Beef & Beer Stew

I love this stew because it only takes an hour to make, start to finish, and I am a big fan of anything that can easily incorporate green veggies into the mix.

You will need:

12 oz lean beef (find a cheap cut or stewing beef)

1 medium onion

1 green pepper

2 garlic cloves

2 medium potatoes

8 oz carrots, so either 24 baby carrots or 2 large

16 oz fat-free beef broth

8 oz beer

1/4 c evaporated skim milk or 2 Tbsp homo milk, if you don't have an open can

2 Tbsp cornstarch

1 tsp paprika

Salt

Pepper

Thyme leaves

First, prep! Cut your beef and potatoes into bite-size chunks. You could also use stewing beef and / or these adorable little mini potatoes, about 375g worth. Is that helpful? Almost a pound. They cost more but you would only have to cut them in half or quarters, depending on the size of your chompers. I would recommend red potatoes. Always season your meat with salt and pepper before cooking!

Cut your carrots into coins, or if using baby-cut carrots, cut in half. Chop your onions and green pepper into small pieces and mince your garlic. Done!

Spray a non-stick pot with oil, heat and add the beef, onion and green peppers. Cook for 2 minutes and then add the garlic for one minute. Just one! 

Well, as browned as it can be in a non-stick pan with hardly any fat. Maillard would be weeping

Dump in your potatoes, carrots, broth and beer; bring to a boil and reduce heat. Season with salt, pepper and thyme, cover and let cook simmer for about 30 minutes.

 Mix the milk with the cornstarch and paprika, stir into the stew. Cook for about 5 minutes more, until thick and bubbly. Stir and let simmer for another couple of minutes. 

I made this into 4 portions and came up with a calorie count of 293 per serving. I am going to add a salad with dressing, half a whole wheat bun, some milk and here we are under 500 calories. Yay us!

Enjoy!

Sunday: Curried Pork with Apricots and Peppers

I like to make this to shake up our tastebuds, it`s so easy to get into a rut, food-wise. While it`s not a traditional dish, it is very yummy; the curry is a little spicy, the apricots add an unexpected sweetness and it can be made with very few extra calories, so I am in.

You will need:

1 lb lean pork chops (not the fast fry)

1 medium onion

2 yellow peppers

1 Tbsp curry powder

1 Tbsp all purpose flour

1 c chicken stock

2/3 c dried apricots

2 Tbsp wholegrain mustard

Salt, pepper

First, trim all of the fat from your pork and start your brown rice (I know, again!) or little potatoes can also work well with this. You can use pretty much any type of pork for this, except tenderloin. That cooks very quickly and is not a great meat for braising. Season your meat with salt and cracked black pepper.

Slice your peppers and onions into half or whole rings.

 An easy way to slice and seed peppers is to chop the tops off, then use a paring knife to cut all the ribs inside. Sometimes you get lucky and then the whole middle pops out. I like to rinse them all under cold water after, it helps to get rid of all the seeds. In this case, cut them lengthwise in half again and then slice thinly. I know some people love to do full rings, and hey, whatever floats your boat, sailor. It is just safer to me to have a flat cut side down while I am chopping away.

Do the same with the onions, again, see? Flat surface! Yay for safety!

Good to goooo

Spray some oil in a non-stick pan and brown the pork. Just get a little colour on them. Add in the onions and peppers and cook for about 5 minutes until they are somewhat softened.

Stir in the flour and curry powder, then chicken stock. Add in the apricots and mustard and cover. Simmer for 25-30 minutes, until tender.

Taste and adjust seasoning as required. I split this into 4 servings, at 241 calories per. Add in half a cup of brown rice and a huge salad and BAM, full meal under 500! Yay for lean pork!

Enjoy!

UPDATED: Saturday: Homemade Pizza

I love to make my own pizza, partly because I am the ARC and I love to have alls the controls and I hate paying a fortune for all the veggie toppings that I like. This is one of my favourite pizza dough recipes because it is sooo easy to make and it adapts easily to a relatively healthier version.

Friday: Orange Beef with Noodles

I may have fibbed a little to my husband and told him this is almost exactly like ginger beef (it's totally not) but it is a nice asian-ish meal. I've read other versions of this that require tangerine peels and being as I have a hard time getting anything more exotic than your basic navel orange, I am going to go in that direction. Should you have access to tangerine peels, have at 'er!

You will need:

1 lb lean beef ( I like to use flank steak as it is very lean and cuts perfectly for strips. It is crazy expensive these days, so get it on sale and freeze it if you can)

Zest and the juice of one orange

1 Tbsp light soy sauce

1 tsp cornstarch

1 inch piece ginger

1 large carrot, cut into 2 inch strips

2 green onions

First, start your marinade. Cut your beef into strips across the grain:

I find it easier if I cut it in half first

Then cut each piece cross ways

Place the beef in a bowl and sprinkle with the orange juice and zest. Marinate for at least 30 minutes. 

While you are waiting, prep your veggies. You will want to cut your carrots julienne, which just means in little matchstick shapes. 

First cut into two-inch chunks

Then each piece into slices, then each slice into littler shapes until they look like this. Ish.

