Tonight was one of those nights. I looked into the refrigerator and tried to figure out what I could cook for dinner that was not too complicated, not too hot, not too much effort.
I spied a package of fresh tortellini. I thought, “Hey, I could boil that and throw in some vegetables and some meat and cheese. It would be a main course salad!”
Uncooked Tortellini. Image via Flickr by Scott Feldstein CC license
I put some water on to boil. I started to gather ingredients.
1 small white onion, diced
4 stalks of celery, diced
1 jar of marinated artichoke hearts, drained
4 carrots, grated
1 box cherry tomatoes
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
several slices of deli ham, diced (1/4 to 1/3 of a pound)
1/2 jar Muffuletta olive salad (use a fork to dig it out of the jar)
Most of a bottle of creamy Caesar dressing (or could use vinegar and olive oil)
Boil a package of cheese tortellini according to the package directions. Undercook just slightly. Rinse with cold water. While pasta cooks, combine the rest of the salad ingredients in a large bowl. Add the pasta. Toss and mix.
Diced celery, carrots and onion
Marinated Artichoke Hearts: Look for something like this
Muffuletta Olive Salad: Look for something like this near the pickles.
Turmeric image by Steven Jackson, via Flickr CC license
Chickpea Curry
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 approximately 2-inch piece of ginger, grated
2 teaspoons Sweet Curry powder
1 teaspoon Penzeys Curry Now powder
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander
2 teaspoons paprika
1/2 teaspoon turmeric
½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
3 (15 oz ) cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed (smash one can with a fork)
28 oz can, petite diced tomatoes
1 can full fat coconut milk
2-3 teaspoons cornstarch
1/2 – 1 teaspoon salt
Chopped fresh cilantro
Directions
Heat olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.
Add onions, salt; sautè until translucent, about 6 minutes stirring every now and then. Add garlic and sautè for 1 more minute.
Add ginger and all the spices; sauté until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
Add diced tomatoes then chickpeas.
Bring to a boil, lower to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes.
Stir in coconut milk and simmer for 5 more minutes.
In a small bowl mix cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of water. Stir in the chickpea mixture and cook for 5 more minutes or until thickened.
Take a taste and adjust seasoning if needed.
Remove from the heat, sprinkle with chopped fresh cilantro.
Serve over basmati or brown rice.
I made this recipe for the first time this evening for our dinner. The balance and depth of flavors was very good. Most of the ingredients are easy to have on had, with the exception of the fresh cilantro (which seems to go bad in just a few days — or is it me?).
This is a quick and easy, delicious (meatless) curry.
I have a couple more favorite chili recipes, believe it or not. Here is one that I created by combining several of my favorite recipes and adding some of my own flair, too.
Ingredients:
1.5 ground beef (85% lean)
1 onion, diced
3 cloves of garlic (run through garlic press or use the kind in a jar)
3 T. Penzeys Chili 3000
1 T. Penzeys Medium Hot Chili Powder
1/2 t. cumin
1 t. salt
1/2 t. sugar
25 grinds black pepper
1 large can (28 oz) whole tomatoes, drain and chop
1 small can (6 oz) tomato paste
2 cans (14 oz) dark red kidney beans, drain and rinse
2 c. water
4 c. tomato juice
Brown the ground beef; drain. You can add the garlic and onion while you brown the beef or add it after you brown it; if after, cook a few minutes more. Add the rest of the ingredients bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer. Cook, covered, at a simmer for an hour if you can. Less will be okay, but it will taste better if you cook it longer.
This makes a pretty large batch and is soupier than some of the other chili recipes I make.
Chicken Tikka Masala; image by Stephen Rees via Flickr CC license.
One of my favorite Indian dishes is Chicken Tikka Masala. Well, that and Sag Paneer and Samosas and a lot of other Indian foods. But I digress. The other night I planned to make Chicken Tikka Masala for dinner using a crock pot recipe. Usually the problem I have with crock pot recipes is that I never seem to have time to actually put the stuff in the crock pot in the morning before I go to work. So that is kind of a fatal flaw in the whole plan to use a crock pot recipe.
When I got around to making dinner the only option was to make it on the stove top.
I realized I did not have one of the critical ingredients: Garam Masala. I DID have an empty jar of it from Penzeys so I read the list of ingredients on the label then gathered as many of those spices as I could from my spice cupboard (or should I say spice “hoard” — I have a LOT of spices). I looked online for recipes that could be made without Garam Masala and found a couple I thought sounded good. I used those two recipes as a guide, combining them and added a few things of my own. The result was DELICIOUS; maybe the best Indian dish I’ve made at home ever.
Chicken Tikka Masala; image by James via Flickr CC license.
