Clean

Butternut Squash Ravioli: The Clean Version

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I have a squash obsession lately if you haven’t noticed. Since I am just discovering how much I actually really like squash I have been cooking it a lot. Like a lot, a lot, but Chuck hasn’t started complaining yet so he must be enjoying it as well.

If you remember the Squash Ravioli in Sage Butter sauce I made a few weeks ago you know how divine it was, and how heavenly I thought it was. Well I have been wanting to make it again, but let’s be honest butter sauce is by no means good for you, and I am trying to be healthy, but I can’t help craving this dish again. I want it so bad!

I decided to try to clean it up a bit, and I think it was a success. I used whole wheat flour for the ravioli’s and made a shallot and sage broth, taking a note from English Onion & Sage Soup, which is one of my all-time favorites. I used a vegetable broth in order to keep it vegetarian for my veggie readers, though I’m sure a chicken broth would work just as well.

Clean Butternut Squash Ravioli with Sage & Shallot Broth

1 medium butternut squash, de-skinned, & deseeded, chopped

1 tbsp EVOO

2 tbs cup parmesan cheese

¼ tsp nutmeg

Salt & Pepper to taste

2 cups whole wheat flour (plus some for surface)

1 egg

2 egg whites

1-4 tbsp cold water

1 tbs Extra virgin olive oil

2 shallots sliced thin

2 cups vegetable broth (low sodium or homemade)

10-12 sage leaves or 1 tbsp of dried sage (this is to taste)

Chop the squash into roughly 2 inch pieces and scatter over a baking sheet. Drizzle with oil and toss, before putting them in the oven. They should cook at 400 for 30-35 minutes, or until soft. Remove from the oven and let stand to cool, before making the filling. Meanwhile prepare the dough. In a medium bowl add flour and eggs. Mix well using an electric mixer. The dough should begin to form a ball. If the dough is too dry it will remain crumbly, so add a few tablespoons of water until the ball forms. Use a pasta machine, roller, or rolling pin to roll out the dough into 3 inch wide, foot long sheets. Once the squash is sufficiently cooled mash it with a fork. Stir in the parmesan cheese, nutmeg, and salt and pepper. Place 4 dollops about the size of a half dollar in the middle of a pasta sheet evenly spaced, using your finger dip it into water and trace the outside of the dollop. Place another sheet on top and press it down around the dollop, using water to cement the dough together. Slice the dough to create separate ravioli. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and drop in the ravioli, they should only take a few minutes to cook, rising to the top as they finish. Strain the ravioli and set aside. In a skillet heat the oil and sauté the shallots until they have carmelized. Add the broth and sage leaves and simmer until reduced by ¾. Toss ravioli in pan to coat. Serve warm with excess sauce drizzled over the top, and sage leaves as garnish.

What I like is that swapping the brown butter sauce for a broth makes the dish so much healthier without sacrificing flavor, the caramelized shallots add a little dimension to the dish, along with another element of flavor.

I am really proud of this dish, and think that it is easily one of my best.

What do you think?

Vegetarian Chickpea Chili; a Clean Recipe!

By Jessica

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I thought it would be nice to take a step out of the comfort of rich soups and stews that I have been cooking lately and “spice it up”. This recipe is a great alternative to traditional chili that adds a little zing to our weekly menu, plus it’s great for a last minute meal as I tend to have most things on hand for it at any given time.

Since I am not a huge fan of spicy foods I added a dollop of sour cream to mine that isn’t reflected in the recipe. Chuck chose to go with cheddar cheese. Lemons work as well, however I didn’t have any at the time. I also ended up adding a lot of extra cilantro, because I like the added texture and freshness element, but that should be no surprise to the regular reader. I love my herbs!

Another note on this dish it’s only about 240 calories a serving! You could even add a lean protein such as chopped sirloin and it would still be clean, though with a few more calories. I love having these healthy recipes in my back pocket.

Vegetarian Moroccan Chickpea Chili (Serves 2)

1tbs EVOO

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 medium yellow onion, chopped

2 medium carrots, chopped

3 medium celery stalks,chopped

1 medium green bell pepper, chopped

1 tbs ground cumin

2tsp coriander

1tsp ground mustard

1tsp turmeric

1tsp paprika

½ tsp cayenne pepper

1tsp black pepper

1 can chickpeas, drained

3 cups vegetable broth

1 cup frozen corn

2 medium tomatoes, chopped

1 bay leaf

1 6-oz jar of tomato paste

1 lemon (optional)

1 tbsp cilantro chopped (optional)

In a large pot, or Dutch oven sauté garlic, onions, carrots, celery, and spices in oil. Once the vegetable begin to soften, roughly 5 minutes, add chickpeas and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes. Add broth, corn, tomatoes, and bay leaf. Bring to a simmer and cook for roughly 30 minutes or until the chili thickens, stirring occasionally. Adjust seasonings. Serve topped with cilantro and lemon.

Pan Seared Steak Rolls

By Jessica

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I have seen this recipe bouncing around the internet published by several people, though I believe the original was Steamy Kitchen (http://steamykitchen.com/363-pan-seared-steak-rolls.html). I love sesame, and soy, and you will find them in a lot of recipes I share here, such as Asian Marinated Scallops, and Double Crunch Sesame Chicken. When I saw this recipe I got very excited. First off it looked delicious. And though at first impressions it looks complicated and time consuming the recipe read like a dream, and it didn’t look so hard, plus it was the perfect thing to bring to a potluck for something different, and the guest get their own individual roll!

As always I made a few minor changes to the original recipe, linked above. I fiddled with the marinade a bit, and changed the sauce to make a thicker version. I like thick, rich sauces; personally I find them more comforting, and less messy, as they don’t run all over the plate.

