10 Minute Lunches, Main Dishes, Recipes, Sandwiches and Wraps

10 Minute Lunch #2: Avocado Egg Salad

Sarah

Judging my the comments and messages I’ve received regarding my first 10 Minute Lunch post about Fried Eggs on Pesto ParmesanĀ Toast, it seems that there are lots of us who want quick, tasty, non-boring lunches. Some need packable lunches, others, not so much. My latest take on egg salad [and I just realized as I typed ‘egg’ that this is the second 10 Minute Lunch that features eggs… totally unintentional] is packable but of course can also be enjoyed at home. I was inspired to try Avocado Egg Salad by a post on We Are Not Martha, but was a) too lazy and rushed to look up the recipe as I was making my lunch right before I needed to leave and b) had a slight recollection that their recipe called for many more eggs than I had hard boiled the night before. So, alas–I just took the idea and ran with it.

Avocado Egg Salad is like regular egg salad… but it’s not. It’s creamier and smoother thanks to the avocado [duh] but still has a bit of tang from the mayo. I want to try it with Greek yogurt instead of mayo, but I didn’t have any plain on hand at the time. Unlike other egg salads, this one doesn’t incorporate tons of herbs or spices, just a sprinkling of lemon pepper for a little kick. It was a delicious new take on egg salad that rocked my Monday lunch. Hope you love it too!

In the spirit of full disclaimer, I must admit that this is not truly a “10 Minute Lunch” because it takes longer than 10 minutes to hard boil the eggs. But… simply prepare them the night before, as you’re eating breakfast, or getting ready, then pop them in the fridge. When lunchtime comes around, you’ll be good to go!

Avocado Egg Salad

Ingredients:

  • 2 slices wheat bread, or crackers for serving
  • 2 hard boiled eggs
  • 1/6 of an avocado
  • 1 tablespoon mayonnaise or plain Greek yogurt
  • lemon pepper
  • romaine lettuce

Non-directions:

  • Toast bread lightly in toaster, if desired.
  • Peel eggs and place them in a small bowl, then roughly chop them.
  • Add avocado and mayonnaise, then mash well with a fork.
  • Add a pinch of lemon pepper and stir to combine.
  • Top one slice of bread with lettuce, and load the other slice with egg salad, put together and enjoy!

Time: 10 minutes or less, not including time to hard boil eggs.

Yield: 1 delicious lunch.

Main Dishes, Recipes, Soups

Spicy Sausage, Chicken, and Bean Stew

Sarah

Sometimes Ben has gets to eat tofu. [Dinner tonight!! Yum.] I am very fortunate that he is such a willing eater. Ben will try just about anything once. But of course, being the good wife that I am, I don’t want to take [too much] advantage of his easygoing nature. And in order to reward him, sometimes I make man meals. You know what I’m talking about… the kind of dinners most ladies would never request but will eat once in awhile to make a special someone happy. Those sort of meals. Mhmmm. Not exactly a special Valentine’s dinner, but definitely a “love your guy” kind of dinner.

One of the latest in our world is this hearty, meaty, thick stew. Spicy Sausage, Chicken, and Bean Stew has tons of meatyness thanks to hot Italian sausage and flavorful chicken thighs [use boneless, skinless chicken thighs to make it easier and to cut down on the fat], but still plenty of healthy stuff like celery, carrots, tomatoes, and potatoes to make me happy, as well as a plethora of herbs to add depth of flavor. Though I made this dish with Ben in mind, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it too. Don’t worry about the spicy factor either–this is one dish that did not “spice me out!” If you want a spicier stew, I would up the cayenne pepper or add a little hot sauce. This stew makes a ton so be prepared for a few days of leftovers. It also freezes well!

Spicy Sausage, Chicken, and Bean Stew [adapted from Rachael Ray’s just in time!]
click to print

Ingredients:

  • 12 ounces ground hot Italian sausage
  • 1 pound boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into chunks
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • 4 celery ribs, diced
  • 3 medium white potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1-2 inch pieces
  • 2 medium carrots, scrubbed and shredded
  • 1/2 large red onion, diced
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 cup dry white wine
  • 15 ounces chicken broth
  • 28 ounces crushed tomatoes
  • 15 ounces cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1 teaspoon dried sage
  • 1 teaspoon dried parsley
  • pinch cayenne pepper

Directions:

Heat a large stockpot over medium heat, add Italian sausage and begin to cook, crumbling into large pieces. When fat starts to render, after about 2 minutes, add chicken and stir to incorporate. Season to taste with black pepper. Cook the chicken on each side for about 2-3 minutes until it starts to brown. When chicken is fully cooked, add celery, potatoes, carrots, onion and bay leaf. Cook for another 7-8 minutes to soften the veggies. Then pour in the wine and stir to deglaze the pan. Lastly, stir in broth, tomatoes, beans, thyme, sage, parsley, and cayenne pepper. Cover and bring to a boil, then cook for 10-15 minutes, remove bay leaf and serve.

