New Recipes: March

Due to my unusual schedule last month, I didn't meet my full "recipe each week" goal, but March did start out strong with two new recipes right out of the gate.

1.  Stir Fried Rice Noodles with Beef and Spinach

I chose this recipe after looking back at my posts from December and January and decided I really needed to try something outside of my comfort zone.  And beef is pretty far outside of my comfort zone; I spent several minutes confused by the various cuts on display at the grocery store, and was quite relieved to find one labeled "beef for stir fry."

Once I had my ingredients, the rest of it came together pretty easily.  I added some extra cooking time, as nothing seemed to happen quite as rapidly as the recipe described.  The final dish was tasty and filling, and I would recommend trying it to anyone who likes beef.  If beef isn't really your thing, you are not missing anything by not trying this recipe.  It's not going to become a regular in my rotation, but I will keep it in mind if happen to be cooking for a "beef-itarian."


2.  Cheesy Stuffed Eggplants

This recipe was taken from Redbook magazine several years ago, and has laid dormant in my recipe binder ever since.  I think I was a little intimidated by the step requiring the "eggplant shells" be blanched in boiling water, but I am happy to report it was pretty painless.

The ingredients in this recipe were certainly more down my alley (vegetables, grains and cheese...what else could you possibly need?) and the finished product was quite beautiful.  I was a little underwhelmed by the filling at first, but the flavors improved the second day.  I only used one eggplant, which resulted in a bunch of extra filling that I enjoyed cold on top of salad greens with a bit of oil and vinegar for lunch later in the week.

So far in April I am 1-for-1 in the new recipe category.  Stay tuned for the full recap at the end of the month!