Tag: weeknight dinner

Chili Lime Kale Shakshuka Nachos

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This recipe doesn’t have amounts – but I don’t think it can be messed up!


Ingredients:
Tortilla chips
Kale – washed and dried well
Grated cheese (I used a cheddar mozzarella blend)
Chili lime seasoning (if you can’t find a seasoning blend, I’ve googled for online copycat versions)
Eggs (max 8)
Black beans
Canned corn 
Avocado, chopped 
Jalapeño, diced
Tomatoes, chopped 
Lime juice 
Fresh basil


Directions:
Preheat oven to 400°F. 
Spray a sheet pan liberally with non stick cooking spray. 
Spread tortilla chips over pan. Top with kale and grated cheese. 
Sprinkle liberally with chili lime seasoning. 
Bake for about 5 minutes until cheese begins to melt. 
In the meantime, mix together black beans, corn, avocado, jalapeño and tomatoes. Top with lime juice, chili lime seasoning and fresh basil. Set aside. 
Now back to our sheet pan – the cheese has started melting. Remove the sheet pan from the oven. Form wells in various spots over the tortilla chips. Crack eggs and pour each one into a well. 
Bake for an additional 10 minutes, until you start seeing egg white turn white – keep in mind, the egg will keep cooking slightly when removed from oven. 
Top with black bean and corn salsa. 
Drizzle on additional lime juice if desired. 
Enjoy!!

Seared Tuna Sushi Bowls

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The tuna in this recipe is inspired by @bowlofdelicious seared tuna.

Ingredients:
Tuna:
1 lb tuna, butterflied (can I use that term for fish?) if necessary so tuna is no more than 1.5” thick 
2 tbsp soy sauce 
1 tbsp honey
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 
1-2 tbsp fresh ginger, minced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp salt
Freshly ground pepper 
Sesame seeds (~ 1/2 cup)
2 green onions


Sushi salad:
1.5 cups uncooked sushi rice, cooked according to package directions 
1/4 cup rice vinegar 
3 tbsp sugar 
1 tsp salt 
Grated carrots 
Grated purple cabbage 
Edamame beans 
1 green onion, sliced
Pickled ginger 
1-2 avocados 
1 sheet nori
1 cup Rice Krispies 
Spicy mayo (aka mayo mixed with sriracha hot sauce)
Hoisin sauce


Directions:
Mix together soy sauce, sesame oil, honey, garlic, ginger, salt and pepper. Pour over tuna and allow to marinate for about an hour. 
In the meantime, prepare sushi rice. Bring vinegar to a boil with sugar and salt, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and pour over rice. Mix in carrots, cabbage, edamame, green onions and pickled ginger to cooked rice. 
Preheat oven to 350°F. Toast Rice Krispies in the oven for about 5 minutes, until golden. Set aside. 
Remove fish from marinade and coat generously in sesame seeds (I place the sesame seeds in a bowl and dipped the tuna into the seeds on both sides). Top with green onions. 
Heat oil over medium high heat. Sear tuna for 1.5-2.5 minutes per side, depending on desired doneness. 
Allow tuna to cool for a few minutes and slice. 
In the meantime, mix Rice Krispies with a small amount of spicy mayo. 
Top sushi rice with tuna, Rice Krispies, avocado, additional spicy mayo and hoisin. 

Homemade Baked Falafel

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Although this recipe is baked, it tastes fried because of the way the oil is heated up! Best of both worlds!


Ingredients:
1 can chickpeas (540ml)
3 cloves garlic
1 shallot
1/2 tbsp cumin 
1/2 cup parsley
2 tbsp sesame seeds
1 tsp baking powder
3-4 tbsp flour (I used whole wheat)
1 tsp sea salt
Freshly ground pepper
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil

Directions:
Drain and rinse chickpeas. Lay on a kitchen towel to completely dry. 
In the meantime, add garlic and shallot to food processor. Pulse to mince. 
Next add in remaining ingredients, except for oil. Pulse – do not let it become a paste. It should look crumbly but you should be able to squish it in your hands to form a patty and it should maintain the shape. Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate for an hour. 
Preheat oven to 375°F. 
Pour oil onto a baking sheet and carefully place into oven while oven is preheating (preferably on a rack that slides out). Once preheated, wait an additional 5 minutes before adding the patties to the pan. 
In the meantime, form falafel mixture into individual patties (using about 2 tbsp per patty). Very carefully, open the oven and slide rack out. Drop patties into oil and return to oven. 
Bake for 15 minutes and then flip for an additional 15 minutes.

