Good restaurant choices. 5/6/18

Posted on May 7, 2018 by Beebamom

Dining out has its own set of challenges when it comes to eating sensibly. Whenever I am eating out I always look at the menu online first. It is at the time that I make dinner choices. It is so much easier knowing what you are going to order in advance and cuts way down on impulse ordering. Another way to keep things sane is to order from the appetizer section of the menu. The portions are smaller and are usually more interesting than the dinner portions.

Last night I chose to have two appetizers,  a spicy poke tower which was served with tortilla chips and mussels in a white wine and garlic sauce. The mussels were served with bread. I ate a couple of chips and the tuna and also all the mussels with the bread. I am not saying this was low calorie but it was a lot better than a lot of choices I could have made.

Mussels in a white wine garlic sauce (Photo from restaurant website)

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Vegan penne and asparagus with pine nuts. 5/5/18

Posted on May 6, 2018 by Beebamom

I have to congratulate myself on using up all the asparagus I bought at $2.47/lb. First we had it as a side with salmon and then again with the lamb kabobs. Last night it played a starring role in a very delicious vegan dinner of penne and asparagus with toasted pine nuts.

This is an easy, easy dinner. The whole thing can be prepared while the pasta is cooking to al dente. First I toasted some pine nuts in a dry frying pan and set them aside. Using the same pan I added some olive oil and sauteed a little onion, garlic, and pepper flakes. Then I added the pieces of asparagus except for the tips. The tips went in just before the penne was done. Next add the almost cooked pasta to the asparagus making sure you have a cup of reserved salted pasta water. (Be sure to add plenty of salt to your water before you put the penne in to cook!) Cook the penne and asparagus mixture over medium/high heat adding some of the pasta water and a little more oil until the penne is cooked and there is a  light sauce. Once plated add the toasted pine nuts, a drizzle of finishing olive oil, and some grated parmesan (if you are not eating this vegan.)

Penne and asparagus with pine nuts

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New recipe! Lamb kabobs. 5/4/18

Posted on May 5, 2018 by Beebamom

In keeping with my pledge to make some new recipes, here is one that we tried last night. It is a good idea but we need to work on it some more. We used the immersion circulator to cook the meat to to 130F and then put it on the grill to get some browning. Unfortunately it came out kind of medium well instead of medium rare. We are thinking of just cooking it on the grill without the pre-cook and threading a little bacon between the lamb to keep it moister. The tzatziki I made came out well and is just a mixture of plain yogurt, lemon, cucumber, garlic, and mint. We served our lamb kabob over brown rice with a side of asparagus.

Lamb kabob, tzatziki, brown rice and asparagus

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Instant Pot beef stew. 5/2/18

Posted on May 3, 2018 by Beebamom

This beef stew was good but not as good as the first one we made. I think it was because we added too much liquid forgetting the fact that the vegetables give off a bunch of liquid as they cook. We are going to have it as leftovers dinner tomorrow night and I think I will put more vegetables in and beef up the sauce that they are swimming in.

Ah well, they cannot all be winners!

Instant pot beef stew

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Last classic chicken dinner (for a while). 5/1/18

Posted on May 2, 2018 by Beebamom

As I said I am going to search for some new recipes to introduce into my rotation. Chicken is way overdue for a makeover. But for all times sake, we have one more chicken classic, that is, chicken breast sous vide, pressure cooked rutabagas, and broccoli. I put a little sear on the broccoli and we also made some chicken gravy.

Chicken breast with gravy, mashed rutabagas, and broccoli

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Swimming up stream. 4/30/18

Posted on May 1, 2018 by Beebamom

I posted our menu for the week. As you can see there are a lot of old favorites plus some Spring produce added to the same-old, same-old dishes. I am feeling like we are in a rut as far as our dinner choices are concerned. During this week John and I are going to be looking into some new dishes so we can debut one or two the following week. I proposed that we find a new chicken, fish/shellfish, and vegetarian dish. Hopefully they will be ones that we can put into the rotation.

