Dinner for Friday and Saturday--July 12 and July 13

July 12:

Chicken Paillard with Fried Sage

Angel Hair Aioli

Sauteed Cherry Tomatoes

I didn't eat the chicken, but I ate everything else.

Meal: Dinner

Who made it: Me

Tastyness: 10/10

Healthyness: 8/10

Comments: This was so good! According to everyone, the chicken was great, too.

Sorry. Couldn't find the recipe.

July 13:

Broccoli-Cheese Soup

Meal: Dinner

Who made it: Me

Tastyness: 8/10

Healthyness: 7/10

Comments: This soup was pretty good! However, it turned out like a stew. It was also a bit bland.

(Not the recipe I used, but close. Try this one--maybe it'll turn out better.)

Panera Broccoli Cheese Soup

1 tablespoon melted butter

1/2 medium chopped onion

1/4 cup melted butter

1/4 cup flour

2 cups half-and-half cream

2 cups chicken stock

1/2 lb fresh broccoli

1 cup carrot, julienned

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

8 ounces grated sharp cheddar cheese

salt and pepper

Directions:

1. Sauté onion in butter. Set aside.

2. Cook melted butter and flour using a whisk over medium heat for 3-5 minutes. Stir constantly and add the half & half.

3. Add the chicken stock. Simmer for 20 minutes.

4. Add the broccoli, carrots and onions. Cook over low heat 20-25 minutes.

5.Add salt and pepper. Can be puréed in a blender but I don't. Return to heat and add cheese. Stir in nutmeg.

Tonight's Dinner--July 11, 2013

Vegetable Fritters

Roasted Beets with Balsamic Vinaigrette

Salad

Meal: Dinner

Who made it: Me

Tastyness: 9/10

Healthyness: 9/10

Comments: Tonight's dinner was weird, but it was good! The vegetable fritters were delicious, although slightly soggy in the middle. I also made roasted beets, and they were great! I have a recipe--make them if you like beets. And I also ate salad. So the meal was very healthy, minus the fried stuff.

Roasted Beets with Feta

Ingredients:

4 beets, trimmed, leaving 1 inch of stems attached

1/4 cup minced shallot

2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

1 tablespoon red wine vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Wrap each beet individually in aluminum foil, and place onto a baking sheet.

Bake beets in preheated oven until easily pierced with a fork, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Once done, remove from oven, and allow to cool until you can handle them. Peel beets, and cut into 1/4 inch slices.

While the beets are roasting, whisk together shallot, parsley, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and red wine vinegar in a bowl until blended; season to taste with salt and pepper, and set aside.

To assemble the dish, place the warm, sliced beets onto a serving dish, pour vinaigrette over the beets, and sprinkle with feta cheese before serving.

Vegetable Fritters

Ingredients:

1 large carrot

1 medium zucchini 

1 medium yellow straightneck squash

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup freshly grated Parmesean cheese

1/2 tsp. salt

1/8 tsp. pepper

1 large egg

1/2 cup vegetable oil

Directions:

1. With coarse shredder, shred carrot, zucchini and squash. Pat vegetables very dry with paper towels.

2. In medium bowl, mix shredded vegetables with flour, Parmesean cheese, salt, pepper and egg.

3. In 10-inch skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Gently drop one-eighth of vegetable mixture at a time into oil in skillet, flattening slightly to about 3-inch round. 

4. Cook 3 fritters at a time, turning once, 5 minutes, until golden brown. With pancake turner, transfer to paper towels to drain. Keep warm in low oven while cooking remainder.

Sincerely,

Ms. Foodie

Dinner for July 9 and Tonight

GAHH! I'm sorry I couldn't post! :-(

July 9:

What the People With No Taste Buds (Not Me) Ate:

'Enchiladas'

I do not eat 'enchiladas'. Maybe if they were enchiladas, not 'enchiladas', I would. 'Enchiladas' consist of refried beans and cheese wrapped in a fried tortilla. I'm sorry, but no. However, other members of this household are for some reason obsessed with these things. Here is what I ate:

Annie's Mac and Cheese

Meal: Dinner

Who made it: Me

Tastyness: 9/10

Healthyness: 7/10

Comments: I have to say, it was a LOT better than the 'enchiladas'. I love Annie's. Obviously no recipe.

