I’m going spaghetti squash nuts over here. I can’t get enough of the stuff! My newest dish – spaghetti carbonara! This recipe is so far from the “original” carbonara that I’m not quite sure what to call it. Spaghetti (Squash) Not-Carbonara? It’s kind of a mouthful. I was determined to find a way to get all that rich awesomeness that a traditional carbonara has into a dish that has no butter, no cheese, and no pasta. So, basically not carbonara at all. But this dish definitely captures the richness of carbonara and it has some of the same components. I figured since I was so far off from the traditional pasta dish that I might as well go all out – no pasta, no butter, no cheese… might as well add in some sun dried tomatoes and spinach while we’re at it. Why the heck not?
Go on and make this now, ok? It’s delish, trust me.
for the squash:
1 large spaghetti squash
salt
freshly ground black pepper
olive oil spray
for the sauce:
6 strips bacon
2 small onions, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 large zucchini, diced
5 sun dried tomatoes, diced
3 egg yolks
2 tablespoons plain, unsweetened almond milk
salt (I used about ¼ teaspoon)
freshly ground black pepper (I used about ½ teaspoon)
Prepare the squash: Preheat oven to 350°F. Cut squash in half and scoop out seeds. Spray with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Place squash cut-side down in a baking pan and bake in preheated oven for 45 – 60 minutes, or until squash is easily pierced with a fork.
Meanwhile, prepare the sauce: In a large pan over medium heat, cook bacon until crispy, about 5 – 7 minutes. Remove to a paper towel-lined plate and drain off all but 1 teaspoon of bacon grease from the pan.
Add garlic, onions, zucchini and sun dried tomatoes to pan and cook until soft, about 10 minutes.
In a small bowl, whisk together egg yolks and almond milk. Remove pan from heat and slowly pour egg yolk into vegetables, stirring frequently to prevent eggs from scrambling. Stir until well combined. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Shred the flesh of the squash to create “spaghetti”. Place on spaghetti squash noodles on a plate and top with sauce.
Surprise, another recipe with tomatoes! I really shouldn’t complain about our abundance, because I know in a few short weeks winter will be here and a beautiful, tasty tomato will be pretty much impossible to find. Sigh. Wisconsin winters, I love you and hate you all at the same time.
I love fresh, easy dishes like this one. It makes me feel like I’m doing something good for my body. In my mind it cancels out all the Sour Skittles I eat and all the booze I drink. So, go for it – do your body some good and eat a dish with some super-grain quinoa and fresh summer veggies.
Shrimp and Vegetables in Lemon-Garlic Sauce
3 cups low sodium chicken broth, divided
1 cup quinoa
2 teaspoons olive oil, divided
2 large bell peppers, chopped
2 medium zucchini, seeded and chopped
2 lemons, zested and juiced
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
chopped parsley to garnish, optional
In a medium pot, bring 2 cups of chicken broth to a boil. Add in quinoa and reduce to a simmer. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until all the liquid has been absorbed and quinoa is cooked through.
While quinoa is cooking, heat 1 teaspoon olive oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add bell peppers, zucchini, and lemon zest and cook until vegetables are tender-crisp, about 4 – 5 minutes. Transfer vegetables to a bowl and keep warm.
Heat remaining teaspoon of olive oil in pan. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add in shrimp and cook for 1 minute. Stir in remaining 1 cup broth and lemon juice and cook until shrimp are pink and cooked through, about 2 more minutes. Remove from heat and serve over cooked quinoa. Garnish with parsley, if desired.
I’d like to say that I’ve grown from this experience. I think I have. I’ve learned to think about my life situation in a different light. I hope I can carry this wisdom with me as I continue in my “normal” life now. I’ve learned that I can live without so many things that I’ve deemed necessary in the past. That $5 after-work cocktail to unwind? No longer is it a necessity on a Friday. It’s a luxury. That $5 could feed a person for an entire flippin’ day. That $5 fed me for a day.
I’m well aware that living on a limited budget for a week doesn’t come close to the struggles that low-income families face for weeks, months, or years on end. It does, however, give me a better understanding and a new perspective. It was also a good reminder to why I volunteered for so many years at food pantries. It was the push I needed to get back out there again; because no matter how busy life gets or how hard it may seem, there is always time to help another person out.
