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Tagged: Weeknight Dinner

Dinner/Lunch / Food / Kristen Cooks

Savory Turkey Tenderloin

There is nothing better than when you nail down a good turkey recipe. I love being able to add another poultry option into my diet, but turkey can be a hard nut to crack. It is incredibly easy to overcook, resulting in dry meat. It is also quite an undertaking to cook a whole turkey, particularly if you are not cooking for a crowd. This recipe for turkey tenderloin addresses all of that! With tenderloin being just a cut of the turkey, it cooks quickly and can be scaled up or down in terms of amount cooked to suit your family.

I simply LOVE this recipe! What really makes this savory turkey tenderloin recipe special is the marinade. Turkey, by nature, can be lacking in full flavor. The addition of a savory but slightly sweet marinade does the trick. So, let’s get to it!

For the marinade

  • 1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
  • 1/4 cup vegetable or grapeseed oil
  • 1/2 – 2 tsp cayenne pepper (go with your taste here)
  • 1 Tbsp dark brown sugar (or runny honey, if you prefer)
  • 1 Tbsp dried rosemary
  • 1 stalk of fresh rosemary, sprigs removed from stalk

Mix all marinade ingredients in small bowl. Transfer to a selable bag when ready to marinate.

For the turkey tenderloin

  • 1.5 pounds of turkey tenderloin. This will typically be 2 tenderloin pieces, sold in one package. Aim to go with 2 loins that are roughly the same size for even cooking
  • 1 Tbsp vegetable or grapeseed oil for browning

Instruction

Insert the turkey tenderloin into the marinade bag. Allow to marinate in the refrigerator for 2-24 hours

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (use convection mode, if you have it)

Remove tenderloin from marinade and shake off any excess

Heat a cast iron, or heavy, oven safe skillet on med-high heat. Add oil and when shimmering and brown the top and bottom of the tenderloin

Place pan in oven and allow to roast until internal temp at thickest part of tenderloin is 160 degree F. This should be roughly 20-30 mins. Remove from oven and move to a cutting board to rest

Once rested, slice and enjoy!!

Serving the turkey tenderloin

Turkey goes with just about any vegetable. You can take a Thanksgiving day approach with mashed, cranberry sauce and stuffing, or something more simple. This week I served it with my oven roasted corn on the cob and some lemon parmesan roasted broccoli. Yum!

Corn on the cob is soaked in the husk for 1 hour and then roasted at 350 for 20 mins
Broccoli, garlic and lemons are roasted at 350 until tender. Add a sprinkling of parmesan cheese and roast 5 mins more

If you like this recipe, you might also like my recipe for juicy, herby split turkey breast!

Dinner/Lunch / Food / Kristen Cooks

Tasty Taco Salad

My husband and I are both taco lovers. Taco Tuesday is a regular weekly staple in our lives. He is a flour soft taco guy and I am a hard, corn tortilla kinda gal most of the time. This tasty taco salad is one version of a taco that we both agree on and enjoy each and every time it is ordered or made at home.

Like most recipes I like to cook, there is no set way that it has to be made. Ingredients can be substituted, flavors swapped, and type of protein updated. I have a recipe for Asian inspired veggie salad feast, that has many of the same elements of a taco salad, but with different flavors and selection of veggies. Small changes allow me to keep staple recipes simple, but add variety in both nutrition and flavor.

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Ingredients for Taco Salad

  • Seasoned Beef

  • 1 lb. ground beef – 80-85% lean (fear not, beef will be drained before adding spice)

  • 2 Heap Tbsp Taco seasoning (see recipe below)

  • 2 tsp. graeseed or vegetable oil

  • Veggies

  • 4-6 oz – crunchy greens, such as Lef Farms Crispy Green Lettuce, mixed with any lettuce variety.

  • 1 hot chili, such as jalapeno or serrano

  • 1/2 cucumber, seeded and sliced

  • 1/2 heirloom tomato chopped into bite size chuncks

  • 7 oz. canned corn, drained

  • 7 oz. canned black beans drained

  • 1 lime quartered for dressing individual plates

  • Cheddar, cotija or other cheese of your choice for sprinkling (1-1 1/2 ounce)

Taco Seasoning recipe

Note: this recipe will make enough seasoning for a number of uses.

