Pasta and Bolognese Sauce
- Recipes, Stealth Ninja Vegetables
-
05 Mar 2010
Tonight, after checking out the Hadley Valley Preserve trail for the first time (it’s nice! A 2.5 mile looping trail through prairie), I tried out another one of Jessica Seinfeld’s Deceptively Delicious
recipes: Pasta and Bolognese Sauce (with Stealth Ninja Sweet Potatoes). This one is healthy all around, with a bunch of carrots in there, too!
I suffered a false start on this one, as I got the onion and carrots all chopped up and in the skillet, then minced a couple garlic cloves right into the pot – only to find that my garlic had gone bad while I was away last week. Oh well. Tossed it all out and started over!
Instead of garlic cloves (I didn’t trust what I had left), I used 1 tsp of Garlic Earth Italian garlic salt – an organic seasoning that my friend Becky makes.
Score another winner for the Stealth Ninja Vegetable Experiment, and another winner for all organic ingredients! This one was so tasty I very nearly licked my plate clean. Highly recommended, and easy to throw together.
The recipe serves 8, so I immediately froze half of the sauce after dinner, then portioned the remaining 3 portions in the fridge for leftovers. I love a recipe that I can get some mileage out of!
Adapted from Jessica Seinfeld's Deceptively Delicious cookbook. This one was so tasty I almost licked my plate clean!
Details- Prep Time:
15 min - Cook Time:
30 min - Ready In:
45 min
Ingredients
- 1 medium onion organic
- 2 cloves garlic organic
- 1 tablespoon coconut oil
- 3 medium carrot organic
- 1 pound lean ground beef organic
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/8 teaspoon pepper
- 26 ounces crushed tomatoes organic (1 large can)
- 8 ounces vegetable broth organic (1 can)
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1/2 cup sweet potato puree or finely chopped raw sweet potato
- 8 cups whole grain pasta
Directions
Pre-prep: Puree 1/2 cup baked sweet potato (or, finely chopped raw sweet potato can be substituted).- Chop the onion and mince the garlic.
- Heat coconut oil in a large skillet. When hot, add the onion and garlic. Cook 3-4 minutes over medium-high heat.
- Meanwhile, chop the carrot. Add it to the skillet. Cook 3-4 more minutes.
- Turn heat to high. Add ground beef, salt, and pepper.
- Cook 3-4 minutes until the meat begins to brown.
- Add the tomatoes, broth, and sugar.
- Turn heat to low and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- In a separate pot, boil water and add pasta. Cook according to package instructions, 8-10 minutes.
- Add the sweet potato puree to the meat sauce skillet.
- While the pasta is cooking, continue simmering the meat sauce, covered, for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Drain pasta. Serve with meat sauce.
Posted: March 5, 2010 at 7:22 pm
{Tags: beef, carrot, coconut oil, onion, pasta, puree, Recipes, sweet potato, tomato}
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Egg Puffs with Stealth Ninja Squash
- Recipes, Stealth Ninja Vegetables
-
28 Feb 2010
I’m back! Sorry for the absence – I spent 8 days in New Mexico attending a photography workshop. It was the hardest working “vacation” I’ve ever had! And after a week of struggling to eat well, I’m back home and back at the vegetables! Hallelujah!
So let’s get to it!
It was slim pickings for dinner tonight, as my cupboards are nearly bare – but I did have enough to pull together another recipe from Jessica Seinfeld’s Deceptively Delicious
This recipe was super easy to make, and was quite delicious! Whisk together a few ingredients and throw it into the oven. As for its stealth ninja qualities, I think kids (or adults!) could be easily fooled with this one. It’s almost not necessary though, as the squash tastes really good with the eggs! I’ve learned from this stealth ninja vegetable experiment that I actually like squash (butternut squash, in this case). I had my egg puff with a side of veggie sausage patties – a wonderful breakfast-for-dinner!
The recipe suggests making the puffs in ramekins or small coffee cups. I, unfortunately, had neither, so I used larger coffee cups. Be aware that you might need to add a few minutes to the bake time with larger cups – I had to tack on 5 extra minutes. My puffs looked nothing like the picture in the cookbook, but I also used too much squash, so that might have affected it. Handsome puffs or not, they tasted great! I could even see throwing in some chopped peppers or onions (but that would defeat the stealth-ninja purpose).
Cute little egg puffs! Adapted from Jessica Seinfeld's Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food Note that you'll need a few minutes extra to cook them if you're using large coffee cups. This recipe also requires pre-prepared butternut squash puree.
