Month-of-Few Ingredients: Have a Heart (Healthy) Dinner

Ah, that time of year again! Time for love and flowers and chocolate and sappy cards. Sigh. Do visions of cupid’s arrows dance in your head?

Okay, I did my bit to support America’s insane marketing of a holiday of which most of know little to nothing. If you’re curious for the real story, here’s a link to Saint Valentine on America’s encyclopedia, Wikileaks. Oops, sorry, Wikipedia.

I wish, instead of a focus on the ephemeral flowers and candy, we could celebrate instead the Martin Luther King, Jr. quote that is making the Internet rounds.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. 
Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

If only Valentine’s Day were about love, and not just the trappings. But you didn’t come here for a treatise. You want food. And I got food!

And what did I pick for you? In honor of the color-of-the-month, red, we’re fixing salmon. Now it might look like Christmas because I almost always serve this salmon recipe on a bed of steamed spinach, but trust me. This is for a heart-healthy Valentine’s Day.

First, buy a couple of nice fresh salmon pieces for you and your sweetie. Then marinate the salmon for a couple of hours, turning several times to coat all sides. The juice is a citric acid, so there is some chemical cooking going on during marination. Don’t marinate too long or your fish will start to fall apart.

After grilling the salmon, I nestle it into a bed of steamed spinach. A side dish of quinoa and brown rice makes for a lovely meal.

Citrus Marinade for Salmon for Two

½ cup orange juice

1 minced garlic clove

1 tablespoon grated ginger (I like the ginger paste from Gourmet Garden)

1 tablespoon lemon grass (I like the lemon grass paste from the same folks)

3 tablespoons soy sauce

Discard sauce after marination and grill.

A healthful and light dinner like this one deserves an elegant dessert, right? And to keep with the red and healthful theme, let’s do Chocolate Covered Strawberries, the grown-up way. Boozy Chocolate Strawberries can be left as is, or they can be decorated to make them fancier. These strawberries are NOT to share with children. Here’s my version of the recipe. On the site, they suggest various alcohols to soak the berries in.

Sherried Chocolate Strawberries

6-8 strawberries, biggest you can find

2 cups cream sherry (I like Harvey’s Bristol Cream)

3 ½ ounces of the darkest chocolate you can find (at least 72%)

Rinse the strawberries and pat dry. Place in large bowl. Cover the berries with the cream sherry. Keep berries submerged.

Cover the bowl and refrigerate for at least 12 hours.

Drain the berries in a sieve. You can use the liquid as a part of a cocktail or toss.

Put the berries on a paper towel and blot dry so the chocolate will adhere. Let berries sit on a clean towel for at least five minutes.

While the berries are drying out, finely chop the chocolate and place in the top of a double boiler with hot water on a medium heat burner. Stir continually as the chocolate melts.

Line a baking tray with parchment paper. Holding the strawberry by the stem, dip each into the chocolate, about ¾ of the way. Swirl the berry to coat with chocolate. Hold over the chocolate pan to allow the excess to drip off. Place berry on the parchment paper and repeat the process.

You can drizzle melted white chocolate if you wish. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

DH’S Rating: 5 Tongues Up! Way Up! Him: “This salmon is always good.” Me: “You grill it so well.” Him: “We’re a good team.” Me: “What about dessert?” Him: “Just right.”

If you enjoyed these recipes, please share my blog site with others through your social media outlets. You can copy and use these blurbs or create your own. Thank you.

Twitter: Citrus Marinated Salmon #recipe from @Good2Tweat on Parsley, Sage, and Rosemary Time at http://bit.ly/2lEJGnr

Twitter: Sherried Chocolate Strawberries #recipe from @Good2Tweat on Parsley, Sage, and Rosemary Time at http://bit.ly/2lEJGnr

Facebook: There’s still time to make this salmon dinner for your sweetheart tonight. Check out the Citrus Marinade and Sherried Berries on Sharon Arthur Moore’s Parsley, Sage, and Rosemary Time blog at http://bit.ly/2lEJGnr

A reminder:

House rules for what counts as an ingredient:

Salt and pepper are not ingredients.

Oil is not an ingredient when it’s for the cooking pan, not the recipe.

