Yummy Main Dish Meals

I just typed these recipes up for our Relief Society Monthly Meeting and thought I'd share them here as well. These are some recipes that everyone in the family looks forward to:

Balsamic Onions over Butter Chicken

Halve and peel two onions. Combine them with 1 TBS honey, 1 TBS olive oil and 2 TBS balsamic vinegar and cook them over medium low heat stirring occasionally for 30 minutes or so until they are soft and caramelized. Meanwhile, sprinkle 1 lb chicken breasts with garlic salt and cook in a separate pan with 2 TBS melted butter until golden brown and cooked through. Serve chicken over rice topped with onions.

Crockpot Chili

1 lb hamburger

1 onion chopped

1 diced jalepeno

2 yellow peppers chopped

2 14 oz cans diced italian style tomatoes

1 cup beef broth

3-5 cans beans (pinto, black, white, etc)

1 1/2 TBS chili powder

1/2 TBS cumin

1/2 TBS cocoa powder

Brown and drain hamburger. Add onions and peppers and cook until slightly softened. Transfer meat and all other ingredients to crockpot and simmer 4-6 hours or until cooked through. Allow to cool for 1/2 hour or so before serving with cornbread.

PS: if you're local, send Kristin P recipes/ways you love your husband asap!

Cooking Light Pinto Bean Soup

I made this soup last week and it was so good the girls wanted it for lunch the next day. I forgot the chipotle pepper, which made it much more kid friendly.

Ingredients

• 1 pound dried pinto beans
• 8 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
• 2 cups chopped onion
• 2 cups water
• 1 1/2 cups cubed smoked ham steak (about 8 ounces)
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 3 bay leaves
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
• 1 chipotle chile (or dried ancho or pasilla chile)
• 1/2 cup (2 ounces) shredded Manchego cheese or Monterey Jack cheese
• 1/2 cup minced fresh cilantro

Preparation

Sort and wash beans; place in a large Dutch oven. Cover with water to 2 inches above beans; bring to a boil. Cook 2 minutes; remove from heat. Cover and let stand 1 hour. Drain.

Combine beans, broth, and next 8 ingredients (broth through garlic) in a Dutch oven; bring to a boil. Partially cover; reduce heat to medium-low. Simmer 1 1/2 hours or until beans are tender.

Stir in tomatoes and chile; simmer 30 minutes. Discard bay leaves and chile. Ladle soup into 8 bowls. Top with cheese; sprinkle with cilantro.

Best Grilled Chicken

Marinate 2 lbs chicken thighs in

1/2 C soy sauce

1/3 C vegetable oil

1/2 C Sprite

and 2 TBS prepared horseradish sauce.

Grill until no longer pink. Boil marinade and serve with chicken over rice with stir fried veggies.

Mostly meatless recipes

Moira's favorite rosemary, white bean and kale soup--yum!

Linguini with Asparagus and Pinenuts--Ellie says it's "just like butter noodles, but with Alfreds!"(thanks to VeggieTales, we call asparagus Alfreds)

Lentil Barley Burgers. We served these with Tomatillo salsa inside of corn tortillas. I had to laugh though, because one of the ingredients is "leftover barley" and really, who has leftover barley?

Vegetarian Lasagna using tofu instead of ricotta--kind of a lot of work, and I did use regular parmesan because I don't have health or moral concerns with using some animal products.

and, because we are, after all, omnivores, here is the recipe for some of the most delicious churrascaria beef that Chris made and we served with black beans and rice.

I love food.

Enjoy

Good things today.

Listening to Sing Me to Heaven (hat tip to Kim) and munching on kale chips, although the girls love them and may have eaten most of them already. Try them and you, too, might hear your three year old say "More, kale, please."

Pizza Night

Years ago there was a boy

who gave me a cookbook filled

with all of his favorite recipes

that he was sure I'd make for him

someday. Everyday.

After I married the right one,

I copied the recipe for pizza dough

into a new book, and every time

I mix the dough and stretch it

into a circle, I'm so grateful

that I kept the recipe and not the boy.

30 minute pizza crust:

Preheat oven to 450.

Combine 3/4 cup water, 1 Tbs yeast, 1 tsp sugar, 3/4 tsp salt and 2-2 1/2 cups flour (up to half can be whole wheat without compromising texture). Cover and allow to sit for 5-10 minutes while you gather pizza toppings. Stretch out onto a greased pan or stone, poke with a fork, top as desired, and bake for 12-15 minutes.

More food

I got to celebrate some friend's birthdays today, so I made a new recipe Moroccan Carrot Soup (hat tip to my younger brother, Jeff) and my absolute favorite ciabatta bread. I experimented and let it rise on the pan instead of wrapped in a towel and it worked. (Yay! I love the bread, but hate scrubbing the dough out of my towels).

For dinner I made a new quinoa salad that I loved. Nobody else was a fan; Moira and Ellie picked out the spinach and even Clark pushed out his mouthful of the little seeds. If you're brave (and have good taste, like me) here's the recipe:

Warm Quinoa and Spinach Salad with Mushrooms and Sharp Cheddar

Mix:

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1/4 cup olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

Pour half of dressing mixture over 1 lb of sliced shitake mushroom caps. Broil, stirring occasionally for 10-15 minutes until they are softened and most of the liquid has evaporated/been absorbed.

Meanwhile, bring 1 1/2 cups water and 3/4 cups of rinsed quinoa to a boil and simmer 20 minutes until softened (and the spiral pops. This will make sense when you actually cook the grain). Most all of the liquid will be absorbed here as well.

Toss quinoa, mushrooms, remaining dressing, and 1/2 a bag of baby spinach. Toss in 2-4 ounces of the sharpest cheddar you can find(I like Tillamook Vintage white), grated or diced. Serve immediately.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies

All three of the best kinds of cookies mixed together to reach cookie nirvana. These are the only cookies my husband ever requests.

Ingredients:
1/2 butter
1/2 peanut butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 cup flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
2 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 cup semi sweet chocolate chips

Cream together butters and sugars until lightened. Add eggs, milk, and vanilla and mix. (Taste this and notice how similar it is to the center of a Reese's peanut butter cup. Get excited to add chocolate later) Stir together flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to creamed mixture and stir to combine. Stir in oats and feel good about adding whole grain to your cookie. Fold in chocolate chips and taste the dough again. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto ungreased cookie sheets. Bake 5 1/2 minutes on each rack in a 375 degree oven. Cool 2 minutes on pan, then remove to a rack and let cool until the chocolate is no longer so hot that it will burn you.
Makes 3 1/2 dozen.