The Best Lasagna Ever

Adapted from Pioneer Woman

This lasagna is The Best Lasagna Ever. The meat sauce is thick, not saucy and runny. It's easy to cut and serve. Each piece holds its shape and stands tall on the plate. There is nothing fancy or upscale about this lasagna. This is just a traditional lasagna recipe, but I love EVERYTHING about this lasagna. Even the cottage cheese layers.

1-1/2 pounds ground turkey

1 pound turkey or chicken sweet Italian sausages, casings removed
Half of a medium-size onion, finely chopped (133g)
2 large cloves garlic, finely minced (11g)
2 tablespoons dried parsley
1 tablespoon dried basil
2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon ground fennel
1 teaspoon salt (5g)
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon organic natural cane sugar (9g)
One 28-ounce can unsalted whole and peeled plum tomatoes, hand-crushed
Two 6-ounce cans tomato paste
One 8-ounce can tomato sauce
3 cups small curd cottage cheese (680g)

2 large eggs, beaten (104g)
1/2 cup finely grated (not shredded) Parmesan cheese (57g)
2 tablespoons dried parsley
2 tablespoons basil pesto sauce (20g)
1 teaspoon salt (5g)

1 pound shredded Mozzarella cheese
1-1/4 boxes (13.25-ounce) Barilla brand 100% whole-grain lasagne, about 19 noodles

Meat Sauce
Heat a large deep skillet or large stock pot over high heat until hot. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil to the pan and swirl pan to coat the bottom. Add the ground turkey and sausages. Continue to cook the ground turkey and sausages over high to medium-high heat (high to 7.0 on induction), stirring frequently and breaking up meat ( I like to use a bench scraper to break up the meat and scrape off the brown bits from bottom of the pan). When meat is browned, transfer the meat to a colander and set aside.

Using the same pan, add more olive oil. Add the onions and saute onions over medium high heat (8.0 to 7.0 on induction) until soft and starting to turn brown. Add the garlic, the 2 tablespoons parsley, basil, Italian seasoning, fennel, salt, pepper and sugar. Continue to saute until garlic is fragrant. Add the meat back into the pan and continue to cook for another minute, stirring frequently. Add the hand-crushed tomatoes, tomato paste and tomato sauce. When mixture becomes bubbly, reduce heat to medium-low (4.0 to 2.4 on induction) to simmer, covered, for 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

Cottage Cheese Mixture
In a medium-size bowl, mix the cottage cheese, beaten eggs, Parmesan cheese, the 2 tablespoons parsley, pesto and salt with a fork until well combined. Set aside in the refrigerator until needed.

Lasagna Noodles
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the lasagna noodles and continue to cook, uncover, for 7 minutes. Drain noodles and rinse in cold water. Drain well and set aside until needed.

Assembling the Lasagna
Spray a large baking pan (Le Creuset 5-1/2 quart size, about 15-3/4-inch by 10-3/4-inch by 2-2/3-inch), with nonstick cooking spray. This is the OCD in me: I like to use a kitchen shear to cut a few noodles to size to cover all spaces. 1st layer: Arrange lasagna noodles to cover the bottom of the baking pan (about 3-1/2 noodles). Spread 1/3 of the meat sauce (730g) and top with 1/5 of the mozzarella cheese (90g). 2nd layer: Arrange lasagna noodles (about 3-1/2 noodles) to cover the meat sauce layer. Spread half of the cottage cheese mixture (427g) and top with 1/5 of the mozzarella cheese (90g). 3rd layer: Arrange lasagna noodles (about 4 noodles) to cover the cottage cheese layer. Spread another 1/3 of the meat sauce (730g) and top with 1/5 of the mozzarella cheese (90g). 4th layer: Arrange lasagna noodles (about 4 noodles) to cover the meat sauce layer. Spread the remainder of the cottage cheese mixture and top with 1/5 of the mozzarella cheese (90g). 5th layer: Arrange lasagna noodles (about 4 noodles) to cover the cottage cheese layer. Spread remainder of the meat sauce and top with remainder of the mozzarella cheese. Either proceed with baking or cover the lasagna with plastic wrap and refrigerate up to two days.

Baking the Lasagna
Preheat oven at 350 degrees and position oven rack to the center of the oven.

If baking the lasagna immediately after assembly, cover lasagna loosely with aluminum foil. Bake for 30 minutes.Let lasagna rest for about 10 minutes before serving.

If lasagna have been refrigerated, bake lasagna for 1 hour and 20 minutes, loosely covered with aluminum foil. Let lasagna rest for abpoit 10 minutes before serving.

