So...whats for dinner?
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Hello, all. On the lettuces - also grew up with iceberg, but never touched it once moved out on my own. So many others to choose from - butter, boston, mesclun mix are my faves, now and fave dressing is a simple home-made vinaigrette. Dinner was a hearty soup of organic goodies thrown together to use up items on hand in pantry & freezer - Pacific brand butternut squash soup, chopped frozen spinach, sauteed baby bella shrooms, cannelini beans, spices and then some chopped, cooked organic apple & chicken breakfast sausage. Very filling. Lovely spring day today! Happy weekend to all.
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Whole Foods has the organic rainbow carrots--both in bunches and as bagged "baby" carrots. I used the latter. Tossed them in salt, pepper, nutmeg, sweet curry powder and roasted them at 350F for 10 min. Then added a tsp. each of butter and honey, tossed them again, and nuked 30 seconds. It was raining, so had to do the steak indoors and skip the knob onions. Instead of haricots verts, I had some baby spinach I needed to use up--which I sauteed with olive oil, minced garlic and the juice of a wedge of Meyer lemon. The steak was wonderful--deglazed the pan with a little Cabernet Sauvignon (the one we drank with dinner), followed by sliced mushrooms, minced parsley, and another tsp. of butter.
I just got Bon Appetit's (or was it Food & Wine's--I get both) "Summer like an Italian" issue. It had a recipe for ramps--and they don't grow wild here--so I'm keeping an eagle eye out for them at WF and Mariano's.
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I’m rubbing my hands together at the thought of fiddleheads....almost here....woot
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Egads - Tried fiddleheads (lightly battered & fried) at a restaurant in Cleveland area last June & they were wonderful. Never seen them anywhere else.
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Celia - keep your eye on the greens section of the grocery store (or try Wholefoods). Sometimes I've seen them in the freezer section but haven't used them yet. If you do get your hands on them try preparing the Canadian way (we wouldn't dream of battering them-ever! Lol. Would ruin the earthiness). Rinse like crazy or you'll have a mouthful of grit, par steam or boil, sauté in butter, light kosher salt (or regular) and fresh cracked pepper, until tender and sprinkle very lightly with balsamic. The butter makes it luxurious and earthy while the vinegar lifts the whole taste....as well as increasing adsorption of the iron.
I just drooled on my iPhone.
Edited to say: great on homemade onion pizza too!
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Special - Dare I ask...what makes a meatloaf naughty?
Met my SIL for lunch at a family owned cafeteria that's been in business since 1941. I had passable grilled scallops served over rice. Since it was a cafeteria (and that means comfort food or childhood food or whatever) my sides were mac & cheese and carrot & raisin salad. She had a wonderful grilled salmon. The portions are gigantic.
Supper was two glasses of the delicious "1000 Stories" California Zinfandel. It's aged in bourbon barrels. That was paired with a bowl of Cheez-It crackers, a handful of 49 flavor's mini jelly beans, a handful of dry roasted peanuts and a hard boiled egg.
Eric - so glad to hear your eye is improving. Interesting about the diet changes. Are you still eating chicken & fish?
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MinusTwo - thank you for mentioning the carrot and raisin salad... my mother used to make it all the time! Guess what’s going on my table tomorrow night! Love it!!
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Eric, I don't recall your ever mentioning red meat often on your menu. Mainly an occasional pot roast. As long as you enjoy your meals and lose unneeded lbs, the change is a winner. You mentioned that your dd was leaning toward a vegetarian diet.
The air fried chicken thighs were easy and good. They were wet with the buttermilk marinade so I didn't need to dip them in egg, just lightly breaded them with seasoned panko crumbs. They cooked ten minutes on each side and came out crispy and brown. Thighs have enough fat that I didn't spritz them with oil. We have one left over. I had packaged three in case dh wanted more than one, but he didn't.
The steamed yellow squash were just ok. Not as good as the "fresh off the bush" squash available when the local farmers are selling their veggies at the produce market. We omitted the salad.
Tonight will be wild-caught catfish fillets.
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minus - pretty standard meatloaf recipe, 1/2 c milk and 3 eggs mixed with a cup of Italian breadcrumbs. Add 1 t salt, 1/2 t pepper, a dash of nutmeg and cloves, 1/2 t thyme, 2 cloves of minced garlic, 1/4 c chopped gr onion and I add a combo of three ground meats - veal, pork and beef, but have also used all beef or just beef and pork. I use a package of each type of meat so this is a big meatloaf! Depending on where I have lived I sometimes also see “meatloaf mix" in the meat section and have used that - it is a combo already packaged. Mix well and shape into a football-ish loaf on a foil covered pan with a rim. Here comes the naughty part. Completely cover in slices of thick cut bacon with generous overlap to account for shrinkage while cooking. I bake for an hour at 350 F, then spread a mixture of 1/2 c chili sauce (or ketchup), 1/4 c brown sugar, 1 t dry yellow mustard over the whole thing and bake at least another 15 mins, sometimes a bit longer - and this will hold on warm. The bacon keeps the meatloaf moist and provides a crispy salty touch, and the sauce at the end gives it a sweet and tomato-ey quality. It is great in sandwiches too.
