Tuna with rice and bok choy. 5/1/23

Posted on May 3, 2023 by Beebamom
Seared marinated tuna, mixed rices, baby bok choy with oyster sauce

John marinated our tuna steaks in soy sauce, garlic powder, grated ginger, sesame oil, chile flakes, and dry sherry for 2 hours. When it came time to cook them he heated up our lightly greased cast iron frying pan until very hot, applied some sesame seeds to the tuna steaks, and seared them for about 2 minutes a side. The length of time searing depends on the thickness of the tuna. You want the tuna red inside but not cold.

I microwaved a rice mix of red, brown, and wild rices and then added a similar volume of riced cauliflower. I served myself 3/4 cup.

I stopped at the Asian grocery store and picked up a 1 1/2 lb. bag of baby bok choy. After washing them thoroughly I cooked them with garlic plus a little water in a big, lightly oiled frying pan with a cover. They cook down quite a bit. I made a sauce of 3 1/2 tablespoons of oyster sauce, 2 tablespoons of rice wine vinegar, 1 tablespoon of soy sauce, and a pinch of sugar and ladled it over my warmed platter of cooked bok choy.

We originally bought these 2 frozen tuna steaks weighing a total of 11 ounces on sale for $4.99. They turned out really tasty and I am going to keep my eye out for future sales and stock up!

Posted in Asian, Fish, Healthy tips, Methods, pescatarian, Recipes, rice, Vegetables, Weeknight dinners | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Chicken piccata with mashed potatoes and broccoli. 5/1/23

Posted on May 1, 2023 by Beebamom
Chicken piccata with mashed potatoes and broccoli

Here is another use for rotisserie chicken. On Monday, our traditional chicken day, we made a piccata sauce for one of the breasts from our rotisserie chicken. Since we were merely reheating our chicken, we used the powder from a packet of chicken gravy to make a roux with butter and then added white wine, lemon juice, capers, and parsley to it and used the stock that I made earlier in the day to give volume to the sauce. After bringing it up to a boil and lowering the heat we gently warmed the meat.

Along with our tasty chicken piccata I made mashed potatoes which were so yummy with the sauce. Broccoli rounded out our surprisingly delicious dinner.

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Hummus with pita and Israeli salad. 4/30/23

Posted on May 1, 2023 by Beebamom
Caramelized onion hummus with whole wheat pita and Israeli salad

John and I opted out of eggs on Sunday for a different light dinner. The caramelized onion hummus was near its “best by” date and we needed to eat it. I think this was the first time I have had this version of the Sabra hummus and it was quite yummy. It went well with the whole wheat pita by Toufayan. Toufayan is my favorite brand of pita and I use it almost daily for lunch.

The Israeli salad is a combination of tomatoes, cucumber, parsley, mint, and red onion in a lemon vinaigrette. I got the recipe from A Cedar Spoon website https://www.acedarspoon.com/israeli-salad/. A few words to the wise about this recipe; it needs a lot of salt and benefits from some sort of hot sauce. Plus seed the cucumber and pre-salt it in a colander first so that you release some of its water. Otherwise the vinaigrette turns out bland and soupy after you put it on the tomato/cucumber mixture.

This was an enjoyable, easy dinner which will be especially good on hot summer nights.

Posted in Easy, Hot weather meals, Kitchen tips, Mediterranean, Middle Eastern, Recipes, Salad, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian, Weeknight dinners | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Weekly Menu. May 1-7, 2023

Posted on April 30, 2023 by Beebamom
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Grilling burgers. 4/29/23

Posted on April 30, 2023 by Beebamom

The weather took a quite warm turn this week so my simmering Dutch oven of meat sauce for my boiling pot of spaghetti got turned into burgers on the grill with salad and chips.

Grilled burger with red onion and ketchup, salt and pepper chips, and mixed green salad with Gorgonzola

As usual John did a perfect job grilling the hamburgers to medium rare. My job was easy. I dumped the chips in a bowl and augmented a pre-packaged salad with kale and cabbage plus some crumbled Gorgonzola cheese on top.

It is pleasant to sit outside as the day cools off with a glass of wine and watch as John does the grilling. The rest of the dinner waits inside buffet style. I could eat this every week.

Posted in American, Beef, Easy, Grilling, Hot weather meals, Salad, Vegetables, Weeknight dinners | Tagged | Leave a comment

Dining out. 4/28/23

Posted on April 29, 2023 by Beebamom

John and I went up to Wine Country on Friday. We stopped at our favorite winery, Imagery, and did a tasting.

