Pak Choi: Highly underestimated

Most of us know it as "Bok Choy" but I prefer to call things what they are. Pronouncing them as they are called is important to me as well, and that is not pretension, but a respectful preference. You can buy this in most any grocery store, I actually found this at a Mexican market, oddly though most people find it almost completely synonymous with Asian food fare. Pak Choi is actually a form of cabbage, although not looking or tasting anything like a traditional one, and is used in some versions of "Kimchi".(Korean pickled cabbage) 

My first discernible experience with this "white vegetable" was when working for Cilantro Live and they had an "Arame & Dulse" Bok Choy salad. I didn't prefer the seaweed aspect of that salad but fell in love with this cabbage's texture. It's really hard to explain to someone what it tastes like when they've never tried it before. It looks like celery, but isn't stringy, it has a leafy top, but isn't lettuce, and definitely doesn't taste like cabbage. I find Pak Choi to have a bland, earthy but pleasant flavor. I feel my liking is more about the texture, cooked or raw. 

"When speaking about health benefits Pak Choi is full of Vitamin A and C. One cup of cooked bok choy provides more than 100% of the recommended dietary allowance of A, and close to two-thirds the RDA of C." (<- From WebMd.com "Bok Choy 10 Healthy facts.)

Pak Choi is also a source of Potassium, Magnesium, Iron, Calcium and Vitamin B-6 and has been found to be one of the Cancer eliminating foods. 

Unfortunately besides Stir fry and Asian cuisine, you don't see much of it around, and I don't think most people would even know what to do with it. But here on Mondays we love Pak Choi and below is a couple quick ways to use it.

 This is a lightly sauteed version of Pak Choi with a little Olive oil and spices.

Ingredients:

2 cup Pak Choi
1 diced Scallion
dash of pepper and lemon chili salt
2-3 Tbs. olive oil

Directions:

In a bowl mix all the ingredients together. Heat a pan and throw it all in on a high heat for 1-2 minutes tossing and turning, you don't want to cook it but rather flash fry it.

Last week I made The Hunebee and Kuizzy a spicy Pak Choi and red bell pepper salad, marinated in a tangy vinaigrette and serrano peppers.

Prep time: 10 minutes
Servings: 2

Cost: $2.00 per jar

Ingredients:

(2 jars)
4 cups Pak Choi
2 serrano peppers, diced very thin
1/2 cup red bell peppers, diced
1 scallion diced

Dressing:
1/3 cup olive oil
1/4 cup vinegar
dash of ginger powder
salt and pepper

Directions:

Mix together all ingredients, and then jar it. The salad should keep for up to 5 days, but again be careful of the serrano pepper's heat. The Hunebee and Kuizzy love SPICY food. You might want to try one pepper the first time.

ENJOY!

Winner, Winner Chicken dinner!

I was about to take the easy way out tonight. I've been exhausted and I see no signs of stopping. Ugh, kinda intimidating when I really think about it, but none the less...ONWARD and UPWARD! Todays agenda was house cleaning overhaul but dinner still had to be made and that's the funny part of being a stay at home Mommy that they never tell you.

Maybe I should enlighten you with the fact that I love to procrastinate. Although in recent times I have found that knowing that and then challenging myself to work to the bone has become such a great joy. Positive energy attracts positive energy and from my diligence this evening I was met with two more opportunities in my personal cook endeavour. I "Tweeted" tonight that I'm seriously in need of a bigger kitchen now, but that has always been the case. Along with my procrastination, I'm a "more the merrier" kinda lady, and somewhere along the line those two together seem to contradict themselves in my own head, but I love it.

Back to the simple dinner that turned into work:) I decided that just doing it is better than skimping out AND the health of my two favorite people in the world is more important than me being lazy. The Hunebee's Mom sent home an organic goodie bag for me this Monday. A bundle of flowing green onions, an over-stuffed bag of minty mint, perfect limes and randomly growing cilantro from her ever bountiful, organic home garden. I had a huge bag of roma tomatoes that I got on sale, 3lb.s for $1, and I decided that I wanted to do a fresh tomato sauce. I was about to add olives and then I remembered having dinner with Momma-Gina last week and that was one of the things she told me to stop eating(tooo much salt). The sauce was for a couple chicken breasts thawing in my sink. I was mulling over what to make with it but rice, potatoes, or pasta just sounded like too much. I was really trying to go NO-carb, so I opted for a Panzanella like salad...ha.

