Tag Archives: asparagus

Crunchy Cod

30 Mar

 

Since we got a lot of cod recently from a Zaycon Foods event, I have been coming up with different ways to use it.  My usual standby for white fish like cod is Fish Tacos, but I needed something different.  My husband isn’t thrilled with breaded fish normally, but I wted to make something my kids wouldn’t immediately turn their noses up at.  Turns out my husband really liked it, and my kids at least tried some, but weren’t overly crazy about it.  And I thought it was really good as well.  What I like about this is that it can be versatile.  I used Italian dressing, but I think it would be good with ranch dressing as well.  I used Panko, but regular or seasoned bread crumbs would work, or you could crush stuffing mix to use.  I like when I can easily substitute what I have on hand.  Tonight, I served it with Roasted Asparagus.

 

Crunchy Cod 

What you need:

1/4 cup Italian or ranch salad dressing
2 cups bread crumbs (Panko, seasoned, or crushed stuffing mix)
1 pound cod fillet, cut into smaller pieces
Olive oil

How to make it:

Preheat oven to 425 F.  Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with non-stick spray.

Dip each piece of cod in the salad dressing, then in the bread crumbs to fully coat.  Place on baking sheet, and generously spray each with olive oil.

Bake in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, or until flaky.  For best results, flip each piece of cod over halfway through cooking.

Crash Hot Potatoes and Grilled Asparagus

3 Feb

 

This dinner was definitely not in the Weekly Meal Plan, but it certainly came together perfectly to use some of the potatoes and asparagus I had gotten from Bountiful Baskets this week.  I had seen these potatoes on Pinterest a while back, but apparently hadn’t pinned it, so I had to search again and luckily found it.  I luckily had fresh rosemary from the Italian veggie themed pack still to use for the potatoes.  I then decided I should make either steak or chicken on the grill since I am trying to get good use out of my new grill.  I decided it would be a good idea to grill the asparagus too, just to avoid another dirty pan and again, utilize the grill.  It all turned out delicious and got rave reviews from the whole family.

 

Crash Hot Potatoes
Based on recipes here and here

What you need:

12 small potatoes, mine were red
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Fresh rosemary, finely chopped
Malt vinegar

How to make it:

Wash potatoes thoroughly.  Add to a large pot and add enough water to just cover potatoes.  Bring water to a boil and cook potatoes until just tender, about 20 minutes.  Drain.

Preheat oven to 450 F.

Grease a baking sheet thoroughly with oil.  Lay out the 12 potatoes.  Slightly mash each potato with a potato masher, turn potato masher 90 degrees and slightly mash each potato again.  Brush each potato with olive oil, then sprinkle on salt, pepper, and fresh rosemary.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown.  Remove from oven and splash each potato with malt vinegar.

 

Grilled Asparagus
Based on recipe here

What you need:

1 lb asparagus, trimmed
Olive oil
Salt
Pepper
Balsamic vinegar

How to make it:

Place asparagus on skewers.  Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Grill on high heat for a few minutes, or until desired tenderness.

Remove from grill and splash with balsamic vinegar.

 

Lemon Chicken and Vegetables over Rice

1 Feb

Looks a lot like the Orange Chicken from last week doesn’t it?  That’s because that sauce is the same, except for the Orange Chicken uses a can of frozen orange juice concentrate and this Lemon Chicken uses a can of frozen lemonade concentrate.   I did not use the slow cooker to cook the chicken this time, I just cooked it on the stove top in my wok.  This was fantastic, I think I might prefer it a little more than the Orange Chicken, but both are very good.  Tonight, the stir fry veggies were carrots, bok choy, green onion, asparagus, water chestnuts and snow peas, all from Bountiful Baskets from this past weekend.  And I really meant to add in some grated ginger, but I forgot, so maybe next time!

 

Lemon Chicken and Vegetables over Rice
Based on recipes here

What you need:

Lemon Sauce: (I made this twice, once for the chicken, once for the vegetables)
– 3/4 cup frozen lemonade concentrate, thawed (this is 1/2 can)
– 2 Tbsp rice vinegar
– 1 Tbsp soy sauce
– 1 Tbsp ketchup
– 2 Tbsp brown sugar (use 3 Tbsp sugar if you want it to be sweeter)
– 1/2 tsp sesame oil

1.5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 2 inch pieces
1/4 cup flour
Vegetable oil
Vegetables to stir fry (I used carrots, water chestnuts, green onion, bok choy stems and leaves, snow peas, and asparagus)
1 Tbsp cornstarch
Cooked rice

How to make it:

Dredge chicken in flour.  Heat some vegetable oil in a wok, and cook chicken until no longer pink.

Meanwhile, combine all ingredients for the lemon sauce in a bowl.  Pour over chicken in the wok and stir.  Cook on medium heat for 15 – 20 minutes to allow sauce to thicken and chicken to absorb the sauce.

Once sauce has thickened, add veggies that take longer to cook (in my case, the carrots, asparagus, water chestnuts, and bok choy stems), let them cook for a few minutes, then add the veggies that take shorter to cook (in my case, green onions, snow peas and bok choy leaves).

Meanwhile, again, combine all ingredients for the lemon sauce and the 1 Tbsp cornstarch in a bowl.  Once veggies are all tender, pour in the second batch of lemon sauce and stir to coat evenly.  Cook for a few more minutes to allow sauce to thicken.  Serve over the cooked rice.

Roasted Asparagus

16 Dec

Asparagus is one of my favorite vegetables.  Unfortunately, it’s really only affordable for me when it’s in season, which isn’t very long.  So, I was pleasantly surprised to get a bunch in last week’s Bountiful Baskets.  It was a nice vegetable to have with the Market Day Seasoned Salmon my mom recently had shipped to us and the mashed potatoes I needed to make to use up some Yukon Gold potatoes.   Normally, I steam it in my steamer, but tonight I roasted it.  This can be done to other vegetables as well, like broccoli or cauliflower.

Roasted Asparagus

What you need:

1 bunch asparagus
Olive oil
Garlic salt
Ground black pepper

How to make it:

Preheat oven to 425 F.  Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.

Remove tough ends from asparagus.  To do this, bend the asparagus, and where it will no longer bend easily, break off the end at that point.   Line asparagus on the baking sheet.  Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with garlic salt and ground black pepper.  Mix together and lay out across the baking sheet.  Bake for about 15 minutes, or until it starts to brown.  Serve immediately.

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