What we ate on our last day:
Breakfast: oatmeal with egg (me) and whole wheat toast with peanut butter and banana (Mike)
Snack: grapes (me) and cookies and pineapple chunks (Mike)
Lunch: black bean soup with baked tortilla chips and guacamole (me) and sandwich with turkey, cheddar cheese, guac, and mustard (Mike)
Dinner: black bean soup
I will leave you with my favorite meal of the SNAP Challenge: spicy black bean soup with a cumin lime sour cream and baked tortilla chips.
Spicy Black Bean Soup with Cumin Lime Sour Cream
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 onions, chopped
2 carrots, diced
4 jalapenos, minced
5 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons cumin
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons white pepper
2 teaspoons dried oregano
6 cans (15 ounces each) black beans, drained but not rinsed
2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
7 cups water
for the sour cream: 1/2 cup light sour cream
1/4 teaspoon cumin
1 lime, juiced
salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 green onions, thinly sliced
baked tortilla chips (recipe below)
Heat olive oil in a large stock pot over medium-high heat. Add onions, carrot, jalapenos, and garlic. Saute until onions are translucent, about 3 – 5 minutes.
Add spices and stir until well combined. Continue to cook for 3 minutes, stirring frequently.
Add beans, tomatoes, and water and bring soup to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook until thickened, about 40 – 45 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare the sour cream: To make the sour cream, combine all ingredients in a bowl. Refrigerate until needed.
When soup has thickened, use an immersion blender and blend soup until smooth or use a blender to puree in small batches.
Garnish with sour cream and sliced green onions and serve with baked tortilla chips.
Today’s Feeding America prompt: “In November 2013, the government will cut SNAP benefits for all recipients. These cuts will be $36 for a family of four – dropping the average benefit per person per meal to under $1.40. How would this week have been different for you if you had even less money to spend on food?”
I’ve typed up a dozen really, really long responses to this prompt and I’ve deleted them all. Short version: you’re told to follow MyPlate guidelines for a “healthy diet”. Then you’re given a little over $4 a day to figure out how the hell you’re supposed to do that. How is a person supposed to fit low-fat dairy, lean meat, whole grains and tons of fruits and vegetables into their diet each day with $4? I haven’t quite figured that out. We had a lot less fresh fruits and vegetables around to snack on. My meal plan this week was also severely lacking in the dairy department. I couldn’t fit in milk into our budget for Mike, let alone lactose-free milk for myself! What if a low-income family had special diets to accommodate for? I’m hoping to give this Challenge a try again in November when benefits are cut (and when I don’t have garden produce). But I can’t imagine it going any easier.
What we ate today:
Breakfast: oatmeal with egg (me) and whole wheat toast with peanut butter and banana (Mike)
Snack: peanut butter toast with banana (me)
Lunch: macaroni and cheddar cheese (Mike) and pepper chicken with rice (me)
Dinner: spicy black bean soup with cumin lime sour cream and baked tortilla chips
Snack: raisins
I’ll be honest – it’s been hard keeping up with daily blog posts to document the SNAP Challenge. I’m already thinking about food a lot more than usual; having to not only cook, but photograph and write about it makes it even harder. To top it all off, I spend a lot of my free time reading food magazines and food blogs. Torturing myself, really. Writing about the turkey quinoa meatballs literally made my stomach growl. I’m so tired of eating chicken and bell peppers cooked different ways. I think I need a break from them after the Challenge is over. Sorry chicken, sorry peppers – it’s not you, it’s me. But, it’s not really me… in fact it’s 100% you.
That leads me nicely into today’s recipe from a blogger’s choice swap (not part of the SNAP Challenge). This time, I bring you a dish that I made a couple weeks ago (yup, no worries – we didn’t cheat during the Challenge!). This dish is something new, something different, something that doesn’t contain chicken or green bell peppers! Drum roll please… turkey quinoa meatballs!
Turkey? With quinoa? Yup. And they are awesome. I made a few minor changes to Ali’s recipe: I had a plethora of tomatoes to use so I used fresh tomatoes instead of canned. I also left out the cheese from the meatballs, but Mike had a little shaved on top of his finished dish.
I served the meatballs over spaghetti squash, but you can use regular ol’ spaghetti noodles if you would like!
