Category: Recipes

So, the other day I went to Quizno’s and had this Chipotle Steak and Cheddar sandwich. It was mighty delicious so I had to try to recreate it.

Here’s how it came out.

It was actually really good so here’s the recipe. Note: I substituted steak with pastrami. You can also use roast beef.

Ingredients

• Pastrami (from Costco) – may substitute with roast beef
• sliced green bell pepper
• sliced onion
• cheddar cheese
• Chipotle mayonnaise (substitute with hummus for healthier alternative)
• Francisco Gourmet Sesame Seed Rolls

Instructions

1. Slice the bell pepper and onions into slivers.

2. Heat up some pastrami in a microwave at 50% power for 2 minutes. If the bell pepper and onion are cold from being in the fridge, heat them up along with the pastrami.
3. Spread some Chipotle mayo on both sides of the bread

4. Spread pepper and onion evenly on bread, add pastrami, add cheddar cheese and toast in over until cheese has melted

Remove from oven and enjoy!

Ingredients

• 6 chicken legs
• 1.5 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 tsp ground mustard
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tbs canola oil or olive oil

Instructions

1. Mix all spices in a single spice dispenser
2. Using a clean rag, grab part of the chicken skin with the rag and pull the skin off
3. In a bowl, rub olive oil over each chicken leg and sprinkle on the seasoning. Mix with hands to ensure complete coverage.
4. Let chicken marinate in refrigerator for at least 1 hour. The longer the better. Overnight is best!
5. Set air fryer to a target thermometer temperature of 160 F.
6. Insert thermometer such that tip is at center of thickest part of one chicken leg
7. When air fryer has preheated, put all legs in the air fryer
8. When half way done, turn legs over
9. When target temperature reached, remove legs and let stand for 5 minutes
10. Eat

Ingredients

• 1 container (150 grams) Dannon Oikos Triple Zero Vanilla Greek Yogurt (15 g protein, 0 g added sugar, 100 calories) – Target
• A little bit of Kefir (Lifeway Kefir cultured lowfat milk 1% milkfat plain unsweetened) (1 cup / 240 ml / 110 calories, 0 g added sugar, 11 g protein) – Smart n Final
• Handful of mixed berries (strawberries, blueberries, raspberries)
• ½ cup granola (Kirkland Signature Organic Ancient Grain Granola) – Costco
• 1 tbsp crushed mixed nut topping

Instructions

Mixed everything

Moroccan Shakshouka and Turkish Menemen are very similar. Here’s my version of these dishes.

Ingredients

• 5 eggs
• 1 8oz can of fire-roasted diced tomatoes (Target / FoodMaxx / Smart n Final)
• 2 handfuls of frozen diced onions (Smart n Final)
• 1/4 lb of ground beef
• 2 tbsp wet minced garlic
• 10 tbsp olive oil
• Smoked paprika (not regular paprika)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 jalapeno pepper, sliced (optional – remove seeds so you don’t sweat)
• 2 tbsp tomato paste (optional)
• Sourdough bread
• 1/8 cup cilantro for garnish (you can also use Lightly Dried Cilantro)
• Shredded parmesan or cheddar cheese (optional)

Instructions

1. Pour olive oil in large 12″ pan on high heat
2. Fry ground beef, onions, jalapeno pepper and garlic until slightly brown
3. Pour in diced tomatoes and sprinkle in smoked paprika, salt and pepper to taste (optionally, add tomato paste) and cook for 5 minutes. Optionally add cheese.
4. Put 5 slices of sour dough bread in toaster and toast until slightly hard
5. Add eggs being careful not to break the yolk
6. Cover and poach on medium heat until egg white changes from translucent to white. Turn off heat so that egg yolk is still runny.
7. Garnish with cilantro
8. Eat by scooping up Shakshouka with spoon and chase it with a bite of the bread

There are many stir fry vegetables recipes online but they seem more complicated than they need to be (unless I’m just not picky enough about how stir fry vegetables is supposed to taste). The main thing the be concerned with is sodium / salt. You typically add soy sauce to the vegetables but unless you get low sodium soy sauce, the sauce will be already salty so you don’t need to add salt to the vegetables.

For the ingredients, all you need is a stir fry vegetable blend (I get mine from Costco) and soy sauce.

I sometimes add chicken to if I want to add protein.

To make the dish look colorful, I like to add one red bell pepper chopped into bite-size pieces.

You don’t need to defrost the vegetables. Just get a wok, put in some olive oil, wait a bit for the wok to heat up, throw on some frozen veggies, and toss periodically.

