I Can Make You Hot! (34 page)

2 medium onions, sliced thin

2 portobello mushrooms (or ¾ pound of any mushrooms of your choice), sliced thin

1 ½ cups quick-cooking barley

1 cup chicken broth

2 skirt steaks, about 12 ounces each

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a medium saucepan, add the onions and sauté until caramelized but not burned. Add 2 more tablespoons of the oil and the mushrooms and continue to sauté until the mushrooms are soft.

Meanwhile, cook the barley in the chicken broth according to package directions.

When the mushrooms and onions are done, stir them into the cooked barley.

While the vegetables cook, preheat a skillet or grill pan. Rub the steaks with salt and pepper and the remaining 1 tablespoon of olive oil and cook in the preheated pan for 6 minutes. Flip them over and continue cooking to your desired doneness.

Slice the steaks and serve alongside the vegetables and barley.

Baby Lamb Chops with Blueberry-Mint Salad

My mother loved to serve lamb chops with mint jelly, but the only kind of jelly I liked was strawberry, so I could never understand the appeal of that particular classic combination. Now I make my own garnish for baby lamb chops using blueberries and fresh mint instead of jelly. The combination is insanely good, and the salad, by itself, makes a delicious snack.

MAKES 2 SERVINGS

For the Chops

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

4 baby rib lamb chops (about 3 to 4 ounces each)

Fine sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

For the Salad

1 pint fresh blueberries

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 handful fresh mint leaves, finely chopped

Fine sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

To prepare the chops: Heat the olive oil in a nonstick skillet. Season the chops on both sides with salt and pepper to taste, add them to the pan, and sauté for 3 to 4 minutes per side; you want them pink in the middle but not rare.

To make the salad: Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and mash them together with a fork until well mixed.

Serve the chops with the salad on the side.

Sultry Roast Chicken

After my first horse show, Beatrice, the wife of my husband’s agent, made us the most delicious chicken I’d ever eaten. Growing up, my twin brother and I would go to my parents’ country club for “chicken night” while my parents went to the symphony. I ate fried chicken every Thursday night for ages, and now, for the first time, I was being served chicken as a Saturday lunch. It was also the first time I ever had ginger in chicken, and now I can’t imagine eating it any other way. In fact, chicken without ginger doesn’t taste like chicken to me anymore. Beatrice was a wonderful French woman who taught me a lot about good-tasting food and always encouraged me to balance my work life and home life, which often seemed overwhelming. Beatrice, I’ll never forget your chicken or your integrity.

MAKES 6 SERVINGS

One 4- to 4 ½-pound chicken

2 tablespoons olive oil

Fine sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 tablespoon peeled and grated fresh ginger

½ cup chopped peeled, fresh ginger

3 carrots, sliced

1 zucchini, cut into ¼-inch-thick slices

12 small red new potatoes in their skins

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Rinse the chicken and pat it dry. Massage the skin with the olive oil and rub it all over with the salt, pepper, and the grated ginger. Stuff the cavity with the chopped ginger.
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Place the chicken in a roasting pan and roast for about 1 hour, or until the chicken is crisp and golden and the juices run clear when the thigh joint is pricked with a small knife. About 30 minutes before the chicken is done, add the carrots, zucchini, and potatoes to the pan. Serve the chicken with the roasted vegetables.

spice up your metabolism

Any time you want to boost your metabolism, adding fresh ginger, jalapeño pepper, or anything spicy to your food is a good way to go. Spicy food is known to heat up your metabolism so that you burn calories faster.

Snow White

I know that I talk about the importance of having color on your plate, but sometimes it is nice to go against type. So I created this healthy all-white meal the entire family will enjoy.

MAKES 6 SERVINGS

1 whole chicken, about 4 pounds

¼ teaspoon olive oil

White pepper

Organic nonstick cooking spray

1 whole cauliflower, about 1 pound, broken into flowerets

3 cups chicken broth, preferably low sodium

1 cup regular grits (I use Quaker)

½ cup soy milk

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Rinse the chicken and dry it thoroughly. Rub the skin with the olive oil and white pepper to taste. Spray a baking dish large enough to hold the chicken with the cooking spray. Place the chicken in the pan breast-side-up and roast in the preheated oven until the skin is golden and the juices run clear when pricked with a fork, approximately 1 hour. After the first half hour, add the cauliflower flowerets to the pan.

While the chicken is roasting, bring the broth to a boil in a saucepan. Stir in the grits and whisk. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until the grits are thick, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add the soy milk and stir. These grits are intended to be like rice, so they will be a bit grainier than the usual creamy consistency.

Carve the chicken and serve it on a bed of grits with the roasted cauliflower.

VARIATION
: If you want to put Snow White in the forest, add a handful of fresh spinach to each plate and drizzle it with a bit of olive oil.

Second-Chance Chicken

I hate the idea of leftovers. To me, eating leftovers means that you’re too lazy to start over, and I’ve never wanted my girls to think that we weren’t starting fresh. This chicken is my way of making something that could have been old into something entirely new.

