Green bean casserole

NOT YOUR MAMA'S GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE

We've all eaten it. Mama's or Gramma's green bean casserole. You know the one, cream of mushroom soup, green beans, and a heaping pile of french fried onions. Well, no more! This recipe has been amped up with fresh mushrooms and crispy shallots. No more canned soup for you!

Ingredients:

For the crispy fried shallots:

• Olive oil for frying
• Salt and pepper
• 6 large shallots, peeled and thinly sliced

For the green bean casserole: 

• 1 Tbs. olive oil
• 2 Tbs. unsalted butter
  
• 1 lb. cremini mushrooms, sliced
• 1/4 cup finely chopped shallots
• 1/4 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 2 lb. green beans, trimmed and blanched
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper (or more, to taste)

Directions:

Preheat an oven to 375°F 

To make the crispy fried shallots, in a 4-quart saucepan over medium-high heat, pour in oil to a depth of 1 inch and heat until shimmering. Line a baking sheet with paper towels.

Season shallots with salt and black pepper. Fry the shallots in small batches until golden brown and lightly crisped, 5 to 6 minutes. Transfer to the prepared baking sheet and lightly season with salt. Set aside.

To make the green bean casserole, put green beans in a large casserole dish (about 13"x9").

Warm the oil and melt the butter in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. 

Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until well browned, 6 to 8 minutes. 

Reduce heat to medium. Add chopped shallots and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 2 to 3 minutes. 

Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about 1 minute. 

While stirring constantly, slowly add the stock and then the cream. 

Bring to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened, 3 to 4 minutes. 

Season with salt, black pepper, and cayenne.

Pour the mixture over the green beans. Sprinkle the fried shallot rings on top.

Transfer to the oven and bake until the edges are bubbling and the top is browned, about 30 minutes. Let rest for 5 to 10 minutes before serving. Serves 8.

Original recipe:  https://www.williams-sonoma.com/recipe/the-ultimate-green-bean-casserole-with-crispy-fried-shallots.html

Easy and Refreshing Street Corn Salad

 I love the flavor of Mexican street corn but sometimes I just want something quick and easy. This fits all the requirements! Quick, easy, and the flavor of Mexican street corn.

INGREDIENTS

One heart of Romaine, chopped

One can of black beans, drained and rinsed

3 cups Trader Joe's roasted corn

1 cup feta or cojita cheese crumbles 

DRESSING

3 TBSP sour cream or plain yogurt

2 TBSP Duke's mayo

1/4 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp paprika

2 TBSP fresh lime juice

Toss the salad ingredients except feta/cojita in a large bowl. Whisk the dressing ingredients together in a separate bowl, then pour over the salad and toss well. Sprinkle feta or cojita over and toss again.

Serve!

It's really that easy and very light and tasty!

Mexican Street Corn Chicken Salad

 Hey, there! It's been a minute since I posted a recipe. But no worries. I have definitely been eating! I whipped together this chicken salad today, and it's pretty amazing. Serve over lettuce or in a wrap! This is great for leftover chicken although I just cooked a couple pieces as part of meal prep this week. Since the chicken was already cooked, it took no time at all to put it together. Enjoy!

Mexican Street Corn Chicken Salad

1 whole chicken breast, cooked and chopped

3 cups roasted corn (I use Trader Joe's frozen)

1/2 red onion, diced

1 jalapeño, seeded and diced

Juice of one lime

1/4 cup fresh cilantro (or 2 TBSP dried)

1/2 cup mayo

1/2 tsp paprika

1/2 tsp cumin

1 tsp chili powder

salt and pepper to taste

Sliced avocado, optional

Mix all ingredients except avocado together and serve! Garnish with avocado if desired.

What are you eating today? Whatever it is, Keep it Clean!

Slow Cooker Moroccan Beef and Couscous

 Hey, there! It's been a while since I posted a new recipe but I just made this and it was so amazing I just had to share it with you. It's adapted from this recipe for Moroccan Beef with Honey Spice Couscous. I turned it into a slow cooker meal just to make my life (and yours!) easier.

