Michael's Killer Recipes
Original KILLER recipes from me, cooking tips, cookbook reviews, food links, opinions, and other foodie stuff. I'm on a roll- watch out!
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Wednesday, September 6, 2023
I think this was for nothing...
Sunday, June 12, 2022
Thai Chicken Satay Noodle Salads: Healthy + Delicious Meal Prep for the Week
If you're like me, you're busy - even more busy now that summer is here, we're back to the office after COVID, and you're meal prepping on Sundays for the week. Well, here's one you're going to love, it's healthy, it's full of freshness, and you don't have to feel guilty for how delicious it is! If you love Thai chicken satay, that light, tangy peanut sauce on chicken skewers, we're going to develop those flavors into a noodle salad with lots of veggies for crunchiness, crushed dry roasted peanuts for added crunchiness, and Ramen noodles for some carbs to keep us going! This is a MEAL for lunch, or dinner, and comes in just under 500 calories (I used MyFitnessPal to develop my recipe, and let them do the calculations for us).
Now, I won't lie - this was a lot of work today. Took an hour to make, and 15 minutes of hand-washing dishes to clean up! I'll show pictures of my overflowing sinks later! Mind you, this didn't all have to be done simultaneously, you could have sliced and diced veggies ahead of time, put them in a container - especially if you were making salads or crudites ahead of time for something else. You could grill the chicken a day ahead when you're grilling something else. It just takes a little planning, and I didn't do that today when I created this! But I had fun, and it is soooooooooo good.
I made this for myself for a week's worth of lunches, but this could easily feed 4 to 5 people for dinner, and leave them full for a bit!
Thai Chicken Satay Noodle Salads
Ingredients for the sauce/dressing |
- 3/4 C Peanut sauce
- (I used store-bought, but you could easily make this yourself with peanut butter, light soy, and extra fish sauce)
- 2-1/2 t pureed ginger
- 1 t pureed lemongrass (optional)
- 1 t Sriracha, optional (add more if you'd like)
- 3 t Rice vinegar
- 4 t Fish sauce (or substitute light soy sauce, perhaps half as much)
- 2 T Lime juice (absent from photos)
Veggies I selected this time |
- Ramen noodles, 3 servings
- 1 t Better than Bouillon, Chicken
- 3 C Water for cooking noodles
- 4 C Romaine lettuce, chopped, rinsed, spun dry
- 3/4 Red bell pepper
- 3 Green onions, cut on a bias, the white parts, and two inches of the green parts
- 1 C Shredded red cabbage
- 3/4 C Shredded carrots, squeezed in a paper towel to remove moisture
- 3/4 C Thinly sliced radishes
- 1 C Thinly sliced snap peas, cut on a bias
- 1 C Cilantro, chopped
- 1/2 C Edamame (optional)
- 2 lbs Chicken breasts or chicken tenders
- 1 C Dry roasted peanuts, chopped, split into two 1/2 C portions
- Boil 3 C water with 1 t Better than Bouillon, Chicken flavor or other chicken base.
- Whisk together the following then split in two half portions:
- 1 t pureed ginger
- 1 T lime juice
- 1 t rice vinegar
- 2 t Fish sauce (or 1 t light soy)
Cooked noodles tossed with sauce, crushed peanuts, and cilantro |
I had to use my InstaPot liner to toss everything together, was the only thing big enough! |
10. Grill, bake or pan sear chicken until cooked on both sides, basting with the marinade as it cooks, and making sure the marinade cooks fully.
Meal prep is an every week thing in my house! |
13. Layer on noodles and vegetables, then chicken! I poured the rest of the dressing into a glass jar I can take with me for lunch, put in the fridge, etc.
Saturday, March 13, 2021
Not your Nonna's pasta primavera! (Welcome, Spring!)
So, this won't be your Nonna's pasta primavera, and in fact, it probably won't seem like anything you're used to. But, I promise, you'll make this over and over again!
