Spiced Braised Beef

Hello, my dears! Welcome to 2010!

January 1st is the traditional time to set goals for the upcoming year. I have a few holding over from last year (finish the weight loss!! 50lbs down, 30 to go!), but I've added a few, too. My goal related to this blog is to post 3 times each week. Two of these times will be new recipes (with photos, hopefully!) and one will be something else related to weight loss whether it be some exercise tips I've picked up somewhere or a spiritual link or even just a rant on my personal frustrations. As always, the recipes will be low-carb and relatively low-fat. So let's get started on the first recipe of 2010!

This recipe originated in Cooking Light back in September. However, the original recipe had about 7 Tbsp (tablespoons) of brown sugar in it. I made it in the original form for a dinner party we had in the fall, and it was fabulous! So if you can have the sugar, do it. Seriously. I will include the sugar options along with the recipe instructions. However, the spices and the slow cooked beef is delicious without the sugar, and is a great home cooked meal for your family.

I do realize that many of you don't have 3 hours to cook a week-day dinner. I promise recipes in the future will not be so time consuming. But hold this recipe in your pocket for a day that you need something comforting and delicious on a Saturday or Sunday evening or after a holiday off! Serve with a lightened coleslaw, or the Chopped Coleslaw Salad recipe following.

Spiced Braised Beef

for roast:

1 Tbsp paprika

1 Tbsp dark brown sugar (optional)

2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp salt

1 tsp dry mustard

1/2 tsp ground red pepper (can adjust according to desired heat)

1 (3 pound) boneless chuck roast, trimmed

sauce:

Cooking spray

1 cup chopped onion

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper (can adjust according to desired heat)

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 (28 oz) can of crushed tomatoes

1/2 cup water

6 Tbsp dark brown sugar

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

1 Tbsp tomato paste

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1. To prepare roast, combine paprika, 1 Tbsp dark brown sugar (optional), garlic powder, 1 tsp salt, dry mustard and ground red pepper; rub over roast. Place roast in a large zip-top plastic bag. Seal and refrigerate at least 1 hour, but it's better if you let it marinate overnight.

2. To prepare sauce, heat a large oven proof pan with a lid (Dutch oven, braiser, iron skillet with a lid, etc) over medium heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add onion, crushed red pepper and minced garlic; cook for 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Add tomatoes, water, 6 Tbsp dark brown sugar (optional), red wine vinegar, and tomato paste and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally (if you don't have time to simmer 30 minutes, this step could be skipped if absolutely necessary). Stir in salt and pepper.

3. Preheat oven to 325°.

4. Remove roast from bag. Add roast to sauce in pan. Cover and bake for 2 1/2 hours or until tender. Serve with sauce.

Note: Sauce can be made up to 3 days ahead, just reheat before adding the roast.

Chopped Coleslaw Salad

Be sure to allow to marinate 2 hours to make the cabbage more tender.

2 Tbsp mustard seeds

1/3 cup sugar (optional)

1/3 cup white wine vinegar

1 Tbsp prepared mustard

3/4 tsp salt

2 cups green cabbage, cut into 1 inch pieces

2 cups red cabbage, cut into 1 inch pieces

1 cup julienne red bell pepper

1/2 cup sliced red onion

1/4 cup sliced green onion

Place mustard seeds in a small saucepan over medium heat; cook, partially covered, for 2 minutes or until lightly toasted. Remove mustard seeds from pan. Add sugar and vinegar to same pan; bring to a boil over high heat. Remove pan from heat; stir in mustard and salt. Combine mustard seeds, vinegar mixture, cabbage, bell pepper, and onions in a large bowl; toss well. Cover and chill 2 hours, stirring occasionally.

Carb options

Well, first, add the dark brown sugar! It's like a spicy BBQ sauce. So delicious. Second, this would be great with some cornbread or cornbread muffins. Also, you can go all-in on the bar-be-que idea and have baked beans and potato salad for your side dishes. Feels like I'm back home in Alabama!

Mesquite Shrimp Salad

I have been blessed for almost the entire month of August to have Scott come home every day for lunch. It's been so great to have an extra 45 minutes every day just to hang out with him. But it also means I need to figure out an additional meal every day! This is a salad that would be wonderful for lunch (though, we did actually have it for dinner last week).

