Things You MUST Eat

Pursuant to my New Years Goals (was that a lawyerly way to write that, or what??), and also my renewed energy due to all the sleeping I’ve been doing these days, I’ve been cooking some new and fresh and healthy stuff this year.  I’ve had a few misses, but I wanted to share with you my hits!  Drop everything and make these now.

Stuffed zucchini:  this is basically a taco put into a zucchini instead of a hard or soft taco shell.  My kids do not dig feta, so I made a couple with cheddar and a couple with feta+cheddar.  I used ground turkey instead of beef (no sausage), and cheated on spices by using a taco seasoning packet.  I pre-made the taco flavored beef on the weekend, then hollowed out the zucchini, filled, and baked on a weekday night.  Amazing.  Vegetarians could definitely do with veggie crumbles or tofu.  The tomatoes (being out of season) were kind of yick, so I baked them with the zucchini.  In the summer when tomatoes are perfect, I’d be more inclined to sprinkle them fresh on top after pulling it piping hot out of the oven.

Cauliflower chowder: I made this without bacon, but added some Tony Chachere’s Cajun spice mix to give it some flava.  I also blended about 3/4 of the cooked soup in a blender, then poured it back together, to make it creamier and chowder-ier.  Vegetarians could make this with veggie broth instead of chicken broth.  Really yummy – very much like a potato soup.

Lemon butter chicken: Get ready to keel over and die because this is amazing.  And easy.  Sear chicken thighs in an oven safe pan on both sides, pull them out and cook some veg, add a little cream, butter, and lemon, put the chicken back in and bake.  I made this with baked potatoes and blanched Brussels sprouts, and basically just cut my potato into eights and then dipped each chunk into the chicken’s sauce.  This is less on the “healthy” side and more on the “indulge on a weeknight” side, but boy was it a tasty way to do chicken.  I suppose a veggie family could do this with tofu or zucchini – or even a good firm fish, if you’re a pescatarian.

Slow cooker chicken fajita soup: Another easy one.  Cream of chicken soup (sub cream of celery if you prefer), salsa, beans, corn, slow cooker, BAM.

Ramen Plus: We bought some packs of ramen, and I googled some ways to upgrade it.  Last week I added frozen corn and peas, wilted some spinach, and drizzled 2 beaten eggs into the swirly water to mimic egg drop soup.  Instead of using the super salty flavoring packets, I put some pepper, soy sauce, and a bit of sriracha in there.  We also had an Asian salad – purple cabbage, romaine, mandarin oranges, sunflower seeds, and almonds.  Next time I want to try putting a soft boiled egg on top, which looks . . . interesting.  I’m not 100% sold on the tastiness of a boiled egg on top of soup, but I’m open-minded enough to give it a try.

A chopped salad base.  I think I mentioned this before – I chopped purple cabbage, several colors of bell peppers, and a bit of romaine and kept it in a large bowl in the fridge.  Then on any given day, I’d fill a take-out container with the base and then throw some unique add-ons in, different every day.  One day it might be chopped up leftover chicken + chopped defrosted strawberries + sunflower seeds.  Another day it went into a wrap along with some hummus and mozzarella.  A third day I chopped up some olives + Prosciutto + a hard, sharp cheese.  Another day, it was chopped fried chicken, chopped cucumber + cottage cheese mixed with a tablespoon of ranch.  Mmmmm.

And finally, the smoothies.  I don’t do these every day because cleaning the blender is a pain, but maybe twice a week we’ll do a banana + handful of frozen berries + a half cup of 2% plain Greek yogurt + about a cup of 2% milk + honey + as many handfuls of fresh spinach as you can cram in there.  Super tasty.  Kind of weird to have with coffee – it hurts the teeth! – but a really good breakfast.  Filling and nutritious.

If you have any great cooking hits, let me know in the comments!  I’ve got my eye on trying a few new things that popped up on pinterest, including a quiche with a base made of sweet potatoes instead of crust, a pizza with a crust made of quinoa (that could be so right, or so wrong – we shall see), and a one pot broccoli pasta.  I’ll let you know how they go!