Greek Week Presents... Hummus

Hummus is one of those things we always think about making and never do.  Since we were planning to make a bunch of dips for Greek Week, we finally had our opportunity to make it.

This recipe is pretty good.  If you like basic-but-good hummus, this is the one for you.  We prefer hummus with added flavors.  We're going to try a garlicky one next time.  Of course, maybe it's just unfair to compare it to all the other dips we made...

Once upon a time there was... Bulgur Wheat with Caramelized Onions & Pine Nuts

We've been intrigued by quinoa for a while now... such a funny word. So, we were watching our favorite food blogs for a good recipe to try. Then we saw it! On Cara's Cravings, a really delicious looking recipe for Quinoa with Caramelized Onions & Pine Nuts. We gathered our ingredients and started to cook up the onions. Then, we discovered a problem. In trying to buy quinoa, we somehow ended up with bulgur wheat. As it turns out, this was not too much of a problem, they are very similar. So we supposed it doesn't matter what grain you use... We've heard quinoa is healthier, but the bulgur wheat was quite tasty. Maybe we'll get around to trying quinoa someday. For now, here's our inadvertently-adapted-from-Cara's recipe.

Once upon a time there was... Lemon Dijon Chicken

Today we have a delicious, quick, easy, healthy chicken recipe.  You never can have too many! We originally found this one at All-ChickenRecipes, we adapted it slightly, and it has become a staple at the Castle Farm.  The ingredients listed below are enough for 6 chicken breasts.  We usually 1/2 them since we are only making 2.

Once upon a time there was... Make-Ahead Breakfast Sandwiches

It's Breakfast Week at the Castle Farm Cookbook! Each day this week, we'll be posting a great breakfast recipe.  This first one is so easy and versatile, we think of it as more of an idea than a recipe; it's our famous breakfast sandwiches.  We were eating at Starbucks one morning and we ordered a turkey bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich - all they had to do to make it for us was pop it in the oven - it was already pre-assembled.  So, we figured we can do that too!

Once upon a time there was... Mediterranean Couscous

This is one of our all-time favorite easy recipes to whip up for weekday lunches.  We bought a pre-made package of a similar couscous at Wegmans one time and thought it was good - but needed work.  So a few attempts later, we made up our own recipe.  This is a Castle Farm original!

All the stuff you put in it can be adjusted of course.

Once upon a time there was... Chicken Satay Lettuce Wraps

Wrapping food in lettuce just makes it seem so much healthier. "Yes waiter, I'll have the large soda, fries, and bacon double cheeseburger - but could you sub a lettuce wrap for the roll? I'm on a diet. " That's my kind of diet.

So now take an already pretty healthy meal, like chicken satay, and wrap it in lettuce, and you've got a super healthy dinner! Cornelius and I didn't invent this concept, but we did invent this exact variation. It's a mess to eat, and it's time consuming to make - but it is also delicious and healthy! (it's wrapped in lettuce, isn't it?)

Once upon a time there was... Sage Butter Chicken

Here is a new recipe for a great quick weeknight meal.  We decided it should have a dollop of some kind of sauce - it will be up to you, Castle Farm Cookbook readers, to help us decide what that should be.  We will include our thoughts on future adaptations.  

We saw a few variations of this recipe but we sufficiently changed them so we're going to consider this one our own.  So here it is, Sage Butter Chicken du Cornelius.

Once upon a time there was... Teriyaki Chicken and Pineapple Skewers

We never grow tired of food on sticks.  You can use the skewers for swordfighting, javelin tournaments, or poking unruly cows! Or you can make this yummy dinner.  But you don't have to make this difficult choice - just buy lots of sticks.  We found this recipe on Cooks.com and made some modifications, (most notably not killing you with chicken-diseased marinade).  It is great served with rice, or its a very filling meal even without.  This serves 4.

ingredients
1/3 c dry white wine
1/3 c peanut oil
1/3 c teriyaki sauce
1/2 tsp dried thyme
3 cloves garlic
1/4 tsp dried ginger
1 lb chicken breast, cut into 1" chunks
1 whole pineapple, cut in chunks
as many sugar snap peas as you will eat
bamboo skewers

instructions


1. whisk together first 6 ingredients in a bowl.  Reserve some marinade to brush over finished chicken (about 1/4 c).

Cornelius' tip: See, this is us saving you from certain death! Never eat marinade that your raw chicken has sat in unless you cook it first!

Put chicken and marinade in a covered dish, stir to coat, and marinate 4 hours to overnight.

2. Create beautiful skewers by putting chicken, pineapple, and snap peas on sticks.

Cornelius' tip: Patterns are fun!  Try chicken-pea-pineapple, then chicken-chicken-pea-pea, then pineapple-pea-chicken-pea, etc.  

Cornelius' other tip: You can use the marinade to brush over the raw skewers now (since you still haven't cooked them).

3. Grill them!  It should take about 4 min per side.  Make sure to flip so things don't get stuck.

4. Brush them with reserved marinade - now eat them!!!

Yes, these were as delicious as they look.

