Challenge your Inner Chef

[kyuuei]

So, I think that this would be a pretty cool way of getting recipes from all of ya'll while presenting something everyone can use as well.

So here's the rules:

- Your recipe cannot have more than 10 ingredients total
- The recipe should not take more than 30 minutes to cook (exception: things like "it only takes 5 minutes to put together, but then you stick it in the fridge an hour before cooking" sort of thing.)
- Try to incorporate ingredients that are fresh, healthy, and tasty most importantly (I won't butcher you if you include an amazing dessert or something.. but the point of cooking in is to sort of make food healthier for you I would think.)
- Try to stay away from too many expensive ingredients.
- Any explanations as to why you include certain ingredients are highly appreciated.

Thinking on how we saved money, had better food, and enjoyed the quick cooking of making a large turkey and literally making 4-5 days worth of meals for 4 out of it lunch and dinner.. I'm wanting new recipes, I want to try new things..

 

[Halla74]

Pasta ala Halla:

INGREDIENTS:
(1) 2 jars of Classico spaghetti sauce (your favorite variety, I like the Italian meatball!)
(2) 1 Bag of Armour Meatballs (frozen food section)
(3) 1 Red Pepper
(4) 1 Large Onion
(5) 1 Container Portabella Mushrooms
(6) 1 Green Pepper
(7) Lots of Fresh Garlic
(8) Past of your choice, I use Rigatoni.
(9) Mozzarella Cheese (Refrigerated/Shredded)
(10) Parmesan Cheese (Refrigerated/Shredded)

INSTRUCTIONS:
(A) Dump bag of frozen meatballs in large pot, add both jars of spaghetti sauce, turn up heat to a healthy medium simmer, place glass top on pot.
(B) Slice all veggies (3-7 above) and sautee in skillet with Samrt Balance or a little bit of Olive Oil.
(C) Boil water and cook up the pasta
(D) When all of (A-C) are done, combine everything into one massive bowl, serve up what you want, cover it with a little Mozzarella and Parmesan cheese, and divide the rest into tupperware for use next week.

VOILA!

Chef's Comments:
-I am big on eating fresh veggies as much as possible, and it's easier for me to do so when I cook a bunch of my favorites up in a dish like this one.

-I am too busy and lazy to make spaghetti sauce from scratch, and like Classico because it is not sweetened like Ragu or Prego.

-Frozen meatballs come in a few varieties, I prefer the Italian kind, but if you can't find them the plain one's will do, just add some dried herbs like oregano, basil, etc.

-I don't eat many carbohydrates, so I intentionally don't use more than half a box of the pasta for all this. I find its easier for me to keep my midsection lean if I don't pig out on carbs like I used to.

-Time to prep and cook this is under 30 mnutes, guaranteed!

 

[maliafee]

This recipe is simple and delicious, and is best when you can get your vegetable ingredients from your garden, a farmer's market, or the organic section of the produce department.


Whole Wheat Pasta with Homemade Pesto and Fresh Squash
=====================================

1 package whole wheat pasta

1 medium zucchini
1 medium long, yellow squash

large bunch fresh basil, rinsed
2 cloves garlic (or more -- I like more, and despite the breath issue, garlic is great for your health)
handful pine nuts, walnuts, or pecans (can be toasted or not)
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
good quality olive oil
freshly grated parmesan cheese

Boil pasta according to package instructions. Drain, return to pot and toss in a drizzle of olive oil and set aside, off the heat.

While pasta water heats and pasta is boiling, prepare pesto and slice squash into 1/2-3/4" thick disks.

In food processor, blend basil, garlic, nuts, salt, pepper, olive oil and parmesan to make a pesto. Taste a bit, and add more of whatever ingredient is lacking. This is a matter of personal taste, an instinctive process.

In cast-iron/nonstick skillet, sear squash in a drizzle of warmed olive oil over medium-high heat, like you would sear meat, stirring squash occasionally to make sure you brown evenly and on both sides*.

Remove from heat.

To plate, dish out some of the whole wheat pasta into a bowl, add some pesto and stir to coat. Top with golden brown squash slices and some freshly-grated parmesan.


*optionally, you can roast squash in the oven on a cookie sheet or cook on a grill.

 

[prplchknz]

what do you do with the zucinni? did i miss something? I'm guessing cook it with the squash. I'm kinda scared about what you do with the zuchinni while cooking. just tell me does it include vaseline?

