Lettuce Wraps, Two Ways

The healthier eating continues...hooray.  Even better, our exercise has continued as well (running and 30-day shred for me and Crossfit for Ryan).  Eating and cooking are really important to us, so we continue to try to find new ways to make healthy but tasty things.  These are two recipes we've made for dinners this week (the leftovers were just as good for lunch the next day too). We took two recipes that are family favorites and modified them: tacos and chicken fried rice.  Both are lower carb and lower calories than the originals and use lettuce wraps to replace the taco shells and rice.  

Up first, Lettuce Wrap Tacos:

Start by cooking the meat: in a large frying pan over medium-high heat, heat 2 tablespoons of canola oil.  Once oil is hot, add 1 pound of lean meat (beef, turkey, or chicken) and cook for about 10 minutes until browned.  Break meat into small crumbles (I've found a potato masher does the best trick).  Add your favorite taco seasoning (or use your own- mix of chili powder, cayenne, garlic salt, onion powder, and Mexican oregano) and 1 cup of water.  Once water is simmering, reduce to medium-low and cook until liquid evaporates. Now it's taco time! Using bibb lettuce as a "shell" add the meat and top with whatever your favorite toppings are (cheese, avocado, salsa, jalapenos, etc.).  Yum! The leftover toppings and meat made for a delicious lunch the next day.

Next, Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps:

This is a similar preparation as fried rice, just without the rice!  Start by sauteing two large diced onions in 2 tablespoons peanut oil over medium heat (about 30 minutes).  Once onions are cooked and starting to caramelize, remove from pan.  Add 4 whisked eggs to the pan and cook over medium-high heat for about 1 minute until cooked, remove from pan.  Add more peanut oil and add 1 pound of ground chicken to the pan.  Cook until browned and cook through (about 10 minutes). Put the onions and egg back in the pan with the chicken along with the juice of 2 limes, 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce, 1 teaspoon siracha sauce, and 1 teaspoon sesame oil.  Serve with more limes and bibb lettuce.  Ryan said he didn't even miss the rice in the dish, it still had the same flavor.

Eggplant/Mozzarella Sliders

We've officially made it a full week with healthier eating.  There have been high points (losing 4 pounds in a week) and there have been low points (drooling and whining in the bakery section at The Fresh Market), but hopefully we're on the right track. I would never think I would say this, but I actually am enjoying running.  It's not the easiest thing in the world with a stroller and a dog in tow, but they keep me motivated and laughing during my run. 
In our continued quest to make healthy, but still fun dishes, we made a twist on eggplant Parmesan and came up with these eggplant "sliders."  They were a cinch to make and really good.  They'd make a great dish for a party because they could be made ahead of time.

Start by peeling one eggplant and slice it into 1/2 medallions.  Heat 4 tablespoons of olive oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat.  

When the oil is hot enough, add the eggplant and season with salt.  

Saute on each side for about 6-7 minutes.

Once eggplant is cooked through and nicely browned, let rest on a paper towel for a few minutes.  Let them come to room temperature before assembling.

To assembly, take one slice of eggplant and put one small spoonful of crush tomatoes (or a tomato slice), then one slice of fresh mozzarella, then top with fresh basil, and finally add the second eggplant slice.

Now are these better then breaded and fried eggplant drenched in tomato sauce and cheese and served with a heaping bowl of pasta (carb withdrawal...)?  Definitely not; but are they a good substitute? For sure! It made for a fun dinner last night, and along with a glass of wine, it was a great night (and Carter slept through the night...yay!).

Eating Well, Starting With Fish

Scamp with asparagus in a lemon-champagne sauce

We've been kind of half-trying for the past few months at eating healthier, but unfortunately will power has never been a strength of mine.  Like most people, we struggle with eating healthfully yet also economically.  Now that Carter is eating all "big people" food, we also have that factor to contend with (and somehow avoid giving him a diet of only milk and chicken fingers...his preference).  Tomorrow marks one week since we've been on a real healthy eating kick.  It's not necessarily a diet, but more of conscious effort to limit carbs to fruits and vegetables and eat less.  Perhaps the biggest change we've made is eating all "real" food, i.e. nothing processed.  As a lover of cereal and bread, this is tough! I'd like to say after a week, all my cravings are gone, but that's just not true.  
It's also really hard to come up with fun and tasty recipes. To be honest, the majority of our dinners are roasted or grilled chicken with a side or steamed vegetables.  This recipe I'm sharing was actually fun to make and incredibly delicious.  We went to Walt's fish market last weekend and got a filet of scamp (kind of like grouper).

