Tag: dinner recipes

Colorful

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Lively up yourself with a colorful plate of spring freshness. From beet-dyed eggs (changes the color, not the taste) to tandoori chicken or sweet pepper stir fry, a bright plate will give your spirits a lift.

beet eggs 2014

Food Ideas

  • Love to Cook: Leek soup, turmeric chicken, carrot salad
  • Weeknight Reality: Beef (or chicken) stir fry
  • Need a Miracle: Packaged kale salad with added dried fruits, nuts and shredded red cabbage, served with a multigrain loaf and soft butter
  • BONUS: if you’ve got leftover hardboiled eggs, try making beet-pickled deviled eggs for an appetizer

Recipe Links

Parting Thought

“Soon it got dusk, a grapy dusk, a purple dusk over tangerine groves and long melon fields; the sun the color of pressed grapes, slashed with burgundy red, the fields the color of love and Spanish mysteries.”

Jack Kerouac, On the Road (via goodreads)

Prompt Recap: April 5, 2015

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Missed a day or want a full set of ideas in one place? Here are six prompts to help you make it through the week, whether you have plenty of time to cook or need a miracle nightly. Click the one word prompt to go to the full set of ideas and recipe links.

Want a daily nudge in your inbox? Click the Follow button on the right.

Asparagusasparagus 2015

  • Love to Cook: Asparagus-Gruyere tart (or galette) with an asparagus-mint salad
  • Weeknight Reality: Roasted asparagus with grilled lemon chicken (or fish) and fresh herb salad OR pasta with asparagus
  • Need a Miracle: Grilled cheese with asparagus pesto (it’s easier than you think) and a green salad

Dandeliondandelion greens

  • Love to Cook: Pan-fried or grilled fish with dandelion salad
  • Weeknight Reality: Pasta with sausage and dandelion greens
  • Need a Miracle: Dandelion salad with Parmesan & poached eggs

 

Fennelfennel

  • Love to Cook: Pork roast (or fish) with roasted (or grilled) fennel
  • Weeknight Reality: Roasted sausage (or potatoes) with fennel
  • Need a Miracle: Fennel slaw, topped with shredded chicken or boiled eggs

 

Eggsthe incredible edible egg

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

 

Halibuthalibut

  • Love to Cook: French-style fish stew (bouillabaisse, Bourride) with an arugula salad
  • Weeknight Reality: Halibut fish & chips
  • Need a Miracle: Pan-fried halibut with raw or lightly steamed spring vegetables

 

Mushrooms

  • Love to Cook: Homemade mushroom ravioli with goat cheese sauce; spring herb salad
  • Weeknight Reality: Chicken and mushrooms over angel hair pasta; spring salad
  • Need a Miracle: Marinated mushrooms (from the grocery bar) roughly chopped, tossed with goat cheese and herbs and served on brioche toast OR grilled cheese with a spinach/raw mushroom salad

Parting Thought

If you must hate, if hatred is the leaven of your life, which alone can give flavor, then hate what should be hated: falsehood, violence, selfishness.

Ludwig Börne (1786–1837), The Eternal Jew

 

Spiral

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Foods that have a spiral shape can hold different flavors together in one meal.

pasta swirls

Food Ideas

  • Love to Cook: Spiral sliced ham with orange maple glaze; cornmeal biscuits; honeydew melon spirals
  • Weeknight Reality: Fusilli with goat cheese & toasted pine nuts; grapefruit salad with kale chiffonade
  • Need a Miracle: Turkey, spinach and brie wraps, cut into spirals

Recipe Links

Parting Thought

“Growth is a spiral process, doubling back on itself, reassessing and regrouping.”

Julia Margaret Cameron

Prompt Recap: March 15, 2015

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Missed a day or want a full set of ideas in one place? Here are six prompts to help you make it through the week, whether you have plenty of time to cook or need a miracle nightly. Click the one word prompt to go to the full set of ideas and recipe links.

Want a daily nudge in your inbox? Click the Follow button on the right.

Cleanwhite radishes

  • Love to Cook: Steam (or broil or grill) some fresh fish and serve with watercress, arugula & radish salad
  • Weeknight Reality: Make an entree salad with white beans, radishes and spring greens; top with poached chicken, steamed fish or soft-boiled eggs
  • Need a Miracle: Make a quick Salade Niçoise using canned tuna and steam-in-the-bag green beans

Messyhungry

  • Love to Cook: Croque Monsieur
  • Weeknight Reality: Bratwurst Hoagies or Sloppy Joes
  • Need a Miracle: Patty Melt or Fried Egg Sandwich

 

Composedcomposed

  • Love to Cook: Seared tuna, roasted spring vegetables and fresh spring greens, plated individually
  • Weeknight Reality: Composed Cobb salad platter (use rotisserie chicken if you’re in a hurry)
  • Need a Miracle: Greek platter with items purchased from the grocery bar or take-out Mediterranean restaurant

 

Mashedrefried beans and greens

  • Love to Cook: Refried red beans, chopped cilantro, onion and avocado on fresh tortillas (or corn cakes)
  • Weeknight Reality: Mashed cauliflower, oven roasted asparagus, pan-fried pork chops
  • Need a Miracle: Mashed potato bar and Caesar salad (use take-out mashed potatoes, if you must; but you can make mashed potatoes from scratch in less than 30 minutes, really)

Breadbread

  • Love to Cook: Tuscan Ribollita (bread soup) with Meyer lemon gelato for dessert
  • Weeknight Reality: Panzanella (bread salad) with grilled or poached chicken
  • Need a Miracle: Take-and-bake Italian loaf with minestrone from the deli bar

 

3.1415pate brisee

  • Love to cook: Roasted root vegetable pie (or its upside-down cousin, tarte tatin), with or without meat
  • Weeknight reality: Quick shepherd’s pie
  • Need a miracle: Quiche from the deli counter

Bread

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A little bread can go a long way when it’s used in the recipe and not just as a side dish.

bread

Food Ideas

  • Love to Cook: Tuscan Ribollita with Meyer lemon gelato for dessert
  • Weeknight Reality: Panzanella with grilled or poached chicken
  • Need a Miracle: Take-and-bake Italian loaf with minestrone from the deli bar

Recipe Links

Parting Thought

“The need of the immaterial is the most deeply rooted of all needs. One must have bread; but before bread, one must have the ideal.”

Victor Hugo