Thursday, August 22, 2013

Mexican Quinoa (FodMap Friendly)


Ingredients
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 bunch of green onions chopped white & green parts seperated
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 chipotle chili, chopped
1 cup quinoa, rinsed
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon oregano
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup diced tomato
1 handful cilantro, chopped

Directions
Heat the oil in a pan over medium heat.
Add the white and light green parts of the onions and saute until tender, about 5-7 minutes.
Add the garlic, chili powder and chipotle and saute until fragrant about a minute.
Add the quinoa, broth, oregano, salt and pepper and bring to a boil.
Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer until the the quinoa is tender and liquid has been absorbed, about 15 minutes.
Remove from heat and let sit for 5 minutes. Stir in tomato and green part of onions.
Serve garnished with cilantro.

Wednesday, August 21, 2013

White Chicken Enchiladas (FodMap Friendly Version)


This is a great money saving meal. Last time I made these my husband calculated the cost to be about $.50 - $.75 per serving. I've made a few minor adjustments to make them FodMap friendly. These can be made in a large pan to feed the whole family or if your family is smaller, like ours, in individual pans. I like to use mini loaf pans and put two enchilladas in each pan. Then I freeze them and can pull out just one pan at a time. I serve them with rice and beans so one enchillada a piece is suficiant for my husband and I. Disposable mini loaf pans are available in the baking section at the supermarket or you can invest in a permanent set like I did. My favorite are the William Sonoma Goldtouch.

Ingredients 

  • 2-1/2 cups Cooked, Shredded Chicken 
  • 2 cups Reserved Broth From Chicken 
  • 3 Tablespoons Canola Oil 
  • 12 whole Corn Tortillas 
  • One bunch green onions (about 5) Diced 
  • 3 whole 4 Oz Cans Whole Green Chilies, Diced 
  • 3 Tablespoons Jalapeno Finely Diced or one whole fresh Jalapeno
  • 2 Chiplote peppers in adobe sauce diced 
  • 1 teaspoon Paprika 
  • 1/2 cup Heavy Cream 
  • 2 Tablespoons Butter 
  • 1 Tablespoon Cornstarch 
  • 1 cup Sour Cream 
  • 2-1/2 cups Grated Mexican Cheese 
  • Salt And Pepper, to taste 

Instructions:
Heat 2 tablespoons canola oil in a small skillet over medium-high heat. Fry tortillas for no longer than 20 seconds, just to soften (do not allow to become crisp.) Place tortillas on a large towel or stack of paper towels to drain.

Heat 1 tablespoon canola oil in separate skillet over medium heat. Add onions and jalapenos and saute for 1 minute, just to start the cooking process. Add chicken, half of the green chilies, chipolte peppers and sauce and 1/2 teaspoon paprika. Stir together. Add 1/2 cup chicken broth and stir. Add cream and stir, allowing mixture to bubble and get hot. Turn off heat and set aside.

In a separate large skillet, melt butter and sprinkle in cornstarch. Whisk together and cook over medium heat for one minute. Slowly whisk in 1 1/2 cups chicken broth and cook for another minute or two. Stir in the other half of the chilies. Reduce heat, then stir in sour cream. Add 1 1/2 cups grated cheese and stir to melt. Add 1/2 teaspoon paprika. Check seasoning and add salt and pepper as needed.

To assemble, spoon chicken mixture on top of tortillas, one by one. Top with plenty of cheese and roll up.

Place seam side down in a 9 x 13 casserole dish or two each in mini loaf pans.

Pour cheese mixture all over the top of the tortillas. Top with extra cheese if you'd like, then bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. If you choose to freeze the individual servings they will reheat at 350 for 30-45 minutes as well.

Serve with rice & beans for a complete Mexican meal.

Tuesday, August 20, 2013

FodMap Friendly Strawberry Jam OR Strawberry Jam without Pectin or Corn Syrup

Due to  a medical condition my husband was recently told that he need to start following the FodMap diet. Which, actually, is less a diet and more a complete lifestyle change. On the FodMap there is an abundance of items that you cannot eat. Some of which are surprising as you traditionally think they are good for you, i.e. apples. However, people who need to follow the FodMap diet do not have the ability to digest these items. Needless to say this has been a learning curve in both our cooking and shopping.  For example, even though strawberries are allowed strawberry jam from the supermarket is not okay due to having fruit pectin (from apples) and corn syrup. So I'm back to making jam from scratch but without the usual thickener. Strawberries aren't in season and even when they are they can be very expensive so I bought frozen strawberries in bulk which saved about 50%. 

What you need
  • 2lbs of strawberries
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 2 tbsp of reserved strawberry juice or water
  • 2 tbsp of tapioca flour
What to do
I used frozen strawberries and reserved some of the juice as they thawed. Place the strawberries into a heavy bottomed pan with the sugar.  Bring the mixture to the boil and simmer until it has reduced by about a third to around 3 cups. In a small bowl, stir the tapioca and strawberry juice or water together before adding that to the berry mixture until it thickens. This won’t take long so be careful not to overcook. Spoon your freshly made jam into a couple of sterilised jam jars and allow to cool before storing them in the fridge. Or freeze if you do not plan to use immediately. 

Monday, August 19, 2013

Dressed Up Baked Beans

Baked beans are a staple side at when barbecuing but the ones from the can are predictably dull. Next time you are barbecuing try making these sweet and spice dressed up baked beans. They easily cook on the cooler side of the grill while you have the meat going on the hot side. They develop a nice smoky flavor by cooking on the grill rather than the oven.

1 can baked beans
2 T diced jalapeno
1 T jalapeno juice
1 T brown mustard
1/4 cup maple syrup
1 cup ham cubed  (used leftovers from a pineapple orange glazed ham we made for Easter, yummy)
1 T butter cut into tiny pieces
2 T brown sugar.

Mix all but the last two ingredients together put into ceramic or cast-iron pan (grill safe) place butter pieces over top of beans and sprinkle with brown sugar.  Place on the cool side of your grill for 45 minutes to an hour. Stir and enjoy