Product Alert - Trader Joe's Simmer Sauce

Worn out from a busy schedule, I wanted something healthy for dinner, but didn't want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen. Enter: Trader Giotto's (aka Trader Joe's) Cacciatore Simmer Sauce. Simple, tasty, & healthy. A trifecta!

It is nothing newsworthy that I love Trader Joe's and am campaigning for them to build a store closer to home. This was one of the usual wonderful meals that typically results from a bag of TJ's groceries.

Dinner for two - here's what I did:

Season both sides of two pork chops with salt and pepper. Pan seared chops for 3-4 minutes per side in olive oil over med-high heat. Pour half of a jar of Cacciatore Simmer Sauce of pork chops, cover and reduce heat to low.

Simmer, covered, for 10-15 minutes. Serve over cooked whole wheat linguine with a side salad.

Easy, breezy, beautiful... Giotto!

Good for You Grilling - Chicken Sausage

Grilling doesn't always equal healthy, but I am always looking for a take on conventional food with a healthy twist. That is why I absolutely love Trader Joe's (please, please bring a store to Lafayette Hill, PA!). They provide such a superabundance of healthy, scrumptious, and easy-to-make food - I cannot think of a better grocer!

I love, love, love their chicken sausages. They taste wonderful - better than regular pork sausages in my opinion - and they are a much healthier option than conventional sausage. For last night's dinner, I made a delicious, quick but substantial meal with chicken sausage headlining the meal. I served them up along side of a salad and quinoa.

If you are unfamiliar with quinoa, it is a super grain. Super because it contains all eight essential amino acids so it is a complete protein, having the highest amount of protein in any grain. It also delivers fiber, iron, magnesium, calcium and vitamins A and E. It is actually a seed, and it can be used in place of rice, pasta, couscous, bulgar, etc. in just about any recipe.

Quinoa’s flavor is slightly nutty with a pleasing crunchy texture. In addition to tasting great, it’s also very simple to cook. And it’s gluten free - excellent news for anyone with a gluten allergy or sensitivity.

Chicken Sausage Sandwiches

• Chicken sausages (I use TJ's Sundried Tomato)
• Whole wheat hot dog buns
• 1 T olive oil
• 1 T butter
• 1/2 cup diced onions

Heat grill to medium-high. Cook sausages for about 8 minutes, turning a few times to cook each side.

In the meantime: in a cast iron pan on grill, heat olive oil and butter. Saute onions for 6-8 minutes. I sauteed extra onion and set aside for my quinoa.

Serve sausage in buns and top with diced onion.



Quinoa Pilaf

• 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 cup quinoa, rinsed
• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• 1 T olive oil
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
• Salt and pepper

Put the broth and quinoa in a medium sized saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer, cover and cook for 15 to 20 minutes, until liquid is absorbed and grain is tender.
Meanwhile, toast the nuts in a large dry skillet over medium-high heat until golden brown and fragrant, about 2 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove nuts from pan and set aside.
When the quinoa is done, fluff with a fork and transfer to a large serving bowl. Stir in the pine nuts, the reserved onions from the chicken sausage, and parsley. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

Trader Joe's Tri-Tip Asada

A “carne asada” is the Mexican equivalent to an American barbecue. Traditionally, marinated beef is roasted over a large fire pit while friends and family gather and prepare to eat.

But, with Trader Joe's Tri-Tip Asada, you don’t need a large fire pit – a grill will do (or even an oven). It is a fresh cut of tri-tip that comes marinating in a Mexican-inspired spice blend. At $5.99 per pound (comes in cuts of about 3 lbs.), it's a winner.

It grills up low and slow, to produce a moist and tender, but vibrant, piece of meat. Slice it up and serve with guacamole, salsa, cheese and tortillas to make fabulous fajitas. Or, do like I did and pair with a zesty salad and add some cornbread on the side. ¡Delicioso!

I am going to share one of my secrets with you. Something that is incredibly easy and absolutely scrumptious is cornbread mix. You can find it in the International foods aisle. You add water, butter, a can of creamed corn, mix & bake! The result is a very nice addition to any Mexican-style meal.

For the salad, I shredded some romaine and topped with Trader Joe's Corn Salsa, Mexican mix cheese, and ranch dressing.

What a great summer meal!

Breakfast Pizzas

I was given a brunch cookbook by a food-loving friend of mine, Michele. I was looking through it recently and saw an idea for breakfast pizzas. The idea of breakfast pizzas excited me so much, I decided to try making them for the crew when we were up at the mountains over the 4th of July weekend.

I went to Trader Joe's and purchased two kinds of pizza dough (one of my favorite finds from TJ's!), regular and whole wheat. The whole wheat crust took longer to bake than the regular, so keep that in mind if you try making this recipe.

And, of course the little Preston Market at the mountains did not have exactly the bulk breakfast sausage I was looking for, so we opted for sweet Italian sausage that I just removed from the casing. It worked well, so in case you can't find bulk breakfast sausage (which is basically the sausage in one package - not in casings) that you can use that. Also, you can use ground pork and Penzey's Spices breakfast sausage seasoning.



Breakfast Pizzas (makes 4 to 5)

• 1 ball of pizza dough, room temperature (dough is much easier to roll out when it is not cold)
• 1/2 cup cornmeal
  
• 1 lb. bulk sausage
• 1 and 1/2 cups crumbled feta cheese
• 1 bunch of green onions (scallions), chopped
  
• Eggs

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Roll out pizza dough and cut into 5x5 squares or 8" circles (they will taste the same no matter what shape you cut them *wink*). Sprinkle baking sheet with a good layer of cornmeal to prevent the dough from sticking before adding dough cutouts.

Brown sausage until fully cooked.

Make a circle of cheese on each pizza round, leaving room for an egg in the center. Top cheese with browned sausage.

Crack one egg in the center of each round. The egg will not run out if you have enough of a cheese & sausage border. Immediately put in oven.

Bake for 12-15 minutes (until eggs are cooked, a white film will develop over the yolk).

Sprinkle green onions over pizzas. Enjoy!




We also made home fries to add to the meal. To make:

• 10 small red potatoes
• 1-2 T vegetable oil
• Salt & pepper
  

Heat oil in pan over medium/medium-high heat.

Cut potatoes into quarters (or halves if they are small). Add to pan.

Saute for 10-15 minutes, until browned. If you stick a fork in one and it splits easily, they are done!

Remove from heat and sprinkle with salt & pepper, to taste.

My friend, James, and his cow serving up some whole-wheat breakfast pizza!

Trader Joe's Mandarin Orange Chicken

I heart Trader Joe's. I did not realize how much I loved it until yesterday, as I was pulling things out for dinner, I noticed that a majority of my kitchen is of Trader Joe's products!

Trader Joe's has many easy-to-prepare, delicious meal options. I had recently purchased their Mandarin Orange Chicken, so I decided to try that. I had TJ's Chicken Shu Mai (bite-sized chicken and vegetable dumplings) in the freezer as well, so I made those for a little appetizer. I also had a bag of TJ's Jasmine Rice, so I threw that in the rice cooker and made a salad topped with Chinese noodles and Asian-ginger salad dressing.

The results: better than takeout. The orange chicken was crispy, not soggy, and flavorful although I would have loved just a tad more sauce. The Shu Mai were tasty little morsels (although the dipping sauce was a little too vinegar-y for my taste) and the rice was delicious, as far as rice goes - fluffy, tastfeul, perfect. The only thing easier than making this meal could have been dialing up for delivery, but it would not have been nearly as tasty or quite as healthy of an option.


TJ's Mandarin Chicken will be something I will definitely purchase again... once I make room in my over-stuffed freezer!