Archives for posts with tag: salad
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Cravings

March 27, 2014 //
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What do you crave? Even though I am more of a savory rather than sweet kind of gal, my cravings tend to be for sugar. When I have an itch that needs to be scratched it is usually for a cookie, or ice cream, or chocolate. This was only magnified when I was pregnant with Eliza. Of course, then I was fine with it because I figured if I wasn’t going to drink I could at least have dessert! For the non-pregnant times of my life I often try to distract myself away from an oatmeal cookie the size of my head toward perhaps a small piece of dark chocolate. Sometimes it works, but other times it doesn’t… Cravings are kind of like a piece of clothing or pair of shoes that you’ve been coveting. If it sticks with you and you can’t get it out of your head you must really want it and you should give in. You’ll probably be glad that you did.

macarons_Midgley_flickr
Photo by Midgley/CC by 2.0

So, where am I going with all of this? Well, this week I had a craving for something totally random – roast beef. Weird, I know. I have no idea why, but I really wanted roast beef and kept thinking about it for days. Maybe I needed more iron? Funny enough, I’ve never made it before, so this past Sunday I took the leap. I’m glad I did – the recipe link is below. With that need taken care of I feel better already…

Meal #1: Roast Beef with Potatoes and Shallots + Steamed Green Beans
Meal #2: Spicy Peanut Chicken and Broccoli + Rice
Meal #3: Beer-Marinated Pork Tenderloin with Red Cabbage
Meal #4: Baked Fish with Tomatoes and Olives + Kale Caesar Salad

Your grocery list, excluding the usual pantry items:

red or Yukon gold potatoes – 1 1/2 lb.
shallots – 8
green beans – 1 1/2 lb.
broccoli – 1 large head
red cabbage – 1 medium head
apple – 1
plum tomatoes – 8
lemon – 2
tuscan kale – 1 large bunch
dried bay leaf (if you don’t already have it)
soy sauce (if you don’t already have it)
brown sugar (if you don’t already have it)
smooth peanut butter (if you don’t already have it)
sesame oil (if you don’t already have it)
rice vinegar (if you don’t already have it)
apple cider vinegar (if you don’t already have it)
Sriracha (if you don’t already have it)
kalamata olives – 1/4 cup (if you don’t already have it)
Parmesan cheese (if you don’t already have it)
rice – 1 box or bag
eye of round roast beef – 1 1/2 lb
skinless chicken thighs – 4
pork tenderloins – 2 (1 1/2-1 3/4 pounds total)
white fish fillets – 6 ounces per person
beer  – 1 can or bottle

 

 

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Categories Meal Plans

Cooking with Wine

March 14, 2014 //
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Well, this week wasn’t any calmer than last. That may be why three out of the four recipes I choose for this week include white wine! Obviously, something is on my mind…

I do love to cook with wine. Like lemon juice or butter a little bit adds a ton of flavor and in a snap you can make a sauce to accompany almost anything. One of my rules for cooking with wine, which I learned watching Mario Batali, is to always use a wine you would drink on its own. This is great advice not only because you want to treat your dish with respect and not ruin it with something that doesn’t taste good, but also because it is nice to have a glass of wine while you cook. You don’t have to use a $30 bottle, but don’t use those “cooking wines” you sometimes see at the grocery store. There are enough decent $10ish bottles around these days which will do the job nicely. Note, the alcohol burns off as you cook so kids can eat any of these dishes.

(Meals should feed four adults and take about 30-40 minutes to prepare, or the time it takes Patrick to give Eliza a bottle and put her to bed.)

