Eggplant, caramelized onion, pesto, feta pizza

Oh dinner blog, how I have missed you. I haven't posted lately because I haven't been cooking anything of interest for you and really, let's be honest, not even for the people eating it. But inspiration eventually strikes, and strike it did. The other day at the park, my friend Mary brought some awesome leftover pizza for lunch, which she let me try. It was so good that I ordered some from Zpizza the next week. It was really great, although they forgot the caramelized onions, but it was so expensive that I wanted to see if I could get close. I think I did a pretty good job!

I made the crust from a favorite online recipe. I double this to make 2 thin crust pizzas around 14" in diameter. This pesto recipe is delicious, and since we have basil growning in the garden and a giant bag of pinenuts from Costco I'd rather make my own. (I keep the pinenuts in the freezer so they don't get rancid. The bag lasts a good long time. I throw them into salads and make pesto periodically.) Making pesto makes me really wish I had a food processor, because making it in the blender is a pain and a half, but I perservered. I froze the rest in an old ice cube tray. After following all of the crust directions, I spread a thin layer of pesto on the uncooked crust, followed by a light sprinkling of grated mozzarella. The original pizza is not super cheesy, and I wanted to stay true to it. I then added thinly sliced japanese eggplants from the garden, some feta, pinenuts, and the most important ingredient of all...caramelized onions. I have never made them before, but they are delicious and add a nice sweetness to the pizza. Emma ate a bowl of them hot off the stove. She's weird like that, but that's why I love her! I baked it for a little over 10 minutes in a 500 degree oven and voila! It was so tasty. It's even good cold, if it lasts that long.

Fast Avocado Soup

This recipe from Mark Bittman looks like a fantastic summer supper. He suggests topping it with shrimp or crabmeat, but I'm guessing leftover grilled chicken would be good, too.

Gremolata

I made braised short ribs for dinner tonight, something I've been meaning to try at home since I noticed that Trader Joe's offers boneless short ribs. The up side of boneless is that they cook relatively fast - these got about three hours in a slow oven, and were very tasty even without the overnight treatment the recipe calls for. The down side is that, without bones, the braising liquid doesn't get that glossy sheen and doesn't really thicken up without help.

I served the short ribs over egg noodles, topped with gremolata, that fantastic (and practically effortless) combo of parsley, lemon zest and garlic. Gremolata is a standard accessory for osso bucco, but, as Michael Ruhlman points out, it's equally at home on beef. It's also ridiculously simple to make: mix three parts minced parsley, two parts minced lemon zest, one part minced garlic. Done! Sprinkle it over each serving of short ribs or steak or chicken or shrimp or grilled fish. A tip: make twice as much as you think you need. Ruhlman's basic recipe (three tsp parsley, two tsp lemon zest, one tsp garlic) says it'll cover four servings, but it was gone in a heartbeat.

The short ribs were good, and I'll make them again - but almost anything braised in wine all afternoon will be worth eating. The real treat was the gremolata, and I'll be making more of that very soon.

The Cous Cous Variations

[I know I've written about cous cous before, but I thought I'd expound a bit on the preparation and possibilities....]

Cous cous is an exceptionally quick (less than ten minutes!) and versatile alternative to rice or traditional (Italian) pasta. Plain cous cous is a simple side to chicken, beef or vegetables, especially stews and sauce-y preparations, but you can easily dress it up to become an elegant salad or a substantial entree. It's a great way to use up leftovers, and a perfect opportunity to sneak new flavors and ingredients past your kids (if you can get them to try it).

Although cous cous is a variety of pasta (typically made from semolina, the same wheat flour used for most Italian pastas), it is prepared more like rice - steamed in a lidded pot until tender.

Near as I can tell, all cous cous is precooked, even if it isn't marked "instant." Whether you buy it in a box or in bulk (Whole Paycheck Foods has a decent price on bulk - much cheaper than boxes of Near East), preparation is the same: add boiling water to cous cous, cover and wait five minutes. (Note that "Israeli Cous Cous" is much larger - about the size of BBs - and takes longer to cook.) This method produces a fine plain side dish, but you can do much better with just a little effort.

