Justin & Meredith Winokur's Kitchen Cooking Notebook
Sitemap ·
Our Recipe Book ·
Steven's Recipe Book ·
Ann's Recipe Book ·
Meal Ideas ·
Copied Recipes
Random ·
Random Links
Home > 226
KitchenKatalog: Blog 226
Wednesday, October 14, 2015, 08:13 PM
Meredith and I made roasted broccoli soup and grilled sandwiches for dinner
We followed the basic recipe for our Roasted Broccoli Soup. We went with the general idea and adjusted to taste (It needed more salt so I used some soy sauce for salt+glutamates). We did it in the immersion blender it batches which made it super smooth. Like, more smooth than I've ever had it!
We used a Parmesan Gouda for the cheese and while I think I used around the amount in the recipe, it was almost too creamy and thick (though we probably should have just added water)1. Overall, it was ok. Not the best showing of this recipe but not bad either
Meredith and I each made our own sandwiches but I used a very special technique to grill them: let Meredith do it! (I tend to go too hot and burn it). She grilled them with butter (but tried not to use an excessive amount)
I made a one and a half reubens. Pretty standard. I used Boars Head Corned beef (~1/4 lbs total for all) and a lite swiss. It was not lite Jarlsberg though I would have preferred that.
Also, since the supermarket didn't have any good Thousand Island Dressing options (full fat or some strange zero calorie), I made this one halved with the following changes
My sandwiches were ok. The dressing is not dead and was a bit strange but the flavors were all there. Also, the insides were not as warm as I would have liked
Meredith made a strange kind of grilled cheese. I say strange because seeded rye is not usually the first choice bread. But anyway, she used brie (of sorts), sliced (extra ripe) pear and Tabasco Hot Chile Jam. I think she liked it.
Though it could also be the blender ↩
Friday, October 09, 2015, 10:00 PM
We wanted something relatively easy so we made the Lighter Lasagna Soup. We made a few changes to the recipe to match what we had and out mood. They were
Overall, we were really happy with it. It is relatively healthy and pretty easy. The only thing is we kind of bulked this up a bunch but didn’t adjust the liquids so it was very thick (but I liked it that way still).
As using the vodka sauce was pretty good. We would use that again
I also roasted half a kabocha squash (30 min at 400°F, flipped half way) as a side for me. Meredith didn't want any but it is one of my favorites and I was more hungry.
2016-05-18 Update: Recipe moved to its own page
Vodka sauce is Meredith's favorite kind but tends to be rather unhealthy. However, we found the one pictured below at only 50 cal a serving (10 fewer than the lightest of the regular ones)
Monday, October 05, 2015, 08:00 PM
I made fajita tacos since we wanted something (relatively) quick and not too many calories.
I made the fajita mix with:
I combined everything but the hatch peppers in the cast iron with some oil and cooked them. At a certain point, I added about 1/2 Tbsp of butter. As it was closer to being finished, I peeled the hatch chiles and added them.
We also had about 1/2 lbs of bottom round, grass-fed steak. As you can see in the photos below, I cooked the whole thing on the pan. I really struggled with the steak. First, the pan was way too hot and the oil just burned. Then, despite thinking I had overcooked it, as you can see in the photos, it was super, super rare. I had to cook it a little but more. The net result was an acceptably done but very tough steak. I used McCormick Grill Mates Montreal Chicken Seasoning on the steak.
I served them on two pan-heated corn tortillas (50cal each) with extra filling in a bowl.
Finally, for me, I also roasted green beans. I did them at 450°F in the convection toaster oven. When they were finished, I was distracted and they sat in the oven (off but still warm) for a little while. I do not know if it was due to not adjusting the heat for the convection or if it was the extra time, but they were overcooked. And I forgot to season them going in so the seasoning didn't stick well and they lacked flavor. Not my best showing.....
Wednesday, September 30, 2015, 12:00 AM
We planned a fast and easy meal. It was basically an exact copy of a few meals, but I think the first one was 2014-01-05.
Anyway, I roasted kabocha squash for ~30 @ 400°F, flipped half way. I also had the cast-iron pan in the oven to heat up for the salmon, which I did my normal way. I did it with salt and dill which I think was a first for this method. It worked well. I would do that again.
It was all very good. I was worried about overcooking the salmon since it was thin and think I undercooked it instead. Still, it was fine.
I like the squash since I can eat a lot without too many points/calories.
Tuesday, September 29, 2015, 10:00 PM
Meredith and I made burrito bowls with cauliflower rice. There ended up not being too much to it. I made tons of onions and peppers, heated some canned black beans with oregano and cumin, and some pan "grilled" chicken. For the chicken and the peppers I used a lot Badia Adobo seasoning like I used here with fajita tacos. I also added some garlic powder to the onions and peppers. Oh, and we also topped it with some
The reason I said it "ended up" being not too bad is Meredith also made black beans but they had issues and weren't ready yet. I am sure I will post about them when we eat them (and add a link in the future)
Tuesday, September 29, 2015, 08:00 PM
Meredith made black beans based on a recipe from Science of Good Cooking. I am not linking the recipe since we basically reproduce it below in our own words.
As you can see from the recipe below, we struggled to cook them fully. It actually took much longer than it was supposed to. That is likely due to the altitude. In the future, we will consider slow cooker or pressure cooker methods.
But, these were also some of the most flavorful beans Meredith has made. She'll also look into using baking soda in beans more often.
Brine the beans (about 1.5 Tbsp in 2 qt cold water) overnight (or really, ~24 hours)
Combine all ingredients group 1 in a dutch oven and bring to simmer over medium-high. Then cover and reduce to low. Cook for 45 minutes to an hour.
Eventually added 1/4 tsp baking soda since they weren't softening (found on the web. Not sure where)
Cook for another 45-60 minutes.
Drain and reserve ~2 cups cooking liquid.
In the pan, add the second ingredient group. Sauté, add some of the reserved liquid, add the beans, then the rest of the liquid. Simmer for another 15 minutes or so
Monday, September 28, 2015, 08:20 PM
I made sweet and sour seitan from the same recipe as last time. I did have to make some changes. The recipe is not in a great order. I basically just divided it up into three things:
Basically the same changes as last time including the jalapeños, except I think I went overboard on the pineapple (probably around 3/4 of one) and the onion (around 1 cup or 4x). There was basically too much solids for the liquids and it wasn't as flavorful.
If I make it again, I will try to go lighter on the bulk. And probably turn it into its own recipe page....
Sunday, September 27, 2015, 08:25 PM
We wanted to get this in before we got too far into fall. We made the pretty standard Avocado-Basil Zucchini Noodles (w/o corn) and had it with zucchini noodles and shrimp (steamed for frozen, about 4 minutes). There wasn't too much to this. I basically followed the recipe (using 1 lime despite saying 3/4 last time)
It came out pretty good. A very tasty. The only points are from the avocado (8 total) plus the greek yogurt (<1 point). Overall, really not too bad!
