Marinade:
Juice from 3 limes
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin seed
1 1/2 teaspoons ground coriander
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons honey
2 whole breasts boneless, skinless chicken
1/4 cup white wine
3 tablespoons chopped cilantro leaves
Garnish:
Mock Sour Cream or low-fat sour cream
1 lime, sliced into 6 thin slices
6 scallion firecrackers (see Tips below)
1/4 cup fresh salsa or Papaya Salsa
Mix together marinade ingredients in a bowl, stirring thoroughly. Pour into a shallow baking pan and lay the chicken breasts in. Cover and refrigerate for one hour. Preheat the broiler.
After one hour, when the chicken has absorbed all the flavors of the marinade, pour in the white wine. Broil the chicken under a medium flame for 8 to 10 minutes, basting it with the juices to keep it moist.
Transfer the chicken to a platter and slice it at an angle. Garnish each piece with a little of the pan juices, a dollop of sour cream, slices of lime and a scallion firecracker, as well as a dollop of salsa.
Serves 4.
Tips from Rosie's Kitchen
The scallion "firecracker" is a lively garnish that gets its
name from the way the leaves of the onion curl away from the body of the
onion, creating a "firecracker" appearance. Cut 2 inches off the green
leafy side of the scallion. Trim the roots at the white bulbous end. Then
cut three slits about 1/2-inch down through the white, bulbous end. Fill
a bowl with ice water and drop in the freshly cut scallions.
It is never too much trouble to cook extra chicken breasts. They
hold the flavor of the marinade and are wonderful for chicken salad or
sandwiches for work or school.
Warm Quinoa and Zucchini-Stuffed Tomatoes
1/2 cup quinoa
2 tablespoons olive oil
11/2 cups purified water or vegetable stock
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 cup grated zucchini
2 tablespoons currants or raisins
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley or basil
1/2 teaspoon ground curry (or cumin)
1/4 teaspoon paprika
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
6 medium tomatoes
2 teaspoons bread crumbs
2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan cheese
Preheat oven to 350°F. In a small saucepan, toss the quinoa in, add one tablespoon olive oil, stir, pour in the water, salt, black pepper and Italian seasoning, and bring to a boil. Cover and simmer over low heat for 20 minutes. Remove from the heat.
Pour one tablespoon olive oil into a nonstick pan and sauté the chopped onions, zucchini, currants, parsley or basil, curry, paprika and lemon juice over medium heat for about 2 minutes. Scoop the quinoa into the sauté pan and mix thoroughly with a spoon until it is blended with the vegetables to make an aromatic stuffing. Remove from heat.
Create a lid for each tomato by cutting a star shape around the stem about 1/4-inch deep. Remove the top and set it aside. Scoop out the seeds of each tomato and some of the loose pulp, being careful to leave a strong wall of tomato all around. Spoon equal amounts of the stuffing into the cavities of each tomato, filling them up generously. Put the tomatoes in a small ceramic or glass baking dish and garnish with a sprinkle of bread crumbs and one teaspoon Parmesan cheese per tomato. Cover the baking dish with a glass lid or foil and bake for 25 minutes. Tomatoes should be firm and easy to transfer from the baking dish to the serving plates. Garnish by putting the star-shaped tomato lids back on top of each tomato.
Serves 6.
Tips from Rosie's Kitchen
If you don't have quinoa on hand, you can make this recipe using
millet or amaranth. Amaranth tends to have a slightly sweet flavor, while
millet and quinoa tend to taste like natural rice, with a delicate, nut-like
flavor.
Stuffed Winter Squash: You can use the stuffing from this recipe
to stuff and bake squash. Buy 3 acorn squashes or 6 baby pumpkin squashes.
Puncture the surface of the squash 4 times with a knife, making sure that
each stab is spaced apart. Cut the squash lengthwise and scoop out the
seeds with a big spoon and discard them. Lay the squash cavity-side-down
in a baking pan. Add water and bake for 30 to 45 minutes. When it is completely
cooked, the squash should be easily pierced with a fork. Remove from the
oven and let it cool in the pan. Leave all the liquid from the squash in
the pan, turn the cooled squash over so the cavity side is up, and spoon
up 11/2 cups of stuffing, filling the cavity of each squash. Cover with
foil and bake for 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Garnish a platter or
each of 6 plates with a sprig of fresh parsley, lay the squash on top,
and serve.
Fish with Spinach en Papillote
Marinade:
1 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1 small, fresh jalapeño pepper, seeded and chopped
2 tablespoons peeled, grated ginger
Juice from 3 limes (1/4 cup)
1 bunch cilantro, leaves only, reserving 6 sprigs for garnish
Six 51/2-ounce fresh tuna steaks, butterflied
Filling:
6 cups fresh, washed, and chopped spinach leaves with tough stems
removed
1/2 cup sliced oyster mushrooms or red bell pepper strips
1/4 teaspoon orange zest
3 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
3/4 cup thinly sliced red onion
1 egg white, slightly beaten
Garnish:
1 lemon
6 sprigs cilantro (reserved from above)
Whisk all the ingredients for the marinade together. Coat the fish steaks with the marinade by turning them over in the juice a couple of times to completely wet both sides. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes or up to 1 day.
