Asian Veggie Wraps & Artichokes

We had some serious leftovers to deal with in the veggie department, so I got creative. It was absolutely yummy and incredibly healthy. Because everything was naturally low in fat and high in fiber, the dip we made for the artichokes wasn't even a cause for guilt. I'll share it all below.

Asian Veggie Wraps for two or three...
INGREDIENTS:
Butter Lettuce Leaves, washed and crisped whole (I buy living lettuce, which actually comes with roots in a bit of soil enclosed in a plastic box that you just water and keep cool until ready to wash and use.)
2 c. Butternut Squash, cut in large chunks
1/2 c. Brown Rice
1.5 c. water
1/2 c. Eggplant, cut in small bites
1/2 Portobello Mushroom (or whole, whatever you have on hand), cut in small pieces
1/4 c. Red Onion, chopped
2 Cloves of Garlic, chopped fine
1 T. Fresh Rosemary
3 T. Asian Ginger & Sesame Sauce (I use Trader Joe's Goya Sauce, but anything Teryaki Flavored will work. The key is boldness.)
1 T. Olive Oil

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Prepare the Lettuce leaves as above, and set aside in the frig for later. (Butter lettuce is sometimes called Boston lettuce or Bibb lettuce.)

2. Prepare Brown Rice and water. I put both in a pot with a glass lid, bring to a boil for a few minutes, and then turn down to a simmer for about 15-20 minutes. Then I turn off the heat and leave it covered for another 35 minutes to finish steaming. If you do it this way, you just have to make sure the water does not completely evaporate while the stove is still doing its thing. So if your brown rice comes with other instructions, do whatever it says to do for 1/2 c. of dry rice.

3. Steam the squash until tender enough to mash by hand. Mash with a fork or potato ricer and add to finished rice.

4. Meanwhile, saute onion, garlic, eggplant, and portobello in olive oil until tender. The onion will be nearly translucent. Add the rosemary and Asian sauce in the last couple minutes of cooking, stirring in well. When all is tender and combined, add to squash and rice mixture, stirring in well. (It will look weird, but it is totally delicious.)

5. Serve by spooning into the lettuce leaves and rolling up like a burrito, or you could serve it on/in pita bread. It's savory and deliciously healthy. We loved this experiment, and are so glad we tried it.


*This dish does NOT need any added salt since the Asian sauce has plenty of sodium.

Steamed Artichokes & Dip
INGREDIENTS:
1 Large Whole Raw Artichoke
Juice of one lemon
1/3 c. Mayonnaise
1 tsp. White Sugar
1/4 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Herbs de Provence
1/2 tsp. Dried Thyme
1/8 tsp. Cayenne Pepper
Dash Black Pepper

INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Prepare artichoke by cutting fresh end off of stem, cutting tips off of leaves, and cutting whole artichoke in half. Using a spoon, scoop out the choke - that's the "hairy" part in the middle - and throw away. Brush lemon juice (or cut lemon half that is slightly squeezed to release some juice) all over the artichoke to prevent browning.

2. Place artichoke halves cut side down in steamer pot and steam on medium low heat for around 40 minutes, or until heart and leaves are tender.

3. Meanwhile, mix the rest of the lemon juice and all other ingredients in small bowl. Taste to see if you think it's to your liking, and stick in frig until ready to serve.

4. To eat the artichoke, remove leaves one at a time; dip into mayo mixture, and eat by scraping the fleshy inside part of leaf against your bottom teeth. Discard the tough part of leaf in bowl reserved for that use. Keep removing leaves until you get to the stem and heart. This can be eaten in its entirety.

5. You may have some dip left. It will keep a few days in the frig and is great to add to sandwiches, as a veggie dip, or to use with rice or potatoes to add zing.

*If your artichokes are on the small side, you could serve a whole one for each person. It's not too hard to gently open center of leaves to scoop out the choke without having to cut the whole thing in half. Then you would just steam upside down for same amount of time or a bit longer.

*These recently got press as being the top Super Veggie. (Don't know if they can fly though.) So it's worth trying. And the fiber from these yummy treats is a whole lot tastier than metamucil!

My soup experiment- what to do with a ham bone

After perusing some recipes and finding mostly the sort that I love but hubby would not touch with a ten foot spoon, I'm working on my own brew. All because the ham bone keeps taking up freezer space and symmetry. (Hubby dislikes creamy, potatoey, or beany soups.)

Here's what I threw into the big pot:
*frozen ham bone, foil wrapping removed
*2 frozen boneless chicken breasts, because mom in law did such a good job carving the meat off the ham bone. or maybe it was grandma in law.
* 3/4 yellow onion, diced
*2 cloves garlic, pressed in my pampered chef garlic press. or was it 3?
* 3 stalks celery. chopped
* approx 1 c frozen corn
*several dashes of Italian-style seasoning
*1 whole bay leaf (my mom usually puts a bay leaf in her homemade broth-based soups. remove before serving soup)
*1/4 c olive oil
*4 buillion cubes (chicken)
And of course, I filled the pot with water.

Yet to add:
long grain rice of some type.... it's still at the store, and the baby's napping

to be continued....

......4:32 p.m.
The kids and I trekked to Kroger. Well, I should say rode to Kroger, we did not trek the mile there and back this time. ;) Came home, pulled the ham bone out, along with cartilage and fatty stuff. Then I removed the chicken breasts, chopped them up real good, and scraped the meat back off the cutting board into the pot. (Do I sound southern enough for y'all?) I added the following:

*1/2 red onion, chopped
*1 1/2 c brown rice
*1/4 c long whole grain rice
*ground tellicherry black pepper to taste

It's all simmering slowly in the 6 qt pot, waiting for the rice to be tender and hubby to come home. I might throw some sliced almonds on top when I dish the soup, I saw almonds in some of the recipes online but could not remember if they were a garnish or actually cooked in. On second thought, yes, almond flavor simmered in would be nice.... unless you're allergic to nuts.




