Carrots are a staple on most Thanksgiving tables. My dad loves super mushy carrots, which just don’t do it for me. I want a bit of a crunch! So this recipe for Cardamom Glazed Carrots from Cooking Light is perfect for me; sorry, Dad!
The cardamom adds a lightly floral taste which works so nicely with the fresh ginger. This recipe takes just 15 minutes to make so it’s a great weeknight option as well. The recipe serves 6, so multiply as needed.
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon unsalted butter (or margarine to make vegan)
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons minced peeled fresh ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/2 cup water
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 pound carrots, peeled and cut diagonally into 1/2-inch pieces
I had a hankering for pho this week so I figured I would try to make it! This at-home recipe has a bit of a darker broth but boy does it taste good!
I found this recipe on Food Network and was surprised at how simple it really was to make. The hardest part was slicing the beef super thin so that it can finish cooking in the broth. If you are worried that your slices are too thick to cook fully, just add the sliced beef to the broth and simmer for about 1 minute before assembling.
Now that the weather is finally warming up, it’s time to start incorporating more “summery” foods into my dinner. The June issue of Cooking Light included a recipe for Fish with Pineapple Salsa and Tomato Avocado Salad that sounded like the perfect warm-weather dinner.
I used turbot instead of tilapia, but you can substitute in whatever whitefish you’d prefer. I also added some paprika to the fish for a bit more flavor and color.
This is probably apparent with the different types of recipes I post but I really like some variety in what I eat. As a kid, I ate the exact same meals every day because I was so picky, so now that I’ve (luckily) grown out of that, I want something new and different each time I cook.
I was just send Cooking Light’s latest cookbook: Global Kitchen: The World’s Most Delicious Food Made Easy that is filled with recipes from around the world. The recipes can be made with ingredients you can find in your supermarket, making it a great way to experiment with new flavors. There are so many recipes I plan to try in this book, and you can expect to see quite a few showing up on my blog! Cooking Light also sent me an extra copy of Global Kitchen so I am giving one away at the end of this post!
This recipe for Fish in Coconut Curry (Mtuzi wa Samaki) takes a bit longer than most I post on here (~45 minutes) but is well worth the time. Because the recipe makes a really delicious sauce, I served it over rice. I also adapted it slightly to fit with what was available at my supermarket.
According to Global Kitchen, the recipe is based on a Tanzanian dish although fish curry originated in Zanzibar: Tanzania sits at a crossroads in the spice trade routes from India. That’s why Indian spices ended up in so many Tanzanian dishes like this fish curry. The dish originated in Zanzibar but is now enjoyed all over the eastern coast of Africa. Coconut milk enriches the curry and gives it a tropical flavor.Ingredients:
Tagine or Tajine dishes are Moroccan slow cooked dishes named after the pot they are cooked in. The dishes are typically a stew with a protein, spices, and fruit. Cooking Light had a version with chicken and chickpeas that sounds delicious. This recipe for Slow Cooker Chicken Chickpea Tagine combines both sweet and spicy elements to make a really flavor-filled dish.
This recipe takes a bit more prep time that my usual slow cooker recipes, so be prepared for that. This recipe is great for a Saturday: prepare everything in the morning, run whatever errands you have for the day, and come back to an amazing smelling kitchen and dinner mostly ready! I shredded my chicken and served it over couscous but you can keep the chicken whole and eat it as is.
Ingredients:
1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
1 1/2 lbs boneless skinless chicken thighs
1 1/4 teaspoons salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 large or two medium onions (about 2 1/2 cups), chopped
Working late really messes with my dinner making plans. When I get home later than expected, I can’t justify making a big meal, mainly because I’m already hungry and just want to eat as soon as possible. This recipe for Chicken and Guacamole Tostadas is perfect for nights like that, it uses shredded rotisserie chicken so that the recipe comes together in no time!
You’ll still notice that the photos are, well, crummy. I was super hungry and had to eat ASAP; the tostadas looked so good!
Ingredients:
1 ripe peeled avocado
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons finely chopped tomato, divided
3 tablespoons minced fresh onion, divided
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
the juice of 2 limes, divided
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro, plus more for garnish
This post brought to you by Campbell’s Dinner Sauces. Weekend-worthy dinners with only weekday-level effort needed! Learn more at https://www.campbell.com/sauces.
There are a bunch of reasons why people are not too keen on cooking, especially on weeknights. Not having enough time, the convenience of just ordering food, and the stress of having all of the right ingredients on hand, and the fear of messing up the recipe are common reasons.
Campbell’s has a new line of products out that alleviate a lot of the above issues: Campbell’s Skillet Sauces and Campbell’s Slow Cooker Sauces. The idea is brilliant, the sauce needed to make a delicious meal is already prepared for you. You just add your protein of choice! To learn more about the sauces, check out their interactive Facebook app that gives more information about both the Skillet and the Slow Cooker Sauces.
