Moroccan Chicken Bowl

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I recently ran across a recipe that I had pulled from a magazine quite awhile ago and decided to give it a try. It was the perfect fall day for it – cold and rainy! I made a few variations as I went along, trying to use some things I already had in my cupboards, and it turned out delicious! To save a bit of time, use pre-cooked chicken or throw some frozen tenders in a slow cooker for a few hours with chicken stock to cook.

Moroccan Chicken Bowl

  • 1 T. olive oil
  • 1 shallot, finely chopped
  • 1 c. chopped carrots
  • 2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice (if you don’t have this, you can make your own)
  • 1 t. ground fresh ginger
  • 1/2 t. salt
  • 3 c. chicken broth or water

1. Heat the olive oil in a medium-large soup pot over medium heat. Add the shallots and carrots and cook until softened. Add the pumpkin pie spice ginger, and salt, stirring well. Add broth or water, cover and cook until carrots are tender, about 10 minutes.

2. Prepare couscous:

  • 1 c. couscous, cooked according to directions
  • Puree: 1-1/2 c. cilantro, 2 T. water and 1 T. olive oil. Stir into cooked couscous and keep warm. (*you can also use 1 T. of leftover Cilanto Pesto if you have some in the freezer like I did!)

3. After carrots are tender in the broth, stir in:

  • 3 c. cooked or rotisserie chicken, shredded
  • 1/2 c. golden raisins
  • 6 dried apricots, quartered
  • 1 T. honey
  • 1/4 c. cilantro leaves

4. When chicken mixture is warm, serve over a scoop of the couscous in a bowl and top with sliced almonds and artichoke hearts. Delicious on a blustery evening.

moroccan-chicken

Asian-Inspired Stuffed Peppers

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I was never a big fan of the traditional green peppers stuffed with rice/ground beef/tomato sauce mixture – probably because I dislike green peppers and the filling always seemed bland to me. This recipe is my spin combining recipes for stuffed peppers with lettuce wrap filling. It can be made and even assembled ahead of time then just heated up for those evenings where the whole family is rushing in late. I prefer the mellow sweetness of yellow, orange and red peppers, but you can use green ones if you prefer. Blanching them (cooking them in boiling water then zapping them with cold water) softens them up and lessens the time needed in the oven for the finished dish.

Ingredients:

6 red, yellow or orange bell peppers

1 c. cooked rice

Chicken Filling from Lettuce Wraps Recipe here.

Make the Chicken Filling first. Then clean the peppers. Cut in half from stem to bottom and remove stem, seeds and any excess membrane. Bring a large pot of water to boil, then drop the peppers (in 2 batches) into the water for 5 minutes until softened. Remove, drain and rinse in cold water until cooled. Spray with oil a large baking dish then put all the peppers in, open side up.

 

Put 1 T. of cooked rice in the bottom of each pepper. Use an ice cream scoop or large spoon to put chicken filling in each pepper on top of the rice. Sprinkle with extra chopped basil or sesame seeds. Bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes to warm everything up together just before serving.

Asian Inspired Stuffed Pepper serving

Chicken Lettuce Wraps

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1 lb. ground chicken
2 T. sesame oil (can use HOT flavored if you like)

1 cup chopped shiitake mushrooms (approx. 4-5 medium fresh ones or dried ones, rehydrated according to directions, then finely chopped)
2 T. chopped basil
3 T. hoisen sauce

3 T. teriyaki

1 t. ground ginger
1 T. low-sodium soy sauce

2 teaspoons chopped garlic

1 8-oz. can each bamboo shoots and water chestnuts, finely chopped
1 t. cornstarch
Butter leaf lettuce, cleaned & separated
2 c. cooked rice

In a large bowl, mix together the chicken, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts and basil. Set aside. Stir together 1 T. each of the hoisen, soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, plus the garlic, and 1/2 teaspoon of the ginger. Pour the mixture on top of ground chicken gently stir to combine.

Sauce Round #2: In a small separate bowl, mix the remaining 2 T. hoisen & teriyaki, 1/2 t. ginger and cornstarch. Set aside.

Heat the sesame oil in a large sauce pan over medium heat. Cook the chicken mix in the oil until cooked, stirring every couple of minutes. While the chicken is cooking, prepare Sauce Round #2. Pour the remaining sauce over the chicken and simmer a couple more minutes. Serve over the rice or scooped into the lettuce leaves.

Option: Use as filling for Asian-Inspired Stuffed Peppers

 

Lime & Ginger Shrimp with Coconut Rice

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A few years ago, I tried an easy recipe from a magazine. It was delicious and I passed it on to several people as well. It’s my go-to recipe in warm weather when I have company and don’t want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen. Since I just can’t keep anything the same, I jazz up the recipe a little by adding different ingredients depending on what I have in the house or in the garden. If you have leftovers (I usually don’t), it’s even good the next day but heat slowly since shrimp doesn’t reheat well without getting tough. When served with coconut rice, it’s a fast and filling dinner to eat on your patio. You can also prepare the ingredients ahead of time and start the rice cooking first since it takes the longest.

Lime & Ginger Shrimp

2 lbs. shrimp, peeled, deveined, tails removed & patted dry (if frozen, thaw them)

¼ c. ginger preserves

Juice from 3 limes + zest

2/3 c. chopped cilantro leaves

2 T. olive oil

In a large skillet, heat the olive oil on medium. Add the shrimp and cook a couple of minutes until partially done. Stir in the ginger preserves and cook until dissolved and shrimp are done (pink & firm). Drain excess liquid, then remove from the heat and stir in lime juice and cilantro. Serve over the rice and top with lime zest for extra flavor.
Coconut Rice

2 c. white jasmine rice

2 c. water

11 oz. culinary coconut milk (concentrated, comes in a Tetra Pak® container) or 14 oz. can of regular coconut milk (not lite)

¼ c. shredded, unsweetened coconut

Pinch of salt

Place the rice in rice cooker. Add the remaining ingredients and stir well. Set to cook and when rice is done, allow another 10 minutes for it to sit and finish steaming/cooking (if it doesn’t look done, just hit the cook button again). Fluff with a fork before serving.