Details- Prep Time:
5 min - Cook Time:
15 min - Ready In:
20 min
Ingredients
- 2 large eggs
- 4 large egg whites
- 1/2 cup butternut squash puree
- 1/4 cup cheddar cheese low fat, shredded
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
Directions
Pre-prep: Bake butternut squash and puree, 1/2 cup.- Preheat oven to 400F. Spray 4 ramekins or small coffee cups with non-stick cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, whisk together all ingredients.
- Divide up the mixture between the 4 cups (about 1/2 cup each).
- Place cups on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes (slightly longer if you're using larger coffee cups).
Posted: February 28, 2010 at 6:22 pm
{Tags: butternut squash, egg, puree, Recipes}
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Breakfast for Dinner
- Recipes, Stealth Ninja Vegetables
-
10 Feb 2010
Tonight, we have some breakfast for dinner with the latest Stealth Ninja Vegetable Experiment: Cauliflower.
Now, I’ve actually had some success in the past coaxing cauliflower into going all stealth-ninja on me, in the form of fake mashed potatoes (one of the few recipes I actually liked back in my low-carb days). I expected similar success from the Scrambled Egg recipe in Jessica Seinfeld’s Deceptively Delicious
The recipe is super-easy (assuming you already have your veggie purees made up – which I do!). Toss the eggs, egg whites, sour cream, puree, and parmesan into a bowl with a pinch of salt. Whisk it all up, toss it into a hot skillet with some olive oil, and scramble!
I added some pepper to my eggs, and must say – they were pretty darned tasty. I could see a kid falling for the deception. There were no obvious signs that any vegetables were in the vicinity. These eggs had some substance to them – they were more dense than your typical scrambled egg, but in a good way. They were still fluffy and maintained most of the texture of a typical scrambled egg.
The use of egg whites decreases the cholesterol in this recipe. I imagine it would work just as well with Egg Beaters or a similar egg substitute. I used to use Egg Beaters, but have recently gone back to real eggs in a step back towards eating real food.
I’ll definitely make these eggs again! They actually made a filling dinner, with an organic English muffin on the side.
Adapted from Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food by Jessica Seinfeld. Requires pre-prepped cauliflower puree. Fluffy and filling!
Details- Prep Time:
3 min - Cook Time:
5 min - Ready In:
8 min
Posted: February 10, 2010 at 11:39 pmIngredients
- 2 large eggs
- 4 large egg whites
- 1/4 cup reduced fat sour cream
- 1/2 cup cauliflower puree
- 2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
- 1 pinch sea salt
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
Directions
Pre-prep: steam cauliflower and puree to make 1/2 cup.- Whisk together eggs, egg whites, sour cream, cauliflower puree, parmesan cheese, and salt in a large bowl.
- Over medium-high heat, add olive oil and egg mixture.
- Reduce heat to low. Scramble the eggs, stirring frequently, until the eggs are set - firm but moist - 3-5 minutes.
{Tags: cauliflower, egg, puree, Recipes}
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Mac & Cheese with Stealth Ninja Squash
- Recipes, Stealth Ninja Vegetables
-
05 Feb 2010
The very first time I flipped through the Deceptively Delicious
First, the ingredients (minus the ones I forgot in the fridge – the milk, the squash puree…):
Please forgive the Blackberry-quality pictures. They are pretty terrible, but my G9 and my 50D were both out of commission with charging batteries, and I figured this was better than whipping out the film beast and spending the evening in the garage darkroom!
Note the organic ingredients
I put the pasta on boil and started mixing up the cheesy goodness. I was a little short on cheddar cheese, so my combo was about 3 parts cheddar to 1 part mozzarella. I used low fat cream cheese, though fat free can also be used.The cheese sauce smelled really good as I mixed it up. It was very thick.
Once the macaroni was done, I drained it and dumped it into the cheese pot.
Stirred it up, and omg who wants?
The verdict: This mac and cheese was delicious and very filling. The sauce was super thick – like, stick-to-your-ribs thick. To get 4 servings out of this recipe as described, the servings seemed a bit small, but the density definitely made up for it. Very filling. I think it might be possible that the serving sizes indicated in the cook book are for kids.One thing I did differently in this recipe was to add a bit of Nutritional Yeast Flakes. They’re yellow flakes that dissolve into just about anything with very little to no effect on flavor. They’re described as having a nutty, roasted taste, but I don’t really notice them in anything I’ve tried. They give a great nutrition boost, with some high quality protein, and a slew of vitamins (including big doses of the B’s). Why not?