Water is not an ingredient.

Month-of-Few Ingredients: Biscuits--Two Ways about It

Okay. I lied, er, used “alternate facts” when I said puff pastry was the only ingredient I’m scared of. I need to add another one to what might become a growing list. Yeast.

I make yeast breads on occasion, but I’m never really happy with the results. I don’t have the “touch” that great bread makers have. Thus my affinity for a variety of quick breads.

 
I also like biscuits because they are a versatile quick bread. Split the traditionally-made ones open and slather on butter and honey. Or put your chicken-veggies-gravy mixture on top for an open-faced pot pie-ish meal. Or add some sugar to the dough to make fast shortcake for macerated fruits or with cinnamon as a sweet bread for breakfast.

I went Internet-biscuit surfing to find some good recipes I could modify. In this post, I share my version of buttermilk biscuits (I had buttermilk to use up) and whipping cream biscuits. Both come together quickly, and with both, if you leave out the herbs and cheese, and substitute sugar and cinnamon, you have a whole different taste profile.

Both these biscuit recipes, and the pizza dough later this week, call for kneading the dough. Why do we knead to need? Kneading strengthens the gluten (stringy bands of protein) that give bread texture and structure. If the recipe says knead, you need to do it.

Each recipe makes about 10-12 biscuits, enough for a meal with maybe a few left over.

Tarragon Buttermilk Biscuits

2 cups self-rising flour, plus more for

¼ cup vegetable shortening (like Crisco), chilled

2/3 cup buttermilk

½ cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

2 tablespoons tarragon (or other herb of choice)

Preheat oven to 500 degrees.

Lay Silpat on cookie sheet (or cover with parchment paper or coat with non-stick cooking spray).

In a large bowl, cut shortening into 2 cups of self-rising flour using pastry cutter (or two knives) until the flour is in pea-sized clumps.

Add buttermilk. Dough will be wet and unformed as you mix in the cheese and tarragon.

Turn out onto a floured surface for kneading. Knead two to three times just until dough comes together in a smooth ball. Do not over-knead. Do not over-mix or over-knead these biscuits, or instead of light and flaky you’ll get tough ones.

Roll out dough to 1/2” and cut with 2” biscuit cutter (or a glass), Dip biscuit cutter in flour periodically so biscuits don’t stick. (Isn’t my fluted biscuit cutter cute?)

Put biscuits on prepared cookie sheet. Bake 6-8 minutes or until golden brown. Put on cookie rack to cool.

Dill Whipping Cream Biscuits

2 cups self-rising flour

1 cup whipping cream

½ cup Asiago cheese

2 tablespoons dill (or other herb of choice)

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Put Silpat, parchment paper, or non-stick cooking spray on cookie sheet.

Mix flour and whipping cream.

Knead the dough 10-15 times, working in the cheese and herbs. (See above for over-mixing, over-kneading.)

Roll out dough to ½” thick and cut with 2” biscuit cutter, dipping in flour to keep from sticking.

Bake 10-12 minutes or until golden brown.  

NOTE:

To make self-rising flour for these recipes, sift together 2 cups all-purpose flour, 3 teaspoons baking powder, and 1 teaspoon salt as a substitute.

DH’s Rating: 5 Tongues Up Me: “Which do you like best? I assume you like both.”

Him: “Yeah, they’re both good. Which one is healthier?”

If you liked this recipe, I’d really appreciate you spreading the word on your social media outlets. Here are some pre-made Twitter and Facebook posts you can use or modify.

Twitter: #recipe for biscuits two ways. Check out Tarragon Buttermilk Biscuits and Dill Whipping Cream Biscuits by @good2tweat at http://bit.ly/2l7DVSt

Facebook: Want a quick bread for dinner? Recipes for biscuits 2 ways: Tarragon Buttermilk and Dill Whipping Cream Biscuits on Sharon Arthur Moore’s blog, Parsley, Sage, and Rosemary Time at http://bit.ly/2l7DVSt

Month-of-Few Ingredients: Salt and Peppered Nectarine Tart

I found this tart recipe at the Bon Appetit site and fell in love with the idea of it. They called it their easiest dessert ever. And it is! You sorta wonder, with a gourmet food site, if that’s true, but in this case rest assured. If I could do it, so can you.

