Archives for posts with tag: spinach

Chicken Saltimbocca with Cheese
Chix Saltimboca w Cheese

I have already posted a chicken saltimbocca recipe, but I can never get enough saltimbocca. Unlike the original, this New York Times recipe has cheese, which is never a bad thing. Delicious!

1 ½ pounds boneless skinless thin chicken cutlets
salt and pepper
1 TB. chopped sage, plus 24 large sage leaves
2 garlic cloves smashed to a paste
1 pinch red pepper flakes, optional
olive oil
6 thin slices proscuitto
6 slices fontina cheese (about 4 ounces)

Salt and pepper each cutlet on both sides and place on a platter. Sprinkle with chopped sage, garlic, red pepper flakes (if using) and olive oil. Massage in the seasoning to distribute, cover and marinate at room temperature for one hour, or refrigerate for up to several hours.

Heat a wide skillet over medium heat and add 3 tablespoons olive oil. When the oil looks wavy, add the sage leaves and let them crisp for about 30 seconds. Remove and drain.

Brown the chicken breasts in the oil for about 2 minutes per side, then transfer to a baking dish large enough to fit them in one layer.

Top each piece with 2 sage leaves, a slice of prosciutto and a slice of fontina. Broil for 2 to 3 minutes, until the cheese is bubbling. Garnish with remaining sage leaves.

Sautéed Spinach

Popeye would approve!

2 TB. olive oil
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 TB. pine nuts (optional)
2 bags or bunches of spinach, washed and dried well
salt and pepper
lemon wedge

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat, when the oil begins to shimmer add the garlic and pine nuts, saute for 1-2 minutes. Add spinach to the pot and stir; as it wilts it will release water. Let the spinach saute for another 1-2 minutes, stirring frequently, until most of the water evaporates. Add salt and pepper to taste, and squirt lemon juice over the spinach to serve.

This time of the year it is hard not to get Christmas songs stuck in your head. As I type I can hear Andy Williams singing “It’s the holiday season, and Santa Claus is coming around…” It goes on and on…. I don’t know whether it is because Patrick and I snuck away to Charleston last weekend, but the Christmas season feels short again this year and I feel like I’m far behind. I have to catch up, because for the first year ever Eliza fully understands that it is Christmas. It is adorable to watch – she loves the tree, the caroles and Frosty, but it also means that we better step it up and plan some fun activities and get her (or ahem, ask Santa) for some good presents!

Despite the busy season full of shopping, decorating, baking and general merriment I am still trying to slip a home-cooked meal in when I can. It isn’t as often as I’d like (there’s a pizza on its way while I type this), but I am hoping to get a few dinners made without the help of a microwave. Here are a couple of repeats, and two new meals that are delicious and perfect for the season. Enjoy!

The first snowman of the season (I know, he is a little scary)

The first snowman of the season (I know, he is a little scary)

Meal #1: Pork Chops with Apples and Onions + Braised Red Cabbage
Meal #2: Chicken Saltimbocca with Cheese + Sautéed Spinach
Meal #3: Brussels Sprouts and Pork (or Beef) Stir Fry + Rice
Meal #4: Lemon Pasta with Roasted Shrimp + Green Salad

Your grocery list, excluding the usual pantry items:

fresh sage – 1 bunch (or 1 tsp. dried sage)
white onion – 2
scallions – 1 bunch (approx. 4)
red cabbage – 1 head (2 1/4 pounds)
lemons – 3
spinach – 2 bags or bundles
apples – 5
brussels sprouts – 1 lb.
carrots – 2
jalapeno – 1
ginger – 1 small piece
fontina (provolone or gruyere work too) cheese – 6 slices (approx. 4 ounces)
pine nuts (optional)
apple cider – 1 cup
linguine – 1 box
dry red wine – 1/2 cup
rice (if you don’t already have it)
apple cider vinegar (if you don’t already have it)
oyster sauce (if you don’t already have it)
reduced-sodium soy sauce (if you don’t already have it)
unseasoned rice vinegar (if you don’t already have it)
dark-brown sugar (if you don’t already have it)
bone-in pork chops – 4 (3/4-1-inch thick)
flank or skirt steak – 1/2 lb.
bacon – 4 ounces (approx. 4 slices)
proscuitto – 6 thin slices
chicken cutlets – 1 1/2 lb.
shrimp – 1 1/2 lb.

 

This week’s meal plan is a celebration of spring. It features many of the vegetables that I’ve been waiting all winter to eat: spinach, asparagus, snap peas, ramps and even rhubarb! Last Saturday, I visited the Boro Hall Greenmarket for the first time in awhile and was so happy to see piles of ramps and rhubarb. I snatched them both up even though I had no idea what I’d do with them. That’s what I love most about this time of year – meal planning shifts from recipe-driven to ingredient-driven. You have to embrace a little uncertainty but trust me, you’ll be rewarded!