  • 1 heap Tbsp. Chili Powder
  • 1 tsp. fine sea salt
  • 1 tsp. kosher salt
  • 1 tsp. sweet paprila
  • 1.5 tsp. black pepper
  • 2 tsp. garlic powder
  • 2 tsp. ground cumin
  • 1 tsp. onion powder
  • 1/2-1 tsp. red pepper flakes (optional – remove if you do not want the heat)
  • 1-2 tsp. dried oregano

Add all ingredients in a jar and shake to mix. Store in dry location until use.

Instruction

Heat large frying pan to medium-high heat. Add oil. When oil is shimmering, add in beef and begin breaking apart as it cooks. When beef is just browned and broken down, carefully drain any excessive oil in pan. You do not want your taco salad to be too greasy!

Add in the taco seasoning and combine. Cook until beef is just getting crispy. Put aside to cool a bit.

While the beef is cooking, wash and dry lettuce, slice and dice other veg, and arrange all vegetables on serving plate.

Add beef to middlle of plate and sprinkle some of the cheese over.

Put remaining cheese to the side for individual sprinkling.

Serving the Tasty Taco Salad

Serve family style, with cheese and lime wedges available for individual plates.

Servings: 4-6

Famliy style taco salad
Tasty taco salad served family style

If you like this recipe, take a look at my burger with baked french fries and all the fixins recipe!

Dinner/Lunch / Food / Kristen Cooks

Spatchcock Chicken grilled with Summer Fruit

I am on a grilled, roasted or just straight up stone fruit kick. These fruits (peaches, pluots, plums, nectarines, apricots and cherries) are up there in my book. I do prefer some of them cooked (cherries), while others are good just about any which way I can get them! This recipe for spatchcock chicken grilled with summer fruit really hit the spot in our house. Served with quinoa dressed in olive oil, lemon and simple salt and pepper, all aspects of a good meal are covered!

Note: if you also love cooked cherries, check out this recipe for cherry bourbon pork chops!

One of the best aspects of spatchcocking a chicken, is that it cooks quickly any which way you decide to cook it. Having been a beautiful day, I decided to use the gas grill this past week and the results were super!

Preparing the chicken

What is a spatchcocked chicken? It is a chicken that is butterflied. The backbone is typically removed and then the chicken is laid flat with the inside of the chicken on your cutting board, allowing for the breast to be pressed. It results in a flat bird that will cook evenly and quickly. Martha Stweart has a great account of all of the details on her website that is super helpful. Check it out if this is a new technique for you.

If you are leery of cutting the backbone and ribs out of the chicken, it is much more common these days to find them already spatchcocked in your store. Or, ask your butcher to do the job for you. Bell and Evans has pre-cut and flattended versions selling in many stores.

Once your chicken is ready to go, dry the chicken completely and season very liberally on both sides with the seasoning of your choice. My chicken/pork rub below is tried and true, if you want to give it try!

Quick Chicken/Pork Rub Recipe

1 Tbsp. each of Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Sweet Paprika, Brown Sugar

1 Tsp, each of cinnamon, pepper (fresh ground preferably) and salt

This is enough for roughly a 4 lb. chicken. Double, triple or quadruple the recipe to keep some in the cabinet for other recipes. I use this both for pork and chicken, so it does not go to waste!

Ingredients for this complete dinner

A 3-4 pound chicken

Spice rub (roughly 3-5 full Tbsp)

2-3 stone fruits of your choice. You can halve them for grilling direct on the grill grate, or slice them and use a cast iron pan on the grill. See pics below.

Olive oil, salt and pepper, for coating the grill and the pan. As well for drizzlling/sprinkling over the chicken and fruits

Optional: 4 servings of cooked quinoa, wild rice, freekah or farro. Basically, any grain with a good amount of texture to offset the tender, juicy chicken and sweet, soft delicious fruits! Also, a lemon to be grilled to yummy sweetness and used to squeeze over the grains with some seasoning and EVOO.

Grilling instructions

Get grill heated to medium, with an area that is less hot, in case you need to move off the heat due to flare ups etc. Ensure you have oiled the grates. Oil and season the fruits and place into the cast iron pan and then onto the grill. If using halved fruits, place onto grill grates directly. Continue to check doneness. If knife goes through and there is great browning or grill marks, you are good to go.

