Groovy Gravy

Does the art of gravy making escape you? For many years it did me. I've tried many techniques, and this is the winner. Tried, true, tested and simple...here's the secret:

2 tsp of butter
2 Tbs Flour
Juice from meat

Melt butter in large sauce pan
Add flour to the melted butter and stir, over medium heat so the flour can cook (rids it of the raw taste) and combine with the butter fat. When butter/flour mixture is brown in color, add juice 1 ladle at a time. Continue stirring with a wooden spoon, making sure to mush out any and all flour lumps. Continue to add juices until gravy is at the desired consistency.

Crock Pot Pot Roast (with beer)

So, this is so simple I hesitate to call it a "recipe" but I promise you won't be disappointed!

1 Sirloin Roast (This cut is the key for ANY pot roast, trust me!)
Garlic Cloves
Onion
Potatoes
Montreal Seasoning (or any other garlic/pepper/salt seasonings you have)
1 Crock Pot

Place roast in crock pot. Stab meat with paring knife and make pockets into which you will place peeled garlic cloves at random. Sprinkle with Montreal seasoning. Place whole, small red skinned potatoes on top.(Don't bother to cut them up, you can do that later) Add chopped onion (about 1/2) just on top of the meat. If so desired, you may also add more root veggies like carrots to the mix. Final touch: one can of beer. You pick the flavor. Place crock pot on low and cook it "low and slow" (the other key to a good pot roast) for 7+ hours. Come home to the smell of yummy goodness- separate components to serve...with something green- I insist!!! (can o green beans is good and quick or roasted Asparagus pairs nicely) and make fab gravy to accompany (recipe to follow).

Hot Curry Lentil Soup

I've had a bag of dried lentils in the closet for months, and just have never gotten around to doing anything with them. Today while at Publix perusing the organic section, I saw Curry Lentil Soup on the shelf. BINGO! Here it is, folks!

Hot Curry Powder (courtesy of Penzey's Spices)
Dried Lentils
Chicken Bullion Cubes
1/4 diced onion
2 Tbs Garlic Garlic (www.tastefullysimple.com/cferguson1)
1 tsp Seasoned Salt (Tastefully Simple)
1/4 milk
1 Tbs Sour Cream

Rinse the dried lentils and place them in a crock pot on low with 4 cups of water and 2 chicken bullion cubes. Add onion, Garlic Garlic(or similar)Seasoned Salt and Hot Curry Powder. Stir. If you don't have a love affair with hot spicy things as I do, you could easily use plain curry instead of the hot stuff. However, this Hot Curry Powder from Penzey's Spices (http://www.penzeys.com) is fan-freakin-tastic!!!
Cook on low for 4 hours, stirring occasionally. You may need to add more water as the lentils cook.

When desired tenderness is reached (and this can only be discovered by taking a little taste here and there, y'know. But don't forget to wash the spoon!!)break out your immersion blender. Add milk, sour cream and any additional seasoning you may need and run the immersion blender through until desired consistency is reached. Serve with a dollop of sour cream and extra hot sauce (if desired). A little green garnish may be nice too, like a fresh sprig of parsley.

Yum! Healthy too! According to Wikipedia.org, "With approximately 26% of their calories from protein, lentils and generally any pulses or legumes have the third-highest level of protein, by weight, of any plant-based food after soybeans and hemp[2] and is an important part of the diet in many parts of the world, especially in the Indian subcontinent which has large vegetarian populations." Enjoy!

Thai Black Bean Soup

This was completely stolen by my friend Jennifer. Steal with pride and give credit where credit is due, right?

3 Cans of Black Beans
Fresh Cilantro
2 cans of light coconut milk
Garlic
Chicken broth
Hot Sauce
Cumin

Rice
Low fat sour cream


Empty cans o beans into large pot. Finely dice about 1/4 cup of cilantro. Add two cans of coconut milk. Add about 2 cups of chicken broth (or water and chicken bullion in a pinch). Add about 1 tsp of cumin and salt and pepper to taste. Add garlic (garlic powder or Tastefully simple Garlic Garlic) Add hot sauce appropriate to your level of spice tolerance.

