cooking for kaylen

(aka the most delicious healthy dish you will ever eat in your LIFE)

this has been circulating around tumblr for a while. about a million years ago, i made the original Protein Goddess Bowl thinking that was what everyone loved, and i hated it. it just was not my cup o’ tea. so i got the correct recipe and made it last night. holy mother of jesus. seriously. i could live off this. go make it now. and check out Oh She Glows for other nomnom recipes. then tell me which ones to make. :)

Ingredients for Protein Power Goddess Bowl:

1 cup uncooked green lentils (yield 2 & 3/4 cups cooked)
1 cup uncooked speltberries (yield 2 cups cooked) OR grain of choice, like brown rice (i used brown rice which was SO FREAKING DELICIOUS)
1/2 tbsp olive oil, for sautéing
1/2 red onion, chopped
3-4 garlic cloves, minced
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 large tomato, chopped
3 cups spinach or kale, roughly chopped (I used spinach and it was oh-so-good)
1/2 cup fresh parsley, minced
Kosher salt & black pepper, to taste
Lemon Wedges & lemon zest, to garnish
1 batch of Lightened Up Tahini-Lemon Dressing

Ingredients for Tahini-Lemon Dressing:

1/4 cup Tahini
2 garlic cloves
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (about 2 lemons)
1/4 cup Nutritional yeast or a bit more, to taste (i don’t know what this tastes like so i only used 1/4 cup. and i bought it at whole foods in the self-serve grain section.)
2-4 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil, to taste
1 tsp kosher salt + freshly ground black pepper, or to taste
3 tbsp water, or as needed

DIRECTIONS

1. Cook lentils and speltberries (or grain of choice) according to package directions. Drain and set aside. This can be done ahead of time… Like the night before.

2. Prepare the Lightened Up Tahini-Lemon dressing in food processor.

3. In a large skillet over low-medium heat, add your olive oil and sauté the chopped onion and minced garlic for a few minutes, being careful not to burn. Add in the chopped red pepper and tomato and sauté for another 7-8 minutes.

4. Stir in the chopped kale or spinach and sauté for another few minutes, just until tender. Stir in the full batch of Tahini-Lemon dressing, the cooked & drained lentils (NOTE: the original recipe says to stir in the grains at this time, however i just served the nomnom mixture on top of the grains), and simmer on low for another few minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the minced parsley. Season with salt and pepper to taste and garnish with lemon wedges and zest.

5. i added some broiled chicken on top because kaylen wanted something more to it. and it was amazing.

((pic above is from Oh She Glows))

2 months ago View high resolution View comments

Butter Chicken

I can’t remember why, but I had half a jar of strained tomatoes left over from another new recipe and was committed to using it all. I have a bad habit of buying ingredients and wasting half of what a bought. :(

this recipe calls for garam masala but the grocery store was sold out. so, if you can’t find it or if you just want to make it on your own mix the following together (it’ll be enough for the recipe for the butter chicken):

1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp crumbled bay leaves
1/8 ground cloves

Butter Chicken

Ingredients

3 cups strained tomatoes
4 jalapenos
1 tablespoon ginger
10 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons cumin
1 tablespoon paprika
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1.5 cups heavy cream
2 teaspoons garam masala (or the homemade mixture of spices above)
1/4 cup cilantro

Preparation

Cook chicken any way you want - I like to cook it in the oven after coating it with some olive oil pepper and salt.

Puree the jalapenos and ginger to a paste in the blender. If needed, add a bit of the strained tomatoes.

In a bowl, mix the strained tomatoes with the jalapeno/ginger paste.

In a pot, melt 8 tablespoons of butter until the foam subsides and then add the ground cumin and paprika. After a few seconds, add the tomato mixture and cook for about 10 minutes. Add salt and cream and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring from time to time. Next stir in the garam masala (or the homemade mixture) and the rest of the butter. Remove from heat and let sit for 30 minutes. Stir in cilantro before serving.

If you want, you can also add some vegetables to the pot. I added onion, mushrooms, and zucchini after stirring in the garam masala and the rest of the butter. Also add the cooked chicken to the pot at this time.

4 months ago View comments

i made lasagna soup tonight for dinner, which has made it’s way around the blogsphere. while it was filling and quite delicious, i found it was too salty for my taste despite using sodium-free chicken broth and no salt.

recipe follows (i made half the recipe and it is enough for 2 days of dinner for 2 people):

Lasagna Soup

for the soup:
2 tsp. olive oil
1-1/2 lbs. Italian sausage
3 c. chopped onions
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
2 T. tomato paste
1 28-oz. can fire roasted diced tomatoes
2 bay leaves
6 c. chicken stock
8 oz. mafalda or fusilli pasta
1/2 c. finely chopped fresh basil leaves
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

for the cheesy topping:
8 oz. ricotta
1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp. salt
pinch of freshly ground pepper

2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

PREPARATION

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add sausage, breaking up into bite sized pieces, and brown for about 5 minutes. Add onions and cook until softened, about 6 minutes. Add garlic, oregano, and red pepper flakes. Cook for 1 minute. Add tomato paste and stir well to incorporate. Cook for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the tomato paste turns a rusty brown color.

Add diced tomatoes, bay leaves, and chicken stock. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.

While soup is simmering, cook noodles. I don’t cook noodles in the soup because they absorb all the broth and end up soggy.

Right before serving, stir in the basil and season to taste with salt and freshly ground black pepper.

While the pasta is cooking and soup is simmering, prepare the cheesy topping. In a small bowl, combine the ricotta, parmesan, salt, and pepper.

To serve, place a dollop of the cheesy topping in each soup bowl, sprinkle some of the mozzarella on top and ladle the hot soup over the cheese.

Again, super quick and easy meal - great for a weeknight meal.

(pic/recipe via a farmgirl’s dabbles)

4 months ago 5 notes View high resolution View comments

friends and strangers:

I just made butter chicken from scratch.

Who am I becoming??!!

more to come.

4 months ago 22 notes View high resolution View comments

The Pioneer Woman’s Chicken and Dumplings

oh. my. god.

i made this last week and not only was it so simple, but it was absolutely delicious!

it made the apartment smell heavenly, was the best comfort food for the soul, was filling in just the right way, and kaylen loved it!

eating it was like having little explosions of deliciousness-fireworks go off in my mouth.

i want to eat this all day everyday and i plan on making it often this winter season.

6 months ago 8 notes View high resolution View comments

gnomesweetgnome:

Turkey Sausage, Spinach, and White Bean Soup with Cornbread Biscotti. Happening.

i made this this week and… i have mixed feelings.

first, instead of turkey sausage, i used regular mild italian sausage. i didn’t like the mild italian sausage and would have preferred the spicy one, so next time i’ll try that. usually when i cook sausage, i like it to have a little singe to it, so after chopping it, i’ll toss it back in the pot for a minute or two.

the first night it tasted amazing, but i thought the following night it was too salty. i think the 6 cubes of bouillon may have been too much. next time, i’ll cut it down to 4 cubes and see how that tastes.

6 months ago 568 notes View high resolution View comments

Butter Chicken

Butter Chicken

cooking for kaylen

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