"I must be part Husky..."

Beans & Greens

-->

Yay! Another recipe post!

Since hubby did up the rest of the accumulated dishes today, I get to cook a nice dinner, right? Actually, this is kind of a one-pot-wonder meal, so I'm not too concerned. I found this recipe in the Jan/Feb 2011 issue of Cooking Light magazine. (Dang. All those stinking English classes and I can't remember if I'm supposed to underline the title of a magazine, or put it in italics. Well, in my defense, it's been a few years...) They put the recipe in the Budget Cooking section of the issue. According to their calculations at the time, this comes out to $1.75 per serving. Not too bad.

Of course, after making this about a thousand times since I found the recipe, I've made a few adjustments: I cut back from 2 cans of beans to 1, I use more bacon, (hey, it's bacon...) and, the original recipe was a little soupy for me, so I've cut back on the liquids.

FYI: Kale is is low in saturated fat, and very low in cholesterol. It is also a good source of protein, Vitamin E , Thiamin, Riboflavin, Folate, Iron and Magnesium, and a very good source of fiber, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Vitamin K, Vitamin B6, Calcium, Potassium, Copper and Manganese. Garbanzo beans (also called chickpeas) are very low in saturated fat and cholesterol and are also a good source of fiber, Vitamin B6 and Folate, and a very good source of Manganese. The canned beans are usually high is sodium, though. Make sure you rinse them well, or splurge and buy organic which are usually lower in sodium — check the label!

Cooking Light called it Garbanzo Beans and Greens. I just call it:

Beans & Greens

4 pieces thick cut bacon

1 c chopped carrots

½ c chopped onion

2-3 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp paprika

¼ tsp salt

½ tsp ground cumin

1 c chicken broth

½ c water

1 (15-once) can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained

4 c chopped fresh kale*

4 “dollops” plain yogurt, for garnish

Cook bacon in a dutch oven over medium heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pan and crumble. (Leave the drippings in the pan.) Set bacon aside. If the pan has a lot of yummy bacon-y stuff stuck to the bottom, you can release it by de-glazing the pan. Pour a splash of white wine (or chicken broth, I suppose...) into the pan, and CAREFULLY scrape up the bits.

Add carrots and onions to the pan and cook for about 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add garlic, paprika, salt and cumin, stirring constantly. Cook for ½ to 1 minute. Stir in broth, water and beans. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add kale to pan and stir until it starts to wilt a little. Cover pan and simmer 10 minutes or until kale is tender. Ladle into four bowls and top each with a bit of yogurt and ¼ of the bacon. Serve with crusty bread to sop up the juices, if desired.

*The original recipe says you can substitute collards or escarole for the kale if you like. I tried fresh spinach once, in a pinch. If you use that, it will wilt and become tender very quickly.

Dinner tonight!

Dinner tonight:

Venison steak with Bloody Mary sauce, risotto with spinach, and honey-ginger carrots. And, for dessert, grilled grapefruit!

Bloody Mary Sauce

1 tbsp olive oil

1 14 oz can diced tomatoes with oregano, garlic and basil, drained (reserve juice)

¾ c Bloody Mary mix

1oz vodka

Additional spices, if desired*

Heat olive oil in a small saucepan. Add drained tomatoes and saute about 5 minutes, until tomatoes start to break down.

Add Bloody Mary mix, vodka and any desired additional spices. Simmer until thickened to desired consistency. I also pulsed the sauce a few times with a stick blender to make it more thick/less chunky.

Serve over steak, pasta, eggs, etc.

* I've got a “Bloody Mary Sprinkle” that I keep on hand to give a little extra flavor to store-bought mix. It's made from 2 parts celery salt, 1 part onion powder, 1 part garlic salt, ½ part ground coriander and ¼ part dried pepper flakes of choice.

For the grapefruit, I cut it into wedges and coated each with brown sugar. We tried grilling them two different ways: right on grill and wrapped in a foil packet. Directly on the grill worked better. It heated through faster, and the sugar caramelized better and got kind of crunchy around the edges.

Skillet Chicken & Kale

Something new for dinner tonight! Feel free to swap out the pasta shape, use frozen or fresh chopped spinach instead of kale, add some sliced mushrooms, onion, and/or garlic toward the end of the chicken cooking time, use whatever cheese you have on hand, etc.

Skillet Chicken and Kale

2 c rotini pasta

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 pkg boneless skinless chicken tenders, cut into bite size pieces

2 Tbsp butter

2 Tbsp flour

1-1/4 c milk

Salt and pepper to taste

3 c coarsely chopped fresh kale

1 14 oz can diced tomatoes, drained

1 c shredded mozzarella cheese

Cook pasta according to package directions. Before draining, reserve a ½ c cooking water.

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook until browned and no longer pink. Set chicken aside and keep warm.

Add butter to hot pan, melting over medium heat. Sprinkle flour into butter and whisk for 2 minutes to cook flour. Add milk, salt and pepper and stir constantly until beginning to thicken.

Add kale to skillet and cook, stirring frequently, until kale is tender. If needed, add some of the pasta cooking water to thin sauce. Add tomatoes, chicken and pasta to skillet. When heated through, sprinkle with cheese, cover and turn off heat. Serve when cheese is melty.

Revamped Denim Skirt

Hello, all.

This is what I've been up to the last couple of days, selfishly making something for myself, instead of working on the countless projects I have partially completed for others. It is not an original idea of mine, though, as usual, it has morphed somewhat from the original. My inspiration came from denim-skirt-makeover-tutorial.

I started with a thrift store skirt for $2.99. No, wait. I think it was a 50% day, so, $1.50. 

  Next, I measured where I wanted the finished bottom hem to be, and cut. Gulp.

 Wow. That looks short.







From the cut-off part, I made the ruffle and sewed to to the bottom.

Cute, but needs the flower detail.

 


 Found a purple (I know the colors in the pics are bad) denim shirt in my fabric stash. Sewed a 2"x36" strip into a tube and gathered it.

 

Sewed it in a circle, and voila! A flower! 

 

 

  And, because I can't leave well enough alone, two more.

And, here's the finished skirt!

Mostaccioli Skillet

This is a family favorite. Tasty, quick, easy, cheap and you might have what you need on hand anyway. I even served it on my night to cook for a once-in-a-lifetime trip to Grand Cayman. I think that was the night we broke into song at the dinner table..."I Will Survive," I do believe it was...

Mostaccioli Skillet
1 lb ground beef
2 c mostaccioli or penne noodles
2 c water
1 jar/can premade spaghetti sauce, any brand/flavor
1 pkg (8 oz) shredded Mozzarella cheese

In a large skillet, brown ground beef until no longer pink. Drain any excess grease. Add pasta and water, cover, and simmer until the pasta is al dente, 6-8 minutes. Drain any excess water from pan.

Add spaghetti sauce to pan and heat through. Stir in the majority of the cheese, and when melty, divide among plates. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese.

New Dog in the 'Hood

Here's the denim ball I made for Iris, the Dog-Next-Door, for Christmas! She loves it!