One Healthy Sauce: Five, 20 Minute Dinners

Who doesn't like quick solutions?  Quick, effective solutions I should add.   And, I think I have one for you here with a quick healthy sauce that will make five, 20-minute dinners that are tasty and full of goodness.  You have a busy week coming up but still have mouths to feed, including your own, and don't want to succumb to take-out? I think I can help.

It starts with a roasted red pepper sauce that you can pull together in no time that is used to create several fast, healthy, delicious dinners.  But first, why this sauce?

Health Benefits to the Red Pepper

Here are some facts on the glossy, glorious red pepper and why you may want to make this sauce and include it in your diet:



That rich red color means business.  As shown by their bright red color, red peppers are rich in the pigment beta-carotene, which is converted by your body to retinol, a form of vitamin A. Vitamin A is necessary for eye health and maintaining healthy skin and many other bodily membranes.

Choose red over green.  Although all bell peppers are good sources of vitamins A and C, red bell peppers contain larger amounts of these vitamins than bell peppers of other colors.

Everything gets better with age.  Red bell peppers are actually green peppers that have been given more time to ripen on the vine in the sun producing a sweeter flavor along with that rich color.

Red peppers help decrease the damage.  Due to their high concentration of vitamins A and C, roasted red peppers are a rich source of antioxidants that prevent damage by free radicals. Vitamin C is a faithful immune system supporter and both vitamins A and C together help the body repair itself after it has been injured or stressed.

Red bell peppers contain phytochemicals that are hard to pronounce.  Lutein and zeaxanthin are two carotenoids found in the lens and retina of the eye.  Consuming foods that contain lutein and zeaxanthin may slow the development of macular degeneration and cataracts.

Pick organic.  Bell peppers of all colors are heavily sprayed with pesticides. Pick organic if you can.

One Sauce, Many Dinners Strategy

These fast, healthy dinners start with this quick sauce.  It comes together in 15 minutes and makes about 8 cups of sauce. It freezes well. Click on the green links for more information about an ingredient.

Roasted Red Pepper Sauce

Gather

• 1 large onion, roughly chopped
• 8 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• generous sprinkle of Himalayan pink salt
• 1 teaspoon white miso paste (optional)
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika 
• 1/3 to 1/2 teaspoon cayenne or red pepper flakes
• 1 cup red wine (optional)
• 1 cup vegetable or chicken broth (2 cups if not using wine) You may need more of this.
• 6 cups chopped, roasted organic red peppers (drained and rinsed if jarred or freshly roasted)

immersion blender

Now do this

• Saute the onion and garlic in a few teaspoons of water and keep stirring until soft.  
• Add tomato paste, salt and miso and stir for a few seconds to incorporate.
• Add paprika and cayenne and stir for another few seconds to incorporate. 
• Add wine, broth and peppers. Stir well.
• Heat together for 8-10 minutes.
• Take off the heat.
• With an immersion blender, blend until smooth leaving bits of chunks of red pepper.  Add more broth by a teaspoon at a time if necessary to thin the sauce, but leave a thicker consistency.  You can always add liquid later.
• Taste and adjust seasonings.
• Refrigerate for later use as flavors meld and taste even better a little later or use immediately.

Five, 20-Minute Dinners

Here are five suggestions to make (mostly) vegetarian dinners for four in 20 minutes. Serve with roasted vegetables or a salad and fresh berries with a drizzle of raw honey and cinnamon for dessert:


1. Toss the sauce with some pasta of choice.  Stir in 1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese to about four cups of sauce first.  Warm on stove and serve with gluten-free, whole wheat, or whatever pasta you like.  Add lots of freshly sliced basil, a sprinkling of chopped olives and a sprinkling of more Parmesan.

2. Make a Mexican lentil soup.  To 4 cups of chicken or vegetable broth, add 1 cup of roasted red pepper sauce.  Add 1 cup of cooked lentils or beans, a few chopped tomatoes, 1/2 cup of corn, a teaspoon of cumin, 1/2 teaspoon of oregano, a chopped chipotle pepper, some pink salt and a few handfuls of spinach.  Heat gently.

3.  Create pink vegetarian fried rice.  Cut up four cups of seasonal vegetables of choice in small pieces.  In wok or pan, heat 1 teaspoon rice bran oil (or other high smoke point oil) and saute 2 scrambled eggs.  Remove from pan.  Saute vegetables until crisp tender and remove from pan. Saute 4 cups cooked rice stir frying consistently.  Make a well in the center of the pan and add a few tablespoons of red pepper sauce to center of pan. Add 4 teaspoons soy sauce, a sprinkling of rice vinegar, 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil to the well. Stir.  Toss well with the rice. Add back vegetables and egg to the pain and toss again.  Sprinkle with lots of chopped green onion and a few black sesame seeds.

4.  Heat up the grill.  Marinate two pounds of your favorite fish with the juice and zest of one large or two small limes, salt and pepper, 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 1/2 cup of some minced fresh herbs for 10 minutes. Warm 1 cup of red pepper sauce.  Grill fish and drizzle red pepper sauce over fish. Garnish with herbs of choice.

5,  Fill up the center.  Slice four zucchini in half and scrape out the center seeds.  Place a few teaspoons of rice or quinoa combined with finely chopped greens like kale or spinach in the center.  Season well with salt and pepper.  Drizzle a few teaspoons of red pepper sauce over each and top with feta cheese. Bake for 15 minutes in 375 degree oven.



20: photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/lwr/94885558/">Leo Reynolds</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/">cc</a>

red pepper: photo credit: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ianfuller/76775480/">Ian Fuller</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/">cc</a>