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Servings: 4

Cost: $7 for the whole dinner

Ingredients for Chicken:

2 medium(on the large side) boneless, skinless chicken breasts, sliced in two(4 pieces)
2 Tbs. olive oil
salt and pepper

Sauce:

3 roma tomatoes, diced
1 large garlic clove, chopped
2 green onions, dice the bulb up to the dark green(set aside for salad and garnish)
1/8 cup carrot, minced
1/4 cup olive oil
Dash of dried basil, thyme, oregano and parsley
1/2 cup fresh chopped spinach
salt and pepper
1/3 tsp. white sugar

Directions:

In a small sauce pan, saute scallions, carrots and garlic in olive oil then salt and pepper. Add chopped tomatoes, herbs, salt pepper and sugar. Once the sauce has coked down a little add spinach, turn down the heat and let it simmer very low.

I like to rinse and dry my chicken before cooking it. In the oil, fry on both sides after seasoning. Tonight I added the juice from the chicken directly to the sauce, IT"S FLAVOR!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup pre-shredded carrot
1 roma tomato, diced
1 persian cucumber, partially peeled
1 cup of croutons (Garlic)
about a 1/3-1/4 cup of scallion leaves chopped

Dressing:

1/3 cup olive oil
1/8 cup red wine vinegar
1 tsp. yellow mustard
Salt
1 small serrano pepper, sliced thin, about 1 Tbs. (watch out!)

Toss the salad and dressing right before you are about to serve so it doesn't get soggy. Also be careful of  the serrano pepper, use less if you aren't familiar with its heat.

ENJOY! 

 

Smothered Pork Chops...(a play on Pork and Beans)

This has been a crazy week. There has been so much to do but without a structure it's thrown me off my horse a bit. I've gotten to spend time with family, which is always a plus, but my Monday Madness turned into a Tasty Tuesday. Having a structure to my week is really important and pushing even one thing back or out of the way can cause a domino effect. My Wednesday night meeting had to take a back seat to a whole lot of restructuring. On a more positive note I was finally able to fix the "Coming Soon" page on my Website and it was an adventure! Now it has a professional landing page and a second page "About Me", but at this time it's redirect back to this Blogspot. I have to admit while the Website is challenging it is also very exciting.

Last night I decided I needed to center myself around a table of good food and family. I invited my Sissie-in-law and her boyfriend over to eat and laugh with us. Earlier in the day I had made a batch of garbanzo beans, fresh tomatoes, garlic and green olives (recipe found in "You say Chickpea, I say Garbanzo bean.) it was meant for the baby and I to snack on for a couple days. It  was decided that it would be a great side to dinner so I added a can of white beans so there was enough for the four of us (Ty excluded, he dislikes Beans with a vengeance). The carrot salad from last week sounded like a great addition as well. Dinner turned into a fancy Pork and Beans, which was an observation once we sat that was more funny than literal. I had bought fresh Oaxaca Cream (Sour Cream) from a Mexican market near my house last Sunday that I knew I was going to use for this very dish. This smothered pork, I had many times growing up but had never really made on my own or atleast this successful anyway. I also reduced the pnion's in a Cabernet Ty bought for me last week, which he picked out very well, and I was pleasantly surprised with it. The Wine was not a part of the recipe from when I was a kid which is a perfect example of the method to my madness.

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 45 minutes
Servings: 4
Price for WHOLE dinner: about $15.00

Ingredients:

4 bone-in pork chops, trim fat
3 Tbs. butter, to fry pork chops
2 1/2 cups onion sliced into rings
2 cups stock or broth, I used chicken
2 Tbs. olive oil
1/4 cup Cabernet Sauvignon
16 oz. Oaxaca Cream (Sour Cream)
salt and sepper
sprinkle of parsley flake

Directions: Salt and pepper both sides of the pork chops' and fry on both sides in butter. I did two at a time as to not crowd the pan and to achieve browning, which is integral for the onions and basis for the sauce. Make sure they are cooked all the way through and set the pork aside to finish the sauce.

This is the wine I used to deglaze my onions. It has a great flavor for savory meals although you could use any white or red wine that isn't sweet. I used red because it's what I had.

