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Angela’s Spicy Ropa Vieja

I adore Ropa Vieja! It’s a braise, my favourite cooking method, and made for cheap cuts of meat. I keep an eye out at the grocery for cheap cuts that are marked down and keep them on hand for dishes just like this! Traditional Ropa Vieja is not spicy, but I was in the mood for a bit more kick. This recipe is medium spicy and very delicious! It’s also low fat and low calorie, too! If you are spice sensitive, then by all means, cut back the various chile powders and dried chiles.

Angela’s Spicy Ropa Vieja **Simple version, less spicy below!

1-1.5# cheap beef (bottom round, flank, brisket, skirt), sliced into 2″ long 1″ wide strips
1 med onion, frenched (halved then sliced)
1 green pepper, sliced
8 cloves garlic, crushed
15 big green olives halved
Splash of olive brine
2 Tbl L&P
1/2 tsp of the following:
oregano, dried
cumin, ground
coriander, ground
mustard powder
ancho chile powder
chipotle powder
chili powder
1 tsp dried cilantro
1 tsp red pepper flakes
a couple of dried pasillas (or ancho or arbol) chiles, stems and seeds removed
1 can fire roasted diced tomatoes (I used garlic ones)
1/2-1 cup chicken (or beef) stock (enough to almost cover if you want it juicy, less if not)
Just a bit of olive oil in the cooker to get everything going
S/P at end to taste

Slow cooker on low for up to 8 hours. Yield is about 5 cups. Serve on rice or with a green veg for low carb.

Livestrong tells me the following nutrition info (for 5 cup yield; does not include rice):
Serving Size: 1 cup
Amount per Serving
Calories 299
Calories from Fat 113.9 (about 38%)
Total Fat 12.66g
Saturated Fat 0.43g
Cholesterol 87.2mg
Sodium 409.11mg
Total Carbohydrate 11.41g
Dietary Fiber 3.32g
Sugars 4.93g
Protein 30.55g

**Simple and less spicy version, same cooking instructions:
1-1.5# cheap beef (bottom round, flank, brisket, skirt), sliced in 2″ long 1″ wide strips
1 med onion, halved then sliced
1 green or red pepper, sliced
8 cloves garlic, crushed
15 big green olives halved
Splash of olive brine
2 Tbl L&P worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp of the following:
oregano, dried
cumin, ground
coriander, ground
1 tsp dried cilantro
1 can fire roasted diced tomatoes (I used garlic ones)
1/2-1 cup chicken (or beef) stock (enough to almost cover if you want it juicy, less if not)
Just a bit of olive oil in the cooker to get everything going
S/P at end to taste

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Roasted Cauliflower and Kale with Tahini

I looked in my fridge and had half a bag of kale and a head of cauliflower. What to do? To the Google! I came across a recipe for roasted cauliflower and kale salad that I modified to create an incredibly satisfying dinner! And it’s vegan! Weird!

Roasted Cauliflower and Kale with Tahini
One head cauliflower, cut into bite sized pieces
about 4 cups raw kale, stemmed and cut into bite sized pieces
about 1/4 med red onion, sliced very thinly
1/2-3/4 cup toasted pine nuts (toasting makes them taste 100% better!)
1/2-3/4 cup golden raisins (or currants or any dried fruit you like)
Olive oil
S/P
about 1/2 cup tahini
Lemon Juice
Seasoned Rice Wine Vinegar
1 Tbl garlic paste (or 2 cloves garlic, minced/pasted)

Toss the cauliflower with lemon juice, olive oil and S/P and roast in a 400F oven for about 20 minutes or until soft and brown on the edges. While that is roasting, cook kale in a big pan with a bit of water until wilted but still bright green. Drain kale and toss in a large bowl with the raisins and onions. This will partially cook the onions.

Mix tahini, about 2 Tbl lemon juice, 1 Tbl rice wine vinegar, garlic and about 2 Tbl olive oil. Adjust the acids and S/P to your taste. The tahini might sieze up on you, that’s ok, it’ll mix well when it’s on the hot veg. Toss the dressing in with the warm kale. When the cauliflower is done, toss it in with the kale and add the pine nuts. Check to see if your flavours are right and adjust acids and S/P if needed. Serve immediately.

This is a surprisingly satisfying dish! It’s loaded with fibre and vitamins from the kale. Try it!

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Vegan Creamy Tomato Curry Soup

I do NOT cook vegan dishes normally, but I was trying out a variation on my creamy tomato soup and realised that this recipe is indeed vegan. Of course, I also added heavy cream as a variation and liked that best of all, but you can use 100% coconut milk and get great results. Caution, this soup is SPICY. If you don’t like a lot of spice, cut down the curry paste.

