Impromptu Crab Fried Rice (or Crabby Rice...as my Mom called it)

First off, let me apologize for having basically disappeared over the last few months.  Life has definitely gotten in the way... and I wasn't feeling all that inspired.

But, I recently discovered a service here that delivers organic produce to your house (fabulous!) and got a few boxes with some weird stuff in them (nothing for this recipe specifically), but the need to go out and figure out what to do with things like Swede (or Rutabaga), Kumquats and Jerusalem Artichokes, made me feel inspired to cook again.  Which for me, right now, is pretty impressive.

So... I also got some crab meat in the magical package of food delivered to my house and decided I would make some crab fried rice. 

It ended up being kind of a non-traditional stir fry, just because of what ingredients I had in the house and had to use up, but it was really good! Not great with measurements because I kind of just threw everything in the pan, but this is a recipe that is meant to be experimented with, so go crazy!  This made enough for 2 servings.

Ingredients:

• Crab Meat (about 100g)
• 1 zuchinni (shredded)
• 2 carrots (shredded)
• Garlic
• Fresh Grated Ginger
• Hoisin Sauce
• Brown rice, cooked (about 1 cup)
• 1 green onion, sliced
• Olive oil

1.   Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.  Saute the garlic, ginger and spring onions until fragrant (30 seconds or so).
2.  Add carrots and zucchini and saute, stirring occasionally.

Cook until the carrots are tender (1-2 minutes).  Add the cooked brown rice and the hoisin sauce.  Stir to incorporate and heat through.

3.  Add the crab meat to the pan, stir and cook until heated (1 minute or so).

Voila... crabby rice!

Potato, Leek & Ham Soup

I went to the farmers market this morning and found some great leeks - or leek, since I only bought one...

I've actually never used leeks before, so I went on a forage through the interweb for some good recipes to try it out in and found one for a Ham, Potato and Leek Soup on SimpleRecipes.com that sounded worth a try.  Plus, I had some ham in the freezer that I needed to use up, so this sounded perfect!

I did make some modifications to it - most significantly the addition of garlic - yum!!

Potato, Leek & Ham Soup
Serves 4-6 depending on whether it's a meal or appetizer
Prep Time: 10-15 minutes 
Cook Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 Tbsp unsalted butter
• 4 cups leeks, thinly sliced
• 4 cups chicken broth
• Potatoes (I used about 15 fingerlings that I got at the market, but 2 large russets would work fine too), peeled and cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
• 2 cups diced ham
• 1 tsp chopped garlic - about 1 chopped cloves
• 1/4 cup milk (I used 1%)
• Salt to taste
• 3 Tbsp fresh parsley

1.  Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat.

2.Add the leeks, cook about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

Until they look like this...

2. Add the potatoes, garlic, chicken broth and pepper.

3.  Reduce the heat, cover and simmer 25 minutes or until the potatoes are tender.
4.  Using a blender (or food processor), process until smooth (or you can leave some chunks in - up to you). 

3.  Stir in diced ham and milk.  Garnish with the parsley.

Recipe Recommendations

I thought it might be good to share some of the recipes I tried from other sources recently, without modifications, that I found to be really great.  You should give some of them a try too!

Baked Parmesan Garlic Chicken Wings from Steamykitchen.com.  These were awesome, amazing yummy goodness and I can totally understand why she made them one of her favorite recipes.

Chicken with Shallot-Apricot Sauce from CheapHealthyGood This ended up being really good - something a little different with a savory bite from the balsamic vinegar.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Balsamic from whiteonricecouple.com.  If you've never been into Brussels sprouts before, you haven't tried these.  Tangy from the balsamic, and super-easy.  These will definitely become a staple in my recipe book!

Golden-Crusted Brussels Sprouts from 101cookbooks.com,
I had some leftover Brussels Sprouts from the recipe before and on the spur-of-the-moment, trying to come up with a veggie to go with dinner tried this out.  They were pretty awesome too! Hubby liked these better and I liked the balsamic ones better.  Try them both and let me know what you think!

