January 13, 2012: Slow Cooker Low Cal Sesame Green Beans Recipe

Looking for a diet-friendly side dish to go with an Asian-style main dish? These green beans fit the bill nicely. Not only are they flavorful, they are low in fat and can cook away in your Crock pot throughout the day or afternoon.

Slow Cooker Low Cal Sesame Green Beans

1 pound fresh green beans

½ t. sesame oil

½ t. olive oil

2 cloves garlic, sliced on the diagonal

1 shallot, chopped (about ¼ cup)

½ t. garlic salt

2/3 t. sesame seeds, toasted*
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Remove the ends of the green beans and snap each into two or three bite-size pieces.

Place the oils in a slow cooker set on low. Add the garlic and shallots, topped by the green beans. Sprinkle all with garlic salt and sesame seeds. Cover and cook on low for about 4 hours (or high for 2 hours), until tender. Season with salt and pepper to taste just before serving.

Serves 2 large servings with 71.4 calories in each serving.

*To easily toast sesame seeds, heat a small, heavy pan to medium heat on the stove; add sesame seeds and cook for five minutes, stirring occasionally.

Note: The longer you cook these green beans, the softer they will become. If you want them semi-crisp, don't cook longer than 2 hours.

December 28, 2011: Orange Chicken Recipe

Unlike the very popular Orange Chicken you find on the menu at many Chinese restaurants, this recipe has fewer calories and a fresher taste. It’s easy to prepare and yummy served with plain or fried rice and a side of crisply sautéed veggies.

Orange Chicken served with fried rice.

Orange Chicken

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

Salt and pepper

¼ cup cornstarch

1 t. sesame oil

1 T. soy sauce

1 T. rice wine vinegar

1 T. water

2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced on the diagonal

3 green onions, thinly sliced on the diagonal, white and green parts separated

Sesame seeds

Vegetable oil

Orange Sauce:

1/3 cup orange juice

1 T. soy sauce

1 T. honey

1 t. ginger, finely minced

1 t. sesame oil

1 t. cornstarch

1 t. water

Sprinkle chicken breasts with salt and pepper on both sides. Cut chicken into approximately 1 1/2-inch square chunks. Toss together with cornstarch, soy sauce, vinegar and water. Refrigerate for several hours.

Prepare orange sauce by combining all ingredients in a small bowl.

Add enough oil to a wok to cover the bottom. Heat to medium high. Carefully place the chicken chunks into the oil and fry until completely cooked, turning as necessary, for a few minutes. You may have to cook two separate batches to ensure the chicken gets crispy and doesn’t overcrowd the wok. Remove with a slotted spoon to a paper plate or plate lined with paper towels. Set aside.

Reduce wok heat to low. Remove all but one tablespoon of oil from the wok. Add the white parts of the sliced green onions and garlic. Saute for one minute. Add the sauce and slowly bring to a boil. When sauce has thickened, add the cooked chicken back in and heat through.

To serve, spoon chicken and sauce onto plate or over plain cooked rice. Sprinkle with green parts of sliced onion and sesame seeds.

Serves 2

November 18: Whole Grain Sesame Noodles Recipe

This simple recipe is a perfect accompaniment to Orange Sauced Pork Chops. Feel free to add other vegetables to this recipe, such as green onions, baby corn, red bell peppers, snow peas, etc.

Whole Grain Sesame Noodles

½ lbs whole grain, thin spaghetti noodles

1 t. sesame oil

1 t. vegetable oil

4 ounces mushrooms, cleaned and thickly sliced

2 cloves garlic, thinly sliced on the diagonal

½ t. freshly ground black pepper

¼ cup teriyaki sauce

1 T. soy sauce

1 T. toasted sesame seeds, optional

Cook noodles according to package directions; drain.

In the same pan, heat oils to medium low. Add mushrooms and garlic; sauté for a couple minutes, until vegetables are soft. Add remaining ingredients and heat through. Top with toasted sesame seeds, if desired. Serve immediately.

Serves 4

October 14, 2011: Ramen Noodle Cabbage Salad Recipe

I first tasted this recipe at one of our women’s Bible study meetings, courtesy of the wonderful Linda Davis (thank you Linda!!), but apparently it’s been around awhile. I fell in love with the Asian flavors. I was able to easily find the recipe online but had a concern over the extra calories added by butter. I decided to make a slimmed down version packed with lots of flavor and this is what I came up with. And since October is National Pasta Month, this recipe is perfect to include right now!

Ramen Noodle Cabbage Salad

½ head Napa cabbage

2 green onions, sliced on the diagonal

1 T. sesame seeds, toasted (toss them in a heavy skillet on medium heat for a few minutes)

2 T. sugar

2 T. rice wine vinegar

1 T. sesame oil

1 T. water

Seasoning packet from ramen noodles

1 package ramen noodles, Oriental flavor

Slice the cabbage head in half and remove base; slice the green leaves thinly. Combine cabbage with remaining ingredients, except ramen noodles, in serving bowl. Refrigerator for at least an hour to allow flavors to blend. Just before serving, crush the noodles in the packet and add to the salad (if you want them crispy; if you prefer them soft, add right away, before refrigerating).

Serves 4

Tip: If you want to make this into a main dish, simply add cooked, shredded chicken breast meat.

August 20, 2011: Short Ribs in Molé Sauce Recipe

Okay, I have to admit it – I watch the Food Network and shows about food (absolutely anything with Gordon Ramsey) in order to get new ideas for dishes I make. Sure I’m pretty good at putting ingredients together but sometimes even I need a little something to stir my creative juices.

