Spicy Szechuan Eggplant with Chicken

Ingredients:

1-2 eggplants, diced (and peeled if you like)
4 tbsp soy sauce
1/4 cup chicken stock
1 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tbsp cornstarch
4 tbsp water
4 cloves garlic
1/2 red onion
1 tbsp minced ginger
1 tbsp sesame oil
1 boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces


Directions
Cut eggplant into 1 inch cubes. In a separate bowl, combine soy sauce, stock, sugar, and pepper.
In another bowl combine cornstarch and water. Saute garlic, onions, and ginger for a few minutes. Add chicken and stir for a few more minutes. Add eggplant and soy mixture, turn down heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Stir in cornstarch mixture and heat through until thickened. Finally, stir in sesame oil. Serve over rice.

Baked Asian Style Honey Chicken, Spicy Rice, Fried Zucchini

Bad picture, fantastic meal! My husband says that this is his new favorite meal, but he says that pretty much every night. It was awfully tasty, though!

Baked Asian Style Honey Chicken

Ingredients:
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
4 cloves minced garlic
1 tbsp minced or grated ginger root
2 tbsp honey
2-4 tbsp sesame oil
salt and pepper to taste
2-4 tbsp soy sauce

Mix garlic, ginger, soy sauce, honey, and sesame oil together. Season with salt and pepper. Whisk. Pour over chicken breasts in a ziploc baggie or a baking dish. Let marinate 1 hour, turning chicken over once. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes.

Spicy White Rice

Make rice as usual, in rice cooker or stovetop. Add a tsp (or more if you like it super spicy) of crushed red pepper flakes. Easy and yummy!

Fried Zucchini

1-2 zucchini
3-4 eggs
1 tbsp or so of milk
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup corn meal
salt and pepper
oil for frying

Cut zucchini into rounds. In a separate bowl combine eggs and milk, whisk together. In another bowl mix flour, cornmeal, salt and pepper. Dip zucchini rounds into egg wash, then coat with flour mixture. Fry in frying pan with oil (I use canola) until coating is golden and crispy.

Fresh Chili

It's no secret that I'm a HUGE fan of chili. I make it all the time. Vegetarian chili, meaty chili, I like them all. I came across a lighter version of chili in the Everyday with Rachael Ray magazine and modified it quite a bit. It came out great! Perfect summertime chili.

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup lime juice
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 7 tbsp olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 1 cup corn
• 1 red onion, half chopped and half cut into slices
  
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 small zucchini, chopped
• 1 tbsp chili powder
• 1/2 tbsp paprika
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
  
• 1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 tomato, diced
• 1 cup Mexican 4 cheese shredded blend

Combine lime, cilantro, whisk in 6 tbsp of olive oil to emulsify. Salt and pepper to taste. Set aside.

Heat remaining tbsp of olive oil in skillet. Add onions, garlic, and chili powder. Saute until onion starts to become translucent. Add beef, season with salt and pepper and paprika. Brown beef, drain excess fat from pan. Add the beans, corn, zucchini, tomatoes, red onion slices, and lime mixture. Cover, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender. Sprinkle shredded cheese on top and serve.

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Ratatoille

This meal included about 95% ingredients from our garden. Exciting! I modified a few different recipes that I found.

Ingredients:

• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 lg zucchini, cubed
• 1 lg sweet pepper, diced
• 2 tomatoes, diced
• 3 tbsp wine, chicken stock, or veg stock (I used chicken)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• fresh basil and oregano
• salt and pepper to taste

Slice the eggplant in 1/2 inch slices, lightly salt and lay on a paper towel. This will draw out excess moisture and any bitterness in the eggplant. Let sit for about an hour, then rinse and pat dry and cut into cubes.

Saute the onions and garlic in the olive oil, until the onion is translucent. Add the eggplant, zucchini, pepper, tomatoes, stock, salt and pepper to taste. Bring to boil, lower heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Uncover and stir, then add the herbs. Let cook for another 5-7 minutes until the veggies are tender and serve! Great with brown rice or couscous!

