Steak, grilled potato, and asparagus. 9/16/22

Posted on September 17, 2022 by Beebamom
Grilled rib eye steak, grilled potato, and asparagus

Tonight we are finishing up our celebrations. Our final celebration is marking the anniversary of John’s retiring from full-time employment. We have enjoyed these years without the tedious commute and the office politics. Better that he be employed as my number one cook of all things meat, fish, or fowl! Tonight he is grilling a rib eye steak and finishing off the potato that I microwaved. I am also in charge of the asparagus which was on sale for $2.99/lb. That is an excellent price!

On Saturday we are returning to our healthy eating regimen. We both have a few (or more) pounds to lose. As much fun as it has been eating with abandon these last three days, I am looking forward to getting back to normal. When we plan our menu on Sunday I imagine we will include lots of seafood and vegetables.

Posted in American, Beef, Easy, Grilling, Special occasion, Vegetables | Tagged | Leave a comment

A fine dining dinner. 9/15/22

Posted on September 17, 2022 by Beebamom

Mostly John and I cook at home every night. But sometimes we splurge, go off our diets, and let someone else do the cooking. Since this is our 50th anniversary year, and John’s birthday, plus the anniversary of John’s retirement day, we decided to indulge ourselves in a fancy dinner at a restaurant that we enjoy. The following is the dinner they made for us.

A mezze plate for two, summer beans, duck rillette, fermented cabbage, salami, white anchovy, tomato jam, country pate, tomatoes, and potato chips
Hamachi, apple granita, chalaquita, sorrel, and tiger’s milk
Ajo blanco soup, scallops, cucumber, jalapeño, and aji salt
King salmon, cucumbers, sticky rice, sweet pepper purée, habanadas, and celery

Stemple Creek Ranch rib eye, beet mole, zucchini, shallot confit, chanterelles, and jus

“Queso helado”, coconut, cinnamon, coffee granita
Posted in Dining out, Special occasion | Leave a comment

Chilean sea bass, Vichy carrots, zucchini and onions. 9/14/22

Posted on September 16, 2022 by Beebamom

Roasted Chilean sea bass, Vichy carrots, zucchini and onions

This was John’s birthday dinner! He chose Chilean sea bass and we negotiated on the vegetables. He said he wanted two vegetable instead of a starch and a vegetable. After he decided that he wanted the zucchini, onions, and garlic that I make, I suggested Vichy carrots. The zucchini is simply sauteed with onions and garlic in olive oil. The Vichy carrots are started in a pan with water that comes half way up the sides of carrots, a half tablespoon of brown sugar, and a teaspoon of butter. As the carrots cook the water evaporates and then the butter and sugar make a glaze. If the water gets too low you just add some more until the carrots are cooked.

Along with the zucchini which came from our daughter’s garden we had three different herbs that I grow in pots on our patio. They were tarragon on the fish, thyme on the carrots, and basil on the zucchini.

Even though it was his birthday John cooked the fish. Better to have someone who knows what they are doing make the sea bass than me! Happy Birthday, John!

Posted in American, Fish, Methods, pescatarian, Special occasion, Vegetables | Tagged | 1 Comment

Light shrimp scampi with broccoli 9/13/22

Posted on September 14, 2022 by Beebamom
Light shrimp scampi with broccoli

This is a quick-cooking dinner that can be served with pasta, rice, or even polenta. Unlike a typical shrimp scampi with its tablespoons of butter and oil, this lighter version has a total of 1 teaspoon of olive oil per person and no butter. We ate this with 2 ounces each of Carba-Nada fettuccine and a lot of broccoli for a light and filling dinner.

Posted in Easy, Healthy tips, Italian, Pasta, Recipes, Shellfish, Vegetables, Weeknight dinners | Tagged | 1 Comment

Chickpeas with ditalini and greens. 9/12/22

Posted on September 13, 2022 by Beebamom
Chickpeas with ditalini and greens

I am so glad that it finally cooled off and we are able to make more Fall-like dinner dishes. Chickpeas with ditalini and greens is an easy and versatile entree. We always make extra because it is so good for lunches afterwards. You can use this combination of vegetables or something else you prefer. The recipe calls for thyme but we had basil on hand so we put that in instead. We used kale for our greens since that is what we had but mustard greens or spinach would work equally as well.

