BOLO BELLA

LASDI ©

The transition from summer to autumn is more than just a seasonal solstice change in my house.  Those of you who love Autumn best of all the seasons know exactly what I'm talking about.  It's a feeling.   And it runs DEEP.  It's in the air, it's in the colors, and it's in the food!

It's the season I love the most when it comes to cooking.  The switch from August to September is my hard line in the sand (pun intended), and I start to make the change without waiting for the official date.  This meal is one of my go-to's for that change, and it follows all the things I just spoke about: the smell in the air while you're cooking this meal will transition you into the time of year; the layers of burgundy, auburn, orange, and purple colors on the plate bring about the the genuine acknowledgment that this meal goes along with the transformation; and once you taste it, YOU KNOW FALL HAS ARRIVED!

This meal is perfect for Sunday Supper, Meatless Monday, the vegetarian or plant-based eater(s) in your life, or for any time while the season is in place!  Though I put it over low-carb pasta, it is hearty enough to eat without it.  

This does require just a smidge more work than the usual recipes I like to post, but it is worth every bit of it.  TRUST ME!

Eat every bite slowly, knowing the season will pass quickly, and enjoy the blessings of the seaon you're in!

EGGPLANT LENTIL BOLOGNESE

1 large purple eggplant

extra virgin olive oil (evoo)

1 large onion, diced small

4 stalks celery, diced small

4 carrots, diced small

8 oz pkg mushrooms, diced small

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 can tomato paste

2 tsp garlic powder

3 tbs fresh oregano, minced

3 tbs fresh basil, minced

3 cups cabernet (2 for the recipe, 1 for you to drink whilest cooking!)

1- 28 oz can petite diced tomatoes

1 pkg lentils, cooked

sea salt, to taste

pepper, to taste

Rub the eggplant lightly with evoo just enough to coat it in a thin layer. Wrap it in foil tightly and place in a preheated 375-degree oven. Bake until very tender, about an hour. Cook lentils according to instructions, draining any excess liquid left over.  Place eggplant and lentils aside to cool.  On a medium-high flame, heat a large, heavy saucepan (I use my cast iron Dutch oven!) for about a minute.  Pour enough evoo to cover the bottom and let it warm about fifteen seconds.  Add your veggies, a sprinkle of sea salt and pepper, and stir.  Brown the vegetables until caramelized and soft, about ten minutes, stirring about every two minutes or so. Add in the garlic powder and the fresh herbs, stir, and cook another minute or so.
Add the tomato paste, stir, and let cook another minute or so (see notes). Stir in 2 cups wine, diced tomatoes and stir.  Change your heat to low, and cook about five minutes.  While this is cooking, remove your cooled eggplant from the foil and scrape the insides from the skin onto a cutting board.  Mash with a fork.  Carefully add your eggplant and lentils to the pot, sea salt and pepper to taste, and continue to cook another ten minutes, allowing the sauce to thicken and marry.  Serve over pasta, if desired, and especially serve with a side of cabernet baby bella mushrooms and onions.

NOTES: when you add the tomato paste and stir, it may seem as though it is sticking to the bottom of the pan.  This is great!  Once you pour in the wine, scrape the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon and get all that flavor into the sauce! 

CABERBET BABY BELLAS & ONIONS

extra virgin olive oil (evoo)

2 large onion (purple, if you want that depth of Autumn color!), cut in half and sliced

3- 8 oz pkgs baby bella mushrooms, sliced

1 tsp garlic powder

2 cups cabernet

sea salt, to taste

pepper, to taste

Heat a large, heavy pan (I use my cast iron!), on medium-high heat until it smokes slightly.  Pour in about 2 tbs of evoo, and add your sliced onion.  Stir the onion, evening it out and let sit for about two minutes, or until you see the bottom starting to brown, then stir again.  Add your garlic powder and stir again. Let sit another two minutes or so, add another 3 tbs evoo to the pan, then add your mushrooms and stir again, evening out the mushrooms and onions.  Stir about every two minutes, until the onions and mushrooms have a beautiful caramel color.  Add a half cup of wine and let cook until all the wine is reduced and absorbed by the mushrooms and onions.  Do this over again, a half cup at a time until all the wine has been used and is completely absorbed by the mushrooms and onions, and the mixture seems a bit creamy.  Add your salt and pepper, stir, (see notes). Serve with eggplant lentil bolognese!