Think of it as a two-part preparation, the sauce (the stuff that goes into the pot while the cous cous is steaming) and the toss (the things you stir in just before serving).

The Sauce

As with rice, cous cous needs to be hydrated to become tender. You really only need two things, in addition to the cous cous itself:

Liquid: about 1.5 cups water or stock to each cup of cous cous.

Salt: a healthy pinch per cup of liquid. Keep in mind that other ingredients may also be salty, e.g., stock, butter.

If you want to take it up a notch, consider adding:

Fat: butter or olive oil, a scant Tablespoon per cup of liquid. Optional, but highly desirable both for flavor and for mouthfeel. Go easy on the fat if you plan to toss meat or marinated vegetables with the cooked cous cous.

Aromatics: carrots (sliced, shredded or whole baby carrots), onions (red, white, yellow or green, chopped or minced), raisins, craisins, garlic, peppers (red, green, yellow, hot or mild), leeks - anything that you'd like to cook a little and flavor the liquid. Saute the aromatics in butter or olive oil before adding the water or stock to the pan.

Spices: curry powder, cumin, cinnamon, cardamom, black pepper, allspice, bay leaf - start with a few pinches, and you'll notice a big difference in flavor. Add the spices to the fat and aromatics.

The Toss

Here's where your cous cous really takes off, in both flavor and texture:

Fresh herbs: chopped parsley, mint, cilantro, oregano, marjoram - whatever is fresh and sounds or smells good. I'm a big fan of parsley.

Nuts & Beans: cashews are king in our house, but pine nuts are also nice. A can of garbanzo beans (drained and rinsed) adds significant heft to the dish, as well as protein. Better yet, start with dried garbanzos and use their cooking liquid to make the cous cous.

Veggies: sliced green onions, minced red onions, chopped artichoke hearts, grilled squash or asparagus, steamed green beans. My rule is: if it goes with lemon, it'll work. I almost forgot to mention tomatoes, fresh or grilled or sundried, chopped or sliced.

Meat: chicken, beef, pork or lamb, grilled or stewed or stir-fried, freshly made or leftover. Fish works, too, though I'm having trouble seeing canned tuna as a good match. Balance strong flavors (say, garlicy chicken) by under-seasoning the cous cous a little.

Citrus: lemons, limes, grapefruits - but mostly lemons. A good squeeze will add freshness and pucker; you might also grate a little zest last thing. Grilled lemon slices look nice as a garnish and offer a hint of sweetness, too.

Step-by-step: cous cous in 20 minutes

All the possibilities make cous cous look much harder (and more time-consuming) than it really is. Here's the walk-through for preparing a delicious cous cous in about 20 minutes:

Ingredients (amounts are approximate - feel free to improvise):

1 1/2 C Water
1 TBL Butter
1/3 C Shredded carrots (you can buy them pre-shredded from TJ's)
Pinch Salt
1/4 C Raisins
1 tsp Curry powder
1 C Cous cous
1/2 C Cashews
1/2 C Green onions
1/2 Lemon

Instructions:

1. Heat the water in a tea kettle or microwave.
2. Place a saucepan with a lid over med-low heat. Melt butter, then add carrots and salt. Stir for a minute, then add raisins and stir until combined. Put the lid on the pan and let the carrots and raisins soften for a couple of minutes.
   
3. Add the curry powder to the carrots and raisins and stir for a minute, until it becomes fragrant - the kitchen should smell really good by now! Add the hot water and bring it to a boil, stirring to bring everything together.
4. Add the cous cous, stir, cover the pot and turn off the heat. Set a timer for five minutes.
5. Slice the green onions, and prep anything else you want for the Toss - leftover grilled chicken, parsley, etc. Pour yourself a glass of wine, and tell the kids to wash their hands
   
6. After five minutes, fluff the cous cous with a fork. Just before you're ready to serve, toss in the green onions and cashews and stir to mix, then squeeze the lemon over the top.
   