1 large can whole San Marzano tomatoes
Olive oil for sweating veg
3/4 cup mirepoix (carrots, celery, onions diced) Feel free to use frozen.
1 Tbl garlic paste (or 3 cloves minced garlic)
2 Tbl flour (or equivalent if you’re that picky)
1 Tbl red curry paste
1 tsp curry powder
1 or 2 small cans of coconut milk (the heavy creamy kind, not coconut water)
S/P
Sugar or agave

In a 2 qt saucepan, put a few turns of olive oil over med-hi flame and add mirepoix. Cook until the veg is translucent. Lower heat if it starts to brown, you want sweated, not sautéed. Add garlic, flour, curry paste and curry powder. Stir thoroughly. Crush in the SM tomatoes by hand. Stir. Add in one or two cans of coconut milk depending on how creamy you want it. I like it more creamy, so I use two small cans or one soup size can. At this point, cut the heat and use a stick blender to purée the veg. Or you can use a blender. Once the soup is as smooth as you want it, check S/P, add sweetener if it’s too acidic and then turn back on the heat. Bring to gentle boil for a couple of minutes, then simmer for another couple of minutes. Serve with crusty bread!

As I mentioned, I like the soup fine in this form, but if you’re not vegan and want a more creamy taste, add 1/2 cup of heavy cream. The spice of the curry still shines through, but the cream gives a lovely mouthfeel. Mmm!

This recipe yields about 6 cups or so.

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Shirred Eggs w/ Hashbrowns and Sausage

We had a shirred (baked) egg dish at The Porter recently and it inspired me to try my hand at this fancy looking but easy dish. The first thing you need are little gratin dishes to bake them in. I found the perfect ones at the Dollar Store! They are about 4″ wide and 1.5″ deep. See:

Shirred Eggs

Shirred Eggs w/ Hashbrowns and Sausage

2 eggs per dish
2/3 c hashbrowns per dish (I use frozen plain shredded ones.)
.5 Italian Sausage link (out of skin) per dish, about .5 cup
1Tbl shredded parmesan (or whatever cheese you like)
olive oil
S/P
Chipped Red Pepper

Heat a frying pan over med-hi flame with a few splashed of olive oil. Remove the skin from the sausage and crumble into the pan. Brown the sausage about half way then add in hashbrowns. Continue to brown until hashbrowns are cooked and the sausage is nicely crisp. Season to taste with S/P and add in a few pinches of chipped red pepper. Set aside.

Spray the gratin dishes with food release (Pam). Fill about halfway with sausage and hashbrown mixture. Sprinkle the cheese over this. Make two divots in which to place your eggs. Crack eggs into the divots. S/P the eggs.

Put on a baking sheet and cook at 350F for about 20 minutes or until the egg whites are done and the yolks are still soft and runny. I tried this in a toaster oven and it didn’t work – the eggs were too close to the heat. Use a full sized oven for this recipe.

Calories 319
Calories from Fat 190.8
Total Fat 21.2g
Saturated Fat 7.58g
Cholesterol 20mg
Sodium 650.75mg
Total Carbohydrate 8.53g
Dietary Fiber 0.93g
Sugars 0g
Protein 21.28g

Courtesy of LiveStrong Recipe calculator.

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I am the Chicken Queen!

This weekend, I cooked a lot. It soothes me and makes me very zen. I’m so proud of all I accomplished with a bit of chicken and some veg! I got three meals off of ONE chicken.

First, I made Chicken Fricassee. I cut up the chicken myself – I’m slow but I do OK. I made stock out of the backbone and chicky bits. So Saturday we had a delicious fricassee and I got 2 quarts of stock as well as about 1.5 cups of leftover braising liquid from the fricassee. I had a feeling that braising liquid would be great in a soup…

Sunday I picked the chicky bones leftover from the stock and got about 2/3 cup chicken that I used for a frittata. Sunday afternoon I made chicken soup from the stock and braising liquid. I added 5 pc of frozen chicken tenders, 1 cup mirepoix and 2/3 cup barley. I used dill as the herb because I was in the mood for dill. Voilà! 3 meals off the same chicken!

Also on Sunday, I made eggplant caponata. I started with Anne Burrell’s recipe (http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/anne-burrell/caponata-recipe/index.html) and modified it, of course. I added lemon zest (about a Tbl) and I used basil, cilantro and the fennel fronds for the herbs. I also tossed in some grape tomatoes with the eggplant to roast. YUM! I served this with shoulder steak (since I couldn’t find flat iron). Not a huge fan of shoulder steak, I shoulda gotten the flank steak. The shoulder steak reminded me a lot of hangar steak; kind of stringy but flavourful. It was a really tasty meal that was low fat and lean protein. Yay for tasty diets!

We’ve been doing great on our resolution to cut back booze and quit smoking. Of course, the DJ Incident™ probably has a lot to do with that, but whatever. I’ll take it. I’ve not smoked in a week – even when surrounded by smokers! And I’ve not had more than 1-2 glasses of wine per night in that time as well. Several nights with NONE. Maybe we can cut back the booze without Naltrexone? It’s certainly going well so far! YAY!!

This week I’m in the mood for pickles. I hope the Farmer’s Market has pickling cucumbers! I’m feeling zesty garlic dill, bread ‘n butter and maybe a coupla jars of asparagus. I’ll take pix! Everyone have a great week!