Once fruit is on, place chicken breast side up and allow to cook for 30-45 mins, until inner temp is roughly 155 degrees F in thigh. 10-20 mins more cooking time.

Drizzle oil on breast side, use basting brush to rub all over breast, legs and wings. Turn over and allow breast to brown to a nice crispy finish! Inner temp in thigh should now be 160-165. Remove and set aside to cool for 20 mins.

Serve with one of the optional mentioned grains and ENJOY! Let me know how your chicken turns out.

If you have a few more stone fruits hanging out in your fruit bowl, give this stone fruit salad a try!

Food / Kristen Cooks

Weeknight Dinner – Warm Venetian Salad

During the week, I like to have some easy, but fun recipes in my back pocket. This salad checks all of the boxes…lots of greens, cheese, bread, nuts, fruit and protein. I originally saw this in a Rick Stein cookbook, called, “Rick Stein, from Venice to Istanbul”. I tweaked the cooking method for the chicken, as well as the dressing and a few of the ingredients, but the concept of variety and the element of the warm chicken remains.

The ingredients

2 boneless/skinless chicken breasts – pounded on thicker end to create uniform size, if needed

Salt and Black Pepper

2 Tbsp. Olive or Grapeseed oil – divided

2 cloves garlic

2 green onions, or 1/2 small onion diced

2 slices of hefty sourdough bread – cut to 1 inch cubes

4 slices prosciutto cotto – cut into strips

6 ounce of leafy greens. This Tanimura & Antle Artisan lettuce is great, as it comes in 4 heads of varied types. Local is always, best, but this brand has not disappointed me

2 Tbsp. pine nuts – toasted

4 ounce Mozzarella pearls – My grocery store typically has the Galbani pearls in water

1 ripe pear or alternatively peach, plum or apple

Instructions

Salt and pepper the chicken breasts liberally. Heat 1 Tbsp. oil in sauté pan. When oil begins to shimmer, cook the chicken for 4 or so mins per side. Both sides should be nicely browned and the inner temp, with a thermometer, should be about 155. It will continue to cook once out of the pan, so will hit > 160 degrees. The key is not to overcook so you have super, juicy, delicious chicken!

While chicken is cooking, toast pine nuts in dry pan until browned and fragrant. Keep an eye here, they burn quickly

Assemble the greens, nuts, pear, prosciutto, and mozzarella pearls

Once chicken is out of the pan, add the remaining Tbsp. of oil, garlic and onion. Sauté until just soft. Add in the sourdough and coat with the garlic, onion mixture. Allow the bread to get nicely toasted, as you’d expect a crouton to be. Add additional oil, if necessary

Add bread to salad and toss. Slice chicken and set over or to side of the salad. Serve with additional olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. Voila!

Kristen Cooks

Weeknight Dinner – Mediterranean Smorgasbord

When you are thinking of that trip to Greece, southern Italy, or Lebanon and want to bring that back home, I have just the meal for you. A simple, quick, yet elegant spread of Mediterranean treats.

Homemade hummus is accompanied by crisp cucumber, red onion and carrots, as well as fresh, soft pita bread from #josephspitabread. I added #ndmedjooldates for a pop of sweetness. To make this a complete meal, I pan seared 2 flounder fillets and added a side of honey-thyme roasted tomatoes.

For the hummus, I based the ingredients loosely on a recipe by #rickstein. If you have not explored his shows and cook books, check him out! My favorite show and resulting cookbook is called “Venice to Istanbul” and contains recipes from Italy, Croatia, Albania, Greece and Turkey. It is simply a wonderful and culturally enriching book! Check it out here

To try one of earth’s sweetest fruits, check out the Natural Delights Medjool dates. They have amazing sweet and savory recipes that are worth a try directly on their website. https://www.naturaldelights.com/

Weeknight Meal - Mediterranean Smorgasbord
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Weeknight Meal – Mediterranean Smorgasbord

Recipe by kristenCourse: Dinner, LunchCuisine: MediterraneanDifficulty: Easy
Servings

