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Make-ahead meatballs

This recipe is my secret for the endless potlucks during the Holidays. These are easy to make, store, and reheat. People will be wondering how you’re able to spawn these delicious meatballs at the drop of a hat when they unexpectedly pop by for an early Thanksgiving dinner.

Ingredients:

  • 3 pounds of 90% lean ground beef
  • 1.5 cups of Italian breadcrumbs
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 tablespoon of salt
  • 1 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
  • 1 teaspoon of chili powder
  • 1 teaspoon of black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon of Garlic powder
  • Half a cup of minced fresh onions
  • 1 teaspoon of parsley

Tip:

  • Use your hands when mixing to achieve the best results. Get in there.
  • Let them cool and put them in the freezer to eat at a later time!

How to serve:

  • You can serve these with marinara sauce and spaghetti as spaghetti and meatballs.
  • Throw some cranberry sauce on them and put some toothpicks in for a delightful appetizer.
  • Just eat them as they are.

Directions:

  • Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
  • Chop/mince the onions.
  • In a large mixing bowl, mix everything together evenly.
  • Form 1.25 inch balls and put them in a greased cookie sheet.
  • Pop them in the oven for 10 minutes.
  • Turn the cookie sheet and bake for another 10 minutes.
  • Take them out and let them cool for 10 minutes to enjoy now!
  • Or let them cool completely and put them in your freezer for later

To reheat:

  • Take them out to thaw in your refrigerator the night before.
  • Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
  • Put the meatballs on a greased cookie sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes.
  • Ready to serve.

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Cucumber fried rice

My mom used to make this braised cucumber dish, with fermented black beans and garlic. It’s one of my all-time favorite dishes. In college, I came up with the idea of putting this type of cucumber into rice and now I never make fried rice any other way!

Ingredients:

  • Half of an English cucumber
  • 1/2 cup or cooked white rice
  • Two eggs
  • 1 thin carrot
  • 1/4 of a yellow onion
  • 3 mushrooms
  • Garlic
  • 2 tablespoons of cooked ground pork (optional)
  • Salt
  • 1 – 2 tablespoons soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon of fermented black beans
  • 1 tablespoon of Laoganma hot sauce

Tips:

  • I often will not have very exact ingredients for this dish so the amount of each ingredient can absolutely be adjusted based on preference.
  • Microwave your leftover white rice with a bit of water before putting it into the pan is a super useful method to make sure the rice softens.

How to serve:

  • By itself or with anything else.

Directions:

  • Dice the carrot, yellow onion, mushrooms, cucumber.
  • Mince the garlic.
  • Beat the two eggs.
  • In a wok or pan, heat up canola oil.
  • Place the ground pork in with salt and soy sauce; cook until no more juice and you see a little bit of char; set aside.
  • In the same pan, heat up a bit more canola oil.
  • Add in the fermented beans and cook until fragrant.
  • Add in the minced garlic and cucumber; cook for 1 minute.
  • Add the carrots and cook for another minute.
  • Add the onions and stir-fry the mixture for 5 minutes.
  • Add in mushrooms, salt and soy sauce and cook the mixture until fragrant.
  • Add the ground pork and rice into the pan.
  • Use your spatula to soften the rice and mix well with the rest of the ingredients.
  • Make a hole in the middle of the pan and add in the beaten eggs.
  • Scramble the eggs in the middle and then mix with the rest of the ingredients.
  • Add more salt and soy sauce to taste.
  • Add one tablespoon of Laoganma oil to the mixture and mix well.
  • Ready to serve.


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Roasted rack of lamb with rosemary

You can do a lot of things with lamb: cumin stir-fry, skewers (Chinese or Greek style), grilled steaks of lamb, braised leg of lamb etc. But I think oven-roasted rack of lamb has the least amount of fuss and ingredients!

Things you’ll need:

  • 2 racks of lamb
  • Lots of rosemary
  • Garlic
  • Olive oil
  • Sat and pepper

Tips:

  • Make sure you have enough ingredients to cover the entire racks of lamb. Don’t skimp!
  • Definitely try to use fresh rosemary; dried rosemary works but you won’t get that amazing aroma.
  • This recipe also works very well grilled and can be quite the crowd pleaser at summer BBQs.

How to serve:

  • I love to eat this dish with sliced and lightly seared zucchini.
  • Rice pilaf or even mashed potatoes work very well too!

Directions:

  • Chop and mince garlic and rosemary; put them in a bowl with olive oil.
  • Trim the fat on the lamb until it’s the desired thickness of fat; there will be a lot of fat, so be patient and use a small, sharp knife.
  • Rub the garlic/rosemary/olive oil mixture all over the two racks of lamb generously. If you run out of mixture, make more!
  • Marinate for 1 hour; overnight is best.
  • Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
  • Put the racks of lamb in the oven fat side up.
  • Roast for about 15 minutes; rotate your baking sheet and bake for another 15 minutes.
  • Take your lamb out and rest for 15 minutes.
  • Use a meat-carving knife and cut alongside each bone.
  • Ready to serve.

