Quinoa Recipes Galore

We tried two new quinoa recipes recently and they were both phenomenal!

First up: Grilled Corn and Quinoa Salad.
Oh man.
This is so summery.
And oh so good.

It takes a little bit of time to chop up all the veggies, but trust me, it's worth it. This could totally be a side dish but we had it as our main meal with a side of grilled zucchini. It makes wonderful lunch leftovers. The original recipe calls for 2 cups of quinoa, which is what we made, but it seemed like wayyy too much when it was done cooking so I took out 1 cooked cup and saved it to make quinoa pancakes the next day.

Grilled Corn and Quinoa Salad

(Adapted from this recipe)

Ingredients

5 ears of corn, grilled

1 bunch green onions, chopped

1.5-2 cups quinoa

1 pint cherry tomatoes, chopped

1 bunch cilantro, chopped

Juice of 3 limes 

2 tbsp olive oil

S&P to taste

Directions

Prep & grill the corn (we just toss ears in a ziplock bag with evoo and s&p). 

When done, cut the kernels off the cobs.

Cook the quinoa.

Chop yo veggies.

Toss all ingredients together and voila!

Next up: Quinoa Pancakes.

I might just be in love with these.
I had them for the first time a few weeks ago for brunch at one of my favorite restaurants, True Food Kitchen. I knew then and there that I had to try to make them myself.

Surprisingly enough, they are way easier than you'd think!

Quinoa Pancakes

(Adapted from this recipe)

Ingredients

1 cup cooked quinoa

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 large egg

1 egg white

1 tbsp EVOO

1/4 cup milk

2 tbsp maple syrup (the good kind)

Directions

In a medium bowl, mix quinoa, flour, baking powder, and salt. 

In a small bowl, whisk together egg, egg white, evoo, milk, and syrup.

Add egg mixture to flour mixture and stir.

Heat your griddle or pan.

Make pancakes the way you normally do.

Serve with butter, maple syrup, some fresh berries, and my personal favorite: a dollop of plain Greek yogurt. Yes, seriously. Try it! I was totally skeptical the first time I tried it but it gives the pancakes a light taste and just the perfect tang to compliment the maple syrup.

I'm hooked, yall. 

Mediterranean Quinoa & Grilled Shrimp

This weekend we found a winner recipe: Mediterranean Quinoa & Grilled Shrimp.

Man oh man is this good!

As the days are getting warmer in Dallas, we've been craving lighter, fresher meals and the Mediterranean flavors in this dish totally fit the bill. Light, fresh, tangy, healthy and satisfyingly-filling are just a few words I'd use to describe this recipe!

We also love any opportunity to fire up the grill and cook outside (and this mom-to-be is more than happy to have the shrimp smell stay outside too!).

We decided to grill both the shrimp and the corn for this recipe, but you could totally make both inside if you wanted to!

Mediterranean Quinoa & Grilled Shrimp

{Adapted from THIS recipe}

Ingredients (Quinoa Salad)

1 cup (uncooked) quinoa

1 can of black beans, rinsed

2 ears of corn, grilled & kernels cut off

1 large avocado, diced

1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved

1/2 cup flat leaf parsley, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

3 tbsp olive oil

1 lemon, juiced

s&p

Ingredients (Shrimp)

1 lb shrimp

1 tsp red pepper flakes

1 tbsp olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

s&p

Directions 

Combine the shrimp ingredients in a ziplock.

Mix and let marinate while you prepare the salad.

Skewer & grill

(and grill the corn while you're at it!).

Cook quinoa according to package directions.

In a mixing bowl, combine remaining salad ingredients. 

Stir in the cooked quinoa.

Serve shrimp on top of the quinoa salad!

We found that this recipe made enough quinoa salad for about 4 servings - and it was wonderful as leftovers for lunch the next day. Also, it pairs fabulously with a crisp sauvignon blanc, according to Taylor :)

This is definitely making it onto our permanent meal rotation!