NOTES: do not salt until you are almost ready to serve, as the salt will draw out liquid from the mushrooms and you will end up with a pan full of brown water instead of purple creamy goodness!

CHIM-CHIM-CHURRI

LASDI© (photo cred: Adrian Garcia)

Sunday evenings are usually reserved at Garcia Manor. Not always, but we really try to make them our ‘sanctuary’ nights. That can mean hunkering down and resting from the previous week, being productive to get ready for the upcoming week, movie night, catch-up-on-our-shows night, Sunday Supper with pomp-and-circumstance, leftovers on paper plates – any and all of that is acceptable! Most times it means reward night for me! Being the low-carb girl and as-healthy-as-I-can girl when it comes to food, I like to reward myself with something I wouldn’t normally eat. I don’t believe in “cheat days”. Think about it. If you went to your partner and told them you cheated, how do you think they would react? But if you went to them and said, “You’ve been so good to me. I’d like to reward you today!”, don’t you think you would get a completely different reaction? That’s how I feel about my relationship with food and my body. I do the best I can by it, and so sometimes I reward myself with something special!

This reward was on a Sunday evening, so it was the best of two worlds! I don’t eat red meat a lot, but I luh-huh-huuuuv it. I went with a Latin Fusion and made flank steak (grilled, so it was perfect for this hot Texas June summer!), squashed red potatoes, and baked plantains. But let me tell you about the best piece to this reward puzzle: home-made CHIMICHURRI SAUCE! It. Was. MAGICAL!!!!

It made perfect sense to me that the name of it sounded very similar to the song Mary Poppins sings in the magical movie!

Chim chiminey

Chim chiminey

Chim chim cher-ee!

A sweep is as lucky

As lucky can be

Well, it was a full sweep for me, and I was definitely the lucky one!

The magnificence of this condiment is that it not only tastes great on steak or potatoes or with baked plantains, it goes with EVERYTHING. Eggs, shrimp, chicken……the list goes on and on!

So, She-Peeps – REWARD YOURSELVES. May it be ever magical.

CHIMICHURRI SAUCE

1 cup parsley

1 cup cilantro

1 jalapeno pepper, seeded

1 full bulb of garlic (Yep. The whole thing)

½ onion

½ cup fresh oregano

½ tsp sea salt

½ cup red wine vinegar

½ cup extra virgin olive oil (evoo)

Put all ingredients into a blender and jush! That’s it! Add more red wine vinegar or evoo as needed, or if it seems a tad too dry as you’re blending. But only a little at a time! Remember: you can always add, but you can’t take away!

I don’t think there will be any, but you can keep any leftovers in a tight-seal container in the fridge for up to a week or freeze it in some ice cube trays to just pop them out when needed!!

YOU SAY POTATO

LASDI©

It's been COLD in Texas!  Said practically no one ever.  Nonetheless, cold it has been.  And of course, there is nothing better than hot soup to warm your bones on cold nights.

It was Sunday and the week had been so busy that I had not planned out our Sunday Supper.  GASP!  I only gasp so dramatically because Sunday is carbs-allowed day and I had not planned accordingly!  

So of course, I rummaged through my pantry and fridge to see what I could drum up. 

This was fast, easy, delicious, and a carb-loaded reward.  And it was even better the next day for The Hubster's lunch!  

LOADED BAKED POTATO SOUP

4 large potatoes, scrubbed and chopped into 1-inch cubes

4 tbs extra virgin olive oil (evoo)

1 tsp sea salt

1 tbs black pepper

1 small onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 package bacon, chopped

1 tsp white wine

1-32 oz box chicken broth

1 1/2 cups sour cream

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

2 tsp white pepper

1 tbs butter

In a heavy pot (I use my cast iron Dutch oven!) on medium-high, heat evoo for about one minute and then add potatoes.  In a small frying pan (believe it or not, I use my tiny cast iron skillet!) heat onion, garlic, and bacon on medium-high heat for five minutes or until bacon is cooked through, stirring occasionally.  Remove from heat and add white wine.  Stir and scrape any "bits" from the bottom with a wooden spoon or spoonula and set aside. 

Meanwhile, stir potatoes and add sea salt and pepper.  Let them sit in the pot, untouched, for about five minutes or until crisp and brown on bottom.  Stir and add chicken broth, then bring to a boil.  Once boiling, add bacon mixture to the pot, lower the heat, cover and let simmer for thirty minutes.  Bring heat back up to medium and stir in sour cream, cheese, and white pepper.  Let cook another three minutes, stirring occasionally.  Remove from heat, add butter and let melt, then stir and serve.

