This is so simple.  You can serve it with roasted potatoes or mashed.  [...]]]> I think the only time I eat lamb is at Easter.  It’s not that I don’t think of it – I associate it with Easter as it’s pretty much the only time my mother made it.  Occasionally though, she would make a lamb stew…

This is so simple.  You can serve it with roasted potatoes or mashed.  I like a green veggie and chose asparagus, simply because it looked good in the grocery store.  I made gravy from the drippings, flour, a splash of red wine, some water and seasoned with salt and pepper.  It would have been better had I used stock but… you make du with whatcha got!

Herb Roasted Lamb

3 – 4 lb boneless, shoulder lamb roasted

Herb Roasted Lamb

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, chopped

2 teaspoons fresh oregano leaves

2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves

6 -7 cloves garlic

1 teaspoon kosher salt

Fresh ground pepper to taste

In a small food processor, combine butter, garlic, herbs, salt and pepper.  Rub herbed butter over roast and wrap in plastic.  Refrigerate for a couple of hours.  Take meat out of fridge about 30 – 60 minutes before roasting.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Place roast in roasting pan on lower rack on oven for 30 minutes.  Reduce temperature to 325 and continuing roasting until desired doneness.

For boneless shoulder roast:

Medium rare – approx 30 – 35 minutes per pound (internal temp 140 degrees)

Medium – approx 35 – 40 minutes per pound (internal temp 155 degrees)

** for this particular roast, it took just under 90 minutes at 2.85  lbs.  I meant to pull it out of the oven at 140 degrees but my quick read thermometer decided to “die” just as I was taking a reading.  I sent my “man” out to get another one… he came back with a regular meat thermometer (love him – it’s the thought that counts).  The roast came out at 145 degrees and after resting went up to 150.  It still came out medium instead of medium rare.**

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Tilapia is a medium flavored fish that tend to pick up what ever you cook it with.  It reminds me a little of catfish.  You can easily broil it with a little olive oil and lemon juice or fancy it up a bit.  I wanted to something crunchy so I [...]]]>

Baked Tilapia with Bread Crumb Topping

Tilapia is a medium flavored fish that tend to pick up what ever you cook it with.  It reminds me a little of catfish.  You can easily broil it with a little olive oil and lemon juice or fancy it up a bit.  I wanted to something crunchy so I made a simple bread crumb mixture.  I could have left it at that but really wanted a nice sauce to compliment it.  The lemon-wine was fast and simple and it’s OHHHH so good!

Baked Tilapia with Bread Crumb Topping

2 tilapia fillets  (6 – 8 oz each)

¼ cup panko bread crumbs

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

¼ teaspoon dried thyme

¼ teaspoon dried dill

olive oil

Coat the bottom of an 8” X 8” baking dish with olive oil and place fish in it.

In a small dish, mix bread crumbs with melted butter and herbs.  Spoon bread crumbs over both fillets.  Place in a pre-heated 350 degree oven and bake 15 – 20 minutes, then place under broiler for a couple minutes to brown topping.

Serve with a lemon wedge or sauce.

This is a simple sauce that goes well over seafood.  You can easily add different herbs to change up the flavor a little.

Lemon-Wine Butter Sauce

1 small shallot, minced

¼ cup dry white wine

4 oz (1 stick) unsalted butter

juice from ½ lemon

1 tablespoon cream or half and half

Salt and pepper to taste

In a saucepan, heat shallots in wine to a low boil.  Reduce to half while stirring occasionally.  Whisk in butter, 1 tablespoon at a time until fully incorporated.  Whisk in lemon juice, cream and salt and pepper.

Serve immediately over fish.

If not using right away, keep warm over low heat (or double boiler).  If sauce begins to break, quickly whisk in a little cold water until sauce comes back together.

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What’s for dinner??  The inevitable question pops up frequently.  Sometimes I don’t have a clue.  I hate getting into a cooking rut… cooking things I don’t have to think about that are quick and easy.  It’s not that this pork chop recipe is difficult, in fact you can substitute 1/2 teaspoons [...]]]>

Pork Chop with Apple-Pecan Stuffing

What’s for dinner??  The inevitable question pops up frequently.  Sometimes I don’t have a clue.  I hate getting into a cooking rut… cooking things I don’t have to think about that are quick and easy.  It’s not that this pork chop recipe is difficult, in fact you can substitute 1/2 teaspoons of dry herbs for fresh so there’s less chopping.  It’s easy to vary the recipe each time you make it.  I love to throw in a handful of dried cranberries into the stuffing from time to time for a little added tart.

