Lettuce Cups with Stir-Fried Chicken

These actually only mildly interested me when I decided to try the recipe. I decided to try them because they were pretty easy and I wanted to challenge myself to try something different. I'm glad I did because these were really good, pretty easy, and pretty healthy.

The original recipe is from bon appetit and is online. Here's how I made it:

1 head boston or butter lettuce, leaves removed, washed, and left whole

1/2 cup Asian sweet chili sauce

1 lb skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into about 1/2" cubes

3 scallions, minced

3 tablespoons reduced sodium soy sauce

1 teaspoon corn starch

2 tablespoons sesame oil

4 medium shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and minced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon fresh ginger, peeled and minced

1/4 cup unsalted roasted cashews, chopped

Whisk the soy sauce, scallions, and corn starch in a medium bowl. Stir the chicken in and marinate for 10 minutes at room temperature, stirring occasionally. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet. Add mushrooms and stir-fry for about 15 seconds. Add garlic and ginger and stir-fry for 10 seconds. Add the chicken mixture and cook, stirring often until golden brown and cooked through, 6-7 minutes. Place a spoonful of the chicken mixture in each lettuce leaf. You'll probably need 12-16 lettuce leaves. Garnish with cashews. Drizzle sweet chili sauce over the chicken and roll leaves around the filling to eat.

Note: don't be dumb like me and spoon the hot chicken mixture into a lettuce leaf with a tear while holding the lettuce leaf in your hand. Wow, that burned! Sometimes I'm amazed at the things I do...

Brown Bread

I found a recipe for brown bread on epicurious.com and tried it. I love brown bread. It was pretty easy to make, but it does take a while to bake. I wasn't so keen on using an old can to bake it in, so I used a pudding mold.

Baked Beans

Yes, I'm still alive and still cooking a lot. In the last few months Adeline (now 8 1/2 months old) has been demanding most of the small amount of free time I once had. Anyway, I made these baked beans for dinner tonight and David and I loved them. They're sort of a combination and variation on two recipes, so I'm making myself add the recipe now so I'll know what I did for next time I crave baked beans.

1 pound dried great northern beans

2 teaspoons coarse kosher salt

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

1/3 cup ketchup

2 tablespoons dijon mustard

2/3 cup maple syrup

1/4 cup dark brown sugar

3 tablespoons molasses

3/4 pound (12 ounces) applewood smoked bacon, chopped

Rinse the beans and pick them over. Put the beans in a large bowl and add enough water to cover the beans by about an inch. Cover and let stand at room temperature overnight.

Drain the beans and transfer them to a large saucepan and add water to cover. Cover and bring to a boil over high heat. Set the lid askew and reduce the heat to medium-low until the beans are barely tender, about 40 minutes. Stir in the salt after 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Meanwhile, in a large fry pan over medium heat, warm the oil. Add the onion, stirring occasionally until softened, about 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to low and cook an additional 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the onion is very tender and golden brown. Remove from heat.

When the beans are ready, drain them in a colander, reserving the cooking liquid. Transfer the beans to a bowl. Add the cooked onion, ketchup, mustard, maple syrup, brown sugar, and molasses and stir to combine.

Line the bottom of a 3 quart baking dish or dutch oven with one-third of the bacon. Add half the beans, then half of the remaining bacon. Top with the remaining beans and bacon. Add enough of the reserved cooking liquid to barely cover the beans. Cover and bake for 2 hours. Uncover and bake another 1 1/2 hours.

Makes 8 servings.

BLT Pasta

The first time I made this, it was good. Tonight was the second time I made it and with a few adjustments, it was great. Th
is recipe is my version of a recipe from Food Network Magazine.

12 ounces penne

6 ounces applewood smoked bacon, chopped

1 red onion, chopped

5 cloves garlic, minced

3 pints grape tomatoes

1/2 cup heavy cream

4 cups arugula

1/2 cup asiago cheese, finely grated

Cook the penne in salted water until al dente. Reserve about a cup of the cooking liquid. Drain.

