Quick Weekday Dinner

I'm behind on blogging because I cooked all new things this week. So #2 for the day. I made Tilapia! A friend made some for me last summer so I knew it wasn't as scary as some seafood is. I wanted something quick and easy and cheaper than salmon and that's what I got! Talapia is Green on the seafood scale of sustainability by the Monterey Bay Aquarium. And what's super great is it is farmed right here in Colorado so it's a local food too! And it tasted good! Not too fishy!

Lemon Garlic Tilapia
(1 tilapia fillet for each person)

4 tilapia fillets
3 TBS fresh lemon juice
1 TBS butter (I used Earth Balance)
1 clove garlic
1 tsp dried parsley flakes
pepper

1. Preheat over to 375 degrees. Spray baking dish with non-stick cooking oil or line with parchment paper.
2. Rinse fillets under cool water, pat dry with paper towels.
3. Place fillets in baking dish. Pour lemon juice and melted butter on top.
4. Sprinkle with garlic, parsley and pepper.
5. Bake in preheated oven until fish is white and flakes when pulled apart with fork. About 30 minutes.

I served with asparagus and roasted potatoes.

Enjoy!

Crunchy Risotto and an All-American Breakfast

I was all excited for the green vegetable risotto I made one night last week. I got home from work and hurried to get it on the stove. Forty minutes of stirring later, all the chicken broth is finally absorbed and the chicken in done. I didn't taste it while it was cooking, so I sat down and ate a spoonful for the first time. And wow, after that hard 40 minutes of stirring the dang risotto still wasn't done! ARG. My boyfriend didn't finish his. And you know what, I dog gone it finished mine. At the end of dinner, he was like "did you really eat all that?" I replied, "Yeah I stirred it for 40 minutes, you bet I'm going to eat it all!" But I couldn't bring myself to eat it for lunch the next day at work...... I think I messed up in a few places. First, the toasting at the beginning always throws me off. So I think I burnt the rice instead which would made it not absorb as much water. Secondly, I did not use white wine as the first liquid. Maybe that gets the absorption going. So I don't know. But I won't be making risotto for awhile. And I served the risotto with chicken breast I just baked and with lemon juice and pepper.

Meanwhile, on a good note. I made a super All-American Breakfast this weekend. I was really proud of myself and my boyfriend was super happy! Yum!

Emerald Green Risotto
Makes 4 servings
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 cup Arborio rice
1 stalk celery, diced
1/3 cup dry white wine
4 cups boiling chicken stock
1 cup broccoli florets
3/4 cup sugar snap peas, halved
1 cup thinly sliced zucchini
1 cup fresh green beans, cut into 1 inch pieces
1. Heat olive oil in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat.
2. Add the onion and garlic; cook and stir until the onion begins to turn golden brown at the edges, about 2 minutes.
3. Pour in the rice, and stir until the rice is coated in oil and has started to toast, 3 to 4 minutes. (Careful!)
4. Reduce the heat to medium and stir in the celery and white wine.
5. Cook and stir until the wine has mostly evaporated, then stir in one third of the boiling chicken stock; continue stirring until incorporated.
6. Repeat this process twice more, stirring constantly.7. Stirring in the broth should take 15 to 20 minutes in all.

8. Add the broccoli, peas, zucchini, and green beans during the last 7 minutes of cooking, and cook until tender. All American Breakfast of hash browns, bacon, eggs and fruit!

Cookies!

I baked something and it was actually good! Surprise! And I know why! I made these cookies and they didn't have any special flour or ingredients. They were just naturally GFDF. They don't "melt" after a while (like some gf flours seem to do) And the cookies rose and were a normal cookie texture! I'm so proud of myself! Oh and the cookies were peanut butter chocolate chip, recipe below.

Now that tax season is over I have to start thinking about what to cook again. So we'll see how that turns out.

I bought this really good dairy free cheese. I was in line at Whole Foods and the person in front of me was buying and saying they just got it in (an employee). I was making pizza that night so I ran back and grabbed a bag. It melted and tasted pretty good. Best I've had for diary free. It also doesn't have any scary ingredients :) Daiya Vegan Cheese

Flourless Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies
(makes about 1 cookie sheet)

1 cup Peanut Butter (or any nut butter)
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp baking powder
1/3 c chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Mix ingredients together in bowl.
3. Spoon dough pieces on to the cookie sheet. (I lined the cookie sheet with parchment paper. My cookies were about 1 inch in diameter and they cooked well)
4. Bake cookies for 15 minutes. (Mine weren't brown by this point but were done enough to harden)

Enjoy!

Easter Dinner

One week later, I have time to blog about Easter dinner.... I haven't been cooking much lately, as you can see. Tax season is upon us and when working in the financial industry that means lots of work and not much time to cook. With tax WEEK this week I have been planning meals I can cook ahead of time. Major meal planning. But last Sunday I took the time and made a yummy Easter dinner for my boyfriend and I. It turned out pretty well. I ordered and picked up a Honeybaked Ham (now the glaze is gluten free). I also made roasted asparagus and mashed potatoes. Oh and then there was the failed carrot cake. Well the cake part was great. I used Betty Crocker Gluten Free Cake Mix. The cream cheese frosting didn't quiet work. Dairy free cream cheese and marshmellow cream. It turned out so watery and would not thicken up. I tried powdered sugar (not in the recipe) and chilling it in the fridge. Didn't work. I frosting the cake anyways but it just got soggy. Gross. But I tried, I guess and that's why I don't bake.

The recipes:
Roasted Asparagus
GF Betty Crocker Carrot Cake

My love/hate relationship with Quinoa

Quinoa, a blessing and horror is disguise. This grain is amazing for you. One of the top 10 most nutritious foods. It's the ONLY grain that is a complete protein (like meat), it fills you up because of that and you can eat it for any meal. It's also great to take places or to make a salad for a party that you know you can eat. That being said, quinoa doesn't taste the best.... it has a nutty flavor. And it just gets kind of gross after a while. I'm in that stage right now. I made this huge amount of this quinoa salad for a potluck dinner I attended last week. I just finished the last bit tonight. I've had it for dinner or lunch over the last week. It's so good for me and fills me up without feeling grossly full. But arg, like I said love/hate.

That being said, this recipe was actually a really good one. The trick is an oil or vinegar as a dressing. Don't just eat it without a coating. Whole Foods makes the most amazing quinoa salads and that's their trick that I didn't do. But this salad is very good and has lots of veggies and protein!

Anyways, try it for yourself. You can also have it warm for breakfast. Kind of like oatmeal. With fruit, yogurt, milk, nuts and such.

Quinoa Black Bean Salad

1 cup quinoa
1 1/2 cups cold water
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups cooked black beans. If using canned beans, drain and rinse well
1/2 cup chopped celery
2 garlic cloves, minced, OR 1 tsp garlic powder
1 red pepper, sliced thin
1 green pepper, sliced thin
1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp coriander powder
1/4 cup chopped scallions

Dressing:
2 Tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
1/4 cup olive oil
1 tsp salt
Fresh ground pepper
Pinch cayenne or chili powder

Directions

1. The quinoa can be made ahead of time and refridgerated
2. Soak the quinoa 1/2 hour in cold water
3. Rinse very thoroughly in water several times. For each rinse, pour off most of the water and finish draining through a large fine mesh strainer
4. Place in 2 qt pot with 1 1/2 c. water and 1/2 tsp salt
5. Bring to a boil, turn down to low, cover tightly, and cook for 15 minutes
6. Remove from heat and allow to sit 5 minutes covered
7. Fluff gently with a fork and set aside to cool
8. Sauté jalapeno, fresh garlic, in 2 Tbsp oil until garlic is browned, pepper and celery are softened
9. Add the green and red peppers and sauté briefly
10. Add the cumin and coriander, cook and stir 5 minutes
11. Blend dressing ingredients with a whisk or shake in a jar
12. Gently combine sautéed veggies, tomatoes, black beans, quinoa and dressing in a large bowl
13. Adjust salt and pepper to taste. Stir in cilantro and scallions, and serve warm or cover and chill

From Savvy Vegetarian

Loaded Quesadilla

Yum yum. One good thing about my boyfriend not being home for dinner, well actually there's two good things. One, I don't have to eat meat. Two, I can make Mexican food for every meal! I've been making these quesadillas lately because I can put whatever I have around in it and it's easy and yummy! It's not really a quesadilla because there is no cheese. I used refried beans instead of cheese. Here's what I used:

2 Corn Tortillas
Refried Black Beans (Whole Foods Brand)
Chopped Onions, Tomatoes, Lettuce
Guacamole (Wholly Guacamole--when I want to keep some around without it getting brown) (rhyming in a food blog; 10 points!)
Hummus

1. Pre-heat a mini fry pan over medium-high heat.
2. Layer beans, onions, tomatoes and whatever else you want on the inside between 2 tortillas.
3. Put sandwiched tortillas into pan. Brown each side for a few minutes. If you smell burning, it's burning.
4. Take out of pan, layer toppings. Lettuce, guacamole, hummus and others you choose.
5. Cut, serve, enjoy!

Cornbread and Chili

So I did make something new on Sunday night, but let's just say it wasn't photo worthy. Not like the pretty one on the website :( It tasted good! If you're interested in trying it for yourself. Lasagna rolls, I made with GF lasagna noodles and dairy free cheese.

Chili and cornbread. Classic. So classic. And yummy! I haven't made chili in a while so I decided to make it again. My boyfriend didn't like it because it had "too much stuff" in it. It's chili, what do you want it to have in it?! Whatever. I thought it was good. And now that he's not eating it I can put beans in it too! This recipe was for a Crock Pot but I don't have one so I just let it sit on the stove for 30 minutes. I'm sure it would have been better (cooked down, more soup like) if it would have simmered for a while longer. So I would recommend that. One more kitchen accessory to get.... Add that to my list! (Kitchen Aid Mixer, wine chiller, dehydrator, George Foreman Grill) Anyways, the corn bread was super good too. It was VERY moist and didn't crumble like cornbread I've made in the past. Let's see how it holds up for leftovers. Overall, the meal was good for me!

Here's the recipes:
Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Cornbread Mix with:
2 eggs
1/3 c oil
1 1/2 c milk (I used almond)

No Beans Chili
(serves 4-5)
1 pound lean ground beef
1 can (14-1/2 ounces) stewed tomatoes
1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
1 small onion, chopped
1 small green pepper, chopped
1 can (4 ounces) chopped green chilies
1/2 cup minced fresh parsley (Little much, I put in a few leaves)
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 garlic clove, minced
1-1/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon pepper

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Brown the meat.
3. Cut the veggies, put in pot.
4. Put canned ingredients in pot. Add cooked meat. Add spices.
5. Bring to a boil then put on simmer. Simmer for as long as you can. 30 minutes-4 hours!
6. Make cornbread. Mix all ingredients together with electric mixer.
7. Pour into greased 9x9 pan. Bake for 25 minutes.

Enjoy!