Hi, I am back from a week’s vacation up the West Coast to Vancouver, BC to celebrate our 51st anniversary. John did a super job driving and we enjoyed ourselves immensely. From a food point of view the best thing we had was the tasting menu at Maenam, a Thai restaurant where we have been celebrating the past few years. Delicious!
We are big taco fans at our house. We make them mostly with shrimp or fish but occasionally with beef too. Quick cooking shrimp uses minimal stove time which is good on a hot night. Along with the tacos I made a slaw that had a spicy avocado sauce and mayo dressing. The beans were my usual combination of black beans and Rotel seasoned with salt and cumin. I heated them up in the microwave.
On Friday it was hot here, probably close to 100F. Tomorrow is supposed to be hotter so there is very little actual cooking going on. Nonetheless we were able to make a dinner that we all enjoyed.
My Greek salad started with a layer of assorted lettuces and herbs (fresh oregano and mint), then there was a layer of cherry tomatoes, cucumber, red onion, bell pepper, feta, pepperoncini, and olives. This was all dressed simply with olive oil and vinegar. In the center I put a scoop of hummus with jalapeños and served whole wheat pita on the side.
I put all the components out like a buffet and each of us fashioned our own salads. I find doing it this way makes everyone happy. When dinner was over there was not a scrap left.
Here is another hot weather dinner with minimal cooking. I took about 4 ounces of turkey sausage and microwaved it for two minutes. Then I split it in half length-wise and put it in two buns that I toasted in my toaster oven. I topped it with my favorite hot dog condiments, yellow mustard, relish, and onions.
For the sauerkraut I used this recipe, https://www.loavesanddishes.net/how-to-cook-canned-sauerkraut/#recipe, to improve the flavor of canned sauerkraut. I cooked it in a pan on the stove but I probably could have made it in the microwave as well.
A handful of chips completed our easy dinner. Everyone enjoyed it!
As it turned out the weather was not as hot as expected so we went ahead and made chicken piccata. John pounded the chicken breast and dredged it in seasoned Wondra flour. He pan fried the two pieces in a bit of olive oil. He removed the chicken from the pan and made the sauce from the pan fond, white wine, lemon juice, butter, and capers. After letting the sauce cook for a couple of minutes he put the chicken back in the sauce to warm it through.
We made the rice in the morning so it only needed to be heated up in the microwave. I used a half cup of riced vegetables and a quarter of a cup rice on my plate. I simply steamed the broccoli while the sauce was being made.
The chicken piccata turned out probably the best we have ever made it. The tart, salty sauce went great with the chicken, rice, and broccoli. We were really happy with the results.
Here’s another good choice on a hot day, a Niçoise salad. Traditionally made with canned or jarred tuna we cooked up a couple of pieces of salmon. To keep it cooler stick with the tuna or make your protein chickpeas or tofu!
I boiled up the potatoes and eggs in the morning so with the exception of John quickly cooking the salmon on the stovetop, all that was needed at dinner time was some assembly. I used a Romaine mix as a base and laid the fish in the center surrounded by the potatoes, hard boiled eggs, edamame instead of green beans, cherry tomatoes, red onions, olives, pickles, and pepperoncini. The whole salad is dressed with olive oil and vinegar plus plenty of salt and pepper.
The rest of this week should be pretty toasty so I will have to think up some more hot weather entrees!
What a delicious dinner!
I made the stuffed peppers in the morning to avoid turning on the oven in the hotter part of the day. First I microwaved 4 halved pepper shells until they were par-cooked. Then I sautéed just 4 ounces of ground beef with onions and garlic. (We froze a recent pack of ground beef in 4 ounce sizes. I realized that a small amount of ground beef is enough in lots of dishes!) Then I made a spaghetti sauce from whole canned tomatoes, onion, garlic, tomato paste, oregano, chile flakes, and red wine. Finally I mixed some of the sauce with the meat and a small pack of microwaveable brown and wild rice and stuffed the peppers. The completed dish baked in the oven for 30 minutes at 350F.
Now I had my dinner mostly ready to be popped in the microwave at dinner time. When it was time to eat John cooked the pasta in fairly shallow water and I used the 10 minutes of cooking time to reheat the peppers and extra sauce.
We were really happy with our dinner. It was so yummy!
I am always looking for something new to have as my Sunday “Breakfast for Dinner” or BFD. We had some shells leftover from our graduation party so I decided breakfast tacos would make a fine dinner.
I love the stand and stuff shells from Old El Paso with their squared off bottoms. You put them in the microwave for about 10 seconds for two and they come out warm, still crispy, and pliable. The box says that 2 are 130 calories which is a lot less than I was thinking they would be.
Along with a couple of eggs I scrambled a veggie patty that I had cut into small dice and a slice of ultra thin cheddar plus salt. I piled the egg mixture into the two taco shells added some halved cherry tomatoes and a drizzle of spicy avocado sauce.
No boring Sunday supper for me! I enjoyed my concoction and can see it appearing frequently on my BFD Sundays!
This week is starting out cool, then spiking into the 90s for a day, followed by seasonal temperatures in the 80s, and then ending in a blaze of heat for the weekend. So I am trying to roll with the temperatures, keeping the food and kitchen cool on the hot days and just my typical fare on the other days.
After already eating a lot of legumes this week, we decided to change the menu on Saturday from lentils and turkey sausage to tuna cakes and salad. Plus changing to tuna cakes allowed us to use up the last of our mashed potatoes and tartar sauce.
Back in the early 1990s we used to watch a PBS cooking show called Cucina Amore with Nick Stellino. One episode had him making tuna cakes using leftover mashed potatoes. I made it a couple of times back then but not since. When trying to figure out what to do with the leftover mashed potatoes that old recipe popped into my brain.
I have included the “sort of“ recipe I have. For the six tuna cakes we made we had more mashed potatoes (at least a cup) and less tuna (1-7 ounce can.) We also used some shredded Mexican blend cheese that was on hand instead of Parmesan and basil instead of parsley. Our tuna cakes were probably a little more potato-y but that was fine. The recipe is pretty forgiving.
Omnivore 