Crockpot Mediterranean Beef and Rice

Nancy picked up a pound of grass-fed, antibiotic-free ground beef the other day.  My experience has been that this is often more gristly than most ground beef, so we decided to try it in a crockpot recipe so that it would have that long, slow cooking time to get tender.

I found a recipe on the Crockpot Ladies blog http://crockpotladies.com/crockpot-mediterrenean-beef-rice/ that is something I can eat, too.  So we made some small adaptations and used it for dinner.

INGREDIENTS

1 pound grass-fed ground beef

1 Beef bouillon cube

1/2 tsp turmeric

Freshly ground salt and pepper

1 1/2 Tbsp Garam Marsala (I made my own and saved what I didn't use - 1 Tbsp cumin, 1 1/2 tsp coriander, 1 1/2 tsp cardamom, 1 1/2 tsp black pepper, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp cloves, 1/2 tsp nutmeg - all in the ground state)

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1 16oz bag frozen mixed vegetables

2 cups water

1 cup pine nuts, toasted

2 cups cooked rice for serving

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS

Cook the ground beef in a skillet on the stove.  Drain off fat/grease.  Add all the spices and stir.  Dissolve the bouillon in 1 cup of hot water.  Add to meat and stir together well.

Transfer the meat and spices to the crockpot.  Add the second cup of water.  Add the frozen vegetables.  Stir and cover.  Cook on low for 5-8 hours.

Cook the rice.  Toast the pine nuts.  When the beef and vegetables are finished cooking, serve over rice, garnished with toasted pine nuts.

TOASTING THE PINE NUTS

I toast mine in a small, nonstick skillet over medium heat for about 5-8 minutes, stirring constantly.

Chestnut Stuffing

Our family's traditional Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners include chestnut stuffing.  And if there is too much to fit in the bird, then I'll cook the extra in a casserole dish.  But otherwise our chestnut stuffing is stuffed into the turkey.

The recipe is pretty simple.  I use Pepperage Farm's Herb Stuffing Mix.

INGREDIENTS

1 pkg Pepperage Farm Herb stuffing mix

10-15 chestnuts

2 stalks celery, diced

1 onion, diced

2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

3 Tbsp soy-free buttery spread (optional if using stuffing in bird)

2 cups very hot water or chicken broth

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS

Put the chestnuts and enough water to cover well in a saucepan.  Bring to boil.  Reduce heat and simmer about 15 minutes.  Remove from heat.  Using a paring knife, cut each chestnut in half and remove the shell and skin from the meat.  Chopped the chestnut meats and set aside.  I have found that often at least some of the chestnuts are bad - rotten, too hard, etc. - so I just throw those ones out.  I usually take 3 chestnuts at a time from the hot water - I think leaving them in the water until I'm ready for them makes them easier to peel.  And I always burn my fingers slightly peeling them.

Heat olive oil in saucepan.  Add diced celery and onions.  Sauté about 5 minutes, or until onion is soft and translucent.  Add chopped chestnuts and sauté another couple of minutes.

In a large saucepan, heat chicken broth and buttery spread.  Remove , from heat.  Add stuffing mix and celery/onions/chestnuts.  Stir until well mixed.  This can now be stuffed in the bird (or put in a casserole dish - follow stuffing pkg directions if doing that).

When turkey is done cooking, remove stuffing to serving bowl.  Then let turkey rest before carving.

Rigatoni with Roasted Pumpkin and Goat Cheese

We had a small pumpkin.  I used some of it in place of summer squash in the meatloaf I made Wednesday.  That worked out well.  But now I had 2/3 of a pumpkin left to use.  So I found this recipe on the Martha Stewart site, reduced amounts a little bit, and made some to take to the potluck at church today.  The original recipe, and other pumpkin recipes, are at http://www.marthastewart.com/314073/rigatoni-with-roasted-pumpkin-and-goat-c#Pumpkin%20Recipes%7C/274288/pumpkin-recipes/@center/276955/seasonal-produce-recipe-guide%7C314073

INGREDIENTS

1.small sugar pumpkin, peeled and cut into 1" chunks

1 shallot, quartered or eighth lengthwise

2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

8 oz rigatoni

Salt 

Freshly ground black pepper

1/4 tsp sage, or sprigs of fresh sage

4 oz. Crumbled goat cheese

1/2 cup pasta cooking water

2 Tbsp soy-free Earth Balance buttery spread

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.  Mix pumpkin cubes/chunks with olive oil, shallots, salt, pepper, and sage.  Put on baking sheet in single layer.  Bake approximately 25-35 minutes, tossing the pumpkin and rotating the baking sheet halfway through.  Set aside.

While pumpkin is roasting, cook rigatoni according to pkg directions.  Reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water. Drain pasta.  Mix together reserved hot pasta water and buttery spread until spread has melted.  Add goat cheese.  Mix together well while goat cheese melts.  Mix in with pasta.  Gently fold in roasted pumpkin and shallots.  Add salt and pepper to taste, and serve.

Crispy Sweet Potato Roast

A friend posted this on her Facebook page, and I just HAD to try it, adapted to my dietary restrictions.  It is from the Smitten Kitchen blog http://smittenkitchen.com/blog/2014/11/crispy-sweet-potato-roast/.

I made mine in our 10" cast iron skillet.