Only thing is . . . The tart called for puff pastry.

I am terrified of puff pastry. Near as I can tell, it’s the only ingredient I am afraid of, but it’s so bad that I only admit this fear to my cooking friends sotto voce and in a deprecatory manner.

I had a package in my freezer—for a long time—always intending to do something, but, you know, stuff comes up. Right!

This recipe of few ingredients was originally made with plums, but any stone fruit works beautifully—plums, peaches, and in my case, nectarines. Here it is, mostly original. And before you go counting number of ingredients, remember salt and pepper don't count.

Salt and Pepper Nectarine Tart (makes 6)

1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed re package directions

3 ripe nectarines, cut into ½” wedges

1 tablespoon coarse sugar

Freshly ground pepper

1 tablespoon honey

Sea salt

Preheat over to 425 degrees. Put a Silpat sheet (or parchment paper) on a baking sheet.

Cut puff pastry into six squares (you can see I messed mine up!). Place on baking sheet and prick all over with a fork.

Divide nectarines among the pastry squares, leaving a border all around the fruit.

Sprinkle with sugar and pepper.

Bake tarts 20-25 minutes, rotating pan halfway through cooking time, until edges are puffed and golden.

Remove to cookie rack to cool. Serve with honey drizzle and salt.

DH’s Rating: 5 Tongues Up. The man never fails to surprise me. Pepper and salt on fruit? He liked it. He liked it a lot! One thing he liked, apart from the taste, was the small serving size. He also always like fruit desserts. They seem so healthful to him.

If you liked this recipe, I’d really appreciate you spreading the word on your social media outlets. Here are some pre-made Twitter and Facebook posts you can use or modify.

Tweet: Salt and Peppered Nectarine Tart #recipe? Yep, add some honey to that, and you have dessert. @Good2Tweat posted at http://bit.ly/2l6NMIe

Facebook: This dessert is not only simple, company-worthy, with few ingredients, but this dessert is also surprising! Check out Parsley, Sage, and Rosemary Time for Salt and Peppered Nectarine Tart at http://bit.ly/2l6NMIe

Month-of-Few Ingredients: Chicken and Noodle Leftovers to Love

You know those days, like in the Chopped television kitchen, where you just open up the refrigerator door and say, “What’s for dinner?” Yeah, like that.

Well, I had one of those a little while ago and I scrambled to figure out what in the heck DH was going to be eating that night. I’d had a great day at the computer working on manuscripts and frankly forgot my other role: Feeder-in-Chief. So there it was, 6:00 and it struck me that I didn’t have a dinner plan.

Normally, I’m pretty good. I make menus, shop for the ingredients, and everybody gets fed good stuff on time. But not that night. Okaaaaay. Now what?

Fortunately, I always cook too much of whatever I’m making so that I can speed up dinners with prepared foods ready to repurpose. It was gonna be one of those nights. So I did a quick inventory. I had some noodles in the freezer leftover from when we had creamy mushroom pasta (tastes just like beef stroganoff). In the refrigerator was some roast chicken and some turkey gravy. There were some mushrooms on their way to dehydration. There was about ¾ of a bag of spinach, too. Oh, there was other stuff, but those five seemed more compatible with one another.

The recipe that follows is approximations. I didn’t measure anything because I was using up leftovers. You okay with that? This is a very quick dinner since you are mainly recombining ingredients.

Chicken and Noodle Leftovers to Love (serves 4-6)

About 4 cups cooked noodles

About ¾ bag of fresh spinach

About 1 cup shrively mushrooms

About 1 ½ cups turkey gravy, peppered and heated in microwave

About 2 cups cooked and shredded chicken

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.

Spray casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray.

Toss noodles into heavily salted boiling water to heat noodles (and in my case thaw). Don’t over cook. You just want them hot.

Toss spinach and mushrooms into boiling noodles and immediately drain the noodles. This partially cooks the spinach and mushrooms.

Put noodles mixture into casserole dish and stir in gravy that you reheated in the microwave.

Stir in chicken. Bake for about 15 minutes in oven (or until hot). Serve immediately.

