Tag Archives: gluten-free

Roasted Root Vegetables with Turkey Sausage

Posted in Recipes by

Fall is officially underway in southeastern PA.  The temperatures dipped below freezing last night which means that our bedroom was a balmy 58° when we woke up.  That’s right, 58°.  We haven’t turned the heat on yet and Matt likes to sleep with the window “ajar” so, as you might imagine, it’s a bit chilly in the morning.  But, I digress…  The real point of this post is that cold Fall weather means that it’s time to eat root vegetables!

Root vegetables like potatoes, parsnips, beets, and carrots taste delicious when they’re tossed in garlic and olive oil and roasted in the oven.  It’s amazing how the flavors of these veggies change after being cooked at 425° for 40 minutes: the parsnips become soft and nutty, the carrots are sweet, and the potatoes are crispy… YUM!  If you want to turn your root vegetables into a complete dinner, add some sausage or chicken to the mixture and voila! the perfect Autumn meal is born.

For tonight’s dinner I used an assortment of root vegetables along with cauliflower and brussel sprouts.  You might also want to try using turnips, rutabagas, asparagus, broccoli, butternut squash or zucchini.

Roasted Root Vegetables with Turkey Sausage

You will need…
2 Red Potatoes
1 Purple Potato
1 Sweet Potato
1 Parsnip
2 Carrots
1/2 Yellow Onion
1/2 Beet
1/2 cup Cauliflower
4-6 Brussel Sprouts
3 Cloves Garlic, minced
4-5 tablespoons Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon Dried Rosemary (or Thyme or Italian Seasoning… whatever you want!)
3 Hot Italian Turkey Sausages

Directions:
Cut up the vegetables into large bite-sized pieces.  Try to cut the hard vegetables like the beet, sweet potato, carrots, and parsnip into smaller pieces and cut the softer vegetables (cauliflower, brussel sprouts) into larger pieces to ensure that the soft veggies don’t overcook.  Place all of the vegetables in a large bowl and add the garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper, and rosemary.  Stir well to combine.  Transfer the vegetables onto a large baking sheet and spread them out in a single layer.  Place the sausages on a second baking dish.  If your veggies are a bit crowded on the first baking sheet you can add a few of them to the sausage dish.

Cook the vegetable and sausage in a preheated 425° oven for 35-40 minutes.  Check on the vegetables every 15 minutes or so and flip them with a spatula.  After about 30 minutes, remove the sausage from the oven and slice it up into bite-sized pieces.  Return the sausage to the oven for the remaining time so that the cut edges will crisp up while it continues to cook.

Remove both baking trays from the oven when the vegetables are starting to crisp and enjoy!

Roasted Fresh Chile Salsa

Posted in Recipes by

Our pepper plants are on a roll! They’ve yielded over a dozen peppers so far and there are new peppers growing and ripening in the garden right now. After harvesting 2 “big boy” green jalapeños, 5 small red jalapeños and 4 small serranos all in one afternoon I realized that we needed to find a good recipe to take advantage of all of this spicy goodness. We turned to the pages of our trusty Mexican Everyday cookbook and found this recipe for Roasted Fresh Chile Salsa.

Our mid-July bounty: green beans, tomatoes, jalapeños and serranos!

Salsa de Chile Fresco Asado (from Mexican Everyday by Rick Bayless)

You will need…
4-5 fresh Jalapeños (the recipe calls for green chiles but ours were red)
4 fresh Serranos (omit if you want a milder salsa)
4 cloves Garlic, peeled
2 tablespoons Lime Juice
1/4 cup water
1/2 teaspoon Salt

Directions:
Trim the stems off of the chiles and slice in half lengthwise, then place face down in a glass baking pan. Arrange the garlic cloves between the peppers. Broil in the oven for 4-5 minutes or until the chile peppers are soft and starting to form blotchy black spots. Remove from broiler and carefully transfer the roasted chiles and garlic to a blender. Add the lime juice and water and blend until smooth. Transfer mixture to a bowl and, if necessary, stir in more water to reach your desired consistency. Taste the salsa (watch out though, it might be super hot!) and add salt if needed.

OK… so now you have a bowl of freshly roasted liquid fire. What the heck are you supposed to do with it?

