Cooking

3 New Recipes for the New Year

Rachel Gaetz
 
Happy Monday! Know what hasn’t been on here in forever? Tasty food! Tasty food needs a greater presence on this blog. New year’s resolution made. Here are three new and simple recipes we made this past fall/winter that I never got around to posting.

Pork and Apple Meatballs

These my second-ever attempt at homemade meatballs. (My first was turkey meatballs. And not to hate on turkey, but these were way better in my opinion…) The best part is that you really don’t need many ingredients or much skill to make these happen.

Ingredients:

  • 1 lb ground pork
  • 1 Granny Smith apple (peeled and grated)
  • 1/2 white onion (grated)
  • 1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs
  • 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
  • 1 large egg


Directions:

1. Combine pork, apple, onion, bread crumbs, cheese, and egg in a mixing bowl and season with salt and pepper.

2. Once combined, portion into golf ball-sized meatballs on a lined baking sheet.

3. Transfer to an oven on low broil and bake for 8-10 minutes or until they start turning golden brown on top.

4. Serve over buttered egg noodles tossed with grated parmesan cheese and a little chopped parsley.

 
Honey Sesame Chicken
 
This dish requires even less skill because it involves a slow cooker! I also loved this dish because I’m always nuts about sauces that are sweet and savory.
 

Ingredients

  • 2 1/2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts 
  • Salt & pepper
  • 1 cup honey
  • 1/2 cup soy sauce
  • 1 tbsp onion powder
  • 4 tbsp ketchup
  • 2 tbsp canola oil
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
  • 4 tsp cornstarch dissolved in 6 tbsp water
  • Sesame seeds
  • Cooked rice or noodles
  • Steamed veggies (the frozen kind in the bag will do just fine!)
 
Directions
 

1. Season both sides of chicken with salt & pepper, put into crock pot. In a small bowl, combine honey, soy sauce, onion powder, ketchup, oil, garlic, and pepper flakes.

2. Pour sauce over chicken.

3. Cook on low for 3-4 hours or on high 1 1/2 – 2 1/2 hours, or just until chicken is cooked through. If you threw them in frozen, it may take closer to 4 hours on low.

4. Remove chicken from crock pot, leave sauce. Dissolve cornstarch in the water and pour into crock pot. Stir to combine with sauce.

5. Replace lid and cook sauce on high for 10 minutes or til slightly thickened.

6. Cut chicken (or shred) into bite size pieces, then return to pot and toss with sauce before serving. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve over rice or noodles.

 
 
Panko-Crusted Honey Mustard Salmon
 
Saving the tastiest dish (and the photo with the worst lighting) for last! The good thing about Joe having to work in grocery on Black Friday was that he took advantage of some of the deals on food. This meant that we got to stock up on GOOD salmon and I got to cook it a variety of ways. This was my favorite way of doing it. And again, easy peasy.
 
Ingredients:
  • 4 (6 oz) salmon fillets
  • 1 1/2 Tbsp dijon mustard 
  • 1 1/2 Tbsp honey
  • 1 clove garlic minced
  • 3/4 cup Panko bread crumbs
  • 2 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
  • 1 tsp lemon zest
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper   
Directions:
 
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a 13 by 9-inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray, set aside.
 
2.  Whisk together mustard, honey and garlic. In a shallow dish toss together Panko bread crumbs, parsley and lemon zest. Drizzle olive oil over mixture then toss to evenly coat.
 
3. Working with one piece of salmon at a time, brush top with honey mustard mixture and season with salt and pepper. Then rotate and transfer to bread crumb mixture (the honey mustard should be facing down to get the bread crumb mixture to stick to salmon).Transfer to baking dish and repeat with remaining salmon fillets.
 
4. Bake in preheated oven 13 – 15 minutes until salmon has cooked through. Serve warm with your favorite veggies and lemon wedges (if desired).
 
Happy eating!
 
Gotta give credit where credit is due! Here are the blogs where I found each of the recipes: Meatballs, chicken, and salmon.
 
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