INGREDIENTS

Meat and marinade                                                Couscous

2 pounds of beef cubes                                            2 cups water

2 TBSP red wine vinegar                                        1/3 cup reserved meat marinade

2 tsp garlic salt                                                        15 ounce can garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

1 tsp ground cumin                                                  15 ounce can diced tomatoes

1 tsp ground coriander                                            12 ounces couscous

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/2 cup honey

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

Mix together all marinade ingredients. Reserve 1/3 cup marinade for couscous. Pour remaining marinade over beef cubes and allow to marinate for one hour.

Pour meat and marinade into slow cooker. Cook on low for 10 hours.

When meat is ready, mix all couscous ingredients EXCEPT the couscous together in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil. Stir in couscous, remove from heat and cover. Let it sit 5 minutes and then fluff with a fork.

Serve beef over couscous.

What are you eating today? Whatever it is, keep it clean!

• 
  

Ketchup! And a 5-Day Menu

I woke up early this morning thinking about what's on the menu this week. I'm planning on doing something with corned beef next week since St. Patrick's Day is coming up and I ran across this beauty - Reuben chopped salad from Peaceloveandlowcarb.com.  The only thing that threw me was the Russian dressing. I keep everything else in the pantry, but I don't use much ketchup so I don't have any. Of course, why can't I just make my own?! So that's new. Check out the recipe below.

Here is this week's menu:

Monday - Artichoke Goat Cheese Stuffed Chicken Breasts with a green salad - MR raves about this stuff!

Tuesday - Pizza - use the crust and toppings you prefer. This pizza sauce makes enough for two or three pizzas and freezes well.

Wednesday - Cauliflower taco bowl - quick and easy and bursting with flavor!

Thursday - Thai chicken - you can serve this as a pizza as noted in the recipe, by itself, or over rice or noodles. Very versatile and very flavorful!

Friday - Marinara and meatballs - This marinara and these meatballs are always a hit. Makes enough for leftovers or to freeze.

Ketchup

6 oz tomato paste
3 TBSP

 white vinegar (or apple cider vinegar)
1/8 cup granulated sugar substitute (white or brown)
1 tsp sea salt
3/4 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp paprika
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1/8 tsp dry mustard
1 cup water

Whisk ingredients together in a small saucepan over low heat until smooth. Allow to simmer 30 minutes, covered, until ketchup has reached desired thickness. Stir occasionally.

Store ketchup in a resealable container in the refrigerator. You can also freeze to use later.

What are you eating today? Whatever it is, Keep it Clean!

Honey Almond Cake - Flourless

This Honey Almond Cake is flourless and uses only honey for sweetener! I am always on the lookout for an easy recipes and this is right up there. It uses ingredients I almost always have on hand so no planning required. A little honey in the batter makes it just the right amount of sweet. 

Cake Ingredients

4 large eggs, separated

Flourless Honey Almond Cake

1/2 cup honey

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1-3/4 cups blanched almond flour

Topping Ingredients

2 TBSP honey

1/4 sliced almonds, toasted

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray bottom of 9-inch springform pan with cooking spray. Line the pan with parchment paper and spray the paper.

• Beat together egg yolks, 1/2 cup honey, vanilla, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl on medium speed until well combined. Add the almond flour and beat on low until combined.
  

• Beat egg whites in another large bowl with the electric mixer on medium speed until very foamy and doubled in volume, but not stiff (about 2 minutes). Using a spatula, gently fold the egg whites into the nut mixture until just combined. Pour the batter into the prepared pan.

• Bake about 25 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Run a knife around the edge of the pan and gently remove the side ring. Allow to cool completely.
• To serve, drizzle the top of the cake with honey and sprinkle with sliced almonds.

Chicken Pot Pie Soup

From time to time I like to share a favorite from other sites.  Peaceloveandlowcarb.com offers lots of great recipes and this is one of them. If you didn't see my post on Twitter about this soup, be sure to check it out here. It's pretty easy and so incredibly full of flavor that I can hardly describe it! I hope you like it as much as I did...

Chicken Pot Pie Soup from peace love and low carb

It's pretty basic with celery, carrots, peas, and heavy cream as the main ingredients.  I'm trying to learn Spanish so I did my Rosetta Stone lesson while occasionally stirring it for the last 30 minutes while it simmered.  This morning, I could barely wait for lunch time so I could enjoy it for again. It reheats well and has lots of great flavors that blend together to make a really delicious combination.

Enjoy!