Corn Chickpea Confetti

I drained and washed a small can of chickpeas (garbanzo beans) and lightly toasted them in a skillet. While it was toasting, I cut up a small onion, 4 oz. of roast beef from a roast I had made a zucchini, a summer squash and a red pepper. When the chickpeas were lightly toasted, I set them aside for a bit in a bowl, while I added a teaspoon of olive oil to the skillet and tossed in the onions and let them soften. I then added 1 cup of Trader Joe’s Corn Salsa without Tomatoes and the other vegetables and the beef I had cut up and gently mixed together and continued to let them cook with the lid on until the veggies were cooked tender. I added the chickpeas, stirred together and served. This made 4 servings as it seemed silly to use only a quarter of a can of beans.

You can easily leave the beef out and make this a vegan side dish.

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Greek Salad with Spiced Beef

Whenever I finish frying up some meat, I add just enough water to deglaze the pan. Sometimes that goes into what I am making, but if not, I save it for the next meal and use it instead of oil to cook in. For this, I used the deglazed jus from the night before. I tossed in 3 oz of chopped roast beef and a mix of aromatic spices, just a pinch of them as this was such a small serving. I added some cardamom, sumac and oregano along with salt and pepper. Then I squeezed juice from half a lemon over it and stirred until the meat was cooked and most of the fluid was absorbed or evaporated.

While it cooked, I chopped up some romaine and spread it on a plate. I spread a couple tablespoons of feta on top of that and chopped up about 8 olives and tossed that on it. I added the hot cooked beef that had acquired a savory Middle Eastern flavor from the spices and then dressed the salad with Girard’s Greek Feta Vinaigrette.

Beef & Mushroom Tortellini with Salad

I love to cook up a beef roast since I can cut it up for lots of quick little meals such as this Beef & Mushroom Tortellini. My best friend brought me a huge roast from her stockpile. She and her husband buy a whole cow each year directly from the farm and have it butchered for them, guaranteeing that they get grass-fed BGH-free beef at a reasonable price. I am an occasional benefactor and have to say, it’s much tastier than from the supermarket.

I started by sauteing onions and garlic. I think I start everything this way. I used about two 1/4 slices of onion and 1 clove of garlic. I then chopped up 1 large crimini mushroom and 3 ounces of roast beef which gave me roughly equivalent amounts of beef and mushroom. I tossed them in and added 2 TBSP of mustard and about 1 TBSP of water and put the lid on.

Meanwhile I started water boiling and added 1 cup of tortellini. When it was done, I strained it and tossed it in with the beef and folded it in. It was ready to serve.

While the tortellini cooked, I cut up a few romaine leaves, chopped up some olives and added about an ounce of feta with some of Girard’s Greek Feta Vinaigrette. I swear by that dressing. It is so delicious and tangy. I don’t use it just for salad. Sometimes I will dress cooked veggies or pasta with it.

Three Minute Beef Pita Sandwich

I cooked a beef roast the other night so I have lots of lovely roast beef for sandwiches and other quick meals. For this pita sandwich, I sliced off a few slices from the roast and cut them into smaller bite size pieces. I heated my saute pan and put about 1 TBSP of the jus from the roast in the pan and added a pinch of cardamom and sumac, salt and pepper. I added the meat and heated, turning a few times while it cooked. Just before serving I added a bit of yogurt and some feta cheese and stirred and removed from heat to cool for a minute. Meanwhile i heated a pita bread in the microwave for about 20 seconds to make it flexible. I cut it in half and stuffed with a meat mixture and a chopped up romaine leaf.

It has a savory flavor with that wonderful spice profile of middle eastern meats. The feta gave it some tang as did the yogurt and the lettuce added a fresh crunch.