Lunch in a Jar

My daughter gave me this fantastic idea for taking lunch to work.  Her and her co-workers do this all the time.  After she told me about it I thought what a brilliant idea.  Here's the scoop...

You can make a salad in a mason jar.  I used a pint sized jar.  It is really cool once you think about how it is constructed.  You can add any ingredients you want but you should start and finish with the same items.  What you will be doing is making a salad upside down.

Here is what you need to do:  For the bottom of the jar, add your favorite dressing.  Next layer any and all ingredients you want.  I added leftover tenderloin steak from the other night, cheese, dried cranberries, tomatoes and then end with lettuce.

You want the lettuce as the last thing that you add.  I am told that you can make lunch for the whole week this way (so essentially you can make a week's worth of lunch on Sunday to last from Monday to Friday).  It will keep and the lettuce won't wilt.  I was very delighted to be able to reach in the refrigerator this morning and grab lunch.  Once you are ready to have lunch, drop the ingredients out onto a plate.  You can try so many different things to take for lunch this way.  Also, you could easily use another size jar to make a larger salad or to have more room.

As you can see it turns into a large sized salad.  I apologize for the not so great pictures, these were taken with my phone.

This post was shared on The Healthy Home Economist Monday Mania 2/27/2012

Steak and Sweet Potato Fries

We really wanted to do steaks on the grill for tonight but it was just to windy outside oh and not to mention cold.  So I had to fix the steaks in the house.  I have always cooked the steaks on the grill, never inside.

Sweet Potato Fries
1 huge Japanese Sweet Potato (Japanese Sweet potatoes have a purple colored skin and are white inside - I happened to have this type of sweet potato in our pantry)
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper
Peel the sweet potatoes and then cut in half.  Turn cut side down and cut in half again.  Turn so that cut side is down and cut into slices.  Take each slice and cut into pieces that will make a nice fry.  Put the sweet potatoes into a Ziploc bag, add olive oil, shake so that all oil has been distributed.  Pour the sweet potatoes onto a foiled lined baking sheet.  Sprinkle sweet potatoes with salt and pepper.  Place in a 450 degree Fahrenheit oven and bake for 35 minutes.  Turn the sweet potatoes over once during cooking time. This will help them brown more evenly.

Steak
2 grass fed beef tenderloin steaks (We get ours from Mountain Run Farm)
Salt and Pepper
Olive Oil
Bring the steaks to room temperature (you don't want them refrigerator cold but not too hot either).  Brush or rub olive oil onto both sides of the steaks.  Sprinkle each side with salt and pepper.  I used a cast iron skillet to cook the steaks.  Place the skillet on the stove and heat it over high to medium heat.  If you have a flat top stove be careful as heating the pan up to fast and for a long time can crack the top of the stove.  Place the steaks onto the pan, you want them to sizzle.  Let the steaks stay on the skillet until they start to brown, turn over and place pan into a 450 degree Fahrenheit oven.  I cooked these steaks for about 9 minutes.  Which cooked them to a medium rare.  Let the steaks sit before cutting into them.  By letting them sit it helps to keep the juices inside the steak and helps it to not dry out and be tough.  I found that cooking the steaks on the stove and then in the oven was really easy.  So if you don't have a grill this is a great way to do it.  The only thing I missed about not cooking them on the grill was the smokey flavor.

The meal was served with a side salad, some barbecue beans and a couple slices of crusty bread.

Sausage with Mushroom Ravioli

When I was at the store I picked up a package of Porcini Mushroom and Truffle Triangles product of Italy made by Bertagni.   Looks very much like a ravioli.  I thought a simple sauce would be in order for this.  I had some Italian Sausage that I was going to cook and put with this.  When I opened the package of triangles you could immediately smell the truffles.  I love the taste of truffles and this meal needed something simple to go with it, I didn't want to cover the truffle smell or taste with a heavy sauce.

Cook the Italian sausage in a skillet until done, sliced it and added it back into the skillet.  Take 1 can of diced roma tomatoes (no salt, just tomatoes) and added it to the skillet.  When the tomatoes had warmed add some fresh chopped oregano and basil.

The triangles only take 3-4 minutes to cook.  Just add them to a pot of salted water and cook on a gentle boil.

Take the triangles out of the water and layered the sauce (tomato and sausage mixture) and the triangles together with just a little extra virgin olive oil.  Add a couple of triangles to the plate with some of the sauce mixture, top with some fresh grated Parmesan cheese and some fresh basil.

The meal was served with a side salad and a couple slices of crusty bread.

Baked Salmon with Sour Cream Rub

We bought our salmon from SeaBear along with some other fish.  This recipe actually came off of their website.  The website has all kinds of great looking recipes.