Much like the quesadillas from this cook book, I cannot wait to eat these leftovers! Warm, gooey, cheesy goodness – and successfully stealthy vegetables! A big thumbs-up to Mac and Cheese with Stealth Ninja Butternut Squash.
Adapted from Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food by Jessica Seinfeld. Requires pre-prepped butternut squash puree. This one is a dense, filling winner!
Details- Prep Time:
5 min - Cook Time:
20 min - Ready In:
25 min
Posted: February 5, 2010 at 11:30 pmIngredients
- 1 1/2 cups whole grain macaroni elbow or shell shaped
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon whole wheat flour
- 1/2 cup skim milk
- 1/2 cup butternut squash puree
- 1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese reduced fat, shredded (8 oz)
- 4 ounces cream cheese reduced fat or fat free, 1/2 block
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon paprika
- 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast flakes
Directions
Pre-prep: Puree a roasted butternut squash.- Boil water and cook macaroni according to package instructions.
- While the macaroni is cooking, in a separate sauce pan, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture forms a thick paste, 1-2 minutes.
- Add the milk and continue cooking until mixture thickens, 3-4 minutes.
- Add the butternut squash puree, cheddar, cream cheese, nutritional yeast flakes, salt, pepper, and paprika. Stir until smooth.
- Drain the cooked macaroni and add to the cheese mixture. Stir until the macaroni is well coated and serve warm.
{Tags: butternut squash, cheese, macaroni, nutritional yeast, puree, Recipes}
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Grilled Cheese with Stealth Ninja Sweet Potatoes
- Recipes, Stealth Ninja Vegetables
-
05 Feb 2010
Who doesn’t love a warm, gooey grilled cheese sandwich… the melty cheese oozing out after every bite… They’re easy to make, and with some Stealth Ninja vegetables, can even be a bit nutritious. Here’s my take on Jessica Seinfeld’s Grilled Cheese Sandwiches with sweet potato puree – from her Deceptively Delicious
I’ve got a wonderful old Toastmaster Snackster sandwich maker, which makes grilled cheese a snap – even easier than the old fashioned way. This recipe appeared to have real potential – I mean, how can you possibly screw up grilled cheese, right?
I tried out Rudi’s Organic bread, 7-grain with flax (delish!). Also featured: Organic Valley shredded cheddar (hoorah! No ridiculous chemicals or orange dyes!), and organic sweet potatoes.
The verdict: this sandwich wasn’t exactly the cheesy melty pillar of goodness that I’ve come to know as grilled cheese. The problem: there was either not enough cheese, or too much sweet potato puree. I suspected this would be the case, from the photos of the sandwiches in the cookbook.
The sandwich itself tasted delicious. It was plenty good. But the sweet potatoes weren’t exactly stealth – I could taste more potato than cheese. That wouldn’t be a bad thing, if the sandwich weren’t masquerading as grilled cheese. If you have kids that were to this point raised on “regular” grilled cheese, they’re going to know something’s amiss without some modifications.
So I tried it again with a little less sweet potato puree and a little more cheese. It came much closer to passing for grilled cheese.
Here’s the recipe with my modifications. I’ll definitely be making this one again, because – well, any grilled cheese is good grilled cheese.
Adapted from Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food by Jessica Seinfeld. Requires pre-prepped vegetable puree - sweet potatoes. I find that this recipe needs a little more cheese and a little less sweet potato in order to pass for Stealth Ninja status, and I've included those adjustments in the recipe.
Details- Prep Time:
5 min - Cook Time:
10 min - Ready In:
15 min
Posted: February 5, 2010 at 10:20 pmIngredients
- 3/4 cup cheddar cheese reduced fat, shredded
- 1/2 cup sweet potato puree can reduce to 1/4 cup if desired
- 1 tablespoon margarine no trans fat
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 4 slices whole wheat bread
Directions
Pre-prep: puree 1 or 2 medium roasted sweet potatoes in a food processor.- In a bowl, combine the shredded cheese, sweet potato puree, margarine, and salt.
- Spread the mixture across 2 slices of whole wheat bread.
- Top with the other 2 slices of bread.
- Cook sandwiches in a sandwich maker or sandwich press until cheese is melted and bread is crisp. (Alternately, you could cook the sandwiches in a skillet with 1 tsp olive oil - 4 to 5 minutes per side).
