Recipe Roundup 6/2016

It's been a while since a 'recipe roundup,' and we've had several delicious dinners (and lunches) lately that I want to brag about, oops, I mean share.

Recipes are listed left to right, top to bottom.

Curry Chickpea Salad - We kicked off summer with this versatile recipe during a picnic dinner date at the park. The chickpeas taste just as good in pitas as they do over greens.

Spiced Pork Chops with Mashed Potatoes - This is a repeat Blue Apron recipe that happened to fit well with the contents of our CSA box last week: sweet potatoes, chard and snap peas. As more of a "one-pot wonder" type of cook myself, Blue Apron recipes can sometimes seem a bit fancy. Sometimes the little bit of extra effort and dirtied cooking vessels are worth it, sometimes not. All of the recipes here are definitely worth it.

Turkey Meatballs with Parsley Pesto (similar meatball recipe) - Another recipe featuring a CSA ingredient: parsley (and no small amount of it either!) The pesto recipe was from the newsletter that comes in our box every week and made enough to cover an entire box of pasta. The turkey meatballs were good too, and had some extra veggies thrown as well.

Nepalese Chicken Tarkari - Another Blue Apron repeat recipe featuring spinach from the CSA box.

General Tso's Chicken - Yet another Blue Apron recipe featuring CSA ingredients: snap peas and green onions. One of the best things about making these recipes again, aside from the fact that they are delicious, is that they can easily be doubled and the leftovers taken into work for lunch the next day. While none of my co-workers actually asked me if this was take-out, I like to think I could have easily convinced them that it was.  

In addition to the ingredients above, our CSA has featured a lot of lettuce and other leafy greens. Salads are a no brainer, but does anyone have other ideas? We've made summer rolls, and added lettuce to stir fries, but we get a huge bag of it every week and it's definitely a challenge to keep up.

Thanks for reading!

Recipe Roundup - 1/2016

It's been a while since I've written about food on this blog, which at one time was all about food.

In part, I attribute this to the fact I do less cooking and have assumed more of a management role in the kitchen since Keizo moved in. I plan the menu and make a grocery list while he takes care of the shopping and a lot of the prep work. This doesn't always work out quite as planned as he's much more of a free spirit in the kitchen, using recipes (or a photo) as inspiration, and then making things up as he goes along. While I wasn't particularly thrilled when he substituted black beans for lentils in a curry recipe, at least he's been experimenting in the kitchen long enough to make completely edible, and usually pretty tasty dishes.

Recipes were followed pretty closely for each of the standout meals from January, including taco/margarita night, a flavorful deep dish pizza, a creamy pasta dish and some homestyle Japanese cooking.

Shrimp Tacos - Another winner from Real Simple. Keizo made the filling, and I assembled the avocado creme and made a quick salsa from some odds and ends we had on hand: onions, bell pepper, lime juice and thawed pineapple chunks. The margaritas were basic, but oh so tasty after a busy week at work.

Moroccan Spiced Deep Dish Pizza - I bought Keizo a cast iron skillet for Christmas, and it quickly became a prominent player in our kitchen. This was our first ever attempt at deep dish pizza as well as the first time we used the skillet in the oven. The flavors in this recipe are intense and rather different from what we usually cook, but really my only complaint was how chewy the dough turned out.

Salmon and Lemon Bucatini - Back in December, friends gave us a code for a free Blue Apron delivery, and we ended up using the service for the rest of the month. This was one of the recipes we really liked, and decided to buy our own ingredients to make it again. The dish is tasty, comes together quickly, and hits all of the major food groups - what's not to like? We found this to be true of about half of the recipes from Blue Apron. We also got to try some new foods, cooking techniques and only shopped for breakfast and lunch staples. On the other hand, with the two-person option there were never any leftovers, and the pre-portioned ingredients arrived in a ton of packaging. We paused our deliveries through the end of January, but we're thinking about trying it again, maybe one week a month for new ideas.

Nikujaga - Literally "meat and potatoes" in Japanese, nikujaga is a simple, yet oh so tasty dish that really banishes the winter cold. Keizo mastered this meal, serving the nikujaga, miso soup, salad, and pickled daikon the traditional way on different plates. Maybe I can get used to this new management role after all ;-)

New Recipes: Summer, Part II

The recipes in Part II all fit into either the salad or vegetable category - perfect for summer.

