Chunky Tomato Ragu

Most people these use store-bought bottled tomato sauce, and in a lot of cases I am one of those people. Most sauces are fairly smooth with a chunky piece of tomato here and there, and maybe some spices. I was so used to this kind of sauce, like a lot of people are, but I decided to give another type of sauce a chance.

This sauce fits in with the “healthy” recipes that I have been trying to come up with lately. There are lots of vegetables, it’s chunky, and most importantly the sauce is delicious.

As I mentioned last week, if you want to know calories counts, have tried the recipes and made changes, or just want to let me know what you thought of the dish comment below, let me know on Facebook, or e-mail me at miriya.whitaker@gmail.com.

What You’ll Need…

5 Ripe Plum Tomatoes (Chopped.)  [I’m sure that roma tomatoes would work, too.]

1 Medium Onion (Chopped.) [½ a large onion.]

2 Cloves Garlic (Minced)

1 Medium Carrot (Chopped)

1 Stalk Celery (Chopped)

2 Tablespoons Olive Oil

Basil (To taste)

Parsley (To taste)

Pepper (To taste)

Salt (To taste)

As always, start out by chopping all of the vegetables. (Even though tomatoes are actually fruit.)

Once the vegetables have been chopped add the olive oil to a large pot, I use the same pot that I use to make mashed potatoes in, allow the oil to heat up a little. Add the onion and garlic to the oil and allow the onions to sweat for about five minutes.

 

Next, add the carrots and celery and allow them to cook for five minutes.

Lastly, add the tomatoes to the pot. Once the tomatoes have been added turn the heat to low and allow the sauce to simmer for 50 minutes.

After 50 minutes add the herbs and spices and allow it to simmer for 1-2 more minutes. At this point the sauce is done.

We have served this sauce over meatballs and chicken, but I’m sure that it would be great over pasta, too.

Store the leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week.

Enjoy!

Healthier Baked Crab Cakes

I don’t know how many of my readers are Catholic, but for those who are, it’s that time of year again, no meat on Fridays. To prepare for a two meatless meals last week Howard and I went shopping for fish and other seafood. One of our purchases was crab and that got me thinking. Last Friday we had crab cakes for lunch; a recipe that I created myself.

So, for those of you that like crab; this recipe is for you. If you try this recipe out let me know what you think, or any changes that you made.

(Also, I have been figuring out the calories for a lot of the recipes lately, if you want to know how many calories are in something send me an e-mail at Miriya.whitaker@gmail.com.) If you use saltine crackers and light sour cream each cake will have 98 calories.

What You’ll Need…

3 ½ Cups Chopped Crab Meat (About 1lb.)

¾ Cup Fine Cracker Crumbs (20 Crackers)

½ Cup Sour Cream

1 Tablespoon Dijon Mustard

1 Cup Spinach (Fresh wilted or thawed frozen)

2 Eggs

All of the Spice Blend (Recipe below)

Spice Blend…

2 Teaspoons Garlic Powder

1 Teaspoon Ground Ginger

2 Bay Leaves (Crushed)

1 Teaspoon Celery Salt

½ Teaspoon Pepper

½ Teaspoon Paprika

½ Teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper

1 Teaspoon Parsley

Start out by placing your crackers in a Ziploc bag, five at a time, and crushing them to fine crumbs with a rolling pin. 

Once you have made the cracker crumbs create the spice blend by combining the garlic powder, ginger, bay leaves, celery salt, pepper, paprika, crushed red, and parsley. Pre-heat your oven to 350.

Now, cut the crab down to size and measure out 3 ½ cups.

Once you have cut the crab combine it in a medium mixing bowl with the cracker crumbs, sour cream, mustard, spinach eggs and spices. Mix everything together thoroughly. 

At this point grease a sheet pan with non-stick cooking spray and fill a bowl with all-purpose flour. The flour helps to make the outside of the cake get semi-crispy and to no longer be sticky. Measure out the crab mixture with a 1/3 Cup measuring cup; you should end up with 13 crab cakes. As you measure out each one lightly coat it in flour and place it onto the sheet pan.

