Category Archives: Quick Meals

Chicken Curry

December 9, 2014Chicken, Heart-Healthy, Quick Meals, SpicyKidd

Here’s the recipe I promised I’d post to go with the curry powder recipe I posted last time. Once again, here it is holiday time, and unlike most other food blogs this time of year, I’m posting a recipe that doesn’t really have anything to do with the holidays. Or does it? It’s colorful, with lots of red and green– festive holiday colors! And this can be a healthier change of pace between the heavier, high fat holiday meals. Or for afterward, when New Year’s Resolutions kick in. Plus, a good, tasty curry every now and then will help get you through the long winter months to come.

This is a very healthy meal with its variety of vegetables, and even the curry powder may have health benefits. As for what oil to use, ghee is typically used in Indian cooking– it’s butter that’s been clarified by heating it and removing the milk solids. It’s supposed to be a little lower in saturated fat, therefore healthier than butter. But I just used regular butter, which I don’t think is really all that unhealthy used in reasonable amounts. Or you can use olive oil.

This can also be a pretty quick and easy meal to make. It’s not necessary to make your own curry powder, you can use store-bought curry powder and this curry will still be very good. And you don’t need to go through the process of browning the onions– it adds some depth and complexity to the flavor, but you can just cook the onions with the red and green pepper to save time. If you choose not to brown the onions use about half the onion this recipe calls for, because browning the onions really reduces their volume.

Ingredients:

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/2 red bell pepper
1/2 green bell pepper
3-4 medium to large onions
5-6 garlic cloves
1 tablespoon fresh ginger
1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes
3-4 tablespoons low-fat unflavored yogurt
Juice of one lime
2-3 tablespoons curry powder
1 tablespoon garam masala (optional)
1-2 bay leaves
Added red pepper to taste
Chopped cilantro (optional)
2 cups chicken stock
4 tablespoons butter, ghee or olive oil
3 cups cooked basmati rice

Serves about 4

1.
Get the rice cooking according to its package directions so it’s ready by the time the curry is. Now get the primary ingredients cut up: dice up the onions, mince up the garlic and ginger, chop the red and green pepper into chunks and cut the chicken into around 1″ cubes:

2.
Now we’ll brown up the onions. If you want to make a quicker version of this, you can skip this and go on to step 3, and cook the onions with the other vegetables. Heat up two of the tablespoons of butter, ghee or oil in a large pan and cook the diced onions on medium-high heat, constantly stirring, until the moisture starts to cook out of them and they turn brown. This will take about 20 minutes to a half hour. Careful to just brown the onions, not burn them. Here’s what they look like when they’re almost ready:

3.
Brown the chicken on medium-high heat with a tablespoon of butter/ghee/oil. I used a separate pan so I could brown the onions at the same time in the other pan, but if you don’t brown the onions you can do all the cooking in one pan. No need to make sure the chicken is cooked completely through– it’ll finish cooking in the curry sauce.

4.
Once the chicken is browned, remove it and cook the peppers (and onions if you’re not browning them) until softened up, adding another tablespoon of butter/ghee/oil if needed. Add the minced garlic and ginger once the peppers have gotten a good head start.

5.
Deglaze the pan– add a little chicken stock to the pan that the vegetables and chicken cooked in, and use a spoon to scrape up the browned stuff in the pan from the chicken. Do the same to the pan with the onions if you browned them. Combine the cooked vegetables in one pot with the rest of the chicken stock, chicken, can of diced tomatoes, spices and bay leaves. Simmer in an open pot for at least a half hour. Note: I added some garam masala as well because I had it on hand, but if you don’t have it you can just use a little more curry powder instead.

6.
When it’s done simmering, add the lime juice and mix in the yogurt. Add some red pepper if it’s not spicy enough for you. Serve over the rice. Add some fresh chopped cilantro as a garnish if you like. Enjoy!

