Category: Meat

Tomato Basil Chicken in Butter Sauce

So much basil.  I have been trying to find new recipes in order to use up the basil in my garden.  I am best at growing basil and cherry tomatoes.  We have one cherry tomato plant that has continued to produce throughout the summer and through the fall.  It looks like it won’t last much longer, but we’re enjoying it while we have it.  The basil, on the other hand, has been doing fabulously.  My sweet basil has begun to die off, but I bought this new one called Ajaka and it seems to be quite hardy.  I made this recipe with some of the last of my sweet basil.

 

Ingredients:

1 pound boneless skinless chicken

Salt and pepper to taste

1/4 c. olive oil

5-6 roma tomatoes, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

two handfuls of fresh basil, cut in strips

1/4 c. butter (I used SmartBalance but I think it would have been ok to replace it with more olive oil and some salt)

 

Serve over spaghetti squash or pasta

 

Directions:

Heat the oil in a pan on medium high and rub the chicken with salt and pepper.  Cook the chicken in the oil until cooked (maybe 10 minutes?) and set aside the chicken, leaving the oil in the pan. Remove the pan from the heat and allow the oil to cool slightly so your tomatoes won’t splatter everywhere.  Add the tomatoes and cover with a splatter shield if necessary. Please be careful!  Allow to simmer for 5-10 minutes until the tomatoes cook down some.  Add the garlic and butter and allow to cook for a few minutes.  Return the chicken to the pan and add the basil a minute or two before serving.  I served mine over spaghetti squash.

 

Original recipe:

Garlic Basil Chicken with Tomato Butter Sauce

 

Easy Crockpot Beef Brisket

I have had this recipe printed off for a long time and I finally got around to trying it.  It was SO easy.  The best part is, the brisket I bought was so big that I have more of it in the freezer.  I cut it into sections that would fit in my crockpot and froze the rest in crockpot-size parts.

 

Ingredients:

2 onions, thinly sliced

4 lbs beef brisket (not corned)

2 T. ketchup

1 T. red wine vinegar

1 T. brown sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

4 cloves minced garlic

water to cover bottom of pot

 

Directions:

Strew onions in bottom of crockpot.  Place brisket on top of the onions with the fatty part on the top.  Stir together the ketchup, vinegar, sugar, salt, and pepper.  Rub onto the brisket.  Sprinkle garlic on top of the brisket.  Pour in just enough water to cover the bottom of the pot.  Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours.  I served this by itself first and poured some of the juice and onions on my plate with it.  I also made brisket sandwiches and put the onions from the bottom of the pan on the sandwich.  So delicious!

When it is done, it will shred like this:

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Fish tacos

A lot of places serve tacos near where we live.  However, it is hard to get a gluten free taco that has breaded fish on it, so I created this recipe in a continued effort to expand the types of meat in our diet.  It’s quick and simple and toppings can be adjusted according to your taste.  Right now we have lots of yellow tomatoes in our garden, so we used those (see picture below).  Measurements are approximate.

Ingredients:

Oil for pan-frying

3-4 pieces of fish (I used mahi mahi.)  Maybe 6-8 oz. (If frozen, defrost in water in the fridge.)

2-3 T. white or brown rice flour (I actually liked it better with white rice flour this time.)

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp paprika

Corn tortillas*

Topping options: diced red peppers, diced red onion, spinach, tomatoes, cilantro, cheese,  etc.

 

Directions:

Combine flour, salt, pepper, and paprika in a shallow dish.  Dredge fish through flour mixture.  It will be a thin breading.  Pour oil in skillet until entire bottom of pan is covered with a thin layer.  Heat oil until a drop of water makes a spattering sound when dropped in it.  I used a splatter shield to help protect me from flying hot oil.  When oil is hot, add breaded fish to pan.  Cook on one side for maybe 3-4 minutes until the sides of the fish are looking cooked.  Flip fish over carefully and cook for another 3-4 minutes.  To test doneness, break a piece of fish in the middle with a fork.  It should flake easily.  Serve over warm tortillas and top with desired toppings.

 

*I have started getting a big bag of corn tortillas and freezing them in quart-sized bags.  I put waxed paper between each 5-6 tortillas and fill up the quart bag.  When I am ready to use the tortillas, I take them directly out of the freezer and toast them in a skillet on the stovetop, flipping them once.  My freezer tends to get ice crystals pretty quickly, so this added moisture helps keep the tortillas flexible as they cook.  Try it and see if it works for you!

I know this picture is sideways.  I have tried to convince my computer that it is not facing the correct direction, but it won’t believe me…

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Shrimp Scampi

This recipe makes me think of Forrest Gump.  I’ve been trying to expand my horizons and include more types of meat in our diet.  Realizing I hadn’t used much shrimp,  I was trying to think of ways to incorporate it and this is the part of the long list of shrimp uses that I remembered from the movie.  So here it is: shrimp scampi.

