CousCous with Pine Nuts and Cranberries

This is a super easy and tasty side dish.  You can change it up by adding whatever you like.  I used a combination of dried cranberries and cherries in this one cause I only had a little of each left in the pantry.  The pine nuts need to be lightly toasted, which means just heat a non-stick skillet to about medium heat and add the nuts.  Stir them around and remove when they start looking toasted, not burned!  They are easy to burn so don't leave them alone.



1 cup couscous (I use whole wheat)

1-1/2 cups chicken or vegetable stock*

3 T. olive oil (divided)

2 cloves garlic, minced

Zest from one lemon

3 lemons, juiced

½ cup dried cranberries, roughly chopped

¼-½ cup pine nuts, lightly toasted

½ cup fresh basil, chopped

¼ cup fresh mint, chopped

Heat about 1 T. olive oil in a skillet and add the couscous.  Cook, stirring frequently, until lightly toasted (about 5-6 minutes).  Add the minced garlic about 30 seconds before the couscous is done.

In a sauce pan, bring broth and juice of two lemons to a boil.  Add toasted couscous and garlic to broth mixture, cover, and remove from heat.  Let stand five minutes and then uncover and fluff with a fork.

Put couscous in a bowl and add remaining lemon juice, zest, and 2 T. olive oil.  Season with salt if necessary.  Allow to cool, fluffing occasionally with a fork.

Add cranberries, nuts, and fresh herbs when couscous has cooled.  Best served cold but can be serve at room temperature.

*I use water and 1 t. Better Than Bouillon

Panko Crusted Chicken Breasts

Last night's dinner was soooo good.  I made my Salsa Verde earlier in the day and then for dinner I made Panko Crusted Chicken that we topped with the salsa.  On the side was some romaine, avocado, and colorful tomatoes topped with a little fresh lime juice.  A really satisfying dinner!

The recipe for my salsa has already been posted:  http://henshammock.blogspot.com/2011/03/salsa-verde.html

Panko Crusted Chicken
2 boneless chicken breast halves
1 egg
1 T. water
Salt and pepper
Little cumin, oregano, and coriander (or whatever spices you like)
Panko bread crumbs
1/2 lime

Put chicken breasts into a Ziploc bag and pound until even in thickness.  Pound them gently and only flatten the part that is thickest. 

In a shallow bowl, beat the egg, water, and spices.  I used cumin, oregano, and coriander because it went well with the salsa.  Feel free to use whatever spices you like best.

Put the Panko bread crumbs in a separate bowl.

Dip the chicken into the egg mixture and then the Panko mixture.  Saute in olive oil over medium high heat.  Cook until the chicken is a golden brown, about 4-5 minutes and then flip and cook another 2 or so minutes on the other side.

Transfer chicken to a foil-lined baking sheet and bake for about 12-15 minutes at 375 degrees.  Finish with a squeeze of lime over each breast.

Naan Pizza

I love using whole wheat Naan bread for making pizzas.  You can use any toppings you like.  For this one I used peppers, baby spinach, and colorful tomatoes.  Here's the finished product:

And here's the recipe:

2 Whole Wheat Naan
1/2 each sliced red and yellow peppers
Handful of baby spinach
Sliced tomatoes
Cheese of your choosing
Pizza or Marinara Sauce

Saute peppers in olive oil for about 5 minutes.  Add baby spinach and saute another minute.  Season with salt and pepper.  Remove from heat and let cool.

Line a baking sheet with foil and then spray the foil with cooking spray (or use that non-stick foil they sell now).  Place the Naan on the foil, spread the sauce over the Naan, and then top with cheese.  Top with the veggies and then sliced tomatoes.

Bake in a preheated 425 degree oven for about 12 minutes or until cheese is starting to brown.

Quinoa Salad

This is probably my favorite quinoa salad and it's a lot like tabbouleh.  Think color when making it.  If you have red tomatoes, use yellow or orange peppers.  If you have orange tomatoes (and they are great!), use yellow or red peppers. 

1 cup quinoa

1/2 red, yellow or orange bell pepper, small diced or sliced

½ hot house cucumber, small diced, seeds removed

4 green onions, chopped (or use ½ cup chopped red onion)

1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes, cut in half (red and yellow, if available)

4 oz. feta, crumbled (buy good feta packed in brine, not pre-crumbled and definitely not low fat.  Low fat feta has no flavor)

Juice and zest of one lemon

Handful of fresh mint (best), basil, or cilantro

2 T. olive oil
1 T. white balsamic vinegar
1 t. honey
Kosher salt
1-2 garlic cloves, minced

Rinse and drain 1 cup quinoa.  Add quinoa to 2 cups salted water in a saucepan.  Bring to boil.  Cover and simmer about 15-20 minutes until water is absorbed.  Fluff with fork and allow to cool.

In a large bowl, whisk together the oil, vinegar, lemon juice and zest, honey, kosher salt, and garlic.  Add cooled quinoa and stir to combine.  

