Sweet and Sour Pork

It is not often that I try a new recipe and tell you about it the same day.  I also don’t often post two similarly themed recipes in a row. Tonight however, I’m breaking with tradition.  Partly because I finished cooking and cleaning up early enough to tell you about what I made for dinner tonight.  Mostly because it was just that good.  And easy.  And perfect for a quick weeknight dinner.

This recipe for Sweet and Sour Pork was an unexpected winner.  I don’t normally like sweet meat, but I had most of the ingredients for this recipe on hand, and I needed to figure out what to do with the pork tenderloin taking up space in my freezer.  I found this recipe in TakeOut Tonight!, one of my current favorite cookbooks, and the source of my recipes for Broccoli with Garlic Sauce and Szechuan Chicken with Peanuts.  Since I love those recipes, I figured it was worth giving this one a try.

And I have to say, I’m glad I did.  This recipe comes together very quickly using everyday ingredients.  The pork (or you could use chicken) is lean and tender.  The sauce is sweet and savory and has a nice zing from the rice vinegar.  The bell peppers give the dish a nice crunch, and the pineapple chunks add juicy pops of sweetness.  Served up with some rice and a vegetable (and maybe an egg roll), you’ve got a fantastic dinner for any night of the week.

Broccoli with Garlic Sauce

When I was growing up, broccoli was the go-to vegetable in our house. Sure we ate plenty of other vegetables, but broccoli was our standby.  When in doubt about what to serve as the vegetable part of a meal, broccoli was usually the answer – even if conventional culinary wisdom would dictate otherwise.  Need a side dish for spaghetti?  Broccoli works.  Can’t figure out what vegetable to serve with tacos?  How about broccoli?  More often than not, broccoli did, in fact, go pretty well with whatever we were eating.  To this day, it is still a running joke in our family.  Can’t decide what vegetable to serve for dinner?  Go with broccoli.

Despite having eaten so much broccoli growing up, it’s still a favorite vegetable of mine.  Especially if it’s been stir-fried and coated in a delicious sauce – like today’s recipe for Broccoli with Garlic Sauce.  I tried this recipe for the first time a few days ago, and it is sure to be a repeat player in our kitchen.  All you have to do is whisk together a few ingredients for the sauce, then quickly cook your garlic and broccoli.  You can have the whole thing on the table in less than 15 minutes.  That alone would make this recipe a winner in my book, but the flavor sends it over the top.  The broccoli is crisp-tender and bathed in a savory sauce studded with garlic and full of mouthwatering Asian flavors.  The recipe make four servings, but Stan and I devoured it all in one sitting.  I served it with an Asian-inspired meal, but I think you could easily serve it with any number of things.  After all, broccoli goes with everything.

Greek-Style Stuffed Peppers

I know stuffed peppers don’t exactly scream summertime, but with fresh peppers being so abundant at my local farmers markets, I think it’s ok to buck tradition a little. And that’s a good thing, because these Greek-Style stuffed peppers aren’t exactly traditional (at least not based on what I grew up with).

Like many of their peers, these peppers are stuffed with ground beef.  (You can also use turkey.)  Unlike their peers, these peppers are also stuffed with lots of veggies, including fresh, grated zucchini, chopped spinach, garlic, and onions.  Instead of rice, wheat bulgur acts as the binder.  (If you’re not familiar, bulgur is the grain used to make tabbouli.)  On top of the peppers, canned stewed tomatoes make an easy, slightly sweet, and savory sauce.  Crumbles of feta top everything off and add a salty, creamy component to the dish.  Like I said, they may not be traditional, but they are delicious.  They’re even good enough to make me consider turning on my oven in the middle of August.

Szechuan Chicken with Peanuts

Growing up my family had a favorite Chinese restaurant that we frequented nearly weekly for dine-in or carryout.  We knew the names of the servers, were friendly with the owners, and had the menu completely memorized.  Whenever I came home from college for a visit, a trip to the Chinese restaurant was always on the agenda.  Stan and I even considered hosting the rehearsal dinner for our wedding at my beloved restaurant.  (We ended up going for a backyard barbecue instead.)

Considering my deep and abiding love (and ingrained habit) for Chinese food, you can imagine my dismay upon discovering the lack of good Chinese food in Nashville.  (Nashville folks, if you’ve got a recommendation, I’d love to hear it!)  I’ve looked around, asked long-time residents, and tried some less than stellar venues.  While Nashville has many other amazing options for ethic cuisine, Chinese food is just not where my current hometown shines.

