Roasted Chicken and Vegetables

I knew that tonight's dinner had to include a lot of vegetables, and while strolling through the store with Dylan today, we found some boneless skinless chicken legs. This resulted in us coming up with the idea for roasted chicken, to which I decided why not just roast the veggies as well?

After rinsing and patting dry the chicken, I placed on a foil lined baking pan and sprinkled with smoked sea salt, black pepper, paprika and garlic powder.

For the vegetables, I chopped fennel, golden beets, leeks, purple and white potatoes, carrots and parsnips into bite sized chunks. I placed these into a large bowl and sprinkled with sea salt, black pepper and fresh thyme. I drizzled with a bit of olive oil and stirred until fully combined.  The vegetables were then poured out onto a large foil lined baking sheet.

I placed both the chicken and vegetables in the oven at 425 degrees, until beginning to brown and fully cooked through. I finished with a sprinkling of fresh fennel fronds.

I have to say that this was a definite fall meal. The chicken was really moist and flavorful and the vegetables all worked great together. There was a bit of sweetness from the beets and a bit of savory from the fresh thyme, very tasty.

I'm also looking forward to using the leftovers in my meal tomorrow!

Fig and Pear Sauce with Pistachio Gelato

I had adriatic figs in my bin and didn't know how to use them. After doing a bit of research online, I decided that I wanted to make a sauce with them, but I also wanted to use up some of the other fruit that I had. Since my pears were reaching that really ripe stage, these were the ones to use.

I chopped the figs and pears adding them to a sauce pan with 1/4 cup of blackberry merlot and a tablespoon of rose blossom honey.  This was brought to a simmer and allowed to cook until beginning to thicken.

To serve, I scooped some pistachio gelato (Ciao Bella brand) onto a plate and topped with a few spoonfuls of the sauce.

Despite the fact that I do not like the gritty texture of the figs, it didn't seem to bother me in this sauce at all. I thought that the flavor of the figs and pears along with the wine worked very well together. Using the sauce to top my all time favorite gelato, was also an excellent idea!

Easy Steak Fajitas!

I seemed to be acquiring quite a few green onions and wasn't entirely sure what to do with them all. Then the idea of fajita's came to mind!  Although I had no idea how exactly to make fajita's, I set off to make my own version, with a twist of course.

I added 3 minced cloves of garlic, 2 thinly sliced (lengthwise) green onions, thin strips of red gypsy pepper and chopped broccoli to a pan with a little toasted sesame oil and red pepper flakes.  Once the broccoli began to soften, I added the steak strips, thinly sliced (in this case, I just purchased the pre-packaged stir fry steak).  When the steak was mostly cooked through, I removed from the heat and allowed to sit for a minute while I warmed the flour tortillas.

We added a scoop of the mixture to the tortilla, topped with a spoonful of tomatillo salsa and dinner was done!  This was so fast, used minimal ingredients and was probably the healthiest thing that we've eaten all week long!!

Dylan loved it, eating 4 entire fajita's! (I was stuffed after just 2.) She would have eaten more too, but there wasn't any left, I should mentioned that this made a large pan full of food! 

Turns out, I do know how to make a tasty tortilla and I didn't even over cook the meat! =)

Friday Bin 10/21/11

So many delicious vegetables! I love it!!!

Gold Beets with Tops
Parsnips
Yukon Gold Potatoes
Leeks
Red Cabbage
Acorn Squash
Collard Greens
Broccoli
Fennel
Banana Sweet Peppers
Honey Crisp Apples
Local Bartlett Pears
Bananas

I am so happy to have fennel today! This is a vegetable that I never expected to enjoy so much. Mostly because of it's close resemblance to black licorice when in its raw state (yuck!), but when cooked, fennel takes on a delicious, creamy texture with a wonderfully mild flavor to it. The collard greens are also a great item in my bin, a nice change from all of the kale we've had lately.

