garlic – Fervent Foodie

I say frittata, you say… ?

July 24, 2011 8 Comments

If I ever volunteer to come to your house and make you breakfast, you should consider yourself very lucky. You should also consider yourself forewarned:

For no dish, no matter how simple, will the kitchen be left unscathed. What can I say? I like to become one with my food Winking smile

And yes, that IS a bottle of wine next to the eggs.

I’ve always wanted to make a frittata, and this Sunday morning I was in the mood to get my cook on so I decided to give it a shot. Once I started googling frittata recipes, I realized I was lacking a major piece of equipment: a skillet that could go from stove top to oven without causing a fire. Dangit. That’s going on the T.J. Maxx list.

Since I had my heart set on eggy bliss, I decided to just use a standard glass pie pan. Does that mean it’s not a frittata anymore? Hmmmm what would its proper classification be? I say frittata, you say….. frrrrreggcasserole?

Something to ponder as the man pours your mimosa.

This frittata consisted of:

6 egg whites
3 eggs
2 Hot Chicken sausages (casings removed, cooked and crumbled)
1 large handful chiffonade spinach
S&P, to taste
Frank’s Red Hot, to taste (plus more for garnish )
1/4 cup diced tomato
1/4 cup diced red onion
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
2 tsp minced garlic

While I cooked up the sausage, and sautéed the onion, mushroom, and garlic, I got to egg crackalacking. Once the sausage was cooked and the veggies were soft, I stirred all the goodies into the eggs then poured into a pie pan that I’d coated with cooking spray.

Into the oven at 350 degrees for 35 minutes, and you’ll end up with this beauty:

The frittata set up PERFECTLY. Perfect temperature, perfect cook time:

I started off with just a slice:

But ended up eating precisely half of the frittata…

Good news is the stats on half the frittata: 318 calories, 11g carbs, 11g fat, 41g protein, 3g fiber

Molto bene Red lips

Recipes

I say frittata, you say… ?

July 24, 2011 8 Comments

If I ever volunteer to come to your house and make you breakfast, you should consider yourself very lucky. You should also consider yourself forewarned:

For no dish, no matter how simple, will the kitchen be left unscathed. What can I say? I like to become one with my food Winking smile

And yes, that IS a bottle of wine next to the eggs.

I’ve always wanted to make a frittata, and this Sunday morning I was in the mood to get my cook on so I decided to give it a shot. Once I started googling frittata recipes, I realized I was lacking a major piece of equipment: a skillet that could go from stove top to oven without causing a fire. Dangit. That’s going on the T.J. Maxx list.

Since I had my heart set on eggy bliss, I decided to just use a standard glass pie pan. Does that mean it’s not a frittata anymore? Hmmmm what would its proper classification be? I say frittata, you say….. frrrrreggcasserole?

Something to ponder as the man pours your mimosa.

This frittata consisted of:

6 egg whites
3 eggs
2 Hot Chicken sausages (casings removed, cooked and crumbled)
1 large handful chiffonade spinach
S&P, to taste
Frank’s Red Hot, to taste (plus more for garnish )
1/4 cup diced tomato
1/4 cup diced red onion
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
2 tsp minced garlic

While I cooked up the sausage, and sautéed the onion, mushroom, and garlic, I got to egg crackalacking. Once the sausage was cooked and the veggies were soft, I stirred all the goodies into the eggs then poured into a pie pan that I’d coated with cooking spray.

Into the oven at 350 degrees for 35 minutes, and you’ll end up with this beauty:

The frittata set up PERFECTLY. Perfect temperature, perfect cook time:

I started off with just a slice:

But ended up eating precisely half of the frittata…

Good news is the stats on half the frittata: 318 calories, 11g carbs, 11g fat, 41g protein, 3g fiber

Molto bene Red lips

Recipes

Lazy girl’s guide to stir fry

June 21, 2011 6 Comments

Lately I’ve had very little motivation to cook anything. Not sure what the deal is—the heat, the sleep deprivation, the lack of time, or perhaps a missing muse—whatever the case my meals sure have been lacking.

A month or so ago (while still in this cooking rut), I made stir fry for the first time. I’m talking FOR REAL stir fry. Wok and all. (courtesy of five well spent dollars at Ikea)

I wasn’t really sure where to start with the stir fry. So I kinda just went with what felt right. Lucky for me what felt right was a super fast, super easy, super tasty lazy girl stir fry Surprised smile

Here’s what you’ll need:

Minced garlic and or green onion (obviously I prefer both)
Pre-packaged stir-fry veggies (I like FRESH not frozen)
Some sort of meat (shrimp, chopped chicken, beef, etc)
Some sort of sauce (something low sugar/low sodium.. teriyaki, Szechuan, or whatever your heart desires)
S&P
Minute Brown Rice

Ok, so first up, you get the water boiling for the rice. I usually go with 1/3 cup of rice and then overdo it on the veggies – but it’s really your call, lazy girl.. Your call.

Cook the rice according to the package instructions (aka, dump rice in boiling water, simmer 5 min, remove from heat 5 min, FLUFF!).

