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Bison Stew

5 May

While wandering around the Union Square Farmer’s Market in search of something unique to cook, we stumbled upon someone selling a bison london broil.  So we went for it! I had no idea how to cook bison correctly, but I found a recipe for stew that sounded phenom.

Bison is healthier than beef as it is very low in fat.  I figured what better way to eat stew than a low fat version filled with veggies?

First, we cubed the steak and coated it in (whole wheat) flour.  Then we browned it in the cast iron pot (how did I ever live without this thing?) and then stored it in the lid.

Then we cut up a whole bunch of veggies that sounded good (we went with onions, mushrooms, carrots, swiss chard stems, and dikon)

Threw the veggies into the pot that originally browned the meat and let them soften a bit.

Put everything back together in one pot.

Then added some liquids.  We went chicken stock, tomato sauce, a can of fire roasted tomatoes with liquid (seemed like an easy trade for V8 juice), and red wine.

Then we let it simmer… and simmer… and simmer.   (In between, I went in and scraped up the yummy stuff from the bottom of the pan and mixed it in).  Cooking in liquid like this makes it tender.  After about two hours, it was delish!

We paired it with some delicious wilted rainbow swiss chard.

The daikon actually wound up tasting like roasted potatoes.  Delicious!

The recipe was easy, hearty, and incredibly filling.  We used nearly two pounds of bison meat and wound up with at least six meals.  Each serving (1 of 6) was ~6.5 points from my estimation.  I hear it freezes well too!

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RECIPES
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Ingredients:

  • ~2 pounds of bison london broil, cubed
  • 2 Tbl. Olive oil
  • Flour (whole wheat if you like it a little healthier)
  • Carrots, sliced (we used 2 large)
  • Daikon, sliced (2 large)
  • Onion, sliced (1 big onion)
  • Swiss chard stems, sliced (from one bunch)
  • 6 cloves garlic
  • 2 cups Red wine (the recipe called for burgundy, but we went with boxed!)
  • 1 can Broth (beef is probably better, but we went reduced fat chicken broth)
  • 1 can V-8 Juice (we substituted with canned fire roasted tomatoes and their juice)
  • 1 Tbl. Oregano
  • 1 Tbl. Italian Seasoning
  • 1 Tbl. Parsley
  • Bay Leaf
  • Salt & Pepper to taste
  • Mushrooms, sliced (~2 cups)

Directions:

  1. Heat olive oil in a large pot (cast iron works best in my opinion)
  2. While oil heats, coat cubes of bison in flour (mix in a bowl or add all to a zip lock back and shake)
  3. Brown bison on all sides, stirring frequently
  4. Remove bison from pot
  5. Add all vegetables and garlic to pot except mushrooms (or any other very soft veggie that won’t stand up to long liquid cooking)
  6. Sautee over medium heat until a bit soft
  7. Return meat to pot
  8. Add liquids to pot and add spices
  9. Scrape up the meaty bits from the bottom of the pot
  10. Simmer everything for about an hour, continuing to scrape and stir
  11. Stir in mushrooms and any other soft veggies
  12. Simmer for another hour until meat is tender
  13. Remove bay leaf and adjust seasoning to your liking

Teriyaki Chicken & Roasted Squash

3 May

Sometimes you just need to make do with what you’ve got.  One given night, I had boneless, skinless chicken breasts, teriyaki sauce, pineapple chunks, olive oil, rosemary, balsamic vinegar, and squash.  So… I made teriyaki chicken with roasted pineapple and some roasted squash.

A perfect easy, healthy meal.



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RECIPES
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Roasted Squash
Points = 4 (for half the squash)

Ingredients:

  • Squash- Peeled and Cubed (really any kind will do… we’ve done this with butternut, acorn, and delicata)
  • 1 Tbl. Olive Oil
  • 1 Tbl. Balsamic Vinegar
  • 1 Tbl. Rosemary
  • Salt & Pepper

Directions:

  • Pre-heat to 400 degrees.

  • Put squash into a bowl and drizzle with olive oil and toss with rosemary.  Add salt & pepper to taste.

  • Spray baking sheet with cooking spray (or use a Silpat) and place squash into pan in a single layer (overlapping means not crispy)

  • Roast squash for about 40 minutes until squash is slightly brown, crispy on the outside, and soft on the inside.

“Mashed Potatoes” made with Cauliflower

30 Apr

I have never been a huge mashed potato fan. I LOVE potatoes (despite a childhood fear that they looked like… well… we won’t go there).  I love them baked and fried and especially roasted.  But it takes a special mashed version to tickle my fancy.  I find most too bland.  So for me, the exchange from mashed potato to mashed cauliflower was a no brainer.  And I could add garlic and cheese?! Score!

First I roasted up some garlic (cut the top of a garlic bulb off, wrap in foil, put a bit of olive oil on the top, close the foil, toss in pre-heated 400 degree oven for 25-30 minutes… so many uses!).

Then I steamed up some cauliflower and put it into a bowl with 3/4 cup of fat free cheddar cheese, a half cup of skim milk, 1 Tablespoon butter (probably could have gone without) and the garlic cloves and used my (awesome) immersion blender to start pureeing (can also be done with a blender when it’s cooler and in batches… but why do that when you can get an immersion blender for $25??).

Within moments I had a perfect looking mashed potato-like veggie!  I saved some of the garlic cloves from the puree so I could mix them in whole.  Mmmmmm Nom Nom Nom.

Not too shabby for 5 points for half the recipe!