Meat night. 6/25/18

As I mentioned earlier in the week, one night a week is now dedicated to red meat and the other six are either poultry, vegetarian, or pescatarian.  I think John was really looking forward to this night!

John grilled up some loin lamb chops and I made cauliflower mash and green beans. I cooked the cauliflower in the Instant Pot to cut down on heating up the kitchen and once it was done I sauteed the beans in the same rinsed out pot – not too many dishes to wash!

Grilled loin lamb chops, cauliflower mash, and green beans

Posted in American, Grilling, Kitchen tips, Lamb, Vegetables | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Dining Out: Khyber Pass Afghani Restaurant. 6/24/18

According to my menu we were supposed to be having lamb chops last night. However, our son called and asked if he could drop by and the four of us ended up going out to lunch at the Khyber Pass Afghani Restaurant. It was a large lunch so we pushed lamb chops to Monday.

Both John and I ordered Dal Challow (lentils with basmati rice) and it was superb! I have never had such a flavorful lentil dish. I will no doubt being looking up recipes for this dal to make at home. They also provided for the table hummus, flat bread, and a cucumber salad.

Although the dal challow does not look like much it really packs in a lot of flavor and is vegetarian and very filling. Middle Eastern and Asian restaurants are often the best places to go for really tasty vegetarian/vegan food.

Afghani dal challow

Our son ordered a filet of lamb with rice and tomato.

Filet of lamb with rice and tomato

Our daughter ordered quabili pallow (lamb shank with rice, carrots and raisins.)

Quabili pallow

Posted in Dining out, Healthy tips, Lamb, Legumes, rice, Vegetables, Vegetarian | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Shrimp tacos, Mexican slaw, and beans. 6/23/18

What a good dinner tonight! Even though we did not use the grill to cook the shrimp and tortillas tonight because it was blazing hot out, everything was super good. We really enjoyed my concoction, Mexican slaw. I added the juice from a can of Rotel to some sour cream and a little bit of mayo along with cumin and chipotle powder. I had bought a pack of shredded cabbage to serve along with the other taco condiments so I had plenty left over for the slaw. Great, easy dinner!

Shrimp tacos with Mexican slaws and spiced black beans

Posted in Legumes, pescatarian, Shellfish, Vegetables | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Recipe: Farro with cannellini beans and Lacinato kale. 6/22/18

Here is a recipe that can be omnivorous, vegetarian, or vegan. It’s a mishmash of ideas from a few other recipes including Mark Bittman’s Tuscan Farro Soup form The NY Times Cooking site. I used my Instant Pot to make the farro. It’s a good way to keep the kitchen from getting hot.

Recipe after the picture:

Farro with Cannellini Beans and Lacinato Kale

Farro Stew with Cannellini Beans and Lacinato Kale
Serves 4+

Ingredients

1 cup farro, cooked in 2 cups water, 1/2 t salt, and 4 thyme sprigs
4 oz. pancetta diced (optional)
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
6 cloves garlic, minced
1 can cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
1 can diced tomatoes with juice
2-3 cups chicken or vegetable stock
1 bunch Lacinato kale, chopped
Freshly grated Parmesan (optional) and olive oil as garnish

Instructions

Prepare farro. (I used instant pot, pressure cooking for ten minutes with natural cool down for 10 minutes and then steam release.)

Put 1 T olive oil in a large pan or pot over medium heat. Cook pancetta (if using) until not raw and then add onion, carrots, celery, and salt and pepper to taste. Cook until vegetables begin to soften and onion is translucent. Add garlic and cook another minute or two until fragrant. Add farro, cannellini, tomatoes, and stock. Let simmer 25 minutes until flavors are well blended. Add more stock if needed to get the consistency you would like. Add the kale submerging it in the stew. Cook another 5 minutes or until the kale is wilted.

Taste and adjust seasoning. Ladle into bowls and top dress with good olive oil and parmesan (if using.)

