Barley and Vegetable Risotto

This recipe was my first introduction into making risotto.  Since I learned how to make this last year, I've also made traditional risotto with rice.  But if you're watching your carb intake, using barley is great.  
This is a great side dish, or could even be a whole meal (it's that filling).  But making any risotto takes time, and it's worth it!  They key is adding liquid in small doses and letting cook about 30-45 minutes on the stove.  

I served this with a previously published blog post: Stuffed Chicken breasts from 5-16-13. YUMMY!

INGREDIENTS

4-1/2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 small onion, chopped
1 Tablespoon olive oil
8 oz sliced fresh mushrooms
3/4 cup uncooked pearl barley
2 cups chopped fresh spinach
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
Pepper to taste

1.  Bring chicken broth to a boil in saucepan, reduce heat to low and keep broth hot.  

2.  Heat olive oil in large saucepan or skillet, add onions and mushrooms and cook about 4 minutes.  (I used a skillet for photos, but a saucepan is the way to go I think)

3. Add barley to same pan, cook 1 minute.  

4.  Add 1/4 cup of broth to the barley mixture and stir until the broth is absorbed.  Continue adding 1/4 cup broth at a time, stirring until broth is absorbed each time (about 30 minutes, until barley is tender).

5.  Stir in spinach and cook 1 minute until spinach is wilted.  Stir in Parmesan cheese and pepper.  

Stuffed Chicken Breasts - post 5-16-13

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Grilled Tuna Steaks

Our neighbor was nice enough to bring us 2 thick-fresh Tuna steaks last fall from the Coast. They had been vacuumed sealed in my freezer ever since.  Having never prepared tuna steaks before, I was a little unsure the best way to cook.  

With a little research, I learned they are best when marinated and grilled, remaining slightly pink inside.  Since I don't like any meat prepared rare, this was a little scary, but I figured millions of people eating sashimi can't be wrong. 

Also this was a perfect opportunity to buy a new grill pan!  

What to marinade them with?  hmmmm...good question!   Corinne had bought me some really cool ingredients from her time working at the Green Olive shop, so I used these to marinade the steaks.  If I didn't have these, I might have made an apple/pear juice, vinegar and oil mixture.  

INGREDIENTS

Marinade of choice (approximately 1/2 cup)
1 Tablespoon Basil
Pepper
Olive Oil for grilling

1. Mix marinade ingredients and pour over tuna steaks.  Season and rub on spices, coating both sides.  Cover and refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.  I think I had these in the marinade for several hours.  

Aren't these steaks beautiful???

2.  Remove from refrigerator and sit at room temperature for at least 20 minutes.  

3.  Heat indoor grill pan under medium-high heat with oil.  You can also use outdoor grill.  
Grill tuna steaks for about 3 minutes per side.  They should be slightly pink inside.  

4.  I served these with a simple tzatziki sauce (Greek yogurt, diced cucumbers and garlic powder) and grilled asparagus (also done on my new pan!)

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Shrimp stir fry with peanut butter

I'm not sure if it is a dangerous thing, or a good thing, but I've been watching a lot of episodes of Chopped on the Food Network lately.  Corinne got me turned onto that, and now I'm addicted. For those of you who have seen it, can you imagine preparing the dishes they do in the time frame in which they have?  I would be a mess!

So on one episode, one of the basket ingredients was peanut butter and the chef added it to a stir fry, thus this recipe post.

I love stir fry and usually just make it with this great Soyaki Sauce I like from Trader Joe's.  This time, I decided to amp it up with some peanut butter too.  If you don't have this, you can use any teriyaki sauce, or just soy sauce seasoned with garlic, ginger and sesame seeds. 

INGREDIENTS

Cut up vegetables of choice - about 3 cups
     (I used slightly blanched carrots, zucchini, onions and yellow peppers)
Sesame oil 
1-1-1/2 cup Soyaki, Teriyaki or Soy Sauce (see note above)
1/2 cup creamy or crunchy peanut butter
Cooked shrimp (if using uncooked shrimp, cook with vegetables for a few minutes)


1.  With a little sesame oil, in a skillet, saute [to mild crispness] vegetables, remove from pan.

2.  Add sauce into pan and stir in peanut butter until smooth

3.  Put vegetables back into the pan to infuse the flavor, stir.  Add the cooked shrimp in the last few minutes, so they don't get chewy.  You just want the shrimp to get warmed.  Serve over rice!  

