Apple Turnovers

I made these miniature and froze half of the batch for later eating. The amount of filling is too great here but I usually end up eating it before it makes it into the pastries… so we’re even, right?

• 1 sleeve of puff pastry (if anything is not going to happen it is going to be me taking the time to make puff pastry – seriously the amount of work that goes into it is insane)
• 2 granny smith apples, peeled and minced
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup sugar substitute
• Cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves as needed
• Flour as needed for thickening the filling – I used sorghum flour
• Splash of whiskey for flavor
• 1 egg white, whisked until lightly fluffy (not meringue)

 

Gently sauté the apples, whiskey, pecans, brown sugar, flour and spices until the apples are mostly tender. Add the artificial sweetener and allow to cool. Preheat the oven to 400° F – convection setting at like 375° F.

After the puff pastry has thawed roll it out and cut it into the desired number of turnovers. Cutting it into fourths makes the standard size but I cut mine into ninths and froze 4 of them. Whisk the egg white until fluffy in a small bowl. This will be your egg wash.

Fill the pastries and fold them over, sealing to close them. Brush with egg white. Leave space between the pastries and pop them in the oven until the tops are lightly brown and very much puffed up. Noms!

 

Miniature! Not pretty but very tasty. (I suck at prettifying baked goods)

Cast Iron Skillet Pizza

Matt overate but didn’t feel bad because the ingredients aren’t overly fatty! We don’t like a lot of cheese and the crust looks heavier than it actually is. Letting the dough rise for a while makes it airy!

Crust

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sorghum flour (or rough semolina – this is for the gritty crust feeling that you experience at pizza places)
• 12 oz. water
• 1 package yeast
• Italian seasoning blend
• Olive oil for the pan

Sauce

• 1 can of organic diced tomatoes
• 1/2 can of organic tomato paste
• 1 glass red wine
• Minced garlic
• Diced onions
• Italian seasoning blend (with fresh basil)
• Lots of cayenne

Toppings

• Toppings of choice – today I used baked chicken tenderloins, fat free feta crumbles, dried basil, and shaved Parmesan

Follow these steps for making the dough and adding toppings. To make the sauce blend everything in a blender and slowly simmer for a while in a pan to improve  the antioxident and lycopene content.  We love to have extra sauce on hand to dip our pizza slices. This pizza was DIVINE!

 

Carrot Souffle

I eat this for lunch quite often. Veggies + protein from egg whites = happy tummy.

• 4-5 large carrots, chopped and boiled
• 8 oz. egg whites
• 1/4 – 1/2 cup sugar replacer
• 1 tbsp flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• Lots of cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and cloves

Mix all ingredients in a blender and pour into a prepared pan. Bake in oven at 350° F until the top feels springy.

From Chefmorgan.com

Black Bean Sweet Potato Chili

Yum! A mixture of spicy and sweet – and filled with vitamins!

• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and cubed into 1 inch or smaller pieces
• 1 chicken breast, cubed
• 1 red bellpepper, diced or minced
• 2 cans organic diced tomatoes
• 2 cans black beans, drained
• 1/2 can organic tomato paste
• 1/2 cup onions, diced
• 1/4 cup red onions, diced
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• Too much garlic
• Salsa jar of your choice – I love Cowboy Caviar
• 1/4 cup textured vegetable protein (optional)
• Reduced Sodium Better Than Boullion – Chicken
• Cumin, chili powder, black pepper, cayenne pepper, paprika, coriander.
• Splash of hot sauce.

Sauté onions and peppers with a bit of olive oil. Add garlic and sweet potato. Stir for 2 minutes then add salsa, diced tomatoes, boullion, tomato paste, and dried spices (TVP here if you’re using it). Wait five minutes then add beans. Eat up! It’s sooo good!

Served with soy and flaxseed tortilla chips!

What’s In my Pantry Curry

This is my fallback for when I have a lot of vegetables in my fridge and want to have a filling/spicy/healthy meal.

• Thai curry paste (Maesri is amazing….. but very spicy because it is actually Thai) – Red is super spicy – Panang and yellow are sweetly spicy – Green is slightly citrusy
  • Trader Joe’s has prepared curry in jars that you don’t have to add coconut milk to
• 1 can of light coconut milk
• Whatever veggies that can withstand stir-frying that I have
  • Generally onions, carrots, and garlic are always in there
• 1 chicken breast OR seitan
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• Sprinkling of peanuts
• Splash of thai fish sauce

Sauté onions with a bit of evoo. Add the paste and the coconut milk stirring to combine. Add the veggies to the pot and when they are half way cooked add the meat. Sprinkle on fish sauce and peanuts.

Noms!

Sautéed Rainbow Chard

Sautéed Rainbow Chard

• 1 bunch rainbow chard
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• Huge spoonful of minced garlic
• Huge spoonful of minced shallots OR onions
• 1 tbl. lemon juice
• Parmesan to sprinkle
• Pepper and salt to taste
• Pinch of cayenne pepper

Remove the stems from the leaf and slice the stems into small pieces. Add shallots/onions and stems to olive oil in pan and sauté until they become slightly tender. Tear apart the leaves to a smaller size. Add leaves and sauté until wilted or just past wilted (the way I like them). Add lemon juice, dried spices, and sprinkle with parmesan.

Lazy Clam Chowder

No potatoes in this chowder – we have to save on carbs in this house! It isn’t super creamy or super thick – just thick enough. After all, the part of clam chowder that makes it unhealthy is the roux and the cream. Matt LOVES this chowder (and he works next to the worldwide chowder champion).

