Uncategorized – dinner prompt

Eggs

October 14, 2019October 7, 20191 Comment

Eggs are inexpensive, versatile, easy to prepare and well-suited to a multitude of flavors. From simple scrambled or baked eggs to more complicated preparations soufflés or dishes that involve hollandaise, there is an egg recipe for virtually any dinner situation.

There are so many options, in fact, that it might be hard to pick one. Here are three options, all easy, and all perfect for dinner.

Love to Cook: Eggs Florentine with a green salad
Weeknight Reality: Shakshuka with warm pita bread
Need a Miracle: Scrambled eggs with fresh herbs and goat cheese, served with cinnamon toast

Recipe Links

Classic Eggs Florentine – BBC (about 30 minutes, but requires some cooking skill)
Oeufs en Cocotte Florentine – Craig Claiborne & Pierre Franey via NYT (about 40 minutes)
Shakshuka – The Tart Tart, adapted from Melissa Clark’s NYT recipe (about 40 minutes)
Shakshuka – The Tasting Table, adapted from John Gorham, Portland (about 40 minutes)
Simple Goat Cheese & Egg Toasts with Fresh Peas & Dill – Cookie & Kate (about 15 minutes)
Baked Eggs with Fresh Herbs & Goat Cheese – Oprah (about 15 minutes)

Parting Thought

“These eggs are broken. Cracked.”
“Yes, ma’am. That happens sometimes.”
“Does it?”
“Yes, it’s the unfortunate part of being an egg.”

Peter Hedges, What’s Eating Gilbert Grape (via goodreads)

Fingerlings

October 9, 2019October 7, 2019Leave a comment

Take a basic basic (burger and fries) and dress it up a bit, without too much extra work.

Instead of fries, upgrade to a quick potato salad that tastes great served warm. Most of the prep time is oven time (while you make the burgers), so you can get it done on a weeknight.

Use fingerling potatoes instead of anything more conventional. Yes, they look a little odd. Their flavor makes up for it.

Want to wing the potato salad instead of using a recipe? Quarter the potatoes, toss them in olive oil and salt, roast them in a hot oven for 25 minutes, then mix with Duke’s mayonnaise, a dash of cider vinegar, a chopped spring onion or two, some diced Wickles pickles, kosher salt and coarsely ground black pepper. Good stuff there. Serve it on a bed of bitter greens to go heavier on the plant content. Pair with a burger (add blue cheese to beef, or maybe some green chile to turkey), and you’ve got a soul-satisfying dinner that’s easy and beyond basic.

Love to Cook: If you have the time and inclination, this recipe for blue cheese burgers with caramelized onions is worth the effort – especially when served on brioche. Since the burgers are so rich, this lighter potato salad recipe is a good companion.

Weeknight Reality: It’s hard to beat this simple blue cheese burger prep – it takes just minutes. Use the extra time (mostly roasting time) to make this tangy potato salad.

Need a Miracle: Same burger recipe as above; you’ll probably have to opt for purchased potato salad if you’re really in the ‘need a miracle’ mode; another option would be just to wash, halve/quarter, toss in olive oil and roast the potatoes while you’re making the burgers – takes only 20 minutes. Serve them plain instead of making potato salad.

Wilted

August 4, 2015October 7, 2019Leave a comment

Seared Scallops with Wilted Greens

Hey, look – more greens! A quick toss in some hot olive oil is enough to bring out the flavor and make the greens tender, although different entirely from braised greens. Adding some bacon to the olive oil makes them extra tasty, if you’re a bacon eater. Or try Mario Batali’s version with garlic and anchovies (below). Serve with some scallops that have been cooked quickly in butter (and fresh bread, if you need a bit of starch). If you don’t want to splurge on scallops, any hearty white fish will do.

Love to Cook: If you’re up for some pungent flavor, this recipe for wilted greens with anchovies and garlic will do the trick. For the scallops, there’s no need to embellish – just sear in a hot skillet and serve with lemon.

Weeknight Reality: This greens recipe from Real Simple is quick and easy – and you could use bagged greens. The same scallop recipe, above, is also quick and easy.

Need a Miracle: If your grocery carries the Glory Foods brand, then you may be able to find turnip greens in the frozen section (do not bother with the canned ones). An alternative would be steamed French green beans or other green vegetable that can be prepared in the microwave. Again, same preparation for scallops.

Harvest

July 30, 2015October 7, 2019Leave a comment

If you don’t like kale, or are afraid to try it (still), then substitute something else. I start with that so you won’t think “I hate kale; I’m never eating a kale salad” and miss the entire idea here: it’s summer harvest time, so you should enjoy the bounty available at the market. If your idea of a perfect summer salad does not include kale, or blueberries, or any of the other suggestions here, then use something else: basil and peaches, or celery and cherries, or whatever makes you happy.

Blueberry & Kale Salad

Love to Cook: Get your gourmet on with this Massaged Kale Salad with Creamy Blueberry Vinaigrette and Rosemary Candied Walnuts.

Weeknight Reality: This Best of Summer Kale Salad from Iowa Girl Eats is easy to prepare, if you’ve not intimidated by making your own salad dressing. The blueberry-balsamic dressing is good on just about any salad, in fact, so make a double batch. And her recommendation to massage the kale with salt only, not oil, works well. A vegan alternative is this version from the Blueberry Council.

Need a Miracle: Bagged kale, blueberries, seasoned nuts and prepared dressing. And cheese, or fish, if you like.

Jerk

July 22, 2015October 7, 2019Leave a comment

Before walking away from the idea that eating spicy food in hot weather actually helps keep you cool, at least give it a try. A traditional Jerk-style marinade works on everything from turkey to tofu. In our house we like boneless, skinless chicken thighs (used in most of the recipe links below), but substitute whatever suits you and your people. Most preparations call for at least two hours’ worth of marinating time. The longer the better, for sure, but on a busy weeknight sometimes 30 minutes just has to work.

Love to Cook: These Jerk Chicken Bites and these Caribbean Chicken & Pineapple Kebabs are variations on the same theme; although the list of ingredients for the marinade is long in both recipes, the actual preparation is pretty simple. For a cool companion dish, try a salad with this no-oil/no-cream avocado-citrus dressing.

Weeknight Reality: Ok, so the marinade’s the thing. This version, prepared in a blender, can be used to marinate and coat whatever protein you pick. Again, the longer the marinating time, the richer the flavor. For the salad, toss chopped avocado and fresh greens in a lime-cilantro dressing like this one.

Need a Miracle: Your go-to miracle dinner, the rotisserie chicken, to the rescue: toss shredded chicken in some bottled sauce and served atop a green salad with fresh avocado slices.