Once the veggies are soft, pour on some soy sauce and toss periodically again. the picture below shows it with chicken. If you want a darker look, add dark soy sauce. Dark soy sauce is less salty than regular soy sauce. After a while, give it a taste to see if it needs more soy sauce or not. If not, you’re done.

The soy sauce is only 15 calories / tbsp.

UPDATE: I tried some other recipes that call for a mix of various sauces and I think it did taste better BUT it come with a lot more calories to the all the sugar in Hoisin sauce. If you don’t care about calories, then try this recipe for the sauce instead:

• 1 tbsp Hoisin sauce (90 calories)
• 1 tsp dark soy sauce
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp black vinegar splash of toasted sesame oil

If you do care about calories, omit the Hoisin sauce.

Beef Instead of Chicken

If you prefer beef, you can add precooked, pre-sliced beef sirloin (available at Costco).

Or, to get more for your money, you can buy pre-marinated tri-top (available at Costco).

I tried this out and it came out great. Just preheat an over to 375 (convection bake), stick in a thermometer and set the target temperature to 135. When it’s done, your oven will (should) beep. Take it out and leave for 10 minutes.

Then just add to your veggies.

Fire-Roasted Vegetables

Costco also sells frozen fire-roasted vegetables as well.

This was good but the vegetables were smaller and I didn’t care for some of the vegetables. Nevertheless, it was still very good. In the pic below, I added yellow bell pepper.

KETO UPDATE

If you are on the Keto diet and want to limit carb intake, then here’s a modification of the recipe above.

For the vegetables, use Kirkland Normandy vegetables.

Since this vegetable medley isn’t carb free, you can mix it with Shirataki / Konjac rice (0 net carbs) or riced cauliflower (low carbs) to add bulk to your meal.

For the soy sauce, all you need is Lee Kum Kee Supreme Soy Sauce. It’s got 0 carbs.

For protein, I prefer pre-grilled chicken breast from Costco.

Below is a picture with riced cauliflower.

To simplify cooking, mix the frozen vegetables and refrigerated chicken breast in a covered microwaveable bowl (leaving a small opening in the cover) and heat for 4 minutes. Then transfer to a pan and cook with olive oil. When almost done, add the soy sauce.

1. Add water to a pot and bring to boil

Add salt to water to taste

2. Put pasta in a bowl

I prefer angel hair pasta. Since it’s long, break it into 3.

WARNING: Pasta will grow like crazy when cooked. Put half or a third of the raw pasta amount.

3. Cook the pasta

Put the pasta in the pot and cook till it reaches your desired hardness

4. Prepare meatballs

For convenience and speed, just buy pre-cooked, frozen meatballs. Then, heat them up in a microwave on high for 4 minutes.

5. Prepare pasta sauce

For convenience and speed, just buy premade pasta sauce. Rao’s marinara sauce is particularly good and available at Costco. Pour an adequate amount over the cooked meatballs.

then heat in a microwave for 2 minutes.

6. Strain pasta

When pasta is cooked, strain it and put it back into the pot.

7. Mix sauce, meatballs and pasta

Pour the sauce and meatballs into the pot of pasta and mix.

8. Serve and enjoy

Optionally top with grated parmesan cheese

So, I tried making grilled corn using the Ninja Foodi Grill and surprisingly, it came out really good!

Here’s the recipe.

Ingredients

• Corn ears (make sure the kernels are big so you’ve got some meat to bite in to)
• Salt
• Pepper
• Canola oil
• Butter

Instructions

1. Remove the husk (outer layers of the corn)
2. Massage the kernels with canola oil
3. Sprinkle salt and pepper
4. Turn on Ninja Foodi Grill, click Grill button to Max setting, set time to 12 minutes, let preheat, wait till it says “Add food”, then put in the corn
5. Set a timer for 6 minutes then turn the corn over
6. When done, massage butter over the corn or melt butter in the microwave and baste the corn with the liquid butter

Moroccan Shakshouka and Turkish Menemen are very similar. Here’s my version of these dishes.