DH’s Rating: 5 Tongues Up  Him: “What do you call this?” Me: “Dinner.”

Him: “No, really.” Me: “Your favorite. Casserole.” Him: “Whatever you call it, it’s really good.” Me: “Whew.”

A reminder:

House rules for what counts as an ingredient:

Salt and pepper are not ingredients.

Oil is not an ingredient when it’s for the cooking pan, not the recipe.

Water is not an ingredient.

If you liked this recipe, I’d really appreciate you spreading the word on your social media outlets. Here are some pre-made Twitter and Facebook posts you can use or modify.

Twitter: Easiest #recipe for for leftovers you’ll ever find. Check out Chicken & Noodles Leftovers to Love by @good2tweat at http://bit.ly/2kYBiCr

Facebook: Need dinner really fast? These five leftovers led to the creation of Chicken and Noodle Leftovers to Love! Posted on Sharon Arthur Moore’s blog, Parsley, Sage, and Rosemary Time at http://bit.ly/2kYBiCr

Month-of-Few Ingredients: Dumpling the Chicken Soup

I loved the simplicity of this Chicken Dumpling Soup the first time I came across it from one of my favorite cooks, a Valley of the Sun celebrity here in the Phoenix metro area. Jan D’Atri is a wonderful cook and a very creative recipe developer and modifier. Check her out for some spectacular foods made easy.

Another thing I liked about the soup was the spaetzle, a German-style “dumpling” that isn’t in balls of dough, but strings of it. Pre-DH, waaaay pre-DH, I used to make a mushroom broth with spaetzle that I had forgotten about. Gotta recall what I did. I know I served it with beef roulades.

When I make chicken soup with or without dumplings, I usually, I cook down chicken parts I threw in the freezer after eating roast chicken. I do this so I have some chunks of chicken floating around in my chicken and dumpling soup. I also put in carrots, celery, onion to flavor it up a bit more. And it takes hours.

When you need a tasty chicken soup faster than that, say for someone who is down with the sniffles, this will fill the bill. In keeping with the theme this month, you can see this recipe has four ingredients (plus salt). If you wanted to expand it by adding some leftover chicken or some of that peas and carrots side dish in the fridge, feel free to do so. But here is the unadulterated version, as Jan presented it.

I served this for lunch recently with a toasted cheese sandwich and some fruit. I modified the original recipe by adding green onions for color and flavor.

Dumpling the Chicken Soup (6-8 servings)

2 quarts chicken broth (homemade or canned)

3 large eggs

¾ cup flour

¼ teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon water

Put chicken broth on stove in a medium pan and heat on medium high. Bring to boil then lower heat to a simmer.

In a small bowl, whisk the eggs until yolks and whites are fully incorporated.

Add in flour and salt. Continue whisking vigorously to remove all lumps.

Add water and mix again.

Hold bowl at an angle over the simmering broth. Using a teaspoon, drizzle batter into the broth creating long, skinny strings of dumplings. Quickly use all batter.

Simmer for 20-30 minutes (do a taste test on a dumpling) and serve immediately.

NOTE:

You can also scoop spoonfuls of batter into the simmering broth in globs to make gnocchi-like dumplings. For this method, dip small spoon in hot broth, then scoop up batter and put the spoon back into the broth so the dumpling drops off. Repeat until all batter gone.

DH’s Rating: 3 ½  Tongues Up “It’s good, but I’d like some chicken in it. And it’s blander than you usually make.” He's right.

If you liked this recipe, I’d really appreciate you spreading the word on your social media outlets. Here are some pre-made Twitter and Facebook posts you can use or modify.

Twitter: Easiest #recipe for Chicken Dumpling Soup you’ll ever find. Check out the post by @good2tweat at http://bit.ly/2kH5kIx

Facebook: Need a chicken soup really fast? This four-ingredient chicken and dumpling soup to the rescue! On Sharon Arthur Moore’s blog, Parsley, Sage, and Rosemary Time at http://bit.ly/2kH5kIx

Month-of-Few Ingedients: Drunken Brats

No, I’m not talking about your neighbor’s kids. This is a food post, right?

Pronounce this: brots (short o). The grown-ups’ hot dog. Well, not really, but like hot dogs, you don’t want to know what goes into these luscious fat babies. Just enjoy them once or twice a year and try not to think about what you’re putting into your body.

