Vacation & the Elimination of Excess – Curried Couscous with Roasted Vegetables, Peach Chutney & Cilantro Yogurt

Posted by Tricia in Main Courses and tagged with 7, couscous, curry, hume lake, Jen Hatmaker, roasted vegetables, vacation July 9, 2013

I’m back after a blissful week of vacation up at Hume Lake. The eating wasn’t so “real”, but seriously I don’t care. It was an entire week of no cooking and that’s a welcome change once a year.

There were, however, plenty of other real experiences. Completing the High Adventure Ropes Course (I have done it once and I sure hope my kiddos remember this moment because I have virtually no intention of ever doing it again), shooting a 3 pointer with a pinecone and playing peek-a-boo with an unsuspecting adult during the parent scavenger hunt (in other words, the kiddos came up with all the things to do/find during the hunt), playing some weird version of flag football without any flags, and off- roading in Suzuki Samurais and getting COVERED in dust – just to name a few.

This is our third year enjoying Hume Lake. It is the total vacation for us. This year we even roped friends into joining us. I think they loved it as much as we do, and may make it an annual deal as well.

I think I might have mentioned before that our vacation week fell during my “clothing fast” that I did as part of my book club which is studying Jen Hatmaker’s book, 7 – An Experimental Mutiny Against Excess. For the first time in my entire life, I packed for our 8 day vacation in . . . . drumroll, please . . . my kid’s school backpack! Unheard of in my world of meticulous forethought and uber-preparation. But hey, I was only packing 7 items of clothing (I did decide that bathing suit didn’t count, so I guess that technically means I packed 8 items). I had all the encouragers tell me how freeing it would be to not have to worry about clothes and clothing choices. Nice try, folks, but nope. This was a stressful endeavor for me. First of all, do you know how dirty a person can get in one day at Hume Lake? And second of all, I have a 4 year old and an almost 2 year old. I’m lucky if I make it past breakfast without spit, snot, food, or some other unidentified substance smeared on me. By the third time of wearing black running shorts and and turquoise t-shirt (aka, outfit number 1) I was downright gross. But I persevered and held the course. I’m still processing the stress associated with this “experiment” and may let you know later if I figure any of that whole deal out.

The one (possibly only) thing I do know from this foray into clothing minimalism was that it made packing a whole lot easier. When you are packing up a tribe of 7 for a week away, there’s just a lot of “stuff” involved. Eliminating MY stuff really lightened the load. Even though the preparation can be exhausting, this week away is always so worth it. Kind of like this little recipe for Curried Couscous with Roasted Vegetables, Peach Chutney & Cilantro Yogurt (say that 3 times fast). It’s a little heavy on the preparation time because it contains a lot of “stuff”, but the result is so worth it.

I started by knocking out the yogurt sauce. You just throw some cilantro, lime juice and coarse salt into the food processor.

You puree all of that goodness and then mix in some sour cream and plain yogurt. Phew. Step one, completed.

Veggie preparation is next. I cubed some eggplant and summer squash (you could also use zucchini). I then place each veggie on two separate baking sheets sprayed with cooking spray. Then I tossed with a little olive oil and salt and pepper. I roasted the eggplant for about 50 minutes and the squash for about 25 minutes (thus the reason for 2 separate baking sheets).

While the veggies were roasting, I charred a bell pepper over the grill and then placed in a paper bag for about 10 minutes, I then removed the skin and chopped it into bite-sized pieces.

I also prepared the couscous. In this time around, I combined regular couscous and Israeli couscous just because I had a little of the latter and wanted to finish it off. The mixture gave a nice texture variation. I sauteed a little onion, added some curry powder and then did the basic couscous prep.

I chopped up some cashews and was finished with all the prep work.

Finally, I fluffed the couscous, tossed in the roasted veggies and bell pepper, mixed in the cashews and some currants. I was a slacker and decided I just didn’t have it in me to make the peach chutney. I went with Major Grey’s Mango Chutney and served with the Cilantro Yogurt Sauce as well. A flavor explosion well worth all the steps involved in the recipe.

