Hello Friends! A few weeks ago I was looking for a yummy lunch for my husband and I. I try and sneak as many veggies into his food that I can. When we married he ate salad, green beans, carrots and corn as his only "veggies." I knew I needed to help him add some more things and now he eats several things but it has taken some creativity on my part. In the end this process has increased my veggie intake, made cooking more adventurous and been a fun challenge. I want to blog some of my recipe adventures for you and here's my first go. Note I am not a chef, and I am not a professional recipe writer but I included what I would think would be needed to recreate this.
So recently I went to The Cheesecake Factory and found on their small plates menu lettuce wraps. I've never been big into lettuce wraps but let me tell you go and get the "Mexican" ones. You won't be sorry. I tried googling for a make it at home recipe and I haven't found one. This isn't one either...but it is a yummy lettuce wrap option if your craving something like that.
What you need:1 clove of garlic (not pictured)
1/2 large onion
2 mild chicken sausage
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon of cumin
garlic, salt, pepper to taste
2 cups cooked quinoa
1 small zucchini (the one pictures is a bigger one... I used 1/2)
1/2 cup frozen corn
1 cup frozen sweet potato
Butter lettuce leaves (not pictured)
I use mostly organic or green wise options but we have only been big on that for the last year or so. I'm still switching things like my spices and such. We didn't want to be wasteful but we do want to be healthy. We do find it more expensive and one way we get around this is using frozen veggies and going to farmers markets when we can. The only one in town is on Saturday mornings and the last 6 Saturdays I have either been out of town or busy with something else that didn't permit shopping locally. So frozen it has been. If you live alone or are a small family of 2 this is a great way to add veggies and not be wasteful with things going bad.
I failed to capture the step by step pictures that an expert blogger would but I will see what I can do in the future. I start by chopping the onion so its ready to go. Cue the tears. Once I'm done having a good cry I set the onion aside. I put oil and 1 clove worth of garlic in a skillet on medium heat. I do not use fresh garlic but I use minced organic garlic in a jar. You are welcome to use whatever makes you happy. Saute chopped onion and sweet potato together in the olive oil/garlic goodness. During this process have quinoa cooking. You can do this via stove top or microwave depending on your multitasking skills. I just follow the directions on the bag and I really enjoy the multicolored version from Trader Joe's. If I don't have this on hand I have substituted with Risotto which is really good! Ok back to the directions...
Remove the sausage from the casing and break it up as it cooks. Once cooked stir in zucchini, corn and spices. Cook another 3-4 minutes. When everything looks nicely melded together its done. If it looks raw, veggies are still frozen keep going. If you stir every once and a while I've found its good about not burning. I wish technology could allow you to smell the goodness that this is. OH gosh it smelled great. Listen don't skip on the Chili powder. It's not hot it just makes it all perfectly yummy.
Add in quinoa to warm it through. Spoon into butter lettuce leaves. It may look like this:
My husband and I both thought it was delicious. A great adventure of simply throwing things together to see what came out. Necessity is the mother of invention. New easy go to dinner/ lunch/leftover redo option in our house.
I hope you enjoyed this recipe. Have anything to add? Comment below.
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Recipe without the commentary:
2 tablespoons of Olive Oil
1 clove of garlic (not pictured)
1/2 large onion
2 mild chicken sausage
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon of cumin
garlic, salt, pepper to taste
2 cups cooked quinoa
1 small zucchini
1/2 cup frozen corn
1 cup frozen sweet potato
Butter lettuce leaves (not pictured )
Directions:
Chop onion. Put oil and 1 clove worth of garlic in a skillet. Saute chopped onion and sweet potato together. During this process have quinoa cooking. You can do this via stove top or microwave depending on your multitasking skills. I just follow the directions on the bag. Remove the sausage from the casing and break it up as it cooks. Once cooked stir in zucchini, corn and spices. Cook another 3-4 minutes. Add in quinoa to warm it through. Spoon into butter lettuce leaves
Substitutions:
I've made this dish in many ways. The key ingredient is the chili powder. I've switched out veggies including frozen butternut squash, peas, kale and broccoli. I try and use what I have on hand. Also can switch quinoa for risotto.
Serves:
1 wife and 1 hungry husband
(maybe 3 if you ate small portions but my husband eats twice what I do). To make it bigger just make more quinoa and add a little more of each of the veggies and another sausage.... or more if you need a lot. You really can't mess this up unless you burn it and even then it may taste pretty ok.
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