Meanwhile, cook the bacon over medium heat until just crisp. Drain the bacon on paper towels and reserve 3 tablespoons of the drippings. In a large saute pan, heat the 3 tablespoons bacon drippings over medium high heat and saute the onion about 3-4 minutes. Add the garlic. Saute 1 minute. Add the tomatoes and cook for about 12 minutes stirring often. Add the cream and cook for 2 minutes stirring constantly. Add the pasta, bacon, and 1/4 - 1/2 cup of the pasta cooking liquid. Stir in the arugula until it is wilted. Stir in the asiago cheese. Remove from heat and serve. Serve with additional grated asiago cheese. Makes about 4 servings.

Roasted Beet Salad

Beets are so nutritious, but I always hated them and wished I didn't. I've been really into roasting vegetables lately. It's an easy way to make vegetables taste really good. It's not really quick, but I don't care. So, I was really excited when I saw a section in the October 2011 Food Network Magazine about roasting root vegetables. I used their ideas to come up with a really good salad which is heavy on roasted beets. I also have never liked gorgonzola cheese, but now I like both beets and gorgonzola cheese together in this salad.

8 beets

5 ounces mixed greens

6 - 8 tablespoons crumbled gorgonzola

1/4 cup pistachio kernels

olive oil

red wine vinegar

salt and pepper

Wash the beets. In a large bowl, toss the beets with olive oil and salt and pepper. Wrap each beet in foil and roast for about 45 minutes at 425 degrees. Let the beets cool until you can handle them. Peel the beets and cut into wedges.

Combine the mixed greens, beets, gorgonzola, and pistachios in a large salad bowl. Drizzle with olive oil and add a splash of red wine vinegar. Season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper. Toss and serve. Makes 4 large servings.

Bacon and Leek Quiche

I made this for the second time tonight and I'm now satisfied with my recipe. The original idea came from Food Network Magazine. A friend recommended the magazine and I've now bought two issues. I like it, so I think I'll subscribe. Anyway, the September issue had a section with 50 things to do with bacon. I liked the basic ingredients for their bacon quiche idea, but I thought the custard part of the quiche would be too rich for me, being made with cream and all. Here's my version:

6 slices applewood smoked bacon, chopped

2 leeks, sliced

0.4 lbs gruyere cheese, finely grated

1 cup milk

3 eggs

1/2 teaspoon coarse kosher salt

1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper

freshly ground pepper

9-inch frozen pie crust

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cook the bacon until crisp and slightly browned in a nonstick skillet over medium heat. Drain the bacon over paper towels on a plate. Reserve the bacon drippings. Add 2 tablespoons bacon drippings back to the skillet. Saute the leeks in the bacon drippings over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Remove from heat. Spread a small amount of the cheese on the bottom of the pie crust. Spread the leeks over the cheese. Add a small amount of cheese over the leeks. Add the bacon over the cheese. Add the remaining cheese over the bacon. Whisk the milk, eggs, salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper together and pour evenly in the pie crust. Bake for 35-40 minutes until center is set. Let quiche cool and set for 10 minutes before serving. Makes 6 servings.

Lentil Vegetable Soup

I have nothing to write about this soup except that it's healthy and delicious. The original recipe is from Cooking Light from maybe ten years ago.

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, finely diced
2 - 3 carrots, finely diced
2 bay leaves
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon salt
3 garlic cloves, minced
4 cups vegetable stock
2 cups water
1 cup dried lentils
5 oz baby spinach
1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons whole grain Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
finely grated parmesan or asiago cheese

Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven or stockpot over medium-high heat. Add the diced onion, celery, carrot, and bay leaves; saute for 10 minutes. Add the tomato paste, salt, and minced garlic; sauté 1 minute. Add vegetable stock, water, and lentils; bring mixture to a boil. Partially cover, reduce heat, and simmer mixture for 25 minutes. Stir in the spinach, parsley, vinegar, mustard, and pepper; cook 15 minutes. Discard the bay leaves. Ladle soup into bowls; top with cheese. Makes 6 servings.