Baked Apple Chips

Lately I've ben scouring Pinterest for heathy snack recipes - this momma-to-be has been hungry! I try to keep a good stash of heathy snacks at home and work (and in my purse!), but variety is important so I'm always open to new ideas.

After seeing pin after pin for baked apple chips, I knew I had to try making them myself. 

Baked Apple Chips

Ingredients

2 apples 

(I used Jazz apples but I'm sure any kind would be good!)

Cinnamon

Directions

Preheat oven to 200.

Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Thinly slice the apples.

(Take out any seeds - and cut out any centers that look too tough)

Arrange apples on your baking sheet; make sure they aren't touching.

Sprinkle with cinnamon.

Bake for 1 hour, then flip.

Bake for another hour or so, until dry and chip-like.

Store in an air-tight container.

Just to be totally honest, when I started making these I thought the recipe seemed like an awful lot of work when you could easily just eat a fresh apple instead - and I've already been eating an apple a day for the past few weeks so I really started to wonder why I was going to all this trouble! 

But really, it's not that much work at all. It's super easy to cut up the apples thinly, and this is definitely the kind of thing you can just pop in the oven when you have some time & let cook without worrying about.

One recommendation: load your baking sheet up as many apple slices you can fit. They shrink and shrivel a little so by the end it looks like a much smaller quantity than you were expecting. And trust me, you'll want more than just one apple's worth of chips!

When the chips were done, I popped one in my mouth and was totally pleasantly surprised! It tasted just like a healthy, crunchy, fruit chip (shocker, right?). 

All of a sudden I realized why the slicing and 2+ hours in the oven was worth it - these are a fabulous way to spice up just munching on a regular apple. Plus, they totally have a satisfying crunch that could help squash a potato chip craving. Win!

Overall? Totally dig it and will be making these again. I want to try granny smith apples next!

Recipe source here.

On The Menu: Black Bean & Tomato Quinoa

I cannot get enough of this salad lately.
It's light, easy to make, and packed with filling protein.
Quinoa + black beans for the win!

Oh and did I mention that it practically doesn't have a scent? That's especially appealing to this pregnant person.

Over the past two months I learned that strong-smelling foods were my enemy. I'd get 15 minutes into preparing a meal and the smell would be so overwhelming that I couldn't finish cooking! Food and smell aversions are no joke, people. It actually became pretty comical by the middle of the first trimester: we'd meal plan at the beginning of the week and then realize by Thursday that all the meals had been total failures because I couldn't handle the smells.

So we turned to a lot of cold dishes. It was the only way to make sure that my sweet husband didn't end up eating cold cereal again for dinner. Or toast. We've been eating a lot of toast lately.

Anyway, we found this recipe about 4-5 years on Epicurious and absolutely love it. In the past, we typically made it as a side to this Fish Taco recipe - which is amazing - totally recommend it. Both recipes have cilantro & onion and just go so well together.

However, fish tacos have been out lately, for obvious smelly reasons. So we've been making this salad solo, or as a side to grilled (outside) chicken. And it always seems to make enough to have fabulous leftovers for lunch the next day.

Black Bean & Tomato Quinoa

Recipe adapted from Epicurious

Ingredients

2 tsp grated lime zest

juice from 1-2 limes* 

(*depending on size & how tangy you want the dish. I  typically use 2 small limes)

2 tbsp butter, melted and cooled

1 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp sugar

1 cup quinoa (uncooked)

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved

1 bunch of green onions, chopped

1 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped

Directions

Dressing: 

Whisk together lime zest and juice, butter, oil, sugar, and s&p in a large bowl.

Quinoa:

Stir 2 cups water + 1 cup quinoa in a pot & bring to a boil. Let boil for 10 minutes.

Partially cover and reduce to a simmer for 10 minutes until water is mostly absorbed. 

Remove from heat, put a paper-towel between the pot and the lid, and let sit for 10 minutes.

Add quinoa to dressing and toss until dressing is absorbed.

Then stir in remaining ingredients (beans, tomatoes, onions, and cilantro) and s&p to taste.

