I hope you’ll like it!  Aaron is obsessed with this.  He gets this gleam in his eyes when we put it on the menu for the week. (Don’t believe me? Go ask him about this recipe and see what he does!)

A couple of notes…don’t let the potatoes get mushy, we go 8 minutes.  The chipotles are HOT! – adjust dosage to your heat tolerance.  There were a bunch in the can that we bought; so we laid them out individually on freezer paper and froze them…we thawed them out and used them without a problem.  We also didn’t use a food processor and just mixed everything up in a bowl.  It worked fine.

(HEY AARON!  Put a picture in here, will ya?!)

Go. Try. This. Now!

Chipotle Sweet Potato Salad

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds sweet potatoes
• 1 medium red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 can black beans, drained, rinsed
• 1 Celery rib – chopped
• 6 Green onions — thin sliced
• 2 tablespoons Chopped fresh cilantro
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1/3 cup Fresh lime juice
• 1/4 cup Canned chipotle chiles
• 1 tablespoon Ketchup
• 1 1/2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
• 1 clove Garlic – minced
• 1/3 cup Extra-virgin olive oil

Directions:

Peel the sweet potatoes and cut into bite-size chunks. In a large pan of boiling salted water, cook the sweet potatoes over medium-high heat until tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Drain the potatoes, rinse them in cold water, and drain them again. Set them aside to cool briefly.

Place the bell pepper, black beans, celery, green onion, and cilantro in a large bowl. Add the potatoes, mixing lightly.

Combine all the dressing ingredients, except for the oil, in a food processor and puree together. Drizzle in the oil and continue to process until thick.

Pour about three-quarters of the dressing over the potato mixture and toss to combine. The result should look moist but not runny. If it seems dry, add the remaining dressing. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

Cover and chill for at least 2 hours or, even better, overnight.

Serve cold. The salad keeps well for several days.

Anyway, here is our favorite pizza dough recipe.  The resulting crust is crisp, yet tender and has a great flavor. It became our goto dough recipe the first time we tried it!

Tani’s Pizza Dough

Ingredients:

• 2 cups all purpose flour, plus more for dusting
• 1 t salt
• 3T olive oil
• 2t active dry yeast
• 1/2 c water, warm
• 1 t sugar

Directions

1. Add yeast and sugar to warm water (Use the temperature recommended on the yeast package…although I just use warm tap water with good success.) Let stand for 5-10 min
2. Combine flour, salt, olive oil and yeast mixture in food processor.  The dough should come together in a ball.  If there is no moisture in the air, slowly add additional warm water until dough comes together.
3. Turn out dough onto floured surface and knead.  Form into ball, coat with olive oil, place in oiled bowl, and cover with plastic wrap.  Let stand until dough doubles in size, about 30-60 minutes.  Put it in a warm place if your house is cold!  I normally throw it in the oven and place a container of hot water in the bottom of the oven.
4. Divide dough into 2 or 4 balls, roll out and enjoy!  You can top it with whatever floats your boat…just bake the topped pizzas at 450 degrees for 12-15 minutes, or until cooked through and golden on the edges.

Some notes:  I totally recommended using a pizza stone.  Some suggest corn meal on a seasoned stone to prevent sticking.  I use the corn meal (mainly for texture) *and* use parchment paper (for ease of transport on/off pizza stone).  Finally, infusing some olive oil with garlic to brush over crust before topping is FABULOUS…and I like to use the leftover for dipping crusts.

Oh!  And this dough works well for stromboli, too!!

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 1 1/3 cup red bell pepper, thinly sliced
• 4 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
• 1 teaspoon chopped garlic
• 6 ounces fresh fettuccine
• 1 1/3 cups chicken stock
• 4 teaspoons balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes
• 1/2 cup marinated artichoke hearts with liquid
• 1 1/2 cups (about 1/2 lb.) grilled chicken, sliced
• 2 tablespoons fresh basil, thinly sliced
• 2 teaspoons grated Parmesan cheese
• kosher salt and ground black pepper

Directions:

1. In a large saute pan, heat olive oil over medium heat.
2. Start boiling a pot of water for the pasta.
3. Add bell pepper and cook three minutes or until soft.
4. Add garlic and saute for 30 seconds or so.
5. Add Stock and vinegar, bring to a boil, and simmer until reduced by half.
6. Add pasta to water and cook until al dente
7. Add sun-dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts and liquid, chicken, and basil.
8. Season with salt and pepper.
9. Once pasta is cooked, drain, add to sauce, and mix thoroughly.
10. Top with Parmesan cheese and serve.

