Nine Bean Pork Stew

 

Every now and then I have enough foresight to presoak the handy nine-bean mix from Costco. And then I decide what to do with it the next day. In this case, it was another cold day, and a stew was in order. This was super simple...and quite tasty...

 

Pork chops cubed

Costco nine bean mix - soaked over night, cooked ~40 min, drained
Veggie stock - I used the Trader Joe low sodium one
Thyme
Sage
Onion

Quinoa

The onion and herbs were sauteed together first...then the pork cubes added. Once sufficiently browned, I took the pork out. Then I added the stock and scraped the charred bits off the bottom of the pot. I figure that adds flavor. Once the stock came to a low boil, I added some quinoa for fibre. Once the little curly tails of the quinoa was visible I added the pork back, then I tipped in the cooked beans and simmered everything until the pork was cooked through. My husband added extra heat (i.e. sirracha) to his bowl. Served with a dollop of  sour cream made it so nice.

Variation - don't add pork...and just enjoy a bowl of vegetarian stew. 

Variation - add way more stock...and make it a hearty soup.

Ox-tail Stew

 

Winter is stew season....love! Hence this will be the Valentines post....though oxtail doesn't sound romantic. I'm non-cliche like that.

This is my first try at ox tail stew. Actually, I bought the ox-tail for soup, but since I didn't have any other meat defrosted, I used it for dinner instead. 

 

Ox tail

Tomatoes
Carrots
Veggie stock
Onion
Garlic
Wine
Ketchup (decent substitute for color when you don't have tomato paste)
S&p

Stews need to simmer for a while to get the meat fall-off-the-bone soft. I started cooking it at 5:30pm and we ate at 7pm. While it tasted very good, especially on rice, it was chewy. In this case, ox tail also has some tendon/cartilage that adds to the chewiness if not cooked long enough. I should've started the stew after lunch and then let it stew away in a slow cooker or thermal cooker for the afternoon before consuming at dinner. Ah well, lesson learned. Still tasty. =)

Zucchini Pasta with Kale & Tomato

I've been seeing posts about a gluten free zucchini pasta...and what makes it gluten free is because you're actually using whole fresh zucchini pieces cut into pasta shaped noodles as opposed to processing zucchini with other ingredients to make noodles. It's a bit labour intensive...I used a mandolin then stacked and sliced the zucchini down to fettuccine sizes. And then I made "pasta sauce" by just sauteeing and simmering the rest of the incredients together. Season to taste.

It's REALLY good. =) Hope you'll enjoy it too!

Zucchini

Pasta sauce:
Garlic
Onion
Basil
Savory
Salt
Soup stock
Kale
Tomatoes
 

Baked Miso Tofu on Salad and Burnt Tomato Soup

I can't remember where I saw a recipe for baked miso tofu, but it sounded interesting. I had both medium firm regular and soft egg tofu. I've been buying organic since I hear soy is a major GMO product now.

Miso sauce:
Miso paste
Soy sauce
Sugar
Grapeseed Oil

Mix this all together and then spoon over the cut tofu in a baking sheet. Bake at 350-385 F until the liquids dry and it starts to brown. Serve over salad with a garlic balsamic vinegar dressing that you can also easily throw together.

Tomato Soup....sadly was a bit of a fail. I was browning the onions and had added cut tomatos to simmer with it, except I didn't include enough liquids in the pot...or maybe the stove was on too high. Anyways....the bottom burnt. I picked out what I could, added veggie stock and then put the immersion blender in until I got the desired consistency. My husband said it tasted good...so I'll go with that. But I'm not aiming for a repeat performance for sure. =)

Tomatoes
Onion
Garlic
Basil
Oregano
Vegetable Stock

Pinto Bean Stew

I think I've mentioned that we're trying to reduce our meat intake...so we were doing Meatless Mondays before but have also added Vegetarian Vednesdays. I'm never full enough just eating vegetables so I'm learning to capitalize on the filling potential of beans. I know, beans are the magical fruit that makes you toot. It turns out the chemical factor that makes you socially unacceptable is found in the skin of beans...and it's water soluble! So, I just soak the beans for at least four hours if I forget to soak them overnight. Then drain the water. And we're good!

This stew is basically pinto beans plus whatever I could find in my fridge.

Pinto beans
Trader Joe's vegetable stock
Onion
Carrots
Cumin
Garlic
Some leftover butternut squash soup
S&P to taste