On The Menu: Quinoa & Veggie Stuffed Peppers

Stuffed Peppers are one of my favorite meals. They do take a little bit of time to make, but when they're done they're a hearty and filling meal. They also make awesome lunch leftovers.

Until last week, we had two favorite stuffed pepper recipes that we rotated between: the classic ground beef & rice stuffed pepper, and then a slightly healthier (and fancier!) ground turkey, feta, and quinoa stuffed pepper. Both are delicious. Now we have three favorite recipes.

Last week we tried (and loved): Quinoa & Veggie Stuffed Peppers.

Man oh man these are good. Oh and did I mention that they're only 260 calories each?

The original recipe can be found here. I modified things a little bit - as usual!

Ingredients: 

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 red onion, chopped

1/2 pound sliced mushrooms

1 cup chopped carrots

7 bell peppers 

(1 cored, seeded and chopped; tops removed from remaining 6 then cored and seeded)

1/2 cup chopped parsley

1/4 pound baby spinach

1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1 cup uncooked quinoa

S&P

1/2 cup roasted cashews

Directions: 

Preheat the oven to 350°F. 

Cook the quinoa according to package directions. 

(You can work on this while you're making the stuffing)

(I used half white quinoa and half red quinoa - so pretty!)

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. 

Add onion and peppers and cook, stirring occasionally until transparent.

Meanwhile, bring a large pot of water to boil. 

Submerge the (cored & tops removed) peppers for 2 minutes.

Let them sit in a glass pyrex dish while you continue making the stuffing.

Add carrots and then mushrooms to the onions & peppers, and cook until softened.

(Time saver - buy pre-chopped carrots!)

 Add parsley and spinach.

Let spinach wilt then stir in cinnamon, cumin and cooked quinoa and toss gently to combine. 

(Side note: cinnamon & cumin seemed crazy to me when I read the recipe - believe me, they are an awesome addition! Just do it! Your taste buds will thank you.)

Add salt, pepper and cashews and cook 1 to 2 minutes more. 

Divide quinoa mixture evenly among remaining 6 bell peppers, gently packing it down and making sure to fully fill each pepper. Top each pepper with a little bit of cheese. Because cheese makes everything better. Bake for about 30 minutes.

When they're done, eat and enjoy! 

And if you're hungry enough for a second pepper, go for it and don't even feel bad about it!

On The Menu: Sesame Crunch Bars

I love sesame seeds. Sesame bagels are my absolutely favorite.

When I came across a recipe for Sesame Crunch Bars, I knew I had to try it.

Here's the recipe:

Sesame Crunch Bars

Ingredients:

3/4 cup peanut butter

1 cup honey

1 tsp salt

3 cups sesame seeds

1 cup shredded coconut

1/2 cup chopped cashews

Directions:

Preheat Oven to 350.

Mix peanut butter, honey, and salt. Add the rest of the ingredients. 

Press flat into an oiled baking dish (13x9).

Tip: Use wax paper to press down to prevent it from sticking to your fingers!

Bake for 20-25 minutes.

Cut into bars.

Be warned - this recipe makes a TON of crunch bars! Definitely half the recipe - unless you want to eat crunch bars for a month!

I opted to use 1 cup of black sesame seeds and 2 cups of regular seeds. I think I was feeling too "foodie" at Central Market when we were shopping. The black seeds added an interesting color, but I think they also have a more intense flavor. One thing is for sure: they get stuck in your teeth pretty badly.

It was really pretty all mixed together.

At the last minute I couldn't help but chop up some chocolate chips and add them on top - the peanut butter flavor was just begging for some chocolate.

As much as I do love chocolate, I'd probably leave it out next time. It made the bars messy. Sigh.

So in summary: no black sesame seeds and no chocolate - just follow the recipe! That's so hard for me sometimes.

The mixture turned a pretty gold color in the over...you'd be able to see it more if I hadn't added black sesame seeds or chocolate!

These pretties found a place in the snacks category of our meal plan this week. Yum!

Recipe from these two lovely ladies!

