Chipotle Mayo Pork Chops on Spaghetti Squash

I asked my husband to help marinate the pork chops we got and he creatively put this marinade together:

Chipotle mayo
Soy sauce
Mustard

Quite a tasty marinade I must say. The chops were pan seared...about seven minutes on each side because it was so thick. I've started to be daring and take pork to a medium well instead of fully cooking it. It's so much juicier and tender that way. It was served topped with mango salsa (from Costco). The flavors worked really well together!

As for the spaghetti squash...after it was baked and scraped into a large pan, I added all the little extras for additional flavor and texture and color. Hard to go wrong.

Squash
Onion
Garlic
S&P
Tomato
Cilantro
Parmesan

Parmesan Spaghetti Squash Bake

I'm not a big pasta eater. It's heavy and I usually feel pretty bloated afterwards. But, I love the sauces....the cheesy, creamy, garlicky goodness. I remember someone saying you can use spaghetti squash like you would pasta so I gave it a shot with just parmesan and some garlic salt (the bare bones seasoning of pasta). The end result...could've been broiled a little longer for some color...but was really tasty! And I could eat the whole squash skin portion without any bloat! A great vegetable side that also kind doubles as a pasta side. =)

Spaghetti Squash
Parmesan
Garlic salt


Bake the halved squash first. Loosen the cooked squash, sprinkle parmesan and garlic salt as you please, return to oven to broil for a couple minutes, then enjoy!

Tri-Colour Linguine

It was Vegetarian Vednesday and I just had scrapings in the fridge....but I managed to pull this colourful number together and you know, it was actually pretty tasty! The "tri-color" refers to the squash, corn and peas....not the linguine itself.

Onion
Leftover squash pieces
Frozen Corn niblets
Frozen Peas
Basil
Oregano
Cumin

I just used pasta water to make the "sauce"...it's really just seasoned with the herbs and some S&P. Glad to find out that a vegetarian meal can be pretty easy to put together. =)

Leftover Makeover : Bean Stew in a Squash

As with stews, it's usually made in a big pot, so I had some leftover. I don't like eating the exact same thing more than once so I wanted to change it up somehow. But the strong flavors of the stew might not be transformed easily....what would go with it? Fennel? Tomatoes? Gailan? Nope.

Then I spot this squash...don't know what it's called...but it's like a small green pumpkin. Perfect!
I hollow it out, pour the leftover stew in. Then steam the whole thing. The flavors go together really nicely....which was totally suited for a cold rainy day. Enjoy!

Lamb shoulder steak

I didn't know there was such things as shoulder steaks...but then I saw some in the lamb section of the local Asian grocery...and it was cheaper than normal steaks so I gave them a try. A lot of recipes I looked at called for braising shoulder cuts, but since this steak was pretty thing, I just put a rub/marinade on and pan seared it.

Lamb shoulder steak
Balsamic vinegar
Garlic
Rosemary

And this was the side dish:
Spaghetti squash
Spinach
Shallots
Cumin
Garlic salt

The steak was quite tasty and not as chew as I feared it might be. The spaghetti squash was also quite nice. It'll make it onto the repeat roster. =)

Rosemary Lime Squash Bake

This is one of those easy sides that I knew how to make growing up because I had gotten tired of eating mashed potatoes. I know...how can one get tired of mash potatoes? Well I did. (Though now because I eat it super infrequently, it's become a bit of a treat.)

Butternut squash
Rosemary
Lime juice
Olive Oil

Just salt and pepper to taste. But you don't need very much as the fragrance of rosemary and the little zing of lime makes the squash tasty enough. Enjoy!

9 Bean Squash & Spinach Soup

 

We're trying to reduce the amount of meat we consume...because it really is way too much for our physical systems that really are built more for herbaboires than carnivores. This is coming from someone who LOVES her meat. Especially red meat, medium rare. Sigh.

So...taking Meatless Mondays more seriously...I'm venturing into vegetarian cooking territory and making a hearty, high protein, high fibre soup.

9 bean mix (from Costco)

Butternut squash

Spinach

Oregano

Basil

Celery seed

Paprika

Garlic

Turkey bones (for the broth, I know, it's not vegetarian but I didn't have vegetable stock handy. Baby steps)

And you know, it's pretty tasty! And filling! I do burn it off faster than a heavy meat dinner, but then I reach for some almonds or fruit to take the edge off and just go to sleep. And my GI is happier for it.

Spaghetti Squash Pasta

This time I made the spaghetti squash one of the mains instead of a side....and ate it as "pasta" to go along with some pan seared, soy sauce marinated drumsticks. I tossed it with a few more veggies so it was a little heartier but otherwise, it's similar to the previous spaghetti squash side.

Spaghetti Squash
Onion
Tomato
Broccoli
Gouda (You can tell what block of cheese we've got in the fridge because that's all I'll use until it's gone.)
Dried herbs

Drumsticks
Light Soy Sauce
Dark Soy Sauce (this gives it the dark caramelly color)
Honey (to drizzle over after it's cooked)

Spaghetti Squash Side

Spaghetti squash was always something that intimidated me until I actually tried making it and found it to be super easy! Start by cutting it in half, baking it until you can easily push a fork through the skin, then when cool enough to handle, scrap out the stringy insides and then you can season however you like!

Spaghetti squash
Sauteed Swiss chard
Sauteed Onion
Sauteed Tomatoes
Olive Oil
S&P

Simple. Tasty. Healthy. Yum!

Hearty Turkey soup

It's getting colder and colder out there. Time for all the soup and stew recipes to come out! Here's an experiment that turned out pretty yummy: Turkey soup

Turkey carcas from whatever festive dinner you had
Turkey meat (I prefer the leftover dark meat)
Butternut squash (leftovers as well)
Tomatoes
Carrots
Celery
Onion
Quinoa
Garlic
Dried herbs (Thyme, Basil, Oregano in my case)

Threw everything into a big pot in the afternoon....3 hrs of simmering later....yummy goodness that feels like a warm blankie. Enjoy!

Butternut Squash Soup & Kale Chicken Hash

I've always wanted to try making my own butternut squash soup. So, I bought one, baked it in the oven for 45min and then used half of it to make this soup.

Butternut squash
Onion
Curry Powder
Chicken Stock

I made the chicken stock with the carcas of a Costco BBQ chicken. Meanwhile I took its breastmeat and sauteed it with kale and some leftover potato hash. Everything went together...great comfort food! So great in fact, I just put the kale chicken hash straight into the butternut soup:



So now it's a hearty kale chicken butternut squash soup!

Both were really delicious...and will surely be made again. =)

Salmon Onion Quiche & Spaghetti Squash Salad

Meatless Monday! Well, we do have salmon in it, but that still counts as vegetarian right? Kind of? I was trying to use up leftovers and quiches are great to put them in.

Quiche:
Salmon
Onion
Leftover yellow zucchini
Eggs
Almond Milk

Crust:
Flour
Water
Olive Oil

Salad:
Spaghetti Squash
Tomatoes
Leftover yellow zucchini
Basil
Balsamic Vinegar
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper