Spicy Pork Stir Fry

A stir fry is a great meal to use whatever you have on hand.  The protein can be changed, I used pork, but chicken, steak, and/or shrimp can be used.  It's also easy enough to change up the vegetables to use whatever you have on hand.  The original version of this recipe called for red bell pepper and snow peas.  I had leftover zucchini and carrot cut from making carrot zucchini muffins so they made their way into the stir fry along with snow peas.  Other veggies that will be wonderful in here would be mushrooms, bell peppers, and baby corn.  Another easy enough swamp would be to switch up the cashews for peanuts.  I used packages of ramen noodles since that is what I had on hand, but any other type of noodle or rice can be used. It's part of the ease of a stir fry is that are easy enough to adapt to what you have.

Recipe:

1 lime juiced
3 tablespoons soy sauce
3 tablespoons sesame oil
1 teaspoon cornstarch
2 teaspoons honey
2 teaspoons chili sauce
8 oz boneless thin cut pork cutlets (I have three pieces)
3 packages of ramen noodles (udon noodles, lo mein noodles, or spaghetti can also be used)
2 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic
2 cups  sliced vegetables, I used sliced carrots, zucchini, and snow peas cut in half
1 green onion thinly sliced, green and white parts
1/3 cup of cashews

In a bowl whisk together lime juice, soy sauce, 2 tablespoons of sesame oil, cornstarch, honey, and chili sauce.  Toss the pork in the marinate and set aside.

Prepare noodles in boiling water.  Once noodles are cooked drain and toss with 1 tablespoon of sesame oil to keep from sticking.

Heat vegetable oil in pan.  Once hot add garlic and then pork.  Cook until no longer pink.  Add the marinade also.  Add in the vegetables.  Cook about 5 minutes until vegetable soften.  Add noodles in pan to coat. Serve topped with sliced green onion and cashews.

Zucchini Carrot Mini Muffins

(now the carrots and zucchini need to be grated these were my leftovers I cut for use in my dinner but figured the picture would look good!)

Summer's bounty of fresh veggies from the garden make for a great reason to make these delicious little treats.  These are the perfect size for a breakfast on the go or an afternoon snack.  I think being loaded with all the veggies keep these very moist. Now the original recipes I came across left them open to add some walnuts if you like, but I did not have any on hand so I added some raisins I found in my cupboard.  Feel free to leave out the raisins if you like.

** if you do not want to eat them all at once these can be frozen for up to three months.

Zucchini Carrot Mini Muffins

1/2 c. brown sugar  

2 Tablespoons canola oil

big pinch of kosher salt

1 lg. egg

1 cup zucchini, grated

1 cup carrots, grated

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 cup raisins

Preheat oven to  375 degrees F and lightly spray min- muffin pans or place liners in the pan.

In a medium bowl, mix the sugar, oil, salt, and egg.  Add the zucchini, carrot and mix well.  In another bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients and fold them into the wet mixture, mix in raisins, working the batter only just until all ingredients are moistened.  Divide the batter evenly into the cups and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center is removed clean, about 10 minutes.  Remove from oven and allow to sit in the cups about 5 minutes before turning out on a baking rack to cool completely.

Basil Pesto

Summer time brings the abundance of fresh basil in the garden.  Recently we pulled a huge stalk of it out to make some more room for the tomatoes to grow, the basil was starting to strangle the tomato plant.  It would be absolutely wrong to get rid of this stalk, and well one can only use so much basil before it would go bad.  So yes it would make for wonderful fresh pesto.  Then the same problem arises one can only eat so much pesto quickly.  So today I made a bunch of pesto and froze it.  It thaws quickly.  And the use of an ice cube tray to freeze the pesto in small portions makes it just that much easier to take out only what is needed.

Needed:

2 cups of fresh basil leaves

2-3 cloves of garlic

1/4 cup toasted pine nuts

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

salt to taste

1/4 olive oil (more if too thick)

Throw all ingredients, up to the olive oil, in a food processor.  Blend, while blending start to pour the olive oil in.  Taste.  Add salt and more olive oil if needed.

