I’m Plotting a Comeback…

Celebrating Cinco de Mayo in NYC with my family last weekend

Hi Friends,

Oh my goodness how I’ve missed you. I’ve missed this space. I’ve missed spending precious time in the kitchen. I never intended to pull a disappearing act, but…well…life gets nutty and before I know it I find myself eating microwaved veggie burgers on an aruguala salad and calling it dinner. (And sometimes lunch….and sometimes in the same day.) Not exactly blog worthy. It’s been all good things, though. Still, I absolutely can’t wait to get back to making regular appearances and share the delicious things that will be going on in my kitchen.

For now, here’s a quick update on what I’ve been up to since you least heard from me, what I’ll be up to over the next few weeks, and when you can expect to see some scrumptious meals here again (soon)!

What I’ve been doing….

  • I completed Yoga Teacher Training at Corepower Yoga here in Chicago. It was an incredible experience – I learned so much and made so many wonderful new friends. Who wants to come to my classes when I start teaching?
  • I ghost wrote a book.
  • I’ve been writing regularly for magazines including Women’s Health, Men’s Health, Health, Bicycling, Fitness, Parade, Everyday Food, Every Day with Rachael Ray, and many more. So, yeah, I’ve been doing my job.
  • I traveled to San Francisco and Carmel by the Sea for a dear friend’s wedding in March.
  • I traveled to Miami to celebrate my sister’s 30th birthday in April.
  • I flew to New York City last weekend to visit my family and celebrate my birthday.
  • I got older (28) yesterday. Robert took me to Takashi, an incredible Asian-fusion restaurant in Chicago where we enjoyed a 7-course tasting menu and a fabulous bottle of wine.

Here’s what I’ll be doing over the next few weeks….

  • I start another Yoga Teacher Training at Corepower today (!!!) It’s a short five-week program that will enable me to teach at Corepower and share the rocking, sweaty yoga goodness with so many awesome students.
  • Next Thursday (holy moly that’s only a week away!) Robert and I fly to FRANCE for a week. We’ll be in Paris for five days and in Tours for two. Last night for my birthday he gifted me the two nights in Tours. Amazing! We’re even staying in a CASTLE! If you have any recommendations for things to see/do/eat in Paris or Tours please let us know!

When can you expect to see me here again (regularly)?

  • JUNE! Who knows, maybe I’ll have the opportunity to whip up something new this weekend (my Pinterest boards are overflowing with things I can’t wait to make/tweak/eat!) But I definitely intend to make it a regular habit to–first and foremost–cook real food (a.k.a. no more defrosted veggie burgers) and secondly share the sweet successes here with you.

Until then, I hope you have a delicious May and I can’t wait to see you again soon!

Love,

Paige

Quinoa Salad

I learned an important lesson this week that I’d like to share with you: When all else fails make quinoa. Yep, I’m fairly certain that’s going to be my motto from now on. You see I had absolutely nothing planned for dinner Monday night. And if you know anything about me you know that I don’t do well without plans–whether that’s what I’m doing this weekend (going to California, btw) or what I’m eating tonight. So not knowing what’s for dinner isn’t something that happens very often. There’s also the fact that I didn’t have any time to go grocery shopping this weekend so it’s not like I had a bunch of ingredients on hand that I could easily whip together. Sure, there’s always takeout, but when I get home from yoga I like to minimize the amount of time between when I step out of the shower and when I shovel food into my mouth. In other words, waiting 60 minutes for some greasy Thai noodles to arrive wasn’t an option.

So I opened my refrigerator and stared. Then I opened my pantry and stared some more. Finally, I stuck my face in the freezer and rummaged around. I continued the refrigerator-pantry-freezer routine for a good five minutes. I was this close to reaching for the eggs that were three days beyond their expiration date when, finally, my eyes landed on a gold mine: Quinoa. Then I remembered the bag in the freezer filled with some edamame. And the can of corn in the pantry. And the random assortment of veggies in the crisper drawer. Maybe it’s all of the pinning I’ve been doing (I. Can’t. Stop. Pinning.), but making a quinoa salad was one of the most effortless things I’ve ever done in the kitchen. (I later realized I’ve pinned about half a dozen versions of quinoa salads, yet didn’t think to follow any particular recipe–I’m sure they’re ingrained in my brain after looking at so many.)

