ICBC Tomatoes

So one of the secret ingredients recently were tomatoes, and I wanted to do something that was at least a little original. I make plenty of marinara sauce, and I can make a pico de gallo, and I can make a bruschetta, but what's something I've never done? So I of course went straight to FoodGawker and discovered fried green tomatoes. Of course! So genius. I found some green tomatoes at the Sunday St. Philips Farmer's Market last weekend, and I chose an unfried green tomatoes recipe I found via FoodGawker. I actually really liked them. We dipped them in a little ranch, and it was a fun and new side. And my sister who doesn't really like tomatoes said she liked the green ones a lot more.

Unfried Green Tomatoes
2 green tomatoes, sliced
1 cup panko crumbs
1 cup shredded Italian cheese
sprinkle of cayenne
pinch of ground black pepper
dash of salt
1 egg

Slice the tomatoes. Beat the egg. Blend cheese and panko with spices. Dip a slice of tomato into the egg, then the panko and place onto a lightly sprayed cookie sheet. After you finish all the tomato slices, spray them with an olive oil cooking spray. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes. They should be crispy and lightly browned. I dipped the unfried green tomatoes in ranch dressing.

Tuesday Night Dinner: Spicy Roasted Chicken Legs+Veggies

This Tuesday night, I chose a really simple recipe for roasted chicken legs from The Pioneer Woman, and then made a few different veggie side dishes (plus a failed attempt at cauliflower-potato mash that's not pictured).


Spicy Roasted Chicken Legs


Iceberg Salad with Cucumbers, Tomatoes and Crispy Bacon


Steamed Broccoli and Yellow Squash


Grilled Red Bell Pepper, Zucchini, Yellow Squash, and Onions

Carrie: ICBC Shallots

My picture's not that great, but that's what happens when I forget to take the picture before we start serving. I decided to make green beans with shallots and pancetta for this week's ICBC ingredient. Green beans are one of our favorite vegetables in this house, and I make them pretty often. Normally what I do is saute them with onions and garlic and soy sauce for seasoning, so I figured shallots would be a good sub, and that pancetta would go nicely with them. It's a simple, uncomplicated side dish, and I think green beans are an easy, tasty way to incorporate vegetables into your meal.

Green Beans with Shallots and Pancetta
green beans
shallots
sliced pancetta
salt and pepper
(I can't offer much in the way of measurements in the green beans, something around five handfuls using a small girl's hand, and then I just added the shallots and pancetta proportionally to that.)

Set a pot of water to boil and drop green beans in boiling water until just tender but still a little crisp. Drizzle a few tablespoons of olive oil into a wok or saute pan and let heat up. Add pancetta and let the pancetta brown and crisp. Then add shallots and let them brown. After the shallots brown, add green beans and toss everything together to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Cook until desired tenderness.

Carrie: Iron Chef Blogger Challenge Peanut Butter

I don't really like peanut butter. I'm crazy, I know, but we've had this discussion before. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches? Not good. So I definitely was a little like oh...peanut butter...when I saw the secret ingredient. I thought about baking, but then decided to see what else I could find. And boy, am I glad I chose not to bake because I haven't loved a recipe this much since ICBC Bacon. I found a recipe on Love and Olive Oil, one of my favorite cooking blog sites. Their Tofu Noodle Toss with Taylor's Kick-Butt Peanut Sauce was so easy to throw together and completely delicious. Just as good the next day for lunch too. Make it. Now. I promise you won't regret it. There are no measurements for how many noodles or veggies, so it's kind of like an estimation game. But that also means it's pretty hard to screw it up. It's a recipe with a fair amount of wiggle room, I think, and that's a good thing.

Tofu Noodle Toss with Taylor's Kick-Butt Peanut Sauce
noodles (I used whole wheat spaghetti)
firm tofu, drained and cubed
veggies (I used eggplant, asparagus, green beans, red bell pepper, red onions, and green onions)
olive oil
kale, rinsed and stems removed

For Peanut Sauce (for 4-5 servings)
2/3 cup peanut butter
6 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons rice vinegar
2 teaspoons garlic salt (which I didn't have so I minced three cloves of garlic and added a pinch of salt)
6 tablespoons brown sugar
2 tablespoons sesame oil
Sriracha chili sauce, to taste
water, if necessary to thin sauce

Cook noodles according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
Add a tablespoon or two of olive oil to a hot pan and brown tofu cubes. Place browned cubes on a plate lined with a paper towel.
Add another tablespoon of oil and cook veggies until tender. Remove from pan and set aside.
Add a couple more tablespoons of olive oil, add kale, and cover. Cook, stirring occasionally, until greens are tender. Remove to a serving dish.
To make peanut sauce, combine all the ingredients except for water to a microwave safe bowl and mix well. Microwave for 40 seconds and stir until smooth. Add a little water if sauce looks too thick. Move tofu and veggies back into the pan, add noodles, then peanut sauce and toss until well coated. Serve atop bed of kale.