Ingredients

• 3 eggs
• 1 8oz can of fire-roasted diced tomatoes (Target / FoodMaxx)
• 2/3 cup frozen diced onions (Smart n Final)
• 1//4 cup cilantro for garnish
• 2 tbsp wet minced garlic
• 10 tbsp olive oil
• Smoked paprika (not regular paprika)
• Salt and pepper
• 2 tbsp tomato paste (optional)
• Pita bread

Instructions

1. Pour olive oil in medium 10″ pan on medium-high heat
2. Fry onions and garlic until slight brown
3. Pour in diced tomatoes and sprinkle in smoked paprika, salt and pepper to taste (optionally, add tomato paste)
4. When mixture is not too runny, make 3 deep dimples in the pan and crack each egg into them
5. Cover and poach on low heat until egg white changes from translucent to white. Turn off heat so that egg yolk is still runny.
6. Garnish with cilantro
7. Cut some pita bread in quarters and warm for 15 seconds in microwave
8. Eat

So, I just got the Ninja Foodi Smart Indoor Grill which doubles as an air fryer and mini oven. I have another cheaper indoor grill but tends to produce smoke and always triggers my smoke sensor. So far, though the Ninja grill is larger, it hasn’t emitted any smoke nor triggered my smoke sensor and produces better grill results.

Here’s how to make steak using it.

Ingredients for Marinade

• 2 tbsp Lee Kum Kee black pepper sauce
• 2 tbsp water
• Salt to taste

Preparation

1. Get your steak (minimum 1″ thick and preferably from Costco).
2. Put that steak in a ziploc bag.
3. Mix water and sauce and pour into the ziploc bag.
4. Zip the bag and turn a few times and let marinate for 1 to 8 hours.

Cooking Instructions

1. Insert thermometer into middle of side of steak such that the tip is at the center of the thickest part.
2. Turn on the Ninja grill by pushing the grill button.
3. Click the left up/down arrows to choose a doneness level. I like medium rare.
4. Push the thermometer / preset button to start the preheat phase
5. Sprinkle salt on both sides of the meat.
6. When preheating is done, it will beep and tell you to insert the steak. Do so.
7. Sometime later, it will beep and tell you to flip the steak. Do so, preferably using silicone-tipped tongs.
8. Sometime later, it will be done and tell you to get the steak out. Do so and wait 5 minutes before enjoying.

Grill Vegetables (optional)

To complement the steak, you can grill some vegetables in the Ninja grill also. Here are the veggies that grill well.

• Asparagus
• Zucchini
• Tomatoes
• Onions
• Bell pepper
• Jalapeno peppers
• Tomatillo peppers
• Corn

Instructions

1. Cut vegetable in half or in slices.
2. Remove spicy seeds from peppers.
3. Slather with / baste in oil.
4. Sprinkle coarse salt and pepper.
5. Turn on Ninja grill
6. Push grill button
7. Push right up/down to set the time to 6 minutes
8. Push thermometer / preset button twice to skip preheating
9. Put veggies in grill
10. The grill will beep when done.

Last week I made an egg sandwich with spinach, smoked sliced beef brisket, cheddar cheese and ciabatta bread. It was good but messy as the ingredients kept falling out as I’d eat it. Also, it wasn’t easy tasting all of the ingredients with every bite since they’d move around while holding the sandwich.

Since the sandwich would end up all mixed up in your mouth and stomach, I figured why not just mix all the ingredients up in a pan. It turns out this was not only much easier to cook and eat but also tastier as you could taste more of the ingredients.

Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients:

• pita bread (available at Costco)
• potatoes (optional)
  • pre-cooked tater tots
  • pre-cooked chopped baby potatoes
• chopped tomatoes
• diced onions
• diced red, green and yellow bell pepper (can get it pre-diced and frozen)
• diced jalapeno peppers
• baby spinach
• shredded cheddar cheese
• pre-cooked smoked sliced beef brisket (available at Costco)
• 3 eggs
• maybe broccoli?

Instructions:

1. If the bread is a bit hard, warm it up in the microwave for 50 secs to soften it.
2. Pour / spray cooking on in a pan and turn the heat up to medium
3. Put in all ingredients except eggs and mix for a minute or so
4. Put in eggs and mix for a minute.

I prefer my eggs half cooked with the yolk still wet so I’d turn off the heat and transfer everything to a play in time for the yolk to remain wet.

To eat, you can stuff the pita bread with the egg scramble though it may be hard separating the two sides of the bread without breaking it. Otherwise, just rip pieces of pita bread and scoop up some of the eggs scramble with it as you would for curry.

To save time in the morning, prepare everything the night before.

1. Add all ingredients except eggs in a zip lock bag and put in freezer
2. In the morning, transfer frozen ingredients to a bowl and defrost in microwave
3. Transfer defrosted ingredients to a pan and cook
4. Put in eggs, mix and cook to desired doneness