2 - 6 ounce salmon filets
1/4 cup sour cream
grated rind from 1/2 of a lemon
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 small clove of garlic, peeled and crushed
Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
Mix together sour cream, lemon rind, mustard and garlic.   Place salmon skin side down onto a foiled lined baking pan sprayed with olive oil.  Turn up the edges of the foil so that any juices don't run off.  Spread the sour cream mixture onto the tops of the salmon.  Bake for 18 - 20 minutes or until fish flakes with a fork.  Squeeze lemon juice (from the 1/2 lemon) over salmon before serving.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

The salmon was served with couscous and frozen cooked spinach.
1 cup of couscous
1 cup of water
Add couscous and water to a pan.  Cook until water boils.  Remove from heat and let stand for 5 minutes.  Fluff with fork.

Taco Night

Tonight I had a hunger for tacos.  I make my own taco seasoning which is so much better than the stuff you buy in the store. 

Here is the recipe for the taco seasoning:

2 tablespoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon paprika
1 tablespoon cumin
2 teaspoons salt
1-1/2 teaspoons ground pepper

There is enough seasoning for 2 different meals.  Use about 2 tablespoons per 1 pound of grass fed ground beef.  Brown ground beef and then add seasoning and about 1/2 cup of water.  Cook until seasoning and water is absorbed.   I love making this because you can tweak it to your tastes. 

The tacos are store bought organic corn tacos.  The toppings included vegetarian refried beans, cheddar cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, sour cream, salsa and dried cilantro.  

Just in case you are wondering the fork isn't actually stuck into the taco, the taco is actually resting on the fork so that the taco doesn't fall over.  

Spiced Chicken Breasts with Algerian Wedding Rice

Wanted to try something different for dinner tonight and needed to figure out something for chicken breasts.

Spiced Chicken Breasts
6 chicken breasts
4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon curry powder
1/2 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and mashed
1/2 teaspoon sea salt

Trim chicken breasts and pound lightly.  Mix spices and garlic with oil and brush onto chicken pieces.  Marinate chicken breasts in refrigerator several hours or overnight.  Brush a heavy skillet with olive oil and allow to heat up.  Add chicken and cook over medium high heat.  About 7 minutes per side until done.

Algerian Wedding Rice
1 cup long grain brown rice
1 tablespoon butter
2 cups of water
Add water, butter and rice to pan, bring to a boil, cover and cook rice for 50 minutes.  Remove from heat and let stand 10 minutes.  Fluff with fork when done.
1 cup dried apricots, cut into bits, soaked in water for 1 hour and drained
1/2 cup almond slivers
1/2 cup pine nuts
2 bunches green onions, chopped
4 tablespoons butter, softened
sea salt and pepper
Toss cooked rice with remaining ingredients.  Season to taste.  Place in a buttered casserole dish and bake at 250 degrees Fahrenheit for about 30 minutes.

Now I have no idea how the rice got its name nor do I know if there is any significance to Alergia.  If anyone knows please comment so that we can all learn about it.

The meal was served with a caesar salad.

Caesar Salad
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon coarse black pepper
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 to 2 teaspoons sugar
2 pressed garlic cloves
1/4 cup Romano or Parmesan cheese
1 cup vegetable oil or extra virgin olive oil
Mix together. 
Add just enough dressing to coat romaine lettuce but not too much.  Sprinkle each salad with fresh grated Parmesan cheese and fresh ground pepper.

Here are some notes about the spices that were used on the Chicken.  
Turmeric:  One compound in turmeric (curcumin) inhibits the synthesis of substances called prostaglandins in the body that are involved with pain.  In addition to good amounts of vitamins C and E and carotenoids, turmeric contains many other antioxidants.  Also turmeric has been used as an anti-inflammatory as well as many other things.
Cinnamon: Cinnamon contains an antibacterial action when combined with other herbs.  Cinnamon has a reputation to help with fevers. 
Cumin: Contains anti-inflammatory properties.
Paprika: Contains Vitamin C and high in antioxidants.
Curry Powder: Curry is a mixture of spices.  Which can contain: coriander, turmeric, cumin, fenugreek, and red pepper.  Other spices in curry can also contain: ginger, garlic, fennel seed, clove, cardamom and nutmeg.
Information about these spices were found in the book The Green Pharmacy by James A. Duke, Ph.D.

This post was shared on the Healthy Home Economist Monday Mania for 2/20/2012

Wacky Cake a.k.a. Chocolate Cake

This by far is the easiest and quickest cake there is to make.  If you want to make a cake this is it.  It is also great because the only dishes you really get dirty are your measuring spoons.

3 cups flour
2 cups sugar
6 tablespoons cocoa
2 teaspoons baking soda
pinch of salt
12 tablespoons oil
2 tablespoons vinegar
2 tablespoons pure vanilla
2 cups of cold water
confectioners sugar, if desired

Place the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda and salt in a 9 x 13 inch baking pan.  Make 2 holes in the dry ingredients and pour the following into these holes: oil, vinegar, and vanilla.  The pour the water over top.  Stir the mixture in the pan until mixed (make sure you get the corners) and bake in the same pan.  Place in a 350 degree Fahrenheit oven and bake for 30-35 minutes.

I made my own confectioners sugar by adding regular sugar to a blender and blend until powdery smooth.  The sugar will only be good for a short period of time like this because it doesn't contain any starches that will prevent it from caking.