Curried Chickpeas with Spinach

I have a similar recipe posted already, but this version was incredibly fast and easy to make and still super delicious. The curry was almost finished before the jasmine rice! I served with rice and naan.

At the end it needed a little more seasoning.  I've upped the curry powder here, and also added a note about salt and pepper to taste.

Curried Chickpeas with Spinach

Ingredients

2 Tbsp olive oil 
1 yellow onion 
2 cloves garlic 
1 inch fresh ginger
2 Tbsp curry powder
8 oz. spinach
1 15oz. can tomato sauce
2 15oz. cans chickpeas

Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Dice the onion, mince the garlic, and grate the ginger on a small holed cheese grater. Sauté the onion, garlic, and ginger in a large skillet with the olive oil over medium heat until the onions have softened (3-5 minutes).

Add the curry powder and continue to sauté with the onion mixture for one minute more. 

Add about 1/4 cup of water to the skillet along with the fresh spinach and continue to sauté until the spinach has wilted. The water will help steam and wilt the spinach.  Cover with a lid if need be.

Drain and rinse the chickpeas. Add them to the skillet along with the tomato sauce. Stir well to distribute the spices in the sauce and heat through (5 minutes). Serve over rice or with bread.




Original link:

https://www.budgetbytes.com/curried-chickpeas-spinach/

Pork and Peanut Dragon Noodles

Such a fast and super delicious meal! Asian noodles for the win! I even added a couple improvements from the original recipes and I was still in and out in less than 30 minutes. 15 minutes? Was it 15? I don't even know. It was just so fast.

Pork and Peanut Dragon Noodles

Ingredients

Dragon Sauce

1/4 cup chili garlic sauce
1/4 cup soy sauce 
1/4 cup brown sugar 

Pork and Noodles

1/2 lb. ground pork

1 cup sliced green cabbage
2 3oz. packages ramen noodles (seasoning packets discarded) or other Asian noodles (rice noodles are great!)
3 green onions, sliced
1/4 cup unsalted peanuts, chopped

Directions

Combine the chili garlic sauce, soy sauce, and brown sugar in a bowl.

Add the ground pork to a skillet and cook over medium heat until it is fully browned. (Drain excess grease if needed, but unlikely). 

Add green cabbage and saute until just softened.

Once browned, add the prepared dragon sauce and chopped peanuts. Allow the pork and peanuts to simmer in the sauce for another 5 minutes, or until the sauce has reduced by half.

While the pork is browning, begin boiling water for your noodles. Once boiling, add your noodles and cook according to the package directions. Drain the noodles in a colander.

Once the sauce has reduced and the noodles have drained, add the noodles to the skillet and toss until everything is combined and coated in sauce. Top with sliced green onions and serve!




Original link:
https://www.budgetbytes.com/pork-peanut-dragon-noodles/

Broccoli Stalk Namul

My kids love the local Korean restaurant.  They especially love all the small side dishes and appetizers they bring to the table before our food is ready.

We had some extra broccoli stalks and so I ran across this recipe. It was delicious!  Now I just wish we had broccoli stalks around the house more often.

The original recipe uses gochugaru, which is a Korean chili powder.  I had gochujang (a Korean chili paste) instead, which was still very delicious, if probably very different than the original recipe intended. I've added both as options below.

Broccoli Stalk Namul

Ingredients

3-4 broccoli stalks, trimmed of the outer skin and julienned

Garlic clove, minced or grated

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp soy sauce

1 tsp gochugaru or 2 tsp gochujang

1 tbsp toasted sesame oil

1/2 tbsp toasted sesame seeds

Recipe

Boil water with a pinch of salt in a medium pot. Cook for 2-3 minutes until crisp but tender. Drain well and transfer to a medium bowl.

Combine the rest of the ingredients and mix well. Add to broccolli stalks and stir to combine. Let rest for 10-15 mins.

Serve immediately or let cool in the fridge. Consume within 2-3 days.

Original link:

https://plantbasedmatters.net/broccoli-stalk-namul-korean-style-side-dish/

Cajun Mac and Cheese

When I made this recipe, I made a few substitutions - chicken garlic sausage instead of andouille, sweet peppers instead of bell, a mix of macaroni and rigatoni - but it still turned out amazing.

I was also low on milk. You can sub heavy cream for milk, by diluting it 1:1 with water (e.g., instead of 1 cup milk, add 1/2 cup heavy cream and 1/2 cup water).

Cajun Mac and Cheese

Ingredients

4 quarts water
1 (16-oz.) package large elbow pasta
1/2 tablespoon canola oil
1/2 (16-oz.) package andouille sausage, chopped
1/2 cup chopped yellow onion (from 1 small onion)
1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper (from 1 small bell pepper)
1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper (from 1 small bell pepper)
1 teaspoon minced garlic (1 medium garlic clove)
6 tablespoons (3 oz.) salted butter
6 tablespoons (about 1 1/2-oz.) all-purpose flour
4 cups whole milk
3 teaspoons Cajun seasoning (such as Slap Ya Mama)
1 (8-oz.) block medium Cheddar cheese, shredded (about 2 cups)
1 (8-oz.) block pepper Jack cheese, shredded (about 2 cups)

Directions

Cook the pasta:
Preheat oven to 400°F. Bring water and 2 teaspoons of the salt to a boil in a Dutch oven over medium-high. Add pasta; cook 8 minutes. Drain and set aside.