Because the sauces are already prepared, your cooking time is minimal. Most of the flavors would be amazing with sauteed chicken breasts, with a meal on the table in under 20 minutes! As a member of the DailyBuzz Brand Ambassador Program, I was given the chance to work with some of these new Campbell’s sauces, which are currently available in supermarkets, typically in the Gravy or Boxed Dinner Kit aisles.
I had a tough time choosing which sauce I wanted to feature on here so expect some of the other sauces to show up in the future. I decided to go with the Thai Green Curry sauce because a homemade curry can be quite time consuming, so it is super convenient to have a pre-made version.
I thought I’d snazz up my quick weeknight meal option by adding a few ingredients to the sauce that still cook up quickly: green beans and red peppers. I also used shrimp as my protein of choice. You can purchase shrimp in your supermarket in the frozen aisle. Look for the peeled and deveined ones, but be sure to grab uncooked shrimp. Shrimp cook up so quickly, and by purchasing the already cleaned ones, you’ll save yourself a bunch of time.
The Thai Green Curry Sauce includes lemongrass, basil, coconut milk, cilantro, and a subtle heat from jalapenos. There is enough sauce for 4 servings, and has just 70 calories a serving.
In celebration of Hispanic Heritage Month, IMUSA and McCormick Spices have teamed up to sponsor a great giveaway for I Can Cook That Readers! Hispanic Heritage Month is September 15 to October 15 and celebrates the culture and traditions of those who trace their roots to Spain, Mexico, and the Spanish-speaking Nations of Central America, South America, and the Caribbean.
I will be giving away a Cuban/Caribbean-themed package which includes the following:
IMUSA’s Wood Mortar and Pestal, Caldero, and Tostonera
McCormick’s Black Pepper, Garlic Salt, Curry Powder, Paprika, Cinnamon, Oregano, Black Peppercorn Grinder, Chicken Bag n’ Season, and Black Beans and Rice Mix
Details on how to enter will be at the end of this post!
To celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month, I also received a nifty little package myself which included an IMUSA Cloth Tortilla Warmer, IMUSA Multicolor Salsa Dishes, IMUSA Granite Molcajete, and McCormick’s Black Pepper, Cumin, Mexican Oregano, Chili Powder, Cilantro Leaves, Taco Recipe Mix, Enchilada Recipe Mix, and Tinga de Pollo Recipe Mix.
So what better time to whip out the slow cooker and make Chicken Taco Bowls topped with Fresh Guacamole?
I adapted this recipe from a Budget Bytes recipe; the recipe is perfect for large crowds so I tested it out on a group of friends who came to visit this weekend. It also makes for one delicious reheated lunch option during the week!
My poor slow cooker never gets a break. Even in the summer, I use it quite a bit! Slow cooker meals are great because they don’t heat up your entire kitchen, and usually make at least 8 servings, great for a party or for leftovers. Plus, you can put the ingredients in a slow cooker, go to work, and have dinner nearly finished when you return!
But I need some variety every now and then, so I decided to finally try my hand at making some. This recipe for carnitas from myrecipes.com is really simple. All of the ingredients can be found in your local grocery store.
Ingredients:
1 (3-pound) boneless pork shoulder
10 whole garlic cloves, peeled
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup fresh orange juice
2 chipotle chiles canned in adobo sauce, drained and chopped
20 (6-inch) corn tortillas, warmed
2/3 cup chopped onion
2/3 cup fresh salsa (I have a Fresh Salsa recipe on my blog. Just omit the corn.)
I realized a few days ago that I rarely make steak. I tend to gravitate towards fish and shellfish recipes because they are usually so simple and quick to prepare on weekdays. But grilled steak is also a really great quick option, especially on hot days when you don’t want to use your stove. (Are you seeing a theme in my posts recently? My apartment is on the top floor and it gets quite warm up there in the summer months so my stove gets a break for the most part from June to August.)
The latest Cooking Light had a recipe for a simple grilled sirloin steak served with a really beautiful mango chile salad. The whole recipe from start to finish took less than 30 minutes, perfect for a weeknight!
Ingredients (serves 4):
1 pound sirloin steak, trimmed
1 teaspoon olive oil
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
Cooking spray
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
The juice of one lime
1 medium ripe mango, peeled and diced (I used a Haden mango)
1 red jalapeno pepper, seeded and roughly chopped (you can use green if you can’t find red)
I (like most people, I’m sure) cook mostly things I want to eat. Every now and then, I will get a special request and will go outside my comfort zone (like this Meatloaf recipe, or this Sriracha Deviled Eggs recipe) but when it comes to a weeknight dinner, I’m really selfish about what I cook. So I thought it might be nice if I finally made something that was up my boyfriend’s alley more so than mine.
Don’t get me wrong, I still like what’s going on in this recipe. I just don’t usually make meals with sausage. But I was reminded of this recipe for Clams with Spicy Sausage as a suggestion to make on World Oceans Day as a Perfect Protein blogger (more information on that in my post on Thai Coconut Mussels), which was June 8. So. Um. I’m a little late. But this recipe is too tasty not to share!
