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Tag Archives: Easy Dinner
 *photo courtesy of Bryan Alberstat Photography
Our friend Bryan was coming over for Sunday night dinner. I love Sunday night dinner and we have not done one in a very long time. When I planned this meal, I had hoped for a cold or at least crisp autumn evening, instead it was warm and somewhat balmy. Regardless it was still the perfect night for a little comfort food. As well is always fun to have an actual professional photographer roaming your kitchen while you are doing the cooking! Lenny was in charge of lights and Bryan worked his magic snapping away photos of our “Sunday dinner”.
This dish use to be my signature dish. Friends use to always ask me to make this for dinners. I actually cannot believe I have not shared it with all of you as we do eat it often enough. I like to start out by using a cage free and organic chicken as they always come out so plump and juicy, sometimes they are so plump, they could be a small turkey! After preparing the chicken I stuff it full of what I like to think of as heaven! There really is nothing like the smell of fresh rosemary from the garden after you pick it, the needles are slightly crushed and the scent against a balmy night takes one to the Mediterranean for a brief moment. Now combine that with ripe fragrant lemons and slightly sweet red onions and you have the perfect meal.
I am sure this dish will become your signature dish after you serve it to your family and friends.
Recipe: Lemon Rosemary Roasted Chicken
- 1 whole chicken 3 – 4 pounds
- 2 lemons, cut in half & then into quarters
- 1 small red onion, cut in half & then into quarters
- 4 sprigs of fresh rosemary or another herb of your choice
- Grape seed oil – it will not burn with high heat
Heat oven to 425. Remove any giblets, etc… from the chicken. Wash chicken inside and out. Pat dry. Lay the chicken in a roasting dish. Stuff the chicken with the lemons, red onions and rosemary. I grab a piece of lemon, onion, rosemary and stuff them in and alternate this process. Rub the chicken well with grape seed oil. Slide the chicken into the oven and let roast for 1 ½ hours – may be a little less or a little more depending on the size of your chicken. I test the meatiest part of the chicken let by slightly cutting into it, if there is any sign of blood, cook longer. Remove from the oven, let sit on the counter for 10 minutes. Serve. Eat.
*I usually save the bones and what little meat is left as well as the juices from the chicken and put it all into a zip lock bag and toss it into the freezer for a day when I will be making chicken stock. When I am making stock I add the contents to my stock pot.
Creamy feta, rustic parmesan and spinach is layered in between delicate pieces of whole wheat filo pastry, to make the easiest spanakopita ever.
Our friend, Nanette, posed a recipe for an “easy peasy” Spanakopita a couple weeks ago. Now, I trust Nanette, but could this really be “easy peasy”? Ever since reading her post I have been itching to make this recipe. I finally had time this weekend. I don’t like to copy a recipe exactly when I am going to post it so I made sure to add a few extras to this dish, like toasted pine nuts and some shallots. I was completely amazed at how easy this recipe was, I literally had dinner on the table in less than an hour and it is incredibly “easy peasy”!
Recipe: Nanette’s Spanakopita *please refer to Nanett’es post for step by step photo instructions.
1 package whole wheat filo pastry
3 tablespoons olive oil
250g fresh spinach leaves
4 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 small shallot, finely chopped
bunch of fresh dill, roughly chopped
170g feta, crumbled
142g grated parmesan
1 cup toasted pine nuts
3 organic eggs, beaten
172ml heavy cream
Preheat the oven to 400F. Grease a round baking dish with some olive oil and set aside. Heat olive oil in a pan and add the spinach, cook until wilted. I then took a pair of kitchen scissors and cut up. Lower heat, add garlic, shallots, and dill, cook over low heat for about 3 – 5 minutes. Allow to cool. Add the cheeses and the pinenuts. Season with kosher salt. Lay a couple of sheets of filo pastry on top of each other and then scatter a little of the spinach mixture. Scrunch the pastry up and place into your baking dish. Repeat until you have used all of your spinach mixture and the baking dish is full. Beat the cream and eggs together and gently pour the mixture the filo being sure to evenly cover the top. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown. Allow the pie to rest for 5-10 minutes. Serve. Eat.
Green lentils are slowly simmered with spicy Portuguese chorizo, leeks, carrots and celery to make a hearty autumn soup.
Zen (Zen Can Cook) and I were having a twitter converse the other evening about all things Basque, in particular, about him growing up in the region and I being of the Basque heritage. At the end of the conversation I was hungry for all things Basque in particular the comfort food of my youth.