Yield 12 servings

Spicy Corn and Chicken Chili

Spicy Corn and Chicken Chili

This recipe is adapted from Whole Foods Market. This recipe is already doubled so this recipe will make a very large quantity. This chili is different from the traditional meat chili with beans. It is made with ground chicken, but most of the time I like to use ground lean turkey. It has a lot of corn instead of beans which makes this chili so delicious in flavor and texture. The spices and chipotlle salsa gives this chili a nice smoky flavor and kick. This chili is very thick, hearty, spicy and comforting. The spiciness can be adjusted to your own taste by adding more or less canned chipotle pepper in adobo sauce. The corn adds a little sweetness to the chili and I love the chewy texture of the corn.

2 large onions, finely chopped (about 1:6.3 to 1:7.8 pounds)
5 cloves garlic, minced (0.8 ounce)
1/4 cup ground ancho chili powder (0.8 ounce)
4 teaspoons dried oregano
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 to 2 canned chipotle chili in adobo sauce (0.5 to 1.0 ounce), finely minced OR 1 teaspoon ground chipotle powder
2 pounds ground chicken OR two 1.25-pound packages ground lean turkey
One 28-ounce can no-salt plum tomatoes, hand crushed
One 14-ounce can Swanson brand 33% less sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup cold water
One 16-ounce jar Marcela Valladolid brand Fire-Roasted Chipotle Salsa (Safeway)
One 16-ounce package frozen roasted yellow corn
One 16-ounce package frozen white corn
2-1/4 teaspoons salt
2/3 cup chopped cilantro (1.0 ounce)

Heat a large pot over high heat until hot. Add 2 tablespoons olive oil and add the ground chicken/turkey. Cook, stirring and breaking up the meat, until browned. Transfer the chicken/turkey to a colander to drain and set aside.

Return same pot to the stove. Lower temperature to medium-high heat and add 2 tablespoons olive oil to the pot. When hot, add the onions and garlic. Continue to cook, stirring frequently, until onions are lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add the chili powder, oregano, cumin, coriander, and chipotle chili. Cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly.

Add the ground chicken/turkey and continue to cook, stirring constantly, for a few seconds. Add tomatoes, salsa, chicken broth, water, both kinds of corn and salt. Increase heat to high to bring chili to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer. Cover pot and continue to cook for about 25 minutes, stirring often. Remove from heat and stir in cilantro. Serve with corn tortilla, fresh diced avocado, and cilantro.

Yields 8 to 10 servings

Apple, Sage, and Turkey Meatloaf

Apple, Sage and Turkey Meatloaf
Adapted from Whole Foods Market

I have made this turkey meatloaf about three or four times already. Meatloaf is my favorite type of comfort food and the only type of meatloaf I make nowadays are with turkey or chicken so I am always searching for a good turkey or chicken meatloaf. This meatloaf recipe uses fresh apples which at first I didn't know whether I wanted to try this recipe because I'm not a fan of fresh fruit and meats cooked together. I recall eating Aidells Chicken and Apple Sausages and I do love these sausages, so why not try this meatloaf. I'm so glad I did because this meatloaf is really good. The apples are cooked down so you don't notice there are apples in your meatloaf, but the apples makes the meatloaf tender and moist and the sage is so aromatic. I tried the meatloaf with a combination of Granny Smith and Gala varieties. Another time I used entirely Pink Lady variety and another time I used entirely Gala variety. Each time, it turns out good.

I prefer using a food processor to grate the apples rather than a box grater. The box grater extracts a lot of juice which I didn't know whether to discard the juice or save the juice to add to the meatloaf. The juice turned brown sitting out for awhile which didn't look appetizing for me to save so I threw it out. Using a food processor gets the job done in seconds and there are no juice extracted from the apples. So if you have a food processor, use it. If you are using your box grater, I suggest grating your apples right when you are ready to use the grated apples so you can also use the juice.
 
For those who are not planning to roast a turkey for Thanksgiving, I'm thinking this will be a great alternative.
 
Apple, Sage and Turkey Meatloaf
 
2 large apples (about 1 to 1:3.0 pounds at purchase), peeled, cored and grated (12.8 to 14.1 ounces after grating) (See tip on coring apples posted at the end)
One-half of a large red or yellow onion, finely chopped (about 1 cup or 7.0 ounces)
2/3 cup dry plain bread crumbs or homemade whole-grain breadcrumbs (posted at the end) (1.7 ounces)
1/2 cup 2% reduced-fat milk (4.0 ounces)
2 pounds lean ground turkey
1 extra large egg, lightly beaten
1/4 cup chopped fresh sage leaves, finely minced (0.4 ounce)
1 tablespoon whole-grain Dijon mustard (0.5 ounce)
1/2 teaspoon poultry seasonings
2 teaspoons fine sea salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
6 tablespoons tomato sauce (3.0 ounces)
2 teaspoons agave nectar (0.3 ounce)
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
 
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Position oven rack to the center of the oven. Lightly coat a large shallow-rimmed baking sheet with nonstick olive oil spray. Set aside.

