Provencal White Bean Salad and No-Fry Crispy Cod

Bonjour! This dish comes from France, like the Coneheads. Except, it is edible, unlike the Coneheads. And, it is so simple that anyone can make it. The only thing you need to do is plan ahead because you need to slow cook the beans for about six hours in a crock-pot.

This is another recipe from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker book that I described in a previous post combined with a recipe for no-fry breading I learned from watching The Biggest Loser. The combo of the fish and the bean salad is incredibly refreshing and light. It will certainly give you something delicious and nutritious to try if you are sick of the "same old- same old."

For this refreshing dish, here is what you need.

For the Bean Salad

Ingredients:
2 cups dried small white beans
6 cups water
1/4 cup white wine vinegar (we used red and it was fine)
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons of Dijon mustard
2 cloves of garlic
4 green onions, sliced thinly
1 cup Mediterranean style olives
6 to 8 large lettuce leaves
1/2 cup quartered grape tomatoes
1/2 can artichoke hearts (drained)

Directions:

1. Rinse the beans.
2. Cook beans on low in crock pot for 6 hours or until tender.
3. When beans are done, in a small bowl combine the vinegar, oil, mustard, and garlic. Mix with a whisk.
4. Pour the dressing over the beans and mix.
5. Add the green onions, olives, artichoke, and salt and pepper to taste and toss.
6. Serve chilled.

The No Fry Crispy Cod
Ingredients:

1-2 cod fillets
1/2 cup corn starch
1 cup Panko bread crumbs
5 egg whites
1/2 cup half and half
Cajun seasoning or cayenne pepper seasoning, salt, and pepper

Directions:

1. Spread the Panko crumbs on a cookie sheet and bake at 400 until they are brown and crispy.
2. Cut the cod into 1-2 inch chunks.
3. Put the egg whites in a bowl.
4. Put the corn starch in a separate bowl and add all of the seasoning to it. Mix thoroughly.
5. Put the half and half in another bowl.
6. Dip the cod first in the half and half, then in the corn starch, then in the egg white (beaten until foamy), then roll in the Panko crumbs. Place the cod pieces on another cookie sheet.
7. Bake the cod for 10-12 minutes on 425 or until the fish flakes with a fork.

We tried this on Sunday. It was a delightful combo for a light Sunday dinner. Pair with a white wine.

Enjoy!

Pizza Party

Can a swingin' rap-style commercial with a "Mario and Luigi" type pizza fat guy save how not-fun this game looks? Maybe!!!

Healthier Bacon Cheeseburger

Veggie Burger with Turkey Bacon and Rosemary Garlic Potatoes

There is nothing more classic than a good old grilled burger and fries. This recipe adds a healthier twist to the old classic by utilizing frozen veggie patties, deli turkey instead of bacon, and lightly fried home style potatoes seasoned with rosemary and garlic. And it wouldn't be complete without grilled corn on the cob!

Here's how you can enjoy it:


Turkey Bacon

2 Slices of medium sliced deli oven roasted turkey
1 Tablespoon of olive oil
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon fresh or dried rosemary

1. Heat the olive oil in a non stick pan
2. Slice the sliced deli turkey into bacon size slices
3. Sprinkle pepper and rosemary on both sides of turkey-bacon
4. Lay slices in pan and let sizzle for 1 minute on each side or until the edges become a dark red

Lay bacon aside for burgers.

Rosemary Garlic Potatoes

4-5 medium sized potatoes
1 teaspoon fresh or dried rosemary
1/4 red onion
2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoon pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil

1. Slice potatoes into circular pieces from one end to another
2. Heat olive oil in a non stick pan or skillet
3. Dice onions and simmer in olive oil for 1-2 minutes
4. Add potatoes, rosemary, onion, salt, pepper
5. Simmer on low for 25-30 minutes stirring frequently

Veggie Burgers
Buy Gardenburger Original Veggie burger and grill on both sides for 5 minutes

Corn
While you have the grill going, grill the corn until it is slightly brown and the corn turns a shade darker.

Garnish with your favorite burger garnishes! Enjoy!

Close up of "turkey bacon."

Grilled Salmon Salad with Fruit Smoothie

This was a simple grilled salmon and spinach salad. It was served with a watermelon, strawberry, blackberry, and banana fruit smoothie!

Yum!

Just grill the salmon. Place it over spinach with tomatoes and feta cheese. Top with your favorite dressing. I would recommend a homemade balsamic vinaigrette.

Homemade Dressing:
4 Tbsp. Balsamic Vinegar
3 Tbsp. Olive oil
Mix vigorously together. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Smoothie:
Add frozen strawberries, blackberries to fresh watermelon and banana (equal parts) together in a blender. Add 1/4 cup water or juice and 3-4 cubes of ice and blend.

Garlic Muenster Inside-Out Grilled Cheese

Who doesn't like grilled cheese? Well, what if you could have cheese on the inside of the sandwich and on the outside? This crazy thought is exactly why I invented the Inside-out Grilled Cheese Sandwich. Pair it with tomato soup and you are right on track for the perfect meal (yes this is the left over tomato soup from the previous recipe).

