Category Archives: Vegetables

Rice Pilaf – Small Effort for Something Special

Rice is good. You can dress it up as little or as much as you would like. And, dressing it up is an excellent way to get more flavor and a few more veggies into your meal, or even create a one-pot meal, albeit the latter is not the focus of this post.

I am planning a simple meal of sauteed salmon fillets, steamed broccoli, and rice. I might create a post about the salmon in the future, but in the meantime, I am simply sauteing two 5 oz skinless fillets in olive oil (enough oil so that the fish has a chance to get hot before hitting the pan directly and sticking to it!) for a few minutes per side and then brushing with a balsamic glaze, most likely using some store-bought balsamic cream (Pastene) that I have on hand, dressed up with a bit of lemon juice and olive oil.

As to the broccoli – Steve and I like it well-steamed rather than the “healthier” more crisp style. Actually, there are arguments for both sides: the more cooked, the more accessible many of the nutrients, albeit more cooking will reduce the amount of the heat-sensitive Vitamin C, for example. But, in any case, here is a great way to keep broccoli crisp in your fridge, as well as perk up broccoli that was not quite as firm as one would like when purchased.

Just pop the broccoli in water and then pop into the fridge.

But, back to the rice. I like using brown/whole grain rice for the added fiber. I know there are issues these days with arsenic in rice and the whole grain version having more, but from my research, it looks like this is an issue with rice grown on former cotton fields on which arsenic-containing pesticides were used. My solution is to buy my rice from the California-based Lundberg Family Farms.

ANYWAY – since the rest of the meal is quite simple, I thought I would make the rice more interesting. And, truthfully, it does not take that much effort. Here is what I did:

Start with sauting onion until soft, and then add diced carrot and chopped fresh parsley.

Start with sauteing in olive oil to build a flavor base.

I started with sauteing a half a small onion until soft, and then added diced carrot, chopped fresh parsley, and freshly ground black pepper. I also tossed in a few dried red pepper flakes for fun.

Add rice and saute some more!

Next, I added the rice (I used 1 cup) and sauteed until just a bit toasty – a few minutes while stirring.

I then added 2 cups liquid. I recommend using chicken broth or bouillon or other savory-flavored liquid, if available. I make chicken stock and keep it in one-cup containers in the freezer. Today I defrosted a cup of chicken stock and added water to make two cups liquid to the one cup of rice.

Add water and simmer on low for 45 minutes or more as needed.

I am blessed to have a stovetop with a “simmer” burner, so keeping the rice on a low simmer is easy for me. When I have to use another burner, I watch the rice carefully and/or use a heat diffuser. But, even at a more active simmer, rice comes out nicely after about 45 minutes. Just keep an eye out so it doesn’t dry out too much. Although, if you get a bit of burning on the bottom, it can add to the complexity of the flavor and texture once you stir the rice up and serve. 🙂

All done and has passed the "quality control" tasting. Yum!

All done – and it has passed the “quality control” tasting. Yum!

And, there you have it. For a one-pot meal, you can add shredded meat, tofu, tempeh, fish… ooo, salmon would be good!…or whatever strikes your fancy. BUT, do remember that you can always make rice more interesting with just a little effort.

Enjoy!

Apple Ginger Pork Chops

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It was early on a Sunday afternoon and I was hungry, with no patience to wait for an evening meal. And, with the weather not cooperating for Steve for anything sailing, I decided to do an abbreviated version of a Sunday Dinner – less complicated, but to be served by mid-afternoon.

I had two pork chops on hand that needed using soon, a gorgeous hunk of fresh ginger, and a Granny Smith apple; a quick Google search using these ingredients as keywords brought me to the following recipe:

Apple Ginger Pork Chops, by The Food Network’s Guy Fieri

I ended up making some adjustments, but other changing the amounts of some ingredients, I stuck to the recipe, but using the following proportions:

2 pork chops, 1 1/4-1 1/2 inch thick, center cut, bone in
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
3 teaspoons minced ginger
3 teaspoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup white wine (cooking wine is fine)
1 cup sliced (1/4-inch) yellow onions (one medium onion)
2 cups cored and sliced (1/4-inch) Granny Smith (one largish apple)
1/3 cup raisins
2 tablespoons butter

First, I mixed together the apple cider vinegar, 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, ginger, garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper and marinated the chops for 60 minutes, flipping at 30 minutes.

