Category: Pretty Vacant Cafe Club
Spinach, Avocado & Mango Salad
From EatingWell: Fall 2004, The EatingWell Diabetes Cookbook (2005)
Reader Jennifer Sanders contributed this salad, which offers a wealth of color and texture, as well as antioxidants.
4 servings, 2 cups each | Active Time: 20 minutes | Total Time: 20 minutes
Ingredients
Dressing
- 1/3 cup orange juice
- 1 tablespoon red-wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons hazelnut oil, almond oil or canola oil
- 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- 1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
- Freshly ground pepper, to taste
Salad
- 10 cups baby spinach leaves, (about 8 ounces)
- 1 1/2 cups radicchio, torn into bite-size pieces
- 8-12 small red radishes, (1 bunch), sliced
- 1 small ripe mango, sliced
- 1 medium avocado, sliced
Preparation
- To prepare dressing: Whisk juice, vinegar, oil, mustard, salt and pepper in a bowl.
- To prepare salad: Just before serving, combine spinach, radicchio, radishes and mango in a large bowl. Add the dressing; toss to coat. Garnish each serving with avocado slices.
Nutrition
Per serving : 210 Calories; 14 g Fat; 2 g Sat; 2 g Mono; 0 mg Cholesterol; 10 g Carbohydrates; 3 g Protein; 6 g Fiber; 258 mg Sodium; 479 mg Potassium
1 Carbohydrate Serving
Exchanges: 3 vegetable, 3 fat (mono)
Filet Mignon with Blueberry-Bourbon Barbecue Sauce
From EatingWell: August/September 2006, EatingWell for a Healthy Heart Cookbook (2008)
Blueberries, loaded with antioxidants, have a balance of sweet and sour, which makes them an excellent base for a rich, tangy barbecue sauce. Fresh thyme rubbed on the steak dovetails wonderfully with the blueberries. Serve with fresh tomato wedges.
4 servings | Active Time: 45 minutes | Total Time: 45 minutes
Ingredients
Blueberry-Bourbon Barbecue Sauce
- 1 1/2 teaspoons canola oil
- 1/2 small red onion, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- 1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and chopped
- 1/4 cup bourbon
- 1 cup fresh or frozen (not thawed) blueberries
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- 3 tablespoons cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons molasses
- Pinch of ground allspice
Filet Mignon
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper
- 1 pound filet mignon, 1 1/2 to 2 inches thick, trimmed and cut into 4 portions
Preparation
- To prepare sauce: Heat oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender and just starting to brown, 2 to 4 minutes. Add garlic and jalapeño and cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add bourbon, increase heat to high and bring to a boil; cook until most of the liquid has evaporated, 2 to 5 minutes. Stir in blueberries, ketchup, vinegar, brown sugar, molasses and allspice; return to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, until thickened, 15 to 20 minutes.
- Preheat grill to high.
- Combine thyme, oil, salt and pepper in a small bowl. Rub the mixture on all sides of steaks. Grill the steaks 3 to 5 minutes per side for medium-rare. Let the steaks rest for 5 minutes before serving with the sauce.
Nutrition
Per serving : 309 Calories; 12 g Fat; 3 g Sat; 6 g Mono; 67 mg Cholesterol; 16 g Carbohydrates; 25 g Protein; 1 g Fiber; 430 mg Sodium; 462 mg Potassium
Exchanges: 3 1/2 lean meat
Barbecued Raspberry-Hoisin Chicken
From EatingWell: July/August 2007
Hoisin sauce along with pureed tart raspberries makes a wonderful Chinese-inspired marinade and dipping sauce for grilled chicken.
Plan ahead: The chicken thighs benefit from marinating for at least 2 hours before grilling.
4 servings | Active Time: 45 minutes | Total Time: 2 3/4 hours
Ingredients
- 1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries
- 3/4 cup hoisin sauce, (see Ingredient Note)
- 5 tablespoons rice vinegar, divided
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 strip (2-by-1/2-inch) orange zest
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh ginger
- 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- Pinch of crushed red pepper
- 1 1/2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs, trimmed, each cut into 3 crosswise strips
- 2 1/2 cups water
- 1 cup long- or medium-grain brown rice
- 1/3 cup thinly sliced scallion greens, divided
Preparation
- Combine raspberries, hoisin sauce, 3 tablespoons rice vinegar, garlic, orange zest, ginger, pepper and crushed red pepper in a blender or food processor. Blend or process until smooth, about 1 minute. Set aside 1/4 cup for a dipping sauce.
- Transfer the remaining marinade to a medium bowl and add chicken; stir to coat. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 24 hours.
