what to do with Brussels sprouts | fall cooking

Hey! Happy Monday! Sorry, but that seems to be the way I always start my posts at the beginning of the week. I don't use the computer a lot of the weekends, if at all, so I feel like I'm reentering the world of the internet and a cheery greeting seems necessary. Please forgive me if I repeat myself!

Anyway, this post is reminiscent of my past menu of the week posts which almost always went live on Mondays. With fall upon us there are tons of new recipes to try - everything hearty and cozy and always delicious. Brussels sprouts are not a vegetable I would usually eat, but they're in season so when my mom gave me two pounds from the garden I decided to experiment. Here are three stellar sprout recipes you should have in your repetoire... 

whole grain spaghetti with Brussels sprouts and mushrooms - Giada never lets me down, and this recipe is no exception. How can you go wrong with crème fraîche? However, I highly recommend skipping the salt and pepper at the end of the recipe and seasoning to taste instead, or else you run the risk of your dinner being severely oversalted. (I originally found the recipe in Weeknights with Giada which had lots of other yummy recipes... definitely worth checking out!)

Brussels sprout lemon pizza - We love pizza around here, but we tend to stick to the same old toppings - usually pineapple or peppers and onions - so when I saw this recipe in Whole Living a few months back I dogeared the page for future use. I couldn't believe how amazing the lemon slices were, so don't skip them!

salmon and Brussels sprouts with ginger scallion sauce - I tried this recipe from Dinner A Love Story a while back and wanted to bring it back into the rotation. We have salmon a lot but I never do much with it, so this is an easy way to spice things up.

Do you have any fall recipes that I should try?

image via Martha Stewart

croissants and baguettes | where to eat in Paris

Tell people you went to Paris and the first thing they ask you about it the food. We didn't do too much fine dining, but we enjoyed plenty of bakery type meals. Give me a chocolate croissant for breakfast and a sliced baguette with brie and veggies for lunch and I'm a happy girl.

Here are some of our favorite bakeries...
Paul, 77 rue de Seine - expect a line out the door, but for good reason. Delicious brioche sucre, croissants, palmiers, and macarons.
bread & roses, 7 rue Fleurus - organic breads made with whole grains, nuts, and seeds
Banette, 2 rue de ces Commines - a chain, but I had the most perfect little chocolate and raspberry tart here
Arnaud Delmontel, 39 rue des Martyrs - beautiful styling, and our breakfast treats were still warm!
Le Grenier de Félix, 64 avenue Félix Faure - our neighborhood bakery, perfect for a quick snack any time of day

For lunch or a light dinner...
Pink Flamingo, 105 rue du Vieille du Temple -  a funky pizza parlor serving up unique topping combinations like fresh fig, honey, and goat cheese called the Brangelina (and it was fantastic!)
Le Pain Quotidien, 2 rue des Petits Carreaux - I had such a delicious artichoke heart and white bean salad here
L'Ebouillanté, 6 rue de Barres - cute patio seating outside an old church on a cobblestone path; we had crêpes, quiche, and fresh juice.
La Ferme, 55-57 rue Saint Roch - order your meal at the counter, choose a drink from the cooler, and sit where you like. We liked the laid back atmosphere, and everything is made in house!

For sweets...
Ladurée, 75 avenue des Champs Elysées - macarons, of course. 
La Maison du Chocolat, 8 boulevard de la Madeleine - we bought a teeny box of chocolates, but they'll offer you a sample! Seriously, it's worth checking out for the sample alone.
And get a palmier at every boulangerie you walk by. I did.

hello weekend | a few links + the weekly menu

It's been a hot one so I haven't been blogging much... not sure exactly how those two things correlate, but I think that's the reason things have been slow over here. I hope to get back in the swing of things soon. A few things are going to change around here though - I hope to have a slight redesign completed in the near future and I'm going to devise some sort of summer schedule that I can stick to. Also, the menu of the week posts shall be no more... I'm still going to write about food from time to time and may even do a menu post once in a while, but I've found that writing about what we eat each week for five or so months in a row gets a bit boring. I know it's not Monday, but here's the last one for a while - 

black bean and butternut squash burritos - We love any combination of black beans and orange veggies. 

spaghetti with braised kale - Simple, and the kale brings up the health factor since you're eating plain pasta.

crepes with goat cheese, wilted spinach, and toasted pine nuts - I declare my first time making crepes a smashing success. Just be careful of keeping the heat too high... I had to turn the burner down a bit to get good results.

falafel pita pockets - Another first for me, and they came out great, too! The falafel mixture was easy to prepare and they cooked quickly. Definitely serve with yogurt - so refreshing! Along with all the fresh veggies, of course (we had sliced yellow peppers, shredded carrots, green lettuce, and cucumber rounds).

shrimp scampi over couscous - A nice twist on a classic. My recommendation: use fresh shrimp, not frozen... the flavor is so much better!

And the link list to get you through the weekend, whether it's a heat wave or thunderstorms. I'm hoping for some of each. Okay, well maybe not a heat wave, but warm weather with some scattered showers would be nice... 

- how to host a tea party
- a popsicle party is in the works!
- super cute birth announcement
- such a cool mood board... love that Orla Kiely print
- making playdough will be a fun project when Ezra is a little older
- loving this round up of neon accessories
- have you ever made root beer? (I have!)
- I wish we had something like this around here!
- happy thoughts on getting dressed
- lovers of fabric, take note - inspiration from Denyse Schmidt
- just put visiting a peony farm on my life's to do list
-  a picnic on the first day of summer is a tradition I can get on board with

image via Seven Eleven Studios

menu of the week + a secret recipe!