The Backyardigans Challenge

Kristin's post asking for ideas to help her manage her soon-to-be-even-crazier life got me thinking: we all have days (and weeks!) when everything runs off the rails. It'd be handy to have a cache of recipes or meal plans for those times when we're too tired, busy or disgusted to put together a "real" dinner.

Ideally, we're talking about meals that are:

1. Simple - and quick - to prepare
   
2. Appealing to both kids and adults
3. Reasonably nutritious

Many nights, I'm happy just to meet the first criterion. And, when I have less than half an hour to get dinner on the table, I often call on Austin, Pablo, Tasha, Tyrone and Uniqua to keep the kids occupied while I cook.

So, here's the challenge: meals that hit the table within about 25 minutes (a single episode of the Backyardigans). Award yourself extra points if you hit all three goals: fast, good and good-for-you. Feel free to use leftovers and please share any cheats you discover (e.g., I start the water for rice before I turn on the TV).

I'll start the ball rolling with instructions for Lavash Pizza, a go-to dish in our household.

London Broil: Cheap, Fast and Good

I don't know why I hadn't tried cooking London Broil before. I don't suffer from a fear of unfamiliar meat cuts, and I can usually figure out something to do with a steak. It's probably that the steaks are usually huge and have a reputation for being fussy - typical instructions call for marinating them overnight, during a full moon, and cooking them over volcanic rocks in direct sunshine while blaring polka music. Or something equally complicated.

But when Ralph's put them on sale for less than $2 per pound, I just had to take a shot. After all, it's easy to justify failure when the downside is so low. I was determined to keep it quick, though.

I scored the steak with shallow cuts about 1/2" apart, then made a quick marinade: roughly equal parts of lemon juice, soy and Worcestershire, about as much canola oil as the other liquid ingredients, and a healthy sprinkle of my Tri-Wizard rub (rosemary salt, pepper, garlic and cayenne). I admit that I cheated just a little - I used one of those vacuum tubs to help the steaks absorb the marinade.

Then I let the steak sit on the counter for an hour to come up to room temp before grilling it hot and fast - about 4 minutes per side at 500F, then another 4 minutes on indirect heat, around 350F, until internal temps hit 135F. I let the steak rest for 5 minutes in a loosely covered dish on the counter, then sliced it very thinly across the grain and served.

I was pleasantly surprised - the meat was tender, juicy and flavorful. It's not going to make me forget about a ribeye or a tri-tip but, at $2 per pound, it's a heckuva bargain.

Cheeseburger Potstickers?

I've GOT to try these: cheeseburger potstickers. I think they'd be even better with a chipotle-mayo dipping sauce. And bacon.

I don't know about making the dough from scratch, though.... Has anyone made dumplings at home?

Help and Ideas please

My life is about to take a turn for the crazy and meal prep will be a bit more complicated. As many of you know I am an organizer. I love an organized life but am becoming very afraid my life is about to be turned upside down with the addition of a full time job. The kind where they want me to show up each and every day for work no matter if I have a plan for dinner or need to go grocery shopping. Needless to say, the whole family is going to be shell shocked.

With this change comes the question of how do I keep making fairly good quality meals in a timely fashion? I know the standards of doing prep like cutting of veggies the night before as well as having a menu and sticking to it but I only have so many ideas that can fall into these categories.

Please aid me with quick dinner ideas. Any and all will be greatly appreciated!

Oven-Baked Chicken Noodle Soup

OK, so it's not really baked - but I did finally try making stock in the oven, and I was very pleased with the results.

I had half a chicken left over from the weekend, and was craving homemade soup, but didn't want to be chained to the house all afternoon while the stock simmered. I'd been meaning to try making stock (or broth, really) in the oven, and I had plenty of other leftovers on hand, just in case it didn't turn out well.

So, I pulled the meat off the bird and threw the carcass into a saucepan, along with half an onion and half a dozen cloves of garlic (haphazardly chopped), a couple of turns of pepper and a little salt. Added water to cover, brought it to a boil, then popped it into the oven at 210F, uncovered. The meat went back into the fridge, and I went to the park, with the kids.

