Sweet Love and Ginger

Weeknight Meals

D4One: Shrimp Fried Rice

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Shrimp Fried Rice
Fried rice is probably one of the easiest recipes ever, and shrimp fried rice is only about 1/8 of a degree more difficult. It’s also something that can be made pretty easily from pantry staples, so no additional shopping is needed.  I made this recipe the easiest I possibly could, even cutting out a lot of chopping and shucking by using frozen peas and carrots. Of course you can also use fresh veggies, I do suggest cutting them up pretty small, and at least tossing the carrots in the pan at the same time as the onion so that it cooks all the way through, and otherwise it’s basically all the same.
Shrimp Fried Rice

This recipe, though suited for one is pretty easy to double, triple, or even quadruple to feed a crowd. I was able to stretch this recipe for one to feed both me and Chuck by steaming up a large batch of Asian style veggies. We are trying to keep it a little healthy over here.

PS. This one is clean too.

Shrimp Fried Rice
Shrimp Fried Rice
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 1 serving
Ingredients
  • 4 oz. of Shrimp (about 9 medium shrimp), peeled & deveined
  • 1 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp low sodium teriyaki sauce
  • 1 tsp ground ginger
  • 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • ½ a small onion, peeled and chopped
  • 1 egg
  • ½ cup of frozen peas and carrots
  • ½ cup of cooked brown rice
  • handfull of green onions, chopped (optional)
Instructions
  1. In a small bowl combine soy sauce, teriyaki sauce and ginger then add shrimp and toss. Allow them to marinate at room temperature for about 10 minutes.
  2. Preheat a large sauté pan with oil over medium high heat. Add the shrimp and sauté for about 30 seconds a side, or until they begin to turn pink. Remove from heat and set aside.
  3. Reduce the heat to medium (you may need to add some more oil) and add onion to the pan cooking for 2-3 minutes, or until they begin to turn translucent.
  4. Add the egg right into the pan and using a spatula mix well, breaking the yolk and cooking through.
  5. Then add the vegetables, and rice tossing well to mix and heat through.
  6. Stir in the shrimp, and green onion to the pan and again mix well.
  7. Serve immediately with an extra drizzle of soy sauce.

Chipotle BLT, with Avocado & a Fried Egg

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Chipotle BLT, with Avocado & a Fried Egg

 

I am putting eggs & Chipotle on everything lately. Although
fabulous on their own they seem to be even better together. This amazing
sandwich is the brain child of this whole phase I’m going through. Like any
good food blogger I came up with this idea all on my own and then googled it so
make sure I didn’t see it subconsciously somewhere else first. It happens a
lot.
This guy; he made it first, I have to give him credit because his
food is amazing, and I’m kind of in love with his blog.
My recipe is a little different, because I was too lazy to go to
the store and buy chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, and why when I have the
powder at home?
Chipotle BLT, with Avocado & a Fried Egg
 
Chipotle Mayo BLT, with Avocado & a Fried Egg
1/3 cup plain mayo
2-3 tsp chipotle powder
2 slices of bread, toasted
1 egg, fried
3-4 strips of bacon, cooked
1-2 slices of tomato
A few lettuce leaves
½ an avocado, sliced
 
In a small bowl whisk together the mayo and chipotle powder.
Spread about a tablespoon on one slice of bread. On the other, layer all other ingredients
and top with the other slice, mayo side down. Serve immediately.
This little baby was served with a side of Baked Garlic & Salt
Fries. Super easy, delicious and sure to please ANYONE, even picky little kids. My suggestion is to gobble them up with a bit of the chipotle mayo, or even mix it with some ketchup before dipping. It’s pretty outstanding.
Baked Garlic & Salt Fries
 

2-3 large potatoes, sliced 
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper


Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. On a baking sheet toss the potatoes with all other ingredients until well combined. Spread across the sheet and bake for 30-35 minutes or until golden and crisp. serve immediately.

Apple Picking & Apple Pork Chops

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Apple Pork Chops


I love apple picking season, the act of apple picking and the goodies that follow, namely candy apples, apple butter, cider, and pie. This time of year I do whatever I can to add apples to our daily meals, usually because we have so many of them, but also because they are delicious. This is one of my favorite recipes that I think I have made a couple hundred times. I don’t know why I haven’t shared it with you before, it’s a shame that I haven’t.

Apple Picking & Apple Pork Chops
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: Serves 4
Ingredients
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 1 lb boneless pork chops
  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
  • 1 medium onion, sliced thin
  • 1 large apple, cored and sliced thin
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar
  • ½ cup white wine
Instructions
  1. Heat oil over medium high heat while seasoning the porkchops with salt, pepper, and paprika.
  2. Place the pork chops in the hot pan andsear for 4-5 minutes per side, or until it begins to turn golden.
  3. Remove the chops and set aside.
  4. Add butter, onion and apple to the pan and sauté for 3-4 minutes, or until the onions begin to brown and caramelize.
  5. Stir in the brown sugar, before adding the wine. Cook for another 3-4 minutes and allow the wine to reduce slightly.
  6. Adjust seasoning and serve immediately.

