Tonight we finished off Saturday’s lasagna and added a fresh salad.
If it were practical we would eat this every week!
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Leftover Lasagna and Salad. 8/5/24
Posted in American, Beef, Italian, Leftovers For Dinner, Pasta, Salad, Vegetables, Weeknight dinners
Tagged pasta, Salad
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Nachos with Eggs. 8/4/24
I am finally returning to Breakfast for Dinner or BFD on Sundays. Nachos with eggs is one of my favorites. In the bottom of my bowl are tortilla chips then warmed black beans, corn, and kale. This is followed by a scrambled egg and salsa. Next up is shredded cheese and since we were out of green onions I used some fried onion bits. I popped the whole thing in the microwave until the cheese melted, probably about 45 seconds. Voila! An egg dish that was tasty and fun to eat!
Posted in American, Breakfast For Dinner (BFD), Easy, Eggs, Hot weather meals, Legumes, Methods, Vegetables, Vegetarian
Tagged Eggs, nachos
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Lasagna and Salad. 8/3/24
I know this is not a hot weather dish. But we did beat the heat by making the sauce and assembling the lasagna on Friday morning, then refrigerating it. We finished up by baking it at 7 AM on Saturday. Saturday evening we cut ourselves pieces and heated our portion up in the microwave. It was so, so good.
In order to stretch the lasagna into two meals (we love lasagna and could have eaten the whole 9×13 dish in one sitting), I made a big salad and reminded everyone that salad is a part of dinner!
Hummus and Chopped Salad 8/2/24
I prepared an easy vegetarian/vegan dinner for a hot evening. The hummus is simply one of Sabra’s varieties and the rice crackers are from Trader Joe’s. They are gluten free. After doing so much nothing as meal prep I decided to fancify my tossed salad by making it a chopped salad. Along with some small pieces of Romaine lettuce I chopped up celery, carrots, tomatoes, cauliflower, feta, scallions, and cucumber. I dressed mine with Bolthouse blue cheese dressing but vinaigrette would work as well.
For a vegan meal omit or replace salad dressing and feta.
Posted in Easy, Hot weather meals, Mediterranean, Salad, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian
Tagged hummus
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Thai Basil Eggplant with Tofu. 8/1/24
Happy August! Just think in a month and a half it will be autumn! Maybe the weather will cool down. I am not a summer person and I long for the days when I can make any sort of dinner I want, not just the ones that don’t heat up the kitchen.
One way to beat the kitchen heat is to dine out. John and I went out to lunch at a Thai restaurant on Thursday. We enjoyed our favorite dish, Thai basil eggplant with tofu. Whatever town or city we may be passing through we often check out the local Thai restaurant to try their version of this dish.
Since the portion size was plentiful I took half of my lunch home and ate it for dinner. Doing this made our dining out more economical and I did not have to heat up the kitchen cooking! (John ate leftover chicken enchiladas from Monday.)
Posted in Asian, Dining out, Hot weather meals, Leftovers For Dinner, rice, Thai, Vegetables, Vegetarian
Tagged Eggplant, tofu
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Braised Chickpeas with Zucchini and Pesto. 7/31/24
Our daughter, Sarah, was the chef on Wednesday. She chose a recipe from Smitten Kitchen which is linked below. We are always looking for new vegetarian recipes and this dish fit the bill. Sarah’s rendition added kale and she stirred the ricotta in which gave the sauce a cream-like look and texture. It was really tasty and I recommend trying it.
Posted in American, Legumes, Recipes, stew, Vegetables, Vegetarian
Tagged chickpeas, pesto, ricotta, zucchini
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Special dinner at Michelin 1 star restaurant, Cyrus. 7/27/24
Cyrus is a 1 Star Michelin restaurant in Geyserville, CA. The chef, Douglas Keane, and his partner, Nick Peyton, opened the original Cyrus in Healdsburg, CA in 2005 and closed it in 2012 after a lease dispute. We dined there many times and were sorry to see it close. It reopened in 2022 in their new location in Geyserville. Since we were coming through the area on our vacation we reserved two spots for the “Dining Journey” and had it paired with wine.