The inspiration for this salad is a salad that my best friend, Megan, used to eat every time we went to Logan's Roadhouse in Huntsville. It is no longer on the menu there, so I really just thought about what a Texas rancher would eat on his shrimp salad if he ever were to eat a salad. Therefore, this may be the most manly salad ever. Scott agrees. But, it's healthy, too! :) Enjoy!

Mesquite Shrimp Salad
makes 2 salads

• 1/2 lbs shrimp (deheaded, deveined, deshelled, de-everythinged)
• 2 tsp McCormick's mesquite seasoning (you could probably find an off brand, but this is the best grocery store brand of mesquite! )
• 2 bowls full of Lettuce chopped, probably about 2-3 cups (I used a combination of Boston, red leaf, and something really curly I got at the Farmer's Market)
• 10 grape tomatoes
• 1/2 red onion chopped
• two large pinches of julienned carrots
• 4 Tbsps shredded colby jack cheese
• 4 slices bacon (turkey, if you want to REALLY sneak it past your cowboy!) crispy and chopped
• 1 avocado, sliced
• 2-3 bread & butter pickles (if you're not on the diet! they're too sugary otherwise)
  
• 2 Tbsp chipotle ranch dressing (recipe follows)

1. Pre-heat a medium sized skillet to medium high heat (6/10) with a good spritz of cooking spray.
2. Add shrimp to pan, and immediately add mesquite seasoning. Go ahead and add more than the recipe says if the shrimp don't look covered enough. You want them well seasoned.
3. Cook shrimp 3-5 minutes, until shrimp are curled and pink and completely opaque.

Assembly:
1. Layer half of lettuce, onions, carrots, cheese, tomatoes, bacon, avocado and pickles in a bowl. Do the same with the other bowl.
2. drizzle with chipotle ranch (or any other dressing of your choice) dressing.
3. Top each bowl with half of sauteed shrimp.

** You could also skewer and grill the shrimp, which is most likely the way Logan's Roadhouse cooked their shrimp. However, sauteeing in my bacon grease was much more appealing to me... plus, I don't have an outdoor grill.

Chipotle Ranch Dressing-- home-mixed... not home made

• 4 Tbsp ranch dressing, depending on how much dressing you want on each salad (my favorite is the Bolthouse yogurt ranch... amazing ranch taste, lower in calories, fat and sugar... for the times you just need something creamy!)
• about 1/4 of a tsp of the adobe sauce that comes in the can with chipotle peppers.
  

1. Mix the two ingredients in a separate bowl.

Voila.

Carb options
I served this with some toaster cakes (the flat corn cakes that Thomas, the english muffin company, makes) for Scott. It would be wonderful with corn muffins, regular corn bread, or johnny cake.

Easy Grilled chicken with Spinach Salad

Well, the month of March definitely got by me. I apologize for the lack of posting. I am definitely recommitting. No excuses!

I haven't been posting much, because I keep forgetting to take pictures of the food we make! I felt a little guilty for not posting photos, but, I'd rather go ahead and post the meals and I can add photos later.

Last night, I desperately needed something quick for dinner. See, I had planned to make this delicious pork tenderloin with some cherry goodness on top. At the grocery on Monday, I bought all the ingredients, except a pork tenderloin, thinking I had one frozen from a purchase a few weeks ago. Friday morning when I looked into the freezer for that wonderful pork tenderloin, I realized that I, in fact, had a turkey tenderloin. While I'm sure it would have worked just as nicely, I wasn't thrilled to use the delicious cherry goodness for turkey, so I moved on. Quick plan for the night? Grilled chicken, marinated in some lite Italian dressing.

Now, I thought that this is something that people had done for years. My dad used to marinate his chicken in Italian dressing ALL THE TIME. However, Scott had never heard of it. It's super easy. To keep it meshing with the diet, just make sure you select a sugar-free/low carb Italian dressing (Newman's Own makes a great option. I think Kraft has a newly formulated Lite Italian that is sugar free, too. But don't quote me on that).

