One pot meal: Wilted Greens and Chicken Risotto (Veg adaptable)

I decided to skip Restaurant Week so I wouldn't wind up paying $30-$40 to be slightly bummed about abstaining from cheese and dairy.  If it's not a month where a dress-up restaruant is going to happen,  you need to cook yourself something a little more luxurious feeling.

How about a creamy, comforting risotto? There aren't tricky preparations or special tools needed or foreign, expensive ingredients. I still have not researched to find out if it is worth using an more pricey wine to cook with or not.  Can you taste the difference using a better wine? I had no wine, and think it still came out flavorful.

I did research on whether leftover risotto can/should be frozen and the general consensus is "no" as it changes the texture-won't be as creamy or will turn mushy. If you want to try, some suggested adding broth when you reheat it. Or when you cook it, leave the part you want to freeze al dente. I think I will just try eating mine all week long-not tired of it yet!

Modified this recipe  with what I had on hand and to be dairy free.

Risotto: Escarole, Spinach, onion sprouts-Chicken - 6 to 8 servings
-arborio rice (1.5 cups uncooked)
-4 cups homemade veg stock (or premade, but watch the salt added)
-4 cups rinsed/chopped escarole
-4 cups rinsed spinach leaves
-1/2 onion sprouts box from Suzies, rinsed (prob about 3/4 cup)
-1.2 lbs chicken breasts cut into 1" chunks*
-2 Tbsp coconut oil (in place of butter)
-1 tbsp canola oil or other veg oil to cook with
-1/2 tsp herbs de Province
-1 1/4 tsp salt
-2 tbsp sundried tomato flakes (random find at Marshall's or strips if you can't find, I usually pick up at Trader Joe's.)
-1/3 cup nutritional yeast flakes to substitute for the savory-flavor of cheese

*I think with all the flavor, vegetarians could substitute chicken for a flavorful, chewy veggie (maybe eggplant) or mushroom to add texture instead.

1. Put the veg stock and 4 cups of water in a large saucepan. Bring to boil and then cover, reducing heat to low.

2. Take chicken pieces and rub with 3/4 tsp salt and the 1/2 tsp of herbs de Province.

3. Melt 1 tbsp of coconut oil in a large pot on medium heat. Add chicken. Cook about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Check for doneness  (inside of chicken is no longer pink).

4. Remove chicken from pot. Add 1 tbsp of coconut oil to the large pot on medium heat. Cook the escarole and spinach until just wilted (3-5 minutes). Remove from the pot and set aside with the chicken.

5. Add the 1 tbsp veg oil to the large pot still on medium heat. Add the rice and remaining 1/2 tsp of salt to the pot. Add 1/2 cup of the broth and stir. Add the dried mushroom pieces. When liquid is absorbed add a cup of broth and stir ocassionally. Repeat until all veg stock is used or rice is cooked to desired doneness (about 30 minutes).

6. Stir in the onion sprouts, wilted greens, sundried tomato flakes/pieces, chicken and nutritional yeast flakes

What do you do as a splurge (food or anything)?

Testing the Vegan Tamales Dough-and using leftover rice!

Previously, I listed tamales as a possible to use root tops in place of spinach. And last year I tested a vegetarian (uses butter) tamale recipe for black eyed peas.  Well, I got around to testing the vegan version this weekend as part of my detox. It was a success and no heavy feeling stomach from dairy!

In general was fearful of making tamales for the longest time until I went to the San Diego Fair a few years ago and watched a cooking demo. I had heard that people would get the whole family together at Christmas time doing an all day assembly line gave me the impression of it being labor intensive. But I think families make tamales for the season and freeze them or give them away. It also seems like a big social event for them.

I tend to make in batches of a dozen or two so I can make them solo and just spend an afternoon doing it. However, I could see myself having a tamale making party with friends and family. Perhaps a birthday gathering idea for 2013! Love that tamales are versatile, like pizzas, sushi, burritos...you can try putting whatever you have on hand, if you don't care about being traditional.