Ingredients:

1 package of gluten free spaghetti (I used HEB brand.)

2 1/2 T. olive oil (not extra virgin)

3 T. butter* (I used SmartBalance to make it dairy free, but I think you could leave this out and add olive oil instead if you didn’t want to use fake butter.)

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 lb peeled and deveined large shrimp, thawed if pre-frozen

1/4 tsp black pepper

1 1/2 tsp salt

4 tsp dried parsley

1 T. fresh parsley

1/4 c. freshly squeezed lime or lemon juice (I used lime because that’s what I had)

1/4 tsp. dried lemon peel or zest of half a lemon

1/4 lemon, thinly sliced in half rounds (I forgot to do this so it is not pictured)

1/8 tsp red pepper flakes

 

Directions:

Cook spaghetti noodles according to package directions.  Heat oil and butter over medium low heat being careful not to burn the butter.  Add the garlic and stir for one minute, then add the thawed shrimp, black pepper, salt, and dried parsley.  Cook until shrimp is pink, about 5-10 minutes.  Remove from heat and add the fresh parsley, lime/lemon juice, lemon zest, and red pepper flakes.  Stir in the drained spaghetti noodles and then add in the lemon slices.

*If you can eat real butter, I would use it.  I only use fake butter because my body doesn’t tolerate dairy well.  It’s usually better to use the real food if you can.

Original recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/linguine-with-shrimp-scampi-recipe3.html

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Simple Crockpot Chicken Drumsticks

This recipe is ridiculously easy.  I made it a few weekends ago for some young kids and they gobbled it up, so it is kid-friendly too.  If they don’t like the spices on it, they can easily pull off the skin and just eat the chicken underneath.  This has become one of my go-to meals when I don’t have a lot of time or when I can’t think of anything new to do.  I hope it makes your life easier too :-).

 

Ingredients:

2 tsp salt

1 T. paprika

2 tsp chili powder (Make sure it’s gluten free- I’ve heard that it’s sometimes not.  McCormick is gluten free for sure.)

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp thyme

1/2 garlic powder

1/2 tsp black pepper

4 lbs chicken drumsticks, skin on

 

Directions:

Loosely crumple aluminum foil and place it on the bottom of your Crockpot (see picture below).  This holds the drumsticks out of the liquid so they get a nice texture as they cook.  Combine all other ingredients and mix well.  Roll drumsticks in the spice mixture and place on top of the crumpled foil in the Crockpot (or any other slow cooker).  If you have any leftover spices at the end, sprinkle it over the chicken in the Crockpot.  Put lid on crockpot and cook on low for 6-8 hours.  Mine is done in 6, but it shouldn’t hurt it to cook it for 8, even 10 hours.  I used to leave this in the crockpot while I was teaching at school. Do not remove lid while it is cooking as you will release steam and slow down the cooking process.  Discard the juice in the bottom unless you want it for something.  Serve over rice and with a side of vegetables.  This is also a good meal if you are taking food to someone- it’s easy to make and easy to transport.

 

Foil crumpled in bottom of crockpot.
How the chicken should look when it is cooked.

 

Original recipe: http://www.creativelydomestic.com/2009/10/slow-cooker-sticky-chicken-drumsticks.html

Chicken and Broccoli Salad

My brother and I went on a hike for my birthday and I brought this along for our picnic.  It’s simple, quick, and healthy.  You can toss other things into your salad if you want.  This is way more flexible than baking!

 

Ingredients:

1 1/2 c. cooked chicken, cubed into 1/2 inch pieces (can be replaced with more broccoli to make it vegetarian or to turn it into a side dish)

3/4 c. chopped broccoli

1/4 c. raisins

1/8 c. sunflower seeds (You can add more- I just ran out :-).

2 dashes celery salt

2 dashes sea salt

2 dashes black pepper

1/2 c. mayonnaise or to desired moistness (I used Vegenaise so it wouldn’t have eggs.)*

 

Directions:

Cook and cool chicken completely.  I recommend refrigerating it for a few hours before adding the mayo.  Combine all ingredients and stir.  This tastes even better if it has sat in the fridge for several hours to let the flavors combine.  Happy picnicking!

 

*Tip: If you can’t eat gluten and you live in a place where people share the jar of mayonnaise, make sure no one’s dipped into it with a used knife so you don’t get cross-contaminated.  Most likely they have…  To avoid such problems, you could keep a separate jar for yourself and label it so that people know not to dip into it.  Also, regular mayonnaise has eggs, so if you’re avoiding eggs, get one of the vegan brands of mayo.

 

BLT’s

Bacon, bacon, bacon.  I bought a pack of three packs of bacon at the store so I am finding all sorts of way to use it up.  This is nothing new, but sometimes people get a mental block because of omitting something like bacon.  If you have a loaf of bread you can eat, you can easily make a BLT.