Pasta Primavera (makes 4 servings)
Ingredients:
1lb Linguine
4 oz Pancetta
3 shrimp per person, no shells, cut into halves
1/4 C good olive oil
1/2 C Fava beans or Edamame, frozen (Edamame are preferred by some)
2 T pesto
1 C Cream, Milk, or Almond Milk
1 C of the boiling pasta water
Fresh Veggies, all diced the same size:
1 Zucchini
1 Yellow squash
1/2 Green Pepper
1/2 Red Pepper
1/4 Onion or 3 Green Onions
1 C Cherry or Grape Tomatoes, halved
Process:
- Start the water boiling with enough kosher salt to kill a horse, or at least make the water taste like the ocean. Once it's boiling, drop the pasta for 10 - 11 minutes.
- Add all the vegetables, lower the heat to medium and sauté for 3 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Add pesto and cream, and stir to blend. Cook for 2 minutes.
- Add one ladle-full (1 C) of the boiling pasta water to the primavera veggies and sauce.
- Add the shrimp, and stir. Reduce heat to low.
- When the linguine is cooked al dente, drain.
- Add to the pot with the primavera veggies and sauce and toss.
- Portion, top with freshly crumbled or grated parmesan
Hello from Michael's Little Slice of the American Dream! More videos to come!
Sunday, May 5, 2019
Blackberry - Chipotle BBQ Turkey Breasts
Perfect for sitting outside in the shade... sooooo tender! |
I am still keeping with a couple recurring themes of being efficient and cooking one day for the week, and eating very healthy. First, I try to cook as much as I can for the week simultaneously. If I'm going to grill something, why not grill several things, even if I don't use them that day. They keep just fine in the fridge! Secondly, I'm striving always to bring maximum flavor and uniqueness to healthy eating without breaking the bank, making it difficult, nor passing up on the foods we all love to have!
So, with this recipe we're going to tackle BBQ only instead of chicken, (although I used some chicken too!), we're going to smoke them a bit along with some sliced portabello mushrooms (used later in the week for my ramen bowl! Stay tuned), grill our veggies, and and just get it all done at once!
This does take a little forethought. I preferred to have a bit of smoke to this, so I soaked some pecan chips in water for a couple hours prior to putting on the grill. Drain the water out before you put them on a hot grill, in the aluminum tray or a smoking tray (if your grill has one).
BBQ and Lightly Smoked Turkey Breasts with Grilled Zucchini and Portabello Mushrooms
BBQ Sauce:
- 4 T Blackberry puree
- 2 T Chipotle peppers in Adobo sauce
- 2 T Red Wine Vinegar
- 1 t Hot Sauce (Tapatio, Frank's Red Hot)
- 1-1/2 T Ketchup
- 1/3 C Water
- 1 T Salt
- 1-1/2 t Pepper
Mix well in a bowl, split into two bowl and a cruet or gravy boat for serving BBQ sauce on the plates.
GRILLING:
- Put smoking tray on a hot grill for about 10 minutes prior to grilling food.
- Have any veggies you'd like to grill already cut, and set handy on a separate (from the meat) plate/pan/tray, to avoid contaminating the veggies. I used zucchini spears, sprayed with a little cooking spray, sprinkled with oregano and lemon juice.
- Place turkey or chicken on the grill, and immediately baste with some of the BBQ sauce from one of the bowls.
- Close the lid down, and leave for 10 minutes.
- Turn turkey or chicken, and baste.
- Put veggies on the grill now, and put the portabello mushrooms on a rack above (if available) or very near the smoking chips.
- Close the lid for 12 minutes.
- Turn the vegetables, and remove the turkey or chicken to a plate, and cover loosely with foil.
- Leave the vegetables on the grill for 5 more minutes, then remove from the grill.
- Slice the turkey or chicken and serve with extra BBQ sauce.
I promise, everyone will enjoy this! Enjoy everyone! - Michael!
Start summer off right with Blackberry Lemonade, then...