Here’s the complete Curried Couscous with Roasted Veggie & Cilantro Yogurt Sauce Recipe.

Vacation Bible School is NO Vacation – Black Bean Tortilla Pie

Posted by Tricia in Main Courses and tagged with black bean, black bean tortilla pie, black beans, mexican dinner, tortilla, tortilla pie June 26, 2013

I am literally limping to the finish line, folks. Current score: Vacation Bible School, 3 – Me, 0! I basically did it for the Little Little One. You see, in the land of VBS, if you want your pre-schooler to attend, then you are required to volunteer. And what self respecting 4 year old is going to let her sisters traipse off to a week of fun without putting up a protest and wanting to attend also. So I caved and filled out the volunteer form.

With just a click of the mouse, off it went and I was committed. The first reply I got had me assigned to the kitchen. “Cool,” I thought, “I’ll be bagging pretzels and washing grapes. Not a bad gig.” Well, that apple cart was soon upset when I got another e-mail telling me that they would be putting me in the craft tent after all. The craft tent!

After just three days in the craft tent, let me tell you – – – it’s grueling work! Day 1 = Modge Podge. Day 2= beaded crosses Day 3= beaded crosses. And guess what I have to look forward to tomorrow . . . more beaded crosses. See days 2 – 5 work on a rotational schedule. The kids move to a different station each day, but it’s like I’m stuck in the beaded cross version of Groundhog Day. I know it sounds silly, but directing the beading of 45 crosses a morning with no chance to sit down from 8:30 – 12:30 is kicking my butt. On day 2 I was suggesting different patterns for the beading of the crosses and marveling at each child’s unique talent and abilities expressed through their positioning of the beads. Tomorrow, I think if any child even starts to diddle around with an idiotic pattern which takes 28 times longer than just slappin’ those beads on that cross, that I just take may have to personally remove the kid from the craft tent.

As I figure it, I either have a special place in heaven for having led the beading of so many crosses, or . . . this little blog post (really a result of extreme fatigue and nothing more), has just swiped that special place right out of my reach. So as my VBS enthusiasm has declined as the week has progressed, so too has the family fare at the dinner table. We kicked off Monday with a great little Almond, Lemon & Basil Crusted Salmon. Yesterday we had a favorite go-to of Black Bean Tortilla Pie. Tonight, I chucked some Trader Joe’s frozen mini tacos in the oven and then tossed paper plates around the table frisbee style. If you were lucky enough to catch a plate then you could serve yourself a taco. So I figure before we sink any further, I had better get my post for the week up. Who knows, if I wait any longer, you might get the “recipe” for how to microwave a hotdog!

So this Black Bean Tortilla Pie is a great, easy meal. The added bonus is that you probably have everything you need to make it in your pantry and fridge right now.

I started things off by sautéeing up a little onion and jalapeno pepper along with some garlic and cumin.

I rinsed and drained a couple cans of black beans, and then added those, along with a 12 oz. bottle of beer, to the skillet with the onion mixture.

I brought that mixture to a boil and then reduced the heat and let simmer until almost all of the liquid had evaporated. I stirred in a package of frozen corn and some scallions. Then I removed the skillet from the heat and seasoned with some salt and pepper.

In a spring form pan, I fit 1 – 2 whole wheat tortillas into the bottom. You may have to trim the 2nd tortilla down so that you have one even layer of tortilla covering the pan bottom. On top of that, I spooned a quarter of the bean mixture and then some cheddar cheese. I repeated this same layering another three times, and finished things off with a double dose of cheddar.

I baked the pie in a 400 degree oven for about 25 minutes. I unmolded the pie from the springform pan and sprinklde with more scallions for garnish. I like to serve with fresh salsa, sour cream, tortilla chips and rice.

Here is the complete recipe for Black Bean Tortilla Pie.

