Flank Steak with Stuffed Mushrooms and Escarole Salad

Well, I'm continuing to prove how terrible I am at cooking meat.  I attempted to make a flank steak tonight, which is something that I normally wouldn't do, but the meal idea that I had seemed like it called for it.  I marinated the steak in some hard apple cider with some red pepper flakes, salt and black pepper.  I pan grilled the steak and I may have overcooked it a little bit.  I also think that it was lacking a little in flavor.  On the other hand, for being the first flank steak that I've ever made, it wasn't all that bad.

I also took the marinating juices and cooked them down to make a sauce for the steak.  This turned out very tasty and helped add some moisture to the steak.

For the stuffed crimini mushrooms, I just made a quick mixture of cream cheese, garlic, salt, pepper and some chopped mushroom stems.  These were baked in the oven until hot and were definitely the highlight of tonight's dinner.

I made a simple salad of escarole, oranges, carrots and apples.  The dressing was just simply the juice squeezed from the remaining orange once the segments were cut out.  It was a very light, refreshing salad, that I am quite pleased with.

All in all, I'd say that this meal was pretty good, I just think that I proved once again, that I need some more practice cooking red meat.

Roasted Beets and Sweet Potatoes with Turkey

The only real experience that I have with red beets are the canned ones that you normally find at the salad bar, so when I got them in my bin this week I wasn't entirely sure what to do with them.  After searching the internet for ideas on how to cook them, I decided that roasting would be the best way to bring out their flavor.  I also thought it would be a good idea to combine them with some of the sweet potatoes that I have. It turned out to be a great idea, the sweetness of the two vegetables, roasted with onion, garlic and some of the beet greens, was a great combination.  I topped the sweet potato and beet mixture with some crispy dry rub bacon and feta cheese. Yum!

I would have been perfectly happy just eating a huge bowl of this, but knowing Dylan, she was going to want some meat to go with it.  We decided to pick up a roasted turkey breast from the grocery store and opted out of doing anything more than that since the flavors are so rich.  I wasn't entirely pleased with the turkey that we bought, it was a bit on the dry side and I'm really wishing that I had made a lot more of the sweet potatoes and beets.  I will definitely be adding this to my list of dishes to make again!

Stuffed Red Bell Peppers

For today's meal, I wanted to do something to showcase these beautiful red bell peppers that I got yesterday!  I decided that they should be stuffed, now I've never made stuffed peppers before, so I wasn't exactly sure what was supposed to go inside.  I just knew I needed to use some of these veggies that I have in my fridge. After brainstorming with Dylan, we came up with a mixture of wild rice (I used Uncle Ben's wild rice, omitted the seasoning packet and added onions and garlic), crimini mushrooms, spinach, goat cheese and black beans.

I chose to serve warm pita bread with the peppers today, because I thought it would compliment the rice mixture better than a french bread.

My first experience with stuffing red peppers, turned out to be a good one.  I'm very happy that I went with a goat cheese instead of a cheddar or mozzarella, the flavors worked really well together.  We at so much that now we feel just as stuffed as these peppers started out!

Friday Bin 1/28

I just got my bin and it's full of beautiful colors!!

Beets
Carrots
Broccoli
Collard Greens
Escarole
Chard
Crimini Mushrooms
Red Bell Peppers
Garnet Yams
Anjou Pears
Cameo Apples
Navel Oranges

I can't promise no salads this week! With so many ingredients to work with, I'm really looking forward to seeing what I can make this time!  I was also able to get some of the organic coffee that is offered, but usually completely sold out within just a few minutes, so I can't wait to try it!

Also, I wanted to say a quick thank you to New Roots Organics(http://www.newrootsorganics.com/), not only for supplying me with such tasty foods, but for posting a link to my blog on their website this past week! A link will also be posted again this week.  I hope that I've been able to inspire meal ideas for others to make with their bins as well!

Double Orange Cupcakes

Earlier today I realized that I have all these navel oranges and clementines that I haven't used yet! So, being the cupcake baker that I am, I decided that I needed to make cupcakes with these.

I started off by making the white chocolate orange cupcakes, these have orange rind, juice and segments in them.  I then made a clementine buttercream frosting, I used the rind and the juice for this. I also attempted to make candied orange peel for the garnish, but as it turns out, I'm terrible at it.  I swear one second they were happy in their sugar syrup and the next completely burnt to a crisp! So sad.