Meal #1: Perfect Pan-Roasted Chicken Thighs + Roasted Potatoes with Green Beans
Meal #2: Swordfish Parmesan + Roasted Broccoli
Meal #3: Porchetta Pork Chops + Fennel with Shallots and White Wine
Meal #4: Chicken Piccata with Noodles + Green Salad

Your grocery list, excluding the usual pantry items:

red or yukon gold potatoes – 6 medium
broccoli – 1 large head
green beans – 1 lb.
fennel – 2 large bulbs
shallot – 2
lemon – 4
lettuce – 1 head or bag
rosemary – 1 bunch
fennel seeds
noodles- 1 bag
eggs – 2
garlic (if you don’t already have it)
flour (if you don’t already have it)
capers (if you don’t already have it)
red pepper flakes (if you don’t already have it)
Parmesan cheese (if you don’t already have it)
bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs – 4-8 (depending on the size)
bone-in pork chops – 4
thin chicken cutlets – 1 ½ lb.
swordfish steaks (6-8 ounces per person)
white wine

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Categories Meal Plans

Chicken Piccata with Noodles and Green Salad

March 14, 2014 //
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Chicken Piccata
This is my Mom’s recipes and one of the few dishes I ate as a kid. It is fast, easy, lemony and delish.
IMG_0964 Web
1½ lb. chicken cutlets, pounded thin
1 cup flour
salt and pepper
1 TB. vegetable or olive oil
½ cup white wine
¼ cup lemon juice
2 TB. butter

Season flour with salt and pepper and mix. Dip chicken cutlets, on both sides, into flour and shake excess off. Heat oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat. When hot, but not smoking, add chicken cutlets and saute for about 3 minutes per side (you may need to do these a few at a time so you don’t crowd the pan). Remove chicken from the pan and put them in a warm oven to rest and stay warm.

Add white wine and lemon juice to the pan and stir, picking up the nice brown bits from the chicken. Heat the liquids until they boil and turn syrupy. Turn off the heat and stir in the butter. Pour sauce over the chicken.

Noodles
Nothing fancy, just old-fashioned egg noodles that remind you of being a kid. They are nice for soaking up the juices of the piccata.

Boil salted water and follow directions on the bag.

Green Salad

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Categories Meals

Pasta with Marinara and Green Salad

March 7, 2014 //
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Pasta with Marinara

A friend of mine at work is originally from Rome, so she knows her pasta. A couple of years ago, we got to talking about homemade tomato sauce and I mentioned that I wasn’t happy with my recipe. Her face lit up, and she immediately gave me her recipe, which I’ve been making ever since. It is easy, quick and so delicious.

¼ cup olive oil
4 garlic cloves, crushed or sliced
1 large basil sprig
1 pinch of hot red pepper flakes
1 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes (or whole, but crush them with your hands before using)
salt and pepper, to taste

In a large skillet over medium heat, heat the oil. When it is hot, add the garlic, basil and red pepper flakes. Saute for 1-2 minutes, until the garlic starts to sizzle, but don’t let it brown. Add the tomatoes and stir. Simmer until the sauce thickens a bit, about 15 minutes. Discard garlic, if you desire, and add salt and pepper to taste.

Pasta

Boil salted water and follow directions on the box.

Green Salad

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Busy as a Bee

March 7, 2014 //
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This week has been pretty stressful. At the end of last week, Eliza got the croup and we’ve been battling it since – not fun. At the same time that we are taking extra care of her, both Patrick and I are getting busier at work. I was in Ottawa one night  for business and Patrick  worked one night, along with his usual Thursday night grad school class. Quiet nights at home have been few and far between and our weekdays will probably stay pretty hectic through May. Oh well.

During weeks like this I try to make dinner whenever I can, but with a special focus on quick meals. I’m sure your lives are pretty similar, so I hope you enjoy this week’s meal plan which includes a bunch of simple, delicious dinners. I also included a chili recipe, which I made for Sunday’s Oscars. It takes a little bit longer to cook than the other meals, but you’ll have leftovers for the rest of the week, which is perfect during this busy time.

(Meals should feed four adults and take about 30-40 minutes to prepare, or the time it takes Patrick to give Eliza a bottle and put her to bed.)