To freeze the pesto, scoop pesto into ice cube trays.  Allow to freeze completely.  Then pop out the cubes and store in a freezer ziploc bag.  *I used a regular ice cube tray but needed a butter knife to help get them out, it might be easier to use a silicone tray that can be maneuvered easier.

Blueberry Crumb Cake

This is a delicious crumb cake recipe I found from Ina Garten.  I think the best part of any crumb cake is the streusel topping.  I recently made it twice to bring to two different dinners.  Perfect to use the plump fresh blueberries that are plentiful during the summer.  

Ingredients:

Cake:

6 tablespoons unsalted butter

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest

2/3 cup sour cream

1  1/4 cups flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup fresh blueberries

Confectioners' sugar for dusting the cake

Streusel:

1/4 cup sugar

1/3 cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 pound unsalted butter, melted

1  1/3 cup flour

1/2 chopped pecans (optional- I added these in)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour 9in round baking pan. (I greased parchment paper to fit inside with just a tiny bit overhanging so that I could simply lift it out of pan to transfer to a plate)

Streusel: Combine the sugars, and cinnamon in a bowl. Stir in melted butter and then flour.  Mix well.  Blend in the pecans. Set aside.

Cake: Cream butter and sugar in bowl.  Reduce speed and add eggs 1 at a time.  Next add vanilla, lemon zest, and sour cream.  In a separate bowl sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.  With the mixer on low, add the flour mixture to the batter until just combined.  Fold in the blueberries and stir with a spatula to be sure the batter is completely mixed.

Spoon batter into prepared pan.  With fingers crumble topping evenly over cake.  Bake 40-50 minutes.  Cool cake completely dust with confectioners sugar.

Watermelon Coconut Yogurt Pops

For summertime anything going on in the kitchen needs to be easy peasy quick and easy! These pops are just that with only three ingredients.  And they are perfect to accompany the heat wave that is happening out right now.

3 cups fresh watermelon

1 container coconut yogurt

2 teaspoons of agave nectar

Throw it all in the blender till liquified and then pour into molds. Freeze. Enjoy!

Grain Salad w/ Curry Vinaigrette

I have been trying to use different grains in my cooking this salad has quinoa, couscous, lentils, and wheat berries.  Along with this healthy assortment of grains the salad also has navy beans, carrot, bell pepper, and red onion.  All tossed with a curry vinaigrette.  The inspiration for this salad came from one I purchase at a local Fairway Market.  This now will be a delicious fulling lunch on a hot summer day, or a perfect side dish to accompany some grilled chicken.  

Prepare Grains:

1/2 cup lentils

1/2 cup wheat berries

1/2 cup Israeli couscous

1/2 cup quinoa

Prepare all of the above according to the package directions.  (I cooked the wheat berries and quinoa together since they took the same amount of water and time)

Cool and add in: 

1 can rinsed drained navy beans

1/2 red bell pepper finely diced

1/4 cup red onion finely diced

1 small carrot finely diced

Toss with Vinaigrette:

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

2 tablespoon olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 tablespoon curry powder

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon onion powder

Heat Wave

What is the best way that you survive a heat wave?  I have been doing my best this week to be creative with my cooking or lack there of.  We are in day four of a stifling heat wave here on the east coast.  Every day the temperature being in 90's with a real feel hovering around 100 degrees.  And when you leave in a place without any air conditioning there is a definite lack of motivation to turn the oven on or to stand at the stove.  Easy out could be simply to go out to dinner each night and relax in the cool air conditioned environment of a local restaurant.  Well besides getting expensive sometimes our schedule just does not work for that.  This summer finds my husband keeping his part time job while lucky enough to have gotten a nursing externship.  For the last two days its meant full days at the hospital then having about an hour and a half at home before heading back out to job number two. I love him for his work ethic and motivation to keep going, especially since being a teacher myself that is off right now.  However this schedule doesn't leave a lot of time for a meal out.  So like I said it's time to get creative for meals.  Here are some ideas that I have been coming up with.

1- Antipasti:  a classic Italian platter consisting of cold sliced meats, cheeses, olives, roasted peppers, and other cold delicacies.  Served with a loaf of crusty bread.