Slow Cooker Turkey & Quinoa Meatballs with Spaghetti Squash adapted from Sparks from the Kitchen
2 1/2 pounds lean ground turkey
1 cup cooked quinoa
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for browning
2 teaspoons Italian herbs
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon white pepper
1 large sweet onion, cut into rounds
2 cups tomato sauce (I used homemade)
4 cups chopped fresh tomatoes
Pecorino Romano cheese, for garnish, optional
1 large spaghetti squash*
2 tablespoons olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
In a large bowl, combine turkey, quinoa, garlic, egg, olive oil, Italian spices, onion powder, salt and white pepper. Mix by hand until combined, being careful not to over-mix.
Roll meatballs into 1 1/2-inch balls and set aside.
Place sliced onions on the bottom of a slow cooker. Pour in 1 cup tomato sauce and 2 cups of the chopped tomatoes.
Heat 1 teaspoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Place meatballs into pan, being careful not to overcrowd. Brown meatballs on all sides. When browned, place them into the slow cooker on top of the tomatoes. Once you have half the meatballs in the slow cooker, top with another cup of chopped tomatoes. Continue to brown the meatballs and place them in the slow cooker.
When all meatballs are browned, add the remaining tomato sauce and chopped tomatoes, making sure all the meatballs are covered.
Cover and cook on low for 6 hours or high for 4 hours.
An hour before serving, prepare the spaghetti squash. Preheat oven to 450°F and lightly grease a baking pan.
Cut spaghetti squash in half and scrape out seeds. Season with olive oil, salt, and freshly ground black pepper. Place squash flesh-side down in prepared pan and bake for 30 – 40 minutes or until fully cooked. Remove pan from oven and let squash cool slightly. When cool enough to handle, scrape out the squash strands from the skin.
Place spaghetti squash on a plate and top with meatballs and sauce. Garnish with freshly grate Pecorino Romano, if desired.
Thanks again to Sarah at Taste of Home Cooking for hosting! Click on the link to check out the other delicious swap recipes!
Today’s Feeding America prompt: “We know that low-income Americans have to make choices between groceries, prescriptions, gas for the car, utilities, and other household necessities. After living on a limited food budget this week, how has your perspective changed about the decisions families facing hunger must make?“
Simply put? I can’t imagine it. Even thought I have limited our food budget, our scenario in no way even compares to what millions of families deal with on a daily basis. We were hungry, but we didn’t go hungry. I had the comfort of knowing that I could fail out of the challenge and get something to eat if we did run out of food. These families don’t have that option.
While Mike and I try to stick to a budget, we realize that sometimes things happen. We might need more gas one week. I might get sick and need to see a doctor or pick up some meds (Mike never gets sick…). Or my car brakes might decide to die. Or my car wipers might decide to stop working…. Yeah, my car is a trouble maker. But, we deal with these unexpected expenses. I honestly don’t know what I would do if I had to choose between gas to get to work or a meal for my family. Would I walk? Try to catch a ride from a coworker? What if someone got really sick? Do we go to the doctor? Do we pay for their medication? Having to choose between life essentials doesn’t seem right.
All these “what ifs” make it clear to me that programs like SNAP are essential for low-income families. It’s a good reminder to be thankful for what I have in life.
This Challenge is bringing about a lot of emotions. Mike and I talk a lot about food insecurity and poverty on the way to work. It’s a really intense way to start the day. Things are getting a little easier for me now. We only have 2 more days left of the Challenge and I can tell that we will have enough food. It’s still hard not having the luxury of eating whatever we want, whenever we want, but I’m starting to adjust.
Unfortunately, I think I’m also getting sick. All I wanted to do after work is eat a bowl of mango sorbet and go to bed. But I couldn’t. I couldn’t even skip making dinner because if I didn’t cook dinner that would mean I wouldn’t have lunch the next day. Blargh.