Cut the parchment paper into 6 squares that measure approximately 13 x 18 inches. Fold each square in half and cut the shape of 1 half of a heart. When you open up the parchment paper, you will have 1 complete heart-shaped piece.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Remove the fish from the refrigerator after 30 minutes, when the fish has soaked up the flavors of the marinade. Toss the chopped spinach, mushrooms or peppers, orange zest, ginger and onions together in a bowl. Open up the heart-shaped parchment and lay 1/6 of the spinach mixture a little off-center on the heart. Arrange the fish on top of the spinach. Drizzle one tablespoon of the leftover marinade over the fish. Repeat for each heart-shaped parchment paper.
Brush the outer edges of each parchment paper with the egg white, using a pastry brush. Fold one edge of the parchment paper over to meet the other edge. Seal the contents inside by making small folds starting at the top, all around the outer edge of the paper, twisting the paper at the end. Put the papillotes on a baking sheet and bake for 15 minutes. When completely cooked, the parchment will puff up with steam.
Using a zester, make 6 grooves in the side of the lemon from top to bottom, then cut the lemon into 6 slices.
Before serving, let the papillotes deflate a bit. If you try to open them immediately after cooking, you will get burned by the steam that has accumulated inside. Unseal the papillote along the outer edge to reveal the food inside. Garnish with cilantro sprigs and lemon slices.
Makes 6 papillotes.
Tips from Rosie's Kitchen
To butterfly a fish steak, cut each steak lengthwise until just
before you get to the very end, then open the steaks up like a book and
lay them down on each of 6 beds of spinach. Cutting the fish steaks this
way will help you to close the parchment over the filling.
Orange Oatmeal Cookies
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, room temperature, or Spectrum Spread
(8 tablespoons)
1 egg
1/4 cup mashed ripe banana (about 1/2 banana)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup brown sugar
11/2 teaspoons orange zest
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
11/2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (or 1 cup oatmeal plus 1/2
cup 4-grain cereal)
1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup golden raisins (or 1/2 cup chocolate chips)
Preheat oven to 350°F. Cream the butter and egg together until it is well blended and smooth. Gradually beat in the banana, vanilla and brown sugar. Add the orange zest. Mix well with a wooden spoon until all the ingredients are thoroughly blended.
In a large bowl mix the flour, salt, baking powder, oats or 4-grain cereal, coconut, walnuts and raisins or chocolate chips. Use a wooden spoon to combine the dry ingredients until they are blended well and evenly distributed. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and mix thoroughly until there is no sign of dryness.
Smear 1/4 teaspoon of butter on a baking sheet, drop heaping tablespoonfuls of the dough onto the greased baking sheet 2 inches apart, and press down lightly against the dough to flatten. Bake for 20 minutes until lightly browned. Cool on a wire rack.
Makes 16 large cookies.
Tips from Rosie's Kitchen
If you want to turn these cookies into a treat that provides
more roughage, replace 1/2 cup of the rolled oats with 1/2 cup of 4-grain
cereal. Rolled oats are included in the 4-grain cereal so you don't lose
the benefits of vitamins E, B1 and B2 that oats provide. Cracked wheat,
cracked rye and cracked barley make up 3 grains that pack a lot of fiber.
Packaged coconut is available sweetened or unsweetened. I like
to use the unsweetened because it adds enough flavor and a bit of texture
without the extra sugar.
Peach and Blueberry Cobbler
Filling:
5 peaches, peeled and sliced
1 cup fresh blueberries
1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
1/2 cup sugar
Pinch nutmeg (less than 1/8 teaspoon)
2 teaspoons cornstarch
Biscuit Topping:
5 tablespoons softened butter or Spectrum Spread
2 cups flour plus 1/4 cup flour for rolling out
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk
Glaze:
2 tablespoons sugar
Preheat oven to 400°F. Bring all the filling ingredients to a boil in a large saucepan, then turn down heat and simmer until the filling becomes thick. Spoon the thickened fruit filling into a medium (at least 10 x 8-inch) baking or casserole dish, and spread it around evenly until it meets all sides of the dish.
Using clean hands, pinch the butter and the flour together between your thumbs and forefingers until the flour and butter become crumbly. Mix in the sugar, baking powder and salt and slowly stir in the milk to make a soft dough. Sprinkle a work surface with the 1/4 cup flour, knead the dough lightly a few turns on the floured surface, and roll out to a perimeter approximately the size of your baking dish. With a cookie cutter or a glass, cut out 10 biscuits and lay them slightly overlapping on top of the fruit filling, using scraps of leftover dough to fill in any uncovered spots. Sprinkle the top with the sugar. Bake in the pre-heated oven for 20 minutes until biscuit topping turns golden brown. Cool for 10 minutes.
To serve, scoop out a biscuit and fruit filling and transfer to a dessert bowl or plate.
Serves 10.
Tips from Rosie's Kitchen
The topping on our cobbler tastes delicious baked on its own
as scrumptious herb biscuits.
To Make the Herb Biscuits: Just replace the sugar with fresh herbs
(I use one teaspoon fresh parsley, one teaspoon fresh oregano, one teaspoon
fresh thyme and a pinch of cayenne). Prepare the dough as you would for
the cobbler, form 6 biscuits, lay them on a greased baking sheet, and bake
in a preheated oven for 12 minutes at 400°F.