Orange chicken stir-fry

Chicken stir-fry.

I tend to shy away from making stir-fry. I can never seem to get the pan the right temperature so more often than not the veggies turn out mushy and the chicken over cooked. 

But today I had a big success - a low-sodium stir fry that looked amazing and tasted even better.

Broccoli, red pepper, cabbage, water chestnuts and chicken over a bed of quinoa.

 

 

I started by marinating some sliced chicken breast in rice wine vinegar, orange juice and sesame oil. 

I chopped the vegetables and mixed together some minced pickled ginger, garlic and some green onions to toss in at the end.

The best thing about making your own stir-fry is that you get to add as much of your favorite ingredient as you want.

For me, this means I use a whole can of water chestnuts. I just can't get enough of them.

And, for once, I managed to get a nice sear on the chicken. I pulled out the chicken after it had browned on both sides and put it aside.

While the veggies were sizzling away in the pan I mixed together some Hoison sauce, chicken broth and corn starch. 

When the veggies were almost done I added back in the chicken and added the sauce mixture to the pan. After a few minutes I tossed in the garlic and ginger.

I am so proud of how this turned out that I am now contemplating getting a wok:-)

Happy Wednesday all!

The search for galangal continues...

Tom Kha soup with beef rib eye.

I didn't get a chance to hunt down galangal for my recipe challenge today. 

So, what did I do? I used some of the ingredients on hand and made a kinda/sorta/maybe like version of Tom Kha.

I still didn't have any galangal, no Thai chillies and there were no kaffir lime leaves in sight.

I just did my usual and used what I had. And I was curious about how using ginger in place of galangal would change the taste of the soup.

The soup was definitely missing the complexity of flavor of the traditional Tom Kha Gai (with beef substituted) but it was still pretty great.

I found this great packet of thinly sliced rib eye when I was on my day-long shopping trip yesterday.

I put 2-3 slices into individual plastic bags and put them (about 12 in total) right into the freezer. Now I will have a handy protein supply that will take minutes to cook up!

After realizing my dreams of continuing my hunt for galangal were never going to materialize, I decided to adapt a recipe I found here. 

So, straight on to the recipe - it was a pretty fast and satisfyingly spicy - I highly recommend it as a modified home version of Tom Kha-something kind of soup.

Tom Kha soup with beef rib eye

Serves 1

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups of low sodium chicken broth

1/2 cup of coconut cream (it is the creamy stuff on the top)

1/2 cup of coconut milk (the clearer liquid you see towards the bottom of the can)

1/4" square of ginger

Two 2" segments of lemon grass, pounded slightly

1 button mushroom, sliced

2 broccoli florets, cut in half

The juice of 1/2 of one small lime

2 tsp of fish sauce

1/2 tsp of soy sauce

1 Tbsp of fresh chopped cilantro

Two 1/2" slices of a small red Serrano pepper, seeds removed

3 thin slices of frozen beef rib eye, broken into pieces

Instructions:

Put the chicken broth, the lemon grass and the ginger into a soup pot over medium heat. Bring to a boil and let cook for 5 minutes.

Turn the heat down to a medium simmer and add in the coconut cream and milk along with the chili peppers, soy sauce and fish sauce. Simmer another 2 minutes.

Add in the beef rib eye and broccoli and let cook 2 minutes. Then add in the mushrooms, cilantro and lime juice - take the pot off the heat and let stand for 5 minutes.

Ladle the soup into a bowl and be careful to fish out the chili peppers if you like your soup on the mild side. 

I also fish out the lemon grass because I hate having to dig around it for the other ingredients. 

Enjoy!

Finding greens in the city

After almost a full week in NYC I find myself craving greens. 

A salad with edamame, arugula, spinach, chicken, tofu, broccolli, mushrooms and orange slices

I am sure it is just the restaurants I have been picking and I guess I am spoiled in California where every restaurant has a super healthy green food (salad/seaweed/vegan) option. 

*Warning* pict of runners toe coming up - scroll down at your own risk.

I am sure a lot of you can relate to this - if I am doing long runs I have to make sure to keep my toenails really short or I run the risk of the nail rubbing against a toe and this happens:

Ouch!

So this morning I slept in and gave my tootsies some TLC. My feet would have been fine if I did my planned 3 miles - it was the almost 8 miles that caused the problem.

Around noon time I ventured out to try to find a movie theatre so I could catch The Thing.

I ended up in Times Square.

 I remember Times Square being a place that was grimy and run down and you only went there during the day. They have really cleaned it up and now it looks more like a theme park.

The movie was OK - not great. And on the way back to the hotel I stopped for some soup.

And it was a lucky coincidence that the soup place was across the street from Bryant park.

 

 It was the perfect place to sit down and enjoy my soup.

