In the winter we probably have clam chowder every couple of weeks. Since John and I met in college in Massachusetts way back in 1968, New England clam chowder is the style we love. Some chowders that you buy are thick and gloppy but the one I make is much lighter depending on clam juice from bottles and clam juice from the cans of clams themselves and only a little cream for the broth. Here ‘s my recipe from a January post.
Sarah made her wonderful pasta and cabbage again for her Thursday night dinner. She last made it in January and it was met with rave reviews. Below is her recipe from The Takeout. She promised that she used less oil and butter! The crumbled cheese on top is feta.
In order to be economical and efficient I browned a pound of ground beef and made a beefy tomato sauce first. Then I took half of the sauce and packaged it up to be frozen for a pasta meal in the future. The other half of the sauce got mixed with a cup or so of cooked rice and stuffed into six bell pepper halves. I had previous microwaved the red bell pepper halves in the microwave for five minutes. I topped the stuffed peppers with some sharp cheddar large shreds and baked the stuffed peppers for 45 minutes at 350F. As you can see the cheese annoyingly never melted. The peppers were quite delicious and went well with a simple salad dressed with olive oil and vinegar.
This quick and easy dinner seems good enough for company. The sauce for the shrimp is bright and tangy due to a little lemon juice, white wine, parsley, and capers.
You can find the recipe on the earlier post of mine.
Look at that vibrant bowl of dinner! It makes me feel healthier just looking at it! It does involve some chopping but it is really simple to make. Here’s the recipe:
Chickpeas with ditalini and kale
Ingredients
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
2 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped
1 zucchini, chopped (optional)
1 medium onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 sprigs thyme (or herb of your choice)
2 cups vegetable broth
2 cups water
1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1 can petite diced tomatoes and chiles with liquid (like Rotel)
Parmesan rind (optional)
½ cup ditalini
Big handful of kale or any type greens
Salt and black pepper
Garnish with a drizzle of olive oil and parmesan cheese (optional)
In a large pot, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the carrots, celery, and onion. Cook until tender and the onion is translucent.
Add the garlic and herb then cook until the garlic is fragrant. Pour in the broth, water, and the can of spicy tomatoes with their liquid. Add optional parmesan rind.
Once the mixture is boiling, add the chickpeas and ditalini. Reduce to a simmer and cover with a lid. Simmer 10 minutes, or until the ditalini is tender. Uncover and stir in the greens and optional zucchini, letting them simmer until incorporated.
Your mixture will be quite stew-like. If you want the mixture to be more soupy, add some additional water. Season with salt and pepper. Garnish the bowls with a drizzle of olive oil and optional parmesan cheese..
This is such a simple meal to make. John does the grilling and I take care of the potato and broccoli. Before the potato can go on the grill I microwave it until it is almost cooked through. The grilling takes care of any not quite cooked parts. The broccoli is steamed with a little butter added at the end of cooking. The whole meal takes less than 30 minutes to make!
Thursday is officially Sarah’s night to cook. She defrosted the second half of the sauce she made last week and served it over medium pasta shells. It was delicious and we all indulged in an extra ounce of pasta.
Sometimes I do not feel like making and eating what I planned. In these cases it’s good to have back-up supplies. I had buffalo chicken wings in the freezer which appealed to me and left over tabbouleh and roasted golden beets from yesterday. Voila! A perfectly good easy dinner!
I was looking around through my past meals for a vegan/vegetarian meal that we had not eaten for a while. Since pita, hummus, and sides are usually something I make in the summer I knew it would be different from our usual winter fare. So I bought a container of hummus and a bag of pita and the ingredients for the beets and tabbouleh. The tabbouleh recipe I use is from NYTimes Cooking and is very parsley centric. The Times has graciously allowed for some recipes to be shared so here’s the link.
https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1012585-tabbouleh?smid=ck-recipe-iOS-share
We also found golden beets at the grocery store. I much prefer them over the red ones. Last night while I was making the chicken enchiladas in the oven I also roasted the beets. After they are tender you can wipe off the skin with a paper towel. I served them with a lemony vinaigrette and crumbled feta. (Omit or substitute a non-dairy cheese for a vegan dinner.)
August in February was a success! And we didn’t have to turn on the A/C!
Omnivore 