Beef and Watermelon Stir-fry with Brown Rice

Beef and Watermelon Stir-Fry

It’s summer and watermelon is everywhere. I was curious if watermelon could be incorporated into a main dish and started looking around. I came across this recipe at MyRecipes.com (originally from Virginia Willis in Southern Living) and gave it a try. The sweetness of the watermelon is nicely balanced by the salt and spices. The original called for hoisin sauce as one of the main ingredients of the sauce part, but we’ve not found one that we trust as not being made on shared equipment with fish, so I made up something that seemed to work well for the sauce.

Beef and Watermelon Stir-fry with Brown Rice

MealsWeLike.com adapted from MyRecipes.com
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour
Course Main
Servings 4

Ingredients
  

Marinade

  • 3 garlic cloves minced
  • 2 tsp cornstarch
  • 2 tsp water
  • 2 tsp Low sodium soy sauce
  • 1/2 Tbs olive oil
  • 1 Tbs white cooking wine

Sauce

  • 2 Tbs water
  • 1 Tbs corn starch
  • 1 Tbs Low sodium soy sauce
  • 1 Tbs molasses
  • 1 Tbs white cooking wine
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

The rest

  • 1 lb sirloin strip steak cut into thin strips
  • 1 medium sweet onion sliced
  • 1 lb sugar snap peas
  • 1/2 lb carrots sliced
  • 1 tsp grated ginger
  • 1/2 tsp dried crushed red pepper
  • 1 lb watermelon sliced in long 1/2in square sticks
  • Brown rice

Instructions
 

  • Mix marinade: garlic, cornstarch, water, soy sauce, olive oil and wine and marinate the steak slices for 30 minutes.
  • Meanwhile make the sauce: stir together water, corn starch, soy molasses, wine.
  • Remove steak from marinade, discarding the marinade.
  • Heat 1 tsp olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and cook half of beef at a time without stirring, 45 seconds or until browned; turn beef, and cook 45 seconds or until browned. Transfer to a warm plate.
  • Stir-fry the onion until tender, about 2 minutes.
  • Add sugar snap peas, carrots, ginger, and crushed red pepper; stir-fry 2 minutes.
  • Add beef and sauce mixture; stir-fry 1 minute or until slightly thickened.
  • Remove from heat.
  • Stir in watermelon.
  • Add black pepper, and red pepper to taste.
  • Serve immediately over brown rice.

 

 

Zucchini Carpaccio Salad

Spinach Quiche with Zucchini Carpaccio SaladThis salad goes really well with the Spinach Quiche, though would be great anytime you have extra zucchini. Both the quiche and salad are originally from SmittenKitchen. The salad can be made while the quiche is cooking.

This is a great recipe for pulling out the mandoline, without which I think it would be hard to get the zucchini sliced thin enough. But with the mandoline, it takes only a few minutes of hands on time to quickly slice up a couple of zucchinis. Then you just throw some salt on them and let them rest for a while. Drain and dry them off and toss with parmesan, lemon juice and olive oil. Even the zucchini-disliking kids liked zucchini in this form.

Zucchini Carpaccio Salad

MealsWeLike.com adapted from SmittenKitchen.com
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Course Salad
Servings 4

Ingredients
  

  • 1 1/2 lbs zucchini about 2 large
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 pound arugula lettuce mix, spinach or other greens
  • 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
  • 3 Tbs olive oil
  • 3 Tbs lemon juice ~1 lemon
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper

Instructions
 

  • Cut zucchini into paper-thin rounds with a mandoline adjusted about as thin as it can be.
  • Toss zucchini slices with one teaspoon salt in a colander set over a bowl or in the sink to drain 20 minutes.
  • Rinse zucchini slices well, and drain. Pat dry with a clean towel or paper towels.
  • Put greens in a large bowl.
  • Add the zucchini.
  • Sprinkle with cheese and pepper.
  • Drizzle oil and lemon juice over greens and toss.

 

 

 

Spinach Quiche

Spinach Quiche with Zucchini Carpaccio Salad This Spinach Quiche recipe from SmittenKitchen was so good, we had it two weeks in a row! I just use my standard pie crust (1 c flour, 1/3 c butter, 6-8 Tbs water). I think making this in a tart pan, rather than a pie plate keeps the quiche a bit shallower and that seems to make it extra yummy. We had gruyere cheese which was delicious, we never did try it with cheddar as the original called for–maybe next time 🙂 ! Everyone in the family was fighting for leftovers. The second time, we basically doubled the recipe to make sure everyone had a delicious lunch the following day.

