Broccoli and Rice with Chicken

Inspiration for Broccoli and Rice with FriChik came from this thread on the Garden Web Cooking Forum:   Anyone have a good broccoli-rice casserole recipe?

Ingredients

6-8 large broccoli florets
1/4 cup onion, finely chopped
2 large cloves garlic, finely chopped
1-2 stalks celery, thinly sliced
2 Tbs butter
2 Tbs flour
3/4 cup water
1/4 cup powdered milk
2 Tbs sour cream
1/2 tsp dill
salt and pepper
1 cup cooked rice (optional)*
3 pieces Worthington canned FriChik, small dice, reserve liquid

Directions

1. Clean broccoli florets and cut into small stems.  Boil for 2 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water to stop cooking.
2. Saute onions and celery in butter until clear but not browned.  Add garlic and saute 30 seconds.
3. In a measuring cup combine water, reserved liquid from the chicken, powdered milk and sour cream. Mix well.
4. Coat skillet mixture with flour.  Cook and stir 1 minute.  
5. Add liquids to the skillet all at once and stir until combined.
6. Sprinkle dill, salt and pepper (to taste) over the sauce.
7. Add chopped FriChik, cooled broccoli and rice*.  Combine well.
8. Can be served over a variety of things: whipped potatoes, biscuits, english muffins...
   We had it over buttery fresh herb croutons.  

Recipe made enough for supper. We also had carrot and raisin salad.

*If not using cooked rice, I would increase the amount of chicken and broccoli by half.

The Sweet Potato Gnocchi Coincidence

I am a disaster at meal planning. When we are entertaining or having family in, I write out a menu and shop specifically for that/those meal(s).  Otherwise, I never plan meals.  My pantry is stocked with all kinds of rice and pasta as well as dried beans. Almost all the vegetables are store-fresh, whatever looks good that week. Wish I had a big garden!   Having protein sources on hand is easy because we are vegetarian. About the only perishable (refrigerated) protein I use is tofu. The rest is frozen or canned.  Meals are inspired by the GardenWeb cooking forum, a cooking show once in a while, or something I concoct in a hurry.

Yesterday Trader Joe's had samples of sweet potato gnocchi that was so good.  Lots of butter, onion, sage, thyme, and sweet potato. By coincidence, the frozen sage and thyme herb bread dough I had given up rising was ready to bake about bedtime last night. Ugh!  I stayed up and baked it.  A coincidence tasting the gnocchi, but inspired by it none the less, we had sweet potato-herb bread-sausage stuffing for supper.




Then there are the nights, last night for example, when I plan to be home by afternoon, but I am still away when Mr. C gets home. A quick call to tell him to make his own supper.  Frozen pizza - his life saver.  :~) Thankfully there were a few pieces left when I finally got home.

SWEET POTOTO DRESSING*


2 medium sweet potatoes, peel and cut sweet potato into 1/4-inch cubes
6 Tbs. butter
1/4 large onion, small dice
2 celery stalks, small dice
3 cloves garlic, mince
1/4 - 1/2 tsp. sage
1/8 - 1/4 tsp thyme
About 2 cup  Herb bread, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 MSF Breakfast patties, thawed and crumbled
3/4 cup chicken broth
salt and pepper to taste

1. Boil sweet potatoes 2-3 minutes to slightly soften.
2. Melt 3 Tbs. butter in non-stick skillet.  Saute onion and celery until soft. Add garlic and saute about 30 seconds.
3. Add sweet potatoes to skillet.  
4. Melt 3 Tbs. of butter in the same skillet and add cubed bread. Coat bread with butter and cook until just beginning to brown.
5. Sprinkle herbs to taste.
6. Pour chicken broth over mixture. Warm through. Add additional chicken broth as needed.
7. Add crumbled breakfast patties to the skillet mixture.
8. Salt and pepper to taste.

Made enough for 2 servings and a little left over for lunch.

*I did not measure ingredients when making this dressing. This recipe is a starting point. Use as a guideline and adjust to your taste. 

New Recipes

I love the ease of finding inspiration online. 

A few key words in Google search and up pops a plethora of recipes. 

 My sister-in-law gave us a few cans of vegemeat for Christmas.  

It is kind of like getting a box of Sees candy, a treat that is not easy to come by where we live.  Google "scallops and rice" and there are not as many recipes as I'd thought there would be. But, I don't know anything about using scallops. Looking over some of the recipes, I discovered ingredients that go well with scallops and made up this dish for supper.

I started the rice first with a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar. It flavored the rice just a bit and made it easier to scorch. I would leave it out next time.

Onions, garlic and mushrooms were sauteed in olive oil. Scallops added as well as 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar and 1 Tbs. honey.  Simmer until reduced.  

Served over flavored rice with a carrot and rasin salad.  

 The dish was a nice blend of flavors. 

Carrot and raisin salad was a good compliment.

The remaining half can of Scallops were used for tonight's dinner.  A lot of dinners begin with sauteed onion, garlic and mushrooms, to which I added diced red pepper and spinach, salt, pepper, marjoram, cayenne pepper and white wine.   While the pasta cooked, I finished the vegetables with a sauce of half-and-half, asiago and provolone cheese.  This was really good. I love anything with butter, cream and cheese.

Sorry for the picture. There really is a difference 

between a camera phone and a camera! 

Korean Kalbi with Veggie Beef

A Korean recipe always catches my eye.   Our family is blessed with a Korean daughter-in-law.  Her family and friends have become our friends as well.  Sharing food is always at the heart of our gatherings.Bi bim  bap is one of our favorites.  I am learning to cook a few Korean dishes, but it is hard to get it just right.  The food turns out to be Korean dishes for an American palate.  One of the blogs I follow, Home Cooking in Montana,  blogged about Korean Kalbi. 

The blog post and recipe are here. 

Mr. C was raised in a vegetarian home, and ate meat substitutes rather than meat, fish or poultry.  My family ate meat, fish and poultry as well as the meat substitutes.  It was a health teaching of our church. Some families were more strict than ours. I became a vegetarian during college, more years ago than seem possible.  I don't feel that old. So, many recipes need to be adapted because gluten-based veggie meat doesn't absorb marinade. Just the opposite of tofu. Vegetable Steaks are a long-time favorite.

  

I've learned to incorporate flavors of the ingredients into the dish. It's not the same, but as close as we'll ever get.  The marinade sounded so good I used the ingredients to made a sauce for the seared veggie steaks and broccoli.  The sauce was a bit sweet and a little hot. Ooohhhhh, it was delicious. Definitely be making this again and often.