Summer Simplicity – Buffalo Salmon Sliders

Posted by Tricia in Main Courses and tagged with blue cheese, buffalo sauce, salmon, salmon sliders, sliders June 21, 2013

So often, less is really more. Overused, of course, but oh so true.

As we come into our 3rd week of summer vacation, I have had to stop and remind myself of “less”. We have done two weeks of biology camp, had numerous play and pool dates, have gone to the beach, etc. These were all enjoyable and enriching things. No doubt. But when I look closely at my small troop, it’s pretty undeniable that just hanging out around the house (doing less) can get some pretty big grins, let loose some pretty awesome imaginations, and can lead to amazingly incredible problem solving (result in more).

This premise is most definitely the case in cooking. I have always made the distinction between cooking and assembling. But every once in a while I stumble onto a recipe for assembling something that is just a killer taste combination. That was exactly the deal with these Buffalo Salmon Sliders. Love, love love buffalo sauce – salmon is our protein of choice – and blue cheese? Well, there are very few things, in my opinion, that aren’t made better with blue cheese. So let the assembly begin.

Just took the salmon and cut into small pieces the size of my slider buns.

Poured some buffalo sauce over the salmon. This jarred brand, Ashanti, is pretty decent – 7 ingredients and the only GMO offender is Xanthan Gum, but hey, it’s summer and I’m relaxing and contemplating simplicity. If you don’t want to go the jarred route, here’s a great recipe for homemade.

I sliced up some avocado and tore up some lettuce leaves for serving. And of course, crumbled up some blue cheese.

I tossed the buffalo coated salmon onto the grill, and cooked for about 5 minutes total. Onto the slider buns went the salmon, the lettuce, avocado, blue cheese and a drizzle more buffalo sauce. I served these up with some grated carrots, raisins and vinaigrette and some braised brussels sprouts.

So simple. So good. So summer!

To Pin or Not to Pin – Herbed Summer Squash & Potato Torte

Posted by Tricia in Main Courses, Uncategorized and tagged with potato, potatoes, Recipe, summer squash, torte June 14, 2013

Pinterest. It’s like a train wreck sometimes. I want to look away. I know I should look away. I know there are a million better ways that I could be spending my time. But I just continue to stare and stare. I have even been known to load all of the “popular” pins, sit there and scroll all the way to the bottom, and then press refresh and load a whole new batch of “popular”. What a time suck.

We all say it. Right? But why, oh why, do we continue to come back? I guess it’s the new suburban-safe addiction. And then I justify my addiction. I tell myself that at least I no longer browse the “popular” pins. At least I don’t pin ridiculous sayings like other people do. At least I don’t “follow” anyone (if I did, I know i would never escape the machine). At least now I only USE for recipes and homeschool ideas. “Justify, justify, little brain. You are wasting as much time and energy as everyone else and you know it.”

So some day, I may just go cold turkey from my “habit”. Some day, I may return to my mother’s era and actually open a cook book or start clipping clever ideas from Ladies Home Journal. How retro would that be? Maybe some day I’ll put my money where my mouth is, and monitor my own “screen time” like I monitor my kids. How funny would that be? The system I use with them is that they earn Mom Dollars and Dad Bucks for all examples of good behavior. They then can cash in 5 of those earned singles for 20 minutes of ipad or computer. Maybe I could start paying myself for each load of laundry done. Each meal cooked. Each trip to the market. Each time I refrain from gossip. Each time I clean a bathroom. Each time I give the Hubs some lovin’. Each time I’m a good listener. Wonder how that would work out for me?

Well, until I decide to really go off the grid (which I fantasize about regularly), I’ll continue to just justify and take my hits of Pinterest when I can. I’ll continue to not follow anyone, and I’ll continue to to fill up my “Yum” and “School” boards. And from time to time, I’ll share a killer find -like this recipe for Herbed Summer Squash & Potato Torte- with you all.

As with so many of these veggie recipes, I kicked things off with a little chopping. On the block were the summer squash and the potatoes.

Then I mixed up a little breading which consisted of some scallions, freshly grated parmesan, flour, fresh thyme, and salt & pepper.

