Tasty, Healthy, Easy! The recipe thread.

[Lusankya]

Now, I like to eat tasty food, and I also like eating healthily. The problem is, I'm a lazy bum, so I generally just get easy recipes. My mum does the same thing, for much the same reasons.

Here are some recipes which I tend to use. If anyone has any recipes that they like, then add them.

Tuna Pasta

Ingredients:

a pack of short pasta. I like spirals.
A 475g can of tuna
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 Spanish (red) onion, chopped finely
Enough fresh basil, shredded coarsely
A dash of balsamic vinegar

Directions:

1. Cook the pasta.
2. Drain the liquid out of the cans.
3. Mix everything together.
4. Eat.

Serves 4

Notes: This is quite a good recipe, since all of the ingredients except for the Basil last for quite a while in your cupboard, so it's handy for when you come home and don't have anything planned. It's also quite cheap, coming in at around $5 Aussie, so long as you buy store brand for the things in packets.

Having your own basil plant makes it even cheaper, and means that you can keep every single ingredient for quite a while.

Tofu Cakes

Ingredients:

300g firm tofu
1 cup cooked rice
2 spring onions
2 tablespoons coriander
3 teaspoons red curry paste
1 egg, beaten

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 180 C
2. Drain the tofu
3. blend tofu, spring onions and coriander until tofu is smooth.
4. Mix everything together
5. Place bite-sized balls of the mixture on a baking tray
6. Cook for 10-15 minutes, or until cakes are golden brown.
7. Dip in sweet chilli sauce and eat.

Theoretically serves 4 (as a light meal or side), but turn away for a second, and my mum will eat the lot.

Notes: the egg is primarily used as a binding agent, but the tofu cakes stay together reasonably well without it, so if you ever have to entertain a vegan, you can cook this recipe minus the egg. And I hope I don't have to remind you to line or grease the baking tray.

If you have a crappy blender like I do, then just chop the spring onion and coriander finely. It's what the recipe originally said to do anyway, but blending everything is easier than chopping things finely.

[Lisa]

Pasta (I like macaroni)
Can of cream of mushroom soup (preferably campbells)
pound of lean ground beef

cook pasta to preferred softness and drain
brown beef and drain
mix all 3 ingredients together.
eat

alternative topping instead of speghetti sauce - salad dressing of your choice.

[aerius]

Salmon Steaks, or Fillets

Ingredients

Salmon
Salt
Ground pepper
Dried Oregano
1-2 cloves of finely chopped garlic
Little bit of oil
Half a lime
Breadcrumbs

1) Put the fish on a plate and squeeze out some lime juice on them, flip & repeat
2) Give the fish steaks or fillets a light coat of oil on both sides
3) Sprinkle on the chopped garlic, crush up the oregano and sprinkle that on too
4) Now add the ground pepper and sprinkle on a coating of breadcrumbs, then flip it over and do 3 & 4 on the other side if using steaks
5) Let it sit in the fridge for 15-30 minutes for the flavour to soak in
6) Sprinkle a pinch of salt on both sides just before cooking
7) Cook on a non-stick pan or grill on a barbecue

It sounds long and complicated, but other than waiting for the flavours to soak in it takes under half an hour from start to finish. There's also a whole bunch of variations like using some sesame oil or adding some hot sauce or ground chili peppers to the mix.

[Haminal10]

Guacamole:

4 Avocados
2 Tomatoes
1 Onion
Lime Juice (about 1 or two limes worth)
Salt (to taste)

-Scoop out the avocado and mash in a bowl. I usually leave a few chunks of partially mashed avocado for texture.
-Dice the tomato and onion.
-Mix all three into a bowl.
-Add lime juice and stir.
-Add salt a little at a time, and mix again. Repeat as needed. Make sure it isn't too salty!

This can be eaten immediately with chips. Store any leftovers in the same bowl with plastic wrap pushed directly on the guacamole. Otherwise it will turn brown.