Two hours later, with a hungry crowd waiting, I strained the stock into another pot, threw in a handful each of celery and carrots and brought the stock back to boil. I added a little more salt, some white pepper, a dash of cayenne, and a smidge of dried thyme and marjoram, then dumped in two hands full of dried egg noodles. When the noodles were almost soft (about 7 minutes), the chopped chicken meat went in, along with a handful of minced parsley, for another two minutes. Done.

The result had very nice chicken flavor from the stock, fresh veggie flavors and textures, and just enough herbal taste to round out the palate. Nice - and easy; prepping the stock took less than five minutes, and finishing the soup couldn't have taken more than twenty minutes, most of it simmering time.

I'm told that the stock can go all day (or overnight) without any ill effects. As long as the oven temps stay below 212F or so, the stock will never boil - I'm guessing that you could probably go to 225F without any problem. If you decide to try a long oven simmer, do be sure to provide ample water to cover the bones, and go easy on the salt until you're ready to prepare the soup.

I'd remembered to put a baguette in the oven when I removed the stock, so we had nice crusty bread as an accompaniment. Hard to beat the combination, and you'll get a Norman Rockwell glow from the wholesome factor: homemade soup!

First Corn of the Summer

I'll admit to a healthy skepticism - bordering on superstition - of early corn; in the Midwest, you just don't eat corn on the cob before August, and only heretics and madmen would be seen wiping butter off their chins in May.

So, when sweet corn began to show up in our farmers market in April, I ignored it. My regular corn guy - the surly one with the straw hat and machete, in the southeast corner of the market - didn't have it and was somewhat incredulous when I asked if he expected it soon. This past weekend, though, my curiosity finally got the better of me, and I took home three ears of not-very-large and somewhat pale corn. In May.

And it was good! Not great - not the sublime stuff we can't get enough of in the late days of summer - but worlds better than anything coming out of the freezer case at Ralph's.

I usually soak fresh corn in cold water, sometimes in their husks, and sometimes shucked. These just got a shuck and a rinse and a light coating of olive oil and salt before hitting a hot grill. I turned them a few times, allowing them to get just a little scorched in a couple of places, then brushed on a little cumin-lime butter, our house dressing for corn. (It doesn't take more than 60 seconds - really! Microwave a couple of tablespoons of butter for 30 seconds, toss in a teaspoon or so of ground cumin, squeeze in half a lime, taste for salt, and slather it on the corn.)

Served with steaks and grilled asparagus - fat ones - drizzled with a little sherry vinegar. Not bad at all, for May.

Waffles

You have gotta make these waffles. They were delicious. So, so good. I had buttermilk leftover from Emma's birthday cake and wanted to use it up. It seemed like a good reason to make these. For the girls I made some hippy whole wheat waffles with almond milk. Ha, ha on them. They actually liked their hippy chow just fine, but that's because they had not tasted the deliciousness that is these waffles. Make them. Make them soon. They have a lot of cornstarch in them, which struck me as creepy, but it is okay. TRUST me. It's the second recipe.

Homemade Tortillas

For Emma's birthday lunch I made a pot of homemade refried beans and flour tortillas. The tortillas were very easy to make and also DELICIOUS! I kept being amazed that they were, "Just like real tortillas!" Here is the recipe...

2-2 1/4 c. flour
1/4 c. vegetable shortening or lard (I used vs)
1 t. salt
1 c. warm water

In a bowl combine 2 c. flour, the shortening and salt. Use fingers or a pastry knife to rub ingredients together until the mixture has the consistency of fine crumbs. Gradually add the warm water, stirring it in with a fork, and continue to mix until the ingred. come together to form a soft dough. Add the remaining 1/4 c. flour if the mixture is sticking to your fingers.

Gather up the dough, pat it into a ball and place in a bowl. Knead the dough inside the bowl until elastic, about 2 min. Cover with a kitchen towel and let stand at room temperature for 2 hours.

Break off small pieces of dough and, rolling each piece between your palms, form into balls. Experiment to see what size you want as you roll the ball out with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface. This recipe said it made 24 tortillas, but we wanted larger tortillas for burritos and only made 7! I am not talking enormous tortillas either. As you roll out the tortillas, turn them over a few times and add flour to the surface to prevent sticking. I rolled mine pretty thin.