Hello and how are you on this bright and sunny day? At least it's bright and sunny where I am... and I'm paying for it. Serious allergies over here. I guess the rain last week wasn't so bad after all. I made a smoothie this morning to make me feel better (peach raspberry!) and made the leftovers into popsicles. So looking forward to having one later. And then of course there will be dinner at some point. Here's what we had last week - 

beef stew - Um, no recipe here - sorry, folks! My friend Karissa emailed me a recipe from a friend of hers. Basically it said to put stew beef and lots of vegetables in the crock pot with some canned tomatoes and vegetable broth. Perfect dinner for the rainy week we were having. 

eggs over polenta with gravy - I love me some polenta and I'll eat it for any meal as evidenced here. The polenta is from Gwyneth Paltrow's cookbook. I made a couple fried eggs and served it all with some homemade gravy - see the secret recipe below! Delicious. Also makes great leftovers for breakfast the following day. Just make another egg!

steak sandwiches - Easily the best steak sandwich I've ever had. The combination of carmelized onions and gruyere on top of the grilled steak and toasty baguette was a revelation.

three cheese calzones - Disastrous. Probably won't be for you though. Just don't accidentally buy bread dough instead of pizza dough. Actually dinner was salvaged - we ate mini pizzas instead of calzones and the dough was just slightly different than usual.

sweet potato quinoa salad - Perfect melding of flavors - goat cheese, toasted almonds, dried cranberries, and scallions. I like the to use tricolor quinoa because it's prettier.

Okay, so this recipe isn't really a secret but don't Italian grandmothers always have secret recipes that everyone wants? Since this is my recipe and I'm neither Italian nor a grandmother I've given myself permission to share it.

gravy (also known as spaghetti sauce)
makes enough for one pound of pasta with a little extra for serving on the side
ingredients
2 T olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, chopped
2 cans Pastene kitchen ready tomatoes (get the ones with no salt added)
2 T parsley
2 T basil
2 T oregano
freshly ground pepper
salt
directions
Heat the olive oil in a heavy sauce pan over medium heat. Add the garlic and onion and stir; cook for about five to seven minutes, until the onion is translucent. Add the tomatoes and stir, making sure the onions are incorporated throughout. Add the herbs and (wait for it...) stir. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to medium low and simmer for thirty minutes, stirring occasionally. Add about 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper, but taste it to make sure it's seasoned to your liking.

Note: I triple this recipe to put some away to freeze for those days when dinner needs to be quick and I'm unprepared.

image by Jeannette Ordas for Poppytalk

menu of the week

Clearly I'm not on the ball this week. No post Monday or Tuesday and I'm only now writing up the menu of the week. Now that I look at it I notice that we had pasta four out of five days... yikes! Not exactly a balanced diet. So much for meal planning. Lots of last minute things happened last week and my dinner plans were often changed. I vow to do better this week. So far - beef stew and eggs over polenta with gravy. Any suggestions for me? I'm kind of in a dinner slump.

rigatoni with gravy - Defrost previously made gravy. Boil water. It's as simple as that. I'll share my gravy recipe soon.

somen noodle stir fry - Asian cooking is not my thing. After trying countless times to make various versions of pad Thai and stir fries I'm only now coming to the realization that it might be time to hang up my hat. Try this recipe if you like, but mine ended up bland and all the vegetables were overcooked. I tend to have that problem with stir fries. I think I'm afraid of the high heat.

lemony cod en papillotte - I based this dinner off of instructions from my friend Kayla - I tore off a section of parchment (large enough to create an envelope of sorts for the cod), layered sliced lemons on the parchment, and placed the cod on top. I dotted the fish with butter and sprinkled it liberally with fresh parsley, salt, and pepper. Folded and crimp the edges of the parchment and bake in a 450 degree oven for about 10 minutes. Serve alongside roasted teeny tiny potatoes (find them at Trader Joe's).

spinach shells - A favorite in our house. This specific dish was frozen from a few weeks back when I doubled the recipe.

cheese tortellini in light broth - Such an easy dinner with lots of flavor for minimal hassle. Boil veggie broth, add cheese tortellini and freshly ground pepper. Serve topped with fresh parsley and lots of grated Pecorino.

One bright spot in this week of carbohydrates was the many salad we ate - lots of spring greens, spinach, and some green leaf lettuce. I mixed it up each day... some of the combinations to go along with the greens were cheddar, apples, and pecans; pears and goat cheese; and peppers, cucumbers, and sunflower seeds. Did I punctuate that right? I don't feel like looking it up and I don't think I care.

illustration by Lisa Orgler

menu of the week

Hello friends! I have to say, our weekend was pretty awesome over here- dinner at the Rue (more on that tomorrow), hours of yard work, an eggplant parmesan sandwich, a carnival, bubble lawn mowing, more yard work, and homemade chocolate peanut butter ice cream. A great balance of work and play with ice cream to end it all. How did your weekend go? I desperately need to go grocery shopping, so while I plan and shop for our meals this week, you can check out what we ate last week...

baked pastina casserole - A favorite Giada recipe that combines pasta, chicken, cheese, and gravy - that's pasta sauce for those of you who aren't Rhode Island Italians (or married to one!) - hearty and filling, this meal comes together quickly if you have cooked chicken on hand. This time I used some that was left over from another meal. Also, I never use pastina because I don't like straining those tiny little pasta shapes. Instead I use elbows or something else on the small side.

salmon burgers with yogurt-tartar sauce - This was my first time making salmon burgers and I had high hopes for them to turn out well. Unfortunately, dinner was a comedy of errors that began with me attempting to skin the salmon myself (I was only partially successful) and culminated in the propane tank running out so I had to finish the burgers on the stove. Thus, the salmon was overcooked and a bit on the dry side. Luckily we had the yummy yogurt tartar sauce to fix them up.

