Balsamic pork and potato wedges - dinner in under 30 minutes

For a simple, quick weeknight meal, I keep packages of pork chops in the freezer. I buy them in bulk when they are on sale, on of the many ways I mentioned in my post on how to save money on groceries. So I know there are packs of 2 pork chops in the freezer, ready to be thawed and made into a meal in under 30 minutes. Just add a side or two, and dinner is served. This meal is one of my favorites, I love the soft inside and crispy outside of homemade potato wedges, and balsamic vinegar is one of the best marinades for meat.

Ingredients:

2 pork chops

1 tbsp olive oil

~4 tbsp balsamic vinegar

Garlic salt

2 small potatoes, cut into wedges

1 cup frozen or fresh veggies

2 tbsp butter

Step 1: Heat the oven to 350, and spray a baking pan with oil. Put the potato wedges on, and sprinkle on some salt and pepper. Bake them for about 20 minutes, turning at least once to crisp on all sides.

Step 2: While potatoes are in the oven, put olive oil and vinegar in a frying pan. Add the pork chops and cover. Cook on medium heat for 10-20 minutes, turning at least once. Cut through to make sure there is no pink in the center.

Step 3: For the final few minutes of cooking, add in 1-2 cups frozen vegetables. I used broccoli and carrots. Cover again, and let cook until the vegetables are thawed, warmed through, and soft to the touch. Sprinkle everything with some garlic salt, and serve.

The potatoes baking takes the longest amount of time, so if you use a different starch, like minute rice or frozen fries that you just microwave, you could get this on the table in 20 minutes. The balsamic is tangy yet umami, and pairs perfectly with pork. And I am always a fan of meat & potatoes, with enough vegetables to balance everything out. 

What's you favorite go-to weeknight meal?

 

'Merican fish and chips

Fish and chips is a beloved dish in many countires, most notably Britain. As most common and popular dishes do, it has a long and debated-over history. The potato was said to have been brought over to England from the New World in the 17th century. It quickly became a cheap staple food. It is believed that frying the potato into chips originated in France. Obviously potatoes were hugely popular in Ireland as well. Being near a coast, fish was a popular poor fisherman's food. Fried fish was introduced in London's East End in the 1800s. The Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist even refers to a 'fried fish warehouse'. The Historic UK website says that both Lancashire and London claim to be the first to put these two together into the iconic meal. For a more thorough history of the dish check out the BBC's history of fish & chips article one and article two.

The "chips" referred to in this dish are what Americans would call "French fries", not the flat Lay's type chips we know. Typically the fish is a white fish such as cod or haddock, coated in a thick batter and deep fried. Not the most healthful of meals, it nonetheless meets all working class requirements: it's cheap, filling, easy to eat out of a newspaper while walking home from the pub, and warms you on a chilly night. Common ways to eat it include sprinkling with salt and/or vinegar, mayonnaise, tartar sauce, ketchup, or plain naked. About.com's page for British Food gives statistics on nutrition as well as the claim that fish & chips is the nation's most popular take-away food, four times more popular than Indian curry. I think in America, nothing can overtake the pizza, but who am I to say?

My version of fish & chips is baked rather than deep fried, making it more waistline friendly. It takes minutes to prepare, then you must be patient while it cooks. Go read a book, do some laundry, take a bath, whatever. Then sit down to a hot and crispy meal you can feel good about.

Ingredients:

2-3 large potatoes, diced

2-3 fillets white fish

1 egg, lightly beaten

1/2 cup crackers, crushed

Italian spices, garlic salt

Spray oil

Step 1: Spray a pan with oil, spread out the potatoes, and spray them. Sprinkle the spices over them. Put in the oven at 350 for ~35 minutes. Make sure to mix them up once or twice to cook on all sides.

Step 2: In a shallow bowl beat the egg. Coat the fish on both sides, then roll in the crushed crackers. Sprinkle with spices and place on a sprayed pan. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes, turning once.

