A Weekend Full of Cooking...

Cooking weekend

My aunt and uncle recently went away for their anniversary weekend, so I spent my weekend in Philadelphia with my girlfriend at her apartment. We decided not to do our usual dinner date on Friday at a restaurant, but rather I cooked for her in her apartment. I let my girlfriend choose the meal from her most recent issue of Cooking Light magazine. She picked the spicy red lentils with poached eggs. I loved her choice for a few reasons. I had never cooked lentils or poached eggs before, so it was exciting. I also don’t eat many vegetarian meals, so it was a nice change of pace for me.

The food came out amazing! The lentils break down quite a bit when you cook them, and it makes them become kind of creamy and very delicious. Poaching eggs always seemed king of daunting to me, but after doing it, I realized its super easy! It’s a really delicious way to eat eggs too, and probably a lot healthier than frying them up in a pan with butter.

I posted the recipe below. Give it a shot for something different. It really was quite delicious!

Ingredients

• 1 cup dried small red lentils
• 3 cups water
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 teaspoons olive oil $
• 1 cup chopped onion $
• 1 cup chopped tomato $
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
• 1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar
• 4 large eggs $
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup plain low-fat Greek yogurt $
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro

Preparation

1. 1. Combine first 3 ingredients in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes or until lentils are tender. Drain; discard bay leaf.
2. 2. Heat a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add onion and tomato; sauté 8 minutes or until onion is tender. Add curry, cumin, 1/4 teaspoon salt, red pepper, and garlic; sauté 2 minutes. Add lentils; cook 1 minute. Remove from heat.
3. 3. Add water to a large skillet, filling two-thirds full; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer. Add vinegar to pan. Break eggs into custard cups. Gently pour eggs into pan; cook 3 minutes or until desired degree of doneness. Carefully remove eggs from pan using a slotted spoon. Place about 3/4 cup lentil mixture on each of 4 plates; top each serving with 1 poached egg. Sprinkle evenly with remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and black pepper. Top each serving with 1 tablespoon yogurt and 1 1/2 teaspoons cilantro.

The next night I decided to cook for her again, so we went back to her Cooking Light magazine and decided on cooking the Kung Pao chicken tacos for dinner. We went down the street to Whole Foods to get everything we needed, and I put my skills to the test in the kitchen once more with a new recipe. 

I made a mistake when cooking, but it still wound up coming out pretty darn tasty. I forgot to coat the chicken in the cornstarch before putting it in the hot wok, but I did do it later and it still wound up tasting awesome. Great combination, so give it a try! Recipe is posted below!

Ingredients

• 6 skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into bite-sized pieces $
• 3 tablespoons lower-sodium soy sauce, divided
• 1/4 cup plus 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch, divided
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons canola oil, divided $
• 1 1/2 tablespoons honey $
• 1 tablespoon dark sesame oil
• 2 teaspoons rice vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sambal oelek (ground fresh chile paste)
• 1 large garlic clove, minced
• 3 tablespoons coarsely chopped dry-roasted peanuts
• 3/4 cup diagonally sliced celery (about 2 stalks) $
• 8 (6-inch) corn tortillas
• 1/3 cup sliced green onions $
• 1/2 medium red bell pepper, thinly sliced $
• 4 lime wedges $

Preparation

1. 1. Place chicken in a large zip-top plastic bag. Add 1 tablespoon soy sauce to bag; seal. Marinate at room temperature for 30 minutes. Remove chicken from bag; discard marinade. Place 1/4 cup cornstarch in a shallow dish. Sprinkle the chicken evenly with salt. Add chicken to cornstarch in dish, and toss chicken to thoroughly coat. Shake off excess cornstarch.
2. 2. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon canola oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add half of coated chicken; sauté for 6 minutes or until done, turning to brown. Remove chicken from pan using a slotted spoon; drain on paper towels. Repeat the procedure with remaining 1 tablespoon canola oil and coated chicken.
3. 3. Combine remaining 1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch, remaining 2 tablespoons soy sauce, honey, and next 3 ingredients (through sambal oelek) in a microwave-safe bowl, stirring with a whisk until smooth. Microwave at HIGH for 1 1/2 minutes or until slightly thick, stirring twice. Stir in garlic. Combine soy sauce mixture, chicken, peanuts, and celery; toss to coat chicken.
4. 4. Toast tortillas under broiler or on a griddle until lightly blistered, turning frequently. Place 2 tortillas on each of 4 plates; divide chicken mixture evenly among tortillas. Top each taco with green onions and bell pepper strips; serve with lime wedges.

 

My cousin and his wife offered to cook dinner for his parents for their anniversary when they got back from their trip on Sunday. I offered to make a soup that I had been dying to make since I had a taste of a delicious one at Jack's Firehouse last fall…Cream of Pumpkin Soup! I found a recipe on Allrecipes.com and used it as a starting point. I made some changes to it as I always do to tweak it to my own taste buds, and it turned out amazing. My family loved it, and it will go into my recipe bank as something I make again in the future for sure. Check out the recipe below! Cheers!

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons margarine, softened 1 tablespoon brown sugar 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 4 slices whole wheat bread 1 cup chopped onion 2 tablespoons butter, melted 2 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth

1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper 1 cup heavy whipping cream

Directions:

1.	Preheat oven to 400 degrees F(200 degrees C). Combine butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Spread butter mixture evenly over one side of each bread slice. Place bread, buttered side up, on a baking sheet. Bake 8 to 10 minutes, or until bread is crisp and topping is bubbly. Cut each slice of bread into 8 small triangles or squares.
2.	Saute onion in butter in a medium saucepan until tender. Add 1 can chicken broth; stir well. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes.
3.	Transfer broth mixture into the container of a blender or processor. Process until smooth.
4.	Return mixture to saucepan. Add remaining can of broth, pumpkin, salt, ground cinnamon, ground ginger, and ground pepper; stir well. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes, stirring occasionally..
5.	Stir in whipping cream and heat through. Do not boil. Ladle into individual soup bowls. Top each serving with Cinnamon Croutons.