The original recipe called for a 30 minute marinade in a Ziploc-type bag, but I used a corning ware casserole pan into which the two chops just fit. On advice in a recipe review, I lengthened the marinade time, but I suspect it would benefit from an even longer marinade time if you are not in a hurry. However, I agree with the reviewer’s warning to not marinade for too many hours since the acid in the vinegar and lemon juice can cause the meat to become mushy.

Once you are ready to cook the chops, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. and, in a large saute pan, heat 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil to almost smoking, then add pork chops, shaking off excess marinade. Brown on both sides.

browned chops

Next, place the chops on a sheet pan and put in the oven, uncovered, for 20 minutes or until internal temperature reaches 135 degrees F. (Check at 15 minutes)

In the same saute pan deglaze with the wine…

… then add onions, apples and raisins and cook until apples are soft and onions are translucent.

Just after adding to the pan.

After 5-7 minutes uncovered.

The original recipe did not specify whether or not to cover the pan. I was not confident that the onions and apples would cook down enough without burning since there was not much liquid in the pan, so I covered the pan after 5-7 minutes and lowered the temperature from medium high to medium low. Next time, I will probably just cover from the beginning and then, if there is excess liquid, cook it off at the end.

After another 6-8 or so minutes, covered - and after the butter was added.

The last step: Add butter and salt and pepper, to taste, and keep warm while waiting for chops to be done.

Once the chops are to temperature, remove from oven and put the chops onto to the apple mixture and pour any juices into the mix, as well. Hold covered, on low warm, until ready to serve.

To accompany, I opted for potatoes, since I had some on hand, although rice would also work well. As to veggies, I had a bell pepper that needed using and I wanted to keep things simple, so I tossed together 6 or so small red potatoes, quartered, a green bell pepper in large chunks/slices, and a small onion, quartered, with kosher salt, freshly ground pepper, and a small amount of a ginger/citrus shake I had in the cupboard thanks to a gift from my niece and baker/cook extraordinaire Meggie Dennis, finishing with a liberal amount of olive oil. I have a counter-top toaster oven with a convection option, so I convect-roasted the potato mix, covered with foil, for around 35 minutes at 375 and finished off for about 5 minutes at 425 uncovered. But if you have just one oven, preheat to 350 to start roasting the potato mix, covered, for 35 or so minutes before also putting the the pork chops in for their 20 minutes, and then raise the temperature to 425 to finish them off, uncovered, after the chops are done, as needed.

Dinner!

And, there you have it. It got a “keeper” vote from both Steve and me. And, I especially like the technique of marinating, browning, baking, and creating a pan topping or sauce since it lends itself to unlimited variations in flavors. Roasted veggies of any sort also lend themselves to all sorts of menus and flavors. A keeper indeed.

Spicy rub for chicken, grilled sweet potatoes, cabbage saute – all with no garlic or onion!?!

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It was a hot day and I knew Steve would want to grill and I didn’t want to spend the money on pre-marinated chicken or the like. But, I didn’t have time to defrost AND marinate for long enough the 2 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken breasts I had in the freezer. I also had a half a cabbage and some sweet potatoes I wanted to use up. What to do?

Well, I punted and first looked for a way to quickly make grilled chicken really flavorful and came across this incredibly simple but totally delicious rub:

Sweet and Spicy Grilled Chicken Rub

The recipe calls for equal amounts chili powder, brown sugar, dried oregano, and olive oil, in this case, 1 Tablespoon each – and I added another tablespoon of olive oil to make it easier to spread around.

Rubbed and ready to grill!

So – THAT took care of the chicken, but what else to serve? Time to do a search for “grilled sweet potatoes” on the Internet, via which I found lots of options. Rather than create more work for Steve by asking him to deal with multiple slices of sweet potatoes on the grill, I opted for a recipe that combined cubed sweet potato and seasonings in a foil pack that could go on the grill with little supervision.