Once the fish flakes easily and the potatoes are soft when poked with a fork, remove and place on a plate. Because this is not fried there is far less fat content, if you eat the equivalent of one whole potato (these little cubes are seriously addictive, I know I could!) there are about 10 grams of fat. The fish and chips combined have about 480 calories, 47 g carbohydrate, and 48 g protein per serving. Not to mention tons of vitamins and trace minerals. {Nutrition info calculated on SparkRecipes recipe calculator}. Add a baked veggie if you like to round out the meal.

What's you favorite way to eat fish?

Mashed cauliflower & potatoes

One of my favorite healthy foods to hide is cauliflower. Because of its subtle taste and versatile texture, cauliflower can be hidden in many foods, the easiest of which is mashed potatoes. Most people cannot jump right into mashed cauliflower alone, so a 50:50 mixture is a good place to start.

From the family "Brasicaceae" (I don't know how to say that either), cauliflower is related to broccoli, kale, cabbage, brussels sprouts and collard greens. For the long history of cauliflower breeding, see Wikipedia. In one cup of raw cauliflower alone, there is only 25 calories, yet 10% of your daily recommended fiber and over 75% of your daily vitamin C! Bet you didn't think a boring white veggie could help fend off colds, but it's true. It has no fat of course, but also not much protein, which is acceptable. I don't recommend mashed cauliflower alone as a meal. The World'sHealthiestFoods website recommends cruciferous vegetables like cauliflower a minimum of 2-3 times per week. Cauliflower has nutrients that help support the immune system, anti-inflammatory system, and antioxidant systems. It has been linked to some amount of cancer protection, likely because of these protective effects.

Ingredients:

1/2 head of cauliflower

4-5 potatoes

1 1/2 cups stock (chicken, beef, veggie, homemade)

Garlic salt

Step 1: Peel the potatoes, dice them, and cut the cauliflower head into florets.

This is veggie stock I made myself in a slow cooker earlier.

Step 2: Put the stock (or water) into the crock pot and then add in potato and cauliflower.

The cauliflower should break apart easily in your hands.

Leftover scraps of potato and cauliflower will go in the freezer until I have enough to make another batch of vegetable stock.

Step 3: Cook on low 2-3 hours or high 4-5 hours. Mash the potato and cauliflower together, adding any spices or more liquid if needed. You can now serve or doctor however you would normally use mashed potatoes. If you don't tell, no one will even know the difference! 

What's you favorite way to use cauliflower?

Vegan acorn squash & potato gnocchi

Acorn squash is a cheap, healthful, tasty, nutrient-packed way to get your fiber. It stores for pretty much forever on a shelf or in a cellar. The most common variety is deep green with an occasional orange spot on one side, though yellow, white, and variegated varieties have been bred. According to Wikipedia, though it is considered a winter squash it is in the same family of summer squash which includes zucchini and yellow squash. 

According to SELFNutritionData, one 4 inch squash has only 172 calories, a mere 4 of those are from fat. Zero cholesterol, and nearly no sodium as well. A single squash has a quarter of your daily recommended fiber, 30 percent of vitamin A, and nearly 80 percent of vitamin C. And as if that weren't enough, it is mildly anti-inflammatory, gluten-free, and extremely low glycemic index. If I haven't yet convinced you of what a super food acorn squash is, check out more Healthy Facts About Acorn Squash from the Healthy Eating website.

I had picked several squash a few months back at a local farm where for $30 you get to keep anything you can fit in a little red wagon. With some creative pyramid skills, I and some friends split quite a haul. I still had three acorns left, so I was trying to come up with something to do with it besides oven roasted with butter and brown sugar. Not that I don't love it like that, I do, but I'd had that twice already in the past month. My mom suggested a recipe out of the blue for acorn squash gnocchi. As a good Slovak/Polish girl, I had grown up loving all types of pasta, gnocchi especially. The chewy, thick texture is completely unique.

She didn't remember where the recipe came from so rather than try to remember it all, she told me to just Google it. My favorite current verb, "to Google". I wish I could invent something so widely famous that the name becomes a verb. Anywho... The most intriguing recipe I found came from the blog the Girl in the Little Red Kitchen. This is someone who thinks like me, working in a very tiny place, using what she's learned and instinct and creativity to come up with new and inventive recipes. Based mostly on that but with my own spin (mostly since I'm out of eggs currently), I present to you my Vegan Acorn Squash and Potato Gnocchi recipe.