white cheddar corn chowder - Summer time calls for chowder, so I made this vegetarian version that we love mostly because of the cheddar cheesy goodness. Too bad I forgot to put the cheddar cheese in. Oops. We added it at the table instead.

pasta with black pepper and parmesan - I think I've written about this dish before, but if I have it's worth repeating - this is a great meal for those nights when you didn't defrost anything and don't have anything in the fridge. You basically boil pasta in chicken broth, reserve some of the broth, and add it back to the pan with the pasta, lots of black pepper, and parmesan. Man, is it peppery! But sooo good.

beans and rice - I've made this before but accidentally used cranberry bean instead of anasazi. No worries, folks, things turned out just fine. Wow, it looks as though I made a lot of mistakes this week! Good thing Matt's not too picky anymore.

image via Whole Living

menu of the week + a recipe

(image via Sarah Waldman)

This past weekend was pretty much perfect. I don't think I mentioned that we were supposed to be in Newport with my family (my parents have a timeshare there) but things got goofed up so no one ended up going - hence, the change of plans. Our weekend at home was just what we needed to recharge. Here's what we ate last week -

veggie enchiladas - After Mother's Day I had an entire pan left so these made another appearance. A little bit labor intensive (so much chopping!) but very good, especially when served with sour cream. Yum.

lemon chicken tagine - We hadn't had chicken in a while so we headed to Baffoni's in Johnston and picked up eight chicken breasts. Matt thought they tasted game-y but they seemed normal to me. Regardless of the chickens themselves, I thought this recipe left a little to be desired. The lemon flavor was bright and dominant, which I liked, but the chicken turned out a bit dry. I served it with toasted almond whole wheat cous cous.

broccoli cheddar frittata with potatoes - Since we started eating less meat last summer I've had to become more creative with meal planning and I've found that eggs are very versatile, filling, and forgiving. Even if my cupboard is bare, if I have a half dozen eggs and my cast iron pan I'm pretty much all set. While I love to cook and bake and have been doing so on a regular basis for just about four years, I'm just beginning to feel comfortable cooking without a recipe in hand. I'm embarrassed to admit that, but I'm feeling brave so let's get things out in the open. With that said, here's my frittata recipe -

ingredients
2 cups chopped broccoli
4 tablespoons olive oil
2 potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 large eggs
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup grated cheddar cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
directions
Steam the broccoli either on the stove top or in the microwave until tender. Set aside. Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat (I used my 9 inch cast iron pan). Add the potato, onion, and garlic. Season the potato mixture with salt and pepper to taste. Saute over medium-low heat until the potato is golden, about 7 to 10 minutes. Add the broccoli and stir to evenly distribute. Preheat the broiler. Whisk the eggs, cream, Parmesan, an cheddar in a medium bowl to blend. Stir the egg mixture into the potato mixture in the skillet. Cover (I don't have a lid so I just use a piece of foil) and cook over medium heat until the egg mixture is almost set but the top is still loose, about 6 minutes. Take the foil off and place the skillet under the broiler. Broil until the top is set and golden brown, about 4 minutes. Use a butter knife to cut the frittata into eight wedges and serve with a small spatula.

baked barley risotto with butternut squash - anything with butternut squash is delicious in my opinion. It really tastes good no matter what you do to it. This recipe is nice because once you get it going you can just leave it on the stove and wait for it to finish. Use that time to prepare a salad or play with your toddler before dinner.

quinoa black bean burgers - I'm so glad I discovered Sarah's blog because I've gotten so many healthy, tasty recipes from her. Now this black bean burger recipe is one of my favorite things ever. Like I mentioned last time we had them, I didn't care for the large pieces of raw onion so this time I made sure to chop them extra fine. I served them on Barwosky's organic hamburger buns.

Tonight I'm making salmon burgers for the first time. I was excited to use the grill but now it's drizzling. Bummer. Here's hoping that the sun comes out again!

menu of the week

(image via serious eats)

Hello and happy Monday to you! A lot of my plans for the weekend fell through (massage, brunch, visit to Foxtrot Press) but things have been rescheduled and it actually made for a very nice weekend. I finished a quilt I was working on, planned my menu for Mother's Day, and went grocery shopping, a chore I usually save for Monday morning so now I'm free to do whatever I want. We might go to the Providence Children's Museum so Ezra can do some toddler art projects, or I'll start baking my brother's birthday dessert for our celebration tonight. I mentioned last week that we ended up going out to eat more than usual so I didn't cook much, but here's what we had on the menu...

shrimp pad thai - This recipe is from What to Cook & How to Cook It (I couldn't find it online anywhere... borrow the book from your local library!) and was much easier than other pad thai recipes I've tried in the past. The flavors melded really well and, as recommended, we went crazy with the lime juice. Warning: don't double the recipe if you don't have a big enough pan! I learned this the hard way.

brie and apple French toast panini - Seriously one of my favorite things to make and eat. Brie, apples, and brioche. You can't go wrong. Also, this is a quick dinner if you have plans during the day and don't have time for a lot of prep. Clean up is a cinch, too!

farfalle with broccoli pesto - We love pesto so I thought experimenting with adding broccoli would be a nice way to eat our veggies. For a simple dinner it was very good and I would make it again. Just make sure you use good quality extra virgin olive oil since the flavor will come through in the pesto!

baked haddock with baked potatoes and steamed haricots verts - When I only have thirty minutes to get dinner on the table fish is a quick fix. I brush the filet with olive oil, sprinkle it liberally with salt and pepper, and pop it in a hot oven for under ten minutes. Microwave a couple potatoes and then throw them in the oven, too. Lastly, I "steamed" the frozen green beans in the microwave. Put butter and salt on everything and it's bound to taste good.

