Lunch, Dinner & Plants

For lunch I decided to go the extra mile by making some really yummy salads for Q & I. The meal was inspired from a recipe in Cook This Not That (Kitchen Survival Guide). The meal called for avocados and I have to say that I am quite dissapointed by a pin I found many months ago about "freezing" avocados. Well unless I am doing something wrong, this simply does not work. I wrapped each half of avocado in saran wrap then put in ziploc bags and as soon as the fruits start to defrost they turn brown and are complete mush. Oh well, sometimes these things just don't work. I am pretty bummed about it though. So I omitted the avocado from the recipe.. again I didn't measure anything for the salad just eyeballed it as I went along.

What I put in it:
• 1 boneless, skinless chicken breast (I cooked mine in a cast iron skillet on medium high, season with S&P, garlic powder and olive oil). Cook on both sides until you get that nice char and the breast is cooked through. Let rest on cutting board for 5 mins then slice thin at an angle.
• 2 or 3 handfuls of arugula
• Craisins
• plain goat cheese crumbled into salad
• 1/4 red onion thinly sliced
• handful of walnuts, roughly chopped (don't buy the chopped nuts, just chop them yourself & save a buck)
• Honey Mustard Dressing (recipe follows)

Toss all the ingredients together in a salad bowl and serve with honey mustard dressing on top. This will make 2 salads. I made an extra chicken breast so I can have the salad for lunch another day this week.

Honey Mustard Vinaigrette Dressing
1/2 T honey • 1 T Dijon Mustard • 2 T red wine vinegar • 1/4 c canola oil • S&P
Pour all of these ingredients in a small mason jar, put the lid on and shake until all ingredients are combined well. This should last in the fridge up to a week. The longer it sits the better it tastes!

Salad with chicken, cranberries, goat cheese & walnuts

Now onto tonight's dinner... I picked out the Steak Pizzaiola & Pasta recipe from the Everyday with Rachael Ray magazine.

Steak Pizzaiola & Pasta

I used regular block mozzarella and it was still quite delicious! For the pasta I added garlic, red pepper flakes and extra arugula to the linguine at the end of the cooking process. We had NY Strip steaks in the freezer so I used those and trimmed the fat before cooking. I also topped the linguine with freshly grated parmesan right before serving.

I finally got to start planting my mini garden this year... I have missed my plants all winter! I've been wanting to plant a bay leaf plant since last year and picked one up at Whole Foods 2 weeks ago... it is supposed to be like a little tree from all the research I've done so we will see how big she ends up getting. I also picked up more of the usual suspects that I use so frequently in my cooking. I have more to plant but this is all I got to so far...

Bay Leaf, Rosemary, Parsley, Chives, Sage, Dill & Thyme

 Ahhh succelents are such a beauty! This is my 3rd planter of these beauties and I just can't get enough... hope to have some in every room of our house one day!

Succulents

Enjoy!

Fried Rice with Chorizo, Green Beans & Cashews

This week I chose 5 recipes to cook from the April 2012 Everyday with Rachael Ray magazine. Tonight I cooked up the  Fried Rice with Chorizo, Green Beans & Cashews. I have been subscribed to this particular magazine for many years and it's a pleasant surprise when it shows up in the mail every month. I almost always sit down and read through it that same day I get it, marking recipes, etc. It's not just great because of the recipes but also there are so many great tips, shortcuts, food swaps, etc. I save all of them and use them as regular cookbooks.

Fried Rice

The recipe is pretty simple and easy to follow... the trick to good fried rice is using leftover rice or chilling freshly cooked rice. I cooked brown rice as directed by the recipe, however, I had to cook mine for an additional 10 minutes then let it sit in the fridge for 20 minutes on the baking sheet.  I cooked the eggs a tad less than what the recipe calls for also. While I was at the store, I almost decided not to buy the roasted cashews for this because I am just blown away by how much nuts cost... it's pretty difficult to spend the money on them. But, I decided to get them and they do compliment this dish really well... so it was worth it. Cured chorizo is often difficult to find at the regular grocery stores... I like to buy it at World Market and freeze it so I have it on hand when a recipe calls for it. 