Cook the sausage and peppers:
Heat oil in a 12-inch cast-iron skillet over medium-high; add sausage, onion, green bell pepper, and red bell pepper. Cook, stirring often, until sausage has begun to brown and onion and peppers are tender, about 8 minutes. Add garlic, and cook, stirring constantly, 1 minute. Transfer sausage mixture to a plate; wipe skillet clean.

Make the cheese sauce:
Melt butter in skillet over medium-low; whisk in flour, and cook, whisking constantly, 2 minutes. Gradually whisk in milk. Increase heat to medium, and cook, whisking occasionally, until mixture thickens slightly and comes to a simmer, 14 to 16 minutes.

Continue to cook, whisking constantly, 5 minutes. Whisk in Cajun seasoning and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt; whisk in cheeses until smooth, and remove from heat. Gently stir in cooked pasta and sausage mixture.

Bake the macaroni and cheese:
Transfer to preheated oven with oven rack 4 to 6 inches from heat. Bake until golden and bubbly, 20 to 25 minutes. Increase oven temperature to broil; broil until top is browned and crisp, 3 to 5 minutes.


Original link:

https://www.southernliving.com/recipes/cajun-mac-and-cheese

Garlic Butter Oven Baked Tilapia

This is a very tasty, quick dinner. And tilapia was on sale!

Garlic Butter Oven Baked Tilapia

Ingredients

4 tilapia fillets
1.2 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
½ teaspoon paprika
½ teaspoon dried thyme
½ teaspoon dried oregano
4 tablespoons butter, melted
4 cloves garlic, finely minced
2 tablespoons lemon juice
¼ teaspoon lemon zest
Red pepper flakes
Chopped fresh parsley
Lemon slices

Directions

Preheat oven to 400°F. Season tilapia with salt, pepper, paprika, thyme, and oregano; arrange fish in a 9x13 baking dish.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together melted butter, garlic, lemon juice, and lemon zest; pour over tilapia.

Bake tilapia for 10 to 12 minutes, or until fish flakes and is fork-tender.

Garnish with pepper flakes, parsley, and lemon slices. Serve.




Original link:

https://diethood.com/garlic-butter-oven-baked-tilapia/

Roasted Broccoli

This quick and easy broccoli recipe is a great side dish.

Roasted Broccoli

Ingredients

12 ounces broccoli florets
Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling

Whole, peeled garlic cloves
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Lemon, half in thin slices, the other half juiced
Red pepper flakes

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Place the broccoli florets, lemon slices, and garlic cloves on the baking sheet. Toss with juice from half of the lemon, olive oil, salt, and pepper, and spread evenly on the baking sheet.

Roast 15 to 22 minutes or until browned around the edges. Sprinkle with red pepper flakes.

Original link:

https://www.loveandlemons.com/roasted-broccoli/#wprm-recipe-container-42137

Dirty Rice

I used to make dirty rice from a box - which was still delicious - but recently decided to try making it from scratch.  I made some adjustments to this recipe, which are mostly reflected below, like adding more Cajun seasoning (but eliminating the salt because Cajun seasoning can be very salty). I also took some time to saute the rice in butter before cooking. The buttery flavor definitely came through.

One adjustment that is not reflected below is that I used Jasmine rice instead of long grain. Jasmine uses a 1 : 1 1/2 rice to water ratio (as opposed to 1 : 2 ratio for long grain rice), so I used less beef broth (I think about 2 3/4 cup).  It still ended up slightly gummy, so I might decrease the broth even more next time.

Dirty Rice

Ingredients

1 pound lean ground beef, ground pork, sausage, or other ground mixture 
1 medium onion diced
1 bell pepper diced
1 cup celery diced
3 cloves garlic minced
3 teaspoons Cajun seasoning

1 tbsp butter

1 1/2 cups white rice uncooked
3 1/2 cups beef broth
Chopped green onion or parsley for garnish

Directions

Add ground meat to a dutch oven or heavy bottomed pan set over medium heat. Crumble with a spatula and cook 4-5 minutes until no pink remains.

Add onion, garlic, green pepper, celery, and Cajun seasoning. Stir until softened, about 5 minutes.

Push mixture to one side of pan. On other side, add butter and rice. Saute the rice in the butter until coated and golden brown. Add beef broth. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer covered about 20 to 23 minutes or until rice is cooked.

Allow to sit for 5 to 10 minutes, then fluff with a fork. Garnish with green onions or parsley before serving.


Original link:

https://thesaltymarshmallow.com/easy-dirty-rice/