 Heat a large frying pan to medium-high and pour in two tablespoons canola oil. Meanwhile season  the fish with salt and pepper (any white-flesh fish would work for this recipe, also is great with chicken cutlets).

Cook fish for about 4 minutes on each side or until there's a nice crust developing and fish is starting to cook all the way through.  Turn heat down to medium.

Add 1/4 cup of champagne or white wine and the juice of 2 lemons.  Bring to a bubble and then reduce to a simmer.  

Meanwhile, in a 350 degree oven, roast 1 pound of asparagus until just under al dente.  Remove from the oven and cut into thirds.

Add the asparagus, 2 tablespoons butter, and a little more salt and pepper to the pan with the fish and sauce.  Stir gently to incorporate and you're ready to serve.

Made for a tasty dinner.

Apple and Onion Soup

When Ryan and I were in Blue Ridge, GA we ate dinner at this amazing restaurant called Harvest on Main.  We were not expecting to get gourmet, organic food in the middle of the mountains in Georgia, but sure enough that's just what we got! Everything we ate their was amazing, but the star of the show was the appetizer- their take on French onion soup.  It was made with three different types of onions and used apple juice instead of beef broth for the liquid.  Last night I tried to recreate this dish with a few adjustments.  

To begin, start by browning 2 packages of apple chicken sausage (this soup doesn't necessarily need the chicken, but it makes it that much more tasty) in 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat in a dutch oven (or any heavy-bottomed pot).

Once the chicken sausage looks like this, remove from pan with a slotted spoon, leaving behind any grease.  Store the meat in the fridge until ready to eat.  

To the same pan, add 3/4 stick of butter.  While that melts, slice 3 large sweet onions and 2 red onions.  To slice thinly, cut in half and then cut into thin half-moons.  

Add the sliced onions to the melted butter and season with 1/2 tablespoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of pepper.  Stir onions that they are all coated in butter and salt and pepper.  Turn heat down to medium-low.  This is where patience comes in, because you can't rush this process.  The onions need to cook for a long time in order to get that delicious French-oniony flavor.

After 30 minutes, onions will start to soften and caramelize.  Add in a bunch of thyme (held together by twine so it's easy to remove).  Continue cooking on medium-low.

After an hour, it will look like this, turn heat down to low and continue cooking.

After a total of two hours, the onions will be completely cooked down and their sugars rendered.  Turn heat back to medium and you're ready to add your liquids.

For the liquid, add 1 cup marsala wine, 4 cups 100% apple juice, and 2 cups chicken stock. Season to taste.  When soup begins to bubble, turn down to low and allow to simmer until ready to serve.

To serve, add the chicken back into the soup.  Scoop soup into a bowl and top with a piece of toast and cheese (it's best with Gruyere, but we used Monterrey Jack because it was way cheaper) and bake until cheese is melted. 

Best Onion Dip Ever!

You can't have a tailgate or Super Bowl party without a yummy dip.  Besides guacamole, this is my go-to dip: caramelized onion dip. It's really easy, the only part that's remotely difficult (which it isn't) is waiting for the onions to caramelize; but other than a few stirs, it's a matter of patience.

To start with, slice 3 large sweet onions very thinly.

Meanwhile, in a large frying pan over medium heat, add 3 tablespoons of butter and 3 tablespoons of olive oil.  When oil is heated and butter is melted, add the sliced onions and season with 1 teaspoon of salt, cook for about 10 minutes.

After those ten minutes, turn heat down to medium-low.

Onions will begin to caramelize, this picture (above) is after sautéing for 30 minutes.  Keep on going!

