{Clean} Green Bean Stir Fry

Tags

dinner ideas, green beans, stir fry

All the recipes I’ve found for making stir fry use ingredients (like oyster sauce!) that are LOADED with chemicals!

Here is a {Clean} Stir Fry recipe.

Feel free to substitute the green beans for just about anything-peas, mushrooms, etc!

{Clean Eating} Green Bean Stir Fry

1 lb. fresh green beans
2 T coconut oil
2 T chopped garlic
1/2 large yellow onion, cut into slivers
1/4 tsp. salt
1 T water (plus a bit more if you check and the pan seems dry)
2 T Stir Fry sauce (see below)

Trim both ends of green beans. (I do this by taking a handful of beans, standing them up in my hand, loosely enough that they fall down to the cutting board and ends line up, trim that end, then turn over and line up the other side and trim.) Cut green beans into 2 inch lengths, wash, and spin dry or dry with paper towels.

Heat the wok or a heavy frying pan over high heat for 1-2 minutes, until it’s too hot to hold your hand over it.  Add the coconut oil and heat about 30 seconds more, then add the garlic and onion slivers and cook for 20-30 seconds, stirring the whole time. (It will burn fast if you don’t stir!!)

Add beans and salt and cook about 2 minutes, stirring several times. Then add water, cover wok, and let beans steam for 5 minutes. (Check to see if the pan seems dry and added about 1 tsp. more water.)

Uncover the pan and add stir fry sauce, then cook 2 minutes more, stirring so all the beans are uniformly covered with the sauce.  Beans should still be slightly crisp when they’re done.  Serve hot.

{Stir Fry Sauce}

2 Tbs. Soy Sauce

1-2 tsp. Coconut Sugar

1/4 tsp. cornstarch

1/2 tsp. Sesame Seeds (optional)

Put all ingredients in a bowl, and whisk until well blended.

Recipe adapted from Kalyn’s Kitchen

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Restaurant Style {Mexican} Rice

Tags

dinner ideas, mexican, Rice

Mr. Clean Eating is the BEST cook!

His most recent creation is definitely blog-worthy!

This stuff is SO DELISH that it might not make it to dinner time.  I was eating it right out of the pan!

Here are a few TRADE SECRETS of making restaurant style rice

Bake in a shallow baking dish, like a 9×13 pan.
This allows the rice to get nice a fluffy, and keeps it from getting heavy, sticky
and dense.

Let it rest after you take it out of the oven.  Fluffing it with a fork and letting it sit for a few minutes works wonders!

Adding the jalepeno during cooking, and removing it before serving allows it to flavor the rice, without making it spicy!

The bay leaves make a difference.  It’s hard to describe it exactly, but they add a lot to the dish!

I use Trader Joe’s Quick Cooking Brown Rice…..it cooks FAST!  We have made this with regular brown rice, and it didn’t work.  Use the quick cook!

Restaurant Style {Mexican} Rice!

Yummy!

Linking up here and here and here!

Red, Yellow & Orange {Potatoes}, oh my!

Tags

dinner ideas, oca potatoes

Walking through Central Market last week (a local foodie grocery store), I spotted these lovelies:

They are called Oca (oh-Kah) Potatoes.

They are native to the Andes Mountains in South America.

I have never seen red, orange and yellow potatoes before!
Of course I HAD to buy them and make something with them.

I couldn’t resist their vibrant color!
They are the most interesting veggie I have seen in a while.

I’m also part of a fruit/vegetable co-op, and we got some LOVELY looking rosemary yesterday.

I decided to put the two together!

Roasted Rosemary Oca Potatoes

Ingredients

2.5 lbs Oca Potatoes (can substitute regular red potatoes), cut into 1 inch pieces
1/4 cup Olive Oil
4 Tbs Butter, melted
3-6 Tbs Rosemary, roughly chopped
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Pepper
1/4 tsp Paprika
6 cloves garlic, minced

Directions

Preheat oven to 350.

Dice potatoes into 1 inch pieces.

Put potatoes in a pot, cover with water, and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat to med-high, and boil for 10-15 minutes, or until tender.

While potatoes are boiling, combine olive oil, butter, salt, pepper, paprika and garlic in a small bowl.  Mix well.

Drain potatoes, and place in a foil-lined baking dish. (this makes for easy clean up!)

Sprinkle rosemary on top of potatoes. (use however much rosemary you like.  We like it a lot!!)

Pour remaining ingredients (mixed in the earlier step) over potatoes.  Gently stir with a spoon to coat potatoes evenly.

Put potatoes in oven, and roast for 40-50 mins or until browned on top.

Enjoy!

Linking up here!

Weekly Meal Plan Aug 27th-31st

Tags

dinner ideas, weekly menu

Week of Aug 27th-31st
It’s time for another week of clean eating meals!