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Tuscan chicken

This is a personal fave! I made this dish a lot when I was on Keto since it’s a great way to consume a lot of fat. But I like it so much that I still make it often even though I’m no longer Keto. (Shout out to my work pal, who’s doing great on her 30 day Keto challenge!)

Ingredients:

  • 4 chicken thighs (skin on)
  • 1 cup of heavy whipping cream
  • 1 cup of water
  • Salt and pepper
  • Garlic powder
  • Chili powder
  • 2 shallots
  • Garlic
  • 1 roma tomato
  • 1 tablespoon of butter
  • 1 tablespoon of canola oil
  • 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese
  • Parsley for garnish

Tips:

  • I used chili powder for a bit of a kick! Cayenne pepper or paprika work quite well as well.
  • The amount of heavy whipping cream can be adjusted; for a very creamy texture, you can use 2 cups of heavy whipping cream instead of just 1 cup. If you do that, you can scratch the water.
  • USE A CAST IRON.
  • Make sure the cast iron is not too-too hot; heat it up slowly on medium heat.

How to serve:

  • Fettuccini or Zoodles

Directions:

  • Pat the chicken thighs very dry.
  • Season the chicken thighs generously with salt, pepper and garlic powder.
  • Heat up canola oil in a cast iron on medium heat.
  • Place the chicken thighs into the cast iron, skin side down; it’s fine if they touch.
  • Cook for at least 15 minutes on medium heat.
  • Mince the garlic and shallots.
  • Dice the Roma tomato.
  • Once the skin is crispy and brown, flip the thighs and cook for another 15 minutes.
  • Take the chicken thighs out and set them aside on a plate.
  • In the same cast iron, throw in minced garlic and shallots. Cook until fragrant.
  • Throw in the Roma tomato and cook for 2 minutes.
  • Add the cream, water, salt, pepper, and chili powder and bring the mixture to a simmer.
  • Add in the Parmesan cheese.
  • Place the chicken thighs back into the cast iron on top of the mixture.
  • Simmer for another 10 minutes.
  • Melt the butter into the mixture.
  • Add more salt, pepper, chili powder to taste.
  • Garnish with parsley.
  • Ready to serve.


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Butter chicken (with veggies)

I love this dish because I feel comfortable making it on a weeknight with very little fuss and cleaning. There is no marinating or prep beforehand; you just come home and make it.

Ingredients:

  • 2 chicken breasts
  • 1 small cauliflower
  • 2 small carrots
  • 6 tablespoons of butter
  • 1 cup of heavy whipping cream
  • 1 cup of water
  • 1 shallot
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1 teaspoon of Cumin
  • 1 tablespoon of Brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon of Cayenne pepper
  • 1 tablespoon of Garam Marsala
  • 1 teaspoon of Indian chili
  • 1 teaspoon of Yellow curry powder
  • Garlic
  • Ginger
  • 1 small can of tomato sauce
  • Fresh or dry parsley

Tips:

  • Chicken thigh meat also works for this recipe. I like using chicken breast because the sauce is already quite fatty.
  • Feel free to substitute the veggies with any other veggies that you enjoy (eggplant, bell peppers, potatoes etc. will all go well)!
  • Searing the chicken in batches helps brown every single piece; if you are not picky about the chicken’s texture, you can also feel free to stir fry it.

How to serve:

  • This dish is best served with Naan or basmati rice.
  • Jasmine rice will also work.

Directions:

  • Cut the chicken breast into 1-inch big.
  • Cut the cauliflower into florets.
  • Dice the shallots.
  • Cut the carrots into 1-inch big.
  • Mince the garlic and ginger.
  • Toss the chicken breast in salt, pepper, Indian chili
  • Heat 2 tablespoons of butter in a pan.
  • Place the chicken piece by piece into the pan; work in batches if you want that nice brown searing. Place the half-cooked chicken in a bowl and set aside.
  • Place your vegetables into the same pan and stir fry until cooked. Place the cooked vegetables in a bowl and set aside.
  • Heat another 2 tablespoons of butter in the same pan.
  • Put in the diced shallots and cook til fragrant.
  • Add the garlic, ginger, garam marsala, cumin, cayenne pepper, Indian chili, Yellow curry powder and cook until fragrant.
  • Add in the 1 can of tomato sauce and cook until a little bit bubbly.
  • Add in the 1 cup of cream and cook until a bit bubbly again.
  • Add in 1 cup of water and bring the whole mixture to a simmer.
  • Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter in.
  • Add some brown sugar and more of the spices based on preference.
  • Simmer the mixture for 15-30 minutes, depending on how thick you like your sauce.
  • Ready to serve.

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Braised Pork Belly

All cooks who consider themselves decent at cooking Chinese food will probably all have their own way of making this dish. It’s a classic cook-by-feeling type of dish.

