Wednesdays with Donna Hay

If it’s Wednesday then there is a Donna Hay cookbook on my counter. Because on Wednesdays several of us use Donna’s cookbooks for some delicious, healthy food.

This week I chose to make her stir-fried pork and shiitake mushrooms. Glad I did. It was simple and delicious.

I usually have ingredients in my pantry to cook us something with an Asian flair. Mirin, sesame oil, shredded ginger, soy sauce coconut aminos, and dried ‘shrooms are always there.

This dish was simple, even though it has 10 ingredients. Bok choy, pork slices, and garlic were added to the above Asian ingredients. And it was delicious. The shiitake mushrooms added a touch of sweetness as did the mirin.

Since I subbed in coconut aminos for the soy sauce making this dish more KETO friendly but the mirin (14 gm carb and 13 gram sugar/2 tbl) sorta cancelled that out.

Recipe is on page 103 of Donna’s new food fast.

See what the other members made this week.

Kayte

Peggy

Gaye

If you want to join us just cook any recipe from Donna Hay’s books, post it and let us know. We will add you to the list.

 

{WWDH} Stir Fried Beef

This week we are enjoying Marvelous Meat for Wednesdays with Donna Hay.  Meat can be anything that doesn’t swim  so lamb, beef, pork, and chicken  were all possibilities.

We don’t eat a lot of beef so fixing a small amount for a lunch with a friend was the  perfect way to go.  With an Asian Flair.

Stir-fried beef, ginger, and greens

A short list of simple ingredients:  beef, sesame oil, ginger, garlic,  Asian Greens, oyster sauce and Chinese cooking wine was all we needed.  But I have one question – WHAT are Asian Greens?  Chinese Cabbage?  Bok Choy?  Lemon Grass?  We settled on the cabbage because the Bok Choy didn’t look so hot.

It was really easy to put together but we didn’t care for it very much.  It seemed rather bland even with the Oyster sauce and Sesame oil.  I served it with Rice Noodles.  Not a repeat.

The recipe is on page 60 of Donna’s   new food fast.

More Marvelous Meat on Wednesdays with Donna Hay.

 

{IHCC} Chicken baked on sweet potato rosti

Chicken has become a mainstay of our diet. We eat a lot of chicken so I am always looking for new ways to cook it. Especially tasty ways. This recipe from Donna Hay, our Featured Chef this month for I Heart Cooking Clubs, fits the bill perfectly.

Simply put this is a tasty chicken breast that is browned in a little oil and then baked a few more minutes on a pile of thinly sliced sweet potato that has been baked.  The slices are tossed with olive oil, crushed garlic and grated Parmesan before they are ‘crisped’ in the oven.

Donna calls for chicken breasts with the skin on, but I really don’t like them so I used a boneless, skinless chicken breast.  Worked just fine.

Unfortunately my sweet potato slices didn’t ‘crisp’ very well.  And then ‘browned’ long before they were supposed to be done.  But they were good with the garlic flavor and Parmesan cheese.

The recipe is from Donna’s new food fast (page 93).  In this book the recipes are broken down in to 10 minutes, 20 minutes and 30 minutes.  This one falls under the 30 minute list.  Quick and easy.

Check out the rest of the dishes from Donna Hay over at IHCC.

 

{IHCC} Potluck with Donna Hay

I’ve always liked Donna Hay’s books.  Kayte introduced me to her recipes way back in 2012 when I joined Wednesday’s with Donna Hay.  Since then I have added four of her wonderful books to my collection.  Even tho’ I have made a lot of her dishes I still have plenty more marked.  Thank goodness for PotLuck with I Heart Cooking Clubs..

We needed a dessert in the house.  But we are trying to go sugar free.  But we needed a dessert.  Fortunately there are several with Donna that are easily adaptable using a sugar substitute rather than the real thing.

Custard Tart

I feared that the custard would not thicken if using Splenda with Fiber but my fears were unfounded.  It thickened nicely and made a great dessert for us.

The recipe calls for using warmed milk with a vanilla bean.  Instead, after warming the two I split the bean and added the seeds to the milk.  I did bring out the vanilla flavor a lot better.  And I hated to waste a whole bean.

This was just perfect.  Not a big sweet dessert.  Just sweet enough to enjoy after dinner.

I made 1/2 the recipe and ended up with 4 mini tarts (rather than pies).  I added just a little whipped cream on top.

The recipe is from Donna’s The New Cook.  (page 181)

Potluck brings all kinds of good dishes to the table.  Check out the POTLUCK for May at IHCC.

 

{WWDH} spinach and ricotta pies

There is just something about the texture of ricotta…

It is NOT a cheese I would pick to use for anything. But there are a lot of recipes out there that contain it and when it’s IN something it’s not bad. Like in these little puff pastry pies!

What you have here is puff pastry filled with a ricotta, Parmesean, dill, spinach mix. And it is wonderful!

Using puff pastry instead of Filo is genius. I love spanakopita but it is just takes so long to make with the Filo. I might make these more often just because of the Puff Pastry. Oh, and the flavor! Thanks, Donna!

You can click on over to the website and see if the other’s liked Chaya’s pick for this week.

 

{WWDH} asparagus with balsamic butter

If you need a VERY quick and VERY simple side this is the one. Provided you like fresh asparagus with lots of flavor.

I didn’t really like asparagus until a couple of years ago. Mom had always used the canned stuff and the ‘fragrance’ was enough to send me screaming from the house. But then, one day, I tried fresh and now I look for new ways to cook it. And this was my pick for this weeks Wednesdays with Donna Hay. How simple is it, you ask. Melt butter. Add some balsamic vinegar. Throw in a bunch of asparagus and cook until it is tender. Top with Parmasean cheese. How can you say to no to THAT??? Definitely a keeper.

Check with the rest of the cooks on our website – Wednesdays with Donna Hay

The recipe is on page 134 of Donna’s New Food Fast.

And if you would like to join us – just look at our choices for the next few weeks (on he right) then cook/bake, blog and leave us a comment below. Love to have you!

 

{WWDH} eggplant with tomato, basil, and parmesan risotto

One of my favorite dishes to cook is risotto. At least now that I know how. It took several, and I mean SEVERAL, tries to finally get it right but now it is often in the meal rotation as a side. When it came time for me to pick a recipe for this week I went straight for this risotto.

And I was not disappointed in the flavor. The eggplant, which I fried in a grilling pan, did get a little soggy, but they were flavorful. And the risotto was a little different as it had more wine and some tomato puree in it rather than just wine and broth. I think it was a little heavy and I will try and lighten it up a little next time. But it was good.

The recipe is on page 93 of Donna’s New Food Fast.

What did GAye, Sarah, Kayte, Chaya, and Peggy think? Visit our new website …

Wednesdays with Donna Hay…where we now leave our links
Eggplant with tomato, basil, and parmesan risotto