On Our Table: Dinners of November, Part Two
If there was ever any doubt as to the types of meals we make around here, then look no further than the ones we made during the second half of November. Bold! Spicy! Savory! Indulgent! Cheesy! The list goes on and on. One thing is for certain: we don’t make mild meals.
In fact, the more-intense the flavor profile the better if you ask me. Even if a dish isn’t spicy, it can still have rich flavors. And if it’s a lighter-style dinner, then it better have bold ingredients. Even our Thanksgiving dinner, as you’ll see below, took the traditional elements and ramped them up a notch. The best food is bold food and the second half of November was a clear example of that. Plus, it was all so darn delicious!
Find below the dishes we’ve made in the last few weeks including links to recipes (as available), key ingredients, and cookbooks worthy of a spot on your bookshelf. As always, please send us a note with any questions about our meals.
Roasted Cauliflower and sausages with garlic yogurt
A sheet pan dinner is one of the easiest and best for a weeknight - plus anything roasted is automatically more delicious. This meal featured Pig Rock Sausages’ Hot Italian Sausage, but any variety will do. This local brand’s products are supreme for sheet pan meals, bowls of pasta, you name it; they’re perfect for a wide-range of dishes.
My favorite way to add a punch to this dish? Make a garlicky yogurt to serve alongside for dipping. Greek yogurt, a splash of olive oil, salt, pepper, a few cloves of smashed garlic, and a teaspoon (or two) of lemon juice. Yum!
chicken parmesan and asparagus
Homemade chicken parmesan is one of the coziest meals, without a doubt, and this one is loaded with mozzarella and our go-to jarred marinara sauce from Rao’s. It’s sublime! Pair your Parm with a veggie of your choosing; this particular evening we served it with asparagus. However, you could crank up the goodness by going a more traditional route and plating your chicken Parm with spaghetti. Either way - don’t forget the sauce! Rao’s Homemade marinara is scrumptious. I’m also a fan of the tomato basil variety.
Thai rice soup with pork-cilantro meatballs
How convenient was it that we happened to have all of the necessary ingredients to make this meal on an otherwise unassuming Wednesday night? I selected this recipe because it was cold out and a soup was calling my name. But this isn’t just some regular soup; this is actually congee. Have you heard of it?
This rice porridge is “Chinese comfort food,” and I can’t believe we waited so long to make it. It’s amazing! This specific version included the most-delicious pork meatballs, lots of fresh cilantro, scallions, and a hearty drizzle of sriracha. Spicy, savory, hearty, and heart-warming. Loved it.
Tagliatelle with kale, tomato, and sausage
When in a dinner dilemma, then it must be time for a sausage-kale-pasta, which solves all “what’s for dinner?” quandaries. I know we make this meal a lot, I’m fully aware, but it’s mostly due to the fact that it’s just that good. And simple! It’s a filling meal overflowing with flavor and great ingredients.
If you’re not in the mood for certain flavors, then swap them out! This dish would be just as excellent with a different leafy vegetable, another ground meat (or even sliced beef), or a different shape pasta (we always use Jovial Foods GF pasta). It’s a versatile dinner! The best part is the flavor that comes from cooking it all together.
30-minute spicy sesame noodles with ginger chicken
Looking for a superb noodle-based dinner? Here it is! This is a fantastic recipe from Half-Baked Harvest (as usual) and there are minimal changes necessary to make it gluten free. The garlic chili oil to drizzle over the top is amazing, but it is quite spicy - you’ve been warned! Don’t forget the garnish on this one; the fresh scallions and peanuts are the perfect crunch in every bite.
HOMEMADE broccoli, mushroom, and onion pizza
Meatless pizza: a delicious alternative when you forget the pepperoni! This veggie-based pie was refreshing and really good especially because it was made on a homemade gluten free crust. If you haven’t bought it yet, I cannot recommend No Gluten No Problem Pizza enough. It is chock-full of great pizza recipes; each one more drool-worthy than the last.
