Sun-Dried Tomato Meatballs with Yumyum Marinara Sauce

I found these recipes on various blogs, and put them together to create this amazingly flavorful dish.  I love ground poulty (you may sense a theme, here), so I've been whipping up meatballs and meatloaves like it's my job. I guess it is my job, now that I think about it. Anyway, I put together the sauce, first, and it seemed watery beyond words. I almost dumped it out and tried another version of marinara, but I'm so glad I stuck with this one. It was so delicious. Lots of herbal flavor, and actually, it thickened really nicely, as it simmered. I dumped the meatballs in the sauce, about 45 minutes to a hour, before serving. Oh man... it was good. Really good. Both recipes are easy, but of course, if you want to make the sauce, you have to be home for a while. I ate this over steamed broccoli (I know, you're shocked), and the kids and Kevin ate it over pasta. I was shocked that my lil' wee ones like this, because the basil was strong, but apparently, they are starting to come around, to eating food that actually tastes good. Anyway, I thought we'd have leftovers galore, but we ended up with only a small container, with a few meatballs inside. I give it 4 bowls... Maybe 5. No, 4. I think the only thing this is missing is... well... sugar. Sigh. I will make it again. That's fo' sho'.

Yumyum Marinara (adapted from primalprimos.com)

Ingredients

• 1 large onion (chopped)
• 5 cloves garlic (chopped)
• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 28oz fire roasted crushed tomatoes
• 6oz tomato paste
• 7 cups water
• 3 tablespoons italian seasoning
• 2 tablespoons dried basil
• 1 teaspoon honey (prob adds nothing - I'll skip it next time)
  
• 1 pinch crushed red pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper

Directions

In a large pot over medium heat, add olive oil and sauté onion, shallot and garlic until the onion becomes transparent.

Next, add crushed tomatoes, water, tomato paste, seasonings, wine and honey.

Let it simmer for 2-4 hours, adding salt and peppers after the first hour.

Sun-Dried Tomato Meatballs (adapted from The Preppy Paleo)
1 lb. ground chicken breast
2 tbs. fresh chopped basil
1 tsp. dried oregano
3 minced garlic cloves
1/3 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes, packed in oil (I spoon-drained these, because I wanted more tomatoes, and less oil)
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Roll into 1 inch balls. If cooking on stove top, heat 1 tbs. olive oil in a large skillet. Brown meatballs on all sides and then add to pot of sauce or cook completely in the skillet. If you add them to the pot of marinara, let them simmer for another 45 minutes (or so).

Eat. Them. All.


 

I love anything with sun-dried tomatoes. I mean, seriously. Anything.

Mine.

His.

Meaty Minestrone Soup

So, I was out with the kids yesterday, and we ended up lunching at Whole Foods. The produce there is simply irresistible. I ended up buying a zucchini, a cauliflower, a bell pepper, celery, carrots, and a couple of giant cans of fire roasted crushed tomatoes. I had soup on the brain. I found a recipe for a Paleo Minestrone Soup, and I adapted it to my family's (okay, MY) liking. Just as an FYI - I would never normally add ground meat to a soup, so this was a huge departure from my normal...

Okay, so before I do anything else, I need to say that I am NOT on any type of Paleo lifestyle/meal plan. However, I did recently have a baby, and I'm exploring ways to increase my milk supply, and eat in a healthier way, to improve my physical and mental energy and health. Once upon a time, I read that crazy book: "Eat for your Type" (or whatever it's called). It told me that my blood type should eat more meat. I totally discounted this, as total hooey. I was a vegetarian for many years, and I enjoy carbs and beans, more than the average bear. That being said, I have a huge energy increase, when I eat more meat. I am learning to accept this, and in addition, to accept the fact that eating beans and carbs all day, is not what is best for my satisfaction levels. I am constantly hungry, when I eat a vegetarian diet. I am learning... and learning... and learning.
Okay, so here's a recipe for minestrone soup, that was so delicious, I could have inhaled it through a straw. I will mourn its loss, when we finish it. I was secretly bummed that Kevin liked it, because it means less for me. Have I mentioned that I adore vegetables? I mean, for real. I heart them a whole lot.

