Healthy Yet Flavorful

Fresh produce is so affordable and beautiful this time of year. I picked up some grape tomatoes and asparagus for a pasta primavera dish. It's basically a very light pasta dish with onions, garlic, vegetables and olive oil. I breaded some pork tenderloin with panko bread crumbs seasoned with salt, pepper and freshly shaved parmesan cheese.

The breaded pork was baked in the oven so it was healthier than frying it in a pan. It came out crispy and juicy. It was perfect with the healthy pasta dish. I used whole wheat pasta for added fiber, nutrients and protein.

Parmesan Breaded Pork w/ Pasta Primavera

Ingredients
4-6 oz Pork Tenderloin
1/4 cup Panko Bread Crumbs
1/4 cup Egg Beaters
1/8 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Pepper
1 T dried parsley

1 cup Grape Tomatoes (halved)
1 cup Asparagus (cut into 2" pieces)
1 T Olive Oil
1/2 cup Onions (diced)
3 cloves Garlic (minced)
2 T Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp Dried Oregano
1 tsp Dried Parsley
1 tsp Dried Basil
1 tsp Salt
1 tsp Pepper

1/2 cup - 1 cup Cooked Pasta (use package directions)

1. Preheat oven to 375 deg F
2. Pound the pork with a mallet until it's 0.5" thick
3. Season pork with salt and pepper
4. In a shallow baking dish, mix parmesan cheese, bread crumbs, parsley, salt and pepper
5. Dip it in the egg beaters
6. Dip the pork in the breading mixture. Pat and pack the breading around the pork
7. Allow pork to rest for 3 minutes to set
8. While pork is resting, spray a baking dish with nonstick spray (PAM). Leave the baking dish in the oven to allow it to get a head start to warm up
9. Place pork on the baking dish and bake uncovered for 35-40 minutes

10. Heat a deep skillet on medium high heat. Add olive oil
11. Add onions and garlic in the oil to infuse flavor throughout the oil
12. Add tomatoes and asparagus. Saute the vegetables
13. Add the Worcestershire, spices, salt and pepper
14. Cook for 2-3 minutes
15. Add cooked pasta and mix thoroughly
16 Serve Immediately

*Feel free to add more parmesan cheese to the pasta

Quick and Cheap

I bought 4 lbs of Chicken Legs for $2.40. I only used 3 lbs of it so this dish only used $1.60 of meat! It's plenty to serve 3-4 people (e.g. lots of leftovers)

All in all, I would approximate this dish to be under $5!

Korean Inspired Chicken/Tofu Stirfry!



Ingredients
3 lbs Chicken (de-boned, cubed)
1 pkg Tofu
1/2 Sweet Onion (diced)
4 cloves Garlic (minced)
2 T Red Pepper Paste
2 tsp Poultry Seasoning
1/2 pkg Dried Chicken Bouillon (~2 cubes)
1/4 cup Rice Wine
1 tsp Canola Oil
Salt and Pepper to taste

1) Season chicken with poultry seasoning
2) Heat a wok on high heat and add oil
3) Saute chicken about 1-2 min on each side
4) Saute onions and garlic with chicken
5) Mix in red papper paste and chicken boillon
6) Finish off with some rice wine, cover with lid and allow to simmer for 5 minutes
7) Serve with rice and Kimchi!

Happy St Patrick's Day!

Eggplant Tower w/ Spaghetti Bolognese



Beef Roast w/ Seasonal Vegetables

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone! I hope everyone finds the time this week to cook something at home. Quick and easy doesn't have to mean boring and tasteless.

The eggplant towers were very easy to make.
1)Slice an eggplant into 1/2" slices and salt each side.
2) Allow water to be drawn out of the vegetable for a 10 minutes then pat it dry.
(This will allow the eggplant to brown easier in the skillet.)
3) Heat a skillet to high heat and spray some nonstick cooking spray
4) Sear the eggplant 2 minutes on each side then set aside
5) Preheat oven to 400F
6) Assemble the eggplant lasagna style by layering eggplant, marinara, cheese, basil and repeat!
7)Shave some cheese on top with a microplane
8) Bake the towers for 15-20 minutes until cheese is nice and bubbly
9) Garnish with some freshly chopped parsley

Yummy goodness!

Saturday Lunch

I went grocery shopping today and the chicken legs were 24cents/lb, which was a steal. I bought a bunch of packages to freeze separately. Four large chicken legs only cost $2.40.
The following recipe is a great handsoff recipe because you can leave the chicken in the oven and basically forget it for 35 minutes.

