Tofu Bok Choy Stir-Fry

Okay, sorry for the weird font issues I'm having lately on the blog. I'm trying to get it all solved but just pretend it all matches for now. :)

Time for true confessions. I love to eat healthy and make good-for-you meals, and I love tofu but...I've never actually cooked with it. This was my mission to try out some new stuff and make something yummy.

I found this recipe just by searching online for something I could make with ingredients I already had on hand. It was surprisingly easier than I anticipated and I LOVE this new recipe! This is going on my "keep" list for sure.



Tofu Bok Choy Stir-Fry

1 pound firm or extra-firm tofu (I used extra firm)
1 tablespoon canola oil
3 to 4 scallions, thinly sliced
1 good-sized bunch bok choy (stalks and leaves), sliced crosswise and rinsed
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 to 4 tablespoons stir-fry sauce, or to taste (I made my own with ponzu sauce, low-sodium soy sauce, dark sesame oil, and a little bit of garlic teriyaki sauce)
2 to 4 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 cup coarsely chopped peanuts, optional (I didn't use these, but only 'cause I didn't have any!)

Directions:

1. Cut the tofu into 1/2-inch-thick slices. Blot well between clean tea-towels or several layers of paper towel, then cut into 1/2-inch dice.

2. Heat the oil in a stir-fry pan or wide skillet. Add the tofu and stir-fry over medium-high heat until golden on most sides.

3. Add the bok choy, scallions, garlic, stir-fry sauce, and about 2 tablespoons of water. Quickly stir together, then stir-fry for another 3 to 4 minutes, just until the bok choy and its leaves are wilted.

4. Stir in the optional peanuts and serve at once.

Recipe from: Nava Atlas, savvyvegetarian.com

Roasted Garlic and Grape Tomato Pasta With Basil and Arugula

Wow, that title is a mouthful! But it's a tasty one, I promise. The mister saw this on the Food Network the other night and decided we must try it. It's a lot of garlic, and your breath will NOT be friendly afterward, but totally worth it if you're a garlic lover like we are. Super easy to make and the extra added liquid really soaks up and makes the pasta more tender and the sauce thicker and just adds that extra flavor that is so delicious. We also added shrimp to this since we're addicts.

Roasted Garlic and Grape Tomato Pasta With Basil and Arugula

Ingredients

• Salt
• 1 pound penne pasta (I used whole-wheat penne)
  
• 2 pints grape tomatoes
• 8 to 10 cloves garlic, cracked but left in skins, plus 1 clove peeled and halved
• 3 to 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil plus some, for drizzling
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 1 cup grated Parmigianino-Reggiano, a few generous handfuls
• 1 cup basil leaves, about 20, torn or shredded
• 2 cups coarsely chopped arugula

Directions

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

Place a pot of water on the stove and bring to a boil for the pasta. Salt water, add pasta and cook to just-shy of al dente. It needs to have a real bite left to it because it will sit in the sauce for 2 minutes later on and continue to cook. Heads up: you will need 2 ladles of starchy cooking water just before draining, about 1 1/2 cups.

Place the grape tomatoes on a cookie sheet with the garlic. Coat the tomatoes and cracked garlic with 3 to 4 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil and season with lots of salt and pepper. Roast 20 minutes. Take the tomatoes and garlic out of the oven. Turn the oven off.

Remove the roasted garlic from the skins and mash into a paste with the side of your knife. Transfer the garlic paste to the bottom of a pasta bowl. Using a fork, mix the garlic into 2 ladles of starchy pasta cooking water, about 1 1/2 cups. Add the tomatoes to the bowl and mash them with a potato masher until a sauce forms and tomatoes are well combined with garlic broth. Add penne, grated cheese, arugula and basil and toss a minute or 2 to allow the pasta to soak up flavors.

*Recipe from Rachael Ray, courtesy of Food Network.

**We also thawed out some frozen shrimp and tossed it in with the pasta the last couple minutes of cooking, then tossed it at the end. Yum!

Balsamic-Glazed Salmon and Garlic Snap Peas

By request, here are a couple of my favorite NO-CARB recipes. :)

The first one is a more recent find, a South Beach Diet recipe. The latter is a favorite, and since I bought a giant bag of sugar snap peas at Costco last weekend, it's also one I've made twice this week and will probably make again before the weekend is out. It's actually the P.F. Chang's recipe. Yum! No photos today but if I make the snap peas again, I'll take a pic for you all.

Balsamic-Glazed Salmon

4 6-ounce salmon fillets
1 cup balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons olive oil
1 teaspoon lemon juice
Salt
Pepper

Heat oven to 450.

Season salmon with salt and pepper; place in ovenproof baking dish and bake until opaque throughout, 10 to 12 minutes.

