My Lime Green Kitchen

Archive for the ‘Main Dish’ Category

These sandwiches were easy (despite the recipe looking a little difficult) and so good!  Very different from what we usually eat.  My dad, who doesn’t usually like anything out of the ordinary, loved these.

Ingredients:

4 pita pockets (I made my own but you can surely buy them already made)
1 pound ground chicken (see note)
1 large egg
1/2 c. bread crumbs
1/2 c. crumbled feta cheese
2/3 c. fresh mint leaves, chopped (divided)
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
2 T. butter
6 oz. plain yogurt
spinach leaves or shredded lettuce
tomatoes, chopped
avocado, sliced

Notes:

1. I ground chicken breasts in my food processor.  It took 2 good size breast halves to make one pound. It’s real easy if you have any size food processor.  I’ve used my big Cuisinart at home but used mom’s mini Cuisinart at her house and loved it too.
2. Mix the mint with the yogurt ahead of time and refrigerate to allow flavors to blend.

Directions:

In a large bowl, mix ground chicken, bread crumbs, feta cheese, egg, 1/3 c. mint leaves, salt and pepper.

By the way, thanks Smokey for that beautiful green egg!    I mixed all this up early and stuck it in the fridge til time to make the patties.

Mix with hands til combined.  Shape into 8 patties.  Melt butter in non-stick skillet.  Add patties and cook on both sides til brown and chicken is done.  These were kinda sticky and didn’t want to shape into patties so I more or less dropped a blob in the pot and then mashed it out with the spatula.

It was real hard not to eat these as I was frying them.

In a small bowl, combine yogurt and remaining mint.

Stuff 2 patties in each pocket.  Add lettuce, tomato and avocado.  Drizzle mint yogurt over the “stuffing” inside the pocket.

Forgot to take a picture when these were first served so here’s a picture of the leftovers.  I’ll update the photo next time I make them.

Chicken & Dumplings

Boil a whole chicken in seasoned water.  I do this in the pressure cooker for about 7 minutes.  To the water, add a bit of salt, pepper, onions, carrots, celery, a bay leaf . . whatever you would like.

Once the chicken is done, remove from the broth and shred the meat from the bones. Save the broth for the dumplings.  I usually divide the broth in half and freeze half of it and use half in the dumplings.

Because we don’t like a lot of chicken in our dumplings, some of the chicken is saved for other meals.  It can be frozen if not going to be used for a few days.  a plain chicken, and I think it puts a little less fat in the water.

For the Dumplings:

1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup Bisquick
2 tsp. black pepper
2 eggs
1/3 c. milk (you may need to add a little more)

Mix all the dumpling ingredients. Roll out onto floured surface. Roll very thin – almost as thin as a potato chip. Cut into 1″ x 2″ strips. Dip in flour and lay out on floured surface for at least one hour. Flip them all over and let them sit out for another hour. They are better if you allow them to dry out a bit.

Drop individually into the boiling broth and cook til tender but NOT mushy. Just before they are done, add the shredded chicken. Do not stir the dumplings or they’ll break up. I gently mash them down every now and then with a spatula to kind of separate them and keep them covered in the broth.

Spinach Meatloaf has been a favorite for years.  It’s one of those dishes that looks like it was hard to make but it’s so easy!

Ingredients

1-1/2 pounds ground beef
3/4 c. breadcrumbs
1/2 c. milk
1 egg
2 carrots, finely chopped or grated
1 onion, finely chopped
salt & pepper
1 tsp. oregano
1 pound fresh spinach or 1 box frozen spinach
1/2 c. feta cheese
1/2 c. cottage cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°.

If using fresh spinach, wash and remove stems.  If using frozen spinach, thaw and squeeze as much liquid from the spinach as possible.  Discard the liquid.  (I use fresh spinach.)

Mix ground beef, bread crumbs, milk, onion, egg, carrots, salt and pepper.

Spread a piece of waxed paper onto the counter.  Pat the meat mixture into a rectangle that you can roll up and stuff into your loaf pan.  Spread the spinach on top of the meat, then add the feta cheese and cottage cheese.  Sprinkle oregano on top, and depending on how much salt and pepper used in the meat mixture, you may want to add more salt and pepper now.

