It’s FOOD REVOLUTION FRIDAY, and if you aren’t on board with Jamie Oliver’s campaign to change the way Americans eat, you can read all about it here.  Sign the petition.  Help our children have a healthy future.

This bright and fresh Thai Green Curry recipe is from Jamie’s Food Revolution cookbook (that has a ton of super-delicious recipes like this one).  It’s full of spring vegetables like asparagus and snow peas, and is covered with a flavorful homemade green curry sauce.  It can be made with shrimp or chicken, or even tofu.  Once again, brilliant.

Thai Green Curry

adapted from Jamie’s Food Revolution Cookbook by Jamie Oliver

serves 2

Ingredients

• 2 stalks lemongrass, outer leaves discarded, crushed
• 4 scallions, trimmed
• 3 fresh green chiles, halved and seeded
• 4 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
• 1 (2-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and coarsely chopped
• 1 large bunch fresh cilantro, some leaves reserved for garnish
• 1 teaspoon coriander seeds, crushed
• 8 fresh or dried kaffir lime leaves (optional)
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon fish sauce
• 1 tablespoon peanut oil or vegetable oil
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined, or 2 chicken boneless, skinless fillets sliced into strips
• 1/2 cup snow peas
• 1 (14-ounce) can coconut milk
• 1 large bunch asparagus, julienned
• 1 lime
• Chopped red chile, for garnish (optional)
• Cooked basmati rice, for serving

Directions

1. Using the heel of your hand, crush lemongrass and add to the bowl of a food processor along with scallions, green chiles, garlic, ginger, cilantro, coriander seeds, and lime leaves. Process until finely chopped. With the processor running, add soy and fish sauce. Continue processing until a smooth paste is formed.
2. Heat a large skillet or wok over high heat and add peanut/vegetable and sesame oil; swirl to coat. Add shrimp or chicken and stir and cook until no longer pink;  add curry paste, snow peas, and asparagus and cook, stirring constantly, for about 3 minutes. Add the coconut milk and stir to combine. Cook until heated through, about more minutes. Squeeze lime over curry and garnish with cilantro leaves and red chile; serve with rice.

PRINTER FRIENDLY RECIPE

Meatloaf.  It’s what’s for dinner.  Or so I told my family.  They weren’t thrilled at the idea, the husband having flashbacks of dry, tasteless meatloaf, and the children having flashes of television shows where meatloaf is the enemy of child-kind.

But the rule is ‘you have to taste it’ at my house, so they did.  And guess what, Mikey?  They liked it.  This Ina Garten recipe for Individual Meat Loaves for this week’s Barefoot Bloggers turned out to be surprisingly delicious.

Here’s what I think made the difference:  First, you begin with sauteed onions, cooked until soft so they melt into the meat instead of staying crunchy.  Secondly, chicken broth is mixed in along with the other ingredients which keeps it from being too dry, like meatloaf sometimes tends to be.

Want to hear your husband say “this is the best meatloaf I’ve ever had”?  Click here to get the recipe a give it a go.

Who still has their Christmas tree up?  (Raises hand.)  The ornaments are off of ours, but it still sits in the den, crispy and deep-fried from the dry heat.  Looking more like something from The Nightmare Before Christmas.  Scary.

Tomorrow I am planning to put a pot of this incredibly easy and incredibly delicious meat and bean mix in the slow cooker to work its magic while I put away all the decorations.  And when I’m finished, I’ll be able to make something fun with it like these Pork and Pinto Bean Nachos.

Start with a bag of dried beans, some meat, and a few pantry ingredients, dump it all in a slow cooker, and let it go.  How easy is that?

This is another one of those ‘possibilities are endless’ recipes.  First of all, you can use any meat you like – I’ve made it with chicken pieces, pork loin, beef and venison stew meat.  And then once it’s done, it makes the perfect filling for any kind of Mexican dish you can think of.

Way better than crispy fried Christmas tree.

Slow Cooker Pork and Pinto Beans

from Shortbread

Ingredients

• 1  pound dried pinto beans
• 1  pound boneless pork loin chops
• 2  garlic cloves, minced
• 1  tablespoon chili powder
• 2  teaspoons salt
• 1  teaspoon dried oregano
• 1  teaspoon ground cumin
• 1  (32-ounce) box chicken broth
• 1  (10-ounce) can diced tomatoes with green chilies

Directions

1. Rinse and sort beans according to package directions.
2. Place pinto beans in a 6-quart or larger slow cooker. Place pork pieces on top and cover with rest of ingredients.
3. Cover and cook on LOW 8 hours or on HIGH 5 hours until beans and meat are tender.
4. Stir to break meat into small pieces.

Printer Friendly Recipe

*For the nachos, top tortilla chips with the meat mixture and cover with shredded cheese. Microwave until melted. Top with your favorite things like avocado, salsa, jalapeño and cilantro.