Portuguese Pork Stew with Spinach

Posted on March 22, 2011 by admin

Portugal has been known for its wonderful cuisine and great wines for centuries. I imagine Portugal’s proximity to the spice regions as well as its history (who the Portuguese conquered and who conquered them), vast exploration and trade explain many influences on its food, especially the spices used. This dish has very distinctive Moroccan influences. If we make it with clams (yes, clams) and chouriço or linguiçasausage it is uniquely Portuguese. This time, I’ve added Spinach to make it a more balanced meal for the kids.

Portuguese Pork Stew with Spinach

1 pound Pork shoulder or butt

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 yellow onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 red pepper (usually roasted but I felt like adding raw), chopped

1 tsp sweet paprika

1 tsp smoked paprika

6-8 threads of saffron

2 bay leaves

¼ cup white wine

1 ½ cups chicken broth

1 lg can tomatoes, chopped

handful parsley, chopped

handful cilantro, chopped

1 pack baby spinach, rinsed

salt and pepper to taste

You could also add potatoes and chickpeas to this dish.

Take the saffron threads and crush them in your fingers into a small amount of hot water, set aside. Over medium high heat brown the pork in olive oil and set aside. Sauté the onion for 2 minutes, add garlic and continue until onions are clear making sure you don’t brown the garlic. Add the paprika and stir for a minute before adding the pork and red pepper. Add saffron, wine, broth, bay leaves, and tomatoes. Bring to simmer, cover and reduce heat to low. Cook for 25 minutes and stir in herbs. Add spinach and continue to cook until wilted. Served over brown rice. It can be made in a slow cooker to cook for 6-8 hours if you prefer.

My youngest son was in a bad mood when he got to the table and initially refused to eat saying he wasn’t going to eat it because it was “yucky” but once he had cuddle from mommy and a taste he happily ate it. My middle son didn’t even make a fuss (he’s normally the one who complains when he sees dinner). My eldest was eager to try it and deemed it “delicious” when asked his opinion of the dinner.

Thai Red Curry

Posted on January 11, 2011 by admin

I had braised a pork roast for several hours in the oven to use half for pork tacos/burritos at my friend’s New Year’s Fiesta. We had the other half left over so my husband and I decided to turn it into a Thai Red Curry; it’s a great quick meal. The flavors are so wonderful, but you might have to be careful of the heat from the spices for kids.

Thai Pork Curry

1 tsp red curry paste (or more for added heat)

1 can coconut milk

1 onion, diced

2 carrots, diced

2 bell peppers, diced (orange, yellow, green and/or red) (we used frozen peppers)

1 Tbsp oil (canola, safflower, sunflower, grapeseed)

1 tsp fish sauce

Tbsp soy sauce

handful fresh cilantro, chopped (or 2 frozen cubes)

Heat oil and add paste. Stir over medium high heat for a minute then add vegetables and coconut milk. Bring to a boil and simmer on low for 5 minutes. Stir in fish sauce and soy sauce. Add pork. Simmer for another few minutes. Finish with cilantro and serve over jasmine or basmati rice.

You can substitute chicken, shrimp or fish for the pork. If you add raw meats/fish do so before the vegetables and make sure it’s cooked through.

We served it with a side of snow peas finished with sesame oil and soy sauce. All three of my kids loved it, though I did give some extra rice for my spice-sensitive middle son. My eldest wasn’t too fond of the peppers so he ate around them, but still declared the meal, “Delicious!”

I’ll post the braising and taco part later.

Another quick, last minute meal

Posted on September 23, 2010 by admin

I have way too many tomatoes right now so I keep using them in recipes. One confession to make: sometimes I end up throwing them into the compost. It’s not my preferred method of using them, but I just have too many for me to get to. So, today after putting in some time at the farm where we get our CSA I learnt that you can freeze tomatoes to use in sauce (ok, I just have never done it, nor thought that it would be that great) but I decided to go the other route— canning. I have bought some mason jars and other supplies. I remember making jam as a kid and preserving it, so if I could do it then, I’ll try it now.

In the meantime (I just bought the stuff today, give me a day or two), I made some salsa on one day and pizza with the tomatoes as base another. I also used some cherry tomatoes in a killer I-have-no-idea-what-I’m-making-for-dinner-now-because-I spent-too-much-time-chatting-on-the-playground-oh-yea-I-can-make-THIS-pasta. (I was going to make chicken gumbo, but that keeps getting pushed back due to time). I used to throw together these great chicken and pasta dishes that are like my version of stir-fry…whatever vegetables I have in stock that actually go together will go into the dish with chicken, garlic, basil and tomatoes. I try to make it with mushrooms, because they’re perfect here, but I had none.

I used a bit of kale, corn, broccoli, onions, zucchini, orange bell pepper, and carrots. Fussili pasta is perfect, but ziti or farfale will go nicely too. It takes 10 minutes to prepare and 10 minutes to cook (using chicken breast)— if you don’t have to interrupt for looking over kids’ homework or refereeing a squabble.

Chicken and Vegetable Pasta with Garlic and Tomatoes

Approx 1 pound chicken breast (or thighs), deboned, skinned and cut into 1-2 inch pieces (thighs take longer to cook)
2 cloves garlic
1/2 med onion or 2 shallots
10-15 cherry tomatoes, quartered or 2 large tomatoes, diced
handful of fresh basil, chopped
Tbsp fresh chopped parsley
cup chicken or vegetable stock
1/4-1/3 cup white wine
2 Tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
choice of fresh vegetables, chopped (spinach, beans, broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, peppers, carrots, corn, kale, chard, snow or snap peas, asparagus and/or mushrooms)

Put pasta on to cook according to instructions. While that’s cooking: sauté onions then garlic in pan. Add chicken and lightly brown on all sides, careful not to burn garlic. Add wine and stock. Cook for few minutes and add vegetables that take longest first (kale, carrots, peppers) then others (mushrooms, zucchini, broccoli, corn). While stirring, cook another couple of minutes then add herbs and tomatoes, salt and pepper. Mix gently and cook for 2 minutes until tomatoes are warm but not disintegrated. Toss pasta so well coated with sauce and veggies. Serve.