Ingredients

2 thick-cut pork chops (1 1/2”)

½ cup of panko bread crumbs

½ cup scallions, finely chopped (3 scallions, with green tops)

2 garlic cloves, minced

½  an apple, minced (Fuji or Gala), skin intact or peeled

½ cup pecans, chopped

¼ tsp fresh ground pepper

¼ tsp sea salt

½ tsp dry mustard

2 sprigs each of thyme, oregano and marjoram, leaves removed from stems and chopped

2 tab unsalted butter

2 Tab extra virgin olive oil (depends on absorbency of bread crumbs)

kosher salt and fresh ground peeper to taste

1/3 cup of chicken stock

1/3 cup of dry white wine

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Dry pork chops with paper towel and make a pocket, slicing horizontally into chop to bone. Melt butter, add olive oil and mix.

In a medium bowl, combine bread crumbs, pecans, apple, scallions and seasoning then mix. Add butter/olive oil mixture slowly and mix with fork. – if it’s too dry, add a little more olive oil. Stuffing should be crumbly but not mushy. Fill each pocket with as much stuffing as it will hold. Season each side with kosher salt and fresh ground pepper.

Heat an oven-proof skillet over medium-high heat. Drizzle a little olive oil in pan – just enough to coat it. Carefully place pork chops in pan and brown 2 minutes each side. Turn off heat. Add any leftover stuffing over pork chops and then add chicken stock and white wine to pan. Cover loosely with foil and place in oven. Cook for approximately 45 minutes, basting chops with juices every 10 – 15 minutes.

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What is with this broccoli slaw craze??  I keep hearing people mention it, “you can buy it already prepared in a bag – just add whatever dressing you want!”  I’ve looked countless times when grocery shopping but had never seen it… until the other day.  In with the bagged lettuce in [...]]]>

Thai Broccoli Slaw and Wrap

What is with this broccoli slaw craze??  I keep hearing people mention it, “you can buy it already prepared in a bag – just add whatever dressing you want!”  I’ve looked countless times when grocery shopping but had never seen it… until the other day.  In with the bagged lettuce in the produce section of a large health food grocer, there it was – a package of “broccoli slaw.”   I picked it up to look at the ingredients – “broccoli, carrots.”  That’s it!  It was $2.99 for 8 oz.  Sheesh!  I can buy a head of broccoli and carrots for less than that and run it through the shredder blade of my food processor or just grate it by hand.  For that matter, I can add other interesting veggies to boot.

I decided I would make a healthy, all raw dinner wrap.  Instead of using the food processor, I decided to do it all by hand just to see how long it would take.  Not really such a big deal – I may have shaved off 10 minutes if I had used the food processor…

I served this as a salad with the slaw placed on a bed of greens and as wraps.

shredded veggies

Thai Broccoli Slaw

3 broccoli stems, shredded

1 medium carrot, shredded

½ small jimcama, peeled and shredded

Dressing

½ cup cashew butter

1 tablespoon Nama Shoyu

1 tablespoon agave syrup

1 tablespoon grated ginger

Thai Dressing

juice of 1 lime

½ jalapeño pepper, finely minced

¼ teaspoon sea salt

1/4 mango, sliced into strips

Place shredded veggies in a large bowl and mix together.

With a fork, whisk dressing ingredients together in a medium bowl.   Slowly add dressing to veggies and mix thoroughly.  May need to thin dressing with a little water if too thick.  Store in fridge.

Broccoli Slaw

To make wrap:

Collard Green Leaves

Take collard green leaf and slice down the middle, close to the stem, removing it.  You should now have two halves.  Place a spoonful of broccoli slaw near bottom half of leaf (on the inside part of the leaf) and a couple slices of mango, then roll up.  Place on plate, seam side down.

Tamarind Dipping Sauce

1/3  cup tamarind concentrate

1 -2 tablespoons agave syrup

1 teaspoons Nama Shoyu

1 teaspoon olive oil

Whisk ingredients together in a bowl.  Adjust to taste and store in fridge.  Serve with wrap.

Thai Broccoli Slaw Wrap

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With Valentine’s Day quickly approaching, I’ve got chocolate on the brain.  Okay… I always have chocolate on the brain – I don’t need February hearts and cupid to set my taste buds a tingling!!  I am always working on a new dish with chocolate or sometimes pulling out something tried and true.