 

[maliafee]

what do you do with the zucinni? did i miss something? I'm guessing cook it with the squash. I'm kinda scared about what you do with the zuchinni while cooking. just tell me does it include vaseline?

Haha...

Zucchini is a kind of squash. I guess I shoulda been more specific, but I meant for the cook to chop ALL the squash and sear it, including the zucchini.

 

[kyuuei]

^ Ya'll gave two great recipes there

Halla I do almost everything you mentioned. Sometimes I cook it with no ground meat and meatballs, sometimes with mushrooms chopped to replace ground beef.. and sometimes I really like to mix in ground italian sausage with the spaghetti sauce. Ooo thats the best! I read somewhere that replacing mushrooms with meat one meal a week will help you out when trying to eat better.

Mali - I've never tried to make pesto before, but as easy as you made it sound how can I resist??

 

[Fluffywolf]

René's uber sweet chicken!

Ingredients,

- chicken breasts, scissored into pieces the size of.. well two bites. Something. Relatively small anyway.
- Honey
- Olive oil

Requirements

- Baking pan thingy

Preparation

1. Smear the pieces of chicken in the honey
2. Put the baking pan thingy on the furnace and some olive oil in it.
3. Bake the honey smeared pieces of chicken in the pan on a low fire and keep turning, to prevent the honey from going all burnt up.
4. Eat.


I ain't exactly a masterchef. :<
I can make pancakes too though.

 

[bluebell]

Here's something I made a few days ago (I made WAY too much for one person). It's loosely based on a recipe I saw years ago.

Ingredients:

Brown rice (maybe 2/3 cup?)
Onion
Garlic
Green beans
Carrots
Cabbage
Canned beans (canneloni for preference)
1/2 vegie stock cube
2 tomatoes
Lemon zest and juice of half a lemon


Put rice on to boil. Add stock cube. Chop onions and garlic finely and add to rice. Add chopped carrots and finely chopped cabbage (not too much cabbage). When the rice is nearly cooked, add green beans and chopped tomatoes.

Drain and then add canned beans (rinse well first before adding), lemon zest and lemon juice. You can either serve this cold as a salad (cool down rapidly by holding the rice vegie mix in a colander and run cold tap water over it, and then add the lemon zest and juice at the end) or hot. You can also bake the leftovers in the oven with cheese on top.

The vegies can be varied too. If doing this as a salad, you could add small raw cherry tomatoes once it's cooled down instead of adding the chopped tomatoes to the boiling rice. Other options are celery, spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, bell peppers (capsicum), whatever.

Edit: You asked for explanations of ingredients. The original recipe I loosely based this on was all about including 'super foods' - ones with high nutritional value. But I mostly cook this because it tastes so good. The lemon zest and lemon juice is an essential for the flavour, although you could substitute with lemon juice from a bottle instead. Tomatoes add good flavour as well, and the tinned beans go nicely with all the acidity.

 

[bluebell]

Here's another recipe I like to make in winter. IIRC, I invented this but I'm not 100% sure.

Bacon and vegie soup

Ingredients:

Bacon (or smoked pork loin)
Garlic
Onion
Olive oil
2 tomatoes (essential!)
Carrots
Cabbage (optional)
Dry pasta (a cup or two)
Turnip (optional)
Parsnip (optional)
Green beans (optional)

Remove the fat from the bacon (it's best if you buy a cut of bacon which has minimal fat on it) and chop into 1/2 inch squares. Chop onion and garlic. Fry bacon, onion and garlic in olive oil in the saucepan you'll be cooking the soup in.

Boil some water in a kettle and add a couple of pints to the saucepan. Add dry pasta and stir once to make sure the pasta doesn't stick. Finely chop the tomatoes and add to the boiling water (this combined with the bacon = YUM). Chop the root vegetables and cabbage and add to boiling water. Turnip takes the longest to cook out of all the ones I listed so add it first. When the pasta is getting close to being cooked, add chopped green beans. You can add more boiling water at the end if it isn't soupy enough.

 

[Halla74]

^ Ya'll gave two great recipes there

Halla I do almost everything you mentioned. Sometimes I cook it with no ground meat and meatballs, sometimes with mushrooms chopped to replace ground beef.. and sometimes I really like to mix in ground italian sausage with the spaghetti sauce. Ooo thats the best! I read somewhere that replacing mushrooms with meat one meal a week will help you out when trying to eat better.

Thank you!

Your reminder about the mushrooms substituting for the meat is a good idea, I like it.