{Tags: bread, cheese, puree, Recipes, sweet potato}
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Quesadillas with Stealth Ninja Squash
- Recipes, Stealth Ninja Vegetables
-
01 Feb 2010
Another smashing success in the Stealth Ninja Vegetable Experiment!
I made 2 more recipes out of the cookbook, Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food
In addition to butternut squash, the quesadillas also had stealth ninja white beans! What a crazy amount of ninja going on in there!
I did not have my camera nearby, so alas, I have no photos, but the prep was super easy (and therefore not worthy of Adventure status here at Epic Organic). All I can say is – these quesadillas were wonderful and the guacamole was heavenly! I used all organic ingredients and can’t wait to have the leftovers for lunch tomorrow. Insanely delicious, and again – not a single sign of odd vegetable tastes anywhere (aside from the flamboyant avocados). If you’re a fan of chicken quesadillas, these are gooey-delicious and filling (and a great source of vitamin A!)
Here are the recipes as I prepared them, along with approximate nutrition info at the bottom of each one:
Adapted from Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food by Jessica Seinfeld. Serve with fresh salsa or Stealth Ninja Guacamole. Makes 4 servings of 2 wedges per serving.
Details- Prep Time:
15 min - Cook Time:
15 min - Ready In:
30 min
Ingredients
- 1/2 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast
- 1/2 cup white beans canned
- 1/2 cup butternut squash puree
- 1/2 cup sour cream reduced fat
- 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese low fat
- 4 whole whole wheat tortillas 8 inches round
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon chili powder or to taste
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Directions
Pre-Prep: puree a roasted butternut squash.- Preheat oven to 400F.
- In a small bowl, mix together salt, pepper, and chili powder.
- Heat a large skillet sprayed with non-stick cooking spray over medium-high heat. Once hot, add olive oil.
- Add chicken breasts to skillet and sprinkle with spice mixture. Cook 5 minutes per side, then reduce heat to low, cover, and cook 9-10 more minutes or until cooked through.
- While the chicken cooks, in a small bowl or mini-chopper, mash the beans and sour cream together.
- In another bowl, mix the shredded cheese and butternut squash puree.
- When the chicken is done, cut it into small cubes or strips.
- Place 2 tortillas on a baking sheet.
- Spread the bean mixture over the 2 tortillas, then add the chicken.
- Spread the cheese mixture over the other 2 tortillas, then press the cheese tortillas on top of the chicken tortillas, sandwich-like.
- Bake at 400F until tortillas are crisp, 6-8 minutes.
- Cut into wedges and serve with salsa or guacamole.
Adapted from Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food by Jessica Seinfeld. Actually, there's nothing rally stealth about the vegetables in this one! But this recipe goes quite well with the Quesadillas with Stealth Ninja Squash!
Details- Prep Time:
8 min - Ready In:
8 min
Posted: February 1, 2010 at 12:25 amIngredients
- 1 cup avocado puree
- 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt low fat
- 1 tablespoon mayonnaise reduced fat
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
Directions
To puree the avocado:- Slice the avocado in half, lengthwise. Remove the seed and scoop out the flesh.
- Blend the flesh in a food processor for 2 minutes or until smooth.
- Stir together all ingredients with a fork.
{Tags: avocado, beans, butternut squash, chicken, oikos, puree, Recipes}
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Stealth Ninja Vegetable Experiment: Beets
- Recipes, Stealth Ninja Vegetables
-
29 Jan 2010
Here we go – Phase Two of the Stealth Ninja Vegetable Experiment. Before you dive into Phase Two, check out the first phase, where I chopped, steamed, roasted, and pureed all of the vegetables that will be used in this experiment.
Now that I’ve got a fridge and freezer full of pureed vegetables, it’s time to try cooking something with them!
The first recipe I will try takes advantage of pureed beets. Beets are new to me – I’ve never eaten them before, so they’re officially New Food #10 that I’ve tried in 2010. I certainly didn’t expect to hit this New Year’s Resolution within the first month of the new year! That doesn’t mean I’m going to stop trying new foods, though.
