Garlicky Bean Stew

I haven't done a vegetarian meal for awhile, as I was trying to figure out how to work them around my resident carnivore. I decided to make all of my veggie faves for lunches for myself, and let the fella and kiddos try them as they want, not for a full supper. This is fast and has a tonne of fibre. And garlic, so who's gonna be fragrant and regular? You are!

You will need:

1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1 c green pepper, chopped
1 c orange or yellow or red pepper, chopped
4 cloves, minced, or 1 tablespoon jarred - remember that some garlic is packed in oil, so judge yourself accordingly
1/8 tsp chili flakes (more of a guideline than a rule)
1/4 tsp dried sage
2 15-oz cans white kidney beans (cannellini) or other white beans
1 28-oz can diced tomatoes
Sat, pepper

First, chop your peppers and mince your garlic. Or scoop it, whatever, no judgement.

Drain and rinse your beans but leave the tomatoes in their juice. Heat the oil in a large saucepan and saute the peppers together for about 5 minutes, until soft-ish.

Add the garlic and chili flakes, cook for just one more minute. Just one! Add in 1/2 c water, the sage, beans, diced tomatoes and season with the salt and pepper. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and let simmer for 10 minutes, until the it smells amazing and has thickened somewhat.

This was so good with a slice of homemade whole grain whole wheat bread with a teeny tiny bit o butter. I split this into 6 servings at 209 calories each, with the bread and butter, I could have even thrown in a salad with goat cheese and still been under the recommended 400 - 500 calorie meal guideline. Yay us!

Neeeaaaarrr!!

Far!

Swiss Steak

This is my other favourite recipe for beef minute steak; the first being the chicken fried steak. Actually I like this one better, and I've used the sauce for spaghetti and meatballs, which makes 4, 4 spaghetti sauces that I rotate! Ah ah ah. Do this on an afternoon when you have a little bit of time, say when you are making a few batches of bread! Renovated whole wheat bread plan to follow.

You will need:

2 lbs beef minute steak (hip or round)

2 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp black pepper

1/3 to 3/4 c all purpose flour

2 Tbsp vegetable oil

1 large onion

2 celery stalks

2 garlic cloves

1 Tbsp tomato paste

28 oz can diced tomatoes

1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 1/2 c beef broth

In case you aren`t familiar with beef minute steak, it looks like this:

First, dump your flour into a pie plate and pre-heat your oven to 325 degrees. Season your meat with salt and pepper and dredge in the flour:

Leave the steaks out for 15 minutes to dry. Meanwhile, prep your veggies, by cubing your celery and slicing your onions thinly. Mince your garlic and set all aside. Heat the oil in a dutch oven until shimmering, brown each steak for two minutes on each side. 

Lookit thaaattt

Set aside and cover loosely with foil. Add the onions, celery and garlic, saute for 2 minutes until the onions start to brown.

I am relaxing my only-saute-garlic-for-one-minute rule because the celery has enough moisture to keep that schtuff from burning. And on! After the onions have browned, add in the oregano, paprika and tomato paste. Stir in the tomatoes, broth and Worcestershire sauce.

Scrape up all that flavour with your flat edge!

Steamy

Bring to a boil, return the steaks back into the pot, cover and bake in the oven at 325 for an hour and a half. I split this into 6 servings at 400 calories per. I added steamed veggies, some couscous and a salad with low-fat greek dressing and low-fat goat cheese, bam! Close to 500 calories! Yay us! 

Sunday: Grilled Ribs with Homemade BBQ Sauce

I love this sauce! I've made several barbecue sauces over the years and this is my favourite so far by far. I had some side ribs I wanted to use up but of course, back ribs are the very best.

