• 11Mar

    Toasted Chicken Sandwich

    Hubby has been losing muscle mass, and so the registered dietician in the cancer center has recommended increased protein.

    I saw a grilled steak sandwich on the cover of a food magazine and thought it would be fun to do something similar with chicken.

    Crusty artisan bread – I used a sourdough variety – layered with chicken, mushrooms, fresh spinach and onion, and topped with mozzarella cheese. Two thumbs up from hubby.

    1 a4p-af-onc-sand

    Ingredients:

    1 chicken breast per 3-4 open-faced sandwiches, baked and shredded (I baked, shredded and refrigerated this earlier in the day)

    Mushrooms, sliced

    2 tsp olive oil or butter, separated

    Fresh spinach

    Onion slices

    Mozzarella cheese, shredded

    Artisan bread

    Directions:

    1. Slice and lightly toast artisan bread under an oven broiler.

    2. Meanwhile, heat 1 tsp oil over medium heat. Sauté mushrooms until golden brown; set aside.

    3. Heat second tsp oil over medium heat. Add shredded chicken and season to taste (I used a little garlic salt and a lot of Mrs. Dash Salt-Free Table Blend) until heated through.

    3. Layer chicken, mushrooms, spinach and onion on toasted bread slices. Sprinkle cheese on top. Place sandwich back under the broiler until cheese melts and turns golden brown.

    4. Serve hot.

    Filed under: Breads and Sandwiches, Toasted Chicken Sandwich
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  • 14Feb

    Homemade Hummus

    From Middle Eastern origins, hummus is a great source of valuable protein, fiber and antioxidants.

    It can be used as a sandwich spread (although I’ve never tried this), a veggie dip or served with crackers … but my favorite way to indulge is with pita chips or corn tortilla chips. (Look for the ones where there are only three ingredients listed: whole corn, safflower oil and salt.)

    This is a very simple recipe – from my friend, Kattaryna – and definitely my favorite of all hummus recipes. See what you think.

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    Ingredients:

    1 15oz can garbanzo beans (reserve liquid)

    2 Tbsp Tahini

    2 cloves garlic, finely chopped

    3 Tbsp lemon juice

    1 tsp kosher salt

    1 Tbsp olive oil

    Directions:

    1. Place all ingredients, plus half the liquid, into a food processor or blender.

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    2. “Puree. Eat. Smile,” says my friend.

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    Filed under: Appetizers, Homemade Hummus
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  • 10Feb

    Pinto Bean Soup

    One of my favorite things about wintertime is a large pot of homemade soup simmering on the stovetop. Something that can’t be done as comfortably in the summer months.

    And one of my favorite homemade soups is the simplest of all bean soups made with pinto beans simmered in homemade chicken broth, add a little salt and some fresh ground pepper … and there you have it. The best of all simplest meals.

    pinto bean soup

    Ingredients:

    1 lb pinto beans

    6-8 cups chicken broth

    Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

    Instructions:

    1. Rinse beans; soak overnight in water in large pot (this is an important step).

    2. Drain and rinse beans. Place back in large pot. Cover with chicken broth and bring to a gentle boil.

    3. Let beans simmer until tender – 1 1/2 to 2 hours – adding more broth as needed.

    4. Stir in salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot.

    Filed under: Pinto Bean Soup, Soups and Sauces
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  • 22Dec

    Banana Nut Bread

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    Hubby has been known to drop by the office unannounced with a mid-morning Chai tea. Or call to see what he should take out of the freezer for dinner. One of my co-workers is quite jealous: “I want a house-boy,” she whines.

    So, the first step in making a good banana bread (well, other than having overly-ripe bananas), is to get a really cute house-boy to chop the walnuts …

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    … and smoosh the bananas.

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    This is my really cute house-boy. You’re going to have to find your own. (In this photo, his famous “trying-not-to-smile” grin.)

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    Ingredients:

    2/3 cup olive oil
    1 cup honey
    1 Tbsp vanilla
    4 eggs
    2 cups smooshed bananas (about 4 bananas)
    3-1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
    1 tsp nutmeg
    1 tsp salt
    2 tsp baking soda
    1/2 cup hot water
    1 cup chopped walnuts

    Directions:

    1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Prepare 2 loaf pans (I used 4 mini-loaf pans) by spraying with olive oil spray and dusting with flour.