[Cairber]

This is my really lazy for two days receipe (it makes dinner for two days- kinda )

Roasted chicken with rice:
-whole chicken (we do about 4-5lbs- costs about 4$ here so not bad)
-rosemary
-butter
-salt
-pepper
-onion
-I do Uncle Bens rice- so you need water, butter and salt for that

Rub the chicken with butter and then cut slits into the skin and place a little butter under the skin. do the same with the spices. cut the onion into quarters and stuff them in the chicken.

Cook 350 about 20 min per pound until juices run clear and temp is 180

make rice as directed


Keep all scraps


Next day homemade chicken noodle soup-
Put the carcass in a large pot
cover with water

Add (chopped):
1 onion
2 leeks
2 carrots
2 parsnip
2 celery
1-2 bouillon cubes (if you want stronger flavor)

cook about 2 hours simmering
get out bones via straining and picking if you have kids and need to do this ^_^

Make up a small pasta for the noodles

The broth freezes really well. So with one chicken I have about 3-4 dinners (2 frozen).

[LadyTevar]

Faux Quiche

9 in pie pan, greased or sprayed with cooking spray

The MIX:
1/2 cup Bisquik or other ready-made dry biscuit mix
1 cup milk
1 egg
Pepper to taste

The FILLING:
8oz (approx) of your favorite cheese, shredded
8oz of chunked/cubed meat (chicken, ham, bacon, etc)
OR
8oz of veggies (spinach/other greens, mixed veggies, etc)
OR
4 oz of either, mixed
Spices as prefered.

Heat oven to 350*F.

Layer meat/veggies in the greased 9in glass pie pan. Spice as wanted, then top with cheese. Pour THE MIX over top of everything, filling pan nearly to top.

Bake 25-30 min, until golden-brown on top with center set, or until toothpick in center comes out clean.

[Cairber]

Ladytevar- I'm gonna use that one tomorrow night! ^_^ yummy!

[Count Dooku]

This is the simplest meal to make, but even just a litte feeds a lot of people:

2 chicken breasts
2 cups of rice
A generous amount of teriyaki sauce
Veggies of your choosing

Cut the chicken before you cook it.

Sear the pieces of chicken such that they are still raw in the middle

Turn the stove onto low and add that generous amount of teriyaki you set aside.

Now start that two cups of rice.

Once the rice is done, add everything together. Just a small bowl is enough to feel pretty darn full. You can also do this with fish (Salmon is my favorite), and it tastes really great with sesime added to it too. Remember that the amount above can feed 5-7 people, so if you end up making it, adjust your portions to fit the number of people you're serving. It makes a tasty tasty meal.

[Big Phil]

Ladytevar- I'm gonna use that one tomorrow night! ^_^ yummy!

You should try olive oil instead of butter in the recipes. It's healthier and (I think) tastes better.

[sketerpot]

This is the simplest meal to make, but even just a litte feeds a lot of people:

2 chicken breasts
2 cups of rice
A generous amount of teriyaki sauce
Veggies of your choosing [snip]

I can confirm, this is an absolutely delicious meal. I'm bookmarking this thread.

[Invictus ChiKen]

I vote we sticky this thread!

I BELIEVE this is a healthy one, might be wrong.

Bacon (very, very little it's just for flavoring)
Two cans chopped or diced tomatoes
One diced onion (flavor)
1 large container of elbow macaroni noodles.

Boil the noodles to desired softness

Boil the tomatoes add onion

fry the bacon and add it to the tomatoes, drain the noodles and add them to the tomatoes and bacon.

Let simmer and serve.

[Aaron]

I vote we sticky this thread!

I BELIEVE this is a healthy one, might be wrong.

Bacon (very, very little it's just for flavoring)
Two cans chopped or diced tomatoes
One diced onion (flavor)
1 large container of elbow macaroni noodles.

Boil the noodles to desired softness

Boil the tomatoes add onion

fry the bacon and add it to the tomatoes, drain the noodles and add them to the tomatoes and bacon.

Let simmer and serve.

Your better off using fresh tomatoes, canned tomatoes have a lot of salt in them. Not so healthy.

