Quick And Hearty

Call it a stew or call it a soup–whatever you wish. It can be classified as either, but I think of it more of a stew since there’s more meat to liquid.

The great thing about this stuffed pepper stew is that it’s quick and easy. That means you can get it on the table lickity split when you’re pressed for time.

Another advantage here is that you can use leftover veggies. In fact, it may be the perfect thing to make after St. Paddy’s day when you’re sure to have potatoes and carrots left over.

Pepper Or Not

Whenever bell peppers go on sale, I pick up extra then cut the extras into large pieces to vacuum seal and freeze for use at a later date.

However, if you have none on hand, you can leave it out and this stew will still be very good. There’s not much in it anyway, but what’s there imparts enough flavor that it mimics a stuffed pepper.

Still, there’s lots of good veggies and tomatoes to add an abundance of taste. And one good thing is that for the carrots and potatoes, if you don’t have any of those on hand that’s fresh or leftover, canned will do very nicely and cut the cook time down too.

The Leaner The Better

While 90 per cent ground beef is a bad choice for burgers, it’s an excellent choice for this stew. If you use ultra-lean ground beef, you won’t have to drain it after it browns.

That doesn’t mean you can’t use the standard 80-20 or ground chuck. You will just have to drain it after you brown it. Since I’m lazy and like to keep dishwashing to a minimum, I go with the ultra-lean meat.

The Recipe

Print Recipe Add to Recipe Box Go to Collections

Stuffed Pepper Stew

Easy and economical

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time40 minutes mins

Course: beef, Dinner, Main, Main Course

Cuisine: American

Keyword: ground beef stew, quick stew recipes, stuffed peppers

Servings: -1

Calories: 2156kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

• 2 lbs lean ground beef
• 1 large onion chopped
• 2 carrots thinly sliced
• 2 celery ribs thinly sliced
• 2 potatoes medium size, cubed
• 1 bell pepper diced
• 1/2 cup rice
• 28 oz can whole tomatoes
• 2 cups water
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1 tbs sugar

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

• Heat a large dutch oven over medium heat. Add ground beef and onion. Cook until no pink remains in the meat; drain.
• Add the the remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 30 minutes.
• Remove cover and cook over medium heat until juice is slightly thickened and reduced, about 10 minutes.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 2156kcal | Carbohydrates: 204g | Protein: 222g | Fat: 48g | Saturated Fat: 21g | Cholesterol: 562mg | Sodium: 6559mg | Potassium: 7336mg | Fiber: 28g | Sugar: 47g | Vitamin A: 25036IU | Vitamin C: 290mg | Calcium: 562mg | Iron: 45mg

The post Stuffed Pepper Stew appeared first on The Midnight Baker.

Tyson Grilled & Ready® Chicken Salad with Orange-Cilantro Dressing

If eating well was on your list of New Years’ resolutions, you can do no better than Tyson’s easy and versatile Grilled & Ready® line.

Who has never made the New Years resolution to start living healthy and make smart food choices?

Of course, that’s all of us.  Whether we stick to it is another story entirely LOL!.

But healthy eating doesn’t have to be dull and tasteless. The folks at Tyson have come up with some great products to help you keep that promise.  Their line of Grilled & Ready will help you create meals that are not only tasty and healthy, but that can be made easily and quickly because they have done the cooking for you.  All you do is reheat and add to your dish.

Simple yet tasty salad

The Tyson folks are prepared to help you out here through their Facebook page with versatile tips on their “Just Add This” tab.  There, you’ll get ideas on simple additions that will make your every-day meals more interesting and have daily tips delivered to your inbox.  This program will run from January 2014 through March 2014 and there will also be prizes offered throughout this promotional period.

If you are wondering where to buy Tyson Grilled & Ready® look no further than your local Walmart!  In fact, Walmart is offering these great products on a Roll Back price of $5.87 which started December 31 of last year.

Tyson display at my local Walmart

I bought the Grilled & Ready chicken breast strips because they are versatile and can be used in a number of dishes.  I decided to do a chicken salad with them.

Healthy Ingredients

No, not just another boring chicken salad–this one has character!  What makes this special is the zingy dressing that the breast strips are marinated in and is used on the salad!

Delicious yet healthy Orange Cilantro Dressing

The earthy flavor of cilantro combines with the tanginess of oranges to produce a wonderful flavor which harmonizes so well with the slightly smoky grilled taste of the chicken breast strips.  

Tyson Grilled & Ready® Chicken Breast Strips–no cooking, just reheat!

The dressing also contains fresh ginger and garlic, which are well-known healthy ingredients, honey to replace white sugar, as well as the smarter choice of olive oil instead of plain old vegetable oil.  

Simple but healthy dressing ingredients

Dressing easily made in a blender or food processor

Spinach of course, for color and vitamins, but baby arugula’s robust flavor and chew factor bring all these elements together!

