Crispy Roasted Carrot Chips

I was going back through a bunch of my old food magazines and found a great recipe in Cooking Light for smoked paprika roasted carrots.

I made a lot of modifications: I halved the recipe since I only had just over a pound of carrots; I scrubbed rather than peeled the carrots so I wouldn't lose all of the vitamins and nutrients; I cut down on the oil because it felt like way more than I needed (isn't Cooking Light supposed to be, well, light?); I thinly sliced the carrots and baked them low and slow so they would get all crispy.

Warning: It took a lot of willpower not to eat these all at once (although it's pretty healthy, so I guess it wouldn't have been so bad :)).

Crispy Roasted Carrot Chips
Inspired by "Carrots Roasted w/ Smoked Paprika," Cooking Light, December 2009

Ingredients:

1 lb carrots, sliced lengthwise (~1/8 inch thick)
2 tsp olive oil
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/8 tsp black pepper

1. Scrub carrots and slice thinly (about 1/8 of an inch, using a mandoline is best) and place in a large zip-top bag.
2. Add oil to bag and toss to coat. Sprinkle in spices and toss to coat.
3. Lay carrots in a single layer on a baking sheet. Bake in a 300 degree oven for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, turning once during baking, until chips are crispy.

The cost:
carrots: .89
other ingredients: <1.00

Grand total: $1.89

Smoky Rosemary & Fire-Roasted Tomato Beef Stew

The 2010 April Daring Cooks challenge was hosted by Wolf of Wolf’s Den. She chose to challenge Daring Cooks to make Brunswick Stew. Wolf chose recipes for her challenge from The Lee Bros. Southern Cookbook by Matt Lee and Ted Lee, and from the Callaway, Virginia Ruritan Club.

This month's challenge didn't really appeal to me since I would have to make so many changes in order to be able to eat it, but it did inspire me to make this delicious rosemary and fire-roasted tomato beef stew!

The secret ingredient here: Smoked paprika that gives the stew a rich flavor (fine, it makes it taste like it's been simmering for 18 hours rather than 2, but you don't have to tell anyone :)) I also browned the meat first which adds an incredible depth of flavor, I highly recommend it even though it takes some extra time. I also had meant to add potatoes to this stew but ran out of space in the pot!

Smoky Rosemary & Fire-Roasted Tomato Beef Stew

1 pounds beef cubes
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 medium onions, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
4 celery stalks, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
6 carrots, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 14 oz. can fire roasted tomatoes
2 cups soup stock
2 sprigs rosemary
2 bay leaves
1 tsp smoked paprika
salt & pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Heat 1 Tbsp of oil in a large dutch oven over high heat. Brown beef cubes in batches (don't crowd the pan) and remove to a small dish.
2. Reduce heat to medium and add remaining oil and brown onions. Add garlic, celery and carrots and cook 3-4 minutes.
3. Return meat to pot and add stock, rosemary, bay leaves and smoked paprika. Bring to a boil, then simmer over low heat for at least 1 hour (you can also finish this in a 350 degree oven for 1 to 1.5 hours). Season with salt and pepper to taste.

The cost:
beef: 11.99
onions: .45
celery: 1.19
carrots: .89
tomatoes: 1.00
rosemary: 1.99

Grand total: $17.51; serves 8

Smoky Maple & Brown Sugar Candied Pecans (Vegan)

My sweet & smoky almonds were a huge hit last week, so I decided to experiment with a little more smokiness. I've also had a bottle of good quality maple syrup sitting on my counter (thanks for the gift AD!), so I used the syrup to help the sugar-spice mixture stick to the nuts.

I was really happy with how these turned out, certainly more candied than the last time I made the attempt (although glazed nuts are still great too!). I love the sweet, smoky, salt combination here. Let me know what you think!

Note: This is one of those times that since you want the maple flavor to shine, you should spend the money on a good quality maple syrup and not the fake, corn syrup reinforced pancake syrup.