July 10 (Today):

Stir-Fried Soba Noodles with Edamame

(Not the actual picture)

Meal: Lunch

Who made it: Me

Tastyness: 10/10

Healthyness: 8/10

Comments: Mmm. My lunch was SO good. All I did was boil some soba noodles, drain them, saute some garlic and ginger in vegetable oil, add the noodles with some frozen, thawed soybeans (edamame), dump in a 1/2 cup of ginger teriyaki sauce, and done! It was great. I'm kicking myself for not taking a picture.

Teriyaki Salmon Burger

(no picture)

Meal: Dinner

Who made it: Me

Tastyness: 6/10

Healthyness: 6/10

Comments: Not good. The frozen teriyaki salmon burgers are definitely not as good as the regular ones. Ick. Everyone else had ravioli, but they ate it all.

Sincerely,

Ms. Foodie

Tonight's Dinner--July 8, 2013

Couscous with Vegetables

Sourdough Bread

Meal: Dinner

Who made it: Me

Healthyness: 8/10

Tastyness: 6/10

Comments: Dinner tonight was pretty healthy, but it turned out kind of gross. The couscous didn't absorb all of its water (I think I used too much) and the vegetables were bland. It was all very 'eh'. I am sorely disappointed. No recipe. I didn't enjoy it enough to post the recipe.

Sincerely,

Ms. Foodie

Last Night's Dinner--July 7, 2013

It's like I can never post on the day of!

Russian honey cakes!

Indian Curry

My main dinner

Bulgarian vegetable appetizer

Weird brown tomatoes that taste normal

I'm sorry about the formatting on this post. The pictures made it weird.

Meal: Dinner

Who made it: Me

Tastyness: 10/10

Healthyness: 9/10

Comments: I ate lots of weird stuff last night, huh? My main dish was Indian curry with potatoes and green beans leftover from the salmon Nicoise salad (aren't I awesome at using up leftovers??), onions, peas, cauliflower, and bottled sauce. I also made raita,  cucumber yogurt sauce. The raita isn't pictured, and the awesome Jasmine rice I made isn't either. Well, sorry. Anyway, with that we had cool stuff from the Russian store we went to earlier. We got a bottle of this Bulgarian (Bulgarian? in a Russian store? Who knows) pepper, tomato and onion stuff, which was surprisingly delicious. We also got weird brown tomatoes (no, they weren't rotten) that taste normal, although we didn't eat them last night. And lastly, we got Russian honey cakes! They are SO GOOD. They taste like gingerbread, but better. We got some other stuff at the Russian store too, but it was just little stuff. Like peaches. They were amazing. So, yeah. It was all really healthy except for the honey cakes. Okay, enough of my ranting. You're free to go now.

No recipes today. I just followed the instructions on the sauce bottle. I'll try and post tonight's dinner!

Sincerely,

Ms. Foodie

Now for Tonight's Meal--July 6, 2013

Pasta with Pesto Sauce

(I also had salad with leftover Nicoise vinaigrette)

(This is not the actual picture. I'm sorry--I forgot.)

Meal: Dinner

Who made it: Mom (she makes AWESOME pesto sauce)

Tastyness: 9/10

Healthyness: 9/10

Comments: Mom's pesto sauce is AMAZING. However, it only got 9/10 because it was leftover (she made it last night and served it tonight), and it's always better on the first day. The meal was very healthy, especially with salad. 

Here is Mom's pesto recipe. It comes from a Marcella Hazan cookbook (Mom doesn't use the butter. She also uses walnuts instead of pine nuts, and I actually like it better!):

Pesto - Marcella Hazan

Ingredients:

2 cups fresh basil leaves, tightly packed

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons pine nuts

2 garlic cloves, chopped fine before putting in the processor

Salt

1/3 cup parmesan cheese, freshly grated (parmigiano-reggiano)

2 tablespoons pecorino romano cheese, freshly grated (or pecorino fiore sardo)

3 tablespoons butter, softened to room temperature

Directions:

1. Briefly soak and wash the basil in cold water, and gently pat it thoroughly DRY with paper towels.

2. Put the basil, olive oil, pine nuts, chopped garlic, and an ample pinch of salt in the processor bowl, and process to a uniform, creamy consistency.

3. Transfer to a bowl, and mix in the two grated cheeses by hand. It is worth the slight effort to do it by hand to obtain the notably superior texture it produces.

4. When the cheese has been evenly amalgamated with the other ingredients, mix in the softened butter, distributing it uniformly into the sauce.