Miso Broccoli and Tofu Stir Fry

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I first made this recipe just with broccoli as a side dish and it was so delicious, I figured I should make as an entire meal. While I haven’t tried it, I imagine this would work beautifully with boneless chicken as well.

Ingredients:
1 block firm tofu
3 tbsp miso paste
3 tbsp soy sauce or GF tamari 
1-2 tbsp fresh ginger (grated)
2 tbsp cornstarch
2 tbsp almond milk (alternatively use regular milk or water)
Oil to fry (I used grapeseed)
1 tsp sesame oil
1 head broccoli, washed and cut into florets 
Handful (or more) sugar snap peas, trimmed
Drizzle of honey

Directions:
Cut tofu block into 3 lengthwise. Place each block onto a kitchen towel and wrap. Put a plate on top, in order to squeeze out liquid. Let sit for about half an hour. 
Cut tofu into cubes. Mix together 1 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp miso and some fresh ginger. Use mixture to coat tofu. Let marinate for an hour. Remove any excess marinade from tofu. 
Dissolve cornstarch in almond milk and pour over tofu, coating well. 
Heat about 2-3 tbsp oil over medium high heat on a large pan. Add tofu to pan and allow to crisp up before turning. 
Once tofu is crisp on at least 2 sides, remove from pan. 
Next add broccoli to the pan. When color starts to brighten, add 1 tbsp of soy sauce, 1 tbsp miso and remaining ginger. Mix well, allowing miso to coat all of broccoli. 
Add snap peas and sauté for another minute or two. 
Finally, add tofu back to the pan, along with remaining miso and soy sauce. Mix to incorporate and until miso is coated over everything. Drizzle with a tiny bit of honey and sesame oil. 
Serve with rice. 

Peruvian Chicken with Spicy Avocado Dipping Sauce

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This recipe is inspired by @skinnytasteand the delicious Peruvian chicken on her website!

Ingredients:
1 cup beer
1/4 cup rice vinegar
1/3 cup lemon juice
4 tsp cumin
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp honey 
1-2 tbsp fresh basil (or mint, parsley or cilantro), chopped 
2 whole chickens, spatchcocked 
Smoky paprika


Dipping sauce:
2 whole avocados 
2 tbsp mayo
Juice 1/2 lemon 
1/2 tsp cumin 
1 tbsp sriracha hot sauce (to taste)
1 tbsp basil
Salt and pepper

Directions:
Mix together all ingredients from beer to basil to create a marinate. 
Place chicken in a large ziploc bag and pour marinade over chicken. Let marinate overnight. I made sure to flip the bag over before I went to sleep and again right when I woke up to be sure both sides of chicken get to sit in the marinade. 
Preheat oven to 425°F. 
Remove chicken from marinade (I tried my best to scoop out all the garlic and herbs) and place on baking sheet, skin side up. 
Sprinkle generously with smoky paprika. 
Bake uncovered for about 45 minutes. Test for doneness with meat thermometer. 
In the meantime, prepare the dipping sauce, by mixing together all the ingredients.

Homemade Pita, topped with Chicken Shawarma

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My good friend, Jenny, used to make homemade pita quite often due to allergies. I was often tempted to try, but going to a store was just so much easier, until now. So below is Jenny’s delicious recipe.

Ingredients:
5-6 cups flour (can do 1/2 white and 1/2 whole wheat)
2 packets OR 4.5 tsp instant yeast 
1/4 tsp sugar
2.5 cups water 
2 tsp salt
3 tbsp vegetable oil (I used grapeseed)


Directions:
Mix half of flour in a bowl with yeast and sugar. Slowly mix in water and stir. Add salt and oil and stir. Slowly mix in remaining flour. 
Knead dough until smooth and elastic (I did it by hand easily). Let rise for 30 minutes – 1 hour (dough should double in size).
Preheat oven to 500°F. 
Divide dough into 15 balls. Flatten each to 1/4” thick (I used the palm of my hand). Let rise again for an additional 15 minutes. 
Place half the balls on parchment lined baking sheet and bake on bottom rack for 3-5 minutes, until the bottom of pita is lightly browned.

