Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Spaghetti Squash Chicken Masala



Last night was my second attempt at creating a recipe out of what we already had at home. And, I have to say, I win again!

I'd also like to just throw in a shameless plug for evernote. It has changed my life. After i took inventory of everything we had, i put it into list form on evernote, which shares on my computer, phone, and kindle! Whenever i go to figure out what i want to cook, i can just go through the list, check-box the ingredients i want to use, and then WRITE OUT the recipe ON evernote. As an avid list maker, I'm in love...

anyway..

Last night I wanted to finish off the potatoes and FINALLY use that darn spaghetti squash we bought last month because I was determined to try it out again even though the first time we tried one we did not enjoy it. It was definitely much better this time around. The other ingredients I pulled included a masala marinara sauce we picked up at a local store a while back. It sounds weird, I  know. but its SO. good.

Spaghetti Squash Chicken Masala

Ingredients:

extra virgin olive oil
1 chicken breast, cut into small pieces
1/2 jar masala sauce
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
2 tsp red chili flakes
1 tbs butter (optional)
1 spaghetti squash
2 yellow potatoes, cubed
Juice of 1 lime 
Instructions  
Preheat oven to 400°F.
Cut squash in half lengthwise 
(FYI: THIS IS THE WORST PART OF THE WHOLE RECIPE!!! its like cutting through a rock. i'm not kidding. its scary. If at all possible, let a man do it.)

Once you've cracked that thing, remove the seeds and rub the inside of the squash with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper
Place both halves face down on a foil-lined baking sheet and cook for 45 minutes

boil potatoes until cooked, but still slightly firm, drain and set aside
Heat olive oil (enough to cover the bottom) in a large skillet over medium heat
add onions, cook until soft
add garlic and chili flakes, cook until garlic is soft- about 2 minutes
Scoot (yes, scoot) the veggies to the outside of the pan 
add chicken (and butter if desired) to pan until fully cooked
add potatoes and masala sauce to pan turn heat down slightly and cook for about 10 minutes

remove spaghetti squash from oven, scrape out "noodles"
add squash to pan, cook until mixed ( not too long, the squash tends to get soggy quickly)
mix in lime juice, and you're done!


 ahh....
It was  so GOOD.  I was afraid the squash would make the texture too mushy and..funky but it was perfect. Absolutely perfect. Definitely doing this again! 
Dinner was also accompanied by this pretty little drink. nothing special, just grapefruit sparkling water with orange. I just  found it pretty to look at.
Happy Wednesday!
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Monday, January 16, 2012

pantry soup


Yesterday, thanks to a sudden burst of energy combined with the need to be productive, I cleaned out our freezer, fridge, and pantry and then took inventory of absolutely every food item in our house. Wow. It was enlightening. It's amazing how much food you can have while at the same time you think you've got nothing in the house. I'm so glad we didn't go grocery shopping!

This unexpected project was definitely the inspiration behind last nights dinner. I decided to start listing items that we needed to use before they went bad (mainly vegetables) and thus the pantry soup was born! I assumed ti would be mediocre, good enough for simply combining a few ingredients on the whim. No. It was....fantastic.


Ingredients 
(mostly a rough estimation..can definitely be manipulated)

1/2 onion chopped
4-6 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
4-5 tbs fresh rosemary
1/2 butternut squash peeled and cubed
1/2 head cabbage, chopped
chicken or vegetable broth (roughly 6 cups)
( we used chicken bullion cubes. cause it was in our pantry!)
3 yellow potatoes, cubed
1/2 cup corn  
2 green tomatoes
2 cups okra, cut into pieces
1 bunch red kale, torn into pieces
1 handful cilantro (for garnish)
Plenty of salt and pepper 


Instructions
heat extra virgin olive oil in a large pot ( enough to cover the bottom) over medium heat
 
add ontion, cook until transparent
 
add garlic and rosemary, cook for about 5 minutes, until garlic is soft and oil is fragrant
 
 
add butternut squash- cook until soft and slightly browned
 
add cabbage, cook for about 5 minutes, until cabbage cooks down
 
 
 
add salt and pepper, broth, potatoes, corn, tomatoes, and okra- cook until potatoes are soft
 
add kale- cook for 10 minutes



Garnish with cilantro and a little extra virgin olive oil if desired (do it. )


Seriously.


I am so glad i wasn't afraid to try something like this. Its...so good. Super chunky, fresh, and just..all around amazing. The cilantro, which E thought was just weird, turned out to be my favorite part!  I'm definitely doing this again. In fact, I'm eating some right now...and, as I think I've mentioned before, I hate eating leftovers. I'm just weird.

mmm.....