Faux Beef Pot Pie

Earlier in the week I used my food processor to chop up a whole host of root and winter vegetables. Really almost anything can go in this dish and so far I've used different ingredients each time. The first time I made this I used left over pork tenderloin with vegetable stock and forgot to add the peas I had planned on using. This time Im going with, fennel, celery, carrots, turnip, diced onions and I have left over steak and home made beef stock. This dish could easily omit the meat if you choose. After you have all your vegetables chopped you can preheat your oven to 375F.

If you have leftover rice, bulgur or quinoa now is the time to take it out of the fridge. I had cooked quinoa the other day in vegetable stock for extra flavor. I added some olive oil and a half cup of shredded cheese to about two cups of cooked quinoa. I choose to go with mozzarella as I think it will compliment the flavor of the beef in the dish better but any cheese would do. Set aside the toping mixture for now.

If you are starting with raw meat, salt and pepper it and brown on all sides in a frying pan. Once cooked most of the way remove the meat to a side plate and drain off all but a tablespoon of fat or add enough olive oil (a must if skipping the meat) to make a tablespoon. Next add the hard root vegetables to the same frying pan. I like to sauté just long enough to take the hardness out of the vegetables, without getting anywhere near mushy, as once this dish is assembled it will be cooked another 30 min anyway. Next I add in about 3 tablespoons of flour (I used whole wheat) and cook for about 30 seconds. Add in peas, or less hardy vegetables like corn if using, and 2 cups of broth along with dried thyme and sage or rosemary and stir, cooking for another 2 minutes or until partially reduced. My broth is home made and therefore entirely devoid of salt so at this stage I like to add a good bit of sea salt to help bring out the flavor of the stock and the vegetables. After reduced a bit  add the meat back in to the frying pan.

Next I add in 3 tablespoons of plain fat free yogurt to the pan, stirring in well. You can use low fat Greek style which has a nice thickness and tangy taste or you can go with regular plain fat free as I have here. I sometimes find I need to add more yogurt if I use regular plain and more stock if I use the Greek style. Cook for a few minutes until the dish has thickened and then remove from heat. The liquid should look a bit like the kind of gravy you expect to find in pot pie but a bit thinner.

Transfer the contents of the frying pan to a casserole dish. Top with quinoa/cheese mixture evenly and bake at 375F for about 30 minutes or until top has browned. Once done let it cool for about 5 minutes and then dig in!

Home Made Cinnamon Buns

Cinnamon Buns!

I decided to deviate from a healthy regime by making these, a recipe from America's Test Kitchen.  This picture is post baking pre-frosting but you get the idea. I did something of a poor job making them as the butter was too soft when I mixed it in. I also had the rack too low in the oven so the bottoms are a bit burnt. They still turned out pretty good and I'll attempt another (half batch this time) in the near future.

Minestrone with Quinoa

Traditional minestrone soup has vegetables in a tomato based soup with pasta and kidney beans. The recipe I found called for something like two cups of chopped plum tomatoes, and water, as the base. In the past, I have found that leaving the tomato peels in can make the dish a bit bitter. I like using diced or stewed tomatoes but the third ingredient on the can seems to always be high fructose corn syrup! I managed to find a can of organic diced tomatoes that only actually contains tomatoes - imagine that! I used that and water instead of trying to dice a ton of plum tomatoes in my variation below.


To a soup pot add some olive oil, minced garlic, chopped fresh thyme, chopped fennel, a little bit of crushed fennel seeds, diced red onion, chopped celery, a little bit of chopped leek and two bay leaves. Stir frequently over medium heat for about 8 minutes or until the vegetables are tender.

Add a can of organic diced tomatoes, juice and all, along with a can of your favorite beans, rinsed. I went with a can of tri-blend of black, pinto and kidney beans. Add about 2 cups of water to get actual soup consistency:

Next add about 1/3 cup quinoa and mix in well. I use quinoa as a rice substitute as it has pretty great texture and tons of fiber by comparison. I don't particularly like the pasta usually found in minestrone, so when I found a recipe that used quinoa instead I jumped on it. Quinoa doesn't look like much, but it does absorb as much water as rice would, so don't go over board!

Set the burner to high to get it all to boil and then reduce heat and let simmer for 15-20 minutes. Adjust seasonings with salt and pepper, remove the bay leaves and the soup is ready to be served!

How I love my food processor !

I found myself making burgers this weekend and craving a home made slaw that wasn't too heavy with creamy ingredients. After a quick search I found a recipe for an Edamame Slaw. 

Out came the food processor!

It made quick work of shredding cabbage, carrots, yellow bell pepper and celery. In another bowl I mixed honey with apple cider vinegar and lots of pepper. These went on my vegetables (along with some thawed shelled Edemame) and after a little time in the fridge I had what I was looking for:

While I had the machine out I made quick work of a few other vegetables I plan on using in a "Faux Pot Pie" - a variation on a recipe I found in Clean Eating Magazine. Turnip, leeks, carrots, fennel and celery all went into a plastic bag for later in the week. I would have done onion as well but I tend to buy chopped frozen onion now to save time on all my dishes. 

Half the fennel got saved for another dish; a variation on Minestrone which Ill get to next!