Soy-licious Orange and Garlic Asparagus

A lot of flavor from fresh oranges, and depth of flavor from fish sauce.

1 large bunch pencil thin asparagus, ends snapped off and cut into 2" pieces
2 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp mirin
2 tsp fish sauce
1 tsp sesame oil
1 garlic clove, microplaned
1 large orange - both zest and sections

In a microwave safe bowl, place asparagus and a splash of water.  Cover with plastic wrap and microwave for 4 minutes.  Test for desired amount of crispness and continue microwaving at 1 minute intervals until desired doneness.  Barely pull the plastic wrap back and use it as a cover to drain the water from the bowl.  To the hot asparagus, add the soy sauce through the garlic clove.  Zest the orange over the bowl.  On a cutting board, cut off the ends of the orange and carefully use your knife to slice off the peel, leaving as much fruit as possible, but getting all the pith (white part) off.  Holding the peeled orange in your hand over the asparagus bowl, use a paring knife to cut out the sections of orange along the membranes.  This is called 'supreme'.  Congrats, you are a fancy chef now!  Once all of the sections are cut out, squeeze the juice out of what is left.  Use a spoon or your OJ covered hands to gently toss the asparagus salad.  Taste and season with salt and pepper.  Serve warm or at room temp.  Yum!

Haricot Verts with Tomatoes and Almonds

Quick and easy, haricot verts (french green beans) have a slightly nutty taste and cook more quickly than green beans.  Paired with tomatoes and almonds, these veggies go well with grilled meats.

1# haricot verts
1 Tbsp EVOO
1/2 pt cherry tomatoes
1/4c chopped almonds
1/4c water
salt and pepper, to taste

In a large skillet, put the olive oil, water and haricot verts.  Cover with a lid or foil and cook over high heat, allowing the beans to steam, for about 5 minutes, or until beans are crisp-tender.  If water cooks out before beans are done, add a little more.   Add the cherry tomatoes and cook until slightly wilted and beans are tender.  The water should be about cooked out at this point.  Add the almonds, cook another minute and season with salt and pepper.

Tandoori Chicken Thighs

Spiced chicken thighs are quick to cook on the grill

or baked in the oven. Serve with Steamed Haricot Verts with Tomatoes and Almonds.  

This marinade will easily cover 4-6 thighs; you can double the recipe for 8-12 thighs:

1/2 cup low-fat Greek yogurt

1 Tbsp fresh grated ginger

1/2 onion, grated

1 Tbsp cumin

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp turmeric

3-5 garlic cloves, minced or microplaned

4-6 boneless, skinless chicken thighs

In a large bowl, combine the first 7 ingredients.  Add the boneless, skinless chicken thighs and stir and turn to make sure that the chicken is well coated on both sides.  Let sit for 30 - 45 min on the counter, or refrigerate for 2 hours.  Heat the grill and spray with non-stick spray OR place foil on the grill OR heat an oven to 350.  Scrape off the excess marinade and sprinkle chicken with salt.  Grill on each side about 6 minutes, or bake for 10-12 minutes, until cooked through.  

Mustard Maple Marinated Chicken Thighs

An easy marinade that doubles as the dipping sauce.  The hubby had it with baked beans.

For the marinade:
1/2c spicy brown mustard
1/4c sugar free maple syrup
2 Tbsp yellow mustard
2 Tbsp brown sugar or Splenda
2 minced garlic cloves
1 tsp onion powder
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp black pepper
8-10 skinless, boneless chicken thighs

Mix all the marinade ingredients in a large bowl.  For each person you have eating, put 2 tablespoons marinade in a ramekin or little dish.  Add the chicken to the big bowl and stir to coat the chicken on all sides.  Let sit for 1 hour.

Line 2 cookie sheets with foil and spray with Pam.  Spread thighs out on sheets, scraping off excess marinade.  Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes, or until thighs are cooked through.  Serve with the reserved sauce.  I also put out blue cheese dressing to dip in - what a great combo!

Almond Joy Filling

So, the husband bought a mini German Chocolate cake from Wegman's and of course I can't eat any of it since it is filled with carbs.  The coconut filling looked so good, I decided to come up with my own version!  I found that just a spoonful satisfies my craving, and leaves me with enough for the week.

For the Almond Joy Filling:
1 c Ricotta cheese - I use the low fat Sorrento and I think that FF would work too
1/4 c chopped pecans
1/4 c shredded coconut
1 tsp coconut extract
1/4 c Splenda
possibly a splash of dairy

In a dry skillet, heat the pecans and coconut over medium high heat.  You want to the coconut to turn a nice toasty brown, but not burn.  Stir almost constantly and as soon as it is a nice light brown, turn the heat off and pour onto a plate or into a bowl so it doesn't keep cooking.  Place the ricotta cheese in a food processor and whir for 30 sec.  Add the Splenda and extract and whir again to that you have a smooth creamy filling.  You might need to add a splash of dairy, depending on how wet the ricotta is.  Add the toasted pecans and coconut and give a few quick pulses just to combine.  Taste and try not to eat all of it right out the bowl!

Osso Bucco in Red Sauce

The hubby and I look at the meat section at Wegmans every Sunday.  If we see veal shanks on sale, we snag them and nix whatever we were going to have for dinner.  This dish takes time, but is easy to prepare and comes out so rich and sumptuous it is worth the effort!