They don't have to be perfect, the most important thing about cutting things julienne is that you want all the pieces to be relatively the same size. Then they will cook evenly! In theory.

Do 'em all!

Chop your ginger finely and your green onions thinly. Back to the beef!

Drain the meat, reserve the liquid, then mix in the soy sauce, cornstarch and ginger. Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan and stir-fry the beef for one minute. 

Add the carrot and cook for another couple of minutes.

Stir in the reserved marinade and green onions and cook, stirring until boiling and a bit thickened. 

This would be a good time to add in a little extra orange juice, if you have some and you like your  dishes a little saucier

Serve over egg noodles or brown rice. I have been a-ricing it up all week, so I am going with noodles. I portioned this into 3 servings and came up with 277 calories per. I really meant to do it in 4 servings but I got ahead of myself. I added noodles and salad and steamed veggies and called it a meal. Done!

Enjoy!

Thursday: Crockpot Chicken Salsa

I don't even know if I can reasonably call this a recipe; it has only four ingredients and requires almost no hands-on involvement. Which also makes it awesome for after-work (or after class).

You will need:

1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 pkg taco (or burrito, or fajita) seasoning, lower sodium
1 c salsa (your choice)
1/4 c fat free sour cream (you can also fat that right up, should you desire)
Optional: 1/2 small onion and 2 tsp cornstarch

It is just this easy: put the chicken in the crockpot and sprinkle with the taco seasoning:

Cover with the salsa and onion, if using:

Turn crockpot on lowest setting for 4-5 hours. Because these are breasts and not dark meat, they can dry out faster and sometimes the texture can be a little...pebbly. So shorten your cook time as much as possible, 4-5 hours, or another trick is to put the chicken in frozen. If you do that, you will definitely want to add the 2 tsp cornstarch to help thicken that sucker up.

That is the taco seasoning, not "carmellization"

After the 4-5 hours, remove the chicken to a platter and cover with foil, gently scraping the salsa back into the crockpot. Mix in the sour cream well and turn to high heat. Let warm for 5-10 minutes, spoon the sauce over the chicken to serve. I like to make this with brown rice and use some of the sauce on it, too.

I've mentioned how much I like spatulas, right?
 



I separated this into 4 servings and it came to 166/per serving for the chicken and sauce, plus my brown rice and salad. 

 

Enjoy!

 

Wednesday: Mushroom Risotto

If you want to make this vegetarian (since it IS Vegetarian Wednesday and all!), use vegetable stock instead of chicken stock. Done! I love risotto; the only thing I can pass on is that always make sure you have a little extra warmed stock at hand, cooking can be a little art and a little science and a whole big pain if you have hard rice and no more stock that is heated. Typically an extra 1/2 or 3/4 cup will see you through.

You will need:

1 Tbsp dried Porcini mushrooms (can be found in the produce section unless you live in an awesome small town, then drive to a slightly bigger town and look in their produce section - comes in little baggies)

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 medium onion, finely chopped

2 garlic cloves

1 tsp sage, or 1 sprig fresh

1 1/4 c arborio rice

1/2 c white wine

225g cremini mushrooms (or portobello, which is like...one? And a half?)

3 c chicken or vegetable stock, hot

4 Tbsp parmesan cheese (NOT powder)

Salt, pepper

First thing you will want to do is reconstitute your dried mushrooms; place them in a glass bowl and pour 1 1/4 c boiling water to cover.  Give them 30 minutes, check to see if they have softened. If not, wait. If so, drain and reserve that liquid. Chop the mushrooms up finely and strain the soaking liquid. You could use a coffee filter to do so, or a cheesecloth lined sieve. Or a coffee filter lined sieve, which is what you might do if you can't find your cheesecloth because you just moved and hid it on yourself. Because you are mean to yourself like that. Tangent!

Squeeze the filter out too

Heat the olive oil in a good solid saucepan. Add the onion and sage and saute for 4 minutes. Add the garlic and saute for one more minute. Just one! Add the rice and cook over low heat for 3 minutes, stirring to coat the rice with oil. 

Add the white wine and cook until it has evaporated. Stir in the mushrooms, the soaking liquid and a ladelful of stock. 

Let it simmer, stirring constantly until the liquid is absorbed. Keep adding stock by the ladelful (about half a cup) and stirring it in until it is incorporated.

Have I mentioned how much I love spatulas?

After most of the stock has been added, check the texture of the rice. Keep adding stock until it is softened but not mushy. No mush! Remove from heat, add in the parmesan cheese and salt and pepper. LOTS of pepper.

If you even think about using powdered parmesan after you just spent 20 minutes carefully stirring your supper, let me know. I will come rescue your risotto from you. 

Taste and adjust as necessary. Serve with shavings of parmesan and more of that white wine, no sense in having it go bad. If I was going to have this as a main dish, I would have one cup, which is one fourth, which would be 266 calories. Since I am going to have this as a side dish, I am splitting it into 8ths, which is half a cup and 133 calories. Since I am the only adult going to eat this delicious dish, I am also freezing 1/2 of it, so that I can enjoy it again next week without feeling like it must be eaten right NOW. 

Seen in the popular half-plate-vegetable formation

And then near

Aaand really near

Enjoy!