I served the rice up in shallow bowls and topped with Sriracha hot sauce to give it an extra kick. Yum!

Teriyaki Salmon & Veggies followed by a sweet treat

Last night I threw together some simple ingredients and it ended up being a really delicious meal for us. I used my cast iron griddle (you lay this on top of 2 burners on your stovetop) to grill the salmon fillet and veggie kebabs. I had intended to cut up the salmon and put on skewers as well, but the salmon I had on hand was too thin. So, I improvised and decided to just grill it by itself and serve the veggies on the side... needless to say it turned out great. I don't have exact measurements but here's the gist of how I did it.

Ingredients
1 salmon fillet (for 2 servings)
8 oz whole button mushrooms
1 medium yellow onion quartered
1 small can pineapple chunks, drained
your favorite teriyaki marinade (I used Lawry's)
Brown Rice ( I use the quinoa & brown rice packets from Costco - they are sooo good!)

• Marinate the salmon in some of teriyaki sauce and S&P to taste for 30 minutes.
• Heat up a grill pan on medium high
• Meanwhile, put the veggies & pineapple on the skewers alternating b/w each type. Brush on marinade on all sides & season with garlic powder, salt & pepper.
• Cook the skewers for at least 10 minutes turning to get all sides with the grill marks.
• Once veggies are cooked the way you like, move to one side of the grill pan and turn off the heat on that side. Spray some cooking spray on the other side and grill the salmon. We like our salmon on the medium rare side so I only cook the fish for 3 minutes on one side, flip and turned off the heat. I let it cook another 2 minutes, then pull off and let rest on a plate.
• Remove the veggies from the skewer and serve with the fish and rice.

Grilled Salmon & Veggies

I only make desserts on occasion but this one was really tasty. I adapted the recipe from the Cook This Not That Kitchen survival guide. The serving sizes were way too big and we could have shared one, oh well! Lesson learned :)

Basically you combine sliced strawberries (1/2 cup), blueberries & 2 t of sugar in a bowl for 5 minutes at room temperature. I bought some yummy almond granola from Whole Foods last week that I incorporated in this recipe. So all you have to do is alternate layering the fruit, plain greek yogurt (I imagine you could use vanilla flavored as well) and granola until your cup is full. Voila...

Fresh Berry Yogurt Parfaits

Enjoy!

Grilled Cheese Sammies & Coleslaw - Yum!

Tonight we enjoyed another satisfying meal!!! Check it out...

Grilled Cheese Sammies with Bacon & Apples
Recipe adapted from Cook This Not That (Kitchen Survival Guide)

• 1 T Butter
• 8 Slices Whole Grain Bread (I picked up a beautiful loaf of whole wheat prairie bread from Whole Foods)
• 1 T Dijon Mustard
• 6 oz Shredded extra sharp cheese (I buy the blocks of cheese when they go on sale and shred them myself- it's cheaper that way)
• 1 Granny smith apple, peeled cored and sliced
• 8 strips thick cut applewood smoked bacon, cooked crispy

Grilled Cheese with Apples & Bacon

Heat the butter in a large cast iron skillet over low heat. Slather 4 pieces of the bread with mustard, then divide the cheese, apples & bacon between each of the 4 slices. Top with the remaining bread slices and add to the skillet. Cook the sammies slow so the bread doesn't burn before the cheese is all melty and gooey... this will take about 10 mins per side. Makes 4 sandwiches 

Cast iron is great for this because it holds its heat and cooks things evenly... if you don't have one I would highly recommend it, you won't regret it. Plus if you take care of them, they will last forever.

