Tasty Stir Fry

In the final analysis, I always love a good stir fry but when you first begin the long slog of chopping everything up the prep seems daunting. However, once it's all chopped and ready for the wok it looks lovely and then I'm happy. Dinner is then ready in minutes!

4 heads of baby bok choy, washed trimmed and sliced
1 pkg pea pods, washed and trimmed
1 red pepper, sliced
1 onion sliced

Sauce
In a small bowl, combine:
2 T hoisen sauce
2 T soy sauce
4 T marsala wine
1 T sesame oil
1 t hot chili oil
some garlic powder


In wok, heat some vegetable oil and stir fry peppers, pea pods and onions about 3 minutes. Add bok choy and stir fry another 3 minutes then stir in sauce. Good over jasmine rice.

Cod with Butter Lime Sauce

I make cod quite a bit and am always trying to do something different with it. This is really simple and flavorful.

Preheat oven 450

2 cod fillets
chili powder
oregano
salt
4 T butter
juice of 2 small limes
1 t cumin

Put cod in oven proof dish, sprinkle on chili powder, oregano and salt. Bake 10 minutes (unless your fillets are on the thin side)

In small saucepan, melt the butter, add the lime juice and cumin and cook a few minutes.

Pour sauce over fish. I served with a pkg of Mexican rice and black beans and roasted asparagus.

Quinoa, Broccoli and Chickpea Side

Here's a really yummy side dish if you happen to have some leftover quinoa like I did. I had about a cup of cooked quinoa in the fridge. I decided to roast a head of broccoli as well as a can of chickpeas and toss it all together with some feta cheese. Sooooo good.

1 cup cooked quinoa
1 head broccoli florets, tossed with some olive oil salt, pepper, red pepper flakes and roasted at  425 for 30 minutes
1 can chickpeas*, rinsed and tossed with some olive oil, turmeric, cumin, salt, and a bit of cayenne pepper and roasted at 400 for 40 minutes (stir and check after 20 minutes)

Toss it all together and mix in some feta cheese.

If you're lucky you can serve it up with some pretty glamorous salad tongs like the ones you see in the picture above. Just got these from a dear friend for my B-day.

* be forewarned: roasted chickpeas are addictive!!

Chinese Pork and Green Beans with Gyoza

Tonight I felt like having a nice bowl dinner with an Asian influence so I threw together some pork and green beans over quinoa. On the side I added something really super easy: Butternut Squash Gyoza from Trader Joe. So yummy and so quick! Look for them in the freezer section.

1/2 pound ground pork
1 pkg green and yellow beans chopped in small pieces
2 gloves garlic, minced
2 T soy sauce
2 T hoisen sauce
2 t chili oil (or dried red pepper)
1/2 cup marsala wine

2 cups quinoa- cooked according to pkg directions

Brown pork in wok, add some salt and pepper. Throw in the garlic, and the beans and all the seasonings and the wine. Stir well and simmer for 10-15 minutes.

Serve over quinoa.

Make gyoza according to pkg directions.

Mexican Spaghetti Squash

This is a pretty tasty dish if you're into having something Mexican and you have a spaghetti squash that needs to be cooked. I like this dish because you can change it up any way you like depending on what you have on hand. I had some chicken thighs to cook so I used them in the dish as well. The chicken went into the slow cooker and the squash went into the oven. I always bake my squash whole cause I find the skin really hard to get a knife through until it's baked.

1 pkg boneless chicken thighs
1 cup salsa
Cumin, paprika, garlic powder, chili powder
Olive oil
1/2 onion chopped
1 avocado mashed with salt, pepper and juice of 1 lime
Some sour cream
Handful of shredded cheddar
Some jalapeño rings

In slow cooker, place chicken. Sprinkle on some cumin and pour in 1 cup salsa. Cook on Low for 5 hours.

An hour and 1/2 before serving, punch a few wholes in the squash, place in baking dish and bake for one hour at 400. After baking let it cool a bit and then slice in half and get the seeds out. Using tines of fork shred the squash into a bowl and stir in some olive oil, salt, pepper, paprika, chili powder, garlic powder, and cumin. Stir well. Cover bowl to keep warm.

From slow cooker, remove thighs and shred. Return meat to slow cooker and stir well.

When ready to serve, add squash, then a layer of chicken, some onion, sprinkle on some cheddar, add avocado mixture, a dollop of sour cream and jalapeños.