Tyson Grilled & Ready® Chicken Salad with Orange Cilantro Dressing

For more recipes for this and other varieties of Tyson Grilled & Ready® please visit the Tyson official website or follow Tyson on Twitter.

Grilled & Ready® Chicken Salad with Orange-Cilantro Dressing

• Salad:
• 2 cups baby Arugula (aka Rocket)
• 2 cups baby spinach
• 2 green onions, sliced
• 10 grape tomatoes, sliced in half
• 8 oz Tyson Grilled & Ready® chicken breast strips
• Dressing:
• 1/4 cup packed cilantro leaves
• 1 tbs diced jalapeno
• 2 tbs lime juice
• 2 tbs orange juice
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1 tsp orange zest
• 2 tsp balsamic vinegar
• 2 large cloves garlic, roughly chopped
• 1 3/4 tsp fresh ginger, roughly chopped
• 1 tsp salt (or to taste)
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1/2 tsp dark sesame oil (optional)

Add all dressing ingredients, except oils, to blender or food processor.  Pulse a few times to coarsely chop cilantro leaves.  With blender or food processor running, slowly drizzle olive oil through the feeder tube of food processor or through hole in the top of a blender.  Add optional sesame oil, if using. Reserve 1/4 cup of dressing for marinade.


Defrost Tyson Grilled & Ready® Chicken Breast Strips per package instructions. Place defrosted chicken strips in a non-reactive (stainless steel, ceramic, plastic) bowl.  Pour the 1/4 cup of dressing over chicken.  Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.


Mix all salad ingredients in a large bowl and distribute evenly between 2 plates. Top with marinated chicken.  Serve with additional dressing.


Makes 2 servings.


Check out this other great and healthy recipe using Tyson Grilled & Ready®

Yummy Roasted Bok Choi with Mushrooms & Chicken

Follow The Midnight Baker Food, Glorious Food #7 on Pinterest

The post Ad: Tyson Grilled & Ready® Makes Mealtime Easy appeared first on The Midnight Baker.

Print Recipe Add to Recipe Box Go to Collections

Vegetarian Lo Mein

This vegetarian lo mein recipe makes the perfect meatless Monday dinner!

Prep Time20 minutes mins

Cook Time10 minutes mins

Total Time30 minutes mins

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: Asian

Keyword: lo mein, skillet dinner, stir fry recipe, vegetarian recipe

Servings: 4

Calories: 519kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

• 1 cup sliced mushrooms
• 1/4 cup carrots julienne
• 1 cup sliced bok choy
• 2 eggs beaten
• 2 green onions chopped
• 14.2 oz Kame Hokkein noodles (see NOTES)
• 2 tbsp oil

For the Sauce:

• 1/2 cup teriyaki sauce
• 1 cup water
• 1 tsp grated ginger
• 2 tbs brown sugar
• 1 tsp dark sesame oil
• 2 tbs dry sherry
• 1 clove garlic crushed

Optional Ingredients:

• 1 cup cooked meat sliced julienne

Instructions

• Whisk together all sauce ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
• Heat wok over medium heat. Add the beaten eggs and cook until set. Turn egg to set the other side. Remove egg "pancake" from pan to a plate and let cool. When egg pancake is cool enough, cut into thin strips.
• Return wok to medium heat. Add oil and heat until oil shimmers. Add the mushrooms, carrots and bok choy. Stir fry using non-metal utensil for 2 minutes. Add the Kame Hokkein noodles and stir fry for 2 additional minutes.
• Stir sauce again and add to pan, stirring to coat contents with sauce. Add cooked meat if using. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until sauce has thickened. Serve immediately.

Notes

Spaghetti or lo mein noodles may be substituted if you cannot find the Asian noodles

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 519kcal | Carbohydrates: 86g | Protein: 15g | Fat: 12g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 82mg | Sodium: 1741mg | Potassium: 274mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 2297IU | Vitamin C: 10mg | Calcium: 52mg | Iron: 1mg

Lo Mein

The post Lo Mein (Meatless Monday) appeared first on The Midnight Baker.

I’m out here to prove 10 can live as cheaply as one.  OK, I’m joking, but you can reduce your food budget with some creative meals that use meat as a condiment. This is one of them and it’s low cal too.

An Economical Family Dinner

Anyone following my blog knows I took the challenge shopping as if I were on a limited SNAP program budget.  I was actually amazed at the food I could purchase that would adequately feed a family of 4 and for under the amount allotted as well.

Tasty budget dinner

The store had Italian sausage on sale in a bulk package for $1.99 per pound.  I took advantage of this since this was a super price.  A “sale” on Italian sausage is usually $2.99 per pound.  I believe there were 14 or 15 sausages in the package.  If you are feeding 4 for this meal you would only require 4 sausages.