(oh, and as I write this post, I’m munching on these awwwwwwesome cookies!)

As a review of last week’s meal plan, our favorite recipes were:

Cajun Red Beans and Rice (yum!!)

and

Spinach and Avocado Pasta (which Mr. A ate WILLINGLY!)

This Week’s Good Eats include:

Monday

Baked Pasta
with Naked Tomato Sauce


Balsamic & Parmesan Roasted Cauliflower

Whole Wheat Bread
Seasonal Fruit

Tuesday

Creamy Tomato Soup

Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
Seasonal Fruit

Wednesday

Indian Spiced Vegetable Fritters


Ginger Scented Rice (we seriously love it!)

Seasonal Fruit

Thursday

Cowboy Quesadillas

with Clean BBQ Sauce

Mexican Green Rice

Friday

Shaved Asparagus Pizza

Seasonal Fruit

Linking up here!

Black Bean & Tomato Quinoa

Tags

black beans, dinner ideas, Quinoa, salad

I’ve been really craving quinoa lately, and mexican food.  Weird combo, I know!

For this week’s meal plan, I was on the hunt for a recipe that would combine the two!

Black Bean and Tomato Quinoa

2 teaspoons grated lime zest
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 teaspoon coconut sugar
1 cup quinoa
1 (14- to 15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
2 medium tomatoes, diced
4 scallions, chopped
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Whisk together lime zest and juice, butter, oil, sugar, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a large bowl.

Wash quinoa in 3 changes of cold water in a bowl, draining in a sieve each time.

Cook quinoa in a medium pot of boiling salted water (1 tablespoon salt for 2 quarts water), uncovered, until almost tender, about 10 minutes. Drain in sieve, then set sieve in same pot with 1 inch of simmering water (water should not touch bottom of sieve). Cover quinoa with a folded kitchen towel, then cover sieve with a lid (don’t worry if lid doesn’t fit tightly) and steam over medium heat until tender, fluffy, and dry, about 10 minutes.

Remove pot from heat and remove lid. Let stand, still covered with towel, 5 minutes.

Add quinoa to dressing and toss until dressing is absorbed, then stir in remaining ingredients and salt and pepper to taste.

Recipe adapted from Epicurious

{Clean Eating} Cajun Red Beans & Rice

Tags

cajun, dinner ideas, red beans

Red Beans & Rice is definitely a Southern comfort food for me!  We ate it all. the. time. growing up.

Still one of my favorite dishes!

Ingredients:

1 lb dried red kidney beans
2 quarts water
1 medium onions, chopped
4 stalks celery, with leaves, chopped
1 large bell pepper, chopped
2 1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp thyme
1 1/2 tsp oregano
1 1/4 tsp garlic powder
3/4 tsp cayenne pepper
2 bay leaves
Shredded Cheddar cheese
Green Onions, chopped

Directions

Sort and wash red beans. In a large soup pot, add 2 qrts cold water and red beans. Let soak overnight**. DO NOT DRAIN WATER!

Add onions, celery, and bell pepper, and bay leaves to beans and bring to a boil. Cover, and reduce heat to simmer about 1 1/2 hours, or until beans are soft. DO NOT STIR MORE THAN NECESSARY.

Stir in remaining seasonings. Simmer 30 minutes more.

Meanwhile cook a pot of {brown!} rice, and serve the beans over the hot cooked rice, garnished with shredded cheddar cheese and chopped green onion!

So there you have it; my favorite childhood dish!

**Quick Cook Method for soaking beans: Bring 2 quarts of water and 1 lb of beans to a boil, lower heat and simmer 2 minutes; remove from heat and let stand 1 hour before the next step

Recipe courtesy of Treebeard’s

Roasted Hatch Chile Cornbread

Tags

cornbread, dinner ideas, hatch chile, recipes

I LOVE Hatch Chiles!  They seem to be everywhere right now.

They are only in season for a few short weeks, so stock up on them while you can!!

5 tablespoons butter, melted
1½ cups whole wheat pastry flour
1½ cups yellow, white or blue cornmeal
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1 cup buttermilk
3 eggs
1/4 cup raw honey
1/2 cup fresh or frozen and thawed corn
3 to 4 Hatch chiles, roasted, skinned, seeded and chopped

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400°F. Grease a 9-inch x 13-inch baking pan with 1 tablespoon of the butter.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda and garlic powder; set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk together milk, buttermilk, eggs and honey. Gently stir milk mixture into flour mixture until just combined. Stir in remaining 4 tablespoons butter, corn and chiles and transfer batter to prepared pan. Bake until top is golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Set aside to let cool slightly then cut into squares and serve.

Enjoy!