National Shrimp Day (U.S.) – Shrimp tacos – 5/10/17

Posted on May 11, 2017 by Beebamom

I did not know that May 10th was National Shrimp Day here in the U.S. when I planned to make shrimp tacos. Just a lucky happenstance, I guess. (BTW May 10th is also a National Day for receptionists, third shift workers, school nurses, biking to work, lipids, and cleaning up your room. Apparently naming stuff National fill-in-the-blank Day is what Congress spends its time doing.)

Shrimp tacos and spicy black beans

John marinated and cooked the shrimp and I prepared the condiments and beans. I got a mango and peach salsa which went really well with the shrimp and I also made a crema from non-fat yogurt, cumin, and salt. The soft tortillas are corn. The beans were spiced up with some fire roasted Rotel tomatoes and jalapeños and adorned with sliced green onions and cilantro.

Happy National Shrimp Day!

 

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Meatless Tuesday – Enhanced penne with asparagus – 5/9/17

Posted on May 10, 2017 by Beebamom

I know I need to branch out from my incessant use of asparagus and penne for my meatless meal, But I love it! I tried to jazz it up a bit by adding shallots, lemon zest, garlic, and almonds plus a raw topping of chopped parsley, oregano, and more almonds.  Oh, and a squeeze of the aforementioned lemon. You’ll see a bit of butter hiding atop my portion so if you are going the vegan route stick with olive oil. Don’t forget to reserve some pasta water to create your sauce!

Penne with asparagus, lemon, and almonds

 

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Chicken Monday – 5/8/17

Posted on May 8, 2017 by Beebamom

Over the weekend we were on the road traveling home from Utah. So we ate out (I had eggplant Parmesan) and just got some take-out when we got home on Sunday. Now it is back to cooking.

Chicken breast with rutabagas and broccoli

As you can see this was a same-old same-old dinner.  John just wanted the comfort of nothing exotic today. He used the sous vide method to cook the chicken and I took care of the vegetables.

We went food shopping after working on a menu for the week. We got a Boston butt (on sale for .99/lb.!)so there may be some exciting pork dish later in the week!

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Farro and chickpea salad with grilled chicken – 5/3/17

Posted on May 4, 2017 by Beebamom

Dinner tonight was driven by the fact that I had a lot of leftover, too sweet farro. Yesterday I made a new recipe that called for farro cooked in apple cider. It was not a hit. So my goal was to use up some of the farro and find some way to mask its sweetness.IMG_5001

I added a bunch of fish sauce and vegetables and chickpeas but it did not quite do the trick. Then I tried vinegar and oil – still too sweet. Final attempt was several shakes of Tabasco, chopped cilantro, and cumin. Success! I served this along side a puckery cucumber, tomato, and onion salad. John grilled some chicken thighs and we had an acceptable dinner.

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New recipe! – Farro with roasted squash, feta, and mint – 5/2/17

Posted on May 3, 2017 by Beebamom

I tried a new recipe from New York Times Cooking, Farro with roasted squash, feta, and mint. My initial reaction is meh. The farro is cooked in apple cider and the roasted squash is roasted with sugar, oil, cayenne, cinnamon, and salt. So the whole thing is too sweet for my taste. Even the addition of feta and arugula did not do enough to tone down the sweet. I have lots of leftovers and I need to figure out a way to change the flavor profile. Most of the folks commenting on the New York Times Cooking site seemed pretty much to love it so I am definitely in the minority. You can find the recipe here.

Farro with roasted squash, feta, and mint

I used acorn squash unpeeled and sliced into rings and I cooked the farro according to America’s Test Kitchen oven method rather than boiling it as the recipe suggested. I served it a little warmer than room temperature on a bed of arugula with the mint and feta on top and dressed the dish with a light vinaigrette. For a vegan rendition omit the feta cheese.

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Quick chickpea lunch – 5/2/17

Posted on May 2, 2017 by Beebamom

I am making a new recipe tonight and wanted something quick and easy for lunch. Since I stopped at the grocery store for some ingredients for tonight’s dish, I picked up some pitas and stuffed them with chickpeas and salad.

Chickpea pitas

After lightly toasting the pitas I stuffed them with chickpeas, tomatoes, pepperoncini, arugula, and feta. I dressed the sandwich with a light vinaigrette.

 

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Penne with meat and mushroom sauce – 5/1/17

Posted on May 1, 2017 by Beebamom

Here it is the last of the ground beef from the freezer. This incarnation has it as an ingredient in a spaghetti sauce. As usual if you want to make the dish vegetarian omit the ground beef. It is just as good with lots of sautéed mushrooms.

Penne with meat and mushroom sauce

With all the doctoring I did to my jar of spaghetti sauce (I sautéed onions, ground beef, mushrooms, garlic, and tomato paste plus oregano and chili flakes) I might as well as have made the sauce entirely from scratch.

Also, this is too much for me to eat. There are leftovers in the refrigerator for John to eat on another night.

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Vegetarian Texas caviar in Utah and a have-it-your-way burger – 4/30/17

Posted on May 1, 2017 by Beebamom

As I mentioned we have a lot of hunks of meat in the freezer here in Utah that need to be eaten. That being said I love almost anything that has ground beef in it. So, yum, to the burger that John cooked and yay for the Texas caviar that I made with a little prep assistance from John. (Seriously though, you could make this vegetarian/vegan by substituting a non-meat burger or portobello mushroom.)

Texas caviar is a dish that was first made in Texas and served at the Houston Country Club around 1940. The name was given ironically due to the expensive nature of caviar and the humble nature of black-eyed peas.

Burger with Texas caviar

Texas caviar is usually made with black-eyed peas but since I didn’t have those I went with black beans. Other ingredients include chopped tomatoes, carrots, celery, green onions, bell pepper, and jalapeño. Corn, onions, cilantro, and garlic are also included. The dressing includes oil, vinegar, lime juice, Tabasco, chili powder, and cumin. Mix it all together and add salt to taste. The longer it sits around the better it is. I like to eat it at room temperature.

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Easy cooking – Michael Angelo eggplant Parmesan – 4/29/17

Posted on April 30, 2017 by Beebamom

We are opting for an easy heat and serve dinner tonight. This Michael Angelo eggplant Parmesan has been hanging out in the freezer for too long so it is time to heat it up and eat it. In some world it serves six but not in ours. I probably have two portions and John has four. It takes about 15 – 20 minutes in the microwave to cook through from frozen. Along with a salad this is a tasty vegetarian meal and a lot less mess than when I make eggplant Parmesan myself!

IMG_4975Eggplant Parmesan and salad

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Lamb chops in Utah – 4/28/17

Posted on April 29, 2017 by Beebamom

Once we got to Utah, we looked in the freezer. I feel like we need to eat what we have.  Most of the proteins lend themselves to the hunk of meat, vegetable, starch kind of dinner. Ergo, lamb chops, couscous, and broccoli.

Lamb chops, couscous, and broccoli

John expertly cooked the lamb chops on the grill. They were very filling so I gave most of my second chop to him. I augmented the couscous with some vegetables, and steamed the broccoli.

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