This is after 45 minutes of cooking.  It's kind of a pain to have to wait that long, but it's not labor intensive at all, and the flavor is unparalleled. 

In a stand mixer, add 2 packages (8 oz each) of cream cheese (let sit out for a few hours, or even over night so it's completely softened), 1 cup of sour cream, 1/4 cup of mayo, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme.  Mix until completely combined and whipped.  Then add onions.

Serve with tortilla chips.  Tastes even better the next day!

Meyer Lemon Ricotta Cookies

These are a take on my favorite Giada recipe of all time- her lemon ricotta cookies.  I use a little bit more lemon juice and zest, and this time used meyer lemons instead of conventional ones (adds a little bit more of a orange note instead of just pure lemon).

Like most cookies, start by creaming together sugar and unsalted butter (2 cups white sugar and 1 stick softened butter...side note, is there anything worse than waiting for the butter to soften for baking!?) in a stand mixer or with electric beaters (if you don't have stand mixer, start saving now because it is quite possibly the greatest kitchen tool I own) for 2 minutes until creamy and well combined.

Meanwhile, zest 3 meyer lemons (regular lemons will work too) and juice them.

To the sugar & butter mixture, add 2 eggs (one at a time), 3 tablespoons of the lemon juice, and half of the zest.  Mix to combine.  Then add 15 oz ricotta cheese and mix again.  In a separate bowl, mix together 2 cups of flower, 1 teaspoon baking powder (unfortunately I didn't have any, but luckily for me, I have a wonderful husband who ran up to the store...another side note, I'm not sure I ever cook or bake something without having to send him back to the store for something I forgot; thank god we live a mile from Publix!), and 1/4 teaspoon of salt.  Add those ingredients, a third at a time, to the liquid mixture. Be careful not to over combine. 

To bake, pre-heat an oven to 375 degrees.  These cookies will spread out some, so careful not to over crowd the baking sheet.  (Another purchase that is wonderful- silicon baking pads...amazing!) Spoon about 2-tablespoon sized scoops of the dough.  Bake for about 10 minutes, or until slightly brown on the bottom of the cookie.  Allow to cool slightly before putting on the glaze.  Speaking of the glaze...

In a bowl, add 2 cups of powdered sugar and the rest of the lemon zest.  Start adding the lemon juice slowly and mixing together.  Continue adding lemon juice until glaze is the right consistency- easy to spoon but not too liquidy.  It should look like-

Once cookies are slightly cooled, spoon the glaze over them.  Allow to harden before storing (I store in fridge so glaze is hard).  These freeze really well too.  These cookies are my absolute favorite. They have the consistency of a cake, rather than a cookie and are super flavorful.  Enjoy!

Super Bowl Nachos!

Carnitas (pulled pork) Nachos:

This recipe is really quite simple. It's not traditional carnitas (cooked in lard), but they are still very delicious and make a cheap piece of pork shine like a tenderloin.  To start these nachos, you first need to slow cook the pork like you would for pulled pork.  For our recipe, whisk together in the slow cooker: 1 tablespoon siracha sauce, 1/4 cup barbeque sauce or ketchup, 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/2 teaspoon pepper, and 1 head of garlic sliced in half (don't worry about peeling it).

 

 

Once sauce is mixed, put in a 4-6 pound pork shoulder (or Boston butt, with or without a bone); stir it around so it gets coated in the sauce (hard to do in our's because our slow cooker is small).  Then fill the cooker with enough water to bring the liquid to the top.  Put the lid on and cook on high for 5-6 hours or low for 10-12 hours.

 

After it's ton, it'll be completely fork tender (don't worry if the liquid looks greasy, you're going to strain it).  Let cool for at least an hour before handling.

Pour entire contents in a strainer and pull out bone (if there is one) and garlic pieces and any pieces of fat if there any.  Pull the pork apart with tongs or two forks (if it doesn't easily pull, then it wasn't cooked long enough!).  Mix with favorite barbeque sauce and you're ready for pulled pork sandwiches, quesadillas, or in this case nachos! (More pictures to come of the nachos.)