Meanwhile, heat up a wok (or sauté pan) on medium high heat. Get that baby HOT! Coat with nonstick cooking spray, toss in your garlic and/or onions, and then cook up your meat. I like to season the meat with some pepper and garlic salt. When the meat is cooked through, remove it from the wok, and toss in your veggies, and season with S&P. I use half a bag (6 ounces) of the Eat Smart vegetable Stir Fry mix for one serving.

I use a little spatula to toss the veggies about and get them slightly crisp. I’m still working on my wok-toss, so the spatula will have to do for now.

Occasionally add 1 tsp of water to the wok to help the veg get their groove on while simultaneously making you feel like a wok-BAMF. The pan should SIZZLE when you do this. I know you’ve got it in you!

When the rice is just about done, add the meat back to the wok, and add in about 2 tbsp of your sauce of choice. Give it a nice stir (or a few tosses if you’ll feeling crazy), then pour into a bowl along with the rice.

Then eat your face off.

Schezuan Shrimp:

Teriyaki Chicken:

Good wok, lazy girl. Good wok. Smile

Stats on 1 serving (1/3 cup rice, 6 ounces veggie mix, 4 ounces shrimp, 2 tbsp Szechuan sauce): 300 calories, 40g carbs, 5g fat, 27g protein, 5g fiber

Recipes

Lazy girl’s guide to stir fry

June 21, 2011 6 Comments

Lately I’ve had very little motivation to cook anything. Not sure what the deal is—the heat, the sleep deprivation, the lack of time, or perhaps a missing muse—whatever the case my meals sure have been lacking.

A month or so ago (while still in this cooking rut), I made stir fry for the first time. I’m talking FOR REAL stir fry. Wok and all. (courtesy of five well spent dollars at Ikea)

I wasn’t really sure where to start with the stir fry. So I kinda just went with what felt right. Lucky for me what felt right was a super fast, super easy, super tasty lazy girl stir fry Surprised smile

Here’s what you’ll need:

Minced garlic and or green onion (obviously I prefer both)
Pre-packaged stir-fry veggies (I like FRESH not frozen)
Some sort of meat (shrimp, chopped chicken, beef, etc)
Some sort of sauce (something low sugar/low sodium.. teriyaki, Szechuan, or whatever your heart desires)
S&P
Minute Brown Rice

Ok, so first up, you get the water boiling for the rice. I usually go with 1/3 cup of rice and then overdo it on the veggies – but it’s really your call, lazy girl.. Your call.

Cook the rice according to the package instructions (aka, dump rice in boiling water, simmer 5 min, remove from heat 5 min, FLUFF!).

Meanwhile, heat up a wok (or sauté pan) on medium high heat. Get that baby HOT! Coat with nonstick cooking spray, toss in your garlic and/or onions, and then cook up your meat. I like to season the meat with some pepper and garlic salt. When the meat is cooked through, remove it from the wok, and toss in your veggies, and season with S&P. I use half a bag (6 ounces) of the Eat Smart vegetable Stir Fry mix for one serving.

I use a little spatula to toss the veggies about and get them slightly crisp. I’m still working on my wok-toss, so the spatula will have to do for now.

Occasionally add 1 tsp of water to the wok to help the veg get their groove on while simultaneously making you feel like a wok-BAMF. The pan should SIZZLE when you do this. I know you’ve got it in you!

When the rice is just about done, add the meat back to the wok, and add in about 2 tbsp of your sauce of choice. Give it a nice stir (or a few tosses if you’ll feeling crazy), then pour into a bowl along with the rice.

Then eat your face off.

Schezuan Shrimp:

Teriyaki Chicken:

Good wok, lazy girl. Good wok. Smile

Stats on 1 serving (1/3 cup rice, 6 ounces veggie mix, 4 ounces shrimp, 2 tbsp Szechuan sauce): 300 calories, 40g carbs, 5g fat, 27g protein, 5g fiber

Recipes

Chicken & Wild Rice Soup

February 20, 2011 9 Comments

I’ve been meaning to post this recipe for quite a while, but am just now getting around to it. Dang you tax season. Dang you!

This is an incredibly easy soup to throw together, and as and added bonus it’s pretty low cal (not to mention tasty). Boo. ya.

I searched long and hard for wild rice, but could not find any at my grocery store. What the heck is up with that? So, I settled on some Rice a Roni Long Grain & Wild Rice:

I cooked the rice up according to the package directions (subbing in chicken broth for water and omitting the butter).

Then I heated up a large pot, sprayed it down with some cooking spray, and sautéed the following:

1 cup prechopped onion
2/3 cup chopped red bell pepper
1 cup cut carrots
3 teaspoon bottled minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
8 ounces baby bella mushrooms

My grocery store doesn’t have “gourmet” mushrooms, but these baby bellas always do the trick:

All the kids into the pool:

Once the veggies were softened, I added in a splash of chicken stock to decaramelize the brown bits on the bottom of the pan. Once I worked them all off the bottom, I tossed in the rest of the stock, and stirred in: