recipes: a fresh tasting Mexican meal

Chicken marinated in lime juice, Easy Mexican Rice, Mexican Green Beans
and black beans with salsa (photo: mine)

This evening, I had a hankering for Mexican so I collected a few recipes and put together a relatively simple, healthy and--as it turns out--very yummy meal.

From Zarela’s Veracruz: Cooking and Culture in Mexico’s Tropical Melting Pot, I adapted Chuletas de Pollo al Limon (or Chicken Cutlets Marinated in Lime Juice). I didn’t have any cutlets on hand (and didn't feel like pounding the heck out of chicken meat), so I went with a pound of chicken breast strips, marinating them for a little over an hour in the juice of two limes, a couple of teaspoons soy sauce, and (as a substitute for Maggi sauce, which I also didn’t have on hand) another half teaspoon soy sauce and a half teaspoon Worcestershire Sauce.

In the meantime, I pulled together the ingredients for Easy Mexican Rice, Mexican Green Beans and black beans with salsa.

I tweaked the rice recipe, cutting the oil by about a tablespoon and adding a half tablespoon or so of cumin seeds to the onions, cooking the two for a couple of minutes before adding the garlic and then a cup and half of rice and cooking another five minutes (until the rice starts turning brown). Then I added the two-and-a-half cups chicken broth and 8 ounces tomato sauce, brought the mixture to a boil, covered, reduced the heat and simmered for about 20 minutes. (Made about six servings.)

At the same time, I heated a medium skillet to medium high heat and added a can of black beans (not drained) with about two thirds of a jar of Trader Joe’s Habanera and Lime Salsa (about a cup); substitute your own favorite salsa, yum. When the mixture started to thicken, I reduced the heat and allowed it to simmer until the mixture thoroughly thickened, stirring periodically. (Made about four small servings; next time I may double this one.)

photo: mine

As the rice and black beans cooked, I started on the green beans recipe (which is just as easy as the rest), cooking a pound of fresh green beans, a large chopped sweet onion and a couple of cloves of garlic on medium to medium high heat until the beans turn tender-crisp. Then I added a can of Rotel Diced Tomatoes and Green Chills along with a couple of tablespoons or so of fresh chopped basil, simmering it all for about 10 minutes or so. (Made about four large servings.)

While the green beans simmered, I pulled the marinating chicken from the fridge, heated a couple of tablespoons of olive oil over medium high heat, and added the chicken strips, cooking for about three or four minutes on each side until they were done. The recipe suggests after the chicken is done, you can boil the rest of the marinade in the same pan (after removing the chicken) and pour over the chicken when you serve it; next time I may do that, but the chicken was definitely good on its own, too.

We thought the flavors complimented each other wonderfully—and the food felt fresh and not as heavy as one might find in other Mexican dishes. All in all, they’re all keepers for us.

photo: mine

recipes: an Indian culinary adventure

whole spices (photo: mine)

Lately, I’ve had a hard time trying to come up with ideas for my weekly menus. To be honest, I've been bored with cooking. Even looking through my binders full of recipes clipped from a gazillion magazines didn’t help. So, last week when I took my son to the library, I wandered over to the cook book section and randomly pulled some books off the shelf—all of them with recipes and cuisine from countries other than America.

My first foray? Indian food. And the first thing I discovered? I had to get some new spices, most of which I got at World Market. And the second thing? There is nothing like cooking with whole spices. Not only does the food taste amazing, but my house smells divine.

Murgh Kurma (photo: mine)

Two of the recipes came from Indian Home Cooking: A fresh introduction to Indian food, with more than 150 recipes by Suvir Saran (whom, I discovered, is pretty famous). The first recipe I tried was Murgh Kurma (page 116), a “braised chicken in white sauce with garam masala.” You can find the recipe on this blog, and I stuck to it pretty closely. I loved the scents of the whole spices heating in hot oil—this recipe used a cinnamon stick, cardamom pods, whole cloves, cumin seeds, coriander seeds, black peppercorns, and dried red chilies. These are then mixed with minced red oinions, garlic cloves and fresh ginger, and then stirred over medium high heat for about 15 minutes. Then you add some ground coriander and a cup of plain yogurt, then cubed chicken breast, some water, a half teaspoon of the most amazing garam masala and heavy cream. Conscious of lowering calories and fat, I used less oil, nonfat greek yogurt and substituted a ¼ cup evaporated milk mixed with ¼ cup of nonfat Greek yogurt for the ½ cup heavy cream. I didn’t have any dried red chilies, so I substituted dried chili powder and added it when I put in the onion, garlic and ginger mixture. My end result didn’t turn out as creamy white as the picture in the book (or on the blog), but—oh, my goodness—was it yummy. Even my kids liked it!

Turkey-Paalak Ka Keema with basmati rice (photo: mine)

A couple of days later, I had some ground turkey that needed to be used and, while I love spaghetti, I wasn’t all that excited about making it--again. So, I found a recipe in Saran’s book for Turkey-Paalak Ka Keema—or ground turkey with spinach and whole spices (you can find the recipe here). Again, I followed the recipe pretty much exactly. It was much simpler and took a lot less time than the recipe above. Essentially, it combines the whole spices (cinnamon stick, whole cloves, cardamom pods, and dried red chilies) with ginger, a whole onion, green chili, 10 ounces steamed fresh spinach (pureed in a food processor), a pound and a half of ground turkey, a cup of yogurt and that amazingly intoxicating garam marsala. Again, it was amazingly yummy!

basmati rice (photo: mine)

With both of these dishes, I wanted a quick basmati rice side dish, so I tweaked Anyhow Prawn Pulao by Mallika Basu at Quick Indian Cooking:

1 cup basmati rice  

½ large sweet onion (minced) 

1 tomato (roughly chopped) 

½ inch ginger (minced) 

2 large garlic cloves (minced) 

½ teaspoon turmeric powder 

½ teaspoon chili powder 

½ teaspoon cumin seeds 

1 cardamom pod 

½ inch cinnamon stick 

1 tablespoon olive oil

First, I assembled all the ingredients so they were ready to go because I was making this dish along side the  main dishes above. I boiled the rice, drained, rinsed and set it aside. I heated the oil over medium high heat and added the whole spices until the cinnamon stick started to unfurl. Then I added the minced onion, garlic and ginger and sautéed it until the onion started turning brown. I added the tomato along with the chili powder and turmeric (which not only has an incredible scent but also an amazing color). After a few minutes, I added the rice and heated it through, stirring it often.

