Tag Archives: lemon

Homemade Stir Fry Sauce

I’ve been sharing a lot of stir fry recipes over the past few months. The great thing about making a stir fry is that you can put almost any vegetable in the pan, and it will taste good. This recipe is unique because I made my own stir fry sauce this time. I found this article on Food and Family detailing several different stir fry sauces. I thought both of the lemon sauces looked good, so I decided to try combining the recipes.

Lemon Stir Fry Sauce

I used an interesting combination of vegetables in this stir fry-pepper, carrots, celery, onion, and cabbage. Yum!

Lemon Stir Fry
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4
 
Ingredients
  • Juice of 3 lemons
  • Grated peel of 2 lemons
  • ½ cup chicken broth
  • 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, thinly sliced
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • ½ large onion, thinly sliced
  • 2 large carrots, thinly sliced
  • 3 stalks celery, thinly sliced
  • 2 bell peppers, thinly sliced
  • ½ large head of cabbage, thinly sliced
  • 2-3 tablespoons peanut oil
  • 2 cups cooked brown rice
Instructions
  1. Combine lemon juice and peel, chicken broth, soy sauce, sugar, and crushed red pepper flakes. Marinate the chicken breast in 1-2 tablespoons of the sauce while you chop the rest of the vegetables, about 15 minutes.
  2. Heat 1 tablespoon of peanut oil in wok or large skillet. Drain chicken, discarding marinade. Stir fry chicken and garlic until cooked through. Remove from wok.
  3. Add 1 tablespoon of oil to the wok. Add onion, carrots, and celery. Stir fry until they just start to soften.
  4. Add peppers and cabbage. Continue to stir fry until everything is tender crisp.
  5. Return chicken to the wok. Add reserved lemon sauce. Stir fry until everything is heated through.
  6. Serve over rice.

 

Turkey and Swiss Chard Casserole

Turkey and Swiss Chard CasseroleI haven’t made a casserole in a while. The time seemed right, now that the weather is turning colder. I found this recipe on Pinterest for Chicken and Kale Casserole from Delish.com and decided to try it. It is sort of a leftover turkey mock lasagna. The lemon really added a zing to this dish!

Turkey and Swiss Chard Casserole
Recipe type: Main
Serves: 6
 
Ingredients
  • ½ of a 12 ounce box whole wheat penne pasta
  • 3 tablespoons butter
  • 1 large bunch Swiss chard
  • 1 cup chopped onion
  • 3 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 2 cups cooked turkey, diced
  • 45 ounces part skim ricotta cheese
  • handful of fresh basil, thinly sliced
  • Finely grated rind of 2 lemons
  • ¾ cup shredded Parmesan cheese, divided
  • Course salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Separate chard stems from leaves. Thinly slice stems. Chop leaves.
  2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt water. Cook penne pasta according to package directions. Drain and return pasta to the pot.
  3. While pasta is cooking, melt butter in a large skillet. Saute chard stems, onion, and garlic until onion begins to soften. Add chard leaves, cover, and allow to simmer until the kale just begins to soften, about 5 minutes. Add to cooked pasta.
  4. Add turkey, ricotta, basil, lemon rind, ½ cup Parmesan, and salt and pepper to pasta, stir to combine. Spread in 13 X 9 pan. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake for 30 minutes, until golden brown.

Happy eating!

Ruth

Bonus Recipe-Zucchini Cake!

Zucchini CakeOur niece and her husband visited us last weekend to attend the Balloon Fiesta. Over the summer, she brought us a gigantic zucchini. I didn’t have time to cook it at the time, so I grated and froze it. I decided to use some of it for a dessert. I can always feel comfortable trying recipes out on them! Everyone thought this zucchini cake was, “So good!” so I am sharing this even though we didn’t get zucchini in our box this week. The base recipe I used for the cake came from allrecipes.com,with the addition of some dried cranberries.

Zucchini Cake with Lemon Frosting
Recipe type: Dessert
Prep time: 
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Serves: 9
 
Ingredients
  • 1½ cup flour
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • 1½ teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 egg plus 1 egg white
  • ½ cup vegetable oil
  • 1⅛ cup sugar
  • 1½ teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 cup grated zucchini
  • ½ cup chopped walnuts
  • ¼ cup dried cranberries
  • ⅓ cup butter, softened
  • 2¼ cup sifted powdered sugar
  • 1 tablespoon fresh grated lemon peel
  • 2-3 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a 9 X 9 pan.
  2. Combine flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon, set aside. I large mixing bowl, beat egg, oil, sugar, and vanilla. Add dry ingredients, beat well. Add zucchini, walnuts, and cranberries, stir to combine.
  3. Pour mixture into prepared pan. Bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes. Cool completely.
  4. Combine remaining ingredients. Beat until fluffy. Spread over cooled cake. Cut into squares.

If you are using frozen zucchini for this recipe, make sure to thaw and drain it well before using it in the batter.

Happy eating!

Ruth

More Pasta

tuna arugula pastaI didn’t realize until I started writing this post that I had scheduled two pasta dishes this week. Guess I have been craving comfort food, and pasta definitely is a comfort food! I started tonight’s pasta with this recipe from Simply Recipes. Rather than the hot spices, I decided to go with lemon instead. I wish I had used more lemon, but that might be a personal taste thing, so I am not going to adjust it in the recipe. If you really like lemon, you might want to double up on the lemon juice.

Tuna Arugula Pasta
Recipe type: Main
Prep time: 
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Serves: 4-6
 
Ingredients
  • 6 ounces whole wheat thin spaghetti
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil
  • 4 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 2-6 ounce cans tuna
  • 6 ounces arugula, cleaned and trimmed
  • Juice of 1 lemon
  • ¾ cup shredded parmesan cheese
Instructions
  1. Cook spaghetti according to package directions. Drain.
  2. While spaghetti cooks, heat oil in large skillet over medium high heat. Add garlic, saute until it just starts to brown. Add tuna and continue to cook, until the tuna is heated through.
  3. Add drained spaghetti and arugula to tuna mixture. Top with lemon juice and cheese. Toss to combine.

I’ve shared a couple of pasta dishes in a row. What do you put in your pasta?

Happy eating!

Ruth

Grilled Squash

grilled squashWhile our son is home from the Navy, I’ve been trying to show him that vegetables are easy to cook. We got a good supply of summer squash in our box this week-7 golden zucchini and 3 pan squash. I whipped up this grilled squash to serve as a side dish with grilled chicken. It was pretty bland, until I added some lemon juice which really improved the flavor.

Grilled Squash
Recipe type: Side
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4
 
Ingredients
  • 1 pound yellow summer squash, cut into bite sized pieces
  • ¼ cup fresh basil leaves, chopped
  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • 1-2 tablespoons lemon juice
Instructions
  1. Preheat grill and grill skillet.
  2. Combine squash, basil, and olive oil. Spoon onto the grill skillet. (Don't pour it in or you will have a huge flare up and burn the squash.) Grill squash until softened, stirring frequently.
  3. Remove squash from pan and place in bowl. Add lemon juice.

I realized tonight that I have grilled 4 of the last 5 nights. I love summer!

Happy eating!

Ruth