 The recipe I came upon also suggested a sweet filling of pumpkin/squash and rice with cinnamon. I had ingredients for both versions, so why not test them at the same time if I'm already messing up the kitchen (I decided if I could wish for anything for the kitchen, I want a robot that washes hand-wash dishes for me...I don't mind doing cooking, but time spent with soap and water tempts me to eat out). The big  plus of the sweet variation is I found another use for leftover rice besides fried rice or rice pudding (not sure if a vegan version would be successful-can't use egg replacer as it contains soy).

The recipe from Squiddoo.

Supposed to yield 4 dozen, I guess I put a lot of dough on mine or I like to cover the filling up a little more, it looks like my batch is only going to make 20...

For the dough, mix together

• 4 cups masa harina
• 3 cups vegetable broth
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon salt

For the sweet filling mix together

• 1 cup cooked/mashed squash, pumpkin or sweet potato
• 1 cup rice (I used a defrosted batch)
• cinnamon or pumpkin pie spices to taste
• 2 tbsp maple syrup

For savory filling-Root tops OR kidney beans

• radish and turnip greens from about 12 roots)-rinsed well, chopped and steamed or sauteed with garlic (can use garlic powder if no fresh)-cooked down it looked like about 1-1.5 cups.
• garlic minced or garlic powder to taste

• Kidney bean version-soaked 1 cup of dried beans overnight and simmered on medium 35 minutes, then mash slightly
•  Add a salsa or taco sauce for flavor. I did La Victoria Green taco sauce.

Mix all dough ingredients in a medium bowl. Since I used homemade veggie stock, I added 1 tsp of salt instead of 1/4 tsp. The dough should hold it's shape when handled and not be sticky.

 Make the dough into balls-mine end up being about 1.5 times the size of a golf ball...maybe slightly smaller than a racquetball (not sure how many of you play racquetball)

Spread the dough into a square-ish shape in the husk. I used my palm but there is a spreader as I learned on Gourmet Sleuth. There should be about 1.5" above and below the dough to leave room for tying shut. Place 1.5 tbsp of fill in the center of the dough. 

Fold left and right side of the husk together so the dough meets. To shut the husk, you could just twist the top and bottom like the hard candy wrappers (shown on Squidoo's pics).. but.because I have a small steamer, I fold down the top and bottom and then put the corn husk strip tie around it (see picture below, the one on the right side stayed shut).

Steam about 2" of water on medium-low heat for 45 minutes. Check halfway through to make sure there is enough water.

Cooking with Root Veg Tops Part I & Dairy/Soy-Free "Yogurt" sauce

 Beet, parsnip and radishes arrived in my kitchen. Their tops were just begging not to be limited to compost. Not that I have a compost yet, but starting  a worm bin is a 2013 resolution made, especially when your friend offers to provide you some of the critters. Making a bin seems actually a lot easier than I thought. Just need to pick up a non-transparent 10-12 qt box and something to put the box on top of so it is raised off the ground. My co-worker thought I might want to use styrofoam since some nights the temp has gotten to freezing. Hm.

You can pretty much treat the tops like spinach and separate the stems from the leaves if I need to cook them since stems usually take a tad longer.

Ways I used or want to use green tops:

•  in the oven-baked pakora last year
• this week made a simple stir fry mixed with my favorite non-dairy yogurt substitute as the sauce. (Google search found main recipes where beet greens pair nicely with yogurt)
• Chop up leaves and stems for leftover rice/rice flour okonomiyaki (a Japanese "whatever you like pancake/griddle pizza" recipe)
• I am inspired to try vegan tamales with spinach (or in our case, radish greens) with garlic. I was making tamales with butter before the detox which are delish but my stomach wasn't groaning later.
• Also wouldn't mind trying to blend greens into a savory GF-Dairy Free pancake batter
• In case you need more ideas, this blog has lots of veggie tops ideas for beets, radishes, and even carrots!  Vinegrettes dressing and tea with carrot leaves...never would have considered that!

