This recipe from Fine Cooking magazine was delicious, fairly simple t execute and hearty enough to satisfy EVERYONE (the vegetarian, the carnivores AND the omnivore) in my house.
Category: Side Dishes – Veggies
Spiced Pumpkin, Lentil and Goat Cheese Salad
I adapted this recipe from the October (2009) issue Bon Appetit. I added about 1/2 cup of toasted pecans and one chicken breast (grilled and then sliced) for the carnivores in the household to add into their salad. This recipe needed a bit of extra balsamic vinaigrette to really finish it, so I’d plan on adding a bit of extra, if you plan to make this.
This salad is very adaptable. You could substitute blue cheese, if you prefer. This could be a fabulous first course, or, if served in larger portions, it’s a great entree salad. Toasted pumpkin seeds would be nice, too. Substitute lettuce or spinach if you’re not a fan of arugula.
Roasted Brussel Sprouts, Vegetarian Edition
Holy cow, does our family ever love these brussel sprouts. Seriously, it’s a visceral thing. I could eat a pound of them. Every day. They are absolutely addicting. On the rare days when we actually have some left over, I’ve been known to have them for breakfast the next day. But…Girl is now a vegetarian. And that means no pancetta. Well, I’m not insane; it means no bacon for HER. The rest of us still have the original version, but I had to come up with a version for her that would be as tasty (well, close to as tasty…I mean, you can’t just leave bacon out of a dish and expect it to still be as tasty!)
So, anyway…this is the version that I came up with and it was actually quite nice and, with the added nuts and cheese, managed to give her a bit of much-needed protein.
Oven-Roasted Brussel Sprouts
1 pound fresh brussel sprouts, washed and halved
3 Tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced (or run through a garlic press)
1 – 2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 -2 tsp. fresh thyme leaves (removed from woody stems)
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1/4 cup toasted pecans, coarsely chopped
(Bake at 250 degrees until fragrant and lightly browned)
2 Tbsp crumbled Blue cheese
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Toss sprouts with olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper and pour into a medium-sized baking pan (you don’t want the sprouts to be too crowded.) Bake for 15 – 20 minutes, or until soft and darkish brown around the edges, turning and tossing about every 5 minutes until uniformly cooked. Sprinkle with vinegar and thyme and stir in to incorporate. Cook for another 3 – 5 minutes, or until vinegar is thickened and absorbed. Remove from oven and sprinkle with the pecans and cheese. Serve.
Vegetarian and Carnivorous Sprouts, ready to go in the oven together.
Brown Butter Gnocchi with Spinach and Pine Nuts
From January 2009 Cooking Light magazine. Recipe here.
Meh.
Needed more brown butter than the 2 Tbsp specified to give it enough flavor. Pre-packaged gnocchi definitely leave a LOT to be desired. I would make this again, with homemade gnocchi (don’t get scared off by the recipe, gnocchi are EASY), adding a little extra browned butter.
A good vegetarian meal for Girl, though, and a good, easy and quick side dish to accompany Chicken al mattone for the rest of us.
Polenta Triangles Stuffed with Spicy Greens and Cheese
Polenta, served with some pesto-grilled chicken thighs for the carnivores…
This meatless recipe from Serious Eats was tasty and not too difficult (although it does require some advance prep and a few hours of chilling time,) but the wine flavor (I used a light Pinot Noir) in the greens layer was a little too strong for the little people that live at my house. I like this preparation of polenta, but may experiment with sandwiching different things in the polenta layers, like possibly a sun-dried tomato concoction or sauteed mushrooms or maybe spinach (or another green without the wine.)
The greens looked gorgeous as they were cooking (beautiful color!)
Onions and garlic with beet and chard stems.
Adding the greens.
The greens, pretty much fully cooked. I continued to cook them until the liquid was pretty much dry, because I wanted to be sure the alcohol cooked out and because I didn’t want the greens layer to be soupy and risk it separating when I cut the polenta.
Layering the polenta, greens and cheese. I used smoked mozzarella, because I had no idea what Caciocavallo was and didn’t want to go on a search.
Polenta, after being chilled and cut (before baking.) They are not kidding when they say that this recipe feeds a crowd. This dish would be GREAT for a buffet or potluck or for a light first course (instead of pasta) before the main/meat course.
