Unstuffed cabbage rolls

Serves: 8 servings

Ingredients

• 2 pounds lean ground beef
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 small head green cabbage, roughly chopped
• 1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
• ½ cup beef broth
• 2 teaspoons packed brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
• 1½ teaspoons salt
• ¾ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• ⅛ teaspoon ground allspice
• ¼ cup uncooked white rice

Instructions

1. Lightly coat a Dutch oven with cooking spray or vegetable oil. Add ground beef and onion and cook until ground beef is no longer pink, breaking it into small pieces as it cooks. Drain off any fat.
2. Add garlic and cook 1 minute.
3. Add tomato paste and stir in well.
4. Add all remaining ingredients except rice.
5. Partially cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
6. Stir in rice and continue to cook partially covered for 15 to 20 minutes

Healthy Ham and Cheese Casserole with Apples and Sage

YIELD: 1 9x13-inch dish

 

PREP TIME: 10 minutes

 

TOTAL TIME: 55 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 pound whole wheat penne
• 12 ounces diced ham (I used thickly sliced Virginia ham from our deli)
• 3 medium sweet apples, cored and cut into 1/2-inch dice (I used Gala)
• 1/2 cup loosely packed fresh sage leaves, thinly sliced, dived

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 small yellow onion, chopped
• 3 teaspoons garlic
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 cups non-fat milk
• 1/4 cup half and half
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 cup plain non-fat Greek yogurt
• 1 cup freshly grated sharp white cheddar cheese
• For the Bread Crumb Topping:
• 3/4 cup Panko bread crumbs
• 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add the pasta to the water and cook until al dente, according to package directions. Drain and set aside. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, and lightly grease a 9x13 or similar baking dish.
2. Melt the butter in a Dutch oven or similar large, deep pot over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until beginning to soften, about 6 minutes. Sprinkle in the flour and garlic, then cook whisking often, until the flour is golden brown, about 2 minutes. Gradually pour in milk, whisking constantly, then the half and half. Continue to cook until the sauce simmers and thickens, about 7 minutes. Remove from heat, then stir in the salt and nutmeg, then the Greek yogurt, cheddar, and 1/2 the total amount of sage. Add the drained pasta, apples and ham, toss gently to coat, then transfer to the prepared baking dish.
3. Combine the bread crumbs and olive oil in a small bowl and sprinkle over the top of the pasta. Cover the dish with foil, then bake for 10 minutes covered, then uncover and bake 10 additional minutes, until the crumbs are golden and the pasta is hot and bubbly. If necessary, turn your broiler to high to finishing browning the crumbs, watching them carefully so that they do not burn. Remove baked pasta from the oven, sprinkle with remaining sage, and serve.

Hawaiian Ham & Pineapple Bowls

Prep time

10 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

30 mins

 

A flavorful bowl over rice packed with red peppers, pineapple and ham.

Serves: 2 large servings

Ingredients

• 2 cups rice - any variety (white, brown, jasmine, etc.)
• Chicken stock or chicken bouillon cubes.
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 cups red pepper pieces cut into ½ inch by 1 inch pieces
• 1 cup smoked ham cubes cut into ½ inch by 1 inch pieces
• 1 cup fresh pineapple cubes cut into ½ inch by 1 inch pieces
• 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• ½ teaspoon salt
• Fresh basil leaves

Instructions

1. The secret to a delicious rice is flavoring it with chicken bouillon. You can either cook the 2 cups of rice in chicken stock (use the amount suggested on your rice plus ¼ cup extra) or cook the rice according to directions and add a bouillon cube in at the end.
2. While the rice cooks add the red pepper and a tablespoon of vegetable oil to a large skillet. Cook over a low to medium heat for about 5 to 7 minutes or until the peppers start to blacken. Flip occasionally.
3. Add in ham, pineapple, brown sugar, water, pepper and salt, crank up the heat for about a minute so you can blacken the pineapple and sear the ham.
4. Reduce the heat, stir and let simmer for about 5 minutes.
5. Serve over rice with fresh shredded basil leaves on top.

Oven Baked Jambalaya

• Prep
  45 m
• Cook
  2 h
• Ready In
  2 h 45 m

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 large green bell pepper, chopped
• 4 stalks celery, chopped
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
• 3 bay leaves
• 3 tablespoons Creole seasoning blend (such as the one linked in the footnote)

• 4 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 2 (28 ounce) cans whole peeled tomatoes
• 7 cups chicken stock
• 3 cups chopped cooked ham
• 3 cups cooked andouille sausage, sliced
• 3 cups cooked chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces
• 3 cups frozen cooked shrimp
• 4 cups uncooked long-grain white rice

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Melt butter in large stock pot. Saute onion, green pepper, celery and garlic until tender, being careful not to burn the garlic. Add tomato paste and cook to brown slightly, stirring constantly. Stir in bay leaves, Creole seasoning blend and Worcestershire sauce. Pour into a large roasting pan. Squeeze tomatoes to break up into pieces, and add to mixture in pan. Stir in juice from tomatoes, chicken stock, ham, sausage, chicken, shrimp and rice. Mix well. Cover tightly with aluminum foil.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 1 1/2 hours, stirring once halfway through baking time. Remove bay leaves before serving.

Footnote:

CREOLE SEASONING

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons onion powder
• 2 tablespoons garlic powder
• 2 tablespoons dried oregano
• 2 tablespoons dried basil
• 1 tablespoon dried thyme

 

• 1 tablespoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon white pepper
• 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
• 5 tablespoons paprika
• 3 tablespoons salt

Directions

1. In a small bowl, combine onion powder, garlic powder, oregano, basil, thyme, black pepper, white pepper, cayenne pepper, paprika and salt. Store in an airtight container.

