Curried Chickpeas with Veggies

When The Spouse and I sat down to make this week's menu, I mentioned that I would prefer to add in a few meatless dishes. He agreed, though somewhat nervously because I said tofu would feature largely. He doesn't mind tofu if it's well prepared or mixed in with other items, but

This is one dish, though, that I felt would be pretty safe since he loves Indian food.

Curried Chickpeas with Veggies

1/4 cup olive oil
2 tsp cumin seeds
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp chopped ginger
2 tsp madras curry powder
1 cup chickpeas, cooked
1/2 large head of cauliflower, chopped (about 2 cups)
2 cups fresh green beans, cut into 1" pieces
1 cup chicken stock
1/2 - 1 tsp salt
fresh ground pepper to taste
1 cup yogurt
2 tbsp flour

Heat large skillet over medium heat. Add oil and heat thru. Add in cumin seeds and toast until fragrant. Add in minced garlic and ginger and sautee until aromatic, about 1 minute. Do not let brown.

Add in curry powder and sautee until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add chickpeas and remaining ingredients. Stir to coat. Cover and let simmer 10-15 minutes or until vegetables are cooked. Remove from heat.

Combine yogurt and flour and stir into vegetable mixture until well incorporated. If necessary, return pan to heat and heat thru, stirring constantly, being careful to not bring to a simmer. Serve immediately.

Jerk Chicken

I'm not sure why we choose grilling recipes when it's gross out. Cloudy, windy, cold and supposed to rain/snow this evening yet The Spouse says he wants jerk chicken.

Ah well. It's worth it! I think I've posted this recipe before, but as part of a menu. So here it is on it's own.

Jerk Chicken

2 habanero peppers, stem and seeds removed
4 green onions, white parts only
3 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp lime juice
1 tbsp minced garlic
2 tsp dried thyme
2 tsp ground allspice
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1 whole chicken, cut up

Combine the first 9 ingredients (thru black pepper) in a small food processor and blend until smooth.

Rinse chicken, pat dry. Place chicken in a ziplock bag and pour spice mixture over it. Toss to coat and place in fridge. Let marinade several hours.

Heat grill to 400. Place chicken on the grill, skin side up. Grill chicken for 30-40 minutes or until done (instant read thermometer should read 180 when stuck into the thickest portion of the breast), removing smaller pieces as necessary. To crips skin, grill skin-side down for the final 5 minutes of cooking.

Chicken Fettuccini Alfredo

We're watching my nephews this week while my brother and sister-in-law are out of town. On Wednesday I asked what they'd like for dinner the next night. The response was "Something with Carbs." Which I find odd because that night we'd had braised ribs with gravy bread and the night before there was cornbread, so it's not like we're All Protein, All The Time. The other nephew suggested alfredo.

So I spent the day trolling about for a reduced-fat version of Alfredo sauce and found this one by Cooking Light. Unfortunately, while chopping up my fresh frozen broccoli, I discovered that the batch had been corrupted by cabbage worms, so broccoli was out. Also, not having ricotta on hand, I subbed in low-fat cottage cheese.

Chicken Fettuccini Alfredo

olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1" pieces
salt & pepper

2 tbsp butter (I use earth balance)
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
2 cups fat-free milk
2/3 cup (2 1/2 ounces) low-fat cottage cheese, pureed until smooth (I used the Fiber One brand)
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp coarsely ground black pepper

8 ounces uncooked pasta

Cook pasta according to package directions, omitting any fat or salt.

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add olive oil and warm thru. Add minced garlic and sautee until fragarant, about 1 minute. Add chicken to skillet, season lightly with salt and pepper. Sautee until chicken is done, about 8 minutes. Remove from skillet and keep warm.

Deglace skillet with water.

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add flour, and cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until blended. Cook 15 minutes or until thick, stirring constantly. Stir in cheeses, salt, and pepper, and cook 5 minutes or until cheese melts. Reduce heat to low. Stir in chicken and heat 5 minutes until chicken is warmed thru.

Place cooked pasta in a bowl, pour sauce and chicken over. Toss the pasta until well coated. Serve immediately.

Wine Pairing: A crisp italian pinot grigio.

