Good Eats: Curry & Mustard- who knew?

I have been trying for 3 years to entice my husband to go out for Indian food with me. No luck. AT ALL. Since I've never tried cooking real Indian cuisine, I thought I would ease into it for a few reasons- one, so Joe doesn't completely deny our dinner plans and two, so I don't have to go buy unknown ingredients like garam masala and paneer right now. Might just be a little lazy.

As such, I searched for some simple recipes online and found a curry mustard chicken that sounded safe and delicious. Guess what. It was so so so so so good. Maybe it's because I've been starved for anything with curry for the past few years... but whatever. I loved it!

All you need is:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

1/3 cup of dijon mustard

3 cloves of fresh garlic, diced

2 Tbsp curry power

1 Tbsp onion powder

1/2 Tbsp lemon pepper

Sprinkle of sea salt

Dash of ground peppercorn

1 1/2 cup chicken broth

Preheat oven to 400. Placed rinsed and trimmed chicken breasts into a baking dish that is deep enough to allow the chicken to be covered by liquid (I used my very favorite Le Creuset cast iron terrine). Sprinkle both sides with salt and pepper, then spread dijon on with a marinading brush. Make sure all sides are well coated! Then add the remaining spices, except the garlic. Pour the 

chicken broth into the pan- if 1 1/2 cups is not enough, add more to ensure the breasts are covered by the liquid. Now add the garlic, dispersing it throughout the chicken broth. Bake for 40 minutes, then check for any pink inside. If there is some, cook for about 10-15 more minutes. 

For our side dish: I cooked chopped up bacon ends for about 5 minutes, then added Brussels sprouts and fresh green beans. I tossed in a little bit of olive oil and S&P, stirred everything together, then turned the heat up to high and cooked until the vegetables got a little crispy. I turned down the heat and covered them for 5-7 minutes, until the vegetables were cooked to my taste (not too soft). And bam! One of our favorites. 

Try it out- a little bit of curry cures a lot of cravings. Enjoy!  

Recipe adapted from here / image from my Pinterest board Cook, Eat, Repeat

Good Eats: Comfort THIS

Who doesn't love comfort food? I do. Boy, do I ever. Show me someone who really, truly, honestly prefers kale and almonds to meatloaf and mashed potatoes and I will call them... well, someone from Portland. Moot point. Bad example. Whateves.

So lately, I have been on some sort of quest to learn and memorize good old fashioned American cuisine. You know, like TV dinner cuisine. Like Grandma made. The good memories, like My Little Pony or Zack Morris. In my case, it is Beef Stroganoff and Nana's Mac & Cheese. 

My saving grace has been these 2 amazing resources: Skinny Taste and Eating Well. Skinny's author Gina (first name, that's what you do when you're BFFs like us) is an amazing site with thousands of recipes that we all know and love- but lower in fat, calories, sugar and sodium. So good. Here are a few of my favorite comfort dishes from her:

Tuna Noodle Casserole

Swedish Meatballs

Pork Chops

Eating Well has some amazing information on their site. My mom gave me a subscription to the magazine for Christmas and my goodness- I feel healthier READING it. The articles are incredible- like this one on Michelle Obama's garden- what? I love her. As well as recipes for the good stuff, made better. Like these:

Chicken Tenders

Meatloaf

Chicken Fried Steak & Gravy (Husband's favorite)

So, get after it! I am definitely craving something warm and hearty tonight. Especially since it is hailing and 45 degrees right now... ah, Portland. Get over yourself already. WE WANT SPRING! Until then... hot comfort food. Enjoy a Good One.

Good Eats

I love cooking. Honestly, my favorite time of the day is when I come home*, put on my give-ups, open a bottle of wine and get cookin'. In a totally PERFECT world, I could spend hours pouring over complex recipes and go grocery shopping everyday at Zupan's. BUT when I have a full day, this is what I need:

- Quick
- Healthy
- Ingredients in my pantry
- Easy

I really want to stock up on recipes that I can cook by heart and do it fast, to ensure we can eat healthy meals even when we are knee-deep in life. I want to be a good housewife for Joe, even if I'm not home all day. I mean, come on. Target trips and manicures sometimes get in the way.

SO- We had a ton of leftover vegetables from dinners last week and some chicken... which seems to be a standard around here. I know Joe has a major crush on Panda Express, so I thought I could find something similar to the sweet and sour chicken they have, just minus the 2,000 calories. I found a basic recipe here and made a few changes to throw this together:

1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce
4 tablespoons sugar substitute
2 tablespoon champagne vinegar
2 tablespoon ketchup
1 teaspoon ground ginger
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into chunks
1 head of broccoli
1 package of fresh snow peas
1 package of frozen peas
2 cups-ish of carrots (I bought pre-cut carrots for a salad and just used those)
1 can (8 ounces) unsweetened pineapple chunks, drained
2-3 green onions, finely chopped
Salt, pepper, chili flakes to taste
3 cups cooked rice

Cook the chicken over medium heat in a wok, with a few drizzles of EVOO. Season with salt and pepper and a few sprinkles of chili flakes. While the chicken is cooking, mix the first 6 ingredients listed in a small bowl. Once the chicken is cooked, add the veggies (except the peas!) and let it all sizzle up, stirring occasionally. If you notice the wok getting dry, add a few splashes of chicken broth or olive oil. After about 3-5 minutes test the carrots for crispness and if they are soft enough for your liking, add the peas and pineapples along with the fancy sauce. Stir it up, make sure all the vegetables and chicken are coated in the sauce, turn it down to simmer and put the lid on. Let it get hot and a little more cooked then BAM. Ready. Dish up rice first, a nice heap of stir-fry and top it with a few green onions.

Welcome to the Fastest Stir-Fry in the West. Enjoy!

*Disclaimer: I work at home most days and am usually in yoga pants... so now the first step is just opening the wine. For safety purposes, I have set a rule of NO EARLIER than 6 pm. Unless it's Friday. Or Joe is home earlier than that. Or if I just want it. Eh- loose rule, I guess.