In a very large mixing bowl, combine the grated apples, onion, bread crumbs and milk. Toss to combine and let sit for about 5 minutes to soften the bread crumbs.

Add the ground turkey, egg, sage, mustard, poultry seasonings, salt and pepper. Using your hands, mix until thoroughly combined. Transfer mixture to the baking sheet and shape the mixture into a 10-inch by 5-inch size loaf.

In a small bowl, stir together the tomato sauce, agave nectar and salt. Spread the mixture over the meatloaf, leaving the top more heavily coated than the sides.

Bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes. Let sand for 10 minutes before slicing and serving.

Yields 3 to 4 servings

 

Served with mashed Yukon Gold potatoes and Microwave Steamed Spinach.

 

 

Homemade 100% whole-grain breadcrumbs: Use any 100% multi-grain, whole-grain or whole wheat bread of your choice, but make sure it is 100%. Toast bread slices in the toaster until toasty browned. Cool completely. Remove crust from each slice of toast, cut into cubes and place into the food processor. Process until fine crumbs: it may take several on/off pulses in the beginning and then let it run continuously until you achieve fine crumbs (about 2 to 3 minutes), depending on the type of bread you are using. Transfer bread crumbs to a shallow-rimmed baking sheet and spread the crumbs out evenly. Let the bread crumbs air-dry overnight to 1 to 2 days. Transfer bread crumbs to an airtight container and store in the freezer. Whenever you need bread crumbs, just scoop out a desired amount. Don't need to thaw, it can use right away.

 

Tip on coring your apples: I learn this from foodwishes.com. After peeling your apples, cut each apple into fourths. Lay each quarter on its side and trim away the core. It's so much easier to remove the core this way and you have less apples to waste. Thanks to Chef John for this tip.

Homemade Chicken Stock

Homemade Chicken Stock

 I LOVE soup. I can have soup even if the weather is 100 degrees outside. I crave for long-simmering soups. I don't categorize soup as soup unless it has been simmering over a stove for about 3 to 4 hours, or cooked in a slow cooker for 8 to 10 hours. The kind of soup I crave for from time to time is just rich homemade chicken stock. Homemade chicken stock is clean tasting and tastes just like...rich chicken stock. I only use two ingredients to make my rich chicken stock: just chicken and filtered water. I do not add any vegetables, herbs or spices...not even salt.  Since I like to consume the chicken meat with my stock, I use only chicken thighs. You can use chicken breast, but I find my chicken stock more flavorful using chicken thighs; plus after simmering the soup for 4 hours, the chicken thighs are still edible while the chicken breast will be very dry. So here is how I cook my two-ingredient rich chicken stock:

First remove all visible fats (or as much as you can as possible) from each chicken thighs before weighing. I purchased 3:3.5 pounds of skinless and boneless chicken thighs. After removing all the visible fats, my chicken thighs weighed 2:12.2 pounds. So 7.3 ounces of fat was removed. That is why I weigh my chicken AFTER removing all visible fats. For every pound of chicken thighs, I use 1 quart (4 cups) of filtered water. In this example, I had 2:12.2 pounds of chicken thighs and used 11 cups of filtered water.

I placed my filtered water in a large 6- or 8-quart stock pot. Bring this "soup" water to a boil.

In the meantime, I have a separate 3-quart pot filled with 3 inches of cold tap water. Bring the  tap water to a boil. When the tap water comes to a full boil, working with 2 to 3 chicken thighs at a time, add the chicken thighs to the water. Let it cook for about 10 seconds or just until the chicken thighs turns opaque in color (this is a cleaning process to remove all impurities and gunk from the chicken thighs so it will not end up in your soup). Immediately transfer the chicken to the soup water (big pot). Repeat this "cleaning" process with the remainder of the chicken thighs.

When all the chicken is added to the soup pot, wait for the soup to come to a full boil. When the soup comes to a full boil, lower heat to a simmer. Cover pot and let it cook for 4 hours, undisturbed. When 4 hours of simmering is done, remove pot from the stove and let it cool completely before transferring the pot to the refrigerator to refrigerate overnight. The next morning, remove all the cold fat that is floating on top (I had some fat floating, but hardly any). You now have rich chicken stock ready to consume. You can add salt to taste, but I prefer not to. Chicken stock that tastes this rich doesn't need it. Transfer soup to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 1 week or place in the freezer for longer storage. This amount will last me the whole week.

NOTE: If you absolutely want to make this soup more filling, while you are reheating a portion of the soup, you can add cooked brown rice, cooked barley or quinoa, or cooked soba noodles or whole-grain pasta. At this point, you may want to add a little salt to taste. If anyone is familiar with Sweet Tomatoes Chunky Chicken Soup, this chicken broth tastes just as rich as Sweet Tomatoes (but less fat floating on top).