This week I have plans to make bolognese sauce for the first time. Any tips?

menu of the week

(image via Kim Deslandes)

So it's 9:45 and I'm only now getting around to writing my weekly menu post. I've been putting it off since last week was a total bust in terms of cooking. Chief among my problems was that I only made three meals and I didn't like two out of the three. Sigh. This week isn't going to afford me much opportunity to redeem myself either, as we went out for pizza tonight and are probably going out for my brother's birthday in a few days. Any suggestions for getting out of this rut?

omelet with asparagus, greens, and pecorino - Yummy and perfect for spring, this omelet was light and fresh tasting. Just make sure you wash your arugula thoroughly because although I spun mine in the salad spinner it was still a bit gritty.

tortellini and cannellini bean soup - This soup had potential but the dried herbs kind of ruined it for me. Use fresh if you try it and I'm sure it will turn out fine. I felt like I was eating lawn clippings with each bite because the dried herbs were too prevalent. Also, don't burn the first batch of beans or else your house will probably still smell like smoke four days later. Not that I know anything about that...

black rice stir fry - I turned this into a soggy mess and still don't know where I went wrong. The rice was cooked but it was swimming in water and still seemed like a mess even after I drained it. Chopped peanuts improved the dish greatly as they added a much needed crunch.

One night I just defrosted a batch of ginger and lentil soup which was leftover from the last time I made it and another night we went to Stan and Karissa's for dinner. She made the most delicious fries and Stan made hamburgers covered in stinky blue cheese, also known as heaven on a bun. We brought a simple salad and homemade strawberry ice cream. Mmm, mmm good.

menu of the week

(illustration by Lucile's Kitchen)

It's 9:30 at night and I'm only now getting this post up so please forgive me. My computer was malfunctioning on and off throughout the day but Matt has it temporarily fixed for now. We'll see how long it lasts, so if I disappear this week blame Dell. Here's what we ate last week:


broiled salmon with Israeli cous cous and haricots verts - This meal was thrown together last minute because I had planned on making a new dish with haddock but when dinner time rolled around I realized I took the wrong package out of the freezer to defrost. Salmon it was. I sprinkled the filet with sea salt and ground pepper and then started boiling water to make cous cous. Next I tossed green beans with olive oil, sea salt, and ground pepper and steamed then in a pan on the stove. Once the sides were going I stuck the salmon under the broiler for about seven minutes. Not bad for a last minute dinner if I may say so.

pizza with homemade crust - Obviously we don't get bored with pizza (we had it last week, too) and we even used the same old toppings. What can I say... we love ourselves some pineapple pizza.

cannellini bean soup - Surprisingly simple and tasty, this light soup was quick (if you don't count cooking the beans before hand, that is) and delicious with crusty bread. Fresh rosemary and thyme brightened the flavor and whole beans lent an interesting texture. Ezra had seconds.

baked macaroni and cheese - A classic recipe from The Joy of Cooking that I make over and over again, this mac & cheese was actually the first dinner I ever made when we returned home from our honeymoon. Mild cheddar, mozzarella, and some Parmigiano is my favorite combination of cheeses. Sometimes I add roasted broccoli to the mix.

pot roast with porcini mushrooms over egg noodles - Giada has never let me down so I was confident that this recipe would turn out well although I'd never made it before. The sauce was smooth and perfect for coating the egg noodles. Plus, we had leftovers for two days.

We also ate our way through three heads of lettuce, four peppers, one European cucumber, and about half a can of black olives in salads throughout the week. Olives on fingertips were an almost endless source of entertainment for Ezra one afternoon. A little playing at the table is allowable, right? ;)

menu of the week

We're back from our lazy weekend, and while it was nice to eat out for a few meals I'm looking forward to cooking up a storm this week. Here's the menu of the week:

one pot kale and quinoa pilaf - This one is a favorite of ours and while it's simple to prepare it packs a lot of flavor. If you want to save time, buy a package of kale that's already chopped (Trader Joe's usually has them). And don't skimp on the pine nuts. Oh, and we use goat cheese instead of feta.

pizza with homemade crust - Pizza never fails to please me. We topped one with chopped pineapple (my fave) and one with peppers and onions (Matt's fave). And there was the requisite garden salad to go along with our slices.

chicken pot pie with cream cheese and chive biscuits - I made this for friends who just had a new baby using a rotisserie chicken from Whole Foods. I made the biscuits first, and after stirring together the sauce and precooking the veggies a bit, it was really just a matter of assembling. Ezra snacked on an extra biscuit (I think I made them thinner than Joy suggests) while I cleaned up.

sweet and spicy shrimp fajitas with Caribbean slaw - The bright flavors of the cilantro and pineapple contrasted nicely with the salty shrimp, but one downfall of our fajitas was an unbalanced ratio of slaw to shrimp. Next time I would add four or five shrimp to each fajita instead of just two.

roasted kale with carmelized shallots, beans, and eggs - How can you go wrong with roasted kale? Some people are shaking their heads right now, but if you haven't tried roasted kale you must. Topping those crispy green leaves with white beans and fried eggs put this over the top.

