Shrimp and Vegetable

This is how my favorite Chinese restaurant makes their shrimp and vegetable entre.

Ingredients:

• canola oil
• kosher salt
• one yellow onion cut in half and sliced into rings.

• two stalks of celery cut on the diagonal, top to bottom about a 1/4 inch each slice.
• two carrots cut in about 1 inch chunks diagonally, wavy sliced on two opposite sides and then sliced thin on the wavy side.

• 1 1/2 cup broccoli, chopped into bite-size pieces.
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms
• one Italian green squash, cut in half lengthwise and then sliced into quarter-inch slices.

• one head of baby bok choy sliced across into one-inch chunks.
• three cloves of garlic, minced
• 8-10 large shrimp, cleaned (deveined) and tail off.

Sometimes, I just prepare all of the vegetables and cook them up without any shrimp at all and it still tastes good with all of the different kinds of vegetables and served with a little hoisen sauce on top.

If you noticed, the recipe ingredients are grouped together in four sections. That's because that is the order you cook them in and then take them out of the pan. You're cooking wok style in a hot pan.

Add canola oil to a pan and heat it up. Add chopped onion and kosher salt and cook until almost translucent. Remove from pan.

Add canola oil and carrots and celery. Cook (longer than the onion) until tender-crisp and remove from pan. 

Add canola oil and broccoli and the sliced Italian squash. Again, cook until tender-crisp (the broccoli with turn bright green) and then add the rest of the cook vegetables back into the pan and stir. Add the chopped baby bok choy and shrimp on top of the hot vegetables (do not stir at this point) and cover to steam cook the rest of the way for a few minutes otherwise, the shrimp will get tough.

InstaPot Recipe: Beef Pot Roast

Ingredients:

2.75 lbs Boneless Beef Chuck Roast, cut into 1 x 2-inch pieces
3 red potatoes, cubed into 1 - 1 1/2 inch chunks
3 carrots, cubed into 1 - 1 1/2 inch chunks
1 large turnip, peeled and cubed into 1 - 1 1/2 inch chunks
1 medium onion, peeled and quartered
Canola oil
steak seasoning
coarse ground garlic powder
1 Knorr beef bullion cube, crushed
1 cup hot water


Directions:

Note: Prepare in a 6 quart LUX InstaPot (1000 watt).

Cut the roast up into pieces that are 1 x 2 inches each. Remove the trivet from the Instapot. Turn on the Instapot to "saute", and add about a tablespoon of canola oil. Wait until the InstaPot says "Hot". Brown all of the beef chunks off then stage on a plate.

Add one cup of hot water and scrape off any bits of meat that stuck to the bottom of the pot. Add the trivet back into the Instapot. Layer the vegetables the hardest ones on the bottom of the pot first:
1) turnips
2) carrots
3) potatoes
4) onion

Then add the browned beef on top. Season with one teaspoon of steak seasoning, one beef bullion cube crushed and 1/2 teaspoon of coarse garlic powder.

Seal the Instapot and cook on the "Stew" setting for 45 minutes. Once the cooking time has been completed, let stand for 5 minutes and then use the quick release method to vent.

Sausage Vegetable Soup

Sausage Vegetable Soup

Johnson's stadium fully cooked bratwurst- 1 1/2 package
2 potatoes, diced;
3 celery stalks, sliced;
1 medium onion, diced;
1-15 ounce can canellini beans, drained and rinsed;
1 tablespoon chicken bouillon powder;
8 ounces or more chopped greens (radicchio, escarole, endive, kale, baby spinach, etc);
1 tsp granulated garlic;
2-14 ounce cans peeled and diced tomatoes;
2 sliced carrots;
olive oil

In large stock pot over medium high heat, add tablespoon of olive oil, a pinch of coarse kosher salt, and onion cooking until translucent. Add to pot carrots and celery. Cook for about 5-7 minutes, stirring a few times. In a medium skillet, brown sausage, then cut into bite-size pieces, then add chopped sausage along with potatoes, chicken stock, garlic and pepper. Add canellini beans, diced tomatoes and cold water to pot until it is about 2/3rds full. Add greens. Make sure greens are covered in water by pushing them under and allow everything to return to slow boil. This should take about 20 minutes. Stir occasionally to prevent burning, but don't over cook. Garnish with your favorite croutons.