Stir-Fry Pepper Steak

April 22, 2014Asian Style, Beef Dishes, Heart-Healthy, Quick MealsKidd

Back when I was a single college student, not as into cooking as I am today, there was a pepper-steak making kit, I think made by La Choy, that I liked making. I don’t know if it’s even sold anymore. You’d buy the steak separately and cut that up, but the vegetables came pre-cut in a can, along with a little packet of powder you’d mix with water to make the sauce. So it was mostly pre-made, but involved just enough cooking to make you feel like you accomplished something. And it was tasty.

But those preserved vegetables that came out of the can probably weren’t quite at the peak of their nutritional value. These days I still sometimes get the hankering for a simple stir-fry, but I use better and fresher ingredients. This is quick, easy and really good.

Ingredients:

1 lb. sirloin steak
1/2 red bell pepper
1/2 green bell pepper
1 bunch green onions (scallions)
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 tablespoon minced ginger
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 15oz. can bean sprouts
1 cup dry rice (about 3 cups cooked)
1 Tablespoon corn starch
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
15 oz. low-sodium beef stock
2 Tablespoons peanut oil
1 teaspoon black pepper

1.
Start cooking the rice according to the rice brand’s cooking instructions. It should take about 20 minutes to cook- just in time for the stir fry to be done cooking.
2.
Cut the red and green peppers into thin strips. Slice up the mushrooms. Cut the green onions into about 1/2″ strips. Mince the garlic and ginger up finely. Cut the steak into thin strips similar to the peppers. Remove the bean sprouts form the can and drain. Now most of your work is already done:

3.
Now we make the sauce. Mix a heaping tablespoon of corn starch with a little water. Mix that into the beef stock, and add the soy sauce and black pepper:

4.
Now heat a couple tablespoons of peanut oil in a large pan, and brown the steak strips with the garlic and ginger. If you have a wok with gas stovetop burners, by all means use that- I have a wok, but alas my stove has electric burners so I use a flat pan to get the temperature hot enough– stir fry should involve high heat and plenty of stirring:

5.
Add the remaining vegetables except for the bean sprouts, and stir-fry until the vegetables are cooked just enough to be still somewhat crisp and still brightly colored:

6.
Add the bean sprouts and sauce and cook a little longer, stirring, until the sauce thickens up a little. Serve over the rice. Enjoy!

Fried Rice

June 18, 2013Asian Style, Quick Meals, SidesKidd

Fried Rice

Well, here’s the fried rice recipe that I promised in a week two weeks ago…

Fried rice is nice and versatile because it can usually be thrown together from what’s already around in the refrigerator and the cupboard, and it can be a side dish or the main course. Add some shrimp toward the end– make it shrimp fried rice, and it can be a pretty impressive main course.

This is a good way to use up leftover rice if you made too much for yesterday’s dinner. In this case I cooked rice intending to use it for the fried rice, so I cooked it with low-sodium chicken stock for a little more flavor. If I use leftover rice that was cooked with water, I just adjust the amount of soy sauce I add when frying the rice up.

Since I was making this to go with the smoky BBQed Garlic-Soy Chicken, but cooking it separately on the stovetop, I wanted to add some smoky flavor to the rice, and I didn’t think the bacon would add enough. So I got the idea to add some smoked almonds I had left over from a camping trip. I actually tried to slice them to make slivered almonds, but they mostly just crumbled on me. But the almonds really added a lot to the fried rice– in addition to the smoky taste they added a nice crunch to it. So if you wanted to add smoked almonds, I’d recommend just putting them in a plastic ziplock bag and breaking them up with a mallet, soupcan, whatever you got that can break up almonds but not cause too much damage.

Ingredients:

1 cup long-grain rice (I like Basmati).