Grilled Chicken Tenders

Grilled Chicken Tenders

Donna Giblin's Artichoke Chicken

Donna Giblin's Artichoke Chicken
As viewed on The Chew

This will be a dish I will make often. It's such a simple dish to put together, but tastes like a lot of effort been put into this dish. Almost like eating a French-style dinner because of the tarragon herb. A lesson learn is to make sure you check your pantry to see if you have all the ingredients to any recipe before proceeding. A mental check is not thorough enough. I had everything for this recipe, except tarragon. I thought I had it in the pantry, but could not find it. So I had to stop and make a trip to the supermarket just for the tarragon. The oven is preheated, all the meat and vegetables are placed in the roasting pan, the sauce is ready to go, except for that one missing herb. I was thinking to omit the tarragon because I didn't have it, but tarragon is such a unique herb and cannot be substituted with another herb. It's hard for me to describe the unique flavor of tarragon...mild licorice-like...fennel-like?! I know it's commonly used in French cooking. It turns out that I am glad I made the trip to the supermarket just to get this herb to complete this recipe. I love this dish for its simplicity and flavor. Tastes like a home-style French comfort meal.

HEALTHY NOTE:  The original recipe uses chicken thighs and drumsticks with the skin. To make this dish healthier, I used entirely chicken thighs without the skin amd remove all visible fat. Since I removed the skins, I decrease the roasting time by 10 minutes.

3-1/2 to 4 pounds chicken thighs with bone (about 9 thighs), skins and all visible fat removed
1 cup frozen artichoke hearts, thawed (6 ounces)
1 medium-size onion, cut into large chunks to match the sizes of artichokes (8.5 ounces)
1 pound cremini mushrooms, halved or quartered
2 tablespoons brown mustard (0.8 ounce)
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil (1.7 ounces)
1/4 cup red wine vinegar (2.0 ounces)
1/4 cup Cabernet Sauvignon wine (2.0 ounces)
1 large clove garlic, minced (0.3 ounce)
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 teaspoon dried tarragon
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Position oven rack to the center of the oven.

Lightly salt the chicken on both sides and place skinless-side up evenly in a large roasting pan. I used a Le Creuset roasting pan measuring 9-3/4-inches by 14 inches. Evenly distribute the onions, artichoke hearts, and mushrooms around the thighs and trying not to cover the chicken meat too much. If chicken is covered too much with the vegetables, just lift the chicken up slightly so most of the chicken is exposed (see photo above).

In a small bowl, combine the mustard, olive oil, red wine vinegar, wine, garlic, basil, thyme, tarragon, bay leaf, salt and ground black pepper. Whisk until thoroughly combined.

Pour sauce evenly over the chicken and the vegetables. Bake for about 1 hour and 20 minutes, basting every 20 minutes.

First basting after 20 minutes of baking: I use a turkey baster for basting.

Second basting after 40 minutes of baking.

Third and final basting after 1 hour of baking.

Remove from oven after 1 hour and 20 minutes.

Close up view of the finish dish. Even the chicken thighs looks brown without the skin.

Serve with mashed potatoes and a vegetable side dish. The chcken is moist and delicious; the onions melts in your mouth; the artichokes and mushrooms are roasted to perfection...and the flavor is amazingly delicious. I cannot wait for leftovers tonight.

Yield 4 to 5 servings

Chicken with Millet and Vegetables One-Skillet Meal

Adapted from Whole Foods Market

The first time I cooked this dish, I followed the recipe exactly as written on Whole Foods website. The millet was a bit soggy and scorched at the bottom. It was delicious, but the dish did not look appetizing at all. This will not be a good meal to cook for your dinner guest.

The next time I made this dish, I didn't want the millet to scorch a second time so baking this dish in the oven did solve this problem. Replacing the spinach with kale made this dish heartier and added better texture. I also read that if you stir millet during cooking, it will cause the millet to be more creamier rather than fluffy so I added the millet towards the end just when this dish was ready to go in the oven. Adding sun-dried tomatoes and tomato paste added another layer of flavor and color to this dish.

I'm thinking that you can also go meatless and just cooking the millet and vegetables all by itself as a side dish, If you haven't try millet, you will love this dish.

1-1/4 cups millet (8.3 ounces)

8 skinless and boneless chicken thighs, all visible fat removed (about 2:4.8 pounds)

8 ounces cremini mushrooms, sliced into 1/4-inch thick slices

1 large yellow onion, finely chopped (about 11.3 to 12.1 ounces)

4 large garlic cloves, finely minced (0.7 ounces)

1-1/2 teaspoons fresh rosemary, finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

2 tablespoons tomato paste (1.0 ounce)

1/4 cup extra-moist, julienne sun-dried tomatoes, finely chopped (0.7 ounce)

One 14-ounce can Swansons brand 33% less-sodium chicken broth and add enough water to measure 2-1/2 cups broth/water (1:4.0 pounds)

1 bunch lacinato kale, thick stems removed and thinly sliced (about 6.3 to 6.7 ounces)

Chopped fresh Italian parsley or thinly sliced chives for garnish (Optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Position oven rack to the center of the oven.