Adapted from http://www.yelp.com/menu/claros-italian-market-tustin/recipes

Paleo Chicken Vegetable Soup

This is the soup I made on 6/27/14.

Defrost for 10 minutes 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts in the microwave.

In a large cast iron pot on medium heat, add 2 tbsp of canola oil (you could use olive oil if you want). Heat through. Add 1 coarsely chopped yellow onion, 1 clove of garlic, crushed with the blade of a knife and then coarsely chopped, 1 chopped stalk to celery and 1 tsp of Kosher salt to the pot. Stir to combine and redistribute in order to sweat, not brown. Cook for 2-3 minutes until the onions are soft.

Add 3 teaspoons of Mazola chicken flavored bouillon and enough warm water to fill the pot 2/3rds full. Remove defrosted chicken from the microwave, cut into one inch pieces and add to the pot.

Add one head of green cabbage chopped in half through the root and then quartered and thirded. To the top, add 2 cups of fresh Green Giant vegetable medley (cauliflower, broccoli and baby carrots).

Cover with lid and cook for 15 minutes on medium, then 15 mins on simmer.

Why did I called this soup Paleo? It a meat and vegetable based soup that doesn't have any potatoes, rice or noodles in it.

German Red Cabbage

2 tbsp margarine
5 cups shredded red cabbage
one sliced green apple
3 tbsp water
1/4 cup white sugar
2 1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp ground cloves

Using a large heavy pot on top of the stove, add all ingredients, bring to a boil and then lower heat and cook covered for 1 hour and 30 minutes.


Instapot: German Red Cabbage

Cut a head of cabbage in half, then cut each half into 1/2 inch slices.

Insert steamer into Instapot and fill with enough water to touch the bottom of the steamer. Place the sliced red cabbage into the Instapot on the steamer, close the pot and set for 10 minutes on manual.

In a stew pot on the stove, add 2 tbsp margarine, 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar, 1/4 cup white sugar, a tsp of kosher salt and 20 grinds of coarse black pepper. Heat on low stirring constantly. Turn off when sugar is dissolved. Incorporate hot cabbage immediately after cooking.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Garlic

1 1/2 lbs Brussels sprouts
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 tbsp olive oil
3/4 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Throughly coat and place in roasting pan. Stir frequently to brown evenly. Roast for 30-45 minutes.

Barley Stew with Vegetables

4 tablespoon olive oil, divided
1 lb of stew beef cut into half inch pieces
1 tbsp flour
1 tsp Morton's Season Salt
1 1/2 cups chopped leeks (about 2 small stalks; white and pale green parts only)
1 8-ounce container sliced crimini (baby bella) mushrooms
2 garlic cloves, pressed
2 teaspoons minced fresh rosemary
1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes with juice
1 cup pearl barley
4 cups beef broth
1 bunch bok choy (about 8 ounces), trimmed, center stalks removed, leaves coarsely chopped (about 8 cups packed)

Heat 2 tbsp oil in heavy large pot over medium heat. Cut stew beef into smaller bite sized cubes and dredge with flour and season salt. Brown beef and remove from pan and set aside. Add leeks and garlic,; sprinkle with salt and pepper and sauté until leeks begin to soften, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Deglaze pan with about 1/4 cup of beef broth. Add mushrooms and rosemary; increase heat to medium-high and sauté until mushrooms soften and begin to brown, stirring often, about 7 minutes. Add tomatoes with juice; stir 1 minute. Add barley and 4 cups broth; bring to boil. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer until barley is almost tender, about 30 minutes. Add bok choy; stir until wilted, about 1 minute. Cover and simmer until bok choy and barley are tender, adding more broth by 1/4 cupfuls as needed for desired stew consistency, about 10 minutes. Serve with a crusty bread.

You can make this vegetarian by omitting the beef and beef broth and using vegetable broth instead.

Recipe modified from Epicurious.com

Roasted Root Vegetable Medley

1 parsnip

4 carrots
6-8 red skinned potato, quartered
1 red onion
1 turnip
1 leek
4 cloves thinly sliced garlic
fresh thyme
fresh rosemary
olive oil
salt and pepper to taste



Clean, slice and then cut into 1/4 inch sticks. Toss in olive oil on a cookie sheet. Season with fresh thyme and rosemary. Bake at 400 degrees for one hour. Salt and pepper to taste.