Winter Vegetable Chili

We've been moving this past week so lunch and dinner has mainly consisted of flipping through take-out menus. I was thrilled when the kitchen was finished so that we could finally have a healthy home cooked meal. I had been saving my February issue of F&W that has a beautiful bowl of vegetarian chili on the cover and thought it would be perfect!
I followed the recipe exact aside for replacing the plain vegetable oil with canola oil. It's a healthier choice and preferable over olive oil if you're looking for a neutral flavor. I served it over brown rice with a side of warm corn tortillas and shredded goat cheddar with sour cream over the top. It was absolutely delicious and healthy. Could possibly be a staple in our house! Here's the recipe...

http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/winter-vegetable-chili



Rating: A

what I'd do differently- I accidentally put the whole can of chipotle peppers with all the abodo sauce in the blender with the tomatoes and water. It was insanely spicy!!! Nate and I could handle it but next time I would add much less. The sour cream helped. I suggest you taste the abodo sauce first then add how ever much you like.

Thailand, Boats, and Healthy Italian

I'm doing pretty well with this whole not eating red meat thing... except for dinner Friday night at Clyde Common with friends. It's famous for their burgers and after everyone each ordered theirs medium rare with blue cheese, I found myself jumping on the bandwagon. Oops! But it was delicious!
Anyway, aside from that, I had a lot of fun this week trying out new recipes. I was inspired to break out my new Thai cookbook after seeing fresh lemongrass in the grocery store. I made this Thai chicken coconut soup called Tome Kah Gai. I followed the recipe almost exact with adding a few of my own ingredients like Thai basil that I grew this summer, diced carrots, and dried whole chile peppers. Also, I didn't have galanga which is a root cousin of ginger, so instead I added minced ginger. My only disappointment was the lack of salt and the chicken was dry. The recipe had me cooking it in the soup which gave it a hard texture. Next time I would bake the chicken then shred it and add it to the soup. All in all it was a success. Tons of flavor! I urge everyone to try it!

Tome Kah Gai



1 tbs sesame oil
2 tbs fresh lime juice
2 tbs fish sauce
2 green onions thinly sliced
2 tbs fresh chopped cilantro
5-10 fresh thai basil leaves
1 1/2 cups unsweetened coconut milk
2 cups chicken broth or water
1 tsp fresh ginger
2 stalks lemongrass
2-3 dry whole red chile peppers
3/4 lb bone in chicken breast
1 cup thinly sliced cremini mushrooms

heat the oil in medium saucepan and lightly saute mushrooms
stir in ginger
add coconut milk, chicken broth and gently boil
add lemongrass, basil, carrots, red chilies and chicken until it's cooked through
take out chicken to shred, then place back in soup
add fish sauce, lime juice, green onions and half of the cilantro
add salt ( if needed) to taste
serve then garnish with extra cilantro and slice of lime

Rating: B


Here's a few other fun meals I cooked this week...

Squash Boats
*inspired by Nate with a little help from Alton Brown's recipe on Food Network.com



Delicata Squash x2
1/2 lb ground turkey
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup diced carrots
1/4 cup diced celery
1 tsp oregano
1 1/2 cup cooked quinoa
handful chopped italian parsley
1/2 cup white wine
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
handful fresh spinach

preheat oven to 400 degrees
cut squashes in half and scoop out seeds
drizzle with olive oil and S&P
place on baking sheet lined w/parchment paper
bake for 20 minutes then take out to rest
meanwhile brown the turkey in a saute pan then remove to a plate
add a little olive oil and add onions, carrots, celery, spinach, oregano, S&P
saute for 10 minutes then deglaze with the wine
add the turkey, quinoa, pine nuts, half the goat cheese and parley
mix together well then fill the partially baked squash
top with more goat cheese then bake for 25 minutes

Rating: C

what I'd do differently- use a different squash varietal.
I've used delicata squash before and it's delicious on it's own but it's a bit too sweet for this dish. Next time I'd use acorn squash or just stick to red peppers.

Spelt Lasagna with Italian Chicken Sausage
*inspired by Marcia Kiesel's recipe in F&W January 2010



1 box Vita Spelt lasagna pasta
1 tbs olive oil
1/2 lb Italian chicken sausage
2 cups homemade marinara sauce
6 oz ricotta cheese mixed with 1 egg white
6 oz shredded fontina cheese
7 oz fresh buffalo mozzarella sliced
freshly grated parmesan to sprinkle on top
10 thinly sliced fresh basil leaves

preheat oven to 425
cook noodles in salted boiling water until al dente, then place in ice bath
drain and pat dry noodles then lay them out
saute chicken sausage in olive oil until lightly browned
in small bowl, stir ricotta with egg white and cracked pepper
assemble lasagna using a little marinara on the bottom of the pan
then lay noodles, 3 cheeses, marinara, sauage then basil, repeat laying noodles in opposite directions
finish with sprinkling parmesan cheese and basil with cracked pepper and bake for 20 min

Rating: A

New Years Resolution

So finally, here I am blogging for the first time; the first of the many New Years resolutions I have to accomplish in 2010. The second one is actually committing to it every week of the year. I guess depending on how interesting this blog is, will determine whether I make it through.

Now for my third and more common resolution... get healthier! I've started by spending way too much money at the Whole Foods vitamin isle. After harassing the attendant for fifteen minutes, I got everything from acidophilus to gluten free whey protein, to pure liquid acai. Which is fantastic by the way! Has anyone every tried to use the frozen bars? What a pain. This one just comes in a bottle and you pour a few ounces in your shake. Easy!

Then I wasn't sure on which flaxseed oil to buy. I normally get the cold pressed oil for the fridge, and sometimes get the Essential Woman with evening primrose. But the nice man told me that the organic ground flaxseed is better for fiber. Sweet! That always helps with weight loss. I just add 2-3 tbs. to my shake or oatmeal, yogurt, etc. I felt better already. So here's my morning shake.... I encourage you all to try it!

2 scoops vanilla whey protein

2-3 tbs ground flaxseed

1 oz pure acai juice

1 oz acidophilus probiotic

4-6 oz almond milk

1/2 banana

1/4 cup blueberries

handful of ice

*sometimes for an extra bonus, I add a handful of spinach.

Next I plan to omit red meat until March 15th. Why March 15th? It sounds good. I think it will be pretty easy until I go to a fabulous restaurant, but there's always fish, and it's not forever. My only fear is boredom. So if anyone has some great recipes to get me through, please post! And I promise to share my future recipe successes/disasters over the next few months along with any news of weight loss. See you next week!