    2. In a large bowl, whip oil and honey together. Add eggs and vanilla; beat well with wire whip. Stir in bananas.

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    3. Stir in flour, nutmeg and salt.

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    4. Dissolve baking soda in hot water and add to batter.

    5. Blend in chopped nuts. Or, if you forget to add the nuts and have already poured the batter into the loaf pans, filling them 3/4 full, (I’m not saying this happened to me today, but it might have), divide chopped nuts equally among the four loaf pans and carefully blend into batter.

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    6. Bake 45-50 minutes for regular-sized loaf pans (35-40 minutes for mini-loaves), or until golden brown and toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Cool on wire rack for 20-30 minutes before removing loaves from pans.

    7. The final step is to clean up your mess if you can’t talk your house-boy into doing it.

    b-nutbread8

    Makes 2 regular loaves, or 4 mini loaves.

    Filed under: Banana Nut Bread, Breads and Sandwiches
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  • 30Nov

    Steaming Wassail

    This is a favorite beverage you’ll find steaming in our kitchen throughout the holiday season. The original recipe is from my mom-in-law and called for frozen orange juice and lemonade. We prefer the freshly-squeezed, pulpy version.

    Packed with Vitamin C, this wassail is the perfect antidote to those holiday sniffles and sore throats.

    _awassail

    Ingredients:

    2 tsp ground cinnamon

    2 tsp whole cloves

    2 tsp whole allspice

    1 tsp ground nutmeg

    1/2 gallon apple cider

    8 oranges, juiced

    2 lemons, juiced

    1/2 cup Fruit Sweet or honey (depending on natural sweetness of oranges)

    Directions:

    1. Tie spices in cheesecloth (I had no cheesecloth so used a triple layer of gauze). Instead of buying expensive jars of spices that will set in your cupboard a long time, consider buying small amounts of spices in bulk. I ended up using mulling spices from the Whole Foods bulk department and added some ground cinnamon and whole cloves to the mix.

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    2. Juice oranges and lemons.

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    3. Combine apple cider, citrus juices and spice bag in a crockpot or heavy pot on the stove.

    4. Stir in sweetener to taste, float some orange slices on top, and heat until simmering. DO NOT BOIL. Remove bag of spices, which can be frozen and re-used a couple times.

    _acrockpot

    Filed under: Beverages, Steaming Wassail
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  • 11Nov

    Spinach Scramble

    Vegetables for breakfast? Certainly, when you stir them in with scrambled eggs and top the entire shebang with a bit of mozzarella cheese.

    And if you can get hubby to cook them … well, that’s even better.

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    Ingredients:

    4 eggs
    2 tsp water
    1 Tbsp Earth Balance Buttery Spread
    2 handfuls of fresh spinach
    1-2 green onions
    1 medium-small tomato (I used 5-6 cherry tomatoes)
    Sea salt, to taste
    Mozzarella cheese

    Directions:

    1. Beat eggs and water with a fork. Set aside.

    2. To wilt spinach, place in colander and pour boiling water over. Set aside.

    _aspinach1

    3. Slice green onion. Remove seeds from tomato; chop in small pieces. Finely grate a small amount of mozzarella cheese. Set aside.

    4. Melt buttery spread over medium heat. Pour eggs into hot pan, sprinkle with salt and slowly stir, scraping the bottom of the pan as you go.

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    5. Just before eggs are done, stir in spinach, tomatoes and green onion until heated through.

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    6. Serve immediately with a smattering of mozzarella cheese on top. Makes enough for 2 people.

    Filed under: Breakfast, Spinach Scramble
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  • 03Nov

    Pumpkin Apple Pancakes

    When it comes to breakfast, I would choose savory and hubby would choose sweet. Almost every time.

    This combination of pumpkin and apples with a bit of real maple syrup satisfies hubby’s sweet tooth, and calls for enough fruits/veggies to make me happy.

    I adapted the recipe from Sunset Magazine, using whole wheat pastry flour, olive oil, Earth Balance buttery sticks, and with no extra sugar or butter. See what you think.

