Hearty and Healthy Mexican Lasagna

For dinner tonight, I brought back a recipe I love that I haven't made in a very long time - Racheal Ray's Mexican Lasagna. This lasagna has two convenient qualities - it's made in no time, and it is huge! This meal could easily feed 4 or 5 people, or if you are cooking for one, like me, feed you for a whole week. I'm not a huge fan of Racheal Ray anymore, though it is true that her 30 Minute Meals was the first Food Network show to really suck me in. I give her credit here - I began cooking at 7:15 and was eating by 7:45.

I, of course, made a few tweaks to Ms. Ray's recipe, but my changes are really just personal preference. I use ground turkey instead of chicken, mostly because I can never seem to find ground chicken in my local stores. I use fire-roasted tomatoes over taco sauce, and to make it a bit healthier, add low-fat cheese and whole wheat tortillas. The result is a yummy casserole full of chunky meat and vegetables. I like to serve mine with a dollop of sour cream, and a sprinkle of hot sauce. It keeps amazingly and like Italian-style lasagna, is often better the next day, once the flavors meld more. I'd imagine it would freeze fabulously as well.

Apple Turnovers

Fall in New England means apples. It's a yearly tradition for most people I know to go apple-picking at one of the many local orchards. I sound like a snob - but I just can't eat supermarket apples anymore!

This year I headed out late in the season. My good pal Maria and I scored a 1/2 bushel of Cortlands, MacIntoshes, and Romes. With apples in tow, we went back to my apartment to bake up some treats! I'd picked up some frozen puff pastry at Trader Joe's earlier that day, so we decided to make apple turnovers. We didn't really follow a recipe - just chopped up a few apples and tossed them with brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, a bit of flour, and lemon juice. We found out quickly that you don't need much filling in each square of pastry!


Maria and I folded the pastry and sealed it shut using a fork. About 15 minutes in the oven is all you need - the puff pastry browns and crisps up, the apple filling sort of melts. They are so delicious and make you feel cozy! They were so simple, using pantry ingredients and frozen pastry, and took only 30 minutes in total. I can't wait to start my Monday morning with an apple turnover for breakfast!

The Yummiest Sauce Ever

Do you have a steak in your freezer? Do you have access to a store where you can buy a steak? Because you need to go get one now and make this recipe - Hanger Steak with Cherry Shallot Sauce. This is so delicious, I can barely describe it. I saw the recipe made last weekend while on 5 Ingredient Fix on the Food Network, and it was one of those moments where I immediately said - I have to have this steak.

I don't eat a lot of beef but I get a craving for it every once in a while, especially when it's paired with a sweet sauce. This cherry shallot sauce is incredible and true to the name of the show it came from, it has only 5 ingredients - garlic, shallots, olive oil, pomegranate juice, and cherry preserves. The sauce is savory and sweet, but not too sweet. It was all I could do to keep Ken from eating the rest of it with a spoon.

Cherry Shallot Sauce...how could you not want that?

I grilled up a simple steak and finally, I cooked it well for the first time! Cooking beef to the correct temperature is challenging and I've had my share of failures, either overcooking it or having to throw it back on the grill several times to get it right. I covered the meat in tons of sauce, full of the shallots and chunks of cherry. On the side I served some yummy baked sweet potato fries. It was heaven, especially on a cold, rainy night.

That is some good eats.

Get Me to the Greek...Salad

It's Salad Tuesday again! The best day of the week. Tonight we went Greek! Greek food might be one of my top five kinds of food. I love the vegetables, lamb, and a good rice pilaf. Of course, a simple salad hits the spot and is incredibly easy to make.

Add a warm toasty pita and stuff a bunch of salad in there. It's just so good. Soft warm pita, crunchy cucumbers and red peppers, sweet tomatoes, and the tang of balsamic vinegar. Here's how I did it...