My great grandmother came over to the states in the mid 1910′s from her native country the Vizcaya Spain region. I admire her for leaving her family, friends and country to seek new adventures at such a young age and being a woman on top of that - I am sure I get my sense of adventure from her or at least I like to *think so*. After being in the New York area for a bit she found herself in Northern Nevada at which time she fell in love, got married, had 8 kids and lived on a working ranch, yes, they herded sheep, just as they did in the old country, hence where my other love of eating lamb came from!
I have fond memories of her during my early days of youth. You see she passed away when I was 10, so I never really got to know “her”. I do remember going to her house, almost every afternoon, for coffee and cookies, the reason for my coffee addiction! I remember her praying and going to church and I would tag along sometimes. I loved the veils she wore over her pulled back gray hair and the mystery behind her going, the prayer beads and god. If she had lived longer, I probably would have continued going to church, with her, maybe I quit going because god took her from me at such a young age? I remember pots of “stuff” cooking on the stove, stuff that always smelled great and more times than not it tasted fantastic. I am sure if she lived longer, I would have loved to eat tripe at an early age, as now, I love it!
There are a few dishes that I remember eating often and one of them was lentils. I loved how small these little beans were and how the skin slipped off on the top of your tongue and what was left was a smooshy little bean. I use to be able to eat bowls of them. As well I loved all the garlic that was added to the pot and the smell of it slightly burning in the oil right before the lentils and broth was added. And I loved the spicy chorizo that was added to the mix. I have not made lentils in some time and usually when I make them now, it always ends up as something else, not soup. Thanks to Zen, I was provoked, to pull up some recipes that are tucked away in my memory and now I would like to share one with you.
Recipe: Chorizo and Lentil Soup
6 tablespoons olive oil
1 leek, finely sliced
2 celery stalks, sliced
3 carrots, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 chorizo, cut into slices *used Portuguese Chorizo as I cannot find Basque Chorizo in our area, we bring Portuguese chorizo from Boston, when we are out there
1 cup green lentils, cleaned and picked through
64 oz chicken stock
1 dry farmed tomato, left whole
Heat olive oil in a soup pot, add leek, celery and carrots. Cook over low heat for about 5 minutes, add the chorizo and cook for another 5 minutes. Add the garlic (I add the garlic at the end of sauteing as it is suppose to have added health benefits if not overcooked), lentils and stock. Cook over low heat for about 30 minutes, then toss in the tomato and continue cooking for about 15 minutes longer or until the lentils are tender. Serve. Eat.
Homemade semolina pasta with a simple fresh tomato sauce make an easy dinner that will please even the pickiest eaters.
A couple months ago Lori over at the Recipe Girl and I were tweeting about simple food that we sometimes forget about. The first one that came to mind for me, is a simple tomato sauce, that I use to make very often when I needed a quick meal after a long day. I have put that conversation and that recipe in the back of mind for an evening when we would need an easy dinner.
We have been traveling for the past three weeks (stop awwwing for us, it was all work) and have been locked in conference rooms where most of our meals have been dried out sandwiches or buffets of fried food and limp veggies. I have been dying to get back in the kitchen and even more so we have been dying for a good meal. I stopped by the market on my way home from work and picked up some Dirty Girl Dry Farmed Tomatoes, a baguette and a bottle of wine. Rest of the meal would be found in the pantry at home.
Some of you may be wondering what dry farmed tomatoes are? I discovered dry farmed tomatoes a couple years ago and have never looked back, in all honesty, I even look forward to these little gems more than their cousins the heirloom tomatoes. Dry farming is a waterless method of growing tomatoes which will only produce about 1/3 as many but the end result is a tomato that is dense and packed with flavor, not to mention the deep red color. As soon as I see the first ones in the markets, I am buying them all the time. At the close of the season, I purchase a big bag of them and freeze them whole. They are a wonderful addition to toss into a sauce, stew or soup.
Now back to dinner …… We got hooked on fresh pasta a couple months ago, after purchasing a pasta machine when we were in Montreal. We used it very often before it gave out on us after the 5 time of using. Finally upgraded last month and purchased the pasta attachments for the KitchenAid, love it! For this meal, I made a simple pasta dough out of some semolina flour, olive oil and organic eggs. While the dough was resting, I combined the tomatoes with lots of fresh garlic and a sprinkle of Maldon salt and then let it do it’s thing, while I rolled pasta. The attachments are so easy to use and you can have fresh pasta in less than an hour, I cannot believe we waited so long before purchasing!