On The Menu: Tilapia with Peppers and Olives

The past few weeks have been full of new dinner recipes for us! Typically I try to only work in one or two new recipes into our meal plan each week since they tend to take more time to prepare, but for some reason I've been on a new-recipe kick lately!

On the menu for last night was: Tilapia with Peppers and Olives (over Herbed Basmati Rice). I incorporated three recipes into our meal - I promise it's not as complicated as it sounds! In fact, the whole meal was very easy to prepare and didn't take very long at all.

First up: the fish! The original Tilapia recipe (found here) calls for the fish to be pan fried. Our kitchen stove doesn't have a vent over it, so whenever we cook anything, the smell permeates the entire house - awesome for things like cookies; bad for things like fish. So, I decided to bake the tilapia instead (it helps with the smell, trust me!).

I did a quick search online and decided on a Paula Deen recipe (found here). I adapted it a little bit: I used slightly less butter, cooked the fish in a glass Pyrex, and found that our fillets needed 20 minutes instead of 12 (maybe they were thicker?).

Next, I got started on the rice. I think the original intention of Tilapia + Peppers was to limit the amount of carbs in the meal, but I just couldn't bring myself to do that last night...so we added rice.

I did another quick search and decided to try my hand at Ina Garten's Herbed Basmati Rice. I took a few more liberties with this recipe (seeing a trend here?). First, we have a rice cooker that I absolutely LOVE, so I cooked the rice in that instead of in a pan. The rice cooker is easy and fast and turns itself off when the rice is done so you don't overcook it (genius!).

I added the rice, water, salt, and butter to the cooker and let it go to work. At this point I went on with prepping the pepper part of our dinner, but I'll  wrap up the rice part now so I don't confuse you!

Since I decided to make this side dish on a whim, I didn't have a bunch of the herbs listed in the recipe on hand. I only had fresh parsley and dried herbs. You gotta make due with what you have! So, once the rice was done, I added some chapped parsley, dried rosemary, and some S&P. I let the rice sit a bit while we prepped the rest of dinner.

Now on to the last part - the peppers! This is where I actually followed the original recipe pretty exactly (except for the part where I cooked the fish differently - ha!). Here are the ingredients and instructions:

Tilapia With Peppers and Olives

Ingredients

1 tablespoons olive oil

S&P

2 bell peppers (1 red, 1 green), thinly sliced

1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

1/2 cup pitted green olives (sliced lengthwise)
{We used garlic olives from the olive bar at our super market and they were perfect}

1/2 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped

2 tablespoons fresh lime juice

Directions

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat.

Cook the peppers and onion, stirring often, 5 minutes.

Stir in the olives, parsley, lime juice, and S&P into the vegetables. 

Serve with the fish.

I just love brightly colored veggies! Don't they just look healthy?

You might be able to tell that I also added in some orange pepper - the red, green, and purple were begging for it!

Scoop some rice into the bottom of a low-bowl, add a few scoops of veggies and peppers, and top with tilapia!

This meal was SO good. We were both thoroughly impressed with it! The flavor profile is Mediterranean - the lime and the herbs keep the dish bright and light, and the olives give each bite a good tangy taste. We'll be making this again for sure!

On The Menu: Carrot {Juicer} Muffins

Our juicer has been getting a workout lately! Taylor has been juicing up a storm & we've tried a plethora of juice recipes. My favorite juices tend to be "morning" juices - lots of carrots, apples, and oranges (and not very much celery, cucumber, or kale!).

One very common byproduct of juicing so often: leftover pulp! You can apparently do many things with leftover juice pulp: fertilize a garden, add it to a compost pile, feed chickens, etc. Since we live in a very small condo, in the middle of a city, without a backyard, we typically end up just throwing out the pulp anytime we juice.

Anyway, after a few weeks of throwing away veggie remains, I got the idea to search for a muffin recipe where I could actually use some of the pulp instead of throwing it away every time. Behold: carrot muffins!

I found the recipe on Pinterest here but made a few modifications. Here's my version of the recipe:

Carrot Muffins

(Typically makes about 18 muffins)

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/4 cup ground flax seeds

Pinch of chia seeds

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup sugar

3-5 cups of "shredded veggies"

(ie carrot pulp or apple pulp or anything you want to put into your muffins)

1/2 cup pecans (or any other nuts you have on hand: almonds, pistachios, etc.)