Vegan Acorn Squash and Potato Gnocchi 

Ingredients:
1 acorn squash
3 medium potatoes
1 1/2 cup flour (plus extra)
2 tbsp water
1 tbsp oil
2 tbsp baking powder
1 tbsp salt

Sauce:
1 jar pasta sauce
1 can chickpeas
2 carrots
1/2 bunch celery

1. Cut the acorn squash in half and scoop out the seeds. If you like, you can rinse the seeds and save them for roasting at 350 for 15 minutes as a light snack.

2. Put the squash in the microwave cut side up with some water in the hole, microwave 5 minutes. Pour out the water, place cut side down and microwave another 5 minutes, then another 5 minutes for 15 minutes total. Squash should be soft when poked with a fork. Remove and set aside to cool.

3. Rinse three potatoes and stick on all sides with a fork. Microwave in 3 minute bursts for a total of 9 minutes.

4. Peel the squash and mash the insides in a large bowl. The peel should slip right off using your fingers, you can use a fork to help lift the squash out.

5. Peel the potatoes as well. If you grab it in both hands and twist, the peel should slide off easily if fully cooked. Mash them into the squash. Get a large pot of salted water to boiling.

6. In a small bowl, mix 2 tbsp water, 2 tbsp baking powder and 1 tbsp oil. This replaces one egg, so you can use one egg instead. But this is what makes the dough vegan. It should bubble a bit. Add to the squash/potato mixture, as well as the flour (which, if you're gluten intolerant, you should use gluten-free flour), and mix well. Your hands work best, dough will be slightly sticky.

7. Flour your work surface and take a handful of dough. Roll it with your hands into a 1-2 inch thick log.

8. Cut the log into small, 1 inch cubes. You can try to shape them with a fork but I just tossed them in the pot like so.

9. Boil the pasta for 3-5 minutes. They should begin floating to the top of the water when fully cooked. Boil in batches. Don't leave them in longer than about ten minutes or they will become mush. Remove to a strainer to let drain. Meanwhile you can start the sauce.

10. Open the chickpeas and drain. Add to blender along with the pasta sauce and puree until completely liquid, adding some water to thin if needed. If you have a juicer, juice the carrots and celery to add. If not you can simply omit them, or boil them for 20 minutes then add to the blender. I also added in a dash of Italian seasonings.

The gnocchi are chewy and salty, just how I like it. This pasta dough could probably be used to create any kind of pasta, with varying degrees of success. I ended up adding quite a bit more flour to help it stay together and be less sticky. It still ended up a little slimier than I would like, but I will try again.

My boyfriend is a hard-core carnivore, so I added some ground beef to the sauce. I didn't tell him what it was before he tried it (bless his heart he will try anything once if I made it), and he said he actually liked it and would eat it again! Trust me, that's a stellar review! These have all the taste and texture of traditional gnocchi with an added dose of fiber and vitamins. Why not?

Nutrition Information

For the gnocchi alone, SparkRecipes nutrition info:

• Servings Per Recipe: 4
• Amount Per Serving
• Calories: 345.1

• Total Fat: 2.9 g
• Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
• Sodium: 2,017.5 mg
• Total Carbs: 72.8 g
• Dietary Fiber: 6.7 g
• Protein: 8.4 g

For the pasta sauce (minus ground beef), SparkPeople nutrition info:

• Servings Per Recipe: 8
• Amount Per Serving
• Calories: 90.5

• Total Fat: 0.6 g
• Cholesterol: 0.0 mg
• Sodium: 357.0 mg
• Total Carbs: 18.3 g
• Dietary Fiber: 3.9 g
• Protein: 3.5 g

Therefore a 1-cup serving of pasta with 1 cup of sauce is only 435 calories and yet 10.6 grams of fiber and nearly 12 grams of protein!

Do you have a favorite way to cook squash?

Easy Halloween Themed Treats (no tricks!)