You will need:

Ribs - however many you want to feed you / your gang and whatever type
1 c ketchup
1/3 c soy sauce
3 Tbsp honey or agave
4 garlic cloves, crushed
2 Tbsp Worcerstershire
Dash-ish cayenne

I didn't do any prep pictures, as this is pretty straightforward. First, if you are using side ribs like me,cut them into reasonable size pieces. If you are going with back ribs, you will want to peel the membrane off the back of the ribs first. To do that, cut the membrane, then slip a butter knife under one cut side and saw along. As soon as you get a decent amount up, hold onto it with a paper towel and pull it the rest of the way off. Then do the other side until it is all gone. Cut into 4's. I am no expert on ribs, but I wouldn't use baby back ribs, because they are expensive and tender and we are going to boil the Sam Hill out of these suckers

Put your ribs in a large stockpot and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil, skimming the foam that comes to the top. Let boil for at least an hour and a half, stirring occasionally. Tong them out and set aside.

Meanwhile! Sauce! Mix all of the sauce ingredients in a small saucepan, bring to a boil and let cook for two minutes until smooth.

Slather the sauce all over the ribs and let sit for a while. I like to do it overnight, but I couldn't say for sure that it makes a difference, so I don't always. The sauce makes about a cup and a half, so use whatever is left while grilling.

Grill your ribs until you get a little char on 'em, smear on some more sauce, enjoy! I like to make it a meal with beans, buns, steamed veggies and salad. The sauce worked out to approximately  22 calories a tablespoon and I estimated two small racks of four side ribs as 370 calories.

Enjoy!

Friday: Summer Coq Au Vin

I love classic Coq au Vin, so I was pretty excited to find a recipe that could be easily adjusted for lower calories and also doesn't have the fussiness of the traditional version. I am also using white wine instead of the usual red, so now we're gonna call it summery.

You will need:

2 lbs chicken, breast, thighs or whatever you got ( I used both)
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 carrots, sliced
1 onion, chopped or sliced, whaddeveryalike
1/2 lb mushrooms (I am using 1 c dried shiitake mushrooms, because I don't know what else to do with them)
2 garlic cloves, crushed
3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
2 c good white wine (who's off their meds?? Yay!!) - you can also substitute chicken stock for half if you don't want to intoxicate minors in your care. You know, TOO much
1 tsp dried thyme leaves
Black pepper
Salt
1 bay leaf
3 green onions

First, brown yer chicken. Heat the oil in a wide saucepan (NOT non-stick) salt and pepper your chicken and brown the chicken in batches, until golden. Set aside in a bowl. Pour off most of the leftover fat and reserve.

Toss the carrots, onions and sliced mushrooms into the saucepan, cook at medium low heat for 3 or so minutes until the onions start to soften. Add in the garlic and cook for one more minute. Just one!! Dump all these veggies in the bowl with the chicken.

Pour the reserved fat back in the pan (should be about 1 1/2 Tbsp, add a little bit more as required) and add the flour. Scrape the bottom (all flavour!!) and stir until the flour takes on a bit of colour, a minute or two. Less than that and your pan is too hot. Turn it down, soldier!

Slowly add the wine, scraping as you go. Add the chicken and vegetables back in as well as more salt and pepper, the thyme and bay leaf. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for about an hour.

Sprinkle with the sliced green onions and serve without the bay leaf. I separated this into 6 servings at 400 calories per. It is on the high side, calories-wise, but it is for a special occasion. I am serving it with some steamed broccoli and calling it a week, yay!

Enjoy!

Thursday: Crockpot Curried Chicken

I am apparently fixated on curry dishes this week. I renovated an old recipe (yes, I added a bathroom!) but there are still a couple of tweaks I will recommend. This is one of my Thursday-I-Have-Class Meals, enjoy!

You will need:

1 lb chicken thighs (I use boneless skinless because life is just too short)

1/2 Tbsp vegetable oil

2 tsp curry powder

½ tsp chili powder

Salt, pepper

375 g potatoes (3 large-ish or bunch of little ones)

1 small onion, chopped finely

2 cloves garlic

1 c frozen green beans

First, trim all the fat off your thighs (I WISH) and cut into 3 pieces length-wise.

