Couscous with Peppers & Onion

Here's another way to dress up couscous. I got this mix of ingredients and flavors from Cooking Light. However, their instructions -- sauteing AND then cooking the peppers & onions with the couscous -- leaves the veggies soft and soggy (and I'd bet good money the veggies pictured on their recipe page were not cooked that way!). So here's my spin on it...amounts below will serve 2 or 3 as a hot side or cold salad.

Ingredients

1½ C chicken broth (or water)

¾ C Israeli (pearl) couscous

1 T olive oil

½ red bell pepper, small diced

½ jalepeno pepper, very finely diced

¼ red onion, small diced

2 T lime juice

1 T chopped fresh cilantro*

s & p to taste

* I am not a cilantro fan! But I did have some flat leaf parsley and it adds a nice freshness and pop of green to the finished dish.

Directions

Bring the water to a boil in a saucepan; add couscous and reduce heat to simmer. Cover, simmer 8-10 minutes until couscous is al dente.

Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a fry pan and sauté peppers and onions over high heat briefly; it's nice if they still have good texture, but a little char adds flavor!  Optional: I wish I would have gotten more char on mine, but I didn't want to overcook them -- should have had the pan hotter. But, you could completely skip this step if you're going to serve it cold...leave the veggies fresh and crunchy.

When the couscous is finished, stir in the peppers & onions along with lime juice. Garnish with chopped cilantro (or parsley) to serve.

If you're craving some protein, dice up some chicken, pork or even ham, which is what I had on hand. Sauté it with the onions and peppers, and throw it into the mix!

Romesco Sauce

Ingredients
3 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
3 T olive oil
 C blanched almonds*
2 tsp smoked paprika
pinch cayenne
1 12-oz jar roasted red peppers, drained
2 T sherry vinegar*
optional: bread crumbs

* I have nut allergies so I always make substitutions. I used pine nuts this time. I also substitued red wine vinegar this time as it's all I had on hand.

Directions
In small fry pan or sauce pan, cook sliced garlic in olive oil 3-5 minutes until it begins to brown. Add almonds (or pine nuts!), paprika and cayenne; continue cooking, stirring frequently, until nuts are toasted and golden (another 3-4 minutes).

Place drained, roasted red peppers and vinegar in blender with garlic, oil, nuts and spices; puree. (If it's a little thin... Romesco sauce is often thickened with bread, so feel free to throw in some bread or bread crumbs.) Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Serve with Garlic Roasted Cauliflower, roasted potatoes, fish, chicken...

Sausage & Mushroom stuffed Mini-Peppers

Using up leftovers...

Ingredients
1 lb sausage (actually a little more than a pound)
8 oz mushrooms
1 green bell pepper
½ medium onion
1 tsp minced garlic
8 oz cream cheese
1 tsp dried basil
s & p to taste
¼ cup bread crumbs
15-18 sweet, mini-peppers

Directions
Pre-heat oven to 375˚.

Finely dice mushrooms, bell pepper and onion. In skillet, brown sausage. Add mushrooms to brown (or brown separately first). Add onion, diced bell pepper and garlic; cook until softened. Reduce heat; add cream cheese and dried basil, stirring until fully incorporated. Remove from heat. Salt & pepper to taste.

Halve mini-peppers, removing ribs and seeds. Place halved side up in baking dish drizzled very lightly with oil. Spoon sausage & mushroom mixture into each pepper half. Sprinkle with bread crumbs. Bake 25 minutes.

Savory Danishes

Great for brunch!

Ingredients
12 oz cream cheese, softened to room temperature
¼ C + 2 T ranch dressing
½ C shredded cheddar
1 egg
2 sheets (1 17.3 oz pkg) puff pastry, thawed but still chilled
½ bell pepper, julienned
14 oz (about) Italian dry salami, thin sliced rounds
½ C shredded Parmesan (or Italian blend) cheeses
1-2 T dill
1 tsp black pepper


Directions
Preheat oven to 375˚. In small bowl, whisk egg with 2 tsp water; set aside.