Here is what I made:
Order of operations: Marinate the chicken, start the sauce, start the rice, cook the chicken, finish the sauce, combine chicken with sauce (add cilantro and cream if desired), serve with rice (and raita and naan if available).
Marinade:
1/2 to 3/4 cup plain Greek yogurt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
½ t. cardamom
¼ t. cloves
¼ t. nutmeg
½ to 1 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon grated fresh ginger
1 teaspoons salt, or to taste
3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
Combine all the marinade ingredients and mix well. You could use Garam Masala in place of some of the spices or just add 1 or 2 t. to the marinade with all the other spices. Add the chicken pieces. Let the chicken marinate in the yogurt sauce as long as you have time (mine only marinated for about 15 minutes).
Chicken Tikka Masala yogurt and spice marinade; image by JaBB via Flickr CC license.
Either grill the chicken on skewers (which is the better way and makes a more yummy tasting final product) or brown it in small batches in a hot skillet with a little EVOO and butter til nicely browned (which is what I did because it was raining and I didn’t want to run in and out to the grill in the rain).
Grilling the chicken for Chicken Tikka Masala; image by Drew McClellan via Flickr CC license.
Sauce:
1 T. butter and 1 T. olive oil
1 large onion, minced
2 to 3 cloves garlic, minced
¼ t. cayenne pepper
1 t. ground cumin
1 t. paprika
½ t. salt, or to taste
1 (14 ounce) can petite diced tomatoes, drained
1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
Heat the EVOO and butter in a 3 qt. or larger pan. Saute the onion until it softens. Add the spices and salt and cook about 5 minutes more. Drain the petite diced tomatoes; add the tomatoes to the pan with the can of tomato sauce. Continue to simmer the mixture while you are cooking the chicken (either on the stove or on a grill). Just before you are ready to add the chicken to the sauce, use an immersion blender to puree the sauce and make it somewhat smoother. (You can skip this step, but your sauce will be lumpier).
Add the grilled/browned chicken to the sauce. Heat through and/or simmer for 5-10 minutes or until the rice is ready. Then add the final ingredients below:
½ c. half and half (optional)
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Chicken Tikka Masala; image by July Frost via Flickr CC license.
Rice:
I cook my rice on the stovetop. Heat 3 c. of water or broth (you can add 1/2 t. sweet curry or a few strands of saffron) and 1/2 t. salt or so to boiling. Add 1 1/2 c. of basmati rice (can rinse it first, but I don’t always do that). Stir. Turn the heat down so it will still be simmering, cover tightly and set the timer for 13 or 14 minutes.
Serve the Chicken Tikka Masala over hot basmati rice with warm naan bread (Trader Joe’s has frozen naan that is very good) and cool smooth tangy raita.
Raita; image by Jules via Flickr CC license.
Chicken Tikka Masala; image by Guy Dickinson via Flickr CC license.
I had no idea what to make for dinner this evening.
Every piece of meat I have is in the freezer. I am too weary to go to the grocery store.
I’ve eaten out too many times in the last couple of weeks and am craving something home-made, with lots of flavor and healthy ingredients.
I came up with something pretty delicious with stuff I have in my pantry, and am very pleased with how it came out! I hope you’ll try this recipe sometime soon when you are tired and hungry.
remolata.net photo credit, via Flickr CC
Ingredients:
1 large chicken breast
Olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 cans black beans, drained
1 can regular original Ro-Tel tomatoes and green chilies
A large squirt of lime juice
Spices — I used Arizona Dreaming and Forward from Penzeys, several dashes of each.
Cooked rice (white or brown)
Shredded sharp Cheddar cheese to sprinkle on top
Cook rice: I usually use 3 c. of water to 1 1/2 cups of rice and add about 1/2 t. salt (or maybe a little more). Heat the salted water to boiling then add the rice. Stir, cover, lower the heat to simmer and set the timer for about 14 minutes. You can also use 4 c. water to 2 c. rice if you want more rice. When the timer goes off, give it a stir and you are ready to go!
Heat olive oil in a pan. Brown the chicken. Slice and dice it on a nearby cutting board when it is nearly cooked through. I had a frozen chicken breast so I cooked it whole until it was soft enough to dice, removed it from the pan, chopped it up, then returned it to the pan to finish cooking. If your chicken is thawed, you can dice it raw if you prefer.
When the chicken is nearly done, add the chopped onion to the pan. Sprinkle the spices on. If you don’t have the Penzeys spice mixes try using cumin, oregano and a little chili powder. I was going for Mexican-ish flavors. Squirt a liberal dose of lime juice all over the pan. (I used lime in a bottle, such as Real-lime)
To the chicken and onion, add the Ro-Tel (drained) and the black beans (drained). Heat through.
When the rice is finished, combine it with the chicken mixture in whichever pan will hold it all.