Rhubarb Ramps_Web

Meal #1: Chicken Saltimbocca + Sautéed Spinach
Meal #2: Pork Chops with Rhubarb-Cherry Sauce + Roasted Asparagus
Meal #3: Splayed Roast Chicken With Caramelized Ramps, Garlic and Capers + Roasted Fingerling Potatoes
Meal #4: Penne with Shrimp, Feta, and Spring Vegetables

Your grocery list, excluding the usual pantry items:

spinach – 2 large bags or bunches
ramps  – 1 bunch
asparagus – 2 bunches
snow peas – 1/2 lb.
rhubarb – 8-10 ounces (about 5 to 6 stalks)
onion – 1
fingerling potatoes – 1 lb.
sage – 1 bunch
mint – 1 bunch
rosemary – 1 bunch (optional)
lemon – 2
chicken broth – 1 small can
penne pasta – 1 box
feta – 4 ounces
dried cherries – 1/2 cup
pine nuts – 1/4 cup (optional)
capers (If you don’t already have them)
chicken cutlets – 4 (6 to 8 ounces each)
thinly sliced prosciutto – 4 slices (3 ounces)
whole chicken – 1 (approx. 4 1/2 lb.)
pork chops – 4 (6 to 8 ounces each)
shrimp – 1 lb.
dry white wine – 3/4 cup

Chicken Saltimbocca
IMG_1236 web

What’s not to love? You have prosciutto, sage and a white wine sauce! And, it takes practically no time to prepare. This would make a lovely dinner party dish simply because it is so pretty.

Sautéed Spinach

Popeye would approve!

2 TB. olive oil
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 TB. pine nuts (optional)
2 bags or bunches of spinach, washed and dried well
salt and pepper
lemon wedge

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat, when the oil begins to shimmer add the garlic and pine nuts, saute for 1-2 minutes. Add spinach to the pot and stir; as it wilts it will release water. Let the spinach saute for another 1-2 minutes, stirring frequently, until most of the water evaporates. Add salt and pepper to taste, and squirt lemon juice over the spinach to serve.

Spring Minestrone with Chicken Meatballs
IMG_1165 web
I made this on Wednesday when the rain was pouring down and boy, did I plan that right! This soup is crazy delicious, especially the meatballs. I added about 3/4 cup of frozen peas and they were a nice addition. Delish!

Garlic Bread

Maybe not the healthiest, but you have to indulge once in awhile…

1 baguette, halved lengthwise
1 TB. butter
¼ cup of olive oil
6 cloves of garlic, minced
handful of parsley, minced (optional)
¼ ts. garlic powder
salt and pepper

Heat oven to 375 degrees. In a small saucepan, heat butter, olive oil and garlic until the garlic releases its aroma and gets a little bit golden.

Garlic Cooking

Remove from heat and stir in the parsley (if using), garlic powder, salt and pepper. Brush mixture all over the inside of the baguette. Wrap the baguette in foil and place in the oven for about 10-15 minutes, then open up the foil so that the top of the baguette is exposed and bake for another 2-3 minutes, or until the bread is hard to the touch and a bit crispy.

IMG_0743

I’m really happy that I finally started this meal-planning blog, but as the weeks have gotten busier it has been more difficult to find time to research recipes, prepare meals and put together each post. I’m not complaining, just saying that you never really know what you’ve gotten into until you’re in it! That said, one unexpected benefit of this site has been that I have an excuse, or really the impetus, to finally try a bunch of recipes that I have clipped or dog-eared or saved on Pinterest. Like anyone, I make roughly the same 20 meals per season rotated over the course of 3-4 weeks. Many of those meals have already been featured on this blog. However, when I started this blog I knew that if I provided readers with just 20 recipes my endeavor would be short lived. So, I started digging through my recipe collection, which lives in a large accordion folder, a collection of food magazines, many cookbooks, a “recipe box” on epicurious.com and of course my trusty Pinterest recipe board.

My trusty recipe board on Pinterest

My trusty recipe board on Pinterest

This week I bring you three recipes that I tried for the first time this week, but that I have wanted to make for awhile. Along with those three I added a re-post of my pasta marinara (a mainstay). Enjoy!

Meal #1: Sweet and Sour Chicken Thighs with Couscous
Meal #2: Pasta with Marinara + Green Salad
Meal #3: Spring Minestrone with Chicken Meatballs and Garlic Bread
Meal #4: Shrimp with Orange and Ginger

Your grocery list, excluding the usual pantry items:

onion – 1
carrots – 2 lb.
lemons – 2
lettuce – 1 bunch or bag
leek – 1
baby spinach – 1 cup
red bell pepper – 1
oranges – 2
scallions – 1 bunch
basil – 1 small bunch
chives – 1 small bunch
ginger – 1 small piece
parsley – 1 bunch (optional)
cilantro – 1 bunch (optional)
low-salt chicken broth – 5 cups
egg – 1
pasta – 1 box
rice
small pasta (such as orzo or ditalini) – 1 box 
crushed tomatoes – 28 ounce can
baguette or whatever bread you like
breadcrumbs – 1/2 cup (if you don’t already have it)
sesame oil – (if you don’t already have it)
honey – (if you don’t already have it)
paprika – (if you don’t already have it)
cinnamon – (if you don’t already have it)
crushed red pepper – (if you don’t already have it)
bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs – 2 1/2 to 2 3/4 lb total
ground chicken – 6 ounces
shrimp – 1 lb. 