Cook rice separately.

Combine ingredients and simmer. At the end use an immersion blender to puree the beans to a semi-smooth consistency.

To serve, place a tablespoon of rice in the bottom of the bowl. Add soup. Garnish with a dollop of low fat sour cream, a cilantro sprig and extra hot sauce if desired.

Sun Dried Tomato and Chicken Pasta

This was a product of "Oh heck- what am I going to make for dinner tonight?" Been there, haven't you? It turned out really tasty, so I decided to share. Feel free to improvise with whatever you may have in your pantry.

Boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into small pieces
Sun dried tomatoes (packed in olive oil) about 1/2 cup
1 can of ripe olives
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 can of sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup of Parmesan Cheese
Spaghetti noodles
Olive oil
Seasonings- I used the new Garlic Pepper from Tastefully Simple in this and it was very good!

Placed diced chicken into a pan coated with a bit of olive oil. Saute until cooked through. Add sun dried tomatoes (undrained). Drain ripe olives and mushrooms. Add to pan with chicken and sun dried tomatoes. Add can of (undrained) regular tomatoes and Parmesan cheese. Add seasonings (garlic, salt, pepper...etc-) to taste. Simmer on stove top for about 10 minutes and serve over pasta.

Pineapple Chipotle Tilapia

Oh my goodness...this was fantastic if I do say so myself. It's a spin on "Tilapia in Ten" posted previously with a Caribbean twist using Tastefully Simple Pineapple Chipotle Salsa. Super easy, very low cal...what more can you ask for?

Tilapia Fillets
Tastefully Simple Pineapple Chipotle Salsa
Olive Oil

Place a bit of the olive oil in a pan with a lid. Bring heat up, insert fish fillets. Cook for about 4-5 minutes on one side, turn. Add about 3/4 of a cup of Pineapple Chipotle Salsa. Place lid on and poach until fish is flaky and cooked through (about 5 more minutes.) Serve with Basmati rice and black beans.

I think a meatier fish like Mahi Mahi or Doro would also be yummy- and you could always do black beans and yellow rice with it as well- Vigo has an excellent pre-packaged product that is ready in 30 minutes- you just add it to boiling water with a bit of olive oil.

Interested in learning more about Tastefully Simple products? Visit my website: www.tastefullysimple.com/cferguson1 Currently I am doing a "mystery host" party so you may even win some free product!

Roasted Red Pepper Chicken

This was the "chicken experiment" of the night- and it turned out really nice. I'm not a big fan of peppers, actually I hate the green ones. I can tolerate the red and yellow ones and kind of like roasted red peppers. Peppers are so good for you with vitamin A, C fiber and even a bit of protein. They are very low in calories, no fat. When I was putting this dish together I envisioned it to be thicker, but the happy accident of a thinner sauce was a bonus.

Boneless, skinless chicken breasts- "de-gicked"
1/2 block (4oz) of light cream cheese
about 3 fire roasted red peppers (I used the jar kind "Del Destino" from Costco)
1/2 C parmesean cheese
Salt
Pepper
Granulated Garlic

In your Cuisinart, place the red peppers and zip them up. Add the cream cheese and parmesean cheese and blend until smooth. Add spices, and give it another whirl or two to blend.

Take your chicken breasts and pound out a bit. Spoon about 1 Tbs of red pepper mixture into the chicken, roll. Place filled chicken breasts in a 9 x 11 Pyrex dish that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Cover with remaining sauce and bake in a 350 degree oven for 35 minutes or until the internal temperature of the chicken reaches >170 degrees.

Serve over spaghetti noodles with the chicken breast in the middle, covered with sauce and a bit of parsley to make it look pretty. Don't forget your green veggie- we had steamed broccoli tonight and the sauce was excellent on the broccoli as well.