 

Ingredients:

2 slices of bread (I used Pamela’s Gluten Free Bread Mix and made the egg free version)

3 strips of bacon, cooked

1/2 tomato, sliced

handful of spinach mix (mine had spinach, swiss chard, and kale)

optional:  add a slice of cheese

optional: spread mayonnaise on the bread.  If egg free, use a substitute such as Vegenaise.

Directions:

Make bread according to directions on the package.  I used golden flaxseed as the egg replacer.  Cut off two slices of bread and top with cooked bacon, tomatoes, spinach, and if desired, cheese and mayo.

Salmon and Bacon Salad

I haven’t experimented much with fish but I am wanting to start.  Here is my first post about fish!  My husband and I loved this salad!

 

Ingredients:

4 oz. salmon, rubbed with salt and pepper

2 strips of bacon (omit if you don’t eat pork)

2 handfuls of greens (mine was spinach, kale, and swiss chard from Costco)

1 tomato, chopped

dill for sprinkling

1 lime wedge

Extra virgin olive oil for drizzling

 

Directions:

Rub salmon with salt and pepper.  Cook over medium heat until white starts to creep up the sides.  Maybe 7-10 minutes.  Flip over and continue to cook until fish flakes apart easily with a fork.  Remove from heat and set aside.

Cook strips of bacon until browned but not burnt.

To assemble salad, put the spinach mixture on the plate first.  Top with tomatoes and crumbled bacon.  Place salmon on top of salad and sprinkle with dill.  Squeeze lime wedge over everything and drizzle olive oil over all.

Meaty Pizza

Pizza is pretty wonderful.  This one kept growing in complexity as I kept finding things in my fridge that would go on it.  The best part is, I made too much sauce and I still have leftover bacon, sausage, and cheese, so I’m making it again this week!

 

Ingredients for making 2 small pizzas (about 8-in):

Pamela’s Pizza Crust- made as per directions on the bag- I used it to make 2 small pizzas (allow for 1-2 hours of rising time)

My Pizza Hut Sauce Copycat recipe

2-3 handfuls of spinach, kale and chard mix or just spinach

1/2 lb of Jimmy Dean sausage, cooked*

1/2 bag of Hormel pepperoni*

1 tomato, sliced thinly

10-15 fresh basil leaves

2-4 strips of bacon, cooked and diced*

1/2  bag of Daiya dairy free cheese

 

Directions:

Make Pamela’s Pizza Crust as directed on the back of the bag or use a different gluten free pizza crust as desired.  I did what it said and laid out parchment paper and put some cornmeal on it and then pressed the dough out on it.  I ended up making two small pizzas.  Cook sausage and bacon while dough is rising.  Par-bake the crust as directed (about 8-10 minutes).  Add toppings.  I did it in this order: sauce, sausage, bacon, spinach mix, basil, pepperoni, tomatoes, cheese.  Bake as directed on the bag (about 5-10 more minutes).

 

*Meats may be replaced with other meats or they may be skipped to make it a vegetarian pizza.

Stroganoff

When I was typing the tag for this recipe, I accidentally labeled it diary free.  Fortunately, no diaries are required for the making of this dish.  Neither is any dairy.  I LOVED this dish as a kid, and I thought it would be a goner since it relied heavily on sour cream.  Fortunately, Tofutti makes something called Better Than Sour Cream that does the trick.  I served it over my mashed potatoes.

Ingredients:

1 pound beef tenderloin, sirloin steak, or round steak (really any steak will do), cut into 1/2 inch pieces

2 T. butter (I used SmartBalance- the green container)

1/2 pound mushrooms, sliced (I have actually never put this in but it sounds good)

1 medium onion, sliced

1 can (10 1/2 oz) chicken broth or beef broth

4-6 T. ketchup (I always end up adding more at the end until it’s the color I want.)

1 clove garlic, minced

1 tsp salt

3 T. flour (I sometimes use brown rice flour but this time I used 2 T. arrowroot and 1 T. cornstarch because I was out of brown rice flour)

1 c. sour cream (I used Tofutti)

Mashed potatoes or cooked pasta for serving.

 

Directions:

Cut meat into 1/2 inch strips (against the grain).  Melt butter over medium heat in skillet.  Cook the mushrooms and onions in the butter until tender.  Set onions and mushrooms aside in a bowl and then cook the meat in the same pan.  When it is light brown, set aside 1/3 c. of the chicken or beef broth and add the rest into the skillet with the meat.  Add in the ketchup, garlic, and salt and simmer while covered for 15 min.  Combine the 1/3 c. broth with the flour and then add it into the meat while making sure to stir so it doesn’t clump.  Return the mushrooms and onions to the pan and turn up the heat a little while continuing to stir until it boils.  After a minute of boiling, reduce the heat and add in the sour cream.  Stir in more ketchup if it is not orange enough for you.  Serve with noodles or mashed potatoes.