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Thanks Special - I can understand the naughty now.
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Tonight was one of my favorite meals, fish tacos from Berryhill Tamales. I prefer Baja style to TexMex and I was at the mall anyway, couldn’t pass it without indulging. I limit my Berryhill to a couple time a year to keep it special.
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I did eat a moderate amount of red meat. We haven't given up on it completely, but probably have cut back in it to about 1/4 of what we used to eat. Our fish consumption has probably doubled and the chicken consumption has gone up a little bit.
The Arimadex seems to have made weight loss a lot more difficult for Sharon, so any weight loss is exciting for her. And, I've not really missed the "old foods". .
The other thing that I've been experimenting with is spices to make things taste more exciting. So far my favorite is dried lemon zest and pepper (hot, medium and not hot).
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Dried lemon zest. Hm. Do you zest a lemon and let the zest dry out? I like lemony flavor and will be using fresh zest and juice tonight. The leftover pork tenderloin will figure into a piccata-like skillet dish. Chicken broth will be the liquid thickened with a little zanthan gum (totally forgotten until recently). I will slice and warm the tenderloin in the hot sauce and served with egg noodles. Side will be a romaine salad with additions.
DH went to the supermarket this morning, came home and was missing a package of sandwich deli meat. He was very disgusted, went back and, sure enough, the forgotten package had been taken to the deli for safe keeping. Not sure who was at fault.
SpecialK, once you gave the recipe, I remembered your "naughty" meatloaf.
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Carole - zest the lemons and bake in a 200F oven on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper until dried out...usually 1 to 2 hours...your house will smell heavenly. Store in a glass container
Edited to say: you could also peel the lemons with a veg peeler and bake longer to dry. Grind to bits or powder. Store the same way
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Tonight, a favorite of ours: Vegetable-Black-Bean Burritos plus a mixed green salad, mine with extra kale and arugula. (Husband is not just a good sport about eating according to my primarily-plant-based regimen, required for last year's prediabetes/high LDL diagnosis, he really enjoys most of it - this dish in particular.) Happy to share recipes always.
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I have TWO Penzeys near me (!!!) so I can buy dried zest locally.
During the summer, I will zest a bunch of lemons and dry it outside. I put the zest on paper, put a colander over it and put a clean rock atop the colander. When it's 115F/45C in the shade and there is a slight breeze...it doesn't take long for it to dry. :-)
I've never thought about the smells nice in the house part. I'll have to try that before it gets so hot that I move exclusively to the outside oven
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Salmon didn't defrost, so I went foraging again. Had a cauliflower-crust mini-pizza. I was about to give up on them, but this time I figured I would bake it on a round perforated pizza tray (came with the toaster oven) which I sprayed liberally with Pam baking spray, until the cheese was not just melted but toasted. That way, it didn't stick to the pan and I could hold it upside down to eat (the crust was barely crisp, but the interior cauliflower was still mushy). I know there are cauliflower-crust pizzas with rice or tapioca flour or cornstarch so that they're gluten-free, but they're carby, which was why I bought the all-cauliflower minis at the health food store back when I was on a no-starch diet. I don't have celiac, so I don't go gluten-free. I find gluten-free versions of stuff usually made with wheat flour to have "something missing." It's like the no-sugar-added cherry pie I bought last week--I can't get past the aftertaste of the Splenda in the filling. Same reason I don't like no-sugar-added frozen yogurt or sugar-free syrups (I can taste the "back-bite" in even Hershey's Lite). I keep sugar-free flavored syrups on hand for those who want flavored lattes, but I prefer my coffee drinks to taste like coffee. And I really ought to jettison the bottles of sugar-free pancake syrup and faux-honey. A little of the real stuff (especially raw honey and the syrup from a friend's maple grove) goes a long way.
I followed up with a ready-to-mix fully-cooked basil-lime pesto quinoa salad I found a while ago at WF. Pretty good, though it was 480 cal. But added to the 50 in the mini-pizza, that was reasonable for dinner.