Clockwise from top left:

Chili-Lime Jicama Salad with Shrimp - My photographs of this recipe do not do it justice; it was flavorful and pretty different from what I usually cook. When I was growing up, my mom used jicama in salads fairly regularly, but this might be the only time I have ever bought one on my own. The original recipe suggests spiralizing the jicama, but cutting it into matchsticks worked pretty well. All of the flavor comes from the dressing, and the combination of lime, chili and shrimp helped me feel like I was near a tropical beach.

Ginger Miso Glazed Eggplant - Since having an eggplant dish for dinner one night during my trip to NYC in July, I've wanted to try my hand at one at home. The only downside of this recipe was having to use the oven - something I prefer not to do in the summer. The results were worth it though, good both warm and cold the next day for lunch.

Greek Zucchini Salad - I won't bother trying a recipe that I don't think will taste good, but this recipe really surprised me with how good it was. It was really easy to put together, and held up in the fridge for a few days allowing me to pack the leftovers for lunch, a huge plus! As much as I love pasta (see next recipe) I'm also a fan of "zoodles" as a medium size zuke makes a ton, and I can enjoy them in vast quantities without feeling like I am carbo-loading for a marathon I will never run.

Basil Pesto - A few weeks ago, one of the stands at the farmer's market had huge basil stalks on sale for $2.50, and I brought one home with me. I give this recipe 4 out 5 stars because it turned out a bit oilier than I would have liked. I will definitely try it again though, since nothing compares to fresh, homemade pesto. My own basil plants are doing pretty well after breaking them up into a couple of different planters, which is exciting since the first one I bought in the spring bit the dust within a week or so.

There are still a few summer-y things I'd like to make before the season ends: bruschetta with fresh tomatoes, a peach cobbler and some of the summer cocktail recipes I have pinned, and I hope the farmer's market continues to have the necessary ingredients on hand for a few more weeks.

What's your favorite summer recipe?

New Recipes: April

Keizo and I tried a record breaking number of new recipes in April. While he did most of the cooking, I like to think I pulled my weight with the meal planning and grocery-list making. It seemed to take most of Keizo's nearly three month visit for him to really grasp the concept of planning ahead and buying ingredients for multiple meals at one time. As much as I generally enjoy grocery shopping, it's not something I want to do everyday!

Waiting more than month between trying a recipe and writing it up here has both its pros and cons. In general, it gets harder to remember the details of each one, whether or not the recipe was followed exactly, which substitutions I would make next time etc; but on the other hand, it also gets easier to pick out the winners. 

Spring Pasta with Asparagus and Cherry Tomatoes - Not exactly a winner, but I am sure I will be eating some variation on this theme (pasta + vegetables) several more times over the summer.

"Pizza Chicken" - Given the amount of gooey cheese in the photo, it shouldn't be a surprise that this recipe falls into the "make again" category. Running the oven in the summer is less than ideal though, so it may have to wait until fall.

Cheddar Beer Fondue - Although I was initially concerned we would set off the fire alarm, this ended up being a really fun meal. It was fun to make, fun to eat, and inspired several conversations about future uses for our "new" $8 fondue set. Our dipping items consisted of bread, sausage and roasted vegetables and I had a hard time choosing a favorite. One word of caution, the recipe is labeled as "date night," but contains a whopping 16 servings of cheese. I think next time I will halve it with the hope that we'll be able to get up from our chairs a bit more quickly afterwards.

Eggplant & Chickpea Curry - This is another "make again" recipe with lots of vegetables and chickpeas to give it some more staying power. Not nearly as entertaining as fondue, but definitely worth trying :-)

Bim Bim Bap - Somewhere under all those toppings is some rice and marinated ground turkey(?) I went a bit overboard with the garnishes trying to use up old produce and add on new farmer's market finds (see the pickled yellow beets in the middle? Delicious!) and drowned out the flavors of original recipe. I see more rice bowls in the future though, since the different components can be assembled ahead of time and combined later for a quick meal. Also, they're an excellent base for delectable pickled things from No. 1 Sons.

Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms - I had high hopes for this recipe based on the photos and several roasted vegetable sandwiches with portobello mushrooms and goat cheese enjoyed over the years. The results weren't quite what I was hoping for, nor was the dish particularly satisfying as Keizo and I both had double servings.

Creamy Chicken Quinoa Casserole - This was one of Keizo's picks, and while creamy and comforting, it was also rather bland. It improved with some hot sauce, but is not one I am likely to make again.

Miso Broth Bowl with Soba - This meal was inspired by the cherry blossoms and our visit to Hana, a small Japanese grocery store located on U Street. I was impressed by their selection, and will definitely be making a return trip when I run out of my favorite Japanese pantry items like miso and okonomiyaki sauce. Now that the weather is warming up, I don't know if I would make this again anytime soon, but it was really tasty.

Mexican Stuffed Sweet Potato Skins - Wrapping up on a high note, these loaded potato skins were tasty and really filling. The chipotle peppers packed some heat, and we were also able to enjoy some of the leftover filling with tortilla chips.

Nine new recipes in a month was quite a lot; the past few weeks I have been relying on some old standbys and trying to use up some things from the freezer. Today, I made gazpacho for the first time, so there will be at least one new recipe in the May round up. When I write it up, however, is bit less certain.

Thank you for reading!

New Recipes: March

No, that's not a typo in the title. Yes, I am a whole month behind in posting new recipes. So without further ado, the new recipes I made ate and photographed in March:

Sage polenta bowls with roasted brussel sprouts
This recipe is the least memorable of the bunch.  I am pretty sure it was good, but even with the addition of some shrimp and parmesean cheese, the bowls lacked pizzazz. Lots of fiber from those sprouts, but I don't know if I would make this one again when standard shrimp and grits taste so good.

Glowing skin smoothies
This recipe, on the other hand, has been on repeat! Despite enjoying many a smoothie for breakfast, I have always been wary of adding leafy greens to my first meal of the day (except in omlette or quiche form). I am not quite sure what convinced me to take the plunge, but this recipe has shown me that spinach actually works in a smoothie. I am still skeptical about whether or not I could make spinach taste good in a smoothie without following a recipe, and I don't know that I feel the urge to level up to kale for breakfast anytime soon.

Baked tofu
Another winning recipe from March! Keizo gets all of the credit for putting it together, but he says it was pretty easy and we both enjoyed the results. This meal was all sorts of healthy and was consumed in large quantities without any regrets. I am looking forward to making this again when it's time for another round of tofu (at least once a month around here).

I am going to go get started on April's new recipe post right away. Hopefully it won't take a month for me to finish it!

New Recipes: January

Even though I am already looking forward to spring, I can't quite believe that February is here already! January was busy in a good way with more outings with friends, some time and effort spent organizing my apartment, and stepping up my running routine for my first 10K in March. So far, signing up for that race has done exactly what I'd hoped - helped focus my workouts and, to a lesser extent, my eating habits (isn't the whole point of exercising more so you can eat more?) Here are the new recipes I tried this month:

Tuscan Tuna Mac Casserole

A fancy twist on mac-n-cheese with crusty panko topping, this was a warm and tasty dish. I substituted the almond milk I had on hand for the dairy milk called for in the recipe, which resulted in a thinner sauce. I think dairy milk would help make this dish a bit more filling. The recipe says it serves eight, but it was closer to 4-5 dinner sized servings for me. I also think a nice, melty cheese like cheddar or mozarella would be a nice substitute for the fontina. Writing about it makes me want to make this again...right now! 

Cilantro Lime Crock-pot Chicken (similar recipe)

A few weeks ago, before the arrival of my cousin's baby, I joined my aunt and cousins to help assemble six different crock-pot freezer meals. I was lucky enough to bring home 1/2 recipes of all of them, and I put this one to use right away! The best parts were the delicious aroma and the convenience, and a 1/2 recipe was plenty for several, single person meals. Despite using what seemed like a ton of cilantro and lime juice during assembly, I think this recipe would be improved by reserving some of the cilantro until the end of the cooking time and by adding more lime juice.

Butternut Squash Soup (similar recipe)

This might be the winning recipe from this month. Like most people, I spent the first ten or so days of January cutting back on sweets and trying to eat more vegetables, but by mid-month I wasn't following any kind of plan anymore. I chose this soup to help me reset.