Smoky Maple & Brown Sugar Candied Pecans (Vegan)

Ingredients:

1/4 cup + 3 Tbsp maple syrup
1 lb raw pecans
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 Tbsp smoked paprika
1 tsp sea salt

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. Combine sugar, paprika, and salt; make sure there are no lumps.
3. In a separate bowl, coat pecans in maple syrup. Add sugar/spice mixture and toss to coat.
4. Spread in a single layer on a greased baking sheet and bake for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally.
5. Cool.

The cost:
pecans: 6.49
other ingredients: <1.00

Grand total: 7.49

Sweet & Smoky Glazed Almonds

TJs carries a number of candied nuts, but I always hate buying such a teeny tiny bag for the same price as a full pound of un-candied nuts. I got home last night wanting to bake, so I decided to try candying my own nuts!

The first idea that popped into my head was brown sugar and smoked paprika, but I wanted to make sure I wasn't totally crazy and setting myself up for a flavor combination disaster, so I did a little internet searching and found this recipe by Smitten Kitchen. I made some recipe adjustments: I used just almonds, reduced the sugar since I don't like super-sweet candied nuts, used sweet smoked paprika rather than hot, and upped the cooking time just a bit. I also removed the nuts from the egg wash before sprinkling with the sugar mixture because there was a lot of extra liquid and I didn't want the sugar to dissolve and melt (although it still ended up doing that anyway...so my I'm saying my almonds are glazed rather than candied :)).

I think these came out great! Just the right balance of sweet and salty, a little pizazz from the cinnamon, and a mild smoky hint to finish things off. I'm taking them into work today so I don't eat them all, they are addictive!

Notes:

• Make sure you buy raw nuts if you are going to be doing any kind of roasting with them; if you buy pre-roasted, you'll end up with brittle and overcooked nuts.
• I didn't feel like waiting for my egg white to come to room temperature, so I put it in a warm water bath by nesting 2 of my awesome metal mixing bowls (kind of like a double boiler) from Webstaurant Store (@webstaurant) and it was room temp in less than 2 minutes.
• Thanks to my beautiful sister (a potter as well as an amazing cook) for the serving dish featured in the above picture!

Sweet & Smoky Glazed Almonds

Ingredients:

1 egg white, room temperature
1 tsp water
1 lb raw almonds
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, combine sugar, paprika, cinnamon, salt and pepper; make sure there are no lumps.
3. Whisk egg white and water until frothy. Add almonds and stir to coat.
4. Using a slotted spoon, remove nuts from egg wash and spread in a single layer on a greased baking sheet. Sprinkle with sugar mixture, tossing to coat, then re-spread in a single layer.
5. Bake nuts for 40-45 minutes, stirring occasionally.
6. Allow nuts to cool, breaking up any that are stuck together. Store in an airtight container.
7. Take them into work so you don't eat them all.

The cost:
nuts: 4.49
other ingredients: <1.00

Grand total: 5.49

Recipe Remix: Smoked Paprika & Mustard Seed Chicken (Dutch Oven Braised)

I have become a huge fan of mustard seeds. Not only do they add great flavor to a dish, but they also lend a nice crunchy texture, but they soften with cooking so they aren't too hard. For now I'm just using yellow mustard seeds which are pretty mild, but when those are done I am totally going to try brown ones which are much spicier.

This chicken is similar to a previous recipe, although I think the addition of white wine really makes all of the flavors pop. This dish also inaugurated my new dutch oven (thanks Mom :)). If you have any other recipes for dutch ovens please feel free to share!

Smoked Paprika & Mustard Seed Chicken (Dutch Oven Braised)

1 Tbsp vegetable oil
6 scallions, chopped
2 tsp smoked paprika
1 Tbsp yellow mustard seeds
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 lb boneless chicken breasts
1/4 cup white wine

Directions:

1. Heat oil in dutch oven and saute scallions until soft, 4-5 minutes.
2. Combine paprika, mustard seeds, garlic powder, salt and pepper in a bowl. Pat chicken breasts dry, then dip into spice mixture, rubbing and massaging into chicken.
3. Add chicken to pan and brown chicken, 1-2 minutes on each side. Add white wine to deglaze pan, moving the chicken around to scrape up any browned bits from the bottom. Cover and cook over low heat 6-8 minutes chicken is no longer pink.

