Hamming It Up

Spring is supposedly here.  I don't believe it but that's what they say.  With Easter on the horizon my food brain gravitates to ham and eggs.  Why is that anyway?  I get the egg thing but what is the deal with ham and Easter?  I don't have a problem with it since it's about one of two or three times a year that we have ham, but I am a little curious as to how that became the official meat of the Resurrection.  I recently made a hammy recipe that I thought I would share because you might find it a nice way to use up some of that leftover ham.  The recipe is Ham and Vegetable Gratin from Food Network Magazine (go figure).

First I should explain that the veggies in this recipe were onion, potatoes, and frozen peas and carrots.  I have a life long aversion to peas (unless they remain tucked in their pods) so I used a fresh carrot and a cup or so of chopped fresh broccoli.  Pre-heat your oven to 375 and chop your veggies.

Melt a tablespoon of butter in a large oven proof skillet.

Add the peas and carrots or in this case broccoli and carrots, onions and potatoes and cook until veggies start to soften, about 6 min.

Next add your ham and a few tablespoons of whole wheat flour and some dried thyme.

Next comes some chicken broth.  Bring that to a boil and then add milk and simmer a few minutes until slightly thickened.  Now put the skillet in the oven and cook until the potatoes are tender.

While that's in the oven, melt some butter in a medium pan and add 3/4 cup of panko bread crumbs and chopped fresh parsley.  Season with salt and pepper.

Stir until lightly toasted, 3-4 min.

Scatter the crumbs over the ham and veggies when they come out of the oven and let rest about 5 min before serving.

We decided to top ours with an over easy egg and unanimously decided that it was a great addition.

The next day I reheated it in a skillet and scrambled an egg into it and topped with a sprinkle of melted cheddar.  Oh man, that was good! I'm a huge fan of leftovers.

Ham and Vegetable Gratin (Food Network Magazine)

4 Tbs unsalted butter
1 small onion chopped
2 large Yukon gold potatoes (about 1lb), diced
1 10oz pkg frozen mixed peas and carrots (or 1 cup diced carrot and 1 cup chopped broccoli)
1/4 lb low sodium ham, chopped (I'm sure I used twice that)
3 Tbs whole-wheat flour
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 1/2 cups fat free low sodium chicken broth
2/3 cup low-fat milk
3/4 cup panko bread crumbs
2 Tbs chopped fresh parsley
kosher salt and fresh ground pepper

Pre-heat oven to 375.  Melt 1 Tbs butter in a large oven proof skillet over med-high heat.  Add onion, potatoes, chopped veg and cook, stirring occasionally until soft about 5-6 min.  Add the ham, thyme, and flour and mix well.  Stir in broth and bring to a boil.  Stir in milk and simmer until slightly thickened, about 3 min.  Transfer the skillet to the oven and bake about 20 min or until potatoes are soft.

Meanwhile, melt the remaining 3 Tbs butter in a medium skillet over med-high heat.  Add panko, parsley and an 1/8 tsp of salt and pepper each. Cook stirring until lightly toasted, about 4 min.

Remove ham skillet from the oven, top with crumbs and let rest 5 min before serving.

I highly recommend the addition of a poached or lightly fried egg.

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

While doing a little Internet perusing the other day I came across one of those motivational posters that you often see on social media that I thought was perfect- "You will never find the time to exercise, you will need to make the time." Or something to that effect.  No kidding, how many people just find themselves with absolutely nothing to do?  There's always something you could or should be doing but unless you make it a point to exercise that will probably be one of the things that gets left out.  I try to make a plan for each week, write on my planner which days I'll run, which days I'll do some strength and which days I'll do neither.  Sometimes they get shuffled around depending on what comes up during the week.  If I miss something I try to make up for it with an exercise DVD or Pilate's on demand (Verizon Fios has one that I really like) or even go out for a 2-3 mile walk with one or both kids.  The same is true for making good, healthy non-processed food.  If you make the time to pick a recipe and make it,  you will be amazed at how easily and quickly you can bang out a healthy homemade meal for your family.  With the exception of a couple of crazy recipes that I've posted, I've selected every one based on the fact that there is little to no skill required and they are relatively quick.  If you're eating out most nights, you're probably spending at least an hour in the restaurant.  You can be done way faster at home making a meal that doesn't have 2300 calories or 3200mg of sodium.  Then you won't need to find the time to spend in the hospital with ailments ultimately brought on by a terrible diet and sedentary lifestyle.  OK, done with my rant for today.