My cupcakes, even though they are left without a pretty garnish, turned out awesome!  I will definitely be adding these to my menu (http://www.cupcakesbyjess.com/) and I look forward to sharing them and hearing how tasty they are.

Stuffed Chicken, Potatoes and Broccoli

Alright, after my not so fabulous dinner last night, there was no way I was even going to attempt to eat the leftovers today. So, I figured that I needed to make up for it tonight.  Which, I am happy to say, I did quite well.

Since, I had already decided that I wasn't going to make a salad for dinner this week, I needed to figure out a more creative way to use up this spinach.  I decided to do my chicken stuffed with spinach, prosciutto and muenster, which I rolled up and breaded, then baked in the oven for 20 minutes.  It came out just like I knew it would. Cheesy and juicy!

I decided to use up the broccoli by simply cooking them in some water and adding butter and garlic salt. For the potatoes however, I wanted to try something new.  I put russet potatoes, parsnips and garlic cloves in a large pot and boiled them. Then I drained and mashed them, and added a little butter, salt and pepper.  I got a super creamy, garlicky mashed potato, that I will definitely be making again! Yum!

I also served some kalamata olive bread (the best bread ever made!) that I picked up from Whole Foods.

Ham, Spinach and Cauliflower Casserole

The idea for dinner tonight came from me trying to figure out how to start using up some of these veggies.  I decided on making a casserole.  I started by steaming the cauliflower and cooking the noodles.  Then I made a white sauce and mixed in some mozzarella cheese.  I combined the noodles, cauliflower, spinach, ham and cheese sauce, poured this into a baking dish and covered it with a combination of mozzarella cheese and chopped bell peppers. Then baked it in the oven for about an hour.

I feel that even though this dish turned out pretty good, there are some things that I would do differently next time.  I would definitely use a sharper cheese for the sauce, I feel that it was lacking a little in flavor, and I should have made twice as much as I did.  The casserole didn't turn out as creamy as I was hoping for.  I also think that I would use pancetta or bacon in place of the ham, for an additional flavor boost.

Dylan seemed to like it a lot though.  She ate three plates of it!

Cabbage Soup - Day 2

Even though there wasn't very much soup leftover from last night, and I really don't like to eat leftovers, I wanted to see if there was a way that I could turn it into a completely different dish.  I'd also been trying to use the potato pancakes that I made the other day in a new way, so I decided to combine the two.

I reheated the cabbage soup, leaving out all but a little of the liquid.  I made some wonderfully crispy potato pancakes and topped them with the cabbage mixture.  I also shredded some of the gouda that I surprisingly still had left from yesterday and sprinkled this on top of the dish.

To be honest, as good as the cabbage soup was, I think that I should have made this from the beginning!  The combination of the creamy cabbage mixture and the crunchy potatoes was amazing, and I don't think that I will have to worry about there being any leftovers tonight, of either the pancakes or the soup.

Cabbage Soup - Revisited

Earlier today I asked Dylan if she had any ideas for our cabbage tonight and she suggested cabbage soup. At first I wasn't exactly thrilled about the idea, but it's what she wanted, so I decided to see if I could make a more flavorful variation.  I chopped up some carrots, parsnips, onion, celery (which wasn't in my bin, but I happened to have already), ham and cabbage.  I threw this into a large pot to which I also added some minced garlic and covered it about halfway with broth (I used a mixture of vegetable and chicken broth, since that's what I had on hand) and added enough water to completely cover all of the vegetables.  To this I also added the rind from some gouda parrana that I picked up from Whole Foods the other day and a bit of fresh thyme, and I simmered it for about an hour while I worked out on the Wii.  Then I added a can of white beans and simmered just long enough to heat them through.

I have to say that I am quite pleased with this soup.  It isn't the traditional bland soup that it's typically known for, and has a huge amount of flavor.  I also served some really tasty crunchy dutch bread that I picked up at the store today and topped it with more of the gouda cheese.

Dylan is now on her third bowl of this soup and I'm about to get myself a second one as well.  Also, as big a hit as this soup was tonight, I'm not going to end up with a huge amount of leftovers, which I'm quite happy about.