This goes really well with the Zucchini Carpaccio Salad, also from SmittenKitchen.Spinach Quiche

Spinach Quiche

MealsWeLike.com adapted from SmittenKitchen.com
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 35 minutes
Total Time 45 minutes
Course Main
Servings 4

Ingredients
  

  • 1 Pie crust
  • 3 oz Cream cheese room temp
  • 1/3 cup Milk cream or 1/2&1/2
  • 3 Eggs
  • 1 Package frozen chopped spinach thawed and drained
  • 1/2 cup Grated gruyere cheese original called for cheddar)
  • 1/4 cup Grated Parmesan cheese
  • 4 Green onions whites and a little bit of green sliced
  • 1/4 tsp Pepper

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 425°.
  • Roll out the pie crust and place into a tart pan (we use one that's about 11 inches across)
  • With a fork, mash up the cream cheese in a medium bowl.
  • Gradually add in the milk and eggs, mixing well.
  • Mix in the remaining ingredients.
  • Pour mixture into uncooked crust.
  • Bake until crust is brown and filling is set, about 25 minutes.
  • Cool a bit before serving.

 

Chicken Bulgur Skillet with Spinach

Chicken Bulgur Skillet with SpinachTrader Joe’s has come to town and, while there’s a LOT of stuff that that is not peanut/tree-nut/fish safe, there are many things that we’ve been able to find there. 10-minute bulgur and sunflower seeds being a couple. Now if only we could get them to be better about labeling! Unfortunately, there’s a bunch of stuff that has CYA labeling…salad greens with shared equipment warnings for all top 8 allergens??? And a lot of stuff that’s not labeled for may contains at all. But it’s a start…

I adapted this from this one on TasteOfHome.com: seemed like it needed some more veggies.

Chicken Bulgur Skillet with Spinach

MealsWeLike.com adapted from TasteOfHome.com
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 25 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Course Main
Servings 6

Ingredients
  

  • 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into 1 inch cubes
  • 2 Tsps olive oil
  • 2 Carrots diced
  • 2/3 Cup Onion diced
  • 1 bag 10 oz Fresh spinach leaves
  • 3 Tbs Sunflower seeds
  • 1/2 tsp Caraway seeds
  • 1/4 tsp Ground cumin
  • 1 1/2 Cups Bulgur
  • 2 Cups Reduced sodium chicken broth
  • 2 Tbs Raisins
  • 1/8 tsp ground cinnamon

Instructions
 

  • Heat large, non-stick skillet over medium-high heat.
  • Add the oil and then the chicken.
  • Cook until meat is cooked through.
  • Remove the chicken to a plate and keep warm.
  • Add the carrots and onions.
  • Add the sunflower seeds, caraway, and ground cumin.
  • Cook until the onions start to brown.
  • Stir in the bulgur
  • Add the broth, bring to a boil and reduce heat
  • Add the raisins, cinnamon and the cooked chicken.
  • Cover and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until the bulgar is tender.
  • Stir in the spinach leaves and serve.

 

Coriander-Crusted Pork Tenderloin with Sweet and Spicy Roasted Vegetables and Rice with Golden Raisens

 

Coriander-Crusted Pork Tenderloin with Sweet and Spicy Roasted Vegetables and Rice with Golden Raisens

My wife found this delicious meal on FineCooking.com. Any one of these would be a great dish on it’s own, but the three together made an outstanding meal. It was also relatively quick and easy given that there’s three different recipes.

Coriander-Crusted Pork Tenderloin with Sweet and Spicy Roasted Vegetables

MealsWeLike.com adapted from FineCooking.com
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 45 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Course Main
Servings 6

Ingredients
  

For the Pork

  • One package pork tenderloin--with 2 ~1lb tenderloins
  • 2 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 1 Tbs coriander seeds
  • 1 tsp black peppercorns
  • 1 tsp kosher salt
  • 1 Tbs olive oil

For the Roasted Vegetables

  • About 1-1/2 cups baby carrots
  • 1 red onion cut into 8 wedges
  • 2 red bell peppers seeded and cut into 11/2-inch pieces (about 3 cups)
  • 1-1/2 lb. butternut squash peeled, seeded, and cut into 3/4-inch pieces (about 3 cups)
  • 2 Tbs extra-virgin olive oil
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp cumin
  • 1/2 tsp coriander
  • 1/2 tsp powdered ginger
  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/8 tsp cayenne
  • 1 Tbs honey
  • 1 Tbs chopped fresh thyme

For the Rice:

  • 2 Tbs olive oil
  • 1/2 yellow onion diced
  • 1 cup brown rice
  • Kosher salt
  • 4 Tbs golden raisins
  • 4 Tbs finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
  • Freshly ground black pepper

Instructions
 

For the Pork:

  • Pre-heat the oven to 450°F.
  • Crush the coriander seeds, peppercorns and salt with a mortar and pestle.
  • Spread the mustard over the pork
  • Sprinkle with the coriander, peppercorns, and salt, pressing them on.
  • Heat the oil in a 12-inch ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat.
  • Cook the pork until well browned on all sides, about 3 minutes per side.
  • Put the skillet in the oven and roast until the thick end of the pork registers 155°F, 18 to 20 minutes.
  • Let rest for 5 minutes.
  • Slice and serve.