I served the dish with a simple garden salad and a parmesan orzo. The tartness from the salad dressing added brightness to the tender chicken.

A little salad + a little chicken + a little orzo = the perfect bite!

Roasted Chicken with Herbs
Ingredients: 1 Chicken Leg, 1 tsp Thyme, 1 tsp Paprika, 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp pepper
(1) Preheat Oven to 375F
(2) Mix spices together
(3) Without pulling off the skin, separate the skin from the meat of the chicken with finger
(4) Season the meat with the spices (underneath the skin)
(5) Season the top of the skin
(7) Roast chicken for 35 min until juices run clear and skin is crispy

*You will see rendered fat in the pan so this dish is relatively low-fat. You can also eat the chicken without the skin but keep it on during the roasting process to keep the chicken tender

Sides to accompany the Chicken -->
Creamy Orzo with shaved Parmesan
Fresh Garden Salad with Balsamic Vinaigrette

Other ideas for cheap chicken legs is roasting a large batch of them well seasoned with herbs and salt/pepper. Allow the chicken legs to cool, shred the chicken and save the chicken for later during the week for quick sandwiches, wraps, salads, or spring roll wraps!

Romantic Brunch for Two

This is a simple dish that can be altered in so many ways.

Crepes are very thin pancakes originating from France. When I was in Paris this summer, every street had a crepe stand. Crepes can be both sweet or savory. My favorite is Nutella and banana crepes. (Nutella is a chocolate hazelnut spread that can be found in the peanut butter aisle in any grocery store). A simple sweet version would be lemon juice and granulated sugar over the crepe. The possibilities are endless.

This dish was inspired by my favorite neighborhood restaurant, Spats. They serve a Crabmeat Cannelloni Florentine, which is simply a crepe stuffed with crabmeat topped with a tomato, hollandaise sauce and cheese.

Mushroom Chicken Crepe Cannelloni

Basic Crepe Ingredients
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/4 tsp salt
2 tablespoons butter, melted

Sauce Ingredients
3 slices Smoked Turkey Bacon, diced
1 tsp cooking oil
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup onions, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1 cup heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste
handful of chopped flat-leaf parsley

1) Mix the crepe ingredients together (easiest way is in a blender). Refrigerate the crepe mixture for at least 30 min.
2) Heat a frying pan at medium high heat. Allow enough time for pan to heat through before pouring crepe mixture.
3) Spray pan evenly with cooking oil. Pour 1/4 cup of crepe mixture in the pan. Tip and rotate the pan so the mixture is evenly distributed on the pan. Allow enough time for the side to cook. (Check with metal spatula.)
4) Flip crepe and cook opposite side
5) Place cooked crepe on plate and continue making the rest of the crepes

6) Heat a sauce pan to medium high heat. Pour in 1 tsp of cooking oil, cook the garlic, onions and turkey bacon in the oil for 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms, tomato sauce and cream.
7) Allow to simmer on medium heat for 10 minutes. Taste and season with salt and pepper. Stir in freshly chopped flat leaf parsley.
8) Pour sauce over crepes

Tip: I had leftover grilled chicken that I put in the crepe and wraped it taco-style before I poured the sauce over the crepes.

When a man craves meat

Sometimes boys just crave a nice cut of meat (mind out of the gutters people!). I found some really nice cuts of fillet mignon the other day and decided to make a simple steak with it.
I thought the simple sides of a homemade salsa and avocado mash would go with the steak well.

When I splurge and buy a really nice cut of meat, I only season it with salt and pepper to let the quality of them eat speak for itself. My family prefers medium done.

I served it with a simple pizza made from store bought pre-made pizza dough. I only used half of the pizza dough and I rolled it out on a baking sheet. I baked the pizza at 400oF for 8 minutes then I took it out. I sliced and seeded a tomato, and tore some fresh basil. On the half-baked pizza, I spread tomato sauce evenly followed by the tomato and basil. I sprinkled shredded mozzarella on top of it. The pizza baked for an additional 5-8 minutes or until the cheese is nice and bubbly.


