Tag Archives: Easy DinnerGazpacho is a Spanish soup that is tomato based with raw vegetables. Gazpacho is widely consumed throughout Spain as well as Portugal, where it is known as gaupacho. It is mostly consumed during the summer months when one is looking for a refreshing soup.
  Recipe: GazpachoSweet, smokey, fire roasted Piquillo Peppers are stuffed with tangy goat cheese, drizzled with olive oil, fresh garlic and lemon thyme. This dish makes a wonderful appetizer or a simple and light dinner when paired with a salad.
 I took this idea from Jacqueline and ran with it … I love tapas, the idea of sharing many dishes amongst people you enjoy, is just enticing. Laudalino is not as big as fan as I am, he says it is small portions, that are too expensive and it leaves his stomach and wallet empty. He is traveling this week so I figured this would make the perfect light dinner when paired with a simply dressed baby lettuce salad and a hearty glass of red wine….. it was! Recipe: Piquillo Peppers stuffed with Goat Cheese* adapted from Gourmet Ingredients Suite 101 1 jar of fire roasted piquillo peppers 4 oz. goat cheese 2 cloves garlic, microplaned fresh lemon thyme, lightly crushed in hands drizzle olive oil sea salt, to taste Preheat oven to 350. Stuff the peppers with the goat cheese, lay in an oven proof dish. Drizzle with olive oil and microplane garlic over the top. Bake until the olive oil is slightly bubbling and the cheese is warm and creamy, between 5 – 8 minutes. Do not over cook or the cheese will fall apart. Sprinkle with thyme and sea salt. Serve. Eat.
 When we were wandering through the farmer’s market and came across peppercress. I instantly thought it must be related to watercress, which we love as a salad or as an addition to a salad. All I could find on this new mystery green is that it is part of the mustard family. It is crispy, slightly peppery and very refreshing. I knew it would make a great addition to part of our weekly menu …. Every since we spent time in Sayulita we have been “authentic” taco eaters. Mind you it is not always easy to find a taco that is not smothered with cheese, guac and sour cream; folks, that is not an authentic taco. We love the way they make them in Mexico and have adopted the same practice at home: flavorful meat or a veggie filling, a slaw of some sort, salsa and pickled onions. A while back we made a black bean taco using this concept and it was fantastic; tonight we wanted fish. We seasoned some red snapper with ground cumin, salt and pepper and then pan grilled it until crispy on the outside but moist inside. We served the fish on warm tortillas which cradled a bed of peppercress. Originally when planning the fish tacos I was going to make them with a cabbage slaw, instead I thought, during the process, that the peppercress would be an interesting alternative, I was right. It was clean, spicy and gave a nice crisp bite to the delicate taste of the red snapper without overwhelming the fish. Since we were not following tradition, we tossed together an avocado and tomato salsa to serve on the tacos, the acidity rounded out the taco perfectly. Pass the margarita….. Recipe: Avocado and Tomato Salsa1 avocado, cut in chunks 1 heirloom tomato, cut in chunks 1/2 small red onion, minced 1 jalapeno, diced 1 garlic clove, minced cilantro, handful, minced 1 lime, squeezed kosher salt to taste fresh cracked pepper to taste Mix everything together in a bowl. Set aside to let the flavors come together for about 30 minutes before serving. Eat. Free Range Chicken Thighs are lightly seasoned with the basics (olive oil, sea salt and fresh pepper), then pan seared and finally baked with lemon, rosemary and black olives, to create a flavorful and easy dinner.