This week’s menu

Last night’s dinner was somewhat of a departure from our usual fare. We were going to have classic chicken dinner but when we were at the grocery store we saw this steelhead (which I later learned was not salmon but trout) and since it was fresh fish we wanted to eat it right away. So chicken will have to wait for Tuesday.

With the fish I made cauliflower mash which was okay but don’t fool yourselves, it does not taste like mashed potatoes, and some local asparagus. The asparagus was $2.47 a pound which is definitely in the buyable range. John made a sauce with capers and lemon with butter which I thought was a little tart but he liked it. I think I am much more picky than he is. All in all it was a good dinner.

Steelhead trout with mashed cauliflower and chives plus asparagus

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Vegetarian/Vegan on the road. 4/29/18

Posted on April 30, 2018 by Beebamom

Finding good choices for lunch when you are traveling is always hard. On Sunday during our long trip home we stopped at Mojave Thai Cuisine. It is an unlikely restaurant in a desert town. We had our favorite Thai dish, spicy Thai basil with eggplant and tofu. Since I do not know all the ingredients, I cannot say for sure whether it is vegan or not but it is vegetarian and delicious! We stopped here once before on our travels and we asked for it spicy and it nearly blew our heads off. This time we asked for medium spicy and it was toned down just enough.

Look into ethnic restaurants on your road trips. Often their food is fresher and healthier than fast food burgers. Plus you will probably have some leftovers to take home with you for dinner!

Spicy Thai basil eggplant and tofu from Mojave Thai Cuisine

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Mediterranean fish soup. 4/27/18

Posted on April 28, 2018 by Beebamom

We are leaving Utah on Sunday so it is time for some eat down. We have not made this dinner for a while but when I saw half of a fennel bulb and part of a bell pepper in the fridge, Mediterrean fish soup was calling to me. We decided that frozen salmon and shrimp would be our seafood.

There is not really much to making this. You just chop a bunch of aromatics. Sauté them and then add some fish stock. We used a bottle of clam juice, some stock we made from the shrimp shells, white wine, and canned diced tomatoes with their juice. You also add the potatoes at this point and a bay leaf and some thyme and orange zest. Once the potatoes are ready you add the seafood and a half cup of Pernod. It only takes a couple of minutes for the fish to cook and the soup is done!

Mediterrean fish soup

If you are looking for an actual recipe, my soup is adapted from Rick Stein’s Mediterrean Fish Soup which you can find on the internet. His is more involved and uses a lot of fish to make the stock. I am sure his is more delicious and prettier than mine. However, I like to make mine quick and easy as well as tasty.

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Modern grilling-potatoes. 4/26/18

Posted on April 27, 2018 by Beebamom

With our steak that I talked about in my last post, we had grilled baked potatoes. This is super easy. Buy a good sized baking potato since you will be eating half and your partner or whomever will eat the other half. Cut the raw potato in half longitudinally. Score the cut side of each half. Rub a little olive oil on the face of each potato. Add salt, pepper, garlic or whatever else you would prefer. Herbs are not a great choice since they burn. Microwave until just about cooked. When whatever else you are grilling is almost done, put on the potatoes cut side down. Check frequently so they do not get burnt but a nice char is great.

Grilled baked potato

This works great with sweet potatoes too!

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Modern grilling-steak. 4/25/18

Posted on April 26, 2018 by Beebamom

To grill a perfect steak, you need a little equipment. Here is how we do it. First season the steak. Next vacuum seal it. Fill a tub with water and add an immersion circulator. Set the temperature to 125F (for medium rare). Put the steak in its bag into the water making sure it is totally submerged. We clip ours to one of the sides. Once the water comes up to temperature, let it stay in the bath for at least 1 1/2 hours but it can go longer if you need some extra time. When the time is almost up heat up your grill for 10 minutes (gas grill.)  Take the steak out of the bag and put in on the grill for two to two and a half minutes on each side. Result-perfectly cooked medium rare steak with nice grill marks on both sides.

Rib eye cap steak with grilled potato and spinach

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