Tuesday Night Dinner: Seafood Feasting

Because I am the nicest friend ever and because I figured these would be easy meals, I basically made two dinners last night. I made this Real Simple recipe for Garlicky Broiled Salmon and Tomatoes as well as a pasta tossed with shrimp and diced tomatoes. And because one of the girls is allergic to shrimp and two of the girls don't even eat shrimp, I separated out some pasta and tossed them a separate vegetarian pasta with diced tomatoes, a little bit of eggplant, and some asparagus. I also roasted asparagus. The salmon was delicious, and the tomatoes were okay, probably better if you like tomatoes. And the best part of the recipe was that it all happens together in the oven. See upcoming future post for my pasta, which I combined with Iron Chef Blogger Challenge Alcohol.

Baked Dover Sole & Sauteed Green Beans and Mushrooms

For a quick, easy, and healthy dinner, I highly recommend this one. I'm craving seafood for some reason this week, and so last night I picked up some Dover sole from the store as well as fresh green beans, cremini mushrooms, and a red onion. It was so easy to put together, and everything cooked really fast, which was also a plus given how late I'd gotten home.

Season the fish with a little olive oil, lemon juice, salt, and pepper, making sure to cover both sides. Bake in a 400 degree oven for about 12-15 minutes.

Mince two cloves of garlic. Wash the green beans and put them into boiling water for a couple minutes. Remove from boiling water and dunk into bowl of ice water. Heat olive oil in a wok or skillet. Saute onions until they get a little brown and tender then add green beans and mushrooms. Add the garlic a few minutes later and toss the vegetables together. Season with salt and pepper. Cook until green beans are tender.

Wednesday Night Dinner: Roasted Vegetable Sandwiches

I forgot to take a picture before I dug into my sandwich, so this photo is actually Jake's half-eaten sandwich. I roasted eggplant, zucchini, onions, red bell peppers, and mushrooms for Italian sandwiches topped with capicolla, salami, provolone, pepperoncinis, black olives and red wine vinegar. Scout made sweet potato fries to go along with our sandwiches and we started with an appetizer of artichoke dip bread, post to come sometime later this week. We had a few different desserts as Scout's been on a bit of a baking frenzy. Dinner just keeps turning into a feast every week. It's pretty amazing.

ICBC: Mushrooms

Mushroom Potpies

1 can Cream of Chicken

1 bunch broccoli

2 carrots

1 container white mushrooms (usually blue and Styrofoam)

1 russet potato

1 brown onion

1 roll refrigerated rolls (i.e. Pillsbury)

Milk

Garlic

Salt

Pepper

1. Cut all veggies into small pieces. Put in large pot and heat over medium with some garlic. Veggies should start to soften.

2. Add Cream of Chicken. Add 1 1/2 cans worth of milk. Stir stir stir. Season with salt and pepper.

3. Spoon into ramekins. Top each ramekin with a roll. Bake as per package.

---Review---

I love these and have been making them for awhile (got the recipe from B's mom). If you are not going to use chicken (like me... I used LOTS of mushrooms instead) I would suggest using 2 cans of Cream of Chicken. Or try Cream of Mushroom.

It is nice to have rolls for dipping with this recipe, so plan to have a few extra (maybe make two packages even).

Sarah- Iron Chef Blogger Challenge #4- Bok Choy

A couple things to note about this entry:

1. There is NO bok choy in the stir fry above. There would have been, if my favorite grocery hadn't been out of it and if it hadn't been 4 degrees outside. You just cannot expect me to shop around in 4 degree weather.

2. I don't have explicit directions for you... as stir fry is a kind of go as you go thing... but here's how I suggest you do it.

Bok Choy (hold the Bok Choy) Stir Fry

1. Marinade veggies and chicken (for 3 people I used 2 breasts) separately for at least 30 minutes. Poke little fork holes in your chicken so the sauce gets in there good. I used Panda Express "Mandarin Sauce", soy sauce, garlic and ginger in amounts that looked delicious for marinade and carrots, broccoli and snow peas. I'd also suggest Bok Choy, brown onions, spinach, cauliflower (we'll I'd suggest it if I like it) and bean sprouts.

2. Cook plain white rice (about 1/2 cup per person is plenty!) in a rice cooker.... or you know, however you want.

3. When rice is done, throw your chicken in a pan (along with the left over marinade) and start to cook. Throw your veggies in a wok (with all the left over marinade). Cook chicken till opaque through, cook veggies till slightly wilted.

4. Plate! (Can you tell I've been watching too many cooking shows?) Put the rice on, then veggies, then chicken. Then top with some Mandarin Sauce and soy sauce. Sirracha hot sauce is really good, but super hot so use sparingly. Teryaki sauce is good too, if you aren't fond of Mandarin sauce (me, I could live on it and really did in college).

Wednesday Night Dinner: Roast Chicken and Assorted Veggies

I didn't know quite what to do for dinner this week, only that I was feeling a little lazy, so I picked up a roast chicken from Sunflower Market and then bought some red potatoes, sweet potatoes, an eggplant, and green beans. I tossed the eggplant in olive oil, salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning and roasted them in the oven, not sure how long. I tossed the potatoes in olive oil and seasoning salt and roasted them for about 45 minutes at 400 degrees. I boiled the green beans to get them tender, before sauteeing them in olive oil and garlic. A pretty healthy, well-rounded dinner.