• 4 cans of Trader Joe’s Cherrystone Clams
• 1 – 1.5 cups diced onions
• 1 – 1.5 cups diced celery
• 1 – 2 cups minced carrots
• 4 – 6 oz. bacon, diced
• 1 can clam broth/juice
• 1 tiny can of no salt added corn
• Dried thyme
• Black pepper
• Hot sauce
• Sprinkling of fish sauce
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1/3 cup butter
• Fat free half-and-half (as much as needed for the right consistency)

I usually start by shredding the onions, celery, and clam broth in a blender until I get them to a teeny tiny minced size (the broth is there to “lubricate” the process along). Start slowly simmering this in a soup pot and eventually add the minced carrots. Drain the clam broth from the cans and manually mince them (you can buy them pre-minced and I heartily suggest this to save time). Sauté the diced bacon until it is mildly crispy and then add the bacon to the simmering mixture. Using the same pan that you made the bacon in, melt the butter. Whisk in flour until smooth to make the roux. Turn off the burner and whisk in the half-and-half and stir until smooth. Drop the diced clams into the simmering mixture. Finally, slowly stir in the roux mixture until well combined. Eat!!

Whittled down a few of the less nutritious ingredients to make this slightly less creamy but NO less tasty clam chowder.

Balsamic Brussel Sprouts with Red Onions

I’ll eat the entire plate myself… like I did tonight  ^.^

• 2 cups fresh brussel sprouts, quartered
• 1/2 – 3/4 cup red onion, minced
• 1/6-1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• Black pepper
• Olive oil

Roast quartered brussel sprouts on oiled tray, flipping on all sides until lightly roasted at 400° F. When the sprouts are nearly finished roasting start sautéing the red onions in a skillet with the olive oil. Pull the sprouts out and add them and some black pepper to the onions and sauté, adding a bit of water if needed to prevent burning. When nearly softened to your liking add the balsamic vinegar and heat until reduced. Serve.

Pic of a similar finished product because I ate it all too quickly.

“Moussaka”

μουσακάς

Quote, moussaka, quote.  This contains no lamb or Béchamel and the eggplant is not fried so we’ll take the name and run with it.

• 1.25 lb ground turkey
• ~1 cup diced onions
• 1 diced red pepper
• Too freaking much garlic (we have a garlic problem – I probably used like 8-10 cloves)
• Olive oil
• Nutmeg
• Cinnamon (ceylon is better than cassia)
• Dried oregano
• Dash of powdered ginger
• Black pepper
• Reduced Sodium Better Than Boullion – Chicken
• Cayenne pepper to taste
• 3/4 container organic tomato paste
• 1 cup red wine (I used shiraz)
• 2 eggplants, peeled and cut crosswise into 1/2 in or smaller thickness
• 3 large eggs (cage free!!! poor chickens…)
• 1/2 cup reduced fat sour cream
• 1/2 cup greek yogurt
• Nutmeg, cinnamon, black pepper, dash of salt
• Parmesan, grated as needed (optional)

Broil the eggplants (sprayed with evoo!) at 400° F, flipping on both sides until lightly browned and softened. This lets you skip the eggplant salting bullshit and you don’t have to fry the slices (saving calories so you can eat more moussaka).

Olive oil, onions, red pepper, and dried spices  sautéed until mostly translucent (onions first to avoid burning the rest). Add the ground turkey and garlic to the mixture and cook until meat is half way cooked. Add the tomato paste and boullion and cook for another minute or so. Add the red wine and heat until it is greatly reduced.

Spray a casserole dish and make a layer of the broiled eggplant slices. Cover with 1/2 of the meat/veggie mixture. Make another layer of eggplant and cover that again with the other half of the meat mixture.

Wanted to make the eggplant fit! It’s not supposed to be pretty dangit – it’s supposed to be yummy!

Whip the eggs, sour cream, greek yogurt, and spices below it on the list. Cover the casserole with this mixture. Sprinkle on the grated Parmesan. Place in the oven for 45 minutes at 400° F.

Not super pretty but pretty yummy!

Chicken in a White Wine Mirepoix Sauce

In a rush and only had boneless chicken breasts on hand. This would be much better if made with seared and then roasted skin-on chicken thighs!! Still using up that same bottle of white wine from the Seafood Brodetto and Herb Rubbed Pork Sirloin Tip Roast.

• Two large chicken breasts cut into 1-2 inch pieces
• 4-6 oz ham (bacon or panchetta would work also – I just had it leftover in the freezer from Christmas)
• Half bottle of white wine
• ~1 cup diced carrots
• 3/4 cup diced onions (shallots would be better probably but much less…)
• 4-6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/3 cup diced celery
• 2 tbsp butter
• Reduced Sodium Better Than Boullion – Chicken
• Dried thyme
• Dried marjoram
• Black pepper
• Cayenne pepper to taste

Heat the butter, onions, and celery until 3/5 translucent. Add carrots and dried spices and continue cooking, adding white wine splashes to deglaze the pan as needed. Remove the seasoned mirepoix and cook the chicken and ham (already cooked – mainly to extrude some of the fat to the pan/chicken) half way. Remove the chicken and ham from the pan. Pour in the rest of the white wine, garlic, and the boullion. Reduce this sauce until almost half volume. Now, add the mirepoix and continue cooking until 1/4 reduction (of the full amount). At this point return the meat mixture to the sauce and continue to cook until the chicken is cooked through and the sauce is reduced enough.

I served this sauce unthickened (no roux) over sliced steamed brussel sprouts on the side because once sliced they would act like sauce sponges!