3 large eggs

1 cup vegetable

2 teaspoons vanilla

A sprinkle of oats for decorating

Preparation:

Preheat oven to 350°F and prep your muffin tin.

(Use pretty muffin cups so you smile every time you see one of the muffins)

Into a large bowl mix together flour, baking soda, flax, chia, cinnamon, and salt and whisk in sugar. 

Coarsely chop the nuts. 

Add carrot pulp and nuts to flour mixture and toss well.

In another bowl, whisk together eggs, oil, and vanilla. 

Add add to flour mixture, stirring until batter is just combined well.

Divide batter among muffin cups, filling them three fourths full.

Sprinkle on some oats as garnish.

Bake until puffed, 15 to 20 minutes.

The muffins are dense, filling, and healthy (at least I'd like to believe they are healthy!). I try to add in whatever I can to make them full of good ingredients - more nuts, dried fruit, etc. I want to try using apple sauce instead of so much sugar next time I make them. 

Typically I make a batch on the weekend and then we have them as breakfast or as a snack during the week (I consider 1 muffin a serving & we wouldn't have a muffin for breakfast and for a snack in the same day!).

In terms of storage, I put the entire batch into a gallon ziplock (after they've cooled) and keep them in the pantry for a few days and then move them to the fridge. We typically eat them in about 2 weeks - they were a little dry towards the end but still good!

My favorite way to have them for breakfast is to heat one up in the microwave for a few seconds, cut it into quarters, and then spread a little bit of peanut butter on each quarter. Yum!

On The Menu: Southwestern Chicken Salad

Last night we tried a new recipe for dinner: Southwestern Chicken Salad. This was originally a lunch recipe, but we made enough for 2 dinners and 2 lunches. The leftovers were awesome today!

It was healthy, fast to prepare and delicious!

I just love rotisserie chicken - talk about an easy ingredient!

Oh and did I mention that there practically isn't any clean up? We literally made the salads straight into bowls & tupperware containers for work.

We were a little rebellious and added in tomatoes and sprouts. We also used mixed greens in addition to just romaine. That's kind of what I love about salads - you can add whatever you love and the salad only gets better!

Our only downfall was the dressing. I followed the recipe almost exactly but felt like the lime flavor was too tart and the overall consistency was a little too thick. I think we'd definitely make this salad again, but in the future I'll probably plan to look up a few dressing recipes and see if I can make modifications.

Southwestern Chicken Salad

(Makes 2 servings) 

Ingredients:

6 cups romaine lettuce, chopped

1 cup rotisserie chicken, shredded

1 red bell pepper, sliced

1/2 cup canned black beans

1/3 cup greek yogurt

3 tbsp lime juice

1/4 tsp chili powder

salt & pepper 

Directions:

Divide the lettuce, chicken, bell pepper and beans into two dishes.

In a small bowl, whisk together: yogurt, lime juice, chili powder, and s&p.

Top salad with dressing.

Optional: add tomatoes, sprouts, or any other salad toppings you love!

Recipe courtesy of Robin Long & Drew Parisi!

On The Menu: Chicken Salad

Chicken Salad was on the menu for dinner last. It was a new recipe for us and it was a TOTAL success!

Seriously y'all, I am in love with this salad.

I don't know why but chicken salad has sounded so good to me lately. I had it a few weeks ago from Whole Foods as part of a little "adult" lunch box: chicken salad, crackers, cheese cubes, and grapes...and it was awesome! I've been craving it ever since.

About halfway through our meal prep last night, I learned that Taylor doesn't really like chicken salad - whoops! He was sweet though and said he would definitely try it and explained that he just really doesn't like the mayo part of chicken salad. I decided to go light on the mayo in hopes that he would discover just how delicious chicken salad can be.