[J]

Chicken Wraps

Ingredients:

Chicken
Large flour tortilla wraps
Montreal Steak Spice
Paprika
Lettuce
Ranch or Caesar salad dressing
Croutons (optional)


Procedure:

Use a chicken breast or strip the meat off some chicken leg quarters. Sprinkle on the steak spice and paprika and pan fry it on a non-stick pan with a bit of canola oil till it's cooked, then set it aside for a bit. Make a nice caesar or ranch salad, tearing the lettuce into smaller pieces than normal. Cut the chicken into pieces about half the size of your index finger, adjust up or down depending on how big your fingers are. Mix it into the salad and toss it around a bit, then grab a few handfulls, put it on the tortilla and wrap it up. If you really suck at making wraps, you can stuff it into a pita and then roll the pita into a wrap shape.

[Civil War Man]

I tend to do, shall we say, improvisational cooking (I make shit up as I go along), which will become apparent with my recipes. I do know of a few tried and true ones.

What you will need:
Chicken breast (enough for everyone you're feeding)
Plain yogurt
Bread crumbs
Spices - I just use pretty much whatever I have available. Salt (garlic salt if you want that flavor), pepper, paprika is good with it, cayenne pepper if you want it spicy, cajun spices if you're into that. Whatever.

What to do:
Mix the bread crumbs and spices
Dip the chicken breasts in the yogurt (make sure they get covered)
Coat the chicken with the bread crumb/spice mix
Cook them at 350 until they are done (maybe 10 minutes, give or take, depending on the oven. Seriously, it's chicken. If you aren't sure, just cut one of the thicker breasts to make sure the center is white)

[rhoenix]

This thread is filled with win, and I agree should be stickied.

Stir-fry for the lazy
- requires wok. You can likely use a skillet, though.
Mind you, this is the only real recipe I know well enough to experiment a little with. I'm still learning many other styles, but this is still far and away my favorite.

- Marinate two chicken breasts in the following:
* 1 part soy sauce
* 1 part balsamic or apple cider vinegar
* 1 part water
* 1/2 part spicy mustard
* 1/2 chopped red or yellow onion
* 2 cloves of minced garlic
(for those of you who like hot: add 4 minced jalepeno/habenero peppers' worth of seeds to the marinade. Flu? What flu?)

Marinade for at least a day. Eat something else tonight.

Stir fry the next day with the following steps:
- Remove chicken from marinade, chop up chicken to roughly bite-size
- add vegetables to taste (water chestnut had better be in there, or your wok will curse you), but I recommend carrot, celery, and green pepper at the very least. Plus water chestnuts.
- Mince 2 fresh garlic cloves.
- Mince the other half of that yellow/red onion from earlier.

- Heat wok to about medium, adding about two capfuls of vegetable oil.
- Throw in the minced garlic immediately after.
- Once garlic is becoming golden brown, add the minced onion. Add a small bit (about a tablespoon) of the marinade sauce from the chicken.
- Once the onion is closer to translucent, add the chicken, and turn up the heat a bit.
- Stir.

- Begin making rice. If you've no clever recipe for rice, throw 1 cup rice into a saucepot, 1 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup soy sauce, and throw in random spices that sound good from the cupboard.

- Cook chicken until you're not afraid of getting salmonella by tasting it.
- Add vegetables, and reduce heat back to medium, or medium low.
- Stir.
- Main dish should be done, so remove heat from your wok and put onto serving plate.
- If you've timed it right, your rice should be done. Put that into a bowl.
- Eat fast, for the smells will have surely attracted attention.

[Comando293]

Sweet & Sour Chicken

2 - chicken breasts
1 - 20 oz. can of pineapple chunks
1/2 - green or red bell pepper
2-3 - stalks of green onion
1/3 - cup vineger ( don't use plain, use some kind of apple or red wine based vineger)
1-2 - tablespoons of soy sauce
1/3 - cup brown sugar
2-3 - tablespoons of cornstarch(mix into 1/2-1 cup of water)
salt, pepper, and garlic powder
more veggies as you see fit

Cube and brown the chicken in a large wok. Mix the salt, pepper, and garlic poweder in as you brown. Cut the veggies and cook them in with the chicken. When the chicken is brown, pour the pineapple and juice into the wok. Let it stew for a few minutes as you measure and add the vineger, brown sugar, and soy sauce. Mix well and bring to low boil. As it boils, prepare some rice or oriental-style noodles. Mix in the cornstarch. Use just enough to make the mixture slightly thick. (This part takes some practice to get right.) Enjoy!