    _apancake4

    Ingredients:

    1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

    1 Tbsp baking powder

    1 tsp cinnamon

    1/4 tsp ground cloves

    1/4 tsp allspice

    1/4 tsp salt

    1 egg

    1 cup milk

    2 Tbsp olive oil

    1/2 cup canned pumpkin puree

    1 apple, peeled, cored and cut into small pieces

    Earth Balance buttery sticks

    Directions:

    1. Mix dry ingredients together.

    2. In a separate bowl, beat egg with fork. Stir in milk and oil, and pour into dry ingredients. Blend well.

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    3. Blend pumpkin puree and diced apples into batter.

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    4. Melt 2 tsp Earth Balance buttery sticks in large skillet over medium heat. Pour approximately 1/3 cup batter into hot pan, making 3 or 4 pancakes at a time. Cook, turning once, for about 6-8 minutes, until cooked through (apples will be tender).

    5. Add more buttery sticks and continue making pancakes.

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    Makes about a dozen 4” pancakes.

    Filed under: Breakfast, Pumpkin Apple Pancakes
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  • 22Oct

    Autumn Apple Cobbler

    A favorite apple dessert, we’ve talked about eating leftovers for breakfast. After all, it’s oatmeal and apples – and what better breakfast?

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    Ingredients:

    8 apples (or 5 apples and 3-4 pears)

    2-4 Tbsp Fruit Sweet or honey, depending on sweetness of apples (Granny Smith’s need some sweetener, but the Galas needed none)

    1 1/4 cup quick oatmeal

    1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

    1/4 cup brown sugar

    2 tsp cinnamon

    1/2 tsp salt

    8 Tbsp Earth Balance buttery sticks

    Instructions:

    1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Peel, core and slice fruit to fill a 9 x 13” baking dish.

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    2. Drizzle sweetener evenly over the sliced fruit.

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    3. Blend oatmeal, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt together; cut in buttery sticks with a pastry blender until mixture is crumbly.

    4. Spread crumbly mixture evenly over fruit.

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    5. Bake for 45-50 minutes, or until apples/pears are tender when pricked with a fork. Serve warm.

    Filed under: Autumn Apple Cobbler, Desserts
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  • 04Oct

    Country Applesauce

    I posted this applesauce recipe under Desserts, because nothing beats warm-out-of-the-pot, chunky applesauce to satisfy this sweet tooth.

    Ingredients:

    Apples
    Fruit Sweet, to taste
    1-2 Tbsp lemon juice, depending on amount of apples
    1-2 tsp cinnamon
    Salt, to taste

    Instructions:

    1. Pick apples, preferably from your bro- and sis-in-law’s orchard.

    2. Let them set in a large bowl on your kitchen counter or dining room table for a week because they’re that pretty.

    3. Peel, core and slice apples.

    4. Place in large heavy duty pot; add enough water to not quite cover the apples (they’ll produce juice as they cook down).

    5. Bring to boil; turn heat down to let apples gently simmer. Every five minutes or so, check the tenderness of the apples; add more water, if needed.

    6. When tender enough, mash the apples into sauce using a potato masher.

    7. Add Fruit Sweet, lemon juice, cinnamon and a smidgeon of salt. Serve warm to rave reviews.

    Filed under: Country Applesauce, Desserts
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  • 09Sep

    Oven Fries

    My sister-in-law doesn’t like baked potatoes, but she loves my oven fries. I don’t have the heart to tell her these are simply baked potatoes cut in the shape of fries.

    Our preference is red potatoes, but fries can be made with white potatoes. Of course.

    Ingredients:

    1 red potato per person
    1/2 Tbsp olive oil per potato
    Seasonings of your choice

    Directions:

    1. Preheat oven to 385 degrees. Wash potatoes and cut out any bad spots.

    2. Slice potatoes into french fry lengths, leaving skins on. Place on a cookie sheet.

    3. Drizzle olive oil over fries. Sitr fries with metal spatula to distribute oil evenly.

    4. Sprinkle fries with your favorite seasonings (I like a combination of garlic salt, Mrs. Dash and smoke-flavored paprika).

    5. Stir fry lengths with spatula to evenly distribute seasonings.

    6. Pop cookie sheet into pre-heated oven and set timer for 15 minutes. Bake for 30-40 minutes (depending on how crisp you like your fries), stirring every 15 minutes to keep them from sticking.

    Filed under: Oven Fries, Sides
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