Time: 40 minutes.

Yield: 8 servings.

Menu Plans

Menu Plan

Sarah

Week of February 13
Monday: tofu bowls
Tuesday: [surprise] Valentine’s Day meal for Ben šŸ™‚ every year we swap anniversary & Valentine’s celebrations…this year is my turn for Valentine’s Day and I have a great theme dinner in the works!
Wednesday: at class… Ben fends for himself.
Thursday: tortellini soup
Friday: homemade pizza
Saturday: leftovers
Sunday: Lime-Soy Chicken

~~~
I got to hang out with two of my good friends from college yesterday, and had the best time! It was so fun to catch up on each other’s lives. One of the girls mentioned that she likes seeing my menu plans but always wonders how things turn out if I don’t blog about it or link to the recipe. So, I thought I’d start updating my old menu plans with links and also recap new recipes from the week before. Hope that’s helpful! šŸ™‚

In Review: Week of February 6

  • Potato Rosemary Soup–definitely will make again. Recipe to come.
  • Cincinnati Turkey Chili–pretty spicy, but Ben loved it. Recipe to come.
  • Both soups made a ton of leftovers so we ate these all week long along with other semi-random meals like chili nachos and eggs. Since we had colds this week, neither of us was very hungry. It was a strange week.
Guest Post Links

Green Monsters

Sarah

Come over to Today’s Housewife to check out my take on Green Monster smoothies [my favorite summer breakfast] and their cold-weather replacement, Green Monster Muffins… that even my spinach-fearing husband loved.

Here’s the link. šŸ™‚ Have a great Thursday!

Breakfast, Muffins, Recipes

Sunrise Muffins

Sarah

So, I know I only mentioned this once in passing, but January was my cookbook month. That is, I made a vow to not cook or bake from online sources during the month of January. Of course I posted recipes from online sources, but that’s only because they were things I had made previously and was just getting around to sharing. As a result, I got to know some of my cookbooks a bit better and also got to meet some new faces, thanks to my local library.

That sounded really cheesy. Sorry. I’m in library school, but I don’t have to sound like a PBS kids show, now do I?

Anyway.

A cookbook that caught my eye at the library one day was Allison Fishman‘s You Can Trust a Skinny Cook. I’m on my second renewal of this fantastic cookbook, and have tried several recipes so far. Everything has been great! But what I really love is that Allison’s food philosophy is so apparent throughout her book. This isn’t a diet cookbook like you might think from the title; it’s a balance cookbook. Allison is all about serving tasty, healthy, natural foods that aren’t “weird” or hard to find, but that are tasty to the point of “mmmm.” Works for me! I won’t get into more about Allison’s philosophy cause you should really check her cookbook out for yourself, especially if you’re an Ellie Krieger fan, but I did want to share one of my new favorite muffin recipes.

Sunrise Muffins. I wanted to make this recipe first thing after flipping through her cookbook, thanks to the uniqueness of the method: you put an entire orange, peel, pith, and fleshy-orange-goodness-all into a food processor or blender and churn away. This process lends not only amazing flavor to your breakfast, snack, dessert, or anytime creations, but natural food coloring as well! All the better, I think, since bright, colorful things make me happy.

And you all want me to be happy, right?

So try these muffins. I know I tell you to try everything, but this time… I really mean it. Best new recipe of 2012 in my book, right here. Enjoy!

Sunrise Muffins [from You Can Trust a Skinny Cook by Allison Fishman]
click to print

Ingredients:

  • 1 navel orange, scrubbed and dried, cut into eights
  • 1/2 cup orange juice
  • 1 egg
  • 1/4 cup canola oil
  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup sugar [original calls for 3/4 cup, but 1/2 cup is plenty]
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 cup dried cranberries

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare a 12 cup muffin tin with paper liners*. Add orange slices, orange juice, egg, and oil to a food processor [or blender], and pulse until smooth. In a medium bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, and baking soda. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture, then pour in orange mixture and stir until just combined. Fold in cranberries, then spoon into muffin cups. Fill each about 3/4 of the way full, and bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm.

Time: 35 minutes [10 minutes active].

Yield: *12 standard size muffins or 48 mini muffins [bake for 17-20 minutes].

Notes: I’ve also made these with 1/4 cup mini chocolate chips instead of the cranberries. Yes, that is a size difference but they were plenty chocolately for me.