2- Crockpot Salsa Chicken: 1 lb boneless chicken breast, 1 jar of salsa, 1 small can of diced green chilis, place all in the crockpot and cook 5-6 hrs on low or about 3 on high.  Last half hour shred chicken and place back in crockpot with 1 15 oz  can of black beans and 1 cup of frozen corn. Serve in tacos shells or over rice.  **crockpot cooking is good on hot days as it does not cause much extra heat as a stove or oven would.

3- Salads:  Using fresh summer vegetables to create big entree size salads.  Add some chopped rotisserie chicken for some protein.  In our house we love to add some chopped fresh fruit (strawberries, blueberries, pineapple, watermelon etc..) to our salads also. ( which in this heat can help keep you hydrated)

4- Sandwiches:  Using sliced meats stacked with leafy greens and vegetables can become a satisfying meal.  Tuna is also another classic sandwich that will make an appearance in our menu this week.

If you have other suggestions for a quick no cook dinner please share it as the weather will not break for another couple of days!

Black Bean, Shrimp, Avocado Salad

This salad is the perfect no cook summer meal.  I even packed it up along with some grilled squash and a baguette and brought it down to the beach.  My husband and I enjoyed a run along the boardwalk. After found a bench to sit and enjoy our meal.  Quickly we were growing a crowd of seagulls that were intrigued by our lovely spread.  As we enjoyed a couple walked by and asked where in the are they could purchase the food.  I smiled and replied that I have prepared it at home and bought it with us.  She said it looked delicious.  This meal also made perfect sense since we live in an apartment without A/C so on a hot summer night preparing a meal that does not require me to turn on the oven or stove is a welcome one.  

Salad:

1 can of black beans rinsed and drained

1/2 cup corn

1/4 chopped onion

1 avocado diced

1/2 bell pepper diced (I used orange)

10-12 cooked shrimp cut into small chunks

Mix all in a bowl and top with dressing right before serving.

Cilantro-Lime Viniagrette:

1/2 cup Olive oil (add more if lime too strong)

1 lime juiced 

1 1/2 tablespoons of chopped cilantro

1/4 teaspoon chili powder

salt and pepper to taste

Nothing like a light refreshing meal al fresco by the ocean



This seagull waited the entire time hoping for just a piece of our dinner.

Zucchini Ribbon Salad

This is the perfect side dish for a hot summer day, since there is no cooking involved.  It's also perfect since it takes all of five minutes to put together.  And as summer progresses and vegetable gardens begin to produce bountiful crops of zucchini, this would be a wonderful use of all the homegrown zucchini.  This evening we paired this side with some leftover gnocchi from the previous night, and considering it was almost 90 degrees outside and about 84 in my kitchen making a complete meal without turning on my oven is music to my ears! 

Recipe:

1 large zucchini

cup or so of baby spinach

salt and pepper to taste

juice of one lemon

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons thinly sliced red onion

Use a vegetable peeler or mandolin slice zucchini into thin ribbons. Place in bowl with spinach, red onion, and season with salt and pepper.  Mix lemon juice with olive oil.  Pour over zucchini about ten minutes prior to serving.  

Optional add ins: toasted pine nuts, little herbs de provence

Colorful Quinoa Salad

In the hot summer months any kind of cool salad is a welcome side dish.  This colorful dish has lots of flavor using very simple ingredients.  It's a healthy filling side.  Quinoa is a healthy grain that is easy to use and takes the flavor of what it is combined with.  This made for the perfect side to go along with some broccoli cakes and fish.  The broccoli cakes can also be found on this blog: click here for broccoli recipe

 
Quinoa Salad:

1 cup of rinsed quinoa
2 cups chicken broth
     1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
     1 cup frozen corn, thawed
     1/2 red bell pepper diced
     1/4 red onion diced
     1/2 cup thinly sliced carrot
     1 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
     salt and pepper to taste
     1 lime, juiced
     1 tablespoon basil chopped (cilantro can also be used, I only had basil so I went with that)

In a saucepan combine quinoa and broth bring to a boil.  Reduce heat simmer covered for about 15 minutes until liquid absorbed and quinoa tender.  Place in bowl and allow to cool.  Mix in beans, corn, pepper, onion, and carrot.  Add in olive oil and salt and pepper to taste.  Cover and place in fridge until ready to eat.  When serving mix in fresh lime juice and basil.  Enjoy!