Oatmeal Butterscotch Chippers

• 1 1/4 cup butter flavored shortening
• 1 1/4 cups crunchy peanut butter
• 1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 cup sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 4 1/2 cups uncooked regular oats (I used quick cook)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 cups butterscotch morsels
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate morsels

Beat shortening and peanut butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy.  Gradually add sugars, and beat well.  Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. 

Combine oats and baking powder, add to shortening mixture, beating well.  Stir in butter scotch morsels, and chocolate morsels.  Drop dough by rounded teaspoonfuls onto silicon baking sheets (or ungreased ones)

bake at 350 for 9-11 minutes (with silicon sheets it was more like 12). 

Yield 6 dozen. 

No Bake Granola Bars

• 2 1/2 cups crisp rice cereal
• 2 cups uncooked quick cooking oats
• 1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1/2  cup light corn syrup
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 cup milk chocolate morsels

Combine first 2 ingredients in a large bowl, and set aside

Bring brown sugar and syrup to a boil in a small saucepan over medium high heat, stirring constantly, remove from heat.  Stir in peanut butter and vanilla until blended. 

Pour peanut butter mixture over cereal and stir until coated, let stand 10 minutes.  Stir in chocolate morsels. 

Press into a lightly greased 13×9 pan and let cool completely in the pan.  Cut into bars. 

These were just what I was looking for the other day.  Not too sweet, and very quick to make. 

 

Curried Couscous

3 cups couscous

1 1/2 cups dried cranberries

2 tablespoons curry powder

2 teaspoons kosher salt

2 teaspoons sugar

1/2 cup orange juice

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

1/2 cup scallions, thinly sliced

1/2 cup Italian parsley, chopped

1  to 2 lemon, juice of

1 1/2 cups walnuts, toasted (optional)

You can also add dried figs, apricots, raisins, drained chickpeas, chopped olives or feta.

1. Put couscous, cranberries, curry powder, salt, and sugar.
2. Add 3 c boiling water, orange juice and stir. Cover with plate 5-6 minutes.
3. Uncover and fluff with fork.
4. Add olive oil, scallions, parsley, lemon juice and toasted walnuts
5. Adjust seasonings (lemon juice salt and pepper). Serve room temp.

Sweet Chicken with Lemon, Dill and Mustard

1/4 cup maple syrup, pure(not pancake syrup)

3 tablespoons stone ground dijon mustard

2 tablespoons fresh dill, minced

2 tablespoons lemon juice, fresh

1 tablespoon olive oil

2  lemons, zest of, grated

1 teaspoon garlic, minced

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

4 large boneless skinless chicken breasts

Mix all the ingredients together to marinade 2-24 hours.

Bake at 350 uncovered for 35 minutes (or until chicken is cooked).

*Don’t use a large casserole dish as sauce spreads thin out and will burn.

Cool Couscous and Lentil Salad

1 cup lentilles du Puy* (French green lentils) or brown lentils
3 tablespoons white-wine vinegar
1 1/4 cups water
1 cup couscous
1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 cup olive oil (preferably extra-virgin)
1 large garlic clove, minced and mashed to a paste with 1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup finely chopped fresh mint leaves
1 bunch arugula, stems discarded and leaves washed well, spun dry, and chopped
2 cups vine-ripened cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 pound feta, crumbled (about 1 cup)

In a small saucepan simmer lentils in water to cover by 2 inches until tender but not falling apart, 15 to 20 minutes, and drain well. Transfer hot lentils to a bowl and stir in 1 tablespoon vinegar and salt and pepper to taste. Cool lentils completely, stirring occasionally.

In a saucepan bring water to a boil and add couscous and salt. Remove pan from heat and let couscous stand, covered, 5 minutes. Fluff couscous with a fork and transfer to a large bowl. Stir in 1 tablespoon oil and cool completely, stirring occasionally.

In a small bowl whisk together garlic paste, remaining 2 tablespoons vinegar, remaining 3 tablespoons oil, and salt and pepper to taste. Stir lentils and dressing into couscous. Chill salad, covered, at least 3 hours and up to 24.

Just before serving, stir in remaining ingredients and season with salt and pepper.

Low Fat Lasagna

For bolder flavor, add 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes to the meat sauce and a pinch of nutmeg to the white sauce.

1	small carrot , cut into chunks
1	pound mushrooms
6	cloves garlic , peeled
2	(28 ounce) cans whole tomatoes with juice
2	teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1	medium onion , minced
	Table salt and ground black pepper
3	tablespoons tomato paste*
1 1/4	pounds ground turkey , 93% lean
2	cups 2% milk
2	cups low-sodium chicken broth
1	bay leaf
1/2	cup minced fresh basil
5	tablespoons all-purpose flour
1	cup grated Parmesan cheese
12	no-boil lasagna noodles

1.Dice carrot, 1-2 stalks celery, mushrooms, and garlic; transfer to bowl. Process tomatoes in food processor until almost (or half) smooth. Combine 1 teaspoon oil, onion, and pepper in Dutch oven. Cover and cook over medium-low heat until onion is softened, 3 to 4 minutes. Add carrot, celery, mushrooms, and garlic and cook, uncovered, until mushrooms release their liquid, 5 to 7 minutes. Increase heat to medium-high and cook until liquid has evaporated, 3 to 5 minutes. Then salt.