MAKES 2 SERVINGS

One half 16-ounce package spinach pasta

6 sun-dried tomatoes, chopped, or 2 teaspoons capers
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¼ cup snow peas

¼ cup steamed broccoli florets

2 carrots, peeled and diced

1 cup dry white wine

1 teaspoon honey or agave nectar (see
footnote
)

1 cup diced leftover sautéed chicken breasts or roasted chicken

Fine sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1 lemon

In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain and place in a serving bowl.

While the pasta is cooking, place the sun-dried tomatoes, if using, and the vegetables in a large saucepan, add the white wine, and cook until the vegetables are soft. Toss the vegetables with the pasta, and stir in the honey and capers, if using. Top with the chicken, season with salt and pepper, and squeeze fresh lemon juice over all.

Malibu Chicken Wraps

These were inspired by the wraps Chef Sam Talbot made on the
Real Housewives of New York City
.

MAKES 4 WRAPS

2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts (about 6 ounces each), grilled

8 large romaine lettuce leaves

8 slices ripe red tomato

Sliced pineapple or papaya (optional)

4 tablespoons Thai mayonnaise
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or chili sauce or a sprinkling of truffle oil

Slice the grilled chicken breasts about ¼-inch thick on the diagonal.

Cut the ribs from the lettuce leaves and place them on four individual plates, two leaves overlapping on each plate. Arrange the chicken slices on the middle of the lettuce leaves, top each with 2 tomato slices and sliced pineapple or papaya, if you wish. Spread a tablespoon of Thai mayo or chili sauce or sprinkle each wrap with truffle oil. Roll them up and eat them with your hands.

Bad Girl Wings

These chicken wings are Sea’s favorite. I’m sure she loves them because she knows I love wings (she’s a cutie like that). What she doesn’t know is that they are made with kamut flakes, but you can also use cornflakes, if that’s all you have. I love kamut because it makes a baked chicken wing crunchy, healthy,
and
tasty. It has a slightly sweet flavor and contains more protein than any other wheat. Let’s be honest; we eat with all our senses. To me, crunch always tastes better. I can’t explain why, but it does.

MAKES 2 SERVINGS

2 eggs

6 skinless chicken wings

2 cups kamut flakes, crushed

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Make an egg bath with the eggs. Dip each wing in the egg bath, roll in the kamut flakes, and place on a plate.

Spray a baking sheet with nonstick cooking oil. Place the wings on the sheet and drizzle with the vegetable oil. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, turning once, until they are a crunchy golden brown.

Hawaiian Chicken

When I was modeling in Maui and took my girls with me, we all tried chicken with pineapple for the first time. Now I make this dish both because it’s delicious and because every time we eat it we’re reminded of the amazing view from our Maui hotel-room window. We looked directly out at the Pacific and the waves rolled in three at a time, every single minute. It was as if we were at a great big wave park, and after a while we laughed, wondering if they ever turned them off.

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

Flesh from ½ fresh pineapple, cut into large chunks (or 1 can pineapple chunks), separate the juice

1 tablespoon sesame oil

¼ cup packed brown sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 cup grated unsweetened coconut flakes

Red pepper flakes

2 large skinless, boneless chicken breasts (about 6 ounces each), cut into large cubes

1 (8-ounce) bag fresh spinach

Brown rice or fresh greens, for serving

In a bowl, combine the pineapple juice, sesame oil, sugar, cinnamon, coconut flakes, and red pepper flakes and mix well.

Transfer the mixture to a large saucepan over medium heat. When hot, add the chicken and cook, tossing for about 3 minutes. Add the pineapple chunks and continue to toss and cook until the chicken is cooked through.

Add the spinach, cook for 1 minute more, just until wilted, and serve over a bed of brown rice or fresh greens.

Drunken Wings

You know I love both beer and chicken wings. This is my version of a recipe I found for wings cooked in beer. If you’re feeling a bit out of sorts after a Saturday night on the town, you can make this recipe and enjoy some “hair of the dog” for your Sunday Funday.

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

1½ pounds chicken wings

1 teaspoon fine sea salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 bottle favorite beer (mine is Corona)

1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme, for garnish

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Cut the tips off the wings, sprinkle the wings with the salt and pepper, and spread them out in a roasting pan. Pour the beer over the wings and bake for 30 to 40 minutes until the wings are browned and cooked through. Garnish with the thyme and serve.

make a “clean and neat joanna”

I love coming up with cleaner, healthier but delicious versions of my favorite foods, and this is one of them. Of course, it’s sometimes a matter of trial and error. The first time I made Sloppy Joes as a kid, I put in coffee grounds. You know how much I love coffee, but that didn’t work out so well. Now, instead of Sloppy Joes, I’ve come up with this “clean and neat” Joanna version: Brown crumbled turkey sausage in a nonstick pan coated with nonstick cooking spray. Mix in your favorite barbecue sauce and 1 tablespoon brewed espresso. Serve on a whole wheat hamburger bun.