• Bacon
• 2 medium carrots, diced
• 1 small onion, diced
• 3 stalks celery hearts, diced
• 1 pint button mushrooms, diced
• 3 leeks, chopped
• 3 medium potatoes, peeled & cubed
• 2T butter
• 1T herbs de provence
• 1t ground coriander
• 1 pint 1/2 and 1/2
• 1 box chicken broth
• Salt & pepper

Directions:

1. In large stock pot, render fat from bacon.  You may drain some of this and substitute some olive oil.  Add butter.
2. Saute carrots, onion, celery, leeks and mushrooms until tender.  Season with salt and pepper.
3. Add chicken broth and potatoes.  Bring to a boil over high-heat then cover and simmer on medium-low until potatoes are tender.
4. Temper 1/2 &1/2.  Add to soup.
5. In blender or food processor, blend soup in small batches to a smooth consistency.  Be careful to only fill halfway and use a towel to hold the lid on!!
6. Season to taste then serve as is, or garnished with cheese, croutons, green onions and/or bacon.

• 4 chicken breasts
• 4 slices swiss cheese
• 4oz. thin sliced deli ham
• dijon mustard
• salt & pepper
• flour
• 1 egg
• Italian bread crumbs

Directions:

1. Pound out chicken breasts so they are even and about 1/4″ thick
2. Lay 1 slice of swiss and about 1oz. of ham on each chicken breast
3. Add a little dijon mustard
4. Roll each chicken breast tightly with other ingredients inside and set aside
5. Place flour, beaten egg, and bread crumbs each in a separate dish, adding salt and pepper to bread crumbs if desired
6. Fill large skillet with about 1/4″ of canola oil and set burner on high
7. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees
8. Take each chicken breast and thoroughly coat in flour, egg, then bread crumbs
9. Place breasts in skillet and allow to brown on all sides then place in oven safe dish
10. Place in oven for 20 -30 minutes.

In past posts I talked about a couple foods that are so common in the pantry, Quinoa and Barley. I have a few more here to talk about from that March issue of Runner’s World.

Almond Butter

According to the article, almond butter has about the same amount of fat as peanut butter but almost twice as much monounsaturated fat which is good for maintaining healthy cholesterol levels. Additionally, it has magnesium, calcium, phosphorus, and Vitamin E. Honestly, I was really skeptical about almond butter. I have to say I was plesantly surprised. The texture is off for sure; Much more runny and a little on the gritty side when compared to peanut butter but once the flavor hit, I was hooked. Almond butter tastes sweeter and is much lighter than peanut butter. From now on, it’s “Almond Butter Jelly Time”. Update: Sorry Almond Butter but celery only has room for one partner and that is Peanut Butter. We tried but it just didn’t work out.

Soba Noodles

Soba noodles, made from whole grain buckwheat, offer a good alternative to pasta. They are a little thicker and chewier than your typical pasta but based on my experience, you could use them in place of pasta and nobody would even question it.  Soba noodles will definitely stay stocking in my pantry. In addition to good taste, soba noodles contain rutin, a phytochemical that has been shown to lower blood-fat levels. And a 2003 Canadian study found buckwheat to regulate blood sugar levels in diabetic animals.

Bison

I discovered bison burgers several years ago when I ended up at Ted’s Montana Grill with some friends. The bison burger tasted much lighter and less greesy than a traditional beef burger. Burgers aren’t my favorite meal in the world but if I had to pick, I’d choose bison over beef. Bison has much less saturated fat than beef and typically have higher levels of omega-3′s due to the fact they bison are typically grass fed and ranchers are banned from using hormones in bison.

That’s it for now. Now get out to the grocery store and switch up the menu a bit; Keep your body guessing.