For the Veal Osso Bucco:

2 - 4 pieces veal shank

4 swirls EVOO, divided

1 large onion, large dice

1/2 bag baby carrots, whole or large dice

2-3 ribs celery, small dice, including any leaves

at least 3 garlic cloves, more if you like garlic

1 sprig rosemary

1 Tbsp. tomato paste
1/2 cup good red wine

1 (28oz) can crushed tomatoes

Kosher salt and pepper

Heat oven to 350 while preparing the ingredients.  In a large oven proof skillet, heat 2 swirls EVOO over medium high heat.  Sprinkle both sides of veal with salt and pepper.  Carefully place in skillet and cook until browned on both sides.  Don't try to lift up and peek under the meat.  Doing so will tear the meat and you won't get a nice browned side.  You will know the veal can be flipped when it releases easily.  Remove to a plate.  Put another swirl or two of EVOO into the pan and add the onion, carrots and celery, plus a large pinch of salt. The veggies will release some water, which will help pick up any browned bits on the bottom.  When the veggies are tender, stir in the garlic and rosemary; saute 1 minute.  Add the tomato paste and stir to combine/cook out.  Add the wine and scrape up any browned bits.  Carefully add the crushed tomatoes and stir.  Nestle the veal and any accumulated juices into the sauce.  Cover with an oven proof lid, or tightly with foil.  Place in the oven and cook until veal is falling off the bone, about 2 - 3 hours.  Remove from oven and season sauce with salt and pepper.

Remove the sprig of rosemary and serve veal over a bed of fluffy mashed potatoes, rice or my favorite, Parmesan polenta, making sure to give everyone a scoop of the rich sauce.

Asian Meatballs

A variation of my traditional Italian meatballs.  The most recent batch that I froze I did as smaller meatballs so I could use them as either a dinner option or as snacks at a party.  For dinner I would serve them with stir-fried veggies in your favorite sauce.  For a party, I'm thinking 2 things: in a crock pot with an Asian BBQ sauce OR served as is with a cilantro/soy/peanut dipping sauce.  You could easily replace the ground beef with ground chicken, which would be excellent with Thai Peanut Sauce.

For the Asian Meatballs:

2# ground beef

2 whole eggs

1/4c oat bran

1/3c soy sauce
1 -2 Tbsp mirin or rice vinegar

1 tsp sesame oil

3 garlic cloves, minced or micro-planed

1 bunch scallion, finely chopped, white and green parts

1" peeled piece of fresh ginger, micro-planed

opt: 1 heaping Tbsp Sambal Oelek (garlic chili paste)

Preheat oven to 375.  Line 2 baking sheets with foil and spay with Pam.  In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, oat bran, soy sauce, mirin, and sesame oil.  Add the garlic, scallions, grated ginger and Sambal Oelek (if using) and stir to combine.  Let the oat bran absorb some liquid, about 5 minutes. If the mixture looks very loose, add a little more oat bran or Panko bread crumbs.  Lastly, add the meat, using your hands to gently mix.  You don't want to mash the meat or you will have a dense meatball.  

Either scoop or roll meatballs to your size liking and place on prepared sheet. (I was able to get about 36 meatballs out of the recipe.)  Bake until outsides are brown and cooked through, about 12-14 minutes for 1ounce meatballs.  Larger 3 oz meatballs may take as long as 25 minutes.  

To prepare for freezing:  allow meatballs to cool to room temp.  Place in a single layer in a large freezer zip-lock bag.  Seal all but a small gap, then suck the air out of the bag and quickly seal.  Lay flat in the freezer until frozen through, then you can move the bag.  This way the meatballs freeze individually and you don't have to defrost the entire bag to get a few out.  

Filet Mignon with Red Wine Onion Sauce and Sauteed Shitake Mushrooms

The hubby was lucky enough to get this tonight :) He had it with Spicy and Creamy Collard Greens.
While your filets are cooking on an indoor grill pan or out on the grill, make the sauce and mushrooms.

For the Red Wine Onion Reduction:
2 strips bacon, diced
1 small onion, fine dice
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2c good quality red wine - one that you would like to drink with the steak
1-2 Tbsp. cold butter, cut into small peices
salt and pepper

In a saute pan, cook the bacon over medium heat until crispy. Use a slotted spoon to remove the bacon. Add the onion to the pan and cook over medium heat until very soft. You don't want the onions to brown. Add the garlic and cook for a minute or two more. Add the wine and crank the haet to high. Bring to a boil and reduce wine to just a few tablespoons. Turn off the heat, add the cold butter pieces and stir to combine. Taste and season with salt and pepper.

For the mushrooms:
1/2# Shitake mushrooms, stems removed and cut into strips
1 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp EVOO
salt and pepper

Put the butter and oil in a saute pan over high heat. When melted and butter stops foaming, add the mushrooms and cook over high heat until golden brown. Season with salt and pepper.

Meatloaf Pie with Basil Ricotta Filling

For the meatloaf:
1 - 1.5# ground beef
1/2 onion, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, finely minced or grated on a microplane
1/2 jalapeno, finely minced
1/4 cup oat bran
1/4 cup skim milk
several dashes worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
2 eggs
several grinds of black pepper
1-2 tsp Italian seasoning

For the Basil Ricotta Filling:
3 oz FF cream cheese
1/2 of a 15oz container FF/light/low fat ricotta cheese ( I LOVE Sorrento Low Fat)
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1 egg
1 large handful fresh basil leaves
1 tsp. fresh ground black pepper

In a large bowl, mix the oat bran, milk, eggs, worcestershire and parmesan cheese. Allow the oat bran to absorb the milk. Mix in the onion, garlic, jalapeno, black pepper and Italian seasoning. Gently incorporate the ground beef into the mixture by hand. You don't want to be too aggressive, or the meatloaf will be dense.

Into a pie pan, pat about 1/2 - 2/3 of the mixture into the bottom. Build up the edges of the "crust" with the remaining meat. You should have a well in the center of the pie pan.

In a food processor, place the filling ingredients and mix until evenly blended. Scrape the mixture into the middle of the pie pan. Bake at 350 until the edges are browned and the center puffed up. Allow to cool for a few minutes before slicing into wedges.