Our chile peppers must have been extra potent because our “salsa” was so hot that we could barely inhale near it. (I say “salsa” in quotes because I could never, ever handle a serving of this stuff on a chip… I’d die!) Luckily there are plenty of things that you can do with hot salsa that don’t involve burning your mouth and sweating profusely. Here are some ideas:

  • Use it anywhere that you’d normally add hot sauce. We used a few drops on our Jalapeño Garlic Chicken Quesadillas and it brought a great amount of heat to the dish. It would also be good (in moderation!) on Tortas with Chorizo and Black Beans and Chicken Fajitas.
  • Use it as a steak marinade. (This is Rick Bayless’s suggestion.) Mix 2 tablespoons of olive oil into the salsa and brush it onto all sides of a nice steak (we shared a NY strip, yum!). Sear both sides of the steak over high heat and then grill over indirect medium heat until cooked to your desired temperature.
  • Use it to season potatoes. (Also Rick’s idea.) Quarter two yukon gold potatoes, sprinkle with salt, and microwave on high in a covered bowl for 4 minutes to soften. Brush some of the salsa onto the potatoes and finish cooking them on a grill in a grill basket over direct medium-high heat.

What is your favorite way to use a surplus of chile peppers? Please share!

Jalapeño Garlic Chicken Quesadillas

Posted in Recipes by

Wait!  Before you read this, please comment on my Tomato Salad post to win a FREE digital kitchen scale!  Contest ends tomorrow (8/1) at 11:59PM.

We had originally planned to make standard chicken tacos for dinner tonight but decided to mix (or melt?) things up with these cheesy jalapeño garlic chicken quesadillas instead.  Matt found the marinade recipe on About.com and I think that it gave the chicken a great amount of flavor without overwhelming the other ingredients in the quesadilla.

Our garden-fresh peppers were featured three ways in this meal.  We used two jalapeño peppers in the marinade, sliced up two small red peppers to saute with the onions and applied a few drops of our super-hot roasted fresh chile salsa (recipe coming soon!) over top of the cheese in the final quesadilla.  Delicious!

Jalapeño Garlic Chicken Quesadillas

You will need…
2 Jalapeño Peppers, stems removed
2-3 cloves Garlic, peeled
3/4 cup Water
1/2 cup Red Wine Vinegar
1 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Oregano
1/2 teaspoon Cumin
1/2 teaspoon Ancho Chile Powder
1/4 teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
1 Chicken Breast (2 halves)
Peanut Oil
1/2 Red Onion, thinly sliced
1 Red Bell Pepper, sliced into thin strips
6-8 Corn Tortillas
1 cup Shredded Cheese (we used Sargento Authentic Mexican Blend – a mix of Queso Quesadilla, Asadero, Queso Gallego, Manchego and Anejo Enchilado Cheese… whew!)
Hot Sauce or Roasted Fresh Chile Salsa to taste

Directions:
Place the jalapeño peppers and garlic in a blender and blend until finely chopped.  Add the next seven ingredients (water thru black pepper) and blend thoroughly.  Pour the mixture into a large zipper-top bag and add the chicken.  Allow to marinade for at least 30 minutes.

Add a tablespoon of Peanut Oil to a large skillet and saute the onion over medium heat.  When the onion is tender and starting to brown, add the red bell pepper and continuing sauteing until the peppers have softened slightly, approximately 5 minutes.  Remove the onions and peppers from the skillet and set aside.

Grill the marinaded chicken over direct medium-high heat until cooked through, approximately 7-8 minutes per side.  Remove the chicken from the grill and allow it to rest for 3-5 minutes before cutting it into thin slices.

Add a small amount of peanut oil to a large skillet and heat over medium heat.  Place one corn tortilla in the skillet and top with a small handful of shredded cheese.  Layer a few slices of chicken onto the cheese and spoon some of the onion-pepper mixture over the chicken.  Top with another scant handful of cheese and a few drops of your favorite hot sauce or spicy salsa.  Layer a second corn tortilla onto your creation.  Allow the bottom of the quesadilla to turn golden brown then carefully flip the quesadilla over and cook the other side until golden.  Remove the quesadilla from the skillet, and repeat the layering process with the remaining 2-3 quesadillas.  Slice the quesadillas into quarters and serve with salsa, guacamole, or sour cream… or just eat them as is!  🙂

Roasted Tomatillo Salsa

Posted in Recipes by

I’ve been wanting to share this recipe for Roasted Tomatillo Salsa for quite some time since it is one of our all-time favorite salsas.  It is a great go-to recipe for summer barbecues and picnics and features a fresh flavor, beautiful green color, and just the right amount of kick.  The original recipe came from The Food Network’s Tyler Florence and can be viewed here.