Place millet in a fine sieve. Wash millet under slow-running cold water, using your fingers to rub through the millet until the water runs clear. Set aside to drain well.

Season chicken with salt and pepper. Heat an oven-proof deep skillet over medium high heat until hot, but not smoking. Add a tablespoon of olive oil to the pan. Place 4 chicken thighs in the pan and cook until browned on both sides (about 3 minutes per side). Transfer to a plate and set aside. Add more olive oil to the pan and brown the remaining 4 chicken thighs. Set aside.

Using the same skillet, add another tablespoon of olive oil and add the mushrooms. Continue to cook on medium-high heat until mushrooms are browned and all liquid released from the mushrooms have evaporated, stirring frequently, about 3 to 5 minutes. If skillet becomes dry and looks like it's going to scorch, stir in 1 tablespoon water and proceed with browning the mushrooms. Add the onions to the mushrooms, and continue to cook on medium-high heat until onions are lightly browned, stirring occasionally, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, rosemary, thyme, salt, pepper and tomato paste. Continue to cook until fragrant, about 10 to 20 seconds. Add the chicken broth/water, sun-dried tomato and kale to the skillet. Continue to cook on medium-high heat until mixture comes to a boil and kale has cooked down considerably, about 2 minutes. Stir in the millet to evenly distribute the millet. Lay the chicken pieces on top of the millet and vegetables. When mixture returns to a boil, cover and bake for 30 minutes. When done, remove from oven and let rest for 10 minutes before serving.

Sprinkle with parsley or chives as a garnish, if desired.

Yield 4 servings

Korean Spicy Braised Chicken

Adapted from www.maangchi.com

Version 1

Made with SKINLESS CHICKEN thighs and added Kabocha squash (Japanese pumpkin).

Version 2

Made with SKINLESS, BONELESS TURKEY thighs and used The Little Potato Compay brand Terrific Trio potatoes (red, yellow and blue potatoes) with Kabocha squash (Japanese pumpkin).

Both versions of this recipe are equally delicious. I doubled the recipe so I can eat it all week long. I love it that much and it is so easy to make. Just dump all ingredients in one pot and cook. The sauce becomes thicker as it sits in refrigerator. So simple and so delicious. This is Korean homestyle comfort food at its best. Maangchi's recipe uses entirely potatoes, but I decided to use half potatoes and half Kabocha squash (or you can use acorn squash or Delicata squash). Instead of cooking the stew right away, I marinade the meat and onions overnight with the sauce so the flavor will penetrate through the meat (my daughter's idea).

Here is my version of Maangchi's recipe:

4 pounds skinless chicken thighs (about 12 thighs) OR
3-1/2 pounds skinless turkey thighs (about 6 thighs)

1-1/2 large yellow onion, thickly sliced and separated (1:1.2 pounds)
1/2 cup Bragg Liquid Aminos or any low-sodium soy sauce (4.6 ounces)
1/2 cup finely minced garlic, about 1 head (2.5 ounces)
1/2 cup Korean coarse hot pepper flakes (1.6 ounces)
1/2 cup Korean hot pepper paste (5.4 ounces)
2 tablespoons natural cane sugar (1.0 ounce)
2 tablespoon sesame oil (0.6 ounce)
2 pounds red or Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks OR 2 pounds Little Potato Company brand Terrific Trio potatoes (red, yellow and purple), unpeeled

2 pounds Kabocha squash, cut into large chunks

2 jalapeno chilies, thinly sliced with seeds (2.4 ounces)

2 stalks green onion, thinly sliced

Remove all visible fat from the chicken thighs or turkey thighs.

If using chicken thighs, cut each chicken thigh in half vertically along the thigh bone to get two pieces from each thigh. If using turkey thighs, remove the bone from each thigh and cut each thigh meat into 6 pieces.

In a very large mixing bowl or an 8-quart stock pot, combine the meat and onions. Set aside.

In a separate small bowl, combine the liquid aminos, garlic, pepper flakes, pepper paste, sugar and sesame oil. Stir well to combine into a thick paste. Rub the entire paste into the meat and onions. Cover bowl with plastic wrap or place lid on stock pot and refrigerate overnight to marinate.

The next day, transfer meat and onions into an 8-quart stock pot (if it is not already in one). Add 4 cups of cold water. Stir well to combine.

Ready for cooking. Cooking time will vary with chicken and turkey:

If you are cooking with chicken, bring to a boil over high heat. When mixture comes to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and continue to cook, covered, for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the potatoes and continue to cook, covered, for another 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the Kabocha squash and jalapeno chilies. Continue to cook until potatoes and squash are knife tender, about 15 minutes.