Here is what you do.
Ingredients:
Sliced bread of your choice
Muenster cheese sliced
Sliced green bell pepper
Shredded Colby/jack cheese
Shredded Parmesan cheese
Margarine
Garlic Salt
Celery slices

Directions:
1. Spread the margarine on one side of each piece of bread.
2. Sprinkle each buttered side of bread with Garlic Salt.
3. Sprinkle shredded Parmesan cheese and Shredded Colby/jack cheese on bread so that it sticks to the margarine.
4. Heat a pan to high heat and then lower to medium heat.
5. Place each piece of bread in the pan, margarine and cheese side down.
6. Put two slices of muenster cheese and green bell pepper slices on face-up side of bread.
7. Once bread is toasted on the pan side, put both slices together.
8. Flip often until cheese is completely melted on inside.
9. Serve with heated tomato soup.
10. Garnish soup with celery slices.

Enjoy! I like hot sauce added to the soup for spiciness, but I'll leave that up to you.

Bow-Tie Pasta with Tomato and Goat Cheese Cream Sauce

Ahhh... pasta. This ain't your mom's spaghetti. Not that there's anything wrong with your mom's spaghetti. I love making pasta. Not only is it easy, but I never make it the same way twice. There are so many variations out there.

I came across this one through my wife, Trisha. She saw this delicious treat out there in blog land and I thought, "Looks like another great experiment!"

It turns out, that this was very easy, quick, and pretty darn good. I had never thought of combining goat cheese with tomato soup for pasta sauce, but it actually turned out very well. The real surprise, however, was in the toasted pine nuts. They added a unique flavor that isn't typical of pasta and they really rounded out the whole dish. This recipe also calls for two tbsp. of white wine. You know what the best part about that is? You get to finish the rest of the bottle while you are cooking this dish!

I hope you enjoy this as much as we did!

Bon apetite!

Ingredients
1 bag/box of Bow Tie pasta
1 cup frozen peas
4 tbsp. dry roasted pine nuts
1/2 tbsp. olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/4 cups of tomato soup

1/1 cup of half and half
2 tbsp. dry white wine
6 tbsp. of creamy goat cheese

Directions
1. Cook pasta as normal. Add the peas to the water with 3 minutes left in cooking time.
2. While pasta is cooking, roast the pine nuts over medium heat in another pan until toasted and fragrant. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
3. In the same pan saute garlic with olive oil for a minute. Then stir in the soup, half and half, and white wine. Bring to a brisk simmer. Reduce heat and simmer for about 3 minutes until the sauce starts to thicken.
4. Add cheese. Stir while it melts into sauce.
5. Add salt, pepper to taste.
6. Once pasta is done, drain it and toss the entire dish together.
7. Top with the pine nuts.

Enjoy!

"Slow-Cooker" Sweet Potato Red Curry

In my past cooking adventures, I have always been afraid to stretch too far out of the status quo when it comes to the famous "slow-cooker" crock-pot. I think I've made just about everything that everyone has had a million and one times at Super Bowl parties or other social gatherings where throwing something in a crock-pot and leaving it alone for six to eight hours is just a convenience. I have made the obligatory BBQ pork butt, chili con queso, traditional chili, beef stew, and frozen meatballs. These were all I really knew how to do with a slow-cooker, chiefly because they were intuitive and relatively error-proof (although I really did mess up a chili once because I forgot to drain the beans). Let's just say it wasn't "work-safe" to take for lunch.

But recently, my sister-in-law and her husband gave us a Vegetarian Slow Cooker recipe book for Christmas and I thought, "What the hay? Why not try one of the recipes?" To the naked eye, many recipes I find are quite complex and call for ingredients that are rare, costly, or just plain ridiculous. If you are like me, you don't just have garam masala and cardamom pods laying around your kitchen. However, several of the recipes in this particular book seemed appealing and were much more accessible to an untrained, accidental cook like me. There was one recipe that appealed to me and seemed simple enough to make while still preserving the intent of the "hassle-free" crock-pot.

It turns out, it was easy and delicious. I hope you can try it and enjoy it as much my wife and I did.

Ingredients
2 pounds small red or yellow potatoes, cut into 1 inch pieces.
1 small bunch of green onions diced
1 green bell pepper diced
1 can of coconut milk (found in Asian aisle of grocery store)
5 tablespoons red curry paste
2 tablespoons brown sugar (or more if you want)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 large sweet potato (the orange kind)
1 cup frozen green peas
1 can of sliced water chestnuts
1/2 cup of unsalted cashews
1/4 cup of fresh cilantro for garnish
1 cup of water
Ground cayenne pepper

Steps
1. Wash red or yellow potatoes (peel if you want) and place them, along with onion, in the slow cooker. Do not put in sweet potatoes yet.
2. Mix the coconut milk, red curry paste, water, sugar, and soy sauce together and pour over potatoes.
3. Cover and cook on low for 3 hours or until potatoes are tender enough to poke with a fork.
4. Add the sweet potatoes, bell pepper, peas, and water chestnuts and cook for another 2 to 3 hours on low. Mix in cayenne pepper to your own personal heat preference.
5. To serve, sprinkle the cashews and cilantro on top and serve with white or brown rice.

Bon apetite! This also reheats very well. I would store the rice and curry in separate containers in the fridge.