2 Cups Low-Sodium Chicken Stock or Water
6 Strips Bacon
Handful of Diced Green Onion
3-4 Cloves Minced Garlic
6-8 Mushrooms
1/2 of a Sweet Red or Orange Pepper, or 1/2 Carrot, cut into thin strips (mostly for color)
1/2 Cup Smoked Almonds, broken up
1 Egg
1-2 Tbsp. Peanut Oil
Soy Sauce to taste
Fine-Ground Black Pepper to taste

Special Utensils:

Wok or Large Pan

Serves 4

Heat the 2 cups of low-sodium chicken stock or water to boiling, then add the rice, turn heat down to low, and cover. It should be ready in about 20 minutes, just enough time to get the rest of the ingredients ready. A tip if you’re making the rice for the fried rice recipe– use just a little bit less than 2 cups of liquid to the 1 cup of rice. If the rice is a little on the dry side and not mushy at all it will do better in the frying pan.

Heat up the oil in the wok or large pan. Now everything goes fast once the oil is hot…add the bacon and cook until it starts to get crispy. Add the minced garlic and sweet peppers/carrot, and cook until garlic starts to soften up. Add the rice and mix it around in the hot oil. Add mushrooms and keep mixing rice, making sure it doesn’t burn on the bottom of the pan. Add pepper and soy sauce to taste.

Move the rice to make a free area at the bottom and break the egg into it. Mix the egg until it starts to set up, then mix the scrambled egg into the rice. This would be the time to add the shrimp if you were in the mood. Add diced green onion and almonds. Keep cooking and mixing rice until the mushrooms (and shrimp) are cooked, then it’s ready to serve. Enjoy!

Ramen Noodle Soup

May 21, 2013Asian Style, Quick Meals, Seafood, Soup, SpicyKidd

Ramen Noodle Soup

From those 5-for-a-dollar noodle packets that are a staple of broke college students everywhere, to high-end Japanese Noodle restaurants, ramen noodle soups really run the gamut in price and sophistication. I ate a lot of those cheap packaged ramen noodles in college, and I still get a hankering for a bowl of noodles every now and then. You can buy higher quality ramen noodles at Asian markets or the Asian section of well-equipped grocery stores. I’ve used those, and they’re good. But we keep the cheap packaged noodles around for emergencies, in case we want to throw together a quick and really tasty bowl of noodle soup.

First, throw out the little packet of powdered seasoning that comes with the noodles– it’s full of sodium, MSG, and God knows what else. We’re going to make a much more flavorful and healthy soup base for the ramen noodles.

Since this site is called “RecipeOptions.com”, I’ll give two options for ramen noodle soups here– a spicy Thai Tom Yum-style soup, and a non-spicy soy sauce-flavored soup. These are not strictly authentic recipes– just quick and delicious Asian style soups I put together using ingredients I’m likely to have on hand.

These recipes serve about two people (or one if you’re hungry). Double up on ingredients as needed.

Spicy Tom Yum Style Ramen

Ingredients:

6-8 Raw Jumbo Shrimp, Deveined.
1 Package Ramen Noodles
2 Cups Low-Sodium Chicken Stock
Juice of 1 Lime
2 Tablespoons Fish Sauce
1 Heaping Teaspoon Thai-Style Red Curry Paste
3-4 Cloves Garlic, Diced
1/2″ Square Piece of Diced Ginger
1-2 Celery Sticks
6 Green Onions
Peppers– Any Combo of Red/Green Bell, Thai, Jalapeno, Serrano, or Sweet Peppers– depending on what you have on hand and how hot you want your soup.
Handful of Mushrooms
Red Chili Pepper to taste– once again, depending on how spicy you like
1 Teaspoon of Peanut Oil
Few Drops Toasted Sesame Oil
Fresh Cilantro (Optional)

Dice up garlic and ginger. Cut celery and peppers into thin strips. Dice up mushrooms and cut green onion into 1/4-1/2″ pieces. Juice the lime. Cut shrimp down center about halfway through to butterfly them so they cook quickly and evenly.

Heat up a soup pan, add the sesame oil (just a few drops for flavor) and the peanut oil. Add the garlic, ginger, peppers, mushrooms and celery and stir-fry them in the oil for just a few minutes– not too long. Add chicken stock, red curry paste, fish sauce, and chili pepper. When it starts to simmer, add ramen noodles and cook for about two minutes.