NOTES: For garnish, you can sprinkle a little more shredded cheddar or some chopped chives on top.  This smelled so good that no garnish made it to the bowl before it was devoured!  For some crunch I added a few raw veggies and some rice crackers.  For a healthier take on this meal, I use organic ingredients and uncured bacon  But it is what it is.  And it is DELICIOUS!!

AHOY, MATEY!

SHE2016©

I wanted to dedicate this particular Sunday Supper to my March Madness and all things Irish-and-green month.  I cannot begin to tell you how happy The Hubster was that we brought a little gastro-pub into the house!  I made Guinness-battered fish and chips with a side of slaw and Guinness beer bread with honey butter, a Pot O'Gold cocktails, and Guinness sticky pudding cake.  (Starting to see a theme here?)  

Let me just tell you how easy the fish-part of the fish and chips was:  EEEEEEE-Z!  I have included the recipe for you below.  Take a few minutes to cook this up - it is worth it times a thousand!!

GUINNESS BEER-BATTERED FISH

4 cups high-heat oil for frying, like canola

6 - 8 white fish filets (I use cod)

1 tbs sea salt

1 tbs white pepper

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 tbs garlic powder

2 tbs paprika

1 egg, beaten

12 oz Guinness

Heat oil in a heavy pot or deep fryer (I use my cast-iron Dutch oven, of course!) to 370-375 degrees. Rinse your fish, and pat dry with a paper towel.  Season both sides with sea salt and pepper.  Combine flour, and other seasonings.  Stir egg into dry ingredients, and then gradually mix in beer until a thin batter is formed. You should be able to see the fish through the batter after it has been dipped.  Dip fish fillets into the batter, then drop one at a time into hot oil. Fry until brown on the bottom side, then flip once until brown on the opposite side.  Drain on a cooling rack with paper towel underneath.  Serve with seasoned potato wedges and cole-slaw for an authentic gastro pub feel.

NOTES:   I use organic canola oil, but any high-heat oil will do.  It helps to sprinkle a little sea salt on the filets once they come out of the oil.  A little malt vinegar on top doesn't hurt, either.  Oh, my Guinness!!  (See what I did just there?)

PASTA LOVE

SHE2016©

It is a Leap Year so we got an extra day in February!  So because this was the last Sunday in February I had to make sure it was a Sunday Supper of Love to remember!  I decided - even as the Low-Carb Girl in the house - to go all out and make The Hubster home-made pasta!  I topped it with chicken Parmesan and made a side of squash stacks of eggplant, yellow squash, and zucchini, and some lovely garlic knots.  I finished it off with almond-liquor raspberry-topped cheesecake and a Bishop Burgundy cocktail.  It was nothing short of amazing, but was still pretty easy!  Who would you like to show some love to?  The way to the heart is through the stomach, no?  

SHE2016©

FAST & EASY HOME-MADE PASTA

3 large eggs
1/4 teaspoon salt
a pinch of black pepper
1/2 teaspoon olive oil
1 cup flour

Add the eggs, salt, pepper, and olive oil to a food processor fit with the blade attachment, and pulse two or three times.  Add half the flour, and pulse until it is absorbed into the eggs and you have a bit of a paste. Add the rest of the flour, and continue to run the blade until you see a ball-shaped mass of flour and eggs bouncing around the processor. If the dough is still too sticky to the touch, add an extra tablespoon of flour. If it's a bit dry, then add a little water as needed.  Take the pasta dough out and roll/shape according to what you're looking to accomplish with your dish.  For us this time around, it was fettuccine-shaped with marinara sauce.  I cooked it in the sauce for about five minutes, as fresh pasta takes a lot less time to cook.  And it was incredible.

NOTES: Carbs doesn't mean unclean in my house.  I still use organic ingredients, including the flour and olive oil.  I really do believe in this particular case, it makes for a better-tasting pasta.  Happy eating! 

OOPSIE, I DID IT AGAIN!