Halibut, Chard, Carrots and Potatoes

After Dylan and I ate our way through the mall today (Red Mango, Godiva and Pretzel Time), we decided that we would really like to have a meal with fish in it for dinner.  So, we went to our favorite place, Whole Foods Market, and asked the guy at the seafood counter for tasty, flaky white fish and we were given halibut.  I came home and immediately started trying to figure out what I was going to make with it and how I was going to cook it.  It isn't often that I cook fish and when I do it is always salmon.  After about an hour and a half of cooking, we finally got our fish dinner, which turned out so good that Dylan finished off her plate and is currently working on mine.

First I made my potatoes, which turned into a sort of cake-like mashed potato, that I made with a mixture of mashed potatoes, butter, sour cream and egg, baked in the oven.  Then I made the red chard, onion, white wine dish used as a bed for the halibut that I broiled with a little butter, lemon and thyme. I topped the halibut with a bacon, garlic, bell pepper and onion relish.  Lastly, I made carrots in a honey ginger sauce.

Everything was really easy to make and turned out very well, except for the potatoes which I slightly over cooked because I forgot about, but still turned out edible. Of couse, had I not filled up on the extra pieces of my favorite black forest dry rub bacon from Whole Foods, I might have eaten a lot more of it.

Now it's time to clean up the horrible mess that I made in the kitchen (which probably won't happen until tomorrow) and figure out what I'm going to do with all of this cabbage that I have!

Potatoes and Everything Else

Tonights meal is a bit early because on Fridays my daughter has derby practice and she needs to eat something healthy to keep her energy level up for quite a while.  I think that this will definitely do the trick!

I sauteed up some potatoes, parsnips, carrots, onions and garlic in a little olive oil. I then added a bit of red chard and spinach, along with some chopped mini bell peppers.  I topped Dylan's off with a poached egg (not mine, because I don't eat eggs unless it's baked or cooked into something and I can't tell that it's there) and some sour cream and salsa.

In under 30 minutes I was able to make a delicious meal using many of the ingredients that I got in this weeks bin!

Friday Bin 1/21

My Friday bin is finally here! Just look at all of these tasty organic inspirations:
Carrots
Savoy Cabbage
Yellow Onions
Parsnips
Red Chard
Spinach
Broccoli
Navel Oranges
Pink Lady Apples (my personal favorite)
Russet Potatoes
Clementine's
Mixed Mini Bell Peppers

I'm especially looking forward to using the mini bell peppers, I wasn't actually aware that there was such a thing until I saw it on my list this week! The red chard is also quickly becoming a favorite of mine to cook with, it has such a wonderful flavor. 

My goal for this week is to use these ingredients as healthfully as I can, without making a salad.  I've already got my first meal planned out, it will be posted shortly!

Leftovers...

I am not a big fan of leftovers.  Although I did have some of the gorgonzola pasta today for lunch, the thought of having it again for dinner just wasn't sitting well with me, no matter how tasty it was, so I gave the leftovers to Dylan. I did however need to use up some of the fruits and veggies that I still have since I will be getting a new bin tomorrow.  So I grabbed all of it out out of the fridge and set out to use it for a simple salad.  Refusing to have another spicy dressing disaster, I decided that I would make my own.  Originally I wanted to make a balsamic vinaigrette, but when I reached for the balsamic it had somehow managed to solidify.  I have never heard of balsamic vinegar doing this, unless it's been around for quite some time, which mine had not, so I can only assume that the lid wasn't on properly and that it should not be stored next to the stove top.  I was able to come across some white wine vinegar though, to which I added some minced garlic and a bit of lavender salt with olive oil and poured this over top of my spinach and leafy greens.  To top my salad I used sliced carrots, grapefruit, pears and avocado.  As a side to my salad, I broiled some of the sliced garlic bread from last nights dinner topped with the remaining gorgonzola.  The bread and the salad complimented each other very nicely.

After the last few tasty meals that I've made which weren't the healthiest ever, I feel this made up for it very well.  I've also noticed that rather than craving my usual pistachio ice cream for dinner, I was craving fruits and veggies, which I never do and was quite happy about.  I think that's a great sign and can't wait for tomorrows delivery! 