This recipe can be found in the book The Perfect Protein: The Fish Lovers Guide to Saving the Oceans and Feeding the Worldand is from the ultimate seafood chef, Eric Ripert. This man knows his fish; one of his restaurants, Le Bernardin is known as a seafood mecca. But this recipe is really easy to make and cooks quickly, making it perfect for weeknight meals. I altered the recipe slightly but the gist is still the same.
I am excited to announce that I will be a Perfect Protein Blogger for the summer, to help promote a book called The Perfect Protein: The Fish Lovers Guide to Saving the Oceans and Feeding the World. Written by Andy Sharpless, the CEO of Oceana, and Suzannah Evans, the book discusses how protecting, maintaining, and consuming wild seafood can help to fight both famine and obesity globally.
I am only a few chapters in to the book and already find it fascinating. The general idea behind the book is to try to eat seafood, but to try to eat WLLS: Wild, Local, Little, and Shellfish. Many supermarkets, such as Whole Foods, label their seafood which makes sticking to these more sustainable choices a cinch. But even without the labels, you can still find sustainable options at your local grocer.
As a food blogger, I immediately went to the back of the book, where there are 21 sustainable seafood recipes from some of the nation’s top chefs. They all sounded delicious, but I decided to start off my Perfect Protein posts with a recipe that is simple but packs a ton of flavor into the dish: Sam Talbot’s Thai Coconut Mussels. I love making mussels because they cook up so quickly. This recipe takes about 30 minutes from start to finish. (For another take on mussels, check out my recipe for Mussels in White Wine Garlic Sauce)
I altered the recipe a bit to make it into a meal for 2 instead of an appetizer. I also subbed in some ingredients for what I could find. All of these ingredients can be found in Whole Foods.
Ingredients:
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 tablespoons peeled and grated fresh ginger
4 large garlic cloves, minced
1 shallot, finely chopped
2 tablespoons lemongrass
2 tablespoons unsweetened coconut
1 pound mussels, debearded, scrubbed well, and washed clean
1/3 cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon fish sauce
1 teaspoon sambal (chile-garlic paste)
1 (13.6 oz) can coconut milk, divided
2 tablespoons torn cilantro leaves, stems discarded
I’m having a busy week at work, so I need some quick meals that still taste delicious but I can make in no time. My go-to for quick meals are Cooking Light’s tacos. I don’t know how they do it, but their taco recipes are awesome. Here’s one of their newest, from this month’s issue.
There is something so fun about having breakfast for dinner. Not only is it an easy way to whip up a meal with things you probably already have on hand, but it is so nice to have something so familiar and yet out of the ordinary.
Lindsay Landis and Taylor Hackbarth (of Love and Olive Oil) have compiled a cookbook filled with breakfast treats with a spin, making them perfect for dinner. The cookbook, Breakfast for Dinner: Recipes for Fritatta Florentine, Huevos Rancheros, Sunny-Side-Up Burgers, and More! is plain drool-worthy. The photos are fantastic and each recipe sounds better than the last! It has a little bit of everything in its pages, including main dishes, appetizers, and desserts. Each recipe has an inventive twist on a traditional breakfast dish, which made it so difficult to decide which recipe to try first! When I asked my boyfriend to help choose, he responded, “Mmm… can’t we just make every one of them?”
Photo care of Quirk Books
We were finally able to decide on the Huevos Rancheros Tacos because we are big taco fans (I have 7 listed on this blog as of this post) and I loved the idea of turning Huevos Rancheros into delicious dinner!
Ingredients:
Ranchero Sauce
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 medium yellow onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 large jalapeno, seeded and chopped
1 (15 ounce) can fire-roasted diced tomatoes
1/2 cup vegetable broth
1 tablespoon chopped fresh cilantro
2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano
1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, seeded and chopped, plus 1/2 tablespoon adobo sauce
1/4 teaspoon salt
freshly ground pepper, to taste
For tacos
1 (15 ounce) can refried black beans
3 tablespoons vegetable oil, divided
8 corn tortillas
1/3 cup shredded cheddar cheese
8 large eggs
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro or oregano
Note: this recipe is reproduced from the Breakfast for Dinner cookbok
It’s funny how you can go years, even decades, thinking that you don’t like a certain food only to find you can’t get enough of it when you’re older. Fish tacos is one of those foods for me. They pack a ton of flavor but are a healthier option than other proteins (as long as the fish isn’t fried, that is). I also love how quickly you can cook them up, perfect for a weeknight dinner! Cooking Light always has the best taco recipes so I naturally went in search of a fish taco recipe there. I found this recipe in the myrecipes.com new cookbook: Myrecipes’ America’s Favorite Food Cookbook, which you can win by entering below!
Ingredients
Crema:
1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
3 tablespoons fat-free mayonnaise
3 tablespoons reduced-fat sour cream
1 teaspoon grated lime rind (I just used the zest of one lime)
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lime juice (I used the juice of one lime)