Asian Grilled Bok Choy

• INGREDIENTS
• 1 tablespoon seasoned rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon Tamari
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon minced fresh ginger
• 1 clove garlic minced
• 1/4 teaspoon sesame oil
• pinch hot pepper flakes
• 4 bok choy (about 500 g), halved lengthwise

METHOD

In large bowl, whisk together vinegar, tamari, oil, lemon juice, ginger, garlic, sesame oil and hot pepper flakes. Add bok choy and toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate, tossing once, for 1 hour. 

Place on greased grill over medium heat; close lid and grill, turning once, until tender-crisp, about 4 minutes.

Turkey Soup

INGREDIENTS

For the stock:

• 1 turkey carcass, leftover from carving a whole turkey, including any leftover drippings or giblets (not the liver) if you have them
• Cold water
• 1 medium to large yellow onion, quartered or cut into thick wedges
• 1 to 2 carrots, roughly chopped (can include tops)
• Several sprigs of fresh parsley
• 1 to 2 sprigs of thyme, or a teaspoon of dried thyme
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 celery rib (roughly chopped) and some celery tops
• 5 to 10 peppercorns
• Salt
• Pepper

For the soup:

• 1 to 1 1/2 cups each, chopped carrots, onion, and celery
• A few sprigs of fresh parsley, leaves chopped (about 2 to 4 Tbsp)
• A couple cloves garlic, minced
• Seasoning  - a couple teaspoons or more of poultry seasoning (to taste) or a combination of ground sage, thyme, marjoram, and/or a bouillon cube
• 2 cups or more of leftover chopped or shredded cooked turkey meat
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Egg noodles or rice (optional, skip egg noodles for gluten-free version)

METHOD

Making Stock

1 Remove all the usable turkey meat from the turkey carcass to save for making sandwiches later or for adding to the soup once the stock is made.

2 If you are working with a large turkey carcass, you may want to break up the bones a bit so they fit better in the pot. Place the turkey carcass, neck (if you haven't cooked it with the turkey), leftover skin and bones from dinner, into a large stock pot (at least 8 quart or 12 quart depending on the size of the turkey), and cover with COLD water by an inch.

Add any drippings that weren't used to make gravy, and any giblets (not the liver) that haven't been used already. Add thickly sliced onion, some chopped carrots, celery and celery tops, parsley, thyme, a bay leaf, and some peppercorns to the pot.

3 Bring to a boil on high heat and then lower the heat to keep the stock to a bare simmer. Skim off any foamy crud that may float to the surface of the stock. (Note in the photo that even though the stock is at a bare simmer, it looks like it is boiling because of the foam that is beginning to come to the surface.)

4 Add salt and pepper to the pot, about 1 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of ground black pepper. It sort of depends on how big your turkey is. You can always add salt to the soup later.

5 Cook for at least 4 hours, partially uncovered, occasionally skimming off any foam that comes to the surface.

6 After 4 hours of a low simmer, use tongs or a large slotted spoon to remove the bones and vegetables from the pot. Then strain the stock through a fine mesh sieve or strainer. If you have a strainer but it isn't a fine mesh strainer, you can line it with cheesecloth or with several layers of dampened paper towels and strain the stock through that.

7 If making stock for future use in soup you may want to reduce the stock by cooking it longer, uncovered, to make it more concentrated and easier to store. (We usually do this step at a rolling boil, and reduce the stock by at least half. When you boil stock it will make it cloudy, but the taste is great so we don't care. If you want to reduce stock and keep it relatively clear, you'll need to do that slowly and a bare simmer, and it will take much longer.)

Makes 3 to 4 quarts or more of stock, depending on the size of the turkey carcass, and how much water you added to cover it.

Making the Turkey Soup

Prepare the turkey soup much as you would a chicken soup.

1 In a large soup pot, heat some butter or olive oil (or turkey fat rendered from the stock) on medium high heat. Add chopped carrots, onions, and celery in equal parts. Cook until the onions are softened, about 10 minutes. Add a couple cloves of garlic, chopped, and cook for a minute more, until the garlic is fragrant. Then add the stock to the pot. Add some parsley and seasoning—salt, pepper, poultry seasoning, sage, thyme, marjoram, and/or a bouillon cube.

2 Bring to a simmer and cook until the vegetables are just cooked through. Add rice, noodles*, or even leftover mashed potatoes (skip all of these if you are cooking low-carb).  Take some of the remaining turkey meat you reserved earlier, shred it into bite sized pieces and add it to the soup. You may also want to add some chopped tomatoes, either fresh or canned. Add salt and pepper to taste. Sometimes a dash or two of Tabasco gives the soup a nice little kick.

*If cooking gluten-free use gluten-free noodles.

from Simply Recipes ~ http://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/moms_turkey_soup/

Zucchini Fritters

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Yield 4 servings

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds zucchini, grated
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 large egg, beaten
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Instructions

• Place grated zucchini in a colander over the sink. Add salt and gently toss to combine; let sit for 10 minutes. Using a clean dish towel or cheese cloth, drain zucchini completely.
• In a large bowl, combine zucchini, flour, Parmesan, garlic and egg; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
• Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Scoop tablespoons of batter for each fritter, flattening with a spatula, and cook until the underside is nicely golden brown, about 2 minutes. Flip and cook on the other side, about 1-2 minutes longer.
• Serve immediately.