For the Roasted Vegetables:

  • Place a rimmed baking sheet in the oven, and heat the oven to 450°F.
  • In a large bowl, toss the vegetables with 1 Tbs of the oil and a pinch of salt and pepper.
  • Spread on the hot baking sheet in a single layer and roast until tender, 30 to 35 minutes.
  • Heat the remaining 1 Tbs. oil in an 8-inch skillet over medium heat.
  • Add the spices and cook until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes.
  • Stir in the honey and thyme and a pinch of salt and pepper.
  • Pour the spice mixture over the roasted vegetables and toss to coat.

For the Rice:

  • Heat the oil in a 2-quart saucepan over medium heat.
  • Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, until softened, 2 minutes.
  • Add the rice and stir to coat in the oil. Add 2-1/4 cups water.
  • Bring to a boil over high heat, cover, reduce the heat to low, and cook until all the water is absorbed and the rice is tender, about 35 minutes.
  • Let sit for 5 minutes before fluffing with a fork.
  • Meanwhile, put the raisins in a small bowl and add enough boiling water to cover. Allow them to plump for 10 minutes; then drain.
  • Stir the raisins and parsley into the cooked rice

 

 

Italian Tortellini Soup

Italian Tortellini SoupFlorida doesn’t have much in the way of winter, but there are a few weeks when a nice, hearty soup makes a great dinner. This was fast to throw together and everyone ate it up. I adapted this from SparklePeople. You could use hot Italian Sausage for a spicier version.

Italian Tortellini Soup

MealsWeLike.com adapted from FoodieWife on SparkPeople
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 30 minutes
Course Main
Cuisine Italian
Servings 6

Ingredients
  

  • 1 package Sweet Italian Turkey Sausage casings removed
  • 1 onion chopped
  • 6 garlic cloves minced
  • 4 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
  • 1 can 14-1/2 oz diced tomatoes, undrained
  • 1 package cheese and meat tortellini
  • 1 package 9 oz fresh baby spinach
  • 2 tsp minced fresh basil or 3/4 tsp dried basil
  • 1/4 tsp ground pepper
  • Shredded Parmesan cheese

Instructions
 

  • Crumble sausage into a Dutch oven over medium-high heat
  • Add the onion.
  • Cook stirring now and then until meat is no longer pink.
  • Add garlic; cook and stir 2 minutes
  • Add the broth and tomatoes.
  • Bring to a boil.
  • Stir in tortellini; return to a boil.
  • Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 5-8 minutes or until pasta is tender, stirring occasionally.
  • Add the spinach, basil, peppers.
  • Cook 2-3 minutes longer or until spinach is wilted.
  • Serve topped with Parmesan.

 

Mini Pumpkin Cranberry Bread

No photo…it was devoured too fast! Our son made these at school and brought home the recipe. We wanted to save it for next year, so here it is. Looks like it was adapted from this Cooks.com post.

Mini Pumpkin Cranberry Bread

MealsWeLike.com adapted from Cooks.com
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 5 minutes
Servings 5 loaves

Ingredients
  

  • 3 c all-purpose flour
  • 1 Tbs plus 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
  • 2 tsp baking soda
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt
  • 3 c sugar
  • 1 can 15 ounces pumpkin
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 c vegetable oil
  • 1/2 c orange juice
  • 1 c fresh cranberries

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350°F.
  • Grease and flour 5-6 mini (5X3-inch) loaf pans.
  • Combine flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt in large bowl.
  • Combine sugar, pumpkin, eggs, oil and juice in large mixer bowl
  • Beat until just blended.
  • Add pumpkin mixture to flour mixture
  • Stir just until moistened.
  • Fold in cranberries.
  • Spoon batter into prepared loaf pans.
  • Bake for 50to 55 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
  • Cool in pans on wire racks for 10 minutes
  • Move to wire racks to cool completely.

 

Orange Chicken and Vegetables

Orange Chicken and Vegetables

With nut allergies, Chinese restaurants are not somewhere we can go as a family. So when I find recipes that can be made relatively easily at home, I like to try them out. This recipe came from Mommy’s Kitchen, who adapted it from Jamie Cooks. It doesn’t take the long to make, and is really good. The chicken pieces are nice and crisp. There’s quite a bit of sauce, you could reduce the volume a bit if you didn’t like so much sauce.Orange Chicken with Vegetables

Orange Chicken and Vegetables

MealsWeLike.com
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 50 minutes
Course Main
Cuisine Chinese

Ingredients
  

For the chicken and vegetables

  • 4 Boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1in pieces
  • 3/4 cup flour
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 4 Tbs olive oil
  • 2 cups baby carrots sliced lengthwise
  • 1 Onion diced
  • 2 Bell peppers--try different colors--cut into chunks
  • 4 stalks celery sliced
  • 1/2 tsp pepper

