Vegan Pasta Pantry Night. 9/16/18

Posted on September 17, 2018 by Beebamom

I think I will start with the picture first since if you are vegan, vegetarian, or an omnivore such as myself, you will love the looks of this dish!

Whole wheat linguine with garlic, tomatoes, olives, capers, parsley, and breadcrumbs

As you can see I make notes on the recipes I use. Some changes I made to this recipe is to slice up all the garlic and toast it in olive oil. Then I take the garlic slices out and save them for garnishing. In the meantime the oil that you are cooking the rest of the ingredients in is flavored with the garlic. I do not chop up the capers. Capers are small! Why make extra work? I use canned petite diced tomatoes and throw in some fresh if I have them. I loosen the sauce with some V8 and also use some reserved pasta water. Rather than using fresh breadcrumbs, I season and toast some panko breadcrumbs. John cooks the linguine and I make the sauce. It all takes less than one half hour. We make this at least once a month.

Most importantly find a recipe that looks good to you. Try it out and then make it your own by changing it to your own tastes and ease of preparation. Be sure to make notes because even if you feel that you will remember what you did, chances are you won’t.

Posted in Easy, Italian, Kitchen tips, Pasta, Recipes, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Weekly menu 9/17-23/2018

Posted on September 16, 2018 by Beebamom

Last week was not a great success with following the menu but I am not daunted! After a vegan dinner on Sunday, 9/16/18, we will be starting off with Chicken Monday tomorrow.  As an aside, yesterday our son told us that when they make chicken at their house they refer to it as Chicken Monday regardless of the day of the week. It made me smile.

7233173C-E34D-4658-B773-4A134DB4B041

There is nothing too exciting this week. I think I need to start actually following the menu before I get inventive.

Posted in Weekly menu | Leave a comment

Too busy celebrating to cook! 9/14/18

Posted on September 15, 2018 by Beebamom

We have been off celebrating John’s birthday so my well-planned menu has flown out the window. We ate out for dinner one night and then had no dinner the next due to a large lunch. After one more celebration with the family today things should get back to normal. Here’s a look at some of the dishes we’ve had.

We shared this delicious rabbit pate with pickled vegetables

I had herb and ricotta dumplings which John helped eat

He enjoyed duck confit

On a beautiful Friday we stopped at Stonestreet Winery in the Alexander Valley for some top notch Chardonnay tasting

I expect my menu will be filled with less caloric selections next week!

Posted in Dining out | Leave a comment

Waste not, want not. 9/12/18

Posted on September 13, 2018 by Beebamom

Tonight is supposed to be rotisserie chicken from the grocery store but we have leftover short ribs and I am not about to throw out tasty food. I think a lot of people give leftovers a bad name. Especially  when the food has been braised the taste quality improves over time. Plus John suggests we have noodles with our leftover beef and he never suggests noodles because he does not like the way they slip off your fork. So I am not about to turn his offer down.

Leftover braised short ribs with noodles and bean salad

On Thursday we are going to visit some friends for lunch and I am bringing Texas caviar (aka bean salad.) I decide to give it a little taste test tonight to make sure it is okay and complete our dinner.

Posted in American, Beef, Easy, Kitchen tips, leftovers, Pasta, Vegetables | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Vega/Vege Afghani dahl with spinach salad. 9/11/18

Posted on September 12, 2018 by Beebamom

Note: This simple dinner is vegan when omitting the yogurt and feta.

After our Sephardic extravaganza on Monday it is time to get back to something simpler. I cannot stress enough how delicious this Afghani preparation of lentils is. It is basically just red lentils with garlic, ginger, onion and some spices cooked for about 15 minutes in vegetable or chicken stock. I use this recipe from Afghan Culture Unveiled. I cut back on the ginger by about half because I feel a whole tablespoon really takes over and you cannot taste the lentils.

As a side dish I make my trusty tomatoes, cucumbers, and feta salad atop some spinach left over from Monday night. The combo of lentils and salad makes a nutrious super easy and tasty dinner.

Afghani dahl with spinach, cucumber and tomato salad

Posted in Easy, Legumes, Recipes, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

A Sephardic New Year’s Feast. 9/10/18

Posted on September 11, 2018 by Beebamom

Last year I discovered that for Rosh Hashanah there can be more than apples and honey. The Sephardic celebration has a whole array of symbolic foods. This year we try to combine them into a cohesive side to our main event which is Instant Pot braised boneless short ribs with vegetables and mashed potatoes. Our daughter also takes the traditional challah and makes personal-sized onion and poppy seed rolls.

Plate with symbolic foods and rolls

On the plate are butternut squash with pomegranate seeds, dates stuffed with goat cheese, the ubiquitous apple, pickled green beans with cannellini beans, spinach, and our interpretation of a ram’s head – hard boiled eggs made to look like heads. The rolls came out a little on the pale side but were delicious nonetheless. Here’s a look at the inside.

Interior of roll

If all these foods are not enough, John makes delicious boneless short ribs in the Instant Pot and I mash up some potatoes.

Boneless short ribs, mashed potatoes, carrots, butternut squash cubes with pomegranates, spinach and a onion and poppyseed roll

We have such fun telling jokes and making puns about the food. (This is apparently part of the tradition) and wish each other a happy and sweet new year!

Posted in Baking, Beef, Vegetables | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Weekly Menu. 9/10/18

Posted on September 10, 2018 by Beebamom

Here is the menu for this week which is hanging in my kitchen. We are doing a lot of celebrating this week!

Posted in Uncategorized | Leave a comment

Harissa Chicken Thighs with Shallots. 9/9/18

Posted on September 10, 2018 by Beebamom

We are having dinner mid-afternoon today since we are going to our son’s concert later. He is a beat boxer/bass in an a capella rock/funk band. We decide to try something new, a braised chicken dish with Mediterranean flavors.

The sauce on this includes harissa and cinnamon-a little too much cinnamon in my opinion.  After searing the chicken thighs, you braise them in the cinnamon, harissa and chicken stock broth, covered. This cooks the chicken through and also makes the skin which you previously crisped up, soggy.

Harissa chicken thighs with shallots

In addition to the soggy chicken we have couscous which is quite good with the sauce. Couscous goes better with with cinnamon. Plus I make a cucumber, tomato, cilantro and mint salad.

Posted in Mediterranean, Pasta, Poultry, Vegetables | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Cacio e Pepe. 9/8/17

Posted on September 9, 2018 by Beebamom

According to my planned menu I was supposed to be making spaghetti with breadcrumbs, olives, and capers yesterday but I am still feeling the jet lag and by dinner time I just wanted something even easier than my original plan. I have a block of pecorino Romano so I figure I will grate up some cheese, mix it with ground pepper, put the hot linguine in it and add a little pasta water and olive oil. Voila, dinner!

My cheese comes out a little clumpy but who does not like a clump of cheese?

Linguine cacio e pepe

Posted in Easy, Italian | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Burgers and Caprese salad. 9/7/18

Posted on September 8, 2018 by Beebamom

After being in the cooler climes of Scandinavia it is a shock to be back in the heat of California. Although the morning is cool (in the upper 50’s) by the afternoon it is 93F! A dinner that does not heat up the house is a good idea. So we fix burgers on the grill and a Caprese salad. My burger has onion google eyes!

Funny face hamburger

Since we have been away for three weeks our daughter is imploring us to eat up the tomatoes. I think she is a little tomato-ed out. Using some small mozzarella rounds, some basil from the backyard and a ripe tomato from her garden we enjoy a light Caprese salad with our grilled hamburgers.

Caprese salad

Posted in American, Beef, Grilling, Vegetables | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment