Category Archives: Main Dishes

Chipotle Beef Burritos with Whipped Avocado Cream

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Smoky, crunchy, creamy and hearty....

Smoky, crunchy, creamy and hearty….

I salivate over the smoky heat of chipotle peppers.  They come in that tiny can in the “Mexican” section of most grocery stores– the adobo sauce is what the peppers are in.  If you really want to spike the heat in this, blend in an actual chipotle, but the adobo sauce is really all you need.

Check the International or Mexican section of most supermarkets for these hotties

Check the International or Mexican section of most supermarkets for these hotties

This is the kind of dish you can make ahead—  get the filling sauteed and stash it in the fridge until you’re ready to eat.  Then stuff and heat your burritos– and stuff your pie hole.  It’s a winner.

Ingredients
2 pounds ground beef
1 Tb canola oil
1 medium onion or 1/2 large onion
1 cup beef broth
1 can Rotel tomatoes regular (drained)
1 can black beans (drained)
3 Tb adobo sauce from chipotle can
Palmful of cilantro chopped
Grated Mexican style cheese

Spice Mixture
1 Tb chipotle chili powder
1 Tb paprika
1 Tb cumin
1 Tb coriander
1 Tb dried minced onion (in spice section)
1/2 Tb garlic powder
1/2 Tb onion powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp kosher salt (more to taste if you prefer)

Saute 2 pounds ground beef in a Tb of canola oil until cooked through. Drain meat. In same pan that you used to brown the meat, sauté 1 medium chopped onion (I prefer Vidalia). After 5 minutes of sautéing onion, add meat back to pan and stir to combine. Add spice mixture with 1 cup of beef broth and simmer on medium/low for 15 minutes. Add 3 Tb adobo sauce, drained rotel tomatoes and drained black beans.

Stuff meat mixture into a tortilla and sprinkle cheese in. Fold seam side down and top with more cheese. Bake at 400 until cheese gets bubbly and browned on top (about 7-10 minutes) or broil for a few minutes. Pull out of oven and top with chopped cilantro, whipped avocado cream, jalapeño and more cheeeeeeeese if you pleeeeeeeeeease.

Whipped Avocado Cream
Mix in food processor:
2 avocados
2 fresh garlic cloves
2 Tb cilantro
1 Tb sour cream
1 tsp honey
juice from 1/2 lime squeezed
pinch of kosher salt

Top avocado cream on your burrito!

Thai Green Curry with Shrimp, Lime Zested Coconut Rice and Sesame Asparagus

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Light, creamy, spicy all in one bite...

Light, creamy, spicy all in one bite…

JP and I love spicy food– the more heat, the better.  You’ll often find us chowing down on 3-alarm dishes as we alternate between the slurp and the wipe….slurping down the goodness, wiping down the forehead!  Make me sweat, baby, it’s goodferya!!  Thai food is one of my favorites, and since there are no good delivery joints in our neck of the woods, I had to improvise at home when a Thai craving hit.

In this dish, I love the creamy smoothness of the coconut milk with the layers of flavor created with the ginger, garlic and lemon grass.  I’m also including the recipes for coconut lime zested rice and sesame asparagus.  It’s a great dinner that packs heart healthy flavor with all the heat!  If you’re not into spice, omit the jalapeños.

Ingredients

Green Curry Sauce:

1 Tb olive oil

2 shallots chopped

3 garlic cloves chopped

2 Tb Green Curry Paste

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp coriander

1 Tb fresh ginger

1 Tb fresh lemongrass (I use Gourmet Garden’s Lemongrass and Ginger Paste)

Super easy solutions so you don't have to chop up ginger or lemon grass!

Super easy solutions so you don’t have to chop up ginger or lemon grass!

2 Tb soy sauce or Tamari

2 Tb brown sugar

1 Tb fish sauce

Juice of one lime

2 jalapeños chopped or Thai Chilis

2 cans of full fat Coconut Milk

Chopped fresh basil (about a large palmful)

Shrimp Seasoning

1 pound of medium sized shrimp

1 tsp ground ginger

1 tsp curry powder

1 Tb butter and 1 Tb olive oil for sauteeing.

Once you peel the shrimp, toss in ginger and curry powder before sauteeing.

Once you peel the shrimp, toss in ginger and curry powder before sauteeing.

Coconut Lime Zested Rice

1 can full fat coconut milk

1 cup jasmine rice

1 Tb butter

Juice and zest from one lime

Sesame Asparagus

2-3 cups chopped asparagus

2 garlic cloves chopped

1 Tb sesame oil

1 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp toasted sesame seeds (optional)

Directions:

Green Curry Sauce: Saute the chopped shallot and garlic in olive oil on medium heat in a wide rimmed frying pan or large sauce pan for one minute.  Add in the curry paste and stir around to mix in with the shallots and garlic until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Add in the coconut milk and all of the other ingredients.  Stir to combine and simmer on low/medium heat until ready to serve.

Rice: While sauce is simmering, make your rice.  Bring the can of coconut milk to a boil and add in the 1 cup of jasmine rice with 1 Tb butter.  Squeeze the lime in and bring back to a boil.  Cover and turn down heat to low and cook for 20 minutes.  After 20 minutes, zest the lime and stir the zest in to the cooked rice.

Asparagus: Chop off the woody ends of the asparagus (about 2 inches) and chop the rest of the stalks into bite size 1 inch pieces.  Add sesame oil to a frying pan and heat up on med/high heat.  Toss in the garlic and stir for a minute, then add in the asparagus and saute for 7 minutes stirring occasionally.  Feel free to sprinkle some toasted sesame seeds on top– just stir them around in a dry pan for a couple minutes on medium heat to toast them up.  Don’t ya hate soggy asparagus?  Problem solved.  Cutting it up into bite size pieces seals in the flavor and still keeps the crunch.

Shrimp: This should be your final step so the shrimp don’t sit out and get tough.  Peel and clean your shrimp, dry them off with a paper towel and toss with the curry powder and ginger.  Heat up 1 Tb butter and 1 Tb olive oil in a frying pan on medium/high heat and wait till butter is bubbling.  Test out the temperature by putting one shrimp in the pan.  If you don’t hear a *sizzle*, wait a bit longer.    Don’t crowd the shrimp in the pan– cook in several batches.  (You will need to add more butter and olive oil between batches).

Cook shrimp on 3 minutes on one side– DO NOT MOVE THE SHRIMP AROUND IN THE PAN!  (YES, I’M YELLING!!) Just let them sit there in that buttery goodness and get seared.  I always use my timer for this because it’s so easy to overcook them.  Flip after 3 minutes and cook for 2 minutes on the other side.  Why less time on the other side?  Cuz they’ll be done by then.  Trust me!  Remove shrimp from the hot pan and put on a plate so the shrimp don’t continue cooking.  I always toss on a small pinch of kosher salt to the shrimp when they’re done.

To serve, top coconut rice with green curry sauce and shrimp.  Serve with asparagus.  Then sprinkle some fresh basil on top and get ready for scrumptious…

 

 

 

Meaty Monday: Asian Meatballs with a Soy Ginger Dipping Sauce

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Meaty Monday Meatballs

Meaty Monday Meatballs

I love meatballs….I have several go-to recipes, but they’re all Italian Jersey Shore style and I wanted to change it up a bit.  Meet Asian Persuasian Meatballs with a little Snooki mixed in.  I mean, you always need a little mozzarella with your meatballs.  The only Meatball Problem you’re gonna have is that they’ll be gone faster than The Situation’s shirt on a Saturday night.