SHE2016©

This was a Sunday supper that was a bit different - but it was still DELICIOUS!  We were taking a meal train meal over to our friend's house that just had a baby - BUT!  They are on the Atkins diet so there were exact specifications for what they could and could not eat.  Well, I LOVE A GOOD CHALLENGE!!  So I made meatloaf from ground turkey, ground chicken, and ground sirloin with a sour cream paprika gravy, cauliflower (non-mac) and cheese, collard greens, a gorgeous salad with home-made apple cider vinegar dressing, oopsie bread and coconut macaroons for dessert!  WOO!  Below I've given you the OOPSIE recipe.  This is extremely bread-like and wonderful.  Just make sure to add only a DASH of salt - trust me on this one!  Low-carber's DREAM!

OOPSIE BREAD

3 egg yolks

3 tbs cream cheese

1 sachet sweetener (I use Stevia)

pinch of salt

3 egg whites

1/8 tsp cream of tartar

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Whisk egg yolks, cream cheese, sweetener and (just a pinch of!) salt in a bowl until well blended.
In another clean bowl, beat egg whites until foamy, then add in cream of tartar and beat on high speed until stiff peaks form.  Gently fold in the egg whites to the egg yolk mixture until just blended, be very careful not to break the egg whites down. Fill the batter into a greased 6-cup muffin top pan.  Bake in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes.  

NOTES: If you are making these to be savory (for burgers) you can add dry mustard or dill or other any other seasonings (just no more salt!) to the yolk mixture.  If you want a more sweet roll, add a very small amount of stevia or other  natural sweetener to the yolk mixture.  I double the recipe and bake in a muffin tin with the extra-large cups so that I can use for turkey burgers.  Once you store your oopsies, they can be frozen!

THE THIGHS HAVE IT

This image is © 2015 by Life As She Does It. Please link back or credit if any content or images are used.

This colorful and tasty Sunday Supper was perfect for the fall transition!  I had some apples and a couple of peaches just about on their last leg, and half a cauliflower head.  So I got some delectable chicken thighs and created an autumnal appetition of chicken thighs with pan au jus, sauteed apples, and au gratin faux-tatoes, and finished it off with a peach upside-down cake!  OhmuhGAH!!  I.  Can't.  EVEN!!

FRESH THYME CHICKEN THIGHS

1 pkg chicken thighs

sea salt

pepper

6 tbs fresh thyme

extra virgin olive oil (evoo)

Season chicken thighs with sea salt, pepper, and thyme.  In a heavy pan (I use my cast-iron, of course!) sprinkle enough evoo to cover the bottom of the pan and heat on medium-high heat for two minutes.  Add chicken thighs to pan, top-side-down to get a beautiful sear on them.  Cook for two minutes before turning heat to medium.  Cook another six minutes on same side and then turn.  Cook eight minutes on bottom side and remove chicken thighs from pan and let rest.

NOTES:  Remember not to overcrowd your pan or you will not get the brown color you are looking for here.

PAN Au JUS

drippings from chicken thighs

1/2 red onion, diced finely

1 cup broth of your choice (but chicken broth works best here, for obvious reasons)

sea salt 

pepper

1 tsp fresh thyme

1 tbs butter

Using the same pan the chicken was cooked in, keep heat on medium and add to the drippings the onion.  Cook for three minutes and add broth, scraping all the meaty bits from the bottom of a pan with a wooden spoon.  Add sea salt and pepper to taste, and then add thyme.  Bring to a slow boil, stirring constantly, and remove from heat.  Add butter and stir until melted.  Serve over chicken thighs

SAUTEED APPLES

6 apples, peeled, cored, and sliced into about 1/2-inch chunks

2 tbs extra virgin olive oil (evoo)

4 tbs butter

1/2 tsp ground clove

1/2 tsp sea salt

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp pepper

In a pan on medium heat, add apples to evoo and butter and cook for two minutes.  Add seasoning and cook an addition five minutes.  Serve with chicken thighs and pan au jus.  And then wipe your eyes, because this WILL make you cry a little.  It's THAT GOOD.

Au GRATIN FAUX-TATOES

1/2 head cauliflower, chopped into bite-sized chunks

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 cup heavy cream

sea salt, to taste

pepper, to taste

1 tbs mustard powder

1 tbs garlic powder

Combine all ingredients into a prepared baking dish and mix well.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  Serve alongside chicken-thighs-over-apples.  

This image is © 2015 by Life As She Does It. Please link back or credit if any content or images are used.

PEACH UPSIDE-DOWN CAKE

I got this AMAHZ recipe HERE

NOTES:  You're welcome.  ;-)