The cost:
scallions: 1.19
chicken: 5.99

Grand total: $7.18; serves 2 (add brown rice & steamed broccoli for a complete meal)

Recipe 2-fer: Washington's Green Grocer Produce Box Adventure

I recently signed up to have a vegetable and fruit box delivered to me from local farms through Washington's Green Grocer. It doesn't cost too much more than I usually spend on produce in a given week, and it's local and organic!

I got my first box yesterday, and it had so many beautiful fruits and veggies including huckleberry potatoes (never even heard of them before--they are pink inside!), purple potatoes, purple top turnips (yikes don't usually cook with those), and kale.

Having never used turnips before in anything but chicken soup I was skeptical, but they were really flavorful, and in a good way! I peeled them after reading they have a tough and sometimes bitter skin, then roasted the turnips and potatoes simply with olive oil, salt, garlic powder and Aleppo pepper (you could substitute red pepper flakes).

For protein I decided on a stovetop chicken rubbed with a spice mix of smoked paprika, garlic powder, salt and mustard seed (gave a great crunchy texture!), and then did a quick braise on the kale in the leftover juices.

All in all delicious, and I'm so glad I decided to do this local farm produce delivery!

Roasted Purple-Top Turnips with Huckleberry & Purple Potatoes

Ingredients:

2 large turnips, peeled and cubed
6 huckleberry potatoes, cubed
6 purple potatoes, cubed
1 Tbsp light olive oil
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp Aleppo pepper

Directions:

1. Place veggies in a roasting pan. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with spices, mixing to coat.
2. Roast at 400 degrees for 30-35 minutes covered, 20-25 minutes uncovered or until veggies are tender.

Smoked Paprika & Mustard Seed Crusted Chicken w/ Braised Kale

Ingredients:

1 Tbsp olive oil
6 scallions, chopped (or 1 onion, I just didn't have any)
2 garlic cloves, sliced
1 Tbsp smoked paprika
1 Tbsp yellow mustard seeds
2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp sea salt
3 boneless chicken breasts
3 Tbsp vegetable stock
1 bunch of kale, cleaned

Directions:

1. Heat oil in large saute pan and saute scallions and garlic 4-5 minutes.
2. Combine paprika, mustard seeds, garlic powder & salt in a bowl. Pat chicken breasts dry, then dip into spice mixture, rubbing and massaging into chicken.
3. Add chicken to pan and cook 3-4 minutes on each side or until chicken is no longer pink. Remove from pan.
4. Remove kale leaves from stalk and tear leaves into bite-sized pieces (discard stalk or save for making soup stock another time). Deglaze pan with soup stock and add kale, turning to coat in juices. Cook 1-2 minutes until tender but still very green.

The cost:
veggies: $9.00 (1/4 of box)
chicken: 6.17

Grand total: $15.17; serves 2 + lunch leftovers :)

Pantry Raid: Tomato & Chickpea Stew

I went to a tweetup last night sponsored by a cool foodie group engaging in community service; I had to leave pretty early to metro there, but wanted to make sure I had a good dinner first so I threw together this tomato & chickpea stew from what I had in my pantry/fridge. It was easy, filling and super cheap. I haven't cooked much with smoked paprika, but the package said it's good with tomato based sauces--and it was!

Tomato & Chickpea Stew

Ingredients:

1 tsp light olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 can chickpeas
1 (14 oz) can diced tomatoes
1/4 cup water
2 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp garlic powder
salt & pepper to taste
chopped parsley or cilantro (optional garnish)

Directions:

1. Heat oil in saucepan and saute onions until soft, 4-5 minutes.
2. Add remaining ingredients, stirring to combine and bring to a boil. Simmer 20-25 minutes, adding salt and pepper to taste.

Serve over rice or quinoa with freshly steamed spinach.

The cost:
onion: .45
chickpeas: .69
tomatoes: 1.00

Grand total: $2.14; serves 2-3