Tonight we enjoyed these pitas fully loaded with – shawarma chicken – Homemade humus – Shawarma eggplant – Pickles, olives, pickled eggplant
– Purple cabbage – Hard boiled eggs – Zaatar – Tahini
You can add add roasted peppers, beets, slaw, roasted cauliflower or broccoli, babaganoush etc etc

To make shawarma chicken, I cut up 4 boneless chicken thighs very small. I then coated chicken with a paste made of 1.5 tbsp shawarma seasoning, 1/2 tbsp zaatar, 1/2 tsp sea salt, pepper and 3 tbsp olive oil. Finally, I plan fried the chicken. 

Parsley Cumin Grilled Chicken

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Ingredients:
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into cutlets 
1 tbsp smoky paprika
1 tsp cumin
2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped 
Zest 1 lemon
2-3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil 
Salt and pepper 
Oil to grill

Directions:
Mix together all ingredients for marinade and coat chicken. 
Allow to marinate for about an hour. 
Grill (on grill pan or on bbq) – turn when chicken is becoming more opaque and easily lifts from pan. Flip and grill for a few more minutes on the other side .

Zaatar Honey Sheet Pan Chicken

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Ingredients:
1 tbsp zaatar
1-2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp honey 
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
Salt and pepper 
2 handfuls of baby carrots, washed and dried 
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips
1/4 purple cabbage, shredded 
1 head fennel, sliced 

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400°F
Mix together zaatar, garlic, honey, Dijon, oil, salt and pepper. Spread baby carrots on a sheet pan. Pour approximately 1/3 of zaatar mixture onto carrots, coating them well. Roast for 20-25 minutes, until softening. Remove from oven and add chicken, fennel and cabbage to the tray. Coat with remaining oil mixture and mix everything well. Bake for an additional 15-20 minutes. Check chicken for doneness with meat thermometer.

Sheet Pan Sausages and Cauliflower

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On 1 sheet pan, I placed sweet potato cubed small. I coated it with olive oil, smoked paprika, some sea salt and 1 clove of garlic. I put in the oven at 350° for about 20 minutes before adding my next sheet pan to the oven…
Next sheet pan – 3 or 4 slices sausages (i used @the_tofurky_company brand), baby carrots cut in half, cauliflower cut into small florets, 1 can of white beans drained (or chickpeas or lentils). Coat it all with the same as above – olive oil, smoked paprika, sea salt and 1 clove garlic.
Continue roasting for another 20 minutes or so.
To serve – my kids ate as is.
The adults ate it over a bed of quinoa, topped with freshly grated Parmesan (omit if vegan), tahini, zaatar and lots of fresh basil and parsley.

Humus Basar Nachos

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This is a great meat appetizer or finger food for a party!

Ingredients:
1 lb ground beef (or lamb)
1/2 eggplant, cubed 
1/2 cauliflower, cut into small florets
1/2 can chickpeas, drained and dried
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp shawarma seasoning; divided
2 tbsp zaatar, divided 
1 tsp sea salt 
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil 
Pepper to taste
Pita chips (store bought or homemade)
Humus 
Sliced olives if desired

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400°F. 
Mix together 1 tbsp shawarma seasoning, 1 tbsp zaatar, salt, freshly ground pepper and oil. Spread vegetables on sheet pan and coat with mixture – if there is remaking oil mixture, reserve for pita chips (if you’re making them). Bake for about 30-40 minutes. .
In the meantime, sauté garlic in some oil over medium heat. Add meat, making sure to break up into small pieces. Cook until starting to brown. Season with remaining shawarma seasoning, zaatar and pepper. Continue cooking until all meat is nicely browned. .
Serve pita chips with humus and meat mixed with vegetables and olives. Top with tahini and zaatar. .
To make your own pita chips, take store bought pita and open in half. Cut into triangles and brush each triangle with olive oil mixed with seasoning blend (I used the same mixture that I used for the vegetables). Bake at 325°F for about 10 minutes, depending on thickness of pita.