What do you think of this kind of post? Interesting? Helpful? Should I keep doing these?

Slow Cooker Pot Roast with Vegetables

This was the first recipe I've actually come up with all by myself! I wanted to have a basic pot roast, but every recipe I looked at had cream of something soup in it, and it just didn't sound like what I was going for.  So I put this one together and gave it a shot.

It turned out great and made enough for the Hubby and me and then leftovers for both of us for lunch tomorrow.  There was enough liquid in the bottom that you could make a gravy if you were so inclined (I'm not a big fan, so I didn't bother).  These are admittedly not the most fabulous photos ever (I kind of forgot about taking pictures at the end until we were already eating), but it's a simple, way easy meal that makes you feel like you accomplished something!

 

Serves 4
Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 to 2 lb chuck roast
• 1/2 lb potatoes (I used small white potatoes), quartered or cubed
• 3 large carrots, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
• 2 small onions, cut into wedges
• 3/4 cup of red wine
• 1 T Worcestershire sauce
• 1 T fresh basil, chopped
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 cube of beef bouillon

1. Put the carrots, potatoes and onions in the bottom of  the slow cooker

2. Brown the meat in a skillet and place in the slow cooker on top of the veggies.

3. Combine the red wine, Worcestershire sauce, basil, oregano and beef bouillon and pour over the roast and veggies.
4.  Cover and cook on low for 10-12 hours.

Simply Roasted Tomato Rotini Pasta

Being a military wife, the hubby often isn't home for dinner. In that situation, I struggle to make real meals. For some reason, cooking for two people justifies vegetables, meat and real effort. When it's just me, it seems like it's just too much effort and sometimes I end up just giving up and eating Cheerios.

Tonight, though, I wanted to make something real, but not complicated. In addition, our garden has just exploded with tomatoes in the last week. So... using some inspiration from Simply Roasted Cherry Tomatoes at Greenlitebites.com, I decided to make Simply Roasted Tomato Rotini Pasta.

It turned out awesome! Really flavorful and totally great comfort food!

Ingredients:

• Cherry Tomatoes, sliced in half
• Olive oil
• 1/2 tsp minced garlic
• Sea salt
• Black pepper
• Dried basil (I prefer fresh, but my basil plant seems to be dying on me)
• Grated Parmesan Cheese
• Whole Wheat Rotini Pasta (cooked according to package directions)

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
2. In a glass baking dish or bowl, add a bit of olive oil and the tomatoes.  Toss around to coat the tomatoes.
3. Add everything else except the pasta to the bowl, according to your tastes.  Stir to coat.
4. Pop in the oven and bake for about 18-20 minutes.
5. Stir the tomatoes to create a bit of a sauce and top the pasta with the tomato mixture. 

Veggie/Chicken Skillet Dinner

Adapted from Skillet Veggie & Feta Tacos at GreenLiteBites.com:

This turned out pretty well, although it was a little wet - I think a bit too much moisture in all the veggies. I used a slotted spoon to take it out of the skillet and it turned out fine, but next time maybe drain a bit while cooking.

This made enough for dinner for the two of us and lunch for both of us tomorrow.

Ingredients:

•  3 skinless, boneless chicken breasts, cut into chunks
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 zucchini
• 1 yellow squash
• About 1/2 pint of grape tomatoes 
• 4 oz mushrooms
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 tsp Chopped Garlic
• 1 tsp Fresh Basil
• 1 tsp Fresh Oregano
• Feta cheese to sprinkle on top

1. In a skillet, saute the chicken chunks in the olive oil about 4 minutes or until cooked through.
2. Add the onion to the skillet and cook for 2 minutes without stirring.
3. Add the garlic and the rest of the veggies to the skillet. Sprinkle with salt and pepper, stir to cover.
4. Cover and cook for 2 minutes without stirring.
5. Add the basil and oregano to the skillet, stir to distribute flavor. Cover and cook for another 2-3 minutes or until squashes are cooked through.
6. Dish out onto a plate and sprinkle each serving with feta cheese and enjoy!