Salt and pepper to taste. Add more spice if needed, too. (Crushed red chilies, chili powder, cayenne — whatever you please).
Sprinkle with the shredded sharp cheddar. Cover and let sit til the cheese melts.
SERVE! Makes 5 or 6 large servings
This would taste good with sliced avocados, cilantro, and/or sour cream. You could serve it with tortilla chips and guacamole, too.
This could be a vegetarian recipe quite easily if you leave out the chicken.
(Please note that the photo above is not of the dish I created. We ate it all! This is the closest thing that I could find on Flickr. It is similar, and I included it to give you an idea of what the finished dish could look like.)
“Willie’s Chili” by Lon Farenwald Some Rights Reserved
This recipe reminds me of Azar’s Big Boy Restaurant’s Chili Spaghetti that I loved to eat as a young girl growing up in northern Indiana. I don’t know how far the Azar’s chain reached, but there were several within an hour of my hometown. We often ate at the one in Glenbrook Mall (later it became Glenbrook Square) in Fort Wayne. Their signature sandwich was the Big Boy, a double-decker cheeseburger with cheese and a special sauce (similar to a Big Mac but with a unique Azar’s taste). I also remember their delicious strawberry pie! I will share my mom’s recipe for making that pie in a future blog post (when strawberry time arrives!).
Ingredients:
1 lb. 85% lean ground chuck
Brown the beef in a dutch oven or other large pan with a lid.
Measure all these spices into a small dish:
4 t. chili powder 1 t. cardamom 1 t. ground (or grated) nutmeg 1/4 t. allspice 1/4 t. cayenne pepper 1/4 t. ground coriander 1/4 t. garlic powder 1 1/4 t. salt 1/4 t. ground black pepper
When the beef is browned and drained, use a potato masher (old fashioned utensil) to smash and break up the meat into very small pieces.
Add: 2 T. cornstarch to 1/2 c. cold water.
Stir. Add this to the beef in the pan. It should thicken up pretty quickly.
Throw in the small dish of spices and stir. Heat this mixture for a minute or so until you start to smell the spices.
Add: 1 box of beef broth (32 oz.) 1 small can of tomato paste (6 oz.) 1 can of dark red kidney beans, drained 1 T. white vinegar
Do not forget the vinegar! It really brings the flavors together.
Stir to mix thoroughly. Bring to a boil, then lower heat, cover and simmer for 45 minutes or longer as needed.
Meanwhile, toward the end of the sauce cooking time — heat a large pot of boiling salted water and cook 1 lb. of pasta. To recreate my childhood memories, I use spaghetti but you could use any shape of pasta.
I sometimes add two cans of kidney beans, but that is up to you.
To serve, spoon the sauce onto the hot pasta. Top with powdered parmesan cheese (the kind with the green lid). Real Parmesan is good, of course, but again — my childhood memories dictate powdered Parmesan. Azar’s was not a posh place. 🙂
SO GOOD! I hope you enjoy this recipe. Please leave a comment if you try it. I’d love to hear from you.
This is a unique twist on chili and on spaghetti. I have heard that this is sometimes called Cincinnati chili and people eat it with onions and cheese (and other toppings).
As always, I use Penzey’s spices. Quality makes a difference! (I do not work for them, I just love their spices.)
This is my mom’s chili recipe. The original recipe was called “Chili Concoction” and it came from a children’s cookbook.
I threw this together in less than 15 minutes tonight. Then it just needs to simmer for a bit.
Ingredients:
1.5 pounds ground beef (85 percent lean)
1 medium onion, diced
1 t. chopped garlic (or 2 cloves finely chopped)
1 can ( 1 lb. 12 oz. petite diced tomatoes)
1 can (6 oz.) tomato paste
1 can (15 oz.) dark red kidney beans
1 t. sugar
1 T. chili powder (I use Penzey’s)
1 t. salt and black pepper to taste
In a dutch oven or 5 quart or larger pan, brown the ground beef until no longer pink. Drain. Put the beef back in the pan with the chopped onion, garlic, salt and pepper. Open the can of tomatoes and the tomato paste. Drain and rinse kidney beans. Add all of this to the beef pan along with the sugar and chili powder. Simmer for 15 to 30 minutes or longer if you have time. If it gets too thick you can add water.
You can add more spice by adding some cayenne or crushed red pepper flakes. You could add more chili powder if you wish. You could add cumin and/or oregano. You could add another can of kidney beans. This chili is fairly thick and very tomatoe-y.
Enjoy! Please let me know if you try this recipe. I’d love to hear your feedback.
I have tried a few times to make salsa without a recipe. “How hard can it be?” I asked myself. I have eaten many baskets of chips at Mexican restaurants with many little bottles and bowls of various kinds of salsa — so I thought of myself as somewhat of an expert. Surely, I could just whip some up.