Greek Salad with Yogurt-Marinated Chicken
Serves 4

1/2 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon grill seasoning
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into large chunks
1 bag romaine lettuce
1 tomato, diced into 1 inch cubes
1/2 cucumber, diced into 1 inch cubes
1 red pepper, diced into 1 inch cubes
handful Kalamata olives
1/2 cup feta cheese, cubed
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
1/3 cup olive oil
salt and pepper
2 pitas

Combine yogurt, lemon juice, and spices in a medium-sized bowl. Add chicken and toss to coat completely. Let sit for 5-10 minutes. Grill chicken until cooked through, about 10 minutes. Shred or cut into bite-size pieces.

In a small plastic container with a sealed cover, combine mustard, balsamic, olive oil, salt and pepper, and shake to combine. Add more salt and pepper to taste.

In a large bowl, add lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, red pepper, olives, feta cheese, and pieces of chicken. Toss with a few spoonfuls of dressing. Toast pitas and split in half, giving each plate half of a pita.

Summer Sunday Brunch

And we're back! Sorry for the lack of posts lately - unfortunately my real work has not left me with much time for cooking fun meals. That's why it felt like the perfect time to throw a brunch! I had my family come over for frittata with corn, pancetta, and red peppers, cantaloupe salad, and sweet olive oil bread with fresh blueberry sauce. Doesn't that just scream summer?


Frittatas are a perfect one dish main course for a brunch. A frittata is just a method - almost any mix of vegetables, meat, and cheese work well in it. Corn immediately sounded delicious and I'm on a huge kick right now. My original thought was prosciutto but I spotted pancetta and went for it instead. I melted shredded mozzarella cheese on the top after adding garlic, red peppers, and scallions to the dish.

The cantaloupe salad was wonderful. I tossed cubes of cantaloupe with lime zest, lime juice, sugar, and honey. Mint was meant to be added but I was unable to find mint at the store (isn't that ridiculous?). It was unexpectedly delicious.

Finally, I made this interesting sweet olive oil quick bread. I've been dying to try an olive oil cake for a while now and I was drawn in by the ease of doing it as a quick bread (think banana bread). You don't even need two bowls to make this bread! There is no butter at all - only a 1/2 cup of olive oil - though I might add a bit more oil next time to make it just the slightest bit more moist. My only change was to top the bread with crushed almonds rather than pine nuts.


It baked up puffy and golden brown and was quite good. It was similar to a pound cake and lightly lemon scented. The blueberry sauce really took it over the top. For that I used Barefoot Contessa's Blueberry Sauce recipe, using just regular sugar and a touch of vanilla extract instead of vanilla sugar. As I mentioned, the bread was a little bit on the dry side so the sauce was a perfect additive. Sweet and a little tangy with lemon juice. How I love berry season!

Summer Garden Salad with Chili Garlic Shrimp

We made a really interesting salad this week. Totally different from the types of salad we usually make based on this recipe called Summer Garden Salad with Chili Garlic Shrimp. It started with shrimp, tossed lightly in hot sauce and cumin. Alongside chunks of tomato, avocado, and cucumber, I added papaya, which added a welcome sweetness to the light salad.

In the dressing, I used half lemon and half lime juice because that's what I had, but it was still quite delicious. The sesame oil was the dominant flavor but went really well with the clean flavors of the rest of the ingredients. I also subsitituted basil for mint because frankly, I don't really enjoy raw mint in savory dishes.

In the end, the alterations I made pushed it toward something very Thai - ever had papaya salad? This had a similar theme. It was incredibly light and healthy - there are about 2 entire tablespoons of oil in the whole thing. We made this on a 90 degree day and it was exactly what we wanted to eat!

Chopped Summer Salad

Once again, my goal tonight was to start with a recipe I liked, and make it my own. We began with this recipe from Martha Stewart for Arugula Salad with Grilled Chicken, Corn, Tomatoes, and Blue Cheese. It finally really feels like summer now and this salad hit all the right notes.