Red cabbage is one of those items that I'm still not quite sure what to do with. As much as I love the flavor of it, I'd like to find a way to use it outside of it's raw form in a salad. I've been trying to stay away from salads lately, I find that when I start making them I can't seem to stop and fall into a sort of salad funk. So no salads, at least not as a main dish.

I think that with all of the remaining produce from last week, in addition to my new bin, I should be able to come up with some really great meals. I'm thinking that I will try to make extra of most dishes so that they can be frozen and eaten on those days when I am just not in the mood to cook, but want something that doesn't resemble the cardboard box it came in.

Sausage and Veggie Stew

The other day, I spent all night tossing and turning in bed thinking about this great stew recipe that I had come up with. I decided that slow cooking it would be the best way to make it and forced myself out of bed when the first alarm (at 6:30am) went off, just so that I could make it!

I layered chopped kale and chard into the cooker, then added quartered potatoes, sliced carrots, broccoli, sliced delicata squash, leeks, green onions, sliced bratwurst and fresh thyme.  I also added 2 cups of beef broth, 1 bottle of Pyramid Apricot Ale and 3 cups of water. Then I set the timer on low for 5 hours, covered and let it cook away.

When I walked into my house later that day, it smelled delicious! I could hardly wait to try it out (after adding salt and fresh ground pepper to taste), only to realize that in all of my excitement and grogginess from waking up way to early (for me anyways), I had forgotten to remove the rind from the squash. However, aside from the fact that I had to go through my bowl and remove all of the rind before I could eat it, my stew turned out pretty excellent!

This recipe also made so much that after Dylan and I both helped ourselves to a few bowls each, I still had enough left over to freeze for another time.




I think from now on I will stick to getting up at my regularly scheduled time and do my prep work at night so as to avoid any more ridiculous mishaps (at least those related to a lack of sleep anyways).

Friday Bin 10/14/11

Today's bin is full of beautiful fall produce!

Local Carrots with Tops
Local Green Onions
Leeks
Delicata Squash
Red Chard
Lacinato Kale
Broccoli
Mixed Potatoes
Gypsy Sweet Peppers
Flavor King & Queen Pluots
Honey Crisp Apples
Local Bartlett Pears
Adriatic Figs
Bananas
Tough as Nails Coffee Blend (Middle Fork Roasters)

I'm looking forward to cooking with the delicata squash, this is an item this week that I'm not all that familiar with so hopefully I won't mess it up!  Another item I am excited to have in my bin are leeks! I haven't had them for far too long, and they have such a wonderful flavor.

I added some coffee this week too. Middle Fork Roasters is a small local roaster that gets excellent reviews. I've been wanting to try their coffee for a while now and New Roots just started offering it on their site. I can hardly wait until tomorrow morning to have some!

Veggies and Toast

It's been quite a long week already, so when Dylan asked me "What are you making tonight mom?", I replied with my usual "I have no idea" response. Once again, I just took all the veggies that I have out of the fridge and threw them in a pan, thus creating veggies and toast.

I needed something that was easy and there isn't a whole lot easier than just chopping veggies and cooking them up. I was however motivated long enough to grill up some slices of Texas toast to serve alongside though.

The veggies tonight consisted of onion, red and green bell pepper, chard leaves and stems, cherry tomatoes, cauliflower and corn sauteed until just beginning to soften. I added about 1/2 cup of chicken broth and brought to a simmer just until the cauliflower was fully cooked and the chard leaves completely wilted.  To finish, I added my usual seasoning of salt, red pepper flakes and fresh ground pepper.

I will say, for being completely unmotivated to cook, this wasn't half bad.  Dylan thoroughly enjoyed it (eating two full plates).  The toast was also a great side for this, soaking up what little liquid there was, but not getting too soggy because the slices were so thick.

And the best part....it was ready in under 10 minutes!

Deviled Eggs with Beets

I came across a photo the other day of deviled eggs that were topped with beets and I thought well, if this tastes good it would make a great appetizer for dinner parties and get-togethers. With that in mind, I knew I had to try it out.