Mmmm... |
When living in Seattle, a friend of mine got hooked on trying new flavors of lemonade - strawberry, raspberry, blueberry were usually early in the season when she would go picking them at a local farm. But, in late summer, the blackberries grew HUGE on the side of our house. We'd wait for them to get to the point that they were nearly falling off the vines, and PLUCK 'EM! Mah-gawd...
I recently saw some blackberries in the local grocery and said, "yep. It's time." So, I'm going to share with you my blackberry sauce recipe, which can be used here to make some blackberry lemonade, and then as well in a blackberry and Chipotle bbq grilling sauce, than can also be used as a pan sauce at the end (that's in the NEXT installment/recipe!)
And, if you're really adventurous... on a hot afternoon when you finished all your chores... why not a little somfin'-somfin' extra in that lemonade?
Highly recommended! |
BLACKBERRY PUREE SAUCE RECIPE:
- 2 Pints of blackberries
- 6 packets of Stevia sweetener
- 1/2 C of water
- Place all ingredients into a sauce pan, bring to a simmer for about 15 minutes
Between low and medium heat on this pan, otherwise they will overflow! - Mash them with a potato masher, and return to the heat for another 5 minutes.
- Let sit in the pan off the heat and cool, for about 15 minutes.
- You can reduce these in a couple ways, in a blender or a food processor, crush these for about a minute.
- Finally, put a glass bowl on the counter, with a fine mesh strainer (sieve) over top of the bowl. Pour the blackberry reduction into the strainer and use a silicone/plastic spatula to mash this through the strainer. Every now and then, scrape the bottom of the strainer, into the bowl. Wrap or place into a storage container for future use.
- 1/2 C of blackberry puree you just created above
- 1 C fresh lemon juice
- 2 C water
- Ice
- In a tall 2 QT pitcher, mix together the first three ingredients.
- After blended, add ice to bring the liquid to the top of the pitcher, and let sit a few minutes.
- If you enjoy it, add a shot of moonshine to each glass!
- If it's not sweet enough, add a spoonful of the blackberry puree to each glass and stir!
Sunday, March 31, 2019
Healthier eating for summer weather - Greens + Grains Bowls - Options are ENDLESS!
- Arugala
- Mixed greens with spinach
- Cucumber (thinly sliced or chopped)
- Red onion
- Red and Orange peppers (chopped or thinly sliced
- Red Cabbage (shredded)
- Feta cheese crumbles (go easy! 1 T per bowl)
- Hummus (go easy! 1 heaping T per bowl)
- Cilantro (chopped)
- Italian curley parsley (chopped)
- Dried cranberries
- Dried cherries
- Harissa
- Grilled peppers
- Grilled red onions
- Mint - cilantro - grilled jalapeno chutney
- Olives (Spanish, or Kalamata)
- Tzatziki sauce
- 1 C Farro
- 2 C Water
- 1 t Better than Bullion, concentrated chicken broth
- 1/2 t Salt
- Bring the water, chicken broth and salt to a boil.
- Add the farro, cover and set for 20 minutes.
- Remove the lid, and cook for another 4-5 minutes, until tender but chewy and the water is nearly gone. Set aside to cool.
- 1 C Quinoa
- 2 C Water
- 1 t Better than Bullion, concentrated chicken broth
- 1/2 t Salt
- Bring the water, chicken broth and salt to a boil.
- Add the quinoa, cover and set for 15 minutes.
- Remove the lid, and set aside to cool.
- 1/2 C Lemon juice
- 1/4 C olive oil
- 2 T oregano, crushed
- 1 t garlic powder (or four cloves of crushed fresh garlic!)
- 1 t onion powder
- 1/2 + 1/8 C Balsamic vinegar
- 2 T honey
- 1/8 C olive oil
- 1 t garlic powder (or four cloves of crushed fresh garlic!)
- 1 t onion powder
Love my grill pan! |
Saturday, July 7, 2018
Soon! Very soon!
New posts hopefully as August comes to a close, as summer is so busy.
But I'm experimenting with some new recipes, like this blackened salmon Alfredo primavera with wilted arugula and basil (from my window sill)!!!