Fillet Mignon with a Salsa and Avocado Mash
Ingredients
Homemade Salsa
1/2 cup sweet onion, finely chopped
1 large tomato, seeded and cubed
2 serrano peppers, seeded and diced
1/3 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/4 tsp salt
1 clove garlic, minced

Avocado Mash
1 avocado
2 tablespoons lime juice
1/4 cup sweet onion, chopped
1/4 tsp salt

(1) Mix all ingredients for salsa together and refrigerate.
(2) Peel an avocado and remove skin and seed. Roughly chop the avocado and mash with fork. Mix in lime juice, onion and salt. (Acid helps keep avocado bright green instead of brown). Refrigerate.
(3) Grill meat of choice seasoned with salt and pepper on both sides
(4) Serve steak with the two sides immediately

Pizza Margherita

Lazy Sunday

I didn't want to exert too much time to cooking today because I think I'm coming down with a cold. 2-3 ppl around me have colds.

I had some chicken breast in the kitchen so I was inspired to make some quick sesame chicken reminiscent of chinese take-out except I know exactly what I'm puting into the chicken.



Sesame Chicken with Cashews
Ingredients
2 skin-less chicken breasts, cubed into 1 inch pieces
1/2 cup of flour
1/4 cup of sesame seeds
2 tsp of red pepper flakes
1 tsp of ground black pepper
1/2 tsp coriander
4 tablespoons of honey
4 tablespoons of teriyaki marinade
2 tablespoons of roasted cashews
2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
light soy sauce or salt to taste

(1) Mix flour, half the sesame seeds, coriander, red pepper flakes and black pepper together in a medium bowl. Coat chicken pieces evenly with flour mixture.
(2) Heat a wok on high heat. Pour in vegetable oil and make sure oil is hot. Move the wok around so oil is evenly coated.
(3) Cook chicken pieces about 3-4 minutes on each side. Brown each side.
(4) In a medium bowl, wisk together honey and teriyaki marinade. Taste mixture and add salt as needed (keep in mind cashews if salted contribute salt also)
(5) Pour sauce over chicken and stir evenly. Cook for another 1-2 minutes or until sauce thins out. Stir in cashews and remaining sesame seeds.
(6) Serve.

Cooking fast....

I originally planned on having Herb Crusted Chicken Breasts for lunch with a Creamy Parmesan Orzo. Dinner was originally Grilled Salmon with a Parsley-Parmesan Pesto. Primping took longer than anticipated this morning so I made quick adjustments.

I switched dinner and lunch because salmon cooks faster. I had both chicken breasts and salmon fillets defrosted in the fridge.

Today's speedy lunch menu
Grilled Salmon with Parsley Parmesan Pesto
Creamy Parmesan Orzo


Grilled Salmon with Parsley Parmesan Pesto
Ingredients
3 (4 oz) salmon fillets
salt and pepper to taste
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil

Pesto Ingredients
1/4 cup of flat leaf parsley
1/4 cup of pre-grated parmigiano-reggiano cheese
1/8 cup of fresh basil leaves
1 glove of garlic (or adjust if you dont like garlic)
2 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tsp pine nuts

(1) In a food processor, process til smooth all the ingredients under "pesto ingredients." Scrape the sides of the food processor (be careful of the blade).
(2) Heat a grill to medium high heat
(3) Using a brush, brush olive oil along the sides of the salmon fillets. Sprinkle salt and pepper on each side
(4) Grill the salmon fillets 3-4 minutes on each side (or until desired 'doneness')
(5) Serve with a side of the pesto
3 Servings

Creamy Parmesan Orzo
Ingredients
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 cup Orzo
1 1/4 cup Chicken Stock
1 1/4 cup Water
1/4 cup grated parmigiana-reggiano
1/4 cup of pre-grated carrots
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1/4 tsp salt
4 tsp pine nuts
1 tablespoon dried basil flakes

(1) Heat a medium sauce pan at medium high heat. Melt the butter.
(2) Brown the orzo in the butter for 2-3 minutes stirring with a spatula
(3) Pour in chicken stock and water. Mix evenly with spatula. Add salt and pepper into cooking liquid so spices are dispersed evenly.
(4) Heat until boil then turn down the heat
(5) Allow to simmer for about 15 minutes (or until most of the liquid is absorbed). Stir every few minutes to make sure orzo cooks evenly
(6) Turn off heat. Fold in cheese, basil, carrots and pine nuts to orzo with spatula
(7) YOU ARE DONE! <3>

Tips: Orzo looks like a rice but it's actually a type of pasta. It cooks very fast and what's nice about it (as opposed to pasta) is that it's a one-pot dish. You can season the pot you cooked the orzo in a variety of ways.

I'm saving the left over orzo to accompany my herb crusted chicken tonight! I'll update later on how dinner goes. Have a great day everyone!