Meaty Minestrone Soup

Prep time:  15 mins

Cook time:  60 mins

Total time:  1 hour 15 mins

Serves: A Lot (or just me, for many days in a row)

Ingredients

• 1 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1 Large Yellow Onion, medium dice
• 6 Small Stalks Celery 
• 1/2 a head of chopped cauliflower
• 4 Large Carrots, peeled and diced
• 1 Medium Zucchini, medium dice
• 1.5 lbs turkey breast
• 1.5 teaspoons Salt
• 1 teaspoons Pepper
• 2 teaspoons Italian Seasoning
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
• 3 Garlic Cloves, finely minced ( used jars, out of total laziness)
• 3 Tablespoons Tomato Paste
• 1 (28-oz) can of fire roasted crushed tomatoes
• 8 Cups Chicken Broth
• frozen or fresh spinach (I didn't use, but will try next time)
• frozen or fresh string beans (again, didn't use, but want to put in here, for next time)

Instructions

1. Heat olive oil in a large heavy bottomed pot (I used a 7.5 Qt Dutch Oven) over medium heat
2. Add veggies (minus zucchini) and saute until translucent and vegetables start to soften (about 10 minutes)
3. Add zucchini and saute for 3-5 more minutes and then push veggies to one side of your pot
4. Turn heat up to medium high and ground beef in and proceed to crumble and brown
5. As turkey begins to brown, stir in with all the vegetables
6. Add salt, pepper, Italian seasoning and minced garlic and saute for 2 minutes
7. Stir in tomato paste and let it melt into other ingredients
8. Add crushed toms and broth and bring to a boil
9. Once boiling, lower heat to medium low and simmer for 30 minutes uncovered (or longer, if you feel like it)
10. Add any frozen veggies you want to add, and simmer for 10 minutes, covered
11. Serve and Enjoy!

This is a giant pot of comforting, spicy, tomatoey deliciousness. I can't find my "bowl" symbols, but I would call this a 4.5 bowler. I would give it a 5, but it's such a simple recipe, it almost feels like a 5 would be a bit over the top. Know what I mean. Anyway... Make this. It's a winner, and the pot will probably last for a week of lunches. I. Can't. Wait.

(I stole this image from Pinterest, so imagine it without the pretty purple cabbage) I had to steal it, because my phone photos were fuzzy, at best. Meh.

Creamy Tomato Basil Soup

Okay, so I'm on a tomato soup kick, and I am slightly obsessed with the boxed Organic Creamy Tomato Soup, from Whole Foods. I eat it for lunch, kind of... well... like, almost daily. So, I decided I wanted to make my own. I have procrastinated long enough, and finally gathered up all the ingredients, so I could whip up a batch of this Creamy Tomato Basil Soup, from Cooking Light. First of all, it's an easy recipe. Canned tomatoes, basil, onions and garlic. If you have an immersion blender, this is so perfect. I kept mine slightly chunky, and I wish I'd smoothed it out a bit, but still, it was delicious.

Overall, I think this is a 4 bowler. No one else in my family would try it, because they won't eat cheese, but it was definitely a keeper. I am going to whip up another batch in the next few days.

Creamy Tomato Basil Soup (Adapted from Cooking Light)

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups chopped onion(or 1 medium onion)
• 3 garlic cloves, chopped
• 3/4 cup chopped fresh basil
• 1 (28-ounce) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes, undrained (I used fire roasted with chili peppers)
• 1/2 cup (4 ounces) 1/3-less-fat cream cheese, cut into cubes
• 2 cups 1% low-fat milk (I used skim and it was great)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Preparation 

 Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion; sauté 3 minutes. Stir in garlic; cook for 1 minute. Add basil and tomatoes; bring to a boil. Stir in cheese until melted. Place mixture in blender, and blend until smooth. Return to pan; stir in milk, salt, and pepper. Return to medium-high; cook 2 minutes.

Chicken with Linguine, Leeks, and Tomatoes

Kevin made a request this week: "Please don't make any curries. I can't take it anymore."

In my defense, this family is so picky! No cheese, no red meat, no cinnamon, no nuts, no fish, blah blah blah. So, it really leaves me with a pretty narrow array of recipes and ethnic foods.

So... It took a while, but I finally found several recipes that I was excited to try. This one looked really basic, and it only used 1 pot, so I thought it would be perfect for a night when I wanted to make something quickly. This dinner tasted really delicious. It was so easy to throw together, and the flavor combination was perfect. It was slightly spicy, but had a nice sweet flavor from the leeks and peas. It called for linguine, but I made the mistake of using leftover soba noodles, which didn't work particularly well. They got a little clumpy, sticky, and overcooked. Oh well. The good news is, it was still really tasty, and the clean up was so simple. To make it even easier, you can buy the frozen leeks at Trader Joe's. I highly recommend this one.




Make this. It's great. 5 Bowls.