Since I don’t get back to Dayton as often as I’d like, I’ve had to come up with ways to get my Chinese food fix in my own kitchen.  The recipes I’ve tried are certainly not as authentic as those you’d find in a restaurant, but they tide me over until I can get the real deal.  And besides, they’re pretty darn delicious. 

Like this recipe for Szechuan Chicken with Peanuts.  You can make this recipe in less time that it would take to pick up carryout, and I guarantee you it’s healthier than its restaurant counterpart.  Strips of chicken breast are quickly stir fried (not deep fried) with carrots, green pepper, and peanuts and then tossed in a slightly spicy (or really spicy, if that’s how you like it) brown sauce that’s rich in flavor without being high in calories.  Served with some rice, it’s as good as take out - with half the time and calories.

Slow Cooked Puerto Rican Pork

Today’s recipe is quite different from the Artichoke Heart Stuffed Shells I told you about earlier this week.  Those shells were crazy delicious, but they were quite time and labor intensive.  Today’s recipe?  Not so much.  In the time and labor department, that is.  This truly might be the easiest recipe I’ve ever posted.  But don’t let that fool you into thinking the flavor suffers one bit for lack of effort.  One taste of this Slow Cooked Puerto Rican Pork just might make you swoon.  And if you make this for the man in your life, I absolutely guarantee you’ll make him swoon – and love you forever. 

This recipe is based on the traditional Puerto Rican recipe for Pernil, a dish consisting of pork shoulder simply prepared and cooked for hours in the oven.  Taking the same flavors and placing them in a slow cooker makes for a recipe that absolutely couldn’t be easier.  Or tastier.  When it’s done cooking, this pork is juicy, succulent, and fall apart tender.  It’s a little salty, a little tangy, a little garlicky, and completely delicious.  You can serve it with rice or beans, use it to stuff tortillas, or just eat it straight out of the slow cooker.  However you serve it, it’s sure to be a crowd pleaser – which is good, since this recipe makes enough to feed a small crowd.

Artichoke Heart Stuffed Shells with Lemon Ricotta Sauce

When I went back to work full-time a little over a month ago, I had no energy to cook.  For the first few weeks, we ate takeout, frozen meals, cereal, and the most basic homemade food possible.  Stan was okay with it, but I was less than thrilled with the lackluster options gracing our table.  Fortunately, after a few weeks, I got my energy and my cooking mojo back.  I’m still all about easy, quick-cooking meals during the week, but on the weekends, I like to take the time to have a little fun in the kitchen. 

Last weekend, my culinary project was these Artichoke Heart Stuffed Shells with Lemon Ricotta Sauce.  This recipe is a great one for the weekend because it has a few more steps than I imagine most of us have time for during the week – you have to cook the pasta, make the filling, and make the sauce.  However, the steps are easy, and the end result is so worth the effort.  Tender pasta shells are stuffed with a flavorful mixture of artichoke hearts, onions and two kinds of cheese.  They are bathed in a light and creamy white sauce made with ricotta cheese and fresh lemon.  The final product is incredibly delicious – and is a much lighter take on stuffed shells than the more traditional red sauce-smothered, cheese-laden variety. 

To be honest with you, I was afraid these shells would be a little too light for Stan.  They are meatless and full of (in his opinion) girly ingredients.  However, much to my surprise, Stan loved these stuffed shells.  Seriously, I had to take the pan and hide it in the kitchen so he wouldn’t eat the entire batch in one night.  And he actually pouted a little.  Over girly food.  If that doesn’t convince you to try this recipe, I don’t know what will.

Ground Beef Enchiladas

If you’ve been a reader for a while, you might remember a post I did quite awhile back for Tex-Mex Stuffed Shells.  That recipe took a Tex-Mex flavored ground beef filling and stuffed it into jumbo pasta shells.  What you ended up with was an Italian-looking recipe that tasted decidedly South of the border.  A weird fusion, I know, but extremely delicious.

Today’s Ground Beef Enchiladas are a spin-off of those Tex-Mex Stuffed Shells.  I took the ground beef filling we loved in the shells and rolled it into whole wheat tortillas – something we have on hand much more frequently than jumbo shells.  The result? Recipe adaptation awesomeness.  The flavorful meat filling and the easy, homemade enchilada sauce worked just as well with tortillas as with pasta.  If you’re looking for a crowd-pleasing, crowd-feeding recipe for your Cinco de Mayo festivities, look no further than these ground beef enchiladas.