When I'd told Ken I was planning to make this salad he asked if it had blue cheese dressing or just blue cheese. Oooh...blue cheese dressing you say? I decided to search Food Network.com for a light blue cheese dressing - nothing with heavy cream or the like - and stopped on this delicious sounding Buttermilk Blue Cheese Dressing. The dressing was more like a vinegar-based dressing than a creamy dressing, but it has that same flavor and tang of the more generic type.

I made a few additional substitutions. Chopped rotisserie chicken replaced the grilled for mostly convenience's sake. The cranberries were added at the very last minute after the avocado I bought was totally rotten. Sadly, my local store was barren tonight - perhaps due to the holiday. But June means farmer's markets in New England, finally!


It's a quite tasty salad, with lots of different flavors running through it. I would have loved the avocado if it had made it to the bowl - definitely include it. I'm also a huge fan of fresh corn in salads. It's like a sweet little burst.


Chopped Summer Salad with Buttermilk Blue Cheese Dressing
Based on Arugula Salad with Grilled Chicken, Corn, Tomatoes, and Blue Cheese by Martha Stewart

Serves 2-3

4 cups arugula or spring mixed greens
3 plum tomatoes, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
2 ears fresh corn, kernels sliced off
1 avocado, cut into cubes
1/2 cup dried cranberries
2 cups cubed rotisserie chicken or 2 roasted chicken breasts, cubed
Buttermilk Blue Cheese Dressing (Tyler Florence's recipe)

Add first six ingredients into a large bowl and mix lightly. Toss with dressing, a few tablespoons at a time.

The "Lost" Meal

I had my sister over on Sunday for the final episode of Lost, and inspired by this post at The Kitchn, I fixed us a Lost-themed meal. Pork, signifying the wild boar the characters hunted, would have to be on the menu. The Losties also ate mangoes found growing in the jungle, and as I am on a huge mango kick right now, a mango salsa sounded like the perfect accompaniment to the pork.

I'd been dying to try another braised pork shoulder since my incredibly successful pork braised in cider over New Years Eve. I wanted an easy recipe with few ingredients to be cost-effective, and simply because I don't think that this type of dish needs a lot to make it delicious. I ended up adapting my recipe from this tutorial How to Cook (and Shred) a Pork Shoulder and Cheater Pulled Pork from The Splendid Table.

Unfortunately I was unable to find a pork shoulder at my local, crappy store, but instead, they had country-style pork ribs, which are similarly laced with fat and very tender. They worked just fine. A beer braise gave the pork a lightly sweet flavor and it pulled apart like nothing. The onions are worth saving and mixing in with the shredded meat - they melt in your mouth.


To make the meal a little fun, I thought I'd be cute to serve it as a rice bowl. I cheated and bought a box of yellow Goya rice but any sort of rice will do. We layered black beans, pork, pickled jalapenos, and mango salsa, topping the bowls with a dollop of sour cream. It was comforting but summery; a mix of sweet, salty, and hot flavors.




I found the mango salsa particularly divine. This Tropical Fruit Salsa was the basis of the recipe. I couldn't find papaya so I doubled the mango. Scallions went in place of white onion (to accommodate the onion-haters I was about to serve), and parsley in place of cilantro (I'm not a big fan of the herb, and I already had parsley). It is colorful and sweet, with a pleasantly strong kick.


This recipe makes a huge serving of pork, probably enough for 6 at one meal, but it's worth it to have leftovers. Tonight, we put the meat into quesadillas, topped with even more flavorful mango salsa, thanks to a night to marinate.


Lost Rice Bowls
Time: 4 hours
Serves 4, with leftover pork

4 lbs. pork shoulder or country-style pork ribs
4 medium onions, quartered
5 cloves garlic, lightly crushed
3 tablespoons seasoned salt
1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
16 oz. bottle of beer - lager preferably but any beer you like will do
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 15oz. cans black beans, drained of most of their liquid
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. chili powder
1 box of yellow Mexican rice (or any sort of rice you like)
sour cream, for serving
Mango Salsa (see recipe below)

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Season the pork shoulder or ribs with the seasoning salt and pepper, coating all sides well. Heat olive oil is a large dutch oven, then add the pork to sear, 3-4 minutes per side. You should have a nice crust on the outside.