On lightly floured surface, roll each sheet of puff pastry to 12" square. Cut into 9 squares (approx 4" each), and place on parchment paper lined baking sheets.

Place salami slices, evenly divided, in a diagonal (corner to corner) across each puff pastry square.

Blend cream cheese and ranch dressing until smooth; stir in shredded cheddar until evenly distributed. Divide evenly among puff pastry squares, spreading gently over salami.

Top cream cheese mixture with julienned bell pepper strips.

Pull a corner of each puff pastry square over the filing; brush top of dough with egg wash. Fold opposite corner over egg washed pastry, pressing gently to seal. Repeat with all 18 squares. Brush dough all over with egg wash. 

Combine shredded Parmesan, dill and black pepper. Sprinkle over tops of danishes.

Bake danishes until golden brown and crisp (approx. 30 minutes). Remove from baking sheet promptly to avoid sticking. Best served warm.

Rainbow Coleslaw

I'm not a big coleslaw fan, mostly because of the mayonnaise-y, creamy dressing. This recipe has no mayonnaise (or sour cream, buttermilk, etc.) but is dressed with a simple vinaigrette/pickling-brine. Maybe for some, that is NOT a coleslaw. It is, however, more to my personal liking. 

Ingredients: 
½ head green cabbage, finely sliced 
½ head red cabbage, finely sliced
4 carrots, shredded or finely julienned
2 bell peppers*, julienned
1 C chopped parsley 
½ C white wine vinegar 
½ C olive oil
1 tsp salt 
½ tsp pepper
2 Tbls sugar

* You can use any color bell peppers you want, but a yellow and red add more color variety since there's already green cabbage and parsley, and orange carrots in the mix.

Directions:
In a small bowl, whisk together vinegar, oil, salt, pepper and sugar. Toss with remaining ingredients in a larger bowl. Refrigerate at least an hour before serving, to chill and allow vinaigrette to pickle the salad.

Orzo Stuffed Peppers

I had everything to make this recipe except the orzo, but I did have arborio rice...which has a creamier texture than other rices and I thought would make a reasonable substitute. I was not impressed with this recipe. I don't think it was the arborio-for-orzo substitution (though it may have contributed). The recipe (ingredients) looked/sounded good, but overall, the end result was very underseasoned. Salt and pepper after the fact helped (I even used my basil salt for extra herb flavor), but it was still...uninspiring. I couldn't taste the mint at all, so that -- which I was curious to sample in a stuffed pepper dish -- seemed like a waste. With the Italian seasoned tomatoes, I finally splashed on a little balsamic and it was tolerable.  But who wants to eat food that's just 'tolerable'?! Not me. I'm still posting the recipe, just as a way of saving it. Maybe I'll play around with it later...

 Ingredients:
1 14-oz can Italian diced tomatoes
1 zucchini, grated
¼ C chopped fresh mint leaves
½ C grated Pecorino Romano
3 Tbls olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ tsp salt
½ tsp pepper
2 C chicken broth
1 C orzo
4 bell peppers


Directions:
Preheat oven to 400°.  Combine tomatoes, zucchini, mint, half of the cheese, olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper. Bring chicken broth to a boil; add orzo. Cook for about 4 minutes (orzo will only be partially cooked). Use a strainer to pour broth into a baking dish, straining the orzo and adding it to vegetable mixture. Stir to combine.

Slice tops off peppers and remove all ribs and seeds. If needed, cut a thin slice off base of peppers so they'll stand on their own. Place peppers in baking dish with broth; spoon orzo and vegetable mixture into peppers. cover with foil, bake for 45 minutes. Remove foil; sprinkle tops with remaining cheese. Bake, uncovered, until cheese id golden - about 15 minutes.

Spicy Corn & Sausage Stuffed Peppers

Stuffed pepper recipes...round 2!
(See 'round 1' recipe here.)