I honestly don’t remember exactly what I did, but it involved 3-4 modestly-sized sweet potatoes cut into 1” or so cubes, a few pats of butter, a drizzle or two of olive oil, a few turns of the pepper mill, a pinch of salt, and a healthy sprinkling of brown sugar. I liked the idea of using brown sugar since it was also an ingredient in the chicken rub. And, so easy to just wrap it all up in a sheet of heavy foil and toss on the grill! Of course, this could easily be roasted in the oven or, with a bit of added liquid, cooked stovetop, as well.

For the cabbage, I decided to use a recipe that I had made with great success a few weeks before – with the original version using green beans with the cabbage:

Green Beans and Cabbage with Coriander Butter You can see how I prepared this veggie dish in my post of May 15, 2011

This time, I didn’t have green beans on hand but figured that carrots would work since their sweetness would also benefit from the coriander in the recipe as well as compliment the sweetness from the brown sugar in the chicken rub and sweet potato dish. So, I improvised:

Green Beans and Carrots with Coriander Butter

4 tablespoons butter
3 cups chopped cabbage
1 -2 cups julienned carrots
1 teaspoon ground coriander

Into the Frying Pan….

In a large skillet, melt butter over medium-high heat for 3 to 4 minutes, until butter just begins to turn golden brown. Remove from heat and add cabbage and green beans; toss to coat with butter. Sprinkle in 1 teaspoon ground coriander and toss well. Return to stove and cook over low heat.

So, there you have it. A totally amazing meal with lovely flavors that totally complimented one another. Steve and I were in heaven during this meal of grilled chicken breast with a sweet and spicy rub, sweet potatoes roasted with brown sugar, and a cabbage and carrot sauté. Unbelievably delicious!!!! And I still can’t believe I made an entire meal with NO garlic and NO onions (or scallions or shallots, etc.) But, I am sure all three dishes would taste great with onion and or garlic added. Indeed, I have in my notes that I was planning on adding garlic to at least the veggie sauté…. Maybe next time. 🙂

Note to those Wary of Cabbage: I have served both red and green cabbage a lot this past winter and spring with Steve and I discovering, to our surprise, how much we REALLY like cabbage and leading Steve to comment: “Cabbage really gets a bum rap…” Needless to say, cabbage, with or without a complimentary vegetable, is superb when combined with butter and coriander!

Another Note: I just realized that this meal was based on fall vegetables and flavors but worked just fine on a hot summer night. Perhaps the chili powder brought it all together in a way that smoothed over that juxtaposition. Although, now we know what veggies to use on that first day warm enough for grilling but before the summer veggies are in. 🙂

Once again, I forget to take a picture of the plated meal. Here are the leftovers. 🙂

A Different Take on Roasted Potatoes and a Green Bean and Cabbage Saute

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I’ve had two 8 lb hams in my freezer since two days before Easter. Why, you might ask? Well, based on the minimum number of folks I expected to come for Easter, I had thought I would do an experiment and bake two 8 pound Cook’s hams, one a butt end and one a shank end, just to do a real-time comparison of flavor, texture, carving ease, etc. However, it turned out that 16 pounds of ham would be a bit much for the smaller crowd of 10 including Steve and me, so I opted to try 12 pound “Buddaball” butt end of ham that Farm Land was carrying. Great ham, by the way!

Luckily, hams freeze just fine and Steve and I like ham, so having two hams in the freezer was not a tragedy. We hardly eat cold cuts and buy only uncured bacon and hotdogs, so ham is our big sodium nitrite splurge. <grin>

ANYWAY – except for using grated ginger and some white sugar in water in lieu of the called-for gingerale in my 1950s retro ham recipe, the ham is the same as what I did for Easter, just a different brand and not as big. But, here is a picture of me with the Easter ham:

But hey!, Hey! What about the potatoes and veggies in the title of this blog? Okay, okay…

The jury is still out as I write this as to whether Steve will like the potatoes, but, I like them! And, they have not even finished getting browned/crunchy yet.