Well, it didn’t work out so well. Mine came out runny and tasteless. I had garden fresh tomatoes and cilantro and onion, clearly the essentials — but somehow the texture and the taste was all wrong.
image via Flickr CC Jordanmit09
I looked about for an actual recipe. I have two of the Pioneer Woman cookbooks now. I have been very happy with her recipes, both in the books and online. I tried watching her show, but it just isn’t my style. I like her writing and her recipes, though, very much. I think her photography is pretty spectacular, too. The cookbooks are beautiful to look at and to read. Every recipe I’ve tried of hers has been very good.
You can read about the most recent Pioneer Woman Cookbook: (read about it in her blog post here)
There is a point to all this. Back to the salsa issue. In the newest cookbook, Ree has a delicious looking salsa recipe in the Cinco de Mayo section that I just had to try. Even in Wisconsin in the middle of winter, I could get all the ingredients quite easily. I whipped it up in a very short time in my food processor. The best part is: it tastes delicious!!
Since this cookbook is pretty brand new fresh off the presses, I could not find the new salsa recipe posted anywhere online. I don’t want to get into copyright trouble with PW, so I am going to post the salsa recipe she already HAS on her website and suggest revisions so that you can come close to (okay exactly!) replicating the newer recipe. If that doesn’t make sense, just skip it and go on to the yummy food part.
image by Charles Williams via Flickr CC
Here is the Restaurant Style Salsa recipe from the Pioneer Woman website:
1 can (28 Ounce) Whole Tomatoes With Juice (or two 14 oz. cans)
1 can (10 Ounce) Ro-tel (diced Tomatoes And Green Chilies)
1/4 cup Chopped Onion
1 clove Garlic, Minced
1 whole Jalapeno, Quartered And Sliced Thin
1/4 teaspoon Sugar
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1/4 teaspoon Ground Cumin
1/2 cup Cilantro (more To Taste!)
1/2 whole Lime Juice
For the complete recipe and directions, please refer to PW’s website.
To update this version, make these adjustments:
Use two cans of petite diced tomatoes instead of the large can of whole tomatoes. I drained my cans of tomatoes.
Use a whole onion instead of 1/4 c. Cut it into chunks before putting it in the food processor.
Add 1 or 2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. These come in little cans in the Hispanic food aisle in grocery stores. I added one and a half.
Add 1 teaspoon of cumin instead of the lesser amount.
Add 1 teaspoon of salt instead of the lesser amount.
Add 1 teaspoon sugar instead of the lesser amount.
Use a whole bunch of cilantro (tear off the stems).
Use 1/4 c. lime juice (or more to taste).
That is it. You can make either version or a combo of both. I think you could experiment with using two cans of Ro-tel and one can of petite diced. You could add garlic. You could use green onions instead of the white. You could use red onion. Be sure to drain the cans of tomatoes, but don’t drain the Ro-tel.
This is what my salsa looked like! YUMMMMMM.
My salsa! Made following PW’s Chipotle Salsa recipe in her new cookbook. Image by The Tromp Queen.
I was so desperate to try this salsa that I had to make my own tortilla chips. I had bought the ingredients for the salsa, but forgot to get tortilla chips! Since Wisconsin seems to be in an eternal Polar Vortex lately, I didn’t want to go back to the store for just one item. I did, however, have some extra corn and flour tortillas in the fridge. So I heated up a stainless steel pan with about 1/2 to 1 inch of oil (canola, veg, peanut whatever you have), cut the tortillas in half and then each half into wedges, and quickly fried them til brown on both sides (you have to flip them over with metal tongs or a fork — don’t use plastic!). Drain on paper towels and salt with kosher or regular salt. De nada!
While we are on the chips and salsa topic, Pioneer Woman’s Pico de Gallo is absolutely delicious!! I highly recommend it. Basically her recipe is equal parts of chopped tomato, onion and cilantro. Add a couple of jalapeno peppers (or just one, de-veined and de-seeded), lime juice, and salt and pepper to taste. It is so good! I love this on fajitas, tacos or just with chips. If you make guacamole (the recipe is in that same link) you can mix the Pico de Gallo and guac together, too. Yes. Now we all need a margarita.
Overall Recipe REVIEW:
The recipe is quick, easy and delicious. The ingredients are easy to obtain: there is nothing fancy here. I really enjoy the balance of flavors. This tastes as good or better than most of the restaurant salsas out there. This recipe would be easy to adapt for personal tastes, though — more or less spicy, more or less lime juice, etc. I highly recommend all the recipes in this blog post!
5 out of 5 forks!!
Enjoy!
Please let me know you how your recipes turn out if you try any in this post. I’d love to hear your results.
The Tromp Queen COOKS! 