Like the Lemony Scones & Beauty Bars I made this weekend, both recipes are from Drew Parisi and Robin Long. It's technically a lunch recipe, but we made it for dinner (and even had enough leftover for our lunches today!).

Chicken Salad

(Makes 4 servings)

Ingredients:

3 chicken breasts, cooked and diced

1/2 red onion, diced

2 cups grapes, halved

2 celery stalks, diced

1/2 cup walnuts, chopped

1/2 cup mayo

s&p

Directions:

Mix all ingredients and serve over a bed of lettuce!

Recipe Modifications: We used about half the amount of chicken (because I accidentally didn't buy enough!), but it ended up totally okay. We used green grapes, but I think red would have been okay too. We also coarsely chopped up the grapes since the halves seemed a bit large. Lastly, we also used slightly less than the 1/2 cup of mayo.

The verdict? Taylor loved it! I think he was used to those really thick, gooey chicken salads that you get on a sandwich - this wasn't like that at all. It was light and fresh and healthy. I loved it too.

We filled a bowl with a bed of greens: some spring mix, some romaine, and some arugula. We squeezed a little lemon over the greens and sprinkled on some salt & pepper. We added a few scoops of chicken salad, and then topped the dish off with sprouts. We love sprouts. So yummy!

This recipe is for sure being added in to our regular dinner rotation.

On The Menu: Winter Fruit Salad

We made this fruit salad for dessert last night. It has oranges, mangoes, kiwis, bananas, kumquats, and grapes. It's technically a "winter" salad - the recipe called for a pomegranate seeds but I couldn't find them anywhere. I hadn't ever added mangoes or kiwis to fruit salads before - they were an awesome addition!

On The Menu: Lemony Scones & Almond Beauty Bars

As you can probably tell, Taylor and I have been trying to eat very healthy lately. We're trying to incorporate as many fruits, veggies, and super foods into our diet as possible. We do generally eat pretty healthfully, but I feel like we've been kicking it up a notch lately! It's crazy how different you can feel based on the foods you consume.

Weekly meal planning helps us plan ahead and stay on track - plus, it makes me feel organized and confident that we're going to eat great (and healthy) things all week. It helps me to write out our meal plan somewhere - sometimes I use my phone and sometimes I literally write it out like I did this weekend. I'll post this week's meal plan later today!

This weekend I whipped up two new healthy recipes in preparation of the week ahead: Lemony Scones & Almond Beauty Bars. The scones are going to be breakfast for a few mornings, and the beauty bars are afternoon snacks. Both recipes are from Drew Parisi (a nutritionist - her website is here) and Robin Long (a Pilates instructor - her website is here).

I adapted the scone recipe a bit based on what I had on hand, but they turned out great! I swapped out 1/2 cup ground flax seeds for the 1/2 cup ground chia seeds, and then used 1/2 tsp chia seeds instead of the 1/2 tsp xanthan gum (what the heck is xanthan gum anyway!?). They were tasty and filling. I paired my breakfast scone with a hot mug of black tea - yum!

Lemony Scones

(Makes 6 servings)

Dry Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups almond flower

1/2 cup ground chia seeds

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp xantham gum

1 tsp cinnamon

pinch of salt

Wet Ingredients:

1 egg

2 tbsp maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla

zest of 1 lemon

1 tbsp fresh squeezed lemon juice

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.

Line baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a food processor, mix together dry ingredients.

In a small bowl, whisk together wet ingredients.

Add wet ingredients into the food processor with dry ingredients and pulse until combined.

Form into a ball of dough and place onto the prepared baking sheet.

With slightly wet hands, press the dough into an even circle, about 1/2 inch thick.

Score the scone circle into 6 wedges. 

Bake 10 minutes, cut through wedges to separate.

Bake for 2-4 more minutes.

Almond Beauty Bars

Ingredients:

1 cup raw almonds

1/3 cup pitted medjool dates

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

1 Tbs cocoa powder

1 Tbs raw honey

Directions:

Place almonds in a food processor and process into a fine meal.

Add remaining ingredients and process into a dough-like texture.

Either roll dough 1/2 inch thick and cut into bars or simply roll into energy “balls”.