Using the waxed paper to hold it all together, roll the whole thing up jelly roll fashion and put into loaf pan.

Bake at 350 for one hour or until done.  Remove from oven and let sit for 10 minutes.  Drain any grease that has cooked out of the meat. Slice and serve!

BBQ Cups

This is definitely a frugal meal and while I’m not crazy about it, Chad and Vince love it.  If you cook for kids, they’re likely to love this!

1 lb. ground beef
1/2 onion
1/2 c. BBQ sauce
1/2 tsp. salt
1 T. brown sugar
1 can refrigerator biscuits
grated cheese

Brown the ground beef and drain the fat. Add the chopped onion and stir til onion is cooked. Stir in BBQ sauce, salt and brown sugar.

Roll the individual biscuits or flatten them so that the fill fit into the bottom and up the sides of muffin tins. Spoon the ground meat mixture into the biscuit “crust”.

Bake at 400 for 10 – 12 minutes.

Top with grated cheese and place back in oven til cheese melts.

An exciting blend of flavors!  Great dish to prepare when Fall vegetables are in season.

Pork with Fall Veggies

1 – 3-1/2 to 4 pound pork loin roast
2 T. oil
1/2 tsp. ground sage
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
5 whole allspice berries
salt and pepper
1 c. chicken broth
1/2 c. water
1 bay leaf
1 medium acorn squash, peeled, seeded and coarsely chopped
1 medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded and coarsely chopped
4 small sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
6 carrots, peeled and cut into 1″ cubes
1 large onion, cut into large chunks
2 medium apples, peeled, seeded and cut into wedges
2 T. cider vinegar
1 package pork gravy mix

Heat oil in Dutch oven over medium heat.  Brown pork roast on all sides.  Sprinkle with thyme, sage, salt and pepper.  Add chicken broth, water, allspice berries and bay leaf.  Simmer, covered, for one hour, turning twice.

Add squash, potatoes, carrots and onions.  Simmer for 25 minutes.  Add apples and simmer an additional 10 minutes.

Remove pork, vegetables and apples.  Keep warm.  Remove and discard allspice berries and bay leaf.

Stir vinegar and gravy mix into liquid in pot.  Heat, stirring constantly about a minute or until thickened.

Pour gravy over meat and vegetables before serving.

A big hit with our family.  Serve with a salad and crusty bread.  We almost always have scalloped potatoes or macaroni and cheese with meatloaf.  Make extra . . makes fantastic meatloaf sandwiches!

Make an extra meatloaf, partially cook, let cool to room temp, and freeze.

For the sauce, I used Spaghetti Sauce with Veggies which I had canned.

Italian Meat Loaf

2 T. extra virgin olive oil
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1-1/2 pounds ground beef
1 cup bread crumbs
1 c. grated Parmesan cheese
1 T. Worcestershire sauce
1 T. Balsamic Vinegar
2 T. chopped fresh basil
2 T. chopped parsley
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1-1/2 c. marinara sauce
1/2 c. mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 350.

Saute onion, pepper and garlic in olive oil.  Remove from pan and allow to cool.  Once they’re cool, mix all ingredients except marinara.  Pat into a greased loaf pan.  Top with marinara sauce.  Bake uncovered for one hour.

Allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving.  Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese.

If you can make a roux, you can make a gumbo. I found this at About.com that has good instructions for making a roux (it isn’t hard but you can burn it and then it’s ruined!  Nothing worse than scorched roux.  It’s time to start over when that happens.) http://southernfood.about.com/library/howto/htmakeroux.htm

That’s basically what I do to make my roux. They say to let it cool a bit before adding the chopped veggies but I don’t. I put the onions, peppers and garlic in while it’s hot so they saute. Don’t add the veggies until the roux is as dark as you want it. You have to get it pretty dark — cook it slow and stir it constantly.

Veggies:

2 onions, chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
garlic, chopped (however much you’d like)

Add to roux and saute.