Butternut squash can be kind of a pain to prepare with all of the peeling and chopping, but in this instance it was part of the reset process. It was nice to be back in the kitchen, preparing something I knew was good for me, and even better to be rewarded with a soup that continued to improve as I ate the leftovers.

Lemon Thyme Chicken

This recipe is another example of where I felt really good about the "making" part of it. After traveling for work Monday - Tuesday, and eating out on Wednesday, I buckled down after work on Thursday. I ran errands on my way home, knocked out two miles on the treadmill, put the chicken in the oven and finished my strength training while it baked (if only everyday were this productive!) This recipe came together really easily, the chicken was not overcooked, and while flavorful, I have plans to use the leftovers in a several different dishes - over pasta, chopped on a salad, in a soup etc.

I also did some baking this month - carrot cake and coffee cake - but neither recipe impressed me enough to be included here. Both came out drier than I prefer, probably from over baking. After having to add baking time to most recipes, I've concluded that my oven runs a little cool. I've started to compensate by adding a few degrees when I preheat, but it will probably take a few more tries to get it just right.

New Recipes: September

Stopping by with a quick post this evening to get back on the blogging wagon after a rather long hiatus!  

August was every bit the whirlwind I anticipated--moving all my stuff out of Charlottesville, finding a place to live in the DC metro area, moving my things into my new apartment, visiting Keizo in Japan for a week, unpacking all my things and starting a new job--it's taken most of September for me to start feeling a bit settled again.  At least I have been cooking again, and even have two new recipes to share.

Recipe 1: Rice Noodle Salad from Cooking Light

This is the second or third time I have cooked with tempeh, and the next time I will have to branch out more and try it in something other than a stir fry.  I don't really understand the name of this recipe, nor do I understand how it could possibly be six servings, but otherwise it was pretty tasty and a bit different from my normal repertoire.  It also helped me feel like moving heavy pots full of dirt and herbs was not a completely crazy endeavor.


Recipe 2: Lentil-Chickpea Chili from Family Circle

Yesterday I broke out the crock pot for the first time this fall, and tried a new vegetarian chili recipe.  This does not taste like a traditional chili--in fact, it reminded me more of split pea soup--but it's warm and comforting just the same.  I think I will hold onto this recipe to make again, but will consider adding a bit more spice to it.

Keeping it short and sweet, but will plan on being back again soon!

Week of Eats: 6/7

I concluded my New Recipes: May post by saying I tend to cook less in the warmer months, and I am finding that to be very much the case as summer arrives.  It's halfway through the month, and I've only tried one new recipe!  Instead, my meals have been a combination of eating out, improvisation, and revisiting previous recipes.

"Old" meals

Last week, I put a lot of my farmer's market bounty to use in these savory "hand-pies."  The turnovers are good cold for lunch, and thanks to my disregard for measuring, I ended up with a substantial amount of extra filling, which makes an excellent hash with egg on top.

I walked into work one morning and found this waiting for me at my desk!  It wasn't totally a surprise, my co-worker had asked if I liked kimchi the day before, and said she would bring me in some from the batch she had made.  There's only about half of it left now; I've sandwiched it with cheese in corn tortillas (inspired by my meal from the Kogi truck a few summers ago) and used it as a condiment on vegetable ramen.

Sorry for the awful lighting in the ramen picture.  The power went out for about 90 minutes during a storm this week; thankfully the kitchen upstairs has a gas range, so I could finish cooking dinner and the battery in my camping headlight worked!  I was also glad the power came back before I went to bed, so that I wasn't woken up in the middle of the night with all of the lights coming back on!

A made-up meal

The pinkish hue in the dish below is courtesy of beets from the farmer's market.  This dish was completely made up and I had my doubts as it was coming together, but it turned out alright.  I was trying to recreate a very tasty curried couscous salad I had at bridal shower a few weeks back, but this was nothing like that at all.  Oh well.

A very lazy meal

I didn't shop at the farmer's market this weekend, but why should I when there's some fresh produce right in my backyard?!?  I have basil, lettuces, and kale that are all ready to harvest, two big zucchini plants that are coming along nicely (I am expecting some tiny zukes any day now!) and some small cucumber, yellow squash and carrot plants. Pardon all of the weeds in this photo; I spent some time out there this morning tidying up and it looks a little better now.

