Omnivore

January 17, 2016 – Shrimp on succotash with new potatoes

Posted on January 17, 2016 by Beebamom

Shrimp on succotash with new potatoes

I thought I was going to make green beans with the shrimp but the beans did not make the trip in the cooler to Utah well. So what to do? I have some fresh broccolini and celery as well as corn in the freezer. Succotash? I don’t like succotash because usually it has lima beans in it. I find their texture mealy. I decide to cut off part of the broccolini stems and combine that with celery, onions and garlic along with the corn. Success!

I steam the potatoes and John sautes the shrimp. The dinner takes about 1/2 hour to make. The sweetness of the corn goes well with the shrimp. The potatoes pop with a little butter, salt, and parsley. This is a good dinner and quick and easy to make.

Posted in Shellfish | Tagged broccolini, corn, new potatoes, potatoes, Shellfish, shrimp, succotash | Leave a comment

January 12, 2016 – North African Bean Stew with Barley and Winter Squash

Posted on January 12, 2016 by Beebamom

North African bean stew with barley and winter squash

New recipe tonight! From New York Times Cooking a North African bean stew with barley and winter squash. This was a really tasty and filling vegetarian dish. We made up a new (to us) spice blend called baharat. Two thumbs up from John so we will be making this again!

The barley gives an unexpected chew and pop. The yogurt topping with hot paprika and cilantro was a good cool/hot element. Use vegetable stock to make this vegetarian. Vegans can enjoy this by using vegetable stock and omitting or substituting the yogurt.

Posted in Vegan, Vegetarian | Tagged Baharat, barley, butternut squash, lentils, North African, Vegan, vegetarian | Leave a comment

January 9, 2016 – Scallops

Posted on January 9, 2016 by Beebamom

Scallops, new potatoes, and snow peas

Seared scallops are always a favorite. How can any food so delicious be also low in calories!? It is something that the diet gods must have overlooked. Tonight’s scallops are served with steamed new potatoes and sautéed snow peas. The yummy sauce in the foreground is The Fish Market’s (SF area) delicious tartar sauce. It’s a combination of light mayo, rasped onion, garlic powder, yellow mustard, sweet relish, and Tabasco sauce. It is especially delicious on the potatoes!

Posted in Shellfish | Tagged Fish Market tartar sauce, new potatoes, scallops, snow peas, tartar sauce | Leave a comment

January 3, 2016 – Faux-ttuccine

Posted on January 3, 2016 by Beebamom

In my continuing efforts to rid myself of this cold, today I continue my bombardment of vegetables. This soup is 2 ounces of fettuccine plus carrots, celery, green onions, and cabbage cut in the shape of fettuccine. It’s all swimming in a homemade vegetable stock and finished with some parsley and a drizzle of olive oil. I served this to myself with a glass of V8. This cold doesn’t stand a chance!

Faux-ttuccine

Posted in Vegan, Vegetarian | Tagged cabbage, fettuccine, Vegan, vegetarian | Leave a comment

January 2, 2016 – Cold Cure Soup

Posted on January 3, 2016 by Beebamom

I saw this recipe in my Facebook feed so John thought he would give it a try to improve my cold.

NY Times Cold Cure Soup

It turned out tasty and fragrant. He added green onions, chicken pieces, and orzo. Here’s a link to the Recipe.

A day later I still have my cold but at least it hasn’t gotten worse.

Posted in Poultry | Leave a comment

December 31, 2015 – Sous vide salmon

Posted on January 2, 2016 by Beebamom

For Christmas I bought John an Anova sous vide machine, the portable kind. Our first attempt was pretty much a success.

Salmon in its sous vide jacuzzi

In the picture above the salmon with some olive oil and seasonings is sealed in a heavy duty ziplock bag, the air has been pressed out, and the bag is clipped to the side away from the circulator to make sure it does not float. We set the temperature for 122F. The machine brought the temperature of the water up quickly. It reached 122F faster than I expected. From articles I have read, I think we should have left the fish in the water a little longer. It won’t cook more but I feel the fish would have retained its heat a little better. However it was uniformly cooked and very tasty.

I served the salmon with a dill yogurt sauce, steamed new potatoes and spinach.

Sous vide salmon with dill-yogurt sauce, steamed potatoes, and spinach.

Posted in Fish | Tagged salmon, sous vide | Leave a comment

December 30, 2015 – Ribolitta

Posted on January 1, 2016 by Beebamom

Ribolitta (vegetarian Tuscan vegetable soup)

Some old friends came over to lunch. Their daughter who is a vegetarian was attrnding as well. Hmmm, what to make? I settled on ribolitta, a hearty Tuscan vegetable soup, which I normally would have made with pancetta and chicken broth. Instead I made a vegetable stock and gave the soup base a more umami taste and feel by adding a Parmesan rind while it was simmering. The result? A delicious, healthy vegetable soup with real depth of flavor.

I served the soup with garlic toast and a Caesar salad (no anchovies or Worcestershire) garnished with homemade croutons. We finished off the luncheon with rum cake.

It was all very tasty and a huge success even with the meat eaters.

Note: For a vegan rendition omit the Parmesan rind

Posted in Vegan, Vegetarian | Tagged Ribolitta, Tuscan vegetable soup, vegetarian soup | Leave a comment

October 21, 2015 – Lamb chops with brussels sprouts and new potatoes

Posted on October 21, 2015 by Beebamom

Lamb chops with new potatoes and brussels sprouts

Tonight we have a homey kind of dinner and, since Sarah loves lamb, we all eat together! John marinates the lamb and cooks it on the grill. I steam the new potatoes and make the sprouts. I add some of the leftover parsley sauce from the cod a few nights ago. The dinner is pretty straightforward and tasty.

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged brussels sprouts, grilling lamb, lamb chops, new potatoes | Leave a comment

October 20, 2015 – Whole wheat spaghetti with ground turkey and mushroom sauce

Posted on October 20, 2015 by Beebamom

Spaghetti with ground turkey and mushroom sauce

Tonight’s challenge is to change ground turkey into something that tastes like a meaty sauce. The answer is mushrooms. After browning the ground turkey (and by browning I mean making the turkey white instead of pink), I saute mushrooms which I have chopped in the food processor until they are about the same size as the meat pieces. It’s important to get the mushrooms dry during this step. Add onions, garlic, tomato paste, chile flakes, and spices and deglaze the pan with some white wine. Then put in the tomatoes and spaghetti sauce (mea culpa I didn’t totally make the sauce) and simmer for a while. Along the way season each step with salt and pepper. At the end adjust the seasoning with soy sauce for a boost in umami flavor .

I make a big pot of this and refrigerator/freeze half for another dinner. No, it doesn’t taste like a ground beef sauce but it’s pretty good and gets high marks from the tasters.

Posted in Poultry | Tagged ground turkey, mushrooms, whole wheat pasta | Leave a comment

October 19, 2015 – Salmon with new potatoes and snow peas

Posted on October 19, 2015 by Beebamom

Salmon with new potatoes and snow peas

We buy some frozen sockeye salmon and sort through the uneven portions in the bag. We decide that John will have the larger ones and I will have the smaller ones. I make the tartar sauce that the Fish Market has. (I have gotten this recipe from one of the cooks at the restaurant.) Next I steam some new potatoes, and string and quickly saute the snow peas. In the meantime John cooks the salmon mostly on the skin side with a quick flip on the other side at the end. The whole dinner takes less than a half an hour to make.

As a person who loves vegetables the most, I have to say that I really, really enjoy the snow peas and the potatoes. This is probably because I put the tartar sauce on them as well. John is not totally pleased with the quality of the salmon. But I think the most important thing is that we are eating almost all of our meals at home which gives a chance to control what goes in them. Plus, it’s fun and we enjoy the cooking and being with each other.

Oh, we also have a fancy wine for our dinner night. It is a Chateau St. Jean 2012 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir. It goes really well with our salmon dinner.

Chateau St. Jean 2012 Russian River Valley Pinot Noir

Posted in Fish | Tagged new potatoes, pinot noir, salmon, snow peas, tartar sauce | Leave a comment