Spinach, Fennel and Cauliflower

Earlier today when Dylan busted me for eating chips and dip, saying "Hey, I thought we were eating healthy!", I started having second thoughts about tonight's meal.  So while we were walking through the grocery store picking up the few remaining ingredients, aka, gorgonzola, I was looking at all of the nutrition facts immediately picking the ones with lower fat, calorie and sugar contents, just so that I could feel better about my pasta dish tonight.  As it turns out, I was right to go ahead and make it.  My fettuccine, spinach, fennel and cauliflower with a wonderfully rich gorgonzola sauce was perfect!  And, of course, I served this with a slice of fresh garlic bread, not the kind with the gross fake garlic flavored butter on it, but the delicious kind with the garlic chunks baked right in it.

Making this dish allowed me to use up most of my spinach and cauliflower.  I added the fennel at the last minute, even though my refrigerator threatened to ruin it by somehow managing to freeze it.  As it turns out, it tasted just fine once it was cooked and added in with the rest of my dish, but the greens that I typically would have used as a garnish, just couldn't be saved.

Dylan, tonight at least, swears that this IS the best meal that I've ever made, and after watching her scarf down two huge bowls of it, and me finishing off one large bowl of it in under 5 minutes, I would have to agree.  This meal is definitely on my top 5 meals of all times list.

Collard Greens

Tonight, after a long 4 days of reading every recipe I could find, trying to figure out the best way to cook them, I successfully conquered the collard greens.  I cooked them with some bacon and onions, topped them with sauteed apple chunks (cameo, because that's what I had in my bin this week) and baked sweet potato slices with some fresh made cornbread that I picked up at the grocery store.  I'm usually not the biggest fan of cornbread but I figured this meal called for it, and I am now a huge fan of collard greens. 

Although not super healthy and I now feel like I should be doing my Wii Fit three times as much as I am this week, it was a delicious dinner, full of flavor.  Dylan swears it was one of the tastiest meals yet, although, I think she's just saying that because I finally made a meal that was accompanied by cornbread.  I do think that if I were to make this dish again, I would probably use a firmer apple to saute and about half as much bacon drippings to cut some of the fat.

Now, I just have to figure out what to do with all this spinach that I keep acquiring.

Introduction

I've recently signed up to an organic fruits and veggie delivery service.  Every Friday I get a new bin of various fruits and veggies, some of which, I have never used before.  I'm in my third week and am really enjoying coming up with new ways of using these ingredients.  So far, I've made a veggie soup that I was able to alter every day for a week so that it seemed like a new meal each night.  I've also made a minestrone that was so much food that I had to freeze half of it, however it was so good, that each night my 8 year old daughter ate 3 huge bowls of it!  The salmon that I made with an avocado, grapefruit and spinach salad along with some pan fried sweet potatoes with fennel, ginger and garlic, was also amazing.  However my most recent meal, a salad with a combination of spinach and leafy green lettuce, topped with some grapefruit, celery, carrots and cauliflower turned disastrous when I chose a honey mustard vinaigrette that turned out to be so spicy that both my daughter and I, after adamantly trying to choke it down, finally decided that it would be best to just not eat the lettuce parts.  We ended up finishing our meal with ruffle potato chips and bacon dip.

I have noticed since starting this delivery service, that we don't eat out at all and each night we look forward to coming home to see what new meal idea we can come up with.  We also seem to be feeling slightly healthier, and it is relatively cost effective.  I spend about $40 a week on a huge bin with a variety of about 10-12 different fruits and veggies, and the only thing I really purchase outside of that are a few specialty ingredients, like salmon or fresh parmesan cheese or maybe a rotisserie chicken.  There is so much food that comes in each week that it usually carries over into the next.

This week, I received baby bok choy and collard greens.  I've never cooked with either of these ingredients before and have no idea what they taste like, so I've been scouring the internet trying to decide the best way to cook them.  I ended up cooking some of the bok choy in a pot of simmering beef broth (because I didn't have any chicken broth) and butter, until the bok choy was tender and then I boiled down the broth and butter to make a sauce for the bok choy.  It turned out to be quite delicious.

Tonight I'm going to tackle these collard greens, so we shall see what becomes of them!