A hearty corn chowder was just the thing on this rainy and overcast day.

I have been doing a lot of walking during my stay in NYC. I am averaging about 3 - 4 hours a day. Not because of any actual intention of doing a ton of walking - it is just that I am in a perpetual state of being lost, lol. So, I knew the soup would not be enough to hold me over until dinner.


Then I spotted this place right across the street from Bryant Park.

There are many delis in midtown Manhattan and most of them have the most elaborate salad bar. This one was no different and I assembled a great salad to bring back to the hotel.

And I found my favorite snack food.

Seasoned crispy seaweed.

I am hoping to go on a hunt for omurice in Soho tomorrow and I will be taking the subway!


Night all.

 

Spicy peanut noodles

Spicy peanut noodles.

This morning I wanted peanut butter and honey on toast. Unfortunately, the baguettes I made two days ago have already hardened up like cement. 

I feel a crouton recipe coming soon...

While I recovered from my crushing disappointment, I stood in my usual spot in front of the open cupboard and stared. 


The less you concentrate and stare with a kind of unfocused stupor (the kind that is only brought about by being in a pre-caffeinated state) - the more creative you will get.

At least that is what I tell myself.

No recipe for this because it is a really basic peanut sauce and you should tweak it any way you want. 

I also steamed up some broccoli and asparagus to go with the noodles.

I will tell you what I put in my sauce this morning:

- soy sauce
- peanut butter
- sesame oil
- water
- brown sugar
- chili paste
- ginger
- white vinegar

The whole key to the sauce is knowing what spice level you want and the level of sweet or savory you desire.

I make mine heavy on the soy sauce and lighter on the sweet.

 Happy Tuesday everyone!!

Fiesta breakfast

As you may (or may not) have noticed, my bold resolution to try and attend most of the flow yoga classes at my YMCA has been a total bust.

I just couldn't get myself to go. Usually this lack of follow through would really bother me. I would be awash in guilt and self-criticism.


But I decided to try a different tact. I sat down and thought about what I really wanted. If you are anything like me, this is a fairly novel concept.


I decided what I really wanted was to NOT go to the yoga classes at the Y. Yes, most of them are just fine and a couple of the teachers are OK. But when I walk into a class I always feel like I am practicing yoga in my high school gym.

Anyone else hate their high school gym? [source]

All in all, it is not the yoga experience I have been craving.


I want to walk into the room and get a feeling like this:

Ahhh, nice and calm. [source]

After all that draining brain work I needed sustenance.

I grilled up one chicken and apple sausage and put a bunch of broccoli and green beans into the steamer.


When the sausage and veggies were done, I tossed them into a skillet with 1/2 cup of cooked brown rice, 2 chopped scallions, 2 Tbsp of salsa and 1/2 tsp of taco seasoning.

A great breakfast bowl that was heavy on the veggies, light on the rice and medium on the protein.

I am off to gather up all my yoga clothes and hit the laundry!


Happy Wednesday!

Everyone in the pool dumpling soup

This was one of those thrown together soups that came out incredibly tasty!
I put six cups of water in a sauce pan and set it to boil. Then I added in the following ingredients:
1 onion, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
a handful of spinach
broccoli florets
2 Tbsp. of miso paste
1/4 cup of vegetable broth
2 Tbsp. of packaged coleslaw mix
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp. of cumin
1/2 tsp. of garlic powder
1 Tbsp. of nutritional yeast
a pinch of salt
ground black pepper to taste
I let the soup simmer until it was reduced by half then I broke out my favorite dumplings.


Chicken dumplings.



The dumplings made the soup.



Night all!

Breakfast of champions - if champions ate quinoa

I did pick up some new bedding during my shopping trip to Ikea.

And it is doggie approved :-)

Abby testing out the new sheets. Connor is there too but you can only see his butt.

As I was perusing the pantry this morning I spotted my jar of nutritional yeast.

So this morning's breakfast was comprised of the following ingredients:

1 Tbsp. nutritional yeast
1/4 cup of quinoa cooked in vegetable broth
4 florets of broccoli, chopped fine
a handful of spinach leaves torn into small pieces
1 button mushroom, chopped
1/4 of an onion
1 clove of garlic
2 egg whites

This turned out really delicious. And since I threw in the broccoli and spinach into the pot with the quinoa and let it all cook together it was super simple.

I did cook the garlic and onions in a skillet over low heat while the quinoa simmered. When the onions just started to caramelize, I tossed in the mushrooms, covered the pan and let it cook another 5 minutes.


I pulled the onions, garlic and mushrooms out of the pan and then added in the 2 egg whites. I let them cook on low until just set.

Oh, yes, and I stirred in 1 Tbsp. of nutritional yeast into the quinoa when it was done cooking. The nutritional yeast added a nice cheesy flavor that paired really well with the slightly sweet taste of the onions.