Meal #1: Fennel and Garlic Shrimp + French Bread
Meal #2: Chili
Meal #3: Pork Tenderloin with Apples and Red Onion + Roasted Brussels Sprouts with Blue Cheese, Dried Cranberries, and Walnuts
Meal #4: Pasta with Marinara + Green Salad

Your grocery list, excluding the usual pantry items:

fennel bulbs – 2
garlic – 1 head
red bell pepper – 1
green bell pepper – 1
yellow bell pepper – 1
lettuce – 1 head of bag
Brussels sprouts – 1 ½ lb.
red onion – 2
apples – 2
flat-leaf parsley – 1 bunch
basil – 1 bunch
14.5 ounce cans diced tomatoes – 3
28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes – 1
pasta – 1 box
kidney beans – 1 can
blue cheese – ¼ lb.
dried cranberries – ¼ lb.
walnuts – ¼ lb.
French bread
chili powder (if you don’t already have it)
cayenne pepper (if you don’t already have it)
cumin (if you don’t already have it)
unsweetened cocoa powder (if you don’t already have it)
balsamic vinegar (if you don’t already have it)
apple cider vinegar (if you don’t already have it)
balsamic vinegar (if you don’t already have it)
maple syrup (if you don’t already have it)
Parmesan cheese (if you don’t already have it)
Flour (if you don’t already have it)
shrimp – 2 lb.
pork tenderloins (approx. 2 lb. total) – 2
ground beef, buffalo, turkey or chicken – 1 lb.
Pernod (optional)

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Categories Meal Plans

Penne alla Vodka and Green Salad

February 28, 2014 //
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Penne alla Vodka
Penne alla Vodka_Web
This is comfort food territory, or at least it is for this South Shore Long Island girl. I’ve said this before, but I grew up around a lot of Italian-Americans so I know (and love) Italian-American food. I’m sure you can’t find anything like Penne alla Vodka in Italy, but you know who’s missing out? Italians.

I’ve only recently started making it myself, rather than ordering it from our local pizza place, and I was happy when I found this recipe, from Lidia Matticchio Bastianich, who is, by the way, an authentic Italian chef. It is a great weeknight dish because it comes together very quickly (skip the tomato pureeing step and just buy crushed or diced tomatoes) and you probably have a lot of the ingredients already. I know you already have the vodka! (Don’t worry, the alcohol cooks off and your kids won’t notice the taste.)

Green Salad

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Sausage with Caramelized Red Onions and Radicchio and Green Salad

February 28, 2014 //
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Sausage with Caramelized Red Onions and Radicchio

Sausage w Caramelized Red Onions and Radicchio_WebWhen you visit Italy in the middle of winter, as I did, you had better like radicchio. This is a country that takes seasonality very seriously, and since radicchio is one of the few salad greens available in the winter you eat it often. I admit to being a bit intimidated since I had heard it was bitter, but tossed with a bit of balsamic vinegar, good olive oil and a lot of salt and pepper, radicchio is out of this world. When I returned to the US, I started adding radicchio to many of my salads, but I never cooked it. I don’t know why, but I thought I wouldn’t like it. However, this recipe wooed me. Maybe it was the sausage, or maybe it was the caramelized red onions. Either way, it had enough other things going for it for me to give it a shot and I’m glad I did.

Green Salad

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Try it, You’ll Like it!

February 28, 2014 //
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When I was a kid I ate nothing but chicken cutlets, hamburgers, pizza, pasta, rice, potatoes, bread, cheese, corn and peas. As I got to be a teenager I added a few items to the list, such as steak and salad. An exciting palate, it wasn’t. In fact, it wasn’t until I was in my early 20’s, and lived in California’s Bay Area for a year, that I started to be adventurous with food. I was at least 22 before I even tried hummus for the first time! You want to know what finally got me to try new things? I felt left out. In California, I was exposed to so many new foods that I was tired of always saying no. Moving to CA was already a big adventure, so why not eat a little shrimp?