Heat a dry, heavy frying pan or griddle over medium heat. Place a tortilla on the pan or griddle and cook until it looks dry and the underside begins to brown, about 30 sec. Turn the tortilla over and cook the second side until browned, about 30 seconds. Transfer the tortilla to a kitchen towel. As the tortillas are cooked, stack them and cover completely with the other half of the towel to keep them warm and moist until serving.

To store tortillas, let cool, seal in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2-3 days or freeze for several weeks.

Weekly Menu

I have actually been cooking lately, just not a lot of inspiring dinners, hence no posting. I did make some yummy pesto, a few birthday cakes, beans, tortillas, lots of bread and last night I made a yummy chicken parmesan using my favorite sauce from Giada. I like that I can just leave the cheese out of the girls portions and they still like it.

Here is an attempt at this weeks menu...

Mon- waffles, sausage, eggs

Tues-grilled chicken pesto sandwiches on no knead bread, tomato, red onion, basil salad

Wed-oven baked yams, meatloaf, cherry tomato and asparagus salad

Thurs-potato leek soup, caesar salad with no knead bread croutons

Fri-I'm spent just planning this week, so we will probably eat out at Thai Basil

What are you cooking??

Gai Lan and Cous Cous (Meatless Saturday)

I picked up $1 worth of gai lan - Chinese broccoli - at the downtown farmers market on Friday, and couldn't decide what to do with it. Gai lan looks like a cross between broccolini and asparagus, with long straight stems giving way to tender leaves and flower buds. I'd had it in Chinese restaurants, usually with stir-fried beef and oyster sauce, but I wanted something lighter that I could pair with our usual cous cous (with carrots, raisins, cashews and green onions).

The trick with gai lan is to get the stems tender without overcooking the leaves and tips. The solution is relatively straightforward: cut 'em in half, and start cooking the bottoms first. I put a pot of water on to boil while I started the cous cous, then added a good bit of salt when it came to a boil. I set a timer for three minutes, tossed in the stems, then, a minute later, added the tops. When the timer beeped, I drained the pot and popped the steaming, bright green, gai lan into a bowl of ice water. The stems were still a little too chewy to serve.

I let the gai lan chill out while I finished the cous cous, then drained it and gave it a quick shake to dry. Meanwhile, I chopped a few cloves of garlic and added them to some olive oil in a hot skillet, along with a little salt. As soon as the garlic smelled good (before it got brown), I threw in the gai lan, tossed it for a minute to coat with the garlic, then turned off the heat. A healthy squeeze of lemon and a dusting of white pepper, then onto the plates - crisp tender, bright, and very fresh tasting.

Chicken Tawook

(I'm back in the kitchen, after a long weekend of leftovers, lavash pizzas, peanut butter & jelly sandwiches and general mayhem. Nothing we've eaten since Friday has required more than 10 minutes to prepare, and we missed our usual Sunday farmers market, so we're running low on just about everything good.)

I thought I'd tackle something fun, but with a relatively short cooking time, and I had a couple of hours to myself this morning for shopping and prep. Chicken Tawook came to mind right away - it's tasty, needs only a few minutes on the grill, and goes well with rice or cous cous (comfort foods for me and Liz). I made the marinade this morning, and it seems just right - I followed the recipe almost exactly, adding only a little ground sumac berry, which I've been playing with in mid-eastern dishes.

I had to dust off the mortar & pestle to grind a little cardamom (the recipe only calls for 1/8 teaspoon, and I didn't think my spice grinder could make any headway with such a small amount). That reminded me that I've always wanted to try my hand at Toum, the amazing garlic sauce often served with Tawook. Keep your fingers crossed for me, and I'll let you know how it turns out.

Don't Try This At Home

I thought I was pretty smart yesterday afternoon, when I dumped pasta into the big dutch oven in which I had made a rich meat sauce, then popped it into the oven. I thought I was saving myself the trouble of washing a casserole dish....