Quinoa, pronounce “keen-wa”, a food considered more valuable than gold to the Incas, has all but disappeared from most modern pantries; But that should change. Quinoa is a grain like no 0ther. While most grains are deficient in the amino acid, lysine. Quinoa has an adequate quantity of lysine as well as the other essential amino acids, making it a complete protein. Additionally, quinoa has high amounts of fiber, magnesium, iron, tryptophan, copper, and phosphorus making it much more nutrient dense than other grains.

Once cooked, quinoa has a nice nutty flavor with a much softer texture than, say, brown rice. I I really enjoyed the change. And knowing how much more nutritious it is, it will definately be staying in our pantry and standing in for some of our lesser grains.

Cooking Quinoa:

Cooking quinoa is super easy.

1. Thoroughly rinse 1 cup of quinoa. (There is a bitter coating on it which needs to be rinsed off.)
2. Bring 2 cups of liquid to a boil. (I used chicken stock but you could just use water.)
3. Add a little salt to the water for flavor
4. Add quinoa to water
5. Cover, drop heat, and simmer for 15 – 20 min.
6. Fluff with a fork and serve

Quinoa with Chicken and Veggies:

• 1 small zuchinni, diced
• 1 small yellow squash, diced
• 2 carrots, diced
• 1 small onion, diced
• handful of mushrooms, diced
• 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 large chicken breast, cooked, diced
• olive oil

Instructions:

I used some chicken that I had already grilled. Dice the chicken and all of the veggies into little pieces. Heat oil in a large skillet on med-high. Add garlic and onion. Once onion is translucent, add the rest of the veggies and mix together. When everything is just about cooked to your liking, add the chicken to warm.

Serve over the quinoa you made from above.

To be honest, until recently, if you asked me what you could make with barley, I think my only answer would have been beer; Despite the fact that I rarely drink. I just never knew you could cook with it (which is why I’m on the search I suppose).

Barley is a whole grain with a great nutty flavor. The texture is similar to that of brown rice; A little bite on the outside and a little chewy on the inside. Barley is a great source of fiber and selenium, as well as phosphorus, copper and manganese.

So on to the recipe…

Chicken and Barley Risotto with Asparagus and Sun-dried Tomatoes

I’ve copied and pasted the recipe as is from trimax and highlighted the modifications I made. The most important thing I’ve ever learned about cooking comes from my wife: “Cooking is an art, not a science.” so adjust the ingredients to your liking.

• Olive oil cooking spray (I used straight extra-virgin olive oil, no spray)
• 1 1/3 cups chopped onions
• 2 – 3 cloves garlic, minced (This was (I assume) accidentally omitted since they call for garlic in the directions.)
• 1 tablespoon dry basil
• ½ teaspoon kosher or sea salt
• 6 sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, chopped
• 4 cups no-fat chicken stock (I think I only used about 2 cups. Maybe a hair more.)
• 4 ounces white wine
• 2-3 pinches saffron, optional (I didn’t use b/c I didn’t have any)
• 1 ½ cups Perdue cooked chicken tenderloins, cut up
• 1 cup cooked barley
• 2 ½ cups, canned asparagus, drained and cut up (I used fresh asparagus that I steamed beforehand)
• 3 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions:
Spray olive oil cooking spray in a non-stick skillet. Add onions, garlic, basil and salt and cook on medium low heat for 5 minutes or until onion is softened. Add sun-dried tomatoes, chicken stock, white wine and saffron and bring to a boil for about 3 minutes. Raise the head to medium, add chicken and cooked barley and cook 3-4 minutes. Add asparagus and cook for another two minutes or until heated through. Add Parmesan cheese and season with pepper and salt if needed. (I added a little more fresh basil on top as well)

gotrimax.com says this yields 2 Meals. We don’t eat huge meals so it was more like 3 or 4 meals for us.

This was a pretty easy meal to prepare and if you have all the ingredients portioned out ahead of time, it goes really quick. As for taste, I think the meal turned out great. The barley, as I said, has a nice nutty flavor and went well with all of the other flavors and textures. And as a bonus it tasted as good, or maybe even better, on the second day.

I’ll be trying some more “alternative” ingredients in the coming weeks so stay tuned.