by LT | Jun 23, 2020 | Diet, Main Course, Recipe, Whole 30
We are on Week 2 Day 2 of eating meatless on weekdays and today we made our own eggplant meatball recipe.
Since the Stay at Home order we have been eating well at the Thompson house. Too well. Although I’ve received a lot of flack over it, my husband actually came up with the idea to attempt going meatless on weekdays. Last week was the first week and we crushed it! There were no cheat days!
One difficulty has been finding recipes that don’t replace meat with another bad thing like frying in oil, a cup of soy sauce, or a pound of cheese. Today’s creation does have some cheese, but is very healthy.
Try our eggplant meatball recipe (even our 16 year old son ate them).
Note – the “Prepare the Eggplant” portion of the recipe can be done a day ahead. When I made this I prepared 2 eggplants. One for this recipe and one I cooked 15 minutes longer for baba ganoush.
Eggplant Meatballs
These vegetarian meatballs are so amazing, even our 16 year old son ate them!
Prep Time1 hour hr 30 minutes mins
Cook Time30 minutes mins
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Italian
Keyword: vegetarian
Servings: 4
- 1 large eggplant
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 cup finely chopped onion
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh basil
- 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1/8 tsp white pepper
- 1 dash cayenne pepper
- 1/3 cup grated Romano or Parmesan cheese
- 3/4 cup Italian breadcrumbs
- 2 eggs, beaten
While the eggplant is cooling
Heat olive oil in frying pan on medium heat and cook onion until almost soft (3-5 minutes)
Add garlic and cook 1-2 more minutes
Remove from heat and let cool
Mix cheese into eggs and add salt, pepper, white pepper, cayenne, basil, and parsley. Mix together
Assemble meatballs
Scoop flesh from eggplant and add to egg and cheese mixture. Discard the skin.
Add breadcrumbs and mix together
Form into 1 1/2 inch balls and place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper (makes 24)
Refrigerate 20 minutes
Cooking
Place baking sheet in oven (still 400°) and cook for 30 minutes, carefully flipping once after the first 15 minutes.
Serve with a spicy marinara alone or on noodles, or zoodles (zucchini noodles)
by LT | Jun 10, 2020 | Diet, Main Course, Recipe
Leftover Roast Chicken Jambalaya.
Our eyes were bigger than our stomachs when we decided to roast 2 whole chickens for dinner. There was a lot leftover and I already have several types of chicken based soup ready to eat in the freezer. We’ve also made a lot of Mexican dishes with all of the cooking we’ve been doing with the stay at home orders.
That’s when it hit me – let’s make jambalaya. I searched for a recipe and couldn’t find one for leftover roast chicken jambalaya so I adapted one from allrecipes.
The great thing about Jambalaya is that it doesn’t need to be exact. If you have more or less protein the recipe will still be fantastic. If you don’t eat pork, no problem. Andouille sausage is available in pork or chicken. Just be sure that it is smoked or you will need to cook it longer to cook through.
If it was just Chris and I we would have made this with shrimp, but our son is violently allergic to shellfish. Although he has no problem with shrimp, the association to shellfish just turns him off to it.
We sure hope you enjoy it.
Jambalaya
Great use for your leftover roast chicken
Cook Time45 minutes mins
Total Time1 hour hr
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Creole
Keyword: Chicken, rice, Sausage, Shrimp
Servings: 6
- 1 lb leftover roasted chicken, cubed Since you are using leftovers, measurements for chicken just need to be close. You can be between 3/4 - 1 1/4 pounds without changing the recipe.
- 4 links smoked andouille sausage, sliced I recommend aidells Cajun style andouille. The links are individually wrapped so if you cut this recipe in half it is easy to use 2 links.
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp Cajun seasoning
- 1 onion, diced
- 1 green pepper, diced
- 2 celery stalks, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 15 oz can crushed tomatoes
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1/2 tsp Tabasco sauce
- 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tbsp flour
- 1 1/4 cups white rice, uncooked
- 2 1/2 cups chicken broth
- 2 sliced green onions
Heat olive oil in large dutch oven.
Season the sausage with Cajun seasoning and saute in oil until brown.
Add chicken pieces and stir to coat. Once chicken is incorporated with the sausage and seasoning remove the meat from the pan and set aside.
In the same dutch oven saute the onion, green pepper, celery and garlic until soft.
Sprinkle with flour and toss.
Stir in the crushed tomatoes and all of the seasonings including Tabasco and Worcestershire sauces.
Cook for 10 minutes
Stir in the rice and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until rice is cooked.
Serve garnished with green onions.
This recipe was adapted from allrecipes.
If you want to add shrimp add pealed and deveined shrimp to dutch oven 5 minutes before cooking time is over. 
by LT | Apr 18, 2020 | Diet, Main Course, Recipe, Whole 30
We made this chili lime shrimp recipe and really enjoyed it. I think you will like it too.
Staying at home and staying healthy has been a challenge during this pandemic. We’ve tried to behave, but being trapped with our food is so hard. Those few ventures out to the store have also been a struggle. Determined to stick to our grocery list, but then . . . we accidentally venture down the vanilla Oreo’s aisle. This recipe is quick, easy and healthy and has so many serving options. Serve on top of pasta or rice, use as a salad topper, or our favorite way to serve them is as shrimp tacos.
Shrimp omelets are my favorite special treat. I always make a couple of extra shrimp for the next morning.
Note: This recipe is Whole 30 friendly.
Chili Lime Shrimp
Quick and easy and delicious
Prep Time10 minutes mins
Cook Time8 minutes mins
Total Time14 minutes mins
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Mexican
Keyword: Shrimp
Servings: 4
- 1 1/4 lb shrimp - peeled and cleaned we use the 21-25 size
- 1/4 c olive oil
- 2 tbsp lime juice fresh squeezed
- 1 1/2 tbsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 2 tsp chili powder
- 1/2 tsp cumin
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika smoked is different than regular, try not to substitute
- 1/2 tsp course salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes add more if you prefer
- 1 tbsp chopped cilantro for garnish
Mix together the olive oil through red pepper flakes and pour over shrimp.
Let sit for up to 30 minutes
Heat skillet or grill to medium heatIf using skillet add enough olive oil to prevent sticking Cook about 2-3 minutes per side. Shrimp will be pink and start to curl when cooked through.
Serving suggestions: serve on pasta, rice, as a salad topper, or in taco shells Garnish with chopped cilantro (optional)