White Burgundy is my favorite wine from Imagery

After our tasting we went out for a late lunch at Salt and Stone. It replaced Kenwood Restaurant where I got the recipe for the eponymous Kenwood Shrimp. We made that for dinner on April 13, 2023 and many times before. Unfortunately it is not on Salt and Stone’s menu.

John and I rarely eat out except on vacation so this was a treat. We figured a late lunch would count for lunch and dinner. We started out sharing a plate of crispy calamari with two dipping sauces.

Crispy Calamari with Jalapeno Peppers, Harissa Aioli, Brandied Caper Cocktail Sauce

I ordered a salad and John had one of their small plates.

Roasted Beet Salad with
Wild Arugula, Crème Fraiche, Chive Oil
Pork Belly with
Bánh Mi Veg, Vietnamese Fish Sauce Glaze, Sambal Aioli, Peanuts

It was a lovely day with a yummy lunch!

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Baked tilapia with mustard sauce, mixed rice, and broccoli. 4/27/23

Posted on April 28, 2023 by Beebamom
Baked tilapia with mustard sauce, farro and rice mix, and broccoli

Easy dinner tonight. John baked the tilapia in a 400F oven while I microwaved a container of already prepared rice for 90 seconds and steamed some broccoli. I am very impressed with this microwave rice. It is a combination of brown, wild, and red rices and it cooks up just fine in the microwave. John mixed his with some of our leftover farro and I mixed the rice with farro and riced cauliflower. I made a mustard sauce with three mustards, lemon juice, garlic and onion powders and water to thin it to a sauce consistency.

Posted in American, Easy, Fish, Methods, pescatarian, rice, Vegetables, Weeknight dinners | Tagged | 1 Comment

Tofu bowl. 4/26/23

Posted on April 27, 2023 by Beebamom
Marinated tofu over rice with jalapeños, green onions, cabbage, cucumber, edamame, avocado, cilantro and lime in a soy/ginger vinaigrette

We had a ripe avocado and that means “bowl time.” We make three versions of this bowl – shrimp, salmon, and tofu. Mostly this tofu bowl is just an assemblage of cut up ingredients over rice and dressed with a soy/ginger vinaigrette. Since I am pretty zippy with my knife and mandolin the prep goes quickly. The vinaigrette is made easily with my mini prep processor taking care of the ginger and garlic.

Here’s a link to the NYTimes recipe using salmon. Unfortunately it is behind a paywall. https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1022255-sesame-salmon-bowls?smid=ck-recipe-iOS-share If you do make it be sure to double the dressing. Everybody loves plenty of dressing!

Brightening my dining is a vase of flowers that I picked from my back patio.

Posted in Asian, Easy, Hot weather meals, Kitchen tips, Legumes, Recipes, rice, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian, Weeknight dinners | Tagged | Leave a comment

Scallops, potatoes, and broccoli 4/25/23

Posted on April 26, 2023 by Beebamom
Seared scallops, steamed new potatoes, broccoli, and tartar sauce

Our dinner tonight made a weeknight feel like a special occasion! I steamed the potatoes and when they were ready John seared the scallops and I sautéed the broccoli. I made a thin tartar sauce which I enjoyed with the scallops and the potatoes.

Scallops are my favorite protein. They are too expensive to serve often so they are really a treat. John cooked them wonderfully and the rest of the dinner was good too!

Posted in American, Easy, pescatarian, Shellfish, Special occasion, Vegetables, Weeknight dinners | Tagged | 1 Comment

Chicken enchiladas with salad

Posted on April 25, 2023 by Beebamom
Chicken enchiladas with salad

This is another dinner from the Costco rotisserie chicken that I bought on Friday. So far from one $4.99 chicken I have made a roast chicken dinner with gravy and sides, 2 quarts of chicken stock, these enchiladas with shredded breast meat, leftover enchiladas for lunch, and I still have a leg and thigh plus some shredded meat left! I am feeling pretty good about my economically savvy meals.

I also made spicy black beans as an accompaniment to the enchiladas but I opted for just salad. Definitely no one left the table hungry with chicken enchiladas, black beans, and a salad!

Posted in American, Easy, leftovers, Legumes, Mexican, Poultry, Salad, Southwest U.S., Vegetables, Weeknight dinners | Tagged , | Leave a comment