We first made this salsa last Spring when our oven was broken.  Instead of roasting the tomatillos, peppers, onion, and garlic in the oven, we wrapped the bottom of our 13×9 glass pan in foil and roasted the veggies on our grill over indirect medium-high heat.  If you find yourself wanting to make this recipe during a heat wave, using the grill might be a good way to avoid heating up your kitchen!

Tomatillos look sort of like green tomatoes with protective husks.

Roasted Tomatillo Salsa 

You will need…
10-12 Tomatillos, husked and sliced in half
4 cloves Garlic, peeled
2 Jalapeño Peppers, whole
1 White Onion, sliced into 6-8 large wedges
Juice from 1/2 to 1 Lime (depending on how juicy your lime is!)
1 teaspoon Salt
2 teaspoons Cumin
1/2 cup Cilantro, loosely chopped
Tortilla Chips

Directions:
Place the tomatillos, garlic, peppers, and onion in a 13×9 glass pan and roast in a preheated 400° oven for 20 minutes until veggies have softened.  Switch the oven to broil and broil for 4-5 minutes until black spots start to form on the tomatillos and peppers.  Remove from oven and set aside to cool.

Tomatillos, Garlic, Jalapeños (from my garden!), and Onion ready to be roasted.

Meanwhile, place the lime juice, salt, cumin and cilantro in a blender.  When the tomatillo mixture is cool enough to handle safely, pour the roasted veggies and any accumulated juices into the blender.  Blend the mixture until it is fairly uniform (or to your desired salsa consistency) and serve with tortilla chips.

Smoky Pork Tinga Tacos

Posted in Recipes by

I know that it’s already ocho de Mayo but I’ve been busy at work (and in the garden!) so I’m finally just getting around to posting about our yummy dinner from Saturday night.  Ever since we made BBQ Chicken Quesadillas back in March we’ve been obsessed with La Tortilla Factory’s Green Chile Corn Tortillas and, as a result, we decided to make a meal that utilized these delicious little disks for Cinco de Mayo.  We pulled out our trusty Mexican Everyday cookbook by Rick Bayless and Matt quickly declared that the Pork Tinga Taco recipe sounded like a winner.

After a quick mid-day trip to the grocery store we had the taco filling prepped and in the Crockpot.  Most of the work for this recipe is done during the initial prep stage (6 hours before you eat) which is nice because this means that your dinner is basically sitting their waiting for you once dinnertime rolls around.  In our case we were able to use our “free time” in the evening to enjoy homemade Salsa and Margaritas.  🙂

Smoky Pork Tinga Tacos with Avocado and Queso Fresco (from Mexican Everyday)
(serves an army in one sitting or serves two for dinner and provides 4-5 leftover lunches throughout the week)

You will need…
1 lb. Yukon Gold Potatoes, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
2 lbs. Boneless Pork Shoulder, cut into 1 inch cubes
2 – 15 oz. cans Fire-Roasted Diced Tomatoes, undrained
3 canned Chipotle Chiles en Adobo, sliced into 1/4 inch strips
1 tablespoon Adobo canning sauce from Chipotles
1 tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
1 teaspoon Dried Oregano
3 cloves Garlic, pressed through a garlic press
1 1/4 teaspoons Salt
1 Medium White Onion, sliced into 1/4 inch thick slices
1 Mexican Chorizo Sausage, casing removed
16 Corn Tortillas, warmed
1 cup Crumbled Queso Fresco Cheese (substitute feta if you can’t find QF)
2 large Avocados, pitted and sliced into 1/4 inch pieces

Directions:
Approximately 6 hours before you plan to eat dinner, line the bottom of your slow cooker with the potatoes and top with an even layer of the pork.  Combine the next seven ingredients (tomatoes thru salt) in a bowl and mix together.  Pour the tomato mixture over the pork and top with the sliced white onion.  Cook on “high” for 6 hours.