If you are cooking with turkey, bring to a boil over high heat. When mixture comes to a boil, reduce heat to a simmer and continue to cook, covered, for about 50 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the potatoes and continue to cook, covered, for another 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the Kabocha squash and jalapeno chilies. Continue to cook until potatoes and squash are knife tender, about 15 minutes.

If made ahead of time, let stew cool completely before transferring stew to an airtight container and refrigerate. Rewarm serving-size portions at a time. Transfer stew to a serving dish and sprinkle generously with green onions.

Yields 8 to 10 servings

Soybean Sprout Bibimbap

Soybean Sprout Bibimbap with Multi-Grain Rice and Ground Turkey

Adapted from Maanghi.com

Soybean Sprout Bibimbap is a Korean rice dish cooked with meat and soybean sprouts. It is served with an egg cooked over-easy. To eat, you will break up the egg into the rice; then mix the rice mixture and the egg together with a few spoonfuls of homemade seasoned sauce (yangnyeomjang).

This dish is so amazingly delicious and healthy! The soy beans from the soybean sprouts has a nice delicate crunch and the seasoned sauce mixed together with the rice is so flavorful and addicting. You may have extra seasoned sauce when all the rice is eaten up, but there are other uses for the seasoned sauce. I actually use the remaining sauce with Baked Tofu and I'm sure the seasoned sauce will also be delicious eaten with fish, soba noodles, steamed vegetables, etc. It is amazingly delicious!!

I modified Maangchi's recipe to be cooked with multi-grain rice and replaced the ground beef for ground lean turkey. Since we love this dish so much, I doubled the recipe so we can enjoy this rice for a few more dinners.

1-1/2 cups medium-grain brown rice (9.9 ounces), washed and drained

1/2 cup Thai red cargo rice (3.2 ounces) or black medium-grain rice (3.5 ounces), washed and drained
3 cups cold water (24 ounces or 1:8.0 pounds)

Two pounds soybean sprouts
12 ounces lean ground turkey or ground chicken
1 tablespoon Bragg Liquid Aminos or low-sodium soy sauce (0.4 ounce)
1 tablespoon sesame oil (0.3 ounce)
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/2 cup Bragg Liquid Aminos or low-sodium soy sauce (4.5 ounces)
4 garlic cloves, minced (0.6 to 0.8 ounce)
2 stalks green onions, thinly sliced (1.0 ounce)
3 tablespoons finely chopped yellow onion (1.0 ounce)
1 small jalapeno or serrano chili pepper, thinly sliced or coarsely chopped (optional)
4 teaspoons Korean coarse hot pepper flakes (0.3 ounce)
1 tablespoon agave nectar or honey (0.5 ounce)
2 tablespoon sesame oil (0.6 ounce)
2 tablespoons roasted white sesame seeds (0.4 ounce)

6 eggs (any size)

In a 6-quart stock pot, combine the brown rice, red rice and water. (Note: You can use entirely 2 cups of brown rice (13.2 ounces) if you do not have red or black rice.) Set aside to let rice soak for about 1 hour.

While rice is soaking, remove root ends of each soybean sprout and discard any discolored rotten sprouts or remove discolored rotten soybeans, but save the healthy sprouts (do this while watching your favorite television program). Wash well in several changes of water. Transfer to a large colander and set aside.

Season the ground turkey with 1 tablespoon Bragg Liquid Aminos, 1 tablespoon sesame oil and ground black pepper. Mix well and set aside.

Bring the pot of rice to a boil on high heat (do not need to change water). When rice comes to a full boil, give rice a stir and cover pot. Reduce heat to low heat. Let rice cook undisturbed for 15 minutes.

While rice is cooking, make the seasoned sauce (yangnyeomjang): Combine 1/2 cup Bragg Liquid Aminos, garlic, green onion, yellow onion, jalapeno chili pepper (optional), Korean hot pepper flakes, agave nectar, 2 tablespoons sesame oil and sesame seeds in a small bowl. Stir well to combine. Set aside.

After the rice have been cooking for 15 minutes, increase heat to medium-low heat. Add the entire soybean sprouts on top of the rice. Spread the ground turkey mixture on top of the soybean sprouts. Immediately cover pot and continue to cook on medium-low heat for additional 25 minutes, undisturbed. After 25 minutes of cooking, remove the pot of rice from the heat. Transfer the ground turkey patty to a plate. Cover the pot of rice and let the rice rest off the heat. Break up the turkey patty to smaller bite-size pieces. Return turkey pieces back to the pot of rice and give the rice mixture a good toss to evenly incorporate the soybean sprouts, ground turkey and the rice.

NOTE: You can stop at this point if you decide to make this rice early in the day or even one day in advance. The rice mixture and seasoned sauce can be refrigerated in an airtight container. When ready to eat, just reheat the rice in the microwave and poach-fry your egg.