Ingredients:
2 Tbls olive oil
1 15-oz can corn 
½ bell pepper, diced 
½ onion, diced 
½ lb pork sausage
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
4 oz cream cheese 
¹/₃ C chopped fresh parsley
1-2 Tbls hot sauce
C bread crumbs
12-15 Anaheim or Poblano peppers
   I'm really a weenie about hot peppers (or hot anything). Neither Anaheim or Poblano are all that hot, relatively speaking; however, I still had some of the sweet mini peppers from my last stuffed pepper post. I used the rest here and was perfectly happy with the results. You can also vary the heat significantly with the type and amount of hot sauce you choose.

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425°.

Pulse the corn in a food processor so that it's still chunky, but not whole kernels. Heat 1 Tbls olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add corn, bell pepper and onion; cook, stirring frequently until tender (about 5 minutes). Add sausage and garlic; break up sausage with a wooden spatula and cook until well browned. Add cream cheese and stir until all ingredients are well incorporated. Remove from heat. Add parsley and hot sauce, stirring to combine.

Halve the peppers lengthwise and remove seeds. Toss peppers with remaining olive oil to coat lightly. Set halved peppers into baking dish cut-side up; fill each pepper with corn and sausage mixture. Sprinkle with bread crumbs. Cover loosely with foil and bake until peppers are tender, about 25 minutes.

Serve peppers drizzled with extra hot sauce.

Sweet & Sour Stuffed Peppers

This recipe -- my own combination/adaptation of about three other stuffed pepper recipes -- calls for 3 medium bell peppers. I had a bag of sweet mini-peppers (on sale recently at Safeway), so I used them instead; the recipe filled about a dozen mini-peppers, halved.

Ingredients:
1 medium carrot, small diced
1 C broccoli, small diced
1 lg shallot, small diced
2 Tbls olive oil 
¹/₃ lb ground pork sausage
3 Tbls tomato paste 
¼ C mix of chopped fresh parsley, dill and mint
¹/₃ C crushed pineapple, with juice
2 Tbls red wine vinegar
2 Tbls mirin 
½ tsp salt 
½ C prepared couscous
3 medium sweet bell peppers (any color) 
½ C grated asiago cheese

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450°.

Heat 1 Tbls olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat; add chopped vegetables and cook, stirring frequently until tender (about 5 minutes). Add sausage and 2 Tbls tomato paste; break up sausage with a wooden spatula and cook until well browned. Add pineapple with juice, 1 Tbls vinegar, 1 Tbls mirin and salt. Bring to a simmer for about 2 minutes, stirring until mixture is well combined and becomes slightly saucy. Remove from heat. Add couscous and herbs, stirring to combine.

Halve the peppers lengthwise and remove seeds. Toss peppers with remaining olive oil to coat lightly. Whisk together remaining tomato paste, vinegar and mirin with ¼ cup water; pour into bottom of baking dish. Set halved peppers into baking dish cut-side up; fill each pepper with vegetable-sausage-couscous mixture. Sprinkle with cheese. Cover loosely with foil and bake until peppers are tender, about 25 minutes.

Serve peppers drizzled with tomato cooking liquid from bottom of baking dish.

Meatballs with Sweet & Sour Sauce

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef *
½ C bread crumbs
1 egg 
¼ C pineapple juice (or broth)
2 Tbls minced onion
½ tsp Worcestershire sauce
salt & pepper

Sauce Ingredients:
½ C brown sugar 
^_1/3 C apple cider vinegar
1 Tbls soy sauce
2 Tbls corn starch
 1 15-oz can pineapple chunks or tidbits
½ green pepper, diced
1-2 cloves garlic, minced

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350°. Thoroughly combine ground beef, bread crumbs, egg, pineapple juice, minced onion and Worcestershire. Season with salt & pepper. Roll into 1-1½" balls. Bake 20-25 minutes.While meatballs bake...

In a saucepan, combine brown sugar, vinegar, soy sauce. Stir in corn starch. Place over medium heat and bring to boil. Remove from heat; stir in pineapple and green pepper.

Pour sauce over baked meatballs; bake an additional 15 minutes. ...or... place in slow-cooker/crock-pot on low heat to hot-hold for hours.
* These are  also delicious with ground turkey.