Bake the cakes at 350 for about 30-35 minutes; flip the cakes half-way through the cooking time so that they bake evenly. 

Enjoy the cakes with your favorite dipping sauce; I recommend either plain ketchup or ketchup mixed with sour cream. Store the left-overs in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Enjoy!

Potato and Butternut Squash Soup

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, my husband and I are trying to eat a bit healthier than we had been in the past. In an effort to make healthier meals we stocked up on fresh vegetables. One of those vegetables was butternut squash; and with it we decided to make soup.

I like to use other people’s recipes as a reference, but I really like to make my own recipe if I can. For this recipe I did glance at a potato soup recipe, but I definitely made some changes. I think those changes were for the better. Also, I had originally intended for this soup to be made in a crockpot, that is until I tried to pile all of the vegetables into the crockpot and only half of them fit.

What You’ll Need…

1 Butternut Squash (Cubed)

10 Small Potatoes (Cubed)

3 Large Carrots (Chopped)

3 Celery Stalks (Chopped)

1 Medium Onion (Chopped)

4 Chicken bouillon cubes

6 Cups Water

1 Cup Sour Cream

½ Teaspoon Basil

½ Teaspoon Parsley

½ Teaspoon Garlic Powder

½ Teaspoon Crushed Red Pepper

½ Teaspoon Chili Powder

¼ Teaspoon Nutmeg

Start out by peeling the squash, potatoes, and carrots. Continue by chopping all of the vegetables. Cube the squash and potatoes. Chop the carrots, celery and onions.

Place all of the vegetables, the chicken cubes, and 6 cups of water into a stock pot.

Let the soup cook over low heat partially covered for three hours. Once the vegetables are tender add the sour cream, herbs and spices. Mix the soup thoroughly and allow it to cook for ten more minutes.

You can leave the soup chunky, but I went a step further and made it creamy. To make the soup creamy ladle it into a blender and puree.

Enjoy your soup by itself, with cheese, with bacon bits, or with cheese and bacon bits.

Store the leftovers in an air-tight container and in the refrigerator. There will be left overs, this recipe makes about 17 cups of soup.

Enjoy!

Cheesy Orzo

As I have recently found there are a lot of people out there that do not know what orzo is; I’m here to tell inform you. Orzo is pasta that looks like rice before it is cooked. I ate it a lot when I was a kid and loved it, so this past weekend I introduced my husband to this great pasta. I kind of just threw a few things together and it turned out great; that seems to happen a lot.

So, for those of you that love pasta, and even those of you out there that are eat healthy, this dish is for you. It is great as the main dish for either lunch or dinner, but can also easily be a side dish.

Keep in mind that this recipe is what I made the other day, with the amount of pasta that we had; you can tweak it in any way that you want. In the future I will most probably come back and edit this recipe.

What You’ll Need…

1 ½ lbs. Orzo Pasta

3 Tablespoons Olive Oil (1 tablespoon per half pound of pasta)

½ Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese

1 ½ Teaspoons Crushed Red Pepper (Optional, you can leave it out if you don’t like spicy food.)

1 ½ Teaspoons Garlic Powder

¾ Teaspoon Salt

Fill a large pasta pot about ¾’s of the way full with water. Remember, orzo, like rice expands when it cooks. A bigger pan and a lot of water it helpful. Bring the water to a boil.

Once the water has come to a boil add the pasta. Let the water come back to a boil and cook the pasta for 8-12 minutes. I know that this is a big gap, but it all depends on how you like your pasta cooked. I do not like al dente, I like to be able to chew my pasta. To check the doneness of the pasta just try a piece.

When the pasta has cooked drain it, a kitchen sifter works great for this. The pasta is small so it will go through most regular sized colanders. After draining the pasta pour it into either a serving bowl or back into the pot.

Add 3 tablespoons of olive oil to the pasta and mix; coat the pasta. Now, add the cheese. Mix again at this point so that the cheese is all through the pasta, but also so that it melts. Add the salt, garlic powder, and crushed red. Again mix thoroughly.

Enjoy as the main course or as a side to something, perhaps chicken or beef. Store the leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Enjoy!