easy recipes

You are currently browsing articles tagged easy recipes.

Broccoli 9-1-1

It’s probably pretty obvious that I have not been doing much cooking or eating the past few days. Let me tell you, and I am not saying this to complain, but I have not ever felt as bad as I have this week, even when I had pneumonia in the fall. I am happy to say that I am feeling weak but slightly on the mend. There is light at the end of the tunnel, and with a very busy week ahead I could not be happier.

The one problem with not being able to cook was a fridge full of fresh produce and other items that needed to be eaten this week. While many of the vegetables like beets and carrots are going toward a health-boosting juice today, our almost-rubbery broccoli found itself in a spicy peanut sauce with tofu and noodles.

It was a Nasoya kind of meal, thanks to Market Basket’s large tofu selection and wallet-friendly prices.

Nasoya Extra Firm Tofu

I used an entire block of Nasoya extra-firm tofu and a container of Nasoya Chinese-style noodles.

Nasoya Chinese Style Noodles

In addition, I used several heaping spoonfuls of Trader Joe’s Valencia Peanut Butter.

Valencia Peanut Butter

A generous drizzle of sriracha. . .

sriracha

A head of almost-dead broccoli, cut into florets. . .

steamed broccoli

And a few splashes of Tamari soy sauce.

Tamari Soy Sauce

I started by pressing the tofu in a clean dish towel in a colander, draining off as much liquid as possible. Then, as I always do, I cut the tofu and left it to air dry for about an hour.

image

To assemble the meal, I cooked the noodles according to the package instructions. In a separate pan, I steamed the broccoli in a bit of water, then added in the soy sauce, sriracha, and peanut butter, mixing until a creamy sauce was formed. I tossed in the tofu and noodles, gave it a stir, let it simmer on low for 20 minutes so the tofu would absorb the flavors of the sauce, and served.

noodles and peanut sauce

It was a nice return to real food. The Doritos had to go at some point. They were good and all, but probably not the best food for me to recover from my flu.

What’s on tap for your Saturday?

Tags: broccoli, easy recipes, Food, Nasoya, noodles, peanut sauce, quick recipes, recipe, soy sauce, sriracha, tofu, Vegetarian, vegetarian recipe

In keeping with the week’s simple and healthy theme, I decided to unearth some of the many dried beans I keep in the pantry for a comforting soup. Though Friday’s weather made it seem like spring was near, I couldn’t get warm this weekend and needed something hearty that could bubble away on the stove while I was working.

black beans

I soaked about two cups of dried black beans in plenty of water overnight, then drained and rinsed them before prepping the rest of the soup ingredients.

I smashed six cloves of garlic and minced them, then added the garlic to some olive oil, starting it on low heat.

garlic

To the garlic, I added my soup’s secret ingredient, Howard’s Hot Pepper Relish. I love the sweet and spicy flavors of this peppery relish, so I put in three heaping tablespoons.

Howard's Hot Pepper Relish

Howard's Hot Pepper Relish

Once I could smell the garlic starting to cook up, I added the softened beans, two cups of water, and half of a bag of frozen sweet corn.

organic sweet corn

I brought everything up to a boil, then brought the heat down to low, letting the soup simmer for over an hour, checking to see if water was needed. You will want to eyeball it and taste the beans to make sure they are cooked all the way through.

black bean soup

To make the soup an even more complete meal, I cooked up some al fresco spicy jalapeno sausage, sliced it into small pieces, and added it to the soup.

spicy chicken sausage

And finally, I added a dollop of Fage 2% Greek yogurt to the top of the soup. This would definitely be fine without the chicken sausage for a vegetarian soup, maybe even with some quinoa or brown rice added to bulk it up.  Delicioso!

I am in a serious weather funk. I can’t warm up, even when I am dancing to my Ke$ha Pandora station or lifting weights, and I feel tired all of the time. I just want to open the windows and to be able to sit in my house without my coat! Can it be spring yet?

Hot pepper relish is a condiment that I love to have around the house. What is your favorite condiment?

Tags: beans, black bean soup, black beans, chicken sausage, cooking, corn, dinner, easy recipes, fiber, garlic, healthy comfort food, healthy eating, healthy recipes, hot relish, Lunch, peppers, soup, vegetarian soup

Also known as a meal I magically threw together using only ingredients we already had in the house. While I spent last weekend out of town visiting my family, my husband spent the weekend working 15 hour days until he finally got to come home at 1:15 am on Monday. Needless to say, neither of us got to the grocery store this weekend, and coming up with a delicious meal became a daunting task.

Trader Joe's cappellini

Luckily, we always have some sort of random items in the cabinets and freezer. I started with a half package of Trader Joe’s cappellini. I love super thin pasta, and this one is a bargain. It really does cook in three minutes, as the package promises.

I busted out a can of black olives, also from Trader Joe’s. Canned black olives might not be the most highbrow menu item, but I really like them. I used half the can in my sauce and the other half as my snack while I patiently waited for the husband to get home Smile

black olives

I had some jarred capers left over from many months ago. They were still good!

capers

And I had the last of my gift from the Muir Glen tomato dinner, their super fancy Meridian Ruby Reserve tomatoes. I can’t wait to order some more Muir Glen products. Their tomatoes are truly superior.

Muir Glen Meridien Ruby Tomatoes

To make a nice puttanesca-style sauce, I added five chopped cloves or garlic to some olive oil and started the garlic cooking until it sizzled. I then added the chopped olives, capers, more olive oil, and the tomatoes, liquid and all.

puttanesca

I let the mixture simmer, added some garlic powder and crushed red pepper flakes, then got started steaming some lobster tails I have had in the freezer for awhile. My mom really spoils me with all sorts of food items when I go home! Smile

lobster tails

Steaming the lobsters was quick and easy, as was cutting the shells, removing the meat, and cleaning out the vein. I was left with sweet lobster meat which tasted freshly caught.

lobster meat

I boiled the pasta and at the very last minute, I added the hot pasta and the chopped lobster to the sauce. I didn’t want the lobster to cook any more as I did not want it to get tough. Mixing it with hot pasta and hot sauce made it the perfect temperature while leaving it nice and tender.

lobster puttanesca

Not too bad for someone who had NO clue what dinner was going to be at 5:00 last night!

Canned tomatoes and pasta are must-haves in my pantry. What do you always have on hand?

Tags: canned tomatoes, capers, easy recipes, Food, garlic, lobster, Meridian Ruby tomatoes, Muir Glen, olives, pasta, puttanesca, quick meals, recipe, spaghetti, tomatoes

« Older entries § Newer entries »

new restaurant
WordPress SEO fine-tune by Meta SEO Pack from Poradnik Webmastera