2. Add tomato paste and cook until paste begins to brown, about 2 minutes. Stir in turkey and 1 cup milk, using wooden spoon to break up any large chunks, and cook until most of milk has evaporated, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in tomatoes, 1 cup broth, and bay leaf; bring to simmer and cook until sauce has thickened and most of liquid has evaporated, 45 to 60 minutes. Off heat, remove bay leaf, stir in basil, and season with salt and pepper.

3. Meanwhile, whisk remaining 1 cup milk, remaining 1 cup broth, and flour together in medium saucepan until smooth. Bring mixture to simmer over medium-high heat and cook, stirring constantly, until thickened, about 2 minutes. Off heat, stir in remaining 1 teaspoon oil and cheese. Season with salt and pepper.

4. Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Spread 2 cups meat sauce in 13 by 9-inch baking pan. Lay 3 noodles over sauce, leaving space between them. Repeat with 3 more layers sauce and noodles. Spread white sauce evenly over top layer of noodles, leaving 1-inch border around edge. Bake until lasagna is bubbling around edges and top begins to brown, 25 to 30 minutes. Cool on rack 20 minutes. Serve.

Make Ahead: You can make both the meat sauce and the white sauce up to 2 days in advance and refrigerate them until ready to use. Gently reheat the sauces separately before proceeding with step 4.

*I use the tomato paste that comes in a tube because it’s denser tasting and easy to store in fridge!

Chicken satay with rice

1 1/2 to 1 3/4 pounds chicken breast tenders, 2 packages, sliced on an angle into bite-size pieces
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 medium yellow skinned onion, sliced
1 red bell pepper, seeded, quartered and sliced
1 cup shredded carrots, store bought, or 2 medium carrots cut into matchsticks
6 scallions, cut on an angle into 2 inch pieces

For stir-fry, heat a large nonstick skillet over high heat. Add chicken, garlic and onion, stir-fry 3 minutes. Add remaining veggies and stir-fry 5 minutes more. Heat all ingredients for sauce together in a small pot over low heat, stirring the sauce until all ingredients are combined. Transfer stir-fry to a large platter and pour sauce evenly over the chicken and vegetables. Sprinkle the platter with chopped nuts, cilantro, and basil. Serve jasmine rice in a separate dish with an ice cream scoop to serve the rice with — it makes perfect, pretty, round portions of rice on the dinner plates.

Satay sauce:
4 rounded tablespoonfuls chunky peanut butter
3 tablespoons dark soy, Tamari
3 tablespoons honey
1-inch ginger root, peeled and minced
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 orange, juiced

mix all ingredients together in a bowl, whisk to mix. 

It was a pretty big hit at the party.  I hadn’t made stir fry in a while, and it was fun. 

Roasted Tomato Salad

You can eat as a side or serve this over an easy baked/roasted chicken, etc. 

2 cups grape tomatoes, halved
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
Pinch red pepper flakes
Kosher salt

Toss the tomatoes with 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, garlic, vinegar, pepper flakes, and salt, to taste. Spread out on a baking sheet and roast until the tomatoes get juicy, about 15 minutes at 350. 
I added several teaspoons of frozen basil to the mix and an orange tomato sliced.  I also didn’t bother to half the cherry tomatoes. 

It turned out fairly well, and was a quick little winter side dish.  Frankly I’m still eagerly awaiting the glories of summer tomatoes. 

Organic Fruits and Veg - Which to Buy?

If you’re aware of the growing amounts of pesticides and chemicals large farms have to spray the fruits and vegetables with, you may be growing slightly concerned.

If you’re like me, you really can’t afford to buy all organic. Awhile back I sort of adopted the notion that I would try and buy organic if I’d be eating the skin. Like apples (have you ever succeeded in getting that waxy residue off an apple?) and grapes nut not bananas and melons. Makes a fair amount of sense right?

Well, there’s an article that tells you which fruits and vegetables in the US are treated with the most amounts of chemicals and pesticides and why.

If you don’t want to read it yourself they are: apples, baby food, milk/butter, cantaloupes, cucumbers, grapes, green beans, spinach, strawberries and winter squash.

Greek Style Shrimp Scampi and Pasta

·	1 teaspoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
·	3 - 4 cloves of garlic, minced
·	1/2 cup fresh parsley, chopped
·	2 teaspoons dried oregano
·	1 (14 ounce) can plum tomatoes, drained and coarsely chopped
·	1/4 teaspoon black pepper
·	8 - 12 ounces chicken broth
·	1 1/4 pounds large peeled & deveined shrimp
·	8 ounces Whole Wheat Angel Hair Pasta
·	1/4 cup Kalamata olives, chopped
·	2 - 3 cups baby spinach
·	1 cup feta cheese, crumbled
·	2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add garlic, sauté 30 seconds. Add 1/4 cup parsley, oregano, tomatoes, pepper, and chicken broth. Reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes, season to taste. Add shrimp and cook for 3 minutes. Add spinach and olives and stir, and continue to cook 2-3 minutes.

Meanwhile, cook pasta until al dente.

Just before serving add lemon juice and feta cheese. Serve over pasta.

Garnish with remaining parsley.