Tag: hearty

Greek Restaurant Inspired Beef Stew

Greek Restaurant Inspired Beef Stew
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
I fell in love with the beef stew at a local place called King Kong. After many attempts, I've come up with this recipe, and I think it's as good or better!
Author:
Serves: 8 servings
Ingredients
  • 2½ pounds cut up gold potatoes
  • 1 kg (about 2 pounds) beef chuck, cut into ½ inch pieces trimmed of the fat
  • 1 15 ounce can north beans, rinsed and drained well
  • 1 medium onion, diced
  • 1 6 ounce can tomato paste
  • approx 3 liters (quarts) water, or more, see recipe
  • 1 tablespoon Ghee (see note)
  • ½ teaspoon salt, as needed, optional
  • 4.00 cup drained, Green Beans, Fresh Cut Rinsed and Drained
  • 2 tablespoons onion powder
  • 2 tablespoons garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper, or to taste
Instructions
  1. Prepare all your ingredients ahead of time. Finally dice your onions, cut your potatoes into ½ inch cubes and soak in water til using (this helps prevent oxidization), cut your beef into ½ inch pieces, rinse your beans well, drain your green beans, and mix your tomato paste with all your seasonings. This helps prevent clumps of seasoning in your stew.
  2. With your pot over medium-high, saute your onions til it softens and just starts to brown, this should take about 3-5 minutes. Then add your beef and stir it around. If you want you can brown your beef, but it isn't required. Add enough water to cover your beef by a few centimeters, or about an inch. Add salt now if desired.
  3. Cover, reduce the heat, and boil until the meat is tender. Anywhere between 30-60 minutes. Check on it every so often and add a bit more water if needed so it doesn't boil dry. After meat is tender add your potatoes and enough water to color by a few centimeters or an inch. Boil the potatoes until fork tender, about 15-20 minutes.
  4. At this point add the rest of your ingredients, making sure to dissolve all the tomato paste and seasoning. If you want to, boil your soup down more until it thickens like mine. Adjust the salt and pepper and you're done! This soup only gets better in the fridge the next day and is excellent over toast, cornbread, or plain ole rice. Delicious and a sure fire recipe!
Notes
Any type of onion or any type of potato can be used, I just prefer sweet onions and yukon gold potatoes.
If you don't have ghee you can use olive oil or use ½ tablespoon oil and ½ tablespoon butter for the same rich taste
Nutrition Information
Serving size: 2 cups Calories: 397 Fat: 7 Saturated fat: 3 Unsaturated fat: 2 Trans fat: 0 Carbohydrates: 45 Sugar: 5 Sodium: 646 Fiber: 8 Protein: 36 Cholesterol: 55
 

Healthy Cornbread – Whole grain, low fat, and dairy free!

Healthy Cornbread - Whole grain, low fat, and dairy free!
 
This recipe is a culmination of MANY years of tweaking many recipes I have found online. I wanted to try to use something other than sugar and no milk products but yet still have a "tangy" taste. This recipe fits the bill and best of all it only 170 calories per slice!
Author:
Serves: 8 slices
Ingredients
  • 1 cup cornmeal
  • 1 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1 cup water
  • 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
  • 5-8 tablespoons maple syrup (see note)
  • 1 tablespoon double acting baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 egg
  • 2 tablespoons oil
  • ½ cup applesauce
  • 1 teaspoon sugar for sprinkling, optional (see note)
  • 1 tablespoon vanilla, optional (see note)
Instructions
  1. Preheat your oven to 400°F or 200°c. Once preheated add in a large cast iron skillet or a metal baking tray and preheat for another 5-10 minutes.
  2. In a large mixing bowl add in all your dry ingredients, mix well, and set aside. In another bowl mix all your wet ingredients except 1 tablespoon of the oil. Set these aside until your skillet or pan is heated.
  3. After the 5-10 minutes of preheating your skillet, carefully remove it from your oven and add in your 1 tablespoon of oil. Use a brush if available to spread the oil around the bottom and sides to prevent sticking, this also creates a very yummy crust.
  4. RIGHT before adding it to the pan completely mix the wet into the dry ingredients removing any lumps. Add the mixture from a height to remove large air bubbles and make sure it coats the bottom of the pan. Return to oven and bake 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
  5. Let cool in pan 20 minutes and enjoy!
Notes
In this recipe I used maple syrup. You can replace it with honey or another liquid sweetener if you choose. If you would like to use sugar you'll need to add ½ cup to ¾ cup depending on sweetness and another ¼ to ½ cup of water to adjust the consistency. For a mild tasting cornbread only add 5 tablespoons of maple syrup (even then it's slightly sweet), this is great for mixing with spicy chili. If serving as more sweet add 8 tablespoons maple syrup.

I used about 1 teaspoon of sugar to sprinkle on the top because it makes the top crunchy, this is totally optional and usually I don't do it!

I don't normally add vanilla but if you want a more dessert tasting cornbread add 1 tablespoon of real vanilla extract.
Nutrition Information
Serving size: 1 slice Calories: 170 Fat: 5 Saturated fat: 3 Unsaturated fat: 1 Trans fat: 0 Carbohydrates: 28 Sugar: 9 Sodium: 261 Fiber: 3 Protein: 4 Cholesterol: 26