Besides being easy to make (duh, it’s a salad) the thing about this dish is that it’s super filling for being a salad. I actually try to avoid eating salads and sandwiches for dinner because I like to eat FOOD and not, um, lunch. The quinoa itself is totally satisfying and the edamame, corn, and avocado definitely up the fill-me-up factor. I also whipped up a brand-new salad dressing using random ingredients on hand (hello half of a cava orange…what?) that happened to rock my world. (Recipe below.) I am completely converted now and will always have quinoa on hand for those planless dinners when I find myself doing the refrigerator-pantry-freezer tango. Bring it on.

Quinoa Salad
Serves 4

Ingredients
You can use whatever ingredients you have on hand. I didn’t do much measuring, so these are merely guidelines that can help steer you in a tasty direction.

For the Salad
1/2 cup quinoa (I used tricolor)
1 cup frozen shelled edamame, cooked
1 can corn, drained and rinsed
1/2 red pepper, chopped
1 avocado, cut into chunks
1/4 pound green beans, ends trimmed and blanched in boiling water

For the Rice Vinegar-Citrus Dressing
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp rice vinegar
Juice of 1/2 orange (I used cava, but any variety will do)
1/2 Tbsp Bragg Liquid Aminos (or soy sauce)
salt & pepper to taste

Preparation
Prepare quinoa according to package directions. Combine all salad ingredients in a bowl. Combine all dressing ingredients in a small container with a lid and shake vigorously until combined. Add dressing to salad (you may have more than you need for this recipe so only add as much as you like) and toss to combine.

Simple Dreams

This blog has nothing to do with food. However, it involves living a balanced life so I figured it’s fair game.

I follow a few blogs where I feel like I’ve started to see the writers’ dreams coming to life right before my eyes. I don’t know any of these bloggers personally, but sometimes I feel like I do. (A sentiment that I think is pretty standard in the blogosphere.) These people’s backgrounds vary widely from a 20-something Chicagoan launching a new website, to a food blogger who recently landed a cookbook deal, to a married team of wedding photographers whose careers are totally taking off (all the way to Australia, in fact). And I have to admit that as exciting as it is to see these strangers’ dreams becoming realities and to also see their dreams growing bigger and bigger, I’ve started to wonder: Are my dreams big enough?

Many people talk about setting goals, reaching for the stars, and aiming farther than you ever thought possible. Watching people—friends and strangers alike—manifest their own dreams is one of the most fulfilling things for me to witness in life. Any time I hear about someone working on a passion project while maintaining a full-time job I always want to encourage them to follow their heart and turn their passion into a career. Hanging on my wall directly above my computer is a hand-stitched sampler that my grandma made for me when I graduated from college. There’s a peach-colored angel with rosy cheeks and a halo surrounded by yellow stars with the letters D-R-E-A-M embroidered in green below it. The only tchotchkes I own (I don’t like clutter) are those that say “dream” because I felt they were worthy of the space that they occupied. For most of my life, dreams powered every decision that I made. Fact is, there’s no way I would have ever been a full-time freelance writer by the time I graduated college if I hadn’t been able to dream it first.

But lately, the idea of dreams makes me want to lie down and take a big, fat nap. It’s exhausting. What else is exhausting? Every time over the past few months when I asked myself to identify what my dreams were I felt like I didn’t have any. And that felt depressing. Or I’d come up with a few things that I thought should be my dreams and they just didn’t feel right. Where did they go? What happened to my mantra? When did I stop wanting more and start selling myself short?

Yet slowly, over time, I realized something: My dreams haven’t gone anywhere. They’ve just changed. And today my dreams seem so much simpler than they used to be. So much simpler, in fact, that I shrugged them off as not being worthy of the label ‘dreams’ at all. Other dreams felt so common—the stuff most people want—that they didn’t feel unique or exciting enough to actually be my dreams.