Once the pasta was cooked (and fresh pasta only takes minutes) and drained, I tossed it with handfuls of fresh basil from the garden, a drizzle of olive oil, a generous grind of fresh black pepper and the fresh tomato sauce – Delicious!
Recipe: Homemade Fresh Tomato Sauce
1 lb fresh tomatoes, used dry farm tomatoes
4 cloves garlic, minced
maldon salt, sprinkle
olive oil, drizzle
basil, handful, sliced thinly
Roughly chop tomatoes and put into a bowl. Add the garlic, sprinkle with salt and let sit for at least 30 minutes, the longer the better. Gently heat before serving, only until heated through. Cook favorite pasta, drain, add basil, olive oil and tomatoes. Toss. Serve. Eat.
Stephanie of Dispensing Happiness is the hostess for this month’s Hay Hay its Donna Day and she picked a Polenta and Parmesan Chicken recipe. I have had this bookmarked for sometime, so I was very excited that Stephanie picked something savory for us.
 
I had all intentions of making this at the beginning of the week, when the spinach I had purchased was very fresh. By the time I got around to making it, it was Friday and we were in the middle of getting ready to head to Baltimore for a few days; the spinach had gone bad! Since the spinach was not good I used baby red butter lettuce with the fresh basil as well I added some vine ripe tomatoes we had laying around. I loved the breading of parmesan and polenta which we crusted some organic, cage-free chicken breasts with. I gently pan fried the breast in grape seed oil. Grape seed oil is great to use for frying or even quickly roasting chicken breasts, as it can handle high heat, which in turn gives the chicken a nice crispy crust and very moist flesh. We were commenting throughout the meal how plump and juicy these breasts were …. yum! Half way through the cooking process, I had this feeling I was not going to like this dish, I am not sure why, just this feeling. Pleasantly surprised when we sat down and took the first bite. The honey mustard based dressing really brought the greens and the crispy but moist chicken together, it was very flavorful. This is a wonderfully light and easy dinner to make, we had it on the table in 30 minutes. We don’t have kids but I imagine it would be very kid-friendly as well.
Stephanie, thank you for picking a great recipe and for being our hostess for this month’s HHDD! Be sure to check out Stephanie’s site for the round-up of HHDD # 28 entries, I am sure there will be some great dishes from some fantastic cooks!
Recipe: Parmesan and Polenta Chicken
2 cobs corn, husks and silks removed
olive oil for brushing
2 x 200g (7oz) chicken breasts
flour for dusting
2 eggs, lightly whisked
1/2 cup(100g/3 1/2 oz) polenta
1/3 cup finely grated parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
100g (3 1/2 oz) baby spinach leaves
1/2 basil leaves
grated parmesan cheese, extra to serve
dressing
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons honey
sea salt and cracked black pepper
To make the dressing, place the mustard, lemon juice, garlic, oil, honey, salt & pepper in a bowl & whisk to combine. Set aside. Preheat the oven to 220 C (425 F. Brush the corn with oil, place in a baking dish & roast for 25 minutes or until golden. Slice the kernels from the corn & set aside. Slice the chicken in half horizontally, dust with the flour, dip into the egg & press into the combined parmesan & polenta to coat. Heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan over medium heat & cook the chicken for 2-3 minutes each side or until golden & cooked through. Arrange the chicken, corn, spinach & basil on plates & spoon over the dressing & grated parmesan to serve. Serve. Eat.
This is an easy recipe for a classic Portuguese stew of sweet green peas, Portuguese chorizo and eggs.
Lenny (Laudalino, his Portuguese name) loves this dish, it is comfort food for him. While he was in Boston last week, his mother sent him home with a container full of traditional Portuguese chorizo. We have yet to find them out in the bay area, so this is always a welcome treat. He also loves sweet peas so I decided to surprise him with one of his favorite dishes for dinner.