When all sides are seared, add onions, garlic, and beer. The liquid should just almost reach the top of the meat lying flat, so add water if more liquid is needed. Cover tightly and place in the oven.

Braise the meat for 3 hours, turning the meat over once during cooking. When it is done, the meat should break apart easily and the onions will be golden and melting. Shred the meat, discarding any bones, into a large bowl, scooping a few spoonfuls of braising liquid into the meat.

Sprinkle black beans with cumin, chili powder, and a dash of salt, and heat in a pot or in the microwave until warm. Cook the rice as the package instructs.

To put together the bowls, layer rice, beans, and pork. Top with mango salsa and a dollop of sour cream.



Mango Salsa
As adapted from Epicurious.com

2 mangoes, peeled, cored, and diced into small cubes
2 scallions, diced
1 small jalapeno, diced very small, ribs and seeds discarded
3 tbsp. chopped parsley or cilantro (I already had parsley, so I used it)
1 tbsp. fresh lime juice
1 tbsp. fresh orange juice
1/2 tsp. salt

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Salsa is even better if allowed to marinate a few hours.

The Big Salad

Have you ever thought about what might have made up Elaine's infamous "Big Salad" on Seinfeld? I have. In fact, I imagine it may have been quite similar to the salad we made tonight - lovingly called That Good Salad via AllRecipes.com.

The salad is much like a slightly lighter and more gourmet chef's salad. Chef's salad was my first salad love, even if it was mostly for the pieces of meat and cheese in it. As I child I'd eat it drowned in ranch dressing! This version uses bacon (turkey for us) rather than ham, and leaves out the traditional turkey altogether, though it would be delicious in this salad as well. Almonds add a nice crunch, and we left our Swiss cheese cubed instead of shredded. I love a big hunk of cheese. The light lemon vinaigrette was all the dressing it needed, though I omitted the garlic. There was enough flavor already! We also threw in a bunch of kalamata olives at the last minute while cleaning out the fridge.


Indeed, it was a "big salad." This salad is a true meal all in one with meat, cheese, vegetables, and bread. That Good Salad is filling, but not heavy. Also, do yourself a favor and bake your own croutons! A baguette is barely $2 and they are done after 15 minutes in an oven. You'll notice the difference.

Time Warp Enchiladas

Enchiladas are one of the first things I learned to make myself. My seventh grade Spanish class had a Mexican food day and I decided to make a whole pan of enchiladas. Admittedly, I cheated, then and now, by using pre-made enchilada sauce, but I think they can be very good. This week, I tried out Trader Joe's version, my "impulse buy" this week while shopping. For years following my enchilada success, I would make the same recipe over and over again with my mom for easy family dinners. It is so simple to make and incredibly comforting.


Start with boneless chicken breasts or tenders and dice them into cubes. Saute the chicken until just barely done with diced onions, garlic, and really any sort of vegetable you have on hand - I often use a green bell pepper. This week, I didn't have anything in stock so I used only the onions and garlic. Once the chicken is done and the vegetables are soft and brown, you're ready to roll up your enchiladas. I just place one 10 inch tortilla in pan (be sure to spray it with some cooking spray), then put about 3 big spoonfuls of the chicken mixture and a sprinkling of shredded cheddar cheese straight down the middle. Next, roll them so the seam side is down. Once they are all wrapped, pour enchilada sauce over the top until they are completely coated in sauce but not drowning, otherwise they can get too mushy. Bake 15-20 minutes until the cheese is melted, and that's it! I almost always serve with either some beans or Mexican rice. This night we ate pinto beans seasoned with a bit of cumin and chili powder.

Italian Chicken Salad

Italian Chicken Salad is another masterpiece to add to the salad collection, I must say. This recipe is also via Gourmet. I only substituted sliced grilled chicken tenders for rotisserie chicken because it's what I had. This recipe called for home baked croutons to be added directly into the salad but I thought that felt heavy. I preferred the bread served in a hunk on the side, warmed with a bit of olive oil and rubbed with a garlic clove.