Do yourself a favor and try at least one of the kale dishes listed above. I wish we had some leftovers of the pilaf because I could really go for some right about now.

menu of the week

It's sad to say, but I'm pretty unenthused about last week's menu on the whole. Some nights I didn't like dinner and on the other nights Matt wasn't pleased, with the exception of pasta night. I guess it was just one of those weeks, but you just can't beat homemade spaghetti...

warm barley salad - This recipe is from the Whole Foods 'Meals for 4 under $15' flyer for Spring 2012, so if you're interested go pick one up at your local store. It's basically barley, some raw veggies, chickpeas, fresh herbs, and a lemon tahini yogurt dressing. Very refreshing, but Matt thought the dressing was overpowering. You might want to add the dressing to taste for each portion.

fresh pasta with pesto - Hillary and I made spaghetti last weekend and I paired mine with pesto made with basil from Matt's "office crops." (He grows herbs in his office which has a giant window overlooking the Newport bridge.) My favorite pesto recipe - combine 1 cup fresh basil (packed), 2 tablespoons pine nuts (use almonds if you think pine nuts are too pricey), 1/2 cup grated Pecorino Romano (I like it better than Parmigiano), 2 cloves of minced garlic, and 1/4 teaspoon salt in a food processor. Pulse until the ingredients are finely chopped. Drizzle in about 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil and pulse again. You pretty much can't go wrong. 

sweet potato and quinoa salad - A big hit with all of us, this warm salad is definitely something I'll make again. I used a tri-color quinoa from Trader Joe's.

cheesy polenta and roasted vegetable pie - I cut this recipe out of the Providence Journal and unfortunately it wasn't my favorite. I have such high standards when it comes polenta and this version made with water just didn't cut it. I prefer a richer polenta made with cream or at least whole milk. Also, this recipes calls for the vegetables and polenta to be combined in a baking dish and then baked. I think it would be much more simple to just add the roasted vegetables to the hot polenta on a plate and skip the baking. However, the crispy mozzarella could only be achieved by baking, so I guess this dish has at least one redeeming quality. 

porterhouse steak with garlic chips, smashed potatoes, and edamame - Simple steaks, boiled potatoes that are literally smashed with the handle of a knife and then fried in butter, and boiled edamame. And for once I timed everything right so we didn't end up eating an accidental three course meal.

Here's hoping this week is more of a culinary success.   

P.S. More pasta photos...

menu of the week

(image by David Loftus for Jamie Oliver)

Our weekend was much cooler than last week which was kind of a disappointment. I'm sitting huddled under a blanket right now, and hoping the sun comes out this afternoon. As for our dinners last week, I think they were all pretty good. Especially the salmon. Check that one out for sure.

roasted butternut squash quesadillas - Very similar to the sweet potato tacos I made back in January and equally delicious. In fact, Matt didn't even know they were squash, but he tends to get sweet potatoes and squash mixed up often. We used corn tortillas from Trader Joe's and piled on the toppings. Ezra devoured lots of black beans and pepper jack cheese. He was signing 'more' before he had even finished.

17 bean and barley soup - I bought a package of mixed beans, lentils, and other miscellaneous small edible type things (like split peas, chickpeas, and lima beans... the list goes on) at Trader Joe's a while back and decided it was finally time to do something with them. I just made the recipe on the back of the bag, but I added some mezze rigatoni. Note: the recipe I linked to is similar to the one on the bag, but the blog author made some changes.

baked wild salmon with almond lime sauce, basmati rice, and steamed broccoli - This recipe is from the April issue of Whole Living magazine and I bookmarked it immediately because we love salmon around here. As I've said before, I usually prepare it with barbecue sauce and I made it once with an Asian flair, but this version with the almond lime sauce was incredible. Matt and I were both licking our plates. Definitely making this again, and soon!

asparagus and ricotta pizzas - Pizza is always a good thing if you ask me, and spring veggie toppings made  our dinner on Thursday feel quite season appropriate. I added some sliced shallots leftover from the previous night's dinner and grated more than half a cup of Parmigianno over the top of the pizza because I felt like it needed a little more saltiness. They turned out really well, not quite crisp in the center so they slices were a little floppy but still really tasty. Ezra enjoyed the dollops of ricotta best of all. Oh, and like last time we had pizza on the menu, Matt made the dough but he used bread flour instead of all purpose. The flavor was so much better! I couldn't stop exclaiming over the taste. Tonight's dinner wins the award for most improved.

cheeseburgers with oven fries - I had borrowed Jamie's Food Revolution from the library and this was one of the recipes I was dying to try. I had never made my own hamburger patties before and this recipe seemed like a simple classic. Matt and I loved them, especially topped with a heap of monterey jack. Next time I would try to make them a little flatter because they puffed up a bit once they were cooked. As for the oven fries, I just cut a bunch of potatoes into wedges, spread them onto a baking sheet, drizzled them with olive oil, sprinkled them with salt, and baked them in a 450° oven for about 40 minutes. Toss them and turn the pan about half way through. We also had the leftover arugula from the night before as a salad, dressed with a simple lemon and olive oil dressing. 


P.S. This is only semi related to food, but remember last week when I cleaned my cast iron pan? Well, after I cooked in it and washed it some of the rust came back! I'm going to try the same method but this time with more elbow grease and hopefully it will be gone for good. Anyone else try it? Did it happen to you?

menu of the week

Winner, winner, chicken dinner. Okay, there's no chicken on the menu this week, I just felt like saying that. The lovely spring weather we were having last week doesn't seem like it wants to stay, so I was glad to make a few of these cozy meals on the cooler days. 

hearty greens soup - I snipped this recipe from a Whole Foods flyer about Parmigiano and I have to say I'm glad I did. Some things I did differently - used a can of kitchen ready tomatoes because I forgot to buy actual tomatoes, used only kale since I had an abundance of it, and used a whole pound of pasta. I have an unreasonable aversion to using anything other than a pound (or more) of pasta in any recipe and even though I told myself I was going to follow the instructions this time my arm just wouldn't stop pouring those bow ties into the pot. Oops. The soup was delicious anyway, if a little dry. I added some water when I reheated it the next day for lunch and everything was just fine. Oh, and I left the cheese rind in because it's too good to take out and discard. I totally ate it.