As a note, I really enjoy Basu’s website—her goal is to make authentic, healthy Indian home cooking accessible and easy for a busy world. I will definitely be returning. (Her cookbook isn’t available in our library system, so I may be purchasing that one.)

I’m so glad I wandered over to that library section—I’ve really enjoyed my recent culinary travels. I’m definitely not bored with cooking anymore.

recipes: turkey burgers, flavored mayonnaise, potato salad and grilled banannas

One of our favorite summer grilling meals centers around these turkey burgers, which we always accompany by at least a trio of flavored mayonnaise. The sides vary, but this time consisted of a Greek yogurt based potato salad, a lettuce wedge with blue cheese, corn on the cob and grilled bananas for dessert.

I can't remember where I originally got this recipe for the turkey burgers (it's jotted on a piece of paper and stapled into one of my recipe binders), so if you find it elsewhere please let me know so I can give credit where it is due:

1 pound or so of ground turkey
1/3 cup cooked couscous (cooled)
1/3 cup grated squash
3 tablespoons scallions, chopped,
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Mix all the ingredients together and form into patties; I find smaller patties cook up more evenly. Grill them on medium high heat (around 400F-450F) for five or six minutes on each side.

These turkey burgers are tasty all on their own, but flavor explodes when you top with these mayonnaise mixtures, an idea I got from a Martha Stewart Living recipe (which I've long since lost). Start with half a cup of mayonnaise and simply add one of the following (or experiment with your own favorite ingredient):

chopped black or green olives
chopped roasted red pepper
crumbled blue cheese
crumbled feta cheese
a tablespoon of pesto

Place them in their own bowls and, if you're having guests, write the name of the added ingredient on a plastic spoon which will not only identify each one but serve as a serving utensil as well. Don't forget to lay out the classic condiments as well: cheese, lettuce, tomato slices, sliced onions, ketchup and mustard.

For the potato salad, I've come up with this recipe which has been refined from trying a variety of other recipes. I find the small red or white potatoes work best; I boil a carton of them until they are just cooked and let them cool. Then I roughly chop them and add the following:

1/2 nonfat Greek yogurt (or you can use 1/4 cup sour cream with 1/4 cup yogurt)
2 tablespoons nonfat mayonnaise
2 tablespoons of mustard
chopped pickles to taste
1 small can of chopped black olives (or you can chop green olives instead)
1/3 cup chopped or thinly sliced red onion
1 to 2 tablespoons sugar (or honey)
2 tablespoons vinegar (I use balsamic or red wine vinegar)
1 to 2 cloves chopped garlic
salt and pepper to taste

When I flip the turkey burgers, I put the bananas on the grill. With the skin still on, slice them length-wise and place them skin-side down on the upper rack of the grill (or on a cooler part of the lower rack). When the skin starts to peel back from the fruit, they should be done. Place them on a plate and sprinkle them with brown sugar and a granola mix and they make a wonderful (and healthy) dessert.

 Enjoy!

Grilled ribeyes with blue cheese and a lowfat dipping sauce for artichokes

image: mine

Menu: Grilled ribeyes with blue cheese, roasted petite potatoes, grilled green beans, and steamed artichokes with a yogurt and mayonnaise dipping sauce.

Grilling is one of my favorite ways to prepare a meal--and one of my favorite meats to grill is ribeyes. They take such little prep; I hardly ever do more than brush them with oil, give them a healthy dosing of kosher salt and fresh ground pepper on both sides and let them sit at room temp for 15 minutes or so before they go on the grill (where they sit for about four minutes on each side).

Last night, I added a layer of blue cheese to the steaks when I flipped them--which, it turns out, really went well with a new (and very simple) recipe I had prepared ahead of time for steamed artichokes*: Low Fat Dipping Sauce with Dill. I tweaked the sauce so that it was entirely nonfat, whisking together two parts nonfat Greek yogurt to one part nonfat mayonnaise, grating the garlic and using lemon juice and dill seasoning. The garlic gives the sauce a good kick--we loved it.

And I ended up dipping more than artichokes in that sauce--it also tasted good with the potatoes and green beans. To prepare the potatoes, I boiled a bag of petite potatoes until they were almost done; when the steaks went on the grill, I roasted them in a 450F oven for about 10 minutes after spraying them with olive oil cooking spray and sprinkling them with kosher salt, fresh ground pepper and fresh minced basil (I turned them over and did the same on the other side). I also put some fresh green beans (with a light coat of olive oil, Kosher salt, pepper, balsamic vinegar and some basil) on a sheet of foil on the upper rack of the grill above the steaks.

All in all, it was one of our better steak dinners!


*For an easy way to steam artichokes, I cut off the tips and stems, place them stem side up in a microwavable pan, add a quarter to half inch of water, cover with wax paper and microwave on high (10-12 minutes for four medium sized artichokes).