I made my version of deviled eggs by mixing the cooked egg yolks with horseradish dijon mayonnaise, finely chopped onion and diced pickles (in this case I used a brand called Wickles, they are an excellent spicy pickle, my favorite!!!).

I filled the cooked egg white halves with a spoonful of the yolk mixture and topped each deviled egg with diced cooked beets.

As weird as this dish sounds, it was pretty good. In fact, I do not like deviled eggs at all, however I could definitely see myself making these again for my next dinner gathering! (In fact, Dylan was lucky that I even shared any with her because I liked them so much!)

French Onion Soup

Earlier today I was flipping through a magazine and saw a recipe for french onion soup. I immediately realized that I have onions to use up and knew that this was what I was going to make for dinner tonight. I did not however have any brandy on hand to make the recipe in the magazine, so I decided to get a little creative and come up with my own version.

I thinly sliced two red onions and added to a large stock pot with a few tablespoons of butter. The onions were cooked over medium heat until caramelized, roughly 15 minutes for a deep golden color. I then added 2 1/2 cups of beef broth and 1 1/2 cups (or one bottle) of Pyramid red ale (Juggernaut), as well as a few sprigs of fresh thyme and a cheese rind (in this case I chose gouda because that's what was in my freezer).  When the soup began to boil, I lowered the heat to a medium low and simmered for about 45 minutes.

I added two large spoonfuls of soup into each of two bowls and topped with a few slices of french bread and shredded apple smoked gruyere cheese. The bowls were placed into a 425 degree oven for about 5 minutes, just until the cheese was melting and beginning to brown.

This soup turned out exactly like I was hoping it would...Delicious!!  Even Dylan enjoyed it. Not that I really had to worry too much that she wouldn't, but there were a few interesting flavors going on between the smoked gruyere and the red ale.

Braised Chicken with Port Fig Reduction

The inspiration for dinner last night was the beautiful, plump figs that I hadn't had a chance to use yet. I wanted to use them in a more creative way than just stuffing with goat cheese or topping a pizza, and decided on a sauce for chicken thighs.

I started by removing the skin from each thigh, rinsing and patting dry. The thighs were then dredged in flour and browned on each side in a mix of butter and olive oil over medium high heat.  I then lowered the heat to medium and added one half of a lemon, thinly sliced, quartered figs and thinly sliced red onion. Next I poured a mixture of dry white wine (3/4 cup), port wine (1/3 cup) and balsamic vinegar (1/4 cup) over the chicken, covered the pan and allowed to simmer for about 15 minutes, turning the chicken occasionally. Once the chicken was fully cooked, I removed the chicken from the pan and set aside. The heat was brought to medium high and the sauce boiled until thickened and slightly reduced. To finish, I added 1/2 cup of heavy cream and placed the chicken back into the pan, turning to coat in the sauce and removed from the heat.

To serve with the chicken, I made green beans (simply boiled until heated through and sprinkled with garlic seasoning) and herbed mashed potatoes.  I made the potatoes by adding cream cheese, heavy cream, finely chopped fresh parsley, fresh thyme, butter, salt and fresh ground black pepper to cooked, mashed potatoes.

I have to say, the entire meal took less than half an hour to make and if you like sweet dishes, then you would definitely enjoy this one. I myself am not a huge fan of the grittyness of the figs, but aside from that, I really liked it and thought the flavors went very well together. Dylan enjoyed it so much that she ate the remaining potatoes and helped herself to more chicken. She thought that the fig sauce was delicious and probably would have licked her plate and the pan clean if I would have let her!

Kiwiberry Shortcake

Personally, I don't think that there is anything better than having dessert for dinner, especially after a rather difficult day. So I decided to make good use of these gorgeous kiwiberries.

I started off by making the biscuits, just a simple mixture of Bisquick mix, sugar and milk. This was then kneaded, shaped and baked in a 450 degree oven for about 6 minutes.