mushroom and gruyere tarts - I think we all know how much I love mushrooms by now and Matt is starting to come around. I mean, he has to when I make things like mushroom tarts or else he'll be eating toast for dinner instead. These tarts were very easy to put together. My only problem was not taking the puff pastry out of the freezer early enough so I ended up kind of mangling it since it wasn't thoroughly thawed but I needed to unroll it. Don't make the same mistake.

baja fish tacos - This was the first time I had ever made fish tacos and the entire time we were eating them I kept telling Matt how good they were and that I was surprised how much I liked them. Score one for fish tacos! I prepared the fish (more hake that I froze when Whole Food had that sale a couple weeks ago) and then created a salad of sorts with the cabbage and cilantro and dressed it with extra virgin olive oil, lime juice, and salt & pepper. I piled chopped mango and avocado on my tacos and Matt stuffed his with the salad. Ezra liked dipping pieces of fish in sour cream. I'm pretty sure he thought it was yogurt, but better. I used these taco shells.

baked camembert pasta - Jamie Oliver can do no wrong when it comes to cooking, at least not that I can see. He had me at 'camembert.' However, I couldn't find camembert in a little wooden box so I bought a wedge and heated it on top of parchment paper. Yes, it melted all over the place and yes, it was still delicious.

sweet potato veggie burgers - Sweet potato burgers sound like a good idea and while they are tasty they are also extremely sticky and fall apart at all stages - while being formed, while being fried, while being removed from the pan, while being sandwiched between two halves of a bun, and while being eaten. That said, I would make them again because they were so stinkin' good. In fact, I would double the recipe next time. It seems I do that a lot.

menu of the week

(image via Williams-Sonoma)

Last week I almost didn't even make five meals, but I squeezed one of these in yesterday afternoon. So glad I did, because the frittata was so good I was looking forward to having it today when I had barely finished off a piece yesterday.

- spinach shells - Our friend Alex made this simple pasta dish for a group of people when we went to visit her in Philadelphia a couple of years ago. I like to double the recipe and freeze half to save for one of those days when I forget to defrost anything. See recipe below.

- butternut squash risotto - Anything with butternut squash in it is delicious. Period. I doubled this recipe because we were going to have it as a main dish and I wanted it to be a little more substantial. It turned out soft and creamy and the butternut squash flavor was so pronounced. Lucky for me, Matt likes the rice more than the squash so he didn't mind when I dished it out a little on the uneven side. As much as I liked it, I don't think I would make it again because I kind of detest the constant stirring risotto requires. Or maybe I just needed stronger arm muscles.

- spaghetti with tomato sauce - Kind of self-explanatory. I forgot to defrost the beef for the cheeseburger skillet pie (and although I had spinach shells in the freezer I didn't want to have them again so soon) so I made a quick tomato sauce and boiled water. I don't think there's anything easier than that.

- cheeseburger skillet pie - Another quick and easy recipe (that seems to be my dinner time mantra, everything is either 'quick and easy' or 'super simple') that gave me a good return for the time spent preparing it. Matt and I fought over the biscuits on top, and I may have used just a tad more cheese the recipe called for. Okay, so it was double the amount of cheese. And the biscuits were from Whole Foods but I forget the brand. They were frozen and the box was green. Hope that helps!

- frittata with greens - This made for a quick Sunday afternoon meal and while I had a few minor issues it still tasted great. Should I be embarrassed to say that I thought the addition of ketchup made it even better? Anyway, the main issue was not having a pan to flip the frittata into, thus the eggs didn't really set on top until the bottom was brown but not quite burnt. Let's just say Matt spent a good ten minutes washing the skillet.

This week I'm looking forward to squeezing in one more hearty soup (before the weather really warms up) and baking some Irish soda bread. Erin Go Bragh!

Spinach Shells (Thanks, Alex!)
1 lb. shells
4 beaten eggs
1/2 C olive oil
2 10 oz. packages frozen spinach, thawed
2 quarts tomato sauce
2 8 oz. packages shredded cheese
Parmigiano and Romano cheese to taste
1 T each dried basil, parsley, and oregano
1 t salt
1/2 t pepper

Cook pasta according to package directions and set aside. In a 13"x9" pan, spread a thin layer of tomato sauce. In a large bowl, mix the eggs, olive oil, cheese, spinach, herbs, salt & pepper, and shells. Pour into the baking dish and cover with the rest of the sauce. Grate Parmigiano and Romano cheese over the top. Bake at 350º for 30 minutes.  

menu of the week

Happy Monday! I'm excited to share last week's menu because there were quite a few meals I really enjoyed. Now that I think of it, I really enjoyed everything, but especially dinner on Friday night. Check it out...

pasta with cream sauce and mushrooms - Super simple but a little on the heavy side, this dish works well when you're short on time and craving something rich. I used pappardelle and added chopped onion and sliced mushrooms sautéed in butter to make it a little more interesting.

spiced cod with broccoli-quinoa pilaf and baked potatoes - Okay, so I have to first say that I didn't use cod for this dish. I used hake because Whole Foods was having an amazing sale that I couldn't pass up and the fishmonger said anything I could do with cod I could do with hake. I wholeheartedly agree with her, as this meal turned out wonderful. The hake was moist and flavorful and the pilaf was such a nice combination of textures. Ezra and I enjoyed it for breakfast the next day.