Yes, the gluten free dough requires a large number of ingredients, but don’t let that stop you! Once your pantry is equipped for these crusts, you won’t need to re-stock for a long time. Hopefully. ;)
basil pesto linguine with panko-crusted chicken
Two-thirds of this dinner were pre-made and I have no regrets about that. Rushing through Whole Foods I saw that Taste Republic’s gluten free linguine was on sale (hooray) and grabbed one pack (two would be perfect for a small group). Conveniently, the pre-made basil pesto was located in the same section so I got one of those as well. Grocery stores…they have it all.
To enhance our meal, and add protein, we paired our pesto pasta with my go-to Panko-crusted chicken (crispy and delicious). We added some fresh basil and tomatoes on top, and ta da! A very excellent dinner that required minimal effort, but loads of great flavor. The Taste Republic pasta is fresh and fabulous - have you had it yet?
tex-mex tacos with grain-free tortillas
Leading up to Thanksgiving I wanted our dinners to be as non-Thanksgiving as possible, which led us to Asian dishes, Italian plates, and these awesome Tex-Mex tacos. This is not a fancy dinner, but it is an incredibly excellent one. The tacos are filled with ground beef (seasoned with various spices, made slightly spicy) that was cooked with mushrooms and onions, then topped with cheese, raw red onion, shredded cilantro, and tomatoes. Couldn’t be simpler!
Make this meal even easier by serving your tacos on Siete Foods grain-free cassava flour tortillas. I love these because they’re the best size for tacos and get perfectly crisp (but still foldable) when cooked on a flat cast-iron pan for a few seconds. Don’t forget the wedge of lime!
turkey-stuffing meatballs with green beans and stuffing
Thanksgiving was anything but ordinary this year, but that did not stop us from having a delicious Thanksgiving meal. We skipped the traditional turkey and came up with a new option: turkey-stuffing meatballs. Yes, we combined ground turkey with homemade (gluten free) stuffing, then pan-fried them to be golden and glorious. OMG.
These Thanksgiving meatballs were incredible. And of course we served them alongside even more stuffing, homemade gravy, and string beans (for health). It wasn’t a stereotypical Thanksgiving dinner, but it sure did taste like one. I’m thankful for a lot this year, but I’m also very grateful for Seth who made my favorite Thanksgiving flavor dreams come true. :)
Tip: use Canyon Bakehouse Heritage Style Honey White Bread to make your gluten free stuffing. We let it get stale in a bowl on the counter for a couple days before making the stuffing.
italian chopped salad, side of baked chicken
Full disclosure: we did not make this salad. We did cook the pieces of chicken off to the side, but in no way did we make the salad. I’d call it “barely homemade.” On the Sunday night after Thanksgiving, which was also the night after we had fries for dinner, we decided it was time to add the greens back into our meals.
We had ordered this delicious Italian Chopped Salad for Saturday night, but skipped eating it since we were full of fries (it happens). So on Sunday night we ate this salad, but added baked chicken for more protein and threw in a box of spinach we hadn’t used for Thanksgiving. It turned out to be a really great, fairly light dinner for two and now I want to order this salad weekly in case this situation (inevitably) happens again. ;)
stir-fried pork with basil, onion, and peppers
To close out November we expanded on one of our favorite recipes from the cookbook Dinner by Melissa Clark. Pork lettuce wraps are amazing, and the recipe is great, but we did not have lettuce for wraps. I was also hungrier than just a meat-in-a-lettuce-cup type of way.
So instead of making that exact meal, Seth used the base ingredients from the recipe, added extra veggies, and turned it into a delicious stir-fry which we served over jasmine rice. Ta da! While we couldn’t make that specific dish that night, we did make something pretty darn similar, which was extremely satisfying and a really yummy way to finish the month. Another weeknight dinnertime win!
enjoy!
Mollie and Seth
@glutenfreemollied