I also made a quick raspberry sauce, by heating half a cup of frozen sweetened raspberries over medium low heat until all of the raspberries were heated and falling apart. The raspberries were poured into a fine mesh strainer and all of the juice was pressed into a bowl.

While the raspberries were cooking, I sliced the kiwiberries and thawed the Cool Whip.

To assemble, I placed a biscuit on each plate, topped with a spoonful of kiwiberry slices, a spoonful of Cool Whip and a light drizzle of raspberry sauce. I topped with another biscuit, a bit more Cool Whip and garnished the plate with more kiwiberry slices and raspberry sauce.

This was my favorite dinner ever! I might even go so far as to say my favorite dish ever! Super simple to make, the right combination of sweet and tart and the perfect end to a rough day.

Sausage, Spinach and Potatoes

I hade to make something for dinner tonight that would allow me to use up the rest of the delicious apple gouda sausage, so I grabbed a bunch of items out of my refrigerator. 

The result was the usual adding of onion and garlic with a little olive oil to a pan, this time I also added some chopped gypsy peppers, diced potato, salt and pepper. This was cooked until the potatoes were fully cooked through and beginning to brown. I then added the sausage (which had been removed from the casings and chopped into large chunks), spinach, tomatoes and black beans.  I continued to cook the mixture until everything was fully heated through and the spinach was wilted. This was served with a little sour cream.

This turned out pretty good, aside from the fact that half my potatoes were not fully cooked through like I thought! (Turns out, it actually cooks better if you dice the potato into uniform sized pieces...duh!)  Dylan however really seemed to enjoy it, in fact she not only finished my bowl but all the rest too! Atleast now I don't have to worry about how to heat up the leftovers tomorrow (still no microwave yet).

Friday Bin 9/30/2011

I am extremely excited about today's bin! It is absolutely full of amazing fruits and vegetables that I can't wait to get cooking with.

Local Beets with Tops
Local Cauliflower
Local Corn
Local Red Chard
Local Bibb Lettuce
Local Green Beans
Local Blue and White Potatoes
Local Green Bell Pepper
Local Red Bell Pepper
Mixed Summer Squash
Sungold Cherry Tomatoes
Flat Leaf Parsley
Local Kiwi Berries
Gala & Buckeye Apples
Local Bartlett Pears
Black Mission Figs

I have to admit, I've never even so much as heard of a kiwi berry but I can't wait to taste them! Kiwi's are one of my all time favorite fruits so I can imagine that I'm going to enjoy these too, I just have to figure out what to do with them first!  I also have another new item, blue potatoes, I've seen them, however I don't actually know what they taste like. Maybe they taste just like regular potatoes?  The mixed summer squash is also a very fun item, I just love the way they look and their flavor is really incredible. As for the parsley, I'm a huge fan of fresh herbs, so this will come in quite handy this week I'm sure. The black mission figs are a great treat too, I've never really been a fan of them but the more that I cook with them the more I really start to enjoy eating them.

Apple Gouda Sausage with Roasted Cauliflower and Sauteed Spinach and Onions

The inspiration for tonight's meal was the delicious apple gouda sausage that I found at Whole Foods Market. I am a firm believer that everything tastes better with gouda and these definitely don't disappoint!

To go along with the sausage, I served them on a bed of caramelized onions and sauteed spinach. I also made some roasted cauliflower by cutting into large chunks and coating in olive oil, applewood smoked salt (which is amazing, even my daughter couldn't stop talking about how great the flavor is) and fresh ground black pepper, placing in a 425 degree oven until fully cooked through and beginning to brown.

I also felt that this meal needed a little starch, so I diced up some red potatoes and pan fried them in a little olive oil and butter until crispy. I finished the potatoes with a light sprinkling of a mediterranean salt blend. (I know I use this salt blend a lot, but it really is the best way to add a bit of flavor to any dish, a mixture of lavender, lemon zest and salt. It is absolutely wonderful and I highly recommend picking some up if you can find it.)

Having a lack of multiple pans to cook with, I had to make dinner in stages so it ended up taking me quite some time to do, keeping things warm in the oven as I went along. However, everything was extremely simple and well worth the wait.