I forgot to mention it is also possible to use ground beef textured tofu (Marjon is the brand we have access to here) and it turns out really well, plus is healthy. Will edit original post w/ this for consistency.

 

[maliafee]

^ Ya'll gave two great recipes there

Halla I do almost everything you mentioned. Sometimes I cook it with no ground meat and meatballs, sometimes with mushrooms chopped to replace ground beef.. and sometimes I really like to mix in ground italian sausage with the spaghetti sauce. Ooo thats the best! I read somewhere that replacing mushrooms with meat one meal a week will help you out when trying to eat better.

Mali - I've never tried to make pesto before, but as easy as you made it sound how can I resist??

It really is that easy.

I should mention, if you (or anybody else) want exact amounts, I'll give 'em to you, but it's much more fun to eyeball with something like this and then add more of this and that, to taste. In that way you get your own personal pesto that fits your particular pleasure.

Have a great time with it!

 

[RinconSB]

Taco Salad.

Ingredients:
- ground beef
- onion
- mexican/taco seasoning (buy from store or make your own if you have the spices on hand)
- beans: I usually go with refried, but whole pintos are good too
- lettuce
- tomato
- cucumber
- chopped olives
- avocado
- salad dressing of choice (ranch, ceasar and italian all work)

Preparation:

Dice the onion and sautee in skillet with a touch of oil. When translucent, add ground beef, breaking up into small pieces as it browns. When it's mostly broken up, dump in seasoning to taste. Add some salt if seasoning doesn't have any. I like to add a couple grinds of pepper as well. When meat is thoroughly cooked, remove from heat and cover or tent with foil to keep warm. Chop or tear the lettuce into salad-size pieces. Dice the tomato and chop the cumber. Avocado can either be sliced or chunked. Heat the beans. Cover bottom of bowl with a thin layer of lettuce. Top with scoops of beef and beans. Top that with more lettuce, cucumber, tomato, olives and avocado. Pour dressing over and eat. Alternatively, you can pre-dress the vegetables in a separate bowl if you prefer the dressing more evenly distributed.

Easy, fast, simple, tasty.

 

[FC3S]

FC's Bachelor Goodness -

Preperation Time - 1 Hour of Work
Required - Cashed Paycheck
Can be found in - Vending machine
Flavor - Varies

Guzzle cola and throw away can.

If you are feeling up to actually cooking something, you may try my daily necessity -

Preperation Time - 1 Minute
Required - Microwave
Can be found in - Grocery store
Flavor - Tastes fishy

Hack off the scales and enjoy the awesomeness of kipper snacks.

I'm partial to ramen noodles as well. They don't come out the greatest in the microwave, so don't even bother.

 

[kiddykat]

Salmon Omlette:

Ingredients:
1 can of Alaskan Salmon
1 Avocado
1/4 Onion (purple for color)
1 stalk Green Onion
Few Mushrooms

1/3 Bell Pepper (Red + Green)

1 Small Roma Tomato (chopped)

Added to eggs:
1 1/2 Tsp Tamarind Powder
1/4 Tsp Sugar
1/5 Tsp Salt

Directions:
1. Add aromatics
2. Add Salmon, sautee for a few minutes (not too long)
3. Add bell peppers + tomato.
4. Add bowl of scrambled eggs with premixed ingredients.

Crack some black pepper. Plate up with chopped avocado. Enjoy..

 

[Saffronsocks]

Black Bean, Mango and Quinoa salad ~~~~~

(and yes, that's actually my photo! it's a very photogenic salad)

1 mango, peeled and cut into small dice.
1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced as small as you can get it.
1 cup chopped scallions.
1 cup chopped fresh cilantro.
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil. (or vegetable oil works OK)
2-3 tablespoons of wine vinegar.
1/4 tsp. salt (1/2 tsp. if using Kosher salt)
2 cups cooked quinoa, cooled.
1 (15-ounce) can of black beans, drained and rinsed.

*** to cook quinoa, rinse 1 cup of dry grains in a sieve until the water stops being foamy, then add it to a pot with 1.5 cups of water and a pinch of salt. Cover, boil, reduce heat and simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the water is gone and it's just starting to smell nutty/cooked. Let it cool completely before adding to the rest of the ingredients, though - I totally cooked my fresh herbs and mango the first time I tried this.

Anyway, once it's cool, toss everything together and mange. This is like, the best recipe in the whole world during the summertime! and adding a hot pepper wouldn't be uncalled for, either.