Pork Tinga mixture after slow-cooking for 6 hours. After this photo was taken we poured out the excess liquid, reduced it, and stirred it back into the pork to retain the intense flavor.

When your pork is done, brown and crumble the chorizo, drain the excess fat, and stir it into your pork mixture.  Break up the pork into smaller shredded pieces as you stir.  At this point check to see how much liquid is in your slow cooker.  If yours is anything like ours was, it will be way too watery to spoon onto a tortilla.  Rather than throwing away this excess liquid, pour it into a sauce pan and boil rapidly to reduce.  Stir the syrupy reduced liquid back into the meat for maximum flavor.

Warm your tortillas.  An easy shortcut is to sandwich a tortilla between two damp paper towels and microwave it on high for 30-45 seconds.  This makes the tortillas warm, moist and pliable without dirtying a frying pan.  🙂  To build your Smoky Pork Tinga Tacos, place a few spoonfuls of the pork mixture on the warm tortilla and top with queso fresco and avocado.  Enjoy!

Fire-Roasted Tomato Salsa

Posted in Recipes by

Although Matt and I certainly don’t need an excuse to make a Mexican-themed meal, the fact that yesterday was Cinco de Mayo inspired us to choose two new recipes from our Mexican Everyday cookbook.  Mexican Everyday was written by Rick Bayless (the chef behind Frontera Foods) and I love that Rick included a whole intro section that describes the use and preparation of various Mexican ingredients including chipotles en adobo, jicama, tomatillos, and queso fresco (all ingredients that I had never worked with before buying this book!).

For our Cinco de Mayo feast we snacked on chips and Fire-Roasted Tomato Salsa as we prepared dinner and then enjoyed Smoky Pork Tinga Tacos with Avocado and Quesco Fresco as our main dish.  We also shook up a batch of delicious Margaritas on the Rocks using lime juice, tequila, triple sec, and simple syrup.  This post will cover our  salsa… more on the tacos coming up next!  🙂

Fire-Roasted Tomato Salsa (from Mexican Everyday)

You will need…
2 Jalapeño Peppers
3 cloves Garlic, unpeeled
1 – 15oz. can Fire-Roasted Diced Tomatoes, undrained
1/3 cup While Onion, finely chopped, rinsed, and drained
1/3 cup loosely packed Cilantro, chopped
1 teaspoon Fresh Lime Juice
Salt, to taste

Directions:
Place the jalapeño peppers on a grill over direct medium-high heat.  Allow the peppers to roast for approximately 10 minutes, turning occasionally, until the skin becomes dark and splotchy in spots.  At the same time, heat a small skillet over medium heat and lay the unpeeled garlic cloves in the skillet.  Allow the garlic to roast for approximately 15 minutes until dark and splotchy in spots.

Dry-roast the Jalapeños until the skin becomes blotchy and blackened.

Pull the stems out of the roasted peppers and remove the garlic cloves from their skin.  Place the roasted ingredients in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped.  Add the tomatoes with their juice and pulse a few more times until the mixture reaches your desired consistency.  Pour the tomato mixture into a medium bowl.  Add the onion and cilantro and mix well.  Taste and season with lime juice and salt.  Enjoy with corn tortilla chips and a nice cold margarita.  🙂

Chicken Fried Rice

Posted in Recipes by

Fried Rice is one of the many dishes that Matt and I have wanted to master (or at least become proficient at making) since we got our wok back in November.  We tried a fried rice recipe a few months ago but it was over-seasoned with white pepper (the smell of white pepper still makes me cringe!) and definitely not what we were hoping for.  We were just talking about how we should try making fried rice again when, coincidentally, Danny from Danny’s Kitchen posted a tasty-looking recipe for chicken fried rice.  I immediately decided that we’d try Danny’s recipe and I’m happy to report that it was delicious!