P.S. Please do not be alarmed by the extremely shiny cheese topping my enchiladas.  I was experimenting with a new brand of reduced-fat cheese.  While the cheese did actually taste okay, it formed that lovely, shiny, rubbery layer that low-fat cheeses tend to do.  Lesson learned.

No-Butter Chicken

Butter chicken is a popular dish in Indian cooking (Punjabi to be exact). As its name suggests, the dish is rather rich. Chunks of chicken are marinated in yogurt and spices and then bathed in a tomato-based sauce that is made rich and luxurious with ample amounts of butter and cream. If you are in the mood for a treat or are in the looking to walk on the caloric side of Indian cuisine, butter chicken is a delicious way to go.

However, I know not all of you prefer your meals with “butter” in the recipe title. For a lighter, more everyday way to treat yourself to the delicious flavors of butter chicken, consider this recipe for No-Butter Chicken. In this healthier take on its namesake, chunks of chicken are cooked in an aromatic sauce redolent with the flavors of onions, garlic, ginger, cumin, and other spices. The sauce gets its wonderful creaminess from non-fat plain yogurt rather than butter or cream. But don’t worry – you won’t miss the fat or calories one bit. (And I’m not one to make that claim lightly.)

The flavor of this chicken is so good that you will likely impress yourself with your culinary abilities. I don’t know about you, but I love it when that happens. I could not believe the amazing taste that was produced with such relatively little work. Just make sure you have some rice or naan to serve alongside this chicken when you make it – you aren’t going to want to waste a single drop of the deceptively rich-tasting No-Butter sauce. It is plate-licking good. Which, of course, is why you need the naan. Because plate-licking is typically frowned upon. Especially if you have company over for dinner.

Jalapeño-Baked Fish with Roasted Tomatoes and Potatoes

There are certain recipes that just aren’t that pretty. They might be incredibly delicious, but they won’t win any beauty pageants – or food styling contests. If you were telling your friends about these recipes, you might say they “have a great personality”. And while “a great personality” might be code for something less than desirable in a blind date, it’s not at all a bad thing on your dinner plate.

Take today’s recipe: Jalapeno-Baked Fish with Roasted Tomatoes and Potatoes. It’s not really a looker. One glance will not have you drooling on your keyboard. One taste might. This is one of those deceptively delicious dishes. It looks like tomato sauce on top of fish on top of sliced potatoes. It tastes like a mouthwatering, tomato-based sauce flavored with garlic, cilantro, and pickled jalapenos layered on top of moist, perfectly cooked fish on top of thin slices of tender potatoes. Sounds more drool-worthy that it looks, right?

Would you drool even more if I told you this is an easy, quick-cooking dinner? If so, grab a napkin my friends, because this recipe is indeed weeknight friendly. And relatively inexpensive. And just oh so good. Oh, and everything cooks in one dish, so there are barely any dishes to wash. Just thought I’d throw that one in there, you know, in case you weren’t already sold.

Mango Ginger Chicken with Almonds

I was really torn about which recipe I wanted to share with you today. I have quite a backlog of recipes waiting to be posted, and they are all vying for my attention. My first inclination was to tell you about some awesome ground beef enchiladas. Then I checked the list of my most recent posts and realized I have been leaning strongly towards Mexican-inspired flavors as of late. Oops, so much for variety. (But don’t worry, I won’t hold off on telling you about the enchiladas for too long.) Then it was on to the chicken debate. I have five good recipes to tell you about. But I wasn’t feeling decisive enough to pick one. A great spring pasta? I wasn’t thrilled with the pictures. Baked goods? Healthy or sinful? You can see the conundrum.

All things considered, I decided to select a recipe whose flavors share the summery feeling Nashville’s current 80-degree weather is bringing out in me. This Mango Ginger Chicken with Almonds fit the bill perfectly – a little bit fruity, a little bit spicy, and filling without being heavy. In other words, this quick chicken stir-fry is perfect warm weather dinner fare. While I can’t say the same for this amazing weather, I’m certain this recipe is here to stay… at least until next winter.

Red Lentils with Stewed Tomatoes

I try to keep the language clean and family-friendly around these around these parts. I never know who might decide to stop by and check out my little piece of the internet – don’t want to scare anyone off, of course. Not that I’m a total potty mouth or anything. I just like to keep it safe enough for my Grammy or my mother-in-law to read. I imagine you’d do the same.

That being said, it is with some difficulty that I describe today’s recipe to you. Stan’s exact words were, “This is freaking phenomenal.” Except he didn’t say freaking. I’ll let you use your imagination to guess what he really said. (Yeah, so maybe he’s the potty mouth in the family.) Language aside, Stan was right. These lentils are, indeed, freaking phenomenal.