Options: Use mixture of shrimp and scallops (scallops may need to cook a bit longer depending on size); use basil instead of cilantro; or add a pinch of crushed red chili pepper if you like it spicy!

ginger lime shrimp

Hazelnut Nutella Tart

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As we roll from holiday desserts to January diets to February sweets, I can’t resist a good Nutella recipe. Did you know there’s even a World Nutella Day for fans to celebrate on February 5th? Had I known they were looking for an ambassador, I just may have applied! There’s always next year! In the meantime, here’s my take on combining local Oregon-grown hazelnuts and with the sweet and addictive hazelnut spread. It’s sweet and rich (and definitely not low-fat), but it makes a perfect Valentine’s Day dessert if you’re looking for something last minute.

Hazelnut Nutella Tart

1 sheet of refrigerated piecrust dough

½ of 13-oz. jar of Nutella (reserve 2-3 T. for later)

½ of 11-oz bag of caramel bits (found in the baking section by the chocolate chips)

1/3 c. heavy whipping cream

1 c. chopped hazelnuts (or other nuts if you prefer)

Follow directions for piecrust to unroll it and place it in a greased 9” tart pan. Lightly press into the bottom and up the sides without stretching it. Trim the excess off even with the top of the pan and use a fork to prick the crust all over. Bake 10-12 minutes at 450 degrees, until lightly browned. Cool completely.

Lower the oven temp to 350 degrees then toast the nuts in a shallow pan for 10 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring once during toasting. Remove and cool.

Warm the Nutella in small dish by microwaving 30 seconds at a time until thin and easy to stir. Spread it over the bottom of the tart shell then sprinkle it with the nuts, lightly pressing them in. In a glass dish, stir the caramel bits and whipping cream together and microwave 30 seconds to a minute at a time on medium heat, stirring occasionally, until caramel is melted and it combines easily with the cream. Pour over the hazelnuts making sure it gets all the way to the edges. Heat up the 2-3 tablespoons of the reserved Nutella until very thin and drizzle over the top. Chill until it’s time to serve! Add a dollop of whipped cream sweetened with a bit of sugar and a couple drops of almond flavoring if desired.

Tuna Two Ways

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I had some amazing food on our trip last year to Italy. Ironically, ­I expected to have some of the best pizza, pasta and pesto that I’ve ever experienced, but was disappointed. Instead, I ate some of the best risotto, salads, seafood, cured meats and cheeses! There was a common theme running through my favorites – simple, fresh and using local ingredients. During our trip, we either stuffed ourselves at a meal with several large courses, or we ate too much as we grazed our way throughout the day with antipasti (appetizers) or piattino (small plate) delights.

The last stop of our adventure was attending Expo Milano 2015 (World Expo). The theme of this world exposition was “Feeding the Planet, Energy for Life.” We explored the pavilions of many countries, making a few indulgent stops at the specialty wine (and Nutella) booths. On the second day, we were lucky enough to be part of a small group shuffled in to see a cooking demonstration with a top-notch Italian chef that was famous and highly skilled, but unknown to us. I’m still not sure why we were selected since the rest of the audience seemed to be VIPs. Regardless, we enjoyed watching him. I couldn’t understand everything he was saying, but I noted the interesting ingredients he used in the savory seafood dishes we sampled. Almost a year later, I tried to recreate them using just my memory and notes I kept on my phone. I was about 90% successful – they didn’t taste exactly like the famous chef’s, but I was happy with the results. I also had to make up my own name for them because I don’t recall he didn’t call them by any specific name. Try it yourself and as the chef noted, feel free to add more or subtract ingredients until you like the taste of it (yes, I did understand that part of his demo)! I still have a few more delicious dishes from the trip that I’m trying to recreate. Perhaps those will warrant a future post. Buon appetito!

Tuna Two Ways (Appetizer)

For either recipe, cut ¾ – 1 lb. fresh Ahi tuna steaks (approximately 2 steaks) into cubes.

Spicy Tuna

In a large bowl, mix the following together:

1 T. toasted sesame seeds

2 T. balsamic vinaigrette

2 T. soy sauce

Hot chile sesame oil (a few drops or more to taste if you like it spicy!)

½ t. toasted sesame oil

Add the cubed tuna and toss until coated. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

 

Summer Tuna Salad

1 large grapefruit

½ of a 13.75 oz. can of quartered artichoke hearts, roughly chopped

¼ c. julienned sun-dried tomatoes in oil, roughly chopped

½ fennel or celery root, chopped

Seasoning salt to taste

Slice top and bottom off grapefruit, then cut the peel off in sections. Cut the segments out from the membrane, cut into chunks, and put in a large bowl with any excess juice. Add the chopped artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes, fennel root, tuna chunks, and seasoning salt to taste. If you like more zip, you can add chopped dried hot red peppers, red pepper flakes or dried chili pepper “threads” if you can find them in specialty stores. You can also add chopped picadew peppers for extra zest. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

Both of these tuna dishes are great appetizers, side dishes or a light lunch with fresh vegetables, bread, olives or risotto.

Italian food pavilion (right of the tower) at Expo Milano 2015. Image (c) 2015 Kristy Kummer-Pred