Caramelized Thai Chicken with Stir-Fry Noodles

I recently signed up for a trial subscription to Food & Wine magazine. After I'd received my confirmation email from them, I went to check out their recipe section of the website and stumbled across this one, which served as the leaping off point for dinner that night. My version uses about half the amount of sugar, and it was plenty sweet.

Caramelized Thai Chicken with Stir-Fry Noodles

1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup fish sauce
1/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth
3 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp coarsely ground pepper
1/2 tsp thai chile paste
1 tbsp olive oil
1 shallot, thinly sliced
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-sized pieces

In a small bowl, combine the sugar, fish sauce, water, rice vinegar, garlic, ginger, pepper and chile sauce.

Heat the oil in a large deep skillet. Add the shallot and cook over moderate heat until softened, about 4 minutes. Add the fish sauce mixture and the chicken and simmer over high heat until the chicken is almost cooked through, about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, prepare a pot of boiling water. Add dry rice stir fry noodles to pot. Cook according to package directions. However, after draining, add noodles to chicken mixture. Continue cooking, stirring constantly, until chicken is cooked thru and noodles are well-coated. Serve immediately.

Mustard-Crusted Lamb Chops

Lovely dish for St. Paddy's Day, if it's warm enough out to grill (in our house it always is, even in January, but we're strange like that). This is basically a scaled down recipe of this Cooking Light one.

Mustard-Crusted Lamb Chops

1 tbsp and 1 tsp stone-ground mustard
1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1/4 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/8-1/4 tsp salt
1/8-1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
4 (4-ounce) lamb loin chops, trimmed
Cooking spray

Combine first 7 ingredients in a large zip-top plastic bag. Add lamb; seal and marinate in refrigerator 1 hour or up to 8 hours, turning bag occasionally.

Prepare grill to medium-high heat.

Remove lamb from bag. Place lamb on grill rack coated with cooking spray; cook 6 minutes on each side or until medium-rare or desired degree of doneness.

Remove from grill, cover with tented foil and let rest 5 minutes. Serve with Colcannon.

Wine Pairing: We had the leftover chops with a merlot.

Colcannon

This is an Irish dish that is traditionally served on Halloween (since cabbage is in season then), but it's good just about any time of the year!

Colcannon

1/2 head large cabbage
6 large potatoes, peeled and quartered
1 large shallot
1 tbsp butter
~1 cup milk
salt and pepper to taste
1-2 tbsp butter, melted (optional)

In a large saucepan, boil cabbage until tender; remove from heat and drain. Chop well, aside and keep warm.

Boil potatoes until tender. Remove from heat and drain.

Chop shallots and simmer them in just enough milk to cover, until they are soft. Add boiled potatoes, milk, and mash well. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Blend in the cabbage until well-combined. Add additional butter, if desired

Rudy's BBQ Chicken

The Spouse and I have been craving grilled food. Our grill blew over in a massive storm this winter and we were afraid it was damaged beyond repair. But, beyond being a bit battered and broken, it actually does work. Enough.

BBQ Chicken is theoretically an easy dish to make. Grill the chicken, slap on some bbq sauce, voila.

To make GOOD BBQ chicken takes a bit more. It's easy to grill up a dry chicken breast. It's easy to end up with drenched chicken. But to cook a good, moist chicken breast with a proper bbq glaze takes experience.


Fortunately I have a good bit of that!

Rudy's BBQ Chicken

3 boneless skinless chicken breasts
Rudy's Rub
2-3 tbsp Rudy's Original "Sause"

Trim chicken breasts of excess fat. Sprinkle each side with Rudy's Rub and massage rub into breasts. Let stand at room temp for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, preheat grill to 400. Add chicken breasts to grill. Grill first side about 5 minutes. Flip. Grill other side 3 minutes. Using a pastry brush, brush sause on chicken breasts. Grill another 2-3 minutes. Flip. Brush sauce on other side of chicken breasts. Reduce heat to medium. Grill 2 minutes, flip, brush sauce on breasts. Grill another 2 minutes, flip, and slather the last of the sauce on. Remove chicken breasts from heat and serve immediately.

You'll know you've done this right if you don't need any extra sauce on the plate to moisten the chicken.