Posted in Grains, Italian, Kitchen tips, Legumes, Recipes, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Classic chicken dinner. 6/21/18

Following my menu plan for the week, we defrost a chicken breast and set up the immersion circulator to cook the breast to 152F. Now we have plenty of time (around 2 hours) to get the rest of the dinner ready. I pressure cook the rutabagas in the Instant Pot for around 10 minutes. I think I’ll try 15 minutes next time. A rutabaga is one tough vegetable. I sauté some broccoli with onions and carrots and John whips up chicken gravy from a packet and adds the chicken drippings.

After all the crazy eating of the past weeks, it is good to come home to something sane.

Chicken breast with gravy, rutabagas and broccoli

Posted in American, Poultry, Vegetables | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

New Leaf beginning 6/21/18

For the last few months John and I have been eating anything that strikes our fancy-fried stuff, red meats, carbohydrates galore. It is time to stop and get back to eating in a healthy manner. Luckily we have been cooking all along and now just have to switch gears a little.

We have decided that each week our dinners should be comprised of two vegetarian meals, two poultry meals, two fish/shellfish meals, and one red meat meal. Breakfast and lunch have never been a problem. We also need to cut down on the snacks before dinner. Eating dinner a bit earlier should take care of that. We also have never had an eating-after-dinner problem.

Here is our menu for next week-

Menu 6/21-27/18

Posted in Healthy tips | Leave a comment

Chinese take-out. 6/20/18

We spent the day driving home so decided to just get some Chinese take-out. After three weeks in Utah moo shu pork and Mongolian beef definitely count as comfort food.

Moo shu pork

Mongolian beef (extra spicy!)

Posted in take-out | Tagged | Leave a comment

Dining out: Eggplant Parmesan. 6/19/18

Last night we were on the road coming home from Utah. We stopped for the night in Bakersfield, CA, a large-ish agricultural town in Southern California. We had dinner at Macaroni Grill. Our server spent the hour or so we were there in their mostly empty restaurant trying to hurry us along. Could she put our order in yet? Look at the dessert menu when we were only part way through our dinner. Could she clear our plates? It was pretty annoying. I asked her if she got a bonus for getting people out of the restaurant fast.

Anyway, we both got eggplant Parmesan with angel hair pasta and it was very good. I do not make eggplant Parmesan at home because it is super messy to make. Having it out is a real treat. I forgot to take a picture but it looked something like this internet picture –

Eggplant Parmesan (thanks to BigOven)

Posted in Dining out, Italian, Pasta, Vegetables, Vegetarian | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Two fancy-ish dinners in a row. 6/16 & 17/18

The last two dinners with our visiting family had some pretty high-end ingredients-dry packed scallops and prime ribeye cap steaks. Since we were serving children as well as our son, we made them in a not haute cuisine way. Tater tots were a prominent ingredient and some food was fried. The kids really like to eat sweets so these dinners fell mostly on deaf palates. I gave them macaroni and cheese again on scallop night. On our farewell dinner night they avoided the meat but did try the roasted broccoflower which they said was good. At some point they will want to try new things!

Fried scallops, tater tots, collard greens and corn

Rib eye cap steak, tater tots, roasted broccoflower

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

Beef overload. 6/14 & 15/18

We have been eating way more beef than usual since the family is visiting. Thursday and Friday were no exception. Thursday we ate at a nice restaurant nearby. The whole event was almost derailed since one of our grandsons has a peanut allergy and at first it seemed like he would not be able to eat anything kid-friendly on the menu. After some serious discussion with the waitstaff and cook it seemed that there were no dishes containing peanuts and no peanut oil is used. Crisis averted!

I ordered steak following Utah rules. In other words don’t order anything in a Utah restaurant with an elaborate preparation. Kill cow, cook cow, eat cow is our mantra. Along with the dead cow I also got a dead baked potato cooked some time in the last decade and a few limp “seasonal” vegetables.

NY strip steak with old potato and seasonal vegetables

On Friday we cooked at home and had our son’s favorite, meatballs with gravy over noodles and green beans. The kids did not like it. It is hard to find something that everyone likes. Tomorrow the three adults are having fried scallops and the kids are having macaroni and cheese. Divide and conquer!

Meatballs and gravy over noodles with green beans

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