I took a large, oven-proof skillet, buttered the bottom and up the sides a bit, and then placed a layer of potatoes in concentric circles over the bottom.

A layer of summer squash went on top of the potato layer, again in concentric circles and again just slightly overlapping. I drizzled a touch of olive oil over and then added a layer of the breading mixture. I repeated that sequence with one more layer of potatoes, another layer of squash, a tad more oil, and a final layer of the breading. I pressed down the final assembly with a spatula to assure everything was well compacted.

I covered the skillet with foil, and into the oven it went at 375 degrees for 40 minutes. Then I removed the foil and baked another 25 minutes until everything was nice and brown.

I sprinkled some additional fresh scallions over as a garnish and served with roasted green beans and steamed cauliflower.

For such simple ingredients, the final product was quite flavorful. It was the breading (I know I have been calling it that, but it doesn’t have even a hint of bread product in it), that really made this dish.

So thank you, Pinterest. I’ll continue to loathe you, but we both know I’ll come crawling back again and again with all my lame excuses in tow. That is, until I buy that ranch somewhere in the middle of nowhere and swear off all technological indulgences for good.

Here’s the complete recipe for Herbed Summer Squash & Potato Torte.

And hats off to the Smitten Kitchen for making your way onto Pinterest so that I could find this delightful recipe.

In the mood for more summer squash? Try these . . .

Grilled Shrimp and Summer Squash (williams-sonoma.com)

Summer Squash, Sausage, and Potato Quiche (spoonful.com)

School’s Out for Summer – Orzo with Grilled Shrimp, Summer Veggies & Pesto Vinaigrette

Posted by Tricia in Main Courses, salad and tagged with grilled, mixed veggies, orzo, pesto, Recipe, salad, shrimp June 8, 2013

I think I’m starting to decompress. I think I’m starting to decompress. If I repeat that another dozen times, maybe I’ll start to believe it. About 4 million things have fallen off of my schedule in the last few weeks – with the biggest one being school. Yes, I homeschool my children and yes, it’s insane. But the implications of that on the cooking front is that I’m always trying to wedge dinner preparations into everything else I’ve got going on during the day. Keeping all of the plates spinning is my boiled down job description. And no, I won’t bore you with the names of each and every plate. Just trust me when I say, “There are A LOT of them!”

But with school finished for the year, I can take a more leisurely approach to things in my kitchen. I love that. I know for some people cooking is such a hassle, but for me it really is therapeutic. I’ll take zesting a good lemon over journaling my innermost feelings any day. Body combat workout to release my aggressions? I’d rather beat egg whites into stiff peaks. If I have the time, I like to linger over the steps of putting a meal together and not rush through things. That’s exactly what I did in assembling this summer salad.

I started by making a nice pot of orzo, draining, rinsing, tossing with a little olive oil and setting it aside. I truly think orzo is one of my favorite pastas. There’s something about the size and the texture that just works for me.

Then I chopped up some red bell pepper and summer squash.

I whisked together a little olive oil and red wine vinegar and brushed the veggies with the mixture.

Finally, I grilled the veggies until they were just browned and then set aside. Yes, this was the inaugural busting out of the grill for the summer.

While the veggies were grilling, I had the peeled and deveined shrimp sitting in a little marinade of prepared pesto, lime juice, olive oil, and red wine vinegar. As soon as the veggies came off the grill, on went the shrimp. I grilled them for about 3 minutes per side and then pulled them off. Actually, Medium Little One handled the grilling for me and did quite a fine job at it.

I chopped up some grape tomatoes and fresh basil (we are OVERRUN with basil, so if you find all recipes for the next 3 months oozing with basil, it’s not my fault it’s the garden’s), and then cubed some fresh mozzarella. I tossed this all together with the orzo, the grilled veggies and the grilled shrimp and then poured my remaining pesto vinaigrette over.

I served it with some sweet potato fries and we were good to go.

