No to Minimal Meat/Poultry Dishes

Following up from yesterday's post, here are four of my favorite meatless or minimal meat/poultry recipes for everyday life!


From The Complete Cooking Light Cookbook (a wedding gift from Judy Mihm):

Chicken Potpie

9c water
1T black peppercorns
2-1/2lbs chicken pieces, skinned
3 celery stalks, each cut into 4 pieces
1 small onion, quartered
1 bay leaf
5 to 5-1/2c of assorted veggies (they recommend potato, celery, red bell pepper, sliced carrots, chopped leek, sliced fresh mushrooms, and frozen green peas, but I use whatever I have on hand)
1 garlic clove, minced
6T all-purpose flour
1tsp salt
1tsp black pepper
1c 1% low-fat milk
Biscuit Topping*

1. Combine first 6 ingredients in an 8-quart Dutch oven or stock pot; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium, and cook, uncovered, 1 hour. Remove from heat.
2. Remove chicken pieces from broth. Place chicken in a large bowl, and chill for 15 minutes. Strain broth; discard solids. Set aside 4-1/2c broth; reserve remaining broth for another use.
3. Remove chicken from bones; cut meat into bite-size pieces.
4. Preheat oven to 400*.
5. Bring 4-1/2c broth to a boil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add veggies and garlic; cover and cook about 10-15 minutes or until veggies are tender.
6. Combine flour, salt, and black pepper in a medium bowl. Add milk, stirring with a whisk; add to vegetable mixture. Cook over medium heat 3 minutes or until thickened and bubbly, stirring constantly. Remove from heat; add chicken.
7. Spoon into a 9x13-inch greased baking dish. Drop Biscuit Topping* onto mixture to form 16 biscuits (I usually do 12 bigger biscuits). Bake at 400* for 30 minutes or until golden.

*Biscuit Topping

2c all-purpose flour
2tsp baking powder
1/2tsp salt
1/4tsp sugar
1/8tsp garlic powder
1c 1% low-fat milk
1-1/2T butter, melted

Combine flour, baking powder, salt, sugar, and garlic powder in a bowl. Stir in milk and butter just until flour mixture is moistened.


Whole Wheat Pizza Crust

1T honey
1 package dry yeast (about 2-1/4tsp)
1c warm water (100-110*)
2c whole wheat flour, divided
1c all-purpose flour*
1tsp olive oil
1/4tsp salt
Cooking spray (I like to buy the olive oil spray to use whenever a recipe calls for cooking spray)

1. Dissolve honey and yeast in warm water in a large bowl; let stand 5 minutes. Add 1-3/4c whole wheat flour, 1c all-purpose flour, oil, and salt to form a soft dough.
2. Turn dough out onto a floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic (about 5 minutes), adding enough of remaining whole wheat flour to prevent dough from sticking to hands.
3. Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray; turning to coat top. Cover dough and let rise 1 hour or until doubled in size.
4. Punch dough down; cover and let rest 5 minutes. Divide dough in half. Roll each half into a 12-inch circle. Place dough on two 12-inch pizza pans or baking sheets that are coated with cooking spray (I use non-stick pizza pans, so I don't have to spray them). Crimp edges of dough with fingers to form a rim. Cover and let rise 30 minutes or until puffy. Top and bake as desired.

*I have made this with all whole wheat flour and it turns out okay, but isn't quite as tasty. I'd recommend that if you want to make it completely out of whole wheat flour that you use at least some whole wheat pastry flour, which produces better results.

We either grill it (yum!) or just bake it with toppings in a 550* oven (or as hot as your oven will go) for 7 minutes or so. I love it with just some olive oil & garlic powder, lots of cheese, and tomato and fresh basil. Also a favorite: olive oil & garlic powder, cheese, grilled/sauteed assorted red bell pepper slices, and sauteed mushrooms. Daniel likes BBQ sauce, shredded cooked chicken, and cheese. And, of course, there are the traditional kinds of pizza: red sauce w/ pepperoni & cheese, etc.


From the More-With-Less Cookbook:

Pakistani Kima

Saute in pot:
3T butter
1c chopped onion
1 clove garlic, minced

Add:
1lb ground beef

Brown well. Stir in:
1T curry powder
1-1/2tsp salt
dash pepper
dash each cinnamon, ginger, and tumeric
2c cooked tomatoes (diced or whole)
2 potatoes, diced
2c frozen peas or green beans

Cover and simmer 25 minutes. Serve with rice.

I often add some corn, too.

I LOVE this dish. It makes great leftovers for lunch the next day or two!


From I'm-not-sure-where:

Potato Soup

1. Saute 1 small onion, chopped, and 3 cloves garlic, minced, in butter. (Make sure the onions are well sauteed so they're not crunchy.)
2. Add 6-7 white potatoes (peeled & cubed).
3. Cover w/ water & 4 cubes chicken bouillon.
4. Season w/ salt, pepper & nutmeg. (Trust me: you do NOT want to omit the nutmeg, even if it sounds weird to you!)
5. Boil; cover & simmer 20+ minutes or until potatoes are soft.
6. Remove from heat. Mash potatoes well. Add 1c milk and 1/4c shredded cheddar cheese.
7. Heat through & serve.