What we ate today:
Breakfast: savory oatmeal with an egg (me) and peanut butter toast with sliced banana (Mike)
Snack: peanut butter toast with 1/4 banana (me) and a cookie (Mike)
Snack: peanut butter toast with 1/4 banana (me) and turkey sandwich with mustard (Mike)
Dinner: chicken fajitas with guacamole, tortillas, and sauteed zucchini (Mike also had cheese and sour cream)
Snack: raisins
Easy Chicken Fajitas
for the chicken:
1 lime, juiced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
salt and pepper, to taste
2 boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 teaspoon canola oil
for the vegetables: 3 onions, halved and sliced into 1/4-inch pieces
2 bell peppers, sliced into 1/4-inch strips
salt and pepper, to taste
to serve: flour tortillas
sharp cheddar cheese, grated
light sour cream
guacamole (see below for recipe)
In a shallow bowl, combine lime juice, garlic, chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper*. Taste and adjust seasonings if needed. Add chicken and turn to coat. Cover and place in the refrigerator for 30 minutes, turning every 10 minutes.
Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat, Brown chicken and cook until cooked through and meat is no longer pink in the middle. Remove from heat and keep warm.
Using the same skillet, add vegetables and saute until tender-crisp, about 10 minutes. Slice chicken into 1/4-inch pieces and toss with vegetables. Serve immediately with tortillas and garnishes, if desired.
*I made a double batch of this marinade and mixed half of it in with my garden zucchini! I seeded the squash, quartered it, and then sauteed it with the marinade over medium heat for about 15 minutes until tender. Delish 🙂
This guac made not being able to have cheese and sour cream on my fajita a little more bearable. I ate a ton of it. Splurging on an extra avocado during the shopping trip was totally worth it!
Guacamole
2 medium avocados
1 lime, juiced
2 Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
1/4 onion, finely diced
1 clove garlic, minced
salt and pepper, to taste
In a medium bowl, mash avocados with a fork. Mix in lime juice, tomatoes, onion, garlic, salt and pepper. Stir until well combined.
Today’s prompt: “How has eating on a limited budget impacted your mood? Your concentration? How has that impacted your interaction with family and coworkers?”
I’m not as happy and motivated as I normally am. My concentration is a mess. I’m constantly thinking about food – whether we will have enough, when I can eat next, why the hell is my stomach always grumbling?!, what I will do if we run out of food. It’s definitely affecting my productivity at work. I can’t say my interactions with family and coworkers has really changed. The biggest change between Mike and me is that I am constantly asking him if he’s doing ok, if he’s hungry, if I can get him anything. I’m worried about him and obviously don’t want him to be hungry. I feel bad for making him go through this when he’s trying to study for his exams.
My energy levels are l-o-w. I went for a 7 mile run after work today and it… sucked. I don’t know how else to put it. My legs felt like lead the entire time. My stomach ached. I didn’t have gum to chew. At the end, my body felt like it had just done a 20 mile run, not a 7 mile run.
Here’s what we ate today:
Breakfast: toast with peanut butter (Mike) and savory oatmeal with fried egg (me)
Snack: red grapes
Lunch: three bean turkey chili with elbow macaroni
Pre-run snack: 1/2 banana each and a couple raisins
Dinner: pepper chicken with white rice
Snack: spoonful of peanut butter (Mike)
Snack: peanut butter banana oatmeal raisin cookies
The best thing I had today were the grapes. They were so sweet and juicy and I had to stop myself from shoving fistfuls into my mouth. I brought about a cup of grapes to work and rationed them throughout the morning. Every time I finished a project or approved a contract, I got to eat a grape. Oh, and the iced tea with lemon juice I had with dinner? So good. I’m usually a plain water kinda gal, but I really needed something else to drink!
I’m not gonna lie – dinner was pretty fabulous, too. During my run I went past a couple Chinese restaurants (and a few bars… and a few chocolate shops…) and it all smelled so good. Like it was taunting me. Jerks. I was sweaty, tired, and worst of all – hungry. I wanted to cave in and get takeout for dinner, but that obviously wasn’t an option. Thankfully, this pepper chicken hit the spot! Mental note: do not run down streets lined with restaurants/chocolate shops/bars/bakeries any more this week.
Takeout Fakeout – Pepper Chicken
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/4 inch strips 1 1/4 teaspoon black pepper, divided pinch of salt 1 tablespoon corn starch 1 teaspoon canola oil 2 small onions, halved and thinly sliced 3 cloves garlic, minced 2 chile peppers, thinly sliced, optional 2 bell peppers, thinly sliced 8 ounces mushrooms, quartered 3 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
steamed white rice, for serving
Sprinkle 1/4 teaspoon of the black pepper and the salt over the sliced chicken. Dust chicken with cornstarch until well coated.
