Normal Meal Time

I decided to continue posting my recipes I've collected and invented over the years on Normal Meal Time. As always, my meals are healthy, cheap and quick. Here's my latest addition.

Grocery List

1 lb of beef, sliced into 1-inch by 1/2-inch strips.
1-16 oz bag frozen oriental vegetables (purchased at Giant for $1.99 ea.)
2 tbsp mirin sauce (House of Tsang is a good brand. This is essentially sweet sake wine)
1 tbsp of your favorite Asian sauce (I've used duck, soy or Korean BBQ)
1 box of long grain & wild rice mix (I use Uncle Ben's brand in the orange box)
1 tbsp Olive, sesame or peanut oil
Table salt
Optional: 1 tbsp light brown sugar, sesame seeds

Directions

The beef takes 2-3 minutes to cook, so start the rice first, then the vegetables, and finally the meat.

Cook the rice in a separate pot as per the directions on the box. Steam the vegetables with a metal strainer or nuke them in the microwave if you have a microwave safe package.

Heat your oil on medium heat in a skillet. Place the beef on the skillet once it's hot. Sprinkle a pinch of table salt over the beef and turn the meat over. Carefully pour the mirin sauce over the beef. Most of it will absorbed; the rest will cook off and steam quite a bit, so don't pour it all on at once. Cook the beef to your desired tenderness. I prefer medium, and since the beef is sliced so small, it won't take very long.

Optional Steps:

Sweeter Meat:
Mirin is fairly sweet as is, so only add brown sugar if you are desperate for diabetes or trying to make up for all the vegetables you're about to eat. Sprinkle this on after the mirin. It gives the meat a nice, browned glaze. If you're adding an Asian sauce to your vegetables, I would avoid Korean BBQ since it, too, is sweet. Contrast itby using low-sodium soy sauce.

More Tender Meat:
If you have the time, marinate the meat in a plastic, resealable bag with the mirin, salt and oil for 30 minutes prior to cooking. This makes the beef less chewy.

Fancier Meat:
To add some panache - particularly if you're cooking for a date - add sesame seeds to the beef just before it's done. It not only looks cool, it adds texture and a slightly different taste.

Here is my latest installment into the Normal Meal Time recipe blog!

I must warn you, there is no meat in this at all. <gasp>

If you are under the delusion that eating a vegetarian meal cannot possibly be filling and delicious, this is the recipe for you. I was incredibly skeptical about not eating meat and being full at the same time. I called my co-worker while I was at the grocery store and double-checked: "Are you sure this is going to be filling? There's nothing in it!"

That night, I can say I was quite satisfied after two quesadillas. wolfed it all down and went back for seconds...and made it again the next night.

A coworker of mine gave me this recipe upon my request for "something manly and delicious. Oh yeah, and healthy." She delivered. Not only did this recipe blow my mind with how flavorful it was, but it was cheap to make!

Barbecue Portabella Quesadillas

Prep Time: 45 minutes
Serves: 4 (or 2 Brandon-size meals)
*Brandon's Hotness Rating: 2/5

1/2 c. BBQ sauce
1 Tb cider vinegar
1 Tb tomato paste
1 chipotle chile in adobo sauce (or 1/4 tsp chipotle ground pepper)
1 Tb canola oil
1 lb diced Portabella mushroom caps (no stems)
1 medium onion
Four 8-or 10-inch whole wheat tortillas
3/4 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese

1. Dice the chile and add in medium bowl with BBQ sauce, tomato paste and vinegar.
2. Heat 1 Tb oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add mushrooms and stir occasionally until brown.
3. Dice onion and add to mushrooms, stirring until caramelized (about 5 minutes).
4. Transfer vegetables to bowl with sauce and mix together thoroughly.
5. Wipe out the pan. Spray pan with canola oil. Retain medium heat.
6. Place tortillas on counter, and spread 3 Tb cheese on half. Pour about 1/2 cup of vegetables/sauce over the cheese. Fold tortillas in half, covering the filling.
7. Add two stuffed tortillas at a time to the hot skillet. Heat until golden brown.
8. When finished, transfer cooked quesadillas to a cutting board. Use a foil tent to keep warm. Cut into wedges to serve.

Recipe Notes

Hey all! This is my first post in a trial blog of mine called Normal Meal Time. I love the YouTube series Epic Meal Time. However, I feel constrained by not getting Type 2 Diabetes with compounding interest after every meal, regardless of how delicious anything wrapped in bacon is.

This blog is hopefully going to be dedicated to healthy living and delicious eating. I get a lot of recipe ideas from All Recipes, then typically modify them to my personal taste. Additionally, this site will feature a lot of canned and frozen fruits and vegetables to help those on a budget and those who don't like wasting time slicing up vegetables.

Anyways, here is my first meal, which should take about 15 minutes to cook. Cooking terms for noobs are  here.

Sweet and Spicy Pineapple Chicken

Brandon's Hotness Rating:* 1/5
Brandon Servings: I made three full meals out of this one


Ingredients:

• 3 large chicken breasts (cubed)
• 1 can diced pineapple (strain out the juice)
• 1 package of frozen oriental mix vegetables - contains onions, red peppers, broccoli, water chestnuts, green beans
• 2 cups minute brown rice
• 2 packets of soy sauce (about 2 tsp)
• 1 Tbsp brown sugar
• Red pepper flakes (to taste)
• Black pepper (to taste)

Kitchen Utensils: (we all hate doing dishes)

• Two medium-sized skillets
• One small pot
• Cooking spoons

Directions:
1. Cook the rice according to specified instructions on the box. This should take about 1-3/4 cups of water and 5 minutes. Continue to step two while cooking the rice.

2. Heat up a skillet to medium heat. Dice chicken into cubes and cook covered for about 5 minutes (until white with a little pink).

3. Before the chicken is cooked all the way through, strain and add the pineapple, brown sugar and red pepper. Turn the heat up to high. At this point, there will be a good deal of liquid in the pan. The chicken will absorb the residual juices from the pineapple, since the fruit is so watery.

4. At this point, your rice is probably done. Go ahead and take that off the stove and add another medium-sized pan on medium heat. Keep an eye on the chicken and pineapple. Do not constantly stir it. We actually want the pineapple to slightly burn on each side, basically caramelizing it. Don't worry - the juice from the pineapple will keep the chicken moist.

5. Toss the bag of frozen vegetables on your second skillet. You may not need to spray the pan if there is a decent amount of ice in with the vegetables. When the vegetables appear to be nearly done (the broccoli should look limp-ish), add the soy sauce and black pepper.

6. When the pineapple is caramelized, turn off the stove. Hopefully, we timed all of this right and your vegetables and rice are all done. Serve the rice in the bottom of the bowl, followed by a layer of the veggies and topped with the pineapple chicken. My preference, anyways.

I hope you enjoy this recipe. Share it with your friends and family, and be sure to comment if you tried it.

Healthy Eating Tip #1:

Find out when a certain type of vegetable is on sale at your local grocery store, prep and freeze them. For instance, I bought six red peppers, washed them, and cut them into strips. This makes for an easy saute experience down the road, saves money on vegetables, and allows you to eat fresher-tasting vegetables when you cook.

*Brandon's Hotness Rating

This is based on a 1-5 scale, with one being "flavorfully warm" at all and five being "prepare to sweat and possibly feel this tomorrow." I know some people are sensitive to heat levels, so I try to be very accurate about this representation.