Weeknight Dinners Archives - Zest Blog

Tangerine Beef

Alison — Sun, 13 Jul 2014 17:02:36 +0000

I am a huge fan of stir fry; you can prep ahead of time (or even freeze in the marinade), it is a great way to clean out the fridge, it is usually healthy and everything goes in one pot! This is one that BF has been loving lately. This is a take-out-at-home kind of meal that will leave you satisfied for Chinese without all the extra fat. I usually add peppers to this, but it would be a great beef and broccoli substitute also. The sauce is sweet and salty and the cornstarch help to reduce everything to nicely cover the beef. I have not tried it with other types of meat, but I am sure that would be great too. As a freezer meal, I usually freeze it with the soy and cornstarch and freeze the sauce in a separate bag to be added at the right point. Flank steak is a great cut of meat that tends to be relatively inexpensive. It can be tough, so marinading it really helps. I have also found that the cornstarch really gives this a bit of extra help making it super tender. I like to cook the meat on pretty high heat (even though it can cause a bit of smoke and splatter) but I think it helps to sear the meat and keep it juicy on the inside. I did find a great tip last week: if you cut the steak when it is partially frozen, you can get super thin slices. A really good knife is on my wish list, but that is how I make due with what I have! This originally came from Guy’s Big Bite on the food network and I have tweaked it a bit over time. Try it out for an easy week night meal!

Kelly

Tangerine Beef

3 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 pound flank steak or tri-tip, cut in thin strips on the bias

1 bell pepper cleaned and sliced

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons hoisin sauce

2 tablespoons honey

2 tablespoons chili sauce

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1/4 cup freshly squeezed tangerine juice (sometimes I cheat and use tangerine juice from Whole Foods)

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger

3 scallions, chopped

1/4 tangerine, zested

In a plastic bag combine the soy sauce and cornstarch and mix well. Add beef, cover, and let marinate for 20 minutes in the refrigerator.

Mix the sherry, hoisin, honey, chili sauce, soy sauce, and tangerine juice in a container and shake until combined.

In large pan or wok, heat oil on high. Add the ginger and beef and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. I like to do this in batches to get a really good sear, but you can do it all together if you have a great big pan!

Then add the veggies followed by the sauce mixture.

…and cook for another 2-5 minutes on medium heat until sauce thickens. See the bubbles?? J

Serve over brown rice and garnish with scallions and tangerine zest. Enjoy!

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Menu Planning

Alison — Mon, 04 Nov 2013 05:31:43 +0000

Menu Planning

Everyone is so busy now-a-days with duel working households, endless tasks and chores, the list always seems to go on. We are certainly no exception. BF and I both work and have our own activities keeping us busy. We also try to exercise and eat healthy. Just keeping the two of us fed for a reasonable amount of money and time invested often seems daunting.

We often talk about eating healthy and that there is a triangle you get to choose from: healthy, tasty and affordable. The caveat is you can usually only pick two. We are doing our best to work all three in as often as possible, but that takes planning. The best way we have found to stay on track is to plan our menu for the week and create a shopping list prior to our weekend errands. We sit down together and talk about the schedule for the week and what we would like to have.

I usually have some new recipe I have been wanting to try (usually inspired from my Pinterest boards). I also plan to have things that complement each other so I can cut down on the number of things we are making, for example rice with two meals or leftovers with lunch. We then make a list of what to get at the “regular” store and what to splurge on at Whole Foods. We seem to stay much more on track when we have a plan and don’t do as much impulse buying.

I am also working much harder at paying attention to coupons. I think you can get sucked in to couponing and end up buying things you don’t need, but for those things you buy anyway it is great if you can save a little. This week our store was offering a coupon for 10% off your groceries if you got your flu shot. So for a flu shot that was covered by my insurance, we saved more than $10 off our groceries…those things really do add up! I have even gotten pretty good at remembering to bring my own bags, which is now something we pay for in our town. I feel really good about myself when I remember bags and coupons!

You can see from our scribly menus that our system is not fancy, but it works for us. The latest menu goes on the fridge and we work together to make it work for the week. We often shop on Saturday and I prep on Sunday. That usually involves roasting chicken breasts and prepping veggies. I try to make sure we have things that are easy to pack for lunches (probably where we save the most money from this system). Mary, Ali, Geff and I recently had an all day cooking extravaganza to create some meals for the freezer…lots more on that to come…it has been so helpful to have soups and sauces, even ready-made meals on hand. It is so nice to be able to pull something out and know where it came from. Sometimes the best laid plans don’t work out (like when I forget to defrost the fish) but for the most part this helps us a lot! Do you do something similar? I would love suggestions!

Kelly

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Weeknight Dinner: Chicken Fried Rice

Zest Blog — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 19:56:46 +0000

There are some meals that you just go back to over and over again; this is one of mine. I started making this in college because my best friend, Robin, LOVED fried rice and we were looking for a way to make a healthy version at home. I started with this recipe from Tyler Florence but, as usual, I didn’t have all the ingredients, so I improvised. Since then, I have tweaked it and made it my own. Though I often throw in extra vegetables I have laying around or make substitutions, this is my favorite combination. The keys to this recipe are the fresh ginger and Hosin sauce, other than that, play around. We often cook extra chicken or beef on the grill to have on hand for lunch or so we have it available for recipes like this. You could also use shrimp or rotisserie chicken to make it easy. I like short grain brown rice for this, though it is traditionally made with white rice, there is enough flavor that people don’t notice the substitution. Plus, I think the brown rice gives it a nice bite. This is such a versatile recipe and super easy to make!

Kelly

Chicken Fried Rice

Ingredients
2 cups short-grain brown rice
4 cups cold water
1 (1-inch) piece ginger, peeled and sliced in 1/2
1 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon sesame or olive oil
1 teaspoon Mongolian Fire Oil (optional)
4 scallions, sliced thin (reserve some of the green part for garnish)
1 (1-inch) piece ginger, peeled and finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 cup sugar snap peas, chopped
1 cup pineapple, cubed
½ red bell pepper, chopped
1 egg, lightly beaten
¼ cup orange juice
3-5 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
1 ½ tablespoons hoisin sauce
2 chicken breasts, cooked and chopped
In a pot with a tight fitting lid, add the rice and 4 cups cold water. Put in the ginger and salt. Bring to a boil, reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook for 15 to 20 minutes. Remove from the heat and set aside for about 10 minutes. (I usually use a rice cooker so I don’t have to watch it, but you can prepare on the stovetop).

While the rice is cooking, prep the vegetables and chicken. Try to make all the pieces roughly the same size so they cook evenly.

Heat a wok or large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. When it is hot, pour in the sesame oil. Add the scallions, ginger, and garlic; stir-fry for 1 minute until fragrant.

Stir in the vegetables and orange juice leaving out the pineapple and cook for about 2 minutes.

Stir in the chicken to reheat, about 1-2 minutes.

Remove the ginger from the rice and add the rice and pineapple to the wok; stir everything together and break up any clumps of rice.

Add the soy and hoisin and stir some more.

Pour in the egg and stir-fry until cooked, about 1-2 minutes. Taste for seasoning and add more soy sauce if needed.

Stir in the additional green onion and serve.

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