Beef Stew with Noodles

This was a nice, hearty meal that would be lovely to come home to on a cold fall day. I really enjoyed this, but Nate felt like it tasted like chicken soup with beef awkwardly added in. I'll leave it up to you to decide.



Beef Stew with Noodles

1 tbsp. oil
2 lbs. boneless beef chuck, cut into 1/2" cubes
1 med. onion, sliced lengthwise
2 tbsp. flour
3 cans (14.5 oz each) chicken broth
1/2 lb. carrots, peeled and cut into 1" cubes
2 med. russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1" cubes
2 c. egg noodles
3 tbsp. finely chopped parsley
1 tsp. red wine vinegar

1. Heat oil in dutch oven over high. Add beef, season with salt and pepper and cook until seared and browned, ~6 mins.



2. Add onion and season with salt and pepper. Cook until onion is softened, ~5 mins.



3. Stir in flour until beef and onion are coated and cook another minute. Add broth and 3 cups water, stirring and scraping up browned bits. Bring to boil, reduce to simmer and cook until beef is tender, ~25 mins. Add carrots and potatoes and cook until potatoes are tender, ~10 mins.



4. Add noodles, cook ~8 mins. Season with salt and pepper, stir in parsley and vinegar.

Chicken and Lentil Stew

As I'm sure you can tell from the selection of recipes I've posted so far, I really enjoy so-called 'comfort foods'. The problem with most of them is that they're not usually very healthy, so I'm always looking to find dishes that check both the 'comfort food' and 'healthy' boxes. This certainly fit the bill.



Chicken and Lentil Stew

1 tbsp. olive oil
2 lbs. chicken breast, cut into 1/2" cubes
1 onion, finely chopped
1 carrot, finely chopped
3/4 c. dried lentils
1 (14 oz.) can of chicken broth
1/2 tsp. rosemary
1/2 tsp. basil
1 tbsp. lemon juice

1. Heat oil over med. heat. Cook chicken 5 mins on each side. Remove from skillet and set aside.



2. Place onion in skillet. Cook 5 mins. until tender. Mix in carrot and garlic. Stir in lentils and broth and season with salt. Bring to boil, cover, reduce heat to low and simmer for 20 mins.



3. Return chicken to skillet. Cover and continue cooking 20 mins (add water if too dry). Season with rosemary and basil. Continue cooking for 10 mins. Stir in lemon juice and serve over rice.



Emily's rating: 8 out of 10
Nate's rating: 7 out of 10

Chipotle Sweet Potato Shepherd's Pie

I've been unsure about what to do with recipes that don't turn out, and whether I should even bother posting them here. I decided to go ahead and do it, in case someone else wants to try their hand at improving upon my failures.

In this case, this dish was just...weird. I can't remember where I got the original recipe, but I remember writing it down because a) I love normal shepherd's pie but Nate hates it and b) we both love sweet potatoes.

But the combination here just does not work. The spiciness of the chipotles does marry nicely with the sweetness of the potatoes, but the rest just tastes funny in terms of texture and flavour.

Anyway, if anyone does want to take a crack at re-jigging this thing, please let me know, because I would love to figure out how to make it work.


Chipotle Sweet Potato Shepherd's Pie

Topping
1 (7oz.) can of chipotle peppers in adobo
2 lbs. sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1" cubes
1 c. 2% milk
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper

Filling
2 lbs. ground sirloin
2 c. chopped onion
1 c. chopped carrot
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 c. frozen peas
1/2 c. crushed tomatoes
1/4 c. fresh parsley
3 tbsp. steak sauce
2 tbsp. tomato paste

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Remove 1 chile and 2 tsp. sauce from can; reserve remaining for other use. Coarsley chop chile.



3. Place potatoes in a sauce pan; cover with water. Bring to boil, cooking approx. 15 minutes until tender. Drain.



4. Place potatoes, chile, adobo, milk, salt and pepper in mixer and beat until smooth.



5. Cook beef until browned. Remove from pan; drain.



6. Sauté onions, carrot and garlic 8 mins. Add beef. Stir in peas and remaining ingredients. Cook 2 mins.



7. Spoon beef into casserole; top with potatoes. Bake for 30 mins.



Emily's rating: 3 out of 10
Nate's rating: 1 out of 10

Cold Soba Salad

This one didn't turn out too great in the photo, but it definitely made for a nice light and healthy lunch throughout the week.



Cold Soba Salad

1 pkg. soba (8.8 oz)
1/2 cucumber, peeled into long ribbons
1/4 head of red cabbage, thinly sliced
1 cup carrots, cut into matchsticks
1 shallot, thinly sliced
1 cup fresh parsley, chopped
3/4 cup lemon juice
3 tbsp. olive oil
4 oz. feta, crumbled

1. Cook soba according to directions. Drain.
2. In bowl, combine cucumber, cabbage, shallot, parsley, lemon juice and oil. Add soba. Season with salt and pepper.
3. Refrigerate until chilled, about 30 minutes.
4. Toss with feta and serve garnished with parsley.

This salad actually gets better the longer it sits, as the flavours have more time to combine and soak into the noodles.

Emily's rating: 8/10