Tomato, Chickpea and Arugala Salad

I rarely plan meal-sized salads, simply because I have this mental block that salad can't be filling enough on its own. I logically know this is wrong, but I have a lot of trouble getting over it. Hopefully, salads like this one will help with that. This has more than enough protein and other nutrients to fill me up, but it's still light enough to make me feel good about eating it.



Tomato, Chickpea and Arugula Salad

4 c. baby arugula or other mixed greens
1 (15 oz.) can of chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 c. cherry tomatoes, halved
1/4 c. walnuts, toasted if desired
1/2 c. ham, finely diced
2 tbsp. red-wine vinegar
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 tbsp. whole-grain mustard

1. Combine lettuce, chickpeas, tomatoes, walnuts and ham. Toss.

2. Whisk together vinegar, oil and mustard. Drizzle dressing over salad immediately prior to serving.

Tomato, zucchini and chicken pasta

One of my favourite things to do is scrounge up a meal from the odd-end ingredients I have on end, and this recipe is definitely a success story from that process. I was running low on groceries, but needed to throw together a quick dinner, and came up with this.

Tomato, zucchini and chicken pasta

1 bag wide egg noddles
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1" pieces
10 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
1 shallot, thinly sliced
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 can diced tomatoes, with juice
1 cup frozen zucchini, thawed
1/2 cup parsley or 2-3 tbsp. parsley paste
1/4 cup instant potato flakes
salt and pepper

1. Boil noodles according to package instructions.



2. Salt and pepper chicken and saute in olive oil until browned. Add garlic and shallot and cook until chicken cooked through.



3. Pour tomatoes with juice over chicken and bring to boil. Add zucchini and parsley and heat through. Add potato flakes, as needed, to thicken sauce. Add salt and pepper to taste.



4. Drain noodles and pour sauce over pasta.



Emily's rating: 9 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

Tortilla Soup with Black Beans

This was a recipe I adapted from a recent issue of Everyday Food. Much to the horror of my vegan and vegetarian friends, I just don't consider something a full meal unless it contains a dead animal, so I added some leftover shredded rotisserie chicken to the original recipe. I can't imagine making anything Mexican without a little cilantro, so I threw that in too and I think it adds a lot of needed punch. It tasted a little too much like watery salsa without it.

Tortilla Soup with Black Beans (and Chicken!)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, with juice
1 can (14.5 oz) chicken broth
1 can (14.5 oz) black beans
1 pkg. frozen corn
1 cup cooked, shredded chicken
1/2 cup finely chopped cilantro
1 cup tortilla chips, slightly crushed
1 tbsp. lime juice

1. Heat oil in large skillet. Cook garlic and chili powder, about 1 minute. Add tomatoes with juice, bean, broth, corn, cilantro and 1 cup of water. Season with salt and pepper.



2. Bring to boil and reduce to simmer. Add chicken and lime juice. Continue simmering for 5 minutes to bring chicken up to temperature.



3. Remove from heat. Serve with crushed chips and sprig of cilantro.

Nate's Rating: 9 out of 10
Emily's Rating: 9 out of 10