I thought this was a great breakfast that was packed with protein from both the quinoa and the egg whites. And I got a nice dose of greens as well. It was definitely a breakfast of champions :-)

I enjoyed my bowl of quinoa with a plump peach and a big mug of tea with soymilk.

I can't believe it is Monday already. Where did the weekend go?

Happiness in a bowl

Mashed yukon gold potatoes with broccoli, carrot, avocado and cooked chicken.

I woke up hungry this morning and knew I wanted a big bowl of something.

Since my cravings for oatmeal are few and far between these days, I decided on a mashed potato bowl.

One yukon gold potato went into the steamer (cut into medium chunks) and when it was tender I took the potatoes out and mashed them with a splash of soymilk and 1 Tbsp. of Tofutti cream cheese. I also added a pinch of salt and pepper.

Then the carrots and broccoli went into the steamer. When they were tender, they joined the potatoes.

 
And because I wanted to add some protein and healthy fat, I tossed in some cooked chicken and avocado.

 
I ate it all mixed up with a extra bit of pepper.

I would definitely call this happiness in a bowl :-)

Happy Saturday everyone!

Stuffed shells with broccoli and gruyere

One of my favorite dinner dishes is lasagna. But, unfortunately, I have yet to find a lower fat recipe that was worth eating.


So, last night, I went with my second favorite dinner - stuffed shells.

Stuffed shells with broccoli and Gruyere.

I decided to try and make a version of stuffed shells that would reduce the fat content (the cheese) and would also increase the amount of vegetables.


I boiled some large shells for 6 minutes in salted water.

Unfortunately, my last piece of the 'striped hat' pasta did not survive the boiling.

For the filling I combined:


1 cup of steamed broccoli, chopped fine
2 Tbsp. of bread crumbs
1/4 cup of shredded Gruyere cheese
1/4 cup of shredded Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp. of dried basil
1/4 tsp. of dried oregano
1/4 tsp. of dried parsley
1 egg
1 pinch of salt
1 pinch of ground black pepper
1 tsp. of roasted red bell pepper, chopped fine

1 1/2 Tbsp. of the filling went into each shell.

A small amount of spaghetti sauce went into the bottom of an oven safe dish.

I placed the stuffed shells seam side down into the sauce.

More sauce went on top.

I covered the dish with tinfoil and put it into a 375 degree oven for 30 minutes.


After 30 minutes, I removed the foil and let it continue to cook for another 5 - 10 minutes.

These turned out amazing! The inside had just enough cheese to punch up the flavor and the egg and breadcrumbs added a croquette-like texture to the filling.


Anytime you are craving stuffed shells but you don't want all that cheese this is a great option.

Smooth moves

I ended up doing the Power Yoga - Total Body dvd.

I was surprised how much I liked it. The flow was slow and meditative but it kept you moving. I hate yoga practices that hold poses for a long time because I get sooo bored.

This tape went at just the right speed and had a nice mix of beginner and intermediate poses so you could tailor the practice to your needs.

For lunch I made another attempt at making nutritional yeast 'cheese' sauce.

I am working on a sauce that is lower in fat since all of the ones I have seen online use quite a bit of oil and/or nuts to get the sauce creamy.

This sauce looked pretty but tasted just OK. I will have to keep working on it.

I grilled up some 'chicken' tenders.

I also steamed some broccoli which I then smothered in sauce :-)

And I ate a juicy, ripe peach for dessert.

One last thing about the Rodney Yee Yoga Power Yoga tape - if you prefer an instructor who is very clear and isn't chatty or distracting, you will love this tape.

Rodney talks you through the poses, so if you are familiar with yoga, you won't even need to look up at the TV. This is a big plus in my opinion. 

I want to just concentrate on my practice and not look up at the screen all the time or listen to an instructor who is trying to 'entertain'.

Night, all!

Things I need to work on and some salmon

I definitely have cooking a steak to perfection mastered but I am still working on cooking a salmon filet just right.

Grilled salmon over salad and steamed broccoli.

The recipe I always use when I cook salmon can be found here.

It always turns out scrumptious and very pretty.

But the problem I have is my cooking. I either overcook (like today) or undercook the fish. One day I will get this perfected. And then I will include a recipe.


I grabbed a big bunch of baby lettuce and tossed it with some of my miso dressing and added in some steamed broccoli.


The salmon had been marinating in the fridge for 2 hours. I pulled it out and put in a pan on med-high heat for 5 minutes (which ended up being too long (((). 

Writing is going well today - thank goodness. 

I was talking to someone today who commented that a person has to have complete confidence in the value of their work or they will never be able to take the risks or grab the opportunities that could propel them to success.

I am going to work on that too...