Asian-American Pan Seared Steak Rolls

Thin Sliced sirloin steak

Marinade

2 tbs Worcestershire sauce

1tbs soy sauce

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp fresh ground pepper

Filling

1tbs Olive Oil

1 tsp minced ginger

1 clove garlic, minced

1 carrot, but into match sticks

½ red bell pepper, cut into match sticks

2 ribs celery, cut into matchsticks

1 tbs soy sauce

1 tsp sesame oil

12 chives, cut roughly 3-4”

Sauce

1-2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp sesame oil

2 tbs soy sauce

1/2 cup chicken broth

1 tbs honey

1 tbs flour

1 tsp sesame seeds

Combine marinade in a bowl and add steak. Marinade for 15-30 minutes. Meanwhile Prepare the filling. Begin with a medium sized skillet and sauté garlic and ginger for just under a minute. Add all vegetables except chives, soy sauce & sesame oil and fry for another 1-2 minutes. Remove from heat and set aside. Meanwhile in a small saucepan whisk together sauce ingredients, bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. Simmer until thickened and reduce heat to warm. For the rolls; fill meat slices using chives and cooled filling, rolling the meat around the filling and securing with a tooth pick. In a medium skillet heat another tbs of olive oil and place the rolls, seam side down in the pan. Cook for one minute, before turning. Continue to cook, and turn rolls until meat is cooked through to desired doneness. To Serve plate, and remove toothpick, drizzle sauce over top and add sesame seeds. Serve warm.

As I said before this recipe looks complicated, but is actually super easy, and delicious, not to mention it can easily be a clean recipe; just use whole wheat flour, low sodium soy sauce, and chicken broth, and extra virgin olive oil. What a great recipe to use for potlucks, or appetizers at a party, and you can tell your guests that it’s clean!

I think this one will be sticking around for the holiday season.

Southwest Meatball Skillet

By Jessica

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I could not be more excited to finally be sharing this recipe! Chuck Can attest as to how much I love it, seeing as I cook it all the time, but who wouldn’t? It is quick, easy, and completely clean! One serving (2 meatballs, and roughly 1 cup of corn mixture the way I make it) is about 320 calories, and 37 grams of protein! Not to mention all the benefits from all the different spices.

This is one of those recipes that has everything I am looking for. It is deceivingly hearty, has a mixture of textures and flavors, and involves very little work. I can whip it all up in less than 20 minutes!

The original recipe can be found here, however I have made several huge changes. The first is the spices; I use a lot more spices in my recipe because I feel the original didn’t have the southwest kick that the name lead me to believe it would. I also opted to use parsley instead of cilantro. Chuck HATES cilantro, and though I like it, I think this recipe is perfect with the slightly mellower parsley. Lastly I made the meatballs larger and added oregano; on their own the meatballs were kind of flavorless, and I think the larger size gives a better texture. Making the meatballs larger made me also add more broth to the recipe, waiting for the large quantity to reduce means that they will have more time to cook through completely.

Southwest Meatball Skillet

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 20 mins

Total time: 30 mins

Serves: 4 servings

Ingredients

1lb ground turkey
1 egg white
¼ cup breadcrumbs
¼ tsp slat & pepper (each)
½ tsp oregano
2tsp olive oil
1 cup frozen corn
1 can low sodium black beans, rinsed
2 diced med. tomatoes (1 can diced can substitute)
1 cup low sodium chicken broth
1 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp turmeric
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp chilli powder
½ cup chopped fresh parsley

Instructions

In a large bowl, combine turkey, egg, bread crumbs, oregano, salt and pepper and mix well. With your hands shape into 8 meatballs.
In a large skillet, heat oil on medium-high. Add meatballs and cook for 3 to 5 minutes, turning frequently, until browned on all sides.
Add corn, beans, tomatoes, broth, lime juice, spices and mix well. Reduce heat to medium, partially cover and cook for an additional 5 to 7 minutes, until meatballs are cooked through.
Stir in cilantro and serve.

Fresh Tomato Sauce & Clams

By Jessica

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Sometimes when Chuck is out of town I treat myself. He’s not a HUGE fan of seafood like I am, so I take the time when he’s not home to indulge. I actually made this dish for my friend Amy who came over for the evening but since I have also made it for just myself a few times I decided to make it part of my Dinner 4 one Series.

This recipe I love for summer because I can so easily walk out to my garden and collect nearly everything for the sauce. In fact this time around everything in this recipe came from my garden or someone close to me. There is no lying when they tell you fresh is better. It is! And the delicious smell that continued to waft through my house the rest of the evening and into the next morning could not be more welcome.

The recipe for Fresh Tomato Sauce is below, for the clams I simply grilled them on medium heat until they opened up. It’s the same idea as steaming, or boiling them, but this is perfect for summer because it doesn’t heat up the house, and there is way less mess.

Once everything is done cooking I lay down some fettuccini, the warm clams and drown them in sauce. The recipe can be a little on the garlicky side for some (I can’t ever seem to get enough), so some may want to reduce it down to 1 or two cloves depending on taste. I really hope you enjoy this as much as I do!

Fresh Tomato Sauce

1 large tomato, diced

3 cloves of garlic, minced

½ a small onion, chopped

2 tablespoons butter

2 sprigs fresh oregano, chopped

1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped

Salt & Pepper to taste

1 cup dry white wine

Melt the butter in a skillet, add onion and cook until the onion has softened. Add garlic, and cook for roughly one minute. Deglaze with wine, and allow some reducing. Stir in fresh herbs, and simmer roughly 3-5 minutes, or until the liquid has reduced to half. Serve over prepared pasta.

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