ROOT VEGGIE TOPS SAUTEED WITH "YOGURT SAUCE"
"Yogurt" Sauce

I was trying to make a ricotta cheese substitute based on someone's recipe online that called for cashews, and after some playing with what I had on hand, I found it can make a yogurt or mayo substitute. I was using raw pine nuts. You can get a big bag from Costco. Although the nuts are imported from China. Not sure that I have seen more "local" source. Will keep my eyes out.

Anyway, take 1/2 cup of pine nuts and put in your food processor or Magic Bullet (or other brand) blender with food processor (flat) blade.  Put in a tablespoon of water and a tsp of lime juice. Blend until it has a thick sauce consistency. Add more water a little at a time or lime juice to taste.

No dairy, no soy yogurt/sour cream/mayo stunt-double!

Serving Ideas
Makes for a nice side on its own.

As a meal, I mixed my sauteed greens with some cooked-ground beef and tossed with quinoa-corn based pasta shells, served warm. It also made a comforting lunch on a chilly day with chicken cradled in corn tortillas.

Do you have a food related resolution?

Warming up on NYE: lime-herb chicken drumsticks and potato wedges

This welcoming of the new year was spent in the comfort of the house with my man, following a cross-my-fingers trip to Vons. Sigh of relief that they carry organic, free-range chicken drumsticks (and free range ground beef for $7.99 lb, I can't remember how that stacks up with other grocery stores...Traders Joe's has it for about that much but they mention the cows are from other countries. Sounds like another entry though). Dave also wanted potatoes for later this week. Anyway, this was our meal to fuel a movie marathon.

CITRUS-HERB CHICKEN DRUMSTICKS
Used the Art Smith's cookbook for the zesty marinade swapping lime juice for lemon juice.

For 8 drumsticks (for two with leftovers)

1/4 cup fresh squeezed lime juice
1/4 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp oregano

Mix all ingredients together and put into a bag or container. If in a container, USDA recommends covering it while it is in the fridge. Let the chicken marinate for 30 minutes in the fridge minimally and up to 2 hours.  Turn the chicken half-way through. If you used a bag, the USDA also recommends disposing of the bag.

While you're waiting for the chicken to marinate, get started on the potatoes. They can cook at the same time at 400 degrees also!

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Put chicken in a baking pan and pour in some or all of the marinade for extra flavor (Bring leftover marinade to a boil if you plan to use it as a sauce or dressing for other recipes, I added mine to roasted carrot (144 grams raw) and potato (1.5 small) soup.)  Bake for 30 minutes. Flip the chicken over and bake another 25 minutes. When the thickest part is cut the juice should run clear and not pink.


POTATO WEDGES for two
About 3 scrubbed potatoes (or enough to cover one baking sheet when cut into eigths) with skin on

Grab a small dish to pour olive oil into and a brush. Brush oil on each side of the potato, seasoning with salt and pepper to taste. Place the potatoes, not touching, on the ungreased cookie sheet. Take care not to put the oil on too thick, just enough to make the spuds crispy and stop them from sticking so much. Or you can use ungreased  baking pans, as we had to do (oil run-off = smoke alarm and burning eyes!) if you are worried.

Bake for 35 minutes until crisp and golden on the outside and soft inside.


As one of my resolutions, I am ready as I can be to start the soy-free, dairy-free 3 month-detox after learning the ALCAT results. (We did have sour cream and ketchup with the wedges, my farewell to dairy). There are some other items I'll need to watch out for too but those two will be most difficult.There may be exceptions on Restaurant Week, Valentine's Day and Chinese New Year. But I'll ask or try to prepare what I can.

We did not make it through our movie marathon...but at least finished one.

How did you welcome the new year? Did you make goals? Are any of them food related?