easy dinner

Veggie Burrito Bowls

| Kissablelipsbymikaila

Ingedients:

  • 1 Yellow onion
  • 2 cans Black Beans
  • 2 cans Corn
  • 1 cup Jasmine Rice
  • 2 tsp Veggie stock concentrate
  • 2 Tbsp Southwest Blend (recipe for this below)
  • 2 Roma Tomatoes
  • 2 Limes
  • Handful of Cilantro
  • 1/2 cup Sour Cream
  • 1/2 cup Monterey Jack Cheese
  • 2 tsp Hot Sauce
  • Tortilla Chips

Directions:

1. PREP: Wash and dry all produce. Halve, peel, and dice onion. Drain and rinse beans and corn, keeping them separate.

2. COOK RICE & BEANS: Melt 2 TBSP butter in a medium pot over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook until softened, 4-5 minutes. Stir in rice, beans stock concentrate, and half the Southwest Spice (you’ll use the rest later). Add 1 1/2 cups water and pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce to a low simmer. Cook until rice is tender, 15-18 minutes. Keep covered off heat until ready to serve.

3. CHAR CORN: Meanwhile, dry corn throughly with paper towels, remove as much moisture as possible. Heat a large pan over high heat. Add corn and cook, stirring occasioanlly, until lightly charred, 3-5 minutes. (Tip: If corn begins to pop, cover pan.) Season with salt and pepper.

4. MAKE SALSA: While corn cooks, dice tomato. Zest and quarter lime. Finely chop cilantro leaves and stems. In a medium, bowl, combine corn, tomato, half the cilantro, reamining Southwest Spice, a pinch of lime zest, a large drizzle of olive oil, and a squeeze of lime juice to taste. Season with plenty of salt and pepper.

5. MAKE CREMA: Ina small bowl, combine sour cream and as much remaining lime zest and juice as you like. Add water 1 tsp at a time until mixture reaches a drizzling consistency. Season with salt and pepper.

6. FINISH & SERVE: Fluff rice mixture with a fork; season with salt and pepper. Divide between bowls and top with salsa, Monterey Jack, and remaining cilantro. Drizzle with crema and as much hot sauce as you like. Serve with tortilla chips for dipping and any remaining lime wedge on the side.

** For dairy free, I leave out the creme and cheese (you can use any cheese you like)

~ Recipe adapted from Hello Fresh

Southwest Blend Recipe:

  • 4 part garlic powder
  • 2 part cumin
  • 2 part chili powder

Spaghetti Alla Carbonara

| Kissablelipsbymikaila

Prep. time: 10 min
Cook time: 15 min

  • Ingredients:
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1 Tbs unsalted butter
  • 1 yellow onion, chopped
  • 4 oz pancetta, prosciutto or bacon, diced
  • 1 lb linguine or spaghetti
  • 3 eggs yolks, room temp
  • 1/2 Cup heavy cream or half & half
  • 3/4 Cup finely grated Parmigiano-Regiano
  • Black pepper

Directions:

  1. Heat oil & butter in a large saute pan over medium heat. Add onion and pancetta & cook until onion translucent and pancetta is beginning to crisp. Remove from heat set aside.
  2. Bring a large pot of salted water to boil and cook the linguine to al dente. Drain pasta and return pasta to pot. Heat and add the reserved pancetta and onion mixture. Stir over high heat until pasta is coated with the pancetta mixture.
  3. In a bowl, whisk together the egg yolks & heavy cream and add the pasta, along with Parmesan. Remove the pot from the heat and toss the pasta until it is well-coated. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. If needed, add a bit of the reserved pasta cooking liquid to help toss the pasta if it is dry. Serve immediately.