To prepare, I peeled two mid-sized Idahos and cut them into 2 inch or so chunks. I also peeled and more thinly sliced a white sweet potato just to jazz things up. I coated them with a mixture of high-test olive oil (from the fresh pressed olive oil club to which I belong) and some truffle-infused olive oil my friend Linda Ireland gave to me. I am liking the truffle oil. [Linda, we’ll have to make something with it sometime and see if you like it in a dish.]

I then mixed together some nutmeg (freshly grated), cinnamon, coriander, fennel pollen, and freshly ground black pepper – tads and pinches of each. I then added about a teaspoon of kosher salt to the mix and sprinkled it onto the potatoes, mixing it all to coat evenly.

Helpful hint – use a rubber or silicon spatula to mix. The spatula scrapes the oil from the side of the bowl so more ends up on the potatoes.

I then put the potatoes in a pyrex baking dish and added maybe ½ cup chicken broth before covering with foil and cooking in the oven with the ham for about 45 minutes at 325. Then I took the cover off and let the liquid cook off for about 20 minutes at 300 degrees, stirring halfway through.

As I write this, I have the ham resting and the potatoes keeping warm at 170 degrees. Right before we eat, I am going to carve the ham, make sure the potatoes are now crisp on the outside, raising the temperature a bit if necessary, and cooking up the veggie dish. Bet you forgot about the veggie dish. 🙂

So, yesterday I noticed that I had green beans and cabbage in the veggie bin of my fridge. As usual, I typed the ingredients into Google and came up with a gaggle (sorry, could not resist) of recipes using green beans and cabbage. I opted for this simple fare but for the one spice used: ground coriander.

It has been so long since I have posted here that I am putting this up before I am done preparing the meal, but doesn’t this sound light and lovely? I did a scaled down version, but here is the original recipe from which I was working:

Green Beans and Cabbage with Coriander Butter
This is not a casserole, but a stove top saute that is both unusual and good.

4 tablespoons butter
3 cups chopped cabbage
1 1/2 cups fresh cut green beans
1 teaspoon ground coriander

I used about 2 cups – firmly packed – of chopped cabbage and about 2 cups – loosely packed – of beans and will probably use 3 T of butter and a scant teaspoon of the coriander.
—————————————————————————————————–
I’ll hopefully remember to update here on the final results once I’ve made this recipe and completed the meal, but do know that this veggie recipe is what inspired me to add coriander to the potatoes, thus giving me an opening to use my fennel pollen. Not a lot of recipes call for fennel pollen but I really like it. And it goes wonderfully with coriander.

So – time for me to post this and go finish the dinner prep. Hopefully, it will all be really good!

UPDATE: The potatoes were exquisitely delicious, and deemed excellent by Steve, also. I think that having the white sweet potato mixed with the regular potato added to it, although, just the regular potato would have been lovely as well.

And, I had chopped and sauteed four smallish shallots in olive oil earlier in the day and put them in the fridge for later. I added them into the green beans and cabbage at the end. And, before the end, I added 1/2 cup chicken stock and cooked the beans and cabbage another 10 or so minutes to soften the beans further before finishing and serving. Overall, a most wonderful meal.

Sauteed Red Cabbage Baked with Sweet Potato

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Okay…this is a really amazing recipe. A big thank you to Joan Nova of her Foodalogue blog. Here is the scoop: I had picked up a ham on sale [Click HERE for the great baked ham recipe I used with this dish!] that said to cook by February 5 and it was February 5. In addition, it was cold and slushy out, so I didn’t want to walk to the local grocery. I had plenty of potatoes on hand but not much for other veggies besides frozen. Along with celery and a green bell pepper, I had two yams/orange potatoes and 1/2 a head of red cabbage. hmmmmmm. So, I do what I usually do when I have odd ingredients that I want to use up – I do an Internet search, and come across this link:

https://foodalogue.com/2010/06/caramelized-red-cabbage-sweet-potato.html

How amazing is that? Plus, it was terrific! THANK YOU, JOAN NOVA!

