Tag: healthy cooking
Mexican Style Pressure Cooker Pulled Pork
This is a great recipe to make in this weather… and the pressure cooker makes it super fast. Really, really yummy! Will post some salad recipes in the two days…
- 3 to 4 pounds pork shoulder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ancho chili powder
- 1 teaspoon coriander powder
Mix the spices and salt in a small bowl. Sprinkle all over the pork, marinate overnight or at least for 2 to 3 hours.
If refrigerated, take out half an hour before cooking.
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup Mexican style barbecue sauce (homemade or store bought)
- 2 cups water
Heat a pressure cooker with the olive oil. Brown the pork shoulder on all sides on high heat, about 4 to 5 minutes on each side. Add the sauce and water. Cover with lid and cook under pressure on low heat for an hour and a half. Take out of the pressure cooker and place in a bowl to cool off. In the meantime, bring the liquid in the pressure cooker to a boil and simmer till the liquid is cooked down to 1 cup. Take the liquid out into a bowl, skim the fat off the top.
Once the pork is cooked off, using two forks, shred the pork, taking off any excess fat. Pour the spare liquid and mix well. Keep aside.
Chili Barbecue Sauce
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 shallot, minced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 dried ancho chilies, stems and seeds discarded and cut into ½ inch pieces
- 1 14 ounces can diced tomatoes with chilies
- ½ cup red wine vinegar
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
- Juice and zest of 3 clementines
- 1 to 2 teaspoons salt
Heat a medium saucepan with the olive oil. Add the shallot and garlic. Saute on medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the ancho chilies, tomatoes, vinegar, sugar, Worcestershire sauce, zest, juice and salt. Bring to a boil and simmer on a low flame for about 20 minutes. Take off heat and transfer to a blender and blend till a smooth sauce is formed. Check for seasonings and take out into a small bowl.
Serve the pulled pork on bun of choice topped with a bit of the barbecue sauce and coleslaw!
Sausage Basil Dumplings
This is a great way to keep kids busy after school. These are delicious dumplings with yummy Italian flavors… serve it with marinara sauce!
- 3 sausage links, squeezed out of the casings (any kind of sausages)
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 medium shallot, chopped
- ½ cup basil, chopped
- 1 cup marinara sauce
- 1 pack wonton skins
- Small bowl with water
Heat a non-stick pan with the olive oil. Add the meat from the sausages and brown for 2 to 3 minutes while separating the meat with the back of a wooden spoon. Add the shallot and garlic. Saute for 4 to 5 minutes on medium heat. Turn heat off and cool for 10 minutes. Add the chopped basil and keep aside.
Take one wonton skin, wet the edges with a finger. Place one to two teaspoons of filling in the middle. Fold the wonton skin in half and seal the top while pleating at the same time. Repeat the process using up the remaining filling.
- ¼ cup olive oil
Heat a frying pan with 1 teaspoon oil. Add enough dumplings making sure not to over crowd. Brown the dumplings on both sides on a medium heat. Add ¼ cup of water to the pan and cover with a lid. Cook the dumplings on medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes. Take the lid off and cook any excess moisture. Transfer the dumplings to a platter and cook the remaining dumplings. Serve with marinara sauce.
Quinoa Cooked in Coconut Milk
I am doing a week of quinoa recipes- the first is a simple version with coconut oil and milk…
I love making quinoa regularly. It is a healthy grain my whole family enjoys eating. The good thing about it is that it absorbs any amount of flavor. This one has delicious coconut oil and coconut milk which gives the dish a great nutty flavor.. enjoy!
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 1 cup quinoa
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 cups coconut milk
Heat a medium saucepan with the coconut oil. Add the quinoa and salt. Saute on medium heat, stirring constantly for a minute. Add the coconut milk and stir. Bring to a boil and simmer according to box ingredients- usually about 15 to 20 minutes.
Kale with Grapes and Capers
I enjoy eating kale, especially in a salad. I decided to cook it this time and add a sweet and savory component to the dish. The capers and grapes give this dish a delicious flavor- one almost forgets how healthy this green is!
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 small yellow onion, sliced
- 3 to 4 garlic cloves, chopped
- 2 tablespoons capers, smashed and drained
- 1 cup red grapes, chopped
- 4 to 5 cups kale, washed and chopped
- Salt
Heat a frying pan with the olive oil. Add the onion and garlic and sauté on simmer for 2 to 3 minutes. Add the capers and grapes. Saute for another minute and add the kale. Cook on high heat for 2 minutes while stirring. Lower heat to simmer and cover for 10 minutes. Take lid off and add salt if necessary.
Brussels Sprouts with Smoked Paprika
I made these very simple brussels sprouts with the filet mignon. I love making sprouts but until last year I was only making them for Thanksgiving. Considering how yummy and healthy they are, I decided to cook them more often. I have tried quite a few different recipes but I like roasting them the tastiest. They get nuttier and sweeter and it so easy to place them in a cookie sheet and roasting them in an oven.
For these ones, I made a garlic paste with salt and a bit of olive oil. I also added my favorite ingredient- smoked paprika. I slathered the paste all over the sprouts and roasted them for about 20 minutes. Thats it – it was as simple as that.
They were fabulous with the steaks and the rice- the recipe coming up tomorrow…
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Quick Vegetarian Refried Beans
This is a quick, healthy side dish I came up with while I was cooking the rest of the meal for my friends. I had the enchiladas and rice. I was serving homemade salsa and guacamole with chips before dinner but something was still bothering me. I felt I didn’t have a balanced meal as yet. That is when beans came to mind.
As I started looking for recipe ideas for the refried beans, I realized most recipes called for frying the beans in pork fat or bacon. Normally I would add pancetta or bacon to the mix because as far as I am concerned, everything is better with bacon- but in this case I needed to make the dish vegetarian.
I started by cooking canned pinto beans in water and mashing them but left still them a bit chunky. As I was sauteing them with the onions and garlic, I kept thinking of a flavoring that would mimic the smokey flavor of bacon. Smoked paprika came to mind. That’s it- I thought. It was delicious paired with the creamy pinto beans, the onions and the garlic. In fact I would make this dish the same way again- why add extra calories with the bacon when I can achieve a similar flavor with the paprika?
I topped the dish with cilantro and queso fresco and the meal was well balanced, healthy and delicious!
Try these refried beans and you will never use the canned ones again!
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Spinach Dal- Pink Lentils Cooked With Spinach
This is my easy, quick ‘go to’ meal. I use the pink lentils which cook up in a matter of minutes and it is ready to eat. I made this for a friend who requested Indian food. She said she was satisfying her craving by going to Trader Joes and buying the boxed Indian meals- what??? I couldn’t let that one go- I think she knew I would be very disturbed by that comment and she was right. Even though I had no plans on making Indian food for our dinner together- I couldn’t help myself. I decided to make a chicken dish and these lentils.
I needed to serve a vegetable and to make it easy I decided to use baby spinach- that I had in my fridge- yet another great thing to keep in there all the time. It is handy for a quick salad or even a stir fry.
The lentils were done in about 15 minutes, I added the spinach and then heated some mustard and cumin seeds in oil and was done! The result was a delicious, healthy side dish that can be served with rice or bread.
I gave it to my daughter the next day and she didn’t even notice the spinach in it- I am not sure how that happened. The bright colored greens were quite apparent to me but I think because the dal was so delicious, she didn’t even care about the spinach.
Make the spinach dal next time you are short on time…