These days, I eat, or at least will try, almost anything. At the same time that I started to eat a bunch of new foods, the whole country seemed to become exposed to a lot of new items which are now relatively easy to get at the grocery store or a farmers market. Arugula, fennel, kalamata olives, etc. are all foods that I didn’t have to reject as a kid – I had never heard of them!

Expanding the variety of foods I eat has also made me a better cook because I now have more ingredients to experiment with. One tip for getting over the fear of preparing or eating something for the first time is to have it with something else that you already love. For example, take this week’s recipe for sausage with caramelized red onions and radicchio. Maybe you haven’t had or cooked radicchio before, but you love sausages and caramelized onions. How bad could it be? Pairing one new thing with a few, old favorites is a less scary way for you, or others in your family, to try new things. So, try it – you’ll like it!

(Meals should feed four adults and take about 30-40 minutes to prepare, or the time it takes Patrick to give Eliza a bottle and put her to bed.)

Meal #1: Panko-Crusted Salmon + Fennel and Parmesan Salad
Meal #2: Sausage with Caramelized Red Onions and Radicchio + Green Salad
Meal #3: Lemon Chicken Breasts + Sautéed Spinach
Meal # 4: Penne alla Vodka + Green Salad

Your grocery list, excluding the usual pantry items:

parsley – 1 bunch
fennel – 2 heads
lemons – 5
red onion – 2 medium
radicchio – 2 large heads
spinach – 2 large bunches or bags
panko breadcrumbs
Italian plum tomatoes (diced or crushed) – 1, 35 ounce can (or 1 large and 1 small can)
penne – 1 box
egg noodles – 1 bag
heavy cream – small container
balsamic vinegar (if you don’t already have it)
Parmesan cheese (if you don’t already have it)
dried oregano (if you don’t already have it)
fresh or dried thyme (if you don’t already have it)
pine nuts (optional)
salmon fillets, skin on – 4 (6-8 oz. each)
sausages – 1-2 per person depending on their size
chicken breasts – 4 bone-in, skin-on (if you have a butcher get them to debone the chicken)
dry white wine
vodka

 

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Categories Meal Plans

Cauliflower and Sausage Casserole with Green Salad

February 21, 2014 //
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Cauliflower and Sausage Casserole

A few weeks ago, I said that I don’t typically make casseroles, but I love this recipe. To be honest, if a dish combines proteins and vegetables, and doesn’t require you to open a can of cream of something soup, I’m game. The cauliflower is the star of this dish – bet you never thought anyone would say that! You can use any type of sausage you like (chicken, turkey, pork) but, I use sweet Italian pork sausage because the recipe only needs ½ lb. for 4-6 servings, and you get a lot more flavor. I think ⅔ cup of breadcrumbs is too much, so I suggest using just enough bread crumbs to lightly coat the top of the casserole.

Green Salad

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Shrimp “Scampi” and Linguine with Green Salad

February 21, 2014 //
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Shrimp “Scampi”

I added the quotes because this is definitely not a traditional shrimp scampi, but it tastes pretty close. I like to pair the shrimp with linguine, but rice or even some good Italian bread would be great for sopping up the wine and lemon sauce.

1 ½ lb. shrimp, shelled and deveined
½ cup olive oil
½  dry white wine
2 TB. lemon juice
4 garlic cloves, minced
Pinch black pepper
2 TB. parsley, finely chopped (optional)
¼ – ½ cup seasoned bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Lay shrimp in baking dish.

Combine olive oil, wine, lemon juice, garlic and black pepper in small bowl. Pour over shrimp and sprinkle with parsley and bake 10 minutes.

Remove dish from oven and sprinkle with bread crumbs.

Heat broiler to high, broil until bread crumbs are toasted, golden brown, about 2 minutes. Serve!

Linguine

2-3 oz. of linguine per person

Boil salted water for pasta, when boiling add pasta and follow directions on the box.

Green Salad

 

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