The spinach salad: handful of baby spinach, sprinkle of low-fat Feta, some yummy tomatoes (We used Cherubs from Nature Sweet--sooo good), a couple of black or rasp-berries if you're in the mood to be crazy. This, without dressing, is good for me. However, if you were careful with your dressing selection, you could probably have a teaspoon of dressing drizzled over your salad, too!

Easy Grilled Chicken

• bottled Lite Italian dressing (like Newman's Own or maybe Kraft)
• boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into portions. Tip: You only want your chicken to be about 1 inch thick, so I had to cut some of the massive breasts from the grocery in half, and then butterfly it a little to make it thinner. You could also pound it with a mallet or rolling pin if you need some stress relief.
  

1. Place prepared chicken breasts in a bowl. Pour Lite Italian dressing over chicken. Stir, and ensure that each piece is well covered. Let marinate at least 30 minutes.
2. Preheat grill (I use an indoor grill pan... but you could easily do this outdoors in nice weather!). Spritz with a little cooking spray to prevent sticking.
3. Grill chicken until done, about 4 minutes on each side. W

Carb options
Who needs carbs with this meal? If you have a serious carbo-holic in your family, you could serve thsi with rolls or make it into a sandwich with a hoagie. And there are always croutons for the salad.

Chicken Piccadillo Wraps

Wow! I'm so sorry I've been MIA so far in December. Things have gotten very busy here in Upstate NY! We've spent a weekend in NYC, had two Christmas parties and are attempting to get ready for a 12 day trip Down South! It'll be great to get away from thigh-high snow for almost 2 weeks! I also haven't been posting because my digital camera has been acting up. I haven't gotten many good photos of our dinners. I may start posting some recipes without pictures soon!

The recipe I'm posting today is decidedly NOT Christmas-y! I like to gear up for a week of ham and turkey with some spicey foods that I might not get for awhile while taking care of leftovers! I originally heard of piccadillo from my best friend Megan. She has a Master's degree in Spanish, and loves Latin America. She said that piccadillo is the Latin equivalent of hamburger helper. Then, back in May, Scott and I had another couple over, and I needed something quick and delicious. I stumbled upon this chicken piccadillo recipe in Cooking Light, and it was a huge hit!

The original recipe calls for raisins. Raisins are actually pretty high in sugar. If you're watching your glycemic index and sugars, just omit the raisins. Those in your family who aren't carb-conscious can use tortillas to wrap up their piccadillo filling. However, I really enjoyed mine wrapped up in a crispy butter lettuce. Enjoy!

Chicken Piccadillo

• 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup salsa
• 1/3 cup golden raisins
• 1/4 cup slivered almonds, toasted
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

1. Place chicken in a food processor, pulse until ground.
2. Heat oil in a large, non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook 3 minutes, stirring occassionally.
3. Add chicken, cumin, salt, cinnamon, and garlic. Cook for 3 minutes, or until chicken is done, stirring frequently.
4. Stir in salsa & raisins (if using). Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes or until thoroughly heated.
5. Stir in almonds and cilantro.
6. Serve with tortillas or butter lettuce to wrap.

Carb options
I typically serve this with a chilled black bean and corn salad which is delicious. However, up until last Friday, I could have neither black beans no corn! Depending on your specific needs, this salad can be a healthy and delicious side dish for any Latin inspired dish!

Black Bean & Corn Salad

• 1 can (about 16 oz) low-sodium black beans, drained and rinsed
  
• frozen corn kernals
• 1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
  
• about 2 Tbsp canola or other light oil (I don't really recommend olive oil for this--it has too much of a distinct taste)
• cumin, chili powder, cayenne pepper, salt all to taste (1-2 tsp each)
  
• juice of 1/2 lime

1. Place drained and rinsed black beans in a serving bowl. Add the equivalent amount of frozen corn kernals (do not thaw before adding!). Add chopped red bell pepper.
2. Add oil, spices and lime juice. Stir well.
3. Leave out on counter while you prepare the rest of the meal. The corn will begin to thaw and will chill the other ingredients. Will be ready to serve in 20-30 minutes (depending on your room temperature!)

As I said before, I will be out of town until January 4th 2009! I will be sure to post more in the new year! I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Happy cooking!