 They say most guys are “breast” guys, well, my guy is all about the legs and thighs! We quit eating white meat, awhile back, after having an incredible chicken dinner of legs and thighs. Legs and thighs are so much more flavorful, not to mention moister than the dried out breast. Guess what? Those thighs are not bad for you. We are all told white meat is better, dark meat is too fatty. It is true chicken thighs contain twice the amount of fat of a boneless, skinless breast but it is only 11 grams of fat per 4 ounce serving, which is less than the same size serving of beef. As well as being “okay” to eat they are also more economical. While I was pan searing these amazing little thighs the other night night, I was twittering with Nanette, of Gourmet Worrier, about olives. She was telling me about these amazing sounding stuffed olives. I was so intrigued, that my thighs set off the fire alarms at our house and this dish almost became the 3 alarm chicken, when the fire department showed up – oopss! (single readers, great way to meet a fireman, but I don’t recommend doing it too often or they might catch on) Lucky for me, I had a jar of black olives and after the fire department left, I decided to throw the olives along with some lemon and rosemary into the pan and bake the chicken. This dish was not the stuffed olives but it was amazing. it came out very moist, slightly salty and tart with a floral and slightly pungnet taste of rosemary; really a great dish not to mention very easy! Recipe: Chicken with Olivesserves 4 8 chicken thighs 3 tablespoons olive oil 1 medium shallot, thinly sliced 1 garlic clove, mashed 1 jar black olives, drained handful of fresh rosemary, lightly crushed (I just give a squeeze between my palms) 1 meyer lemon, quartered kosher salt, to taste fresh cracked black pepper, to taste Preheat oven to 425. Heat olive oil in a deep oven proof frying pan, add shallots and garlic, cook for about 3 – 5 minutes over low heat. Wash chicken thighs and pat dry, season with salt and pepper. Add legs to the frying pan and brown until golden on all sides, about 6 – 10 minutes total. Add olives, lemon and rosemary. Bake in the oven for about 35 – 40 minutes, until cooked through. Serve. Eat. A delightful dish of roasted Pork Tenderloin and fennel scented with Rosemary and served on a bed of baby Spinach. A wonderful Spring time dinner.
 The next couple of weeks our posts are going to be short and sweet as we have so much going on at work – it is actually very insane! We do still have to eat and have some very tasty and easy meals planned. Our first one includes “the other white meat”, Pork. Even though we love pork tenderloin, we never seem to make it that often. We really should as it is the leanest and healthiest of the pork cuts. As well it has less fat than chicken and twice the amount of iron. Not only is it good for us but you can do so many different things with it, from roasting or grilling or even stir frying. Tonight I made an easy dish of roasted fennel and pork tenderloin which was tossed with spinach. It was very light and very flavorful. If you love pork and fennel, this is a fantastic combination. Recipe: Pork Tenderloin with Fennel and Rosemary*Adapted from Donna Hay 1 fennel bulb, trimmed & roughly chopped 1 red onion, chopped 4 gloves garlic, minced 4 springs of rosemary 1 tablespoon olive oil, plus extra, for brushing 1 lb pork tenderloin sea salt fresh cracked black pepper baby spinach leaves, to serve Preheat oven to 400 (200 c). Place fennel, onion, garlic, rosemary and oil in a baking dish, toss to coat. Cook for 15 minutes. Brush the pork with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Heat a medium frying pan over high heat, add the pork and cook for 2 minutes each side or until browned. Place the pork in the baking dish on top of the fennel mixture and roast for a further 15 minutes or until the fennel is tender and the pork is cooked through. Slice pork and toss with the vegetables and baby spinach leaves to serve. Eat. Another simple Souffle, this time using Blue cheese. It not only is a lovely dinner but would be fantastic as a light lunch or brunch dish. French food does not have to be hard to make.
 You are not seeing things. There has been two souffle nights at our house. The first one was so good that I had it on my mind all day. Laudalino is out of town so I figured I would make some light and why not another souffle. This time it was blue cheese. Yesterday, I was hanging out with my favorite god-child and on our way home from a St. Paddy’s day celebration, she mentioned that we had to stop by the store for some black beans – she wanted black beans for lunch. I told her if there was parking by Bi-Rite we would stop. Our lucky day as there was parking right in front. Now, we had all intentions of picking up black beans and a head of lettuce. Once we got into the store, the soon to be “foodie” that she says she is, took over. We were soon in the cheese isle and her little eyes glistened as she proclaimed that we needed to have some “butter cheese” (otherwise known as blue cheese of any kind). She fondled the packages, turning them around, looking for the bluest ones. Then she turned around and said we needed a baguette, she gave them all a little squeeze and found the softest one. We were set …. a fantastic blue cheese, a soft baguette, black beans, lettuce and two pieces of the darkest chocolate they had at the counter. I knew the remainder of this blue cheese would be great either alone or in a souffle (that part was only a thought on my way home tonight). It was perfect served along side a lightly tossed green salad with an herbed dressing. Sorry Laudalino, I will make for you another time! Recipe: Blue Cheese Souffle* serves 2 20 grams of butter, plus a little extra, softened 17 grams of AP flour 125 ml milk 2 eggs, separated 60 grams blue cheese, the stinker the better sea salt cracked black pepper Preheat oven to 400 F. Brush 2 (1 cup capacity) ramekins or oven proof bowls with melted butter. Place on a baking tray and refrigerate for 15 minutes. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over low heat. Add flour and cook, stirring for 1 minute. Slowly add the milk, stirring continuously for 2 – 3 minutes or until thickened. Stir in the blue cheese, remove from the heat and whisk in the egg yolks and sea salt and pepper. Beat egg whites with electric mixer until firm peaks form. Gently fold through the cheese mixture. Fill the ramekins two-thirds full. Cook for 18 – 20 minutes or until puffed and golden. Serve immediately. Eat. How to add a twist to your traditional ground meat patty? By using ground turkey or chicken and adding a Thai spin to it with lemongrass, chilies, cilantro and mint and serving on a bed of noodles instead of the traditional bun.