Use more sugar is you like it sweeter, or more vineger is you like it more sour.

___________________________

I notice that most of these recipies involve chicken. Any thoughts as to why?

[Mrs Kendall]

The recipes I will contribute will be from my new healthy eating cookbooks I bought for our diet.

Chicken Vegetable soup

(amount varies with the amount of people eating)
-boneless skiness chicken breast, cut up
-water, enough to cover chicken in pot
-brocolli
-cauliflower
-onion, chopped
-carrot, chopped
-spices of your choice

Cover chicken with water in a medium pot
Bring to a boil and cook over medium heat for 15 mins
Add vegetables and seasonings
Simmer for 15 more minutes.

Egg Salad Wrapper

8 Hard boiled eggs
1/2 cup celery, sliced
1/4 cup green onion, sliced
1/2 cup fat free mayo
4 whole wheat 6" tortillas
your choice of spices

1 cup of lettuce, shredded

Chop eggs as desired
add celery, green onion, mayo, and seasonings
mix thoroughly
place lettuce on top of tortillas
Spread 1/4 of the egg mixture on top o lettuce on each tortilla
fold the wrap as you would normally

Serves 4.



I will add more when I have more time and once we've tried more recipes

[Cairber]

Pizza Bagels (these are a fav of our kids)

Preheat oven to about 400 and put the bagels in to crisp a little

-Heat a pan with some oil and butter on the stove
-Add toppings like mushrooms/onions/peppers to fry a bit
-cut up 3 tomatoes (or more for more bagels) and add those to the pan
-Add some tomato paste (I do one tablespoon)
-Add spices (basil, oregano, salt, pepper- more if you like)

-PUll bagels from oven and then put oven on broil
-remove pan from stove and put the tomato mixture onto each bagel
-Add freshly grated mozzarella and cheddar cheese (or we usually buy those bags they have of the already grated stuff)
-top with some fresh basil

-put under broiler until bubbly

[Cairber]

Spanish Omlette (we love doing this when we make 'breakfast for dinner')

You need:
-5 eggs
-parm cheese
-1 tomato
-mushrooms (optional)
-1/2 onion
-1 potato
-bacon or cooked ham (optional)
-1/2 red pepper
-olive oil

Preheat the oven to broil

-In a pan on the stove, fry the onions (chopped finely) and the potato (cubed) with the meat chopped (if using)
-once the potatoes are looking crispy-ish, add the red pepper and tomato and let fry a bit longer
-in a bowl, mix the egg with a few tablespoons parm cheese and a tablespoon water
-add egg mixture to pan and continue to fry until almost set

-finish off in broiler (uncovered)

[Mrs Kendall]

Chicken of choice

-4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
-1 cup onion, chopped
-1 garlic clove, minced
-2 cups Healthy Choice pasta sauce
-1 cup mushrooms, thinly sliced
-1/2 cup red pepper, thinly sliced
-1/2 cup green pepper, thinly sliced
-4oz mozzarella cheese, grated
-oregano
-black pepper
-any other spice you might want

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Cook chicken breasts (approx 20 minutes)
Spray a casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray
Place cooked chicken breasts in the casserole dish
Cover chicken with 1/2 the onions, garlic, and all of the pasta sauce
Place sliced mushrooms and peppers over top of the sauce
Sprinkle the rest of the onion and garlic on top
Sprinkle on cheese and seasonings
Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until cheese is melted
Let stand 5 minutes before serving

Serves 4.

If there is any leftover sauce from this meal you can easily use it for the next nights meal on top of some whole wheat pasta.. yumm..