Tonight's dinner was leftover pizza and fresh kale chips, plus a hard boiled egg because waiting 6 minutes for the pizza to reheat and the kale to crisp was just too long.

This week I have a dinner event on Wednesday and a potluck to go to on Thursday.  I have a new recipe all picked out for my contribution to the potluck; I hope it's easy since the only time I will have to put it together is right after work on Thursday.  Stay tuned to see how it turns out in the June re-cap!

Oldies but goodies

After a week of mostly made-up on the spot meals, thanks to grocery shopping without a list last Monday, I was looking forward to meal planning for this week.  Instead I went to the farmer's market on Saturday and came home with my first real haul of the summer--chard, broccoli, cabbage, little round potatoes, beets and an irresistible pack of sticky buns--thus changing the order of my usual recipe browsing, list making, grocery shopping, and then cooking routine.  This week went shopping (vegetables), recipes, shopping (everything else), followed of course by cooking, but it's only the second day in and I have already departed from the meals I planned.

rainbow chard and precious little potatoes from the farmer's market

When I got back from my run at a little past 7 this evening, I wanted my dinner to be something more filling than the couscous salad I had planned.  Dinner also had to be quick--enter the classic tuna cheesy, served with roasted veggies (that were originally going to go in the salad).  

roasted veggies + ketchup = "fries"

More protein, and really easy to clean up after.

Speaking of cleaning...another oldie but goody that everyone should put into practice is the magical power of vinegar and baking soda.  I like to use it on my stainless sink to get rid of soap scum and water marks, but this past weekend I had the idea to use it in the shower too.  Yes, the bathroom smelled a little vinegar-y when I was done, but only until I took my next shower, and I prefer vinegar smell to chemical fumes any day.  Baking soda, vinegar and an old toothbrush also took care of a pair of dingy earrings that hadn't responded to either jewelry wipes or a soak in a tinfoil lined bowl.  Simple, cheap, and I feel oh so accomplished--a feeling I hope to maintain throughout the week!

New Recipes: May

I am right on target for May with four new recipes this month!  And even better, no duds like in April.

First up were Lentil "Meatballs" with Lemony Pesto.  The recipe is slightly more involved than the ones I usually choose for myself, and in preparing the meal I made a pretty big mess.  The end result was totally worth it though, and I bet I can make it in a more streamlined way next time around.

I couldn't find  basil at the grocery store (I swear, everyone is making pesto every week...there is never any there when I shop,) and I didn't want to prune my own tiny plant down to a stalk, so I substituted more parsley and greens in the pesto.  Otherwise I followed the recipe pretty closely.

Next, I took care of an excess of squishy bananas the best way I know how: combining them with generous amounts of butter, sugar and chocolate to make Double Chocolate Banana Muffins.  The result was much closer to a cupcake without frosting and made excellent mid-morning snacks as long as they lasted.  With this recipe, I feel I have restored my baking credibility after last month's miss with the peanut butter banana cookies--phew!

I don't remember quite how I came across this recipe on the internet, but it sounded too good not to try: White Pizza Quinoa Casserole.  The ingredient list was full of things I like, but don't always have on hand which was the perfect excuse to make a trip to Trader Joe's and spend a little too much money.

Overall, a good recipe but I felt like there was a little something missing.  Maybe it's been a bit too warm to really enjoy a cheesy baked casserole, or maybe it needs a little extra flavor from some meat, like pancetta?  With the weather getting warmer, a remake of this recipe will have to wait until fall, but I think it's worth a shot.

The fourth new recipe this month was Crunchy Mandarin Salad with Miso Chicken.  I have made various renditions of this before, but this was my first attempt with this particular recipe (found on a loose sheet of paper with handwritten notes at my aunt's house) and adding chicken.

The salad was a winner, and the chicken marinade smelled wonderful.  I highly recommend toasting the almonds and ramen noodles that get sprinkled on the salad for a bit of extra flavor.  I also made the dressing in a jar, and dressed each serving as I ate them throughout the week.  The next time I make the chicken, I will let it sit a bit longer than the recommended two hours, and maybe by then I will have learned how to not overcook chicken.  I am so afraid of it being pink in the middle that most of my chicken dishes turn out a bit dry.

