Adobo Seasoned Chicken Breast with Tender Stem Broccoli

Not Your Local KFC

Ok, it has been a while since I posted - been a bit busy lately.  Tonight was the perfect night to change that.

What I wanted was a three piece white meet KFC chicken dinner with all the comfort food sides that come along with it (crappy mac & cheese, what is supposed to pass for biscuits, and overly processed slaw).  Instead, I stuck to my "no drive-thru crap food" pledge and drove past KFC to home.

Chicken is a blank canvas. Tonight I made up a quick little dry rub of adobo seasoning and sweet paprika. Place it on a grill and cook to an internal temperature of 165 degrees, turning so as not to overly char the flesh.

I have fallen in love with sauteing veggies in brown garlic butter. Tonight star in the pan was tender stem broccoli. I will confess to cheating - I used two Dorot garlic cubes - throw  them in so they dissolve down while the butter melts. Put your veggies in right after turning the chicken the first time.

15 minutes - fridge to plate and way better for you than three piece faux food...

Parmesan Crusted Tilapia with Couscous Cheese Stuffed Peppers

The great thing about Tilapia is that it is a blank canvas for food...blackening, seasoning, crusting. This tilapia was super easy - fresh fish, pre-packed filets. Simply pan fry in three tablespoons of oil (of course I used EVOO), three minutes on each side. Remember to have the oil hot, otherwise the crusting will stick to the pan and pull off the filet when you flip it.

The peppers were also super easy. Preheat an oven to 400 degrees. Cut off the tops, remove the ribbing and seeds...you might want to trim a bit off the bottom to help them stand upright. For the couscous, bring 1-1/4 cup water, 1 tablespoon of butter, some basil (3 dorot cubes), and some garlic (another 3 dorot cubes) to a boil. Stir in one cup of couscous, remove from heat, cover and let sit for five minutes. Now pull out a baking pan add water to cover the bottom 1/2 inch. Spoon the couscous into the peppers, sprinkle shredded cheese on the top, and place upright in the pan. The pan now goes on the center rack of the preheated oven for 10 minutes.

In total, just 15 minutes from cutting board to plate. Enioy...

Breakfast Made Easy

Cooking Time:  6 minutes
Clean-Up:  cutting board, knife, skillets and tongs

Were you to break into my home and check the pantry, you would discover that I don't have any cold breakfast cereal. It isn't that I am opposed to those - I love a heaping bowl of Frosted Flakes as much as the next guy - I just prefer something warm in me to start the day (especially this time of year).

On weekends, breakfast typically is eggs, a pork protein, and a side of fruit. It is light, quick, and a great way to get the day jump started. On days that I am feeling particularly lazy, I use Egg Beaters instead of regular eggs.  While they contain Xantham and gaur gum - they contain no egg yolks so they are a bit healthier for you. Also, because of their smoother consistency, I like them a lot better than real eggs for scrambled eggs and omelettes. Spritz a bit of olive oil in a medium hot skillet, and you are off to the races.

Now for the meat. Sure, you could do your standard thick cut slab bacon but, that would be boring. For this morning, I opted for an uncured back bacon (think a slightly goofier shaped Canadian bacon). This comes from the loin in the middle of the back of the pig and is a lean, meaty cut of bacon with a ham-like texture. I'm sure that I found this because fresh and easy is owned by Tesco - which happens to be headquartered in the United Kingdom. It is a much healthier choice and will not shrink down nearly as much as the bacon you are likely used to using (I have never once had to do the whole drain bacon fat into the old coffee can trick). I'm not saying that I don't love side or slab bacon (oh how I do) but, this is an offering that doesn't seem nearly as processed as the little circular Canadian style bacon we usually find in the United States.

The fruit garnish is even simpler - take a piece of fruit from the fridge (in this case an orange) and cut into pieces.  Now you have started your day right and let Tony the Tiger sleep in.

Lemon Pepper Herb Salmon with Basil Garlic Couscous and Veggies

Fun Cubes of Flavor

Cooking Time:  15 minutes
Clean-Up:  Pot, skillet, and tongs

Call this a "proof-of-concept" meal. Fresh salmon, baby carrots, green beans, and couscous. From fridge to plate in under 15 minutes.  I even used a new "cheat" - which I happened to fall completely in love with.

The Original Minute Rice

I didn't feel like adding the nutty, earthy taste of brown rice to this dish and that is where the couscous comes in.  Couscous is a different mouth feel than rice but, more importantly, it is a completely blank canvas and will be done quicker than brown rice. Earlier in the day I found the chopped basil and crushed garlic in the freezer section of my local fresh & easy market. Toss one of each into the boiling water and butter and it will do wonders for adding flavor to the semolina of the couscous. Once you've added the flavor and let it steep for another minute, stir in the couscous, remove from heat, cover and let sit for five minutes.

Don't Worry - The Black is Normal

Skinless salmon fillets are an easy cook. Crust salmon with herbs of your own choosing and sprinkle with lemon pepper seasoning. Gently place in a skillet of medium hot oil and cook two minutes per side. Then place in a 375 degree oven and cook three minutes more per side (it really pays to have a high quality skillet that can go from stove top to oven in a single swoop. If your seasoning forms a black crust then your oil was too hot when you started (yes - mine was). Don't panic if this happens - you will just wind up with a cajun style dish - which didn't bug me too much.

