Rescuing Frozen Broccoli

When treated badly frozen broccoli will punish you with soft stems, mushy tops, and a dull, gray-green color. When treated right, that same frozen broccoli will show you it's best, bright green color and al dente texture. But how to do it?

I found the answer one lovely day while reading the suggested cooking method on a package of frozen stir-fry veggies. The basic gist was this: make your pan super hot, add the frozen veggies, and stir fry until they were crisp-tender. I was amazed, and slightly dubious. Until then I'd only steamed frozen veggies, and used them only when I had to because the texture was always--lacking. I made the stir-fry as directed and it was really good. They weren't like fresh veggies, of course, but they were definitely good. I immediately tried it with plain frozen broccoli and got the same great results. This was a very good discovery :)


Rescuing Frozen Broccoli

1 package frozen broccoli florets (any size bag; a 16 oz bag is shown)
1/2-1 teaspoon kosher salt (depends on the size bag you use)
fresh Parmesan cheese for serving, if desired

1. Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat for 2 minutes. Add the frozen broccoli, and cook, stirring often, until the the color starts to turn bright. You'll get the perfect amount of steam from the broccoli being frozen.

2. Add the salt and cook, stirring very often to avoid burning, until the broccoli's color is uniformly bright and the texture al dente, and there are no cold spots. Remove from the heat and serve with the Parmesan, if desired.

Unbelievably easy, and amazingly good. Now you'll want to always have broccoli in your freezer, and better still, you're going to want to use it! :)

Steakhouse Meatballs

When you go to college it's called "The Freshman 15". What's it called when you start a food blog? "The Foodie-Blogger 10"? :)

I started Weight Watchers on August 11, 2007 (yes, I do remember the actual date). Over the next 1 1/2 years I lost 50 pounds (size 18 to a size 10). It took me that long because I'd lose my umph for a few weeks here and there. Then, in the spring of last year we decided we were going to move. At the same time I started this blog. And between the move and the blog, I gained 10 pounds back by December. Ahh! I started counting my Weight Watchers points again, but the 10 pounds would not budge. I needed something else.

I ended up with something that's a hybrid of the Atkins diet and what my husband had to do when he was diagnosed with diabetes a couple years ago. A big part of the change is how I look at carbohydrates, protein, and fat. Carbs aren't bad, but I was eating way too many (don't we all!), especially treats. I love treats! So I set a net carb limit of 150 g or less per day, and increased the amount of protein and fat I eat. Of course, I get my carbs from veggies, some fruit, and some whole grains (I must have my morning oatmeal). It's a little hard for me to believe, but it's working. After I lose the 10 pounds (again) I'll gradually decrease the protein and fat amounts and gradually increase the carb amount until I find the tailor-made formula that maintains my goal weight.

This meatball recipe was an effort to make a meatball that could stand on it's own, without a sticky, sweet, carb-laden sauce, and that didn't need any pasta or rice. I served it on some lovely sauteed onions (Go here for the onions--for the meatballs, I didn't cook the onions quite as long as for the tarts), with broccoli on the side. OK, I had 1/2 cup of couscous with it, too, for 23 g net carbs. :)


Steakhouse Meatballs
Printable Recipe

1 lb lean ground beef
1/4 cup tomato sauce
1/3 cup dry bread crumbs
1 egg
1 tablespoon dried minced onion
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon ground steak seasoning**
1/2 teaspoon crushed dried rosemary
1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes

1. Heat your oven to 400. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray the foil with non-stick spray.

2. Combine all of the ingredients in a medium bowl, and gently mix with a fork or with your hands. I like to use my hands because I think it's easier to get everything mixed without beating it up. This is one of the moments I break out my disposable latex gloves--I hate trying to pick the meat out from under my fingernails. Gross.

3. Use a muffin scoop, or a 1/4-cup measuring cup, to portion out the meat mixture. Gently roll the portions into meatballs and place them on the prepared baking sheet. You should get 9 meatballs.

4. Bake the meatballs for 20-25 minutes, or until cooked all the way through. There will be some nasty cooked-meat-stuff that collects around the base of the meatball. To serve beautiful nasty-cooked-meat-stuff free meatballs, gently wipe the meatballs on a paper towel before plating.