It wasn't until I took the pan out of the oven that I remembered why I use a casserole - and why I always grease it well, with olive oil, before adding the food to be baked. Even after an overnight soak, the dutch oven was a bear to clean - the casserole would have rinsed mostly clean and gone into the dishwasher.

So much for saving myself trouble!

"Stacked Pesto"

I had fresh basil and parsley, but I was in a hurry tonight (and I couldn't face the Cuisinart). So I "deconstructed" a pesto, stacking basil chiffonade and chopped parsley on grilled chicken breasts and asparagus. I spooned on a couple of tablespoons of olive oil, into which I had stirred pressed garlic, black pepper and salt (a pinch of red pepper flakes would have been good, too), then grated a little Reggiano on top.

I covered the dish loosely, then parked it in a warm oven while I picked up Liz and the kids at the park, and grabbed a baguette from Babette's.

There weren't any leftovers. The chicken was juicy and very flavorful (I'd thought ahead and taken it off the grill before it was quite done, so it wouldn't dry out). The "pesto" was fresh and herb-y, without the zing of my regular recipe, but still quite good. The asparagus was crisp-tender (like the chicken, I'd under-cooked it a bit). And the juices in the bottom of the dish, sopped up with baguette, were a real treat.

Best of all? 30 minutes, start to finish, and very few dishes to wash.

This Week's Plan

Tonight

Bastard Shepherd's Pie (Leftover debris (cajun shredded potroast), whole Yukon Gold potatoes, diced onions - all thrown in a pyrex dish and parked in the oven until tender)

Garlic-bacon green beans (boiled for 2 minutes, then drained and tossed with bacon fat and garlic until crisp-tender)

Tuesday

Grilled chicken breasts & asparagus
Pesto?
Polenta?

Wednesday

Baked pasta with meatsauce
Broccoli with lemon butter

Thursday

Lavash pizzas
Leftover broccoli
18-year-old Scotch

Liz leaves town Thursday afternoon, returning late Tuesday, so our menu for the weekend will revolve around leftovers, kid-pleasers and take-out, with an emphasis on meals that are quick to prepare and don't require either the grill or much patience.

I'll let you know how we do, and I'd appreciate suggestions for the weekend.

Tonight's Dinner

Tonight we are having a delicious and easy broccoli beef. There will probably be spaghetti and meatballs with no knead bread another night, and then I am going to take it one day at a time:).

Mother's Day Menu

An all-request dinner for Liz:

Bacon-wrapped Filets Mignon
Grilled sweet onions
Tuscan potatoes
Sauteed spinach with garlic & fennel seeds
Grilled garlic bread

I'm not a big fan of filets - I much prefer something with a bit more fat, such as a rib-eye. These were terrific, though: the bacon added flavor, fat and protection from the flames.

After wrapping with bacon (secured by toothpicks), I gave them a liberal coating of my tri-wizard rub and left them on the counter for about 30 minutes. The steaks got about 4 minutes per side on a hot (500F) grill, then another two minutes off the flame, but still in the heat, until interior temps hit about 120F. I let them rest, loosely covered, for about 5 minutes while I made the spinach. The result: a nice crust, beautiful medium rare inside, tender and flavorful.

Pickles

I picked up some beautiful pickling cucumbers at the Downtown Farmers Market on Friday - firm, dark green, bumpy and just the right size for a quart mason jar. I wasn't smart enough to remember to buy dill, though, so I had to wait until today before getting them started.

My recipe is ridiculously simple: dump spices (peppercorns, mustard seed, coriander, red pepper flakes), vinegar, salt and garlic directly into clean jars. Cover, and shake, shake, shake to combine - the kids love helping with this part. Once the salt is dissolved, unscrew the caps, toss in a small handful of fresh dill, then wedge in the cukes, as tight as you can. I usually cut them in half, lengthwise, but you can leave them whole, or slice them into spears or chunks or whatever you like. Add cold water to cover, then throw them in the fridge. Twenty minutes, tops.

The hard part is waiting for them to cure - you'll need to leave them in the fridge for about a week, for best flavor. And it helps to take them out and shake them every day, just to make sure the brine is well distributed.