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I discovered a new sauce last week. Seeds of Change Simmer Sauces. They come in mushroom, sesame/ginger/terriyaki, roasted chipotle, tikka masala, and some others. They are organic, and at least the one I used was vegetarian. I like their rice & grain mixes so decided to try.
Pounded chicken tenders very thin, sauteed in olive oil & butter. Removed chicken & sauteed fresh mushrooms. Added the "mushroom simmer sauce", put the chicken back in & simmered a bit. Served on smushed, leftover new potatoes (because I'm trying to clean the fridge). I compared the package with Campbells Mushroom Soup - which I used to cook with. Soup is 100 calories & 870 sodium. Seeds of Change Simmer Sauce is 50 calories & 135 sodium. BIG difference. Obviously more than double the price, but for one or two people it's a good deal. I'm going to try some of the other flavors.
Today was sauteed onions & leftover Rao's Marinara with a couple of Trader Joe's frozen Italian Meatballs. Served on zucchini noodles.
Sandi - I agree about the artificial sweeteners. I get an unpleasant aftertaste with all of them.
Patsy - Welcome. Thanks for posting.
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Happy Sunday, all. Have been "away" for about a week so will just say that there have been some great sounding meals lately.
We made Neapolitan-style pizza Margherita several days ago using the following method, and it is by far the best homemade pizza we've ever done (even though I cheated and used Trader Joe's refrigerated dough.) https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2010/09/hacker-free-neapolitan-pizza-for-a-home-kitchen-recipe.html
Last night I made my mother's simplified version of feijoada using dried black beans and linguica in the Instant Pot.
Tonight we are grilling Rick Bayless' Mexican Roadside chicken on the Weber. https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2009/08/grilling-mexican-roadside-chicken-with-green.html Not sure yet what else will be going with it. We'll have leftovers from this and the feijoada to use during the week.
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I've used the Seeds of Change Harissa and Mole sauces--pretty darn good.
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Tonight was Crunchy Onion Chicken with mashed potatoes and corn. No pic, we inhaled it, it’s a favorite of the friends I have over on Sunday nights for dinner and TV.
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Salmon still frozen, Bob won't be home for dinner, so I ordered out from Lao Sze Chuan. (Being a bit of a wuss, especially after having the last two Buffalo wings in the freezer, I stuck to the Cantonese & Mandarin stuff). Scallion pancake, beef chow fun, Shanghai spring rolls, and red bean rice balls for dessert. Undoubtedly will have so many leftovers that I won't need to serve anything but snap peas with salmon tomorrow night...unless Bob gets late-night munchies. (Gordy is chez gf).
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Today was WW weigh in. I was down another lb for a total of 6 lbs. It comes off much more slowly than it piles on.
DH and I haven't eaten any crawfish yet this crawfish season, so we plan to go to Crabby Shack tonight for boiled mudbugs. They're usually served with potatoes and corn on the cob cooked in the same boiling pot.
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Carole - congratulations on the 6 lbs. I've been 5 up & 5 down & 5 back up & down for several months now. If I eat NO bread or pasta and confine myself to one meal a day, the weight slides down. Hell of a way to live.
And since I'm going to San Francisco for few days on Wednesday, the immediate prediction for weight loss - let alone retention - is not good. Lots of sourdough bread and Dungness Crab if I can find it. My room has a fridge - so the first purchase is butter & bread, only slightly ahead of wine and Gin & Tonic. My DS has made dinner reservations 2 out of 4 nights. DIL, who is a vegetarian, is cooking one night. I'm planning fish for lunches on my own since neither of them eat fish - with more sourdough bread. I'll probably head for Tadish Grill one day, where my Dad used to take us for special meals when each child had a chance every summer to take the train in to the City alone starting at age 10 to visit him at his office for private Dad & daughter or son time. It's been in business for 160 years - before Lincoln was assassinated, before the transcontinental railroad, before the electric light bulb, before the Wright Brother's flight, Supposedly the third oldest restaurant in the US. OK - Lacey & Carole win, but still... It was always in the financial district and moved to California Street in 1967.
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Couldn't resist one more quote. No reservations and it's always packed.
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hmmm. Traveling today and spending a few hours at SEA-TAC between flights, so I'm thinking Wolfgang Puck's for a baby kale and quinoa salad for early supper in a little while. It's a win win win: healthy, I don't have to cook, and I don't have to clean up!
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PatsyKB- allow me to be jealous...I mean pea green
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Boston this coming Fri-Tues---if it swims, I'm gonna eat it. Mostly lobster & oysters.
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Jealous! Send pix and descriptions!
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Tonight was Creamy Shrimp Pasta, I used a high fiber penne instead of fettuccine and fresh spinach instead of frozen. It turned out pretty good and was super easy.
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