Asian Stir Fry

MHS: This recipe was part of the Culinary Arts course (Spring 2012)

Stir Fry Ingredients

A variety of vegetables, meats, or tofu (or other soy protein) can be used in a stir fry. Beef, pork and chicken are all common, as are seafood and tofu.

Almost any vegetable can be prepared using a stir-fry method, but common vegetables in Asian stir fry include: onion, carrot, broccoli, peppers, various mushrooms, green beans, corn, bean sprouts, celery, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, eggplant, bok choy, varieties of squash, snow peas, and sugar snap peas.

Stir Fry Directions

1)      Start by preparing and cutting all the vegetables and measuring your ingredients so that they are ready to go. Once you begin stir-frying, it goes very quickly.

2)     If you are cooking meat, it should be pre-cooked.

3)     Determine which of your ingredients (meat and vegetables) need the most time to cook and should be added to the stir fry first. Stir fry vegetables should be cooked until crisp-tender, somewhere between 2-5 minutes. Tougher, denser vegetables (like carrots) will take longer than more delicate and tender ones (like snow peas).

4)     In a wok or large skillet, heat about 2 Tbls oil (vegetable oil or sesame oil) over high heat until almost smoking.

5)     Add the vegetables that need the longest to cook first followed, sequentially, by those that require less time. Continually stir or agitate the wok or skillet so vegetables cook evenly and don’t scorch, stopping only for a few seconds to add the next ingredient.

6)     If serving stir fry alone, a thin sauce can be added during the final minute or two of cooking; if desired, a lid can be placed on the wok or skillet to briefly steam the vegetables with the sauce.

If serving stir fry over rice or noodles, a thicker sauce may be desired to coat and add flavor the rice or noodles as well. Sauce can be thickened with a little extra corn starch.

7)     Serve immediately.

Sauce Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons corn starch
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne
• 1/2 cup corn syrup
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic

 Sauce Directions

1. Stir corn starch, brown sugar and crushed red pepper together in a small saucepan OR 1-quart microwaveable dish. Add remaining ingredients; stir well.
2. Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Heat until mixture boils for 1 full minute. Cook and stir an additional 1 to 2 minutes, or until thickened to a syrup-like consistency.
3. Drizzle over your favorite stir-fry just before serving.

Also delicious as a glaze for grilled meats. Store covered in refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

Strata, Frittata and Quiche

MHS: Introduction to Foods & Nutrition *

This recipe is from The Learning Zone Express, Amazing Eggs DVD (2012)

Ingredients for egg mixture for strata, frittata, or quiche:

12 eggs

1 C heavy cream (or half and half)

1 C sour cream

1 tsp salt

pinch of nutmeg, crushed red pepper, cayenne pepper, pepper

Directions:

Crack eggs into a large mixing bowl. Add cream or half and half, sour cream, salt, nutmeg, crushed red pepper, cayenne pepper, and fresh ground pepper. Beat with a hand mixer until well blended. This makes enough batter for a 9 x 13” strata or frittata or two 9” quiches.

ideas for toppings: ham, sausage, mushrooms, bell peppers, broccoli, onions, zucchini, cheese…

Remember to precook meats (and vegetables, if desired).

To prepare strata: Spray 9” x 13” baking dish with non-stick spray. Crumble a layer of stale, dry bread. Add precooked toppings and shredded cheese. Pour egg mixture over and bake.

To prepare frittata: Spray 9” x 13” baking dish with non-stick spray. Place a single layer of diced, pre-cooked potatoes in the bottom of the baking dish. Top with desired precooked toppings and shredded cheese. Pour egg mixture over and bake.

To prepare quiche: Line pie plates with pie shells or use pre-made shells. Add desired precooked toppings and shredded cheese. Pour egg mixture over toppings, dividing evenly between the two shells, leaving room at the top for eggs to expand. Bake.

Bake each egg dish at 350° for 45 minutes or until lightly browned and eggs are firm in the middle. Cool slightly before serving.

* This recipe is one used in the introductory culinary course I teach.
(Protein - Eggs)