So welcome summer! I am so glad you are here. No I won’t be grading anymore Singapore Math, nor will I be measuring soil compaction with knitting needles for Science Fair projects. I will not be be nagging to complete your DOL, nor will I explain rotational symmetry for the 98th time. I don’t care if you don’t know whether the pronoun is a subject pronoun or an object pronoun, and if you can’t remember to find a common denominator before comparing fractions, then that’s just your own problem for the next three months. I’ll be lingering over summer recipes in my kitchen and sipping white wine while doing it.

For the complete Orzo with Grilled Shrimp Summer Veggies & Pesto Vinaigrette Recipe, click here.

Want to explore some more fun Orzo Recipes?

Mediterranean Greek Orzo Salad (kouzounaskitchen.wordpress.com)
Orzo with Parmesan and Basil (marshallcampusrec.wordpress.com)
Orzo Salad with Arugula and Dried Cherries (bedifferentactnormal.com)

Food Stereotypes – Lentil & Mixed Veggie Salad

Posted by Tricia in Main Courses, salad and tagged with Bell pepper, birkenstock, lentil, salad, walden June 6, 2013

Ever find yourself stereotyping people based on the way they talk, where they come from, or the way they dress? I find myself stereotyping food. For lots of foods I can embrace their versatility and have fun experimenting with them in different culinary contexts. Then there are other foods that just stay stuck in a very specific place for me. Enter – my friend, the lentil. In my small, little mind, if you are a lentil you are a) being eaten in a nice Indian dish or b) being consumed in some bland, tasteless way by an individual wearing Birkenstocks and reading Walden. How sad is it that I have limited the lentil in this way?

This poor legume has never done a thing to me and yet in all my years of cooking, I can honestly say that the only time I have put it on the table was in Amy’s canned lentil soup and in one of those heat in the bag, Indian deals – – – and then that was usually only to feed my kids, not myself. And yet, to read about it, the lentil doesn’t have a bad rap at all. One serving of lentils contains 18g of protein and only 1g of fat. Great source of iron, with one serving chalking up 37% of the daily recommended intake. And on and on go the benefits.

So I recently set out to break down this legume barrier and bring the lentil to my table in all the glory it deserves. My first attempt got great reviews from the family. I made Sloppy Joe Lentil Lettuce Wraps. Unfortunately, the pictures I snapped of those little puppies just didn’t do them justice. I decided I would do the lentil’s already damaged reputation more harm if I were to post those pictures. Maybe the next time around, I will have better luck in the photo department and then be able to share. So next on my list I tackled a Lentil and Mixed Veggie Salad. (I had also realized that I had sequestered the lentil to only Fall and Winter dishes and couldn’t fathom it in any light summer setting).

In all honesty, I’m not sure the actual lentil part of the salad turned out as it should have. In fact, I almost aborted after step one of the recipe. But I stayed the course, and, correct or not, the blending of flavors in this little number and the summer freshness and lightness that it offered were both pleasant surprises.

I started off by rinsing the lentils.

Then, in a saucepan, I combined them with some finely diced garlic and a couple of bay leaves.

I added enough water to just cover the lentils, brought it to a boil, and then reduced the heat and simmered for about 40 minutes.

I drained them (there was basically no liquid left), and set them aside to cool.

While they were cooling, I chopped up some red bell pepper, yellow bell pepper, red onion, kalamata olives, carrots, basil & tomatoes. I tossed those veggies with the cooled lentils, and then added in a sauce made of red wine vinegar, olive oil, and salt & pepper.

I placed it atop a bed of butter lettuce on a platter and served.

It was a great summer evening meal served with cantaloupe and avocados with walnut fig balsamic dressing along with a fresh baguette. Filling and yet very light.

So I think I have made amends with the lentil. I took me a while, but I did it. Next up? The lima bean – – – then again, maybe it’s good to tackle only one major life change a year.

