đŸ„Ź Afghani dal. 3/14/20

Posted on March 14, 2020 by Beebamom

This dinner wasn’t even on the menu this week but we just did not feel like going to the fuss of scallops. Since we are stuck here at home due to social distancing (which you should take very seriously!) I did all the mise en place in the morning which made the actual cooking of dinner a breeze.

The red lentils used in this dish turn a bright yellow when cooked. The turmeric in the spice mixture helps the bright yellow along.  I topped mine with some Greek yogurt and cumin but you can leave that out if you want a vegan dish. The full recipe is here.

We had a Mediterrean type salad and pita with dinner. Along with lettuce and tomatoes I put some of my lunchtime chickpea spread in mine. John used feta, olives, and pepperoncini in his. We each had an apple for dessert.

Afghani dal with Mediterrean salad

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🐓 Grilled chicken thighs. 3/13/20

Posted on March 13, 2020 by Beebamom

Tonight we are making grilled chicken thighs, or rather John is making them. I am only responsible for vegetarian main dishes and vegetables in general. He is currently out on the patio hovering over the grill and keeping a watchful eye on the chicken so he can slather on the BBQ sauce at the right moment. Put it on too soon and your chicken will be a charred mess.

I am here in the kitchen waiting for the go-ahead to reheat the rutabagas left over from our comfort food dinner and make a new batch of broccoli. Easy-peasey for me tonight!

Grilled chicken thighs with rutabagas and broccoli

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đŸ„Ź Spaghetti alla puttanesca 3/12/20

Posted on March 12, 2020 by Beebamom

Spaghetti alla puttanesca or spaghetti in the style of the prostitute is from the Campania region of Italy. The biggest city in the region is Naples, home to pizza, and a place which we were planning to visit towards the end of our trip. The Campania region is at the front of the ankle on Italy’s boot.

Spaghetti alla puttanesca is salty and spicy  (maybe that is where the name came from?) and very quick and easy to make. The sauce is basically a can of tomatoes, olive oil, garlic, olives, capers, and red pepper flakes. You can make the sauce in the time it takes to boil the water and cook the spaghetti. We finished ours with good olive oil and grated Parmesan cheese. (Omit cheese for vegan recipe) Mangia!

Spaghetti alla puttanesca

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đŸ„Ź Shredded tofu with mushrooms and edamame. 3/11/20

Posted on March 11, 2020 by Beebamom

New recipe! We try a new recipe by Melissa Clark that I found on the NYTimes cooking site. The firm tofu is drained and pressed and then shredded on a box grater. It gets mixed with some sautéed mushrooms, onions, garlic, ginger, a hot chile, and edamame. The sauce that you mix in at the end of cooking consists of soy sauce, dry sherry, lime juice, and sesame oil. We garnish our plates with chopped peanuts, cilantro, and sesame seeds. It is not much of a looker and next time we will make more sauce and add a bit of sweetness to the sauce but there will be a next time for this dinner!

Shredded tofu with seared mushrooms and edamame

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🐓 Chicken enchiladas. 3/10/20

Posted on March 10, 2020 by Beebamom

Have some chicken left over from that too-good-to-pass-up deal on rotisserie chicken at Costco? A quick and easy dinner to make is chicken enchiladas. I made a mixture of onions and garlic (sautéed first), pulled chicken, corn, and black beans with some Herdez salsa verde and cumin for the stuffing. John put 6 corn tortillas sprayed with olive oil in the oven to soften them up. I then rolled my mixture into the tortillas covered them with some more salsa verde and baked them for about 20 minutes. John put some feta on his and I guess you could put some melting cheese inside the enchilada as well. Easy! Tasty!

So far in this week of “no travel” we have visited the Puglia region of Italy and Mexico through their cuisines. No doubt there are other places we can pretend to go while we wait out this contagion.

Chicken enchiladas and small salad

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đŸ„Ź Orecchiette with broccolini. 3/9/20

Posted on March 9, 2020 by Beebamom

Orecchiette with broccolini is the first of our lament dinners to Italy and our trip which should have started on 3/10/20. Being in the higher risk pool for the coronavirus John and I are spending a lot of time sitting around the house and walking around the block instead of looking at the great art of Italy and eating its fabulous foods.

This dish comes from the region of Puglia which is on the east coast of Italy. Food is very much a regional affair in Italy. What you might eat in Puglia is not what you would eat in Tuscany. Usually this pasta is made with broccoli rabe which is much more bitter than broccolini so I found our dinner a little sweet. But it is pasta! It ranks high in my book regardless.

Orecchiette (little ears) with broccolini

This is super simple to make. Blanch the broccolini in the boiling pasta water and then give it a dunk in ice water. Put the pasta in to cook. While that is going on, sauté the garlic and bell pepper. Then add the broccolini and warm it through. Save some pasta water before you drain the orecchiette. Pour the pasta into the veg, add some pasta water and olive oil, and you are done. Garnish with finishing oil and a little parmesan if you like.

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😃 Weekly Menu. March 8-14, 2020

Posted on March 8, 2020 by Beebamom

This week I am featuring three pasta dishes because we were supposed to be leaving on Tuesday for three weeks in Italy. Our plan was to start in Milan and work southwest from there going to Parma, Cremona, Modena and Bologna. Oh, the food we were going to eat! We were also stopping in Bari to celebrate our daughter’s birthday and then over to Naples  for the real deal pizza. Then we would end up in Rome with its wonderful churches and ancient ruins, not to mention some pretty fabulous cacio e pepe. But the coronavirus has upended our plans and we can only hope that someday we might be able to go again. Sigh.

Here are eight dinners we will be picking seven of to eat. I hope you will be cooking for your family or just for yourself this week.



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đŸ€ Shrimp and Grits with Asparagus 3/7/20

Posted on March 7, 2020 by Beebamom

I looked back through my posts and found that we had not made shrimp and grits since 2016. I guess somehow it fell out of favor. It was delicious with the perfectly seared shrimp (by John) and creamy polenta (also by John) working exceptionally well together. My contribution was asparagus, the first of the season for us. When you have not eaten asparagus for months and months it tastes especially good!

Shrimp and grits with asparagus

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đŸ„Ź Grilled portobello mushroom and cole slaw. 3/6/20

Posted on March 6, 2020 by Beebamom

We had temperatures as high as 80F this week so it made us think of grilling something for dinner. John marinated the mushrooms in balsamic vinegar, lemon, oil, garlic powder, and fresh rosemary and then cooked them on a hot grill. He toasted the buns as well. I was busy in the kitchen in the meantime sautĂ©ing some onions and making a celery seed cole slaw. Easy dinner that reminded us that it’s almost spring and summer is not far behind.

Grilled portobello mushroom with onions and tomatoes on a grilled bun with cole slaw

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🐟 Sea bass with chickpea purĂ©e and parsley sauce. 3/5/20

Posted on March 5, 2020 by Beebamom

Let’s see…for this dinner we used a food processor, immersion blender, a pot, a pan, and a roasting tray. What a lot of equipment! It is a very wonderful thing that John likes to do the dishes!

We got some Chilean sea bass at Whole Foods. John took care of it—taking off the skin, pulling out random bones, marinating, and cooking it to the right temperature. It was very delicious. For my part, I made the chickpea purĂ©e for under the fish, and a parsley sauce for on top. I also sautĂ©ed some zucchini with onions and garlic.  Dinner was really good but we need to find a simpler preparation!

Roasted Chilean sea bass with chickpea purée and parsley sauce served with zucchini

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