Month: June 2011

Beg, Borrow and Meal

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If this succulent roasted chicken was half eaten at the end of your meal, you’d take it home and cook with it, wouldn’t you? No shame in this game!

Half Roasted Chicken @ Los Gatos Brewing Co

It’s perfect as shredded chicken for salad, tacos, burritos, soup, etc. I made chicken salad with shredded carrots, orange zest and olive oil.

Also on the menu? Couscous cakes using leftover couscous and a recipe from Everyday Food. Basically, you mix the leftover couscous with an egg, any herbs you like, and fry them in oil on each side until crispy. Dipping sauce is a must!

Making it Work: Turnips

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5 meals, one main ingredient: turnips, from Farm Fresh to You. Most of the heavy lifting took place Sunday night. Here’s how it went down:

Sunday: made a half portion of Risotto with Turnips and Bacon while cooking remaining pack of bacon in the oven; simultaneously made Peas and Turnips with Bacon and Dill Butter (minus the dill); experimented with soup made from turnip greens (no good)

Monday: made turkey meatballs with fresh squeezed orange juice, breadcrumbs and egg; served with peas side dish

Tuesday: had peas side dish for lunch; BLTs for dinner with leftover bacon

Thursday: made spinach fettuccine to go with leftover meatballs and homemade cream sauce – half a stick of butter, one giant spoonful of risotto, parmesan cheese and lowfat milk all cooked to a simmer in a saucepan.

Who knew turnips could be such an adventure?!

The Beans Knees

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I’m not the first person to tell you that beans are magical for all their health benefits. But did you ever think of them as a sauce or condiment?

Recently, I made a healthy pasta dish using cannellini beans to add flavor, coating, texture and to help fill me up. Ingredients were pretty simple, but totally satisfying: lean chicken breasts, fresh spinach, rice vermicelli and those pearly white (beans).

Same concept below, this time when I was in need of a home-cooked meal without having a lot of groceries in the fridge. Enter black beans, rice, frozen corn and those same lovely lean chicken breasts that hang out in the freezer. Blend ’em all together and you have a satiating beans-and-rice dish minus the lard. I sprinkled the chicken breasts with a little chili powder to add flavor, but the black beans added the rich “sauce.”

My Week in Food: Kauai Edition

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Saturday: Anniversary dinner at Tidepools at the Grand Hyatt in Poipu, Kauai – last time I ate there it was to celebrate my 21st birthday! Sweet Corn and Crab Meat Soup

Crab Meat & Sweet Corn Soup @ Tidepools

Grilled Hawaiian Opah with Potato Croquette, Crab-Stuffed Shrimp

Grilled Hawaiian Opah @ Tidepools

Banana Peanut Butter Parfait

Banana Peanut Butter Parfait @ Tidepools

Sunday: cocktails and sushi at Stevenson’s Library; Sunomono Salad with Crab Meat

Sunomono Salad @ Stevenson's Library

Rainbow Roll

Rainbow Roll @ Stevenson's Library

20th Anniversary Martini

20Th Anniversary Martini @ Stevenson's Library

Monday: Poolside at the St. Regis Princeville Resort – Cucumber Ginger Margarita. Here’s the recipe!

Cucumber Ginger Margarita @ The St. Regis Princeville Resort

Grilled Watermelon, Tomato and Goat Cheese Salad

Grilled Watermelon, Tomato & Goat Cheese Salad @ The St. Regis Princeville Resort

Tuesday: Pre-hike breakfast – Kauai Waffles at Java Kai in Hanalei

Kauai Waffle @ java kai hanalei

Voracious dinner at Kalypso Island Bar & Grill in Hanalei – BBQ Burger

BBQ Burger @ Kalypso Island Bar & Grill