**I like to add peas to the pancetta and onion mixture.

~Recipe via Rachael Ray at foodnetwork.com

Mongolian Beef with rice

| Kissablelipsbymikaila

Ingredients:

  • 1-2 pounds beef, cut into strips (suggestion: flank steak or stir fry beef strips)
  • For the marinade:
    • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
    • 1 teaspoon sugar
    • 1 Tablespoon corn starch
    • 1 Tablespoon soy sauce
    • 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
    • 2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
  • For the sauce:
    • 4 teaspoons vegetable oil
    • 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
    • 2 Tablespoons minced garlic
    • 1 cup soy sauce
    • 1 cup water
    • 1 2/3 cup brown sugar
    • 3 Tablespoons cold water + 1 1/2 Tbalespoons corn starch
  • Optional: sliced green onions, sesame seeds.

Directions:

  1. Combine all marinade ingredients in a small bowl and whisk until combined. Pour into a zip-lock back with beef strips, seal and chill 1 hour or overnight.
  2. Drain marinade from zip-lock and set beef aside.
  3. In a medium sauce pan combine sauce ingredients. Stir and heat over medium high heat until brown sugar has dissolved. While sauce is cooking, whisk together corn starch and water in a small bowl until corn starch is dissolved. Bring sauce to a boil, then reduce heat to medium low and stir in corn starch-water mixture. Allow sauce to thicken slightly, then remove from heat. 
  4. In a large pan or skillet pan or skillet, cook beef strips over medium high heat until cooked through (5-8 minutes) turning strips over throughout to ensure even cooking, reduce heat to medium. Add 1/2 – 1 cup sauce (depending on how “saucy” you want your beef). Stir and cook 1-2 minutes longer.
  5. Serve over rice with green onions and sesame seeds if desired.

*Note: This recipe makes a large batch of the sauce, more than you will need for your beef. You may half the recipe if you’d like, or we like to use the extra over rice.

*Note: substitute Amino Acid sauce for the Soy Sauce to make it gluten free.

~Recipe adapted from cremedelacrumb.com

Easy Sesame Chicken

| Kissablelipsbymikaila

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

  • Chicken
    • 1 large egg
    • 2 Tbsp cornstarch
    • 1 pinch each salt & pepper
    • 1 lb boneless, skinless chicken thighs
    • 2 Tbsp vegetable oil (for frying)
  • Sauce
    • 2 Tbsp soy sauce
    • 1 Tbsp water
    • 1/2 Tbs toasted sesame oil
    • 1 1/2 Tbsp brown sugar
    • 1 1/2 Tbsp rice vinegar
    • 1 inch fresh ginger, grated
    • 1 clove garlic, minced
    • 2 Tbsp sesame seeds
    • 1 Tbsp cornstarch
  • For Serving
    • 4 cups cooked jasmine rice
    • 2 whole green onions

Directions:

  1. In a bowl, whisk the egg, 2 Tbsp cornstarch, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Trim any excess fat from the chicken thighs, then cut into small 1 inch pieces. Toss the chicken in the egg and cornstarch mixture.
  2. Heat a large skillet with 2 Tbsp of vegetable oil over medium-high heat. When the oil is very hot (it should look wavy on the surface), add the chicken and all of the egg mixture. Cook the chicken, stirring only occasionally, until it is golden brown and cooked through (about 7-10 minutes). Drain off the excess oil, if desired.
  3. While the chicken is cooking, prepare the sauce. In a small bowl stir together the soy sauce, water, sesame oil, brown sugar, rice vinegar, fresh ginger, minced garlic, cornstarch, and sesame seeds. (You can grate the ginger & garlic with a small-holed cheese grater).
  4. When the chicken is cooked through and golden brown, pour the sauce over top. Toss the chicken to coat in the sauce. The sauce will begin to thicken as soon as it hits the hot skillet. Once the chicken is coated and the sauce thickened, turn off the heat.
  5. Serve the chicken over a bed of rice and sprinkle the sliced green onions over top.

*I used chicken breast rather than thighs.

*Gluten Free Substitute for Soy Sauce: Liquid Aminos

Recipe via budgetbytes.com