How could this possibly be bad? Mozzarella, roasted red peppers, olives...classic Mediterranean flavors. I went a little heavy on the Dijon in the dressing, too.

A Hearty Pasta Dish

I was craving a hearty pasta. Lately I've been doing many more olive oil-based sauces so it felt like a great chance to change it up and break out the dutch oven. I chose this delicious-sounding dish from Gourmet called Pappardelle with Chicken and Mushroom Ragu.

Sauce...

Plus pasta!

The only change I made was to trade out the rosemary for a bit of oregano and red chili flake because oddly, I hate rosemary. I find the taste too woody and overpowering. I also used regular spaghetti as the pasta because it is what I had, but this ragu would taste good over any sort of pasta, long or short cut. I loved this dish for several reasons:

1. I adore chicken thighs. While fattier than breast, the thigh is tender and really absorbs flavor. These pieces of chicken just melted in my mouth. Just be careful not to fully cook them as you saute.
2. I loved the lightness of the sauce with the chunky tomato. This recipe calls for whole tomatoes to break up with a spoon. I was tempted to just buy diced tomatoes but I was smart to choose the whole. I guess that is what makes it a ragu.
   
3. Wilting in arugula added a nice bite and texture. I don't use greens enough in my cooking.

The recipe makes food for four at least and is super-cheap, so I'd highly recommend this for a potluck or dinner party! Hearty pasta craving satisfied!

One Pasta, Two Ways!

Spring always includes fresh asparagus for me. It's prime season is now and it undoubtedly appears on sale at the grocery store, which makes it impossible to resist. I had a bunch calling to me from the fridge! My favorite way to eat asparagus is roasted, but this evening I needed something more of a main dish. Asparagus in pasta is always delicious. As I usually do, I found a recipe to start with and worked with what I had. The dish I began with Penne with Asparagus and Cherry Tomatoes by Giada De Laurentiis.

I chose a whole wheat pasta, which I rarely do, because I wanted to make this super-healthy. I had also been planning to use a jar of sun-dried tomatoes that I'd had for too long in place of fresh tomatoes, but last minute I noticed one single tomato that missed out on Salad Wednesday. Finally, I exchanged white wine and lemon juice for chicken stock -it sounded lighter. Lemon and asparagus work perfectly.

I just loved this. The asparagus stayed incredibly crisp and provided a nice mix of texture with the chewy pasta. I found the wheat pasta to be delicious - a bit nutty and with a firm texture. The peas were great too. And how could you make this any more healthy? OK, maybe I should lay off the cheese a bit but hey, its cheese!


Three nights later, in the middle of the week, I was desiring the rest of the whole wheat penne. I often make impromptu pastas, most often with just some olive oil, garlic, and sauteed chicken sausage. I grabbed whatever I had around - half a red onion, the remnants of a bag of baby spinach after Salad Tuesday, a few extra asparagus spears...and figured I'd just saute it all with garlic and toss with the pasta. Along the line, a few other ingredients were added - a splash of red chili flake, some cubed up rotisserie chicken, and goat cheese.

I recalled a recent episode of Giada at Home in which Giada had made a pasta sauce by simply mixing goat cheese with a little of the pasta water. It acts as a bind for a creamy light sauce. So I did this (in about 5 seconds) and tossed it all together. It was utterly delicious, and dare I say, one of the best pastas I've made. The sauce is delicious and I absolutely loved the crisp asparagus with the wilted spinach. As I usually do, I went heavy on the garlic and made sure to season it thoroughly. It is truly all about making each part taste good!


Penne with Asparagus in Lemon Sauce

8 oz whole wheat penne pasta
1 lb. asparagus, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 tomato, diced
1 cup peas
1/2 cup white wine
juice of 1 lemon
3 tbsp. basil, chopped
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

Cook penne in boiling water until al dente. Reserve 1 cup of the pasta water.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet and add garlic. Saute one minute, then add asparagus. Saute 5 minutes, or until just tender. Add peas, lemon juice, and white wine, then simmer about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes and taste for salt and pepper. Simmer 3 more minutes.

