FOR (BUSY) PEOPLE WHO LOVE GOOD FOOD
This chicken salad is packed with veggies and makes a great portable meal. I used less dressing than the recipe suggests, but the dish still has a nice sesame flavor and the oranges make it naturally sweet. I don’t even usually like water chestnuts, but they blended right in. Next time I will try to make a homemade version of the dressing (and take a picture in a nicer dish) but otherwise I won’t change a thing!
I was looking for a somewhat light version of creamed spinach that I could serve over a baked potato. I used this recipe, with fat free cottage cheese and Smart Balance Light. It served it’s purpose over the baked potato, but the consistency was fairly thick. It also would have been better with some cheese. I may tweak this recipe again, and also try baking it in the oven. Still, I’ve been on the hunt for new potato toppings, and am glad I tried this one. It did make a warm and filling lunch!
My friend Lee asked if I had tried to make kale chips, a recipe which has been featured on popular food blogs such as KERF, as well as the Today Show. I did make these last year one time but wasn’t totally impressed. With Lee’s encouragement, I decided to give the recipe another try. The process is simple enough; you place pieces of torn kale on a baking sheet, coat them with cooking spray or oil and some salt, and then bake them in the oven at a high temperature until crispy. Ketchup is optional, but highly recommended.
I admit I liked them enough to eat the whole batch over the holiday weekend, and yet I don’t think they’ll make it into my usual rotation. They are good, but there are a lot of great recipes which use kale that I like better, including this salad and this sweet and savory kale dish. But if this recipe will bring kale into your house for the first time, go for it!
I know, I was supposed to work on perfecting sweet potato fries, but then I saw this recipe and remembered that I had put fresh thyme in the freezer. I substituted cayenne pepper for the red pepper flakes, and they certainly had a little kick. The sweet potato rounds looked quite elegant on my dish but they tasted great as well. Fresh (or, frozen when fresh) herbs really make a difference; if only I had a green thumb and more natural light, I’d try an indoor herb garden!
I had about half a head of escarole remaining after I made this soup, and a splash of red wine remaining after I made this chicken. To be honest, there wasn’t much else in my refrigerator, so I made this quick escarole side dish.
I tore the escarole into smaller pieces, gave them a quick rinse, and then tossed them in a big frying pan with a bit of olive oil and garlic powder. After cooking the escarole on high heat for a few minutes, I added in the red wine and left the pan on the stove for another minute. This isn’t a recipe, but sometimes you need to just let the contents of your refrigerator inspire you.
I made a very simplified version of this Red Wine Braised Chicken recipe, but it was still an excellent meal! The original recipe does look good, but I am not a fan of olives, capers, or opening a can of tomato paste for just one tablespoon. As you can see, the chicken does end up tinted red. The chicken was very tender though, and there was plenty of sauce so this would be great served over couscous or barley. This looks quite fancy, but has minimal ingredients and yes, there are even a couple of glasses of wine leftover.
This cornbread recipe came highly recommended from a friend, so I had to give it a try. This isn’t a light recipe, but it does yield a fluffy moist cornbread. Next time, I may try some modifications but in the meantime I’ll enjoy this version. It goes perfectly with a bowl of hot soup!
It’s definitely soup season, and this escarole soup is new in my rotation. It tastes similar to minestrone, and even though I added plenty of minced garlic in place of the whole cloves, the flavor was subtle. The white beans make it filling and the colors make it pretty – the perfect combination for a winter meal.
Many times I walk in the door fairly late and hungry for dinner. If I don’t have something already prepared that I can heat up, I look for a quick and simple option. This dish was perfect for that situation.
I took out two pots, one medium and one small. The larger one got filled with water, and put on high heat to boil. I put a can of diced tomatoes in the smaller pot, along with half a cup of pumpkin. (The rest of that can of pumpkin got saved for pumpkin oats, of course!) I added a dash of garlic powder, salt, and pepper to the sauce, and set it on medium-low heat to simmer. When the water boiled, I tossed in some whole wheat pasta and cooked it for 8 minutes. By the time I drained the pasta, the sauce was heated through, and I topped the pasta with the sauce and some grated Parmesan. Within about 20 minutes, a healthy dinner was served!
So that’s my third goal of 2010 – to come up with meals that are healthy, simple, and quick. Maybe next time I’ll set a timer and see just how long it did take me to throw this meal together!
Finally, I saw “Julie and Julia”. It was a good movie, and I am definitely inspired to tackle a few of Julia Child’s recipes from Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I also got an enamel cast iron casserole for Christmas, ready for action. So there is my second goal of 2010: to make a few truly special French recipes using ingredients like real butter.
Recipes that Fit 