Stay Home and Cook: Waves of Change (Week Twelve)
Hi, there. Last week was a bit of a blur. It was busy in so many different ways, all important, all requiring time to stop, educate myself, and listen. And explore. And educate myself some more. I am not complaining. I am simply saying there was a lot going on and I didn’t want to miss any of it. It’s important to face reality, face the facts, and get to work. Not to mention we were making dinner! However, I find that to be the easy part.
I won’t dive into a full discussion, but please know I am actively working to bring diversity to my website; specifically in the Flavor Buffet series (as seen in last Friday’s edition) as well as Dinner Review. I am actively seeking out new recipe sources, new voices that talk about food, and new types of dishes. There is always room for more at our table.
So, speaking of food, shall we review last week? It was a yummy one!
Artichoke-Pesto Baked Cod and Sautéed Zucchini
Recipe from North Coast Seafood - on the back of the bag of cod!
While it wasn’t the most beautiful meal we’ve ever made, it definitely was delicious! In an effort to eat more seafood, we had another cod night last week and served it with a simple sautéed zucchini. I fully admit that we made this meal without thinking about the crunch-factor: there was nothing crunchy on our plates and I feel bad about that.
I like a variety of textures in my dinner and this one was mostly…very easy to chew. Not a problem! Just, uh, um, there was no crunchy anything. But what this dinner lacked in needing to use our molars, it did provide us with a great new topping for baked fish.
Artichoke pesto. Who knew? I love artichokes in pasta and on pizza so I’m surprised it took me this long to discover that they’re yummy on top of fish as well. The pesto itself was fairly mild, which was good on a very mild piece of fish; I wouldn’t recommend using this topping for a more-flavorful fish. I think the pesto flavor would just vanish. And no one would be happy about that!
Next time, we’ll make this fish, but perhaps pair it with a better form of zucchini: crispy zucchini sticks, anyone?
Turkey Thai Lettuce Cups with Mushrooms and Green Pepper
Original Recipe by Melissa Clark, which we adapted with additional ingredients.
No, you are not seeing a repeat from last week. Yes, you are seeing the same recipe, but enhanced! Thai lettuce cups are so good that I needed them two weeks in a row. I have no problem with that whatsoever.
For this week’s version, we used ground turkey instead of pork, for a healthier twist, and added diced green pepper and mushrooms instead of spinach. The additions were due to the fact that we had them in the fridge, had run out of leafy greens, and I simply wanted to make this dinner again.
Our changes to the original recipe gave us an amazing meal that was pretty much as delicious as the original, but with a slightly different flair and flavor. I ate it with as much joy and gusto as the original and was equally distraught when it was suddenly gone.
That’s the thing with really delicious dinners. No matter how often you make them it’s never often enough. And there is never enough. Leftovers will never be happening when this is on the meal plan.
Pan-fried Crispy Chicken Fingers and Roasted Asparagus
Original Recipe.
For all of the recipes we feature, once in a while we like to go back in time to the simpler days of our cooking: protein and veggie. On a plate. Minimally seasoned. Somehow delicious. This dinner takes me back to very-early-blogging when we’d make a version of this dinner multiple times each week.
I didn’t care what it looked like since I just wanted crispy chicken as often as possible. Nothing wrong with that! We like more variety now, but I’ll never turn my back on a meal like this one; it’s still awesome.
Our pan-fried crispy chicken is made using Aleia’s gluten free breadcrumbs (plain or Italian seasoned). The chicken fingers are pan-fried in a little olive oil and cooked until golden brown (or when the chicken is cooked through). Asparagus is still seasonal so we oven-roasted a bunch to go alongside the “main” protein. Grilling asparagus is great, but oven-roasting is even easier. ;) Crispy chicken and asparagus: a delicious and very easy weeknight meal for when you just can’t bother to cook.
Impossible Double Cheeseburger with Home Fries
Original Recipe.
For anyone contemplating whether or not to try Impossible burgers (plant-based ‘burgers’), let me tell you this: try them! I am happy to report that our double cheeseburgers made with Impossible-brand meat were incredibly awesome.
The texture and flavor was extremely similar to that of actual beef, but after eating my divine double-burger, I didn’t feel nearly as over-ful as I sometimes do when I eat real beef. I opted to have my burgers on a bed of arugula and Seth chose to have his on two piece of toasted gluten free bread. Both options were very delicious.
We topped our burgers with American cheese (the best option for this style meal if you ask me) and caramelized onions, which added a slightly sweet flavor to the savory meal. And since we had one lonely potato sitting on the counter, we had to turn it into home fries, of course. A burger and fries, but make it modern. No beef for the burger. No deep-frying the fries. How snazzy!
Note: I don’t consider this a super-healthy meal, but I don’t consider it too un-healthy either. Balance is key.
Pasta with Meat-Sauce
Original Recipe.
Much like the crispy chicken above, a second extra-easy, delicious, and old-fashioned-ish dinner we like to make once in a while is pasta and meat-sauce. It’s so easy! It’s so yummy! These are the criteria we often require for weekend meals. Sometimes a weekend night is good for something more elaborate, sometimes it’s not. #reality.
We prepared this dinner with Jovial Foods gluten free penne, a jar of Rao’s homemade Tomato Basil marinara, and a one-pound package of ‘meatloaf mix’ meat which is a trio of beef, pork, and veal. Easy as that. And of course, feel free to substitute the meat for all beef or another protein entirely. We like this mix because it has a richer flavor, which works well with the bold tomato sauce. In the past we have made a tomato sauce from scratch for this type of dinner, but these days I’ve found that jar of marinara to be extremely helpful. And the flavor is wonderful.
Not only is this dinner delicious and hearty, true comfort food, it’s also a great way to plan for the week. One big batch of this meal gave us one big dinner, plus days’ worth of lunch-at-work for Seth. Yup, he’s back to going into the office (not full-time though).
Black Pepper Beef and Cabbage Stir-Fry
Recipe by Sue Li for NYT Cooking.
We decided to close out the weekend and simultaneously begin a fresh week with a new recipe! Nothing like a familiar style (stir-fry) to keep things relaxed, but with a fresh take, to keep things interesting. This meal was ridiculously delicious, which is a phrase I use often for any stir-fry, but it applies here for sure. Trust me.
Since we don’t cook red meat at home too often, this was a real treat. The beef was a thin-cut, sliced sirloin which cooked quickly and had the most tremendous flavor (plenty of black pepper and a little brown sugar will do that). When stir-fried with the cabbage it created a terrific mix of textures, flavors, and all-around goodness. We topped our bowls with toasted sesame seeds and fresh scallions from our balcony garden. The perfect style of dinner to close a weekend, if you ask me. :)
*******************
As always, please drop us a note or leave a question in the comments below.
Still hungry? Sign up for the newsletter.
Enjoy!
