Bulgogi a la Momo (the non-Korean beef barbeque)

This is one of those meals that evokes a rainbow of emotions within me, with the strongest pair being a sense of longing with a good dose of soothing contentment. My Momo would make this every now and then growing up, and a couple months ago when I made it myself for the first time, the pleasurable mixure of spices skipped around my brain, taking me back, and I wished Momo was there by my side to enjoy my success in mastering what will forever be HER dish.

Even though it's ridiculously easy to make, you can easily fool anyone you're cooking for that you really slaved in the kitchen pulling this one together--it's that good. I've found that referring to it as "Korean Barbeque Steak," as it is sometimes called, causes less upper-lip-raising (as in, "WHAT are you going to be serving??!?!"). Nevertheless, sometime the adverse reactions are funny and "Bowl-gog-E" is fun to say!

I like to serve this with my quinoa pilaf and fresh asparagus grilled (or broiled) in 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil, 1 tablespoon miran (sweet rice vinegar), 2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce, 1 clove garlic (or garlic salt), and a sprinkle of ginger.

Yields 4 servings (serving size: 3 ounces)

Ingredients:

1 pound top sirloin steak, trimmed (By this I think they mean trimmed of fat, but I've found that most of the times the steak is already trimmed. Sometimes there's a little bit that may be clinging on for dear life, but I tend to leave it on and trim after cooking because I'd rather not deal with the raw steak anymore than I have to.)

2 tablespoons brown sugar (I always use just one packet of splenda. Blame it on being a splenda fiend, or the fact that I never have brown sugar in my apartment... I find it goes hard too fast in my moist cupboards. Sad, I know.)

6 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce

2 tablespoons mirin (sweet rice wine)

2 teaspoons minced peeled fresh ginger (I used powdered and it still turned out magnificently)

2 teaspoons sesame oil 6 garlic cloves, minced (I often use the jarred minced garlic. If you don't have this much garlic on hand, no worries! Your steak will be yum-yummy no matter what!)

3 fresh scallions, whites and green cut into about 1/4 inch slices (I've actually used dried chives when I realized I had totally blanked on picking up scallions at the store... even though they're technically not the same, it still turned out delicious!)

How To:

1. Combine sugar (or sugar substitute), and next 6 ingredients (sugar through scallions) in a large zip-top plastic bag. Seal and shake up until well mixed. Drop in the steak (gently, now) and marinate in refrigerator for at least an hour, turning bag occasionally. I've found that longer marinatation times yield exponentially better, more flavorful steaks. So if you can, plan ahead. Easier said than done, right?

2. Once your steak has marinated to its (and your) heart's desire, prepare your grill (a.k.a. turn on that bad boy), or preheat broiler.

3. Carefully remove beef from bag, reserving the marinade. Place beef on hot grill or under a preheated broiler. Your cooking time will depend on the steak's thickness, so keep a careful eye on your beef. For a steak that was about 1/2 inch thick that I placed under the broiler (no need to flip it), I cooked it about 8 minutes. I think these are best cooked to medium or medium-well, and that timing made them perfect! If grilling, cook the steaks for about 4 minutes per side, again until desired level of doneness.

4. While the steak cooks, pour the marinade into a small saucepan and cook over medium to medium high heat, until it comes to a rolling, slow boil. Once boiling, turn the heat down to medium-low. I usually boil it for about 5 minutes to make sure anything and everything that isn't supposed to be in your food is killed off. (Notice how I'm sensoring myself so as not to gross you out!!)