However, [...]]]>

Raw Vegan Fudgy Balls

With Valentine’s Day quickly approaching, I’ve got chocolate on the brain.  Okay… I always have chocolate on the brain – I don’t need February hearts and cupid to set my taste buds a tingling!!  I am always working on a new dish with chocolate or sometimes pulling out something tried and true.

However, I decided to revisit a raw vegan treat I created a few years ago when I was dying for something chocolaty sweet while following a mostly raw vegan diet.  Those prepared sweets were just too expensive and I was sure I could come up with something easy and quick and wouldn’t need to be dehydrated.

The following recipe is as close as I can remember.  I didn’t write it down or follow exact measurements.  I know the name is silly but it makes me (and everyone else I tell about them) laugh.

Fudgy Balls (raw vegan fudge brownies)

12 – 13 balls

Using raw ingredients:

10 – 12 pitted dates

cashews, pecans, dates and cocoa powder

1 handful of cashews

1 handful of pecans

2 tablespoons of cocoa powder

Drizzle of agave syrup (1/2 half – 1 teaspoon)

Place all ingredients in small food processor and pulse until ingredients come together.

Using your hands, break off small chunks and form balls.  Place on plate and refrigerate or store in airtight container in fridge

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I don’t know who Anna is, but she sure makes great taters!  A friend sent me a link on this… based on a recipe from http://cooklikeyourgrandmother.com/blog/ Apparently there are recipes for this using exact measurements…. but I don’t think it’s necessary.  This is one of the easiest and [...]]]>

Potatoes Anna just out of the oven

I don’t know who Anna is, but she sure makes great taters!  A friend sent me a link on this… based on a recipe from http://cooklikeyourgrandmother.com/blog/ Apparently there are recipes for this using exact measurements…. but I don’t think it’s necessary.  This is one of the easiest and simple dishes to make and it’s OH so good!  I used one large baking potato for the picture shown and it was plenty for two people.

Ingredients

1 large baking potatoes

2-3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Kosher salt

Freshly ground pepper

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Slice potato very thin with a knife or mandoline.

thinly slcied potato

Brush the bottom of a pie plate with the melted butter and begin placing the slices in a circular pattern until you have one layer (you don’t need to go to the edge of the pan).  Brush melted over the top then sprinkle a tiny pinch of kosher salt and ground pepper on the layer.  Continue to make layers, brushing with the butter then salt and pepper until you run out of slices.

just before covering with foil

Pour remaining butter over top and sprinkle kosher salt and pepper and cover with foil.

Place covered pan in oven and bake for 20 minutes.  Remove foil and continue baking for an additional 15 – 20 minutes until top is brown.

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This recipe came about because I had some [...]]]> I don’t know what it is about the cooler weather that brings to mind fruit crisps.  Warm, cooked fruit with a crunchy topping makes my heart sing.  Overly sweet desserts are too overwhelming to me but there’s something about the tartness of cranberries mixed with apple that’s extremely appealing.

This recipe came about because I had some apples on hand and leftover homemade Apple-Ginger Spiced Cranberry Sauce from Thanksgiving and thought – what a great combo!!!

APPLE-CRANBERRY CRISP

Apple-Cranberry Crisp

3 large apples (tart baking apples), cored, peeled and sliced

½ – ¾ cups cranberry sauce (see recipe above or use your favorite)

1 cup fresh cranberries

1 tablespoon lemon juice

½ cup cane sugar

TOPPING

¾ cup rolled or quick oats

¾ cup packed brown sugar

½ cup flour

½ cup chopped pecans

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon fresh ground nutmeg

¼ teaspoon ground cloves

½ cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

* extra cold pats of unsalted butter

Preheat oven 350 degrees.

Toss apples with lemon juice in a large bowl then mix in sugar.  Add cranberries and cranberry sauce and mix until combined.   Place mixture in a greased 8 X 8 inch baking dish.

In a medium bowl, mix the flour, oats, brown sugar, pecans and spices with a fork until combined.  Slowly drizzle melted butter into dry mix while stirring with a fork until butter is incorporated into topping.

Sprinkle topping over apples and cranberries.  Place in oven for 45 – 50 minutes, until apples are tender and topping is brown.  Cool on a wire rack.

Serve while still warm – with ice cream if desired!

* for extra goodiness, place a few extra pats of butter over the topping before placing in the oven.

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