Making fried rice takes some forethought because the rice should be made a few days in advance and then refrigerated.  I don’t have a rice cooker (though it’s sounding more and more like a gadget that I should get… maybe for our wedding?) so I cheated by microwaving some Trader Joe’s frozen jasmine rice on Tuesday and storing it until today.  For the veggies, I used raw carrots instead of frozen ones since that’s all I had.  I cooked the raw carrot with the frozen vegetables which left the carrots fairly crunchy and hard.  If I were to use raw carrots again I would steam them slightly before adding them to the wok to ensure that they ended up with a softer texture.

Chicken Fried Rice (also check out the original recipe on Danny’s Kitchen!)

You will need…
2 – 10 oz. packages frozen Trader Joe’s Jasmine Rice (cooked 2 days prior and stored in a sealed container in the fridge)
Peanut Oil
2 cloves Garlic, smashed and roughly chopped
1/2 medium Yellow Onion, finely diced
1 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breast, cut into 3/4″ cubes
2 Eggs, whisked together in a small bowl
Approx. 3/4 cup frozen vegetables (I used about 1/4 cup frozen peas, 1/4 cup frozen corn, and 3 chopped carrots since I didn’t have frozen carrots)
1 teaspoon Soy Sauce

Directions:
Heat up your wok over medium-high heat and add about a tablespoon of peanut oil.  When the oil is hot, add the garlic and onions and saute for 2-3 minutes.  Push the garlic and onions to the perimeter of the wok and add the chicken in one layer in the bottom of the wok.  Allow the chicken to cook, undisturbed, for 1 minute, then stir fry the chicken until it is cooked through.  Remove the chicken, garlic and onions from the wok and set aside.

Add more oil to the wok if needed, then add the whisked eggs and cook until they are scrambled.  Remove and set aside.  Add more oil again if needed, then add the rice and stir constantly for 5 minutes.  Add the frozen vegetables and the soy sauce, then stir fry for 8 minutes.  Add the egg and chicken back into the wok and stir fry for an additional 3-5 minutes until heated through.  Season with extra soy sauce to taste and enjoy!

Kung Pao Chicken

Posted in Recipes by

Last Fall Matt and I decided that we wanted to learn how to stir fry. We got a great cook book, a brand new 14 inch carbon steel wok, and what seemed like dozens of various sauces, oils and seasonings. Since then we’ve made several recipes and all of them have had a much fresher and more authentic taste than any jarred stir-fry sauce that we had tasted in the past. Our favorite stir fry so far has been the Kung Pao Chicken. It may look like there are a lot of ingredients (because, well, there are!) but it is definitely worth it!

This posting is not really a recipe because I’m not actually listing the exact quantities of each ingredient. If you are interested in making this stir fry I recommend that you purchase the cook book that we use – “Stir-Frying to the Sky’s Edge” by Grace Young. This book is great because it not only has delicious recipes like Mongolian Lamb, Hoisin Pork, Hot Pepper Beef, and Kung Pao Chicken, it also has detailed information about stir fry food prep and techniques (seasoning a wok, mincing garlic, shredding scallions… all of those skills you never knew you needed until you tried to make a “real” stir fry!). The book is well-written and the recipes are delicious and I highly recommend it.

Kung Pao Chicken

Here are the many, many ingredients that you will need: (I’m not listing quantities here – you should check out the cook book to find them!)
Chicken Breast, cut into cubes
Minced Ginger
Minced Garlic
Cornstarch
Soy Sauce (use wheat-free soy sauce for a g-free recipe)
Dry Sherry (or Shao Hsing Rice Wine)
Sugar
Salt
Chicken Broth
Balsamic Vinegar (or Chinkiang Vinegar)
Dark Soy Sauce
Sesame Oil
Peanut Oil
Red Chili Peppers OR Chili-Garlic Sauce (that’s our one addition to this recipe… it tastes good though!)
Sichuan Peppercorns (Update: we mail-ordered these from Spices, Inc. with great results)
Red Bell Pepper, cut into 1 inch squares
Unsalted Roasted Peanuts
Minced Scallions
Cooked White Rice

Just a few of the many ingredients you will need!

Directions:
Combine the chicken, ginger, garlic, cornstarch, soy sauce, rice wine, sugar, salt and cold water. In another smaller bowl or measuring cup combine the chicken broth, balsamic vinegar, dark soy sauce, sesame oil, and the rest of the rice wine. In yet another small bowl, combine the remaining sugar and salt and add the scallions and peanuts. Now you are ready to start stir frying!