I've also managed to use up most of the vegetables from my bin this week, so I am really looking forward to receiving my new bin tomorrow!

Eggplant and Black Bean Nachos

The first thing I did after work today was go to Target to pick up a can opener and lucky I did! I found a $20 can opener that was on clearance for just $3! Talk about starting the night off right.  I also went to Safeway for a few of the remaining items on my list for dinner.

Since it's just me tonight, I wasn't really in the mood to make anything fancy and more into figuring out something quick and easy. So, I decided to take some of the leftover eggplant mixture (eggplant, yellow squash, gypsy peppers, onion, tomatoes and garlic) from last night and reheat in my large saute pan. To this I added some rinsed and drained spinach. Once the spinach began to wilt, I removed the mixture from the heat.

Time to assemble! I started off with a layer of white corn tortilla chips and sprinkled with a few spoonfuls of rinsed and drained black beans. Next, I added a layer of the eggplant spinach mixture, some chopped tomatoes and covered in shredded cheddar cheese.  This was baked in a 350 degree oven until the cheese was melted and the beans were heated all the way through.  I also served with a spoonful each of guacamole and sour cream.

Okay, so I get that I'm supposed to be eating healthier this week and nachos are not exactly healthy, but this was SO good! And, as far as nachos go, I'm calling this a healthy version because they definitely could have been worse. Besides, I'm sure I will find a way to make up for it tomorrow.

Eggplant Taco's

When I set out to make dinner tonight, I had a plan. I still wasn't quite sure what it was that I was going to make, but still, I had a plan. Since I currently only have a 12" saute pan, the plan was pretty necessary because I have to do everything in stages, however because of one tiny little kitchen tool that I managed to overlook, my entire plan was changed. As it turns out, I don't have a can opener. Why is it that somehow the can opener is always the one thing that you end up not being able to find after a move? (Well, this is usually the case for me anyways, I can't even begin to tell you how many of them I've purchased over the years.)

Anyways, after having to completely change my original idea for dinner, things started to fall into place.  I chopped red onions and gypsy peppers, which were then added to the pan with some olive oil and minced garlic. This was heated over medium until the onion was beginning to brown. Next I added chopped tomatoes, yellow squash and eggplant to the pan, continued to cook until the eggplant was fully heated through and finished with red pepper flakes and a Mediterranean salt blend to taste.

To assemble the taco's, I placed a tortilla on each plate and placed a few rinsed and drained spinach leaves on top. Then I added a large spoonful of the eggplant mixture, a small amount of sour cream (I use Daisy brand because I think that it tastes the best, yum!), and sprinkled some cheese on top (I used gouda parrana, because I didn't have anything else).

I am actually pretty impressed with how this turned out. I personally have never heard of eggplant in a taco, but I guess there's a first for everything. My dishes seem to be getting a bit more creative the longer I have to go without an actual set of pans to cook with, this could be both a good and a bad thing (especially for Dylan).

Friday Bin 9/23/11

Yesterday Dylan and I decided that starting Monday we would start eating healthy again. Since the move, we've been living off of frozen pizza, Eggo waffles, croissants and oatmeal, but now that we are settled in I think it's time.  This week's bin is actually pretty perfect for starting to get back on track too, full of basic produce items that will incorporate well with what we already have.

Cauliflower
Local Celery
Local Red Onions
Crookneck Squash
Local Eggplant
Local Spinach
Gypsy Sweet Peppers
Slicer Tomatoes
Sugar Baby Watermelon
Northwest Gala Apples
Local Bartlett Pears
Local Nectarines
Northwest Dandy Dapple Pluots
Bananas

I look forward to cooking with Dylan next week. Now that my work schedule is getting straightened out and Dylan back in school, we should have more time for creating some healthy meals in the weeks to come.