Saute your onions in olive oil and add 1 cup of the stock once they start cooking down. When they soak up a majority of the stock, which should take about 15 minutes, add the wine and let it cook down for about 5 minutes on med/high. Remember to also salt the onions and add the parsley flake at this point.

Before adding the cream use the remaining cup of stock and simmer for about 5-7 minutes.

 Add the cream in all at once and mix with a whisk to incorporate quickly, turn the heat down to Low/Med so you don't burn the cream or break it down. Salt and Pepper again if needed. Cook for an additional 5 or so minutes and then remove from the heat.

I put the pork chops in the Sauce and submerged them to soak while I got everything to the table. All the juice that collects on the plate where they are resting adds a great dimension to the sauce.

It was so awesome it was hard for us to stop eating! I sadly have to admit we used almost a whole loaf of white bread to soak up the sauce...shhhhh...secrets! This will surely be a favorite in any household!

ENJOY!

8 Easy Gluten Free Salads!

I love salad! All kinds of salad, but I don't always want lettuce. There are so many ways to jazz up a salad night whether you make it the main dish or a side to an awesome meal, and sometimes just to snack on. Whether they are full of vegetables, fruits, fish, meat or pasta they can be quick, easy, healthy and Gluten Free. Here is a list of 8 that the "bunch" love along with friends and family alike. There is one more thing we do quite frequently here....re-using leftovers. I hate wasting food, and as long it is still "good" then I try to integrate:) Hence the Orzo in salad number 1.

1. This is a GF Tortellini and Orzo salad. 

Ingredients:

1 lb. three cheese tortellini cooked, drained and cooled (gluten free)

1/4 cooked orzo, (left over) (gluten free)

2 medium vine tomatoes, diced

1/3 cup chopped parsley, fresh

1 Tbs. minced fresh garlic

Dressing:

1/3 cup olive oil

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

Gluten Free Tortellini and Orzo Salad

2. Here is a shrimp salad that I do many variations of, and this week I chose fresh pineapple, red onion and tomatoes.

Ingredients:

1 lb. of raw large shrimp, flash boiled and cooled in an ice-bath

1/2 cup of cilantro, chopped

1/3 cup minced red onion

1/2 cup sliced grape tomatoes

1 cup diced fresh pineapple

Dressing:

Juice of 4 medium sized lemons

1 tsp. honey

salt and pepper to taste

Shrimp Salad

3. Cauliflower, artichoke, tomato, braised mushroom and black olive New Years salad. This New Years was a fancy BBQ dinner! We had sausages, BBQ chicken, fun salads and a bunch of informal, great eats.

Ingredients:

1 head of cauliflower, steamed, drained and cooled (it releases a lot of water so make sure you drain it thoroughly, or it'll water down your dressing while it marinates)

1 14 oz. can of black olives, drained

2 14 oz. cans of water packed artichoke hearts 

2 oz packages of mushrooms (braised in beer from earlier)

1 cup of grape tomatoes sliced in half

Dressing:

1/3 cup olive oil

1/4 cup of apple cider vinegar

1/2 Tbs. ginger power

salt and pepper to taste  

Cauliflower, Artichoke, Tomato, Mushroom and Olive Salad

4. Caprese salad, ugh has to be one of my most favorite! Who doesn't love those fresh little Buffalo Mozzarella Balls! This we had Christmas Day with a cold cuts platter and smoked salmon. Dreamy:)

Ingredients:

2 cups grape tomatoes, sliced in half (long ways)

1 16 oz. container of buffalo mozzarella balls, drained

fresh basil leaves torn, and a couple whole for garnishing

Dressing:

Drizzle olive oil and balsamic vinegar over the top. I would say about 3 Tbs. of each

and salt to taste. 

Caprese Salad

5. Gluten Free rotini pasta salad. This was made for The Hunebee and KATvonVapure.

Ingredients:

1 Lb. Gluten Free pasta (Rotini)

1/8 cup of oven roasted red bell peppers, diced (home roasted)

5 large fresh basil leaves chopped, rough

1/4 cup frozen peas

1/3 cup diced tomatoes

1/4 cup minced carrot

Dressing:

1/3 cup olive oil

1/4 cup Greek yogurt

1/8 cup apple cider vinegar

1 tsp. dried basil 

salt and pepper to taste

Gluten Free Pasta Salad

6. Red Cabbage, Tomato, Celery, Green Onion Italian slaw. 

Ingredients:

1/2 head of red cabbage, shredded

1 cup thin sliced celery with leaf

2 medium vine tomatoes, diced large

2 green Oonions chopped (whole onion)

Dressing:

1/3 cup of olive oil

1/8 cup red wine vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

Red Cabbage Slaw

.