This recipe is one of my favorite kinds – those that take little time and little effort and produce huge flavor. Dinner can be ready in 15 minutes (plus however long it takes water to boil where you live). When it’s done you will have bowls of warm, fragrant lentils, redolent with Indian spices, and studded with chunks of juicy stewed tomatoes. Ladled over rice or served with Naan, this healthy meal will have you going back for seconds… and possibly having to watch your language, too.

Beef Carbonnade

When the in-laws come to visit, it’s time to bust out the big guns. Of course we’re talking culinary guns here. No need for the real thing. Especially if you have in-laws you like, which I hope you do. And whether or not you are lucky enough to like your in-laws, or co-workers, or random visiting dignitaries, when you have important people coming to dinner, the pressure is on.

A few weeks back, my in-laws came to visit. (If you’ll recall, they were witness to the skin-frying, too-hot-to-handle incident.) While I knew they wouldn’t care one bit what I served for dinner, they know I cook all the time, so I felt a little bit of pressure to deliver the goods. Show them I’m a good wifey and all. I went back and forth for at least a week before they arrived. Chicken or beef? Make ahead or made to order? Eventually I settled on Beef Carbonnade.

Beef Carbonnade is a classic Belgian dish comprised of beef cooked low and slow with beer and onions. As it cooks, the beef becomes meltingly tender. The onions cook down to an almost creamy consistency and give the sauce sweet onion flavor that melds perfectly with the malty essence of the beer. After a couple of hours in the oven, the stew is rich, savory, and utterly delicious. It just begs to be ladled over hot, buttered egg noodles or a pile of fluffy mashed potatoes – something to cradle all of the luscious sauce you will want to lick off your plate. Try not to do that though. Especially if you’re cooking for visiting dignitaries. Or if your mother-in-law doesn’t like you. 

Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas

Certain flavor combinations have always called to me. Chocolate and peanut butter. Peanut butter and banana. And sure, some savory combos, too – I put garlic and onions in almost everything. One of my more recent flavor loves is the combination of honey and lime. Mixed together, these sweet and tart flavors can be found in cuisines all over the world. (And in my favorite Thai Honey Peanut Chicken/Tofu.)

Today’s recipe takes honey and lime south of the border for some Mexican-style fare. Honey Lime Chicken Enchiladas. Don’t they just sound delicious? I mean, really. Shreds of juicy chicken coated in a sweet and tangy marinade. Gooey Monterey Jack cheese. Creamy, dreamy, green enchilada sauce enriched with a (not so) healthy dose of cream or half and half. More gooey cheese on top to add a gorgeous golden brown crackle. Heaven.

The fact that these enchiladas are simple to make is really just the icing on the cake. The important thing to note is that you need precooked chicken for this recipe. Otherwise you have to cook some up before you can get on with the filling, the rolling, and the baking. And, you know, the eating. You can use any simply flavored leftover chicken you have on hand; you want the chicken to have relatively plain flavor since you are going to be putting it in a marinade. You can also use store-bought rotisserie chicken. If you don’t have cooked chicken on hand, you can quickly poach some chicken breasts or cook them in a little chicken broth in a slow cooker for a few hours.

Skillet Lasagna

I love this recipe. I really do. I love it because it’s easy. I love it because, like the Chili Mac I told you about recently, the entire meal cooks in one skillet. Most of all, I love it because it brought lasagna back into my kitchen. And that is a glorious thing.

I grew up eating lasagna on a fairly regular basis. My mom would make it all the time for company and often just for our family, too. Stan, however, did not grow up eating pasta. When we first met, he had very little interest in my carb of choice. Being the pasta-lover that I am, I sort of beat him into submission through years of pasta dinners. Seven years later, he likes a good bowl of pasta. What he doesn’t like, however, is lasagna. No matter whether it came from a restaurant, my mom, or us making it together, Stan has never met a lasagna that he genuinely liked.

This Skillet Lasagna changed everything. Stan loved it. He went back for seconds. I had to stop him from eating thirds so that he’d have enough left for lunch the next day. In other words, for the two of us, this recipe is a winner. It’s a perfect dinner – a skillet full of broken lasagna noodles, cooked until al dente, in a flavorful meat sauce. There’s cheese in this version too, but it accents the pasta rather than taking a starring role. Dollops of creamy ricotta and a light sprinkling of mozzarella and Parmesan decorate the top of the pasta. Topped off with some fresh basil confetti, this skillet lasagna looks as good as it tastes.