I chose to use the beets first because there aren’t many recipes in the Deceptively Delicious
First up in this cooking adventure: cut up a chicken breast into chunks. This, too, is new to me (and almost earns an Adventures in Chopping designation!) I’ve never cut up a raw chicken breast before. I’m not much of a fan of handling raw meat. It makes me think of where it comes from, and being an animal lover, I’ve always had a bit of a hard time reconciling my love of animals with my enjoyment in eating meat. Ignorance is bliss, I suppose (though I do feel better about my meat choices since switching to eating organic meats. At least this chicken wasn’t a genetically modified FrankenChicken).I got out my One Big Knife and sliced up the chicken breast. (The recipe calls for a pound of chicken breasts, but I only had 1 thawed, so I went with that).
Next, I mixed up the bread crumb mixture. Wow, it smelled delicious!
Then came the pureed beets mixed with egg. This would be the dip that would hold the bread crumbs on the chicken nuggets.
One by one, I dipped the chicken pieces into the stealth ninja beet mixture, then coated each one with bread crumbs and it aside. When they were ready to go, I heated up the skillet.I cooked the nuggets 3 minutes on one side and 4 minutes on the other. I may have needed to go a little longer over slightly lower heat, as my breading was starting to burn. They smelled great, though!
At long last, all of the chicken nuggets were cooked, and it was time to give these puppies a day in court.
The obvious thing here is, well, they’re red. I can just imagine a picky eater shunning these nuggets because they look weird. I’m guessing that the best bet, color-wise, would be to make these with pureed sweet potatoes instead, to get the closest match possible to the color of the chicken and breading. (Green nuggets from broccoli or spinach would look equally weird, I suspect).However, this isn’t about looks so much as it is about taste – at least for me, as I’m getting pretty used to eating funny colored things that happen to taste good.
So, I sat down with my funny looking chicken nuggets and a cup of ranch dressing, and…
Nom nom nom!
They were mighty, mighty good! No sign of beets in the flavor. I could eat these chicken nuggets all day long! So, despite having eaten beets tonight, I still could not tell you what they taste like – and that’s A-OK with me!
In conclusion, the first Stealth Ninja Vegetable Experiment, Beets Edition, was a success.
What stealth ninja vegetable will I try next? *dun-dun-duuuuuuuun!* You’ll have to wait and see!
Adapted from Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food by Jessica Seinfeld. Requires pre-prepped vegetable puree - can use beets, broccoli, spinach, or sweet potatoes - I used beets. You can't taste the beets - though if the people you're feeding are adverse to weird food colors, avoid the beets - they make your chicken nuggets red! Quite delicious, though!
Details- Prep Time:
10 min - Cook Time:
20 min - Ready In:
30 min
Posted: January 29, 2010 at 10:01 pmIngredients
- 1 cup bread crumbs whole wheat
- 1/2 cup flaxseed meal
- 1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese grated
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 cup beet puree (about 2-3 beets, roasted & pureed)
- 1 egg large
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast rinsed, dried, and cut into chunks
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
Directions
Pre-prep: Prepare your vegetable puree. Cut the chicken breasts into nugget-sized chunks.- In a bowl, combine the bread crumbs, flaxseed meal, Parmesan cheese, paprika, garlic powder, and onion powder.
- In another bowl, mix the egg and the beet puree.
- Sprinkle salt on the chicken nugget chunks.
- Dip each chicken nugget into the beet puree mixture, then toss the nugget in the bread crumb mixture until coated.
- Coat a large skillet with non-stick cooking spray and heat over medium-high. When the skillet is hot, add the olive oil.
- Place chicken nuggets into the skillet in a single layer. Do not over-crowd them. Cook for 3-4 minutes or until golden brown on one side, then flip each nugget and continue cooking until chicken is cooked through, 4-5 minutes.
- Remove from heat and serve with your favorite dipping sauces (barbecue, ketchup, ranch, etc).
{Tags: beet, chicken, puree, Recipes, resolutions}
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Stealth Ninja Vegetable Experiment: Prep
- Adventures in Chopping, Stealth Ninja Vegetables
-
29 Jan 2010
*queue Mission Impossible music*
Actually, I think this mission is quite possible! I am embarking upon what I call the Stealth Ninja Vegetable Experiment. You are about to bear witness to Phase 1: Prep.
It all started when my sister in law Amanda suggested that I check out this book: Deceptively Delicious: Simple Secrets to Get Your Kids Eating Good Food
The basic premise of the book is that you puree a variety of vegetables and store them in 1/2 cup portions in little ziplock baggies, then sneak them into recipes as needed. Sounds good to me!
Posted: January 29, 2010 at 8:43 pm
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{Tags: beet, broccoli, butternut squash, cauliflower, chopping, peapod, puree, roasting, steaming, sweet potato, zucchini}
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