Here is the complete recipe for Lentil & Mixed Veggie Salad

Breaking Up with Costco – Veggie Dipping Chip & Basil Crusted Halibut

Posted by Tricia in Main Courses and tagged with costco, fish, halibut June 2, 2013

My tendency, since trying to eat “real food”, has been to simply avoid anything that’s not produce, whole grain, or dairy. As Pollan says in one of his many rules, if you are eating “real” you can pretty much shop the perimeter of the supermarket and avoid the entire middle. In other words, the middle of the market is where the junk lurks.

Sticking to the perimeter hasn’t been a tough transition for me, because I’m not a traditional market shopper anyway. My regular haunt is a little Persian produce place; I occasionally hit Sprouts, and Trader Joe’s sometimes sneaks into my repertoire (usually when I’m there to buy wine and Ritter Sport). But, I just can’t seem to fully break it off with Costco. It’s kind of like trying to break up with a bad boyfriend who just keeps sucking you back in with the promise that things will change. I mean after all, I do have SIX hungry mouths to feed around here and Costco’s copious sizes are just so attractive to me. I have definitely noticed a change in the standard Costco fare recently – a lot more food stuff trying to LOOK like it is good for you, or only contains good stuff, or is organic or … or … or. But overall, I think I’m just better off buying my TP there and then getting out of Dodge. Kind of like Costco and I can “just be friends” but not really date anymore.

So all of this intro to get to my real confession which is that I dislike reading labels. I just don’t have the patience to sit there and figure out if what I’m looking at is truly good for me or just more stuff that’s bad for me wearing a thinly veiled disguise. Another Pollan-ism that I love, mainly because it affirms my dislike of label reading, is that if something contains more than 5 ingredients OR ingredients that a 3rd grader can’t pronounce, then it’s probably a skipper.

However, in my ongoing quest to break up with Costco, I did find a keeper recently. These little veggie dipping chips.

There are three flavors mixed in the bag: Spinach & Garlic, Beet & Onion, and Carrot & Tomato. They are REALLY tasty and the whole brood here has been enjoying them with edamame hummus. Being the non-label reader that I am, I bought them on a whim and then read the label after the fact. I was pleasantly surprised to find that my 3rd grader (good thing I’ve got one on hand for just this purpose) could pronounce every single ingredient.

As I set out to make dinner the other night, I decided on a little halibut number. I was working from a recipe for Roasted Halibut with Walnut Crust. Unfortunately, I had no walnuts, no panko, no italian parsley, and no chives. Good thing I had the halibut! In fact, I had no bread products whatsoever in the house, but really wanted to do the fish with a little crust of some sort. While rummaging through the cupboard in total disbelief that I had no panko, I happened upon the Veggie Dipping Chips and decided to give it a whirl. Medium Little One’s garden has been producing more basil than I can keep up with so I decided that it would be a Veggie Dipping Chip & Basil Crusted Halibut. This is basically how it all went down.

Chopped up that lovely basil first.

Crushed up the dipping chips with some slivered almonds in my mini-food processor and then mixed them with the chopped basil.

Placed my halibut on a baking sheet covered with cooking spray. I brushed each fillet with a little melted butter and then sprinkled with a little salt and pepper.

I then pressed the veggie chip, basil and almond mixture onto the top of each fillet and drizzled with a tiny bit more butter.

I baked the whole shabang at 450 degrees for about 8 minutes until the fish was opaque in the center.

I served things up with a little rice and some brussels sprouts with caramelized shallots.

Even though this was a complete improv move, I would totally make it this way again. Oh, and me and Costco have decided to give things one more chance. . .

Want the whole recipe? Click here.

I Surrender – Too Many “Gnos” to the Gnocchi

Posted by Tricia in Main Courses and tagged with gnocchi, pasta, peas, quick, recipes, spinach May 22, 2013

I am really blessed by the fact that all the birdies in my nest are very good eaters. From Big One right down to the Wee One (yes, that’s from 19 years old to 21 months old – a whole lotta girliness in one house), there’s not much complaining that goes on – as far as food is concerned anyway.

For anyone who is interested, I have a few opinions about what makes a kid a “good eater”.