I found this recipe in Better Homes and Gardens called Lemon-Braised Chicken Tenders and Cauliflower.  I made a couple of adjustments, took out a couple of things and added a couple of things.  I'm going to share my adaptation along with some substitutions you may want to make to suit your tastes or your pantry.

First you put a little olive oil in a Dutch oven and heat over medium high heat.  Add 1 and 1/2 to 2 lbs of chicken tenders or boneless skinless chicken cut into tenders and brown on both sides.  This amount fed my family of four so don't feel like you need to have 4 or 5 breasts, not necessary.

Remove the chicken to a plate when both sides are brown, it will not be cooked through but it's going in the oven so worry not about that.

While your chicken is browning cut up a half head (about 2 cups) of cauliflower.

You will also need to chop one large shallot (use a small onion if you prefer, I just happen to love shallots), 5 cloves of garlic, 1 tsp fresh thyme and 1 tsp of lemon zest.

Now you add the shallots, cauliflower, lemon zest and I added a half can of artichoke hearts cut into quarters, this too is optional but I think it's a very tasty addition not mention they are good for cardiovascular health, immunity, digestion and weight control to name a few of the benefits to adding them to your dish.  At this point I also added a 1/4 cup of dry white wine, again optional but I think wine, lemon and shallots are a dream team!

Once the cauliflower has begun to brown slightly, add the garlic, thyme and lemon juice.  Season with 1/4 tsp of salt and some fresh cracked pepper.

 After a minute or so, add 1 cup chicken broth and the chicken back into the pot, bring it to a boil and then cover and add to a preheated 375 degree oven and bake for about 10 min or until chicken is cooked through.  Once you remove the pot from the oven add two cups of fresh baby spinach to the pot (all my pictures of that step were blurry).

Spoon into bowls over cooked brown rice

top with chopped pistachios (pine nuts would work too)

and maybe the tiniest pinch of shredded Parmesan cheese.  Delish, healthy, easy.

Lemon-Braised Chicken and Cauliflower (adapted from Better Homes and Gardens)

2 Tbs olive oil
1 1/2 lb boneless skinless chicken breast cut into strips
1 large shallot
1/2 head of cauliflower cut into florets (about 2 cups)
5-6 artichoke hearts drained and quartered
5 cloves of garlic chopped
1 tsp fresh thyme chopped
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup dry white wine (optional)
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1 tsp lemon zest
2 cups fresh baby spinach
1/4 cup chopped pistachios
cooked brown rice

Preheat the oven to 375.  Heat 2 Tbs of olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat.  Add chicken and brown on both sides, about 3 min on each side.  Remove chicken to a plate using a slotted spoon.  Add shallot, artichoke hearts and cauliflower to the pot and cook until lightly browned about 3 min.  Add garlic, thyme, white wine (optional), lemon zest and a 1/4 tsp of salt and fresh cracked pepper to taste.  Cook for about 2 min.  Add lemon juice and stir scraping up any bits that stuck to the bottom of the pot.  Add the chicken broth and browned chicken to the pot and bring to a boil.  Cover and transfer to the oven and bake for 10 min or until the chicken is cooked through.  Add spinach and cover allowing the spinach to wilt, about 2 min.  Spoon over brown rice and top with a sprinkle of chopped nuts and a pinch of shredded parm.

There's A Storm A Brewin'

There's a big o'll snow storm brewing on the east coast and I for one am so ready for one!  I'd like to get snowed in for a couple of days (with my family, electricity and plenty of food of course).  Chances are we'll get less than predicted snow and there will be no such snowing in here but for those of you closer to the coast...look out.  When you head to the store for milk and bread, throw some ginger, stew beef and some Ro-Tel in your cart, you can let this cozy crock-pot meal cook away while you play Monopoly and watch movies.  Slow-Cooker Caribbean Beef Stew from Food Network Magazine is a new twist on your usual beef stew.  I typically make mine with stout beer or red wine but this one has ginger in it (that's new to me anyway).