As for nutritional information, we don't really know what to enter into the calculator. . .  We make a full cup of the marinade but the food doesn't absorb nearly all of it, but then how much do we eat? We have no idea.  So we are going to have to accept that this is a healthy meal of unknown calories.

pig, out.

Once upon a time there was... Mediterranean Salad with Green Beans and Feta

So since we are trying to eat healthier we went looking for new, interesting salads.  We came across this one from Martha Stewart that seemed simple and interesting.  It's a good way to sneak in some beans for an extra nutritional benefit, too.

ingredients
1 head of romaine, chopped
8 oz green beans
2 naval oranges
1 1/2 c feta cheese
1 small red onion, sliced
15 oz can of white beans
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 Tbsp white wine vinegar
salt and pepper

instructions


1. prepare green beans. in a saucepan, boil water, and simmer green beans 4-6 minutes until slightly tender. rinse with cold water.

2.  prepare orange.  peel and slice fruit.

3. prepare lettuce and other veggis.

4. prepare dressing.  whisk together oil and vinegar.  add salt and pepper to taste.

5. create salad.  toss together all ingredients. serve!

Here are our thoughts on this:  The dressing needs something, but we're not sure what.  (It's just a little boring.)  We still don't like white beans even when we hide them in a salad. Green beans in a salad is do-able.  Feta makes everything better.

So, we're not ready to reject this salad, but we think it needs a little work.  We would love to hear your ideas, Castle Farm Cookbook blog readers!

Here's the nutritional info:

pig, out!

Once upon a time there was... Garlic Chicken Mozzarella

We found this recipe on a can of Contadina diced tomatoes.  If you've never checked out their site (or the sides of their tomato cans), you should because they seem to always have yummy food ideas.  Our only issue with them is that they always need more seasonings than they say - so, season away! Seriously, don't be modest with your seasonings, there is a lot of chicken and tomatoes.

This meal is great for a weeknight (easy and fast), healthy, and also reheats well for lunch.  This is not a new recipe for us, but since we are doing the whole "eat healthier thing", its a good one.  You can serve this with pasta and garlic bread (for maximum deliciousness), whole wheat pasta (a slightly healthier option), or some veggies (for maximum healthiness).

ingredients

1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes (with seasonings of your choice)

1 8 oz can tomato sauce

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

4 4-oz chicken breasts

4 slices mozzarella cheese

seasonings (garlic powder, oregano, salt, pepper) to taste

instructions

1. Cook chicken in oil, flipping once, until browned.

Cornelius' tip: drawing pictures with oil is fun!

2. pour diced tomatoes, sauce, and seasonings over the chicken.  bring to a boil.

3. Reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes or until chicken will no longer kill you or make you very sick or even a little sick.

4.  Place 1 cheese slice over each chicken .  Cover and cook just a minute until cheese is melty.

Delicious!

 And now introducing our newst feature, nutritional information!  We can do this courtesy of SparkRecipes.com, which has a recipe calculator we've used for years.  Keep in mind that your exact info will vary based on the brands you choose and of course how well you measure. Info does not include a side dish.

Well that was yummy! And it was also one of our fasting postings ever - we just had that for dinner tonight!

pig, out.

Once upon a time there was... Greek Salad

As you may know, Cal and I are world traveling farm animals. We have been to Greece - twice. So you could say we know a thing or two about Greek food. For example, here is us at a cafe in Athens enjoying wine and baklava.

What we have decided about Greece is that they have the best food in the entire world. So, we dabble in Greek cooking, and you will see us post many more Greek recipes in the future. Recently, we discovered a food blog we love, Elly Says Opa! Today, we are making a big Greek salad using Elly's Greek Dressing recipe and her chicken gyro recipe. We wish we still had some of our authentic Greek olive oil to use for this, but our house extra virgin will have to do. We do however have some greek salad seasoning that we brought back with us and will use then in place of just oregano.

ingredients

for the dressing

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/3 c red wine vinegar

2 heaping Tbsp greek yogurt

1 tsp greek seasoning mix (or oregano)

1/4 c extra virgin olive oil

salt, pepper

for the chicken

4 cloves garlic, smashed

juice of 1 lemon

2 tsp red wine vinegar

2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

2 heaping Tbsp greek yogurt

1 Tbsp greek seasoning mix (or oregano)

salt and pepper

1 lb chicken

for the rest of the salad

lettuce

cucumber

feta cheese

pepper

whatever you want to put in it: olives, tomato, etc

instructions

1. marinate chicken. whisk together all the chicken ingredients in a small bowl. Add chicken. cover and refrigerate at least an hour.

2. make the dressing. whisk together all of the ingredients except the olive oil. Add the oil in a steady stream, while whisking to combine and emulsify. add salt and pepper to taste. refrigerate an hour.

3. preheat broiler. sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper. broil until cooked through, about 5 min per side.

4. toss salad ingredients and dressing.

5. when chicken is cooked, slice and top the salad.

We really liked this salad. It was light and filling and yummy. Conveniently, we still had some leftover homemade pitas to complete the meal. Once again thanks to Elly Says Opa! for the excellent and authentic greek recipes!

Pig, out.