Here’s the recipe I used –

Posted in American, Easy, Legumes, Pasta, Recipes, stew, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian, Weeknight dinners | Tagged | 1 Comment

Salade Niçoise sans thon (tuna). 9/11/22

Posted on September 12, 2022 by Beebamom
Salad Niçoise without tuna

I have really been loving these Sunday salads. Since I wanted a lot of different components every time there was a commercial during the US Open I would get up and chop something up or blanch the broccoli etc. I ended up with salad greens of mixed kale, Romaine, and cabbage. On top I added olives, edamame, tomatoes, blanched broccoli, boiled potatoes, hard boiled eggs, mushrooms, and cabbage. So many vegetables that there was no room for tuna! The salad was dressed with olive oil and red wine vinegar and seasoned with salt and pepper.

It looks pretty in its composed state but to be honest I mixed it all together before I ate it! I liked getting a different bite each time.

Posted in American, Eggs, Hot weather meals, Methods, Salad, Vegetables, Vegetarian | Tagged , | 2 Comments

Weekly Menu. September 12 – 18, 2022

Posted on September 11, 2022 by Beebamom

It’s John’s birthday week! This means starting on Wednesday he will be the same age as me for the next three months! We are celebrating with a nice meal at home and then a trip up to Wine Country with an overnight on Thursday. Yay! I am really looking forward to it. Here’s the menu for the week coming up. We are supposed to be enjoying more seasonal temperatures over the next seven days.

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Spicy Thai basil eggplant with tofu. 9/10/22

Posted on September 11, 2022 by Beebamom

This is our favorite dish to order at Thai restaurants. Our efforts have not resulted in a comparable dish thus far. I think that since we only use two teaspoons of oil has a lot to do with it. We marinated the tofu in nuoc cham, a lime/fish sauce vinaigrette, and reserved some for steaming at the end of stir-frying. Since we used fish sauce I cannot call this vegan/vegetarian but I think if we switched to a lime/soy vinaigrette the dish would still be good. I used a spicy Thai chile in the marinade and also a fairly spicy pepper in the stir-fry as well as a red bell pepper. The tofu gets browned first followed by the eggplant, onion, and peppers. Then they were steamed briefly in the residual marinade and served over rice. Some of the basil was stirred in at the end and the rest was used as garnish.

Posted in Asian, Methods, pescatarian, rice, Thai, Vegetables | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Instant Pot Chana dal 9/9/22

Posted on September 10, 2022 by Beebamom

We made this Chana dal early Friday morning and released the steam outside again because it is still really hot. As it turns out it was 107F during the hottest part of the day so we were glad we did our cooking before the extreme heat alert for conserving energy between 4 PM and 9 PM kicked in. Tomorrow things are supposed to be more normal-ish weather-wise and we can go back to our regular cooking regime.

Chana dal is an Indian dish using dried split chickpeas, tomatoes, ginger, onions, and garlic. You can stir some greens in at the end but I usually layer mine with raw kale on the bottom followed by cauliflower or regular rice, then the Chana dal, and cilantro on top. Depending on how spicy I want it, I put a few squirts of sriracha on as well. Here is the recipe I use.

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Hummus and tabbouleh with pita 9/8/22

Posted on September 9, 2022 by Beebamom
Hummus and tabbouleh with pita

Thursday night’s dinner was another extreme hot weather enterprise. This no-cook dinner featured hummus bought from the local grocery store, whole grain pita, radishes, feta, pepperoncini, and tabbouleh which I made myself. My recipe is one that I adapted from a NYT recipe.

I admit that making the tabbouleh is quite a chore. As the family gave the dinner great accolades and asked that I make it again, I am thinking of trying the tabbouleh from a deli or restaurant that sells it and then merely doctoring it up. I see nothing wrong with taking a shortcut.

The weather people are saying today might only get to the upper 90s and should be the last day of the extreme heat. I certainly hope so! Our high temperatures typically only last for three days before the cooler Pacific air makes it way to the East Bay. Ten days of heat is unprecedented. I am hoping that we will be spared any more high temps this year but I have lived here long enough to not start hoping for the end of summer until October 1!

Posted in Grains, Hot weather meals, Legumes, Middle Eastern, Recipes, Vegan, Vegetables, Vegetarian, Weeknight dinners | Tagged , | Leave a comment