Beets with Beet Greens

The other night, after Dylan and I had spent all afternoon munching away on various items found in the cupboards, I decided that I should probably make something somewhat healthy to eat. Neither of us was very hungry, but we'd been eating chips and Eggo waffles for 2 days, so I decided that it was necessary.

I wanted to try and find a way to use my beets and their leafy green tops, especially since I've never cooked with beet greens before. I was able to find a simple recipe in a recent food magazine which I altered a bit and I was quite happy with the end result.

For this dish, I started off by adding chopped red onion to a large pan and cooking in a little olive oil until tender and beginning to brown. I then added some thinly sliced garlic and continued to cook until the onions were a deep brown color. Next I added the beets, which I had cut into bite sized chunks along with about a half a cup of water. This was allowed to simmer, covered, for about 5 minutes, until the beets started to become tender. At this point the chopped beet greens were added to the pan and the dish continued to simmer, covered, for another 5 minutes.  The pan was removed from the heat and I added a little red wine vinegar, a drizzle of olive oil, ground red pepper and a bit of salt (I used a mediterranean salt blend, which worked very well).

This dish was very light and flavorful, perfect after the unhealthy eating routine that we had fallen into. Dylan especially enjoyed it, although she happens to be pretty partial to beets

Bread, Eggs and Veggies

My dinner last night started off with bread from the store which the cashier gave to me for free. Apparently there is a new policy at Safeway that they can't charge customers for bread that isn't warm. I'm not complaining, fresh baked bread for free? Sign me up!

However, when I got home and jammed the sharp end of a garlic clove (unpeeled) under my fingernail, I should have known I was about to screw something up.

I sliced and buttered a few slices of the fresh bread, placed on a baking sheet and baked in the oven on 425 just until the butter was melted and the edges began to brown. For the veggies, I added diced onion, sweet peppers and minced garlic to a saute pan with a bit of oil and allowed this to cook until the onion became translucent. I then added halved cherry tomatoes and diced striped zucchini (unpeeled for color) to the onions. I continued to cook the vegetable mixture just until tender and set aside. 

All was going quite well until I got the bright idea to top the vegetables with a light sprinkling of flaked sea salt.  Turns out, you have to be smarter than the container it's in to open it.  Finally I managed to get the lid off and sea salt went flying everywhere throughout my kitchen (and pan).  Needless to say, my dish got some salt and I will probably be finding salt in various hiding spots for the next few days.

I decided to add eggs to my dish as well, mostly because I didn't have anything else and felt we needed something besides bread and a few veggies for dinner. So I simply cracked two eggs into the pan and fried in a little butter until cooked through.

To assemble the dish, I placed a slice of bread onto a plate, topped with a fried egg and a spoonful of the vegetables. I also sprinkled a little cheese on top.

Despite the overly salty taste, this turned out pretty good. My daughter also seemed to like it.  Next time though, I will make sure to open the salt over top of the sink (just to be safe). I think that I would also finish it off with some fresh chopped basil and maybe add some ham or bacon or even use shredded chicken in place of the egg to make it a heartier meal.

Prosciutto Wrapped Figs Stuffed with Goat Cheese

I was really looking forward to making this dish last night, so I set off to Whole Foods to get some of the specialty ingredients for it and found the most delicious Prosciutto Coppa at the deli counter!  I would have been perfectly happy just eating this for dinner but, being the first dish that I was making at my new place, I held out.

I started off by adding some balsamic vinegar to a small sauce pan and simmering over medium low heat until it was reduced by half.  Then I sliced the Black Mission figs in half lengthwise, added a slice of goat cheese on top of each half and wrapped each in a slice of prosciutto.  The wrapped figs were then placed onto a foil lined baking sheet which I had sprayed with cooking spray.  I baked these in a 425 degree oven for about 10 minutes.

To serve, I placed the figs on a platter and drizzled with the reduced balsamic vinegar.

Although, I don't think that I'm as crazy about figs as some people are, this turned out pretty good. I also love that it was so easy to make. I think that the next time I'm making dinner and trying to impress someone this will definitely be making it to the menu!