Raising the Bar: January 2018

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1 Raising the Bar: January 0 Shopping List Please buy organic when and if you can. pieces thick sliced bacon eggs pork chops preferably bone-in thick Dairy ¼ cup Parmesan cheese, grated Bakery loaf fresh French or sourdough bread Produce oz baby spinach large white mushrooms small red onion small onions large sweet potato head garlic, for cloves red bell pepper leeks fennel bulb tart apple such as Envy or Gala medium carrot knob of ginger shitake mushrooms - cups stir fry vegetable combo your favorites bell pepper, broccoli florets, carrots, snow peas oz cheese tortellini Dry Unsweetened apple sauce, cup cups/0 oz vegetable stock Frozen cup peas Brown rice Spices Bay leaf, Sesame seeds, tablespoons From Your Pantry ***ALWAYS CHECK THIS LIST IT CHANGES*** Olive oil, ½ cup Sesame oil, tablespoons

2 Butter, ½ tablespoons Red wine vinegar, tablespoons Apple cider vinegar, tablespoon Soy sauce or Tamari, ¼ cup Sugar, teaspoon Dijon mustard, ½ teaspoon Salt, Kosher Pepper Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing: January 0 Monday: Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing What, what? You sautéed your mushrooms? With a diced shallot? You fried your eggs? Sounds delicious! Serves: Prep: 0 Cooking and Assembly: 0 ounces baby spinach large eggs pieces thick-sliced bacon, chopped tablespoons red wine vinegar teaspoon sugar, optional / teaspoon Dijon mustard Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper large white mushrooms, sliced ounces red onion ( small), very thinly sliced loaf French or sourdough bread Cooking Instructions Hard boil your eggs. This is the best method that I have found. Place eggs in a medium sauce pan, cover with of water and bring to a boil over high heat. As soon as the water reaches a boil, remove from the heat, cover and let sit for 0 minutes. Fill a bowl with cups of water and dozen ice cubes. Place eggs in the ice bath for minutes to cool. Peel gently. Wash the spinach and pat dry thoroughly. Place into a large mixing bowl and set aside.

3 While the eggs are cooking, if you didn t do it ahead, fry the bacon and rest on paper towel to drain, reserving tablespoons of the rendered fat in the pan. Over low heat, whisk in the red wine vinegar, sugar and Dijon mustard. Season with a small pinch each of kosher salt and black pepper. Crumble the bacon and set aside. Add the mushrooms and the sliced onion to the spinach and toss. Toss the spinach with the dressing and bacon. Divide the spinach between plates and evenly divide the egg among them. Season with pepper, as desired. Serve immediately with sliced bread. Pork Chops with Sweet Potato & Apple Hash: January 0 Tuesday: Pork Chops with Sweet Potato & Apple Hash Hash is always a quickie and a crowd pleaser. I like bone-in chops but boneless are just fine too. You might want to skip the sauce but you ll regret it! Serves: Prep: Cooking: 0 sweet potato, cubed in ½ pieces tablespoons olive oil clove garlic, minced red bell pepper, chopped ½ pieces small onion, diced ½ pieces leek, rinsed, chopped, ½ pieces fennel bulb, diced, ½ pieces hard, tart apple such as Envy or Gala, diced, ½ pieces pork chops, bone-in, thick tablespoon apple cider vinegar ½ tablespoons butter cup unsweetened apple sauce salt pepper

4 Cooking Instructions Chop all the veggies and store in the fridge. Place chopped sweet potato in a microwave safe bowl. Add tablespoons of water, cover and microwave for 90 seconds on high. Set aside until ready to cook. Preheat oven to 00º. Heat tablespoon of olive oil and garlic over medium high heat. Add (microwaved) sweet potato in a single layer and sauté for minutes without stirring. After minutes, stir and sauté for minutes more. Push the sweet potatoes to the outer edge of the pan and add tablespoon olive oil to the center. Add all remaining vegetables. Stir into potatoes and sauté for minutes or until cooked through. Meanwhile, season chops with salt and pepper. Heat last tablespoon of the oil in a large ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Cook the chops for minutes until browned. Flip and transfer the skillet to oven and roast the pork until cooked through, - minutes. 9 Allow pork to rest on a cutting board. 0 Return skillet to stovetop over medium high heat. Add tablespoon cider vinegar and scrape up the browned bits. Add ½ tablespoons butter, apple sauce and ½ teaspoon salt. Stir to melt the butter and combine the ingredients. Serve chops over hash with a dollop of sauce over the top. Tortellini Soup: January 0 Wednesday: Tortellini Soup It s an uber quickie. Buy extra of a high quality, fresh tortellini and keep some in your freezer along

5 with your homemade stock. My crew begs for this one I don t tell them how easy it is Next time, add chicken, pork, potatoes whatever you like or have around. Serves: Prep: 0 Cooking: 0 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil medium leeks cloves of garlic medium carrot, sliced into / coins bay leaf Salt Pepper cups homemade (or low sodium) vegetable stock chicken stock is fine just not vegetarian - obviously oz. cheese tortellini (frozen is fine) cup frozen peas ¼ cup freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano Cooking Instructions Trim the roots and hard green leaves from the leeks. Slice in half lengthwise and then in " pieces crosswise. Finely chop the garlic. Peel and slice the carrot. Heat olive oil in your soup pot over medium heat. Add garlic, leeks and carrot. Season with a pinch or two of salt. Cook - minutes to soften. Stir in pinch of salt and pepper and the bay leaf. Add chicken stock and bring to a boil. Add tortellini and cook minutes. Add peas. Cook for - more minutes test a tortellini. Done? Great. 9 Serve and topped with grated cheese. Pork Chop Stir Fry: January 0

6 Thursday: Pork Chop Stir Fry I ve never had leftover pork chops before they always get gobbled up. So, I decided to try a stir fry it s the perfect, healthy use for leftovers. And, as it s a busy Thursday around my house, I ll use frozen rice of course! Serves: Prep: 0 Cooking: 0 tablespoons sesame oil onion, sliced garlic cloves, minced teaspoon ginger, minced left-over pork chops shitake mushrooms, sliced - cups vegetables (bell pepper, broccoli florets, baby carrots, snow peas) ¼ soy sauce or tamari tablespoons sesame seeds -0 oz frozen rice Cooking Instructions Chop all the veggies. If steaming the rice, do so according to package instructions. Remove the meat from the bone and cut into thin strips. In a wok or heavy bottomed pan, heat sesame oil over medium heat. Add garlic and onion and sauté until tender. Add pork and cook until warmed through. Add stir fry veggies, cover and cook for about minutes more. Microwave the rice. Add soy or tamari and sesame seeds.

7 9 Toss to coat. 0 Serve over rice.