Add pasta to the pan along with basil and toss, adding pasta water if more liquid is needed to coat the pasta. Toss with Parmesan cheese and serve. Serves 3-4.


Penne with Asparagus and Goat Cheese Sauce

8 oz whole wheat penne pasta
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 large or 2 small clove garlic, chopped
1/2 red onion, chopped
1/2 lb. asparagus, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 tsp. red chili flakes
1 cup baby spinach leaves
1 cup rotisserie chicken, cut into 1 inch cubes (can substitute 1 chicken breast, roasted in the oven or grilled)
salt and pepper
3 oz. goat cheese

Cook penne in boiling water until al dente. Reserve 1 cup of the pasta water.

Heat olive oil in a large skillet and add onion and garlic. Saute three minutes, then add asparagus and red chili flake. Saute 5 minutes, or until just tender. Add spinach and chicken, and toss until spinach is wilted. Taste for salt and pepper.

Place goat cheese in a large boil and add pasta water, a little at a time, stirring to create a sauce. Add water until the sauce is still thick but will coat the pasta. Add pasta and saute to the bowl and toss together. Top with extra goat cheese crumbles or Parmesan cheese. Serves 2.

Salad Tuesdays (and Wednesdays) in Review

Oh friends, I have been remiss in not sharing several weeks worth of our newly established Salad Tuesdays, but no longer. Some meals I just have to share! These are recipes you are going to want to try. I must say that the salads that Ken and I have crafted lately (its a total team effort!) have been some of the best dishes I've ever made! A few weeks ago, I posted the recipe for Spinach and Sweet Potato Salad with Bacon and Goat Cheese. Here are the newest:

#1 - Chicken Caesar Salad

No salad effort can go very far without a Caesar in the mix. We used shredded rotisserie chicken, freshly grated Parmesan, and made our own croutons with a baguette. Bake the cubes for 10 minutes at 400, tossed with a little olive oil, pepper, and season salt. We made our own dressing as well using this recipe, including anchovies! The dressing was sour and garlicky, and the homemade croutons really made a difference.





#2 - Italian Chopped Salad

This salad, or a variation on it, is one that is on many restaurant menus in Los Angeles, yet I have rarely seen it in the Boston area. I based this salad recipe on the item of the same name on the menu at Factor's Famous Deli, a Beverly Hills deli that I used to order lunch delivery from when I worked in the area. Romaine lettuce was tossed with diced turkey, diced salami, tomatoes, cucumbers, chickpeas, green olives, and Gorgonzola cheese. Usually this salad contains mozzarella cheese but I had Gorgonzola left over and I felt it would be much more flavorful. I was right. I made a really simple dressing of red wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, olive oil, salt and pepper. Delicious.



#3 - Cobb Salad

Who doesn't love Cobb Salad? I certainly do, but I never eat it anymore. Years of reading about food and diet has taught me well that most restaurant Cobb salad's are incredibly high in fat and calories. "A heart attack in a salad," one might say. We tried to lighten it up by using turkey bacon, grilled chicken, a vinaigrette dressing, and not too much cheese. I used this recipe mostly for the dressing but it's basically the same salad we made. I just love the combo of salty bacon, creamy avocado, and tangy cheese.





Salad Tuesdays have truly become one of my favorite nights of the week. Do you have a good salad recipe? Let's share! I can't wait for summer so I have access to farmer's markets for fruits and vegetables. What's your favorite salad?

Spinach and Sweet Potato Salad with Bacon and Goat Cheese

Some nights, everything just goes exactly right. The rain has subsided, and my window panes are dry! We're now looking forward to 4 or 5 days of sunshine and 60's! I think some of the beautiful weather found its way into my food tonight. Ken and I have instituted Salad Tuesdays. It's very exciting! We're three weeks in and tonight I hit the jackpot with my own creation.