Halloween is easily one of my favorite holidays. I love to dress up, I love cooking and eating, I love candy (who doesn't?!?) and I love throwing parties. And I have a confession: I'm in my mid-twenties, and I went trick-or-treating last year. Don't judge just because you're jealous. Never say no to free candy (unless given to you by a creepy stranger. Wait a minute...)

This year I decided to throw a Halloween party for some friends, and began planning far in advance. I love cute themed dishes, and picked some of the simplest sounding ones. I made a big list of what I thought was the best ideas, and didn't really keep any recipes, I just made it like I thought it should be made. But if you're the type who wants a list and steps to follow, then continue reading below and enjoy! If you have a favorite Halloween or fall-themed dish, please share in the comments! (Or email me with "Halloween treat" in the subject heading). The one I think sounds tastiest may appear on a future post!

 Mystery Shots
These were test tubes filled with all sorts of delicious and terrifying ingredients! I had coffee, soy sauce, sriracha, dish soap, eggnog, orange juice, apple juice, grape juice, cranberry juice, water, rum, vodka, juiced carrot, cabbage or bell pepper. Obviously if the party involves kids don't use alcohol and maybe not as many gross ones. But get creative, you can put in whatever you want! And use food coloring to hide the natural color of things, it keep them guessing.

 Blood & Guts Potato Skins
Wash as many potatoes as you'll have guests and cut potatoes in half. Spray a baking pan and bake cut-side down at 350 for about an hour. Scoop out the cooked insides and place in a bowl. Add a can of tomato sauce and salsa until stuffing is reddish and goopy. The salsa is supposed to make it look like chunks of gore. Re-fill the skins and bake another 10-15 minutes, serve. I added some refried beans to some, thinking it looked kind of like mud.

 String Cheese Severed Fingers
Cut string cheese in half, use a knife to carve knuckles about halfway down. Make a slice half an inch from the edge, and insert a slivered almond as the 'nail'.

 Mummy Dogs
By far the most adorable thing, and likely the only way I'll ever make pigs in a blanket from now on. Cut hot dogs in half. Unroll a tube of crescent dough and make half inch slices. Wrap a small piece around the top, and a larger piece around the bottom 2/3. Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes, until golden brown. Use mustard or ketchup to draw eyes.

 Monster Wedges
Cut unpeeled, washed apples into quarters such that they can still stand alone. Remove the seeds and stem. Cut another small wedge halfway down, insert slivered almonds randomly for teeth. Use whatever candy and either syrup or cream cheese or peanut butter to stick on eyes.

 Severed Hand ice cubes
For these, you need some gloves and some time. Fill gloves with water and tie well, put in freezer for several hours. When it's floating in your beverage, they look like severed hands. I used cranberry juice to make a red, 'bloody' one, you can use food coloring in the water for any color.

 On the topic of beverages, dry ice is definitely worth investing in! It was only $1.29 per pound at my local grocery store, and 5 pounds was plenty to last the whole night, throwing in small pieces as they evaporated. It bubbles and smokes, and causes real 'cauldron' noises! People of all ages are guaranteed to be fascinated by this.

Orange and Black Fruit Kebabs with Toffee Dip
Alternate chopped cantaloupe with blackberries and blueberries to create colorful skewers. The dip is 1 package cream cheese, softened at room temperature, 1 tsp cinnamon and nutmeg, 1/4 cup coffee creamer in some holiday flavor (caramel, apple, toffee, pumpkin, etc) and 3/4 cup brown sugar. Mix well, and sprinkle toffee bits over top. You could also drizzle on caramel, mix in a tub of whipped cream, or mix toffee or chocolate into the dip. Party-goers said this should be eaten with a spoon!

Dirt Cake
Make a package or 2 of chocolate pudding and refrigerate. Crush up a handful of Oreos in a plastic bag with a rolling pin or your fist and sprinkle on top as the 'dirt'. Add gummy worms and viola! A dessert no kid (or grown-up) can resist. You can get creative and add mini tombstones, trees, ghosts etc to look like a real graveyard too.