Such is the case with the following recipe. I watched the finale of Master Chef Tuesday night and Adrien made a similar dish. It sounded really good so I pulled out my The Spicy Food Lover’s Bible cookbook to get a general idea of how to make the molé sauce and went from there. I made some pretty big changes but I think it came out really tasty. Try it and tell me what you think!

Pork Short Ribs in Molé Sauce

2 pounds pork short ribs

1 T. vegetable oil

Heat a slow cooker to high. Add the oil and the ribs. Brown on both sides (or use a saucepan on the stove if your slow cooker doesn’t have a high enough temperature).

My mortar and pestle (it has a puppy face on the front!) made out of volcanic rock from Mexico.

Molé Sauce

1 T. Especias Mixtas (this is a Mexican spice blend that contains mustard seed, cumin seed, black peppercorns, coriander seeds, cloves, allspice, bay leaves and dried red chiles)

1 T. sesame seeds

2 T. roasted pumpkin seeds

½ t. cinnamon

2 cloves garlic

½ medium-sized white or yellow onion

1 ounce unsweetened chocolate

2 T. craisins

¼ cup hot red chile powder

2 canned chiles in adobo sauce + 1 t. adobo sauce

1 (14.5 ouce) tomatoes with green chiles

1/3 cup chicken stock

1 bay leaf

Combine the Especias Mixtas, sesame seeds, and pumpkins seeds in a mortar or spice grinder; crush into a coarse powder. Add this to the bowl of a food processor and process by itself, if necessary, to break up any remaining large chunks. Add the cinnamon, garlic, onion, and chocolate and process until crumbled. Add the chile powder, adobo chiles, adobo sauce, tomatoes, and chicken stock. Process until fairly smooth. Pass through a sieve, if desired, for a smoother sauce.

Pour half the sauce over the ribs in the slow cooker and add the bay leaf. Cook on low to medium-low heat for six hours, until pork is tender.

Serves 3 – 4

Tip: Use the leftover molé sauce to make enchiladas, thinning with a bit of chicken stock, if necessary.

August 6, 2011: Citrus Sesame Beef Kebabs Recipe

Another way to grill meat that is easy to prepare and easy to clean up is by making kebabs. This recipe calls for sirloin and mushrooms, but you could also add chunks of red bell pepper for color.

Citrus Sesame Beef and Mushroom Kebabs

½ cup soy sauce
½ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
¼ cup lemon juice
1 t. sesame oil
½ t. minced garlic
½ t. sesame seeds
½ t. dry mustard
1 pound sirloin, cut into strips
8 ounces mushrooms


Combine all ingredients, through mustard, in a nonmetallic bowl. Add meat and mushrooms and marinate for two hours. Thread meat, alternating with mushrooms on skewers. Grill over medium high heat for about 10 minutes, depending on desired doneness of meat. Use leftover marinate to baste the skewers; discard when done.

Serves 2 - 3

July 19, 2011: Grilled Asian Tuna Recipe

Here’s another way I came up with to make tuna steaks on the grill using a quickly concocted Asian seasoning blend similar to 5 spice powder. This tuna was a big hit with my picky husband! Hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

My husband has perfected his technique for grilling tuna - it should always be bright pink in the center when you serve tuna.

Grilled Asian Tuna

2 fresh tuna steaks, about 1/3 pound each
1 t. chopped ginger (jarred)
2 T. soy sauce

Asian Seasoning Blend
1 teaspoon each Coriander seeds, Fennel seeds, Sesame seeds, Black peppercorns
1/3 stick cinnamon
1 t. dehydrated garlic
½ t. cumin powder
1 t. citrus peel seasoning blend
1 t. kosher salt

Combine seeds, peppercorns and cinnamon in a small saucepan. Heat over medium and stir frequently, just until toasted and fragrant (5 – 10 minutes). Remove from heat and crush with a mortar and pestle or whirl in a coffee grinder.

Add remaining spices. You will have more than you need for this recipe; store the remainder in tightly sealed jar.

To prepare tuna:
Rub both sides of tuna steaks with ginger and pour soy sauce over. Sprinkle both sides of the steaks with a total of 2 teaspoons of the spice blend. Let the tuna marinate at room temperature for about 20 minutes. Grill over medium high heat for a few minutes per side.

Serve with pineapple salsa, if desired.

June 4, 2011: Potato Crusted Cod Fillets Recipe

I enjoy making fish for dinner one or two nights a week and I particularly like cod. Unfortunately, my husband prefers his cod breaded and fried. Since I’m struggling with weight and health issues for both of us, I needed to find a recipe that could be a nice compromise between our preferences.

The recipe I’m sharing with you is based on one I found at the Food Network website, from Guy Fieri. As usual, I’ve made a few minor changes. Here’s my version of Guy’s Crispy Potato Nugget Hoisin Halibut.

Potato Crusted Cod Fillets

Marinade:
4 cod fillets
1 T. minced ginger
¼ cup soy sauce
¼ cup rice wine vinegar

Combine all marinade ingredients; add cod and let marinate for half an hour.

Potato Crust:
1/2 cup hoisin sauce
¼ cup Asian fish sauce
¼ cup soy sauce
2 T. rice wine vinegar
½ t. sesame oil
4 frozen hash brown patties, thawed
1 cup panko bread crumbs

Combine all ingredients.

To assemble:
Remove fish from marinade, shake off excess. Dredge in flour.

Apply one quarter of the potato crust mixture to one side of each fish fillet. Heat 2 tablespoons vegetable oil over medium heat in a sauté pan. Carefully place the fish fillets, two at a time, potato crust side down, in the heated pan. Cook until potato crust is lightly brown and crispy, several minutes. Carefully turn the fillets over and cook for two minutes on the other side. Keep warm in oven while cooking the remaining two fillets.

Just before serving, sprinkle with green onions and sesame seeds (if desired).

Serves 4