Thai Lime Coconut Chicken (or vegetables)

Ingredients:
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch cubes (see below for vegetarian substitution)
1 TBSP olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 yellow onion, sliced
1 tsp curry powder
1 14 oz can light or regular coconut milk
Zest and juice of 1/2 lime (use a 1/4 lime zest and hand squeeze half a lime, otherwise it's too limey)
1/4 cup green onion, chopped (optional)
2 tbsp fresh cilantro, chopped (optional)

Directions:
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.  Add the chicken, garlic, and onion and cook chicken until golden brown on all sides, about 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the curry powder and cook, stirring for 1 minute, until it is fragrant. Add the coconut milk, lime juice and zest, bring to a simmer, and simmer until the chicken is just cooked through, about 5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat, stir in the green onions and cilantro.  Serve over rice.

For vegetarian/vegan, replace the chicken with the following:
10 baby golden yukon potatoes, cut in 1-inch cubes
12 baby carrots, sliced

adapted from this recipe

Rice Salad with Cannellini Beans & Olives

 

Ingredients:

1 cup jasmine rice

2 cups chicken broth or vegetable broth

1 – 15 oz can, rinsed and drained, black olives, roughly chopped

2 tablespoons capers

1/2 cup garlic stuffed green olives, roughly chopped

1 – 15 oz can, rinsed and drained Cannellini beans

a large bunch of green onions, sliced

a large bunch of fresh flat leaf parsley, chopped

2 cups grape tomatoes, halved (optional)

2 – 3 tablespoons olive oil

Directions: 

1. Place chicken stalk and rice in rice cooker and cook until done (about 35 minutes).

2. Add black olives, capers, pimento stuffed olives, Cannellini beans, spring onions, parsley, grape tomatoes, to a large bowl.  Drizzle with olive oil. Serve warm, or room temperature.

adapted from this recipe

Goat Cheese Zucchini Rolls

Ingredients:

2 oz goat cheese w/herbs (chevre w/ herbs)

1/2 tsp lemon juice

1 tbsp chopped Italian parsley

2 medium zucchini, thinly sliced, lengthwise

10-20 small basil leaves

10-20 baby spinach leaves

1 tsp oil

salt & pepper

Directions:

In a small bowl, mix cheese, lemon juice and Italian parsley. Set aside. Slice zucchini lengthwise. Brush both sides with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Grill for 2 minutes on each side. Place teaspoon size amount of cheese at the top of the zucchini, place 1-2 leaves of basil and 1/2 leaves of spinach on the cheese and roll.

video found here

Empty the Fridge Pasta Salad (vegan)

I've been working crazy hours at work so I haven't been able to cook as much as I like. The produce I purchased 4th of July weekend really needed to be used, so, inspired by my friend Becki's pasta salad, I made this:

(sorry for the ghetto picture, this is 2nd day pasta salad I had for lunch at work today)

Really, you could use any vegetables you have on hand - the most important veggies are the onions and garlic since they give the most flavor.

Ingredients:

1/2 package of twirly brown rice pasta

1 tbsp olive oil

1 clove chopped garlic

1 pkg asparagus

1/2 package crimini mushrooms

1 small onion diced

3 zucchinis

1 cube vegetable bullion

Dressing:

1/4 tsp seasoning (lemon pepper, Spike, or TJ's Everyday Seasoning)

1/2 tsp rice vinegar (or more to taste)

1 tsp olive oil (or more to taste)

Boil rice pasta for 7 minutes, drain and set aside in a medium bowl. Add olive oil, garlic, and asparagus to frying pan, saute for 3 minutes on medium heat. Add remaining vegetables and bullion to pan and saute until onions are translucent and vegetables are tender (about 3 minutes). Stir vegetables and seasoning into pasta. Add 1/4 tsp rice vinegar and 1/2 tsp olive oil to bowl and stir. Taste pasta and add remaining olive oil and vinegar (or more) if needed.

Pad Thai

Ingredients:

pad Thai rice noodles (about 4 cups cooked)

1 cup tofu (or meat of your choice)

1 zucchini, sliced

1 cup Thai peanut sauce (or more to taste)

3 green onions, chopped (optional)

handful of cilantro (optional)

Cook noodles according to "fried noodles" package directions. Put noodles, tofu, zucchini, and peanut sauce in wok or large frying pan and saute for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally until tofu and zucchini are slightly brown and noodles are tender. Top with green onions and cilantro.

Serves 4

Thai Peanut Sauce with Honey

(please pardon the poor quality photo, I liked this so much I started putting everything in containers for lunch

before I remembered to take a photo.) Original recipe can be found here

Ingredients

1/4 cup honey or agave nectar

1/4 cup smooth peanut butter

1 tablespoon crunchy peanut butter (optional)

3 tablespoons soy sauce, Bragg's, or coconut aminos

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon sesame oil

2 teaspoons minced fresh garlic

1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger root

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

Directions

Stir together the honey, peanut butters, soy sauce, rice vinegar, olive oil, sesame oil, garlic, ginger, and red pepper flakes in a small bowl. Serve with pad Thai noodles, spring rolls, or rice.

Thai Green Curry with Potatoes and Zucchini

Ingredients:

1 medium zucchini

1 medium potato

1 can unsweetened coconut milk

2 to 3 TBSP green curry paste

2 large chicken breasts, cubed (can be replaced with 2 cups tofu or 2 additional potatoes)

1 1/2 cups chicken broth or water

2 TBSP low sodium soy sauce (or 1 TBSP regular soy sauce)

1 TBSP coconut sugar or brown sugar

a handful of fresh Asian or Italian basil leaves (optional)

Directions:

Slice zucchini in half lengthwise and cut into 1 inch pieces and set aside. Cut potato into 1 inch pieces. In medium saucepan, bring 1/2 can of coconut milk to boil over medium high heat. Cook 2 to 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the curry paste and cook 2 to 3 minutes until it is dissolved in the coconut milk. Add the chicken and potatoes and cook 2 minutes more, tossing to coat it with the sauce.

Add the remaining coconut milk, the chicken broth, zucchini, soy sauce, and palm sugar. Reduce heat to medium, stirring occasionally, for 8 to 10 minutes until chicken is cooked, and potatoes and zucchini are tender, but firm. Remove from heat and stir in fresh basil leaves.

Serve over brown rice.

Serves 4 to 6.