 

Add the tomatoes and vegetables.  Fold in the crumbled feta and herb of your choice (mint is best!).  Cool completely but remove from fridge about an hour before serving.

What is with the font in this post???  Oh well.
 

Spagetti with Sausage and Beans

I made a variation on my usual spagetti recipe and used sausages and cannellini beans instead of turkey meatballs.  Totally yummy!

1 cups yellow onion, finely diced

1 cup red, yellow or orange pepper, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, seeded and very finely minced

2 cans (28 oz.) whole, peeled tomatoes*, crushed by hand into the sauce pan

1 can (15 oz.) fire-roasted diced tomatoes (I like Muir Glen brand)

3 T. tomato paste

2 t. dried oregano or Italian seasoning

1 T. fennel seeds, crushed

Salt and pepper, to taste

1/2 cup+ fresh basil, chopped
1 can (15 oz.) cannellini beans, rinsed and drained

4-5 Italian sausages, cooked**

Saute onion and peppers until soft.  Add garlic and chipotle and saute one more minute.  Add remaining ingredients except basil.  Simmer an hour or longer.  Add basil and serve on whole wheat spagetti topped with parmesan or asiago cheese.

*Use San Marzano tomatoes if you can find them.

**Cooking sausages:  Cover sausages with cold water; bring to a simmer and cook sausages for about 8 minutes.  Do not boil since this will break the casing.  Remove and coat sausages with oil.  Grill for a few minutes on each side.  Let cool, cut into slices, and add to the sauce during the last 15 minutes of cooking.

Feta with Olives and Oil

This is a yummy little appetizer.  Just crumble some good feta (that means a nice feta that is packed in brine) into a bowl, sprinkle with oregano, some chopped black olives, and good olive oil.  Spoon onto freshly baked baguette (we like whole wheat, of course!) and enjoy.  Use good olive oil that tastes creamy and buttery.  My favorite is Frantoia.

Pulled Pork Sammies

I called mom tonight and she asked me what was for dinner.  I told her Pulled Pork Sammies and Baked Onion Rings.  She really wanted to be here for dinner!  I don't make this a lot cause we don't eat like this a lot, but at least the rings are baked.  The pulled pork is awesome and a real treat.  Here's the recipe:

3-4 pound boneless pork butt (called the butt, but it's actually the piggy's shoulder)

1 cup apple juice
1/2 cup water
Your favorite rub

Sprinkle pork with plenty of rub (see my baby back rib recipe for the rub I like to use).  Refrigerate for at least one day.

Put a small adjustable rack into a large roasting pan.  Spray everything with cooking spray to help with cleanup.  Place pork roast on rack and pour apple juice and water into pan.  Cover with foil or pan lid. 

Bake at 300 degrees for 5 hours.  Uncover and bake another 1/2 hour.  Remove and let cool.

Shred pork into a bowl.  Add a cup or so of the baking liquid and then add your favorite BBQ sauce. 

Serve on buns (I use whole wheat, of course) with pickles (try Wickles Pickles...they rock!!).  Topping with cole slaw is really good too.

Baked Onion Rings

1-1/2 cups cornflakes
½ cup Panko bread crumbs
1 egg, beaten
¼ cup flour (pastry flour is best)
½ cup buttermilk, or Kefir
pinch of cayenne
1 sweet onion (like Vidalia)
Cooking spray

Put cornflakes and Panko in food processor and pulse until completely broken down.  Pour a little of the mixture into a shallow, flat bowl.  You don’t want to put all of the mixture in the bowl because it will get too clumpy from the buttermilk mixture.

In a shallow, flat bowl beat egg, flour and buttermilk (I use Kefir because I drink that every day and I don’t have any use for buttermilk).  Add cayenne.

Peel onion and cut into thick slices.  Separate rings and discard the large outer rings and the small inner rings (save for another dish!).  Honestly, the smaller your sweet onion, the better.  Small rings are easier to deal with and coat better.  It's hard to find small sweet onions though! 

Cover a baking sheet with foil and top with a baking/cooling rack.  Spray the rack with cooking spray. 

Dip the rings one or two at a time in the egg mixture.  Using a fork, remove one ring and let the egg buttermilk mixture drip off.  Drop the ring into the bread crumb bowl and, using a separate fork, push the breadcrumb mixture on to the ring.  Also, take the fork and swirl it around the center of the ring and then flip the ring over and do that again.  This is the best technique I have found to get the rings coated without having the coating turn into a huge clump.

Continue with all the rings and add more breadcrumb mixture as needed.   Put the rings on the rack as you’re done coating.  This is time consuming, but worth it!  At this point, I like to put the rings in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Before baking, spray the rings with cooking spray.  Bake in a preheated 450 degree oven for about 15 minutes, or until rings are a nice golden color.  No need to flip them if they're on a rack.

Here is what they look like before cooking:

Really, really good, and no deep frying!

If you want to make more rings, you won't need to increase the wet mixture; just double the cornflake mixture.