1 meatball: 98 cal/5g fat/.2 fiber/3.5g carb/11.5g pro/2 WW points
3 meatballs: 294 cal/16g fat/1g fiber/11g carb/34.5 pro/7 WW points

**I have something called "Chicago Steak Seasoning" I bought at Sam's Club. I'm sure any type of seasoning or herb mixture for steak or beef would work.

Confession: I was out of Italian parsley, so I chopped up some celery leaves to sprinkle on the meatballs. They desperately needed the green :)

Favorite gagets: Tablespoon measuring cup + a giveaway!

The first time I saw one of these measuring cups I was at my sister's house (about 1 1/2 years ago). "What is this?!" I asked her, absolutly in love with the little cup. "Didn't I give you one for Christmas?" she asked me. "Uh...no..." I was supposed to get one for Christmas? Robbed! :) She did give me one this Christmas, and it was my favorite present (I'm not too hard to please...). I love it for several reasons: What if all of my measuring cups are already dirty and I need 1/4 cup of liquid (4 tablespoons = 1/4 cup)? What if I only need 1/4 cup liquid and don't want to dirty a whole measuring cup? It doesn't take up as much space in the dishwasher. And it's much easier and faster to measure out several tablespoons of liquid using one of these babies than using a tablespoon measuring spoon. It has measurement marks for tablespoons, teaspoons, milliliters...I loved it so much I bought another one.

And I love them so much I got one to give away to one of you! Leave a comment on this post and I'll use random.org to pick a winner. The last day to enter is Monday, February 15. Good luck! You will love this little cup!

Note: The give-away cup is a little different than the one in the picture; it goes up to 10 tablespoons.

An award nomination!

The guys over at Om-Nom-Nomnivore have nominated me for an award they've started called The Nommies! The prize is an actual set of wind-up teeth, a decoration my kitchen is screaming for ;) There are 7 other great nominees, and while I would love for you to vote for me, you should go look at their blogs, too :)

Click here to go vote!

Thanks! :)

Cilantro-Lime Chicken Fajitas

My Facebook fans picked this from a short list of choices. Fun, huh? Don't you want to be a fan of my Facebook page, too? Click here and join us! :)

As I was making these I wondered what made them fajitas and not chicken soft tacos. I decided it must be the onions and bell peppers; anytime I see fajitas in a picture or at a restaurant there are onions and bell peppers. Is it authentic? Who knows. (Are fajitas authentic?) But I do know my fajitas have to have the sauteed veggies :)

Lime zest and juice give this marinade it's great flavor. The lime zest makes it pretty "lime-y", so if you like a more subdued flavor, you can use less, or no, zest. The easiest way to zest a lime (or any citrus) is by using a rasp. I used to use my smallest cheese grater, but the rasp does a much better job of scraping off the zest and leaving the bitter pith behind. Zest your limes before you juice them to make using the rasp easier.

Cilantro-Lime Chicken Fajitas

Printable Recipe

for the marinade

1 tablespoon lime zest

1/2 cup fresh lime juice (from 3-4 limes)

1/4 cup soy sauce

2 tablespoons canola oil

1 tablespoon honey

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1 cup lightly packed cilantro

for the veggies
1 tablespoon olive oil

2 medium onions, peeled, halved pole-to-pole, and sliced 1/4-inch thick

3 bell peppers, seeded and sliced 1/4-inch thick (I used one each, red, yellow, green)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

2 lbs chicken tenders (or boneless breast or boneless thigh)

1. Combine all of the marinade ingredients in a large glass measuring cup and blend with an immersion blender until smooth. OR combine all of the marinade ingredients in a blender canister and blend until smooth.

2. Put the chicken in a gallon-sized zip-top bag. Add the marinade, press out the extra air, and seal the bag. Put the bag in some kind of dish to catch any drips or leaks, and put it in the fridge to marinate for at least 3 hours and no longer than 8 hours; flip the bag a couple times while the chicken marinates if you're around, don't worry about it if you're not. Take the chicken out of the fridge 20 minutes before you want to cook it.

