Cream of Broccoli Soup (with NO REAL CREAM)

This is another great recipe from The Plan Cookbook. Adjusted by me based on experience. Can easily be made vegan.

3 tbsp unsalted butter (who are we kidding, use more than that) (or olive oil)

1 large onion

herbs — I use a lot more than indicated — so, to taste: 

1 tbsp dried sage

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp celery seed — I love celery seed so use a lot, but note that it gives the soup a real spicy kick!

dash of sriracha and/or cayenne

2 cups chicken stock, chicken broth, vegetable broth

2 cups water (or use 4 cups broth)

1 (14-oz) can full-fat unsweetened coconut milk

8 cups chipped broccoli (~4 heads)

4 cups chipped zucchini (~2 medium)

1-2 avocado, pitted

In a skillet, melt the butter or heat the oil and sauté the onion, sage, cumin, celery seed until onion is softened.

In a soup pot, combine sautéed onion, broth, water, coconut milk, broccoli, zucchini, and cayenne/sriracha. Bring to a boil and simmer until the veggies are softened, about 30 minutes.

Blend the soup with the avocado for extra creaminess! I've never even thought about adding real cream — the coconut milk and avocado makes for a really lusciously creamy soup.

Pork Fried Rice

Was looking for a good use of the last (still large) serving of carnitas, plus odds and ends of some vegetables left over from the holidays.  Some Googling suggested this idea for a kind of Asian-Latin fusion, took cues mostly from here & here...

Recipe

~1/2 lb pork, pre-cooked (e.g. Chinese barbeque or that carnitas)
6 c rice, cooked
1 egg
butter

Veggies - your choice of:
broccoli
carrot
frozen peas
mushrooms
onion
bell pepper
bok choy
etc.

Sauce
3 tbsp soy sauce
5 tsp rice vinegar
1 tbsp sesame oil
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp sugar

Heat a tbsp of butter and heat up your pork.  Next add your veggies and stir fry until tender.  Crack in your egg next and scramble it up.  Then add in your rice (you cooked it already, right?) and the sauce mixture and finish stir-frying.

Notes

 Great call - filling and delicious, enough veggies to be probably healthy?

One of those recipes said to start with uncooked pork loin, which is worth considering too I guess depending on what you have on hand - most everything else should be lying around!

One-Pot Pasta Primavera

That one pot is pulling its weight these days...  Here's the next episode of one-pot preparations, plus the latest Meatless Monday.  Original recipe here.

Recipe

4 c vegetable broth
1/2 lb linguine
1 onion, sliced
1 lb broccoli florets
1 1/2 lbs asparagus, tough ends snapped off, cut into 1-2" pieces
4 oz mushrooms, sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
3/4 c frozen peas
1/4 c heavy cream
parsley, Parmesan cheese, lemon zest
olive oil, crushed red pepper, salt & pepper

Add the broth, pasta, onion, broccoli, asparagus, shrooms, garlic, red pepper flakes, salt & pepper to your (one) pot, and drizzle over some olive oil.  Bring to a boil; once it's there, cook 7 or so minutes, tossing with tongs.  Add the peas, cream, parsley, Parm, and lemon zest, and cook another couple minutes, until everything is basically done.  Let cool and thicken, then serve!

Notes

That's a long list of ingredients, but it probably works as a choose-your-own-vegetarian-adventure - however much you feel like chopping and tossing in a pot of whatever plants and fungi you have lying around.  Really good!  I about two-thirded things, which left me with more liquid than I expected.  The broth was delicious, though!  I didn't bother with cream, just added a splash of milk (and tons of cheese) for that dairy goodness.  Almost as good as porky ramen broth...

Quinoa & Broccoli Casserole

I survived another Meatless Monday thanks to this cheesy concoction...

Recipe

3/4 c quinoa
2 green onions
1 c vegetable stock
1 tbsp pesto
1/2 tsp cornstarch
1 c spinach
8 oz mozzarella cheese, cubed
1/4 c Parmesan cheese, grated
8 oz broccoli florets
salt & pepper

Preheat oven to 400.  Whisk together your stock, pesto, cornstarch, and some salt, and bring to a boil.  Combine the quinoa, green onion, liquids, spinach, and most of the cheese in a baking dish and pop in the oven for about 30 minutes.  Toward the end, steam (or microwave) your broccoli, then mix it into the casserole and sprinkle the last of the cheese on top.  Cook another 5 minutes, and pop under the broiler for a couple if you want to brown it up.

Notes

As with most recipes, I went in expecting to halve everything, but as I was measuring out the quinoa that looked like an awful lot so I about quartered it instead.  You don't have to balance things too closely - I added lots of spinach and definitely went heavy on the cheese.  The cheese did kind of take things over - deliciously melty, especially in comparison to the crisper grains - but you can dial it down to make it healthier or whatever.  Very tasty but not quite as filling as I hoped... so pretty good for your typical vegetarian dish...