Here is my version:

Ingredients
1/2 or so red cabbage chopped fine
one medium to large onion sliced thin
2-3 cloves garlic minced
olive oil
1/4 cup raisins (I used golden)
10 or so almonds, chopped
1 Tbsp dried parsley
1/3 cup chicken broth to moisten
drizzle of balsamic vinegar
S+P
sweet potato sliced very thinly longwise
1-2 Tbsp lemon juice – fresh squeezed if available

There's the cabbage 🙂

The original recipe called for shredded cabbage, but I figured just chopping it would do. It came to between 4-5 cups chopped.

no "clean up in between" pretty shots this post.

I sauteed the onion and garlic first, then added the cabbage and the chicken broth as the cabbage cooked down. I actually took a video of the process but have not uploaded it yet. Basically, I used about 2 Tbsp of olive oil and cooked the onions and garlic until pretty soft, added the cabbage and stirred until coated with the oil, and then added the chicken broth and cooked it down until tender.

After adding a few drizzles of balsamic vinegar and cooking a bit more, I added the raisins and chopped almonds.

I'll use more, next time. And again, not a pretty shot. But cooking gets messy. <grin>

Next, I peeled and then sliced the sweet potatoes. The original recipe called for using an mandolin for slicing, but I don’t own one. Instead, I used this handy tool I got from the Pampered Chef representative at the Wakefield UU Church Holiday Craft Fair:

Along with my super sharp Rada knife, I was able to create acceptably thin slices.

Next, I spayed a casserole pan with olive oil (I use a Misto) and spread half the sweet potato slices on the bottom. I then added the sauteed cabbage mix, added salt, pepper, and dried parsley, and then covered with the rest of the sweet potato slices and put in the oven with the ham and yukon potatoes at 325 to start. … Well, I had a bit of forgetfulness, as you will see if you check out the video, but that is the basic procedure.

Click HERE for my first ever cooking video documenting my five hundred millionth cooking blooper. <grin>

Turns out that 325 was a bit low for this dish – also, after 20 minutes uncovered I decided to cover and boost the heat since I was just then taking out the ham and yukon potatoes. But, best guess – I would bake these at 375 covered for 30-45 minutes and then finish off uncovered for 10-15 minutes. But I need to make this recipe again to be sure of timing. However, this was a spectacular taste combo. As usual, I forgot to take a picture fresh out of the oven, but here is a shot of what was left after Steve and I had our first servings:

The sweet potato and cabbage dish, with the roasted yukons and a bit of ham in the background.

All in all, a most wonderful recipe! Steve and I really enjoyed it, and it went really well with the ham, too. And again, a big thank you to Joan Nova of Foodalogue who came up with this recipe in the first place. Never be afraid to try something new!

Harvest Pork Stew

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I bought a lovely butternut squash from Farmer Dave at the Wakefield Farmer’s Market and, while I love butternut squash any which way – roasted, smashed, in a pie, etc., I was in the mood to try a new recipe. So, I searched around the Internet and found a recipe featuring butternut squash called Harvest Pork Stew.

I hit the jackpot.

This is really good, really easy to make, and can be done in an hour or so before dinnertime, or be started off early to cook in a crockpot. In addition, since it also calls for apples, onions, potatoes and carrots, it provides the perfect opportunity to highlight all kinds of fresh fall produce. With the flavors of sage, rosemary, and bay leaves topping it off – this makes for a perfect meal for an autumn evening. For the perfect complementary dessert, try my simple but delicious Apple Crisp recipe.

I pretty much followed the recipe I found on Allrecipes.com verbatim. Here it is with any of my changes or clarifications in brackets. [ ]

Note:
To prepare from fresh squash, see How to EASILY Peel Raw Butternut Squash!

