I just make sloppy joes the way you would with beef, but I use black beans
Some people use manwhich, but I use a 'sloppy joe seasoning pack' from mcckormic or iga or something. it's usually use add tomato sauce, water, and seasonings! very simple.
or you can always use manwhich or something canned like that.
Thanks Lottie! You are great!. I think this is something my kids would love too!
Lottie bulk cooking day sounds like a great idea! I need to plan better. Making some food to have prepared already would make things a whole lot easier. Hummus sounds yummy.
*nods nods* I don't quite do bulk cooking day but I tend to do things like make a big pot of soup and put it in the first and haev a bowl a day or make up a side dish and put in in my lunch for a few days. It's nice and quick
I bought the canned saag at an Indian grocery store, and it has only 210 calories for the entire can. The can is at the bottom of a very messy garbage bag, and I don't remember a brand name, but I believe "feast in a can" was written on the label. The ingredients were mustard greens and seasonings, including fenegreek. There were 15g of carbohydrates in the can and less than 8g of fat for the entire can (which was supposed to contain 3 servings 70 calories each).
So let's see I simmered 1 lb of chicken thighs and about 1 cup of sliced onions in water and broth powder, until the chicken was no longer pink on the outside. I transfered half to another skillet.
I added the can of saag and 2 tsp of butter (not really necessary, but I still had two fats for the day), and a 1/2 tsp of minced garlic, and simmered until chicken was cooked through.
So 565 calories for the skillet full (making two generous servings).
The key to making it again is going to be finding the can of pre-seasoned saag.
I did make something similar not long ago, in which I simmered the chicken and onions as above, and added a can of spinach and a spoonful of Maggi Taste of India brand tikka masala paste. Very good, but not as much like restaurant chicken saag as much as tonight's dinner was (I regret not buying more cans of the saag - it was $1.99 for a 15 oz can, which I thought was a bit steep for a side dish - but as a base for the chicken it seems cheap - chicken saag helper, so to speak).
I've tried before and never had much luck replicating indian restaurant flavors until the saag tonight (well, I guess I cheated, in that most of the seasoning was done for me).
I make a faux chicken tikka massala that's really good too (good in it's own right, but not very much like restaurant versions). I start to simmer the chicken and onion like above (and often add red and green bell pepper slices), but use the whole pound of chicken and a whole medium onion and 1 to 2 bell peppers. Then I add a can of condensed tomato soup (Aldi or Campbell's) and 1/2 to 3/4 can of water and a tbs of the Maggi Taste of India tikka masala paste, and simmer until chicken is done and the sauce is as thick as I want it.
I love the Maggi Taste of India pastes. I have the tikka masala paste and the biryani paste. I bought those the last time I was in Bloomington (IL) to visit my parents. There's a little indian grocery store there (Puran Grocery). When we visited them last week, I bought a pound of dal and the can of saag. I was tempted to buy a lot more, especially of the seasoning pastes, but I still have about 1/3 to 1/2 of the two I already have in the fridge (since you only use a couple tablespoons at a time, the jars last a long while - although if you use the recipes on the jar, start with about 1/3 of what they call for and add more if you need to. I followed the recipes exactly, and my poor hubby couldn't even eat the dishes, they were too spicy for him. If I use 1/3 what the recipe calls for, it's perfect for hubby but a bit mild for me. At about 1/2 we can both eat it, but it's perfect for me. Usually I season for him, then when it's done, I portion out his food and then add a little more of the seasoning paste and simmer a few minutes longer to distribute the flavors.
The tikka masala is always better the next day, and I'm guessing the saag may be also.
Thank you kaplods...I have an Indian store nearby but it's smaller..I want to find some of the pre-seasoned saag--I love that stuff and know it would be good on it's own or with the chicken..
I agree on the Taste of India products--they are good and when I use them in moderation, it isn't problematic calories wise.
Thanks again for the Indian ideas. I love having a way to satiate my craving for Indian without going to the buffet--where I invariably eat way too much!
^^^
I love Saag! I'm not the biggest vegetable fan in the world so I've had to become creative about trying to sneak veggies into my food and I love curries and a saag is basically a curry with spinach in it. I don't have any Indian stores around me (although Whole Foods has some ethnic stuff) so I do mine from scratch by making a basic curry with light coconut milk, curry powder, ginger, red pepper (to taste), seasonings (also to taste), stock, garlic and onion powder (i don't like onions that i can see but if you eat onions you can chop them up). I cook my protein (meat/chicken/seafood) in this coconut milk curry combination then I add my frozen spinach once everything is all cooked at the end and stir it all together, let it simmer and I'm done. It takes maybe 15 mins if I'm using seafood. That's another way to do a saag if you can't find the helper mixes.
1 lb boiled black beans (or canned)
1 mckormicks (or other brand) hot chili seasoning packet
One fourth or third large red onion, chopped,
1 red pepper chopped
3 jalapenos chopped
1.25 cup tomato sauce (I actually use ragu, I hate plain tomato sauce) *It calls for 1 cup sauce but I add a little extra and let it cook down, I let it simmer for about 2 hours instead of the ten mins called for*
1 tbls crushed red pepper
.5-1 tbls brown sugar (depends on taste and what kind of tomato sauce you use, the brown sugar gets rid of some of that bitter acidic taste of the tomato)
A splash of Chalula hot sauce
I think that's all I use...I tend to get into the kitchen and just start throwing things into a pot.
