Month: June 2017

A Bit Of Succotash

~ awombl1 ~ Leave a comment

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Another crock pot dish has made my life easier this week and is one that will freeze easy for go-to meals when I don’t have time or am not in the mood to cook. Succotash is an inexpensive go-to dish that is primarily veggie based and a southern favorite; a rich tomato-based fusion of flavor that can slow cook in the crock pot and make it easy to run errands, workout and live life. You can always spice it up with a pinch of cayenne for an added kick. I grew up with this dish made with sausage; however it can be made with or without it. At about $9 for the pot without the sausage, this dish is a must add to the line up. Give it a try and share your thoughts!

Succotash
Serves 8-10

Ingredients:
8 husks of corn
2 medium/large tomatoes
1 1/2 large bell pepper
1 large yellow onion
1 head of garlic (6 cloves of garlic) minced
1 14.5 oz can tomato sauce (no salt added)
1 6 oz can of tomato paste
1 lb (16 oz) smoked sausage of choice
1 cup frozen or rinsed and canned Lima beans
1 tbsp. coarse black pepper
1 tbsp. onion powder
1 tbsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. sea salt
1 tbsp. Italian seasoning
3 1/2 cups of water

Directions:
1. Shuck and rinse corn, then cut off cob and place in crock pot.
2. Peel onion and garlic; dice onion and mince the garlic and add to the corn.
3. Rinse and slice bell pepper before dicing and adding to the crock pot.
4. Rinse and slice tomatoes. Cut the whole sliced tomato in half (horizontal) then dice for smaller dice. Add to mixture in pot.
5. Slice and add sausage to the pot. Rinse and add Lima beans to the mixture or just add them in if using frozen.
6. Add tomato sauce and fill the emptied can with water twice to add to crock pot.
7. Add tomato paste and seasonings and stir well before setting timer to 4 hours.
8. Cook brown rice 30 minutes before timer is done.
9. Serve and enjoy.

 

A Bit Of Millet

~ awombl1 ~ Leave a comment

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Father’s Day yielded great family time and a few leftovers to be worked in to this week’s meals. I don’t know about you, but my dad taught me a thing or plenty about grilling and making it worth while. So in addition to the grilled buffalo steak and lobster, I have some grilled green onion sausage for sandwiches, grilled salmon for salad and an easy, one pot dish to stretch the rest. I’ve mentioned before that a little millet goes a long way. At less than $2 a pound at Whole Foods (self serve isle), 2 cups of cooked millet can make enough millet and vegetable salad for 8-10 servings. Millet is a wonderful whole grain that cooks like rice and is easy to replace in dishes such as pasta salad. With an abundance of summer vegetables in season such as bell peppers, cucumbers, tomato and corn (also technically a whole grain), it’s easy to make a millet salad both filling and full of flavor. This dish is also easy to add grilled or baked seafood (fish or shrimp) to for a complete meal. Check out the recipe below and enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 cup of dry millet
2 cups of water
2 husks of corn
1 large cucumber
1 large bell pepper
1 large tomato
2/3 cup diced yellow onion
1/8 cup lovage or parsley
1 medium juicing orange (1/8 cup)
2 small lime juiced (1/8 cup)
1/2 cup shredded carrot fresh (1 large carrot)
2 tsp sea salt
1 tbsp. coarse black pepper
1 tbsp. onion powder
2 tsp. cayenne

Directions:
1. Rinse millet in a small pot and bring to a boil with water. Cook for 20 minutes.
2. While millet cooks, shuck corn and rinse well. Cut from the cob into a medium-sized bowl. Peel and dice onion and add to the bowl.
3. Peel cucumber and cut around the seeded center like a box. Cut each fourth into strips and then dice. Repeat with tomato and set aside.
4. Add hot millet over corn and onion, once cooked and stir to cool and cook mixture.
5. Peel carrot and using a potato peeler or shredder, shred or cut ribbons of carrot into the bowl.
6. Slice and dice bell pepper and add it and the cucumber and tomato to the salad.
7. Chop parsley or lovage and add to the bowl.
8. Juice orange and lime into the mixture. Add seasoning and mix well.
9. Eat as is or with protein of choice.
10. Enjoy!

A Bit Of Prep

~ awombl1 ~ Leave a comment

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I have been diligently working on cost effective, tasty and filling meals to stretch my weekly food budget further. This week I decided on crockpot stewed chicken with a berbere rub from Red Stick Spice Company that I slow cooked with fire roasted tomatoes and tomato sauce. It was packed with flavor and perfect with millet and string beans. This week it will also be served over corn maque choux and also as quesadillas with a corn and kohlrabi slaw. I picked up most of the fixings from the farmers market on Saturday and the heavy lifting had already been done on Sunday. Since I knew this week would be a combo of outside lunches and dinners for my other commitments, I only needed to make one dish this week versus two to rotate between. If you are making this for 2 or more people for the week, adjust the recipe with double meat and seasoning and half extra of the tomatoes and sauce. Check out the recipe below and share your thoughts!

Ingredients:
1 package of chicken thighs (5-6 pieces)
1 large yellow or white onion
1 14.5 oz can diced and fire roasted tomatoes
1 14.5 oz can tomato sauce
1 14.5 oz low sodium chicken broth
1 head of garlic (8-12 cloves)
1 1/2 tbsp. berbere seasoning
2 tbsp. onion powder
2 tbsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. sea salt
1 tbsp. coarse black pepper
1 tbsp. olive oil
* 3/4 cup of millet (optional)
*1/2 cup water

Directions:
1. Rinse chicken and remove skin, then season it with 1/4 of the onion and garlic powder, pepper and the berbere seasoning.
2. In a large skillet over medium heat, heat olive oil. When hot, (2-3 minutes) add chicken and season other side with a 1/4 of the seasoning.
3. Sear each side for 3 minutes each in the olive oil.
4. Chop up garlic and onion between flips.
5. Put the chicken in the crock pot and top with garlic, onion, tomatoes and tomato sauce and half of the stock. (Use the rest for the whole grain (brown rice, or millet)).
6. Add the remaining seasoning, top and let it cook for 3-4 hours, depending on your crockpot.
7. *optional- cook millet with remaining stock and water with a pinch of salt for 20 minutes, like rice.
8. Add your favorite green veggie for a complete meal.
9. Enjoy!