In some ways I feel so close to achieving some of my dreams that once they were within reach I no longer identified them as dreams. And just because you achieve one doesn’t mean you need to come up with another, similar dream that’s so much bigger, right? Because, for me, that sounds even more nap-inducing. At a certain point I think you need to stop, soak it all in, and admire what you’ve already accomplished. Otherwise, how are you ever going to be content if your dreams just keep expanding?

Not only have my dreams become so much simpler lately, simplicity is exactly what I’ve been dreaming about. Specifically, the time to enjoy the things that make me happiest in life—cooking, practicing and (one day) teaching yoga, and taking my dogs for long walks daily instead of 30-minute jaunts around the block. I also dream about being able to care for others (and perhaps little ones in the future)—a skill I’ve recently identified as something that I love, that makes me happy, and that I’m good at.

Of course I want to continue enjoying all of the wonderful things in my life including my career. But what I truly dream about isn’t all of the books I can one day write, but how can I find a balance between writing, yoga, cooking, and caring? How can I make space in most days for all of these things that keep me feeling happy, healthy, and balanced? What I’m noticing about these people with their big dreams coming true—and I’m sure they’d agree if I asked them—is that dreams often come with sacrifice: Sleep. Health. Relationships. Exercise. And I’m sure if I asked them they’d say it was worth it.

But for me, at this moment in my life, instead of adding more to my plate in pursuit of some wild dream, I just want to soak it all in. I want to ride the waves of what my dreams have already created so I can enjoy them and watch them unfold each and every day. As small and as simple as that may seem, that’s exactly what I’ve been dreaming about.

Fish Tacos with Cabbage Slaw, Spiced Beans, and Guacamole

I recently wrote an article for a magazine about the science of food cravings. Without giving too much away, one of the many interesting things I learned was just how powerful cues in our environment are for triggering cravings. So while you might think that a desire to eat a certain food appeared out of nowhere it can almost always be traced back to something you recently saw, smelled, heard, felt, or thought even if you weren’t aware of it at the time. Since writing that article I’ve tried to become more attune to where my urges to eat certain foods originate. I’m not interested in controlling cravings (there’s no food that I consider to be off-limits or bad), but I think that understanding cravings is just another step toward building a stronger awareness of my body and mind.

So when I experienced a sudden and very clear urge to cook and eat fish tacos last week I was instantly able to trace it back to a conversation I’d had several days earlier with a friend from yoga teacher training. (Oh, by the way, I’m currently doing power yoga teacher training (!!!) which explains why I’ve been MIA from here and from my kitchen lately.) But I didn’t want to eat just any fish tacos–I wanted fish tacos that had multiple layers of flavors and textures (like what you’d find at a restaurant) and this meal provided exactly that. I like to say it’s a Paige Special since I pretty much winged it. I loosely based the recipe on one my sister and I came up with via e-mail last summer when I made tacos on the grill outside with mahi mahi. But this time I used tilapia because it was cheaper and cooks more quickly–perfect for after a full weekend of yoga classes and training when you’ve got one night to relax and a full DVR.

What I love about this recipe is that most of it’s homemade: I made my own spice rub for the fish, my own guac, my own slaw (though I started with a bag of chopped cabbage), and even my own spiced beans. One day I’d love to make my own tortillas, but for the sake of time I used store bought. This recipe allows for lots of leftovers so after the first night I skipped the tortilla altogether and piled everything on top of chopped romaine lettuce for a fish taco salad, which is one of my favorite things ever. Between the spices and the bright flavors of the cilantro and lime I felt like this meal was a little preview-taste of spring. I’ve started to realize just how endless the potential combinations are when it comes to fish tacos and I’ve already begun  dreaming up different combinations of fish, spices, and toppers.

P.S. If you find yourself randomly thinking about fish tacos during your day I’m pretty sure I know why.

Fish Tacos with Cabbage Slaw, Spiced Beans, and Guacamole 
Serves about 4

For the fish:
4 tilapia filets
extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp cumin
2 tsp chili powder
2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp cayenne
Flour tortillas

For the slaw:
8 oz package of shredded cabbage (it may say cole slaw on the label)
3-5 Tbsp mayonnaise
Zest of 1 lime
Juice of 1 lime
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

For the spiced beans:
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder

For the guac:
2-3 ripe avocados, remove pit and scoop out of skin
1/4 of a large red onion, chopped
1/4 cups fresh cilantro, chopped
1 jalapeno, seeded and diced
Juice of 2 limes
1 tsp kosher salt

Preparation

For the fish tacos:
Combine spices in a small bowl. Heat skillet over medium-high heat. Pat fish dry. Brush one side with olive oil and sprinkle 1 tsp of spices evenly on each filet. Cook spiced-side down. Brush the opposite side with olive oil and sprinkle with 1 tsp of spices. Cook until slightly blackened about 3-5 minutes on each side. Remove from heat and set aside. Using the end of a spatula or a knife, gently flake fish into small pieces.

For the slaw:
Place all ingredients in a bowl and mix to combine. (It’s even better if you make it ahead of time and give it a chance to chill in the fridge before serving, but it’s not necessary)

For the beans:
Combine beans and spices in a small saucepan. Heat over medium-high, stirring occasionally, until beans are heated through. Remove from heat.

For the guac:
Mash the avocado with a fork. Add the rest of the ingredients and combine until desired consistency (I like it super creamy.)

To assemble tacos spread a layer of guacamole in the middle of a heated tortilla. Top with beans, fish, and slaw.

Quinoa-Kale-Roasted Veggie Salad with Hummus Dressing

I’ve mentioned before that recreating meals I eat at restaurants isn’t really my thing. There happen to be a few exceptions to this rule: If the meal is uber healthy; if it’s so delicious I find myself dreaming about it (true story); or if I can’t get it where I live. If it satisfies all of those conditions? Well, then I’ve got to find a way to recreate it in my own kitchen.

Simply put, this meal had to happen.

While visiting L.A. earlier this month I wanted to try some of their super crunchy raw/vegan places. (Yes, this is my idea of fun.) Fortunately, my dear friend Katie was more than game for fulfilling this mission and she had just the place in mind: Cafe Gratitude. We went there for lunch my very first day and to put it lightly it blew my mind. (And not just because we saw four celebs.) Cafe Gratitude is so completely awesome and yet entirely absurd. Why don’t we start with the names of the menu options? I ordered a drink called I am Gorgeous–a blend of lemon, kale juice, agave, and sparkling water. When the server brought it to the table he told me I was gorgeous. Sketchy? Nah. If I had ordered the I Am Rejuvenated, I Am Divine, or I Am Cool he would have told me I was all of those things, too. (Some days I like to think that he’d be right.)

For lunch I was fortified. And by that I mean I ordered a bowl of sauteed zucchini, kale, and quinoa, topped with a garlic-tahini sauce, a.k.a. I Am Fortified. Again: Mind. Blown. The ingredients were so darn simple, and yet the sum of the parts was so incredibly delicious and filling. Before I took my very first bite I already knew that this was something I’d have to make at home.

Since zucchini isn’t in season in Chicago in February, I decided to sub in roasted broccoli and cauliflower. (If the cauliflower looks highlighter yellow that’s because it is–I added a sprinkle of turmeric for an additional healthy kick and that’s what happened.)

Instead of regular quinoa, I picked up a bag of tricolor–a blend of red, black, and golden quinoa–from Trader Joe’s. As you know, I have a well-established obsession with kale. While I usually buy it by the bunch, I grabbed a container of the pre-cut kind from Whole Foods since I knew I was going to have a hectic week ahead of me. I also got to use my brand-new steamer basket (how have I lived this long without one?) for the first time to steam the kale.