Steakhouse Birthday Dinner for a Carnivore
Boy LOVES meat…just about any kind, so when we celebrated his 12th birthday recently, only a nice hunk of red meat would do. So, we made him some beautiful ribeyes, mashed garlic Yukon Gold potatoes and The Pioneer Woman’s easy and delicious creamed spinach. I made him a lemon birthday cake with raspberry frosting for dessert. He was VERY happy.
Jamaican Jerk Chicken (two versions) Gallo Pinto (Congri)
Jamaican Jerk Chicken, from Food & Wine magazine
click here for recipe
I recently bought Food & Wine’s new “Quick from Scratch Chicken” magazine/cookbook (there are lots of versions of this cookbook available from different years, some are hardback and some are magazine-style, but this is BRAND NEW and can be found at a magazine stand – it has an olive green cover with chicken and corn-on-the-cob on the front….I can’t find an online photo) and have been making all sorts of yummy things from it (Chicken with Avgolemono, Pad Thai and I’m planning to make Fusilli with Chicken Sausage and Rustic Garlic Chicken soon).
Well, last night was my brother and sister-in-law’s anniversary and since, due to 2.5 week old Baby Jack Henry, they’re still not back into full-fledged “going out” mode, I offered to make them a nice dinner over here (with the stipulation that they MUST bring the baby, of course!) It wasn’t really 100% intentional (Boy had already seen the recipe in the book and had requested that I make it, so it was already in my “make soon” folder,) but I decided to make this, because Little Brother and his wife went on a cruise to Jamaica (and other destinations) for their honeymoon, so I thought this was fitting for their anniversary.
Boy, was that ever a great idea. This stuff was lip-tinglingly DELICIOUS. It was saucy and moist and flavorful without being butt-kicking spicy. I didn’t do the leg quarters, but instead did some whole, boneless, skinless breasts and some boneless, skinless thighs. I wasn’t sure what the baking time should be, so I just used a thermometer and pulled them out when the temperature registered 175 degrees. Man, oh, man… I sliced the breasts up so that we could all taste a little bit of everything. The thighs absorbed more of the sauce and were a little spicier than the breasts. The allspice flavor was very strong, but not overpowering. If it’s not a spice that you really love, you might want to dial that down just a tiny bit. Boy, this was easy, too. Just blend it all up and then pour it over the chicken and bake. Simple and definitely do-ahead. Perfect if you’re having adventuresome dinner guests. I marinated for 24 hours for maximum flavor and I doubled the sauce, because I was cooking extra chicken pieces. If you don’t want it to be extra saucy and spicy, then I would pour off any excess marinade before baking, or simply remove the chicken pieces to another pan, and then I think the sauce would be more like a glaze, as is in the Food & Wine photo.
For the Congri/Gallo Pinto, I basically followed this recipe, but cooked the beans myself, and added a little epazote and, if you ask Little Brother (although he was polite about it), a bit too much cilantro (to me, there is no such thing as too much cilantro…)
All in all, a delicious and fairly simple dinner. Will definitely be a repeat, although I’ll need to tone down the cayenne for the little people that live with me…
For another kid-friendly Jerk Chicken variation, try this.
Red Lentil-Rice Cakes with Pico de Gallo
Red Lentil- Rice Cakes with Pico de Gallo
adapted from this recipe in Cooking Light magazine
Red Lentil-Rice Cakes:
5 cups water, divided
1 cup dried small red lentils
1/2 cup uncooked basmati rice
(or 1 and 1/2 cups cooked
2 Tbsp olive oil, divided
1/2 cup finely chopped red bell pepper
1/2 cup finely chopped red onion
1/2 tsp cumin seeds, crushed
2 garlic cloves, minced
3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup dry breadcrumbs
1 Tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 large egg whites, lightly beaten
Bring 4 cups water and lentils to a boil in a medium saucepan. Reduce heat, and simmer for 20 minutes or until tender. Drain and rinse with cold water; drain. Place lentils in a large bowl.
Combine remaining 1 cup water and rice in pan; bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 18 minutes or until liquid is absorbed. Cool 10 minutes. Add rice to lentils.
Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add bell pepper, onion, cumin seeds and garlic pan; saute 2 minutes or until tender. Cool 10 minutes. Add to rice mixture. Add cheddar cheese and remaining ingredients, stirring until well combined. Let stand for 10 minutes.
Wipe skillet clean with paper towels. Heat 2 teaspoons olive oil in skillet over medium heat. Spoon half of rice mixture by 1/3 cupfuls into pan, spreading to form 6 (3-inch) circles; cook 5 minutes or until lightly browned. Carefully turn cakes over; cook 5 minutes on other side. Remove cakes from pan. Repeat procedure with remaining 1 Tbsp olive oil and remaining rice mixture. Serve with pico de gallo.
Pico de Gallo:
2 cups coarsely chopped plum (Roma) tomato
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh cilantro
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
1 garlic clove, minced or pressed
1 small squeeze fresh lime juice
3 pickled jalapeno slices, finely chopped
Gently fold all pico de gallo ingredients together. Add a small amount of salt, to taste. This stuff is GREAT as a chunky salsa to top quesadillas or dip chips into. You can also stir it into mashed avocados to make a mild, fresh guacamole. I could eat this stuff with a spoon if you let me.
Note: There is NO SUCH THING as too much cilantro. Cilantro is awesome.
The lentil cakes were really yummy and could easily be adapted to any flavor combination that suits your fancy. The original recipe has a more “Italian” flavor, with basil, mozzarella and fennel seeds instead of cilantro, cheddar and cumin seeds. You could probably easily go Mediterranean or Indian with these, too. These took a little time and prep, but were not difficult at all. The “5 minutes at medium heat” time was PERFECT: you really don’t even need to peek or watch them much as they’re cooking; just set a timer for 5 minutes and walk away (or work on the rest of your dinner or set the table, or whatever).
I served these with roasted chicken and a green salad with balsamic vinaigrette and Baby Bam croutons.
Warm Butternut Squash and Chickpea Salad (with BBQ chicken thighs and sauteed spinach)
I recently discovered “Smitten Kitchen“, a cute little food blog that I HIGHLY recommend that you check out right away. When I read Deb’s rave entry about this salad, I knew that I had to try it right away. She’s definitely right; we loved it and it’s absolutely a keeper. It’s delicious right after it’s made, piping hot, but it’s, unbelievably, even better the next day, when the flavors have had a chance to meld. I cooked the squash a little more, so that it was a bit softer and took on an almost potato-salad texture. The leftovers are delicious re-heated, but are also wonderful when eaten cold (like a potato salad). Hubby and I both LOVED it.
NOTE: use good-quality, freshly made tahini; you’ll definitely taste the difference (sorry, Trish!). Lots of gourmet food stores or health stores actually make/grind it right on the premises. Look for it in the refrigerated section.
Sweet Potato Gnocchi (again)
Browned Butter is what The Gods eat on Mount Olympus, I’m telling you.
Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Browned Butter and Sage
I don’t know who invented browned butter, but if I ever meet them, I’m going to kiss them on the mouth. Really. There is nothing in the world that smells as good or adds as much flavor to a dish as browned butter. Except, for maybe bacon. Mmmm…bacon. Seriously, though – trust me..anything that can be favorably compared to bacon? Well, it’s pretty freakin’ awesome.
So, I’ve made these gnocchi before, but they do rate another photo. Yes, they’re a bit of a pain to make, but you can do it in steps. When you’re in the kitchen one day, you can cook the sweet potatoes. Peel and mash them, then you can refrigerate or freeze (as I did) them until you’re ready to make the gnocchi. If you REALLY want to break it down, you could even make the dough one day and the gnocchi another. The recipe makes a TON, so you can even make the gnocchi ahead and freeze them, then toss them directly into boiling water from the freezer when you’re ready to eat them. I think the sauce would even freeze – just microwave it a bit to re-melt it and it would be good to go.
So…they are a bit of work, but it can be done ahead and/or in stages. Ya’ll know that I don’t repeat many recipes, so if I’m not only cooking them twice, but BLOGGING them twice, they are something special. These are VERY rich. So rich, that they could stand alone as a dinner or, if you serve a very small portion, as an appetizer. No meat is necessary with these – they are LOADED with cheese and can totally stand alone.
These are worth the effort – no question, but hurry up, because they’re definitely a heavy, rich cold-weather dish.