Add about 2 quarts hot water (can mix a little broth in here if you’d like). I usually boil my chicken a day ahead of time. Put the broth in the fridge so the fat can be skimmed off. Remove the chicken from the bones and chop it for the gumbo. I don’t measure but you can cook it down or add more water to get the consistency you like.

Add salt, black and red pepper to taste. If you want to add sausage to the gumbo, slice it and fry it to remove the grease before adding to the gumbo.

Add a couple of bay leaves. Simmer for a couple of hours. Before serving, add chopped parsley and chopped green onions.

Serve with a bowl of hot rice and file (spice you probably can’t find if you don’t live way down south . . can’t find it in Kentucky). But you can make your own file if you have a sassafras tree nearby. Here’s how you do it: http://generalhorticulture.tamu.edu/prof/Recipes/File-Sassafras/file.html

Never add the file to the pot . . it will get very slimey. Add it to your own bowl right before you’re ready to start eating.

Here’s a pressure cooker recipe for you. We’ve used this one for years and love it!

Cut the pork into pieces bigger than bit size but not as big as serving size. I slice my loin like it’s going to be a thick pork chop, then cut those into three pieces.

Season the meat well. I use Slap Ya Mama and it truly doesn’t come out hot because of the sweetness. I think the original recipe said to coat the meat with spicy mustard.

Heat the oil and brown the meat well. Once the meat is nice and browned, remove it. Deglaze the pot with the wine. Add the apples, garlic and onions. Put the meat on top.

Add about 1/2 – 1 cup water. Cook on low pressure for about 20 minutes.

I take everything out and make a gravy, then put everything back in and let it simmer for a little while, adding more seasoning if necessary.

Serve over saffron rice. This makes great leftovers!

Chicken Marbella is a dish we’ve enjoyed for years! Some like it room temp but we serve ours hot.

Ingredients:

2 chickens, quartered (we mostly like white meat so I bought boneless, skinless breasts)
5 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1/4 c. dried oregano
Salt & Pepper to taste
1/2 c. red wine vinegar
1/2 c. olive oil
1/2 c. pitted prunes
1/4 c. Spanish green olives
1/4 c. capers with a bit of juice
6 bay leaves
1/2 c. brown sugar
1 c. white wine
1/4 c. parsley, chopped

Directions:

Place chicken in a ziplock bag.

Combine garlic, oregano, salt and pepper, vinegar, olive oil, prunes, olives, capers and juice, and bay leaves.

Pour over chicken, seal and let marinate in the fridge overnight.

Preheat oven to 350.

Arrange chicken in a baking dish. Spoon marinade over it.

Sprinkle chicken with brown sugar and parsley.

Pour wine around the chicken.

Bake for one hour, basting frequently with juices.

We served the Chicken Marbella with yellow rice (from a package), green salad and crusty bread. And, since I started out with 8 chicken breasts, we have enough for two separate dishes for the freezer.

May not be too many of you rushing out to buy crawfish for this recipe but you can also use shrimp.

(Sorry but the green onions and flour were not in the photo. That’s what I get for cooking off the top of my head without using a recipe!)

Ingredients:

1/2 stick of butter
2 T. olive oil
1 c. onion, chopped
1 c. celery, chopped
1/2 c. bell pepper, chopped
1/2 c. green onions
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1/2 c. parsley, chopped
2 T. tomato paste
1/2 c. flour
1 lb. crawfish
1 – 14 oz. can tomatoes
1 c. water
Salt, black pepper, red pepper to taste
Worcestershire sauce
Tabasco

Directions:

Melt butter and olive oil. Add onion, celery, garlic and bell pepper. Cook until the veggies are clear but not brown. Be sure they’re tender before going to the next step.

Add the flour and stir til the flour has cooked a bit . . doesn’t need to be brown at all. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, parsley, crawfish and water.

Season to taste, including Worcestershire and tabasco. A little bit of Worcestershire goes a long way! I don’t really like the taste of it so I don’t actually put it in my etouffee. Tabasco can be added at the table to suit each individual’s tastes. Add the green onions. Simmer approximately 20 minutes, adding more water as needed. Serve over rice.

We had this with spinach salad and crusty bread.