Day 20: Meatless Monday Begins!

A while back, I was reading an article on how just small tweaks to your regular meal routine, like Meatless Monday, for example, could go a long way toward improving your health. Dragon and I both love veggies, don't get me wrong, but Dragon himself, well, he's more carnivore than herbivore, so finding a recipe that worked for him too was... difficult.

And then I found this one.

Meatless Monday 30-Minute Meal

This recipe isn't very complicated, but I did have to make some adjustments. I was determined to get Dragon to eat this, so I wrangled up the following:

*White Fiber mini shells pasta
*Organic 'Bonzo beans
*Roma Tomatoes
*Sweet Onion
*Gourmet Mushroom blend
*Zucchini
*Yellow Squash
*Basil, Oregano, S&P
And, the most controversial ingredient of the night: Anchovy Paste. Sure, I could've left it out. But I was determined. We already had most of the stuff on hand, so we only had to get the produce and the paste. Not too expensive, at all.

So, first thing, you want to peel the tomatoes. The easiest way? Put that pot of water on for the pasta, bring it to a boil, then *carefully* plop those tomatoes in that boiling water.

When the skins split (trust me, this doesn't take long), take them out and run them under cold water. Peel away the skins and voila... naked tomatoes.

We actually had an amusing conversation about the "tomato is a fruit" and its resemblance to oversized peeled grapes.

Chop up half your onion (unless you *really* love them, and then you may as well put the rest in there) and set them off to the side.

Now is also a good time to chop up the zucchini, squash, and mushrooms too, by the by. And take the stemmy part off the tomatoes if you're so inclined.

For me, it's just easier to do everything in one bulk grouping before I actually start cooking. I *do* have the pan and oil heating though.

Into said pan goes a little Olive Oil, the onions, the garlic, and the anchovy paste. That little...poo-snake over there. -->

Yeah, it isn't the most appetizing looking thing in the world, but I'm seriously converted. It adds a depth of flavor to the dish that you just canNOT replicate without putting a ton more stuff in there.

Incidentally, I also bought a can of anchovies and attempted to eat them the next day. No. No thank you. Way too salty. I'll stick with the paste because even the Feline Mafa refused to eat more than half a single fillet.

Cook that through until the onions are translucent and soft. Careful not to burn the garlic, and stir in that paste.

It melts together. No, really. And the anchovy paste completely loses the fishiness.

Like... well, it's like sauerkraut. The longer you cook it the less bitter it is. The flavor intensifies into this utterly unique but lip-smackingly good extra oomph that a meatless dish like this really needs.

Add in your veggies and let cook until soft. Then the fun part:

Put in those peeled tomatoes and mash the heck out of it all with a potato masher. It crushes down into this chunky fabulous sauce. -->

Then, it's time to let it simmer down. Let those flavors meld. Add in the basil, oregano, S&P, too.

Now's a good time to have that pasta cooking and/or straining while the sauce finishes bubbling.

And then all you have to do is add the pasta and the 'bonzo beans to the sauce and there you go.

This ended up being super tasty, even Dragon raved about it. And it made enough for extras for a few days worth of lunch.

Hard to believe, but this is one of those leftover dishes that gets better the longer it sits in the fridge. Just pop some on a plate, eat cold or heat up for about 2 minutes in the microwave.

Delicious!
~Snarkstress

Day 12: The Other Chili!

We have two types of chili that we eat here in this house. One has elk and bacon and beans. Then there's this one, whom I blame on Dragon because if he didn't spend a majority of his life in Ohio, I wouldn't have even known about it.

The Other Chili

Ingredient round-up: 

* 1 lb (or so) of ground beef

* Can of tomato paste

* Packet of Cincinnati Recipe Chili mix

For those of you wondering, yes, this is what Ohio-ans usually refer to as Skyline Chili. 

It took me a while to get used to it, honestly. I'm used to thick, stew-like chili, full of beans and meat and deliciousness. This chili is... well... watery. But what it lacks in viscosity it MORE than makes up for with amazing flavor. Seriously. 

 

Packet in the stew pot, combined with the tomato paste. It's definitely not the most appealing look, now is it?

But if you take a whiff of it right now, you'll be able to smell all the spices they put in there. Especially the cinnamon.

Originally, I said to Dragon that cinnamon has NO BUSINESS being in a chili. It is an abomination, I said.

I was wrong. It is awesome. Trust me.

According to the directions, here's how it goes down.

You put the mix and tomato paste in the pot. Mix it together. Add 6 cups of water (yeah, see, that's why I said it's more watery than what I'm used to) and blend it all together.

THEN you add in the uncooked beef. This was a step that had me kind of meh. I'm used to precooking the meat and THEN adding everything in. But given how long this stuff cooks? Yeah, uncooked meat is the way to go. It absorbs all those delicious spices and gets super tender and very tasty.

Now then, the secret to Skyline Chili is how it's served. The back o' the packet has suggestions, but it all starts with a base of pasta.