For the sauce

  • 3/4 cup fresh squeezed orange juice
  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • 1/2 tsp chopped fresh ginger
  • 2 tsp rice vinegar
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 tsp olive oil
  • 2 Tbs corn starch
  • 1 cup chicken broth

Instructions
 

  • If serving over rice, start the rice.
  • Combine the chopped chicken with the 3/4 cup flour and the 1/4 teaspoon of salt in a medium bowl.
  • Toss to coat the chicken.
  • Heat the oil in a large frying pan or wok.
  • Cook the chicken in batches, until golden brown (about 10 minutes) and set aside.
  • Add more oil if needed and then the chopped veggies.
  • Cook over medium high heat until crisp tender--about 5 minutes.
  • Make the sauce while the veggies cook.
  • Whisk together all the sauce ingredients in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat.
  • Bring to a boil.
  • The sauce will begin to thicken as it comes to a boil.
  • Add the sauce and chicken back into the pan with the veggies and stir to mix everything together.
  • Serve over rice.

 

Pizza with zucchini, bacon and mozzarella

Pizza with zucchini, bacon and mozzarellaSeems like we’ve been using a lot of bacon as of late, but at least according to this, undoubtedly unbiased, source, bacon is actually healthy for you! OK, maybe not really healthy, but it is really good and, in moderation, can it really be that unhealthy?

The original recipe called for cream soaked mozzarella, but that seemed a bit excessive. All I’ve got to say is, there were no leftovers!

Pizza with zucchini, bacon and mozzarella

MealsWeLike.com adapted from Drizzle & Dip
Pizza with grated zucchini, bacon and mozzarella cheese
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Course Main
Cuisine Pizza
Servings 4

Ingredients
  

  • Pizza dough
  • 2 Zucchinis grated
  • 8 oz Bacon cooked and broken into pieces
  • 8 oz Mozzarella cheese
  • 1-2 Tbs Olive oil

Instructions
 

  • Preheat the oven to 425
  • Roll out the pizza dough
  • Bruch with olive oil
  • Spread the zucchini over the pizza
  • Top with cheese and then bacon
  • Bake for 8-10 minutes, or until the cheese begins to brown

 

Steaks with Citrus-Soy Sauce and Edamame Slaw

Pink Parsley is always a source of great recipes, and the author is pregnant with twins and craving stake. Hence this awesome recipe she posted! This was simple and delicious, the sauce serves as a dressing for the slaw and gets reduced for a sauce on the steak. Easy enough for a week-night, good enough for company!

Steaks with Citrus-Soy Sauce and Edamame SlawWe tend not to have sesame oil like the original recipe calls for, so I substituted olive oil. We’re also not fans of raw red onions, so we we left that out too. With prepackaged broco-slaw mix and cooked edamame, this is really a fast meal to whip up. We served it with brown rice, which was the longest part of the cooking.IMG_9296

Steak with Citrus-Soy Sauce and Edamame Slaw

MealsWeLike.com, adapted from Pink Parsley
Prep Time 5 minutes
Cook Time 20 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes
Course Main
Servings 4

Ingredients
  

For the sauce:

  • 5 Tbs Low-sodium soy sauce this gets cooked down, and was plenty salty using low sodium soy sauce
  • 1 Orange juiced
  • 1 Tbs orange zest
  • 2 Tbs rice wine vinegar
  • 1/2 tsp Ginger powder or 1 Tbs freshly grated ginger

For the Broco-slaw:

  • 10 oz package pre-cooked shelled Edamame
  • 10 oz bag broccoli slaw mix
  • 2 Tbs Olive oil

For the steaks:

  • 1-2 Tbs Olive oil
  • 1 lb New York strip steaks
  • 4 Tbs butter

Instructions
 

  • If serving with rice, start the rice.
  • In a small bowl, combine the soy sauce, orange juice and zest, vinegar, and ginger.
  • In a large bowl, combine the broco-slaw and edamame.
  • Take 3 Tbs of the sauce and add to the slaw mix.
  • Add 2 Tbs olive oil to the slaw
  • Mix and refrigerate until the rest of the meal is ready.
  • Heat a pan on medium-high and add the olive oil
  • Add the steaks and cook to desired doneness (~5-7minuted per side for medium-well)
  • Remove the steaks and tent with foil while you cook the sauce.
  • Add the rest of the sauce to the pan and simmer for a minute or two, scraping up the burned bits off the bottom of the pan.
  • When the sauce is thickened, remove from heat and add the butter one tablespoon at a time, melting into the sauce.
  • Slice the steaks
  • To serve, put some slaw on the plate, top with stakes and the sauce.
  • If serving with rice, put some sauce on that too, it's good stuff!