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Slow Cooker Turkey Tacos

In one of my latest cooking magazines, there are a lot of recipes listed for healthy eating after the new year. This was one that I came across that sounded delicious because A) I love ALL Mexican food, B) I've never made tacos in the crock pot, and C) Turkey tacos sounded different and kind of fun. So I threw everything in the crockpot (which took a total of about 8 minutes) and enjoyed these delicious tacos when I got home from work. I had some tomatillos in the fridge so I diced those up to put on top for a "fresh" crunch to the tacos and I will definitely make sure I have those next time I make these too. Although fresh diced tomatoes would also be a nice addition. (By the way...each taco is approximately 360 calories!)

Ingredients
1 15 oz can diced tomatoes, drained
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
4 scallions, diced
2 TBS. peanut butter
1.5 TBS. soy sauce
1 TBS chili powder
2 tsp. cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 skinless, boneless turkey breast (about 1.5 - 2 lbs.)
Corn or Flour tortillas

Optional: diced tomatillos for the topping

1. Combine in a slow cooker the tomatoes, green pepper, cilantro, scallions, peanut butter, soy sauce, chili powder, cocoa powder and cinnamon. Stir ingredients together.

2. Add the turkey breast and stir everything to coat. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours.

3. When finished, take the turkey breast out and shred in a bowl. Add shredded turkey back into the crockpot to coat with the juices.

4. Serve in warm flour tortillas and top with more cilantro and diced tomatillos or other of your favorite taco toppings.

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Cous Cous Stuffed Peppers

I was looking for a healthy recipe to add to my new year's resolution recipes...this was the first one I came across that I wanted to add to my recipe box! Its a healthier version of traditional stuffed peppers that have tons of meat, cheese and rice! The cous cous I used was whole wheat and you could really put any combination of vegetables inside the peppers, but I decided to use onions, zucchini and tomatoes. This is a great dish for vegetarians and you could also eliminate the feta cheese to make it vegan. Very yummy and felt good to eat! 

Ingredients

3 Bell peppers, halved and seeded

1 small zucchini, chopped

½ onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

Cherry tomatoes, about 10, halved

1 cup dried Cous Cous

¼ cup feta cheese

½ cup chickpeas

1 15 oz. can tomato sauce

1 TBS. dried Basil

½ tsp. pepper

1. Prepare the cous cous according to the box directions, mine says to boil 1 cup of water with a TBS. of olive oil. Once the water is boiling, add in 1 cup of cous cous and stir. Cover and remove from heat, fluff with a fork after 5 minutes.

2. In a large pot, bring water to a boil. Add in pepper halves and boil for 10 minutes. Remove and set aside. 

3. In a medium saucepan, sauté onions, zucchini and garlic for about 5 minutes. Add in cherry tomatoes and sauté for another 5 minutes. Remove from heat.

4. In a large bowl, mix together cooked cous cous, chickpeas, onions and zucchini mixture, dried Basil, pepper, ½ cup tomato sauce and feta cheese.

5. In a glass baking dish, pour the rest of the can of tomato sauce and placed in finished boiled pepper halves. Fill each pepper with cous cous mixture.

6. I had extra of the cous cous mixture because I could only fit 5 pepper halves in the pan, so I poured the extra cous cous mixture all around the peppers.

7. Cover with aluminum foil and cook in a 350 degree oven for 50 minutes.

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Basil Thai Chicken

There is a restaurant I love to go to that has this amazing dish with ground chicken, peppers onions and a tasty brown sauce. I started to wonder if I could make something similar at home, but I had no idea what might be in the brown sauce. While strolling the grocery store, I found this bottled sauce that I thought might have a similar taste and it turned out to be great when I mixed it with some soy sauce.

If you can't find this exact sauce, something that has a sweeter taste and a thicker consistency would work too. The Basil leaves make the dish different and give it a nice flavor at the end. Also, we like things a little spicier so I used half of a hot cherry pepper and for me it was perfect but my husband said he would have liked a little more spice, so make it to your own taste!

Ingredients
1 pound ground chicken
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 yellow bell pepper, diced
1/2 onion, diced
1 clove of garlic
1 cup Thai Basil sauce
1/4 cup soy sauce
4 Basil leaves, minced

Optional: For extra spice, add 1/2 of a hot cherry pepper, diced

1. In a medium heat skillet, brown the onion, peppers, garlic and the hot cherry pepper if you decide to put it in the dish.

2. Once the onions and peppers get a little browned, add in the chicken, Thai Basil sauce and soy sauce. Be sure to break up the chicken with your spoon.

3. Put a lid on the pan until the chicken is fully cooked. Right before serving, stir in the minced basil leaves.

4. Serve over white rice. Enjoy!

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