Nutritional Information:

Calories: 208 (33% from fat)

Fat: 7.6g (sat 2.7g,mono 3.2g,poly 0.7g)

Protein: 26.1g

Carbohydrate: 6.4g

Fiber: 0.2g

Cholesterol: 76mg

Iron: 3.1mg

Sodium: 457mg

Calcium: 19mg

Chicken n' Corn Chowda' Slim Style

Ingredients

12 oz. skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (I used two 4 oz. breasts, and it appeared to be plenty... and in other news... the recipe says you can use chicken thighs as well, but I prefer white meat)

4 fresh ears of sweet corn

1 32-oz. container reduced-sodium chicken broth (I used my favorite substitute, sodium free chicken stock powder. It's great if you want to control the saltiness of your dish... or add any garlic salt later without fear of over-sodiumizing your chowda :-)

1 small red sweet pepper, chopped (1/2 cup)

1 cup milk (there was no specification of type, but I used Skim and it seemed suitable)

1-1/4 cups instant mashed potato flakes

salt to taste (I used garlic salt... of course!)

ground black pepper

crushed red pepper ("optional," according to the original recipe... I didn't add it because I didn't want it super spicey)

a couple good shakes of dried, powdered coriander

1 tablespoon or so chives (I used dried, and just made sure I let the soup sit overnight to get them soft and let the flavors socialize)

1. In Dutch oven combine chicken, corn and broth. Cover; bring to boiling over high heat. Reduce heat. Simmer 12 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink. Remove chicken and corn to cutting board.

2. Add half the sweet pepper to broth in Dutch oven. Stir in milk and potato flakes. Shred chicken using two forks. Return chicken to Dutch oven. Using a kitchen towel to hold hot corn, cut kernels from cobs. Place corn in Dutch oven; heat through. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Sprinkle each serving with remaining sweet pepper and crushed red pepper. Makes 4 servings.

Nutrition Facts
These are the stats for the original recipe... I would guess the sodium would be less if you used the sodium-free chicken stock and the protein probably wouldn't be as high)

Calories 269
Total Fat 3g
Saturated Fat 1g
Monounsaturated Fat 1g
Polyunsaturated Fat 1g
Cholesterol 54mg
Sodium 721mg
Carbohydrate 33g
Total Sugar 7g
Fiber 3g
Protein 29g

Provincetown Salad a.k.a. Rainbow Feta Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

3-4 cups cooked pasta (penne or fusilli are good choices)

1 cup fresh green beans, trimmed, strings removed if necessary, and broken in half if very long

1 yellow or orange pepper, julienned or diced
(whatever floats your boat, matey!)

1 & 1/2 cups grape tomatoes, halved

1 to 2 tablespoons slivered fresh basil

Balsamic Vinaigrette (as much as you like... recipe follows)

1/2 cup crumbled feta

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste (A very good coarse sea salt would be delightful!

1. Cook pasta to your liking. I recommend al dente (or as Jay likes to call it, "a la jente") because the pasta will soften as the fully prepared salad mingles and dances with the dressing in the fridge.

2. Steam green beans for 3 or so minutes, remove from pot and douse in ice water (or if you're like me and conveniently keep ice cube trays in the cupboard, unused, cold water works just as well).

3. Combine all the ingredients* in a large dish, give 'er a stir, and let it rest for a couple hours in the fridge!


*If you want the basil to maintain its vivid color, leave it out until just before serving.



Balsamic Vinaigrette

1 shallot, chopped

1 garlic clove, chopped

1 teaspoon fresh basil

1 tablespoon dried italian seasoning

fresh ground black pepper (to taste)

1/2 cup water

3/4 cup balsamic vinegar

2 to 3 tablespoons honey mustard (my substitution for adding Dijon mustard and honey separately)

2 to 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Blend all the ingredients except mustard and oil. Slowly (and carefully!) drizzle them in separately while the blender is on low. Add one tablespoon at a time, finger tasting as you go! Mmmm!

Estimated Nutritional Information
(for 4 GINORMOUS servings of rainbowness made with 3 cups whole wheat pasta and no added salt)
Calories 410.5
Total Fat 10.6 g
Saturated Fat 3.6 g
Polyunsat. Fat 1.0 g
Monounsat. Fat 4.6 g
Cholesterol 16.7 mg
Sodium 239.8 mg
Potassium 271.6 mg
Total Carbohydrate 65.9 g
Dietary Fiber 7.9 g
Sugars 3.4 g
Protein 14.7 g