Now you’re ready to start stir frying!

Heat your wok on high heat and swirl in half of the peanut oil. Add the chilis (or chili garlic sauce, in our case) and Sichuan peppercorns and stir fry for approximately 1 minute until chilis begin to smoke. Push the chili mixture aside and add the chicken. Spread the chicken in one layer on the bottom of the wok and cook for 1 minute undisturbed, then stir-fry for an additional minute.

Kung Pao Chicken

Swirl the remaining peanut oil into the wok and add the red bell peppers. Stir fry for 1 minute, then swirl the broth mixture into the wok and stir fry for another minute. Add the peanut-scallion mixture and stir fry for a final 30 seconds. Remove from heat and serve over white rice.

Cuban-Style Black Beans

Posted in Recipes by

Someday I will make “real” beans.  I mean the kind where you soak dried beans overnight, pick through them for stones (stones, really?!?), and then cook them for hours with seasonings.  But for today I had my hands full with pork carnitas and jicama slaw so I just decided to use a recipe where I can doctor up a basic can of black beans and make them taste like they have been soaking all night and simmering on the stove.  This recipe from SkinnyTaste.com was exactly what I needed.  The beans turned out flavorful and slightly saucy (a good attribute in my opinion!) and complemented the rest of the meal very well.

Cuban-Style Black Beans  (view the original recipe here)

You will need…
1/2 Onion
2 cloves Garlic
2 Scallions
1/4 Red Pepper
3 tablespoons Cilantro
Olive Oil
1 15oz. can Black Beans, undrained
1/3 cup Water
1 Bay Leaf
few pinches of Cumin (I love how there’s no exact measurement in the original recipe… this is exactly how I cook!)
one pinch Oregano
1 teaspoon Red Wine Vinegar
Salt and Pepper, to taste

Directions:
Chop the onion, garlic, scallions, red pepper, and cilantro in a food processor.  Add a small amount of Olive Oil to a pan and sauté the onion mixture for approximately 3 minutes.  Add the rest of the ingredients and stir well.  Bring to a boil and then lower heat and simmer, uncovered, for approx. 15 minutes stirring occasionally.

Jicama Slaw

Posted in Recipes by

Tonight for dinner we are making pork carnitas with jicama slaw, cuban-style beans, and cilantro-lime rice.  The pork, which has been simmering the crock pot all day, will not have a huge amount of seasoning which is OK because the real flavors will come from the combination of the slow-cooked pork and this delicious jicama slaw in our green chile corn tortillas.  I’ll post the pork recipe and photos of the finished dinner later.

We made the slaw this afternoon so that the veggies will have time to soak up the dressing before dinner.  The original recipe came from the Food Network’s Guy Fieri.  You can view Guy’s recipe here.

Jicama Slaw

You will need…
3 tablespoons Lime Juice
1/2 teaspoon Red Chile Flakes (we used Crushed Red Pepper since we didn’t have Chile Flakes)
1/2 teaspoon Chile Powder
6 tablespoons Rice Wine Vinegar
1 teaspoon Sugar
6 tablespoons Olive Oil
1 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Pepper
1  1/2 cups Jicama, peeled and julienned
1 cup Carrots, peeled and julienned
1 cup English Cucumber, julienned
1/2 cup Red Pepper, julienned
1/2 cup Red Onion, thinly sliced
1 cup Shredded Cabbage (use bagged cole slaw mix if you don’t feel like buying a whole head of cabbage; for tonight’s dinner we used a bag of “broccoli cole slaw”)
2 tablespoons Cilantro, chopped

I was able to fit nearly all of the ingredients onto this cutting board... there are a lot of them!

Directions:
In a small bowl or measuring cup combine the first eight ingredients (lime juice through pepper) and stir together.

If you have a mandoline, use it to julienne and slice your veggies. We made this slaw one time before we owned our mandoline and it took about 40 minutes longer because I am not very quick with a knife!

In a much larger bowl, combine the rest of the ingredients (jicama through cilantro) and toss.  Pour the dressing over the veggies and mix well.  Cover and refrigerate for 1-2 hours before serving.