On The Menu: Breakfast Smoothie

We love this quick and easy breakfast smoothie! It's delicious (tastes similar to a PB&J) and has a good amount of protein to keep you full throughout the morning.

Ingredients:

Banana (half or whole)

Pinch of chia seeds

2-3 heaping spoonfuls of greek yogurt

Handful of spinach

1-2 tbsp of peanut butter

4-5 big frozen strawberries

A good pour of chocolate milk

Directions:

Add everything to your blender & blend!

On The Menu: Gourmet Turkey Roll-Ups

Tried to make a new recipe for dinner tonight - Gourmet Turkey Roll-Ups - and kind of failed. The turkey wouldn't roll so the end product is turkey slices with avocado, goat cheese, mustard, and micro greens on a bed of salad. I'm sure it's still healthy even if it looks sad! #thepbp #healthyeating

On The Menu: Boeuf Bourguignon a la Julia Child

Taylor and I recently decided that we have a new mission in life.

A food mission.

Or, more specifically:

A cooking mission.

We love to cook.

In fact, we make dinner at home together just about every night.

We love it.

Little factoid you may not know?

Taylor is a mean chopping machine.

Set a stack of veggies in front of him, and in just minutes, everything will be perfectly chopped and set into size-appropriate prep bowls.

We consider ourselves pretty good cooks.

We have a good handle on all the "classic" stuff:
 chicken, fish, beef, soups, salads, pasta, sandwiches, etc.

We started branching out lately with slightly more complicated dishes like
brown-rice mushroom risotto

and
homemade chicken pot pie

and
restaurant-style pan-seared steak.

Mmmmm.

Our goal is to get really good at cooking well.
Not a bad mission, huh?

And so, a few weeks ago, we made a big purchase.
Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking"

First recipe we wanted to try?
Boeuf Bourguignon.
Beef stew a la delicious.

I followed the recipe as well as I could.
But I did improvise a little.

I love Julia's intro to the recipe: "As is the case with most famous dishes, there are more ways than one to arrive at a good boeuf bourguignon. Carefully done, and perfectly flavored, it is certainly one of the most delicious beef dished concocted by man."

Alright Julila, it's on!

The Ingredients
6 oz. bacon
[we used about 4 pieces of thick bacon]
1 tbsp olive oil
3 lbs of stewing beef (cut into 2-inch pieces)
1 sliced carrot
[I would double (or even triple) this next time]
1 sliced onion
salt & pepper
2 tbsp flour
3 cups red wine
2-3 cups beef stock
1 tbsp tomato paste
2 cloves minced garlic
1 crumbled bay leaf
1/2 tsp thyme

Directions
Start by prepping everything.
 I didn't and was running around like a crazy person trying to chop things while others cooked.
Also, pre-heat the oven to 450.

Chop the bacon into slices
[The recipe talks about lardons and doing something complicated to the rind.
I opted for just chopping the bacon the way it was]

Prep the meat - cut into two-inch pieces.

The recipe calls for lean meat, so we cut out as much fat as we could.

And prep the veggies.

Our onion to carrot ratio was clearly a little off.

(Like I said before, next time I'd use 2 or 3 carrots)

Heat the oil in an over-proof casserole dish.

Add the bacon and saute until crispy.

Take the bacon out with a slotted spoon.

[Sample bacon]

Keep the oil in the casserole - you'll use it in the next step!

Using a paper towel, dry off each piece of meat.
This will help the meat brown properly!
(Julia was totally on to something with this!)

Next, saute the meat, a few pieces at a time,

 in the oil and bacon fat until "nicely browned on all sides," and then set aside.

[The cookbook said to let the oil/fat get very hot 

before doing this ("until almost smoking," they said).

I didn't follow that direction very closely, 

and so my meat only slightly browned and instead just cooked a little.]

In the same fat, brown the veggies.

[Or in our case, brown the (mass quantity of) onions and carrot pieces!]

Then drain the oil.

Return the beef and bacon to the pan and toss with salt & pepper.