INGREDIENTS

5 or 6 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and thinly sliced (I used our mandolin)

3 Tbsp Earth Balance soy-free buttery spread, melted

3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper

2 shallots, peeled and thinly sliced

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Heat buttery spread and oil together until spread has melted.  Put 2 Tbsp of the mixture in the bottom of a 2 qt casserole or large cast iron skillet.  Sprinkle with freshly ground salt and pepper.  Place sweet potatoes into pan, standing them on edge in a circular pattern.  Place shallot slices between every few potato slice.  Brush remaining olive oil/buttery spread mixture over all.  Add more salt and pepper to taste.  Cover with aluminum foil.  Bake, covered, 45-50 minutes, until potatoes are tender and almost fully cooked.  Increase oven temperature to 450 degrees.  Remove foil, and roast uncovered another 10-20 minutes, or until tops of potatoes are nicely browned.

I ended up with it in the 450 degree oven 25 minutes, and then broiled it for a few minutes.  Still didn't get much crispy or browned to it.

Meatless Chili

This is a recipe from Nancy's family.  It's not something I can eat anymore.  But I used to like it a lot, and Nancy's been hungry for chili.  And how could I NOT make chili in this weather!

INGREDIENTS

6 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 onions, chopped

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 green peppers, chopped

1 large can diced tomatoes

1 6 oz can tomato paste

1 Tbsp brown sugar

2-3 cups frozen corn

1 46-oz V-8 juice

8 cups chili beans, 1/2 processed in food processor or blender

1/2 - 1 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp cumin

2 tsp oregano

Salt to taste

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS

Heat olive oil in large saucepan.  Add onions and garlic.  Sauté.  Add green peppers.  Sauté.  At this point sautéed veggies can be moved to large crock pot to finish cooking chili, or kept in the very large saucepan to finish cooking the chili on the stove.  Add all the other ingredients.  Simmer or cook on low until done. 

Spaghetti Squash with Pesto

I made some basil pesto last week, and I'm trying to use it up.  I had pesto pizza with goat cheese earlier, and I thought I'd have spaghetti with pesto sauce for dinner.  Then I remembered the spaghetti squash that has been lurking in the potato/onion/winter squash bin for a couple of weeks.  Why not have that with the pesto?

INGREDIENTS

1 spaghetti squash

1/2 cup water

Pesto

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Split the squash length-wise and remove seeds.  Place squash halves in baking pan, cut side down, with 1/2 cup water.  Bake 30-35 minutes.  Use a fork to flake off the spaghetti-like cooked squash and mix with the pesto sauce.  Serve in the squash shell.

The pesto sauce I use is homemade, using this recipe http://molliessoupkitchen.blogspot.com/2014/07/basil-pesto.html

Roasted Napa Cabbage with Bacon

WWe had a very large head of Napa cabbage that needed to be used.  I found this recipe http://www.thekitchn.com/easy-winter-recipe-roasted-cab-105338 at The Kitchn blog and decided that's the one I wanted to try.  I'm just not a big fan of coleslaws, and I wanted something warm these cold days.

INGREDIENTS

1 head Napa cabbage

Extra virgin olive oil

Salt and pepper

4 slices bacon

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Wash cabbage.  Cut into quarters.  Remove stem.  Cut each wedge in half, making 8 wedges.  Place wedges in baking dish.  Drizzle with olive oil.  Season with salt and fresh ground black pepper.  Cut bacon into strips and drape over cabbage.

Roast in oven about 30 minutes, turning cabbage wedges over about half-way through.

Spaghetti with Meat Sauce

I've finally gotten it all worked out so that I can have spaghetti without triggering any fibromyalgia inflammation and pain.  We bought some goat cheese Parmesan while in North Carolina in September, so that's the cheese I've been using.  Other times I have used Pecorino Romano, which I can find at the grocery store.  Using my homemade No Tomato Sauce, I can either have a vegetarian spaghetti sauce, or I can do like a did today and make a meat sauce.  I can also have spaghetti with my basil pesto sauce.

INGREDIENTS

1 pound ground chuck

1 small onion, diced

No Tomato Sauce

Marinara Sauce

Parmesan goat cheese, grated

Parmesan cheese

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS

Brown the ground beef and onion in a skillet.  Mix the cooked ground beef and onion with spaghetti sauce, some with No Tomato Sauce for me, and some with regular marinara sauce for everyone else.  Warm it up.  Cook the spaghetti noodles.  Drain.  Serve sauce over spaghetti, topped with grated Parmesan.

Chocolate Chip Blondies

Sharon requested butter pecan ice cream over blondies for her birthday dinner dessert.  I found a promising recipe from Taste of Home http://www.tasteofhome.com/recipes/chocolate-chip-blondies#.  and then asked Nancy to make the blondies, using substitutions that made them okay for me to eat, too.

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2  cups packed brown sugar

1/2 cup Earth Balance soy-free buttery spread, melted

2 eggs, lightly beaten

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup (6 oz) Enjoy Life mini chocolate chips (soy and dairy free)

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, combine brown sugar, buttery spread, eggs, and vanilla just until blended.  In a separate bowl, combine flou, baking powder, and salt.  Add to brown sugar mixture, stirring to combine.  Stir in chocolate chips.

Spread into greased 13" x 9" baking pan.  Bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean.  Cool before cutting into bars.