Grilled Tofu with Crimini Mushroom Ragu

This is such a tasty dish. What I like about tofu is that you can make it so many ways. When I grill tofu I use a indoor grill pan. The key to grilled tofu is to remove the moisture from the tofu and use a little spray canola oil to keep the tofu from sticking to the grill. Secondly, always season the tofu with soy sauce or teriyaki sauce after grilling the tofu, otherwise the tofu will end up burnt from the sugar in the soy and teriyaki.
 

Ingredients:

1 package firm tofu

1/2 lb crimini muschrooms

1 cup white short grain rice

1 bunch green onions

Red bell pepper

2 tablespoons chicken stock

1 teaspoon soy sauce

Couple of drops of sesame oil

1 teaspoon Corn starch

Preparation:

Sliced the crimini mushroom thin and saute in a little olive oil. When cooked down add the shiitake mushrooms. Combine the chicken stock, soy sauce and sesame oil and cornstarch in a small bowl and mix. Add the mixture to the mushrooms and cook until the sauce thickens up like a thick glaze.

Cut the block of tofu lengthwise and then into triangles so you should end up with 8 triangle pieces. Grill the tofu pieces on a really hot well oiled indoor grill for about 5 minutes on each side. When done brush on a coating of soy or teriyaki sauce.

In a rice cooker, add 1 cup basmati rice, 2 cups water and some salt.

To plate, add some rice to a plate or shallow bowl and toss on some green onions. Top the rice with a 2 pieces of tofu and then with the shitaki mushroom ragu. Finish the dish by sprinkling on more green onions, some minced red bell pepper and drizzel some teriyaki sauce over the plate.

Buffalo Chicken Ranch Salad

Well, I have to say I love Franks red hot wings sauce because it's so yummy. The ranch dressing and blue cheese do a great job balancing out the heat, but I don't really think it's all that hot though. The key to this dish is to grill the chicken over a really hot fire and get the crispy burnt edges on the chicken thighs.
 

Ingredients:

Roman lettuce

4 boneless skinless chicken thighs
Franks red hot wings sauce

Boathouse Farms classic ranch yogurt dressing
Crumbled blue cheese

Preparation:

 Marinate the chicken thighs in plenty of Franks Red Hot Wings sauce for

couple of hours or more. Grill the chicken over very hot grill to char the

chicken on both sides. When cooked, let the chicken rest a few minutes then slice into bite size pieces.

Put the cut, cleaned and dried roman lettuce into a large salad bowl and toss lightly with Boathouse Farms classic ranch yogurt dressing. Place a serving size amount onto a large plate and top with the sliced chicken and top with blue cheese. Lastly, drizzle a little more non fat ranch dressing on top of the salad.

Poached Chicken on Rice with Adobo Sour Cream Sauce

I wanted to make a dish using chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, but the peppers were so hot that all I could use was just a tablespoon of the adobo sauce, which I combined with the chicken juices and a little sour cream. This isn't what I was intending to make, but this is so good that if you like Mexican then you've got to try this....

Ingredients:
Chicken breast
Adobo sauce
White rice
Green onion
Cilantro

Preparation:

When I'm making a dish like this I prefer to poach the chicken. Take a 12" sauté pan and just a little olive oil. Place a lid on the sauté pan and cook the chicken on low for 15 minutes. When the chicken is done you'll have as much as a 1/4 - 1/3 cup of chicken juice in the pan. Remove the chicken and set a side covered loosely in aluminum foil.

To make the sauce, mix together 1/4 cup lite sour cream, 2 teaspoons flour, 1 tablespoon adobo sauce and add to the chicken juice. Bring up to a boil and the sauce should thicken up nicely. Check the seasoning and add salt and or pepper to taste.

Slice the chicken breasts and place on a bed of rice. Add the sauce and top with diced green onions and chopped cilantro.

Crunchy Grilled Chicken Tacos

This is my version of a simple crunchy grilled chicken taco. It consists of traditional Mexican ingredients that taste great together, such as green onion and cilantro, yumm! I'm not going to go into the preparation of the chicken, black beans or guacamole, but you can search my blog for the recipes. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
Grilled chicken breast
Black beans
shredded green leaf lettuce
Shredded cheese
Green onions
Cilantro
Guacamole
Hot sauce, Tapitio or other.
Trader Joes Stone Ground Taco Shells

Preparation:

Place the taco shell into to a taco holder. Add a tablespoon of black beans, some grilled chicken, a little shredded lettuce tot he taco shell. Next add green onion and cilantro and top with guacamole and hot sauce.

Shrimp Pasta Florentine

Here's a wonderful simple pasta dish that has all the flavor of a rich cream sauce, but very little of the fat. This dish uses only 1 tablespoons of butter per servings. The key to this dish is to not over cook the shrimp.

Ingredients:

1/2 lb. Farfalle pasta AKA bow tie pasta
 1 lb. large shrimp. Preferred brand;

Costo frozen pre cooked in the orange bag

2 cups Fresh spinach,
cooked and drained making about 1/4 cup

2 cloves garlic

2 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons Wondra brand flour

1/2 cup milk.

Preparation:

Melt the butter in a sauce pan and add chopped garlic and cook 30 seconds. Combine the milk and Wondra flour and mix until the flour is incorporated. Add the milk / flour mixture to the melted garlic butter stirring constantly until a thick sauce forms. Add the precooked shrimp, cooked spinach and remove from heat and set aside, your sauce is done.

Boil water with plenty of salt and cook the pasta to al dente according to directions, about 10 to 11 minutes.

Add the cooked, well drained pasta to the sauce, heat and cook for 5 minutes and serve.

Yellow Squash

Yellow Squash has to be one of my favorite vegetables. When I lived in California I used to grow yellow squash in our garden and it was awesome. I like medium size yellow squash because there aren't so many seeds. The key to perfect yellow squash is to par boil or steam, rinse in cold water and finish by sautéing with a little butter and garlic.

Ingredients:
2 - 3 medium yellow squash
1 garlic clove
1 tablespoon butter
Salt and pepper

Preparation:

Wash and cut the yellow squash into bite size pieces. Take a 10" sauté pan and add the yellow squash and 1/2 cup of water. Cover the sauté pan and steam the squash for about 3 minutes, by then most of the water should have evaporated.

 

You'll know the squash is ready when the inside turns a greenish color and the out side is still firm. Next, rinse the squash in cold water to stop the cooking process. Take the sauté pan and heat to medium high. Add 1 tablespoon of butter and 1 minced garlic clove. Cook the garlic for 30 seconds and add the squash. Bring the squash up to temp and you're done. Finish the dish with a grind of salt and pepper.