Now keep in mind, I will NEVER be able to make Portuguese dishes as his mother does nor would I want to try to compete. *wink* I make these dishes purely by what is in my “memory taste-box”. Lenny said it was similar but that his mother does not use a wine base but rather water. I like using wine as I feel it gives it more flavor (shhh, don’t tell) as well I like the peas to be bright green and not over cooked (the result of growing up in the 70′s and eating overcooked veggies). Traditionally, or at least the way I have been served this dish, the eggs are fried, I prefer a slightly runny yolk so I lightly poach them with the peas during the last few minutes of cooking. It is similar to mom’s but not really, regardless it was delicious; think of it as a modern twist on a traditional recipe.
I like to serve a simple salad, a big loaf of crunchy bread and a glass of wine with this dish.
Recipe: Peas and Chorizo: Ervilhas Portuguesa
1/2 yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 portuguese chorizo, sliced into circles
16oz frozen sweet peas
white wine
olive oil, portuguese preferred
kosher salt, to taste
2 eggs
Saute onions in a drizzle of olive oil, over medium to low heat, until soft, about 5 minutes. Add chorizo and saute until cooked, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic, stir. Add peas and pour in about a cup of white wine, more or less, depending on how saucy you like the dish. Lower the heat and cook until warm, about 3 minutes, give a stir. Gently crack eggs on top of the peas and cover with a lid, cook until whites are cooked and yolks still runny, about 3 minutes. Serve. Eat.
Ga xe phay also known as Vietnamese cabbage and chicken salad is a great salad to make with leftover chicken, it is lightly seasoned with fresh herbs and a slightly spicy dressing.
We had a long weekend and were craving comfort food, something to cure all! For both of us that would be spicy food, but not greasy spicy food, rather healthy spicy food. I had the perfect meal in mind all day long …
Yuie of Lemonpi was twittering last week about a Vietnamese chicken salad she was making for dinner, it sounded fantastic, and I wanted the recipe! Imagine how excited I was when I got an email last week with the recipe! Y said that the recipe was originally from a Wendy Hutton (the Diva of Southeast Asian Cuisine) cookbook and that she changed it around to suit her cooking style. I took both the original as well as Y’s version and combined the two to make this fantastic salad. I used the leftover chicken breasts from the other night and let me say the chicken was still incredibly moist and slightly spicy, perfect for this salad. The salad is light and very refreshing as the base is made from crispy cabbage and an abundance of fresh herbs. Not only was there plenty for two of us for dinner but we also have enough for two lunches tomorrow, I love meals like that!
Recipe: Vietnamese Cabbage and Chicken Salad (ga xe phay)
2 chicken breasts, previously cooked, skin and fat removed, shredded
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 napa cabbage, thinly sliced
1/2 cup firmly packed mint leaves, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup firmly packed coriander leaves, coarsely chopped
1 small carrot, shredded
1 cucumber, halved, sliced thinly
Dressing:
4 tablespoons lime juice
2 tablespoons fish sauce
3 tablespoons caster sugar
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 large red chili, minced
Sprinkle salt over the onion, rub with your fingers, and set aside for 30 minutes. To prepare the dressing, combine all ingredients in a small bowl, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Set aside for the flavors to blend. Just before serving, put the cabbage, vegetables, and herbs in a large bowl. Rinse the salted onion under running water, then squeeze dry and add to the salad base. Add the chicken and dressing, tossing to combine well. Serve. Eat.
A light and refreshing Moroccan salad made with cucumbers, red peppers and slivers of red onion. Great as a meal on its own or with grilled chicken or fish.
I was introduced to this salad in a French Moroccan household, where it was eaten every Friday night for Sabbath. I loved how wonderful something could taste that was so simple. I have not made this salad in awhile but I had some cucumbers and red peppers begging me to do something with them and this simple salad came to mind, perfect for a hot city night, which it is tonight! As well I am trying desperately to drop 5 pounds by month end, this is the perfect meal for a little healthy diet. This salad can be changed up a bit by adding tomatoes and parsley, which would be a wonderful addition with the end of summer tomatoes out there.
Recipe: Moroccan Cucumber and Red Pepper Salad
1 cucumber, cut into small chunks *I don’t peel as I only use organic as well I don’t deseed, they are a nice addition
1/2 red pepper, cut into small chunks
1/4 red onion, sliced thinly
1/4 lemon, juiced
red vinegar, drizzle
olive oil, drizzle
kosher salad, to taste
fresh cracked black pepper, to taste
Combine cucumber, red pepper and onion in a mixing bowl. Drizzle vinegar, lemon juice and olive oil over the top and season to taste. If you want to add tomatoes and parsley add with the other veggies. Stir to mix. Serve. Eat.
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