This is always a winner with my kids. Not everyone will like every vegetable each time, but it hardly ever elicits a protest because there’s pasta. It’s great to get rid of left over vegetables and perfect for lunch the following day. And, it uses up some of those tomatoes.

The tomatoes give it a fresh sweetness that goes so nicely with garlic, basil and pasta. You can also substitute shrimp for the chicken.

Chicken, Andouille and White Bean Stew

Posted on September 4, 2010 by admin

Wish I had more time— to write among other things! I tried writing this post last night near midnight after I had just finished filling out paperwork for my 6 year-old’s new school. One thing I loathe when they get back to school is all the papers that come home— flyers and notices. Last year all three were in the same school and I’d get everything in triplicate. Now a different school along with the original, different schedules (not even on the same holiday schedule which will be tricky!), different lunch programs (it’s tough navigating that without dealing with two different providers) and I’m sure more papers coming home. It takes up so much time— time to fill out, time to sort, time to throw away.

I was too tired to write last night and then today, when I finally got the chance, I got consumed by news of the earthquake in New Zealand where I have many loved ones. I am putting off laundry yet again to write… for those wondering how I find the time!

Last night I created a new recipe based upon a Southern or Creole-style dish. I would have loved to have made gumbo but didn’t have any okra or filé so it wouldn’t have been authentic. (Funny I got introduced to and fell in love with gumbo while working in Wellington, NZ) And I didn’t want to overdo it with spices for my kids by serving red rice… so I went with plain white rice.

I used organic free range boneless chicken thighs that I cut into smaller pieces. This is a great way to stretch out your budget and reduce your cooking time. I used chicken Andouille sausage which I like because it means less “meat” in our diet but you can use the more traditional made from pork. Most of my vegetables and herbs were from our CSA and the organic white beans were canned. It was a pleasant moment when I sat down to eat and watch the children dig in with such gusto. My middle son asked if it was “chili” I replied that it was “chicken and sausage chili”. They all loved it but my 6 year-old said it was a little spicy for him— that was mostly the Andouille. I think it took me about 20 minutes of prep and active cooking and another 10-15 of simmering. So, at least I found the time to do this.

Chicken, Andouille and White Bean Stew

3-4 chicken thighs, skinned and boned, cut into 2 inch pieces
2 Andouille sausage links, sliced into 1/2 inch pieces
1 can Cannellini (white kidney) beans
3-4 tomatoes, peeled (or one can) and crushed
1 med onion, diced
1 lg or 2 sm celery stalk, diced
1 sweet green pepper, diced
1 sweet red pepper, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp chili powder
1 cup chicken stock
1 Tbsp basil, chopped
1 Tbsp parsley, chopped
1 Tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Brown chicken and set aside. Heat olive oil in pan and sauté onions and celery until clear. Add garlic and peppers and cook until soft. Add paprika and chili powder stirring for one minute. Add tomatoes, chicken stock, chicken, sausage, beans and herbs. Cook for another 5 minutes stirring occasionally. Cover and reduce heat to low and simmer for 15-20 minutes. Serve over rice.

As I mentioned, it was delicious and the boys gave it thumbs up but with a bit of extra milk and water drinking to counter the heat. I ate some leftovers for lunch today— even better which is often the case with tomato-based foods.

Summer Pasta Salad

Posted on August 7, 2010 by admin

Corn, zucchini, basil, tomatoes, peppers… it’s August! The garden is bursting, the CSA bin is brimming, the stores and farmstands are overflowing —it’s the season ‘round here. What to cook/pack when you have parties or picnics, camp or beachside lunches? A pasta salad that is not only healthy, but tastes great.

Cook corn in oven, on grill or in boiling water as you would normally. Here we boiled it for 5 minutes then bathed in ice water to stop the cooking. Then cut corn off cob. Also cut the stem-end off the zucchini and boiled it with the corn. (It takes  the same amount of time amount of time, but with end cut off you can check its doneness by just looking at how done it appears.) Once it was done, also dunk into ice bath. Cut in half lengthwise then into smaller pieces.

Cut up orange bell pepper and tomatoes (without seeds). Both of these are raw.

I have noticed that (some of) my kids prefer certain vegetables raw and other veggies cooked. Peppers raw/mushrooms cooked; tomatoes raw/zucchini cooked; carrots raw/broccoli cooked… it can depend on the child(ren) so remember when you’re preparing something like this to try and get it to their preference so they’re more likely to eat it! By not overcooking you retain more nutrients and sometimes by adding fat can make it easier to convert those nutrients in the body. Don’t avoid all fats.

Mix veggies with cooked fusilli, penne or farfalle pasta (these are all great in pasta salad) and pesto sauce. If you don’t want to make your own, buy some fresh.

Make sure you season with sea salt and pepper if needed. Chill or serve just room temp.

Most all kids love pasta. My kids love this salad because of the pasta, crunchiness of the corn and peppers, the colors and the fresh flavors.

My Kids Really Eat This

getting kids to eat well in the real world

Tag Archives: peppers

Portuguese Pork Stew with Spinach

Thai Red Curry

Another quick, last minute meal

Chicken, Andouille and White Bean Stew

Summer Pasta Salad