It doesn't look like it in the photo, but I promise there are leafy salad ingredients under all of the toppings!

I will be very impressed with myself I can keep up a new recipe per week through the summer.  My desire to cook tends to wane when it gets warm, and my diet shifts to lots of salads and frozen treats.  Technically, a new kind of homemade popsicle every week would count, right?

New Recipes: April

Perhaps I was making up for lost time and only two new recipes in March--I tried six new recipes in April!  The recipes are split evenly with three in the sweets/baking category and three in the dinner category.

Sweets:

1) Chocolate Almond Bread from an old Family Circle.

This was a fun weekend project that turned out beautifully.  The next time I make it I will knead it for less time (the recipe said 10 minutes!) consider replacing the almond paste/chocolate middle with Nutella to save a step, and skip dusting the loaves with sugar before baking.  After sharing some with my housemate and co-worker, I ate the rest of the slices for my breakfasts with a smear of peanut butter and strawberries on top.


2) Lemon Pound Cake with Lemon Poppy Seed Buttercream from Joy the Baker

I am usually pretty adamant that dessert isn't really dessert without chocolate, but when I was doing my meal planning this past week, this cake was the only recipe that caught my eye and I wanted to make.  The gorgeous spring weather may have had something to do with it and had me dreaming of tank tops, shorts and lemonades on the porch.

While my first slice didn't quite live up to my expectations, my second, third, fourth (and so on) pieces have been quite delicious.  I frequently find that with recipes that I am excited to make, the first bites somehow fall short, but the next day I am pleasantly surprised by my creation.  Does this ever happen to anyone else?


3) Peanut Butter Banana Cookies from All New Low Carb Recipes Cookbook

No photos, no rave review.  I should probably know better than to expect delicious cookies from a low-carb cookbook.  Perhaps most frustratingly, the portions were such that I could eat four no problem and while there was no sugar, each cookie clocked in at 100 calories.  Not quite as "healthy" as they tasted.

Dinners:

1) Shrimp & Grits

The impetus for this meal came from a package of grits that has been sitting in my pantry since one of my housemates moved out almost a year ago (Hi Christina!)  While technically past the expiration date, I still wanted to try and make something with them--and even when I halved the amount of butter and cheese called for in the recipe--I was a huge fan!  I added some extra veggies in the form of zucchini and tomatoes to make it a more complete meal, and was really excited for the leftovers at lunch the next day.  An easy recipe with a simple ingredient list, yet different enough from what I usually make.

2) Chicken & Sausage Gumbo from All New Low Carb Recipes Cookbook

 I wrote about this recipe earlier in the month.  And yes, those are more grits in the background.


3) Chicken & Tofu Scramble with Peas & Carrots from Homestyle Japanese Cooking

I picked up two slim paperback Japanese food cookbooks when I was teaching in Japan, and in the six or so years that I've had them have made only about two recipes from them.  With this recipe, the total climbs to around three!

As tofu is often considered a meat substitute, it may seem a bit odd to see it paired with chicken.  In Japan I found several instances where tofu was used as "meat-extender" if you will, adding some bulk but retaining the meaty flavor of the dish.  This scramble also featured the classic Japanese cooking combo of soy sauce, sugar, and sake.  I didn't have any sake, but some white wine worked in a pinch.

***

Without a doubt, some good eats this month!  I would make everything again, with the exception of the peanut butter cookies.  If I had to pick just one winner from each category I would choose the Chocolate Almond Bread and the Shrimp & Grits.

Flavor of the week

I wasn't aware of it until sitting down to write this post, but I was on bit of a pineapple kick this week.  In addition to the meals pictured here, I also enjoyed the "The Pina Loco Margarita: Sauza Conmemorativo Tequila, Grilled Pineapple. Grilled Jalapenos & Fresh Squeezed Lime Juice"  at Mono Loco on Thursday night.  

