Vegetable Stir Fry with Homemade Orange Sweet/Sour Sauce

This meal was more or less inspired by my love for Chinese food. I typically chicken fried rice or sweet and sour chicken, but this time around, I wanted to try to "Spice up" my usually boring, dull, and plain stir fry with some tangy delicious sauce.

I went to a small grocery store near Andrew's apartment that doesn't have the largest selection but it does the trick and it's a nice and small enough that you don't feel like you are being consumed by a regular sized grocery store.

The vegetables I used were basically what was available at the store: green beans, snow peas, broccoli, red pepper, and some water chestnuts.



Homemade Orange Sweet/Sour Sauce

Ingredients:
2 tsps. Spicy Chili Garlic Sauce (similar to the kinds they serve in restaurants)
2 in. Chunk of Fresh Ginger, peeled and to taste
2 Lemons (or bottled lemon juice will work)
2 Cups Orange Juice (I used with some pulp)
2 tsps. Cornstarch
8 tsps. Water



Directions:
1. Put a frying pan over medium heat. Add in hot chili garlic sauce and orange juice. Stir until mixed and beginning to boil.

2. Grate the fresh ginger into the pan (remember, to taste). Continue to lightly boil the sauce.

3. Mix the cornstarch in a small bowl with the water, until dissolved. Add mixture to the sauce.



4. Continue to stir and allow sauce to boil lightly as the sauce thickens up. When the sauce has thickened to your liking, squeeze in the fresh lemons and give the sauce one more stir.

5. Pour over veggies (and in this case, quinoa).



The sauce is citrus-y with a very pleasant kick. It would also work well on some pork chops with pineapple, onion and pepper or as a sauce on "orange chicken". I plan to use this basic recipe a lot in the future... small tweaks can greatly effect the sweetness, spiciness, or sourness taste!

Enjoy!

Stuffed Poblano Peppers- Sans Meat

Last night, I made stuffed poblano peppers. For those of you who aren't sure, poblano peppers are the larger and longer dark green peppers. They have some kick to their bite, but it's mild. The "stuffing" of these peppers always varies based on what I have around, however the mix I used last night was the best so far! Enjoy :0)

Ingredients:
3 Poblano Peppers, rinsed but NOT cut or seeded
1/2 cup uncooked quinoa (I used 1 cup and had a lot of leftover last night)
1/2 cup precooked black beans, rinsed and drained (I used canned)
1 ear of corn (I cooked 3 last night, 2 leftover)
4 Tbs. of Salsa (I used Archer Farms Lime Tequila Salsa)
2 Tbs. Fresh Garlic, minced (to taste)
3 slices Mozzarella Cheese (or any other cheese you would like)
Salt and Pepper, to taste


Step 1: Place the poblano peppers on a baking sheet and into an oven, preheated for 425 degrees F. Roast for 10 minutes then flip over and continue roasting for an additional 10-15mins or until skin is slightly wilted.

Step 2: While peppers are roasting, soak the quinoa in some water and drain (to get rid of impurities). Place the rinsed quinoa in a pot with 1 cup of water (if you use 1 cup of quinoa, add 2 cups water). Bring the quinoa to a boil, cover, and reduce to a simmer. Let quinoa cook for about 15minutes.





Step 3: In another pot, add ears of corn and cover with water. Place a lid on the pot and cook on Medium-High to desired doneness (I cooked the corn for about 15minutes).



One ear of corn will work for this recipe...


Step 4: while peppers, quinoa, and corn are cooking, work on the rest of the "stuffing". In a bowl, combine minced garlic, salsa, 1/4cup black beans, salt, and pepper. You could also add other spices or hot sauce!





Step 5: Remove the peppers from the oven and let cool for a few minutes.

Step 6: Add 1/2 cup of quinoa to the bowl of stuffing.

Step 7: Cut the corn off of the cob and add 1/2 cup to the bowl of stuffing.

Step 8: Cut a strip out of the poblano pepper, creating a pocket that can be stuffed. Also cut out the stem and seeds, rinsing with cold water to assure no seeds are left behind. Dice up the strip of pepper that was removed and add to the bowl of "stuffing".

Step 9: Mix up all the ingredients in the stuffing bowl. At this point, you can dump all the ingredients into a small pan and warm all the way through (takes about a minute or two).

Step 10: Spoon the stuffing into the 3 peppers, keeping distribution as even as possible.

Step 11: Cover each pepper with 1 slice of mozzarella cheese.

Step 12: Return to the oven and roast until cheese is melty and bubbling slightly.





Enjoy!!!



PS- I served the pepper with a Mild Italian Sausage because we had some, although it is not necessary!

Enchiladas with Homemade Sauce

On Friday, we decided to make enchiladas. We love all Mexican food and there are almost always at least two different kinds of tortillas in the fridge. We had also bought an assortment of peppers from Wholefoods the week before so we could make an enchilada sauce as well. A lot of places sell canned and jarred sauces, but fresh is just so much tastier.

We ended up doing various enchilada fillings that included refried beans, cheese, and a tomato-corn-black bean mixture. For enchiladas, it's always fun to make up the filling based on what you have in the fridge... so this time it was that stuff! A friend of ours, Aileen, suggested using sweet potato which we will definitely have to try sometime!

Enchilada Sauce

Ingredients:
About 10 Hot Peppers, Rinsed (We used different types)
Garlic (Minced and too taste)
2T Olive Oil
1/2 cup minced onion (optional)
1T flour (optional)
Salt and Pepper
2 Cups Water (not shown)


Note*- the habaneros (little orange ones) make the sauce EXTREMELY spicy. Next time we make this recipe, we will be omitting the habaneros.