I took inspiration from a very traditional spinach salad (bacon, hard boiled eggs) and this more complex spinach salad with sweet potatoes. This sounded like something I could combine with fabulous results. Fabulous it was! The flavors melded perfectly - the sweet and salty mix of the potato and the bacon was delicious. The dressing was perfect too and I'm really excited to have found this easy to make balsamic dressing. Try this salad. I promise you will love it.

Three main ingredients - spinach, roasted sweet potatoes, and bacon

Spinach and Sweet Potato Salad with Bacon and Goat Cheese
Serves 3-4

2 sweet potatoes, cut into cubes
1 red onion, sliced into 1/2 inch thick half moons
6 slices turkey bacon
4 oz. goat cheese, crumbled
salt and pepper
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
olive oil
1 lb. baby spinach
Balsamic Citrus Vinaigrette (recipe follows)

Preheat oven to 425. Toss sweet potatoes and onions with olive oil, salt, pepper, and chili powder on a baking sheet. Roast for 20 minutes or until vegetables are brown on the edges.

While the vegetables roast, brown the turkey bacon in a skillet until crispy. Drain on paper towels and set aside. Let vegetables cool slightly before mixing the salad. Toss spinach, sweet potatoes and onions, turkey bacon, and goat cheese crumbles with a few tablespoons of the dressing.

Balsamic Citrus Dressing
Makes a lot - keep it in a sealed jar or plastic cup for other uses
Adapted from this recipe on Allrecipes.com

1/4 cup olive oil
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
1 1/2 tablespoons white sugar
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
salt and pepper to taste

Place all ingredients in a seal-able jar or plastic bowl with a lid, seal, and shake to combine!

This salad has great colors.

Beef and Barley Stew

What else is there to do but cook when you're stuck at home monitoring the steady flow of rainwater through your windows? I needed comfort food, badly. My first thought was - beef stew.


Check out my beef and barley stew! I started with this recipe from The Kitchn for Beef and Barley Stew with Mushrooms. The barley sounded like a hearty switch in starch than the normal potatoes. I lucked out and found a well-priced boneless chuck round roast which I cut into cubes and seared in my trusty dutch oven.


Mmmm...meat.

Mmmm...veggies!

Then I sauteed a bunch of traditional veggies (I added carrots the original recipe) and a big box of cremini mushrooms. I deglazed with some Cabernet and filled the pot with a 3 to 1 combination of beef and chicken stock (the recipe called for 2 and 2). I let it simmer for an hour, then added the barley for another 45 minutes of simmering. My final addition was a handful of leftover frozen peas at the way end because, as I told Ken, it's never bad to add something green.

Ta-da!The result was incredibly similar in thickness to Chunky Soup, which I have loved since babyhood. The meat turned out very tender and I really liked the use of barley. It's soft and chewy and truly comforting. It's like a savory oatmeal. I was glad I added carrots and would probably add more next time. But this stew did it's job - it warmed me up as the rain continued to pour.

Random Brownies are the Best Kind

Baking is synonymous with snow. Isn't that what every one did as a kid on snow days? My mom kept boxes of brownie mix and cookie dough in the house for just that thing. We have an insanely small amount of food left in the house, so in almost desperation for anything to eat, I realized I had enough ingredients to bake something. Included in the pantry items was almost half a box of Hershey's Cocoa Powder, which led me to think - brownies!

Bam!

I easily found this incredibly simple cocoa brownie recipe from Alton Brown. It is essentially a homemade box brownie - made in one bowl and using the cocoa powder as the only chocolate flavoring. I had everything in stock and Ken and I whipped this batter up in no time. And scraped the bowl even faster.

Which is better, the batter or the brownie? Hard to say....

I had to go with a 9x13 inch pan because I don't have an 8x8, but it worked out fine. I just remembered to bake it for less time than recommended, since they would be thinner. Magically, at the 35 minute timer I set, they were perfect. Baked solidly through but fluffy and not at burned. They were very richly chocolate and sweet. That's probably from the 2 sticks of butter.