4

servings
Prep time

15

minutes
Cooking time

1

hour 

5

minutes
Calories

300

kcal

Note: calorie count is auto approximated. Cooking time is inclusive of oven roasted tomato and sauté of the founder

Ingredients

  • Cucumber, Red Onion and Carrot, sliced

  • Fresh Pita bread

  • Medjool dates (6-8)

  • Hummus

  • 15.5 oz. can of chick peas, drained and rinsed

  • 2 tbsp. tahini paste

  • 1-2 cloves of garlic (this is to your taste, I go with 2 large cloves)

  • 1.5 tsp. cumin

  • Juice of 1 lemon

  • Tsp. kosher salt, + more to taste

  • 4 Tbsp. water

  • Tbsp. EVOO

  • Sumac and/or Paprika to finish

  • Flounder

  • 2 Tbsp. butter

  • 2 Flounder fillets

  • Paprika

  • Roasted Tomato

  • Vine tomatoes (approx. 12)

  • Honey, Tbsp. thyme and olive oil to coat

Directions

  • Coat tomatoes in olive oil, sprinkle with thyme and put into 350 degree oven for approx. 60 mins. Watch for the tomatoes to become deflated and quite roasty-toasty browned. Before taking out of oven, drizzle with honey and allow to roast the remaining 5 mins
  • Arrange crisp veggies, pita and dates on serving platter, with bowl at center for the hummus
  • In food processor, combine all ingredients, except for the olive oil and sumac/paprika, leaving a small handful of the chick peas for topping the hummus. Pulse or blend until hummus is smooth and creamy. Pour into bowl and top with olive oil and dusting of sumac and/or paprika
  • Once tomatoes are out of oven and cooling, heat the butter in large sauté pan. Pat the fillets dry and sprinkle with kosher salt, pepper and paprika. Once butter is just beginning to brown, place fillets in pan. The fillets are so thin, that 1-2 mins on the first side should result in a nice, seared color. Flip and then tip the pan and continually baste the first side with a spoon, scooping the butter from the edge of the pan. Another 1-2 mins and you are done! Serve and smorgasbord is complete!

Food / Kristen Cooks

Weeknight Dinner – Pork loin with sweet plantains & veg

Weeknights are for simple dinners that come together easily. Anyone who knows me, knows that I am a Jamie Oliver fan, reason being that he cooks simply with great results. This meal is quick and easy, and hits all nutritional needs. I took advantage of a Jamie Oliver veggie dish that never disappoints, with a few tweaks based on what I had on hand. The original recipe can be found in his cookbook called, “Together” and the recipe is called “Spring Veg”. I absolutely recommend this book!

For the pork:

1.5 lb. pork loin is coated in the spice mix of your choice. I used a middle eastern 7 spice rub that I make and always have on hand, but you could do a BBQ mix with garlic and onion powder, paprika, salt, pepper and sugar. Equal parts of everything, with the salt and sugar at half the amount of the other spices. Pop into a 425 degree oven until inner temp is 135, roughly 30 minutes.

For the plantains:

The sweet plantains (maduros) are freezer aisle purchase. The plantains can also be bought fresh and fried once super ripe. However, I’ve had a hard time knowing when the ripeness factor is right, and the Goya product is so easy. Just reduce the oven once the pork is out and resting and pop the frozen container right in. Easy-peasy.

Goya product info can be found here: https://www.goya.com/en/products/ripe-plantains

For the veggies:

(small potatoes of any kind, asparagus, peas, mint, olive oil and lemon):

Boil a pound of small potatoes (red or white) for 15 mins, add asparagus when 13 mins have passed (spears cut into thirds), when 1 minute remains, add a cup of peas (frozen is fine). When 15 mins are up, drain and plate. Juice one lemon over mix, add a handful of chopped mint and dress with EVOO. Done!

Note that I have done this same recipe with any other veggies on hand. Perfect for a veggie drawer clean out!

Recipe for 7 Spice Blend:

I found this very simple recipe on a lovely Lebanese cooking site. Give it a go! https://plantbasedfolk.com/lebanese-7-spices-baharat/

The Jamie Oliver site has loads of free recipes, nutrition info and how-to articles. Definitely worth a gander, if you are a home cook and looking for fun ways to cook meals! https://www.jamieoliver.com/