Pasta with Peanut Sauce

I had an intense PMS craving for peanut butter and carbs. MMm. I used spaghetti, but you can use any kind of pasta you have around!

Peanut Sauce

Ingredients

• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 small chopped bell pepper
• 2 cloves minced garlic
• 2 tbsp minced ginger root
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 jalapeno pepper, minced
• 3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
• 1 1/4 cup water
• 1/4 cup tamari or soy sauce
• 3 tbsp honey

Directions

Heat oil over medium heat. Saute onions and bell pepper for a few minutes. Add garlic, jalapeno, and ginger. Cook and stir about 2 minutes. Stir in peanut butter, water, soy sauce, and honey. Whisk until smooth.

Barbeque Chicken Pizza

This pizza takes quite some effort, but TRUST ME, it is worth it. You can create shortcuts for yourself by making double batches of BBQ sauce and dough, or you can use store-bought (although I don't recommend it, the homemade stuff is the BEST!) Sorry about the picture, I forgot to take one until the pizza was almost all gone. That's how fast it goes around here!

Barbeque Chicken Pizza

Start the sauce first, it takes several hours of simmering to reduce.

BBQ Sauce Ingredients

• 1 quart apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup margerine
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 cup ketchup
  
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• salt & pepper to taste
• one little squirt of honey =)

Add all ingredients to a saucepan. Bring to a rapid boil, reduce heat, and simmer until sauce is thick. I've had it take an hour, and I've had it take 3-4 hours. I don't really know what the trick is to get it reduced faster.

For the crust:

Ingredients

• 1 tsp white sugar
• 1 1/2 cups warm water
• 1 tbsp yeast
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 cups whole-wheat flour
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Directions

Dissolve sugar in the warm water. Add yeast, and let sit 10 minutes until it is foamy. Stir in olive oil and salt. Mix in the wheat flour and 1 cup of the all-purpose flour. Knead on surface floured with the remaining flour for 10 minutes. Place in oiled bowl, and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour. Remove dough and separate into 2-3 pieces, depending on the thickness you want your dough. I do 3 parts because I like thin crust. Form into tight balls, and let rise, covered, for another 45 minutes. Lightly sprinkle countertop with cornmeal and roll the dough out with a rolling pin on top of the cornmeal so that it coats the bottom. Form crust, if desired. Place on cookie sheet or pizza stone and poke holes into the bottom of crust with a fork. Pre-bake crusts in oven for 5 minutes at 500 degrees. Remove and let cool.

For Pizza Topping

Ingredients

• Pre-cooked chicken (cook with olive oil, salt and pepper in 400 degree oven for 30 mins)
• 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/2 cup shredded monterey jack cheese
• 1 small red onion, diced
• 1 bunch of fresh cilantro, chopped

Shred pre-cooked chicken. Top the crust(s) with BBQ sauce, then layer the cheese, onions, chicken, and cilantro. Bake in 425 degree oven for 14-16 minutes.

Ricotta Gnocchi with Mint-Basil Pesto

This was so good! I like the addition of mint to the pesto, really refreshing but not overpowering. The ricotta gnocchi is awesome!

INGREDIENTS

• Gnocchi:
• 1 (8 ounce) container ricotta cheese
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 cup all-purpose flour, or as needed I used closer to 2 cups
  

DIRECTIONS

1. Stir together the ricotta cheese, eggs, Parmesan Cheese, salt, pepper, and garlic powder in a large bowl until evenly combined. Mix in 1 cup of flour. Add additional flour if needed to form a soft dough.
2. Divide the dough into 3 or 4 pieces, and roll into 1/2-inch-thick ropes on a floured surface. Cut each rope into 1-inch pieces
3. Add the pieces to a pot of lightly salted boiling water, in small batches. Gnocchi is done when it floats to the top of the water, about 1-2 minutes.

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Mint-Basil Pesto

• 20 fresh basil leaves
• 10 fresh mint leaves
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1/2 cup pine nuts
• 3 tablespoons Parmesan cheese
• 2 tablespoons ricotta cheese
• 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• salt and pepper to taste

Blend all ingredients together in food processor until smooth. Add more olive oil as needed.