1. Place the peppers (stems and all) in a pot with about a cup of water. Cover pot with lid and put on medium heat to steam. Steam until outsides of peppers begin to wrinkle and the stems can be removed by lightly pulling upwards.

2. Place the peppers on a cutting board to cool slightly. Reserve the water that the peppers were steamed in.

3. While peppers are cooling, add the olive oil to a skillet on medium-low heat. Add the onion and garlic. Sautee until onions are clear and garlic is light brown. Reduce heat to low.

4. Cut open the peppers. Remove seeds and stems. Cut the peppers into several pieces and place in a blender. Add the reserved pepper water along with 1 more cup of water. Blend mixture together-- it should make a greenish liquid based on what type of peppers you use.

5. Add the pepper liquid to the skillet (with garlic/onion/oil). If the liquid is to thin, the flour can be used, but is usually not necessary. Typically, we have to add some extra water to get it to the right consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste. When the sauce is too your taste, put heat on low.


Note* Again, this sauce was EXTREMELY spicy and if done again, we would omit the habaneros. Also, depending on types of peppers used, the color will vary.


Enchilada Mix:
1. Bag of corn
2. Can of black beans
3. 2 tomatoes



1. If you start with a frozen bag of corn, you can either steam it (the bag shown above is a microwave-steam bag), let it sit out to thaw, or you can dump the contents into a strainer and run hot water over it. The idea is to reduce the amount of excess liquid, so if you choose to rinse it in a strainer, pat dry (doesn't have to be perfect) with a paper towel.

2. Empty the can of black beans into a strainer and rinse well. I read on a blog once that the liquid that is packed with the black beans contains most of the fat and "unhealthy" part of the can. I'm not sure if this is true, but in any event, I don't like the taste of that liquid. Rinse well and again pat lightly with paper towel.

3. Rinse and dice up the tomatoes. Add all three ingredients together and mix. You can also add a squirt of lime juice for added flavor.


Note* This mix is relatively plain in flavor. For added spice, throw in some diced jalapenos or make your own mixture!


Other ingredients needed to complete the Enchiladas:-
1. 1 bag or block of cheese (you will need for inside the enchiladas and on top)
2. Corn Tortillas (typically 10 per 9x13 pan)

Assembling the Enchiladas:

1. Take your corn tortillas, typically 10 or so are needed, and place spread them out on a baking sheet. Place into a preheated 350 degree Fahrenheit oven for about 2 minutes. Warming the tortillas will make them easier to roll and less likely to break.

2. In a 9x13 pan, place a few spoon fulls of enchilada sauce to cover the bottom of the pan.



3. Pick up a corn tortilla and add a Tablespoon or two of the corn-bean-tomato mix. Add a pinch or two of cheese. Roll the corn tortilla (doesn't have to be too tightly). Place the corn tortilla seam side down into the sauced pan.

4. Repeat this with remaining tortillas until the pan is full. You can also fill some tortillas with refried beans and cheese (we did this) or just cheese... or any other filling you have or want to use).

5. Pour the remaining sauce over the enchiladas. Sprinkle cheese (to taste) on top of the pan. Bake at 350 until cheese is melted and slightly browned.




ENJOY!!




Enchiladas from April 9, 2010:
The sauce turned out much milder, so we chopped up some leftover jalapeños to add some spice!

Pasta with Pesto, Broccoli, Artichokes, and Garlic

Last night (Wednesday, March 10th), we were in somewhat of a rush because I had to be back in downtown in about 2 hours to help my friend out at a charity event. That being said, we didn't take picture of the ingredients beforehand nor did we get pictures of actually cooking the meal. We did, however, manage to take a picture of the final product on a plate with only a few bites out of it!

We used whole wheat pasta instead of white flour pasta, which changed the texture somewhat, but was a lot healthier. Overall, I (Meghan) thought it was really tasty- VERY green (which is cool because St. Patrick's Day is next week)! It probably took 20minutes total to make, so it is definitely a quick meal.

We had originally planned on coupling it with garlic knots made from some leftover pizza dough we had in the fridge, but it looked a little spoiled, so we didn't want to chance it. We'll have to save that for next time! Enjoy!

Pasta with Pesto, Broccoli, Artichokes, and Garlic

Ingredients:
1 box whole wheat pasta (any shape)
1 container of basil pesto (we used a container from Wholefoods- about 6oz.)
1 container/bag of spinach, rinsed (you can use as much or as little
1 can artichokes in water (not oil)
2 broccoli crowns, rinsed and cut into edible pieces
Chopped Garlic (to taste- we used 2 cloves)

Directions:
1. Fill a pasta pot about 3/4 of the way with water. Cover with a lid and put on the stove until water is boiling (add a pinch of salt to help with boiling and taste if you'd like). When the water boils, add the pasta and cook until preferred softness. Drain pasta in a strainer, return to pot, cover with lid, and set aside.

2. Place a large skillet on a medium-low. Add the spinach and a couple tablespoons of water (this will help make sure the spinach doesn't burn). Continue to stir spinach to make sure it evenly heats.

3, As the spinach the heats, it will wilt. When it has started wilting, add the broccoli and cover with a lid. The lid will help to steam and cook the broccoli more evenly.

4. When the spinach is completely wilted and the broccoli is cooked to desired tenderness, add the artichokes and garlic. Heat the mixture of veggies for about 2 or 3 minutes.

5. Add the veggies and the pesto to the pot that has the drained and cooked pasta. Put on low heat and heat until all is warmed (about a minute). Enjoy!!!