Let’s talk about the dressing shall we? Now, if I had a nickel for every time I said “this salad needs some hummus dressing” I’d be a very poor woman. But after making this recipe I realized that I should have been saying that for years. So absolutely delicious! In truth, the dressing was pretty much an accident. I found a recipe for lemon tahini dressing online and attempted to make it. I followed the recipe with a few tweaks, tasted it, decided I nailed it, and then decided it needed something else: Chickpeas. So I added a can of drained/rinsed chickpeas and blended everything together. The result: A dressing that’s ever so slightly thinner than typical hummus (though the perfect creamy consistency) and with a few different flavors than regular ol’ hummus (such as a hint of dried oregano and the umami goodness of Bragg’s Aminos.) Once incorporated into the salad, the hummus dressing becomes almost as much a part of the meal as the broccoli and other components. So. Freaking. Good. And so satisfying, too. You could even say I was fortified.

Quinoa-Kale-Roasted Veggie Salad with Hummus Dressing
Serves: A LOT (about 6 to 8 meals in total)

Quinoa-Kale-Roasted Veggie Salad

Ingredients
2 stalks broccoli
1 head cauliflower
8 oz package kale (or about 2-3 bunches)
1 cup quinoa
olive oil
1 tsp turmeric
salt & pepper

Preparation
Preheat oven to 400. Rinse broccoli and cauliflower. Remove stems and cut broccoli and cauliflower into bite-sized pieces. Place on two separate baking sheets (one for broccoli one for cauliflower.) Drizzle olive oil on both. Sprinkle salt and pepper on both. To the cauliflower add 1 tsp turmeric. Toss to coat evenly. Place baking sheets in oven. Roast until broccoli and cauliflower begin to brown (about 20 minutes for broccoli and 25 minutes for cauliflower.)

Cook quinoa according to package directions.

Fill a big pot with several inches of water. Bring to a boil. Place steamer basket filled with kale into pot. Cover and cook until kale wilts–about 2 to 3 minutes. (You may need to do this in a few batches.) Remove steamer basket from pot, remove kale from basket to a bowl, and toss with a sprinkle of salt.

Hummus Dressing (makes about 1.5 cups)
Ingredients
1/4 cup tahini
3 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed
Juice of 2 lemons
4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp Kosher salt
Pepper to taste
1/4 cup plus 3 Tbsp warm water
1 tsp dried oregano
1 1/2 tsp Bragg’s Liquid Aminos (or use soy sauce instead)
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

Preparation
Combine all ingredients in food processor or blender. Process/blend until smooth. Add additional water or olive oil if you want a thinner texture.

To assemble: Place all ingredients in a bowl and use tongs to combine.

Banana-Date Smoothie

According to Greenfield family lore, my grandparents met at a party where my grandma, holding a platter of assorted dried fruits, offered my grandpa a date. “How’s Friday?” he asked. And the rest, as they say, is history.

Although I’ve always been grateful that my grandma didn’t offer my grandpa a prune instead, I’ve never been a big fan of the fruit that introduced my grandparents. Until now. This smoothie is unbelievable. It’s light, refreshing, and perfectly sweet. And if you have texture issues with dates (guilty!) they’re not a problem here because they completely break down in the blender * and combine with the other ingredients. The health writer in me wants to let you know that this smoothie would make an ideal post-workout drink because it offers a great balance of protein and carbs, which is important for muscle recovery. It would also be a fantastic option if you’re trying to go easy on dessert since it’s sweet enough to satisfy a sugar craving, but contains all good-for-you ingredients. (I imagine you could add some raw cacao for a chocolatey hit, too.)

No matter when you enjoy it, go ahead and drink up–guilt-free.

Date Shake
Serves 2

Ingredients
1 ripe banana, sliced
1 cup almond milk
6 whole pitted dates
3-5 handfuls of ice

Preparation
Place all ingredients in the blender. Cover and blend until smooth. Adjust ice to obtain desired consistency (less ice = more shake, more ice = more smoothie.)

*I highly recommend a high-tech blender such as a VitaMix. Standard blenders may not be powerful enough to break down the dates and ice completely and I’d feel really bad if I broke your blender.