Heat canola oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, Add chicken and cook until browned and cooked through, about 3 – 5 minutes. Move to a bowl and keep warm.
In the skillet, add in onions, garlic and chile peppers (if using). Cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are soft, about 3 minutes. Add in bell peppers and mushrooms. Stir in soy sauce, white pepper, and remaining 1 teaspoon black pepper until well combined. Cook for 3 minutes or until bell peppers are tender-crisp. Stir in cooked chicken and toss to coat with sauce.
Today’s Feeding America prompt: “How would this experience be different if your spouse and children were also eating off a limited food budget for the week?”
Well, I guess it wouldn’t be any different since Mike is doing the challenge with me. I actually think it would be more difficult for me if he wasn’t on it because he would have the luxury of eating whatever he wanted while I was stuck with what I’ve already purchased! That said, I think Mike would be happier if I were doing the challenge alone; he’s studying for some big exams this week and not having food to munch on has been hard for him.
Day 2 was a little more than Day 1. Yesterday, we spent a lot of time outside at the farmer’s market and just walking around outside. Today, it was raining the entire day. So, instead of doing our 7 mile run and doing other stuff outside, Mike studied all day and I worked on blog stuff. Sitting around usually leads to mindless munching for us, but this time it wasn’t really an option.
What we ate today:
Breakfast: oatmeal with brown sugar and raisins, tea, water
Lunch: sweet and sour chicken, white rice, tea, water
Snack: spoonful of peanut butter with raisins
Dinner: sweet and sour chicken, white rice, water
Snack: Mike had another spoonful of peanut butter
Late night snack: oatmeal with pepper, salt, and dried herbs
Sweet and Sour Chicken
2 teaspoons canola oil
2 chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch pieces
1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 bell peppers, seeded and chopped
2-20 ounce cans pineapple slices, chopped and juice reserved
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons corn starch
cooked white rice, for serving
Heat canola oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add chicken and brown on all sides, 3 – 5 minutes. Add in onion and garlic and cook until onions are translucent.
In a separate bowl, whisk together pineapple juice, brown sugar, vinegar, soy sauce and corn starch. Pour into skillet and stir to combine. Reduce heat to low and add in bell peppers and cook, stirring occasionally, until sauce has thickened. Stir in pineapple and let heat through, about 1 minute.
Today’s prompt from Feeding America: “What have you cut out of your routine to stay on budget (e.g. COFFEE)?”
On paper, I thought that little had changed in our routine. After a half day, I knew things were different.
I didn’t have snacks to munch on when I got hungry or a little bored. I’m used to being able to whip up a batch of kettle corn if I craved something crunchy. This week, I can’t do that. Mike’s used to having his morning (and afternoon and evening) coffee. This week, he gave it up and got tea instead since it’s a lot cheaper. My lactose intolerance was already hard for me to deal with since it’s so new. This week, I couldn’t fit almond milk or lactose-free cheese into the budget.
Our first day of the SNAP Challenge was already… well, a challenge. We did all our grocery shopping on Friday and planned to start the SNAP Challenge on Saturday. I didn’t sleep well that night. I had dreams about not having enough food for the week.
Breakfast for me was some oatmeal with a sprinkle of brown sugar and raisins and Mike had some whole wheat toast with peanut butter. We both had some tea and water with our meal.
Mike’s dad came in to town to visit and we went off to the farmer’s market with him. I always love going to the market, but this visit was a little less enjoyable – I couldn’t buy any of the fruits or veggies that looked good. I couldn’t give in to the freshly-baked breads. I instantly regretted spending all my money already, but I knew it was a smart move – buying food from the farmer’s market is way more expensive than buying it at Aldi.
By the time Mike and I got home, we were hungry. We didn’t have anything to snack on, so Mike drank tea while I threw together lunch (and dinner) as quickly as possible.
I had decided that chili would be a great meal to make during this week. I stretched the turkey by adding in lots of beans and I used simple ingredients to cut down on cost. I’m used to eating “chili seven ways” aka chili with elbow mac, cheese, olives, onions, sour cream, hot sauce, and Fritos. I obviously couldn’t afford to buy Fritos and olives to use as a garnish for one meal , so those were nixed. My main attraction to this chili was that I knew it would reheat wonderfully for lunch during the week (if it lasts that long…)
The chili was hearty and delicious. We ate it with elbow mac for lunch and then had it over a baked potato for dinner to switch it up a little.
