Clean Eatings Last Chance- Slow Cooked Chicken Barley Stew

This is my third recipe to try from Clean Eating and I was not holding out much  hope. The other recipes had been rather bland, but I was willing give it another try.  This time I went with Slow Cooker Chicken Barley Stew.

I started by putting garlic, cilantro, thyme, basil, dill and bay leaf in the crock pot. 

Then I added in the chicken broth

And then the barley and black eyed peas.

Then I peeled a few potatoes

And added those in with the onions, carrots, and chicken

I left for several hours and it made this nice looking pot of stew.  It smelled great at first, but as the day wore on I think i got tired of smelling it.

It looked good, but now comes the big test, the taste test. I served up a bowl for my oldest first. She is usually the easiest to please.


She liked so I pushed along and dished some up for the rest of family. The kids liked it. The husband liked it. Me, well I though it was bland again. This meal is supposed to hold up well in the freezer, so I packaged up what was left and will try it again in a couple weeks. Maybe it will be better then? I am starting to think that the clean eating diet works because no one really enjoys the food. ;P

Another Clean Eating Magazine Recipe- Portobello Mushroom Stroganoff

In an effort to go for a healthier lifestyle, I decided to try some new things and see what the "clean eating " trend is all about.  For those of that may not be familiar with the clean eating concept, it basically involves cutting out processed foods and eating foods as close to their natural state as possible. My family already eats few processed foods so that part wasn't hard  and I started looking for a few recipes. The Pumpkin Surprise Pasta from Clean Eating Magazine was a bit of a disappointment, but I decided to give their recipes another try, this time with the Portobello Mushroom Stroganoff.

First, I cooked some onions and garlic in a bit of oil until they were translucent.

Then I added a mix  of sliced white and Portobello mushrooms.

 While they were cooking down, I used my awesome immersion blender to puree the tofu for the sauce.

The tofu, sour cream, beef stock and tomato paste were added to the pan and cooked until the sauce smooted out a bit and then cajun seasoning was added.

The sauce and mushrooms were served over whole wheat egg noodles. It look pretty good doesn't it?

I was really excited about this meal and couldn't wait to try it. Once again, I was disappointed with the bland flavor of the dish.  The basic bones of the dish are good, but it just needs a bit of something. Next time....

INGREDIENTS:

•12 oz whole-wheat egg noodles

•Olive oil cooking spray

•1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced

•4 oz white mushrooms, thinly sliced

•8 oz portobello mushrooms, thinly sliced

•1 clove garlic, minced

•14 oz medium-firm tofu, puréed in blender or food processor

•8 oz low-fat sour cream

•8 oz low-sodium beef stock

•1 tbsp unsalted tomato paste

•1/2 tsp Cajun seasoning

•Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper, to taste

•1 tsp dried dill

INSTRUCTIONS:

1.Cook noodles according to package directions. Drain and set aside.

2.Heat a large nonstick or cast-iron skillet over high heat for 1 minute. Reduce heat to medium-low, mist with cooking spray and add onion. Sauté for about 8 minutes or until caramelized. Add white and portobello mushrooms and garlic. Mist with cooking spray, if needed, and sauté until cooked, about 5 more minutes.

3.Add tofu, sour cream, stock and tomato paste, and stir until smooth. Stir in seasoning, salt and pepper.

4.Pour mushroom sauce over cooked noodles. Serve topped with dill.

Nutrients per 1-cup serving: Calories: 140, Total Fat: 3.5 g, Sat. Fat: 0.5 g, Carbs: 18 g, Fiber: 1 g, Sugars: 3 g, Protein: 9 g, Sodium: 140 mg, Cholesterol: 15 mg

Portobello Mushrooms

Guess What? -Pumpkin Pasta Surprise

I found this recipe on the Clean Eating Magazine Website and was really intrigued. The Sneaky Chef and Deceptively Delicious cookbooks were a lot of fun and this recipe reminded me a lot of those- veggies and pumpkin and other healthy tidbits hidden in a hearty tomato sauce. Now, while my family loves most vegetables and I don't have to resort to tricks to get them to eat, there are few we are not fond of. Zucchini is one of these. I admit it - we don't like zucchini it.This summer I even had a stash of them growing in my garden, hoping that the freshness would win me over. Nope- didn't like it.

This recipe really seemed like it would be up our alley, plus it had surprise in the name so that seemed fun.

First, I browned the turkey in the pan

Then added onions

After the onions became a bit translucent, I added shredded carrot, zucchini and diced tomato.

I deviated a bit from the recipe and decided to use a bit of wine to help scrap up the browned bits and add a bit of flavor. Anyone that knows me at all knows I can't just follow a recipe- makes my husband crazy. We had some red wine leftover from his birthday dinner and I thought it would be perfect. Who can't use a bit of Smoking Loon?

After adding the wine, I added the tomato sauce and stirred it in. I also decided that now would be a good time to season it up, so I added some basil, oregano and parsley to the pan.

After that, cubes of cream cheese were added in to make it nice and creamy. I used the fat free kind. :)

The sauce was a really thick, almost bolognese looking sauce. My expectations were high for this one.

 I served it with whole wheat rotini and sprinkled a bit of parsley on the top.

We sat at the table ready to taste and decide if the hearty sauce would hid e the flavor of the zucchini.

IT DID!! 

Then came the surprise, it hid the flavor of the zucchini because it had NO FLAVOR AT ALL. It was really rather sad.  We ended up adding some red pepper flakes to give it some heat, but in general the dish was way too mild. I was shocked considering the amount of additional spices I had added. I may give this another shot, but I will be pulling out all of my flavor big guns next time. But hey, we ate zucchini.

This is the original recipe with my changes in red.

Recipes Share font size: A A Posted on November 17, 2010


Pumpkin Pasta Surprise
1 13-oz pkg whole-grain pasta or brown rice pasta
1 lb lean ground turkey or chicken
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, finely chopped
1 large carrot, finely shredded
1 Roma tomato, chopped into small chunks
1 small zucchini, finely chopped (peel left on)
1 roasted red pepper, chopped - we don't eat red pepper
1/2 cup red wine
15 oz pumpkin purée
1 10-oz jar pasta sauce
1 tbsp low-fat plain cream cheese
1 tbls basil
1tbls oregano
1 tbls parsley
1 tsp salt
1tsp pepper

INSTRUCTIONS:

1.Cook pasta according to package directions (undercook it slightly as it will continue to cook a bit in the sauce).

2.Meanwhile, in a skillet over medium heat, brown turkey for 7 to 10 minutes or until no pink remains. Drain any fat, return pan with turkey to stove and add onion and garlic. Sauté turkey mixture until onions are translucent. Add carrot, tomato and zucchini and sauté for about 3 to 5 minutes, until tender.

3.Add red pepper, pumpkin purée and pasta sauce (if mixture is too thick, add a bit of water). Cover and simmer for 7 to 10 minutes, until zucchini is soft. Add cream cheese, then turn off heat and let cream cheese melt.

4.Add pasta and mix, cover and let stand for 2 minutes. Enjoy!



Nutrients per 1-cup serving: Calories: 402, Total Fat: 3.5 g, Sat. Fat: 0.5 g, Carbs: 62 g, Fiber: 6 g, Sugars: 7 g, Protein: 25 g, Sodium: 72 mg, Cholesterol: 38 mg

Pumpkin