For your minimal effort (and a little patience), you'll be rewarded with crisp, tangy, fresh pickles. If you like 'em spicy, add more pepper flakes or slip in a couple of red peppers along with the cukes. I like a little extra garlic, too (who am I kidding? I like a lot of extra garlic).

One of my goals for this summer is to make naturally fermented pickles, without vinegar. I'll report back when I discover enough counter top.

Sunday Farmers Market Haul

Today's catch:

Basil
Parsley
Dill
Spinach
Broccoli
Green beans
Asparagus
Russet potatoes
Cherries
Tangerines

I've got plans for most of the haul - pesto, pickles, snacks and veggie sides (e.g., Tuscan Potatoes) - but I'd like to see how well I actually use what I've brought home.

Wish I had a wife

I am in a periodic cooking slump. We had popcorn for dinner. No, really. I don't want to cook dinner anymore. Do you want to come cook for me?

Q. & A. With Julie Sahni

From the New York Times, a nice series of for Indian cooking, in three parts:

First, second, third.

I think I'll plan on a couple of Indian dishes next week.

Mostly Meatless Friday

Another shot at a meatless meal, saved at the bell by a last-minute entry from the freezer. Tonight's menu:

Sesame noodles with green onions and snow peas

Chicken shu mai (from Trader Joe's, frozen - not bad!)

The noodles are a paragon of simplicity - the sauce is just whisked together and tossed with the drained pasta. If you have fresh snow peas handy, just throw them in raw or add to the pasta water a minute or so before the pasta is done.

The sauce is extremely flexible, too. I often add fresh ginger, or a pinch of chinese mustard, and I usually sub red pepper flakes for the chili oil. I usually sprinkle toasted sesame seeds on the plated noodles, for a nice presentation and a little extra crunch.

We often serve this with grilled chicken, but it's also good with sliced steak, and would be fine with tofu, too.

Rrrrrr....back it up

If you were wondering, those were my tires screeching to a halt. Tomorrow is Cinco de Mayo, and I have chicken picatta on the menu. What is wrong with this picture??? Where was my head?? So a quick change of plans and this is what I am making. This looks delicious. Throw in some homemade corn tortillas, guacamole and chips, a Pacifico (or possibly a margarita) for me and a Negro Modelo for Sam, mmm... I can't wait.

Mostly Meatless Monday

We strive to do a mostly meatless meal once a week, but it's a struggle. Tonight's menu:

Cous cous with carrots, raisins, cashews and green onions

Grilled asparagus (fat ones!) with olive oil and lemon juice (I usually splash on sherry vinegar, but I already had a lemon handy...)

Steamed broccolini with lemon juice

Leftover rosemary pork chop, sliced (optional)

No matter what I try, the kids won't eat cous cous - even though they love raisins and cashews and will tolerate carrots and green onions in other dishes. I think it's the texture. Fortunately, Liz likes it as much as I do, so cous cous is on a fairly regular rotation, especially in the summertime. This is my favorite preparation, with the carrots and raisins softened in a little butter, but not browned, and cashews and sliced scallions added after the cous cous has steamed. I often use chicken stock for the liquid, but tonight just went with water - really fresh tasting, sweet, nutty and oniony.

Weekend wrap up and this week's menu

CityMama had a recipe for cilantro beef that we tried tonight. Everyone but Delaney liked it, so it's a keeper. It was easy and fast, and yummy over rice. We also made some bagels in the afternoon. They are fun to make, and they have a much better texture than grocery store bagels. The girls love bagels anytime, so they are gone very quickly. Delaney helped me knead the dough, and I did the rest. The girls and I had some for dessert with strawberry jam. They were tasty, but a little funny looking. They are sensitive, so don't make fun.

Here is this week's menu...