There are not a ton of ingredients here.  The usual carrots, potatoes and beef along with fresh ginger, thyme, white pepper, allspice and Ro-Tel.

First you'll mix together some flour, chopped thyme leaves, allspice, salt and white pepper.

The recipe calls for 2 lbs of stew meat.  You can buy it chopped up but you can save a few bucks by cutting it up yourself if you've got an extra 2 minutes.

Add the beef to the bowl of flour and spices.

Toss the beef to fully coat in flour.

Next you chop up some carrots (I always go heavy on the carrots) and potatoes, ginger and garlic and toss it in the crock-pot with a couple of sprigs of thyme.

Next you put the meat right on top of the veggies.

Then you whisk a 1/2 cup of water and some Worcestershire sauce into the flour left in the bowl from coating the beef. Add it to the crock-pot

and open up a can of Ro-Tel (I really like this stuff).  This is the original flavor which is the tiniest bit spicy (my kids had plenty to say about that!) but it also comes in mild.

Plop it right on top and you are done for the next several hours.

Just like that, check dinner off the to do list.  Just walk away and let my retro-cooker do all the work.  Such a lovely concept, I do need to find more really good slow cooker recipes.

There you have it.  We had ours with a little rice and a nice hit of Siracha for good measure.  So if you're looking for something easy to warm your bones over the next couple of days, click the link for the full recipe and enjoy!
Caribbean Beef Stew

A Burger to Gobble Up!

Every time I read those articles that list the Worst things to order in a chain restaurants, it makes my skin crawl a little.  It makes me wonder first of all what on earth am I eating?  And secondly, why?  Why are some of these restaurant meals so horrible?  Why are they trying to kill us?  I mean, we know that perfectly delicious food can be made at home with a lot less impact on our health.  I don't know, but it freaks me out a little.  The other night I made my favorite burger for dinner which happens to be a turkey burger.  I can't do chicken for some reason but this turkey burger is delish and easy and everyone loves them.  My burger (without the bun) comes in at 230 calories, 260 with cheese.  A cheeseburger (beef) at Applebee's, with the bun has 850!  5 Guys does not have a single burger for under 480 and that's the "little hamburger" without cheese.  You've got to have cheese! Red Robin has a turkey burger that I'll bet is not as good as mine by the way, that comes in at 493 calories with nothing on it.  And hopefully you've all sworn off that creepy McDonald's place but I can't help but mention that super lame quarter pounder with cheese has 520 calories.  So now I with arm you with a fantastic burger recipe with no questionable ingredients that you can make at home. (Trust me, the fat and sodium stats are even more impressive but I don't want to lose you before we get to the good stuff.)

We always buy the Jenny-O ground turkey because it comes with 20oz as opposed to the usual 16oz.  We like a nice meaty burger.  To the meat you'll add a little Dijon mustard, an egg white and a teaspoon of cornstarch to hold it together.

Shred up a small carrot, about 1/4 cup.

Fresh herbs are always a plus.  Here's a little parsley and a little basil (any combo you like is fine).

Chop enough to make about 1 tablespoon.

Toss it in the bowl with 1/4 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp onion powder and black pepper to taste.

Mix well...

and form into 4 burger patties.

Spray your pan with a little non stick cooking spray and fry flipping once until cooked through,  adding cheese at the end until melted.

Place on a toasted bun with toppings of choice.  I had mine with spinach, tomato and dill pickle.

This very satisfying burger was served with a quinoa salad (that I want to make a few changes to before sharing) but sweet potato fries are always a great side too!

My Best Burger

20oz lean ground turkey
1 egg white (large egg)
1 tsp Dijon
1 tsp cornstarch
1/4 cup shredded carrot
1 Tbs chopped fresh herbs
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp salt
black pepper to taste

Mix ground turkey with all ingredients and form into 4 patties.  You may want to make ahead and let them sit in the refrigerator for 30 min to firm up.  Spray a pan with cooking spray and cook over medium heat flipping once after first side is browned, until cooked through.  Add cheese if desired until melted.  Serve with or without a bun and toppings of your choice. Enjoy!