The end result is yummy, healthy, freshness that will never be found in any location that has you using internal combustion to wait in line for faux food. Bon appetit!

Firecracker Shrimp with Organic Ramen

Cooking Time:  10 minutes
Clean-Up:  Pot, skillet, and tongs

Yea - this took only ten minutes.  Hard to believe but if you plan for it, you can pull it off.  Granted, this was a kit from fresh & easy but, it is easy enough to re-create without the kit and a bit of work flow management.  

Cook You Little Yummies!

All you will need is some raw peeled (deveined) shrimp (I don't use jumbo for stir-frys - it is a shrimp to veggie ratio thing). Place in a skillet (or wok - if you have one) that has about 2-3 tablespoons hot oil (which, for me is olive oil). Heat for 5 minutes (make sure all sides are pink). While these are cooking off, get a pot of water going to a boil.  After five minutes you will want to throw in the veggies and start the ramen.  For the veggies I used the water chestnuts, red bell peppers, snow peas, and onions but; you can use just about any veggie you want.

Not Your College Ramen

The ramen tonight was a substitution for the plain-jane rice that I would normally use for a stir-fry.  This isn't the ramen that you are thinking of (plastic packet - crappy powered chicken season, etc)...this is real live, organic Chinese style wheat noodles. These are not the egg noodles that we normally cook in this country.  They will not take as long to cook and can overcook really easy.  That said, pull them after three minutes and let them drain.  By the time you have laid these out dump your sauce into the pan. Any sauce will do (sweet and sour or stir-fry for example) but don't use too much and don't let it scorch in the hot pan with the veggies.  You will only need to cook the shrimp, veggies and sauce a couple of minutes. Set it on the bed of ramen and enjoy. Ten easy minutes - well thirteen if you factor in the dishes you will do...

Ten Minutes to This!

Lemon Pepper Pork Chops with Basmati Rice and Asparagus

Simple Spices

 Protein and Veggies:  fresh & easy

Cooking Time:  20 minutes
Clean-Up: Pot and tongs (you just have to love grilling)
Tim's Additions: nothing but spice

So it has been a while since I blogged.  Between travel, volunteer, and work events; I have not been home to cook a lot. If ever there was a night where I wanted to bomb through a drive thru - this was it. In spite of the overly emotional end to the day, I came home ready to spark up the grill and get cracking on cooking.

So Easy Tim Can Cook It

One of the best things about grilling is the total ease of clean-up. Except for the plate and utensils I used to eat with, there is virtually no clean-up with this meal (something that I think is a factor when considering cooking for yourself versus the burger doodle). The thick cut chops were pulled from the freezer and defrosted during the day in the fridge. The rice I had on hand and the asparagus was in the easy, "micro-zap" kit - that will just take 2:30 in the microwave.

While warming up the grill, I started my prep for the rice and the chops.  The chops don't take a lot, just sprinkle the lemon pepper (and since it is from fresh & easy - it doesn't have any elongated chemical names that belong in a laboratory) on both sides of the chops. As with most dry rubs, be sure to use tongs and flip by grabbing the sides rather than the top or bottom of the meat.  The rice should be prepared as per the instructions on the package (again, for the love of God, don't use "minute rice").  I like to add some additional seasoning, in this case a salt free herb blend, to the water as it boils. In my opinion, this flavors the rice much better than trying to sprinkle it on after the fact.

Be sure to cook the chops to chops to the right internal temperature - to me that is 150 degrees (med/well) but, no more than 160 degrees (well). After pulling the meat off the grill let it rest and zap the asparagus.  Thanks for helping me dodge an emotional eating bullet.

Yummy!

Pork Chops with Roasted Apples, Mixed Green Veggies, and Cranberry Suace

My "No Dishes to Clean" Face

Protein: fresh and easy
Veggies: fresh and easy

Cooking Time: 40 minutes
Clean-Up: virturally nothing - just the plate you eat it from
Tim's Additions: nada - felt lazy tonight

So let's chaulk this tonight's dinner up to my, "worker smarter, not harder" attitude.  Everything tonight came pre-packaged and ready to heat. Couple of upsides to this - while the chops were cooking in the 375 degree oven I was able to finish off some database work (no 2 am night tonight) and the only dishes you are have to clean is the plate you eat it off of.

A Multi-tasker's Dinner - But Not Faux Food

The pork chops where pretty thick cut.  Remove the caramel citrus sauce, cover with foil, and place in the oven for 25 minutes - the package does say 17-22 minutes but, they were still too pink for my taste, hence the extra time. When it is done with the first round, pull it out of the oven and dump the sauce over it - throw it back in the oven for another 10 minutes.

When you pull it out of the oven, let the chops rest for a couple of minutes. This is a great time to zap the veggies - that will chew up another 2 minutes and 30 seconds (I don't run the veggies the full three minutes as I think it overcooks them).  I had some leftover cranberry sauce from Thanksgiving so this was a great opportunity to use it up. Plating is pretty straight forward.

Considering that I needed to remove plastic covers and use a microwave the meal exceeded expectations. The one thing I would have eliminated was the caramel citrus sauce...it just wasn't needed.  In fact, I think I would have fired up the grill and done something different with the pork - not sure what but, that "glaze" just didn't work for me...too sweet for my taste.  However, if I had done that, then it would not have been a great multi-tasker's dinner.