While fish is cooking, place vinegar in small saucepan. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until reduced to 1/3 cup, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from heat, whisk in oil and lemon juice, and season with salt and pepper. Place salmon on serving plates and drizzle with glaze.

*You can also try this glaze on chicken, pork, or grilled steaks.

P.F. Chang's Garlic Snap Peas

2 cups fresh sugar snap peas
2 teaspoons vegetable oil (I've also used my trusty olive oil)
1/8 teaspoon salt
Dash ground black pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced (if you are a garlic lover like me, I will sometimes add more)

1. Prepare snap peas by cutting off tips on each end of pod (or buy the pretrimmed to save time).

2. Preheat oil in wok or medium skillet over medium-high heat.

3. Saute snap peas in oil with salt and pepper for 2 1/2 to 3 minutes, tossing often, until peas are cooked, but still crispy.

4. Add garlic and saute one more minute. Serve!

Recipe from Top Secret Restaurant Recipes 2: More Amazing Clones of Famous Dishes from America's Favorite Restaurant Chains by Todd Wilbur.

Big Easy Shrimp

This is another new favorite! We tried this for the first time last week and after the first bite, my husband said, "This one is definitely a keeper!" Always words of praise from that mouth.

This is a yummy sort-of Creole-inspired dish. We served it over brown rice and it was delicious!

Big Easy Shrimp

Can substitute shrimp for scallops.

2 strips turkey bacon or Canadian bacon
1 onion, chopped
1/2 green bell peppers, chopped
1 rib celery, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 (16-ounce) can chopped tomatoes
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce
1 pound medium shrimp, peeled and deveined

Cook bacon in large skillet over medium heat until crisp. Place on paper towel-lined plate to drain. Crumble when cool. Remove and discard all but 1 tablespoon drippings from skillet.

In hot drippings over medium heat, cook onion, bell pepper, and celery 5 minutes, or until tender. Stir in garlic and cook 1 minute. Add tomatoes (with juice), bay leaf, black pepper, Worcestershire sauce, and hot-pepper sauce. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat to low and simmer 20 minutes. Add shrimp and bacon and cook 10 minutes, or until shrimp are opaque. Remove and discard bay leaf before serving.

*Another South Beach Diet recipe. Still working through that cookbook!

Spinach-and-Goat-Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breasts

Another fabulous recipe! My personal chef (he's so good!) made this for dinner and it was so good. Good enough that I was actually sad when I had finished because it was all gone. I love me some goat cheese!!

Spinach-and-Goat-Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breasts

4 teaspoons olive oil, divided
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 bunch spinach, tough stems removed
4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves
4 ounces low-fat goat cheese
Salt
Pepper

Heat oven to 400.

Heat 2 teaspoons oil in large ovenproof skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in spinach and cook, stirring constantly, until spinach is wilted and liquid evaporates, about 2 minutes. Season well with salt and pepper and transfer to plate. Wipe skillet dry with paper towels.

Beginning at thickest end of chicken breast, carefully insert a sharp knife into center and cut pocket as evenly as possible, leaving 1-inch border on 3 sides. Repeat with remaining breasts. Open each pocket, sprinkle with salt and pepper, then fill evenly with goat cheese and spinach. Seal each with 2 toothpicks and season outside with salt and pepper.

Heat remining oil in same skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook, turning once, until well browned on both sides, about 3 minutes per side. Transfer skillet to oven and bake until juices run clear, about 8 minutes. Serve hot.

Chicken Couscous

So we are trying to be healthy lately, as always, and we've been cooking some yummy meals. My main motivation is knowing that I have to wear my wedding dress again soon and I want to look just as good in it the second time around! (Stay tuned for more about this in a couple of weeks!)

Most of you know I'm a huge library nerd. I love to check out cookbooks and try various recipes. I found this one in a South Beach Diet cookbook, and it's SO yummy! I added grape tomatoes to it just before serving, which added some color and an extra flavor. I think you could easily add a lot of veggies to it. It's also super easy and quick!

Chicken Couscous

Serves: 4 (we halved the amount of chicken to make it just for the two of us)

1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast halves, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onions, diced
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup whole-wheat couscous
1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
Salt
Pepper

Season chicken with salt and pepper. Heat oil in large saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook chicken until no longer pink inside and lightly browned, about 6 minutes. Remove from pan with slotted spoon and drain on paper towels.

Reduce heat to medium and add onion, cumin, and cinnamon to pan; cook until onions softened and lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Add broth and bring to simmer. Stir in couscous, chickpeas, and good pinch of salt and pepper. Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook 1 minute. Return chicken to saucepan, combine with couscous, season to taste with salt and pepper, and serve.