As we are...mostly healthful with our grain choices, we stumbled across this little gem. -->

It's a hearty, yet delicious pasta that is just chock full of veggie goodness. It cooks in about the same amount of time as a regular pasta does (8-10 minutes or so) and tastes like regular pasta.  So there you go. Healthy-ho!

Put the pasta on to cook. When it's done, divvy it up.

Pasta in the bowl. Followed by a ladle or two of the chili, and smother that stuff with low-fat cheddar cheese. (Or regular cheddar...I happened to grab the wrong cheese by accident and it still tasted fine.)

Trust me when I tell you there will be enough leftovers to do the Chili-dog thing with, or to just heat and eat as you wish.


~Snarkstress

Day 9: Shrimp En Sauce!

I've been craving shrimp for weeks. I think it all started back around our anniversary in December when I wanted to go to Red Lobster, but we never really had the money to do so.

Those who can't... make it themselves. Deliciously.

Shrimp En Sauce

Sounds fancy, right? Really, it's not. But it was mighty delicious.

So we started off with the following:
* Raw shrimp
*Creamy tomato sauce
*Piccolini Farfalle
*TJ's Veggie blend (peas, carrots, green beans, & corn)
*(not pictured) Crumbled Bacon
*(not pictured) Baby Bella mushrooms
*(not pictured) Butter
*(not pictured) Cajun blend spices

I'm not gonna lie. The bacon and mushrooms were later additions, done on the fly when Dragon decided there needed to be something else in there. For the record? The mushrooms were my idea.

First things first, you put some butter in the pan and dump the thawed shrimp in to saute. Now, if you end up with a seething, boiling shrimp-water mess, don't feel at all bad about pulling out the shrimp, dumping the water, adding new butter, and slipping those tasty morsels back in for a quick crusty saute.

And while you're add it, throw some Cajun spices on those bad boys for color and heat. I certainly did.

When they're done, pull 'em out and let them rest. Overcooked shrimp is definitely a bad thing. Can we say... rubber?

In the empty pan dump ye olde veggies. Also for a quick saute.

By the by, you should probably put on a pot of water to boil while you're doing all of this. Because you've got some pasta that needs boiling.

Back to the saute pan: cook it all down. Those 'shrooms are amazing. Seriously. You can hit all of this with more seasoning if you wish, and a touch more butter, if that floats your boat. Feel free to experiment.

Side note: That's why you don't see me doing measurements for these. I believe that cooking is a creative endeavor, an alchemy, and recipes are merely guidelines. I'd much rather give you a bunch of pictures and the ingredients and let you do with them as you will (if anything at all).

About now, you should be popping the pasta in for a quick cook according to the package directions.

Into the pan goes the shrimp, the sauce, and the bacon bits. Because everything is better with bacon (according to Dragon).

Verily, it is the candy of meat.

Let that get warmed through, stirring as you go. I generally time it with the pasta, so it ends up being about 10 minutes all told that it'll be simmering away.

When the pasta is done, just drain it, add it to the sauce and mix.

Or flip it, if you're fancy like that.

Into a bowl, and devour like a starving T-Rex at an all-you-can-eat Brontosaurus buffet.

Enjoy!

~Snarkstress

Day 6: Meatball Party!

I believe both of us can give major props to Teen Titans Go! for this particular meatball infused dish.

Meatball Party Sketti!

In case you can't tell from the photo on the left, this is another of those "put a bunch of stuff together that sounds tasty and bake it" meals. 

Roundup of ingrediental suspects: Meatballs, cheese, angel hair pasta (this is Dragon's fault), and sauce. 

Wolverine cup is, of course, completely optional.

In other words: I'm sure this *could* be made healthier. But it's been one of those "Meh, let's eat something delicious," days where you don't particularly care what it does to your waistline because you know you're going to be working it off somehow anyway.

And no, pirating on Assassin's Creed 4 doesn't count. 

Though in an ideal world... it totally would.

First, you preheat the oven according to your meatball maker's directions. Pop them in a casserole dish and cook those balls of meaty awesome until they're done. 

Meanwhile, boil water. Add pasta. Cook to almost al dente.

A note of explanation about blaming Dragon for the Angel Hair pasta: he ruined regular spaghetti noodles for me when we were just a wee couple trying to make it in the world. It was something I tried because he insisted, and lo, I found I enjoyed it verily. Thus was history written.

While your noodles are a-boilin', after the meatballs have been cooked, pour in the jar of sauce and let it warm a bit while you wait for the pasta. 

When the pasta is done, drain it and add it to the casserole dish. Mix, thoroughly, and then cover with cheese. 

Your mileage may vary regarding the "cover with cheese" bit. As will the type of cheese you use. Depending on how badly we need a meatball party hug in our bellies, we adjust our cheese addition. In this case, about a cup of triple cheddar. Yum.

Let it cook in the oven for about 10 minutes more, until the cheese is all gooey and melty and delicious. Then pull out the bowls, fill 'em up, and weep over Downton Abbey, knowing that you have a warm, saucy, delicious meatball waiting for you when you're done wiping those eyes.

Enjoy!

~Snarkstress