Okay, public service health announcement done.

I call this the anti-braising method. As you may recall from past posts, braising is browning meat and then stewing it to develop flavors and finish cooking. Well, you’re going to stew the meat, then brown it. Same thing, but in reverse. Sort of. Kinda.

We do enjoy brats on occasion and since my version has so few ingredients, I thought it perfect for this month of, well, few ingredients. We don’t usually put the brats on a bun, but of course you can butter and toast some buns if you like. We just put them on a plate with some baked beans and cole slaw and call it dinner.

Drunken Brats (servings for 2-5 depending on appetite)

5 brats

1 medium onion, sliced in rings

2 very large garlic cloves (or equivalent smaller ones), crushed

3 cups Guinness Extra Stout (2 bottles)

Place the five brats in a large bowl.

Cut up onions and smash garlic. Put on top of the brats.

Pour beer over the onions, garlic, and brats. Refrigerate for two hours.

In a large pan, cook the brats and beer mixture over medium heat for 12 minutes after it comes to a boil. Remove from heat.

Pour most of beer into a skillet and cook over medium heat to reduce the liquid by three-fourths. It will start to thicken.

Add back in the remaining beer mixture and brats. Cook on medium-low heat to reduce the liquid more. Turn the brats to coat all sides.

When the mixture is thick, serve immediately, heaping onions on top of the brats.

DH’s Rating: 5 Tongues Up  DH was surprised to see this appear for dinner. “We have this in the summer,” he said. “Okay. You don’t have to eat it. I have some Tuna Surprise for you.” He reached for his plate and loaded catsup and mustard on the brat. “You know I like brats.” Yes, I do.

If you liked this recipe, please share on social media using info below or write your own message!

Twitter: Yummy #recipe for Drunken Brats by @good2tweat on Parsley, Sage, and Rosemary Time at http://bit.ly/2loeVDU

Facebook: Sharon Arthur Moore-Author writes the “Parsley, Sage, and Rosemary Time” blog. It's posting its annual February Month-of recipes. This month's recipes have 2-5 ingredients. You’ll love Drunken Brats at http://bit.ly/2loeVDU

Month-of-Few Ingredients: Spicy Sweet Meatballs

It’s always nice to have a few appetizers around as we play our nightly game of Cubes (Scrabble Crossword). These little meatballs are just perfect to take the edge off before dinner. One or two with a glass of wine is plenty for us. But maybe, sometimes, three. And with only two ingredients, they couldn’t be easier. What’s not to like?

These treats are perfect, too, for the neighborhood appetizer party. They serve a lot of people and the spicy sweetness is a bit different with meat.

This is designed for pre-cooked homemade or commercially-prepared meatballs. But use them from the freezer for the directions that follow. If using uncooked meatballs or thawed meatballs, adjust your cooking time accordingly. Beats me what that would be. Never tried either way!

Spicy Sweet Meatballs (makes 50)

50 frozen, pre-cooked meatballs (homemade or freezer section of grocery)

1 jar red pepper jelly

Put cooked frozen meatballs in a large bowl.

Dump the whole jar of jelly on them and stir around to coat.

Put all the meatballs into your slow cooker and scrape remaining jelly on bowl on top.

Cover the slow cooker and turn onto low.

Heat for six to eight hours. Remove from slow cooker and serve with toothpicks.

DH’s Rating: 5 Tongues Up  DH often suggests this when we need to bring an appetizer to a party. “Just the right amount of heat.”

If you liked this recipe, please share on social media using info below or write your own message!

Twitter: Easy peasy #recipe for Spicy Sweet Meatballs by @good2tweat on Parsley, Sage, and Rosemary Time at

Facebook: Sharon Arthur Moore-Author writes the “Parsley, Sage, and Rosemary Time” blog. It's posting its annual February Month-of recipes. This month's recipes have 2-5 ingredients. You’ll love Spicy Sweet Meatballs at

A reminder:

House rules for what counts as an ingredient:

Salt and pepper are not ingredients.

Oil is not an ingredient when it’s for the cooking pan, not the recipe.

Water is not an ingredient.