[Mrs Kendall]

Foiled Dinner

-4 small potatoes, thinly sliced
-1 cup carrots, thinly sliced
-1 cup onions, thinly sliced into rings
-Spices of your choice
-1/4 tsp of dried dill weed
-4 5oz fish fillets of your choice

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Cut 4 (18") squares of aluminum foil.
Spray one side with non stick cooking spray.
Arrange potato slices, onion, and carrots on foil layers.
Sprinkle with spices and dill weed.
Cover Vegetables with fish fillets.
Fold foil over fish and vegetables, sealing edges.
Place foil packets on a baking sheet.
Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork.

Serves 4.

[Cairber]

We try to eat fish once a week. Here are some kid friendly fish recipes:

Fish Fingers (much healthier than store version!)

This feed our two kids, so you may need to double for the whole fam:
-1 shallot
-tablespoon milk
-1 tablespoon vege oil
-1 sole (filleted and skinned)
-1egg
-flour
-crushed cornflakes
-butter

-Mix half the milk, the shallot and the oil and marinate the fish in this for one hour
-remove fillets and cut into strips
-beat the egg with remaining milk
-dip strips into flour, then egg and milk, then the crushed cornflakes
-fry in butter until golden brown on both sides (2 or so min each side)

Our kids like them with marinara sauce



Gefilte Fish

-1 onion very finely chopped
-2 tablespoons butter
-1 lb minced fish fillet (we use a mix of cod and flounder but you can use haddock, cod too)
-1 egg beaten
-1 tablespoon sugar
-salt and papper
-oil for frying

-saute the onion in butter until golden
-add all remaining ingrediants and mix well
-shape into golf ball sized balls
-fry carefully until golden brown all over
-drain on paper towels

Kids love the ball shape!

[Mrs Kendall]

Pita pizza

-1 Regular pita
-2 tbsp Healthy Choice pasta sauce
-1/4 cup green pepper, diced
-1/4 cup onion, diced
-1/4 cup mushrooms, sliced
-2 - 1/2oz cooked chicken, cubed
-1oz mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Cover Pita with pasta sauce.
Top with veggies and chicken.
Sprinkle mozza cheese over pita.
Place in oven for approx. 10 minutes or until cheese is melted.

Serves 1.

[Cairber]

Chicken Cutlets (or you can do pork or veal)

I buy a package of the thin perdue chicken breasts because it makes this faster (not as much banging needed to make them thin!)

-bread crumbs (you can season yourself or buy seasoned bread crumbs)
-eggs
-water
-flour
-pepper
-parm cheese
-oil for frying

-bang the chicken until thin
-dip into bowl of flour, then bowl of egg mixed with a little pepper, then the breadcrumb bowl (season the breadcrumbs with the parm cheese and any other seasoning you want- basil, parsly, oregano, salt, pepper)
-fry in oil until golden brown on both sides

You can turn this into Chicken Parm by putting marinara sauce at the bottom of a pan. place the chicken in the pan and put mozzarella cheese on top with some more sauce. Cover pan in foil and bake in oven at about 375 for 30 or so min until bubbly.


I make a lot and use leftovers for sandwiches for the next days lunch.

[Cairber]

Veal Casserole (sorry baby cows!)

-1 onion finely chopped
-2 carrots chopped
-2 celery chopped
-vege oil
-package of veal for stewing (I get the kind that is already chopped for stewing-its about 1 pound)
-rosemary
-parsley
-1 cup chicken broth (can use water too)

-fry the onion, carrot and celery in oil for a few min
-add veal, herbs and broth
-cover and simmer slowly for an hour. Don't stir (keep lid on)


Beef Casserole

-2 med onions sliced
-1 lb beef for stewing (again I get the cut up in chunks package)
-2 med carrots chopped
-1 beef bouillon cube (optional because of salt)
-1 tablespoon parsley
-2 1/2 cups water
-2 large potatoes cubed

-Fry onions in oil until golden and add meat chunks
-transfer to oven pan and add all other ingrediants except potatoes
-cook uncovered at 350 for 30 min then turn heat down to 325 and cook another 2.5 hours
-one hour before finished, add potatoes

Takes a while but its soooo good!