Tex-Mex Chicken Stew (Slow Cooker)

I always thought that if you weren’t dining out for Valentine’s Day you should cook something with meat. What better way to show your love than with a thick, juicy pan-seared ribeye or boozy beef bourguignon? But as V-Day rolled around the idea of meat became less and less appealing to me. I had just returned from a week in L.A. where many of my meals were light and summery (think: fish tacos, mussels, giant kale, veggie, and quinoa salads, and especially daily fro-yo!) and the idea of beef just seemed…heavy. Plus, I wanted to show myself a little love that day and make it to a yoga class, which meant I didn’t have all evening to cook. There’s also the fact that since Robert would likely be working until 9 or 10 pm slaying accounting dragons I’d probably be dining alone (I can’t wait that late to eat!) So as much as I wanted to whip up something spectacular, I also wanted to be practical and make a meal we’d both enjoy that wouldn’t be too heavy and would provide ample leftovers that we could continue eating throughout the week.

Two things came to mind: Make it spicy (his fave) and use the slow cooker. I browsed through my slow cooker cookbook and landed on this recipe. Done. The heroes in this dish aren’t the main ingredients (chicken, corn, and black beans), but the things you add at the end: Chipotle chiles in adobo, chopped cilantro, and a squeeze of lime. Without them you’d have a pretty great chicken stew that’s similar to a chili. However, those garnishes brighten the flavors and the chiles lend a smoky depth.

While this meal is no beef stroganoff (a serious contender when I was recipe hunting) I’m pretty sure neither of us were disappointed. And in case I had any doubt, Robert’s text the next night at 10:15 pm when he got home from work and heated up dinner (“Best. Leftovers. Ever.”) was pretty high praise from a guy who loves leftovers.


Tex-Mex Chicken Stew
Serves 6 to 8

Ingredients
2 onions, minced
2 jalapeno chiles, seeded and minced
6 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbsp tomato paste
1 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 Tbsp chili powder
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes, drained
3 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs
Salt and pepper
2 cups frozen corn
1 15 oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
Canned chipotle chile in adobo sauce (I used 2 chiles, minced) plus 2 Tbsp adobo sauce
Fresh cilantro, chopped
1 lime

Preparation
Add onions, jalapenos, garlic, tomato paste, oil, and chili powder to a microwave-safe bowl (such as glass). Microwave in 1.5-minute intervals, stirring after each one, for a total of about 6 minutes, until onions are softened. Add to slow cooker.

Stir broth and tomatoes into slow cooker. Season chicken with salt and pepper and place in slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 4 to 6 hours until chicken is tender.

Transfer chicken to cutting board. Allow it to cool slightly and then shred using two forks. Stir corn and beans into slow cooker and cook on high for about 10 minutes. Add shredded chicken, chipotles, chipotle sauce, and allow to heat through–about 5 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Spoon stew into bowls. Garnish with chopped cilantro and squeeze of a slice of lime.

Turkey Meatloaf & Whipped Potatoes

I know what you’re thinking. Meatloaf? Really Paige? What is it, 1953? No, no it isn’t. But this isn’t your mother’s meatloaf. Or your grandmother’s. Or the one in Wedding Crashers. (Ma!) This stuff is delicious–packed with flavor thanks to savory sauteed onions and a sweet topping of ketchup. (It wouldn’t be meatloaf without it.) Not only did I make and eat meatloaf, but I served it at a dinner party of eight. That’s how much I trusted its crowd-pleasing abilities.

If you had asked me just a few months ago whether I had any interest in cooking or consuming meatloaf I would have said absolutely not. For starters, there’s the name. Must it be so descriptive? But my sister made it over the holiday, and from my first bite I was hooked. So totally comforting, and yet surprisingly light (credit the turkey meat) and tasty.