Ingredients
•    2 tablespoons butter or oil
•    1 1/2 pounds boneless pork, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
•    2 cloves garlic, minced
•    1 medium onion, chopped
•    3 cups chicken broth
•    1/2 teaspoon salt
•    1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary, crushed [I doubled this amount]
•    1/4 teaspoon rubbed sage [I used two fresh leaves]
•    1 bay leaf
•    3 cups frozen, cubed butternut squash   [I used a bit more of fresh squash]
•    2 MacIntosh apples, cored and cubed [I used 1 1/2 big Macs]
•    2 large potatoes, peeled and cubed (optional) [I used two medium potatoes]
•   2 cups carrots, peeled and diced (optional)   [I only used two small carrots]
•   [I also added ground black pepper to taste, maybe 1/2 teaspoon]

Directions
1) Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the pork and cook until lightly browned on all sides. Stir in the garlic and onion, and continue to cook until the onion has softened, and the pork is firm, and no longer pink, about 5 minutes.

Onion and garlic just added to lightly browned pork, with pork still a bit pink.

Pork, with onion and garlic cooked until just tender

2) Place the pork and onions into a large saucepan. Pour in the chicken broth, and season with salt, rosemary, sage, and the bay leaf. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.

Instead of dried, I minced two fresh sage leaves and crushed dried rosemary in my suribachi to make 1/2 a teaspoon.

Ready for the first 20 minute simmer

3) Stir in the butternut squash, apples, potatoes, and carrots. Return to a simmer, then cook, uncovered until the squash and apples are tender, about 20 minutes. Remove the bay leaf and serve.

Three HEAPING cups of cubed squash. The rest went into the fridge.

Two HEAPING cups of cubed apple. I saved the rest for later.

Two HEAPING cups of potato

Just a cup of diced carrots

Ready for the last 20 minute simmer

Slow Cooker Method – I have not tried this, but I bet it is just as good!
Lightly brown the pork in the butter or oil and cook until firm and opaque. Add to the slow cooker along with remaining ingredients. Cook on High for 1 hour, then reduce heat to Low and simmer 4 hours, or until tender.

This recipe was truly a winner. Steve and I both loved it, it stretched the meat, and was full of tasty and nutritious vegetables. Next I am going to try it with chicken. And, I bet the slow cook method would be good with beef. Post a message if you try the chicken or beef before I do!

Update – If you are in a big hurry, buy the peeled squash halves at the grocery store. The folks at America’s Test Kitchens recommend such in a pinch, but they do NOT recommend the peeled and cut up product. However, from a local market that does it themselves, such as Wakefield MA’s Farmland, it is a totally acceptable choice, in my opinion. 🙂

How to EASILY Peel Raw Butternut Squash!

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FINALLY, an easy way to peel butternut and other winter squash!

If I am going to mash the squash, I’ll halve it, remove the seeds, and roast face down in a shallow pan for about an hour at 400 degrees then cool a bit and scoop out the cooked squash. (By the way, the roasting gives the squash a wonderfully intense flavor.) BUT, what if you want to cook cubes of squash? Here is how to do it, courtesy of a person going by the screen name chromadome-ga who posted on this Google Answers thread in 2006.

Bring a pot of water big enough to hold the squash to a boil
Put the whole squash into the pot of boiling water and simmer for a few minutes until you can easily pierce JUST the skin with a toothpick or folk. If you start smelling an aroma of cooked squash, it will be ready.
Cool for a bit, cut into a few pieces, and peel.
Note the small ring around the edge from parboiling briefly.
Remove seeds and cut into cubes or chunks as needed, and cook as directed in recipe.

P.S. (If anyone knows who chromadome-ga is, let me know! I’d love to be able to thank him or her directly!)

Fiddleheads !

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I LOVE fiddleheads. You will too if you like Brussels sprouts, asparagus, or brocolli. And, even if you don’t, you just might like fiddleheads the way I prepare them with olive oil and Parmigiano reggiano cheese. 🙂

only available in the spring!

If you live around Wakefield, go to the refrigerated section in the far right corner of Farmland and look for this package:

From my favorite neighborhood grocery

Some folks simmer and then saute and/or marinate. But here is my favorite way of preparing fiddlehead ferns:

While bringing a pan of water to a boi, rinse the fiddleheads well, swirling around in cold waterl. Add the fiddleheads to the boiling water and simmer (NOT a roaring boil!) for 15 minutes. Drain. While the fiddleheads are still hot, add a BIG handful(s) of grated cheese, with freshly grated Parmigiano reggiano my recommendation, and a tablespoon or two of olive oil as desired. Unbelieveably delicious. Good served over pasta, too.