The edges were perfect.

Go big or go home.

New Recipes!

We now return to your regularly scheduled Dinner Blog...

With the rain outside and having the apartment to myself tonight, I had a great opportunity to cook. Finally! I made my own version of three different recipes, all centered around my winter obsession brussels sprouts. The recipe I took this method from is Pasta with Shaved Brussels Sprouts and Pancetta. I had never thought of pairing this vegetable with pasta, but it looked delicious and colorful.

I made some simple tweaks to this recipe to make it my own, based on two other brussels sprouts recipe that I love. The first was to add a handful of raisins, inspired by Barefoot Contessa's Brussels Sprouts Lardons. The second was to splash the entire dish with balsamic vinegar at the way end, then letting it cook down a bit, the idea for which came from Mark Bittman's Brussels Sprouts with Bacon and Figs. Finally, I used less pasta than the original recipe asked for, so that there was about an even amount of shaved sprouts as there was pasta. There is no need to weigh this dish down with extra starch.

I absolutely loved the result. The sprouts were tender, the pancetta was crispy, and the raisins and vinegar added a sweetness to balance the saltiness. It was hearty and filling. Next time I would up the amount of garlic and use golden raisins if I happened to have them around. I think they get plumper when you cook them in some liquid. Here's the real recipe...


Shaved Brussels Sprouts with Pancetta and Pasta

Serves 2.

2 tbsp. olive oil
4 oz. diced pancetta
1/2 yellow onion or 2 shallots, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 lb. angel hair pasta
1/2 lb. brussels sprouts, sliced thin
1/3 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup golden raisins
3 splashes balsamic vinegar

1. Boil water for pasta in a large pot.

2. Heat olive oil is a large skillet. Add pancetta and saute until starting to get crispy, about 4 minutes. Add onion or shallot and garlic, and saute until onions begin to brown. Add brussels sprouts, raisins, and chicken stock, and salt and pepper to taste. Turn heat to low and cook until stock is reduced.

3. Cook pasta until al dente. Add pasta to brussels sprouts mixture and balsamic vinegar, toss. Cook together on low for 2 minutes. Serve hot.

And...I'm Back

I am shocked at how long it has been since I've written! December has been quite the busy month, interrupted by an extended period of being sidelined with a nasty cold. Now the holidays have passed, quickly, and I finally have a moment to update! I have been crazed but that doesn't mean I haven't had the chance to cook. Here's a bit of what I did in food on my vacation...

First, I helped my mom with our Christmas dinner, which for us Jews more more like a Hanukkah dinner on Christmas Day. Every year, my mom makes her special brisket. She cooks it the night before submerged in this sweet and sour sauce that has things like ketchup, orange juice, and Worcester sauce in it. She then makes my dad slice it and the sliced meat marinates in the sauce all night. It is so delicious. Everyone who's ever had it has liked it. The sauce is the best part. Then it makes an amazing sandwich on crusty bread the next day.


On the side we tried this absolutely decadent twice baked potato casserole. It's everything you love about baked potatoes in one dish. Potatoes are essentially mashed with butter, cream, shredded cheddar cheese, bacon crumbles, and scallions. The mixture is spread into a baking dish, then topped with yes, more cheddar cheese. I don't think I need to say any more.


My dad isn't really a potato fan (rare, I know) so we made him a special request - farfel with mushrooms. This recipe is a very traditional Jewish dish and the recipe comes from a Jewish cook book I got for my bat mitzvah. Farfel is a small round pasta, sort of like pearl couscous or pastina. In fact, since my mom couldn't find farfel at the local market, we used pastina. This is one of those dishes that is so simple you assume it will be bland, and then its so very not. The farfel is mixed with sauteed mushrooms and onions, parsley, and just salt and pepper. It's very wholesome and especially good when soaking up stray brisket juices.


This was just the first of my holiday meals. We hosted our very first dinner party on New Year's Eve! Stay tuned...