When ready to eat, either you can fry your egg over-easy the traditional way or you can follow my instructions for Poach-Fried Eggs.

For each serving, scoop one-sixth portion of the rice mixture into a shallow bowl. Place a poached-fried egg on top. Pass the seasoned sauce to be served with the rice. To eat, break up the egg into the rice. Add 2 to 3 spoonfuls of the seasoned sauce over the rice mixture, mixed everything together and it is ready to eat. You can also tear up a few sheets of Korean roasted seaweed on top of the rice and/or sprinkle with some roasted black sesame seeds. Even more delicious!

Yield 6 servings

Soybean Sprout Bibimbap served in a shallow bowl with a
Poach-Fried Egg on top.

Before you eat, break up the egg into the rice mixture.

Add 2 to 3 spoonfuls of the homemade seasoned sauce (yangnyeomjang) to the rice mixture.

 Thoroughly mix everything together.

(The rice is hot - notice the steam on the lower left of the photo.)

Now it is ready to eat!
You can also tear up several sheets of Korean roasted seaweed and place it on top of the rice mixture. The roasted seaweed adds another depth of flavor to the bibimbap.

Grilled Chicken Breast

Grilled Chicken Breast and
Brown Rice

I purchased a package of Safeway Eating Right brand all natural boneless skinless chicken breasts with rib meat ($1.99/pound on sale which ended yesterday). This package weighed a little over 3 pounds and there were 5 chicken breasts and 2 tenderloin pieces in the package. With each chicken breast, I horizontally split them in half as if I were to butterfly the breast, except I split them completely (each breast now becomes 2 pieces). I did it this way so I can choose to eat only half of a breast for dinner. With the 2 tenderloin pieces, I left them the way it was. After removing some visible fat (which was hardly any), I had a little under 3 pounds of chicken meat (2:15.6 pounds to be exact). I marinated the chicken meat with my Homemade Adobo Seasoning. I mixed 4 tablespoons of the seasonings with 6 tablespoons of olive oil (since I split each breast to two pieces, I now have more meat to distribute the seasonings). I place the marinated meat into a Ziploc bag and place it in the refrigerator for 24 hours. Of course, you can marinate the chicken meat with any type of seasonings of your choice. The next night, we grilled the chicken on our gas grill for 2 to 3 minutes per side on medium-high heat. Some pieces were thinner than others, so the thinner pieces were cooked for a total of 5 minutes and the thicker pieces were cooked for a total of 6 minutes. The two tenderloin pieces were cooked for a total of 5 minutes. I served the grilled chicken with a multi-grain rice blend (recipe posted below) cooked together and Steamed Spinach.


Brown Rice

2 cups medium-grain brown rice (13.2 ounces)
3 cups water (24 ounces or 1:8.0 pounds)

Wash rice and drain well. Place brown rice into a 2-1/2- to 3-quart saucepan which comes with a lid. Add the water. Bring rice to a boil on high heat. When the water reaches boiling point, turn heat down to the temperature between medium-low and low heat. Give a quick stir and cover with the lid. Continue to cook, covered and undisturbed, for 45 minutes. Can check rice occasionally by lifting cover to give a quick peep, but do not stir. When rice is done, water will be completely absorbed. Remove from heat and let rice rest for about 10 to 15 minutes. Fluff up rice and it's ready to eat.

Leftover rice stores well in an airtight container placed in the refrigerator for about 1 week. When reheating leftover rice, scoop rice into a bowl and place a cover over the rice or you can cover with microwavable plastic wrap. Place in microwave for 2 or more minutes, depending on the amount of rice you are reheating. If rice is not reheated to the desired temperature, just place back in the microwave for more time.

Brown and Black Rice Blend (as shown in photo above): 1-1/2 cups medium-grain brown rice (9.9 ounces) and 1/2 cup black rice (3.6 ounces - aka Forbidden rice) . Cook as directed above.

Brown and Red Rice Blend: 1-1/2 cups medium-grain brown rice (9.9 ounces) and 1/2 cup Thai Red Cargo Rice (3.2 ounces). Cook as directed above.

Peruvian-Style Roasted Chicken with Onions and Peppers

Peruvian-Style Roasted Chicken with Onions and Peppers
Adapted from Whole Foods Market