Chicken with Linguine, Leeks, and Tomatoes


Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 chicken breast half and 1 cup pasta and vegetables)


4 (4-ounce) skinned, boned chicken breast halves
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground cumin
Vegetable cooking spray
2 teaspoons margarine
3 cups sliced leeks (about 3 medium)
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup low-salt chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can no-salt-added whole tomatoes, undrained and chopped
4 ounces linguine, uncooked

Place each chicken piece between 2 sheets of heavy-duty plastic wrap, and flatten to 1/4-inch thickness, using a meat mallet or rolling pin. Combine 1/4 teaspoon of salt, garlic powder, and next 4 ingredients; sprinkle over both sides of chicken, and set aside.

Coat a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray; add margarine, and place over medium-high heat until margarine melts. Add the chicken, and cook 1 1/2 minutes on each side or until lightly browned. Remove from skillet; set aside.

Add leeks and garlic to skillet; cook over medium-high heat 3 minutes or until tender. Add chicken broth and next 3 ingredients; bring to a boil. Break linguine into 2-inch pieces; add linguine and chicken to skillet. Cover and cook over medium-low heat 15 minutes or until pasta is tender.

CALORIES 329 (13% from fat); FAT 4.6g (sat 0.9g,mono 1.3g,poly 1.3g); IRON 4.4mg; CHOLESTEROL 66mg; CALCIUM 108mg; CARBOHYDRATE 38.6g; SODIUM 364mg; PROTEIN 32.7g; FIBER 1.8g

Cooking Light, MARCH 1995

Chicken Paprikash

This recipe looked so easy, and so delicious - I just had to try it. It's a quickie. It truly only takes 30 minutes (maybe less) to throw together. I threw in some frozen peas in the end, because I am always a fan of adding more veggies. The end result... Good. Not great, not even very good. Just plain good. I really liked all the ingredients, but when put together, the product was sort of one dimensional. I think if you like simple, home cooked meals, with nice, mellow flavors, you'd probably really enjoy this. I found it relatively bland. The caraway seeds lend a nice, nutty undertone, which I thought was the highlight of the dish. Basically, I think I've come to like more complex flavors, and this just didn't do it for me. That being said, it was a good, solid dinner, when you are pressed for time, and want to use up some canned tomato goods that are lingering in the pantry. I'd be very curious to hear other reviews of it. If you make it, let me know what you think!





Maybe you should try this, and tell me your thoughts... 3 Bowls.

Chicken Paprikash

This chicken paprikash recipe is a saucy dish best served with egg noodles. Toss the noodles with a bit of butter, caraway seeds, salt, and pepper for added flavor.

Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 cup)


1 tablespoon canola oil
1 pound chicken breast tenders, cut into 1-inch strips
1 cup prechopped onion
1 cup thinly sliced red bell pepper (about 1 medium)
1 1/2 teaspoons bottled minced garlic
1/4 cup whipping cream
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon caraway seeds
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained

Heat canola oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add chicken; cook 5 minutes or until browned, stirring occasionally. Remove from pan, and keep warm.

Add onion, bell pepper, and garlic to pan; sauté 4 minutes or until tender. Return chicken to pan. Stir in cream and remaining ingredients; cover and simmer 5 minutes or until chicken is done and sauce is slightly thick.

CALORIES 241 (31% from fat); FAT 8.2g (sat 2.4g,mono 3.3g,poly 1.7g); IRON 1.8mg; CHOLESTEROL 76mg; CALCIUM 51mg; CARBOHYDRATE 12.9g; SODIUM 507mg; PROTEIN 28.4g; FIBER 3.1g

Cooking Light, DECEMBER 2005

Rotini with Lentil Bolognese

Seriously? I'm actually going to create a post about eating pasta for dinner? Um, yeah. I am.

I actually used to make whole wheat pasta with tomato sauce, every single night, as a side dish, to whatever we were having for dinner. We loved it, but it was a tad excessive - know what I mean?

Anyway, now we all really miss our daily pasta, and since with was a holiday week, and we were both exhausted and itching for some nice comfort food, pasta fit the bill. I really like meat sauce, but since I no longer eat red meat, I have been looking for a substitute, that adds a nice, hearty texture to a pasta sauce. I found this Lentil Bolognese recipe on Epicurious, but the reviews were a tad less than stellar. I ended up doctoring the recipe, to the point where is is basically nothing like the Epicurious version, though I used their recipe as base for inspiration. I will post my recipe below, and if you want to see the original, just click the link! Anyway, this tasted really good. I loved the flavor - Spicy, salty (but not too salty), sweet (but not too sweet!), and hearty. The only issue I had with this recipe, was that the lentils never really cooked well. There is actually a scientific explanation for this, but basically, when you try to cook dried beans in tomato broth, the acidity makes it almost impossible for the beans to get soft. So, basically, I cooked this for a full hour, and the lentils were soft enough, but not really as soft as I would have liked them. My remedy for this? Next time, I will use canned lentils (drained and rinsed), or I will partially cook them separately, then add them for the final 20 minutes of cooking. I personally think this will be crucial, to making this a second time. It didn't matter, because it was a lovely dish, with a lot of leftovers. I will make this again. It was easy, tasty, and a super comforting end, to a long and eventful weekend!