Ingredients

  • Two strips of pork belly
  • 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil
  • Salt and white ground pepper to taste
  • 3 tablespoons of brown sugar
  • 4 tablespoons of low sodium soy sauce
  • 1/3 cup of rice wine
  • 1/2 tablespoons of corn starch
  • 3 star anise
  • 5 Red chili peppers (the dry kind)
  • 1 inch of ginger, chopped
  • 1 head of garlic, smashed
  • 2 stalks of green onions
  • 1 tablespoon of LaoGanMa

Tips:

  • The amounts of each flavoring ingredients are all up to you; I like to go by the smell!
  • The most important ingredient in this dish is time; so be patient. The longer you cook it, the more tender and soft it will be. If you like your meat to have more texture and structure, cook it for shorter.
  • You can use leaner pork for this recipe if you’re not a huge fat fan.
  • Do not skimp on the ginger or garlic.

How to serve:

  • This dish is best served over Jasmine white rice.

Directions:

  • In a large shallow pot, bring water to boil; estimate for it to be 1 inch above the pork belly
  • Place 1/2 stalk of green onions, 2 small slices of ginger and pork belly into the pot and boil for 2-3 minutes
  • Skim the top of the pot; this will get rid of all the impurities
  • Strain the pork belly and set aside the liquid
  • Rinse and wipe down the original shallow pot
  • Heat up the pot over low heat and add the brown sugar and vegetable oil; cook until the sugar and the oil completely mixes together and the mixture is a gold brown color
  • GENTLY place the pork belly one by one into the pot; the oil will splash so be very careful
  • Turn up the fire to medium and coat the pork belly evenly for about 2 minutes
  • Add the low sodium soy sauce, corn starch, star anise, red chili peppers, ginger, garlic, the other stalk of green onions, and laoganma; cook for 3-4 minutes
  • Add 2 cups of the blanching liquid that you set aside
  • Bring the mixture to a boil and then lower the heat to medium-low
  • Put the lid back on and simmer for 2 hours; stir occasionally
  • Uncover the lid and cook for 15 minutes until most of the liquid has evaporated; stir occasionally 
  • Garnish with more chopped green onions (optional)
  • Ready to serve

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Parmesan zucchini chips

When I was on keto, I made a lot of these types of snacks. I love that a muffin pan can make way more things than muffins.

These Parmesan Zucchini chips are a great snack.

Here’s what I used:

  • Parmesan cheese (finely shredded)
  • 1 zucchini (diced into cubes)
  • Salt (to taste)
  • Pepper (to taste)
  • Paprika (to taste)
  • Olive oil

Tips:

  • You’ll need a muffin pan
  • Use as much cheese as you want to make as many chips as you want

How to serve:

  • As chips!

Directions:

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees
  • Oil your muffin pan with olive oil.
  • Add enough shredded Parmesan in each cup until the bottom of the cup is 80% covered
  • Place three cubes of zucchini in each cup
  • Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and paprika
  • Bake in the oven for 15 minutes until Parmesan is browned and hardened
  • After taking the muffin pan out of the oven, let it cool for 5-7 minutes
  • Use a spoon to loosen the chips to take them out
  • Ready to serve

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Simple chicken adobo

Cooking is like one of those things for me. I can never be tired of it. And the more I cook, the more I seem to want to cook. I love that I found it and it found me.

I chose something simple for today – Chicken Adobo.

Here’s what I used:

  • 6 chicken drumsticks
  • 5 cloves of garlic (smashed)
  • 4 tablespoons of low sodium soy sauce 
  • 3 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar 
  • 4 bay leaves
  • 1 tablespoon of canola oil
  • 1/2 cup of water
  • 1 shallot (chopped)

Tips:

  • I keep the skin on the drumsticks for more fatty flavor, but you can do this recipe with skin off as well. 
  • A clove of garlic is one off of the entire head of garlic.
  • I used part of the soy sauce/vinegar when marinating and then more of them when cooking.
  • I like to break apart my bay leaves (not into too many pieces) so the flavor becomes more spread out.

How to serve:

  • This dish is best served over rice. 
  • This recipe can probably feed 2-3 people.
  • I like to roast some hearty vegetables (eggplant, zucchini) to go with this dish.

Directions:

  • Make sure the chicken is fully defrosted.
  • Put the chicken drumsticks into a mixing bowl and marinate it with 3 tablespoons of low sodium soy sauce, 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar, the smashed garlic, and 2 bay leaves.
  • Marinate the chicken for at least 1 hour
  • Heat up 1 tablespoon of canola oil in a pot.
  • Place the marinated chicken into the pot on medium-high heat for 5-7 minutes.
  • Add the 1/2 cup of water and bring it to a boil.
  • Add the rest of soy sauce and apple cider vinegar.
  • Add the chopped shallots and turn the fire to medium-low
  • Cap the pot and simmer for at least 45 minutes.
  • Add more bay leaves if you wish.
  • Ready to serve.