Yet the loaf (sorry) wasn’t the only star of this meal. I discovered a brand-new way of making mashed potatoes and I’m never going back to any other method. The secret is using the KitchenAid mixer. I stumbled upon a recipe in Cook’s Country just last week that suggested using the mixer and this meal was the perfect opportunity to give it a whirl. So here’s the gist of how you make these light-as-air whipped potatoes. (Full recipe is below.) Basically, you peel, boil, and drain the potatoes per usual. While they’re boiling you melt butter in milk in a saucepan on the stove. The potatoes go into the mixer with the whisk attachment. You start on low speed until they look like regular mashed potatoes. Then you slowly stream in the milk-butter mixture. Once that’s combined you blast the mixer to high and let the thing go to town, whipping its little heart out, for two to three minutes. The result: Perfectly fluffy taters with minimal effort. I served the loaf and potatoes alongside my current favorite green, sauteed haricots verts with shallots. (I doubled the original recipe.)

All puns aside, this meatloaf is an ideal dinner-party staple since most of the prep work can be done ahead of time and requires no effort or attention once it goes into the oven. And if nothing else, it definitely gives people something to talk about.

Turkey Meatloaf
Serves 8-10

Ingredients
2 large yellow onions, chopped
Olive oil
salt & pepper
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
3/4 cup chicken stock or broth
1 1/2 tsp tomato paste
5 pounds ground turkey (I asked the butcher to do 3/4 of it breast and the rest dark meat for added flavor, but for the lightest version you can do all white meat.)
1 1/2 cups plain bread crumbs
3 eggs, beaten
Ketchup

Preparation
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In a saute pan over medium heat, cook the onions, olive oil, salt, pepper, and thyme until the onion becomes translucent, but not brown–about 15 minutes. Add Worcestershire sauce, chicken stock, and tomato sauce. Mix until combined. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature.

Using your hands, combine turkey, bread crumbs, eggs, and onion mixture in a large bowl. Mix well. Shape into two perpendicular rectangular loaves on a foil-lined baking sheet. Liberally top both loaves with ketchup and spread evenly. Bake for 1.5 hours or until the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees.

Source: Barefoot Contessa

Whipped (Mashed) Potatoes
Serves 8-10

Ingredients
4 pounds russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch chunks
1 1/2 cups whole milk
8 Tbsp (1 stick) butter
salt & pepper

Preparation
Place potatoes into a large pot and cover with several inches of water. Bring to a boil on the stove. Boil until potatoes are tender, about 15-20 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat butter and milk on medium-low heat on the stove until butter is melted. Whisk to combine. Keep warm until ready to use.

Once potatoes are cooked, drain in a colander. Return potatoes to pot and mix with a wooden spoon until potatoes are dried. Add potatoes to bowl of a stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment. Begin on low speed until potatoes are mashed, about 30 seconds to 1 minute. Slowly add the milk and butter mixture until combined. Increase speed to high and whip until potatoes are light and fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste. Whip just a few seconds until incorporated throughout.

Source: Cook’s Country 

Chicken Saltimbocca & Sauteed Haricots Verts with Shallots

Chicken. Proscuitto. Sage. Squeezed lemon. Haricots verts. Shallots. Zest. Sounds fancy doesn’t it? Go ahead, let your husband/girlfriend/roommate/Mom/neighbor/schnauzer think so. The truth? This dish is ridiculously easy to make. Certainly easier to make than it is to say…chicken saltimBOCCA! And the green beans totally seal the deal for me. They’re pretty much the most exciting green beans (sorry….haricots verts) I’ve ever eaten. Plus, they involve shallots, which currently fascinate me–they’re in bulbs with cloves just like garlic and yet taste like mild onion. What’s up with that? Fascinating. If you’re currently in a chicken, steamed broccoli, and brown rice rut (or salmon,  spinach, and sweet potato as the case may be–trust me, I’ve been there) I’ve got your weeknight solution right here. No reservation necessary.