Apple Pork Chops

My Healthy Back Pocket Meal

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Tuesday’s run had an almost overwhelming affect on me. For starters I hadn’t run in almost 6 months, and definitely not since we moved. We live just off a very busy road that I’m not entirely comfortable running down, but on google I found an old snowmobile trail that I could get to a side street on. So I took it, not entirely thinking about how wet and gross it would be, since it had after all rained all day, I was able to keep a good pace through the much and more that destroyed my shiny, still newish running shoes, and was out on the open road.

Then I wanted to DIE. I was coughing, and sneezing, and my nose was dripping like crazy, and of course I didn’t bring tissues. I looked at my phone and realized that I had barely ran a mile. My goal was 2.62 in honor of Boston. And I was going to run it even if it did in fact kill me. So I switched the ipod to some skillet (your welcome) and pushed through it.

I made one stop at my turn around point to get my bearings and figure out how to get home then started off again, this time uphill (that was great). I did have to walk when I came back across the swamp, which I now noticed had a posted sign, whoops! I was mostly afraid for my sprain prone ankles and tired legs, but after getting out I jogged for the last .2 miles home, only of course to realize that I was short by .3 miles so I did a few laps on our little street in front of the house, I bet our neighbors think I’m crazy.

I’m honestly shocked by how well it all went. In the end I was fairly soaked, mud caked, and covered in snot (TMI? Sorry, it’s true my face was leaking like a faucet), but I could finally breath. After 3 days of congestion the run knocked it all out of me (Hell yeah), and this morning I only felt a slight twinge of discomfort going down the stairs, so my legs didnt even mind the shock. I know that a half hour for 2.62 miles is friggin awful, but hell I feel good about it, I actually
feel great about it.

I’m proud of my run, that I pushed myself when I really didn’t want to. I did it for something other than myself, for something bigger than me. For Boston.

Post run I was not in the mood for cooking so I pulled out one my super lazy day, back pocket meals.

Clean Sausage & Bean Stew

This one is one of my favorites because not only is it super quick and easy, but it’s clean and there is always leftovers, because lazy days sometimes last for more than one day. I also really like it because unless there is a vegetarian in the house nearly everyone likes it, so you can’t go wrong. This meal can be made in one pan, it can easily be multiplied for more people, or halved for fewer; and the flavor profile can easily be changed by simply changing the type of sausage. This is why I have voted it one of my favorite back pocket meals.

Tomato, Sausage & Bean Stew
Author: JC
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 4 servings
Ingredients
  • 1 lb precooked chicken sausage, sliced
  • 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves of garlic, chopped
  • 1 ( 15 ounce) cans unsalted cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 can diced tomatoes, with juices
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 8oz can tomato paste
  • 1 large bunch fresh spinach (5-6 oz)
  • Salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. In a large skillet heat 1 tbs of oil and cook sausages on medium high heat, until they begin to brown, 2- 3 minutes.
  2. Add the onion and garlic and saute for 1-2 minutes, or until the onion begins to soften.
  3. Stir in the beans, tomatoes water and tomato paste until well blended. Cook, stirring occasionally for 7 to 8 minutes, or until the sauce thickens.
  4. Gently fold in spinach and allow it to wilt.
  5. Adjust seasoning and serve warm.
Note: I have been known to on very lazy days to skip the onion and garlic altogether and just toss in a can of low sodium tomatoes with onion and garlic added already. It really just depends on my mood.

 

For another version of this that’s similarly easy, but with 1 or 2 extra steps to change it up I will skip the beans and put it over pasta, much like this recipe from Clean Eating Magazine.

D4One: Sherry Mushroom Chicken

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I know you have heard me say that I don’t like mushrooms,
but it’s like Momma Chuck says “you have to try something 17 times to know for
sure if you don’t like it”, so I’m still trying them; lately with success.
On our recent trip to NYC for my birthday we went to Butter Restaurant. Inside this
wonderfully chic and intoxicating establishment I ordered homemade ravioli that
came with mushrooms, parsley and pecorino cheese. And let me tell you it was
fabulous! I ate everything on the plate, and like an Italian would I used the
table bread to scoop up the last little bits of goodness. Now I’m on a mission
to try more mushrooms, starting with this recipe.
I was browsing through some chicken and mushroom recipes and
came across this one about a million times, so my guess is that everyone knows
about it, and it’s some sort of classic somewhere, but I had never heard of it,
probably due to my past mushroom aversion. Any-who I decided that since I like Sherry Butter Sauce so much on
its own, that this one was probably a good recipe to start with and surprise,
surprise it was.
Sherry Mushroom
Chicken & Egg Noodles
1 tbs Oil
1 chicken breast, pounded thin
1 tbs organic unsalted butter
1 small shallot, chopped
1 (8 oz) package mushrooms, sliced
¼ cup sherry vinegar
¼ chicken broth
1-2 cups egg noodles, cooked according to package directions
Salt & Pepper to taste
Chopped parsley for garnish

In a large skillet heat oil over medium high heat, cook add
chicken and cook for 3-5 minutes flipping once, until all sides are golden and
chicken is cooked through. Set aside. In the same pan add shallot butter and
mushrooms. Sauté until the shallot and mushrooms become soft, roughly 2-3
minutes. Deglaze with sherry, and broth and cook until thickened add parsley,
and noodles, tossing to coat. Add chicken to warm and adjust seasoning. Serve.