1) Introduce lots of food early on – one of my kiddos was eating olive tapenade at the ripe old age of 8 months.

2) Assume the best – I cringe every time I hear a parent say “Oh, s/he won’t eat that” whenever the kid is offered something new or different. Let the kid decide. Don’t limit their tasting experience.

3) Don’t give options – In our house one meal, and one meal alone, is served. There’s not a “kids menu” and an “adult menu”. You would be surprised what gets eaten when there’s not a “pizza, mac & chesse, bagel, chicken nugget, etc.” option offered in place of the main meal.

4) Let kids experience food with all their senses early on. OK, tasting is obvious, but I’m also encouraging smelling, and yes, the one most loathed by parents, touching. I really believe that this full sensory experience of food is very connected to kids loving food. So let your toddler eat with is/her hands and enjoy the full eating process.

5) Don’t fill them up on snacks. I know it’s “in” in some circles to consider your kid a “grazer”. But come on, who would want to eat a Chard and Onion Torta, when they’re jammed full of gold fish, Craisins, and string cheese. In order to enjoy eating, you have to be hungry, right?

6) Eat with your kiddo. Seriously. Do you like eating alone? Well neither does your child. So don’t fill up his/her plate and then think you have time to send that e-mail, finish that chapter in your book, or unload the dishwasher. Sit down with your child (even if you’re not eating) and interact during the mealtime. There are some fascinating studies out there about this, including video footage of the difference in kids’ eating quantities when parents / caregivers sit and eat with them vs. loading up their plate, serving it, and walking away.

I really could go on a lot more about this topic. I’m passionate about it, and have definite opinions about the matter. But I digress way too far. What I am really here to tell you about is Gnocchi. And in spite of all my musings about my children and their glorious eating habits, they ALL dislike gnocchi. ALL 5 of them. Gnocchi – a simple, bland as it gets, potato pasta. How can can someone slurp down Curried Lentil Wraps and yet shun something like gnocchi? I just don’t get it. But alas, I have tried too many times and the objections remain unified and strongly stated. So as of this posting, I will be retiring gnocchi from my menu rotation. However, I love this sauce too much to let it go by the wayside, so I’ll just be serving it over bowties or penne. I hope you will enjoy it too, whether over gnocchi or some other pasta of your choosing.

Lemon Gnocchi with Peas and Spinach

Start by grating a little lemon zest which will give this sauce just the right zip.

Then simmer some frozen baby peas, with half and half (cream if you are feeling sassy), red pepper flakes, some garlic and salt. You will want to cover it and let simmer until the peas are tender – usually around 5 minutes.

Then add in some baby spinach and continue cooking until the spinach is wilted. Remove from heat and stir in the lemon zest.

While all of this is going on, cook your gnocchi (or other pasta of choice). Drain and add it, along with some freshly grated parmesan, to your sauce and serve immediately.

Hey, and if your kids will eat it, let me know. I’ll have a moment of quiet jealousy!

Want the complete recipe? Click here.

The Hubs Loves His Fish – Baked Rockfish with Tomato Caper Sauce

Posted by Tricia in Main Courses and tagged with baked, easy, fish, rockfish, sole, tomatoes May 21, 2013

The hubs really loves fish of any kind. I wasn’t as big of a fish admirer before we were married, but I guess I’ve morphed over time. Salmon is a no brainer for me and I make a mean halibut. Occasionally tuna sneaks onto the menu. And from time to time swordfish. But I have to admit (after a couple of glasses of wine when I’m being brutally honest with myself), that there is still some intimidation factor for me when it comes to preparing fish. I can’t put my finger on it, but I think it has to do with feeling that fish requires a much more precise cooking time. And let’s face it, when fish is gross, it’s just plain gross and there’s not much that came be done to gussy it up.