Three Bean Turkey Chili
1 pound turkey
1 large onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
15 ounce can black beans, drained
15 ounce can kidney beans, drained
30 ounce can pinto beans, drained
2 quarts tomatoes, diced
2 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon paprkia
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
salt and pepper, to taste
1 pound elbow macaroni
garnishes –
light sour cream
2 green onions, thinly sliced
extra sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
Heat a large non-stick pot over medium-high heat. Place turkey in pot and cook until browned. Drain off excess fat. Stir in onion and garlic and cook until onions are tender.
Pour in beans, tomatoes, chili powder, oregano, cumin, salt and pepper. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to low. Cover and simmer chili for 30 minutes.
While chili is cooking, cook elbow macaroni according to package directions.
Place a serving of macaroni in a bowl and top with a scoop of chili,. Garnish with sour cream, green onions, and cheddar cheese.
Folks, we are up to our ears in tomatoes. Still. It’s been week after week of a million tomatoes. I did one round of canning and got 7 jars out of it. I think I’m all canned out for the season. It’s just not worth all the work.
Unfortunately, that leaves me with about 40 pounds of tomatoes to eat. Every week. I cook with them as much as I can. I bring them to work and try to pawn them off on my coworkers. I lure friends into my home and then won’t let them leave until they take some tomatoes.
Is it bad to say that I’m actually kind of sick of tomatoes? Even worse, a lot of the delicious tomato recipes I’m seeing are filled with my most recent nemesis – cheese (insert sobbing here).
Fortunately, there are recipes out there that are easily adapted to be cheese-free. This recipe happened to not only use up a decent amount of tomatoes, but I was also able to sneak in a garden zucchini and some of our garden hot peppers as well. Win!!
Chicken with Cherry Tomatoes, Corn, and Zucchini
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
salt and pepper, to taste
2 teaspoons olive oil, divided
1 lemon, zested and juiced
5 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups corn kernels (from 2 ears of corn or frozen)
2 medium zucchini, quartered, seeded, and cut into 1/4″ pieces
1 bunch green onions, whites sliced
2 small fresh red or green chile peppers, finely chopped
3 cups cherry tomatoes
4 cups arugula
1/2 cup parsley
Butterfly each chicken breast by cutting it in half horizontally and season on both sides with salt and pepper.
Heat oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Cook chicken 3 – 4 minutes on each side, or until cooked through and internal temperature reaches 165°F. Remove chicken to a plate and keep warm.
Add remaining 1 teaspoon olive oil to pan. Add in lemon zest, lemon juice, and garlic. Cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add in corn, zucchini, green onions, and green chiles. Cook until vegetables are tender-crisp, about 4 – 5 minutes. Stir in tomatoes and parsley and remove pan from heat.
Top each chicken cutlet with a handful of arugula and a healthy scoop of vegetables.
Here I am again, yelling from the rooftops about easy dishes. It seriously doesn’t get easier than this. Broth + leftover rice + chicken = dinner. Nice, huh? Simple enough that even Mike could make this 😉 I used leftover rice from the California Rice & Beans and that cut down on cooking time considerably. Brown rice takes about 40 minutes for us to cook, but the broth for this dish was ready in about 10 minutes. Having the leftover rice meant that I didn’t have to putz around for another 30 minutes waiting on the rice to finish!
Easy Japanese Chicken and Rice Soup adapted from Eating Well
2 cups cooked brown rice 6 cups low sodium chicken broth 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar 1/4 cup reduced sodium soy sauce 2 tablespoons mirin 4 eggs, beaten 1 boneless, skinless chicken breast, cubed into 1/2-inch pieces 1 yellow squash, quartered lengthwise and sliced 4 green onions, sliced and divided
Heat broth in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Pour in sugar, soy sauce, and mirin and bring to a simmer. Add chicken and squash to the broth. Gently pour in eggs and let cook for 2 minutes before gently stirring with a pair of chopsticks or a spatula. Stir in 3 of the green onions and allow to cook for 1 – 2 more minutes, or until chicken is fully cooked.
Divide rice between 4 deep bowls and top with the chicken mixture. Garnish bowls with remaining green onions and serve immediately.
DoughSeeDough 