Doritos Pumpkin Cheese Ball
Unfortunately I didn't get a picture of this, but trust me when I say it is adorable! Mix 2 packs cream cheese, softened, with onion soup mix or dried onion, 1/4 cup sour cream and 2 tbsp ranch dressing. Make it into a ball, roll it in mashed-up doritos chips, wrap in plastic and refrigerate at least an hour before serving. Use the stem of a green bell pepper as the pumpkin top.

 Have a spook-tacular Halloween!

Souppa like Zuppa Toscana

I still had some sausage left over from my sausage gravy & biscuits, plus half a bunch of kale that hadn't been made into kale chips. (If you've never tried kale chips, I definitely recommend it! Kale is super good for you but can be bitter, and this is a super simple way to get your leafy greens). A quick internet search for "sausage and kale" quickly showed a trend towards this "Zuppa Toscana" that Olive Garden makes (don't sue me please!) that lots of people claim to mimic.
Well as any loyal reader knows, I'm not a 'by-the-book' recipe follower, so I just took the general idea and ran with it. What happened was a simple, delicious soup that quite frankly surprised me with how tasty it was. With really only 4 ingredients and 30 minutes, a warm, filling and complex soup for dinner can be yours!

Ingredients:
1/2 pound sausage
1/2 bunch kale, shredded
2-3 large potatoes, diced
6 cups water
4 chicken bouillon cubes
3 tbsp cornstarch
Italian seasonings

Step 1: Brown the sausage in a frying pan. Drain most of the fat and set aside.

Step 2: Dice the potatoes into thin wedges. There's no right or wrong way really. Most copy-cat recipes use redskins but I only have russet so those will do. Drop them into a pot with enough water to cover and bring to a boil. Cook for about 8-10 minutes, until soft when poked with a fork.

 Step 3: While the potatoes boil, rip the kale into bite sized pieces, discarding the stems. When the potatoes are soft, drain and put back into the pot.

 Step 4: Add water, bouillon, seasoning, kale and sausage. If you're on a super budget the spices and bouillon aren't required, just kicks up the flavor a notch. If you're flush with cash, try adding half heavy cream and half chicken stock to make a creamier base soup. Of course, if you're rolling in Benjamins you could also just go out to Olive Garden for dinner tonight...and we should be friends. Email me k?

 Step 5: Bring to a boil and then simmer for about 20 minutes. In a cup, combine some hot soup water and the cornstarch and mix. Once it's all dissolved add it to the pot. This will help it to thicken. Also not completely required, but I like a little body. You could use flour for the same purpose.

The flavors combine beautifully into a rich soup that I thoroughly enjoyed. I would definitely make this again. If only I had some salad and bread sticks to go with it.

Slow cooker chicken soup: "Just like grandma used to make"

When I was younger, Sunday was always early dinner, and almost always chicken noodle soup. Grandma or mom would put a pot of soup on to simmer, we would go off to church or on a Sunday drive around town, and come home to a house that smelled delicious and a pot full of warm delight. I like continuing that on my own, though I use the modern miracle of the crock pot so I don't have to worry about it burning on the stove (that's a hilarious story for another time...).

Since I had recently roasted a chicken, naturally I made soup from what wasn't eaten the first day. We had eaten the legs and drums, so I cut off and saved the whole breasts for sandwiches for lunch the next day. The rest of the bird plus a few extras was made into a huge crock pot full of chilly weather goodness. There is nothing like coming home to the smell of homemade chicken soup!

Ingredients:
1 chicken carcass
3 large carrots, sliced
2 potatoes, diced
1 whole onion, sliced
3 stalks celery, chopped
1/2 pint fresh mushrooms
1 cup barley
1 tbsp butter
Water

Step 1: That gorgeous roasted chicken had a tray full of juices and spices that I added into the crock pot first. Waste not want not, and that's some powerful flavor I don't want to waste.

 Step 2: I diced up all the assorted veggies and added them and the chicken (skin, bones, extra meat and all) into the crock pot. I added water all the way to the top and put it on low all day (about 8 hours).

When I came home, the house just smelled amazing. The chicken had been brined in all that lovely salt and sugar and pepper and spices, so I didn't even really need to add anything to the broth.