Asian shrimp noodle soup - The prep for this meal is key so I made sure I had everything in place before starting. Okay, not everything... I was still slicing the mushrooms when it was time for them to go into the boiling broth along with the rice sticks, but everything turned out fine. I had never thought to use Chinese five spice powder with shrimp before and it made for a great tasting soup topper. Also, the bright lime flavor was a nice surprise. If Matt liked this more I would make it again, but he wasn't too fond of it so I'll reserve it for a night he's out.

pork apple cheddar meatballs with egg noodles and roasted Brussels sprouts - I've made this lots of times, but since I had beef on hand I used that instead of pork. The meatballs are really easy to make and cook so quickly under the broiler. Then all you need to do is boil some egg noodles and you're done. I like them simple with salted butter, but Matt was asking for some sort of cream sauce, so if you you might want to prepare something to satisfy the pickier eaters in your house.

quinoa black bean burgers with baked sweet potatoes - By far my favorite meal of the week, these quinoa black bean burgers were quick and tasty. I can't wait to have them again, but next time I think I'll cook the onions beforehand because I could do without the crunch and that raw onion flavor. Matt ate his burger with ketchup and Ezra and I had ours with sliced avocado, and all were served with fresh sourdough rolls from Olga's. Yum.

This week I'm looking forward to making fish tacos and filling them up with lots of veggies. What are you cooking this week?

menu of the week

Sorry for the radio silence last week... my computer went from exhibiting minor symptoms of distress to literally falling apart. We're waiting on the arrival of a new fan and hinges so Matt can repair it, so for now I'm using his ten year old laptop but at least I'm back! A few highlights from the weekend before I share last week's menu:
- Our friends Matt & Kayla got engaged on Friday night - hooray!
- We shared a delicious meal with friends on Saturday night and learned that Ezra loves carrot soup. (Who knew British carrots have their very own website?)
- Yesterday I put together what I thought was an awesome outfit but when I went downstairs Matt told me that I looked like a "hobo grandma." Clearly he doesn't know a thing about mixing patterns. Just had to share that because I thought it was funny. (For those of you who are wondering, I wore a circle skirt with a large floral print, a cheetah print cardigan, black leggings, gray suede moccasins, and a wrinkled blue scarf).

So what did we eat last week? Some pretty tasty things. Check 'em out....
ginger and lentil soup - Ginger is a flavor I tend to shy away from. It's just a little too strong for me, but since I'm always encouraging Matt to try new flavors and give foods a second chance I felt I should take my own advice. I think this soup was extra good because Matt made it, not because he's a wonderful cook but because I didn't have to. We added lots of Gruyère, so how could it not be delicious?

let's eat with our fingers quesadillas - Another recipe from 100 Recipes Every Woman Should Know, this one was even better than the frugalista burritos we tried a few weeks ago. It was so simple to put together and the flavors were a lot more vibrant than I thought they would be. To recreate this meal, just chop and onion and a couple potatoes and sauté them in a little olive oil. Add some beans (I used about two cups of kidney) and continue to stir over medium heat. When you're ready to serve mix in some Monterey Jack (again with the cheese!) and wrap it all up in a tortilla. Serve with a dollop of sour cream.

black pepper pasta - This is a recipe for one of those nights when you forgot to defrost anything and you have next to nothing in the fridge. Boiling the pasta in chicken broth gives it a more substantial flavor to stand up against the bold taste of the pepper.

slow cooked sweet potato chili - Anything cooked in a crock pot is your friend because when 6:00 rolls around, dinner is done. In my case, it was done before I even woke up because Matt sweetly prepped all the ingredients before he went to work. Our house smelled spicy all day. In a good way. And of course, we added some cheddar when it was time to eat.

Italian wedding soup - Italian wedding soup is one of my favorites, but I must confess I had never made it before this week. I've had a recipe from Giada's Family Dinners for years but I was intimidated by the seventy-five mini meatballs it required. Silly, I know, so I overcame my fear and rolled them all up before church on Sunday morning. After that the rest was super simple - boil some broth, add the meatballs and chopped escarole, stir in some grated Parmigiano and eggs, season with salt and pepper, and you're done! And it was so so good. (I only used ground beef rather than a combination of beef and pork.)

P.S. Don't forget to enter my giveaway to celebrate the blog's second birthday! I've added a few more things to the goody bag - paper bunting and some twiggy pencils. You have until Wednesday to leave a comment.

menu of the week

It's the still the weekend for us (Matt has today off) but I wanted to get this post up first thing. Last week was an unusual one in our house because each night I made a new recipe. That's right, every single night was basically an experiment in prep & presentation, and all in all I think it went pretty well. I'm not sure what I was thinking when I created the menu because it could have gone horribly wrong but luckily that wasn't the case.

hearty kale & potato soup - Another recipe from The Cleaner Plate Club and another success. It came together quickly and the kale was tender rather than bitter. I thought Ezra might turn his nose up at this meal but he dug in with his own spoon and ate quite a lot.

steak au poivre with long leek pie - If you read my post from the day after Valentine's Day then you know my special date night dinner didn't go as planned. For one, I didn't realize the steak was folded inside the package and only realized it when I took it out of the pan. Fail. After making the sauce, I practically started over with the steak so the ends were on the tough side, but the majority turned out just fine. Phew. The long leek pie is another story altogether. I thought four sheets of puff pastry sounded like a lot but I generally follow recipes pretty closely the first time around so I went with it. While the edges crisped nicely, the underside was doughy and quite the disappointment. If I made it again I would only use one or two sheets of puff pastry, but the leek and goat cheese topping was delicious.

spaghetti with herbs, chilies, and eggs - This one was super quick and easy, but I did leave out the chilies because I'm lame like that. I was surprised at how much I loved the runny egg yolks with the pasta, which was whole wheat, by the way.

salmon and brussels sprouts with ginger-scallion sauce - A new favorite of mine. I wrote about my usual way to prepare salmon here, but this was a refreshing change and the ginger scallion sauce so good that I completely smothered my salmon and brussels sprouts in it.

swiss chard and cheddar quiche - Thanks to a pre-made pie crust I picked up at Whole Foods, this meal was a cinch to prepare; however, the oven time just about killed Matt who was apparently wasting away. I told him to eat an apple and be quiet. Forty-five minutes later we ate the hot quiche with a salad of red and green leaf lettuce with sliced pink lady apples and a mustard vinaigrette. Very satisfying, although Matt was a bit ravenous so I imagine he would have been satisfied with almost anything.