Add green onion, lime juice and cilantro (if you like cilantro– a lot of people don’t like the taste, but if you do it really adds a lot to the soup). Finally, add the shrimp, turn off the heat, cover and let the soup sit for about three minutes. This is the secret to NOT overcooking shrimp in soup– don’t boil it! Make sure the shrimp is completely submerged in the broth and let the residual heat cook the shrimp just right. Enjoy!

Ramen Noodles with Soy Sauce Flavored Broth

Ingredients:

6-8 Raw Jumbo Shrimp, Deveined.
1 Package Ramen Noodles
2 Cups Low-Sodium Chicken Stock
2 Tablespoons Soy Sauce
3-4 Cloves Garlic, Diced
1/2″ Square Piece of Diced Ginger
1-2 Celery Sticks
6 Green Onions
1/2 Sweet Red Bell Pepper
Handful of Mushrooms
Fine-Ground White or Black Pepper, to Taste
1 Teaspoon of Peanut Oil
1 Sheet Nori (Japanese Seaweed), cut or torn into strips

Dice up garlic and ginger. Cut celery and peppers into thin strips. Dice up mushrooms and cut green onion into 1/4-1/2″ pieces. Cut shrimp down center about halfway through to butterfly them so they cook quickly and evenly.

Heat up a soup pan and add the peanut oil. Add the garlic, ginger, red pepper, mushrooms and celery and stir-fry them in the oil for just a few minutes– not too long. Add chicken stock, soy sauce, and white or black pepper. When it starts to simmer, add ramen noodles and cook for about two minutes.

Add green onion and nori. Finally, add the shrimp, turn off the heat, cover and let the soup sit for about three minutes. This is the secret to NOT overcooking shrimp in soup– don’t boil it! Make sure the shrimp is completely submerged in the broth and let the residual heat cook the shrimp just right. Enjoy!

Diced Potatoes on the Grill

May 5, 2013BBQ, Heart-Healthy, Quick Meals, Sides, VegetarianKidd

Now that warm-weather grilling season is here in Michigan, I thought I’d focus a little more on BBQ/grilling side dishes. Here’s one my dad used to make when he grilled in the backyard. I’ve added to it but the principal of cooking the diced potatoes in foil is the same as when he did it back when I was a kid. It’s a great-tasting side that’ll go with anything you’re grilling or barbequing. Simple, and a nice change of pace over plain old whole potatoes wrapped in foil and grilled.

Ingredients:

5 medium-sized potatoes, skin-on, washed and scrubbed
1 medium sized onion
Sweet red, orange or yellow peppers (optional)
2 teaspoons black pepper
1 teaspoon thyme
2-3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2-3 tablespoons olive oil or butter
1-2 tablespoons granulated garlic powder
1 tablespoon salt

Special Utensils:

Heavy-duty aluminum foil

Serves 2-4

Pull out a long piece of foil from the roll. I usually pull out a 3-foot long piece and fold it in half for extra strength. Dice up the potatoes into around one-inch squares. I leave the skins on, but you could peel the potatoes first if you like. Dice up the onion and peppers (if you’re using peppers) and add it all to the foil sheet. Then drizzle the olive oil and apple cider vinegar over and add the salt, pepper, garlic powder and thyme. Grab both ends of the foil sheet and kind of roll the potato mixture back and forth to help distribute the spices. oil. etc. This is what it should look like at this point:

Now take the top and bottom of the foil sheet and wrap it together carefully, rolling the top of the seam down to make a good semi-airtight seal. Do the same with the sides. Get the charcoal going or turn the gas burners up on one side. Now here’s the trick to making the potatoes really good– lay the foil package right on top of the heating-up coals, or put them where the gas flame is the hottest. Turn over at regular intervals. The idea is to brown the potatoes just enough to carmelize them and increase the flavors, to get that hash brown flavor– not enough heat and all you’ll get are steamed potatoes.

Get the potatoes sizzling away nicely on the high heat first, and when you start to grill you can back off on the heat to the potatoes. By the time your BBQ is ready you should be able to open a perfectly cooked pouch of potatoes. Enjoy!