ginger carrots

I have a hard time getting my kid and husband to eat veggies, especially carrots.  Both of them groaned this evening when I told them I was serving carrots.  Both of them were quite wowed--my husband even went back for seconds!  These were tasty!

1 lb bag frozen carrots
1/4-1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4-1/2 tsp salt
shake of pepper
1 T soy sauce (or soy sauce substitute)
1 T oil
2-3 T honey

Cook and drain your carrots to the doneness you prefer.  Add the rest of the ingredients and stir.  The sauce should taste slightly sweet, slightly salty/buttery and just a touch gingery. 

GK's notes:  I use canola oil, because it's pretty much the only surely safe oil for us.  Use what you like/can use, but I would make sure and use something with a very mild flavor. 

Chorizo with red rice

Ingredients:

1 pound chorizo sausage, bulk or removed from casings, browned and drained
1 tablespoon oil
1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced fine
1 sweet onion, such as Mayan Sweet or Vidalia, diced fine
2 cups enchilada sauce
4 cups water
1 teaspoon cumin, ground
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon paprika
2 cups white rice, long grain
1 can(small) tomato paste
5-6 cloves garlic, chopped

Preparation:
Remove any casings from chorizo sausage. Brown sausage in non-stick Dutch oven. Drain fat off. In the non-stick Dutch oven, heat 1 tablespoon of  oil. Sauté the pepper, the garlic and the onion, until the onion is transparent, about 10 minutes.

Add enchilada sauce, water, tomato paste, browned and drained chorizo sausage, cumin, salt, and paprika to the Dutch oven and stir well. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Add rice. Cover and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes, or until rice is done.
Serves 8.

 

GK's notes:  We didn't have any peppers tonight, and I'm not sure I missed them at all.  We'll try it with them next time, but I'm betting we'll go back to  not after that.  The enchilada sauce we had was too spicy for my son and me, so my husband used half enchilada sauce,  half Hunt's tomato sauce.  He also used Jasmine rice, instead of plain.  I'm not sure how much of a difference it made, but this was really, really yummy.  We can't have pork, so we used our own homemade, beef chorizo, so it was kind of exciting for us.  Personally, I think it could use even more of the tomato-y sauce, or extra water, maybe.  It was better saucy, but after the rice was finished cooking, it was more paste-like, which was still fine (by which I mean insanely delicious), but maybe more saucy next time.  505 brand enchilada sauce and salsas are vinegar and corn-free.

sloppy joes

    oil for sauteing
    2-1/2 pounds lean ground beef
    1 whole large onion, chopped
    2 whole large red bell pepper, chopped
    8 cloves garlic, minced
    1-1/2 cup 505 brand mild, vinegar-free salsa
    2 T brown sugar
    2 tsp chili powder
    1 tsp dry mustard
    soy sauce, or soy sauce substitute, to taste--about a tablespoon or two
    Salt and pepper to taste
   



Add oil to a large skillet over medium high heat. Add peppers and onion, and cook for about three minutes.  Add garlic, and cook for about one minute more.  Add ground beef and cook until brown.

Add salsa, brown sugar, chili pepper,  soy sauce and dry mustard. Stir to combine and simmer for a few minutes, adding salt and pepper to taste.







GK's notes:  I altered a recipe I found on-line.  It looked good, but seemed to have superfluous steps, and used some ingredients we can't use, so I tightened it up and made the appropriate subs, and got this!  It was DELICIOUS!  I love peppers, onions and garlic, so this is way more than the original called for, and it's so much better for it, I'm sure.  =)  If you aren't crazy for them like we are, feel free to reduce those amounts by about half.  This is just a touch spicy--the salsa is super mild.  If you like it spicier, use hotter salsa, or add tabasco or your pepper of choice.  I strongly recommend the Chipotle tabasco--that smoky flavor improves just about anything!  In fact, I'm disappointed I didn't think of it tonight!  Mmmm...  Next time, we are definitely using medium salsa.