- Combine water and rice in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to a simmer and cook until most of the liquid has been absorbed, 40 to 50 minutes. Remove from the heat and let stand, covered, until ready to serve.
- Preheat grill to medium-high or preheat the broiler to high.
- Meanwhile, remove the chicken from the marinade, scrape off excess (discard marinade), and thread onto 4 skewers, distributing equally.
- Grill the chicken until browned and cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes per side. If using the broiler, place the chicken on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray and broil 4 inches from the heat source until cooked through, about 5 minutes per side.
- Just before serving, sprinkle the rice with the remaining 2 tablespoons vinegar and 1/4 cup scallions; fluff with a fork. Sprinkle the chicken and rice with the remaining scallions. Serve with the reserved dipping sauce.
Nutrition
Per serving : 398 Calories; 11 g Fat; 3 g Sat; 4 g Mono; 86 mg Cholesterol; 44 g Carbohydrates; 28 g Protein; 4 g Fiber; 313 mg Sodium; 376 mg Potassium
3 Carbohydrate Serving
Exchanges: 2 starch, 1 other carbohydrate, 3 lean meat
Tips & Notes
- Make Ahead Tip: Marinate for up to 24 hours before grilling. | Equipment: 4 skewers
- Ingredient Note: Hoisin sauce is a thick, dark brown, spicy-sweet sauce made from soybeans and a complex mix of spices. Look for it in the Asian section of your supermarket.
Slow Cook Brisket
3-pound boneless beef brisket
1 small head cabbage (about a pound), cut into 8 wedges
1 large sweet potato (about 3/4 pound), peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 large onion, cut into 8 wedges
1 medium Granny Smith apple, cored and cut into 8 wedges
2 cans (10 3/4 oz each) Cream of Celery Soup
1 cup water
2 tsp caraway seed (optional)
1. Season the brisket with your favorite seasonings, or just salt and pepper, if desired.
2. Put the brisket in a 6-quart slow cooker. Top with the cabbage, sweet potato, onion and apple.
3. Stir the soup, water and caraway seeds (if desired) in a medium bowl. Pour mixture over the brisket and vegetables in the slow cooker.
4. Cover and cook on LOW for 8 to 9 hours, or on HIGH for 4 to 5 hours, until the meat is fork tender.
5. Remove the brisket from the cooker to a cutting board and let it stand for 10 minutes before slicing. Thinly slice brisket across the grain and put on a serving platter. Remove the vegetables and fruit with a slotted spoon and put on platter. Pour the juices from the cooker into a gravy boat and serve with brisket.
TIPS: Pair with your favorite dinner bread or Texas toast and you have a meal fit for a king!
Scotch Egg Review
Followed the recipe except for dry seasonings at beginning. Salt and Pepper on meat. Used 5 Rainbow hamburger buns toasted and food processed with .25 parts of Italian seasoned bread crumbs. Grilled one. Undercooked then overcooked but definitely must grill from here on out on this plan for flavor alone. Sliced some sweet onion/rolled in olive oil, crazy salt and pepper and grilled. Lettuce salad with cucumber slices quartered. Dressing is 1 Tablespoon mayo and a cup or so of Italian dressing. Georgia shrimp cocktail w/ AWESOME sauce.
Overall this was awesome and I had a fun time prepping all throughout the day. One step at a time. The idea gives me many ideas we can use for our plan in other flavorful ways. Good experiement
Baked Scotch Eggs
FF BAKED SCOTCH EGGS
Serves 4 to 6 … Adaptation of UK classic. This is good for picnics, snacks. Serve hot or cold
1 pound ground turkey
Seasoning (I used about 1 tsp. each dry mustard, dill and ground fennel, 1/4 teas. ground cloves, pinch of cayenne)
6 hard-cooked eggs, peeled
Salt and pepper (Phase 3 only)
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/2 Tablespoon water
2 slices toast, made into crumbs (or 1/2 cup ground flax seed)
Mix ground turkey with seasonings. Divide into six portions, flatten (I used waxed paper), and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Shape each portion around a hard-cooked egg.
Beat egg and mix in water. Roll egg in this mixture, then gently in breadcrumbs or flax seed.
Place on rack in a baking pan. (If your rack doesn’t have a non-stick finish, you need to spray it with a non-stick spray before placing eggs on it.) Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. Turn once after 15 minutes.
Can be cut into halves or quarters before serving.
–from jackmaryetc.com
Meyer Lemon
Gotta find me a meyer lemon / play with it / use it / eat it / enjoy it / and think of all the things I can do with it in our secret supper club. In case I can’t think of what to do with my meyer lemon I can always choose one or more of these 100 things to do with a meyer lemon.