Mon- pork and tomatillo stew with coleslaw (didn't love it)

Tues- leftover stew

Wed- chicken picatta, rice, green salad with walnuts, dried cranberries and vinaigrette

Thurs-Kristin's peanut chicken wraps

Fri- I'm hoping for a refridgerator roundup

Odds and ends

Okay, so I pretty much stuck to my planned meal schedule for the week, and did a good job using up leftovers as well. The chicken with mushrooms and artichoke hearts with CREAM was delicious. Why wouldn't it be?? My parents and my cousin came for dinner that night, and we didn't have much in the way of leftovers for the next night. I did a little shifting, and Friday night we just mixed and matched from the fridge, which was good because I was tired and cranky anyway. The girls had leftover pasta and marinara, and I came up with something new and tasty that sort of reminded me of Moe's favorite potato at Charo Chicken. Have you had it?? I had some cooked potatoes, marinara and mozzarella left over. I heated the potatoes in the microwave smashed them, spread them with marinara and topped it all with shredded mozzarella and romano cheese, which I then baked in the oven. Too lazy, so no vegetables, but I did make a fresh fruit smoothie.

We drink a lot of smoothies over here. Lately I have been adding veggies to them with good results. I have been adding a fresh peeled orange, some frozen mango chunks, half a frozen banana(this is what I do with my over ripe ones) 1/3 c. of juice of your choice, 1/3 c. water, 1 persian cucumber sliced, and a handful of frozen kale(chopped in thin ribbons and frozen to add to soups, spaghetti, etc...). They are a really pretty green if you don't add strawberries. You can totally forgo the veg. and have a great smoothie too, whatever the traffic will bear.

This looked really good as did this. I think the cold wind is getting to me. I just want to curl up with a blanket and enjoy some hot stew.

A week of dinners from my friend Anna

I think this is a great idea, I'm not very consistent, and I don't like having to prepare a completely new meal everyday of the week. What I do is to make a large main dish so that I'm guaranteed leftovers and work that into a new meal for the next day.
For instance,

Sunday
is a great day for me to cook, but Monday is too crammed to make something new.
So now that the weather is nice I grill a whole chicken (pollo loco style) with whatever seasonings work for your family. I like to keep simple and natural ( some lemon, mexican chicken seasoning salt, garlic). While that is cooking, I put about 1 cup to 11/2 cup of pinto or black beans into my rice cooker (set and forget for about an hour). Corn on the cob on the grill with the chicken.

Monday
( We're a family of four so we don't eat a whole chicken), so shred leftover chicken, put extra beans from last night into food processor/ blender). Shred some lettuce, take out sour cream and shredded cheese and, tostadas, and BAM you have an easy Monday meal.

Tuesday
Grill steaks about 3 large (I usually use porter house or rib eye) with seasonings of choice. Seasoned potatoes in the oven to bake or on the grill. When steaks are done, hubby gets a whole one, while I thinly slice the rest. Eat what we can tonight, use leftover for tomorrow.

Wednesday
Thin strips of steak from last night. Saute, red and green bell pepper strips with onion. Dump in the steak strips and now you have fajitas. Serve with more beans and rice (White/brown) and side of broccoli or salad (jicama, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, cilantro, tortilla strips or crushed tortilla chips, bed of lettuce, with cilantro dressing).

Thursday
My day off I do all my errands and shopping so we go out to eat or order pizza.

Friday
If I still have steak or chicken left make taquitos, yes those yummy, crunchy, greasy little things. I just love them. Sorry, I never said my meals were healthy. Also, any leftover chicken, make quesadillas (cheese and chicken). I don't make side dishes with this meal, I don't think we need any more carbs or grease do you? I like making taquitos because it's something super quick, since the meat is already cooked, warm up tortillas, fry, 15 minutes tops. Whip up a nice fresh guacamole or store bought is fine. Another salad and there.

Saturday
Questionable, I just don't know at this point, hoping to be invited somewhere else to eat, hey maybe I'll give mom a call :)

Let's get this party started...

A lot of you have already sent a weekly menu. So many tasty ideas! I am excited to have a reference and a place to talk about what is tasting good. I have the dough of a French-style country bread on the counter ready to be worked and baked later today to go with our chicken and pasta. That's a picture of it up there right out of the oven. I wish you could smell it!! Amazing as it may seem, I find I am more successful at using things up when I follow a plan other than the fly by the seat of my pants plan. I am hoping this will help!