"Best" Beans and Rice

As I’ve told you before, I have a terrible habit of throwing quick meals together without bothering to write down what I’m doing or taking pictures along the way. Sometimes that’s for the best. I get cranky when I’m hungry and can’t always be bothered with taking pictures, lest I become a crazy, hungry beast. And no, I am not pregnant. Just hungry.

Sometimes, however, my spur of the moment recipe creations are so drool-inducingly good that I kick myself for not taking the extra few minutes to capture what I was doing. For some reason, I seem to do this most often with last-minute pasta dinners and thrown-together-with-odds-and-ends weekend lunches. The latter was the case with this recipe, pulled together with random leftovers from the fridge and pantry staples. And man, oh man, was it good. So good I wished I had taken pictures along the way. Since I didn’t, I immediately typed up a post and the recipe before I could forget it. And then I forgot to make it again… for an entire year.

And let me tell you how stupid I feel about that. I could have (and would have) been eating this regularly for the past year. I don’t often repeat recipes, but I will be making an exception for this one all year long. I call this recipe “Best” Beans and Rice, not necessarily because it’s the best beans and rice I’ve ever had (though it is certainly up there), but rather because it’s the best version of beans and rice I’ve ever made. We always have canned beans and rice hanging out in the pantry, perfect for throwing together meals in a hurry. Over the years, I’ve tried many different variations to spice up those basic ingredients, and while they were always good, they were never really worth sharing with you. This time, however, I think I nailed the recipe on the head.

The combination of whole and ground cumin seeds adds smokiness and spice without heat. The diced green chilies add a slight kick of heat without overpowering the flavor of the other ingredients. Black and pinto beans add body and creaminess, while the rice sort of ties everything together. This dish makes for a savory, flavor-packed meatless entrée, side dish, or burrito filling. Plus it’s simple and inexpensive to make. In my book, it really is the “Best”.

Baked Risotto with Mushrooms and Goat Cheese

Risotto is delicious. It is creamy, dreamy, Italian rice goodness. It also requires at least 20 minutes of near constant stirring. And while I currently have more free time than I know what to do with, I am well aware that most people have better, or at least more important, things to do than stand over a stove stirring a pot of rice for 20 minutes. But what if you didn’t have to stir your risotto? What if you could have perfect, rich and creamy risotto with almost none of the work? Would you be tempted to make risotto all the time?

Folks, get ready to be tempted because you can bake risotto in the oven.

For a basic baked risotto, all you have to do is combine Arborio rice, chicken broth, and white wine in a baking dish. Cover it up and bake it until most of the liquid is absorbed and the rice is creamy, yet still a bit toothsome. When the rice is done baking, stir in some butter and cheese to make it extra luscious. Season it up with a little salt and pepper and you are good to go without ever breaking a sweat.

From there you can flavor it up any way you like, simply by stirring in some fun ingredients at the end. The possibilities are endless – roasted butternut squash, bacon and onions, sun-dried tomatoes and basil, or one of my personal favorites – mushrooms and goat cheese. The combination of earthy mushrooms and tangy goat cheese makes this baked risotto extra special. And it’s still easy enough for any night of the week – no lengthy stirring required.

Curried Lentils with Sweet Potatoes and Swiss Chard

For the last few days, Nashville has been gray. All day. The sky is pretty much the same color from sunrise to sunset – and let me tell you, it is not such a pretty color. Where is the warm and sunny South I’ve come to love? I tell you, I think it’s hibernating for the winter. And really, that’s what this weather is making me want to do too. Put on some sweats, cozy up under a pile of blankets with the remote control, and hibernate ‘til spring.

Since giving up on leaving the house for the next few months isn’t really an option for most of us, I offer you up the next best thing – a warm and cozy meal that will help you through these chilly nights and give you lunch leftovers to look forward to on an otherwise dreary day. My cure for the gray-day doldrums? Curried Lentils with Sweet Potatoes and Swiss Chard.

This sweet and savory dish may not be the most glamorous looking meal you’ve ever made, but I promise you, its taste more than makes up for its looks. Imagine, if you will, creamy sweet potatoes, hearty lentils, and tender Swiss chard cooked together with garlic, onions, and just the right amount of spice. Take that flavor combo, brighten it up with lime zest and juice and a healthy dose of cilantro and scallions, and you’ve got a flavor power punch coming your way. Admittedly there are a lot of ingredients in this dish, but don’t let that dissuade you. The prep work is easy and most of the cook time is hands-free so you can sit back and enjoy a glass of wine… or head to the couch and curl up under a blanket.