Brussels Sprouts

It's another veggie filled Lenten Friday! This yummy dish will help you forget that you're depriving yourself of meat. I love brussels sprouts! They are high in fiber and protein and low in fat. They are also so easy to prepare and you can really get creative with them. Here is a recipe that my friend NP shared with me. I love that she sprinkled them with red pepper flakes at the end, because I love adding red pepper flakes to everything! It's a quick way to add an extra kick to your dishes and it doesn't overpower. Enjoy!

In an enameled cast iron pot, add a generous amont of butter and olive oil and let it get warm. Then add in the brussels sprouts that are halved, a little garlic and finely chopped onion. Add in a little salt and pepper. Then I deglazed the bottom of the pan with a little white wine. Finally, sprinkle a little red pepper flakes and parmesan on top.

Breaded Pork Chops

 

This is a recipe that I saw Lucinda Scala Quinn make on the Martha Stewart Show. It seemed so easy and what I really liked about it was that it was quick. It is also something that you can keep in the freezer for those evenings when you come home late and don't really feel like spending a lot of time cooking. The Husband loves pork chops and so I was eager to try it. He loved it!

Ingredients:

(Makes 8)

4 large eggs

1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons packed finely chopped fresh sage

8 bone-in pork chops (1 inch thick and 2 1/2 to 3 pounds total)

2 cups plain dried breadcrumbs

Coarse salt and ground pepper

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, melted

1/4 cup vegetable oil

Directions: 

In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, mustard, and sage and let stand 15 minutes. Meanwhile, pound each pork chop (avoiding bone) between two pieces plastic wrap to a 1/4-inch thickness. 

Spread breadcrumbs on a rimmed baking sheet and season with salt and pepper. Pour egg mixture onto another rimmed baking sheet. In batches, season pork chops with salt and pepper and coat in egg mixture. Gently shake to remove excess, then dredge in breadcrumbs, pressing to adhere. Freeze pork chops (see below). 

To serve, heat broiler. Place a rimmed baking sheet in broiler to heat. For each frozen chop, combine 1 1/2 teaspoons melted butter and 1 1/2 teaspoons oil; brush on both sides. For each batch of two, place chops on sheet and broil until both sides are deep golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes, flipping halfway through.

Honey-Soy Broiled Salmon

Please excuse the quality of this picture. I was only with IPhone when I made this dinner. It's that time of year again where we abstain from eating meat on Fridays. And since it is Lent, I will be trying to make more fish dishes and more veggie dishes. Here is a salmon recipe that I found on Food Network. I went a little easy on the sauce, but you can drizzle more on top if you'd like.

Ingredients:

1 scallion, minced

2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce

1 tablespoon rice vinegar

1 tablespoon honey

1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger

1 pound center-cut salmon fillet, skinned and cut into 4 portions

1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds

Directions:

Whisk scallion, soy sauce, vinegar, honey and ginger in a medium bowl until the honey is dissolved. Place salmon in a sealable plastic bag, add 3 tablespoons of the sauce and refrigerate; let marinate for 15 minutes. Reserve the remaining sauce.

Preheat broiler. Line a small baking pan with foil and coat with cooking spray. Transfer the salmon to the pan, skinned-side down. (Discard the marinade.) Broil the salmon 4 to 6 inches from the heat source until cooked through, 6 to 10 minutes. Drizzle with the reserved sauce and garnish with sesame seeds.

Katsu Curry

The other night we had a simple, but flavorful supper of pork katsu curry. All I did was saute chopped onions, potatoes and carrots in a pot. When cooked halfway through, I added water and covered to boil. I then added Korean curry powder. When the veggies are soft and everything is bubbling, it is ready. In a separate pan I fried pork cutlets that had been rolled in egg, flour and Japanese panko bread crumbs. Place the fried cutlet on a bed of rice and cover with a generous amount of the curry. It's so good. Make extra for leftovers! A few days later, I added chunks of chicken to the curry and had it over rice. J had it over spaghetti. You can do whatever you want with it. Enjoy!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day! 

Wishing everyone lots of love and friendship!

Kale Lemonade

I'm still on my kale kick. I blended a bunch of kale with a little bit of water in my fabulous Blendtec, which is one of my favorite appliances. I had to pulse for awhile to get rid of the chunks. I keep this in a pitcher in the fridge and whenever I feel like something refreshing and healthy, I mix it with cold lemonade over ice. 1/3 part kale and 2/3 part lemonade. Yum!

Korean Spicy Tofu Soup Ingredient

This is the seafood soup powder that I use. It has a good flavor that is not too strong. There is also no MSG in it. You should be able to find it at any Korean market in the spices aisle.

Korean Spicy Tofu Soup

The other night I was in the mood for something warm and hearty. The weather has been a little chilly lately, and I felt that soup would be perfect for dinner. Creamy? No. Veggie? Nah. I couldn't quite pinpoint the craving. Until I spotted the tofu in the back of my fridge. I decided to make this Korean spicy tofu soup, soon dubu. Husband and I love it. It is a typical Korean comfort food dish. We always go out for it and I have never made it at home, although I've been meaning to try for forever. It is traditionally made in individual hot stone pots and it is bubbling and sizzling when served at restaurants. I do have a stone pot, but it is small and I wanted to make a big batch of the soup. So I used a regular pot. For my first try, it turned out great! I had to make a few substitutions and do without some ingredients, but it was barely noticeable. The recipe below is the full recipe. I will definitely be making it more regularly.

My substitutions: I used firm tofu chopped into cubes instead of a tube of soft tofu. Also, I had no chili oil, so I heated a little olive oil in a pan and added dried chili pepper flakes. Let this sizzle for a bit and it makes a basic chili oil.

Ingredients:                                                                                            

1 tube of extra soft tofu

6 oz. ground beef

A few portabello mushrooms chopped

1 chopped yellow onion

1/2 cup of chopped green onions

Spoon of minced garlic

1 tbsp miso paste (deng-jang)

1.5 tsp of red pepper paste (gochu-jang)

Chili oil

Sesame oil

Seafood soup powder

Directions:

In a bowl mix together the miso paste, pepper paste, chili oil, sesame oil and garlic. In a pot heat up a little oil. Add in the paste mixture until it's heated and becomes soft. Then add in the ground beef and cook over medium heat. After the beef is cooked through, add 4 cups of water. (I used half chicken broth and half water). I then added a few spoons of seafood soup powder. [Usually this soup has some seafood in it, but I prefer it without the clams and shrimp. The seafood powder adds the right amount of flavor without it being fishy]. Cover and bring to a boil. After it begins to boil, add the tofu, onions and mushrooms and a last drop of chili oil. When it's cooked through, turn off the heat and crack an egg in it right before serving. 

Serve with a side of rice.

Super Bowl XLIV

Another Super Bowl has come and gone. This is definitely one of those days in the year when all diets go out the window. Husband and I hosted a party and yes, there was a lot of fried chicken along with pizza, sausage, meatballs, wings, chips and dips. I decided to not care about eating poorly, but I made myself feel a little better by cutting up some veggie sticks. This week I'm back on the diet...for now!

Long Stemmed Calla Lilies

I don't know what makes me more happy, fresh flowers around the house or beautifully scented candles. Aren't these long stemmed Callas so pretty? It's an easy way to spruce up the place. Affordable too! $3.49 for one bunch at Trader Joe's!