CONCLUSION: Experiment was a success!
It's a good thing I decided to add the chicken, because there really was not much meat on the bone at all. But the combo of flavors tasted good. I probably did not need the olive oil, or as much, but it tasted fine... it was just a tad oilier than I prefer.But at least the rice did not stick to the bottom of the pot! Not bad, though, and still less fattening than many chilis! I ended up leaving the almonds out (forgot to add them), but I bet they would have been a nice touch.

Hubby's honest opinion: He doesn't like it as well as my top notch chicken noodle soup, but he would rate it "pretty good."

I've been stuck in a rut, and was tired of my regular soups (the aforementioned chicken noodle and veggie beef). I like soups when I'm recovering from colds and can taste my food again. This hit the spot for me. I'll find out if the leftovers are good tomorrow. If they are, I'll freeze a batch.

Crock-Pot Roast

This has to be one of my favorite stand-bys...from growing up, when Mom was working full-time outside the house...always the best smell in the world when you open your door and come home at the end of a long hard day!


Ingredients:

1 Beef Roast (cut of your choice, and weight enough to feed your fam)
1 - 2 cans of Cream of Mushroom Soup
1 packet Lipton's Onion Mushroom Soup Mix (off brands work well also, this is just my favorite!)

Optional Ingredients:

2-3 red, or 1 white "baking" potato for each family member + 1 or 2 more for the pot or leftovers
Carrots (baby work well if you're tight on time)

Directions:

Scrub potatoes, and cut larger ones in halves or quarters. Peel carrots, and cut into largish chunks. Place roast in crock-pot fatty side up. Dump can(s) of mushroom soup on top. Open packet of soup mix and dump contents on top of soup and meat. Add potatoes and carrots. Plug in crock-pot, put on the lid, turn on to low and let it cook all day long.

I usually work with a fully defrosted roast, and cut the time in half (to about 4 hours). About 1/2 to 1 hour before serving, check the meat for "done-ness", and slice it up, trimming the fat. Return meat to crock-pot until time to eat! If your family prefers noodles, or mashed potatoes with their roast, simply leave out the potatoes and/or carrots. We love the flavor of the meat with the carrots and potatoes, and it makes it rather "stewy", but is a fast and easy dinner to come home to! Serve with salad.

Hope this makes some of those cold wintery nights better!

Cream Cheese Frosting

1/2 a stick of butter
1/2 a block of cream cheese
1 pound box of powdered sugar
1/4 t. of vanilla

Let butter and cream cheese sit out until soft. Then whip them together until smooth. Add sugar 1/2 C at a time until all in mixed in. Then add vanilla. Food coloring can also be added at this point.

This is excellent of sugar cookies, graham crackers, spice cakes, by the spoonful or however your little heart desires it.

Crisp Ginger Cookies

This is how we make gingerbread men around here. It makes a crispy (as opposed to the softer gingerbread men most people make), wonderful cookie that can stand alone or be iced if you like. I also double this recipe.

1/3 C molasses
1/4 C shortening
2 Tbsp packed brown sugar
1 1/4 C all-purpose or whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground cloves
dash of ground nutmeg
dash of ground allspice

Mix molasses, shortening & brown sugar. Mix in remaining ingredients. Cover & refrigerate at least 4 hours.

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Roll dough 1/8 inch thick or paper thin on floured, cloth-covered board. Cut with floured cookie cutter. Place 1/2 inch apart on baking sheet. Bake until light brown, 1/8 inch thick cookies about 8 minutes, paper-thin cookies about 5 minutes.

Immediately remove from cookie sheet & cool. Frost if desired.

Makes about 1 1/2 dozen 1/8 inch thick cookies.

Old Fashioned Pfefferneuse (Peppernuts)

1/2 C. Butter
3/4 C. granulated Sugar
1 egg
1/2 C. sweet (or heavy) cream
2 Tbsp. Honey
1/3 cup white corn syrup
1 tsp. oil of anise
1/2 tsp. Vanilla
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. all spice
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. cream of tartar
1/4 tsp. baking powder
4 C. flour

1. Cream together butter & sugar until fluffy


2. Add egg, beat well


3. Add other liquids


4. sift dry ingredients with spices & flour. Add half the amount of flour, missing well, add remaining four & knead thoroughly.


5. Store dough in tightly covered container in the refrigerator for one hour or longer. This helps the dough to season & the spices to blend. (The longer it can set the better. I try to let it rest for at least 2 weeks sealed in a gallon sized Zip-loc bag.)


6. Roll dough into thin ropes & slice with a sharp knife dipped in flour or cold water. Pieces should be about the size of a hazel nut.


7. Place pieces separately on a greased baking sheet.


8. Bake at 375 degrees for 10 minutes

This will make quite a few Peppernuts. I keep a big bowl of them setting on the counter when we have company.

*Updated 12/16 with picture. I just baked up all my dough & thought I'd post a picture of some of the results. I didn't have enough honey on hand when I made the dough, so I substituted 1 Tbsp molasses for 1 Tbsp honey. I'm very happy with the results. I think in all this made around 300 or more nickle sized cookies. But be warned, you will eat these by the handful & they are addictive!