I’m using the green bell pepper I bought in this as well.  I didn’t use all the pepper either–I still have 1/2 left and that’s going in another dish–a well-loved Asian specialty with chicken.  Hint: it’s got orange in it.

I also included a few of the purchased mushrooms here as well, and of course the pasta I purchased that day.  To see pics (some of them are not up to the quality of my food pics–sorry shaky hands with cell phone camera) of my shopping trip may be found on this post.

I had chicken stock on hand and also some diced red bell pepper in the freezer that I made the sauce from.  I also had onion and garlic in the pantry.

Print Recipe Add to Recipe Box Go to Collections

Sausage & Pepper Primavera

I’m out here to prove 10 can live as cheaply as one.  OK, I’m joking, but you can reduce your food budget with some creative meals that use meat as a condiment. This is one of them and it’s low cal too.

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time30 minutes mins

Total Time40 minutes mins

Course: pasta, Pork

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: peppers, primavera, sausage and pasta meals

Servings: 4

Calories: 688kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

• 4 Italian sausage links
• 1/4 cup sliced mushrooms
• 1 medium tomato sliced in wedges
• 1 clove garlic minced finely
• 1/2 medium green bell pepper sliced thinly
• 1 small onion thickly sliced
• 1 cup rich chicken stock I used Knorr concentrate, 1/3 of the tub
• 2 tbsp finely diced red bell pepper optional
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• 2 tbsp water
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 4 cups cooked pasta any shape

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place sausage links on a rack and set rack in a pan. Bake for 30 minutes, turning sausages after 15 minutes. Remove from oven; set aside to cool slightly.
• When sausages have cooled enough to handle, slice in 1/4-inch slices.
• Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the sausage, green pepper, the mushrooms, the garlic and the onion. Saute, stirring or shaking frequently, until the sausage begins to brown and veggies start to brown around the edges.
• Add the chicken stock and optional red bell pepper. Stir and bring to a boil. Add tomato wedges.
• Mix cornstarch and 2 tbs water. Add to the sausage mixture and stir frequently until mixture boils. Reduce heat and simmer for 2 minutes.
• Serve over hot pasta. Parmesan/Romano cheese is a nice topping.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 688kcal | Carbohydrates: 46g | Protein: 25g | Fat: 44g | Saturated Fat: 14g | Cholesterol: 87mg | Sodium: 910mg | Potassium: 566mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 457IU | Vitamin C: 27mg | Calcium: 38mg | Iron: 3mg

Sausage & Pepper Primavera

Sausage & Pepper Primavera

The post Sausage & Pepper Primavera appeared first on The Midnight Baker.

Pan Seared Scallops

 

Enjoy pan seared scallops at home. It’s easy once you know the secret.

Restaurant Style At Home

Ever wondered why you could try to duplicate the restaurant at home but the never came out quite right?  There’s two secrets.

First secret is clarified butter.  The second is you leave the pan on a high heat and do NOT move them around and not crowding the pan.

There are several good tutorials on making clarified butter on line.  Here’s a good video on one from Allrecipes.com

It’s best here to use a non-stick pan, and I’d recommend the newer ceramic-based coatings because they can take high heat where Teflon cannot.

The Recipe

Print Recipe Add to Recipe Box Go to Collections

Pan Seared Scallops

Ever wondered why you could try to duplicate the restaurant at home but the never came out quite right?  There’s two secrets.

Prep Time10 minutes mins

Cook Time10 minutes mins

Total Time20 minutes mins

Course: Seafood

Cuisine: American

Keyword: scallops

Servings: 2

Calories: 333kcal

Author: Judith Hannemann

Ingredients

• 8 oz sea scallops
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp clarified butter
• coarse sea salt

Instructions

• Soak scallops in a bowl of cold water for about 5 minutes. This gets rid of the milky preservative that is usually used. Drain and dry scallops very well. Sprinkle with coarse salt.
• Heat non-stick pan, and the larger the better. For 8 oz, I recommend at least a 10-inch if not 12-inch skillet. Add olive oil and clarified butter over medium to high heat until the oil/butter just begins to smoke.
• Add the scallops, salt side down, with plenty of room between each. DO NOT MOVE THE THEM. Let them sear for about 3-5 minutes or until you can see a nice deep golden brown around the bottom edges.
• At this point, you may lift them with tongs to see how well they have seared. If they are nicely seared, turn and cook for about HALF the time. Scallops should be slightly underdone, and you should see a translucent band in the center; they continue cooking after they are removed from the heat and the key here is not to overcook them. They should feel slightly spongy to the touch.
• Plate and serve drizzling with the oil/butter that remained in the pan.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 333kcal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 14g | Fat: 29g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Cholesterol: 66mg | Sodium: 445mg | Potassium: 232mg | Calcium: 7mg | Iron: 1mg

Pan Seared Scallops

Pan Seared Scallops

The post Pan Seared Scallops appeared first on The Midnight Baker.