Our take on bacon...
Q & I take an adventure to Costco to stock up on all of our meats (thank goodness I have a deep freezer in the garage to store all of this!) and the thick cut bacon is a staple in our house. I am engaged to the world's biggest bacon lover I think! I also love love love to eat bacon that's been cooked in its own fat in a skillet on the stovetop, BUT I hate the way my house smells for days afterward, blugh gross. So after an amazing find on pinterest, I now cook my bacon in the oven. It's simple, lay the bacon on the top sheet of a roasting/broiler pan then line the bottom pan with foil. Make sure you have a thermometer in your oven (oven-safe) to accurately read the temperature inside because (unless you have some brand new fancy shmancy oven) chances are the temp is not accurate.

Start the bacon in a cold oven, set oven temp to 375 degrees. Bake for 25 mins and then turn the bacon over and cook for another 5 minutes. Drain on a plate lined with paper towels to get any of the remaining fat resting on those precious, perfect pieces of bacon. Oh, did I mention that the bacon doesn't curl this way and remains flat, yep! Perfect every time, let the fat cool so it turns into a solid and fold up the foil and toss in the trash.

Coleslaw with Chile Peppers
Recipe adapted from Cook This Not That (Kitchen Survival Guide)

• 2 T dijon mustard

• 2 T EVOO (Extra Virgin Olive Oil) Mayo

• 2 T red wine Vinegar

• 2 T canola oil

• 16 oz bag coleslaw mix (I buy mine at Publix in the salad section of produce)

• 1 t fennel seeds

• 1 fresno chile pepper finely sliced

• 1 poblano pepper, finely sliced

Whisk the mustard, mayo & vinegar in a bowl. Slowly whisk in the oil, and add the fennel seed. Season with S&P to your taste. Combine the coleslaw and peppers with a tong gently until all is coated. Let sit in the fridge, covered for at least an hour for all the flavors to meld. Makes 6-8 servings. 

Coleslaw with Chile Peppers

I just adore the Cook This, Not That series so far because the recipes are simple, delicious and healthier than eating out, Yum!!! They give you the calorie counts and compare to restaurants, etc. I've already cooked my way through 350 Calorie Meals and would love to add the Comfort Foods and Grill This cookbooks to my collection as well.

Enjoy and Happy Eating!!!

Cajun Seafood Meal

I made this meal last night from a recipe in my Food Network cookbook, which can also be found here: Cajun Shrimp & Rice. I halved the recipe because shrimp just doesn't do well as a leftover because it gets overcooked once you reheat the meal.

Cajun Shrimp & Rice

Notes: I use a ribbon microplane to "mince" my garlic so I don't have to mess around with chopping it up. This way I can do it right over the skillet as I am cooking when it's time for the garlic to go in. I'd like to take credit for this trick but I've learned it from one of my favorite cooks, Rach (Rachael Ray).  Be careful with your fingers though as the microplane is super sharp! The changes I made to the recipe (other than halving the ingredients) were as follows:  Tony's Creole seasoning, 2 scallions & cooked Jasmine rice. This meal was a "B", and we enjoyed it, however, the rice was a little bit too mushy for my taste. Don't add any salt until you have tasted the dish because many Cajun seasonings already have salt in them. So, my advice is to undercook the rice slightly so it has time to finish in the skillet. The flavors in the dish were tasty though!

Enjoy!

Hummus Snack

About 2 weeks ago my friend shared an amazing new hummus recipe she found online using black beans versus the usual suspect: chickpeas. I thought hmm, that's different and decided to try it based upon how much she and her family loved it. The recipe can be found here: Black Bean Hummus and in my opinion is AMAZING, A+++!

Black Bean Hummus

Notes: I omitted the olives and added an extra clove of garlic to mine (who doesn't love garlic, right?) I also added the spices all at once into the food processor rather than doing the half that the recipe directs. I also use the honey tahini from World Market versus plain tahini. 

I enjoy eating this hummus with multi-grain pita chips or the everything flavor pretzel crisps. 

I hope you enjoy as much as we do! 

Slow Cooker Shredded Pork Stew

Last night we had a comforting Pork Stew for dinner. I adapted the recipe from the Food Network's Slow Cooker Pork Stew. It was a chilly night here so ended up being the perfect dish for the end of a great day off!

