Thursday, March 5, 2009

Craving Ellie-Sesame Stir-Fried Chinese Greens, Quinoa Stir-Fry and Cheesecake Pops

This week's Craving Ellie recipe, Sesame Stir-Fried Chinese Greens, was chosen by Apple Crumbles. You can find the recipe there. It was a really easy recipe- your choice of napa cabbage or bok choy, which you stir-fry and then add rice wine vinegar, soy sauce, and sesame oil. Simple and quick. Just how I like it. Oh, and you top it off with a sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds. I was fixing a stir-fry to go with it and as I was preparing the stir-fry, I realized that the sauce for the stir-fry was exactly the same as the Chinese Greens. Perfect! I decided to include that recipe too, since that is what we had for dinner. The stir-fry was served over quinoa- I used a combination of normal and red quinoa. It was delicious. I also added a yellow and orange pepper for more color and nutrition.
My hubby also made a request for his favorite treat before he left a couple days ago. He loves Cheesecake Pops. I have made them at least 5 times since I tried them for the first time with the Daring Bakers last April. He wanted to take them to work and I made the leftover cheesecake into cheesecake cups. So, you have the healthy dinner and the decadent dessert. But, luckily the decadent dessert was made for other people to enjoy. Hope you try some of these delicious dishes!



The link for the Cheesecake Pops and Cheesecake Cups
Tofu, Asparagus, and Red Pepper Stir-Fry with Quinoa from Cooking Light
Dressing:
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
2 teaspoons dark sesame oil
Dash of crushed red pepper
Stir-fry:
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 cups uncooked quinoa
1 tablespoon dark sesame oil
1 cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups red bell pepper strips
2 cups sliced mushrooms
2 cups (1-inch) sliced asparagus (about 1 pound)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 (12.3-ounce) package reduced-fat firm tofu, drained and cubed
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
To prepare dressing, combine first 4 ingredients in a small bowl; stir with a whisk. Set aside.
To prepare stir-fry, bring water to a boil in a small saucepan. Stir in the quinoa; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Let stand, covered, 10 minutes; fluff with a fork.
Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic, and stir-fry 5 minutes. Add the bell pepper, mushrooms, asparagus, salt, and tofu; stir-fry 3 minutes. Stir in dressing. Serve over quinoa, and sprinkle with sesame seeds.

Up Tomorrow- Steel-Cut Oat Risotto

15 comments:

Marie Rayner said...

Looks delicious as always Mary Ann, but I am really looking forward to seeing your risotto!

The Food Librarian said...

All look soooo delicious!

Anonymous said...

Looks delicious. Glad the recipe worked out well with your main dish plans.Thanks for cooking along.

Maria said...

Love the stir fry! I will have to try it with quinoa. The pops are so fun!!

Anonymous said...

Can I just say I love your blog. I just absolutely love it!

Cathy said...

This all looks AMAZING, as always, Mare! I missed the greens, this week has been crazy (of course, on crazy weeks I need easy recipes like these greens!) but wow, they look great! You stirfry sounds fabulous too, and those cheesecake pops! Oh, those would be dangerous for me. I'd be lulled by the apparent built-in portion control into eating too many.

Peggy said...

All of that looks delicious. I like that you added some things to the bok choy. mine sure needed something. Love the cheesecake pops!

toontz said...

This dish looks so tasty. And the cheesecake pop is definitely a party on a stick!

Pamela said...

Everything looks absolutely delicious. I've been wanting to try those cheesecake pops, but I know I need to wait for an occasion. Otherwise, all of my healthy eating will be for nothing! I'm looking forward to next week, too. It'll be my first try with fish tacos!

Anonymous said...

The stir-fry looks and sounds delicious. And the cheesecake pops! Wow, they're gorgeous.

Leslie said...

That stir fry looks great! It's funny, I immediately thought about adding tofu to this one but didn't have any. Love the cheesecake pops, too!

The Blonde Duck said...

I love the cheesecake pops! Yum!

Anonymous said...

I followed the cheesecake pop picture from tastespotting hoping to get a treat myself ... they are absolutely sensational!! :-)

Not Another Omnivore said...

those cheesecake pops are sooo cute!

NAOmni

Brilynn said...

I have yet to make these since the DB challenge... I ate sooo much of it while trying to roll it into balls. They were really fun looking in the end though.