Step 4: I boiled 1 cup of barley in 1 1/2 cups of water with 1 tbsp butter for 45 minutes. 

Barley is a bit chewy, and I added some of the broth after 40 minutes to let the flavor soak in for the last 5 minutes. Maybe a 1/2 cup.

 

Just look at all those gorgeous veggies! And the sheen on the surface, that's from the natural chicken fat that dissolved into the broth. Sure it isn't the healthiest thing in the world for you, but boy howdy does it taste great! And you can let it cool in the fridge then skim the extra fat off the top.

The barley was surprisingly perfect for this soup. Normally I use egg noodles but didn't have any on hand. The flavors blend so well and are perfect for nippy fall nights. It is so easy to make, and you will have leftovers for days (unless you share). I guarantee* you won't get sick, or if you already are you will immediately feel better.

*Guarantee based only on personal experience, not actually backed by anything or redeemable for anything. But other experiences and comments are welcome to be shared. =)

Slow cooker soup-in-a-bag

Dinner can literally not get any easier than:
Step 1 - take bag out of freezer
Step 2 - pour in crock pot
Step 3 - hit "start"
Ok, maybe "pick up phone and dial Pizza hut" is one step shorter, but you have to order, wait, tip the delivery guy, their customer service is outsourced to Pittsburgh... it's way healthier my way. In my humble opinion.


Maybe this is partially inspired by these things you see on Pinterest all the time about a salad in a mason jar. Which is a great idea, and someday I'll try it. But anyhow, with bits and pieces from other meals, I just accumulated veggies in a bag and one day after I'd made chicken and had leftover bones and grease, I used that to create a simple soup.

Ingredients:
Chicken bones, skin, fat from 4 drumsticks
1 tomato, diced
1 potato, diced
3 whole carrots, sliced
1/2 white onion, diced
2 tbsp chicken flavoring
Dash garlic salt and Italian seasonings

That bag can be tossed in the freezer to be pulled out whenever you want a quick meal hot and ready for you that night.

Step 1: Put bag of 'stuff' into crock pot. Add seasonings if you want, or extra chicken meat if you want.

 Step 2: Add water until crock pot is about half full. Set on low all day.

This is easily customizable to whatever veggies or meat you like. You can also add a grain like noodles, rice, or barley. If you're full vegan, don't use chicken leftovers as a base, you can make your own veggie stock.

Cracker-breaded baked pork chops & roasted vegetables

Pork chops are one of the cheaper meats these days, and I've previously professed my love of oven-roasted vegetables. Roasting any veggie in the oven makes it softer, sweeter, and more delicious in my opinion. You can't go wrong with several cups of veggie chunks and olive oil at 350 for 25 minutes...

Ingredients:
1/2 cup crushed butter crackers
2 tbsp garlic salt and black pepper
2 eggs, lightly beaten
2-4 pork chops
2 cups diced onion, potato and carrot
2 tbsp olive oil

 Step 1: Coat the chops in egg on both sides. A shallow plate is best for this.

 Step 2: Butter crackers really make this crust tasty! Smash up about a cup in a plastic baggie. I then added some garlic salt and black pepper too. Coat both side of the chops and place on a sprayed baking pan.

 Step 3: Put the pork in the oven at 375 and set a timer to 45 minutes. While they bake, dice up your veggies.

 I had recently gone to a farm market and they had heirloom colored carrots, so of COURSE I had to buy some. Purple carrots, turns out on the inside they are still orange. Disappointing but ok. The white ones really were white though. I added half an onion and one large russet potato.

 Step 4: Place diced veggies in an oven-safe pan, mix in 2 tbsp vegetable oil and sprinkle with salt. When the timer reads 30 minutes, put the veggies in the oven too. Cover with foil if you want, I didn't this time.

 Halfway through cooking (at about 15-20 mins left) flip the chops and mix the vegetables around.

Then enjoy! The cracker crust is buttery, salty and delicious. A perfect compliment to the hearty pork, sweet carmelized onions and carrots and earthy potatoes. Yum!