Working moms doing the best we can, one moment at a time
I’ve been wanting to try a flank steak recipe for some time, so tonight I modified Everyday Food’s Asian Steak Salad with Napa Cabbage.
I used radicchio in place of napa cabbage, and half an orange instead of two limes. I also used the same stoneware casserole dish to marinade and cook the steak. Since the radicchio is more bitter than cabbage, I cut it with a diced fuji apple. Lastly, I diced up the other half of the orange for extra sweetness.
Results: delicious!
My low-lactose spinach dip may not have scored big on Super Bowl Sunday, but it made a delicious pasta sauce on Monday night!
For the dip, I followed this recipe as a guide, swapping almonds for cashews, using fresh garlic in place of powder, and goat cheese instead of cream cheese.
For the pasta, I added leftover turkey meat from burritos (previously seasoned with cumin and chili powder, plus chicken broth) to cooked pasta, and stirred in two spoonfuls of the spinach dip. Delicious!
Last night David pointed out that our weekend lacked veggies. Pizza toppings don’t count? 🙂 So tonight I’m making up for lost time with roasted cauliflower and vegetarian minestrone.
The cauliflower is pretty tasty. I tossed the florets with olive oil, salt, and pepper and baked it at 425 degrees for about 15 minutes. A sprinkle of parmesan finished things off.
The soup mixture comes from my mother-in-law. Basically you sauté onions, add the mix plus water and a can of diced tomatoes. I love that it’s all natural and healthy, but offers the convenience of being stored in the pantry. Check out Sierra Soups.
Last night I sampled some fancy – but very easy – food, inspired by the NASFT’s Winter Fancy Food Show. I’ll share my favorites from Food Fete here, starting with a life-changing chevre called “Rivers Edge,” from Three Ring Farm in Oregon.
For once, those of us who play it safe with goat cheese don’t have to feel slighted. This chevre is smoky, rich and smooth. I can’t wait to pair it with an Old Vine Zin!
I also enjoyed sampling harder, crystallized goat cheeses and chatting with a gentleman from Tumalo Farms, a gourmet goat cheese producer in Bend, Oregon. PS – Do yourself a favor, and check out the adorable, cuddly goats on their homepage.
I’m always in search of fresh, handmade pappardelle, so when I found it at Bi-Rite Market, I was excited to get to work on a new recipe. With leeks on hand, I searched around and found this recipe.
I enjoyed the process of cleaning and prepping the leeks – they’re such a gorgeous color. And the rosemary smelled delightful.
But things took a turn for the worse when I (ignored the recipe) and dumped the entire breadcrumb mixture into the finished pasta. Those thick, buttery ribbons got lost in the sandy coating.
Lesson learned: treat breadcrumbs like salt, unless you’re making Mac & cheese or gratin.
Normally we have pizza on Friday nights, but we’ve yet to find a place that will deliver to Redwood Shores (minus Roundtable which is always a half hour late or more). So tonight, I was a lazy gourmet.
I started with one can of diced tomatoes in a large saucepan, with three cloves of garlic, brought to a boil. Next I added 3/4 bottle of old chardonnay (hey, why not it’s Friday after all).
In went the pork, and I covered and simmered it on medium for about 30 minutes. Meanwhile I cooked the rice in the rice cooker. When the pork was done. I shredded it with forks and returned it to it’s sauce.
Serving the pork in bowls over rice with plenty of broth added lots of juiciness and a decent amount of flavor. Et voila.
In a desperate attempt to eat up leftover black beans, I made nachos with goat cheese, salsa and lettuce. Not bad and super healthy! Love goat cheese? More recipe ideas here.
Tonight I searched around for ideas to use the fresh rosemary in my fridge, along with the frozen chicken breasts that made up my last remaining supply of meat. The menu? Chicken breasts baked with red wine, olive oil, fresh chopped rosemary, and salt & pepper – inspired by a Foster Farms recipe.
I baked the chicken at 400 degrees for nearly an hour, but it was too dry. I also sauteed spinach in butter, fresh chopped rosemary and salt & pepper, inspired by this recipe; and mashed potatoes (with butter and almond milk).
I sprinkled some of the juices from the pan over mashed potatoes. My only regret is that I didn’t make gravy out of the tempting golden bits at the bottom of the pan. Maybe next time!
Tonight I simmered pork tenderloin in one inch’s worth of semillon. It produced a pretty golden color and delicious broth. Easy!