Chicken Saltimbocca

Ingredients
4 4-6oz boneless, skinless chicken breasts
salt and pepper
12 pieces of fresh sage
2 oz thinly sliced prosciutto (enough for 8 strips–2 per piece of chicken)
extra-virgin olive oil
1/3 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice (about one squeezed lemon)
1/2 tsp cornstarch

Preparation
Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Place 3 sage leaves on each cutlet. Wrap 2 pieces of prosciutto around each one, securing the sage in place. Heat a skillet over medium heat and add 1 Tbsp oil. Place chicken in pan and cook on each side until done (2 to 5 minutes per side). You may need to do this in 2 batches to avoid overcrowding the pan. Add additional oil between batches, if necessary. Remove chicken from pan to plate and tent with foil.

In a bowl, combine broth, lemon juice, and cornstarch. Stir with a whisk until smooth. Add to pan and bring to a boil, stirring with the whisk constantly. Cook until slightly thickened–about 1 minute. Spoon sauce over chicken or serve on the side.

Source: Cooking Light

Sauteed Haricots Verts with Shallots 

Ingredients
1 pound haricots verts or string beans, ends removed
1 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 Tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
3 large shallots, minced
salt and pepper
Zest of 1/2 lemon

Preparation
Blanch the haricots verts: Place in a large pot of boiling water for 1-2 minutes (until they turn bright green–string beans may take longer). Drain and place immediately in a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking.

Return pan to stove on medium-high heat. Add butter and olive oil. Once butter is melted, saute the shallots until they turn brown–2 to 5 minutes. Drain the string beans and add to the shallots. Saute, tossing well, until beans are hot. Season with salt, pepper, and lemon zest.

Source: Barefoot Contessa

 

Minestrone Soup (in the Slow Cooker!)

Will someone please put this argument to rest once and for all: Fifty percent of the people who ate this meal (me) think it’s pronounced minestrone (no eeeeeeeeee) while the other fifty percent of the people who ate this meal (achem, Robert) think it’s pronounced minestroneeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee. Anyone? Anyone? Maybe Giada could weigh in.

No matter what you call it, I was pretty darn pleased with how this soup turned out.  I’m no stranger to minestrone soup, but this was the first time I ever made it in the slow cooker. Why that’s awesome: It allowed me to use dried beans (so much better for you than the sodium-laden kind that come in a can crawling with the endocrine-disrupting chemical BPA), but without babysitting a pot on the stove for three or more hours. Slow cooker recipes rock for that very reason–lifting the lid disrupts the cooking process (because it allows steam to escape) so it practically forces you to spend your misty Sunday doing other things for about seven hours. Some suggestions for how to pass the time: Develop an obsession with Pinterest (I think I need a Pintervention) and watch Midnight in Paris. Just in case you were wondering.

Lately, I’ve been making a big pot of soup on Sundays and eating it for lunch throughout the week–an easy and delicious way to gobble up a heap of veggies at one time. As a matter of fact, I’m going to warm up a bowl of this minestrone right now. Mmmmmm.

Minestrone Soup (in the Slow Cooker!)

Ingredients
1 onion, minced
4 garlic cloves, minced
Extra virgin olive oil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
6 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1  (28 oz) can diced tomatoes
1 cup dried cannellini beans (directions for soaking below)
3 carrots, peeled and cut into bite-sized pieces
1 zucchini, cut into bite-sized pieces
1 bunch Swiss chard, stems removed and leaves cut into ribbons
1/2 cup small pasta such as mini elbows
salt and pepper

Preparation
To soak the beans: Place 1 cup of dried beans in a bowl and cover with water so water comes several inches above beans. Leave bowl, uncovered, out overnight. Drain before using.

To make the soup: Heat 1 Tbsp olive oil in a pot over medium-high heat. Add onion, garlic, oregano, red pepper flakes, and some salt and pepper. Stir occasionally until onion is softened, about 5 to 10 minutes. (Alternatively, you can place onion, garlic, oil, oregano, and red pepper flakes in a bowl and microwave, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes.) Whichever method you choose, once onion has softened, transfer mixture to slow cooker.

Add broth, tomatoes, soaked and drained beans, and carrots into slow cooker. Cover and cook on high 5 to 7 hours.

Stir in zucchini, chard, and pasta. Cover and cook on high until vegetables are tender and pasta is cooked, about 20 to 30 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Source: Slow Cooker Revolution