I love anticipation. There is no better feeling than the excitement leading up to a big holiday or great vacation. Anticipation is especially strong when you are a kid – how many of us barely slept on Christmas Eve – but fortunately it is one of those few experiences that doesn’t totally go away as you get older. Of course, as an adult what we get excited about changes, but the fun of it stays the same.

After the long, hard winter I have been eagerly anticipating spring. That means getting excited about the cherry blossoms at the Brooklyn Botanic Garden, tulips along the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, and of course, asparagus and peas at the farmers market. Like a kid before Christmas who tries to find their presents in their parent’s closet I may have cheated a bit this week… I jumped the gun and bought some California asparagus at the grocery store because I just couldn’t bear to wait any longer. I would like to say that I regret it, but honestly I don’t. I needed that taste of spring and I’m happy to share my recipe with you.

IMG_1137_Web

The first asparagus and peas of 2014

Meal #1: Penne with Asparagus, Scallions, Peas and Prosciutto
Meal #2: Mustard Crusted Branzino + Sautéed Spinach
Meal #3: Italian Sausage and Farro Salad with Roasted Vegetables and Feta
Meal #4: Roasted Chicken Thighs with Tomatoes, Olives, and Feta + Sautéed Green Beans with Shallots

Your grocery list, excluding the usual pantry items: 

asparagus – 1 bunch
bell peppers – 2 (red, yellow or orange)
red onion – 1
scallions – 1 bunch (5 or so )
frozen or fresh peas – 1 cup
spinach – 2 bags or bunches
green beans – 1 1/2 lb.
grape or cherry tomatoes – 1 pint
shallots – 7
lemon -1
thyme – 1 bunch
box of penne
farro – 1 cup
breadcrumbs – 1 cup
half and half or heavy cream – small container
feta cheese – 1 cup
Spanish olives – 1/2 cup
Parmesan cheese (if you don’t already have it)
whole grain mustard (if you don’t already have it)
pine nuts (optional) – 2 TB.
prosciutto – 1/4 lb.
Italian Sausage – 1 or 2 links per person
bone-in, skin-0n chicken thighs – 8 or approx. 2 1/2 lb.
branzino or trout – whole (two fish, 2 lb. each) or filet (6-8 oz. per person)

Lemon Chicken Breasts

I thought I was familiar with all of Ina Garten’s recipes, but I was wrong. I tried this recipe for the first time this week and I’m glad I did. It is one of those dishes that you throw in the oven for awhile so you have time to work on side dishes or just check your email.

I do have one reservation about this dish. While it isn’t hard to make, Ina recommends that you use boneless, skin-on chicken breasts, which can be hard to find. If you have a good butcher I’m sure they will debone them for you, but if you rely on a grocery store for your chicken – good luck. We happened to go to Fairway this week to shop, rather than our usual run around the neighborhood, so I had to rely on what they had. I got bone-in, skin-on chicken because I knew the skin was going to be important to the flavor of the dish. I decided to bone them myself – big mistake. It added another 10 minutes of prep time, and a lot of frustration. My suggestion – buy bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts and just expect this to take 40 minutes to cook. You could probably use cutlets but it will definitely not be as juicy.

Noodles
They will be perfect for sopping up the lovely sauce from the chicken.

Boil salted water and follow the directions on the bag.

Sautéed Spinach

2 TB. olive oil
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 TB. pine nuts (optional)
2 bags or bunches of spinach
salt and pepper
lemon wedge

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat, when the oil begins to shimmer add the garlic and pine nuts, saute for 1-2 minutes. Add spinach to the pot and stir.  As it wilts it will release water; let the spinach saute some more (1-2 minutes), stirring frequently, until the water mostly evaporates. Add salt and pepper to taste, and squirt the lemon wedge over the spinach to serve.

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

 

Mustard Crusted Branzino
I was a little bit nervous making this dish for my in-laws recently. I had never cooked a whole fish before, and even though the fishmonger cleaned the branzinos for us I still had to chop off the head. Eliza got a kick out of that! If you can’t find branzino you can use trout, and there is no reason why you couldn’t just use a fillet of thin, white fish, such as flounder, for the dish instead of a whole fish. However, the presentation of a whole fish is pretty impressive!

(Also, I used dried thyme instead of fresh and it was fine.)

Parisians shopping for fish

Shopping for fish at one of Paris’s markets

Sauteed Spinach
Popeye would approve!

2 TB. olive oil
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
2 TB. pine nuts (optional)
2 bags or bunches of spinach, washed and dried well
salt and pepper
lemon wedge

Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat, when the oil begins to shimmer add the garlic and pine nuts, saute for 1-2 minutes. Add spinach to the pot and stir; as it wilts it will release water. Let the spinach saute for another 1-2 minutes, stirring frequently, until most of the water evaporates. Add salt and pepper to taste, and squirt lemon juice over the spinach to serve.