaten a taco but they are probably few and far between.
Fish (halibut) taco, with spicy beans and rice plus tortilla chips
Halibut was looking best at the fish counter here in Southern Utah so it was our fish of choice. John cut it into batons, seasoned it, and pan-fried the pieces. I made the spicy beans and rice adding Rotel pulp into the beans and the liquid into the rice. I also made them tastier with cayenne pepper, cumin, cilantro, onions, bell pepper, and garlic. A diced and seasoned mango augmented the salsa. The corn tortillas were heated up in the oven. At the end of dinner there was not much left over!
Sous vide chicken breast, roasted butternut squash, sautéed broccoli
Omnivore 