 It was a long day, in fact it was a long week. We were beat tonight, so beat that we tossed around the idea of takeout, ie …pizza. All we knew on the way home from work was that we were hungry, really hungry and we needed some comfort food. For us comfort is not necessarily what one would consider comfort food, instead it is something GOOD and really bursting with flavor, preferably spicy. Tonight it had to be something quick and easy but, it had to be very flavorful. Where did I turn? Donna Hay! This recipe is Thai inspired and uses lemongrass, chillies, cilantro and mint as base for the seasonings. I did have to compromise as Bi-Rite did not have ground chicken (okay, now I am contemplating buying the meat grinder for the kitchen aid) and they said they could not grind it. So I used turkey which worked out perfectly. As well they did not have green beans so I used fresh snow peas. I also thought the rice noodles were a bit on the dry side so I tossed them with Sriracha Hot Chilli sauce and some of the hot water from cooking the noodles. This dish was exactly what we were wanting – easy, quick (under 30 minutes) and very flavorful; lemony turkey with a bit of a green spicy taste and very kick butt noodles! Next time I would like to try it with lamb and possibly a zest of lime. Recipe: Turkey Lemongrass Patties* adapted from Donna Hay Combine 1 lb ground turkey with chopped lemongrass, chopped green chilli, sea salt and cracked black pepper. Shape into patties and pan fry in a tablespoon of olive oil until cooked through. While cooking, prepare rice noodles according to package directions. While noodles are cooking I laid a strainer on top of the hot water and blanched snow peas. Drain and reserve about a 1/4 cup of water. Toss the noodles with 1 tablespoon of Sriracha Hot Chilli Sauce, some of the reserved water (add a tablespoon at a time), mint and cilantro leaves. Serve with a patty on top of the noodles and sprinkled with snow peas. Need a quick and easy dinner that is not boring? Here is a simple and flavorful pasta dish using easy ingredients: roasted capsicum (red peppers), fresh creamy ricotta and whole wheat pasta.
 Okay, forgive us …. we are on a Donna Hay kick again. Sorry, we just cannot quit, her recipes are simple, and so darn good!!! Tonight we made an easy pasta dish with roasted peppers and ricotta cheese. I love both of these items for a few reasons. Roasted peppers go well with pasta, on pizza, sliced over a bed of salt cod, or even in eggs. Ricotta you can add to pasta, onto a pizza or even eat as dessert with honey drizzled over the top! We usually have both items in the house and I guess, it can be called a “staple”. You will love this easy pasta dish … dinner in 25 minutes! Recipe: Roasted Capsicum (red peppers) & Ricotta Pasta*serves 2 200g whole wheat pasta 150 g roasted capsicum, roughly chopped 1/4 cup pine nuts, toasted 2 small cloves garlic, minced sea salt and cracked black pepper 2 tablespoons olive oil 100 g fresh ricotta 1/2 cup basil leaves (suppose to use mint but it went bad) Cook the pasta in a saucepan of salted, boiling water for 10 – 12 minutes or until al dente. Drain and return to the pan. Place the capsicum, garlic, salt, pepper and olive oil in a bowl and stir to combine. Add the pasta with the ricotta and basil and toss to combine. Garnish with pine nuts. Serve. Eat. |
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