Like zo

Heat the oil in a saucepan, add the chicken and season with curry, chili powder, salt and pepper. Cook, stirring, for about 4 minutes. Browning is not necessary, but flip them once.

Browning-ish

Remove the chicken to the crockpot, pour about a quarter cup of the stock into the saucepan and scrape up all the browned bits on the bottom.

Edged wooden spoon!

Let the stock reduce a bit while you place the onions, garlic and potatoes on top of the chicken in the crockpot. Pour the reduced stock and the reserved stock over top of everything.

Cook on the lowest setting for 5-6 hours, give it a good stir before serving to incorporate the potato starch as a thickener.

Add in the frozen green beans, heat for 15 minutes more on high.

I made 6 servings at 386 calories per, which means that it is knocking up against the 400 - 500 calories limit per meal. Add some couscous or rice and a salad, done!

Wednesday: Pork / Chicken Adobo

This meal is dealer's choice: it works equally as well with pork, chicken or veal. However, go ahead and try to find veal in a small town. I dare you. Chicken is fine if you use a cut other than breasts, say a thigh or something that can take a long braise. I'm using pork because that's what I have and I've found it to hold up the best. Easiest meal this week!

You will need:

1 lb boneless pork, cut into 1 1/2 inch cubes
1 c water
1/4 c cider vinegar
2 Tbsp low-sodium soy sauce
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 bay leaf
1/4 tsp salt

Only three special steps for this meal. Say it with me: Three special steps!

Step One: Put all the ingredients into a pot, let sit for 30 minutes. Technically, I had another half a step, my pork was fatty and needed some trimming.

Step Two: Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer, covered, for an hour.

Step Three: Remove bay leaf and serve over rice.

I portioned this into four servings at a measly 138 calories per for the pork. I added half a cup of brown rice and some steamed veggies and I was well under my goal of 400-500 calories per meal. Here's to lean pork!

Enjoy!

Tuesday: Moroccan Meatballs

You can serve these over any grain, I am going with couscous because I have some awesome garlic stuff and I like to type couscous almost as much as I like to say it. These are fast, don't have many ingredients, but aren't your typical meatball, so nice for a weekday meal.

 

You will need:

1 lb extra-lean ground beef ( or ½ and ½ with veal)

2 ½ tsp paprika (I'm using smoked, so they will be spicy)

2 tsp cumin

1 tsp salt

Black pepper

1 tsp olive oil

1 onion, finely chopped (grating is also an option if you have a finicky eater or two)

1 garlic clove, minced

1 tomato (not roma), chopped

3 oz tomato paste (1/2 can)

 

Put your meat in a bowl and mix in 1 1/2 tsp paprika, 1 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp salt and some black pepper. Shape them into 24 little one-inch balls. Should you have a handy-dandy scoop that will do it for you, so much the better.

 

 

Heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan and saute the onion for two minutes. Add the garlic and cook for one more minute. Just one! Stir in the tomato, tomato paste and 3/4 c water. 

Side note / tangent: most recipes call for seeding your tomatoes. I never do this because I've read that that's is where all the nutrition and flavour is, including glutamates, etc. Specifically it is contained in the goo surrounding the seeds. Plus I am lazy about that sort of thing. However, should you want no seeds and their accompanying nutritional goo, here is how you can do it easily. Cut the tomato in half across it's middle. Like it has a green hat and you are about to pull it off. Not lengthwise. Use a spoon edge to scrape out all the seeds from the tunnels on each side and then chop. 

Add in the remaining spices and bring to a boil. Add the meatballs, cover and simmer for 30 - 40 minutes, until they are cooked through and the sauce has thickened. Pour over your fluffy couscous or other grain and enjoy. I parceled this out to 4 servings of 6 meatballs each with sauce, each serving coming to 247 calories, which leaves plenty of room for 1/2 c of couscous ( I really do like that word) and some steamed veggies. Yay us!