Crockpot Chicken Curry

Paleo, DIY crockpot curry:

Recipe

1 1/2 lb boneless chicken breasts or thighs, cut into chunks
6 c of chopped veggies, e.g., onion, carrot, green beans, broccoli, tomatoes, red bell pepper
14 oz coconut milk
1 c crushed tomatoes (or tomato sauce)
1 tbsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
2 tsp ground ginger
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
salt & pepper

Chop your chicken and veggies and put them in your crockpot.  Add the coconut milk, tomatoes, and spices.  Stir, cover, and cook low for 5-6 hours.  You can uncover for the last hour to help it thicken.

Notes

My spice selection wasn't quite up for the job this time: no coriander, and ran out of cinnamon.  So the end product lacked that distinct curry flavor.  You couldn't tell by the scent, though - the coconut is especially mouth-watering.  And ultimately, the taste was fine.  The chicken is super tender :)  I could do with a little more spice, and I guess coriander.  With the abundant vegetable options, this one's definitely worth keeping in mind.

The original recipe calls it "yellow curry"; mine was clearly a rich orange though:

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

Vegetarian crockpot recipe, for a change:

Recipe

up to 1 lb broccoli, chopped
1 onion, chopped
3 medium carrots, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 pint half-and-half
2 cups stock
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
16 oz, sharp cheddar cheese

The broccoli, onion, carrot, and garlic go in the crockpot.  Pour over the half-and-half and stock, and the spices, and mix it all up.  Cook on low for 6-8 hours.

Once it's done, blend or mash it up.  Add cheese and serve.

Notes

I got back from work to quite a strong scent...  The contents of the crockpot seemed to have separated out a bit.  Not as green as I thought, either.  However, once it's all smashed up it's pretty good.  A pound of cheese seems like an awful lot, but it really is an essential ingredient so don't hold back!  And it may not be an essential ingredient, but warmed up the leftovers with some bacon, also pretty good.

Almond-Crusted Cod

I had this recipe earmarked for a bit, and finally got around to it recently.  I've been working through a bag of almonds, and keeping an eye out for cod in the Morton Williams freezer...  Everything else should be sitting around your kitchen.

The Recipe

1 lb cod filet
1/2-3/4 cups almonds, crushed
3 tbsp butter, melted
2 tsp seasoning of choice
salt & pepper

Lay the cod out on a baking sheet.  Mix the butter, almonds, herbs and a sprinkle of salt and pepper and lay evenly on the top of the cod.  Cook for 10-15 minutes at 500.

Notes

I wasn't totally happy with the cooking time from the original recipe.  By 10 minutes the almonds were almost burning but the cod seemed underdone.  So I left it in a little longer.  I don't think you really have to worry about the almonds being overdone, though - you want a nice toasty flavor!

Here's the finished product with orange-tomato broccoli - the secret ingredients for the night were almond and thyme.

Sesame Chicken

I was always a bigger fan of ol' General Tso, but when I came across something vaguely similar that looked well doable here via here, I decided to give it a shot.  I followed the recipe from the first link, with the second's addition of a chopped jalapeno for that extra kick.  To sum up:

Recipe

1+ lbs boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into 1 inch chunks
2 onions, thinly sliced
5 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp sesame oil
5 tsp honey
2 tbsp oil
1 tbsp grated ginger
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
4 tsp cornstarch
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 tsp chili paste
2 tbsp sesame seeds

Start with a big bowl; whisk together 3 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tsp sesame oil, and 2 tsp honey.  Add in your chicken, coat in the sauce and marinate for 20-30 minutes.

Next up is your large skillet.  Heat 2 tsp oil and cook your chicken until browned, in two batches if necessary.  Set aside.

Put 2 more tsps oil in the skillet and cook up the onions, ginger, and garlic.  Meanwhile whisk together the broth with the cornstarch, vinegar, chili paste, and remaining soy sauce (2 tbsp) and honey (3 tsp).  When the onions are to your liking, add in this sauce and cook a few minutes until it thickens.  Then stir in the last tsp of the sesame oil. 

Pour the sauce over the chicken, garnish with sesame seeds, and serve.  Rice and broccoli optional...

Notes

This one requires a lot of ingredients, lots of chopping, etc., so it's worth making it a group project.  Scaling up did seem to make it more difficult to create that thick sauce, though...  (Maybe doesn't help that I ignored the cornstarch ingredient - do I really have to buy a whole package just to use a few tsps?)  Either way, very tasty!

Don't forget to sprinkle the sesame seed garnish on top!  Even if you do, there's plenty of sesame flavor from the oil, but still...

The worst part of Chinese takeout is clearly the bland steamed broccoli.  I came close to first cooking this dish without greens at all, but luckily Google turned up the perfect compromise: fried broccoli, now in my mind a necessary element to this meal.  Keeping with my spicy tastes, I didn't skimp on the crushed red pepper...