It is indeed a journey as you taste various bites in four different rooms. Although there are many bites very few are bigger than a single bite. Since I cannot remember which wine went with what here is the list of wines they gave us.
Now we moved on to the Kitchen Table where we met and talked with the chef along with the sommelier. There were eight dishes here. I think I missed taking a picture of one. The pace at the Kitchen Table was very fast. Since we also had the wine pairing we fell a little behind and were the last ones to finish.
The last bite at the Kitchen Table consists of A5 Wagyu, Meyer lemon kosher, and umeshu consommé. As I said we were a bit behind at this point and I did not get a picture.
Now we proceed to our own private table in the Dining Room. The pace slows down a little in here. We are able to chat with Nick Peyton a bit and John enjoys chatting with the sommelier. Here are the Dining Room dishes.
The last dish is popcorn, corn financier and yellow peach. I remember seeing something with popcorn but not how it tasted. John does not remember it at all. I don’t have a picture.
Then we are served some espresso and the line up of desserts. Like the canapés they represent the five tastes. We try a few bites but dessert is really not our thing.
Then we are accompanied into the Chocolate Room. They have a nice tribute on the chocolate waterfall and we are served some very delicious hot chocolate and presented with sobacha and golden sesame crunch bars with koji caramel.
John says it was a fantastic evening. And the wine pairings were brilliant. The dinner was an event in itself and not something you would do frequently.
I thought the food was spectacular and the atmosphere and service was friendly and efficient. I would have liked to spend a little longer with each dish. I am not a one big bite kind of eater. It was a really special dinner for our very special event.
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Chicken Enchiladas. 7/29/24
A nice surprise when we got home was that Sarah had gone to Costco and bought a rotisserie chicken. She had taken the chicken apart and shredded the breasts, kept the dark meat for her own dinners, and made stock out of the carcass along with the others we had frozen. In return I made 19 enchiladas that we all shared for Monday dinner.
Here is how we make enchiladas. Put a thin layer of salsa verde in the bottom of a 9X13 inch dish. Sear the tortillas over an open flame and lay in a line of salsa verde, chopped onions, shredded chicken, shredded cheese, and a little more salsa verde on top. Roll up the tortillas tightly and put them seam side in the baking dish. I managed to squeeze in 19 enchiladas.
Cover all the enchiladas with salsa verde, add any remaining onions you have, and shredded cheese. Bake at 350F for 35 minutes, uncovered. If you want some browning on the cheese, broil the dish for another 5 minutes.
Delicious!
Posted in American, Methods, Mexican, Poultry, Southwest U.S., Weeknight dinners
Tagged chicken
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Penne with tomato sauce and sausage. 7/28/24
We got home from our vacation Sunday afternoon. For dinner we needed something simple for which we had all the ingredients on hand. I made a pasta sauce with a large can of crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, minced garlic and chopped onions. There was also a bit of red wine splashed in. It seemed like it could use something else, though. Looking through the freezer I found a couple of hot Italian sausages which I defrosted in the microwave, cut up, and then let cook in the sauce. John cooked up the penne which we added to half of the sauce (the other half will probably appear later this week) and we had a simple but delicious dinner.
It is good to be home and making our own dinners.
Posted in American, Easy, Italian, Pasta, Pork, Vegetables, Weeknight dinners
Tagged pasta, Sausage
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Cooking on vacation. 7/21-22/2024
We have been driving up the coasts of Northern California, Oregon, and Washington and enjoying the cool weather near the Pacific Ocean. We have looked at numerous lighthouses and famous bridges. The scenery is fantastic but unfortunately the food is not. So we are very happy to have three days in a self-catering unit where we can cook.
The unit comes complete with a charcoal grill and it is lovely to be outside by the river and all the flowers.
We have one more night’s dinner so I think we will drive the 10 miles to the grocery store for some pasta, sauce, and red wine!
Omnivore 