I've been meaning to try this recipe earlier this year, but never got around to making it. Yet, this recipe is so simple to prepare. Since chicken is on sale this week, I decided to try this recipe. My Peruvian coworker said this recipe was pretty authentic and by reading through the ingredients, I can tell this dish is going to be delicious. I end up purchasing a whole chicken fryer weighing 6 pounds. I haven't been buying whole chickens in awhile so I don't recall ever seeing a chicken fryer weighing that much. Matter of fact, the smallest chicken fryer I've found is about 4+ pounds. Why are the chicken so huge nowadays? I manage to cut up the chicken into 10 pieces and removed the skin and visible fat to make this dish a lot healthier. Especially the wings--I couldn't remove the skin entirely, but I was able to remove a good portion of skin and fat from the wings and I also discarded the third smallest portion of the wing. After all that skin and fat removal, the 6-pound chicken then weighed 3:10.8 pounds. I increase the amount of ingredients for the rub paste since my chicken is a good size chicken. I also increase the amount of oil since I removed the skin from the chicken. You don't need to marinade the chicken ahead of time. Once you put this dish together, in the oven it goes. This dish is so full of flavor and comforting. The chicken was cooked perfectly, not overcook and was very moist and delicious. Make sure your roasting pan is large and wide. If your roasting pan is too small, you will be poaching your chicken and vegetables rather than roasting.

Peruvian-Style Roasted Chicken with
Onions and Peppers

2 tablespoons sweet paprika (0.5 ounce)
4 teaspoons ground cumin (0.2 ounce)
2 teaspoons fine sea salt
1-3/4 teaspoons ground black pepper
8 cloves garlic, finely minced (1.3 ounces)
2 tablespoons olive oil (0.8 ounce)
3 tablespoons white wine vinegar (1.2 ounces)2 large sweet onions, 1/4-inch thick slices on the grain
(1:4.9 to 1:9.5 pounds)
2 red and/or yellow bell peppers, cored, seeded and cut into chunks (I cut each pepper in half; then cut each half vertically into fourths; then cut horizontally in thirds) (14.6 ounces)
1 whole chicken, cut into 10 serving pieces (6 pounds at purchase; 3:10.8 pounds cut up and all skin/fat removed)
1 lemon, sliced, seeds removed

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Position oven rack in the center of the oven.

Lightly oil a large roasting pan, about an 11-3/4-inch by 17-inch size pan, and set aside.

In a small bowl, combine the paprika, cumin, salt, pepper, garlic, oil and vinegar. Stir together with a fork to make a spice rub paste.

Place onions and peppers in a large bowl. Toss with 3 tablespoons of the spice rub paste. Set aside.

Rub all chicken pieces with the remainder of the spice rub paste and place in prepared roasting pan. Then top with the onions and peppers mixture. Lay lemon slices on top. Roast, basting occasionally with the pan juices, until chicken is cooked through and vegetables are tender, about 42 to 45 minutes. Gently move vegetables around if beginning to char too much. Remove from oven and rest for 5 minutes before serving. Serve with brown rice or mashed potatoes.

Yields 6 servings

Barbecue Turkey Meat Loaf

Barbecue Turkey Meatloaf

1 medium onion, finely chopped (9.2 to 10.0 ounces)

1 red bell pepper, finely chopped (5.9 to 6.9 ounces)

2 teaspoons ancho chili powder

2 teaspoons paprika

2 teaspoons garlic powder

2 teaspoons dried oregano

2 teaspoons dried thyme

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon ground cumin

2 teaspoons salt

1 teaspoon ground black pepper

1/3 cup barbecue sauce (3.4 ounces) and a separate 1/3 cup barbecue sauce (3.4 ounces)

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard (0.4 ounce)

Two 1.25-pound packages ground lean turkey

3/4 cup homemade 100% whole-grain breadcrumbs (1.7 ounces) (Procedure to follow)

2 large eggs, beaten (3.6 ounces)

Heat a large skillet on medium-low heat until hot. Add 1 tablespoon olive oil and add the onions and red bell peppers. Continue to saute, stirring occasionally, until soft and dry, about 13 to 15 minutes. Add the chili powder, paprika, garlic powder, oregano, thyme, coriander, cumin, salt and pepper. Cook and stir until fragrant, about 10 seconds. Remove from heat and sir in 1/3 cup barbecue sauce and Dijon mustard. Mixture will be thick. Set aside to cool.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Position oven rack to the center of
the oven.

In a very large mixing bowl, combine the ground turkey, breadcrumbs, onion mixture and eggs. Mix until well combined. Transfer to a shallow rimmed baking sheet and shape into a loaf. Spread the entire loaf with the remaining 1/3 cup barbecue sauce.

Bake in oven for 1 hour, 15 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes. Transfer to a serving platter and cut into slices. Serve with additional barbecue sauce, if desired.

Yield 6 to 8 servings

Homemade 100% whole-grain breadcrumbs: Use any 100% multi-grain, whole-grain or whole wheat bread of your choice, but make sure it is 100%. Toast slices in the toaster until toasty browned. Cool completely. Sometimes I let it air dry on a rack overnight. Cut into cubes and place into the food processor. Process until fine crumbs. It may take several pulses in the beginning and then I let it run continuously until I get fine crumbs (2 to 3 minutes), depending on the type of bread you are using. I like to use Kirkland's brand 100% multi-grain bread (Kirkland is a product of Costco).