Sprinkle on the flour and toss to coat the beef.

Set the casserole, uncovered, in the oven for 4 minutes.

Take it out, toss the meat, and then put it back in for 4 more minutes.

(This will brown the flour and coat the beef with a light crust.)

Take the casserole out, and turn the oven down to 325.

Stir in the wine and enough stock so the beef is barely covered.

[I missed the barely part - I clearly went for fully covered instead!]

Add the tomato paste, garlic, and herbs.

Bring to a simmer on the stove.

Then cover the casserole, set it in the oven, and let it simmer for 2 1/2-3 hours.

During the 2 1/2 to 3 hour wait, you have plenty of time to cook the onions and mushrooms.

These aren't just any old onions and mushrooms. These are:

"Oignons Glaces A Brun"

and 

"Champignons Sautes au Beurre"

We're knee-deep in fancy french cooking here!

So the onions and mushrooms are technically an optional part of Boeuf Bourguignon

 (they even have their own recipes) 

But they really add to the stew so I totally recommend making them.

Champignons Sautes au Beurre

(Sauteed Mushrooms)

Ingredients

1/2 lb mushrooms

2 tbsp butter

1 tbsp oil

Directions

Heat the butter and oil.

Add the mushrooms (make sure they're well dried!)

Toss and shake the pan for 4-5 mins.

Remove from heat.

Try a mushroom.

And do a little dance.

Have you ever seen the movie Julia & Julia? 

This is part where Julie (the writer) repeats over and over: "don't crowd the mushrooms!"

I said that to myself many times as I was cooking them!

According to Julia (the chef), "successfully sauteed mushrooms are lightly browned and exude none of their juice while being cooked. To achieve this, the mushrooms must be dry and the butter very hot. And the mushrooms must not be crowded in the pan. If you saute too many at once, they steam rather than fry and their juices escape and they do not brown."

Whoa whoa whoa.

This is life changing stuff yall.

She is totally right!

You may have an urge to repeat the last two steps:

Try a mushroom.

And do a little dance.

Now that your world has been rocked, lets move on to the onions.

Onions Glaces a Brun 

(Brown-Braised Onions)

Ingredients

18-24 while pearl onions

1 1/2 tbsp butter

1 1/2 tbsp oil

1/2 cup brown stock

salt & pepper

herbs (parsley, bay leaf, 1/4 tsp thyme)

Directions

Heat the butter and oil in a skillet.

Add the onions and saute over medium heat (about 10 mins).

Roll the onions in the pan so they will brown evenly.

Then pour in the stock, s&p, and herbs.

Cover and simmer slowly for 40-50 minutes

(the onions will be tender but retain their shape - the liquid will have evaporated)

Remove from heat.

Now, back to our Boeuf.

When the meat is tender,
[and believe you me, after 3 hours, it will be wonderfully tender]
 pour the contents of the casserole through a strainer set over a sauce-pan.
[The recipe calls for a "metal sieve" - we used a plastic pasta strainer and it worked just fine]

Wash out the casserole and return the beef and bacon to it.
[Genius step btw - presentation is everything! Who wants to serve dinner in a crusty pot!?]

Distribute the onions and mushrooms over the beef.
[Swoon a little]

Now simmer the sauce for a minute or two, skimming the fat off the top.

You'll end up with about 2 1/2 cups of sauce.

Taste, and season if needed.

When it's slightly thickened, pour the sauce over the meat and vegetables.

[At this point you'll want to bring out your best china dishes

 because you'll realize that this ain't no ordinary meal.]

Serve with potatoes and a green veggie.

(It would also be delicious over noodles)

Next, take a minute and be amazed that you just made boeuf bourguignon.

Now sadly, I have to admit that Taylor and I were so focused on sitting down and trying our delicious creation, that we totally forgot to take a picture of it!

I searched online until I found something that looked slightly similar to ours!

(I just couldn't leave you hanging after all that, could I!?)

This dish was, without a doubt, the most impressive meal we've made to date.

It does take all day to make, and it is, really, just beef stew.

But it absolutely rocks.

Image/Via