To satisfy our sweet teeth (tooths?), I made peanut butter and fleur de sel brownies. They disappeared in just three days. What are you cooking this week?

menu of the week

(image via Martha Stewart)

So this is technically last week's menu that I'm posting this week because I thought it would be more useful. This way when I try new recipes I can let you know how they work out. See Tuesday night's meal for a perfect example.

beef, cheddar, and potato pie - How can anything be bad when it has cheddar in it? That's right, it can't. Well, maybe in rare instances but this pie certainly isn't one of them. The prep involves chopping veggies and browning ground been, and the crust is puff pastry which makes everything extra yummy. It's comfort food, for sure, and we like it so much I usually make two and freeze one for a day when we need something warm and tasty stat. Important: do skip the step involving the slotted spoon or your pie will be greasy and gross. Also, we don't have beer so I substitute beef broth.

honey sage sweet potato pasta with shallots - This recipe is from the cookbook The Cleaner Plate Club which I borrowed from the library (I  heart Ocean State Libraries) last week. In addition to lots of recipes I can't wait to try, the book has loads of information about food and cooking in general (knife skills illustrations, articles on why GMOs are bad for you, thoughts on stealth cooking for children and why not to try it), so it might be a cookbook I add to my own library. Oh, and the pasta? It was delicious. But then anything with sweet potato and sage is. My only complaint was that it was a little on the dry side, so next time I would reserve some of the cooking water to moisten the pasta. Also, I used Pecorino Romano instead of Parmigiano Reggiano.

anasazi beans and rice - Matt used to hate beans. Now Matt loves beans, so he requested beans and rice one night last week. I kept things simple and used a recipe from the back of Bob's Red Mill package. Peppers, onions, Monterey Jack, and you're done.

French onion soup - While I don't necessarily enjoy thinly slicing three pounds of onions while tears stream from my eyes, I do enjoy the aroma of said onions as they carmelize. And I definitely enjoy them when they're simmered in beef broth and then smothered in Gruyère which is broiled to a crispy brown. In addition to not having any beer, we don't have any sherry. I just skipped it and the soup turned out just dandy. If your husband isn't obsessed with making bread like mine is, buy a loaf at your local artisan bakery. If you live in Rhode Island, I recommend Olga's Cup + Saucer or Seven Stars.

cheesy spinach and pepper calzones - We used a pound of Matt's dough (frozen for convenience and great on a Friday night) and filled the calzones to bursting with peppers, spinach, and cheese (I'm seeing a theme here, are you?), and twenty minutes later we had a steaming hot supper. I served it with my homemade tomato sauce (gravy for you Cranston Italians) and we finished every last bite.

As usual, we had green & red lettuce salad almost every night with a simple dressing of extra virgin olive oil, red win vinegar, brown mustard, and freshly ground salt and pepper. Some nights I added sliced peppers or cucumbers, but most nights we kept it simple. Still stumped? See more menu ideas here.

menu of the week

(image by Marcus Nilsson for Every Day with Rachael Ray)

This weekend didn't go as planned - I ended up sick Friday through Sunday (and missed the wedding on Saturday - sad face), and my main sources of sustenance were lime jello and slices of toasted bread from Olga's Cup + Saucer. Therefore the menu plans for this week are low key, but hearty. This cook is still feeling a bit weak, but I need to regain my strength as there is a toddler to wrangle on a daily basis.

vegetable barley risotto - I've made this once before per Matt's request. He spotted it on the back of a bag of Bob's Red Mill barley, and while it does involve a heck of a lot of stirring, it's pretty easy and yields a large amount. It's also great for lunch the next day.

white bean and mushroom stew - My mother-in-law got me a subscription to Whole Living for Christmas and this recipe was in my first issue. I made it within a week of seeing it and couldn't stop exclaiming over how good it was. Just ask Matt, who was rolling his eyes at me after the fifth or sixth time hearing me say, "No, really, this is sooo good!" The rosemary makes it.

frugalista burritos from 100 Recipes Every Woman Should Know - This is a new recipe for me but looks to be pretty easy and low commitment. I borrowed 100 Recipes Every Woman Should Know from the library last week and there weren't too many recipes that I wanted to try, but this simple dish was one of them.

pizza with homemade crust - A craving for pizza hit me as soon as my stomach felt like it could hold its contents this weekend so I knew I had to add it to this week's menu. Matt makes the dough and we add whatever toppings we have on hand - often sauteed peppers and onions, broccoli, or my personal favorite: pineapple.

smoky buffalo-style chili - I'm not really into spicy foods but this chili has just the right amount of heat so that I don't have to chug a glass of milk after each bite. In the past I've made it with turkey, but I already have ground beef from Rhodemont Farm. The blue cheese is such a genius addition and I must say the chips don't hurt either.

Since I missed John and Rachel's wedding on Saturday (insert sigh of disappointment here) I feel like I need to make something chocolate-y due to my missed encounter with wedding cake. I'm thinking this might be a good substitute, yes?