Friday, March 11, 2011

March Meals

White Chili - Britta

Broccoli Potato Cheese Soup - Cheryl

Apricot Chicken - Julianne

Grilled Pork Loin w/Creamy Pesto Sauce and Quinoa Salad - Julie


Stroganoff Sandwiches - Kim

Crock Pot Creamy Chicken - Kimberly

Market Street Meatloaf - Melanie

Triple Citrus Chicken - Tamara

Apricot Chicken

1-2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts, diced (or use tenders)
1 (8 oz) bottle of Russian or Catalina Dressing
1 small jar of apricot preserves
1 package dry onion soup mix
2 tsp curry powder (optional)

Preheat oven to 350. Mix dressing, jam and onion soup mix together. Pour over chicken. Bake, for 1 hour (cover for the first half of cooking). Serve on its own or with rice.

Stroganoff Sandwiches

1 pound lean ground beef (90% lean)
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
Salt and pepper to taste
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 can (4 ounces) sliced mushrooms, drained
1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
1 loaf French bread, cut in half lengthwise
2 medium tomatoes, thinly sliced
1 medium green pepper, cut into rings
1 cup (4 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese

Directions

In a skillet, brown beef with onion. Drain. Season with the garlic powder, salt, pepper and Worcestershire sauce. Remove from the heat and stir in mushrooms and sour cream; set aside.

Place it with the bread side up on a baking sheet; broil until light golden brown.

Reset oven to 375°. Spread bread with ground beef mixture. Top with the tomatoes, pepper rings and cheese. Bake for 5 minutes or until the cheese melts. Serve immediately. Yield: 6-8 servings.

Quinoa Salad

1 cup quinoa (rinsed)
1 can chicken broth (14 oz)
1 Tablespoon olive oil

Place rinsed quinoa and chicken broth in medium pan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cover. Simmer 20-25 minutes or until all liquid is absorbed. Place cooked quinoa in a bowl and toss with olive oil. Refrigerate until cooled completely.

Dice the following ingredients into small dices.

½ cucumber
½ red or green pepper
1 tomato
1-2 Tablespoons red onion
half a bunch of cilantro
1 avocado (slice and place on top of salad to garnish)

When Quinoa is cooled add diced veggies and toss. Season as desired with salt and pepper.

Grilled Pork Loin with Creamy Pesto Sauce

1-2 lb. lean pork loin
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 teaspoon Italian herbs
Salt/pepper

Sauce ingredients
1 Tablespoon butter
4 teaspoons flour
1/8 teaspoon ground pepper
1 cup milk
2 Tablespoons pesto

Brush or rub pork with olive oil. Sprinkle both sides with Italian herbs, salt and pepper. Place on hot grill. Cook 8-10 minutes on each side or until juices run clear or 155 degrees internally. Remove from grill and cover with tin foil. Let sit 5 minutes. You don’t want to overcook it or it will dry out and be less tender.

While pork is grilling, in a small saucepan melt butter. Stir in flour and pepper. Add milk. Cook and stir until slightly thickened and bubbly. Cook for 1 minute more. Remove from heat and stir in pesto.

Slice pork loin and drizzle with sauce. Serve with Quinoa salad.

Triple Citrus Chicken

4-6 skinless, boneless breasts
1 tsp grated lemon zest
1 tsp grated orange zest
1 clove garlic, peeled and minced
1 Tbl chives, chopped
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper
3 Tbl fresh lime juice
2 Tbl fresh lemon juice
1 Tbl honey
1 tsp balsamic vinegar
2 Tbl vegetable oil

For freezing: Place all ingredients into a 1 Gallon freezer bag. Lay flat
in freezer. Thaw overnight. Bake in the oven at 350 for 30 mins or you can grill them. Serve over rice.

Broccoli Potato Cheese Soup

4 Tb Butter
1 Leek, diced
1 Minced garlic clove
1 Diced carrot
3 Diced medium red potatoes
4 C Chicken stock
1 Bay leaf
½ tsp Celery seed
1 tsp Dried thyme
¼ C Slivered fresh basil
1 Bunch broccoli, chopped
1 C Heavy cream
Dash Cayenne pepper
1 C Monterrey Jack cheese
Salt & Pepper to taste

In a large pot, melt butter over medium-high. Add leeks, garlic and carrots. Cook until softened, about 3 minutes. Add potatoes; cook 2 minutes. Add stock, bay leaf, celery seed, thyme and basil. Boil; reduce heat to medium and cook until potatoes are barely tender, about 15 minutes. Add broccoli and cook 10 minutes until tender. Pull out some of the broccoli and set aside. Puree the soup in blender. Pour back into pot and stir in cream, cheese, reserved broccoli and rest of seasonings. Keep hot until ready to serve but do not boil.

Market Street Meat Loaf with Fingerling Potatoes

from Silver Palate Cookbook

3 TBL unsalted butter
¾ cup finely chopped onion
¾ cup finely chopped scallions, white bulb and 3 inches of green
½ cup finely chopped carrots
¼ cup finely chopped celery
¼ cup minced red bell pepper
¼ cup minced green bell pepper
2 tsp minced garlic
Salt, to taste
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
½ tsp ground white pepper
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
3 eggs, well beaten
½ cup ketchup
½ cup half-and-half
2 lbs lean ground beef chuck
12 oz sausage meat (no fennel-flavored Italian sausage)
¾ cup fine fresh bread crumbs, toasted

1. Preheat oven to 375°
2. Melt butter in a heavy skillet, and add the onion, scallions, carrots, celery, bell peppers, and garlic. Cook, stirring often, until the moisture from the vegetables has evaporated, 10 minutes. Set aside to cool; then refrigerate, covered, until chilled, at least 1 hour.
3. Combine the salt, black pepper, white pepper, cayenne, cumin, nutmeg, and eggs in a mixing bowl, and beat well. Add the ketchup and half-and-half. Blend thoroughly.
4. Add the chuck, sausage, and bread crumbs to the egg mixture. Then add the chilled
vegetables and mix thoroughly with your hands, kneading for 5 minutes.
5. With damp hands, form the mixture into an oval approximately 17 x 4 ½ x 1 ½ inches – resembling a long loaf of bread.
6. Place the meat loaf in a baking dish, and place the dish inside a larger pan. Pour boiling water into the larger pan until it reaches halfway up the sides of the baking dish.
7. Place the pan in the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes.
8. Remove the baking dish from the water bath, and let the meat loaf rest for 20 minutes before slicing and serving.


Fingerling Potatoes

Rinse fingerlings, pat dry, cut into bite-sized pieces with skins intact. Toss in EVOO (extra virgin olive oil) and sprinkle with your favorite spices (i.e., S&P, thyme, rosemary). Roast in a covered casserole dish at 350° for 30 minutes or until tender.

Crock Pot Creamy Chicken

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts cubed
2 TBS butter
2 cans healthy request cream of mushroom soup
8 oz. sour cream
1 package ranch dressing mix
jasmine rice

Put chicken into crock pot with all other ingredients and stir. Cook on low 3-4 hours. Stir again and serve over jasmine rice.