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Ethiopian dinner. 10/23/20
Yemisir Wot, atakilt wat, cauliflower rice
One of our favorite restaurants, Zeni’s, is out of our reach now so we decided to try our hands at making Ethiopian food. On the menu to night is Yemisir wot (spiced lentils) and atakilt wat (cabbage, carrots, and potatoes with spices.) usually these dishes are accompanied with injers or Ethiopian bread. Since I was not going to the attempt to make injera, we served our two dishes with riced cauliflower.
Our berbere, the most potent spice in the dish, is one that we get from Penzey’s. Our daughter warned us not to use what is the recommended amount in the recipe, 1/2 cup!!!! Instead we used 1 teaspoon and it was still too hot. We added sweet paprika to try to calm it down. I am not going to post a recipe because this dinner still needs work.
Shrimp fried rice. 10/22/20
Shrimp fried rice
To streamline this dish I cut up the vegetables in the order that they need to go into the pan and John cooks while I am chopping. After cutting each shrimp in three pieces and removing the tail John marinates the shrimp briefly. He uses sesame oil and soy sauce in the marinade. Vegetables in the stir fry are onion, garlic, ginger, mushrooms, broccoli, and carrots. I also make a quick omelet to put in towards the end of cooking when the cooked rice goes in. All the while John is tasting it and deciding if it needs more soy or sesame oil. When the cooking is done we take turns tasting the completed shrimp fried rice and suggesting what would be best to put in to balance the flavors. Tonight I suggested a little oyster sauce because it needed a touch of sweetness. We really enjoyed this quick, flavorful dinner. There were no leftovers!
Posted in Chinese, Easy, Eggs, Kitchen tips, rice, Shellfish, Vegetables
Tagged Shrimp. Rice
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Chicken enchiladas, rice, beans. 10/21/20
Chicken enchiladas, rice, and spicy beans
Tired of taco night? Of course not! But here is an easy Mexican change-up.
Tonight we made chicken enchiladas, tomato-y rice, and spicy black beans. To make things really easy I used precooked chicken breast strips that I shredded (a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store works well, too), bottled salsa verde, and canned black beans.
First I made a mixture of beans, frozen corn, canned tomatoes with chiles, onions, garlic powder, cumin, cilantro, salt, and sriracha. The bean mixture plus the shredded chicken, and 2 teaspoons of salsa verde go in softened corn tortillas. Roll up the tortillas and place them in a baking dish seam side down that already has some salsa verde in the bottom. Finish with more salsa verde on top. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes at 375F.
John had made rice earlier in the day. Since we will be using it for multiple dishes this week, he made a lot. I heated a portion of rice up with some riced cauliflower, tomatoes, and sriracha. The beans were already made.
This is a nice change from tacos and you can make it with a variety of proteins from tofu or beans to lamb or beef!
Chilean sea bass, rice, and snow peas. 10/20/20
Chilean sea bass with parsley tartar sauce, cauli-rice, snow peas
This is a very simple but delicious dinner. It is really the quality of the fish that makes the difference. We buy these individually frozen pieces of fish at Costco. We have never run into a bad piece or even a bone. John cooks them in the oven anywhere from 12 to 14 minutes depending on the thickness. They come out perfectly every time. Chilean sea bass is not cheap but it is worth the expenditure.
I made my rice and cauliflower rice combo, sauteed up some snow peas, and whipped together a tartar sauce that was heavy on the parsley but light on the mayonnaise. I use light mayonnaise but to stretch it even further I add some Greek yogurt to it. Tastes great and nobody knows. I am the diet magician in my kitchen.
Posted in American, Easy, Fish, Healthy tips, pescatarian, Vegetables
Tagged Sea bass
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Change in plans and updated menu. 10/19/20
After spending time carefully crafting my menu for this week, it all flew out the window when we decided to go up to Sonoma to pick up our wine shipment. The winery is now open for tastings al fresco with elaborate health and safety rules so we thought it would be safe enough for us to enjoy a tasting.
Wine notes for our tasting
The tasting was lovely and the weather was perfect. We finished up around 2:30 and needed to find something for lunch along the route home. We went through a drive-thru and got one hamburger and a plastic knife to cut it in half. I was not about to surrender my diet to a whole hamburger!
Needless to say, we did not feel like making an elaborate dinner. I declared it was every man or woman for theirselves. John settled on the last of the red lentils and rice and I made myself a pita with chicken, lettuce, and mustard. Our daughter had been baking while we were out for the day and we finished our dinners with a piece of pumpkin cake.
Chicken sandwich with pickles and pumpkin cake
Posted in Baking, Easy, leftovers
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BFD Mushroom omelet and Thai salad 10/18/20
First of all thanks to all my new viewers! Recently I have been averaging between 700 and 1000 views per day. Most of these are from India and Thailand. It is so exciting. So thanks!
Today is Breakfast For Dinner! John and I stand side by side at the stovetop making our omelets. I fill mine with sautéed mushrooms. With our omelets we have a Thai salad which is a combination of Romaine, tomatoes, cucumber, red bell pepper, and red onion all in a nuoc cham dressing. Breakfast For Dinner does not have to be boring!
In the foreground Thai salad and behind mushroom omelet with parsley garnish
Weekly Menu October 18 – October 25, 2020
This week’s menu is an international delight. I gave John the choice of an international or vegetarian menu this week and I think it was the chicken enchiladas that won him over. I am hoping to get this ambitious menu completed but I cannot guarantee what order the dinners will be this week. It kind of depends on when I get to the grocery store.
Posted in Uncategorized, Weekly menu
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LFD – Dal soup, hummus, and pita. 10/17/20
Leftovers For Dinner are on the menu tonight. I am taking the Afghani dal from Tuesday and adding some additional stock along with spinach and tomatoes and making a red lentil soup.
Red lentil soup with spinach and tomatoes
With the soup we are having hummus with pita and a salad of curly lettuce, olives, tomatoes and pepperoncini.
Hummus and pita with a salad of curly lettuce, tomatoes, olives, and pepperoncini
Leftovers do not have to be boring! When you are making your menu for the week prepare a little extra of one dinner and have it be your “planned-over” for Saturday or any night!
Posted in Easy, Kitchen tips, leftovers, Legumes, Middle Eastern, soup, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian
Tagged hummus, lentils
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Shrimp tostadas. 10/16/20
Shrimp tostada with spicy black beans and Mexican rice
We originally decided to have shrimp tacos because I had bought a mango that now felt ripe and did not want to waste it. When I made the salsa, though, the mango turned out to be not ripe but green and bitter and the jalapeño I used from the garden was also unripe and bitter. So scratch the tacos.
A tostada is a fried or toasted tortilla with whatever you like on top. Actually it is an open-faced taco. I decided I wanted to pile all my shrimp on one tortilla and then give it a squirt of sriracha. I fixed our cauliflower rice/rice mix and add some canned tomatoes with chiles, plus cumin, salt, and also some sriracha. It was a hit. The black beans are simply canned beans drained, some of the canned tomatoes with chiles, salt, and cumin. Even though we made this dinner up on the fly it was really enjoyable and fun to eat!
Posted in Easy, Kitchen tips, Legumes, Mexican, pescatarian, rice, Shellfish, Vegetables
Tagged shrimp
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Omnivore 