5. When spooning the pesto over pasta, dilute it slightly with a tablespoon or two of the hot water in which the pasta was cooked.

It seems difficult, but it's not. It's SO GOOD and SO EASY. Probably the best no-cook pasta sauce ever.

Sincerely,

Ms. Foodie

Dinner for July 5, 2013

I'm sorry I haven't written. Dinner has been unremarkable these past few nights--Wednesday was leftovers, and Thursday was hot dogs, which I wouldn't eat 'cause I'm vegetarian.

Salmon Nicoise Salad

Meal: Dinner

Who made it: Me

Tastyness: 7/10

Healthyness: 9/10

Comments: This salad would have been better if I hadn't under cooked the potatoes. (The picture on top is what we ate. On the bottom is the magazine picture. Not bad, huh?) Also, I didn't like the salmon much, and the lettuce, although garden-fresh (yes! I grew it!), got kind of wilted because of the heat of the salmon and potatoes and everything. But my dad loved it. He completely cleaned his plate. It was really healthy, too!

Here's the recipe (it isn't the exact recipe because I couldn't find that one online, but it's pretty close):

Salmon Niçoise Salad

Serves 2

Salad:

2 salmon fillets, pan-seared in olive oil with a sprinkle of salt and pepper

2 cups mixed field greens

1 cup green beans, blanched in boiling water for 90 seconds and then chilled in an ice bath

4 baby potatoes (about 1 cup sliced potato), sliced, boiled until tender, drained, and cooled

6 baby Roma tomatoes, halved (or any tomatoes you like)

6-8 black good quality olives (such as Niçoise or Kalamata)

8 soft-boiled (or hard-boiled, if you prefer) quail eggs*

Vinaigrette:

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar (or 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice)

1/4 teaspoon Dijon mustard

Pinch salt and pepper

*If you can’t find quail’s eggs, you can use 2 hen’s eggs (1 per person, since 4 quail eggs equals about 1 hen’s egg).

To soft boil the quail’s eggs, bring a small saucepan of water to a rolling boil.  Carefully add the quail’s eggs and boil for 2 1/2 minutes.  Transfer the eggs from the boiling water directly into an ice bath (a bowl of cold water filled with ice).  Cool completely, then crack and peel, being a bit careful because the membrane between the egg white and shell is a little thicker than in a chicken’s egg.  (To make medium-boiled quail’s eggs, boil for 3 minutes; for hard-boiled, boil 4 minutes. )

Arrange all salad components on two plates in any decorative way you like.  Whisk together all ingredients for the vinaigrette in a small bowl and drizzle on top.  Serve immediately, with fresh ground black pepper on top.

Hope you enjoy! 

Sincerely,

Ms. Foodie

My Delicious Meal: July 2, 2013

Ravioli with Tomato-Basil Sauce 

Swiss-Chard Stuffed Tomatoes

Meal: Dinner

Who made it: Me

Tastyness: 9/10

Healthyness: 9/10

Comments: I made this deliciousness all by myself! It was extremely healthy, but the fatty, cheesy ravioli lost a point. Now I sound like some kind of health nut. Oh, well. The Swiss-chard stuffed tomatoes were my favorite. I LOVE Swiss chard. I've included the recipe, which is from Wilson Farms (I didn't use the pancetta):

Swiss Chard Stuffed Tomatoes

Ingredients Procedure 6 medium firm, ripe tomatoes 1 bunch Swiss Chard, chopped ¼ cup pancetta, diced 4 garlic cloves, minced ¾ cup bread crumbs 1 tablespoon fresh savory, chopped 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped 2 tablespoons olive oil Salt and pepper Preheat oven to 400°. Heat oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Add pancetta and cook until golden brown. Pour out three-fourths of the fat. Add garlic and cook for about 1-2 minutes. Add Swiss chard and cook until wilted, about 2-3 minutes. Remove from pan and let cool. Mix chard, herbs, and bread crumbs together and adjust seasoning. Cut tomatoes in half and lightly squeeze out seeds and juice. Place in a baking dish. Evenly distribute filling. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Bake for 15-20 minutes.

Wilson Farms, where I got this recipe, has a lot of other recipes using all kinds of weird ingredients. Try going to the site: http://www.wilsonfarm.com/recipes.html
Sincerely,
Ms. Foodie