I used whole wheat rotini, which made this even heartier. Mmmmmm.

A big hunk of leftover, homemade focaccia, rounded out this meal very nicely. Jonah loved this bread!


Nothing like a chunky, vegetable ragu.
You should probably make this. Let me know how you modify it, and let me know how your lentils come out! 4 Bowls - gotta take a point off, for toothsome lentils!

Pasta with Lentil Bolognese

Yield: Makes 6 servings

Ingredients

1 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 small onion, chopped
2-3 carrots, chopped
1-2 stalk celery, chopped
1 Bell Pepper, chopped (I used yellow)
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons tomato paste
2 (15-ounce) cans chopped tomatoes, drained and roughly chopped OR pureed (juice reserved)
1 1/4 cups dried French green lentils or regular brown/green lentils
Coarse sea or kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
1/4 tsp of dried basil
1/4 tsp seasoning salt (I used Penzey's 4S Seasoned Salt)
Bay Leaf
3-4 cups of Chicken or Veggie Broth
Dash of crushed red pepper

1 pound shaped pasta, such as cavatappi, rigatoni, or ziti
Pecorino cheese, grated or shaved (optional, but tastes better that way)
Fresh basil, chopped (optional)

Preparation

1. In a large pot over medium heat, warm the olive oil. Add the onion, carrot, celery, bell pepper, and garlic and cook slowly until the vegetables soften and turn golden, about 20 minutes.

2. Increase heat to medium-high and add the tomato paste. Cook until the mixture dries out a bit, about 3 minutes. Pour in the reserved juice from the tomatoes and cook, scraping the browned bits from the bottom of the pan, until the liquid has reduced by half, 1 to 2 minutes.

3. Stir in the lentils, tomatoes, and 1 cup water OR broth (I used broth, as per reviews!). Add seasonings and bay leaf (and whatever else you want!)Bring to a boil, then reduce heat. Season with the salt and pepper and simmer until the lentils are tender, 30 minutes to 1 hour, depending on the lentils. (If the sauce begins to dry out, add additional water as needed - I ended up having to add at least 2 cups of broth, throughout the cooking.) Reduce heat to low and keep warm.

** If you choose to use rinsed and drained, canned lentils, you should probably use 2 cans, and add them in the last 10-20 minutes of cooking. I'm not sure how this would change the reduction of the sauce though... Any thoughts on this?

4. Cook the pasta according to the package directions; drain. Serve with the lentil sauce, sprinkle with the pecorino, and garnish with the basil, if desired.

Chicken Scallopini, Veggie Orzo Toss, and Braised Peas and Onions

As I previously mentioned, we had a lovely dinner with Burt, my father-in-law, on Saturday night. I made Chicken Scallopini for the main course, with an orzo and veggie toss, and braised peas and onions on the side. I had never made any of the dishes before, so, of course, I was uncertain as to how they would come out. Well, the chicken was cooked really nicely - moist, with a nice, well seasoned breading. The glaze, made with broth, wine, and capers, was okay, though a little thin for my taste. I didn't feel it needed the glaze, though, so I was happy to skip it. The chicken was moist enough, as it was.




This orzo toss wasn't as much a recipe, as it was a "side dish idea" from Cooking Light. Kevin isn't a fan of cherry tomatoes, so I used sundried tomatoes instead. I really liked the flavor of the orzo, though it came out a little dry. Here's how it's done:

Orzo, Tomato, and Zucchini Toss
Heat 1 teaspoon olive oil in a medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 cup halved cherry tomatoes (or chopped sun-dried toms), 1 cup chopped zucchini, and 2 minced garlic cloves; sauté 2 minutes. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning and 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes; sautß 1 minute or until zucchini is crisp-tender. Combine tomato mixture, 3 cups hot cooked orzo, and 1/4 teaspoon salt; toss well.



Lastly... The peas. Honestly, I love vegetables, and never need them dressed with anything, but I tried this anyway, just to see if we would like dolled up veggies. I really liked these - super flavorful, but really mellow and light. We ended up mixing the orzo and peas together, to give flavorful moisture to the orzo. These were 2 winning side dishes, that came together really nicely. I'll definitely be making both of them again.