Classy Vegetable Stir-Fry

No picture, my apologies. The hard drive with all our photos on it is not yet set-up, but will be shortly. Once it is I will include some super photos of us attempting to unpack the kitchen. Which I am sure you are all dying to see.

In the mean time, here's a dish we whipped up in honor of my sister coming to dinner for the first time in the new house! She is vegetarian and so I have made it my mission to find some tasty vegetarian dishes to make for her when she visits that she, as a college student, may not have time/money/facilities/motivation to. Alas, she is not big into pasta, so that eliminated about 90% of my initial ideas, but Mr. Heart suggested a vegetable stir-fry. So we took it up a notch by including a wide variety of vegetables, and made it simple by only adding the bare minimum of seasonings. It came out delicious. We served it up with couscous and a dark rye bread. And then we ate cookie dough and played cribbage like old people.

"I'm so proud of myself," Mr. Heart said, as we drove back from dropping off Sister Heart, "Before I met you I wouldn't have even touched a dish like that." And he liked it! Excellent. So I AM having a positive culinary influence. My main challenge with him? Legumes. Some day, some day...

Classy Vegetable Stir-Fry
Serves 2-3

1 Portabello mushroom cap, diced
1 bell pepper, diced (or half of a red and half of a yellow)
3-4 green onions, chopped
1/2 medium zucchini, cut into 1/4 inch crescents
1/2 cup sugar snap peas, cut in half
2 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
1/2 lb spinach, roughly chopped
1/4 cup cashews
1 - 2 TBS olive oil
a good squeeze of lemon juice
salt and pepper

(for omnivores: add a link or two of your favorite chicken sausage, sliced)

1) In a large skillet, heat oil over medium heat until shimmering, but not smoking.
2) Add bell peppers and green onions. Sauté until peppers start to brown, stirring often.
3) Add zucchini, mushrooms, and garlic. Sprinkle generously with salt and pepper to taste. Continue to sauté, stirring often, until vegetables are just tender.
4) Add spinach, snap peas, and lemon juice. Toss together, then cover for 1 -2 minutes, or until spinach is wilted and cooked down.
5) Add cashews toss to combine. Cook for 1 -2 more minutes, until cashews are heated through. Add more salt and pepper as desired.
(For omnivores: Transfer vegetables to a separate dish and cover to keep warm. Add sausage and a splash of oil. Sauté until lightly browned, scraping up browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Add vegetables back to pan and toss to combine. Cook an additional minute to heat through.)

Chocolate Walnut-Date Balls

I know this is a little late, since Passover ended on Saturday, but I brought these to the family seder and they went over pretty well! They were much richer than I expected.
I spotted the recipe in the Washington Post and, inspired by my dear friend over at My Achy Bakey Heart who has been baking up a ball storm, I decided to try them out.

However, I first didn't get the right kind of dates, then I didn't get ENOUGH dates, so I supplemented with dried apricots, which was actually pretty good as well. I've attempted to adjust the amounts of ingredients according to the standard package of dates I was able to find in the store. If you find your mixture is too dry, add more dates. Too sticky? Add more nuts. I'm sure you could do this with any kind of nut/dried fruit combination you'd like.

Chocolate Walnut Date/Apricot Balls
from Vered Guttman and the Washington Post with mods.
Makes about 18 balls

6 - 8 oz dark (semisweet or bittersweet) chocolate chips
8 oz package of whole, pitted dates or apricots
2/3 cup walnut halves (toasted, if desired)

1) Place the dates/apricots in a food processor and pulse until fine. Transfer to a small mixing bowl.
2) Place walnuts in food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Reserve a tablespoon of some of the more powdery nuts. Transfer the rest to the bowl with the fruit. Press nuts and fruit together, until thoroughly incorporated.
3) Line a baking sheet with parchement paper. Pinch off pieces of the walnut/fruitmixture and roll into 1 inch balls. Place on baking sheet.
4) Fill a medium saucepan with about 1 inch of water. Bring to a boil. Place a double boiler or a stainless steel mixing bowl over top of the pot so that it fits snuggly, without touching the water. Add chocolate chips to double boiler and melt until smooth, stirring frequently. Turn off the heat.
5) Working one at a time, drop the balls into the chocolate and coat with chocolate (I found rolling them around with a spoon helped). Once thorougly coated, transfer back to the parchement lines baking sheet. Sprinkle with reserved nuts. Allow to set completely (about 2 hours at room temperature*). Store in an airtight container.

*I am sure you could also transfer these to the refridgerator to set. But it was easy enough for me to just leave them out.

Oven-Fried Almond Chicken and Shells in Lemon Butter Sauce

(pictured with Trader Joe's couscous, rather than original shells side dish)

Just tried this recipe for the first time... usually passed it over because I don't usually keep almonds in the pantry, so I bought some specifically to try this one out. It was really good! The nuttiness of the almonds really gave you something to dig into and this is relatively healthy since it's baked, rather than fried. Yet it still comes out nice and crispy.

I combined the almonds, cheese, garlic, and seasonings in my mini cuisinart to get the almonds nice and finely chopped, then mixed that with the bread crumbs. I also whipped up a quick side of pasta with a little lemon butter sauce, which I've put at the bottom here. Also served this with a light salad. This is definitely going to be a regular in my kitchen (not to mention there is going to be a very similar dish served at a certain large occasion in the spring...).

Oven-Fried Almond Chicken
I think this came from a South Beach Diet cookbook...
9/10
Serves 2

1 cup bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
1/4 cup finely chopped almonds
1 tablespoons chopped parsley (I didn't have this, so I put in maybe 1/2 T dried parsley)
1 clove garlic, crushed or 1/2 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
4 thinly sliced boneless skinless chicken breasts

1) Preheat oven to 400ºF
2) In medium bowl, combine bread crumbs, cheese, almonds, parsley, garlic, thyme, and pepper. Mix thoroughly.
3) Place oil in a shallow dish. Dip the chicken in the oil first then dredge in the crumb mixture. Place in a greased shallow baking pan.
4) Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the meat reaches 170ºF and the juices turn clear. Do not turn during cooking.

Small shells in Lemon Butter Sauce

2 cups small shells
3 TBS butter
flour
2 tsp. lemon juice
2 TBS chicken broth
splash of white wine
salt and pepper to taste

1) Prepare pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
2) Melt butter in a small sauce pan. When frothy, add a little bit of flour and stir until slightly thickened. Add lemon juice, broth, wine, and s&p. Cook until slightly reduced and thickened. Toss with warm pasta.