7. Pineapple, Celery, Red onion and Green Onion Salad.

Ingredients:

1 can of diced pineapple (large)

1/3 cup of celery sliced thin

2 green onions, chopped

1/4 cup sliced red onion

Dressing:

1/8 cup pineapple juice from the can

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1/2 Tbs. ginger powder

salt to taste (would've been great with pepper)

Pineapple, Celery Red and Green Onion Salad

 8. Ok one more Slaw salad this one is really great if you love pickled beets and grapefruit!

Ingredients:

1/2 head of red cabbage, shredded
1/2 cup of garden fresh, home pickled beets
1/2 a Red onion sliced
1 whole pink Grapefruit, sliced and diced into thin pieces

Dressing:

1/3 cup of olive oil
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
1 tsp. mustard powder
salt to taste

Red Cabbage, Beets, Grapefruit and Red onion Slaw

So here it is a great list of ideas to follow, improvise and add to. ENJOY!

Carrot salad

There was so much response to my Facebook post that I decided to give the people what they want! ;)

I bought an already shredded bag of carrots, it's just easier that way, and the 1 lb. bag cost a $1.00! I only used half the bag, a grapefruit from The Hunebee's Mom's house, cilantro and fresh ginger. Making the whole bowl of salad came in at a cost of $2.00, and I think out of that you could get 4 servings.

Ingredients:

1/2 bag of shredded carrots (1 lb.)

1 small pink grapefruit (diced small)

1 tsp. of minced fresh Ginger

1/4 cup cilantro

Dressing:

1/3 cup of olive oil

1/4 cup apple cider vinegar

1 tsp. powdered ginger

salt

ENJOY!

So nice, I made it twice!

On my Monday night cook-fest for Christine, a menu I never plan, I made a 2 Bean Salad with lots of other goodies. With some things I bought, and some items she had left in the fridge and cupboards I created this salad that goes fast! I liked it so much that the next day, when at home, I whipped it up between feeding the baby lunch. Incidentally the baby and I shared the whole thing through out the rest of that day! It's full of protein, herbs and has Mushrooms and Tomatoes. The dressing is all vinegar and spices, very tangy and herb-filled! The beans make it pretty hardy so if just for a snack, or paired with dinner, its great.

Ingredients:

1 can of Garbanzo Beans (Chick Peas)
1 can of dark red Kidney Beans
1 8oz package of Mushrooms
1/2 cup of diced Tomatoes (i used fresh, but could try canned one day)
1 clove minced Garlic
2 medium sliced Green Onions
1/3-1/2 cup Red Wine Venegar
2 Tsp. Balsamic Vinegar
2 Tbs. of stock (any kind, you could even use Base mixed with a little water)
Dried Basil and Parsely
1/3 tsp Ginger Powder
1/3 tsp Garlic Powder
Knorr Chicken Base powder
Lemon Pepper

Directions:

Rinse the beans (together) in a colander then let them sit to drain. Take the package of Mushrooms (if sliced add a "rough" chop, or leave sliced. I did it both ways) Saute lightly in a pan with a small amount of Olive oil, sprinkle dried Basil, Parsley and Lemon Pepper. When they look coated add the liquid (stock or base and water) to deglaze, once the stock is mostly absorbed deglaze again with the Balsamic vinegar. The Mushrooms should be moist but not soaked. Set them aside to cool ( room temp, maybe a little warm). In a bowl add the Red wine vinegar, Ginger, Garlic powder, a good sprinkle of Lemon pepper, Basil, Parsley and Chicken Base (careful with the Knorr, it's concentrated). Chop your Tomatoes, Onions and Garlic. Once the Beans are drained and Mushrooms are cooled throw all of it into a large bowl and mix. Let it sit or eat right away, either way it will keep well, but I couldn't keep my spoon out of it! :)