Pan Fried Rib Eye Steak with Tomatoes, Red Onions, Garlic

I was feeling like a good steak dinner today. When I made this I loved it so much that I thought I'd share:

Tomatoes, Red Onion, Garlic Sauce
Ingredients
2 Tablespoons Red Wine Vinegar
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
1/2 Cup Chopped Grape Tomatoes
1/4 Cup Minced Red Onion
1 Clove Minced Garlic
1 Teaspoon Pepper
1 Teaspoon Sea Salt

Combine red onion, garlic, red wine vinegar, olive oil in bowl. Let it sit for a few minutes so the onions and garlic can sit for a bit. Then add salt, pepper, tomatoes to the mix. While this is sitting...

Let's cook the steak.

Ingredients
1 10 oz Rib Eye Steak
1 Teaspoon Pepper
1 Teaspoon Sea Salt

In a medium saucepan, preheat to medium heat. While the pan is heating, pierce the steak with a fork a few times and add salt and pepper. Once the pan is hot, add the steak to the pan and let it cook on each side for 5 minutes, or until it is slightly pink on the inside. I like mine medium well, so you may want to cook each side more or less depending on how you like your steak. It also depends on how hot your range gets and what pan you use. Mine is nonstick, but I think a stainless steel pan would make the perfect consistency. Once it is done, put it on your plate and add the tomato sauce. It's that easy!

I made a side of roasted broccoli to go with my steak. I found a great recipe for this on foodnetwork. Click here for the recipe.

Healthy Lemon Chicken Dish

I am attempting to be healthy, and wanted to see how I could use less salt. I made this meal tonight and liked it so much I had to share.

I'm not going to get into detail about the veggies and the couscous, b/c you just steam or boil the veggies until they are soft enough but not so soft it loses its crispness.
2 heads of organic broccoli (stems cut off)
1 head of cauliflower (stems cut off)
2 tablespoons Agave Nectar
2 tablespoons cooking wine (I used the Japanese one shown in the picture)
1 teaspoon of lemon juice
Boil or steam your veggies, and toss it with the nectar, lemon juice and cooking wine. That's it.

As for the couscous, it's self explanatory. Just follow the box directions and you're set.

Now the chicken.
1 package organic chicken breast (3-4 pcs)
1tablespoon roughly chopped parsley
ground pepper
1 medium sized lemon

Preheat oven 450 degrees. Add chicken to a baking dish. Grease it if needed. Squirt the lemon onto the chicken until lemon has no more lemon juice. Add pepper on top of the chicken along with the parsley. Bake for 20 minutes. Voila. You've got a really healthy meal with barely any salt. The key is to not indulge. Just a handful of couscous and veggies, small piece of chicken and you're set. Add more lemon before serving if you'd like!

Roasted Broccoli and Cauliflower, Parmesan and Lemon

Happy New Year everyone!
I am starting the new year with a good long run, kirtan, yoga and meditation. So to continue my efforts with having a fresh mind, it would be good to have some good, healthy food in the system.

Over the holidays, I made roasted broccoli from a recipe I found on Food Network. It was so good, except that I had added a little too much salt.

Recently, I was at Trader Joe's, thinking about the same dish. Instead of buying stalks of broccoli, I decided to get a bag of cauliflower and broccoli. Well, I must say it turned out well.

Serving size: 2

Ingredients:
1 12 oz. Bag of Broccoli and Cauliflower Duet from Trader Joe's (pre-washed)
1/4 Lemon
1/2 Cup Parmesan Reggiano
2 Tablespoons Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt and Freshly Ground Pepper

Directions: 
Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Add foil to the baking pan and add broccoli and cauliflower. Drizzle olive oil, season with salt and pepper.  Toss to coat evenly and bake in the oven for 10 minutes.

Try to turn over the florets, they should be a little browned which is okay. This is what brings out the roasted flavor. Keep them close together, and add a layer of cheese and slide it back into the oven. The cheese should melt nicely, adding a crisp to the top of the florets, about 10 minutes.

Drizzle with lemon and transfer to a serving dish with a spoon or spatula.

Trader Joe's Butternut Squash Triangoli with Sauteed Mushrooms

We live in a day and age where sometimes we just don't have time to make things from scratch. I don't, at least and if I do, it takes hours of preparation.