NOTE: When simmering the fiddleheads, don’t be alarmed at all the brown flakes, etc. that end up in the water. It is just part of the plant.

Remember, fiddleheads are only available in the spring, as far as I know. So, if you are going to try them, do it now!

Chayote !

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As I wrote on Facebook the other day, I picked up a chayote at Farmland because I had never tried it before. Once home, I forgot what it was called except that it started with the letter C.

Mystery Produce

The Produce Guide to the rescue!!!

And, the both trusty and creative Allrecipes.com website provided the perfect basic recipe. Click HERE for the original recipe.

Here is what I did:

The squash. I added a medium zucchini to the chayote

Ingredients

2 tablespoon olive oil
2 clove garlic, minced
1/2 medium onion, sliced
1 chayote squash, cut into 1/2-inch strips
1 medium zucchini, sliced
1/2 teaspoon salt
ground black pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon white sugar
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
1 tablespoon lime juice

A few folks on Allrecipes.com suggested adding extra garlic and sliced onion, so I did.

First, heat olive oil in medium skillet over medium-high heat. When oil is hot, add garlic, squash, salt, pepper, sugar, and red pepper flakes. Stir together and cook 2 to 3 minutes.

Add lime juice to the squash mixture and cook 2 to 3 minutes longer, until the squash is slightly wilted, but still firm and crunchy. Taste, and add more salt or sugar if needed.

Done. Yum!

This was really tasty and the perfect amount for two people. The chayote was more crunchy than the zucchini – which was fine with me, but you might want to start the chayote first if combining with more watery veggies such as zucchini or yellow summer squash. And, check out the original recipe for other variations and ideas.

Unbelievable Chicken “All-in-One” Casserole

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Okay – this is REALLY GOOD. Unbelievably good, in my opinion – with that opinion shared by my husband. It is a WOW. It gets even better when leftover and it goes especially well with strongly-flavored vegetable such as fiddle heads (in the spring when you can get them) or Brussels sprouts. Click HERE for my fiddlehead recipe that goes with this casserole perfectly.

Click HERE for the original recipe on Allrecipes.com, a site that I love.

Here is my version. It is not much different from the original except that I added shallots and changed the amounts of some of the ingredients. I am sure that the original is just as fabulous.

Ingredients

Here are the veggies and chicken breast pre-chopped - food art! 🙂

And here they are chopped, plus the RV olive oil

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 shallot, chopped
1 lb boneless chicken breast (2 halves) cut into small cubes
8 oz sliced fresh mushrooms
salt and ground black pepper to taste
1 medium zucchinis, cubed (about 2 cups)
2 small or one large sweet potato/yam, cut into cubes (about 2 cups)
3 medium red potatoes, cut into cubes (about 2 1/2 cups)
* 3/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs (you can Make Your Own and add your own seasoning.)
1 cup cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (I used parm reggiano)
* 1/4 cup olive oil

Preheat an oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease a baking dish with a bit of olive oil.
Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
Stir the chicken and mushrooms until the chicken is no longer pink in the center and the juices run clear, about 15 minutes.
Seasoned and ready to mix with the veggies et al
Season with salt and pepper and remove from heat and stir in the zucchini, sweet potatoes, red potatoes, bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, and 1/4 cup of olive oil; transfer to the prepared baking dish.
Note that I mixed everything in a separate bowl - the 12 inch fry pan was too small!

THEN it went into the 9 x 13" three quart baking dish
Bake in the preheated oven, stirring every 15 minutes, until potatoes are tender and easily pierced with a fork about 1 hour.

And, here it is, half-eaten. It smelled so good that I forgot to take a picture before serving it.

: half gone, and the leftovers were even better!

This really was incredible. Try it! Providing you like chicken, sweet potato, Parmesan cheese, and the other ingredients, the depth of flavor in this casserole will blow you away.