My first pineapple dish was Asian Style Fried Rice with Beans for dinner on Wednesday.  After a few days of leftovers, I was pretty proud of myself for cooking--on a weeknight no less!  I had made this recipe once before, and was a bit disappointed in the the results.  This time, I started by browning the pineapple, removed it, and then thought better of it, and threw it back in the pan with the vegetables in the hopes of imparting more flavor.  I also used only about 1/3 to 1/2 of the soy sauce called for in the recipe, which made it taste much better (as in, taste like something other than soy sauce.)

With the chickpeas, this recipe could be a one-pot meal, but since I went for a run after work and it was nearing 8 o'clock by the time I ate, I added a fried egg and a 1/4 of an avocado on top.  Something was still missing, so I added a few dashes of Tapatio hot sauce.  I am glad I tried this recipe again; it's quick and easy and much more appealing with less soy sauce.

Pineapple meal number two was one of my breakfast smoothies.  This not only fit this week's unofficial theme, but was the first smoothie I have ever made that is worth sharing the "recipe" for!  It was tropical and delicious.

Put the following ingredients in the blender, add the lid and blend away!

• 1 banana
• 1/4 c frozen pineapple chunks (Trader Joe's)
• 1/4 c frozen mango chunks (Trader Joe's)
• 1/2 c plain Greek yogurt
• 1/4 c oatmeal
• 8 oz orange juice
• 1-2 dashes of cinnamon

This week was also the first time I tried adding raw oats to my smoothies.  They blended well, and weren't too noticeable aside from making the smoothie a bit thicker.  I am looking forward to replicating this again next week!

Perhaps inspired by that yummy smoothie, I picked up a mango today at the store.  I think my taste buds are telling me it's time for a beach vacation somewhere...

Stubborn

As I write this, I am wearing a sweatshirt with the hood pulled up and have a mug of hot cocoa next to me. By mid-late April I would much rather be outside in a sundress, but clearly Mother Nature has other plans this year.  After reaching over 80*F last Sunday, this week it was near freezing for two of my morning commutes!  Finally, yesterday morning I dared to leave the house without gloves, feeling strongly that they shouldn't be a necessity in April.  Unfortunately, this conviction was not enough to keep my hands warm as the high was a paltry 57*F.

One way that I keep warm is by getting active in the kitchen.  I cooked twice this week, and both dishes had a little kick to them that made the house smell good and generated some heat in my tummy.

Meal 1--Chicken & Sausage Gumbo from All New Low Carb Recipes.  I found this book at my aunt's house, and was intrigued by the numerous dessert options in the back.  I surprised myself by choosing to make my first recipe from the front of the book instead.

The recipe came together easily, and I was pleasantly surprised by the flavor, since most of the ingredients were pretty basic.  I also sabotaged the "low-carb" nature of the recipe by serving it with a scoop of grits.

Meal 2--Spicy Chickpea Samosas with Raita from Cooking Light.  I first made this recipe in November 2013, but it doesn't appear to have made it onto the blog.  I know when I first made it because just like my mother, I am now putting the date and a letter grade on all of the recipes I make in my binder full of magazine cutouts.  Another way I recently discovered I am exactly like my mom?  Spending an inordinate amount of time comparing the color combinations of multi-pack tissue boxes to best "match" my decor.

Anyway...samosas!  I think the recipe is intended to make appetizers for a small group of people, but both times mine have turned into generously sized triangular pockets, two of which make a decent meal.  One benefit to going the appetizer route is the samosas will all be consumed while the outsides are still crispy.  This is not one of those meals that makes even better leftovers.

The ingredient list is a bit lengthy, but a good portion of the list are spices or other pantry staples.  The process is also pretty straight forward--chop, saute, season and fold.

My fillo dough had been chillin' in the freezer (pun intended) since the first round of this recipe last fall, so it was drier than usual and a little tricky to work with.  But coating them with melted butter and popping them in the oven at 400* for 10 minutes certainly helped cover up any flaws.

While the samosas baked, I prepared the raita.  Last time I remembered having a lot leftover, so this time I only used a 1/2 cup of yogurt, rather than the 3/4 called for in the recipe.

Served with a side of roasted brussel sprouts.

A nice veggie-rich dinner meant more room for Cadburry Mini-Eggs afterwards.  Even if the weather isn't cooperating as nicely as I want it to, it's still spring!

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!