That’s why I love this recipe that I came across recently. It was written forsSole and the sauce also contained fennel. I make it with rockfish, because that’s what my Costco has in stock quite regularly and it’s REALLY reasonably priced. I have made the sauce with fennel and it is lovely that way. But if you’re like me, you probably don’t just have a fennel bulb kicking around in the fridge. So I love this recipe in its modified format for 2 reasons: 1) it’s baked and my fish intimidation factor gets knocked down a notch 2) it contains stuff that I normally have on hand.

So I start by just chopping an onion and sauteeing it in some olive oil. I add a little garlic once the onion starts to turn golden. Then I add a can of diced tomatoes and their juices along with some white wine. Finally, I throw in some capers and season with some salt and pepper. I tame the capers a bit by rinsing them well before adding them. Otherwise their taste can be a bit overpowering and the little palates of the house aren’t exactly caper fans in their un-rinsed state.

If you wish to do the fennel version of the sauce, you can just sautee the fennel right along with the onion.

After the sauce is done, transfer it to the bottom of a shallow, wide baking dish. I use the old 9×13 casserole dish.

Then take your fish filets and roll them. Place them on top of the sauce. To finish things off, mix together some dry bread crumbs, softened butter and salt and pepper. Place a nice dollop of this breadcrumb mixture right in the center of each fish roll.

Now sprinkle a couple of tablespoons of white wine around the fish (not on it) and into the sauce. Bake the whole thing at 425 degrees for about 25 minutes.

Recipe adapted from Epicurious.

For the full recipe, click here.

Eggs for Dinner – Zucchini & Sweet Potato Frittata

Posted by Tricia in Main Courses and tagged with Eggs, frittata, Recipe, sweet potato, zucchini May 17, 2013

Egg recipes. Sometimes they are winners and sometimes they just don’t measure up. Sometimes the ones that sound “dinner-ish” just end up tasting like breakfast in a thin disguise. If you have ever seen the move Julia & Julia, you’ll remember the classic omelette scene. I love that scene because I gave up on the perfect omelette long ago. I really think it’s a patience thing. It starts out as a nice omelette and before I know what’s happening, and before I can control my spatula, it has turned into scrambled eggs – “messy eggs” I believe is the more chic term used in some brunch places. My sister-in-law, on the other hand must be a very patient gal. She can cook an absolutely perfect omelette.

So having abandoned ship on my omelette skills, I have explored lots of other egg options. I went through an egg casserole phase. I had a stratta phase (a little too bready and heavy for me). We did an “oeuf a la coq” phase. And also a frittata phase.

This particular frittata recipe I almost passed over because I somehow couldn’t imagine the flavors coming together. But something kept drawing me back to it. Well am I ever glad I gave it a whirl. The texture and melding of flavors was great AND I learned a new little technique that may just help me creep back into being a contender against my sister-in-law’s perfect omelette.

I started this one off by peeling two medium sweet potatoes and slicing them into pretty thin rounds.

I then heated some butter in a large skillet and sauteed the sweet potatoes until they were starting to brown nicely.

While these were sauteeing, I sliced up a medium zucchini – again in pretty thin rounds.

After the sweet potatoes were evenly browned, I added the zucchini to the pan, along with some chopped fresh basil, and continued sauteeing for about 4 more minutes.

Personally, I “paused” my recipe at this point because I was juggling soccer practices, water polo practices, and other crazy schedule challenges. I just left this waiting on the stove until all eating mouths had returned to the nest.

I then beat 8 eggs with a whisk – making sure to get as much air beat in as possible.

I brought the zucchini and sweet potatoes back to a warm temp and then poured the eggs over. I let things cook on low for about 10 minutes until it was well set. Only the top still looked a little goopy.

I heated up my broiler and then popped the whole skillet into the oven to finish off the top (my newfound omelette finishing trick).

I served this with a slice of cantaloupe and a green salad – a nice light meal.

The sweet potatoes really carried this dish and made it very dinner-like. The only thing I would change next time would be to make two frittatas instead of just one. It was devoured in no time and small people were asking for seconds. Luckily we had a copious dessert to follow.

For the complete recipe, click here.

This recipe adapted from The Paleo Diet Lifestyle