I went to Trader Joe's and one of the items I found were these Butternut Squash Triangoli Pasta. It comes in the package pictured below. Sorry, I emptied it out already before I took the photo. I also bought a 10 oz package of sliced white mushrooms, and it was SO EASY to make and SO GOOD. I tell ya, I really liked it.

Serving Size: 2

Ingredients: 

Trader Joe's Butternut Squash Triangoli
10 oz Package of Sliced White Mushrooms
1T Olive Oil
1T White Cooking Wine
2T Non Salted Butter
2t Kosher Salt
2-3t Ground Pepper
Fresh Parmesan



Directions: 
For the mushrooms, turn range on to medium heat. Use a medium sized nonstick pan and add butter. When the butter melts, throw the mushrooms into the pan and stir constantly until mushrooms are evenly coated with butter. Keep stirring, then add white wine, salt and pepper. Sautee for about 5 minutes then turn stove off and move mushrooms to a plate. Do not clean the pan.

Follow the directions on the package for the Triangoli. When they are ready to go, drain then transfer Triangoli to the saucepan. Give it a good coat of the butter that is left in the pan and add the olive oil. Add parmesan and stir this in (optional). When transferring it to a serving plate, add the mushrooms on top or on the side. Add more parmesan and pepper.

Okay, it doesn't look that tasty with mushrooms on top of it, but it is really good! 

Corn with Sriracha

I got this recipe from my friends Erin and Mark who hosted a UT Football party at their place. It was so good that I made it for a brunch that I had. It was the highlight of the brunch, so if it succeeded at two parties, then hopefully it will do well at your party!

Corn With Sriracha 

Ingredients: 
1/2 Cup Mayonnaise
1/4 Cup Chopped Parsley
16 oz Bag of Frozen Corn (Erin and Mark used fresh grilled corn)
1/4 Cup Parmesan + a little more for topping
1 Tablespoon Sriracha

Directions:
Thaw out the corn by following the instructions on the bag. Throw it in a mixing bowl and toss it with the mayonnaise, parmesan, sriracha and lastly, the parsley. Add about a handful of parmesan on top. Finished! Yes, it's that easy.

What I'm making for Sunday dinner...

Braised pork shoulder with creamy polenta. Not sure how it tastes yet...it's just making my apartment smell amazing. Click on the link below for the recipe

Braised Pork Recipe 

Turkey Sausage and Broccoli with Quinoa Pasta

When I first heard about quinoa, I thought that it must be difficult to make. I've heard great things about it, like it contains essential amino acids, high in iron, gluten-free. So I was at a normal supermarket yesterday, and had decided to make my favorite pasta. When I was looking at the noodles, lo and behold, they had quinoa. The brand I used was "Ancient Quinoa Harvest", and the ingredients consist of organic corn flour, organic quinoa flour, dried organic spinach, dried organic beet and/or organic red bell pepper. The best part? Though slightly more than regular pasta, it was $2.50 for an 8oz. box. Uh... yeah. That's a keeper for me. This is a no nonsense, straight forward, healthy, and really tasty dish. It's definitely going to be a staple of mine. If it's not for you, then stick with pasta. It's still going to be tasty.

Ingredients:
1 8oz box quinoa-corn blend "Garden Pagodas" pasta (or replace with regular pasta such as fusilli)
1.25lbs sweet Italian-style turkey sausage, casings removed
2 stalks organic broccoli, cut into little pieces and stalks discarded
3 teaspoons dried and crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese
2 large cloves garlic, diced
1 Tablespoon olive oil


Bring a little more than 4 quarts of water to a boil. Add broccoli, and let it boil for 3 minutes. Remove broccoli and put it in a large bowl of ice water, save the water in the pot. Bring it to a boil for the pasta and follow directions on the box.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Once heated, add turkey sausage. Crush the sausage with a spoon until it is broken up and no longer red. About 12 minutes. Add garlic and red pepper flakes and stir. Drain broccoli, add to skillet and stir. Add pasta, stir and coat with juices. Stir in parmesan and serve immediately.

Okay, I also want to add how much I spent at Associated Supermarket in Fort Greene, Brooklyn
1 box 8oz quinoa-corn blend noodles - $2.50
1.25lbs sweet italian sausage - $4.50
2 stalks of broccoli - $2.99
Fresh parmasan -$2.99
Red pepper flakes - I bought this a couple of years ago
Garlic - I had from other dishes
Olive Oil - I had in my pantry
Total: $12.98 to make about 4 servings. Maybe a little more than 4. Yup. That works for me.