Healthy Chicken in a Curry

How many of you are struggling to stick with New Years Resolutions already?  We're only two weeks in so hopefully you're hanging in there.  I just joined a new gym before Christmas because they have some classes that I really love.  So far I've taken Pilates, Cardio-Kickboxing, R.I.P.P.E.D. and Boot Camp.  Every single class is as full as can be.  I'm curious to see if the attendance drops off in a month or so.  That seems to be the trend with a new year at the gym.  Everyone is gung ho, then things slowly fizzle out.  If you've done this in the past, try to pace yourself.  Don't expect to go from nothing to 5-6 days a week and think you won't get burned out and quit all together.  Build your activity level gradually and instead of doing nothing by March you'll be doing more.  The same is true with your diet.  Forget "going on a diet".  The idea is to change your diet, and if you do this gradually, you again, will be more successful in sticking with it.  Super Bowl Sunday is coming up in a few weeks.  If you're like me, you look forward to the food more than the game (I really couldn't care less about the game).  I have a really tasty chicken dish to share if you're entertaining for the game (or any other time for that matter).  This healthy little number is called Curried Chicken and Vegetable Pan Roast from the Food & Wine website (which I just love).  Here's how it goes:

Don't be afraid of brussels sprouts! These are my new favorite vegetable and I've only liked them since Thanksgiving (just this past one!).  Roasted until nice and brown, they are fantastic.

You'll need to halve 1 1/2 lbs of them.  A perfect job for a little helper if you have one.

You will also need to peel and dice 2 lbs of butternut squash.  Already you can tell how healthy this is, just look at those fantastic colors!

You will also need to cut 2 red onions (I used one large one) into thin wedges.

Toss your veggies in a large bowl with some oil, salt and pepper.

Spread them out over two rimmed baking sheets.

In the same bowl you mix oil, fat-free Greek yogurt, ginger, garlic, curry powder and season with salt and pepper.

Toss the chicken thighs in and stir until well coated.

Lay the chicken over the veggies and roast in a 450 preheated oven.

The recipe suggests serving with warm naan.  We used the bread machine and made some pita instead.

About 40 min in, you'll pull the pans from the oven and pour off any accumulated juices.  Pop them back in for about 20 min more, until chicken is browned and veggies are tender.

Oh my, now how good does this look!  This is enough to feed 12 so its perfect for when you have company, or you can just have leftovers on hand for weekday lunches.  These chicken pieces make a great sandwich the next day.

Serve with Greek yogurt or sour cream.  I think next time I'll make some little yogurt sauce of some kind.  That's it! Minimal work, really tasty meal and healthy to boot!

Curried Chicken and Vegetable Pan Roast (www.foodandwine.com)

2 lbs butternut squash, cut into 1 inch cubes
2 large red onions, cut into thin wedges
1 1/2 lbs brussels sprouts, halved
1 cup canola oil
salt and pepper
1 cup plain fat-free Greek yogurt, plus more for serving
2 Tbs minced fresh ginger
2 large garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbs Madras curry powder (I think regular curry will work fine)
4 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs
warm naan or pita for serving

Preheat oven to 450 and position racks in the upper and middle thirds.  In a large bowl, toss squash, brussels sprouts, onion wedges and 1/2 cup of the canola oil; season with salt and pepper.  Spread veggies on to two large, rimmed baking sheets.

In the same bowl, combine the cup of yogurt with the ginger, garlic, curry powder and the remaining 1/2 cup of oil and season with salt and pepper.  Add the chicken and toss until thoroughly coated.  Arrange chicken on top of the vegetables and roast for 40 min rotating the pans half way through until veggies are nearly tender and chicken is nearly cooked through.  Pour off any liquid and continue to roast about 20 min longer until chicken is browned and veggies are tender.  Transfer to a platter and serve with warm naan and yogurt.