Shredded Pork Stew

Some changes I made to the recipe.... I cooked the stew for 9 hours on low without disturbing. I used a 3 3/4 lb Boneless pork shoulder, cut up into 3 pieces and fat trimmed as much as possible. I used 1 3/4 lb fingerling potatoes (whole), 3 c of water, 4 stalks of celery, 5 cloves of garlic & I typically eyeball the spice measurements when I am cooking. Pork shoulder will produce a lot of fat, so make sure you skim the fat off the top of the stew before you remove the meat with a ladle. I took meat out, shredded it and put back in the crock pot and stirred everything together. Then, it's ready to eat! I served the stew by itself but I'm sure some warm bread or biscuits would have been delicious too!

This one makes a ton of leftovers (I'd say about 6 servings worth) so you can either freeze it or save it for the work week for lunch.  I plan on saving it for this week's lunches for Q & I! 

Enjoy!

Friday Night In... Pasta with Fresh Snap Peas and Glazed Radishes

Well here goes my first post on my new cooking blog! Last night I made a delicious, spring veggie dinner for my fiancee (Quinton) and I. After the work week and a glass of wine in hand we began cooking this meal together last night. Had some blackmill radio playing in the background as we enjoyed our Friday night together in the kitchen!!! Last Sunday we braved the Dekalb Farmers Market for the first time, yikes! While I did get my fair share of fresh produce, it was a tiresome trip... at first I said excuse me each time I "accidentally" bumped into someone (the word "crowded" does not do this place justice). I quickly learned there is no place for excuse me in a place like this so I had to be somewhat aggressive to get down the aisles particularly in the produce section of this place. Anyway, tonight's dish is full of fresh goodies that I picked up there and after the meal I was glad I went. These two recipes came from one of my favorite cookbooks (wait, I think all my cookbooks are my favorites, lol!) Food Network Magazine, Great Easy Meals. Here are links as well for the full recipes: Pappardelle Pasta with Snap Peas & Glazed Radishes. Have I mentioned how much I love the Food Network, magazine and cookbooks???!!!

Pappardelle Pasta with fresh Snap Peas and other spring veg

I gave this one an A, some notes regarding the recipe bc some of the ingredients are a little vague. I used an entire bunch of scallions, however, I found this to be too much or at least if you are going to use an entire bunch make sure they are skinny scallions (the ones I got were really big so an entire bunch was overpowering). We like our food spicy and I went against my better judgement and deseeded the jalapeno which next time I would leave seeds and ribs in so there is more spicy flavor in this dish). The ricotta salata cheese - so many other recipes listed this as an ingredient and I could never find it... until... the farmers market! I love this cheese, nom nom nom. It's like a dry ricotta cheese and is mild in flavor but delicious for this dish! I may have used more than the recipe called for, just sayin'! A trick that I've learned with keeping herbs fresh in the fridge (thanks to my sister in law), she gave me an herb keeper for Christmas last year and I LOVE IT.... but I thought how could I make more of these for all of my fresh herbs? Simple, get a mason jar, fill it 1/3 way with water, place herbs in & put a gallon size freezer bag over the top... store in the lowest shelf of your fridge - Win! Now, so far this works with most herbs, but for some reason chives don't hold up well this way. I wrap my chives in paper towel, then put in ziploc in the produce drawer of my fridge. 

Now onto the radishes, oh my these were surprisingly DELICIOUS!!!

Glazed Radishes

I was a little apprehensive about the recipe at first but oh my both of us were shocked at how good these are...tender & sweet. This recipe deserves and A++! The recipe is super vague so here are my tips for them coming out divine. I used 2 tbsp Butter, 18 radishes (various sizes). I cooked them in a nonstick skillet on high until all the water was nearly evaporated and the glaze started to form (about 20 minutes give or take). Then I turned heat down to medium for about 2-3 mins. Turned off the heat and used a rubber spatula to coat the radishes in the glaze... Pour in a bowl, toss again and serve! I wanted to devour the entire bowl but I refrained. :)

Bon Appetit!