Ingredients:

1 pound ground beef

1 pound ground pork

1 onion (pulverized in the food processor)

4 garlic cloves chopped

2 Tb fresh chopped ginger (or use the same amount with Gourmet Garden’s Ginger tube in the produce aisle)

2 jalapeños

2 Tb soy sauce or Tamari

1 Tb garlic powder

2 Tb Sriracha sauce

1 cup shredded mozzarella

1 egg

1/2 cup breadcrumbs

1 cup cilantro chopped

Spring onions chopped for garnish

2 Tb butter

1 Tb olive oil

Directions:

My grandmother’s meatballs were legendary in our family.  She would put her onion and parsley in the food processor till they were pure liquid and then mix it into the meat. That way, you don’t get any chunks of onion when you bite into the meatballs, but you still get all the flavor.  Brilliant. For this recipe, I blast the onion in the food processor for about 30 seconds and pour it all into a big bowl with the meat.  Add all of the other ingredients and mix with your meaty hands (don’t be afraid to get ’em dirty!) Ball up into golf ball size balls.

Preheat oven to 400.

Heat up 2 Tb butter and 1 Tb olive oil in a frying pan on med/high heat till butter gets bubbly, then add meatballs in batches.  Don’t crowd the pan too much– I do about 6 at a time.  Brown on all sides– about 5-7 minutes total.

Put those bad boys on a rimmed cookie sheet (I put foil down and spray with Pam) and bake for 20 minutes until cooked through.  Make sure you test one out to double check they’re done!  (And to double check the delicious factor….)

While meatballs are baking, make your dipping sauce.  Saute the chopped garlic cloves in 1 Tb olive oil on medium heat for a minute– keep an eye on it so it doesn’t burn.  Add 1/2 of a chopped jalapeño, the soy sauce, sugar, sherry, spring onion and ginger.  Bring to a simmer and then turn heat down to low to keep warm until meatballs are done.

I usually make this with rice– then add some of the dipping sauce to your rice…it’s awesome.  Drizzle the sauce on the meatballs and make sure to put a little extra sauce on the side for added dipping pleasure!

Dipping Sauce:

1 1/2 cups soy sauce or Tamari

3 Tb sugar

1 Tb fresh ginger chopped

2 garlic cloves chopped

1/2 chopped jalapeño

1 chopped spring onion

1 Tb sherry (use the real thing, not anything labeled “cooking sherry”)

Meaty Monday: Buttermilk Thyme Chicken Thighs

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What's up, tender juicy chicken thighs?

What’s up, tender juicy chicken thighs?

This is my new favorite way to prepare chicken!  In the past, I’ve used buttermilk for frying chicken, but since I’m trying to keep things extremely relatively healthy, I decided to branch out into the buttermilk marinade style.  The buttermilk really tenderizes the chicken beautifully.  This is inspired by a Rachael Ray recipe that used a portion of the marinade for salad dressing (and that’s put aside BEFORE you marinate the chicken!…We’re not prepping a salmonella salad,  y’all!)

Try my version– it’s fabulous and super easy.  And, it’s perfect if you’re low-carbing.

Marinade:
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup full fat mayo
2-3 Tb fresh thyme
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp kosher salt

Chicken:
1 pound of boneless, skinless chicken thighs cut into chunks
1 Tb butter
1 Tb olive or canola oil

Whisk together and set aside 1/2 cup to use as salad dressing.

Cut up boneless skinless chicken in chunks or strips and soak in remaining marinade for 2 hours in fridge. Heat up a grill pan on medium/high with 1 Tb butter and 1 Tb oil. When pan is hot, put chicken chunks in (don’t crowd them) and grill for about 7 minutes per side on medium heat. Don’t move them around in the pan too much– let them sit and sizzle so they get that yummy, crunchy, caramelization!

1 pound of chicken pieces will require 2 batches of grilling. Replenish with more butter/oil before grilling second batch.

Serve with a salad tossed with the leftover dressing. Top chicken with a few sprigs of thyme before serving.