My little helper insisted on holding the dish still for the picture :)

3. Heat a large, non-stick skillet over medium-high heat for 2 minutes. Add the oil and let it heat for 10 seconds. Add the onion, bell pepper, and salt, and cook, stirring often, until they've developed some nice color and char marks, about 5 minutes. Turn the heat down to medium and cook, stirring often, for 10-15 more minutes. Set aside.

4. Heat your grill (I use a gas grill) until it is smoking-hot, 450-500 deg. It was snowing when I grilled these, so I could only get my grill up to about 425 before I got impatient ;) Scrape your grill grate to remove any residue from your last grilled meal, and use long-handled tongs to wipe the grate *liberally* with an oil-soaked paper towel. These two things, a well-oiled, super-hot grill, are what keep your meat from sticking.

5. Grill the chicken tenders 3-7 minutes on the first side, flip them over and grill them an additional 3-7 minutes, or until the meat is cooked through and you've got some nice char. I know "3-7 minutes" is a huge range, but it really depends on how hot your grill is. Start checking the meat at the 3-minute mark and then watch it carefully.

6. Slice the meat across the grain, and assemble your fajitas with the sauteed onions and peppers, and some salsa. I also used shredded lettuce, but that didn't make nice pictures ;)

Swiss and Caramelized Onion Tarts

This tart has been in my head for a long time. Caramelized onions are one of the most divine foods on the face of the planet, and pairing them with Swiss cheese and pie crust to make onion tarts just seemed scrumptious. And they were yummy :)

Of course, the star of the show are the onions. How long-cooking in a skillet with a little olive oil and salt can turn these burn-your-eyes-out-of-their-sockets veggies into something so complex and wonderful, I don't know. Maybe it's magic. Onions prepared this way are delicious in many ways; on pizza, on a salad, on a sandwich, straight out of the pan with nothing but a fork...

Swiss and Caramelized Onion Tarts

Printable Recipe

3 medium onions, halved pole to pole, and sliced 1/4-inch thick.

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 Pillsbury refrigerated pie crust, room temperature

4 slices deli Swiss cheese

1. Heat a 12-inch, non-stick skillet over medium-high heat for 2 minutes. Add the olive oil and let it heat for 10 seconds. Add the onions and salt, and cook, stirring occasionally, until you start to get some nice color, about 5 minutes.

2. Once you've started to get some nice color and char marks, turn the heat down to medium. And let it cook. And then stir. And let it cook. And then stir. And let it cook. You get the idea. This doesn't go fast--it will take 45 minutes or so--but it's so worth it.

3. When the onions look like this, take them off the heat. Yum!

4. While the onions are cooking, prepare the tart shells: Heat your oven to 425. Unroll the pie crust and cut it into 4 wedges.

5. Carefully lay a pie-crust wedge in a 3-inch non-stick tartlette pan; use your knuckles and fingertips to press the pie crust to the sides and bottom of the pan.

6. Press the overlap against the top edge of the pan to trim the excess. (Don't worry about the extra dough; we won't waste it. Read all the way down to the end of the post...) Prick the bottom several times with a fork.

7. Bake the tart shells for 6-8 minutes, or until lightly browned.

8. Cut each slice of cheese into 4 triangles, and lay 3 or 4 pieces on each shell.

9. Divide the onions between each shell. Return the tarts to the oven, and bake them until the cheese is melted and the shell is golden brown, 8-10 minutes.

Makes 4 tarts.

Here's something yummy to do with the excess dough: Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Lay the pie crust pieces on the prepared baking sheet, brush them with melted butter, sprinkle them liberally with cinnamon-sugar, and bake them in your already pre-heated 425 deg. oven for 5-7 minutes, or until they're just starting to brown. If you really want to go over-the-top, you can mix 1 cup powdered sugar, 1 tablespoon of your left-over melted butter, a couple drops vanilla, and enough milk to make the icing drizzle-able. Then you can drizzle the icing over everything (like dessert nachos), or you can dip them in the icing (like dessert chips-and-dip). Waste not, want not! :)

Stopping a slippery cutting board

A cutting board that slips around on your counter while you're trying to chop or dice something can be dangerous. Here's an easy way to make your cutting board stay put: simply lay a damp kitchen towel, or a couple damp paper towels (the towels need to be just barely damp, like from drying your hands), on the counter and lay the cutting board on top of the towels. Now you're safe to chop and dice 'till your heart's content :)